Saturday, March 1, 2014

Saturday Spam - Nail Polish Swatches

Hello again readers!

Time again for another swatch spam. I keep getting new ones, and then never really getting around to doing individual posts about them... So, here we go!

Layla Ceramic Effects - CE14

Layla Ceramic Effects CE14 is a dark oxblood red, that has a glaze effect, like ceramics. (Oh ho! That's where Ceramic Effects comes in!) This was my first Layla polish, and I wasn't really impressed. It took three coats, and even then, I could still see my nail tip after three coats. It is unbelievably shiny though, which makes up for it a little bit... I know for sure that I took this one back, because I have others in this colour that I like more.

They retail around 8-10.

Bellatrix Lip Gloss and Nail Polish


Picked these up at Walgreens after Christmas (and you can still find them lingering around clearance...). The gloss is okay, not sticky, adds shine, and has just an okay amount of shimmer in it. It doesn't do much, just a clear gloss. The taste leaves much to be desired, as it just tastes like lip gloss. At least it's not disgusting fake fruit...

The polish was decent too. It covered in two coats, but it might have needed three, as you can still see my tips of my nail in the photos. I do like the colour, it's a bit like Listening to Blue Reed by Wet n Wild. The polish has a heavy chemical scent as well. 

They originally retailed for 5 dollars, but now they're under 2 if you can find them. Not bad, but not the greatest polish I've ever used.

China Glaze - Bump in the Night

Bump in the Night is a black creme texture polish. I have a love-hate relationship with textured polishes, the first one I ever got was the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Sour Apple. I still am not a fan of textured polishes, but this one is really nice. The feel of this polish isn't gritty, it's bumpy, but it doesn't feel gritty to me. It applies so well, and it was almost a one coater! I was surprised with how well it covered, since sour apple was a little thick to work with, this went on great. Picture is with two coats.

China Glaze retails for 8-5 dollars.

Orly - Macabre Masquerade


Macabre Masquerade is a polish with blue, silver, violet, gold, green, and red glitter suspended in a royal blue jelly base.  I saw this when I was in Chicago, and just had to buy it, since it was only two dollars! I tried it on, and even with three coats, it still shows through. I'm sure when enough coats, it could be fully opaque, but his is definitely a layering polish for sure. For best results, layer one coat over a royal blue polish - I used Sinful Colors Into the Blue for layering on the ring finger.

Orly retails for 8-10 dollars.

Claire's -  Splatter Paint


Splatter Paint is a black and white bar, and multi-sized hex glitter suspended in a clear base. I can never get enough of polishes like these, and they are so great for layering! I used one coat over Sephora by OPI - Caught With my Khakis Down.

Claire's polish retails for 5 dollars each.

Claire's - Culture Shock

Culture Shock has black and white multi-sized hex glitter with black bar glitter suspended in a neon green jelly base. I was really excited for this polish, but it's impossible to get opaque! It's another layering polish, and I layered it over Orly Gumdrop on my ring finger. 

Claire's polishes retail for 5 dollars each.

Rue 21 - Rue Beaute - Unnammed Polish

I really wish Rue 21 would get on the wagon and name their polishes... Even something as simple as 'blue' or 'teal' or something like that would make it so much easier to find swatches online... Anyway, this Rue Beaute polish is a bright teal. It went on great, though it was a little bit runny. I used two coats for the picture above.

Rue Beaute polishes retail for 4 dollars each.

Color Club - Positively Posh

Positively Posh is a taupe creme, that I absolutely adored. Love at first sight! It leans violet, which is okay, and goes on so nicely. I used two coats for the swatch.

Color Club polishes retail for 4-8 dollars.

Rue 21 - Pink Ice - Blue 

Once again, I wish Rue 21 named their polishes... This Pink Ice polish is a light blue with a opalescent shift in it. When I see it, I just can't get enough. With two coats, it's opaque, and it's just really a gorgeous colour to wear, and even layer with.

Pink Ice polishes retail for 4 dollars.

Rue 21 - Pink Ice - White

This Pink Ice polish is a sheer white with gold shimmer. This is with three coats, so it can't be worn alone, but if you layer it over a (light!) base colour than you can get a good enough look out of it. I wasn't wowed with this polish, and I would have liked it more if it was opaque...

Pink Ice polishes retail for 4 dollars.

Target Skull Polishes

I didn't want to put these by themselves, so it's a combination! These polishes I got from Target around Halloween for a dollar a piece. The bottles are super cute, and shaped like skulls, but the polish inside leaves room to be desired....

The first one is a bright neon pink with opalescent sheen to it. It reminds me a bit of the Sinful Colors - Daredevil, but definitely not as opaque. If this was a little more  opaque, it'd be better, but even with three coats you can still see my nail tips! If you layer this over a bright pink, it'll work, but not on it's own.

The second one is an equally bright yellow-green metallic. I was not wowed by this much at all... It was runny, it shows brush strokes, and like the pink, even with three coats it's not enough to be worn on it's own. It could be layered over a light green, but with the brush strokes being shown, it's not worth it. You can get better polish for a dollar (Wet n Wild), so if they ever pop up again don't waste your money, unless you love the skull bottles that much, then go for it.

Thanks for reading!

Finger Paints - 2014 - Chromatic Creation and It Comes Easel-y For Me Swatches

Hello again readers!

Finger Paints launched new colours to their permanent line starting this year. I was really excited for it, since that meant there'd be new colours to choose for, and there are always sales here or there where you can buy one get one free for Finger Paints. They're common, you just have to know when to jump on them!

It Comes Easel-Y For Me


It Comes Easel-Y For Me is a beautiful, vampy-berry colour. I was really excited to see this in the permanent display, since I really do have a soft spot of berry shades, and it's pretty dark.

The formula is nice, not too runny and not too thick. It was almost a one coater with how opaque it was. It is however, a two-coater, because it can't cover completely on the first attempt without using a really thick layer. I used two coats for the images above. (And unfortunately I broke one of my nails and didn't get around to cutting it until after this swatch, I'm so sorry).




The polish I was most excited about was Chromatic Creation. Chromatic Creation is a light silver holo! Can you believe it? A permanent holo that's 5 dollars? Count me in!

It shows ridges in the nail, which is unfortunate, but with a thicker base coating or a ridge-filler it won't matter at all. The colour is a little sheer at first, but with two coats it's opaque, and shines wonderfully. Make sure you have the proper lighting, if it doesn't have enough, it'll just appear a very light silver (which also isn't bad to the eyes). I used two for the photos above.

I'm really pleased with the new releases that I have, they both performed really well, and I love the colours! I already have my eyes on a couple of the others. I buy mine at Sally's and at 5 dollars a piece (3.75-2.50 a piece during B1G1 50%/FREE) they're very easy on the wallet.

Thanks for reading!