Revlon Orchid

Inspired by Kat's snowed-in dotting manis (which she might put up in a later post), I decided to give my heart accent nail another try using dots this time.  I wanted to stick to drugstore polishes that are still available - unlike the older ones I was wearing this week - so I went back into my Revlon drawer for some Top Speeds.

I used two coats of the very opaque Revlon Top Speed Orchid. I probably could have gotten away with one coat, but applied two to smooth over initial brush strokes. This is a mauve-pink foil-like shade. It has some silver microglitter and pink microshimmer in it, but it acts like a foil in application and removal. This polish dries fast to the touch, but stayed dentable on me for awhile, even with a Seche Vite top coat. I'm not sure if it was the Revlon, the Seche Vite, or the two of them together that was to blame, but it was definitely odd given both are fast dry.

I used a dotting tool to dot on my accent hearts. I used two otherTop Speeds - Cloud and Modern Grace.

Cloud, Orchid, Modern Grace

Orchid is still completely available wherever Revlon polishes are sold. Cloud, a light purple creme, might be a little harder to find, but you can still find it online like Amazon.

Modern Grace, a purple-periwinkle creme, was a limited edition release in Spring/Summer 2011, but there are other similar shades out there if you like this color. If you want to stay drugstore, try out Wet 'n Wild Megalast's On A Trip. If you want to go a little "higher end," Zoya Caitlin is a greyed out cousin.

My little dotted hearts were a lot more appreciated than my previous glitter hearts, but now I'm in the mood for more glitter. What would be a good glitterful Valentine's mani?...

Milani Techno Red

After a few pinks, I thought it was time for a red. After enjoying the squishy Maybelline Gold Fleck Fuschia, I decided to go with a nice jelly. 

I pulled out Milani Techno Red from their Neon line. This line may possibly be discontinued.  I'm not 100% sure since I've been under a rock for the last few months about the coming and goings of polish collections. I got my bottle during a CVS clearance sale last fall, which means this line was discontinued or repackaged. If you can find any of the Milani Neons, pick some up because they're easy to apply and have a great jelly finish.

Keeping to my unofficial drugstore theme this week, I did an accent nail with Revlon Slipper and Maybelline Express Finish Deeply In Love.

Slipper, Techno Red, Deeply In Love

Milani Techno Red is a warm red-orange jelly. It does dry matte without a top coat, but I don't think it's a true eye-searing neon. Here it is with two coats and a shiny top coat.

On my ring finger, I topped it with a thin coat of Slipper (a red and silver glitter in a clear base) and Deeply In Love (pink hearts in a yellowing clear base with red glitter that never makes it on the nail). 

This mani felt bouncy and playful with the soft tomato nails and heart-covered accent. I thought this was a cute look, but it definitely confused my husband.  He isn't used to me playing with accent nails, so he thought I had smushed my nail or something. Upon closer look, he realized they were hearts, not dents or dings. I think next time I'll wear this accent nail with a different base color, like a light pink, so there's a bigger contrast and the effect looks more intentional!

Shimmery Pinks - Gold Fleck Fuschia and Sublime Strawberry

After a month of vampy and murky shades to go along with our chilly January days, I'm ready for Valentine pinks and reds - the girlier, the better! I dived into my stash to pull out some of my older drugstore polishes. They need love, too!

First up is Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds in Gold Fleck Fuschia.

This is two coats of Gold Fleck Fuschia. I don't think this polish has ever been fuchsia, so I'm going to assume this name isn't misspelled and refers to the fuschia plant. Maybe that's why this pink is closer to a soft bubble gum pink with hints of coral rather than a darker and bolder fuchsia shade. It is filled with small gold fleck shimmer making this a warm pink. I really liked how glossy and juicy this polish looked, but the dry time was a bit long (I dented my ring finger after an hour even with a coat of Seche Vite) and the brush is shedding. This shade is too pretty, though, so I won't be getting rid of this polish.

The Wet Shine Diamonds line has been discontinued but these polishes could show up at Dollar Tree or Big Lots, so keep an eye out for them.  Now for another scented polish from Revlon!

This is Sublime Strawberry, originally from the limited edition Spring/Summer 2009 Fruitful Temptations collection.

In the bottle, these two polishes look related because of their mid-pink base color.  On the nail, they look significantly different because of their shimmer and opacity. No jelly squishiness here! Sublime Strawberry has a silvery white micro-shimmer so this shade is much cooler than Gold Fleck Fuschia.  Sublime Strawberry could have been opaque in two coats, but I didn't let the first coat set long enough, so I needed three coats for this mani. After asking a few people what they thought of the scent, we agree this strawberry scent reminds us of strawberry Bubblicious bubble gum.

I'm pretty sure that Sublime Strawberry is now part of the permanent Revlon collection. I know that it was put in the newer all-black cap design, so it should still be easy to find wherever Revlon polish is sold.

Is anyone else in a pink mood, too?

StreetWear Angelic

Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome moms out there!

Today we're going to visit one of my grandmothers who always notices what polish I'm wearing. It all started with a teal shimmer mani I decided to wear on a summer vacation trip to Orlando. Since visits were far and few between when we lived on the East Coast, I made an extra effort to wear shades that are extremely pretty but still unique when we went to see her.

I picked the very girly, spring-y, fairy princess polish that is Revlon StreetWear Angelic. This is a frosty light pink filled with silver microglitter. It's sheer and needs three coats for decent opacity. It went on with relatively thin coats, but this polish still took awhile to really set even with Seche Vite.

 

This polish didn't wow her from a distance like some other blingtastic shades I've worn before, but up close, she really enjoyed the delicate glitter. I achieved the subtle surprise effect I was going for - yay!!

Then my family went a step further and completely surprised me when they asked what I thought about putting a crackle over it. I can't believe I didn't think of that first - wouldn't it look a bit like the new OPI Glam Slam! duos?

More Revlon Top Speeds

I definitely judge a shade of polish based on what I see in the bottle. This is not a good strategy because there are so many ways for a polish to surprise you once it's actually on that nail. Look - it's a darker shade, there's a hidden shimmer, the incredible opacity gives this so much depth, happy wows like that. Of course, a polish could also end up being a sheer, watery, streaky mess that won't dry but let's be optimistic!

Here are some of the Revlon Top Speeds that I was just gifted - and each one of them was a very pleasant surprise for me. After my binge on spring pastels, I had to wear a shade that was edgier and earthier. Time for taupe!!

Stormy is a taupe creme that looks kinda drab in the bottle, but loves to change colors on the hand. This shade leans gray, brown, or purple depending on lighting and skin tone. Based on other reviews, it seems like Stormy has a hit or miss formula. It's streaky, thin and hard to work with for some people. I was lucky and my bottle had an excellent formula - smooth and creamy in two easy coats.

Stormy Can Lean Brown

Stormy Can Also Lean Gray

I couldn't stay away from spring pastels for too long and I tried Jaded next. In the store, I thought this was the Top Speed dupe for their non-Top Speed shade Minted, but I was wrong. Jaded is a little bit lighter, a little bit more yellow, and it has a subtle silver shimmer! This wasn't as easy to apply as Stormy, but I still only needed two coats for a sufficiently smooth finish.

And the biggest, trippiest surprise of all was Cloud. I've seen swatches of Cloud and sometimes it looks a bit blue or a bit gray or a bit dusty, but it pretty much always looks light purple. Not On Me!!! Cloud looks periwinkle! In real life, in every lighting, in every picture - it looks like a light blue that leans purple.

Shade - Looking Soft and Bit More Lavender

Sunlight - Looking Stark & Blue
which is how it looks on me about 95% of the time

I actually Cloud a lot more like this because it's completely unique in my collection. The ease of application was right in the middle of Stormy and Jaded and I still only used two coats. I got the most compliments on this shade and I kept asking what shade they thought this polish was - no one said light purple. It was pastel blue or periwinkle or light robin's egg, so it's confirmed that I wasn't seeing things. Crazy colors!

Revlon Copper Penny

It's not Mother's Day yet, but if my mom can't wait to give me my Easter polishes, I'm not waiting until May to declare how cool she is.

I was a drugstore polish girl until college and Revlon was my favorite with their limited edition collections and easy-to-use brushes (yeah, I'm looking at you, Maybelline - fix your brushes!!).  I've always been more of a saver than a spender, though, so I wouldn't buy them for myself unless there was a sale or a coupon because $4 a bottle was a lot back then. Mom to the rescue! For years, she's been slipping those Revlons in my Easter basket and Christmas stocking. 

Old habits die hard and my mom has hit up the Revlon racks for me again to get me some of their newer shades. Since I'm still loving all the sunshine (I never hate sunshine but I don't like it as much when it's over 110 in the summer - but hey, it's a dry heat... till monsoon...), and sparkly polishes look fabulous in the sunshine, I wore one of our mutual favorites first - Copper Penny!

Revlon Copper Penny is from the Heavenly Metal collection. It's a "New Shade," but I don't think it's Limited Edition.  Copper Penny is a copper foil with a deep copper metallic base lightened and brightened with lots of fine silver and light gold sparkles. I know it says "Metallic" on the bottle, but I think a true metallic polish has a smoother, reflective, more metal-like finish (i.e. the China Glaze Chromes). Copper Penny has that sparkly, glittery-yet-smooth finish of a foil.  

Sunlight - Smooth & Sparkly

Shade - The Silver Glitter is More Visible

If you look at the copper down the middle of the nail,
it matches almost perfectly to the shade of a new penny.

Copper Penny went on almost completely opaque in one coat, but two coats were needed for a smooth finish. Metallic colors love to hug every ridge on the nail in the first coat. 

The closest color I have to this polish is OPI Legs Celebrate, but Copper Penny is lighter and doesn't have as much orange. This polish looks understated indoors because it's a bit similar to my skin tone and then it's "Wham! Sparkly!!" as soon the sunlight hits it. 

Thanks for the awesome polish, Mom!!

Revlon Black with Envy - Last Day to Enter!

Guess what my Ulta just got in? A full Revlon Backstage Revealed - Runway 2011 display... which means that I was able to get my hands on the limited edition Black with Envy!

For anyone who can't find Wet N Wild Morbid from their Craze line, Black with Envy is also supposed to be another close cousin (aka probable dupe) to Chanel's Black Pearl. This small display is only supposed to be up from March through the end of May, so you'll have to look quickly to find this shade. 

Is it worth the search? It was for me because I wanted a polish like Black Pearl without having to pay $25 for it. Black with Envy went on in two coats - it has the graphite base with blue-green shimmer - it's worn nicely with only minor tipwear after housework and dish washing.

Sun - Graphite with Green Shimmer

Shade - Green Shimmer gives a pearl-like finish

But if you don't feel like dealing with the frustration of a potentially fruitless polish hunt, just enter my giveaway because Black with Envy is the tenth polish I'll be giving away! I'll also be giving away the new addition to the Lippmann Happy Birthday dupe family - Ulta Piñata-Yada-Yada!

Black with Envy, Piñata-Yada-Yada

You have until midnight PST tonight to enter. Don't miss out on your chance to get all of 10 of these fantastic polishes! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon so hasta mañana!

Reds, Berries, & Glitter - Oh My! featuring Cult Nails Iconic

I put off getting my Valentine's Day post ready over the weekend. I kept thinking "no problem -  I'll just do one on Monday night." Really? What was I thinking?! Westminster Dog Show was going on Monday and Tuesday and I can't blog AND look carefully at all the breeds being shown at the same time :s

But that doesn't mean I don't have some Valentine Day-inspired colors to share with you!

First, a red creme -
OPI Color So Hot It Berns from the Fall 2010 Swiss Collection

This is a bold warm red that goes on smoothly on two coats. Looks opaque in most lighting, but a slight VNL is visible in bright light. I only have the mini bottle from the Irrre-Swiss-Ables Minis Collection, but I would like a big bottle because none of my reds are as bright as this one.

Now, a burgundy shimmer -
Diamond Cosmetics Cherry Tobacco from the Fall 2009 Collection

Darker on the nail than in the bottle, this blackened burgundy leaned brown on me. The rich shimmer really lights this shade up from the inside, so it never looks entirely black - there's always a flash of that luxurious shimmer that pops from every angle.

My first "vampy" love reinvented for 2011 - 

the classic Revlon Vixen topped with the new top glitter top coat Revlon Slipper!

A deep brown-based dark red creme topped with small red and silver glitter and larger holo hex glitter.

aaaaaand the Pièce de résistance... the latest from Cult Nails.... Iconic!

 

 This is two coats - with only one coat on the pinkie to show the base color and opacity of the shade. 

Iconic is a berry creme with red flakes and gold shimmer. I don't have any top coat on in these pictures. Iconic goes on smoothly and has an incredibly high intensity shine when it dries!  Look at that shade shot - this polish is really that shiny on its own!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day :)  To all my friends back home - Happy 99th Birthday to AZ!  

And a big congratulations to Hickory, the first Scottish Deerhound to ever win Best in Show at Westminster!!  This is an impressive win for an old breed - a Scottish Deerhound was even shown in the first Westminster show in 1877.  135 years is a long time to go without a breed getting a Best in Show and Hickory finally won the big prize for all those Deerhounds.  Ok, enough dog trivia for tonight!  

I'll be closing the Fun Friday Giveaway on Thursday, 2/17 at 9 pm EST so I can do the drawing and announce the winner on Friday.  Be sure to send those entry emails to vivapolish@gmail.com for your chance to win those polishes!

Revlon Perplex - UWS Brunch Time

I love Broadway musicals.  When I was younger, living thousands of miles from the Great White Way, I'd make my siblings, cousins, friends, everyone watch PBS's Great Performances, the Tonys, and the odd random tour performance with me.  Now that I live here, I like suprising friends with tickets to actual shows (thank you, TKTS!).  This Sunday, we took our friends to see In The Heights and they took us to brunch on the Upper West Side. 

If I was going to be dining on microdairy cheeses and gourmet sausages while sipping bellinis, I figured I should switch up my sparkly holiday polish for something chic... perfect time to try out Revlon Perplex!

This is a dark grayish taupe with a faint purple shimmer - much like its pricier alternative Paradoxal.  Like other taupes, it can pull purple, gray, or a muddier brown, depending on skin tone.  For $4-5, it's definitely worth trying this shade out if you can find a bottle.

Indirect Sunlight - Dark Gray with Purple Tones on me

Flash to see the Purple Shimmer on Nail & in Bottle

Perplex went on deep and glossy on me in two medium coats.  It didn't agree with my Gelous-Seche Vite combo, though.  That's not tip wear in the pictures. That's major shrinkage :( Even with wrapping, it just pulled away from the edges.  Since I'm changing back to my holiday glitter bombs tomorrow, I'm not that upset, but next time I wear it, I'll try another top coat. This shade is awesome - I gotta make it work without shrinkage!

Revlon Bubble Gum

I finally found a display of the Summer 2010 Scents of Summer Collection! I did it! I did it!!

Drug stores are so small around here so I rarely find cool polish displays, even when I'm actively looking for them. I found this display at the same Rite Aid I found my Maybelline Pie in the Sky. Their cosmetic section tends to look like a tornado hit it, but under all the mess and understocked shelves, this store is now 2-for-2 in my search for seasonal drug store polishes.

After a few happy days of sunshine, the rain rolled in. To counter the drizzles and brighten my day, I decided to try out Bubble Gum.

I tried to capture a really quick picture of Bubble Gum in the sunlight when the clouds briefly parted. Definitely not the best picture, but I wanted to show how how hot pink this polish can look.

In the sunlight, it's definitely a bright girly fuschia.

Inside, it's a bit mellower, but still bright pink:

(ooh, look how the CND Solar Oil soothes the cuticles, aah)

Bubble Gum is a bright medium pink creme. A slightly standard color, but these shades look good with my skintone and the color itself makes me feel happy. The formula was easy to use - slightly on the thin side. There was slight VNL at two coats, so I used three coats for my mani. For scent purposes, I decided to skip a top coat. This polish dried so glossy!  

You can smell the scent once the polish dries. This polish's bubble gum scent lasted about 2-1/2 days for me. I thought the scent was like Bazooka bubble gum. My husband thought it was like the bubble gum fluoride from his childhood dentist.

Since it's on my nails and not overwhelmingly strong, I'm really enjoying my scented nails. To be honest, I even tried talking with my hands more while I was wearing it to see how often I could smell the bubble gum. Ok, maybe I'm enjoying my scented nails a little too much!