Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I thought I'd try out Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, which seems to be Revlon's take on Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, a black jelly base with fuchsia hex and regular glitter.  In the bottle, the black base of Facets of Fuchsia looked less pigmented than that of Bad Romance (which fell shy of opaque at two coats), so I decided to layer it over a black creme.  My thought was that drying issues would be inevitable with 4+ coats, and I wanted to make this one work.

I started with a base coat, using up what I have on hand, which was NailTek II (so my nails should be orange from the formaldehyde in it in short order).  I let that dry for a minute or two, then applied one coat of Revlon Lunar, the black creme released with a few glitters not too long ago, which is even and almost opaque at one coat.  After giving that a bit of drying time, I applied two thin coats of Facets of Fuchsia, giving each a few minutes to set before moving on to the next.  The glitter's surface was pretty pebbly at this point, so I added one coat of clear polish then one of Seche Vite (my thickest top coat) to even it out.  It's dry and very glassy smooth now, so the hassles involved in ensuring drying issues didn't appear seem to have been worth it.  There's no sunlight today, so this is Facets of Fuchsia in indoor lighting (mixed fluorescent and light bulb).

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia Nail Polish, Two Coats over Black

The consequence of the less pigmented base of Facets of Fuchsia versus Bad Romance is that the glitter shows through it more clearly.  The Lippmann seems to have more glitter, but a third coat of Facets of Fuchsia would even the score, and since this cost me less than $3 versus the $18-$20 for the Lippmann (I didn't look it up to see which it was since my point's the same either way), for me Facets of Fuchsia would be the winner in a showdown against Bad Romance.

That's what I know about Revlon Facets of Fuchsia and I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I thought I'd try out Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, which seems to be Revlon's take on Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, a black jelly base with fuchsia hex and regular glitter.  In the bottle, the black base of Facets of Fuchsia looked less pigmented than that of Bad Romance (which fell shy of opaque at two coats), so I decided to layer it over a black creme.  My thought was that drying issues would be inevitable with 4+ coats, and I wanted to make this one work.

I started with a base coat, using up what I have on hand, which was NailTek II (so my nails should be orange from the formaldehyde in it in short order).  I let that dry for a minute or two, then applied one coat of Revlon Lunar, the black creme released with a few glitters not too long ago, which is even and almost opaque at one coat.  After giving that a bit of drying time, I applied two thin coats of Facets of Fuchsia, giving each a few minutes to set before moving on to the next.  The glitter's surface was pretty pebbly at this point, so I added one coat of clear polish then one of Seche Vite (my thickest top coat) to even it out.  It's dry and very glassy smooth now, so the hassles involved in ensuring drying issues didn't appear seem to have been worth it.  There's no sunlight today, so this is Facets of Fuchsia in indoor lighting (mixed fluorescent and light bulb).

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia Nail Polish, Two Coats over Black

The consequence of the less pigmented base of Facets of Fuchsia versus Bad Romance is that the glitter shows through it more clearly.  The Lippmann seems to have more glitter, but a third coat of Facets of Fuchsia would even the score, and since this cost me less than $3 versus the $18-$20 for the Lippmann (I didn't look it up to see which it was since my point's the same either way), for me Facets of Fuchsia would be the winner in a showdown against Bad Romance.

That's what I know about Revlon Facets of Fuchsia and I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Blue Mosiac

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I changed my polish to Revlon Blue Mosaic, one of Revlon's new glitter polishes, and I thought I'd give you a peek because it's a nice one.

Blue Mosaic is fine blue glitter along with blue and silver hex glitter in a clear base.  I used three coats of Blue Mosaic, and at three I figured it covered well enough to skip the fourth that would have made it better since I've always had drying troubles with Revlons.  I left a few minutes drying time between coats, then added one coat of regular clear polish to even out the surface and one of Lippmann Addicted to Speed since it's high-powered on drying and I had it out from yesterday.  That seems to have worked well, and I think it's totally dry now, but I still don't trust it enough to test by digging something into it to find out.

This is Revlon Blue Mosaic in the sunlight.

Revlon Blue Mosaic Nail Polish, Three Coats

It looks kind of mermaid-y to me, but without the touch of green most like this have.  I like it, although I'm not looking forward to removal.  It really does take pure acetone to remove glitters like this, which is kind of rough on my skin.


That's Blue Mosaic and what I know today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Blue Mosiac

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I changed my polish to Revlon Blue Mosaic, one of Revlon's new glitter polishes, and I thought I'd give you a peek because it's a nice one.

Blue Mosaic is fine blue glitter along with blue and silver hex glitter in a clear base.  I used three coats of Blue Mosaic, and at three I figured it covered well enough to skip the fourth that would have made it better since I've always had drying troubles with Revlons.  I left a few minutes drying time between coats, then added one coat of regular clear polish to even out the surface and one of Lippmann Addicted to Speed since it's high-powered on drying and I had it out from yesterday.  That seems to have worked well, and I think it's totally dry now, but I still don't trust it enough to test by digging something into it to find out.

This is Revlon Blue Mosaic in the sunlight.

Revlon Blue Mosaic Nail Polish, Three Coats

It looks kind of mermaid-y to me, but without the touch of green most like this have.  I like it, although I'm not looking forward to removal.  It really does take pure acetone to remove glitters like this, which is kind of rough on my skin.


That's Blue Mosaic and what I know today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Royal Cloak

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I wasn't planning a color change for today, but I stopped off at a Walgreen's on my way home from a lunch and ran into the latest Revlon display during a Revlon sale.  That sounds a lot worse than it really is - I looked at all the colors in the display and left with only one.  There's a light gold that I didn't check the name of which looks very nice, but I have a few lighter golds from last winter and let it go.  The one I chose was Royal Cloak, which I read was a Revlon take on Butter London's No More Waity Katie.  I wasn't a fan of Butter London before they changed their formula, and they're priced too high for me to roll the dice on whether it's an improvement, so it's nice to find something along the lines of a nice shade for under $4.

The Revlon take on Chanel Black Pearl (Black with Envy?  something like that...) was the last Revlon I had success with, but when they work for me, they really work for me, which is what keeps me trying them.  Since proper drying is the problem I encounter if there is one, I pulled out the big guns for my Royal Cloak manicure using SpaRitual Tout de Suite top coat over two coats of color.  The base I used here was SpaRitual Lacquer Lock base coat.  After allowing a few minutes for the manicure to cure, it seems to have dried quite nicely.  Here's Revlon Royal Cloak in the sun, and it appears somewhat brighter in the picture than in person.

Revlon Royal Cloak Nail Polish, Two Coats

The color is a touch muddy in person rather than as bright as in this picture.  I got this camera in 2010, and it has troubles with some purples, with this being one.  For me, it's really the shimmer that sets this one apart - it's reminiscent of Sally Hansen Salon Arabian Night, which was a paler purple with gold shimmer.

That's Revlon Royal Cloak and just about all I have to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!




All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Royal Cloak

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I wasn't planning a color change for today, but I stopped off at a Walgreen's on my way home from a lunch and ran into the latest Revlon display during a Revlon sale.  That sounds a lot worse than it really is - I looked at all the colors in the display and left with only one.  There's a light gold that I didn't check the name of which looks very nice, but I have a few lighter golds from last winter and let it go.  The one I chose was Royal Cloak, which I read was a Revlon take on Butter London's No More Waity Katie.  I wasn't a fan of Butter London before they changed their formula, and they're priced too high for me to roll the dice on whether it's an improvement, so it's nice to find something along the lines of a nice shade for under $4.

The Revlon take on Chanel Black Pearl (Black with Envy?  something like that...) was the last Revlon I had success with, but when they work for me, they really work for me, which is what keeps me trying them.  Since proper drying is the problem I encounter if there is one, I pulled out the big guns for my Royal Cloak manicure using SpaRitual Tout de Suite top coat over two coats of color.  The base I used here was SpaRitual Lacquer Lock base coat.  After allowing a few minutes for the manicure to cure, it seems to have dried quite nicely.  Here's Revlon Royal Cloak in the sun, and it appears somewhat brighter in the picture than in person.

Revlon Royal Cloak Nail Polish, Two Coats

The color is a touch muddy in person rather than as bright as in this picture.  I got this camera in 2010, and it has troubles with some purples, with this being one.  For me, it's really the shimmer that sets this one apart - it's reminiscent of Sally Hansen Salon Arabian Night, which was a paler purple with gold shimmer.

That's Revlon Royal Cloak and just about all I have to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!




All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Just Tinted Victorian

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After a few days of wearing strong colors, a Revlon Just Tinted jelly polish seemed in order today, so I went with Victorian, a medium pink.

Victorian applied reasonably well, but I needed four coats.  It was still quite sheer after three, so I knew a fourth wouldn't make a tremendous difference in opacity, but when I took a look to see if I could stop at three, the color was pretty blotchy.  The fourth evened it out, then I used a coat of Poshe to dry it and one of that Sally Hansen Salon 10 Day Speed Dry top coat I mentioned the other day to shine it up.  This is Revlon Just Tinted Victorian in sunlight after it was pretty dry.

Revlon Just Tinted Victorian Nail Polish, Four Coats

I think it's pretty, but that's a lot of coats.  If you recall, I often have troubles with Revlon polishes completely curing well, so I'm a little concerned that this will be a Braille manicure by this evening even though I allowed each coat to really set for a few minutes before applying the next.  Time will tell.  It's a nice break from bolder shades without going for all-out sheer, so I'm willing to wait and see if it dries properly.

That's the manicure for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



Later that day... A few hours after posting, I was connecting cables and hardware for a network, and my polish dented pretty badly.  No bubbles or smudges, it just stayed a little bit denty.  Boo.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen.

Revlon Just Tinted Victorian

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After a few days of wearing strong colors, a Revlon Just Tinted jelly polish seemed in order today, so I went with Victorian, a medium pink.

Victorian applied reasonably well, but I needed four coats.  It was still quite sheer after three, so I knew a fourth wouldn't make a tremendous difference in opacity, but when I took a look to see if I could stop at three, the color was pretty blotchy.  The fourth evened it out, then I used a coat of Poshe to dry it and one of that Sally Hansen Salon 10 Day Speed Dry top coat I mentioned the other day to shine it up.  This is Revlon Just Tinted Victorian in sunlight after it was pretty dry.

Revlon Just Tinted Victorian Nail Polish, Four Coats

I think it's pretty, but that's a lot of coats.  If you recall, I often have troubles with Revlon polishes completely curing well, so I'm a little concerned that this will be a Braille manicure by this evening even though I allowed each coat to really set for a few minutes before applying the next.  Time will tell.  It's a nice break from bolder shades without going for all-out sheer, so I'm willing to wait and see if it dries properly.

That's the manicure for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



Later that day... A few hours after posting, I was connecting cables and hardware for a network, and my polish dented pretty badly.  No bubbles or smudges, it just stayed a little bit denty.  Boo.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen.

Revlon Just Tinted in Desire

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I decided to try out a Revlon Just Tinted nail polish, Desire, for today because although Zoya Smoke is lovely, with a heat index of 105° it's difficult to get enthusiastic about a Fall color so I took a Return to Summer break.

Revlon's Just Tinted line is rather lightly pigmented jellies, and I'd eyed a couple a few times before finally getting them during a sale for the day when my nails would be short enough to wear them.  Lo and behold, that day has arrived.  The shade I chose for today, Desire, is a very bright pink, perfect for summer.  I needed three coats of Desire to make the color even, and it seems to be drying well with quick dry top coat.  This manicure screams of Summer.

Revlon Just Tinted Nail Polish in Desire, Three Coats

I like it because it's so summery, and it's a really nice one for the current length of my nails.  It makes me want to feast on seedless watermelon.

That's all there is to my Revlon Just Tinted Desire manicure, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Just Tinted in Desire

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I decided to try out a Revlon Just Tinted nail polish, Desire, for today because although Zoya Smoke is lovely, with a heat index of 105° it's difficult to get enthusiastic about a Fall color so I took a Return to Summer break.

Revlon's Just Tinted line is rather lightly pigmented jellies, and I'd eyed a couple a few times before finally getting them during a sale for the day when my nails would be short enough to wear them.  Lo and behold, that day has arrived.  The shade I chose for today, Desire, is a very bright pink, perfect for summer.  I needed three coats of Desire to make the color even, and it seems to be drying well with quick dry top coat.  This manicure screams of Summer.

Revlon Just Tinted Nail Polish in Desire, Three Coats

I like it because it's so summery, and it's a really nice one for the current length of my nails.  It makes me want to feast on seedless watermelon.

That's all there is to my Revlon Just Tinted Desire manicure, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Grape Fizz

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I chose another Revlon Fizz to try out today, Grape Fizz, but before I move on to that I'll mention a couple of things about Watermelon Fizz and its removal.  By mid-morning my sense of smell was back to non-smoking normal, and I found that the fragrance of Watermelon Fizz was light and not too sweet, not overpowering at all.  Since it was more flaky sparkly bits than glitter (like the non-glitter OPI Burlesque shades), removal was really easy.  I used non-acetone remover, a good strong one, and one little square of felt and very little effort was all that was required to take off three coats, so if fear of removal is putting you off from these, that's not an issue.

So on to Grape Fizz!  It's higher maintenance than the last one for me, and I needed four coats.  When applying the fourth, my thought was that it was just needed to make the polish completely even for a macro picture, and somehow that fleeting thought put me into swatching mode and I only did my left hand, so the right only has three coats.  Three coats is so blotchy it's uneven and falls short of bottle color (it's kind of faded and washed out on my right hand), so this one really will need four coats for me.  With drying often being an issue for me with Revlons, I waited a couple of minutes between coats then finished it off with quick dry top coat, and it seems to be drying just fine.

Revlon Grape Fizz Nail Polish, Four Coats

It's quite pretty, but I'm deciding if its four-coat pretty and leaning toward No.  As for the fragrance of this one, it's much stronger than the watermelon.  When I was applying the first coat I noticed it (strongly), and it's the pleasant scent of 100% grape juice, but almost totally dry on my nails I can still smell it very strongly while sitting here typing.  If it remains this heavily fragranced, that'll be a dealbreaker for me - I sleep with my hands right by my face, and I can tell you now that even half this much grape juice smell would really get on my nerves trying to drift off to sleep.

That's Grape Fizz - a beautiful but demanding sparkly purple that may well have too much scent for me.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Grape Fizz

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I chose another Revlon Fizz to try out today, Grape Fizz, but before I move on to that I'll mention a couple of things about Watermelon Fizz and its removal.  By mid-morning my sense of smell was back to non-smoking normal, and I found that the fragrance of Watermelon Fizz was light and not too sweet, not overpowering at all.  Since it was more flaky sparkly bits than glitter (like the non-glitter OPI Burlesque shades), removal was really easy.  I used non-acetone remover, a good strong one, and one little square of felt and very little effort was all that was required to take off three coats, so if fear of removal is putting you off from these, that's not an issue.

So on to Grape Fizz!  It's higher maintenance than the last one for me, and I needed four coats.  When applying the fourth, my thought was that it was just needed to make the polish completely even for a macro picture, and somehow that fleeting thought put me into swatching mode and I only did my left hand, so the right only has three coats.  Three coats is so blotchy it's uneven and falls short of bottle color (it's kind of faded and washed out on my right hand), so this one really will need four coats for me.  With drying often being an issue for me with Revlons, I waited a couple of minutes between coats then finished it off with quick dry top coat, and it seems to be drying just fine.

Revlon Grape Fizz Nail Polish, Four Coats

It's quite pretty, but I'm deciding if its four-coat pretty and leaning toward No.  As for the fragrance of this one, it's much stronger than the watermelon.  When I was applying the first coat I noticed it (strongly), and it's the pleasant scent of 100% grape juice, but almost totally dry on my nails I can still smell it very strongly while sitting here typing.  If it remains this heavily fragranced, that'll be a dealbreaker for me - I sleep with my hands right by my face, and I can tell you now that even half this much grape juice smell would really get on my nerves trying to drift off to sleep.

That's Grape Fizz - a beautiful but demanding sparkly purple that may well have too much scent for me.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Watermelon Fizz

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I put on Watermelon Fizz, one of Revlon's new-ish scented glitter polishes.  I've seen this one, been tempted, and managed to walk away many times, but the last time I saw it was on sale while I'd been carrying a Revlon coupon for just such an occasion, so it became mine.

My reluctance was that I thought the glitters were probably somewhat repetitive of others I have, but I found Watermelon Fizz is not.  It's a jelly with medium sized smooth glitter, and I don't have a heck of a lot of jellies.  The finish works really well with the pink-orange-red watermelon color, so for this one I was willing to suck it up and see through my tips a bit.  It took three coats to reach completely even bottle color, and then I topped it off with quick dry top coat.  It wasn't totally dry when I took the picture, but it seems to be moving in that direction pretty well with no Revlon oddities like a Braille finish (as with Revlon Blue Lagoon), so I thought I'm probably safe to go ahead and post it. I mention that on the off chance that something goes south, but in that case I'll make a follow up post.  This is Watermelon Fizz in the morning sunlight.

Revlon Watermelon Fizz Nail Polish, Three Coats

As for the fragrance, it seems like a pleasant enough, not-too-sweet watermelon scent, but I'm not the best judge today... I'm still not smoking (three months tomorrow!) and using an e-cig, and my e-cig gets refilled with nicotine "juice."  Well, the juice is available unflavored or tobacco flavored, but then it also comes in flavors like Cinnabon and Honeysuckle and everything in between that you could imagine.  I replenished my supplies during 4th of July sales and received some of them yesterday, but now I find my sense of taste and smell are a little diminished by the overload of trying a couple out.  I can still lightly smell the watermelon scent in the Revlon, but even if it were nauseatingly overpowering I'd quite likely lightly smell the watermelon scent in the Revlon.  I'll have to wait for my olfactory sense to recharge to have a strong opinion about this one.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Watermelon Fizz

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I put on Watermelon Fizz, one of Revlon's new-ish scented glitter polishes.  I've seen this one, been tempted, and managed to walk away many times, but the last time I saw it was on sale while I'd been carrying a Revlon coupon for just such an occasion, so it became mine.

My reluctance was that I thought the glitters were probably somewhat repetitive of others I have, but I found Watermelon Fizz is not.  It's a jelly with medium sized smooth glitter, and I don't have a heck of a lot of jellies.  The finish works really well with the pink-orange-red watermelon color, so for this one I was willing to suck it up and see through my tips a bit.  It took three coats to reach completely even bottle color, and then I topped it off with quick dry top coat.  It wasn't totally dry when I took the picture, but it seems to be moving in that direction pretty well with no Revlon oddities like a Braille finish (as with Revlon Blue Lagoon), so I thought I'm probably safe to go ahead and post it. I mention that on the off chance that something goes south, but in that case I'll make a follow up post.  This is Watermelon Fizz in the morning sunlight.

Revlon Watermelon Fizz Nail Polish, Three Coats

As for the fragrance, it seems like a pleasant enough, not-too-sweet watermelon scent, but I'm not the best judge today... I'm still not smoking (three months tomorrow!) and using an e-cig, and my e-cig gets refilled with nicotine "juice."  Well, the juice is available unflavored or tobacco flavored, but then it also comes in flavors like Cinnabon and Honeysuckle and everything in between that you could imagine.  I replenished my supplies during 4th of July sales and received some of them yesterday, but now I find my sense of taste and smell are a little diminished by the overload of trying a couple out.  I can still lightly smell the watermelon scent in the Revlon, but even if it were nauseatingly overpowering I'd quite likely lightly smell the watermelon scent in the Revlon.  I'll have to wait for my olfactory sense to recharge to have a strong opinion about this one.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Blue Lagoon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

It just occurred to me now, almost three years into this blog, that it might have been wise to make labels summarizing my assessment of whatever I'm telling you about (like good, average, etc.).  In the case of Revlon Blue Lagoon, I was specifically wishing that I had a "Completely Blows" label.

The shade isn't anything to write home about, a nice pastel blue, but the finish on it's gorgeous, which is why I got it.  It's like the cool finish of Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom.  I used three coats of Blue Lagoon, and I let each dry for a few minutes in between since Revlons are hit or miss for me, with drying properly being the misses, and finished it with Poshe.

Blue Lagoon was a huge miss.  I had a zillion bubbles by bedtime a few hours after applying it, but just went to bed.  I woke up with a zillion bubbles and every nail covered in sheet marks.  I memorialized the mess this morning...

Revlon Blue Lagoon Nail Polish, Three Coats

Great look, huh?  It looks like my nails have a pox erupting over their acne scars.

Just so today's post isn't mopey with just a big Revlon miss, I have bonus pictures for you that I took early this morning.  It was so early that not everyone was awake yet.

Sleepy Ducky :)

That's a normal Mallard, there are also far more fabulous Wood Ducks here.  They were awake.

Wood Duck Having Breakfast

When a day starts with sneaking up on a sleeping duck and taking his picture, it kind of doesn't matter what doesn't go exactly my way for the rest of the day.  That's going to be a fun day no matter what.  On my way back, I was walking down a path and a goose was standing in the middle of it, and I'm terrified of geese (what a lame fear!).  I decided to be all brave (well, "normal" might be a better word here) and just walk by, but evidently he's not a morning goose and hadn't had his coffee yet because he started hissing and charged directly at me.  I was running backwards, and was astounded at my ridiculous instincts - I was trying to reason with him!  Know what?  Angry, hissing, charging geese don't seem to react one way or another to the assurances of the target of said charge that there's no malevolent intent, even when presented with evidence of that.  I ended up having to backtrack to where I started and go around a longer way, and by then the goose-charging incident struck me as ridiculously funny.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Blue Lagoon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

It just occurred to me now, almost three years into this blog, that it might have been wise to make labels summarizing my assessment of whatever I'm telling you about (like good, average, etc.).  In the case of Revlon Blue Lagoon, I was specifically wishing that I had a "Completely Blows" label.

The shade isn't anything to write home about, a nice pastel blue, but the finish on it's gorgeous, which is why I got it.  It's like the cool finish of Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom.  I used three coats of Blue Lagoon, and I let each dry for a few minutes in between since Revlons are hit or miss for me, with drying properly being the misses, and finished it with Poshe.

Blue Lagoon was a huge miss.  I had a zillion bubbles by bedtime a few hours after applying it, but just went to bed.  I woke up with a zillion bubbles and every nail covered in sheet marks.  I memorialized the mess this morning...

Revlon Blue Lagoon Nail Polish, Three Coats

Great look, huh?  It looks like my nails have a pox erupting over their acne scars.

Just so today's post isn't mopey with just a big Revlon miss, I have bonus pictures for you that I took early this morning.  It was so early that not everyone was awake yet.

Sleepy Ducky :)

That's a normal Mallard, there are also far more fabulous Wood Ducks here.  They were awake.

Wood Duck Having Breakfast

When a day starts with sneaking up on a sleeping duck and taking his picture, it kind of doesn't matter what doesn't go exactly my way for the rest of the day.  That's going to be a fun day no matter what.  On my way back, I was walking down a path and a goose was standing in the middle of it, and I'm terrified of geese (what a lame fear!).  I decided to be all brave (well, "normal" might be a better word here) and just walk by, but evidently he's not a morning goose and hadn't had his coffee yet because he started hissing and charged directly at me.  I was running backwards, and was astounded at my ridiculous instincts - I was trying to reason with him!  Know what?  Angry, hissing, charging geese don't seem to react one way or another to the assurances of the target of said charge that there's no malevolent intent, even when presented with evidence of that.  I ended up having to backtrack to where I started and go around a longer way, and by then the goose-charging incident struck me as ridiculously funny.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Black with Envy

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I left the last gel manicure on for 14 days, the last week of which I was really hard on my hands, and I got the first chip on the 13th day.  I took a picture before removing it, but will spare you - what finally prompted me to change it was breaking off the entire free edge of my left pinky nail, and the little stump next to the four grown-up nails isn't a very attractive picture.  I filed all my nails down because in addition to the major break, the fake tip and repair I was sporting, I managed to break five more nails (cracks across, but not all the way through).  I can handle a repair or two, but two tips and six repairs is a little excessive, so I did a chop.  Two nails are broken about halfway down the nail bed, so they'll have to stay shorter than usual for longer than usual (much to my dismay).  I'll tell you the tale of their demise after the pictures.

When I did the gel removal, which was a painless one, it was a truly spectacular Spring day, and I simply didn't have it in me to stay cooped up in the house doing my nails for an hour when I had the option of slapping on some polish and going out, so I went with polish.  It's Revlon's take on Chanel Black Pearl, called Black with Envy.  The little red sticker on the brush handle says "New Color" rather than "Limited Edition," so I really don't know whether it's here to stay or not.  Honestly, I like Revlon's new schtick of copying the last big Chanel (I'm thinking Perplex from Fall, then this one) - I like the Revlons better in both cases.  With Chanel bumping up their prices again, I think I'm just over Chanel completely.  I recall that in 2007 they were going for $17-$18 (we'll say $18 to give Chanel the benefit of the estimate), and a $7 increase constitutes a 38% price increase.  That's ridiculous.

Wow, I hadn't realized I had a Chanel tangent in me, sorry about that.  This is about  Black with Envy, which applied beautifully and is perfect in two coats, and really is a great substitute for Chanel Black Pearl.  Here it is in sunlight on my stumpy nails, which will be back to normal as soon as they can be...

Revlon Black with Envy Nail Polish, Two Coats

For $19 less than the Chanel, I'm sorry that I bought the Chanel.

So, want to hear how I managed to break all but two gel-reinforced nails in a week?  It was due to what I shall forever recall as The Febreze Incident of 2011.  The weekend before last, I was working on the house, reorganizing and preparing for a new routine when I start the new job this week.  I got some Febreze Air Effects, and went about the business of freshening the air, carpet, drapes, etc., at the end of a long day, Saturday evening, I think.  Well, what I hadn't been aware of was the ridiculously high pollen count at the time, with pollen being a huge allergen for me, and as a consequence I had virtually no sense of smell.  I became aware of how impaired my olfactory sense was after taking some Benadryl and heading off to bed - I woke up absolutely choking on the hideous soapy air a few hours later.  I opened windows and turned on an air purifier, but in the morning it was just as bad as ever.  Searching online brought me to many discussions of "Febreze is the Devil" and things like that - some people were reporting no improvement after a month of trying to eliminate that noxious soapy chemical smell.  I tried a few things (bowls of salt and cider vinegar, a Heloise trick, eventually was the thing that made a huge difference), but for three solid days the focus of my cleaning efforts became washing every piece of laundry, throwing out anything porous and not washable, etc.  In that process, my nails took a real beating.  And if I'm ever caught using Febreze again I shouldn't be allowed into my own home until I get more sense.

The good news out of it was that it made breathing enough of a hassle to get me to quit smoking after twenty-five years (I'm really hoping quitting takes).  I'm also now quite knowledgeable about the myriad non-chemical ways to freshen air, so I guess The Febreze Incident of 2011 was not a total loss...

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Revlon Black with Envy

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I left the last gel manicure on for 14 days, the last week of which I was really hard on my hands, and I got the first chip on the 13th day.  I took a picture before removing it, but will spare you - what finally prompted me to change it was breaking off the entire free edge of my left pinky nail, and the little stump next to the four grown-up nails isn't a very attractive picture.  I filed all my nails down because in addition to the major break, the fake tip and repair I was sporting, I managed to break five more nails (cracks across, but not all the way through).  I can handle a repair or two, but two tips and six repairs is a little excessive, so I did a chop.  Two nails are broken about halfway down the nail bed, so they'll have to stay shorter than usual for longer than usual (much to my dismay).  I'll tell you the tale of their demise after the pictures.

When I did the gel removal, which was a painless one, it was a truly spectacular Spring day, and I simply didn't have it in me to stay cooped up in the house doing my nails for an hour when I had the option of slapping on some polish and going out, so I went with polish.  It's Revlon's take on Chanel Black Pearl, called Black with Envy.  The little red sticker on the brush handle says "New Color" rather than "Limited Edition," so I really don't know whether it's here to stay or not.  Honestly, I like Revlon's new schtick of copying the last big Chanel (I'm thinking Perplex from Fall, then this one) - I like the Revlons better in both cases.  With Chanel bumping up their prices again, I think I'm just over Chanel completely.  I recall that in 2007 they were going for $17-$18 (we'll say $18 to give Chanel the benefit of the estimate), and a $7 increase constitutes a 38% price increase.  That's ridiculous.

Wow, I hadn't realized I had a Chanel tangent in me, sorry about that.  This is about  Black with Envy, which applied beautifully and is perfect in two coats, and really is a great substitute for Chanel Black Pearl.  Here it is in sunlight on my stumpy nails, which will be back to normal as soon as they can be...

Revlon Black with Envy Nail Polish, Two Coats

For $19 less than the Chanel, I'm sorry that I bought the Chanel.

So, want to hear how I managed to break all but two gel-reinforced nails in a week?  It was due to what I shall forever recall as The Febreze Incident of 2011.  The weekend before last, I was working on the house, reorganizing and preparing for a new routine when I start the new job this week.  I got some Febreze Air Effects, and went about the business of freshening the air, carpet, drapes, etc., at the end of a long day, Saturday evening, I think.  Well, what I hadn't been aware of was the ridiculously high pollen count at the time, with pollen being a huge allergen for me, and as a consequence I had virtually no sense of smell.  I became aware of how impaired my olfactory sense was after taking some Benadryl and heading off to bed - I woke up absolutely choking on the hideous soapy air a few hours later.  I opened windows and turned on an air purifier, but in the morning it was just as bad as ever.  Searching online brought me to many discussions of "Febreze is the Devil" and things like that - some people were reporting no improvement after a month of trying to eliminate that noxious soapy chemical smell.  I tried a few things (bowls of salt and cider vinegar, a Heloise trick, eventually was the thing that made a huge difference), but for three solid days the focus of my cleaning efforts became washing every piece of laundry, throwing out anything porous and not washable, etc.  In that process, my nails took a real beating.  And if I'm ever caught using Febreze again I shouldn't be allowed into my own home until I get more sense.

The good news out of it was that it made breathing enough of a hassle to get me to quit smoking after twenty-five years (I'm really hoping quitting takes).  I'm also now quite knowledgeable about the myriad non-chemical ways to freshen air, so I guess The Febreze Incident of 2011 was not a total loss...

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Revlon Street Wear - Prism

Yesterday I went sparkley and put on a couple of coats of an old bottle of Revlon Street Wear polish in Prism.  This bottle was almost dried up so I restored it to live with Seche Restore.  What an awesome product, I shall never throw out an old polish again.

Prism has large hexagonal holographic glitter in a clear base.  I only applied two coats and should have done more, cause there were bare patches, but really, in the sun this was so blinding anyway that I didn't notice.

Here is an up close of the glitter.  It was so sparkley that my photos were glare effected and appear rather washed out.

The chunky glitter needs a good layer of top coat, and then its still a little rough.  And it must be removed using the foil method.

In other news...I went on a bit of a bender last week purchasing polishes.

I really got stuck into a Nfu Oh stock take sale with Vivid Nails, they were selling their existing stock for $2.  Yes - Nfu Oh for $2!!.  But to go with that I placed an order for the one remaining Nfu Oh Holo that I don't have '62', and six flakie Nfu Oh polishes, including 51 (finally) - at $18 for the holo and $15 for the flakies, you do the math.

I also spent, shall we say, less than $200 but more than $150 (gasp!) buying the rest of the Artform holographic polishes that I don't have (six), plus their six Revolutionary Range multi chrome polishes, plus four Aluminium Foil polishes, plus three two tone illusion polishes.

Finally, I got off eBay a long time lemming, two bottles of the magnificent Sally Hansen Prism polish in Turquoise Opal, which is a duochrome that flashes from purple to green.

So after that effort, I'm officially on a no buy. I just can't wait for them all to turn up.  I told my husband that I wont buy anymore polishes until I have worn and posted about all these polishes, and the 50 or so waiting in my swatch box.

However, I'm also a firm believer that if you want a polish (or collection) really really badly, then you should get it. I'm soooo glad I spent the money last year to buy the full China Glaze OMG collection, as its so difficult to get now. I only got six of the twelve Kaleidoscopes, and wish I had got them all.

Nail polish can seriously be an addiction. Does anyone else have this same problem as me?

Hi, my name is Catherine and I'm a nail polish addict.

Revlon Copper Penny

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a nice simple manicure today with Revlon Copper Penny.  It's one of three metallic Revlons that were in a little tabletop display I saw a few weeks back, where the other two were a silver and a gold.  Although all three looked great, I'm set for golds and silvers I love, so I passed them by.

Copper Penny is, as the name suggests, a copper metallic.  It's extremely pigmented and was even and opaque in one coat, but I used a second because I thought the ridges in my nails would show too much with only one coat.  Since it is so pigmented, I'd wager this one would work well with Konad.

Revlon Copper Penny Nail Polish, Two Coats

The picture is under artificial light with the polish completely dry.  Photographing a metallic under artificial light is difficult since the light reflects more easily than usual, but this at least gives you an idea of what the polish looks like.  The super tiny silver flecks do not show up as silver flecks just walking around - it takes magnification to show them.  The overall effect on the nail is that it really does look like copper.

Although I have a few polishes with the word copper in the name, I don't have any other metallic that really looks like copper, so I like Copper Penny quite a bit.  I'd been saving this one until my XL plates arrived from Chez-Delaney because I thought some of the geometric tip patterns would look cool in Konad Black Pearl over this, but  they're not here yet and I really wanted to wear it.  I do have that big plain French tip on one of my Chez-Delaney plates, so I might just add that and stamp another pattern in Copper Penny over it.   I'll see if I can find something relatively straightforward that seems good - my stamping confidence has been shaken by my arduous ENAS stamping experience!

There are just a couple of hours left to enter to win Essie Ruby Slippers in a random drawing, so please throw your name in if you haven't already.  It's open to everyone with the only restriction being one entry per person, and the only reason the email address entered would ever be used is to notify you that you've won.

I think that's everything for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!