Wheel Q9: Magnetics from Layla and Others

I'll get back to displays later this week, but right now I want to get back into the routine of Nail Wheel Wednesday with some magnetics. As with most things polish-related, I went a little overboard when they were popular a while back. I did at least wait to buy most of the pricey Laylas until they went on clearance—I had to peel off the stickers before I photographed the bottles for this blog post.




(all two coats, with magnet applied after 2nd one for 10 to 15 seconds; as usual when doing magnetics on these wheels, it was a challenge to work with the magnets in the close, curved spaces but you can get the idea)

1. Layla Mangeffect Changing Lilac
2. Layla Mangeffect Velvet Groove
3. Layla Mangeffect Purple Galaxy [such a lovely shade]
4. Layla Mangeffect Golden Bronze
5. Layla Mangeffect Brown Sugar
6. Layla Mangeffect Golden Nugget [I might have called this one Cocktail Olive, as I see a lot of green tones here]
7. Layla Mangeffect Turquoise Wave
8. Layla Mangeffect Metallic Sky
9. Layla Mangeffect Blue Grey Flow
10. Layla Mangeffect Gun Metal
11. Layla Mangeffect Silver Galaxy [love the sparkles in this, and they lie nice and flat]
12. Layla Mangeffect Black Metal
13. Sally Hansen Magnetic Pink Force [hint of sparkle here is pleasing]
14. Sally Hansen Magnetic Marble Foil [purple marble? okay, I'd be into it]
15. Sally Hansen Magnetic Cosmic Blue
16. Sally Hansen Magnetic Slate Spark [very much like the blue microglitter in this one]
17. Sally Hansen Magnetic Atomic Alloy
18. Essence Nail Art Magnetics Witch You Were Here [used Layla magnet on this because I couldn't find my Essence one; having it separate from the cap makes it easier to manipulate but way easier to misplace]
19. Urban Outfitters Magnetic Sphere [the glitter in this and #20 does not lie flat, so I added topcoat and they still looked bumpy; it was also hard to get much magnetic effect out of them. I do like how the glitter pops in direct light, though]
20. Urban Outfitters Magnetic Planet


Bottles 1 through 6:



7 through 12:


12 through 17:



12 through 17, after cap overwrap removed:



18 through 20:

Holographic Comparisons Featuring FNUG

I would have posted this entry at lunchtime today but I did something I fortunately don't do very often: lost my first draft when I failed to save it at any point between when I started typing it and when I accidently closed the document window thinking it was a different window entirely. I guess I have to do dumb stuff like that every so often to remind myself why I hate doing dumb stuff like that. At least I didn't lose the photos this time; those are not so easy to replace as the words. Ah Well, onward to the comparisons I mentioned when I posted the swatches of the FNUG holographics. All of the swatches today are two coats of color over a base coat (Aqua Base for FNUG and Layla, Instant Artificials for all others, no top coat.

Let's start with the silvers. To compare to FNUG Psychedelic, I grabbed GOSH Holographic Hero (which like the FNUGs is in my stash thanks to mrsrexy), Dance Legend T-1000, and Color Club Harp on It.



Here they are on the nail, indoors, in the same order as the bottles above:



And here they are in the sunshine:



The slightly blurrier photo below highlights the differences I saw among these. The GOSH is the least holo (this newer version does not live up to the original GOSH Holographic). The FNUG has the smoothest most complex rainbow, while the Dance Legend is a bit less refined and the Color Club a bit less than that. Still, the Color Club holds up well against its expensive cousins from overseas.



I'll finish off the silvers section with a couple different angles taken in the sun:





Moving along to the light green category, I have FNUG Fantastica, Layla Jade Groove, Urban Outfitters Green Holo, and Color Club Angel Kiss.



On the nail, the differences in the base colors shows up more than it did in the bottles. The FNUG is most yellow-leaning, and the Color Club is nearly blue. Here they are indoors (again in same order as the bottles):



In the sun, all of them have rainbows; I think the FNUG wins, though, as its rainbow seems to have more colors. The Layla takes second place.



The greens in the sun from a different persepctive:





Wrapping up with the light blues, FNUG Futuristica took on Layla Mermaid Spell, Color Club Blue Heaven, and China Glaze Sci Fly By.



On the nail, indoors, the first three show hints of rainbows while the China Glaze (from this past springs Hologram collection) just looks like a metallic-leaning shimmer.



In the sun, the disparity continues. The FNUG busts out the most beautiful rainbow, with the Layla not far behind and the Color Club not far behind that. The China Glaze does look more colorful than it did indoors, but compared to the other three, it's not at all eye catching. The OMG collection proved China Glaze can do great linear holos; they just haven't their last two tries.



The blurry shot below was as holo as I could get the China Glaze to look:



I'll finish up today with a few more shots of the blue rainbows in the sun:







I haven't done the math so I can't prove it, but I believe the Color Club ones win in the dollars per rainbow category. FNUG wins in colors per fingertip.

Displays of Many Colors

This week before Christmas is a good time to avoid shopping since places get so crowded, but it's a fine time to catch up with posting some displays that wouldn't fit into my last display post.

First, a first for me—I set foot in an Urban Outfitters store. I had some of their polishes in my stash already, thanks to kind friends and the internet, but I'd never gone to one of their stores because neither of the locations closest to me are on my way to or from any other places I frequent. What got me to make a special trip was seeing swatches of their holos. I found the polish display easily enough; it was facing the front door, about 10 or 15 feet into the store.



The holos weren't in there, though; the holos were piled in a big bowl on the far end of a counter. There are three colors, straightforwardly named Silver Holo, Green Holo, and Pink Holo.



Around a curve from the holos were mini sets for ombre manicures.



I'm in Kohl's stores quite often (they've got one by my office, one by my house, and a couple in between) but not for polish, because if they have any at all, it tends to be gift sets from brands I've never heard of. I was surprised on a recent visit to see a full line display of polish from Elle. I've not heard of that brand, either, though from some poking around online I see it's exclusive to Kohl's and was launched this past April in association with Elle magazine. I didn't buy any because the $10 price tag seemed steep for an impulse buy; I'll wait 'til they're on sale and I have a coupon (which is pretty much my strategy for Kohl's overall).



The top row (left to right): Clear Coat, Snow Day (two slots), Faux Naturel (x2), Petticoat Pink (x2), Preppy Chic (x2), Tutu (x2), and Vintage Charm.

Middle row: Clear Coat (again), Vintage Charm (also again), Go Go Coco, Trouble in Taupe, Oxford Brown, Tropical Blush, Bright Young Thing, Fucshia Fusion, Shock It to Me, Red Carpet Red, Imperial Purple, Curtain Call.

Bottom row: Clear Coat (for the third time), Saturday Night Shimmer, Blush Stroke, In a Fog, Some Like it Lilac, On Location, Riviera Blue, Seaside Chic, Surfer Babe, About Thyme, Dancing Queen, Chain Mail.

When I went back to the CVS that had the Nail HQ display, they'd gotten more stock, so the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure section was more filled in than when I'd first seen it.



Top row: Copper Penny, Golden Rule, Gilty Party, Snow Globe, Hi Ho Silver (though front polish is Gilty Party again; I should have caught and moved that before I took the photo), Clear'd for Takeoff, Debut-tint.

Second row: Sheer Ectasy, Shell We Dance, Mudslide, So Much Fawn, Raisin the Bar, Plum's the Word, Commander in Chic.

Third row: Almost Almond, Sweet Talker, Pink a Card, I Lilac You, Get Juiced, Back to the Fuchsia, Rosy Outlook.

Bottom row: Kook a Mango, Red My Lips, Wine Not, Pat on the Black, Jaded, Water Color, Black and Blue.

The Revlon Brilliant Strength had been pretty well stocked the first time, but this visit I had time to take a closer look.



Top row: Embody, Allure, Enchant, Enamor, Dazzle, Provoke, Magnetize.

Second row: Impress, Entice, Intrigue, Tempt, Mesmerize, Tantalize, Hypnotize.

Third row: Inspire, Inflame, Captivate, Seduce, Enrapture, Fascinate, Beguile.

Last row: Persuade, Enthrall, Dominate.

I also had time to take closer photos of the Nuance Salma Hayek polishes (full display shot if in this post). This row: Blush Peony (times 2), New Primrose, My Favorite (x2), Base Coat (x2), Top Coat (x2).



Next row: Pink Grapefruit, Bare Kiss, Moonflower, Silver Dust, Goldstone, Café Latte, Desert Mist, Dark Earth, Woodsmoke.



Row after that: Honey Blossom, Tiger Lily, Deep Orchid, Rococo Red, Azalea, Cayenne, Orange Poppy, Red Sienna, Rosegold.



Last row: Lilac, Midnight Blackberry, Nightshadow, True Azul, Prickly Pear, Evening Haze, Vapor, Crushed Violet, Black Dahlia.



At a Rite Aid, I saw a bigger display of the new Cover Girl Outlast line than I'd come across before.



Finally, at the Walgreens that sometimes has things other Walgreens don't, I found a display of Nabi scented polish. The display card says Scent Nails, the bottles say Scented Nail, so I'm not sure what exactly these are called. There's a crazy number of colors here; the same scents are used for multiple colors, so there aren't as many scents as colors.



Top row: Blue (green apple scent), Charcoal (candy), Taupe (chocolate), Neon Orange (orange), Milky Sky (lemon), Hot Pink (strawberry), Mustard (pineapple), Teal (watermelon), Mint (green apple), Midnight (cherry).

Second row: Sky (green apple), Cotton Candy (candy), Nude Pink (chocolate), Peach (orange), Pinkle (lemon), Dark Pink (strawberry), Banana (pineapple), Covalt Blue (watermelon), Lime (green apple), Coral (cherry).

Third row: Lavender (green apple), Base Coat (candy), Rose (chocolate), Sweet Orange (orange), Shimmer Peach (lemon), Princess Pink (strawberry), Multi Glitter (watermelon), Wedding Dress (watermelon), Bright Green (green apple), Red (cherry).

Fourth row: Lilac (green apple), White (candy), Mocha (chocolate), Tropical (orange), Angel Pink (lemon), Pink (strawberry), Blue Glitter (watermelon), Grape Juice (watermelon), Baby Blue (green apple), Eggplant (cherry).

Fifth row: Cotton Candy (candy), Black (candy), Natural (chocolate), Tangerine (orange), Blush (strawberry), Sweet Pink (strawberry), Peek a Boo Pink (strawberry), Fuchsia (watermelon), Gold Glitter (watermelon), Real Red (cherry).

Bottom row: Silver (candy), Clear (candy), Mauve (chocolate), Indian Pink (chocolate), Silk Road (candy), Gold (candy), Green Glitter (watermelon), Silver Glitter (watermelon), Purple Glitter (watermelon), Angel Red (cherry).

Apparently there is a 60th color in this line, Pearl, which is candy-scented and a light peach color. (I stumbled across that when I was double checking the color names for the ones my detail photos weren't clear on.)

Whew. That's fewer photos than usual for a display post, but I feel like it's way more colors. Maybe it just seems that way because my brain is tired from thinking about things like a polish called Banana that smells like pineapple.