Essie 'Butler Please' and Sally Hansen 'Pacific Blue' comparison

    Instagram was hit with a fresh storm of cobalt fever the other day and after seeing a few ladies complain about the formula of Essie's 'Butler Please', I decided to do a comparision to a 'Butler Please' alternative with a much easier application and better formula (in my opinion), Sally Hansen's 'Pacific Blue'

My experience with 'Butler Please' is a thick and rubbery formula that balds with each stroke and dries bumpy and weird. It took two healthy coats of Seche Vite to completely smooth out the nails I used 'Butler Please' on. Sally Hansen's 'Pacific Blue' is nearly opaque in one coat, smooth, and everything a cobalt blue creme should be. Visually, 'Butler Please' is just the tiniest bit darker than Sally Hansen's alternative, but knowing how ridiculously annoying Essie's blue is to work with makes grabbing 'Pacific Blue' a lot easier.

I think what Essie was trying to do here, was create a rubber-finish neon similar to CG's "creative fantasy" or Julep's "Nikki" and though the finish is sort of matte-rubber-like, the application is just way to cumbersome to pass up this Sally Hansen dupe, which is also three bucks less.
What do you think girls, would you trade up your Essie for 'Pacific Blue'? Did you have difficulties with 'Butler Please's forumla? Discuss!

Boy Oh Boy!

I still have five or six O.P.I mini's laying around from their Top Ten collection I ordered a while back, and I've been wanting to get around to trying all the shades and sorting out which ones where must-have full sizes. After seeing a swatch of it on Instagram last night, I just had to put on O.P.I 'Red Lights Ahead...Where?', a seriously neon, orangey-red that totally pops. Here I used three coats for full opacity. Maybe it was just the mini, but the application of my first and even third coat was a little streak-y, but nothing a nice helping of Seche Vite didn't sort out!

I'm not so sure, but this O.P.I may be a dupe for Essie's 'Snap Happy', another winter orange-red fave of mine. I took advantage of this bright shade and practiced some of my leopard print using my favorite Jordana blue, 'Boy Oh Boy'.

 I used 'Boy Oh Boy' for my birthday mani and it was a dream to apply, two coats for full opacity. It's a robin's egg blue that's more aquamarine in some light.  Anyway, it helps make an absolute perf pair of eye-catching red and chic animal print. There's something about blue-ish green and orangey-red together this winter, it's totally growing on me!

Minty Fresh mani!

        So as my untried polishes are piling up in a bin beneath my dresser (I am currently supposed to be on a 'no buy' for polishes, hahaha!!) I happily added another last night while at the drug store for some makeup (Go in for one thing, come out with the whole beauty counter). I knew about Sally Hansen's lustre shine collection for a while but I was never totally impressed with any of the shades until I noticed a white pearly color called 'Moonstone' I haven't seen before at the other displays of the collection. So after putting it back then picking it up again, I totally impulse bought it-and some friends to keep it company that you'll be seeing soon ;)
        Without a thin coat of white undies for this one (I used Sinful colors 'Snow Me White' for this mani ) one coat is a really thin sheen of pearly white and a peek of mint shimmer that was a pleasant surprise. With two coats over my white base, I was totally getting a ribbon candy/ breath mint sort of vibe off of the finish and decided to add some art!

    For the swirly mint design on my index, I used another Sally Hansen untried polish called 'Mint Sorbet'. It has been a really long time since I've sat down and actually done nail art (I'm in the process of getting a vanity moved into my room) so after checking out a Robin Moses tutorial on Youtube for creating a peppermint design that was originally made for Christmas, I was pretty impressed result; a clean and subtle accent finger that I felt really resembled the real thing!
   

    Of course, while I had my brushes out, I couldn't help but add a little bling to the rest of my fingers. On my pointer I did a simple heart tip using 'Mint Sorbet' again, and outlined with Revlon 'Silver Dollar', my go-to silver for art accents that need some metallic shine.I also did some micro-bead placement on my ring finger for a little edge and added a clear rhinestone to the middle of my minty swirl.

 

      My right hand was lonely, so I added a micro-bead accent finger to match my left! I always do something with my dominant hand, whether it's duplicating the art or just corresponding the polish. The concept of having one hand manicured and the other naked is foreign to me and kinda counter-productive because I like to actually wear my mani's out to show off for a day or two. 

     I enjoyed wearing this clean and uber chic look today and actually matched a mint and metallic outfit to it! I always feel more put together when my mani's match my outfits. My mom commented that this mani almost looked bridal and I totally agree. As for the micro-beads, I will definitely be using them for my accent nails in the future: its such an easy way to make it look like I spent time on my look! hahaha. Enjoy girlies!

Devine Intervention

    

       When I first started painting my nails, I wanted nothing to do with any color that wasn't a shade of red or pink; but as all we nail girls know, beautiful crimsons and baby pinks are just a small percentage of the gorgeous colors you come across in the wonderful world of polish. Once I broke out of my rose-colored shell, I discovered I'm a bit of a purple girl! And this deep royal purple Essie shade is the kind of polish that has my eye straying from my normal neutral pink.

  ( Essie 'Sexy Divine' topped with one coat of Revlon 'Heavenly' and two coats of Seche Vite topcoat )
    
    I really believe that Essie is notorious for it's baby pink shades and is always my go-to brand for pretty neutrals. But don't be fooled, Essie also has a naughty side that she doesn't always show. This deep purple that I topped with Revlon's 'Heavenly' (I'll get to that beauty in a moment,) called 'Sexy Divine', a super fitting name for this shimmery eggplant shade with a glint of magenta in the right light. The color on it's own went on like a dream and after adding a topcoat, I'll have to admit I had a hard time covering it up. I'm definitely keeping this one in my arsenal for a chic and eye-catching alternative to black.

    ( Essie 'Sexy Divine' topped with one coat of Revlon 'Heavenly' and two coats of Seche Vite topcoat. You can really see the iridescent flakies in the photo. )
    
    I have been dying to layer Revlon's 'Heavenly' over a dark color and as much as it pained me to cover up my purple beauty, 'Sexy Divine' was thee perfect base for it. I've also seen other nailstagrammers layer 'Heavenly' over Revlon's 'Royal', which is equally awesome. I think it would look cool over black as well. 'Heavenly' for me tops the list right up there with Essie's discontinued shade: 'Shine Of The Times'. When I first bought 'Heavenly', I didn't really envision it as a run-of-the-mill flakie top-coat. I planned on being boring and layering it over white or a pastel, but my girls on the nailstagram scene never disappoint and gave way to a whole new trend for this polish.

   
    The finish that 'Heavenly' gives over a darker shade is almost radio-active like. I sort of feel like I have a rave going on on my fingers!

With a mani like this, who wouldn't convert to being a purple girl? <3!

Midnight Blues

       I'm going to happily dedicate my next two manis to swatching my Tryst Lacquers Date Night Collection I bought as a birthday present for myself a couple weeks back and haven't gotten around to photographing. Kimberly Maranan, the brand's lovely owner, is a jelly polish genius who deserves an indie Emmy!!! I'm just now building up enough indie polishes to qualify as an extremely modest collection. I'll admit that I'm not exactly a franken-polish connoisseur; clear bases and glitter bombs (though beautiful) just aren't my style, but since I received a hefty amount of money for my past 18th birthday, I decided I would delve into the indie polish world while my wallet was open and willing for a risk here or there. 
        Kimberly's polish style is everything I think an indie polish should be. Its unique, interestingly eye-catching, gorgeous, practical, and made up of all the glittery goodness that you just can't get with mainstream polishes. But what really sold me, was her pigment-based cremes and jellies. 

 
 "Meet Me At Midnight" swatched above pretty much speaks for the collection, and Kimberly's brand as a whole, for itself. It's jam-packed with large copper hex glitters, small blue hexes, and the cherry on top; the abundance of micro white hexes that totally makes the polish and fit's its name sake perfectly. And seriously, that gorgeous navy blue jelly?! I'm in love. 

    This only took three coats on it's own for opaque squishy jelly amazing-ness. One easy coat of Seche Vite smooths all the glitters out to a glassy to-die-for finish!
   You can buy this beauty and others in both full sized and cute little mini try-out sizes at Kimberly's etsy shop here.

Lip smacking good Laquerlicious Lacquers!

                                      Now that's a title that has got me salivating!
      A week or two ago, I pleaded with the wonderful owner of Laquerlicious, an upcoming indie polish brand, to grace me with the honor of swatching some of her newest concoctions. Unbelievably, she obliged! Getting three little gorgeous polish mini's in the mail was a euphoric experience; finally I was like (or on my way to being) those uber popular swatchers on instagram who get to blog beautiful indie nail-potions and rub elbows with some of the best franken-ers in the industry!
      AND I haven't even gotten to the good part: the polishes!!!!!! Miss Laquerlicious sent me three cute little mini's that each raced to a special notch of my 'OH MY GOD' meter! 'Zebra Kisses', clear-based choc full of matte white and black shards, 'Pink Granite', my absolute favorite that packs heat with tiny pink and black hexes, large black and white square shards, the occasional pink translucent hex, and an army of micro pink dots, and last but certainly not least 'Rainbow Sugar', another shocking favorite of mine that teems with a beautiful pink-tinted jelly base complete with all the colors of the rainbow in the form of translucent and patterned hex glitters, each different but oh-so wonderful!

      I'm going to proudly start out with the polish that is certainly the best nam-ed (in my opinion) of the bunch; 'Zebra Kisses'!!! Not only does the name of this black and white topper give you THEEEE cutest image in your head but it is surprisingly chic on top of my neon-green base (which is 'Nikki' by Julep, a beautiful neon with a rubbery finish). I'm in love with the unconventional approach this sharded white and black matte glitter takes on a normal salt-n-pepper sort of topper. 

   

       The application for this one is genius. I've owned quite a few black and white toppers in my day, and by far this one is the best application wise. Absolutely no fishing! What you see is what you get! A nice smooth finish with just enough pieces in your first coat to obtain desired effect. This one is definitely worthy of a full-size purchase. It's fresh, new, and versatile, looking totally chic over bright colors (especially in the winter!) or interestingly classic over dark cremes, making it a no-brainer buy for any polish junkie.
  

    
          Can you believe I was on the fence about this beauty? I'm not normally one for colorful toppers, so besides loving the name, I wasn't sure about 'Rainbow Sugar'. It was my last to swatch, pictured here with three thin coats over Revlon's 'Pink Lingerie'. I kept telling myself that it was pretty, just not my style. These dark thoughts were said and done by morning. In the daytime, I fell into a whirlwind romance with my colorful tips. I just felt fun while wearing this polish. Its milky pink base, if im not mistaken, actually has a tiny tiny bit of teal shimmer which took me by surprise and got me to look at silly and fun rainbow glitter toppers in a whole new light.

      

 

       With three easy coats, the layered look of green, red, blue, pink and sometimes tiny purple hexes and squares gives the appearance of a really fun watercolor without all the back-breaking nail art work. After boycotting cheesy rainbow toppers for so long... 'Rainbow Sugar' has definitely made me a believer.


       Oh how I've saved the best for last; 'Pink Granite', another spot-on name that kind of makes you go "OOOOooohhh" when you look at it. My go-to undies for this one was a deep steel gray that's dark enough for granite, but light enough to remain gray and not black. Essie 'Smokin' Hot', an untried smokey gray creme I had sitting around made this mani an unquestionable instant fave. In an easy to work with clear base filled with tiny pink micro glitters, small black and pink hex and squares, large white squares, and the kicker: large translucent pink hex, this polish gives your nails an instant girly-granite make-over. 

   

        With one super smooth coat, a perfect helping of glitter is easily distributed. The translucent glitters that overlap each other and other glitters give the illusion of actual glittering layers of granite. This beaut is one for the polish gods. Bravo Miss Laquerlicious. Bravo!

         These polishes totally did all the work for me just by being beautiful to photograph, fun to wear, and a breeze to apply. I hope ( and how could I not have?!) I've convinced you to take a little trip on over to the Laquerlicious etsy shop to get the real delicious experience. 
  
        May your wallets be open and your helmers full! ;)
                                           Sincerly, 
                                                                             Lizzie

Oh baby baby! Baby Lips by Maybelline

                     I’m definitely not a follower when it comes to makeup trends. I’m particular about my ultra-simple ultra-natural look and most of the wacky makeup that trends on Instagram or television doesn’t quiet fit into my light-blushed, nude lidded world.

            The TV has recently totally been bombarding my program viewing with commercials for Maybelline’s new tinted lip balm called “Baby Lips”. Honestly upon first encounter with the add, I hadn’t been impressed. I’ve used a lot of tinted balms before and they’re normally cake-y with too much metallic shine or taste gross with hardly no ‘tint’ at all (or a horrid mixture of all the above). 

           After seeing the colorful tubes so often around cash registers and make-up kiosks, my inner natural-faced make-up girl dressed in her dare-devil gear and was bugging me to try them, but I was still on the fence about subjecting myself to another tinted balm experiment. 

            It was just yesterday morning when I was scrolling through Glamor's 18 Brand-New Beauty Products to Try in 2013 that I finally became convinced I needed the lippy that Glamor dubbed as a “Yummy” must-have; and oh my goodness, am I glad that I caved in!

            With an awesome sale at my favorite drug store, I bought one and grabbed another for 50% off and after trying them both…I think I may have to go back for the rest of the collection!

    But for now, I have ‘Pink Punch’, a dynamic Barbie pink that would be too overpowering in an opaque lipstick but is gorgeous in sheer, and ‘Peach Kiss’ which seems to have a little more shimmer than ‘Pink Punch’ and totally lives up to it’s name: a creamy peachy shine that for some reason makes me feel like an instant babe! 

                                    'Pink Punch' (left) and 'Peach Kiss' (right)

As if gorgeous sheer color and eye-catching shimmer wasn’t enough, the formula is pretty unbelievable. The thick sticks make me feel like I’m five again using those huge cherry bomb chapsticks except with a much more luxurious feel. I would compare their application to a drink of water for your lips; instantly smoothes and beautifies. They also live up to their 8 hour lasting claim. I put some on before bed, because I became instantly addicted to their light fruity smell, and when I woke up I was still able to smear my lips together with the moisture that was left over from my first application.

                                           'Pink Punch' (bottom) and 'Peach Kiss' (top

 I would totally recommend these fun and youthful lippies to any girl who is looking for a touch of color that remains on your lips like a stain but moisturizes like a medicated balm, and smells DELISH! For me, the elegance of these fun little balms are perfect to dress up a natural makeup-ed face or in place of a nude lip; totally kissable, totally cute but still totally sexy!

Maybelline, I am impressed. You deserve a standing ovation for this one. Really, Bravo!