Sinful Colors Silk + Satin: Matte About Blue

purchased by me

When I first read about the Silk + Satin collection on Nouveau Cheap, I didn't think I'd be seeing them in NE Ohio any time soon.  According to this article, they're scheduled for release on August 1, and we're not exactly cutting edge around here. ;-)  So I was delighted and thrilled to walk into my local (sorta) Rite-Aid and find the entire collection, along with the OMGeode collection and all of the summer Sinful Colors!  Anyway, out of the plethora of polishes, I only grabbed one--Matte About Blue.

In the bottle, Matte About Blue looks like a royal blue, but it darkens as it dries to a very pretty navy.  The flash photo shows the finish but the color is more true to life in the non-flash photo. The finish is not chalky, but not a satin matte, a true matte.  It was almost opaque in two coats, but I did three just to be sure.  Normally, I am death on any polish which needs more than two coats, but since I've not seen a navy matte before, I'm going to be forgiving and love this one. :-)

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The Silk + Satin collection is supposed to arrive at drugstores on August 1, but I found mine at Rite-Aid on Sunday, June 29 for $1.99 + tax.

Zoya Fourth of July trios for $15 + free shipping!

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Literary Lacquer: Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster

purchased by me

A long time ago, my father discovered a BBC radio series called "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and he bought four long-playing records which included every episode of the series.  He shared them with his kids, and then when PBS showed a BBC-TV adaptation of the series, Dad, my brothers and I all watched every episode (Mom doesn't quite have the same sense of humor as the rest of us, probably because Dad had no influence over her in her formative years).  The special effects were truly 1970s cheesy-awful, but the wit and the humor were there, the actors were great, and all of us were sad when it was over.  Then Dad brought home the first book in the series!  And we were off and running, although I think I was the only one who read all of the books, even the later and not so great ones.

All of the above means that I have a very high standard of what is right and fitting in regard to one of the icons of my young adulthood.  Fortunately,  meets my standards.  It's a dark turquoise linear holographic polish with some extra sparkly bits, smooth and flowing, opaque in two coats, non-staining and absolutely lovely.  Behold, I give you the polish which gives you the visual equivalent of "having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round with a large gold brick".

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Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and other gorgeous polishes can be found at the Literary Lacquer Etsy store for $10 each + shipping.

Literary Lacquer: As the Waltz was Ending

purchased by me

As the Waltz was Ending was my very first purchase from Literary Lacquer, but it won't be my last!  It's a soft, midtone, red-toned purple linear holographic polish.  This polish fills a hole in my collection I didn't know I had, because all of my other purple holos are blue-toned.  The formula was gorgeous, perfectly smooth and opaque in two coats.

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Literary Lacquers are available at Etsy for $10.00 each + shipping, which I think is a bargain!

I Love Nail Polish: A Fresh Evergreen

purchased by me

My third and final polish from I Love Nail Polish is A Fresh Evergreen, a deep blue-toned green holo from last year's holiday collection.  It has the same great formula as Rehab and Bikini Bottoms, and I've used two coats and no top coat for my swatches.

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Even though it was part of the 2013 Holiday collection, A Fresh Evergreen can still be purchased at the I Love Nail Polish website for $10 + shipping.

I Love Nail Polish: Bikini Bottoms

purchased by me

Bikini Bottom is a gorgeous hot pink holo from I Love Nail Polish.  It's what I wanted Tripindicular to be.  Plus it looks great in an easy two coats!

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I Love Nail Polish: Rehab

purchased by me

I caved and bought three beautiful I Love Nail Polish holos, so now I have to show them to you!  First up is Rehab, a deep teal beauty which leans more on the green side of teal than the blue.  The formula was perfect, opaque in two coats, self-leveling, and just the right viscosity to stay where I put it without being too thick!  It chipped in a day, but since I've had that problem with Every. Single. Holo. I've ever purchased, I'm not blaming Rehab, I'm just wearing all my holos with top coat from now on.  Shown is two coats, no top coat.

Rehab and the rest of the I Love Nail Polish Summer 2014 collection can be purchased at the ILNP website for $10 each + shipping.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips: Plenty of Fish

purchased by me

I first heard about these limited edition polish strips on Nouveau Cheap, and grabbed mine in April at my local Walgreens.  I wrote more about how Sally Hansen has changed the packaging in my review of Done to Scale, but these are from the same collection.  Plenty of Fish is cute and summery even if it doesn't actually have any fish!

I bought Done to Scale and Plenty of Fish a while back at Walgreens, but I just recently saw them at Rite-Aid, so if you like them, keep your eyes open!  The Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips now retail for $5.99 + tax.

Sally Hansen Color Foil: Titanium Flush

purchased by me

Titanium Flush is a midtone pink, and my notes on the formula can be found in my review of Leaden Lilac.  All swatches are one coat with no top coat.

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The Color Foil polishes can be found wherever Sally Hansen products are sold.  I got mine at Walgreens for $7.99 + tax.

Sally Hansen Color Foil: Purple Alloy

purchased by me

Purple Alloy is a red-toned purple, and notes on the formula can be found here.  All swatches are one coat with no top coat.

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The Color Foil polishes can be found wherever Sally Hansen products are sold.  I got mine at Walgreens for $7.99 + tax.

Sally Hansen Color Foil: Leaden Lilac

purchased by me

For summer, Sally Hansen has a boatload of new stuff, but I was most intrigued by the Color Foil polishes, which are actually chromes rather than foils.  I picked up three, and the first one I have to show you is Leaden Lilac.

The formula was the same for all three polishes--thick enough to be a one-coat wonder, prone to color variation because the opaque bottles don't let you see when you've shaken them enough to mix up the pigment, definitely in need of a ridge-filling base coat and insanely shiny.  None of the Color Foils dried extremely quickly, even with just one coat--dry time was average.  All of my swatches are one coat with no top coat.

Leaden Lilac is a blue-toned periwinkle--my camera didn't pick up the purple tones, but they're there and it's not as blue as it looks in the pictures.

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Indoors without flash, with bonus bubbles from shaking:

Despite the flaws I see in my nails, I get compliments whenever I wear one of these polishes, and I do like that they're quick, easy and OOHSHINY.  They also make a good base for jelly polishes, and although $7.99 is on the high side for a drugstore polish, I'm happy with the three I got and debating picking up the turquoise one.

The Color Foil polishes are available wherever Sally Hansen is sold.  I got mine at Walgreens.

Butter London Friends & Family sale

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Complimentary ground shipping on all orders $50+. No code required.

Taking a little sanity break

I just couldn't find the oomph inside to do anything for the blog this week.  I will be back next week!

Nayll Custom Polish: Rose Marshall

purchased by me

My final custom polish from Nayll is the only one NOT inspired by my dog.  Rose Marshall is the hero of Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire, a book I love by an author I love.

Here's the book description:

Rose Marshall died in 1952 in Buckley Township, Michigan, run off the road by a man named Bobby Cross—a man who had sold his soul to live forever, and intended to use her death to pay the price of his immortality. Trouble was, he didn’t ask Rose what she thought of the idea.
It’s been more than sixty years since that night, and she’s still sixteen, and she’s still running.
They have names for her all over the country: the Girl in the Diner. The Phantom Prom Date. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Mostly she just goes by “Rose,” a hitchhiking ghost girl with her thumb out and her eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to outrace a man who never sleeps, never stops, and never gives up on the idea of claiming what’s his. She’s the angel of the overpass, she’s the darling of the truck stops, and she’s going to figure out a way to win her freedom. After all, it’s not like it can kill her.
You can’t kill what’s already dead.

On the night she died, Rose was dressed for prom in an emerald-green gown, with blond streaks in her hair from a summer of lemon juice and sun.  I chose Nayll's Tulip Green Jelly, and added gold holo hexes, matte green dots, shiny emerald dots and matte green flakies.  It looks as if it's bumpy, but with one coat of Seche Vite, the polish was smooth to the touch.  I used two coats of Rose Marshall, and I really love how it turned out!

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The cost of polishes varies depending on what you add to them.  Mine averaged $9.40 each and shipping was $3.50.  I can't say enough good things about Nayll, especially their super-helpful FAQ and How-To sections.  Sara, the owner of Nayll has very generously offered my readers 20% off and with code BAUBLES and it's good until June 30th at midnight.

Nayll Custom Polish: Smoky's Collar

purchased by me

This is the polish I'm not proud of.  In fact, the more I look at these pictures, the more I want to hide them behind the jump.

My puppygirl's collar is purple and pink and white, so I added purple, pink and white circle glitters to Nayll's Lilac Purple Jelly.  I think I just used too many glitters, I've decided I don't like the way white glitter looks in a dark base and my application wasn't good, so the polish looks weird.

 If you're brave enough, take a peek...

Nayll Custom Polish: Puppy Breath

purchased by me

My next custom polish from Nayll is kind of a bitter joke on my dog.  Friends have told me that their dogs have pleasant puppy breath, especially when they're waking their owners in the morning.  My dog eats mulch and the dirt from houseplants and will catch and kill mice and once even a rat, so not even the best breath-freshening chewies are much help.  So if my girl's breath smelled like the good things she eats, there'd be green for mint, white for yogurt, orange for carrots and gold for corn.  And of course, it would all be kibble-shaped, i.e. round, in a pale, milky peach jelly base!

All swatches are two coats of Puppy Breath, no top coat.

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The cost of polishes varies depending on what you add to them.  Mine averaged $9.40 each and shipping was $3.50.  I can't say enough good things about Nayll, especially their super-helpful FAQ and How-To sections.  Sara, the owner of Nayll has very generously offered my readers 20% off and with code BAUBLES and it's good until June 30th at midnight.

Nayll Custom Polish: Mousie Hearts

purchased by me

If you've ever had the dream of a perfect polish in your head but didn't feel like getting seriously into frankening, Nayll is the solution!  I designed four polishes, Nayll made them, and in one week, I had them in my hands!  Three of the four were inspired by my dog and one was inspired by a fantastic novel I just read.

There are lots of dog stories on my other blog, Curmudgeonette, but the short version of the one that inspired the polish is that one year on Valentine's Day, my dog left me a dead mouse.  The vet asked if I opened it up to see the little red heart, and I said no.  So Mousie Hearts is purple, white and pink hearts in Nayll's "Plum Jelly" base, which I would characterize as a berry jelly.

The jelly base is gorgeous--smooth, shiny, not too thin or too thick, applied like a dream.  I had to do just a bit of fishing for hearts, but I suspect if I had been willing to wait while the polish sat upside down overnight, it wouldn't have been needed.

First I used one coat over Sally Hansen Titanium Flash:

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Then I used two coats of Mousie Hearts on its own.

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The cost of polishes varies depending on what you add to them.  Mine averaged $9.40 each and shipping was $3.50.  I can't say enough good things about Nayll, and I've started saving up for the rest of my polish ideas!  Sara, the owner of Nayll has very generously offered my readers 20% off and with code BAUBLES and it's good until June 30th at midnight.

Cult Nails Spring Radiance collection

purchased by me

affiliate link

Before we get to the pictures, Cult Nails is on Hautelook right now!  Signing up is free, and if you use my affiliate link here, it won't cost you anything but will get me a credit if you buy something.

Spring Radiance is is a limited edition set consisting of a mauve with hidden shimmer, a berry crème and a mint textured polish.

My pics after the jump!

Sneak Peek: 06/02/14-06/06/14

purchased by me