Shimmer Polish - Linna & Cassandra

Here are 2 more Shimmer Polishes from Cindy. Check out her Etsy shop, her website, or her facebook for more information on purchasing. Or you can always email her directly with your paypal address and the colors you would like to purchase: 

shimmer484(at)gmail(dot)com

Here is Linna

This is my favorite of the whole bunch! I am a sucker for anything in the teal family and this is just wonderful. :) The primary color is teal, but there are hints of red, blue, and silver. For these pics I used just 2 coats. The glitter coverage is really good and doesn't require specific placement. The glitter goes where it should. 

 I think it would be cool to stamp a fish scale stamp over this.... mermaid nails all the way!

Then there is Cassandra

Does it remind you of China Glaze Snow Globe? It did for me... but in a comparison, the glitter particles in Cassandra are noticeably larger. Here is 2 thin coats of Cassandra layered over a variety of colors. Pinky Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Bubblegum Pink, Ring Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening, Middle Revlon Royal, Index China Glaze For Audrey. It's best to use it as a layering polish because it just has a clear base.

So magical and pretty!

 Here is 3 coats of Cassandra on it's own so you can see how it builds up.

 I had the worst sinkage with Cassandra. Just minutes after I finished shaking the bottle, the glitter had already separated and sunk to the bottom. But again, Cindy is working on these issues and has tweaked her formula since these were made.

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AEngland - Dragon Swatch

This polish was provided for review by Beautometry.com.

This is my first AEngland and it is amazing. I've heard such good things about them from other bloggers, but now I can agree out of experience.

Dragon is a duochrome and a holographic. :) It's a medium/dark green with a copper/gold duochrome shimmer. Also scattered holographic glitter. Pictured below is 2 thin coats but the formula would have worked with just one medium coat. It applied very easily and I didn't have any problems whatsoever.  

I'm a sucker for green polishes, but they don't always look good on my skin tone. I'm very happy with this however!

This pic shows the duochrome the best:

It doesn't lose too much of it's magic with indoor lighting. It's still quite pretty.

If you're interested in buying overseas brands like this one, AEngland or GlitterGal check out Beautometry.com. Therese carries both brands at prices comparable to other sites.

Do you have any AEngland? What colors should I look into?

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ColorPhase Nail Polish

"Clear topcoat creates color changing effects."

I saw this display at Rite Aid and it drew my interest. Plus the bottles are like tiny barbells. :P

To apply the polish you unscrew it as seen below, but the other bottle is still attached. It made the brush heavier, but not any more difficult to manuever and polish with. This polish had great opacity and it's only one coat pictured below.

There is no name for this color on the bottle, but it's a dark foily purple.

The clear side has a striper as the brush. You can then create designs. Wherever the clear polish goes, the polish turns darker.

Both before topcoat and after topcoat sections are quite shiny.

 It's very metallic and cool.

This was a different day that I experimented with it.

 And yes, your next question is: Can you not wear a topcoat then? Do all topcoats make the polish change? And the answer is yes. I tested with every clear topcoat I have in my stash and they all changed the polish. Orly Sec N Dry, Seche Vite, Gelous, Cult Nails Wicked Fast, Essie Good to Go.

It's a neat novelty polish, but I'm not sure just how much I'll use it. Perhaps because of it's opacity it will make a good stamping polish? I'll have to try that!

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Born Pretty Store - Striping Tape - Design & Review

Reviewing another product from the Born Pretty Store. This time it's the Striping Tape you can find here in a pack of 12 different colors for $6.29. I've recently seen a lot of new nail art looks that are featuring striping tape, so I was excited to try it myself. 

I wanted to recreate this look in particular. Her's was much neater and better photographed, but this isn't a contest, right? Enjoy.

I used the gold striping tape from Born Pretty. The polishes I used were Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud, China Glaze For Audrey, and Essie Navigate Her.

As far as a review goes.... The tape was very easy to use. Same concept as using Scotch Tape on your nails, but without the pain of having to cut it into tiny strips. I just cut off a small section big enough that it would over lap the edge of my nail. Then I came in close with a pair of cuticle nippers to cut it exactly to the edge. The tape adheres well and lies flat under top coat. I didn't have any trouble until day 2 of my manicure when the topcoat had worn off some and the edges of the tape were exposed and started getting caught on everything.

I also got some Bullion Beads from Born Pretty, that's coming up next!

And you can get 10% off by using my coupon code!

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Sation Polish Review

Miss Professional Nail was nice enough to send me a couple of Sation polishes to try out and review. I did not previously own any Sation because it is not sold in my area. You also don't see many Sation swatches popping up on nail blogs. I don't know why that is.

"Sation has recently been rebranded, with a custom-designed bottle/brush, and a fresh modern image." 

I have to say that the first time I even heard of Sation wasn't exactly positive. I read this article that said a study tested nail polishes that claimed to be free of toulene, DBP, and formaldehyde... but Sation being one of them, actually DID contain those chemicals. I did not see anywhere on the Sation bottle that it claims to be "3-free," but it is stated on their website page and each polish's description. The article concludes with a comment from Miss Professional Nail's vice president saying that they are disputing these findings and "We will look at the report and challenge it." Sadly I don't know anything further on the matter. Perhaps we'll hear something soon.

With that being said, let's look at the product. 

These first 3 are from the Limited Summer Collection, “California Gleamin." 

They will be available online this week and/or at select beauty supply stores while supplies last.

Board Girl Blue

Shown below is 2 thin coats. I could have easily gotten away with 1 careful coat. This is also without topcoat. The polish is just that shiny on it's own! Dry time was moderate to fast. It was a great and easy formula to work with. True medium blue creme.

Gumdrop Glitter Red

I usually associate gumdrops with winter and Christmas songs, not typically a summer thing, but maybe that's just me. This was 3 thin coats. Small red glitter in a red jelly base. The glitter spreads out evenly and applies easily. Dry time was moderate. 

Sunset Silk

Very shimmery light orange. Not frosty like I feared. Formula was great. 2 thin coats. Dry time was fast. This might not be up everyone's alley though. It's can be a tough shade to pull off.

The rest of the colors are all from the Classic Collection and they are always available on the website or select beauty retailers.

Sheer Legs

Sheer it is. This polish builds up nicely though. 3 coats reached full opacity, but each coat goes on so smooth and even, you can stop at whatever point makes you happy.

1 coat 

 2 coats

3 coats

A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose

Could the name be any longer? Lol. This is 2 coats. Formula was great, dry time was fast. But it looks a little familiar....

 

Swatch Stick Comparison

Left - OPI It's All Greek To Me

Middle - Essie Tour De Finance

Right - Sation A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose

I can't tell the difference personally. Judge for yourself.

Red-Hot Orange

I think the name is spot on for this polish. It is a very red toned orange. Lots of shimmer as well. This was 2 coats, and you can still see a tiny bit of visible nail line in this photo. It wasn't noticeable in person. Easy formula, fast dry time. 

Pros:

• Each polish applies evenly.
• Dry time is moderate to fast on all.
• They are all incredibly shiny on their own without topcoat.
• Some good staple colors with a few standouts.
• Full size 15mL bottle that is sturdy and doesn't feel delicate.
• $5.00 price tag on the website.

Cons:

• Some dupes are obvious.
• Uncertainty about harmful chemicals being included.
• The "custom brush" was kind of a pain. See below.
• Not sold locally, only online.

Left is a China Glaze brush, middle is the Sation brush, right is a regular OPI brush.

You can see it's quite WIDE, but it fans out even more when pressure is applied. So I had a really hard time on my pinky nails. It worked great on my thumbs, but it's not for you if you have small nail beds.

Left is Sation, Right is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. I know there are mixed opinions on Sally's paddle, but I personally like it. It works for me. If the Sation brush was rounded off on the sides like Sally, it would be perfect. The bigger brush has a bigger plastic wand to the handle, so it has the tendency to hold onto excess polish if you don't wipe it off carefully. That is, when you're pulling the brush out of the bottle.

So what do you think about these colors? Do you have any Sations?

More about → Sation Polish Review