Friday, May 31, 2013

Cult Nails Mind Control


purchased by me

Mind Control is a charcoal grey jelly with purple glitter.  It was originally part of the 2011 Super Powers Collection but is back on the Cult Nails site.  The polish is smooth and easy to work with, and there is a good spread of glitter with each coat.  I used three coats for complete opacity, but if you want a bit of the translucent jelly to show, you'd only need two coats.


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Mind Control is  available at Cult Nails, where it retails for $12.00 + shipping.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Cult Nails In the Garden Collection: Morning Glory

purchased by me


For spring this year, Maria of Cult Nails came up with the In the Garden Collection, and I treated myself to Morning Glory.  It's a gorgeous, vibrant hot pink polish with a satin matte finish, or as Cult Nails calls it, a "Wax" finish.  The formula was flawless, and if my technique was equally flawless, this might have been a one-coat wonder.  Sadly, I'm not that good yet, and I needed two coats to cover a few bare spots.

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Morning Glory and the rest of the In the Garden collection are available at Cult Nails, where they retail for $12.00 + shipping.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Cult Nails Iconic

purchased by me

Back in 2011 when Cult Nails started, one of the first polishes Maria offered was Iconic, a gorgeous berry-red or burgundy polish with a boatload of gold shimmer and tiny red flakes.  Sadly for me, it sold out before I got my paws on it and got it on my paws.  So when I saw that it was back, and it the original formula, I grabbed it.  As always, the formula was flawless, and I could have gotten away with two coats, but I did three because that increased the depth of the color.

In the sun:


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Iconic is available at Cult Nails, where it retails for $12 + shipping.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Incoco Cherry Jubilee

purchased by me

Another very American and to my eyes, very retro manicure from Incoco.  Cherry Jubilee to me just screams 1940s pinup girls with dark red lips and rolled hair.  As always, these are easy to use.

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Cherry Jubilee strips are visible on the Incoco website, but I couldn't add them to my cart.  Hopefully that's just a website glitch and they'll be back soon!  The retail price for mine was $8.99 + shipping.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Incoco Starry-Eyed and Happy Memorial Day!

purchased by me

A sincere thanks to all who have served, are serving and will serve!

Incoco polish strips are easy to use, come in a bunch of pretty patterns, and last longer on me than I'd like, given my penchant for changing my polish. ;)  Starry-Eyed has a white background and solid and outline stars in red and blue.

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Starry-Eyed strips are from last year's Fourth of July collection, but are still available at Incoco.com, where they retail for $8.99 plus tax and shipping.  Incoco is also having a Memorial Day sale, with 15% off some of their red, white and blue polish strips (sadly, Starry-Eyed is not included).

Friday, May 24, 2013

OPI Black Spotted

purchased by me




Last summer, with the release of the OPI Spiderman movie tie-in collection, American buyers got a green crackle.  The lucky ducks in France and the Netherlands, however, got a black not-crackle polish called Black Spotted.  Everyone with a Continental collection sent out desperate polish SOSs to their friends, the stuff sold for up to $50/bottle on Ebay, and there was much despair and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Me, I just waited a year, and grabbed a bottle for $15 on Ebay. :)  Black Spotted (at least my bottle) is super-thin, and the spots appear almost instantly.  I used one thin coat over three coats of Chic from Ears to Tail, and after I flooded one cuticle through not realizing how thin the polish was, I did the rest quickly and easily.
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I love how this turned out, and I can't wait to try it over gold!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

OPI Couture de Minne collection: Magazine Cover Mouse


purchased by me


It should be no surprise to anyone that Magazine Cover Mouse is my favorite of the Couture de Minne collection!  I've been loving many of the textured polishes which have appeared this summer, and this strawberry-red beauty is no exception.  It was opaque in two easy coats, easy to remove, and a complete delight.
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OPI is available at salons, some retail stores and in Ulta's stores and on Ulta's website.  The Couture de Minnie polishes retail for $9 (plus tax and shipping where applicable).

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

OPI Couture de Minne collection: Innie Minnie Mightie Bow


purchased by me



Despite its nonsensical name, Innie Minnie Mightie Bow is a pretty blue-based red with subtle shimmer.  Like Chic from Ears to Tail, there's nothing earth-shattering about the color, but the formula is very good and it was opaque in two coats.  The shimmer was visible close-up on my nails, but only showed in a blurry photo rather than any of the crisper ones.

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OPI is available at salons, some retail stores and in Ulta's stores and on Ulta's website.  The Couture de Minnie polishes retail for $9 (plus tax and shipping where applicable).

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

OPI Couture de Minne collection: Chic from Ears to Tail


purchased by me



Chic from Ears to Tail is a standard bubble-gum pink crème.  It's cute, theme-appropriate and a nice color, but there's nothing ground-breaking about it.  The formula was easy to work with, although it did take three coats to be opaque, which is not something that thrills me with a color this standard.

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OPI is available at salons, some retail stores and in Ulta's stores and on Ulta's website.  The Couture de Minnie polishes retail for $9 (plus tax and shipping where applicable).

Monday, May 20, 2013

OPI Couture de Minne collection: A Definite Moust-Have

purchased by me

OPI has a cute mini-collection for summer, or a cute Minnie-collection if you prefer. ;)  Couture de Minnie consists of a crème, a shimmer, a neon, a glitter and a textured polish, all in reds and pinks.  I didn't get the glitter, but I have the other four for you this week.

First up is A Definite Moust-Have, a neon pink with an easy formula.  It stayed where I put it, flowed easily without any pooling, and dries satin matte, like most neons.  All swatches are three coats without top coat.

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OPI is available at salons, some retail stores and in Ulta's stores and on Ulta's website.  The Couture de Minnie polishes retail for $9 (plus tax and shipping where applicable).

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Incoco discounted bundles!



Incoco Mix & Match Sale


Incoco has created 10 pairings of shades that complement each other perfectly! The two separate shades in each bundle can be worn together in a variety of ways to create quite a few different and fabulous nail art looks on your nails! Each of the 10 bundles will be discounted for a limited time only, so act fast!
Shop these pairs and many more at incoco.com

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

L.A. Girl Fruity scented polish: Blissful Blackberry

purchased by me

Last summer, L.A. Girl came out with a line of scented polishes.  I passed on them when they were first available, but curiosity got the better of me this year and I grabbed Blissful Blackberry.  Sadly, it was a disappointment.  The color is pretty, but the duochrome visible in the bottle isn't visible on the nail, the formula was thin and prone to pooling, it took four coats to be almost opaque, and it smells like fruit-scented wax. *sigh*
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The Fruity collection seems to be back at my local drugstores, but it's also available on the L.A. Girl website and at Cherry Culture.  Prices range from $3-$5 US + shipping.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

L.A. Girl 3D Effect collection: Sizzling Pink

purchased by me

My third and final purchase from the 3D Effect collection is Sizzling Pink, which lives up to its name.  It's a blue-based hot pink jelly with a wagonload of holographic shimmer.  The formula was thin but easy to work with.  It did require three coats for complete opacity, but I'll still wear it!  My hands were shaking like crazy the day I tried to photograph this (thanks so much, MS), that I only have one photo.  Still, it shows off Sizzling Pink in the sunshine.



The 3D Effect collection is mostly sold out at my local Rite-Aid drugstores, but it's available on the L.A. Girl website and at Cherry Culture.  Prices range from $3-$5 US + shipping.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Blue Monday: L.A. Girl 3D Effect collection in Teal Dimension

purchased by me

Another stunner from L.A. Girl!  The display at my local Rite-Aid had emptied by the time I decided I wanted Teal Dimension and Sizzling Pink, so I ordered these two from the L.A. Girl website (fantastic experience, btw!) and it was SO worth the wait!  Two effortless, smooth coats and ta-da, a gorgeous sparkly blue-green jelly packed with holo shimmer that kept me looking at my nails all day.

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The 3D Effect collection is mostly sold out at my local Rite-Aid drugstores, but it's available on the L.A. Girl website and at Cherry Culture.  Prices range from $3-$5 US + shipping.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Cult Nails Dance All Night pre-sale!


SEE SWATCHES by Maria (CULT NAILS BLOG)   |   SEE SWATCHES by Marta (CHIT CHAT NAILS)  |   
CULT NAILS' NEW COLLECTION
DANCE ALL NIGHT
6 NEW Summer Ready Shades!


SALE BEGINS 12:01 AM EDT on MAY 9th



Cult Nails is releasing their new Dance All Night Collection during a Pre-Sale Event from 12:01 AM (EDT) May 9. 2013 - May 18, 2013.  First 250 pre-sale orders will receive "Wax That...", Cult Nails' new Wax Effect Top Coat, at no charge!  
Cult Nails
 http://shop.cultnails.com

Cult Nails, 7777 N. Wickham Rd, , Suite 12-408, Melbourne, FL 32940

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Friday, May 10, 2013

L'Oreal Nail Lingerie: Princess Sprinkles

purchased by me

L'Oreal recently released their Spring 2013 collection, called Miss Candy.  When I first saw the collection on Nouveau Cheap, I was intrigued by the stickers, which L'Oreal calls "Nail Lingerie".  When the collection showed up at my local Walgreens, all L'Oreal products were on sale buy-one-get-one-half-off, so I grabbed all three sticker sets.  The first ones I tried were the pink swirls, called Princess Sprinkles.

These are decals, not polish strips, so they are noticeably thicker, particularly when worn on top of polish.  The name doesn't particularly fit, as the pink stripes are not at all sparkly, and I found that the stickers tended to peel quite quickly.  By the end of one day, I'd peeled them all off because they were sticking up in odd ways and bugging me.  However, they did look really cute over a contrasting polish, and I'll probably save the other sets for a special occasion manicure.  Pictures are of the Nail Lingerie over two coats of Orly Snocone.

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If you're less tempted than I am to pick at things, the pattern on these is cute, and might be worth the cost.  I won't be returning the ones I bought, but I'll save them for a mani I won't be wearing for more than a few hours.  L'Oreal Nail Lingerie retail for $8.99 plus tax, at least here in NE Ohio.