Monday, July 29, 2013

China Glaze "Riveting"


Hi guys!  I cannot believe that July is almost over!  It seems like it was Christmas just yesterday!  Anyways so during the Summertime I love my brights so this week I decided to wear China Glaze's "Riveting" which is this great orange nail polish!  "Riveting" is part of The Hunger Games collection called the Capitol Colours Collection.  "Riveting" is the color for District 3, which is the Technology district.  (If you aren't a THG fan feel free to ignore the above info and go straight gown for the info on the nail polish itself!)

China Glaze's "Riveting" is this fantastic orange glitter!  It is such a great glitter and it covers so well!  And  "Riveting" sparkles in the sunshine, which I love!  As for formula, it is FANTASTIC!  It went on very well and could be easily be worn as a one coater!  (However I put on two coats because I always do.)  In terms of chipping I saw some very minor tip chips and wear after about three days, but it wasn't until the fifth day that I saw any serious chipping.  However when I got a single chip on my nail during the fifth day it was from the vacuum cleaner.  I honestly think that this nail polish could have been worn a few more days if it had not been from my clumsiness.

Overall I am very impressed by China Glaze's "Riveting."  The orange color with glitter is fantastic and the formula was good as well.  And I love when a nail polish lasts at least five days because then I don't have to worry about having to repaint my nails quite as often!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Essie "Absolutely Shore"


Hi everyone!  I can't believe that July is nearly over!  So since I wore a really bright color last week I decided to tone it down this week and go for a pastel color!  I went digging through my collection and found Essie's "Absolutely Shore" which is a very pale green and with its beachy name is perfect for Summer!

So Essie's "Absolutely Shore" is a pastel so I figured I was in for some streaking, but nothing prepared me for how difficult it really was.  "Absolutely Shore" has a very watery formula and was difficult to control, which caused a ton of streaking on the first coat.  However the second coat, while still difficult to handle because of the watery formula, did even out the nail polish a bit.  My next problem with Absolutely Shore" was that even with a quick drying topcoat (I use Orly "Sec'N'Dry") I could NOT get the nail polish to every really dry.  And while I waited and waited and waited for it to dry many nails got dinged and smudged.  It looked so horrible I barely wore this nail polish for 12 hours before I took it off!  So that was definitely very disappointing!

Overall Essie's "Absolutely Shore" was a major letdown and I wish it had lasted longer and had a better formula!  The color is a really pretty pale green but the streaking made it very difficult to enjoy.  And as for why this nail polish wouldn't dry, I am really not sure what is up with that but it makes me sad because it means I probably won't be able to ever really wear this nail polish!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

If you decide to give this polish a try it is available on Amazon (affiliate link)

Friday, July 19, 2013

OPI "Grand Canyon Sunset"


Hi guys!  I hope everyone is enjoying Summer like I am!  I love warm weather and sunshine and it has caused me to pick out a warm bright orange-red colored nail polish for this week!  So I dug deep down into my nail polish stash and picked out OPI's "Grand Canyon Sunset"!

OPI "Grand Canyon Sunset" is such a gorgeous orange-red color!  It really does look like the walls of the Grand Canyon when the sun shines on it!  "Grand Canyon Sunset" is a great earthy color nail polish and has been a lot of fun to wear!  However in the bottle it looks like there is a slight silver shimmer, but it isn't visible on the nail.  Formula wise I found OPI's "Grand Canyon Sunset" to be very nice and just the right consistency to be able to apply without any difficulty.  "Grand Canyon Sunset" was also very opaque and if you really needed to you could get away with just one coat, though I used two as I always do.  In terms of chipping by the end of day three I saw a fair amount of chips on most of my nails, so that was a bit disappointing.

Overall while it didn't take long for "Grand Canyon Sunset" to chip, the color is so fantastic that I can almost look past the chipping!  Plus the formula was nice so applying the polish was super easy!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Dupes: Sephora by OPI "Havana Dreams" and L'oreal "Royally Yours"


Hi everyone!  I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer!  It has been raining for days here in North Carolina and you practically need a boat to go places!  So this week I decided to test out two bottles of sky blue nail polish.  I wore Sephora by OPI's "Havana Dreams" earlier this year and I noticed how similar it looked  L'oreal's "Royally Yours."   So I set both bottles out to take a closer look and decided that it was worth swatching them to see if they were dupes.  And I found out that Sephora by OPI's "Havana Dreams" and L'oreal's "Royally Yours" are actually dupes!

It became pretty obvious that "Havana Dreams" and "Royally Yours" were dupes after the first coat of nail polish went on.  The color was identical, the only defining difference after one coat was that Sephora by OPI "Havana Dreams" was streaky.  Here's what the nails looked like after one coat of polish:

 
 
While the color is the same the formula is not.  The Sephora by OPI nail polish had a slightly watery formula that caused a fair amount of streaking and did not cover my nail as well. While the L'oreal nail polish had a fantastic formula that went on very easily and covered very well with no streaking!  Also I liked the wider brush that L'oreal "Royally Yours" had because it made it much easier to apply the nail polish.  I continued painting my nails and here is the finished comparison, which has two coats of each nail polish and a quick drying topcoat (Orly "Sec'N'Dry"):
 
 
 
 
As you can tell from the picture Sephora by OPI "Havana Dreams" and L'oreal "Royally Yours" are perfect dupes.  Truly the only difference is the streaking, which is visible on "Havana Dreams" (see my pointer finger.)
 
Overall I love sky blue and both nail polishes are pretty but since Sephora by OPI "Havana Dreams" has a watery formula, is very streaky and costs $9.50 (US) a bottle I would suggest buying L'oreal "Royally Yours" instead.  "Royally Yours" has a better formula, a wider easier to use brush, does not cause any streaking and only costs $4.99 (US).  Now I will say that the Sephora by OPI nail polish has .5 ounces of nail polish while the L'oreal nail polish only has .39.  But based on quality and price I would still choose L'oreal "Royally Yours."
 
Oh and if you would like to see the post where I reviewed just Sephora by OPI's "Havana Dreams" here's the link: http://perfectlypolished12.blogspot.com/2013/03/sephora-by-opi-havana-dreams.html
 
Thanks for reading my blog!  :)


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Sephora by OPI "Tweet You Later!"



Hi guys!  Hope everyone is enjoying Summer!  I can't believe it is July already!  And I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July celebrations!  So about a three weeks ago I wandered through Sephora and discovered they had a sale on some of their nail polishes so I couldn't resist taking a look!  And I found this six-piece mini set of Sephora by OPI nail polish that usually costs $24.50 (USA) for $12 (USA)!  I quickly grabbed it and ran for the check out counter!  The set features the color "Metro Too Chic" and includes five other colors as well.  So this week I decided to try out the color "Tweet You Later!" which is part of the set!  Here's a picture of the unopened box set:  ("Tweet You Later!" is the polish on the far right!)



Sephora  by OPI's "Tweet You Later!" is this really pretty beige-pink color!  It is very neutral and soothing, which I always enjoying after wearing lots of brightly colored nail polish!  The formula was great and my only difficulty during application was simply the bottle is so tiny, as mini bottles usually are, that it was hard to hold onto!  "Tweet You Later!" also was opaque in two coats and despite it being a pale color had no streaking at all!  In terms of chipping "Tweet You Later!" lasted about three days before the tip chipping got so bad that I had to remove the polish!  I was a tiny bit disappointed that "Tweet You Later!" didn't last longer because the color is so pretty, but it could have been worse.

Overall I am very pleased with Sephora by OPI's "Tweet You Later!"  The pretty beige pink color is just enough color but not enough to take it out of the neutral colors.  It is great if you work somewhere that doesn't allow bright nail polish or if you are like me and want a little break from bright colors.  I also love how great the formula is because it made application easier!  The only disappointment was how quickly the tip chips started, but I can over look the chipping for all of "Tweet You Later!'s" great qualities!

Thanks for reading my blog!  And keep watching for more polishes from this set!  :)

Thursday, July 4, 2013

July Nail Art Post!!


Hi guys!  HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!  (If you live in the United States!)  I hope everyone is enjoying their BBQs and looking forward to the fireworks tonight!  I love fireworks and I can hardly wait!!  Anyways I haven't done any nail art lately and I have missed it so I decided to try out a very simply one for the 4th of July!  Here is the nail polish I picked out:

Sally Hansen "White On" and Forever 21's Love & Beauty "Multi"

Close up on Forever 21's Love & Beauty "Multi" label.  Since Forever 21 doesn't give their nail polishes real names it is hard to figure out which polish is which!

Basically this is just a glitter polish over a solid color polish, but it is the red, white and blue version!  I started out with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "White On" which is my white nail polish of choice.  I find it to be relatively streak free and easy to control.  Plus it is very affordable at about $4 (US) a bottle.  After Sally Hansen "White On" had some time to dry I then applied one thick layer of Forever 21's Love & Beauty "Multi."  Now Love & Beauty "Multi" is red, magenta, blue and silver glitter in tiny dots and hexagonal glitters all in a clear base.  It is a very pretty glitter and definitely very patriotic!

Here's a few more pictures:




Overall I am very pleased with this fun, quick and easy nail art!  It was very simple and anyone who can paint nails can easily do this manicure!  I hope that everyone has a fabulous rest of their Fourth of July and enjoys the fireworks later tonight!

Thanks for reading my blog!  And Happy 4th of July!  :)