Essie DJ Play That Song Neon Collection Summer 2013 Swatches and Review

Essie always does really pretty neons and this year's neon collection is no exception.  It's a little different this time around- they're jelly neons, not opaque cremes and they're not quite as fluorescent-bright as usual, but that's not a bad thing.  They look like candy!

Essie Neon Collection 2013 

(press samples)

 Essie Boom Boom Room.

Pale yet vibrant baby pink creme.  This is a true opaque creme, not a jelly. I wonder if the Boom Boom Room is on top of Boom Boom Mountain?

 Essie Bottle Service. 

Bright neon fuchsia jelly. Super saturated and glowy. 

 Essie Bouncer, It's Me!

Vibrant blue jelly-creme.  Stunning.  Dries darker than bottle color.

Essie DJ Play That Song.

Neon plum jelly-creme. 

Essie Saturday Disco Fever. 

Blazing bright dark neon orange jelly. 

Essie Shake Your $$ Maker.

I don't know if I'd call this one neon, but it is bright.  Grassy, yellow-toned green jelly.  The most sheer color in the collection.  Makes me think of lime Jell-O!

The formula on these was lovely.  On the thicker side, but not gooey-thick. Just smooth, slower-flowing thick.  Since these are jelly-finish polishes, they're sheer and need three coats for evenness and opacity.  I still have some visible nail line at three coats.  Four coats made these nearly entirely opaque, but I preferred the more translucent look of three coats.

If you prefer a more opaque look, Essie recommends layering these neons over white.  Layering over white can also brighten the color, but I'm just not a fan of this technique. 

Essie Blanc.

Bright white creme.  Three-coater.  

Two coats of neon over three coats of Blanc.

 

 I think this looks sloppy and doesn't actually save any time unless you can manage to apply them completely evenly with only one coat each.  Blanc is rather streaky and needs three coats to look even, so that's three coats of polish right there.  Then the neons also look streaky applied over bright white, and that's another two to three coats.  Five to six coats of polish, not even counting base coat or topcoat, and they still don't look as good as just applying the polish alone. 

   

I love these.  All of them.  They're bright and beautiful and the jelly finish makes them extra pretty.  The downside is that they're pretty sheer, but they dry fast enough that it makes up for it.  I wouldn't bother with the white layering thing, though. It's an extra time-consuming step and, if you ask me, completely unnecessary.  

These are available now on essie.com!

(Collection was provided for review.)

China Glaze Texture Collection Summer 2013 Swatches and Review

China Glaze Texture Textured Polish Collection

(press sample)

Here's China Glaze's entry into the textured polish arena.  So far I've mostly worn glitter-based textured polish, but I gotta say, the texture really stands out on matte creme colors like these. I've grown to like the glittery kind, sure, but some of them just look like you forgot to put on topcoat. These are not like that.

China Glaze Bump and Grind.  

Bright fuchsia-coral creme base with sandy texture.

China Glaze In The Rough.  

Light yellow-toned green creme base with sandy texture. Reminds me of really cheap guacamole, the kind that's probably only 2% avocado. 

China Glaze Itty, Bitty and Gritty.

Bright pink coral creme base with sandy texture.
p.s. itty bitty gritty committee 

China Glaze Of Coarse!

Medium sky blue creme base with sandy texture.

China Glaze Toe-Tally Textured.

Light yellow-toned orange creme base with sandy texture.

China Glaze Unrefined.

Light pink creme base with sandy texture.

The formula on these is gritty (obviously).  There are two things to be mindful of when applying this formula: One, the grit can clump together, so you may need to brush over it a few times to get it evenly distributed across the nail.  Two, if the base to grit ratio is wrong, some spots will look smooth and shiny instead of evenly textured.  Thin, even coats are a must if you want a uniform look.  Other than the grit (think of it like glitter), it applies like a normal polish.  These are opaque in two coats (what I'm using here) and dry to a semi-matte finish.

I gave each of these about 15 minutes to dry before photographing them and they all seem to retain a slight amount of gloss rather than drying to a true matte finish.

If you're looking for something unique, unusual, and hell, even flat-out weird, this is it.  The textured look is odd enough, but combined with the unexpected base colors (spring green??) in the collection they're just completely bizarre.  I like bizarre.  Toe-Tally Textured is my favorite here (I just really like orange), but if you want to go all out crazy... In The Rough.  Such a strange polish.

These are available now!

(Samples provided for review.)

Jessica Gelato Mio! Collection Summer 2012 Swatches and Review

Jessica's new Gelato Mio! collection is a set of six summer pastels that "...suggests the mouthwatering flavors of Italian ice cream, and the endless possibilities of long summer nights." And you know, they really do remind me of gelato, especially the green because it's my favorite gelato flavor- pistachio!


Jessica Banana Peel. This is a light creamy yellow that looks different from the other pastel yellows I own. It's a little dirty, like there's some beige mixed in. Sort of an egg custard color, not quite as beige as China Glaze Kalahari Kiss, not as white as Illamasqua Load, not as yellow as Maybelline Banana Puddin'. I'm pretty sure this is unique in my collection.


Jessica Barely Blueberry. Light baby blue creme. Has a milky, soft look. Not too stark. Leans a little periwinkle.


Jessica Lime Cooler. Light but vibrant lime green. Like the rest of the shades, it looks soft and creamy and not stark and chalky. Yellow toned and very fresh looking. Doesn't give me the lobster hands either, I might add.


Jessica Strawberry Shake It. Light creamy baby pink. Just like the color of a strawberry milkshake.


Jessica Surfer Boyz 'n Berry. Soft light turquoise. Leans more blue than green. Quite lovely.


Jessica Tangerine Dreamz. Soft coral-leaning orange creme. Like I mentioned above, all the shades in this collection have this really gentle, soft creamy finish to them. They're not crazy saturated and they're not stark and chalky like some pastels tend to be. I'm not sure I'd call this color a pastel, but it is soft for an orange.

The formula on these was perfect. I didn't have any trouble at all with application. They're thick but flow readily and don't drag. Most of the colors only needed two coats, but I did three anyway. They look very good at three. Dry time is average, and even a little bit faster than I'm used to for Jessica.

Overall, super cute collection. All the colors are soft and flattering but still fun and colorful. Maybe not the most creative or unique set of colors, but hey, they look good and the formula is nice. I dig it.

The Jessica Gelato Mio! collection is available now on jessicacosmetics.com.

(This was sent for review.)

New Dermelect Me Peptide-Infused Anti-Aging Colored Nail Lacquer Treatments Summer 2012 Swatches and Review

A brand new line of nail polishes! It's called Me and it's by Dermelect Cosmeceuticals, a brand known for their anti-aging and problem-solving skincare products. Dermelect previously only offered treatment products for the nails, like Launchpad Nail Strengthener and Rejuvenail Fortifying Nail and Cuticle cream, but now they've combined the strengthening and anti-aging properties of their Nail Recovery system with bright, shiny, opaque color. I've included the full press release below just to give you the full scoop on these new anti-aging treatment nail colors:

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The ‘Cure’ in your ‘Mani’ is at your fingertips with the 1st peptide-infused color treatments for fragile, weak nails. Aptly named ME, Dermelect Cosmeceuticals formulated and designed a 2-in-1 range of bright, beautiful crème shades coupled with a remarkable manicure extending formula.

Infused with ProSina, a pure protein peptide extracted from New Zealand sheep’s wool, the lacquers deliver a fast drying, high gloss shine while providing an unequaled level of strength for stubborn nails to grow longer and more resistant to chipping, peeling and splitting.

In its debut collection, the ME range includes six lacquers with eye-catching hues ranging from the brand’s signature red to a rich lilac, creamy sky blue and color of the year, tangerine.

HOW IT WORKS
The first coat instantly bonds to the nail, while the second fuses with the base coat to create a flexible web of color that resists chipping and improves brittleness (patent-pending technology).

The ME colors combine fast drying, high shine, and a healthy ‘green’ dose of vitamins, peptides, and moisture, offering a colorful solution to the contemporary woman’s beauty concern—aging hands and nails.

For best results, two coats are recommended.

BENEFITS
· Strengthens weak, brittle nails
· Restores nail flexibility
· Helps nails resist chipping and splitting
· Provides long-lasting, high shine and bold color
· Water and detergent resistant
· Protects against UV rays
· DBP, Toulene, Formaldehyde, and cruelty FREE (no animal testing)

KEY INGREDIENT : ProSina Protein Peptide

COLOR NAMES
Persuasive (luscious peach)
Provocative (fabulously fresh fuchsia)
Above It (breathtaking sky blue)
Head Turner (brilliant orange crème)
Luxurious (rich, confident lilac)
Power Trip (burst of red w/pink undertone)

LAUNCH DATE: Summer 2012 (future color collections to follow).

PRICING & AVAILABILITY: SRP: $14.00 (0.4 fl. oz. bottle). Available on www.dermelect.com and C.O. Bigelow in NYC.

ABOUT DERMELECT
Dermelect Cosmeceuticals is a forerunner when it comes to targeted, multi-tasking cosmeceutical skincare. Backed by its board of advisors and formulated with the most effective and sought out ingredients, Dermelect provides a refreshingly realistic beauty philosophy as it seeks to simplify skincare for the average educated consumer.

Dermelect Above It. A pastel blue creme. This isn't one of those super bright sky blues, this is a soft sky blue, almost a powder blue, and with a slight lean toward periwinkle. Shares some similarities with Essie Bikini So Teeny. It does have some minor streaking on the first coat but is perfectly even with the second.


Dermelect Head Turner. A bright orange creme. Looks more yellowy when first applied, but deepens in color as it dries. It's a pretty fantastic orange. Opaque formula, bright color, strong glossy finish. Head Turner is an appropriate name.


Dermelect Me Luxurious. A light purple creme. This one walks the line between being just a light purple and being a pastel purple. It has a lot of color to it and doesn't look whitish or washed-out like pastel purples tend to be. I also like the slightly more warm slant of this color compared to some of my other favorite light purples (it's somewhat similar to Illamasqua Jo'Mina). Really love this.


Dermelect Persuasive. This one is a light peach-pink creme. Like Luxurious, it's somewhere in between light pink and pastel pink. It seems to have a whitish base, but it's not one of those stark, chalky, white-based "mod" pinks. Soft, flattering, very dense, opaque and non-streaky. And oddly enough, doesn't seem to look bad against my skin color.


Dermelect Power Trip. A bright cherry red creme. It looks rather warm in my picture, but in real life it has a strong pink undertone. Definitely more of a cool pink-red than a warm poppy red.


Dermelect Provocative. Bright fuchsia. Has an nice blue tone to it that keeps it from looking weird on my hands. It's bright enough to be interesting but it's not neon-bright. The color of this one is especially rich and saturated.

The formula on these was amazing. I couldn't have asked for an easier to apply formula. It's thick and dense but not gooey or dragging. It's very smooth and creamy and flows evenly onto the nail without running or pooling. The color went exactly where I wanted it to go and gave me a perfect application without me even trying. The dense, opaque formula does take longer to set and dry, so I needed to wait two minutes in between coats in order to avoid smudging or clumping the previous coat. The colors are all opaque in one coat with the exception of Above It, which needed two. I'm wearing two coats of each color here. The only flaw I could find in this near-perfect formula is the long dry time, but that's eased slightly by the use of a quick-dry topcoat.

I'm impressed. For a new brand, they already have a near-perfect formula and every color in the inaugural collection is gorgeous. The colors really stand out because of their density, ultra-smooth creamy-looking finish and their rich pigmentation. The bottles are heavy and well-designed and the brushes are the perfect shape, size and firmness. They are a little expensive ($14 for 0.4 oz), but their quality matches or exceeds that of every luxury ($15 and up) brand I've ever used.

As for the anti-aging effects, the jury's still out. I think if I consistently wore nothing but Dermelect polishes for a few weeks I might begin to see some results, but I only wore these colors for a few days in a row each time and I'm not sure that's long enough for the treatments to kick in. I did notice that they felt strong and protective and that they didn't dry out my nails after I removed them, but that's about it.

Dermelect Me Anti-Aging Colored Nail Lacquer Treatments retails for $14 each and are available now at www.dermelect.com.

(This was sent for review.)

Essie Summer 2012 Bikini So Teeny Collection Swatches and Review

Essie's Summer 2012 polish collection is a set of five bright, colorful cremes off-set with one oddball shimmer to make it a full six. The shades are:


Essie All Tied Up. The weird one! It's a medium rosy-fleshy-mauve with gold and copper shimmer. It's a little bit of a mature color but I don't think it's ugly, just a weird fit with the collection. Reminds me a little of an older Essie shade: Meet Balls.



Essie Bikini So Teeny. This one is really cool. It's a light blue that looks both pale and vivid at the same time. It has a bit of purple tone in it and also a dash of chunky but barely visible silvery shimmer. I don't think my picture conveys just how interesting this color is, you really should see it in person and get the full effect. It's gorgeous.



Essie Cascade Cool. A light pink with a little hint of lavender in it. Creme finish. Adorable.



Essie Fear or Desire. A light yellow-toned orange creme. Dries darker than bottle color.



Essie Mojito Madness. A green creme. It's lighter than most similar green cremes out right now, but it's not pastel. It's bright but not neon. It's not too yellow or too blue. Just a nice, vibrant, easy to wear, in-between kind of green.


Essie Off The Shoulder. A medium pink creme. Leans warm. Kinda boring.

The formula on these was good. I didn't have the streaking problem that I had with the last collection, but the texture was a little runnier than usual. Still, no trouble with application. All applied smoothly and dried quickly. Good opacity, too. I did two coats and that's all they needed.

I almost feel bad for poor All Tied Up. It looks like such an outcast standing next to the other bright, summery colors! But, otherwise, a decent collection with some nice brights. I think Bikini So Teeny is the most interesting one in the set. If I had to choose only one color to get from this collection, it would be that one. I'm also impressed that Essie did another green! Not something they've done often in the past few years.

This collection is available now.

China Glaze Summer Neons Collection for Summer 2012 Swatches and Review

China Glaze has a set of twelve new and updated neons out for summer 2012. In the past, the majority of neon colors released were creme-finish polishes, but the new China Glaze Summer Neons polishes have a hint of ultra-fine, iridescent shimmer to them. The colors are:


China Glaze Beach Cruise-r. This is a medium fuchsia with subtle blue, red and purple shimmer. It's not quite neon bright, but it is very colorful. In real life, it's more vibrant than it appears in the picture, just not exactly neon vibrant.



China Glaze Hang Ten-toes. Bright, blue-toned neon pink with faint, silvery, blue-violet shimmer. Such a great neon pink. The shimmer in these keeps the neon finish from looking too chalky or rubbery and adds a nice colorful glow to them.



China Glaze Flirty Tankini. Such an unusual neon! It's an orange-based neon coral and it has silver, pink and coral shimmer throughout. The shimmer in mine has all settled on one side of the bottle, making it appear light pink, but it's definitely coral on the nail. The only thing I don't like about this polish is the name!



Every picture I take of China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard comes out looking like this. It's so bright that my camera can't comprehend it. It took one look at this color and said "You have got to be kidding me. &^%$ this! I quit!". Eventually I figured out how to capture it with flash in total darkness:


China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard. Ultra-bright yellow-toned neon green with bright green and gold shimmer. It's a bit like the old, discontinued shade In The Limelight, to give you an idea of the intensity. It's really amazing, a must-have green, if you ask me.


China Glaze Love's A Beach. Bright neon pink with glowy pink shimmer. This one is darker than Hang Ten-Toes and more warm toned. The shimmer in it doesn't make the color any less bright, but it does give it a less harsh, more glowy finish than other similar-colored neon pinks.



China Glaze Orange You Hot? Light yellow-toned orange neon with coral, orange, silver and pink shimmer. This is one of those "fake cheese" shades of orange, like the packet of frighteningly bright cheese powder that comes in boxed macaroni and cheese. The shimmer adds a warm glow, so that makes it even nicer.



China Glaze Pink Plumeria. This one is hard to describe. It's a lighter, more orange-tinted pink than Hang Ten-Toes, but not as orange as Flirty Tankini. It has soft pink and gold shimmer particles that accent the warm light pink base perfectly.


China Glaze Ride The Waves. This one isn't a shimmer, nor is it really truly neon, but it's still great. It's a bright blue jelly. Not as dark as Rescue Beauty Lounge IKB 2012, lighter and cleaner than Revlon Royal, not quite as bright at Nubar Blueberry.



China Glaze Splish Splash. A bright blue shimmer. This one doesn't really strike me as being neon either, but it is bright. The shimmer in it is all blue, but it's a slightly more green-leaning blue, almost an aqua, while the base is more of a light primary blue.



China Glaze Sun-Kissed. AWESOME. A highlighter yellow neon with warm gold shimmer. This is not pure yellow. There's a lot of green in it. This is what it would be like if China Glaze Limonyte and China Glaze Celtic Sun had a baby. Crazy bright neon yellow goodness with the added glow from the smooth gold shimmer. My favorite color in the collection.



China Glaze Surfin' For Boys. Neon red-coral with pink and purple shimmer. Very, very bright and extremely rich.


China Glaze Under The Boardwalk. This one lacks shimmer found in the other shades and it also doesn't appear neon to me. It's a purple-fuchsia-berry color, creme finish. It is perkier and slightly less blue-toned in real life, reminds me of another color they did recently. I'm thinking Traffic Jam from the Metro Collection? Haven't compared them, but it struck me as being similar when I saw it.

The formula on these is thick. I had some trouble getting them to apply smoothly because the thickness of the formula caused a ridge of polish to form at the edges of my nails unless I was very careful to avoid it. The thickness can also cause the polish to bubble, especially in the summer when it starts getting hot and humid. I'd recommend either thinning these with some polish thinner, or doing very thin coats and letting each one dry for at least two minutes before adding another. I did three coats of each, though most were opaque in two. The dry time was long. Since these are neon, they dry to a matte finish and you will need to use topcoat if you want them to look glossy.

Overall, these rock. It's hard to find different looking neons. It's like all neons are made out of the same pigments so there's rarely any significant variations between collections/colors. These, however, have that added hint of shimmer that makes them look more soft and glowy than the average chalky-finished neon. I think it's a nice update to their existing line of neons, they definitely feel more modern with the addition of the shimmer. The formula could be a little smoother, thinner and easier to handle, but the colors are all excellent. The only one I don't care for is Under The Boardwalk, but the rest are all awesome.

If I had to narrow it down, my top six would be Sun-Kissed, I'm With The Lifeguard, Hang Ten-Toes, Flirty Tankini, Love's A Beach and Surfin' For Boys.

Also available: 8-piece box collection featuring Under The Boardwalk, Ride The Waves, I’m With The Lifeguard, Sun-Kissed, Orange You Hot?, Surfin’ For Boys, Flirty Tankini and Pink Plumeria.

China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available as open stock colors and 12-piece counter display. Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP and the 8-piece box set retails for $56. China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in June 2012.

(This was sent for review.)