Review: Revlon Colorstay Vintage Rose

Hey Everyone!

I recently bought another Revlon Colorstay nail polish called "Vintage Rose". This is my second Colorstay nail polish and fourth Revlon polish (that isn't a top coat or base coat). My experience with Revlon polishes before the Colorstay line was "okay". Usually the application of the polish depended on the color I used (light colors being the hardest to apply as usual). The other Colorstay polish I have is "Bare Bones". I won't go too into detail about Bare Bones since I will do a post on it eventually. For now I'll just say that Bare Bones was the polish that convinced me to keep buying from the Colorstay line.

The Revlon Colorstay nail polish line has over 20 colors. Definitely a variety of colors to choose from. The majority of the polishes are creme finishes and a couple contain micro glitter. There was also two foils (a copper and a silver) and one jelly glitter polish (a dark green with green glitter). I bought my first Colorstay polish back in June... and between June to present I have visited the that section of polish  at least 50 times... Yes, I have been obsessed with these polishes. Theres only 2 problems that I have...
1. Although theres over 20 colors... I already have polishes that are similar shades. Most of the shades that Revlon came out with are definitely not what I would consider as "unique". However, I do have high hopes that more "unique" looking shades will be appear over time.

Other than Bare Bones, the only other shade that seemed interesting to me and I didn't have anything else like it in my collection was Vintage Rose. Vintage Rose is such a complicated color to describe. The words that come to mind are: reddish brown, deep rosy, berry-ish/mauve-ish.

Seche Vite Crystal Base Coat
2 Coats of Vintage Rose
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
(indoors, no flash) 

(indoors, flash)

The application was so smooth and easy to work with. I made very little mistakes. Each coat applied very evenly - no streaks or patches.

This polish as one of the best formulas - not too thin, not too thick. Opaque with a slight visible nail line in 1 coat, completely opaque in two coats. 

Two things that I just love about this polish are: the long brush handle and the brush.

The long brush handle made applying the nail polish very comfortable. I dislike short handle brushes because its a lot harder to hold and if you are like me and you apply nail polish to both hands (one after the other) then its easy to smudge the polish on the hand that is applying the polish to the second hand...  did that make sense? Basically, I've had problems with smudging the polish that is drying on my right hand while I'm trying to paint the nails on my left hand. 

The brush is VERY different from usual nail polishes. It has a "double brush" meaning the brush is composed of 2 brushes side by side. If you don't really understand what I'm talking about then google the Revlon Colorstay Top Coat and you'll see. The bristles is a good balance of being flexible and stiff - flexible enough to fan out evenly over the nail, but not so flexible as to be flimsy.

The nail polish dried within a reasonable time; it was super glossy, and very smooth. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to show the polish without a top coat since I forgot to charge my battery and I already applied a top coat last night but took the pictures this morning... So, take my word for it... it was glossy! I actually don't think the top coat made the polish any shinier than it already was!

As for the wear... This is only my second day wearing the polish (and I do have a top coat protecting it) there are no chips... but I can't say that it was due to the awesomeness of the Colorstay formula. I honestly have no intentions (as of right now) to do a test to see how long this polish will wear since I like changing my polishes pretty frequently. 

Overall, I love this polish and I don't have any major gripes about it other than it's price. The price of the Colorstay polish line ranges from $7-8 which is around the same price as Essie, Zoya, OPI, and China Glaze polishes. The Colorstay polish is only 0.4 fl oz, making it 0.1 fl oz smaller than most polishes. Both times that I purchased Colorstay polishes, the polishes were on sale. I bought Vintage Rose when all Revlon polishes were being sold for $4.99 at Walgreens... I also had a $2 off coupon for any Colorstay product and got back $3 in Register Rewards! Although I love the formula and the brush of these polishes, I would not purchase them at regular price since I could buy other brands for the same amount of money. Well, I'd make an exception if theres a polish "special" enough.

Sinful Colors Cinderella

For the past two months, I've been looking for Sinful Colors - Cinderella. Last Monday, I was walking around my local Walgreens waiting for my boyfriend to show up when something caught my eye. A baby blue Sinful Colors nail polish sitting at a display. I quickly picked up the bottle and saw the tiny flecks of pink disbursed in a sea of baby blue. Excitedly I flipped the bottle over and read, "Cinderella" on the bottom label. YES! It was the polish I had been looking for.

Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat
2 coats of Sinful Colors - Cinderella
Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat

I layered 3 coats of Sinful Colors - Cinderella over my base coat. The application was tricky... and messier than usual. I consider myself to me adequate to above average when it comes to applying nail polish neatly... But this was seriously my messiest application to date. Nail polish filled my cuticles and flooded the sides of my nails. The brush was pretty stiff so it picked up and applied a lot of polish onto my nails when I wasn't careful. The formula of the polish was a little on the thick side as well. 

This is definitely a gorgeous and unique colors... and for $1.99 its a great price... However, was a little more difficult to apply. 

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

Hey Everyone!

Sorry this nail polish is another "reddish" color. I've been applying for part-time jobs lately and didn't want to switch up my nail polish right before an interview... so I figure "reddish" colors will have to do for now.

I've been wearing this manicure for the past 5 days without getting any chips in the polish. However, it does have the inevitable wear on the tips :/. Please try to ignore that in the photos, haha!

base coat: Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat
base color: OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster
top coat: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
picture taken outdoors

OPI's I Eat Mainely Lobster came out as part of OPI's 2011 Fall Touring America Collection. One of the things that I have always enjoyed about OPI polishes are the names. I have a deep appreciation for whoever comes up with the names because they are quite witty with the puns. And I Eat Mainely Lobster definitely reminds me of lobsters when I see it. 

This polish has subtle pink and golden shimmers in it, which lobster shells tend to have. Depending on if you are indoors or outdoors the color slightly changes. Overall, it is a coral color, but indoors it seems to lean towards red while outdoors it seems more orange. Unfortunately, I could not capture the true color of the polish when I was standing outside; my pictures depict the polish as a reddish coral outdoors... it really does look slightly orange-r... kind of a coral - cantaloupe color. Also, without a top coat this polish does dry somewhat "dusty" and doesn't have much shine to it.

This was one of those polishes where I had to look at numerous swatch pictures on google before deciding if I wanted to purchase it or not. And seriously... in just about every website/blog that I visited the nail polish looked different. Yes, it is one of those tricky colors. But I am definitely glad I bought it. I've had this polish for about 9 months now and I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite nail polishes. I love wearing this color on my nails and especially on my toenails! 

This polish made me a fan of OPI nail polishes. It has the OPI Pro Wide brush which I found easy to use. The consistency of the polish was just right, not too thick and not too thin. Overall, it is always a dream to work with. Plus, OPI polishes have great staying power with or without a base coat/top coat... I mean seriously that picture is 5 days of wearing the same nail polish with no touch ups... pretty amazing. And it still has no signs of chipping just minor wear at the tips.

More swatches:

You can see the shimmer in the bottle

Essie Ole Caliente

Summer is "here" and the "hottest" months are coming up (*chuckle... not really if you live where I live.) 

Anyway, I haven't been changing up my nail polish that much and for a few weeks I had nothing on my nails because I didn't have a good top coat and base coat. For people who have worn bright or dark color nail polishes without a base coat then you know that staining will happen.

I recently bought Seche Vite's Fast Dry Top Coat and Crystal Clear Base Coat from CVS for $8.99. $4.50 each? Yes, please and thank you! When I got home that very same day I clamored to my bathroom to paint my nails. I was super excited to use a new top coat and base coat because I've had issues with bubbling on my nails (especially with Essie's 2012 Spring Collection). 

Guess what? Absolutely no bubbling! :) LOVE IT! Which means... I can finally post up a picture :). 

In the next few days I'll be posting up a blog about my experiences with different top coats and base coats and a review of the Seche Vite duo. My horrible experiences with bubbling and all that stuff :) But for now I give you a swatch of Essie's Ole Caliente. 

Essie's Ole Caliente is part of the Spring 2012 collection which I absolutely love! On the Essie website, it describes this color as a "red-orange with a pink undertone" creme. I definitely agree with description. Its not a true red, but its not too far off from being that classic red color. I know in this picture its hard to tell if its a red-orange but it really is (the majority of the time). 

I applied 1 coat of Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat and 2 coats of Essie Ole Caliente on my nails, topped with one coat of Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. Ole Caliente is opaque in one coat but the nail line is still visible. Two coats was a must. 

I really like the formula, but the brush application was something left to be desired. I really dislike the Essie mini polish brushes! They're too stiff which makes it harder to get a nice thin application.

Whenever I see this color I think of bright red candy apples, watermelons, and strawberries. It definitely paints a smile on my face whenever I look down at my nails.

This kind of color reminds me of OPI's Red My Fortune Cookie in certain lights... But Ole Caliente is definitely less orange.

What color nail polish are you sporting on your nails today :)?

I'm Back!

Hey everyone!

I'm back! Sorry its been a really really long time since I last blogged (school, drama, anxiety problems... ugh). But I am back with a picture of a jelly sandwich manicure that I did.

I sandwiched OPI's Getting Miss Piggy With It between Essie's Jelly Apple. 

I love this manicure sooo much! It was tricky to do for the first two nails because I had to make sure that I applied a thin layer of Jelly Apple over the glitter polish. 

What do you think?

Update: nail designs from 2011

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long wait. I have been back in school since the beginning of the month. It's been pretty good this quarter, just a lot of work to do :(. I will try to update as much as possible. 

Rose Nail Design:
Base Coat: Zoya Dove (I love this color!)
Red Petals: China Glaze Atelier Tulle
Pink Petals: China Glaze Second Hand Silk
Green Leaves: OPI Greenwich Village

Penguin and Owl Nails
Base coat: Essie Smooth Sailing
Feathers: Essie Something Borrowed
Beak and Feet: Sally Hansen Electric

Gradient Tips + Flower design
I honestly can't remember which polishes I used :(

Sorry, some of the pictures are flipped weirdly. I don't know why that happens when I upload pictures.

Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat Review (plus, a couple of swatches from December Haul)

Hello everyone! 

This a review of Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat and there are a few swatches of Nails Inc Magnetic Trio in Trafalgar Square (also one nail is painted in White Hall, and another in Parliament). Plus, one nail in Claire's Mood Changing Polish in Hyper/Relaxed and Daring/Ditzy.

I have been using Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat for about 2 weeks now. I bought it at Sephora earlier this month for $7 (because of a coupon I had) along with the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Base Coat and the Nails Inc Magnetic Trio. Usually, I would not buy a top coat that retails for $10, but seeing as my coupon lowered the price by 30% I figured, why not?

Nails Inc claims:

"Kensington caviar 45 second top coat is a super glossy top coat that leaves nails touch dry in 45 seconds. Apply over your nails inc polish for a professional, long lasting finish. This formula has been specially developed for women who demand instant results.The effect on the nails is a super glossy, wet look professional finish so that nails look like they have been professionally manicured. This incredible formula will also help to increase the wear of your nail polish adding chip resistance and sealing in colour."

Okay, now that is a lot of claims... So did it deliver?

The top coat definitely dried to the touch in 45 seconds! I was so shocked with how fast it dried. I'm pretty clumsy with my hands, so there have been times where I've accidentally knocked my nail into my nail polish bottle while painting my nail causing me to redo it. However, this time when I knocked my finger into the nail polish bottle, nothing happened! My nail was still in flawless condition! I've also found that if you wait a few minutes after applying the top coat and then run your hand under cold water and let the water air dry it will help your nail polish dry completely (I found this to be true using Nails Inc top coat). As for glossiness, I wouldn't say it makes my nail polish "super glossy". Kensington Caviar Top Coat does add shine or gloss, but not so much as to say "super glossy". Also, the longevity of my manicures lasted about one week until my nail polish would start chipping, so it did extend the life of my nail polish.

The application of the top coat was flawless, the brush was not too stiff. It was able to fan out over my nails. The consistency of the top coat was not too thick, but not too thin - just right.

HOWEVER! And this is a big con... A little over a week and a half my top coat developed little tiny air bubbles in the polish. Over the weekend I decided to change up my manicure from CG's Dorothy Who? To CG's Westside Warrior. A few minutes after applying NIKC top coat, I noticed tiny air bubbles forming on the surface of my nails. At first I thought the bubbles came from CG Westside Warrior because I never had any problems with my top coat. So, I redid my manicure and the same thing happened! Still convinced that I had a faulty bottle of Westside Warrior, I redid my nails again paying special attention to the brush of CG Westside Warrior, making sure that I did not see bubbles on it. I even gave it more drying time, looking over my nails and seeing there were no bubbles before applying my top coat. To my horror, I still saw air bubbles formed on the surface of each nail just minutes after I applied my top coat. I finally looked at the bottle of my top coat only to see little air bubbles on my brush and in the bottle of the nail polish.

Sorry for the bad lighting, it was the only way to take the picture showing the bubbles. The nail color is CG Westside Warrior. However, it doesn't really look like that because of the terrible lighting.

I'm not sure, but I believe its impossible to fix top coats with air bubbles... I've looked up ways to fix air bubbles and the most recommended solution is to add nail polish thinner to the nail polish. However, it is my top coat that has bubbles not my base color polish. Also, my top coat is definitely not thick so I doubt that that is the reason my polish has bubbles. I have never shook the bottle or froze the bottle. I always apply nail polish at room temperature and in rooms that aren't too warm or too cold.

I have looked up if other people had the same problem with their bottles of NIKC Top Coats. During my search, I've found a couple of people here and there have had bubbling issues, but the majority of users did not. So I can only conclude that something happened to my top coat or I got a defective bottle...

Bottom line, this top coat was amazing for the first 1 and a half weeks I used it until the bubbling problem happened. It really does do all that it claims (except the "super" part of "super glossy"). But, there is a chance that the bottle will form air bubbles, so do not throw away the receipt after purchasing it because you may need to exchange the bottle or return it if you aren't lucky. Even though I experienced horrible bubbling, I still love this top coat. It was an amazing top coat, I only wish it did not bubble. And honestly, I have the urge to purchase one more NIKC Top Coat to see if the second one will bubble or not.

These are all pictures of swatches I did about two weeks ago (sorry, the picts are sideways.. not sure why it was uploaded like that). All of the nails are topped with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat. As you can see none of the nails have bubbling. Also, see my post on China Glaze's For Audrey for picts; For Audrey & Dorothy Who? was my last successful manicure using the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat :(

So, have you ever experienced your top coat bubbling? If so how did you get rid of the bubbles?