Revlon 736 Elusive Swatch and Review

I am wearing Pokemon on my leggings today and it makes me a happy panda even though sometimes I question my shitty choices in fashion and wondering if I am ever going to dress my age. Just whenever I dress nice, I feel like an imposter. HAY GUYZ I AM A BIZNIZ WO-MAN. Anyway, today is Tuesday and it's cheap day - I might even grab a cheap burger today at work for lunch, but in the case that I don't, I've also got Cheap Polish Tuesday!

This is Revlon Elusive. I picked it up for $3.99 from Superstore a couple of weeks ago when I was buying medicine. Elusive is a black based jelly, packed with blue toned emerald green multi-sized hex glitters and microglitter. The formula goes on swimmingly and it only took two coats with a tad of retouch strokes to get to full opacity. It finishes to a wax/satin-like finish - I personally don't find it flattering at all. It looks far more to its namesake - elusive - when finished glossy. Here it is first with a coat of Seche Vite:











Here's Revlon Elusive with its natural wax/satin finish. I personally don't like it because I feel like the glitters are still bumpy. I am also a bit over this finish - if I want this finish, I'll use a matte top coat. I don't think the glitters are particular more stand out in this finish - I feel like it actually dulls it down. Not a fan. Here it is:







Do you dress your age? Does it even matter? What do you think of polishes that have a "built-in" wax/satin finish? Is it soooooo 2013? Or are you still into them? Tell me what you're doing for Cheap Tuesday!

Revlon Top Speed 553 Decadent Swatch and Review

I am back from my long weekend in Canadaland! I seem to always come back on Cheap Polish Tuesday but have no fear, I think I've got some posts and cool polishes to share later this week. I hope anyway. I'm done my major shooting dates until my huge convention at the end of the month. Anyway today I've got a polish from Revlon's Top Speed line. I believe it's from the "Spice It Up" collection - I got this one on sale at London Drugs for maybe $2? I can't remember as it was probably in 2011 when I picked it up.

Revlon Decadent is a vibrant violet with subtle micro blue shimmer. I am normally not a fan of Revlon's formula, but this one went on very smoothly without any problems. It's very pigmented and opaque so only two coats were required for full coverage. Here's my swatch in two coats:









And for funsies, here's a highlight nail with Rainbow Honey My Love. Now I can see that Revlon Decadent would be a great base colour for My Love! All the shimmer really stands out and of course there's enough contrast for the pink and blue hearts to stand out and shine!:





Anyway I guess it's time to crank Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines and burn off my inbox! Damn it's full today. I hope you guys enjoyed your long weekend (if you had one mwahaha), and I'll catch up with all your awesome posts later! What do you think of Revlon polishes? Is it just me, or is their Top Speed line a little bit better than their regular line?

Revlon Trendy Swatch and Review (Bonus: Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol)

Welcomes to Tuesday - Cheap Polish Tuesday to be exact - we're in the middle of Rainbow Honey FAB Summer Set feature week but that's OK, WE'LL DO IT LIVE! We're doing it anyway: exploring cheap polishes found for regular price or on sale for $5 or less! Today I've got Revlon Trendy, from the Bubblegum Days Urban Nights spring collection for this year! I found this at Wal-Mart for approximately $3-$4. (Sometimes I can't remember, but it's in that range.)

Revlon Trendy is a teal creme. Originally I picked this up because I am hunting for the perfect DAVIDsTEA teal but this one is not up to snuff! I'll show you my findings in another post, another day. Although I have a severe dislike for Revlon formulas, Trendy ain't so bad - it applied smoothly and covered fully within two coats! My swatch is two coats, with no top coat:







So back to the reason why I bought this - compared to the DAVIDsTEA teal, this is the slightest tad too blue and a little dark. The hunt continues! If you don't own a teal creme and are on a budget, I would say that Revlon Trendy is pretty decent! It wasn't the usual sticky, long drying formula that I am used to from Revlon. Colour me happy.

And of course, what better way to spice up some cheap polish than with Rainbow Honey? Last time I did it with Sally Hansen with Soul Gem - so here's Revlon Trendy with Rainbow Honey Costa Del Sol, which is sold as a part of the FAB Summer Set.





Yeah buddy, doesn't that look gorgeous? I love it.

Just to kick it up a notch even more, here it is using Revlon Matte Top Coat, just keeping in the theme of Cheap Polish Tuesday!







I am absolutely loving the look of this in matte! All the gold flakies really come into the spotlight, all for a very affordable look. Revlon Trendy is a definite hit for me and is an awesome base colour for glitter toppers.

For more information on the Rainbow Honey's FAB Summer Set, visit http://fab.com/designer/rainbow-honey/ - Does anyone else have Trendy or a teal creme like this? Have any of you found the perfect DAVIDsTEA teal? (If so, PLEASE share your findings below in the comments!)

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?



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.



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:





Next on the plank is American Apparel Matte Top Coat.



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:



Onwards with Essie's Matte About You...



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.



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:



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



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



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:



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



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:



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


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):


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):



And here's WITH matte top coat:


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?:



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.

Revlon Girly Swatch

Woot! It's Cheap Polish Tuesday where I explore nail polish for $4 or less! Revlon barely makes the cut but I need fodder so I'm going to roll with it. Today I'm looking at Revlon Girly from Bubble Gum Days Urban Nights, a collection that in spirit sports a lot of great colours and staples for anyone with a smaller polish collection looking for more diversity.

I found out about Revlon Girly from Instagram. Coincidentally, it's where I discovered Manicure Addict, one of my favourite nail bloggers. I fell in love with her find and swatch immediately so I needed to find it for myself. Unfortunately, I live in Canada which has the short straw on polish releases. We seem to be the last for everything! It took me probably about 2 months to finally find my own bottle of Girly. (Thanks to my Canadian homegirl Chantal over at Chantal's Corner for the tip!)

From the bottle, Revlon Girly is something that really caught my eye. It looked like everything I love!: a saturated mix of big and small glitter coloured in violet, pink and copper swimming in a (what looked to be) purple-pink jelly. Revlon, you little genius! You're taking after an "indie" look! Guys, I wanted to love this nail polish. I wanted to so bad. But then I put it on. 3 coats of Girly, topped with Seche Vite:



I've never had any luck with Revlon nail polish's formula. I find it so slow drying. The application was OK. Average, nothing to really complain about. The fact that no glitter placement was needed was good - but the slow drying formula always manages to drive me nuts.

Never mind the formula, the base jelly colour looked awful against my skintone. The purple-pink jelly had betrayed me and instead looked dirty, or spoiled. It just didn't look the way I had wanted it to. After 2 months of searching, I was so upset that I couldn't make it work. It's just not made for my skintone. Because the jelly colour is light enough to apply a base colour underneath, I tried to layer Revlon Girly over OPI Planks A Lot.



Slightly better? Maybe I need to revisit the pinker side of the purple-pink base jelly and put it over a pink. For now, I am just going to let this marinate for a bit until I can get excited over this polish again.

I want to love this polish! I am going to love this polish. Just give me time.