Quoth the Raven...

AKA Different Dimensions Nevermore


First off, I don't think this is a fitting name for this Polish. A Polish called Nevermore should be black. Very dark gray at the very least.

I have a love hate relationship with this polish. While I think it's beautiful and unique, it's also kinda boring. That doesn't make any fucking sense but that's how I feel.

This is a dark warm brown strong linear holo with a white gold shift and some larger holo or shifty glitters (I can't really tell). Honestly, these indie brands are getting crazy complicated and my Polish vocabulary is insufficient to describe some of the shit going on in these Polishes.

The formula was on the thick side and the brush was like painting my nails with a broom. all that said, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't the best formula, but manageable and would have been better if the brush wasn't bullshit.

But onto the Polish!!

These were all in direct sunlight. The holo is still fairly strong indoors/in shade. My biggest issue with this is that the larger glitter pieces make it look a bit lumpy and textured. I'm a huge fan of silky smooth cremes, so I kinda hate anything lumpy. A coat or two more of topcoat probably would take care of that, but that's too much effort for me.

Thank goodness for peel off basecoat!!

This was a late night/after a few glasses of wine post. I promise to go back to my standard review format next time!!

Oh, and I broke a bunch of nails moving my new renter into my old house :-( So my nails are uneven, sorry about that. The good news is, I really whipped my crazy ass cuticles into shape today! I'm rather proud.

Most Awesome Polish EVER

Aka Ludurana Aurora Boreal in Show

No, seriously... For me, this is the Polish to end all Polish. I could wear this every day and never ever get sick of it. Unfortunately, my application and pictures kind of suck... Sorry about that.

No babbling for this one, here are the pics:

 Yes, I know this is blurry, but it shows the predominant colors best. When I wore it, this was mostly what color my nails were - this dark metallic aqua/teal with purplish magenta around the edges.

This shows more of the hard angle color shift... You can see the coppery orange at the very edge.

I believe I took these pics after 3 or 4 days of hard wear. It held up really well. This is somewhat color accurate, except that you couldn't see that darker blurple color most of the time.

 This color was NEVER flat. It always showed at least 2 colors, usually more, at the same time.

Another accurate one color-wise. The teal leaned slightly more green than shown here.

Cost: This was $14 at shop.Llarowe.com and worth every single penny (something I have said thus far for every Polish I have ordered from her site).

What I used: I used Nailtek Foundation II, a coat of Orly Bonder, two coats of Show, and a coat of Poshe fast dry topcoat

Application: Pretty good. I have heard bloggers describe Ozotics as being airy or fluffy when applied and I guess you could say this was sort of like that. It was definitely different than most polishes, maybe slightly thicker than normal, but not hard to control. It also seemed like it would be incredibly sheer and it wasn't at all! A lot of people apply these over black for that reason, but I really think this one looks best on its own.

Color/Finish: ZOMGWTFAMAZINGNESSS!!! It's a predominantly darker teal-aqua and purple-magenta multi-chrome that can also flash a darker blurple and coppery orange on the edges at more extreme angles. The finish is a metallic shimmer, but not chrome or foil.

Old Korean Lady

Aka Peripera Metallic Green

I bought this Polish after seeing swatches of it on a blog. I HAD to have it. I ordered off of ebay. This is a Korean brand that is supposed to be scented.

It really does smell like an old Korean lady!! It's funny, because I bought my house off of an older couple, the lady was Korean, and the smell of this polish dry is EXACTLY the way my house smelled! It's not bad, just smells like old lady perfume. I can still smell it with topcoat on if I put my nails up to my nose, but it's not strong or really noticeable. 

So first of all, how AWESOME is this kitty bottle?

I took this pic with flash on. The polish is way less yellow and shows more of a blue duochrome without flash.

And here it is on my nails:

Flash:

No flash:

The flash pic is actually a little more accurate color-wise. 

Cost: I think I ended up paying around $17 for this with shipping from Korea. The polish itself was around $10. Totally worth it.

What I used: 1 coat Nailtek II Foundation, 2 coats Metallic Green, 1 coat Seche Vite.

Application/formula: Actually very good. It went where I wanted it, wasn't too thin or thick and not at all goopy. It applied to complete opacity in 2 coats. Dry time was a little faster than average (a little longer than a foil). The brush is similar to OPI pro-wide, which I really don't like but it worked for this one. There were a few stray hairs on one side, but I just used the other side of the brush and they didn't cause a problem. It was just a little bit brushstrokey, but nothing awful and you barely notice against the awesomeness of the color and finish.

Color/finish: This is a foily metallic light green that also has an almost micro-glitter shimmer. I wouldn't call it mint or lime, maybe a brighter sage color? It's slightly duochrome from yellowish green to almost totally blue. It's more of a lit-from-within douchrome than a depends-on-what-angle. It doesn't flash different colors when I move my nails, but instead has different colors depending on where the light hits it. I have NOTHING like this and I am so glad I got it. Worth every penny.

Leprechaun Puke

Aka Julep Emilie and CND Sheer 24k Sparkle


I am still up in the air about Julep, the polishes are pretty good, but I cannot get over the price per ounce ($50+!!). Anyway, I got Emilie on a BOGO deal and since I am a Maven I get free shipping, so this polish cost me $7 (still the same price as Zoya for a little more than half as much polish :-/). Anyway, I wanted to play around with something for our upcoming Holiday Party (I call it a Solstice Party, hubby calls it a Christmas Party). Turns out I got something more like St. Patty's Day in December...

Flash:

No Flash:

No flash is more color accurate.

If a Leprechaun drank too much Guinness and puked, I'd imagine it to look like my ring finger (since we're equating flakies to puke nowadays). Maybe he puked on another Leprechaun and that explains the green?

Anyway, It's a very nice color, it applied well in two coats. It was slightly watery and tended to pool a little, but nothing totally horrific. I'd describe it as a kelly green creme.

24k sparkle is what I am really excited about. I got is as part of a CND set for $14. The set had this, a plum creme and a navy creme. I haven't tried the cremes yet, but I love this, just as I love all of the other CND effects, particularly the sparkles (Sapphire Sparkle FTW!!). I really want to put this over CG Velvet Bow.

I plan to try to review my latest Julep box some time soon, so stay tuned!

I Don't Have Cancer Nails

Aka OPI Grape...Set...Match & Servin' Up Sparkle


Ok, I know, what's with the title? I found out today that I don't have cancer. To make a long story short:

Went to the doc in August for other issues, he found a quarter sized lump on my thyroid. I got blood work, an ultrasound and a referral to an Endocrinologist. All the blood tests came back good and I finally got a biopsy done on the concerning nodules. One was a cyst (the one that started this all) and was drained, the rest were biopsied. I FINALLY got the results today and all is benign.

I decided I needed a mani to celebrate and I just happened to pick up one of those tennis lady duos at Beauty First. Set contained Grape...Set...Match (sparkly purple) and Servin' Up Sparkle (chunky, multisized holo glitter). I got it for 30% off, too! I know I just got done saying I am not a glitter fan, but I am a big holo fan. I'm also a purple fan (it's my favorite color), so this was the perfect combo.

Here's a pic of GSM on its own:

Not the best pic, my nails were still wet. This is 3 coats. I am very disappointed when I have to apply 3 coats of any polish (except neons, since it's expected and they dry fast). The pic isn't the greatest as my nails were still wet.

This is a red based true purple with tiny blue, pink and purple shimmer particles. It's really quite nice, but the formula isn't the greatest. It was a bit sheer and watery. Dry time was slightly better than average though, so that helped.

Here it is with SUS on top, one coat:

Flash:

My only complaint is that, despite how it looks in the bottle, the glitter is sparse, or just doesn't pick up on the brush well. I applied this coat very thick to get the glitter on the brush, then went over it a few times without redipping the brush to get the glitter to stick. I also didn't get a lot of the hex pieces (about 1-3 per nail). I guess I could have done a second coat, but that would be 7 coats total with base and topcoat, YIKES!

Here are some blurry pics to show the sparkly holo goodness:

So what do you think? I am kind of up in the air. Again, I'm not a big glitter fan and this just somehow seems like too much. Believe me, that means something coming from the 28 year old mom who wears acid green eyeshadow! At the same time, it's kind of boring to me, likes it's really nothing special and should be more than it is. I'm not totally disappointed, and I do like it, but I guess it just seems like it's missing something I thought it would have. Or maybe nothing can excite me now that I got such great news!

Deck My Nails

Aka Zoya Noel


Loving this!! I recently picked up a few polishes at Beauty First. Among them, this beauty. I know everyone has been drooling over the Zoya holiday collection, but to be honest, I am not much of a glitter fan. I'm especially not particularly excited about the idea of pointy bar glitter hanging off the edge of my nails. I got a mini bottle of Holly in my Birchbox, but even that wasn't terribly exciting to me. However, when I saw Noel, I knew I had to have her.

Flash:

No Flash:

Noel is a medium, dusty blue metallic with a soft white gold shimmer that runs through it, seen best in the bottle pics:

On the nail, what looks like veining in the bottle translates to a subtle white goldish scattered shimmer on the nail.

Cost: Zoya can be purchased from Zoya.com or at Beauty First stores for $7-8.

What I used: One coat of Nailtek II Foundation, 2 coats of Zoya Noel and one coat of Seche Vite.

Application: No issues to report. Same lovely Zoya formula as usual.


Musings: I like the color a lot. I am really starting to love Zoya Polish. They do the most amazing glass flecks and "lit-from-within" metallics. Just to note, I put this on 3 days ago. Pretty good wear time :-) 

Not So Heavy Metal

Aka Julep Sienna


Today, I have for you a brand that is relatively new to me. I recently enrolled in the Julep Maven program (because who doesn't like getting deeply "discounted" automatic deliveries of Polish??? No one, that's who. Ok, maybe my hubby). Anyway, I get a box every month for $20. My first box had 2 Polishes and only cost me $5. Plus it had a hand scrub and two samples of lotions. I then got a coupon for a pre-selected duo at $14, so I snatched it up because one of the colors was very very appealing to me. Surprisingly, this is not that color (I will review it soon though).

The second half of the duo I purchased was Sienna:

Flash:

No flash:

Color: Sienna is a neutral white gold foil. I'm sure there are lots of colors very similar to this (an Orly comes to mind, Luxe maybe??). It's extremely shiny, sparkly and metallic. I like these types of colors. More muted than an in-your-face, space-aged metallic silver, but not tacky like a yellow gold foil.

What I used: 2 coats of Nailtek Foundation II (I've been having some splitting lately and Nailtek is wonderful for making my nails stronger), 2 coats of Sienna and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

Application/formula: Very nice formula. It was a little on the runny side, but not watery. Opaque in 2 coats, even though I was expecting to need 3 for some reason. It didn't apply like a typical foil. I'm not sure how that is, but I love foils and use them often and this one seemed to apply more like a creme or jelly or standard shimmer. I guess it was missing that "grittiness", which isn't necessarily bad, that foils can have. It also didn't dry quite as fast as a typical foil (not a bad thing). I give the formula a B+. The brush is also pretty good, not too wide nor too thin. My only complaint is that the very long stem causes some dripping if you're not very careful.

Brand/Cost: I am putting these two together, because I want to say some things about this brand from my experience and the cost for all of their Polishes. First, they can be purchased from Julep.com for $14/each. Obviously, if you sign up to be a Maven, you get a bit of a discount. $14 is steep for Polish, in my opinion. You all know what a tightwad I can be about makeup and such. What makes it even worse is that the bottles are only .27 fl oz. To give you an idea:

Illamasqua - 0.5 fl oz @ $14 ($28/oz)
China Glaze - 0.5 fl oz. @ $3-$7 ($6-$14/oz)
Rescue Beauty Lounge - 0.4 fl oz. @ $18 ($45/oz)
Essie - 0.5 fl oz @ $8 ($16/oz)
Chanel - 0.4 fl oz @ $25 ($62.50/oz)


Julep - 0.27 fl oz @ $14 is a whopping $51.85 per oz!!! It's not as expensive as Chanel (and, to be perfectly honest, I don't think Chanel has any business charging so much for their mediocre, dupe-able Polishes), but it's pretty much one of the most expensive Polish brands per ounce. You use the polish once and see a significant dent in the bottle level, even at just two relatively thin coats.

I am going to stick with it for $20/month as long as my boxes continue to have at least 2 Polishes and the formula stays pretty good like the 2 I have tried so far. I'll also probably buy some when there are deals like the set of two that I got for $14 (free shipping). However, I don't think these are worth full price under any circumstance. They're nice, the formula is slightly above average, but there is nothing unique about the colors (so far) and the bottles are a little strange (tall and thin). If they come out with some awesome linear holos, duochromes or flaky glitters, I might change my mind. Until then, PLEASE DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THESE!

Hydrated Chromium(III) Oxide

... a blue-green pigment of medium saturation and relatively dark in value.

Aka Illamasqua Viridian


That's how wikipedia (heart!) described viridian. Illamasqua describes this Polish as Metallic peacock green. I think that works too.

This is a shapeshifter. It's not really a duochrome, but it appears different colors depending on the lighting. Indoors, it's a standard forest green shimmer. Outdoors, in the sun, you see way more blue making it more of a teal color.

Price: 13.50 GBP (approx. $21.31) on Illamasqua.com or $14 on Sephora.com (unless you're lucky enough to live near a Sephora brick-and-mortar that carries these).

What I used: One coat of Nailtek Foundation II, 2 coats of Viridian, one coat of Seche Vite.

Application/formula: Very nice. This was slightly more watery than the other Illamasquas I have tried, but still a very, very good formula. Went where I wanted it to go, no pooling, dripping or balding. It even dried pretty fast. I only had to wait about a minute and a half before doing the second coat. Also, completely opaque in 2 coats (definitely needs 2). Not much else to say except typical Illamasqua loveliness.

Sorry if the reflections on the pics make my nails look lumpy. I assure you those are just reflections (because it's so shiny!) and this is a smooth as a baby's butt.

Little By Little...

I am losing my freaking sanity over this freaking POLISH!

Aka Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco (pretentious Italian music term meaning "little by little", duh)

As I have mentioned before, my first RBL purchase was the "Firebird" collection. There's a story behind it, but I won't get into it because I am so absolutely disgusted that I spent $18 a pop for these horrendous Polishes.

My only experience with RBL before this was second hand. My friend at work got me hooked on Polish a couple of years ago and, when her addiction far exceeded mine (it only slightly exceeds mine now), she started buying these "$18 Polishes" and I thought she was out of her mind. Then I started reading Polish blogs and seeing all these rave reviews over the formula, I became intrigued. When one of my favorite bloggers posted the Firebird collection, I had to have it.

I coughed up $60 for 3 Polishes from the collection. They all have fancy Italian names, so let's call them "the blue one", "the pink one" (the one I am showing you today) and "the really light lavender one". The best of the three is the blue one. Good pigmentation but still not an $18 formula. The lavender one took forever to dry and went on very goopy and sheer. The pink one... well... Let's look at some pics first:

Ok, very pretty color, I will give it that. And unique, as far as I know. After all, that's why I bought these. This pic is outside with flash. There's not going to be any sun in Pittsburgh until about May, so I have to work with what I have here. Doesn't look too bad, right? I will say, the pink is a bit darker and more mauvey than shown here.

Hmmm, what do we have here? See that bump on my middle finger? Yeah, I didn't nick the Polish... That, my friends, is a brush hair. Yes, I kid you not. On the THIRD coat, one of the hairs from the crappy, floppy, bendy brush fell out, onto my nail and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

Ok, I could have removed and repainted, but this formula was so damn frustrating, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn't even bother cleaning up or moisturizing, so excuse the Seche fingers and ragged cuticles.

What I used: 2 coats of Nailtek foundation II, THREE coats of ($18) RBL poco a crappo, and one coat of Seche. Thank god for Seche Vite.

Application/formula: BIG FAT F. F for FAIL. EF for EPIC FAIL. No, seriously, I am so angry with this Polish right now, I am considering crushing it with a hammer and sending the pics to RBL. First coat, applied very thin, was watery but dry. It seemed like I never had enough polish on the brush to cover my nail. I just cut my nails, so it's not like they are unusually long or anything. Other than that, though, first coat wasn't too bad. Mind you, this is the second time I have tried this Polish with the same results. Second coat was when the trouble really started. I made sure I waited until the first coat was almost totally dry (still just slightly tacky, which is more time than I usually wait for coat 2). I started applying the second coat and I had the same issue with what seemed like never enough polish on the brush, so I used thicker coats, as I had no choice. This is when the first coat decided "no, I'm not really dry" and it seemed like I was applying Polish over wet polish and making a huge mess. I waited even longer for the third coat, because it needed a third coat. Pretty much the same thing, so what I ended up with was a goopy, uneven mess, with a brush hair in it, to boot! Applying the Seche really helped even things out, but I am not happy at all.

The brush sucks. Once again, it's a floppy, bendy disaster. When I say bendy, I mean that when I go to apply to the nail and start farther up than I mean to, so I can push back toward the cuticle and get a clean line, instead of moving the Polish, the damn brush bristles would BEND. I have no words for this... Ok, maybe I do: UNACCEPTABLE! Seriously, I paid $18 for a crappy formula in a smaller than average bottle and you can't even give me a decent brush with which to apply said crappy formula???

$18, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, I am harping. I paid $60 for 3 friggin Polishes and have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, and yeah, I seriously DOUBT I will ever use them again (MAYBE only the blue one). I pay $3 for China Glaze, and while sometimes it is hit or miss, I have never used one with a formula (or brush) as bad as this. In fact, the Polishes from the Metro collection are some of the BEST Polishes (color- and formula-wise) I have EVER used. While I will gladly pay $14 a pop for Illamasqua, I will NEVER EVER AGAIN pay $18 for RBL.

After all this, and a coat of Seche, it's STILL not even close to dry (and I am typing away, hoping to screw it up so I have an excuse to take it off). 45 minutes was how long this mani took me. I am usually done and dry in 20 minutes TOPS. What, exactly, did I pay $18 for again? Maybe I can use it to sign xmas cards or something.

***Update: I posted this at about 2:00, which was about 15 minutes AFTER I had finished the mani. It's now 3:30, so almost 2 hours after I FINISHED the mani. Guess what? It's STILL not dry. I can lightly tap a nail with the edge of another nail and get a nice, big dent. So wonderful.

The Sky is Filled With Pink Stars

Aka Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso


Read the book Under the Dome by Stephen King and you will understand the reference. (Read the book anyway, it really is "The best yet from the best EVER".)

Cost: $18 @ http://rescuebeauty.com/ - they sometimes run 50% off sales at RBL.

Application: Ugh, I hate to say this... There's an old saying with us nail polish aficionados... "For this price, my nails had better paint themselves!". Sadly, for $18, mine did NOT. The formula wasn't horrible, but from what I have heard of RBL Polishes, this one was definitely lacking. It was ALMOST a one coater (if you did a thick, careful coat, you might pull it off). Pigmentation was wonderful but the polish itself was a little thick and hard to work with. It didn't always go where I wanted it, I found myself redipping in the bottle more often than normal (2x at most for one nail is usual for me) which makes it uneven and lumpy if you're not very careful and it pooled a little on the sides of my fingers... I had a bit of cleanup afterward.

What I used: This is 1 coat of Nailtek Foundation II, 2 coats of RBL Piu Mosso and one coat of Seche Vite topcoat.

Dry time: Totally dry in less than 15 minutes.

Comments: Still worth the $18 for the AMAZING color! It's so dark, yet it glows. I will say it's not an attention grabber from a distance, but up close it's absolutely beautiful.  

Musings: I will probably be lynched by foaming-at-the-mouth crowds of RBL fanatics for the lukewarm review of the formula. Sorry ladies, I have paid $3 for China Glaze Polishes with FLAWLESS formulas... This one just doesn't even come close to an $18 formula. I think I am done with RBL (the other 2 in this collection that I purchased have just as bad, if not worse, formulas), the only other one I might get is Scrangie, cause the color is full of awesome.