Financial Responsibility, Pt. 2: Essie Parka Perfect

Hey everybody!  How has your weekend been?  Mine has been nice, especially because yesterday was cloudy and windy and 50-something.  That's like a vacation for me! :)

Today I am continuing my post series on never-worns, and today's star of my irresponsibility is Essie.  Parka Perfect was released for Winter 2013, and that was a collection that I really liked a lot.  As an added bonus, imagine my surprise when Parka Perfect turned out to be not typically Essie-tastically runny! 

Parka Perfect is a dusty blue-grey-green color that has a slight shimmer in the bottle.  Unfortunately, I never could see any shimmer on my nails.  However, that didn't stop me from loving this polish.  The formula is pretty great.  I used two coats for opacity.  Oh, and never mind the tip wear in the pics.  I took these a whole DAY after application, and frankly, I'm surprised there wasn't MORE tip wear. *sigh*

Did you pick up Parka Perfect last year?   I love shades like this one...you know, when you don't really know what to call it, but it seems to look good with about anything. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

Drugstore Halloween Pt. 2: More Bonita Witches Ball!

Hey everybody!  I hope your weekend has been wonderful. :)  Today I have three more polishes from the Bonita Witches Ball collection to show you.  I had already picked up Eat, Drink & Be Scary and was so impressed with the formula that I picked up more whilst polish shopping with Mr. Sweets.

First up is one I just really like, and I can't quite figure out why.  Oh well.  It's called Dying to Party.  It's a grey-tinged white creme with silver shimmer, a ghostly look, if you will.  I love polishes like this but keep forgetting that they don't look good on me.  I did have some streaking issues with this one and used three coats.

Next is one I purchased for this fall's campaign of "I'm Determined to Get Over My Hatred of Orange." :)  This is Cocktails and Carving, a pumpkin orange that's absolutely loaded with silver shimmer.  This polish is almost a one coater, but of course I am me and therefore did two.  Cocktails and Carving is dustier than the photos show, sort of like a pumpkin PIE orange.  It's very pretty.  It made me rather tempted to squirt Reddi-wip on my fingers.  Mmmmmm...Reddi-wip...

Another super-gorgeous-and-nearly-one-coat polish in the collection is Too Cute to Spook, a berry/fuchsia with a heavy silver shimmer.  I know you all are extremely shocked to read that this one had Lacquer Reverie written ALL over it. :P

And here is Eat, Drink & Scary that I've already shown you, complete with swollen fingers. :D  You can read the full review here.

I apologize for the lack of angle variety in tonight's post, but I have lately been suffering from crustacean cuticles and can't seem to hide it in pics!  UGH!!  :/  The Witches Ball collection is available at Rite Aid for $2.49 each.  These polishes wear very well, and I highly recommend them if you're looking for an inexpensive polish fix! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

The Smell of Rainbows: Pretty Jelly Petrichor

Hey everybody...welcome to my Reverie, where all is sparkly, and quite often extremely sparkly. :)  Did my last post make you want some more Pretty Jelly holo-tastic goodness?  Well, your wish is my command!  Tonight's polish is unbelievably impressive, and like Roseate, has qualities of both an office-friendly color and an attention-getting party for your fingers. 

Enter Petrichor.

"Petrichor: the scent of rain on dry earth, or the scent of dust after rain."

Now that's the smell of one amazing holo, dusty or not.  I daresay Petrichor's bottle will NOT get dusty due to the numerous times I shall be sporting it in the future.  Pretty Jelly creator Liz describes Petrichor as "a taupe/grey holo with purple undertones."  It's all true.  Oh, and don't forget that rainbow that's pretty much everywhere you look. 

It may be a smell, but the word petrichor brings to mind a carved stone gargoyle, brought to life by evil forces to wreak havoc on the streets of Tokyo...PETRICHORRRRRR!!  Yes, I watched Space Giants as a youth.  

The slightly enigmatic color(s) of Petrichor looks quite earthy and stony to me.  This is another one of those tricky ones where it looks like a respectable taupe and then explodes into multi-colored madness at the turn of your wrist. :) I applied three hassle-free coats of this prismatic beauty for the photos.  *Sigh*

What do you all think of Petrichor?  You don't see this color every day.  It's hard to define and has ME written all over it. :D

Pretty Jelly polishes are 5-free and are available on Etsy, Mei Mei's Signatures, and Edgy Polish.  Go check out Liz's beautiful creations! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Comparison Post: Attack of the Murky Greens!!

Hey everybody!  I hope your Saturday has been a fantastic one!  

Earlier in the week, I did a post on Sinful Colors Classified.  It's one of those greens with a pretty serious identity crisis...it doesn't know if it wants to be green, or blue, or grey, or all of the above.  Some of my friends observed that Classified bore a resemblance to a couple of other colors out there, so I decided to do a comparison post for your enjoyment (and possibly helpful info...or maybe just curiosity?). :D

L to R:  butter LONDON Victoriana, Zoya Evvie, Sinful Colors Classified, China Glaze Elephant Walk

Who knew there were so many polishes in desperate need of therapy?  One has to wonder if these gals could even describe themselves if asked!  Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this mystery... 

 

butter LONDON Victoriana

I finally snagged this one from my wishlist! :)  Victoriana is a dusty, more-blue-than-green color with a lovely foil-like shimmer and superb application.  Greasy bottle thumbprint not included in most versions. 

Zoya Evvie

Evvie is definitely a green-grey color with only a very slight hint of blue.  As you can see, just my holding the bottle gives the whole photo a murky quality.  Evvie is a creme with a lovely application.

Sinful Colors Classified

You can read my entire (not so) Classified review here. :D  It's more blue-leaning than Evvie but not as much as Victoriana.  It's got a great creme formula with a remarkable price tag!

China Glaze Elephant Walk

I would say Elephant Walk is 50% green, 45% grey, and 5% blue.  This is one of those colors that looks different on the nail than in the bottle, and in a very good way.  I was surprised by this polish...it's a fantastic neutral with a gentle shimmer.  And that adds up to 100% gorgeous! :)





Now for some group shots!  And yes, Midget Pinky is fully aware that she looks ridiculous.  She'll be needing therapy too...

L to R:  butter LONDON Victoriana, Zoya Evvie, China Glaze Elephant Walk, Sinful Colors Classified

L to R:  butter LONDON Victoriana, Zoya Evvie, China Glaze Elephant Walk, Sinful Colors Classified

 

L to R:  Sinful Colors Classified, China Glaze Elephant Walk, Zoya Evvie, butter LONDON Victoriana

My final thoughts:  these are all four clearly not replicas (no, I will NOT use that annoying word) of each other, even though they have that same murky quality about them.  All four formulas are very good...it's just a matter of whether you like a foil, a creme, or a shimmer application best. :)  I really love all the colors and find that swamptastic shades like these look pretty good on me.  I think? :)

What do you think?  Which of these is your favorite?  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

Top Secret Style! Sinful Colors Classified

Hey everybody!  Have you all been to your local Wal-Mart lately and happened to have seen a HUGE 4-sided display of Sinful Colors polishes?  I saw just that last weekend, and said display had several brand new colors on it.  So, I took this as a golden opportunity to get my very first Sinful Colors polish! :) 

The new colors have espionage themed names.  They're quite funny.  One of the ones I picked up is Classified, a creme with a not-so-definite color.

Let me mention that I have no idea what is going on with that first pic.  I look like I have something stuck all over my fingers?  Ugh...overlook that please and just pay attention to the lovely autumn color this is!

Classified is a dusty, greyish-blueish-greenish creme.  I just love it when a polish color is impossible to define.   Mayhap I am the same way? :P  I have read how sometimes Sinful Colors polishes are hit-and-miss as far as the formula goes, but Classified had a good formula and was almost a one-coater.

The pics look like there is a slight shimmer to Classified, but I can't for the life of me see it in real life.  Usually it's the other way around.  I must be more tired than I thought!

I have tried the Sinful Shine line of Sinful Colors, but this was my first regular SC polish.  And I think for $1.99, this is a pretty good little strangely-hued creme.  If your Wal-Mart has the new colors, check them out.  There are some really pretty things going on there. Um, I meant the SC display...NOT Wal-Mart.:)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Spook-tacular Halloween with Pretty Jelly! (Pic Heavy)

Hey everybody!  Today I'm continuing my Halloween polish posts with one of my very favorite indie brands, Pretty Jelly.  Liz is a super talented polish designer, and I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'll want everything she makes. :)  The Pretty Jelly Halloween collection is yet another fun and interesting group of polishes...oh, and they have the best names EVER.

All my bottles are minis, hence the artistic bottle shots. :D  

First is Witch Outfit?  I mean, even a witch has trouble narrowing down her pointy shoe choices for the party, right? ;) 

Witch Outfit? is a grape purple shimmer jelly.  It's sheer and can be worn layered, but I am showing it with 3 coats by itself.  This is a great purple, and the shimmer is gorgeous.

It looks like electric grape soda!  Count me in!

Next is a fantastic black jelly topper called Ghouls Night Out...heh heh...

I layered one coat of Ghouls Night Out over one coat of Sally Hansen Black Out.  The glitter applied smoothly and evenly.

Ghouls Night Out is a combination of multicolored hexes and squares.  I love the squares in this!

Next up in the Halloween collection is DJ BOOgi3...I'm sorry, but is that the most hilarious name or what? :D  Apparently the Boogeyman likes mixing and scratching...
 

But hey, there's nothing but awesomeness about this scattered holo!   It's a dark grey that almost looks brown due to the heavy gold/orange in the holo shimmer.  It's quite unusual.  I used two coats with no top coat.

DJ BOOgi3 has a sort of neutral holo color.

Next up we have the polish that made me 1) Crack up laughing at the name, and 2) Actually WANT an orange polish...Give it up for Sexy Pumpkin!!

Oh my...that name just kills me. :P  But would you LOOK at that beautiful shimmer??  Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Sexy Pumpkin is a bit sheer and can be layered.  I used 3 coats by itself.  It's a bright and shimmery orange, and it still looks awful on me, but I DON'T GIVE A FLIP!  Sometimes you just gotta shimmer like this...even if it's orange. :)

I saved my favorite from the Halloween collection for last.  Yes, it's true...zombies need love too.  It must be awfully lonely being gross all the time, eating brains and smelling like rot.  Don't you want Zombody to Love??

UGH!!  Isn't this the most delicious swamp green mess ever??  Zombody to Love is quite sheer, so I did layer it.  It is absolutely filled with beautiful gold shimmer and gold and green hexes.  There are also some black hearts, although I wasn't able to find one in my mini bottle.  It's okay though...there's definitely enough here to keep me interested! 

Swamp sludge never looked so fetching...this is two coats over one coat of Zoya Ray.

I hope you love the Pretty Jelly Halloween collection as much I do...and remember:  creepy CAN be classy!

Pretty Jelly polishes can be purchased on Etsy, Mei Mei's Signatures, and Edgy Polish.  Check out all of Liz's fantastically unusual polishes!  Pretty Jelly polishes are 3-free and cruelty-free.

Thanks for stopping by, and polish at your own risk! ;)

She's a Lady: Liquid Lacquer Ladie Eve

Hey everybody!  Today I have a polish that I've been meaning to show for quite some time but never got around to it until now.  I purchased  Ladie Eve by indie brand Liquid Lacquer when creator Melissa was having a great sale...well, then she had another sale and I bought more.  Oooops! :)  

Isn't she lovely?  Ladie Eve is a grey creme that's a bit darker than dove grey and has a *little* hint of lavender to it.  And rather than try to describe all the pink goodies in it, I'll let the macro do the talking:

Would you look at all that circle glitter??  Fuchsia and light pink, and a lot of it too.   And to the naked eye, the tiny hexes look like little dots.

I used 3 coats of Ladie Eve to cover my visible nail line.  The application was smooth, and I had no trouble getting the circle glitter to play nicely. :)

I have heard from some very sweet blogging buds that there isn't a color that doesn't look good on me.  But true confessions time:  I do not like grey polish on me at ALL.  I think it clashes with my skin most dreadfully.  But that's not going to stop me from wearing Ladie Eve!  It's that pretty.  I'm such a trouper. :D

What do you think of this feminine, classy glitter?  Pink and grey always reminds me of the 80's...my favorite time ever!  "Don't you want me, baby?  Don't you want me, OOOOHHHH??"

 You can find Ladie Eve and other Liquid Lacquer polishes on Big Cartel. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: London Bridge

Hey everybody!  Today I have another famous fall courtesy of Pretty Jelly!  And guess what's falling down today?  Why, it's London Bridge, my fair ladies! ;)

London Bridge is, of course, a very old nursery rhyme/game that everybody has played as a child.  I say everybody...but these days, I don't know...is there an app for that? :/  Pretty Jelly's London Bridge is an homage to that structure that has had many incarnations, and according to the song, always seems to be in need of repair!

As you can see, there is nothing in need of repair here!  London Bridge is a pale grey crelly with small and medium gold hex glitter, gold holo glitter, and a ton of gold and pale blue shimmer.  I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but I love this polish!  What seems like such a simple combination is so very elegant.

Isn't this beautiful?  London Bridge is another one of those polishes that gives me a clear mental image...it looks like sunlight peeking through the London fog.  London Bridge is a bit sheer, although you could probably reach opacity on its own with 3 coats.  But because my visible nail line is SO visible, I layered London Bridge over Zoya Kendal, which I've discovered will pretty much morph into whatever color I tell it to.  The result was exceptionally lovely, as the very slight lavender of Kendal looked wonderful with the grey crelly base of London Bridge.

CAUTION:  FOOD ANALOGY AHEAD

As I was admiring my polish on the drive into work, I realized that London Bridge made me feel inexplicably warm and toasty, and not just because it's 85 degrees right now...rather, it was a nostalgic kinda warm that probably involved food.  Then it hit me...London Bridge reminds me of my Mom's homeade oyster stew, with the creamy, milky base and the little drops of butter floating to the top...mmmmmmm...

Or maybe we all just need a spot of English tea.

What do you think of London Bridge?  It's another amazing "fall" from the Pretty Jelly Fall Collection.  You can purchase London Bridge and other Pretty Jelly polishes from Etsy, Mei Mei's Signatures, and Edgy Polish.  Pretty Jelly polishes are 5-free and cruelty-free.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!

Texture, Italian Style: Layla Softouch Effect

Hey everybody!  I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  Today I am featuring a brand of polish that I really love, Layla.  Layla is an Italian brand (I bet you figured that out from the post title) that, until recently, has been available in Ulta stores.  But alas, Layla has now gone the way of the dodo as far as Ulta's carrying it anymore.  When I discovered this, I picked up no less than a dozen at half price for my collection! :D

Layla introduced a line of textured polishes called Softouch Effect ALL the way back in 2012, before everybody else introduced theirs.  There are different types of finishes within the Softouch Effect line.  I've got four to show you today.  Molto bella!

First up is Layla Softouch Effect #5, also known as Cherry Diva.

#5 Cherry Diva is a deep rose with a hint of peach.  It has a fantastically serious gold shimmer and a suede finish.  This one has a wonderful application and is very easy to work with...quite the opposite of a diva. :)  The photos show 3 coats of #5 Cherry Diva and no top coat.  Can you tell it loves the camera? ;)  This is one gorgeous polish...and yep, I don't own anything else like it.

Next I have Layla Softouch Effect #3, also known as Stone.

How unusual is this one?  #3 Stone is a grey with a hint of taupe and a lavender shimmer.  It dries to a soft, velvety finish.  I used 2 coats for the photos and no top coat.  The formula on #3 Stone is a little thin, but it's still easy to work with and any cleanup required pretty much just flecks right off. 

Third on today's feature is the vampy side of Layla, #8 Fire It Up.

 

  

It's a four alarm fire!!  Look at that red!  #8 Fire It Up is BOLD and bright, and in real life it looks slightly more the color of tomato paste.  Bollente!!  This one dries to a matte satin finish...but *danger, Will Robinson!!*...you CAN make a mess with Fire It Up.  I used 3 coats and still had my trademark visible nail line, but I promise you won't. :)

My last Softouch Effect today is both textured and neon!  Feast your eyes on #4, also known as Neon Pink.

 

Such a beautiful pink!  Yes PINK!!  Seriously, this is so pretty.  #4 Neon Pink has an intense silver shimmer and an ever-so-slight blue undertone.  And sure enough, there's the VNL after 3 coats, but you all have pretty much stopped paying attention to that, right?  Good.  This one dries not as satin matte as Fire It Up but not as suede as Cherry Diva.  Uhhh...what would that be?  Polyester?  Heh heh...

If you hurry, and by that I mean get your purse right NOW and head to Ulta, you could still possibly find one of these beauties on the clearance shelf.  But if you prefer to point and click your way into nail polish heaven, Layla polishes can be found in limited quantities on Ebay and Amazon.  But Ninja Polish is your best bet for selection.  Layla is good stuff, and I'm really disappointed that my second home Ulta isn't going to carry the brand anymore. :(

Do you like any of these color/finishes?  Do you have many/any Layla Softouch Effect polishes?  And have you all figured out yet why I love pink??  GRRR!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a lovely day! :)