Some Random Polish Swatches

I'm not wearing polish on my nails for the time being while I use Nailtiques on them to try and make them not suck, but I have some swatches from before my self-imposed polish absence that I don't care enough about to write individual posts for, but that I would nonetheless like to be able to get off my computer, so I figured I would just throw them at you! And use a really long sentence to do so!

Essence Where Is The Party?

How it looks in the bottle most
of the time

The name of this polish makes me laugh, because you would never hear it said like that (except by ESL speakers, which I would guess the namers of this polish are, since Essence is a German company). It sounds so formal! So funny how little things like not contracting sounds so weird (even though I wrote that sentence, I was still momentarily confused by the status of "sounds". I've clearly spent too much time linguisting...).

And how it looks in the bottle at an angle!

How it looks in head-on light

Crazy color shift!

Anyways. Linguistic entertainment aside, this is a pretty cool polish. It was the first duochrome I got, though I've actually yet to wear it as a full mani. It's a purple-green duochrome, and shifts from being a rich purple head-on to being a softer grey-purple that shifts to green in different light. It's got a slightly frosty finish, so you do have to be a bit careful about applying, but it's not really high-maintenance. It's a little thick, too, so you have to let it dry between coats if you ever want it to fully dry, but for a buck, I can't complain! I think this was 3 coats, but it's been awhile, so I'm not sure. You can get Essence at Ulta and Fred Meyer, as far as I know, though there may be other retailers, and from drugstores in Germany (and possibly elsewhere in Europe?).


elf Unnamed Charcoal Holo

Close-up bottle shot to show the holo glitters

Steph included this as a free gift when I ordered RBL Piú Mosso and Zoya Zara from her (two of my absolute favorite polishes! I am forever indebted to her and her beautiful blog sale).

On the nails, doesn't show holo very well

It's a charcoal shimmer-metallic with scattered holo. The holo's not really obvious, but it adds a bit of a kick, which is nice! This was either 2 or 3 coats, I don't remember...you can't really see the holo very well in these pictures, but it really is there. The brush was okay, but not great––kind of floppy and splayed, but not completely unworkable. I haven't worn this as a full mani, either, so I can't speak to its wear. I'm not sure if/where this is available, but I think it was part of a set for the holidays and can probably still be found at dollar stores, Ross, Target, and/or Kmart.

Sally Hansen Platinum and South Sea Pearl

left: Platinum, right: South Sea Pearl (cream version)

I picked Platinum up for, like, $2 at Fred Meyer awhile ago, because it looked like a pretty white duochrome. It is duochrome (shifts from green to cool purple-pink), and it is white, but how pretty it is could be debated.

Top to bottom: 3 coats Platinum,
3 coats SSP, 2 coats Orly Au
Champagne w/ 1 coat Platinum, 2
coats Au Champagne w/ 1 coat
SSP

It has a frosty finish, and it shows brush strokes pretty badly, but layered over another white polish it's okay. The color shift isn't as dramatic as I'd hoped, either, but that's okay, it was cheap!

1 coat WNW Black Creme w/ 1 coat Platinum
(top), 1 coat Black Creme w/ 1 coat SSP (bottom)

Also, layered over black, it looks so similar to Where Is The Party, so if you'd only want it for layering over darker colors, just get the Essence and call it a day. I compared it to Sally Hansen South Sea Pearl, which I'd thought it might resemble, but they're really very different. South Sea Pearl (which is part of the long-discontinued Nail Prisms line) is sheerer, more ivory (rather than white), and has reverse duochrome colors, shifting from warm pink-purple to cool blue-green. I'm not really crazy about either of them, though if forced to choose, I would say South Sea Pearl, because I like the cooler blue-green.

Milani Red Sparkle One Coat Glitter

I just can't bring myself to do a whole post on this, so I decided to include it in this post. I tried to wear this polish as a full mani twice, and both times it was such an epic fail that I've just been scared away from trying it again. The color is awesome, but the formula and brush for my bottle were such crap that any positives are completely overshadowed.

With 1 coat top coat

It's extremely thick and unwieldy, and the brush was bushy and uneven, so application was a nightmare, and it took forever to dry. Like, 3 hours later and it was still a little squishy. I ended up just peeling it off both times because I was so annoyed. Terrible for my nails, yes, but quite satisfying! I added nail polish thinner, which helped some, but it's still quite thick. On the upside, it is very opaque, and if your nails are small like mine, one coat is plenty. I used two on the nail wheel for complete coverage.

With 2 coats top coat; it's so awesomely glowy, but the formula is so crappy. Blegh.

Have you tried any of these polishes? What did you think?