Wheel M13: Glitters from LA Splash and Charming Charlie

Today it's back to glitters for Nail Wheel Wednesday. I got the LA Splash when I lived in Michigan and could stop at one of the Bed Bath & Beyond stores that has a beauty section on my way home from work; some I grabbed on clearance when they stopped carrying the line. The Charming Charlie I happened across when I went into one of their stores looking for a tassel keychain like one my friend had that I wanted.

 

(all have clear topcoat in addition to glitter coats noted below)

1. LA Splash Be Mine (1 coat over half black base)
2. LA Splash Sweet Heart (1 over half black base)
3. LA Splash Love Crush (1 over half black base)
4. LA Splash Wonderland (1 over half black base)
5. LA Splash Fabuluxe (2)
6. LA Splash Embellished (2)
7. LA Splash Sparkling Wave (2)
8. LA Splash Midnight Rain (2)
9. LA Splash Heiress (3)
10. LA Splash Ocean Sprinkles (3)
11. LA Splash Mystique (2)
12. LA Splash Oceans Fairy (2)
13. LA Splash Conch Cocoa (2) [loving this one ... maybe because it's fall now and I've got earth tones on the brain]
14. Charming Charlie More Money More Problems (3) [I don't recall what this looked like new, but suspect it's had some glitter bleeding
15. Charming Charlie Feeling Lucky (3)
16. Charming Charlie Owning Everest (3)
17. Charming Charlie Icicle Blue (3)
18. Charming Charlie That's Just Grape (3)
19. Charming Charlie Pour Some Glitter on Me (3) [wish I'd put this over a black base so the holo microglitter could shine]
20. Charming Charlie Tease-y Does It (2 over peachy beige base)

Bottles 1 through 7:

 

 

8 through 13:

 

 

14 through 17:

 

 

18 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple direct light shots to show the holo sparks in some of these:

 

 

Selections from Polished for Days Imagination Collection

Today I have two lovelies from Polished for Days, both from the Imagination collection, both that have been waiting a long time to get their moment on the blog. (I previously shared the other two I bought from this collection: A Dream is a Wish back in May and Frozen Heart last month.) Yesterday Tomorrow and Fantasy is a medium purple microflakie shimmer which is also full of larger purple flakes (that have a subtle pink shift) and silver flakes (that have a subtle holo flash).

 

At three coats, Yesterday Tomorrow and Fantasy is pretty much opaque. At certain angles in certain lighting conditions, I felt like I could see a hint of nail line. I really had to look for it, though, and what with all the sparkling and shifting the flakies were doing, it was easy to get distracted and not notice any nail line.

 

 

 

Direct light brings out even more beauty:

 

Of course I had to try layering Yesterday Tomorrow and Fantasy. I left three coats of it by itself on my index finger then did various creme bases on the other digits: LA Colors Color Craze Gel Jazzy (light orchid), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Vivid Violet (purple), and Color Club Take It All Off (warm brown).

 

I topped the cremes with one coat of Yesterday Tomorrow and Fantasy then added clear topcoat to all my nails for shine and depth. The light orchid base changed the look the least, just slightly warming it up. Over the darker purple, the silver flakes popped more. My favorite was the warm brown base, which deepened the overall appearance but still let all the flaky elements show their stuff; it especially seemed to bring out the pink shift in the purple flakies.

 

 

Wish Upon a Star has blue/purple and purple/green shifting flakies in a black base, and I could just look at the bottle for hours on end.

 

For my swatch, I did two thicker coats on some nails and three thinner on others and can't tell the difference. I did add clear topcoat to all to let the flakes really shine.

 

 

 

I might have to resurrect the idea of a top 20 list for this blog just so I can put Wish Upon a Star on it. I mean, look at it:

 

I did not let the fact that Wish Upon a Star has a black base keep me from trying it as a layering polish. For my base colors, I chose Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry Cherry Bang Bang (magenta), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Vivid Violet (purple), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Purple Heart (blue violet), and black (I didn't note which one, probably either Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine or Funky Fingers).

 

Adding a single coat of Wish Upon a Star to those Skittles and slicking on a clear topcoat yielded four pretty nearly identical nails. Did the blue tones of the flakes show up more on the blue violet base? Maybe, but if so, the difference is slight. The good news is using Wish Upon a Star on a creme base looks just as good as two/three coats of it alone, so I can enjoy it for more manicures if I layer it.

 

The Imagination collection is still available on the Polished for Days website. When I went to see, I tried to not look at the polishes I didn't get because my willpower is weak lately when it comes to buying polish. I have three orders on their way to me and one in the shopping cart stage. I figure I'm saving so much money not traveling and not eating out and not driving to see friends in the city that I can indulge more than usual. But there is a limit. Somewhere. I'll keep an eye out.

Wheel L13: Dusty Green Cremes

This week's Nail Wheel Wednesday has green cremes that have a touch of grey or brown or blue in them. They don't shout "green" but quietly go about their business of looking like a dark and possibly stormy sea. A strong case could be made that some of these are dusty blues, but they were stored with my greens, so I went with that.

 

1. Elevation Polish Storm in the Morning Light (2)[I'd forgotten I had any cremes from this brand that turned out to be made by a person who lied about some big things, hung around for some time despite that, then finally quit the business]
2. Whim Thyme to Celebrate (2)
3. Butter London Artful Dodger (3)
4. IsaDora Wonder Nail Combat Khaki (2)
5. Essie Fall in Line (2)
6. Revlon Top Speed After Party (2)
7. Revlon Top Speed Essence (1)
8. SinfulColors Classified (2)
9. Nicole by OPI Goodbye Shoes (2)
10. Essie Pool Side Service (2)
11. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Spring Moss (2)
12. Podium Gel Effect 120 (2)
13. Sally Hansen Color Therapy Bamboost (2)
14. Deborah Lippmann Come Fly With Me (2)
15. Deborah Lippmann Hannah (2)
16. Max Factor Glossfinity Aqua Marine (2)
17. Zoya Evvie (2)
18. Maybelline Color Show Fashionably Slate (2)
19. SinfulColors Leap Flog (23
20. SinfulColors In the Mist (2)

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Donut Shop Collection

I probably should have prefaced the title of this post with "Selections from", as I don't have the whole Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Donut Shop collection today. I have just two of the six shades, because four of them were cremes, and I'd rather save the $40 of my polish budget for something else. I do have the two glitters: Mixture Perfect and Sprinkle & Spice. The caps are printed with sprinkles (or jimmies, in some parts of the country), which I think is a nice touch.

 

Back when I bought these, Ulta had a gift with purchase, so I also got this tumbler with plastic sprinkles in between the cup and the liner.

 

Sprinkle & Spice has pink, pastel yellow, light orange, lime, and sky blue matte glitter in an iridescent purple-y pink shimmer base.

 

I tried to hold the cup for photos, but it's awkwardly shaped and wide, so that didn't work out.

 

 

Sprinkle & Spice is wearable on its own; my swatch is three coats plus clear topcoat, which I didn't really need as the glitter lays flat. There is a hint of visible nail line, which I don't mind in this case.

 

Sprinkle & Spice can be used as a topper, too. I grabbed some Sally Hansen cremes to represent the shades I didn't buy and laid them down as a base: Insta-Dri Piña Colada (yellow), Complete Salon Manicure Tie the Knot (beige), Complete Salon Manicure At First Blush (pink), and Insta-Dri Jade Jump (green). I then added one coat of Sprinkle & Spice (skipped the clear topcoat this time). The shimmer in Sprinkle & Spice softens the base colors; I thought it was most attractive over the beige and green.

 

Mixture Perfect has white, pink, pale yellow, sky blue, and coral matte bar glitters in a pink tinted transparent base.

 

I would not wear Mixture Perfect on its own. I swatched it alone so you can see how at two coats the base was still transparent.

 

 

I used the same base colors as above to see how Mixture Perfect looks layered. Definitely a strong frosted donut with sprinkles vibe here.

 

To play with these two just a bit more, I put on Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry Cherry Bang Bang, a berry creme, then experimented. Left to right, Cherry Cherry Bang Bang: plus one coat of Sprinkle & Spice, plus one coat of Mixture Perfect, plus one coat each of Mixture Perfect and Sprinkle & Spice (in that order), plus one coat each of Sprinkle & Spice and Mixture Perfect. I was surprised at how much Sprinkle & Spice changes the darker base color; I liked the result a lot. Putting Mixture Perfect under Sprinkle & Spice softens the bar glitter some and helps it blend in better with the hexes.

 

I'm glad I picked up these two; I want to support fun limited edition polishes from mainstream brands, and these are that.