Wheel G16: Charcoal and Black Shimmers

Nail Wheel Wednesday is back with charcoal and black shimmers. Some of these seem like they might actually be textured, too.

 

1. Orly Color Blast Hearts of Steel (2 coats)
2. Rescue Beauty Lounge An Accidental Interloper (3)
3. Milani 176 2.0 (2)
4. Wet 'n' Wild Fergie Heels of Steel (3)
5. Jesse's Girl Black Satin (2) [satin finish]
6. elf Metal Madness (2)
7. Zoya Claudine (2)
8. Essie Gel Couture Hang Up the Heels (2)
9. Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Keep Vinyl Alive (2)
10. OPI Queen of the Road (2)
11. Sally Hansen Satin Glam Silk Onyx (2)
12. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure To the Moon and Black (2)
13. Studio M Show Time (2)
14. GOSH Stardust Night Sky (2)
15. 2B Colours Jeans Look Black (2)
16. Formula X for Sephora Black Hole (2)
17. Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Diva After Dark (2)
18. OPI Center of the You-niverse (2)
19. Essence Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 Edward's Love (2)
20. The New Black Gold Grenade (1)

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wheel K15: Textures and Glitters from Kiko

I haven't gotten any new Kiko polishes in a long while. I used to swap for them way back in the day, then ordered some online after swapping left the Makeup Alley site (never did get going on whateve the replacement for that was) but shipping got to be expensive, so now I just treasure the ones I do have, like the twenty on this wheel. The Cupcake polishes (1 through 10) are speckled textures; I really should have left the topcoat off of these but there are swatches out there of them in their natural state. The rest are all Fancy Top Coat shades; you know I love my glitters.

 

[all two coats plus clear topcoat] 1. Kiko Cupcake 647 Jasmine
2. Kiko Cupcake 648 Pineapple
3. Kiko Cupcake 649 Apricot
4. Kiko Cupcake 650 Peach
5. Kiko Cupcake 651 Strawberry
6. Kiko Cupcake 652 Lilac
7. Kiko Cupcake 653 Wisteria
8. Kiko Cupcake 654 Anise
9. Kiko Cupcake 655 Mint
10. Kiko Cupcake 656 Pistachio
11. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 657 Silver
12. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 658 Golden Rose
13. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 659 Lilac
14. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 660 Dahlia Purple
15. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 661 Magenta [has heart glitter that I had to fish for]
16. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 662 Red
17. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 665 Violet
18. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 664 Sapphire [had to fish for the star glitters]
19. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 663 Turquoise
20. Kiko Fancy Top Coat 666 Black (over beige base)

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SinfulColors Saweetie's Xtraterrestrial Effects

With Halloween coming up fast, I thought I'd best get to swatching the SinfulColors I grabbed from the big display at Walmart. The four limited editions for this year are part of the brand's collaboration with Saweetie; these are the Xtraterrestrial Effects. Left to right: Lil Beast, Icy Monstar, Baelien, and Big Mamaz Ship.

 

I started my session with Lil Monster, a spring green, applying two coats without topcoat. The effect in question is bumpy, I guess like the surface of another planet. The base is metallic-leaning shimmer enhanced with bar glitter and texture, but not as much texture as the textured polishes that were on trend for a while in 2014/15.

 

 

We've seen this sort of thing before, with texture/glitter submerged in shimmery and metallic bases. I pulled out a couple bottles from the past to do a quick comparison. Left to right: China Glaze Crinkled Chrome Wrinkling the Sheets (from late 2013/early 2014), SinfulColors Lil Beast, Finger Paints Underwater Enchantress (from summer 2014, see the whole collection swatched here).

 

Left to right below: Lil Beast, Underwater Enchantress, Lil Beast, Wrinkling the Sheets (all two coats, no topcoat). It was easier to get the bar glitter in Wrinkling the Sheets onto my nail; for Lil Beast I had to make sure I didn't let it settle too long between shaking it and applying (though why I would worry about bubbles with that one I don't know). Underwater Enchantress is a different take on the "lumpy but not quite a proper textured polish" idea. I do like how it coordinates with the color of Lil Beast.

 

 

I was not enchanted by the effect, so combined the remaining three Xtraterrestrial Effects into one look. My index finger has a rough sponged not quite gradient with the trio. Middle finger is Balien, a warm light brown. Ring is Big Mamaz Ship, a medium pink, and litle finger is Icy Monstar, a dusty deep blue.

 

 

 

These do catch the eye for sure. I don't see myself wearing them much, same as I can't recall ever having done a full mani with the Crinkled Chrome shades or those lumpy shimmer from Finger Paints (though I didn't hate that one as much now as I did when it was new, maybe I'm mellowing). I think Halloween is a perfect time for them, though, as that's when we break out of the everyday and dress up based on our imaginations.

Wheel I14: Shimmery Textures

For a St. Patrick's Day post, there's barely any green on this week's wheel, which is full of shimmery textured polishes.

 

(all two coats, except #7, which was three for some reason) 1. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Sugar Plum [the front labels on these Sugar Shimmers have started to yellow, some more than others; this and some of the other from the line are swatched in this 2014 post]
2. Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Treat-Heart [see this post from 2013 for swatches of some of the Sugar Coat colors]
3. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Berried Under
4. Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Pink Sprinkle
5. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Cherry Sweet
6. Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Red Velvet
7. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Gummy Grape
8. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Taffy Tart
9. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Sugar Cloud
10. Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Royal Icing [dupe of #9]
11. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Work of Tart
12. Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Mint Tint
13. Cherimoya Pebble Beach Aquamarine Step 3 [these are not very textured, and the very reflective metallic shimmer doesn't help with being able to see what texture there is; the "step" in the names reference the way they were sold so you could buy a pre-coordinated set to make a gradient mani] 14. Cherimoya Pebble Beach Platinum Step 3
15. Cherimoya Pebble Beach Amethyst Step 4 [seems like this one may have changed color, since it's not very purple now]
16. Rimmel Sweetie Crush Candyfloss Cutie [swatched these Sweetie Crush colors in a texture-packed post back in 2014]
17. Rimmel Sweetie Crush Violet Swizzle
18. Rimmel Sweetie Crush Blueberry Whizz
19. Rimmel Sweetie Crush Fizzy Applelicious
20. Rimmel Sweetie Crush Sherbet Sweetheart

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoya Isti

Still working through swatching the polishes I got from Zoya last last year. Today it's Isti, a silver and light blue Pixie Dust textured polish.

 

I used two coats for my swatch and let it dry. It doesn't seem as textured as I recall the older Pixie Dust polishes were. Maybe it's the density of the glitter or the silver reflecting light. I'm not sure.

 

Here's Isti with topcoat. It's shinier, yes, but not a dramatic difference that I could see.

 

 

What I should have done at this point was put the Leopard Spots topper on to see if it looked more leopard-y over texture, but I didn't see it (it got put away with the other crackles from last week's nail wheel). Instead, I grabbed Meredith and did funky French tips (plus slicked on more clear topcoat). I like this combination.

 

 

I am going to try very hard to do the Leopard Spots plus texture at some point. Maybe I can also do a Pixie Dust comparison between old and new shades. In the meantime, enjoy this pretty blue.