Fanservice Nails Happy Frog - Photos, Swatches, Review

Lately I've been eating up indie nail polishes like they're the best chocolate cake ever and, in some ways, they are! Indie companies frequently feature fun and sparkly colors that are hard to dupe. Because of the relatively small quantities made and relative unfamiliarity among the public when compared with the major drug store brands, you can be quite certain that what you purchase will be a unique color among your friends and consequently a major source of polish envy :P

Most recently, I have bought a few shades from Fanservice Nails, an indie brand that can be purchased here on Etsy. I couldn't have asked for a smoother transaction, and got some lovely colors to boot. Here is Happy Frog, a pale grass green creme with green and holographic glitter. 

Pretty, no? I used three coats for the swatches above and it came out perfectly. A topcoat would have smoothed out the roughness, but it's still not very noticeable at all. I can't wait to show you more of Fanservice Nails' polishes! I can guarantee that they are at least as beautiful ;)

Fourth of July Manicure (Oh, and I'm back!)

Back from a hiatus! Thanks for your patience - Life took a hectic turn a couple months back, but I feel I'm in the position to get back to providing you with all things pretty and shiny (hopefully!). Let's kick things off with my Fourth of July manicure:

It's looking rough because A.  it's nearly a week old, and B. I put my hands through the grinder (figuratively) daily at work and because of rock climbing. The accent nail is one coat of Zoya's Delilah under two coats of Julep's America, a gorgeously patriotic red, blue, and silver glitter. The rest of my nails feature nail wraps from Incoco. They are super easy to apply and I've experienced them lasting two weeks with minimal wear.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!

Revlon Colorstay Nail Enamel in Provence, Rain Forest - Swatches, Photos, Review

Back, after a short hiatus! As a sign of my remorse I offer you a couple of Revlon's new nail polishes! I've seen the shiny, new displays front and center at every every every drugstore, and there's only so much temptation a girl-who-is-somewhat-really-obsessed-with-makeup can take before yielding.

This is Provence, a dusty, pale lavender gray creme. Reminds me of sailing on a murky, breezy summer afternoon, just before a thunderstorm. Not all that unique, but a pleasant color nonetheless. I used two coats.

Rainforest, a dark forest green jelly with glitter. Two coats.

What do you think? Have you too been tempted by these new Revlon lacquers? The formula was solid and smooth, with no notable issues. Unfortunately I've not worn a full manicure with this polish so I can't attest to the wear time. Overall, while nothing outlandishly revolutionary, you can find many decent classic shades in this new Revlon repertoire to fill the gaps in your collection (and Rain Forest is truly gorgeous!). They are available at drugstores for $7.99 each.

Coastal Scents Winterberry Palette - Review, Swatches, Photos

  I love Coastal Scents' Winterberry palette! Despite the name, some of the colors are subdued and pastel-y enough to be wonderfully suitable for the upcoming Spring season.

L to R, Top to Bottom

Coastal Scents continues to impress me with the quality of their very reasonably priced shadows! These shades are soft, workable, and pigmented (as you can see), all featuring a shimmery, frosty finish (as you can see). I've posted enough about this brand and there's nothing notably different about this palette's formula, so I'll leave you with a quick Winterberry look -

This lovely little set is available at the Coastal Scents site for $19.95, though it's frequently on sale.

NOTD - Illamasqua Scarab Photos, Swatches

I haven't posted a Nail of the Day in quite a while! Confession - this isn't a nail of today, but a nail of a day from a day a few weeks ago (got it? 8D). My nails are currently in polish rehab until I can get the cracks to grow out. It's a struggle not to reach for a cute, shiny color to swipe over my tips, but we do have a 'placebo' (aka nail strengthener) and are doing alright as it is ;)

In any case, here is Illamasqua's Scarab, a goooorgeous ruby red shimmer. It has that dark, rusty undertone of dried blood, if someone (rather psychotically) added a sprinkling of fine glitter and gloss to it -

The formula is excellent, as is on par for the brand. Pictured is day four after application, so you can see tip-wear, but the manicure lasted a good week before it warranted removal. Nothing else to say, really, other than that I whole-heartedly recommend Scarab if you are looking for a lusty, vampy red! It is available at Sephora for $14.

What do you think?

NYX Nail Polish in Royal Blue, Boho, Vintage Red, Venetian Glass, Enchanted Forest, Souffle - Review, Photos, Swatches

In honor of Cherry Culture's Valentine's Day sale, I'm posting some of the NYX polishes available for purchase on the site. Personally I know of no brick-and-mortar stores in my area that sell the brand's nail lacquers (though Ulta does carry a plethora of other NYX products!); you may be in the same boat, so CC's 20% off offer may be the ideal time to stock up!

L to R: Boho, Royal Blue, Venetian Glass

L to R: Vintage Red, Enchanted Forest, Souffle

There are two types of nail polishes featured here - NYX Nail Polish Salon ($4), and NYX Girls Nail Polish ($3). The Salons come in a hefty square bottle very reminiscent of Deborah Lippman's packaging, while the Girls have a standard rectangular bottle with a silver cap. Another difference lies in the brushes - the Salon applicators are strangely long with stiff bristles and inferior to the Girls, in my opinion, which are much softer and more manageable. As far as formula goes, the two are comparable and I found no noticeable differences within the finishes.

Royal Blue, a dusty medium blue creme (Salon). It has a bit of a satin finish. Two coats.

Boho, a frosty meadow green (Girls). Three coats.

Vintage Red, a bright pinkish red jelly (Girls). Two coats.

Venetian Glass, a silvery pearl fleck, like crushed glass (Girls). Three coats.

Enchanted Forest, a blue-green jelly base with beautiful gold, green, and blue glitter (Salon). Three coats.

Souffle, a warm brown with reddish gold microshimmer (Salon). Two coats.

So, what do you think? I think all of these are a great value!

Thanks for reading!

Sally Hansen Gem Crush Nail Color in Cha-Ching!, Glitz Gal, Big Money - Review, Swatches, Photos

Today I have a few of Sally Hansen's new line of glitter nail lacquers from a collection called Gem Crush!

Big Money, a blonde glitter with sparse silver hexagonals -

Cha-Ching!, a ruby red glitter also with silver hexagonals -

And finally Glitz Gal, a smoky charcoal glitter with larger holo hexagons -

All polishes were swatched with three coats. Apart from that, not much to say, really; what you see is what you get. The formula on these Gem Crushes is decent, smooth, and flows easily for application. The offered shades are the classic staples you expect, and consequently those with few glitters in their arsenal may find this collection useful. If you have a substantial stash, you are likely to have something quite similar (without checking, the OPI Muppet colors comes to mind!). Whatever the case, these Sally nail lacquers are a great, high-quality option for those looking to fill the glittery holes in their polish collections. You can find these at drugstores for about $7 each, though they are frequently on sale.