OPI San Francisco Collection Fall/Winter 2013 Liquid Sand Swatches and Review

OPI San Francisco Collection Fall 2013

Three New Liquid Sand Shades

 (press samples)

Along with the usual set of twelve shimmer and creme shades, OPI is releasing three new colors of Liquid Sand.  Two cremes and one mind-blowingly pretty glitter!

 OPI Liquid Sand polish in Alcatraz Rocks.

Whoa.  Look at this masterpiece of a polish.  It's a deep blue base with the typical Liquid Sand/textured polish grit, but it also has tons of multicolor glitter.  I think I see every color of the rainbow in here.  It looks fantastic as-is, but if you don't mind doing two or three coats of topcoat, you can turn it into a glossy glitter polish with a smooth finish instead.

 OPI Liquid Sand Polish in It's All San Andreas's Fault.

This one is a creme-finish medium taupe brown.  Dries a shade or two darker than bottle color.  Never becomes fully matte after it dries so it has a tiny bit of gloss to it.

OPI Liquid Sand Polish in Wharf! Wharf! Wharf!

Gorgeous, rich blue creme base with textured grit.  Also dries a bit darker than bottle color.  And the name... I know it's supposed to be woof, woof, like a dog, except wharf because it's by the ocean, but all I can think is... Wharf! Wharf!

.... Worf?

The formula on these is a dream.  Perfect thin texture.  Absolutely nothing to even criticize as far as the application is concerned.  One tip for applying, though: Do thin, even coats.  If the polish base is too thick in some areas, it'll gloss out your sandy texture.  Dry time on these is fast.  They do chip faster than a normal polish, but not as fast as a true matte.

If you're only going to get one textured polish this year, seriously consider Alcatraz Rocks.  It's AWESOME.  The other two are cool, but seem unimpressive next to Alcatraz Rocks.  It's a scene-stealer for sure.

(Collection was provided for review.)

Jessica Awakening Collection Spring 2012 Swatches and Review

What's this? A second spring collection from Jessica? And it's a complete 180 from the flashy, sparkly colors in the previous one. The Awakening collection is all about soft, muted earth tones.


Jessica Flutter. Soft, light taupe creme. It's a mixture of light neutral brown and grey without purple tones. The color of dried clay mud.


Jessica Monarch. A light grey creme. No blue tones. As much as I like blue-toned greys, I have to say that I do actually prefer these more neutral ones. They're easier for me to wear and don't make my hands look as red as some of the blue ones do. But.... why is this drab grey called Monarch? Monarch and Wing It should switch names!


Jessica Sky High. Light blue. Very muted looking, like there's a little grey in here to keep it from looking too bright. I really like this, especially the name.

Jessica Soar. Beige/khaki creme. Maybe a little touch of green to it, but it's subtle.


Jessica Sunrise. Light pink putty creme. Like the others, this one has a muddy/dirty/muted look that keeps it soft and subtle, not white-based bright or chalky. A little bit of a boring color, but I kinda like how it looks on my hands. Feels elegant somehow.



Jessica Wing It. A coral orange frost. It's more colorful and bright than the other colors in the collection, but it is still soft and muted. This is not a bright summer orange. It's very toned-down, not too saturated, and looks even softer and more subtle from the addition of silver frost shimmer.

The formula on these was so-so. It felt a little globby and strange going on and didn't apply in smooth, thin layers. Instead, it applied as thick (yet slightly runny, like early 3-free formulas), uneven layers that stayed wet for a long time and self-leveled after a minute or so. I needed to wait at least 5 minutes between coats because of how long they took to set. Applying a new coat too soon made lumps and bulges in the polish. The brushes in these were also slightly off; they looked frayed and felt unusually loose. Jessica normally has really nice, tight, precise brushes, so that was a surprise. It was difficult to get a smooth application due to the weird texture of the formula and the odd brushes. The opacity of all of these was good so I only needed to do two coats on all. Drying time was long.

Not a terribly exciting or even unique collection, but I did like how creamy and soft they looked on my nails. I wasn't a fan of the formula or application, though. I like Sky High, Monarch and Sunrise the best out of the set. Some of the colors remind me of the Zoya Feel collection.

The Jessica Awakening collection is available now on jessicacosmetics.com.

(This was sent for review.)

Essence Colour & Go in Irreplaceable

I don't own very many Essence polishes, but every single one I have is amazing. This is one of the latest additions to my collection:

Essence Colour & Go Quick Drying Nail Polish in Irreplaceable. This is a light greyed-taupe creme base with some chunky bright golden shimmer. This is such a pretty color, and the name is fitting. I don't think I own another color that looks exactly like this. It does remind me of the new China Glaze color Fast Track, but there's a lighter base and more prominent shimmer in Irreplaceable.

The only thing I don't like about this is the tiny bottle and awkward brush. They're not horrible, but they're not my ideal bottle and brush, you know?

I really should get to picking up some more Essence polishes. They're really nice. Cheap, too.

Essie Fall 2011 Nail Polish Collection Swatches and Review

I think this may be the very last of the fall collections I have yet to post... Which is a little sad, because it reminds me that fall will be over soon. September went by insanely fast and now I feel like I've blinked and October is nearly gone. I'm trying to make the most of it, but why can't it just be fall all year round??

Anyway, here's Essie's Fall 2011 collection:

Case Study. This is a medium beige creme. It looks darker on my nails than it does in the bottle, as do all the colors in this collection (and most of the cremes in all the fall collections this year, odd). It's a little bit of a dirty beige, not so clean and stark like some beige cremes. A bit of an edge to it, but still completely conservative and office appropriate.



Carry On. Very dark vampy plum creme. It looks very dark but not quite black indoors, but outside it looks a lot more plum. This lighting makes it look darker than it is. It is obviously plum/burgundy in all lights and isn't as similar to Essie Velvet Voyeur as it seems here.



Glamour Purse. Essie describes this color as "almond taupe" and I'd say that's a pretty fair description. This is one of those putty-like 'greige' (still can't get used to that word) colors that have exploded in popularity within the past three years. It's flattering, it's a neat color, but it's very, very, very common/done/dupe-able.


Lady Like. This one is unexpected. I thought it would be a plain pink creme from all the promo pictures and in the bottle, but on my nails it's a dirty, dusty greyed pale pink. Reminds me of one of my favorites, Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge. It's really nice. My favorite in the collection.


Power Clutch. A dirty green-grey. It's dark and it's a little murky looking. I like this dirty/smoky/murky trend. This one looks more grey than green to me, but the (blue-toned) green is definitely there. I just expected a greener color, like a drab olive, based on the promo pics. Still cool, though.


Very Structured. This is a difficult one. It changes colors so much. In sunlight it looks like a pumpkiny orange with a little taupe or brown mixed in. In other lights, it looks like an earthy, dark terracotta. Essie calls it burnt sienna and I think that's the best way to describe it. It does look a lot darker on the nail than in the bottle, more so than the other colors. But this one also feels the most like a fall color.

The formula on these was perfect. Smooth, even, not runny or gooey. The tiny little Essie brush has really grown on me because I can get such a precise application with it. Also good for people with really small nails. I'm glad not all brands have gone for the Pro-Wide-style brush. Amazing drying time on these as well. Absolutely no complaints on the formula or brush. I did three coats of each color and I think they look best at three.

Overall, not as interesting as most of the other fall collections. A lot of really nice stylish, flattering, office-appropriate-yet-still-chic colors here. Nothing wild or outrageous or too edgy. It feels very fashionable to me, like there's a little bit of 'trendy' in it but still manages to stay classic. Strong colors, good formula, just nothing really brand new in it.

This is available now at both salons and Essie retail vendors (Meijer, Walgreens, Target, CVS, etc.)

(Most of these were sent to me for review.)

Orly Birds of a Feather Collection Fall 2011 Swatches and Review

Two fall collections from Orly? I like it when that happens. This is the slightly less interesting of the two, but that doesn't mean it's boring. It's quite good, actually. See for yourself.

Fowl Play. The star of the collection. A very strange polish as well. It's a dark warm purple jelly base with red/green duochrome flakes, blue glitter, silver microglitter, and a little bit of opal glitter. At first it reminded me of OPI Merry Midnight, and it is very similar, but there's so much more stuff in here. Really random assortment of colors and glitter textures. I'm rather fond of it and I can see this one being pretty popular for fall.

Lucky Duck. Medium jade green creme. Nice color, smooth application. Not much else to say about it.


Seagurl. This one is really cool, too. It's a dark grey base with silver and gold shimmer. It gives the polish an almost greenish metallic shimmer finish. Super gorgeous, lots of depth.


Peachy Parrot. Kind of a... coralish... frosty thing.



Nite Owl. Seriously! Three awesome shimmery/glittery polishes right on the heels of Mineral FX? Did we do something good this year? Anyway, this is a light putty/taupe (or is it greige?) creme with some tiny silver microglitter. I don't have another polish quite like this, it looks really different from all the taupe/greige cremes that have been coming out lately.


Sweet Peacock. This is a blue foil, but it has a different texture than most foils. It has some rougher bits which add a more sparkling, diamond-studded kind of look. Like... some of the silver foil base is chunkier and doesn't take on as much blue color, so those pieces stand out more and look shiny. It looks rough but it doesn't feel rough, which is also unusual.

The formula on these was okay. They're a little thick and runny (what I refer to as three free syndrome) but application was still fairly easy. The brushes are nice and even, so it's easier to control the formula. The drying time is really long, though. I seem to always experience a long dry time with Orly formula even when using a quick dry topcoat like my beloved Seche Vite. I recommend letting these dry for a minute or two in between coats to help with the longer than average dry time.

Overall, great set of colors. Fowl Play is just awesome, and so are Seagurl and Nite Owl. The other shades are good too, but not really as interesting as the other three. We have blue foils, green cremes and peach/coral frosts coming out the wazoo, so my eye is naturally drawn to the colors that I haven't seen quite so often, like the purple jelly with glitter and flakes.

Wish they dried faster for me, but other than that I don't really have any complaints.

These are available now; I've seen the display at Ulta and CVS so far.

(These were sent to me for review.)

TheBalm Hot Ticket Nail Polish Set

I picked up this TheBalm Hot Ticket nail polish set at TJ Maxx last week not necessarily because I like it, but because I'm intrigued by it. My buddy Tammie showed me a picture of these and it was a shock- I didn't even know TheBalm made nail polish, and yet there they were. There were two different sets- this one, and one with all boring pinks, reds and berries. Neither seem to be named, but the colors that belong in the set are printed on the back of the package.

Almost-Black Purple. Yep. Almost-black purple. Doesn't need much more of a description than that!


Baby Pink. Again... it's baby pink. Opaque baby pink creme.



Mudslide. This one is a brown-grey frost. Very dirty and sludgy looking, but for a frost it's not bad. I kinda like it.



Taupe. More frost. This is a mauve-taupe frost with some tiny little broken flakes of glitter scattered throughout. Like Mudslide, not bad for a frost.


Toffee. Even more frost! Yay. This one's frosty dirty champagne. Maybe light taupe. Ehhhhh....


The formula on these was decent, but nothing to write home about. They applied fairly easily but were on the thick/goopy side. All needed three coats.

The colors aren't particularly good and the price for the set was pretty steep ($20 at TJ Maxx). I feel like it wasn't really worth the $20, but I had to see them for myself.

I'm so confused by these. Like I said, I didn't know that TheBalm made nail polish. I've never seen it or heard of it before. I still can't find any information on it and it's not listed on their website. It seems like the first time most people I've talked to had heard of these was when they were spotted at TJ Maxx and Marshalls this month.

So... are these legit? Anyone know anything about these? How long has TheBalm been making nail polish without me knowing?

Finger Paints Fall Fashionista Collection Fall 2011

Finger Paints' Fall Fashionista collection is all creme. No shimmer at all! I'm really surprised to not see a single shimmer or glitter, but also relieved that there aren't any frosts.


Catwalk Queen. NICE! A murky, dirty dijon mustard color! This is much more yellow than China Glaze Trendsetter (and it's a creme), Street Wear Dijon or China Glaze Classic Camel. It has a tan/cafe tone to balance the yellow and a very dirty/cloudy element that keeps it from looking stark or chalky.



Cordur-Orange. Hands down, my favorite polish in the collection. This may even become my top favorite orange, and that's saying something. This is the most perfect autumn orange. It's warm and cozy, not bright but not too muddy and has this most autumnal 'spiced pumpkin' look to it that's hard to describe. It's muted, yes, but also bold. Saturated. Very, very orange. But not neon, not pure pumpkin, not candy corn... I can only describe it as fall in a bottle. Love this SO much.


Haute Taupe. Light taupe creme, muddy finish, hint of purple but mostly grey and brown. I like it, but I'm still completely taupe'd out.



Military Green. Ooh, interesting. A light and very greyed-out green. Blue toned green, not yellow. Sorta reminds me of Essie Da Bush, but darker and bluer. It bubbled a little on me, but that's probably my fault for doing such a thick coat on the first coat.



Purple Pinstripe. Sort of a... berry purple? A medium red-toned purple with a dusty finish. Nice color, but not unique.



Raspberry Taffeta. (Spelled Raspberry Tafetta on the label, not sure which is the actual name) And this one's a true berry, strong red-purple look to it. DO NOT WANT.



Stunning Stilettos. Very light cloudy grey creme with a pale blue undertone. Again, pretty but not unique.



To-Teally Chic. This looks way more bright blue in my picture, but it's really a medium teal. More green tone. Think Barielle A Bouquet For Ava.



Vintage Velvet. A really dusty/smoky/faded light teal. Makes me think of Misa Dirty Sexy Money, but this is darker and bluer. Same dusty finish on a teal creme.


The formula on these was beautiful. They were very thick, but completely smooth and even. One coat opacity on all the shades except Stunning Stilettos. One coat! I love that. I did two anyway because I was curious. Long dry time, but all shades dry to a super glossy finish even without topcoat.

Overall... I feel indifferent toward the collection as a whole, but I am in LOVE with Cordur-Orange and quite fond of Catwalk Queen. Most of these are colors we've seen before, but the advantage these have is a one-coat opaque formula. That, and they're inexpensive. I do wish this collection wasn't so somber looking, but I see the theme they were going for. Maybe they'll do something more cheerful for winter.

I think these fall collections are starting to look depressing to me... Anyone else? Such faded, drab colors... And I do like drab colors but there's so many of them this year with no sparkle to balance them! Really have my fingers crossed that all the holiday collections will be sparkly and happy this year.

(These were sent to me for review.)