Joe Fresh – Gunmetal

Digging through my old photos to find material for the blog…must…not…buy…more…polish…

Joe Fresh’s Gunmetal. A brown-taupe FROST (I know, shock horror!) full of metallic shimmer, and a little blue and pink shimmer if I look closely enough. I don’t know. Frosts are really not my taste. This one wasn’t too horrible, as brush strokes are minimal – you know I can’t stand brush strokes. I think frost shimmers are just a little much on me.

What I love about Joe Fresh polishes though, is that they are affordable and of great quality. So even if you end up buying a colour you don’t love, you’re not out too much money. Though I’ll probably end up giving this to someone who appreciates frosts more than I do.

Essie – Velvet Voyeur

Another one of my birthday polishes…yes, it took me 6 months to get around to blogging it. Don’t judge me. And thanks to Alison for this one! :)

Essie’s Velvet Voyeur. I couldn’t ask for more in a vampy polish – this is the ideal mix of deep purple, burgundy, and brown. It applies somewhat streaky in the first coat (as most polishes do, it’s just more obvious with an ultra dark colour), but a second coat fixes everything. It also dries to a gloriously glossy finish, although I did follow with a top coat (out of habit more than anything).

I really don’t have else to say about it. It’s perfect!

Barielle – Falling Star

This one’s a weird one, guys.

Barielle’s Falling Star. Got this at Winners last week, the only place that seems to sell Barielle in Vancouver. This is definitely a polish that I haven’t seen before – mid-toned, slightly dusty blue creme base, packed with medium-sized bits of copper glitter. Wha? A combination that I’ve  never really thought of. Props for originality, Barielle!

Uniqueness aside, I’m debating whether this colour combination really works for me. I feel like the copper clashes with the blue, making the glitter look dull at certain angles. My nails sort of looked like they were flecked with little piece of…dirt? Hmm. Not sure I’m sold on this.

Of course, since this is full of glitter, removal was a horrendous process. It wasn’t even as bad as it could be – I peeled off most of it in the shower (which is not a good habit, but if you’re desperate to remove glitter polishes easily…give it a shot. Something about the steam makes the polish easy to lift from the nail). I couldn’t quite get my pinky finger, so I went with good ol’ nail polish remover route – ugh! Blue base comes off easily, leaving behind an armour of copper glitter that you must scrub furiously with your cotton pad. Glitters…it’s a love/hate relationship.

American Apparel – Neon Violet

A few weeks ago I bought a coupon for American Apparel nail polishes – $15 for 5! Sweet deal. Look for more AA reviews in the near future!

American Apparel’s Neon Violet is a very bright violet-magenta jelly. It doesn’t strike me as exactly…neon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hella bright. But it’s neon in the way that a neon purple highlighter is – it always seems to pale in comparison to the wacky neon yellows and greens. I just don’t really think neon purple exists, but I guess this is the best approximation.

Nevertheless, the polish is still brighter than your average purple/magenta jelly, so I was still pleased with it. Application was a breeze as well, but jellies tend to be easy to work with as long as the opacity is there (which it is, for this one).

Essie – Really Red

Are you looking for that little bit of va-va-va voom in your life?

Essie’s Really Red certainly fits the bill. And the name, while unimaginative, doesn’t induce cringes (which is always a plus)! This is a shimmerless, medium warm red jelly. It’s not one of those ridiculously sheer jellies though – two coats and nail lines disappear. I don’t really love medium reds on me for some reason, but this one I can get used to. Not really much to say about it. It’s a classic red, what more do you want?

Oh, the polish itself? Easy to apply. No streaks, no strange brush issues. :)

Maybelline Express Finish – Cool Couture

Bought this several months ago and never got around to reviewing it. I think it’s limited edition as well, so hopefully you can still find this!

Maybelline’s Cool Couture, from the Express Finish line. A stunner and truly a unique colour from a mainstream drugstore line. I can honestly say I never expected Maybelline to come out with such a sophisticated, yet trendy polish. The base is a cool gray creme with a fair amount of “hidden” blue-teal shimmer running throughout. This is the gray/teal sister of Chanel’s Paradoxal, which has a smokey dark gray-purple base with purple shimmer. Yes, I just compared Maybelline to Chanel!

The Maybelline Express Finish brush is great. Not the widest out there, but decidedly flat (which makes it much easier to work with, at least for me). The formula on this was fine too – two coats, no dragging or opacity issues. I’m a happy camper.

Belated Christmas mani: Nicole by OPI – Sensational Scarlet

Yet again, I have neglected this blog! Apologies all around. Previous term was pretty awful, but since it’s a new term and a new year, I though I’d start off fresh…by showing you what I wore for Christmas!

Nicole by OPI’s Sensational Scarlet. A beautiful jelly berry red full of small red glitters and rounded holographic glitters. So wonderfully festive! Got tons of compliments on this colour – it was just perfect for the holidays.

This brush was awful. Nearly unusable. I tried to cut off the rounded edge to make the brush perfectly straight in the hopes of making it like the OPI ProWide brushes, which sort of worked. The formula of this is not too bad to work with. It’s a bit thick, and the texture is something rough and goopy…I remember reading somewhere that it reminded someone of oatmeal? Not a bad description. It dries to a gritty finish and loses its shine as well, so make sure to follow up with an ultra-shiny fast-drying top coat!