Friday, December 23, 2022

Kokie Green Skinny Dip and Friend

Sample provided for review
 
Wrapping up my month of Kokie Green, today I have Skinny Dip, a blue shimmer with a subtle purple shift that's hard to capture on camera. This isn't one of the newest eight shades in the Green line, but one I hadn't tried before. I used three coats for my swatch.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Skinny Dip
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Skinny Dip
You can maybe see a hint of the violet in this side shot:
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Skinny Dip
I added Starry Night on top of Skinny Dip (you may remember Starry Night, a gold holo glitter, from this recent post). I was going for a glitter gradient look but I'm out of practice.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Skinny Dip topped with Starry Night
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Skinny Dip topped with Starry Night
Skinny Dip is a nice shimmer, more flecked than frosted. I wish its purple side showed up more for the camera but it shows up for my eyes so that's fine.

These shades are available at select Meijer stores and online for $8 each on the Kokie website.

Kokie   Website    Facebook    Instagram

The polishes shown in this entry were provided free for review purposes. The content of the entry was not dictated by the provider, and I get to keep the polishes for my own use.

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Wheel Z15: Maybelline Color Show Glitters

Today's Nail Wheel Wednesday showcases twenty glitter polishes from the Maybelline Color Show line. Though I think Sally Hansen holds the crown, Maybelline has had a lot of different nail polish lines over the years: Colorama, Express Finish, Forever Strong, Great Finish, Long Wearing, Revitalizing Color, Salon Expert, Salon Finish, Ultimate Wear, Wet Shine, to name a few I have in my collection. The Color Show line was introduced in spring/summer of 2012 as far as I can tell from my display posts. The line extensions started not too long after that. All ten of the Color Show Brocades from the Gilded in Gold collection from Holiday 2013 are here; I swatched those in January 2014. There's some question about whether these are textures or just glitters that need a lot of topcoat. This collection was involved in the great box crash in Michigan and one broke. I was able to replace it, but never worked up the energy to properly clean the bottles that got spilled on (I tried doing a couple but the gold band on the cap didn't hold up so I just left the rest alone). The entire eight shade Color Show Sequins release from Holiday 2012 is here too.
 

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

1. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Silver Swank (3 coats)
2. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Gilded Rose (3)
3. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Lavishly Lilac (3)
4. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Ruby Refined (3)
5. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Crushed Crimson (2)
6. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Amethyst Couture (2)
7. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Embellished Blues (2)
8. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Black n Mirrors (2)
9. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Emerald Elegance (2)
10. Maybelline Color Show Brocades Beaming Blue (3)
11. Maybelline Color Show Emerald City (3)
12. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Sea-quins (3)
13. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Lavender Sparks (3)
14. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Sapphire Masquerade (3)
15. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Ruby Rhinestones (2)
16. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Cocktail Dress (3)
17. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Rose Bling (3)
18. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Gold's Night Out (2)
19. Maybelline Color Show Sequins Silver Gleam (2)
20. Maybelline Color Show Gold Ignite (3)

Bottles 1 through 5:
 

6 through 10:
 

11 through 15:
 

16 through 20:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, December 19, 2022

Three Warm Shades from the Kokie Green Line

Sample provided for review
 
Continuing my month of Kokie Green, today I have three warm hued shades new to the line and which the brand generously sent me for review. Left to right: Sweet Dreams, Call Me, and Prima Donna.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Sweet Dreams, Call Me, and Prima Donna
Sweet Dreams is a pale peachy pink shimmer that's on the sheer side. At two coats on my skintone, it's definitely "bare but better", adding sparkle and shine while letting my natural nail tips show through. I bet it would make a great French mani, though I didn't have the patience to try on this particular day.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Sweet Dreams
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Sweet Dreams
At three coats of Sweet Dreams, there's a hint of visible nail line at some angles, and the shimmer looks even more sparkly.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Sweet Dreams
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Sweet Dreams
Call Me is a creme that sits between deep pink and purple with a hint of brown in it. Woodrose, maybe? A good basic, flattering to many skintones, and opaque in two coats.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Call Me
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Call Me
Regular readers know I had to try Sweet Dreams as a topper. I added one coat of it over Call Me on my middle to pinky fingers, leaving my index alone for comparison purposes. I liked the effect quite a lot.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Call Me and Sweet Dreams
Prima Donna is a rich-looking berry red shimmer. I used two coats for my swatch, plus clear topcoat to bring out the sparkly shimmer even more.
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Prima Donna
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Prima Donna
 
Kokie Green nail polish in Prima Donna
My favorite of these is Sweet Dreams, due to its versatility. I can wear it alone or use it as a topper to add shimmer to other shades. It reminds me of Iced Out, one of my favorites from the regular Kokie line (swatched here), just a touch warmer toned, so might work even better than Iced Out on warm base colors.

These shades are available at select Meijer stores and online for $8 each on the Kokie website.

Kokie   Website    Facebook    Instagram

The polishes shown in this entry were provided free for review purposes. The content of the entry was not dictated by the provider, and I get to keep the polishes for my own use.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Wheel Y15: Charcoal Shimmers

Dark and mysterious shimmers for this Nail Wheel Wednesday. And they are all shimmers, even though some don't show that very well to the camera in the lightbox. At a distance, they look more similar than a close inspection shows them to be. Some are more sparkly, some more pearly, some bolder, some subtler. Some lean blue or green. It's those variations that keep me interested in this project.
 

1. L'Oreal Drop Dead Gorgeous (2 coats)
2. Essie Tribal Text-Styles (2)
3. Urban Decay Uzi (1)
4. Pure Ice Black Velour (2) [really nice matte finish on this one]
5. Studio M Good as Granite (2) [a topcoat would bring out more of this one's sparkle]
6. OPI Black Satin (2)
7. Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure Lava Rocks (2)
8. Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Venemous Vixen (2)
9. Elle Chain Mail (2)
10. Dior Night Shock (1)
11. SinfulColors SinfulShine Da New Black (3)
12. Urban Decay Oil Slick (2)
13. Sally Hansen Triple Shine Slick Black (2)
14. OPI Coalmates (2)
15. L'Oreal Tuxedo Noir (2)
16. L'Oreal Power Potion (2)
17. Butter London Chimney Sweep (2)
18. Kleancolor Metallic Black (1)
19. OPI 4 in the Morning (2)
20. Zoya Anais (2)

Bottles 1 through 5:
 

6 through 10:
 

11 through 15:
 

16 through 20:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, December 9, 2022

Kokie Green Greens and Gold

Sample provided for review
 
Today I've got three more of the new shades in the Kokie Green line, which the brand generously sent me for review. Two of these are green in color, too. Left to right: Feral, Starry-Eyed, and Maybe Baby.
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral, Starry Eyed, and Maybe Baby
Maybe Baby is a teal-leaning medium toned green shimmer flecked with golden highlights. I did two coats for my swatch and added clear topcoat to bring out the pretty sparkles in the shimmer even more.
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Maybe Baby
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Maybe Baby
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Maybe Baby
Starry Eyed has small gold and holo glitter in a clear base.
 

Starry Eyed didn't look like it'd be full coverage, so to try it, I bared just my index finger and put on three coats of it, then did one coat over Maybe Baby on my other digits. I'm not usually a gold person, but this gold and green combination looked really good to me. The clear base of Starry Eyed let the shimmer in Maybe Baby show through while the glitter added lots of sparkle and pop.
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Maybe Baby and Starry Eyed
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Maybe Baby and Starry Eyed
Feral is a warm-leaning medium-toned green shimmer. It looks almost metallic in some lights, porbably due to the wealth of silvery shimmer in it. I used two coats, no topcoat for my swatch. Despite it being lighter in tone than Mabye Baby, it seemed more opaque.
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral
I liked Feral on its own, but of course that didn't stop me from experimenting on it. I sponged Maybe Baby on the tips to make a slightly messy, sort of subtle gradient. I used clear topcoat to smooth it out. I thought these worked well together.
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral and Maybe Baby
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral and Maybe Baby
And finally, I put one coat of Starry Eyed over the gradient, skipping topcoat because it was smooth enough for photos without.
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral, Starry Eyed, and Maybe Baby
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral, Starry Eyed, and Maybe Baby
In direct light, Starry Eyed popped nicely:
 
Kokie Green line nail polish in Feral, Starry Eyed, and Maybe Baby
In the bottle, I was pretty sure I'd like the blue and purple I shared last week. I was less certain about this trio, fearing a couple would be too warm to flatter my skintone, but I ended up liking them all, especially together. These shades are available at select Meijer stores and online for $8 each on the Kokie website.

Kokie   Website    Facebook    Instagram

 
 
The polishes shown in this entry were provided free for review purposes. The content of the entry was not dictated by the provider, and I get to keep the polishes for my own use.