SinfulColors Morning Star

Morning Star is part of a new SinfulColors display called Girls in Pearls Sheer Shimmer Collection. Note:  They aren't sheer. *shrug* The Girls in Pearls Sheer Shimmer Collection is a mix of re-promoted shades and new shades. The new ones all seem to be the same type of milky, glass flecked finish as Cinderella. Morning Star is a lovely soft periwinkle - not quite purple, but definitely more purple leaning than Cinderella. All of these photos were taken in natural light, some in direct sunlight and some in the shade.

Much like Cinderella, the formula on Morning Star was a little thick. I thinned it after I finished my first coat, and that definitely helped matters. I ended up using three coats because I had some streaking issues after my second coat. That's not a huge complaint though; I feel like the end result was definitely worth it.

One of my favorite things about Morning Star is that it's light, but the finish makes it look soft rather than stark like so many pastels. The shimmer isn't super evident, but I believe that the little glass flecks are what give it this soft finish. I absolutely love this.

I feel like Sinful has really been hitting it out of the park lately with their newer releases. We're seeing interesting shades in more interesting finishes, and that's pretty impressive from a drugstore brand that retails for $1.99.

I was also really impressed with the wear on Morning Star. Often I change my polish so often that I can't really comment on wear, but I ended up wearing Morning Star for about four days, and it still looked perfect when I removed it - no chipping, no tip wear to speak of. Very, very nice! =)

Happy Hump Day, folks. Thanks for reading!

H&M Peppermint Fusion

I first became aware of this polish when I saw it posted over at Lacquerized. I wanted it immediately, but I didn't spend a lot of time trying to track it down since it seems to only be available in Europe. I pretty much put it out of my mind, then one of my buddies told me I really needed this polish... then another sweet nail boarder offered to get it for me as a part of a swap. And so the lemming came full circle and came to live with me. =)

Don't ask me what periwinkle has to do with peppermint, but Peppermint Fusion is indeed periwinkle. It's a beautiful creamy periwinkle with blue shimmer.

The shimmer isn't super in-your-face, but it's definitely noticeable, and it gives the polish a really nice depth. Side note: I wanted to compare this to Essence Forget Me Not, but my bottle of Forget Me Not is MIA. I think it's in Missouri with my husband.

The formula is really fantastic, super easy to work with. The brush is good. I'm not wild about the flat H&M caps, but they're not a huge problem either. 

I did use three coats for this mani. It looked okay with two, but maybe a little patchy in spots, and it's perfect with three. The drying time was just fine even at three coats, so I'm not complaining at all.

Total love. ♥

Essence Forget-Me-Not

Stealth posting while on vacation! This is Essence Forget-Me-Not from Essence's Spring 2011 Blossom's Etc. collection. My Ulta never stocked these, and I was lucky enough to receive this beauty in the same RAOK in which I received Turquoise Opal. =)

This is another one of those polishes where I wish that the shimmer was more evident. Forget-Me-Not is a beautiful periwinkle shade, but I can't help but feel that it would be even more beautiful if the shimmer was just a little more visible. Still, though... I love it. The formula is really great, and I love the Essence brush.

These aren't the best pictures because I'm away from my lightbox, but I feel like they're pretty color accurate. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

Now, let's see if I can actually post some pictures! - Essie Smooth Sailing

My goodness, it looks like it worked! This is from Essie's summer 2011 collection, Brazilliant. Anyone who knows me knows that it is impossible for me to resist a blue polish, so this one had to be added to my collection.

She really is lovely. Deep periwinkle just packed with shimmer. Wonderful, creamy formula, which I've really come to appreciate from Essie.

I heard over at MUA that this beauty can be a devourer of top coat, so I topped off two coats of Smooth Sailing with two coats of the top coat I'm testing, Pro-FX. I'm not sure if it would have been gritty with one coat, but it's smooth as glass with two.

If you like blues or periwinkles, I'd say this is a must have. Simply lovely! =)