Catrice Heavy Metallilac

Recently Catrice discontinued some of their older shades and introduced some new ones, and Heavy Metallilac is one of the new shades. I actually waffled on this one, but my swap buddy Nola convinced me that I needed it, and I am so glad that she did!

I tend to struggle a bit with purples - warmer toned purples tend to make my skin almost look dirty, and that's why I was concerned about Heavy Metallilac. I think that what saves it for me is that it looks a good bit darker and cooler at the edges of my nails with that warm glowing pop in the middle. Amazing.

Application was quite good on Heavy Metallilac, as it is with most Catrice polishes I've tried. I was concerned that it would have lot of brush strokes since it is a metallic finish, but it applied pretty smoothly with only very faint brush strokes.

I will say that I wish Catrice hadn't changed their brush. The old Catrice brush was one of my very favorite brushes of all time. My nails are pretty narrow, and the new more rounded brush was almost too wide for my pinky nails. For me, this was definitely a situation of, "If it ain't broke, don't fit it." *sigh*

Here are a couple of shots I took of Heavy Metallilac in the shade. I almost feel like it looks even more metallic in the shade. Just stunning. 

Even though I'm not a fan of the new brush, Catrice remains one of my favorite polish brands. I love their assortment of colors and finishes, and the formula has always been top notch for me. I feel quite lucky to have access to them through my swap buddy. I wish that they would start distributing them in North America because I feel like they would be really popular here!

So that's it for Heavy Metallilac. Hope your week is starting off well. Thanks for reading!

Sephora Moody Woman

I fell for Moody Woman the second I saw nailXchange's post about it months ago. It's not available in US Sephora stores - it is available online, but there was nothing else I really wanted from Sephora and the shipping was going to cost more than the polish. Then one of my buddies in Canada offered to grab this for me as part of a swap, and I jumped at the chance. =D

Moody Woman is sort of the more cool toned version of Chanel's Peridot. Rather than shifting between green and gold, Moody Woman shifts between green and blue.

Given that the bottle is so teeny, I expected to hate the teeny little brush, but I actually loved it. Application on Moody Woman was actually pretty fantastic, even with the little brush. Two easy coats, very little cleanup required.

I wanted to love Peridot, but it's entirely too warm for my skintone. Moody Woman is the perfect answer to that problem for me. 

For a metallic, it's also very, very smooth. I was expecting it to show a lot more brush strokes than ended up being the case.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me for Sephora Moody Woman! =D

Hope you all are having a great weekend, and thanks for reading!

Sally Hansen Chrome Turquoise

Today I have a vintage polish to show you, Sally Hansen Chrome Turquoise. From what I've been able to glean, it seems like the Chromes were released in the late '90s/early 2000s. I was lucky enough to receive this one in a very generous swap. 

This polish is unbelievable. The formula is outstanding. I did two coats only because I'm a habitual two-coater, but the first coat looked just like this - perfect coverage with no streaks or dragging or anything.

The most incredible thing to me about this polish is how smooth it is. Usually these metallic finishes are full of brush strokes and are very difficult to get smooth. But not this one. The application was completely effortless.

It is quite beyond me why companies stop making polishes like these - and that goes for the Sally Hansen Prisms line as well. They're highly sought after, and I have to believe that even people who aren't into polish as heavily as we are would still buy them. 

The good news is that even though these are discontinued, there must be a hidden Indiana Jones warehouse with old polishes in it, because these do show up really regularly on eBay. They're mostly even reasonably priced, though some shades go for higher amounts than others, of course.

So there you have it, shiny metallic blue perfection. 

Thanks for looking!

A Couple of Blues

Today I have a couple of blues that I hadn't posted yet. The first is Zoya Noel, which is likely the closest thing I'll ever have to a polish with my name. It's a beautiful ice blue metallic polish, very reminiscent of Zoya Crystal, but without the flecks of gold. The application was quite good, two easy coats. Somehow I managed to ding the tips of a couple of fingers within just a couple of hours of putting it on. This worries me a bit because I didn't really do anything that could have caused that, so I hope this doesn't just tend to being chiptastic. =\

And the other is China Glaze Flyin' High. I was expecting this one to be more teal than it looks on me, but on me it's pretty much pure blue. In the lights indoors, it had a very tiny tint of teal to it, but yeah, mostly blue... which is fine with me. =) Great formula on this one though, not fussy whatsoever.

I'm so sorry that I haven't had much time to answer comments lately. I do read them all, and I appreciate every one. I've just been so busy with work, and then being sick and then being busy with work again that I feel like I barely have time to put together cognizant blog posts. So please, please know that I really do love all of your comments, even when I don't have time to reply!

Happy Friday!

Kleancolor Metallic Aqua

Ah, metallics. My newest obsession.

Does this look like a $2 polish to you? Yeah, me either.

Kleancolors stink, oh yes they do. The first time I used one, I got a migraine. But I guess I've gotten used to them or developed an immunity or something because now I barely notice the smell. I'm very thankful for that because they are cheap, cheap, cheap and awesome, awesome, awesome.

Here it is in the sun. Like a lot of aquas, it looks different depending on the light I'm in. The formula, by the way, is top notch. I did two coats only because I'm a habitual two coater. It was perfect with one coat.

Minimal brush strokes, which is really nice for a metallic. I decided to compare it to Orly Sweet Peacock. It's a little more different than these pictures look. I'm glad I own them both, but your mileage my vary and all that. =)

I must get more of these. Yay for cheap thrills!

 It's almost the weekend, huzzah! I have two orders coming tomorrow. *dances and stalks UPS*

Golden Rose Metallic 10 - Fail on My Skintone =(

These pictures make the situation look better than it actually is. It gave me dirty zombie hands. My mother walked by and said, "That is... not flattering... at all." I know it doesn't look bad in the pictures, but it's really not pretty. It's a shame because the polish itself is wonderful, great formula, dreamy application. I think it would look great on someone with warmer toned skin than me. But I'm posting the pics anyway since I figure someone might be looking for swatches of it someday.

Golden Rose Metallic 08

Yay, my latest swap package with my friend Nola came today, and in it were some major beauties! It was a very timely arrival too since I've discovered that I absolutely love metallic polishes, and this package included a few of Golden Rose's new metallic polishes. The one I elected to wear first is 08, which is a cooler leaning green that also flashes aqua.

I tried to capture the duochrome goodness, but the finish is so insanely shiny that my camera kept freaking out!

I have no experience with Golden Rose, but this polish seems pretty great to me. The formula is excellent, I barely had to clean up at all. I can't comment on wear time because I've only had it on for a few hours. 

I got some shots of it in the sun. Oooh, shiny!

I'm not sure if these are available anywhere in the US yet. They're not up on the Golden Rose website yet, so I don't know if they'll make it here or not. If you like metallics and have the opportunity though, I'd definitely get some of these. Color me very impressed!

Orly Sweet Peacock

Like yesterday's beauty, Fowl Play, Sweet Peacock is from Orly's Birds of a Feather collection.

Sweet Peacock is a gorgeous medium blue... foil? Metallic? I'm not sure which this is... perhaps it's both. =) I have a ton of blues, but somehow nothing like this in my collection.

Great formula, two easy coats. A little brush-strokey, but nothing I can't handle.

I even got a compliment on this one. I had to sign for a package today (my Ozotics *squee*) and my mailman goes, "Hey, nice nails!" ^_^

Absolutely gorgeous. I think this might be my next pedi!

Happy Hump Day. Thanks for reading!