Tuesday 30 April 2013

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch

Welcome to Cheap Polish Tuesday where we explore polishes found regular price or on sale for $5 or less! Today we have a sneak peek into the Urban Outfitters polish collection where they are found for a regular price of $6, or Buy 2 for $8. This is up here in Canada, so I would assume it's even less in the states. (Damnit.)

Urban Outfitters Mystic is a blue violet jelly packed with flakies, on par with Essie Shine of the Times. The flakes are the identical strong orange to strong green shift with a rare blue glint. Having a pre-packed flakie jelly is always somewhat patchy on the first coat of application, but the flakies give the slightest amount of texture for a second coat to grab onto, creating a nice even self-levelling second coat. I loved this one. It sings in natural light, but in a light box for photos, it is a bit difficult to capture. Here's Urban Outfitters Mystic in a two coat swatch with no top coat:

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch

And excuse the crappy photo but because I wanted to prove that there is a colour shift:

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch

Check out that strong colour shift. Isn't it somewhat... mystical? Wow that was bad, forgive me. Because this is a flakie, nothing does flakies better than a nice matte top coat to really highlight the flakie shapes and colour. I've used Revlon Matte Top Coat to match with Cheap Polish Tuesday as you can find it between $3-5.

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch (Revlon Matte)

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch (Revlon Matte)

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch (Revlon Matte)

And one more crappy photo to show that shift!....

Urban Outfitters Mystic Swatch (Revlon Matte)

I promise I'll never do that again... Well, maybe. Apparently you can photograph holographic and flakie polishes under water to show off the different colours but the idea of sticking a small tub of water in my light box sort of terrifies me, but I promise I'll experiment with that idea so I don't have to subject any of you to that again. Yikes. But colour shift is pretty, right? WORTH IT!... Sort of.

One thing that I really dislike about Urban Outfitters is the homophobic views and reputation that it has. It makes me uncomfortable to throw money at a company that is blatantly unsure of where it stands in regards to equal rights so this will probably be my last polish purchase from Urban Outfitters.

Anyway, it appears that Urban Outfitters has joined the ranks of Revlon in duping Deborah Lippmann polishes. I hear Urban Outfitters Mystic is a dupe of Lippmann's Ray of Light, but we'll have to wait and find out on that one.

Monday 29 April 2013

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno Review

I was going to save this for next week but I couldn't stand wearing them for more than 5 hours so here's a rundown of these OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques in Inferno that I found at Winners a couple of months ago on sale. They are regularly priced at about $12 but I bought this one for about $4.

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

Just to be clear, these are the stick on OPI Nail Apps, not the pure lacquer Nail Apps like you might have seen (and what I thought I was buying, to be honest).

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

The instructions are as follows: To use: Start with bare nails. Clean with rubbing alcohol to remove oils. Choose the best size for each nail. If strip is too wide, trim with scissors. Rub the strip to warm. Peel off strip and apply to nail with rounded edge close to the cuticle. Rub strip over nail starting from the center. Press strip over edge of nail and use the enclosed nail file to file off excess. File in a vertical downward motion. Rub strip again to ensure adhesion and to remove any bubbles. To remove from nails: Rub to warm. Slowly peel from one side.

It came with 16 different sized decals and a small nail file.

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

These OPI Nail Apps are the "Inferno" ones. I was excited because I thought they would match one of the paintball guns I had on hand to photograph, with a blood spattered tip because that's what the picture had, but instead it was the other way around, the blood spatter started from the cuticle. Not a very flattering design!

Application was shoddy. They are literally nail stickers. They are too thick and the shapes are just not fitting to my nails. It feels like there is tape on your nails and it's very distracting. It was too much work for the end result. It says that this will last 1-2 days, but I personally could not stand wearing them for more than a few hours. (I was going to do a wear test, but could not carry on with my life wearing them.)

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

I really didn't like these and I am not sure how I could recommend them. I understand that OPI has a "Pure Lacquer" Nail App which is probably better, as you can do a proper clean up, but for a regular price of $12? Even the sale price for $4 was simply too much. The stickers are uncomfortable, not easy to put on, not long lasting, and the shapes don't even match. The largest sticker was bigger than my boyfriend's man foot's big toe! Here it is against my thumb:

OPI Nail Apps Design Appliques Inferno

Not a pleasant experience, unfortunately. I was really looking forward to these.

Thursday 25 April 2013

Matte Top Coat Comparison Review: American Apparel vs. Essie vs. GOSH vs. OPI vs. Revlon

EDIT (June 5th, 2013): This is surprisingly one of my more popular posts on this blog. I haven't made any modifcations to the review itself but I will be adding some swatches of the individual matte top coats because I have been using different ones recently. Just adding photos, no additional words. (Well, other than these ones.) I hope you find this useful!

... That was a mouthful! I think that's my longest title yet! Welcome to my capsule review of the battle of matte top coats! We all know that matte is all the rage right now. We've got matte polishes, matte textured polishes, all this nail art of gloss and matte contrast... Matte is pretty slick and it seems to be here to stay for the year. I've mostly used a GOSH matte top coat but wondered if there was anything different. Well, is there?

Matte Top Coat Collection

Here's all the matte top coats I could find here in Canada (remember, us northern dwellers are often shafted compared to our southern counterparts!)... And even then, they weren't that easy to find! From left to right: I picked up the GOSH matte top coat from Shoppers Drug Mart for about $5. American Apparel's matte top coat was advertised online for $9; I tried to find it in stores but alas, I ordered it online for the advertised price. It even took longer to deliver than the rest of my order (I ordered some socks, haha). Essie's Matte About You can be found in the $9-11 range on Nail Polish Canada and in some select stores. Revlon's Matte Top Coat sells for the same price of most of their polishes in the $3-5 range. I picked mine up on sale for $4 at Shoppers Drug Mart. OPI's matte top coat was released this month and not easily found in salons. I ordered mine for $11 from Nail Polish Canada. It's the most expensive matte top coat in this review.

For individual matte top coat swatches, I've used OPI Save Me, OPI In The Spot-Light Pink, Sally Hansen Instadry Mint Spirit and Sally Hansen Instadry Teal-y Fast. Please don't mind the damage on my pinky and index fingers. It's the main reason why we're seeing comparison reviews instead of swatches right now.

GOSH "Matt Effect" Top Coat

Here's my first matte top coat: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat. You've seen the most swatches of this on one on my blog. It has an ever so slight sheen to it which sort of bothered me because the "matte" that I know is like the chalkyness of the Knock Out Cosmetics Flatte Black. Now that's matte! At least with these top coats, there is a bit of longevity to the matte effect, rather than it getting buffed through daily tasks. Formula and brush were good. No problems with streaking or application. I found that when you apply in thin coats, it appears to be more "chalky" matte, but it becomes streaky and unflattering.

And just because we can, here's more GOSH matte top coat:

OPI I Lily Love You Swatch (over Quo by Orly Little Black Dress)

OPI When Monkeys Fly Matte Swatch (Over OPI Live and Let Die)

Next on the plank is American Apparel Matte Top Coat.

American Apparel Matte Top Coat Swatch

I LOVE the bottle of the American Apparel Matte Top Coat. The big squareness and that gorgeous gothic font. YUM. The typography nerd in me is INTO it!!! Now, the thing with the American Apparel matte top coat?... It's... Not that matte. I would even tag it as a "semi-gloss". I don't think there's anything wrong with it; I just wouldn't use it for a matte application. One reason why I wanted to test these matte top coats was my "answer" *coughboycottcough* to Cult Nails' wax finish. I wanted to see if I could find a way to emulate the effect with other products. While I don't have any of their latest wax products, comparing photos, this American Apparel matte semi-gloss top coat just may be the answer.

Here's American Apparel Matte Top Coat over Daily Lacquer's Hotaru:

Daily Lacquer Hotaru Swatch

Onwards with Essie's Matte About You...

Essie Matte About You Swatch

The most popular matte top coat on Instagram, from what I can tell. I find that it's pretty damn matte on coloured polishes. On black, they all look the same. Application was good, despite my hatred for the Essie brush. The viscosity works with the brush size and width. There is no need to have any sloppy application. (Unless you're me and accidentally didn't wait long enough, but that's my fault.) Overall, a very solid choice for a matte top coat.

Revlon Matte Top Coat Swatch

I think Revlon has had a matte top coat for quite some time but they popularized the release of it with the Bubble Gum Days, Urban Nights collection. This was easily the cheapest matte top coat I could find other than GOSH. It has a similar finish to GOSH and Essie's but the formula is VERY thick. The thickest matte top coat formula out of all of these. A decent solution for anyone who wants a cheap matte top coat solution.

Here's Revlon Matte Top Coat over over Icing by Claire's Choco Chip:

Icing by Claire's Choco Chip Swatch (Matted with Revlon Matte Top Coat)

Here's Revlon Matte Top Coat over Revlon Trendy and Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol:

Revlon Trendy Swatch (With Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol and Revlon Matte Top Coat)

And lastly, OPI's latest release... Their matte top coat:

OPI Matte Top Coat Swatch

The most expensive of the bunch. It has a similar finish to Essie's but formula was a little thin for the usual OPI wide brush. Because the brush is so wide, and the matte top coat is so thin, at first it may seem a bit streaky. I suggest to either not swipe the excess on the inside of your bottle, or do two quick coats. Nice consistent matte finish just like Essie's when done correctly.

Here's OPI Matte Top Coat over Rainbow Honey Schrammi and Rainbow Honey Yoshimi:

Rainbow Honey Schrammi Swatch (With Rainbow Honey Yoshimi)

Here's OPI Matte Top Coat over OPI Black Onyx and Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol:

Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol Swatch (Over OPI Black Onyx with OPI Matte Top Coat)

So there you have it... The individual matte top coats on their own, but these are top coats after all, how do they do for wear?

Let's do it with Rimmel's Black Satin first. (Because I'll be honest here, and I screwed up the application royally here.)

Here's my left hand wearing Rimmel Black Satin, with no top coat:

Before Matte Top Coat Applied

And here's WITH matte top coat (PLEASE excuse the sloppy application):

After Matte Top Coat Applied
Index: Revlon matte top coat
Middle: OPI matte top coat
Ring: Essie Matte About You
Pinky: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat
Thumb: American Apparel Matte Top Coat

American Apparel is looking a bit "waxy" rather than matte here.

And this is after one full day of wear (typing on keyboard, washing hair, doing dishes):

Matte Top Coat One Day Wear
Index: Revlon matte top coat
Middle: OPI matte top coat
Ring: Essie Matte About You
Pinky: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat
Thumb: American Apparel Matte Top Coat

Looks like Revlon got the short straw by having the index finger and got a chip. All of them have the slightest buffing at the tips. Overall, nothing major.

How about right hand action? Here's OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia without any top coat (excuse my inability to pose this hand in a flattering manner):

Before Matte Top Coat Applied

And here's WITH matte top coat:

After Matte Top Coat Applied
Index: Revlon matte top coat
Middle: OPI matte top coat
Ring: Essie Matte About You
Pinky: GOSH "Matt Effect" top coat
Thumb: American Apparel Matte Top Coat

Again, you can see that American Apparel is clearly the more glossy one amongst its matte counterparts.

And after a full day of wear?:

Matte Top Coat One Day Wear

Same thing - Revlon got the short straw by being on the index finger and chipped. Others had slight buffing on the tips, losing a consistent matte finish on the whole nail.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Honestly? I thought I would have more to say but I'll be honest here - I did not see any substantial differences between GOSH, Essie, Revlon and OPI. GOSH has the sliiiightest sheen, not even that noticeable in comparison to the others. I would have to say that Essie and OPI are my favourite because have a nice matte finish and decent application (granted that you don't have a streaky application with OPI). American Apparel Matte Top Coat is the only one that's not matte but may be an answer for those who are looking for that "wax" finish. Revlon had the thickest formula which I didn't like that much, but again for the price, it is an OK solution. So the final word? GOSH is still in the soft spots of my heart and I'd recommend their top coat to anyone wanting to spend $5 or less, and if you have the extra cash, try out Essie, which has been a long time proved favourite, or OPI, which has the same finish but be weary that the formula can be a bit thin.

Wednesday 24 April 2013

OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! Swatch

Well, I was actually going to do something productive today but my bandwidth exceeded on my server. Not sure how that happened as my website is fairly unpopular but OK. Fine. I'll just update my nail blog while I wait for support to get back to me. So anyway - can you believe that while I was growing my nails, I burned off the rest of my backlog? I don't have much. I have a couple of clutch posts but for the most part, it's time to get current. Kind of.

This is actually my current length. As you can see, it's still uneven but I guess it'll pass. I am trying to take Caitlin's advice of wearing brighter colours now that I have shorter nails. So alas, here we have OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! from the wonderful Euro Centrale collection. Man, I've seriously loved all the ones I've tried so far. Talk about a near perfect collection - it just seems to have it all!

Suzi's Hungary Again! is a creamy vibrant watermelon-esque pink with coral tendencies. I wanted to call it a creme but everyone says there is a slight shimmer. The shimmer is so absent that I'm going to go ahead and say that it's pretty much OK to treat this one like a creme. I try to be technical about things, but let's face it - if I am squinting my eyes for something in a macro photo, it's pretty much OK to say it's more of a creme. So that's my verdict. Formula was good, just like the others I've tried in this collection - two coats and you're good to go. My swatch uses two coats, and no top coat (and excuse my damaged index finger):

OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! Swatch

OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! Swatch

OPI Suzi's Hungary Again! Swatch

I really love this colour. I didn't own anything like it before but I love how vibrant and playful it is. I typically dislike "summer" colours but this one gets the heart pounding! If you own other shades from the Euro Centrale collection, they all play SO nice with one another and I could pair Suzi's Hungary Again! with any other colour from the collection for simple nail art. Awesome.

Nice, while I finished typing this, I got a bandwidth increase while they're checking things out from their end! I think I am going to have to edit the htaccess file to prevent hotlinking. It's my best guess but anyway, onwards!

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Sinful Colors Cinderella Swatch

I got this new hand cream from Winners that has hemp oil in it but it makes my hands itch so I guess I'll stop using that. I have been trying to find new skincare products to use. When I posted about my Absinthe Hand Lotion on Instagram (I am so excited that it's a thing), someone suggested the Tokyo Milk Dark lip care products. They have Absinthe! And clove cigarettes! My favourite things that I don't often indulge in! When I went to Sephora to inquire about them, I showed one of the floor girls the Tokyo Milk products on Amazon on my iPhone. "Do you have this?" I asked.... To which she replied, "sorry, we don't carry Amazon". Seriously, Sephora. Seriously.

Anyway, welcome to Cheap Polish Tuesday where we celebrate cheap polishes we find regular price or on sale for $5 or less! A while back, all the girls on /r/redditlaqueristas were aching for a polish called Cinderella by Sinful Colors. I didn't understand the big deal over it so when I spotted Cinderella on sale at London Drugs for $3, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Sinful Colors Cinderella is a baby blue packed with the slightest invasive pink and purple shimmer. The shimmer definitely does come out to dance in sunlight, but I like that it's subtle enough in darker environments to show. Formula was okay. I thought it was a little sheer on and you can see where my free edge starts. I used two and a half coats for my swatch:

Sinful Colors Cinderella Swatch

Sinful Colors Cinderella Swatch

Overall, I didn't really understand the big deal over it. For the amount of hype it got, I just don't get it. It's OK. I am definitely not a big fan of baby blue. It just reminds me of the mid 90s.

Here's Addicted to Lacquer's Hoof Polish Just One More Time used over top:

Hoof Polish Just One More Time Swatch (over Sinful Colors Cinderella)

And jelly sandwiched:

Hoof Polish Just One More Time jelly sandwich (over Sinful Colors Cinderella)

Monday 22 April 2013

OPI Russian Navy Swatch

Welcome to Monday, folks. You know, I thought Monday would be a day of grogginess due to not wanting to come back from the a well-rested weekend but holy crap... Guys, I am feeling wrecked at work! I essentially worked all weekend, shooting a two day all day convention. My body... It hurts. (Maybe a sure sign that I need to work out or something...)

Anyway, here's another edition of "When Guys Get Me Nail Polish". This one was given to me for my birthday with a couple of others. This is OPI Russian Navy: in the bottle, a nice even navy blue with purple duochrome properties - however, on the nail, a basic navy blue with a slight shimmer. Not a whole lot going on. Formula was OK, typical two coater, no problems with streaks or drying. Here's my swatch with two coats, and no top coat:

OPI Russian Navy Swatch

OPI Russian Navy Swatch

I don't find this polish particularly unique or exciting so I think it's a bit of a pass for my recommendations. It's a great basic. I'll probably wear it as a base colour for an eye-popping glitter, but without that duochrome we see in the bottle, it sort of falls in the realm of ordinary and isn't a must-have. Great basic though.

Anyway, my nails are getting closer to where I want them to be so more Shitty Nail Art Mondays should be coming soon! (I hope so, anyway.)

Thursday 18 April 2013

OPI Live and Let Die Swatch

So I posted a bunch of stuff on Instagram last night (I play the tag games once in a while). I was about to go to sleep and was fairly candid in my tired state. I woke up to such kind messages on Instagram. I never really wanted to make my nail blog about feelings; it was just intended as a "get away" but the support and kind messages were so unexpected. Thanks nail community, you guys make me smile.

It's the end of the blog week and I'll end it with OPI Live and Let Die, which was a part of last year's James Bond collection. The colour itself is a deep forest green, with flecks of gold and olive shimmer. I didn't think much of it in the bottle but on and in some light was enough to sell it to me. The formula is a nice two coater, and applied smoothly.

OPI Live and Let Die Swatch

OPI Live and Let Die Swatch

It's a bit on the dark side, so I would save it for summer wear if you really like the gold/olive shimmer like I do. Otherwise, prepare for a very dark look. I also previously used Live and Let Die as a base colour for OPI When Monkeys Fly!:

OPI When Monkeys Fly Swatch (Over OPI Live and Let Die)

OPI When Monkeys Fly Matte Swatch (Over OPI Live and Let Die)

OPI When Monkeys Fly Matte Swatch (Over OPI Live and Let Die)

Despite the taco glitter, I loved the look.

OPI Live and Let Die is in my contenders for possible polish that I may wear if I ever get a Green Arrow cross play costume together by Halloween. Either that, or it works as my every year costume - in my Slytherin garb! (Hey, it's not my fault I make a good Slytherin cosplayer.)

Wednesday 17 April 2013

OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? Swatch

The best part about ordering from Nail Polish Canada for me is that I get my orders within 48 hours without fail *knock on wood* so I placed an order for Nail Envy Matte for $9 (which is the cheapest I've seen it; I usually see it for about $18-20), as well as Seche Restore and OPI's new matte top coat! I'll be doing a matte top coat comparison post next week! More on that later.

For now, I've got a swatch of OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? which I actually ended up buying in remorse recently over the disappointment of the new Oz shades. I figured they all looked so close to the New York Ballet soft shade collection, I might as well just pick up ones I missed since I was so happy with the sheer jelly formula from the two that I already own (Care to Danse?, and My Pointe Exactly)... So here's You Callin' Me A Lyre?, which is a peachy pink, very soft and delicate. The formula is just ace. I looooove the formulas for the New York Ballet soft shades. It builds up so nicely from first coat and onwards.

Here's one coat of OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre?:
OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? Swatch

Two coats:
OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? Swatch

Three coats:
OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? Swatch

I love this because it's such a great sheer and with a nice serving of coats, it gives you the illusion that your nails are completely healthy. My index nail is pretty much glued together and salvaged (which I did for about a month before finally breaking down and cutting it for a fresh start); but I find that it's not that noticeable with You Callin' Me A Lyre? - Highly recommended, great base colour to do french tips on.