Wheel D13: Dark Green Cremes

This is one of those wheels that makes me wonder about myself and my choices. So many of the polishes on this wheel are so close to each other that the "they're not the same; they're similar" line seems like it doesn't even apply. I debated skipping the tip closeup photos this week but decided to just go ahead and include them for the ones where you can see some slight differences. At least the bottles show variety.



(all 2 coats, except #6, which was 3)

1. Revlon Parfumerie Balsam Fir
2. Zoya Hunter
3. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Mallratz
4. Essie Off Tropic
5. OPI Christmas Gone Plaid
6. Catrice Hugo Moss
7. Orchid Grass Stains
8. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Poison Ivy
9. Maybelline Color Show Walk in the Park
10. Studio M Happy Hunter
11. Illamasqua Rampage
12. Nails Inc. Bruton Mews
13. IsaDora Wonder Nail Hunter Green
14. MILV 73
15. Essie Stylenomics
16. Essence Mountain Calling We Love Winter Holidays
17. Make B O Boticário Verde
18. Elf Green Machine
19. China Glaze Take a Hike
20. RGB Vert


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:



11 through 15:



16 through 20:

Sinful Colors Werk Out and Rubber Top Coat

Back when I did Wheel U12: Solid Color Textures, Sinful Colors Werk Out somehow didn't get on there with the rest of the Sporty Brights collection, so now it gets its own post, because who knows when I might get around to doing another texture wheel. werk Out is a cool-toned medium purple that dries to a rubber texture: slightly bumpy, slightly matte. I used two coats for my swatch.







Since a regular top coat would lessen or eliminate the texture, Sinful released the Rubber Top Coat with the Sporty Brights collection. I tried it over Werk Out as well as three non-textured shades from Sinful: Fearless (magenta), Violet Riot (orchid), and Spirited (purple). This top coat did as it was meant to and left Werk Out just as bumpy as it had been on its own. On the other colors, there was some texture added but it wasn't as noticeable as Werk Out was before the topper. It did seem to have more of an effect on the darker hues; I think that was just a visual effect, with the valleys between bumps looking more dramatic on the darker background.







Other than my desire to collect polishes that are quirky, I'm not sure why I felt the need to get the Sporty Brights. I don't wear the textured solids I already have (unlike the glittery ones, which I do put on). They're fine polishes and give the effect promised; it's just not an effect I tend to reach for. Ah well.

Morgan Taylor Lots of Dots

I am a sucker for multi-colored glitter, so when I saw Morgan Taylor Lots of Dots, there really wasn't a question about adding it to my collection. It's a topper with small matte glitter hexes in white, blue, red, pink, green and yellow.



Because it is a topper, it needs a base color under it, so I chose a party pack of creme hues: SinfulColors Shout (yellow), Zoya Janel (red), SinfulColors Mesmerize (blue), and Catrice I'm Not a Greenager (green).



I Skittled the cremes and then added two coats of Lots of Dots. It didn't need topcoat; the glitters laid flat and the clear base they were in was plenty shiny.







This is a fun glitter with lots of colors yet not so many that the look gets muddled. I could see using it for some sweet almost subdued spring looks, over a medium pink or a pastel green or pastel yellow. Or as the filling in a jelly sandwich. So many possibilities ... so little swatching time!

Wheel C13: Glitters from Cult Nails and Other Indies

Ah, Cult Nails, how I miss you. I used to buy so many polishes from this indie brand when they were around, which was back when glitter was quite popular, as is obvious from this wheel. I filled out the wheel with two from Canvas, which I'd forgotten I had, and four from Beyond the Nail. Canvas is now out of business, too; I only have a handful of their shades that I picked up at one of the IEC events. Beyond the Nail at least is still around, though their shop is closed for vacation right now.




(all have one coat of clear topcoat in addition to coats noted below)

1. Cult Nails Feedback (2 coats over half black base) [mylar shreds/shards in this one; that sort of falls between glitter and flakies on the spectrum of stuff that gets added to polish]
2. Cult Nails Walk of Shame (3)
3. Cult Nails Blaze (3)
4. Cult Nails Lime Light (3)
5. Cult Nails Center of Attention (3)
6. Cult Nails Just Because (3) [I find this one so cheerful for some reason]
7. Cult Nails Disillusion (3) [more shards]
8. Cult Nails Winter's Light (3)
9. Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed (3)
10. Cult Nails Dance All Night (2 over half black base)
11. Cult Nails Coveted (2) [love this one, with the green glitter shards glowing on the deep green shimmery background]
12. Cult Nails I Got Distracted (2)
13. Cult Nails Ignite (2)
14. Cult Nails Inescapable (2)
15. Canvas ZzZzz Zap (3) [this one has so much depth to it, like a colorful night sky]
16. Canvas Electric Avenue (3)
17. Beyond the Nail Razzle Dazzle (2)
18. Beyond the Nail Royal York (2)
19. Beyond the Nail Butterfly Garden (2) [had to fish for the butterfly glitters]
20. Beyond the Nail Cherry Beach (2) [this would make a great topper over dark shades]


Bottles 1 through 4:





5 through 8:





9 through 12:





13 through 16:





17 through 20:

Easter in July with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

One of the last big in-store in-person nail polish purchases I made before the pandemic hit the US was the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Jelly Belly 2020 collection. I never even saw a proper display for it, just one where the tray of polishes had been put out without the backing card, but that did not stop me from scooping up all the non-core shades in that tray. There were eight of them: two glitters (top row)—Tutti Frutti and Birthday Cake, and six cremes and shimmers (bottom row)—Island Punch, Green Apple, Piña Colada, Jewel Bubble Gum, Cotton Candy, and Jewel Very Cherry. Three of these are re-releases of colors in the 2019 Jelly Belly collection, though they were given new shade numbers: Island Punch (shade 629 in 2019, 674 in 2020), Green Apple (632 and 667), and Tutti Fruitti (628 and 673).



Two of these I got in a duo pack with rabbit cutouts on the box.



I've been on a green kick with Nail Wheel Wednesday, so I started with Green Apple, a medium green creme. It was a one-coater.



I put Cotton Candy, a warm pink creme, on my index finger and decided I wasn't interested in doing a full hand of that so adorned my other digits with Birthday Cake, a white crelly with "funfetti" glitter pieces in two sizes in blue, peach, and golden yellow. Each of these was two coats.





Jewel Bubble Gum is a light pink pearl (more the color of cotton candy than Cotton Candy was). I struggled a bit with application on this one; it might have been good at one coat but I was trying to get the brushstrokes straight so did two.





Jewel Very Cherry is the other shimmer; this is a fuchsia with a purple flash. The formula was thinner than Jewel Bubble Gum and easier for me to work with. I ended up doing three coats to make sure my nail line was hidden.





The purple flash shows up best in direct light:



I combined an index accent nail of Island Punch, a slightly dusty orchid creme, with Tutti Fruitti, a pink crelly with multi-colored and multi-sized metallic glitter (I see copper and green and blue and silver and gold and red and pink in there). I used two coats of Island Punch and three of Tutti Fruitti (its base is less opaque than that of Birthday Cake).





With Tutti Fruitti being a bit more sheer than I expected, I wanted to try layering it, so I put on Skittles of Jewel Bubble Gum, Island Punch, Jewel Very Cherry, and Green Apple, topped with one coast of Tutti Fruitti. The milky base of Tutti Fruitti worked best over the lighter hues but it wasn't awful over the darker. I'd wear any of these combinations.





Piña Colada is a light yellow creme. My swatch is two careful coats; as with many yellows, I found I needed to pay close attention to get this one to apply nicely.



To add some fun, I dotted Piña Colada with Island Punch, Green Apple, Cotton Candy, and Jewel Very Cherry, then added top coat (which smeared a few of the dots due to my impatience).





After I swatched these colors but before I managed to write a post about them, I discovered one more polish in the collection on the Ulta website. Of course I had to order it along with skin care necessities I'd gone on the site to get in the first place. French Vanilla is a white with small black glitter. I used two coats.





These are fun colors, and I'm glad I got them. I never swatched the 2019 Jelly Belly collection; maybe I'll get around to that this year since I'm not spending any time traveling like I did last year.