Essie Lots of Lux and Belugaria Swatches, Reviews

One reason I enjoy the winter holidays is that lots of fancy nail polishes hit the stores!  I’m always a fan of glittery, colorful, and festive shades.  Today when I was in Target I picked up two new colors from Essie’s Holiday 2013 Encrusted Treasures collection.

Essie’s website describes Lots of Lux as a “shimmering blue lapis lazuli lacquer with a sleek matte finish.”  However I noticed a distinctly sandy, not matte, finish.  The strong texture complements the particles of royal blue, green and gold hiding in this polish.  Below I used two coats, and no topcoat (which would negate the sandy finish).  Two coats provided plenty of coverage as this is a thick (but manageable) polish.  A word to the wise – be sure to wear a base coat!  The blue is highly pigmented and will stain your nails.   I really liked this and will be wearing it during the holidays and beyond.

The second polish, Belugaria, is far from dazzling.  It consists of a black creme base with hexagonal silver hologram glitter.  What I didn’t understand is the spotty, caviar-like texture.  It’s very thick – here I’m wearing two coats.  It built up unevenly on my nails and just looked wrong.

Unfortunately I bought Belugaria without reading any online reviews first, and it looks like it’s been universally panned.  I enjoyed Lots of Lux however.  Have you picked up any Encrusted Treasures polishes this holiday season?

~ Allison ~

Petites Color Fever Daze

All the Color Petites I’ve tried so far have been impressive – good quality, a wide range of colors, smooth application.  Daze is no exception.  It’s a bitter apple green microglitter (almost a glass fleck) in a jelly base.  3 coats gave me the VNL-less coverage you see here.

I will have to play with this one more before summer’s over.  Daze is a welcome break from the crush of mint green cremes that seem to be so popular this season.  I can also imagine using it for an awesome Halloween mani with black shatter on top!! *makes a note to self*

The Petites Color Fever line can be purchased at RiteAid.

~Allison~

Prevail Concrete Jungle Holographic

When I first spotted this polish in the dimly-lit Prevail section of Duane Reade, I thought I saw a peek of holo in the bottle.  Outside in the sunlight it was clear that my premonition was correct!  I was excited because I’ve never found a holographic nail polish in a drug store before.  Say hello to Concrete Jungle.

Under low light and indoors this polish looks like a dusty lavender/pink.  (That helped make it a bit more office-friendly for me.)  Although the formula was thin, it was super-smooth and easy to apply without being runny.  Here I used 3 coats.

All it needs is a bit of light for the linear holo to really pop!  I believe this is called a linear holographic due to the bands of refraction.

I kept this on for several days and couldn’t stop admiring my nails!  It was so chameleon-light in different types of light.  My only qualm is that it chipped on the first day, even with a top coat.  I wonder if layering it on top of another color would help it wear longer?

~ Allison ~