Wheel V14: Glitters from Sally Hansen

Today I have glitter polishes from three different limited edition collections/lines from Sally Hansen. Luxe Lace was from 2014 (my swatches here); Pearl Crush (swatches) and Insta-Ombre (swatches) were both summer 2015 offerings.

 

(all have clear topcoat in addition to glitter coats noted below) 1. Sally Hansen Luxe Lace Eyelet (2 coats over a skintone base) [had to fish for the largest glitter pieces]
2. Sally Hansen Luxe Lace Intimate (2 over a skintone base) [had to fish for the largest glitter pieces]
3. Sally Hansen Luxe Lace Crochet (2 over a skintone base) [had to fish for the largest glitter pieces]
4. Sally Hansen Luxe Lace Ruffle (2)
5. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Clam Digger (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
6. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Silver Scallop (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
7. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Mer-Mint (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
8. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Rainbow Fish (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
9. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Shell & Tell (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
10. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Lady Crab (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
11. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush She Sells (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
12. Sally Hansen Pearl Crush Oyster It Up (2 over half black base) [had to fish for the glitter]
13. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Gold Grade (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
14. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Copper Cap (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
15. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Grey-diant (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
16. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Jade Fade (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
17. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Cobalt Coat (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
18. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Layer on Lilac (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
19. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Fuchsia-nista (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)
20. Sally Hansen Insta-Ombre Scarlet Spark (1 coat over whole nail, 2nd over 2/3rds of it, 2rd over 1/3)

Bottles 1 through 4:

 

5 through 8:

 

9 through 12:

 

13 through 16:

 

17 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some direct light shots to show the base shimmers in the Pearl Crush; some have a hint of duochrome to them:

 

 

 

Ella + Mila Selections

Before I took off the long fakes I shared in my previous post, I used them to swatch some Ella + Mila shades I got when I saw them at Walgreens. Most of the ones on offer were cremes which I need more of like I need to engage with my neighbors who think "HIPPA" is a thing that means they don't have to face any consequences from their decision to not get the COVID vaccine (I still sometimes do drop a link when they comment on Facebook but that's for folks reading who might not know what HIPAA is and be open to learning). Sorry, where was I? Oh, most of the shades were cremes, which I try not to buy so much anymore, so I got the two glitters and one that looked like it might be a chrome. Since chrome finish does best on a really smooth base, and my natural nails are not that right now thanks to things like thrusting my hands into bushes to pick huckleberries, I thought the fakes would be good for that. Here's Entice Me, a silver-y chrome-y shimmer. I did two coats, no topcoat. As you can see, even the ultra smooth base of the fake nails didn't prevent me from getting some brushstrokes.

 

 

When looking for other people's swatches of Entice Me to see if they also had the brushstrokes issue, I found some that showed a different version from 2014. That one was a dusty purple, more shimmery, less metallic, and dried matte. I liked the looks of that one better. Oh well, glitter will help. Party in a Bottle has multiple shades and sizes of metallic glitter in a clear base, reminiscent of classics like Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday. I see red and silver and blue and green and pink in there.

 

I put two coats of Party in a Bottle over Entice Me. It was a bit of a challenge to get the glitter distributed evenly on my nails, so some brushstrokes are still peeking through but the the glitter is distracting enough so they're not too noticeable, especially in real life rather than captured in a still photo.

 

 

The third Ella + Mila I got was After Party, which has small rose gold and holographic hex glitter plus a scattering of larger rose gold hexes in a clear base.
I was fading fast at this point in the swatching session, so just whacked one coat of After Party on my thumb. I liked that combination so much I wished I'd thought to try it earlier; the glitter on the clear tip helped it look more integrated with the rest of the nail, not just hanging off in space being hard to see.

 

 

The elephant on these bottles is cute, and of course I like the squared shape for storage efficiency. The polish doesn't seem to be anything special, though, either in colors or formula. It's fine, just not something I'm going to seek out as I don't have any emotional connection to the brand (unlike, say, Sally Hansen).

 

Kiss Jelly Fantasy Nails

It's been a while since I shared any of my artifical nails of the day. Not because I haven't been wearing them, but because I've been re-wearing some designs (if I see a sale and like the nails, I often buy multiple sets), and somehow my brain is not able to get over the hurdle of doing a simple search to see if I've already posted about a particular design. With the nails I have today, I didn't need to do that search, because they are very unusual for me. I picked up these Kiss Jelly Fantasy nails in a weak moment at Walmart because they were unlike any I'd tried. They're long, which I have worn on rare occasions before, but they also have clear tips, which I was just "why?" about. I haven't been able to find a name for the design, but the code on the box is KGFJ09X. There were three styles in the box: peachy pink with a clear tip, peachy pink with a clear tip and a sheer iridescent coating, and silver microglitter with a clear tip. I used only the first two, because the silver glitter ones looked really odd with my natural nail showing through as the glitter didn't provide full coverage. I put these on one evening in my dining room (thus the light in the next two photos), and my first impression was "wow, these are super long".

 

 

The next day, I still thought they were long.

 

One thing I did enjoy about the iridescent ones was the way the light shone through the tips and made pastel rainbows on things (here, the thing is my Kindle):

 

I also enjoyed how the iridescent ones changed colors with angle and light, sometimes looking orange or pink and sometimes lilac.

 

 

After four or five days, I felt I'd given the length a good try but it was hard to do things like type on my laptop, so I clipped and filed them to a more manageable for me length. If I someday use the ones left in the box, I'll do that from the start.

 

When I was looking for a name for these, I found they're still in stock at some websites, so if you want long fake nails with see through tips, you can get 'em. I'm not planning to buy more. The clear tip messed with my head ... if I'm going to have long nails, I want them to look long, and the clear tip made them feel longer than they looked. Maybe I'm just not open enough to new styles. Maybe these are just a bad idea for me.

Wheel U14: Pink Shimmers

Shimmers today for Nail Wheel Wednesday, specifically pink ones, mostly on the light end of the value scale. As usual with shimmer wheels, there are some flecked ones and some brushstrokey ones and some that look like cremes out of the bottle, so subtle is their shimmer.

 

1. Sally Hansen Color Therapy Rose Diamond (2 coats)
2. NYC New York Color Long Wearing Fuchsia Glamour (3) [believe this is actually Pink Champagne, mislabelled]
3. Funky Fingers Mama Mia (3)
4. Essence I Heart Trends The Pastels Sweet at First Sight (2)
5. Maybelline Colorama Up-Do (3) [labeled as a top coat but can be worn alone]
6. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Jewel Bubble Gum (2)
7. Butterfly Collection 3D Shine Max unknown (2)
8. Sephora Pantone Universe Fairy Tale (3)
9. Maybelline Wet Shine H20-Pink
10. Fresh Paint Enchanted (3)
11. Revlon Parfumerie Powder Puff (3)
12. Pop-arazzi So Cheeky (4) [might have been three coats but the brush was wonky]
13. Essie No Baggage Please (3)
14. Essie Pink-a-Boo (3)
15. SinfulColors Strawberry Milk (2)
16. Revlon Nail Art French Mix Over the Moon (3) [sometimes I wish I'd never separated these twin style bottles but I can't store by color/finish if I don't]
17. Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Pink Promise (3)
18. SinfulColors Heartfelt (3)
19. OPI Chic from Ears to Tail (3)
20. H&M Scented Rose Pink (3)

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Essie Gel Couture Quad

I don't have many shades from the Essie Gel Couture line, but I do pick up some now and then when they catch my eye. Today I've got four colors, none of which are particularly summery, but when the motivation to swatch hits, I don't argue seasonality. Left to right: Blossom into Style, Dressed for the Party, Brocade Crusade, and Embossed Lady.

 

My motivation wasn't strong enough this day to swatch these individually (yes, even though there were only four colors total), so I did them in pairs, starting with Blossom into Style and Dressed for the Party. Both of these are pastels with a perle/frost finish; Blossom into Style being a pale green and Dressed for the Part a light blue. These colors reminded me of that short-lived Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect line from 2011-12 (see display in this post), but these were less well behaved. I used four coats, hoping each one would be the one that leveled things out, but was still left with some unevenness in the finish.

 

 

In direct light the shimmer shows more, but so does the unevenness.

 

I was much happier with the application of the two dark shimmers, Brocade Cascade (blue grey) and Embossed Lady (deep purple). These were both two coats and leveled well. The shimmer in Embossed Lady shows up slightly more than in Brocade Cascade, probably since it has a darker base.

 

 

 

The two pastels are from the Garden Gala collection from earlier this year; they don't seem to be on the Essie website now, so maybe I wasn't the only one who didn't care for the formula. The two darks are from Brilliant Brocades from last fall/winter and are there, so may still be available somewhere.