Kleencolor Winter Wonderland

There was supposed to be a huge blizzard that was going to start yesterday, and go through today. Well, it snowed a little yesterday, but it was too warm to stick. And I guess it snowed today, but it sounds more slushy than snowy (I have been too lazy to go outside and look). At any rate, I decided to wear Winter Wonderland by Kleencolor.

All the glitter kinda freaked my camera out a bit, so the pictures are not the best I've ever taken, but you get the gist. Winter Wonderland is a shimmery lilac-y silver, with red, blue, orange, yellow, and pink glitter in it. It definitely has a winter vibe. It reminds me of Christmas lights on a snowy night, which I imagine was part of the inspiration. It's quite unique, as many Kleencolor polishes are.

I was not a fan of the consistency. Applying this was a pain in the ass. It was thick, and continued to thicken rapidly the longer it was open. It's on the sheer side, so I decided to use three coats. I should have stuck with two. By the time I got to the third, it was so thick it was nearly unmanageable. And worse yet, it pretty much refuses to dry. It's a good thing this polish has lots of distracting glitter, because my nails are so dinged up.

Words of wisdom for anyone considering this polish: a) work FAST, and b) if you can't deal with sheer polishes, skip it. Otherwise, I think it's a really pretty polish, that is likely to be unique in most collections.

You may or may not have noticed I changed my nail shape. I have been wanting to do something more round/oval for a while, as I think it so vintage-y and cute, and finally took the plunge. I like the square look on me, but I was tired of the edges constantly breaking off, and ending up with rounded nails anyway. I think rounded nails look best longer than mine are, but I don't think they are terrible. I am interested to see whether this style breaks easier or less easy than my square nails. I know it's kind of hard to tell with a lighter polish like this, but what do you think? Are you a fan or oval nails, or do you prefer something more square?

Also, I finally saw The Artist yesterday, and loved it! Have any of you seen it yet? Thoughts? The costuming alone is worth it!

Marks & Spencer Bright Aqua

Here's a polish sent by Nicole, Marks & Spencer's Bright Aqua.

Bright Aqua is, well, a bright aqua polish - a turquoise base with turquoise glitter. It does have a duochrome thing going on, too. You can see a darker blue reflecting in certain angles. Very pretty. I bet this just sparkles in the sun!

While the color is fantastic, it is not for the visible nail line phobes out there. Pictured is three coats of Bright Aqua, and the nail line is still apparent. The base doesn't seem jelly-like, just on the very translucent side. It did apply smoothly though.

This just makes me want to go swimming. I can't wait for summer. How about you?

Revlon Siren

I felt like I needed something bright and cheery to combat the February blues. I chose Revlon's Siren, which is certainly bright and cheery. For those of you who live in colder climates during the winter, do you feel like things start to feel really crappy during February? Luckily, Spring is around the corner (hopefully).

Siren is a bright orange polish. Not quite highlighter orange, but it certainly does have a neon quality to it. The perfect warm weather polish (it would probably look super cute on toesies at the beach!).

I used three coats to even things out, as it was a bit streaky. Luckily, it applied pretty easily aside from that, and it dried quickly. Like neon polishes do, it dried to a satin finish, but with a coat of Seche, it was nice and shiny.

What initially drew me to this polish wasn't the color, but actually the logo. It looked retro to me, and upon further research, it is the original Revlon logo! Siren is from the Fire and Ice collection, which featured a relaunch of Revlon's very first lipstick. The rest of the products from this line are new, but I love that Revlon relaunched something vintage. I wish they'd relaunch vintage polishes! I'd buy those in a heartbeat!

Nicole by OPI Green Up Your Act!

Green Up Your Act! is a polish I purchased a while back - it was part of the Target exclusive Fall line, Something About Color. As you can see, it's a military green creme. A really awesome color that has rightly become quite popular in nail polish collections lately.

While it hits the mark color-wise, application-wise it is a mess. It's one of those polishes where the consistency of the polish and the brush don't mesh well, and you end up with a ton of bald spots. This is three coats, and there are still bald spots (which luckily Seche Vite toned down, and they didn't show up on camera). I do not have the patience for four coats, so I gave up and left it at three. On the bright side, it did dry fast.

Overall, if you are looking for a color like this, I would say chose a polish by one of the million other brands doing this color. The application process is just not worth it when you can find others so easily. (Though I did see a TON of these on clearance last time I was at Target, so if you are a Nicole by OPI lover than now is your chance to pick this one up at a decent price.)

Street Wear Bare It

Today I've got one of the polishes from my Street Wear haul a few months back.

Here's Bare It, a light gold duochrome polish with gold glitter. It shines both gold and pink, a very pretty combination. It reminds me a bit of tarnished metal and, in a way, opal (only the pink range of opal, not the blue and green). I got quite a few compliments on it, so it must be pretty!

This is two coats of Bare It layered over a couple coats of China Glaze's Liquid Leather. I knew it was going to be thin, so I figured black would help it stand out a bit more (though I'm sure it would look subtle and chic on its own). All of my Street Wears apply fussy, and this was no exception, though it wasn't impossible. It dried somewhat slowly, and of course I dinged my index finger about thirty seconds after taking these photos.

Despite the application hurdles one must tackle to apply older polishes like Street Wears, these are totally worth it - not only for the nostalgia, but also for the unique colors and finishes. I wish Revlon still made this funky range of lacquers, as I think they are even more unique than a lot of polishes currently being made.

OPI DS Passion

I'm gettin' festive up in here. Here's a very pink, very cutesy, very sparkly Valentine's Day manicure for ya, featuring DS Passion by OPI.

DS Passion is a soft holographic pink. It looks like a scattered holo effect, but it is actually linear (not as intense as say, Gosh's Holographic though). The light captures the holographic bits pretty well actually, so you don't have to be under bright lights to notice it. While soft pink isn't necessarily "my thing," it is very pretty. And it applied very easily. Too quick coats, and it was good to go. It is on the thinner side, but still very easy to manage. Overall, a pretty color I am glad to have in my collection. I probably won't reach for it as often as my vamps, but there's no saving me when it comes to darker polishes.

I hope you are all having a great Valentine's Day, whether you have a partner or not. I'm spending the day hanging out with myself, which is actually quite nice.

Oh, and I wanted to mention that if you are near a Target, you may want to head in there soon, as it seems like they are making room for Spring collections, and clearance-ing a ton of stuff out.

Here's what I purchased:
- A makeup brush. Seems to be of pretty decent quality, but I'm not picky.
- Purple Rain by Rimmel. A deep, vampy plum. Not exactly unique in my collection, but I couldn't pass it up due to its name. What kind of Minnesotan would I be if I ignored a polish that's named after a Prince song/movie? Plus it was the last one on the shelf!
- Canal Street by NYC. Scarlet red with gold microshimmer.
- West Village by NYC. Deep, shimmery purple.
- Smoky Canvas by Revlon. A grey that looks like it leans a little brown. Very pretty. My mom really liked it, too, and for a moment I thought she was going to try and pick one up for herself (I can't remember the last time my mom wore nail polish).
- Siren by Revlon. Bright orange. I was enamored by the vintage-y design of their name on the cap (which you can't really see in the photo, but trust me it's cute).
- Some gel liner by Sonia Kashuk. Applies smoothly.
- Brow kit. Not on clearance but I needed more brow wax, and apparently it's next to impossible to purchase brow wax on its own.

I spend less than $20 on all of this! I love Target!

OPI Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow

After my bright, glittery manicure, I needed to get back to something gloomy. So tonight I tried out OPI's Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow, originally part of the 2009 Espana collection.

Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow is a dark dark dark green, with a fun surprise: shimmer! It reminds me of the forest late at night and algae. It's definitely a color that's right up my alley, and I wish I had used it sooner (I've owned it about a year).

Application-wise, it applied wonderfully. The first coat was pretty transparent, and it needed three to even out all the bald spots. But the coats applied incredibly smoothly, and was really easy to control.

Overall, Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow is a complete winner. Fantastic color and fantastic application.

Revlon Sunshine Sparkle & NYX Carnival

A couple of exciting blog-related things have happened recently. First, my blog is one year old! I had my official one year blogging anniversary on the second. Second, I have officially hit 100 followers! Even though I don't have as much time as I'd like for blogging, I really do enjoy it. It's so awesome that 100 of you want to read my little blog, especially considering how saturated the nail blogging world is.

As a little celebration, I decided to create a fun manicure with Revlon's Sunshine Sparkle and Carnival by NYX on top.

I started off with Sunshine Sparkle for my base, a polish I found on clearance at Target a month or so ago. It's a very pretty pale yellow with shimmer. As you can imagine, applying this pastel yellow was not exactly a walk in the park. It needed three coats, and even then didn't look perfect (though it looks pretty good in the photos). It did seem to dry pretty fast, though.

Next I added two coats of Carnival. Yet another polish following the Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday trend. I am all about cheap dupes. And every polish lover should have at least one ridiculous glitter. This was pretty thick, but the glitter applied evenly, which was a nice surprise.

This is definitely a manicure that catches the eye, but with how many coats there are, I'm sure will only last a day. Worth it!

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

So, remember like three years ago when the entire nail blogging world (really, the fashion blogging world in general) was obsessed with Metro Chic? Even though I wasn't a blogger then, I fell victim to its charm, too. And now, years after the trend, I am posting it on my blog!

Metro Chic is pretty, but damn do you have to work for the pretty. It applied really thin and splotchy. It took three painful coats to get it to look nice, but it could be worse. I would say it's worth the pain for this purple-leaning grey.

I haven't paid much attention to OPI's Sephora line, but this polish reminds me how much I really do like it. I think they do come out with a lot of really pretty colors. Now if only they weren't so damn expensive.

Gosh Ocean

Here's a polish sent to me in a swap with Nailtopia.

Gosh's Ocean just glows! It's so pretty, and quite attention-grabbing. It's got this whole foil metallic thing going on, which I dig. It applied super well. I used two coats, which went on evenly and smoothly, and dried fast. Overall, Ocean is a success. Super pretty color and super easy application process.

Victoria by Nails Inc

Today I have for you a polish that combines my two favorite polish components: it's a vampy red, and a jelly! I present Victoria by Nails Inc, sent by Nicole.

Look at Victoria in all her vampy, juicy glory! Ah, this is like bottled perfection. I used three coats for this, and they all applied smoothly. Nails Inc consistently impresses me.

Famous by Sue Moxley Scarlet Sparkle

I know, I know. I have been a terrible blogger lately. I am behind like, four posts, but tonight it is my goal to get up to date! First I bring you something I wore probably a week and a half ago - Famous by Sue Moxley's Scarlet Sparkle.

Scarlet Sparkle is perhaps not very creatively named, but it is appropriately named. It is a deep ruby red with gold glitter. Initially I thought the glitter was going to make for a gritty finish, but it applied and dried very smooth. I believe I used two coats for this, and overall did not have any issues with application.

This was a polish sent to my by Nicole at Top to Toe. She sent a few others by the same brand, and I'm excited to try those out as well. Scarlet Sparkle is such a pretty color, and applied well, so I have high hopes for the rest.

In non-polish related news, I finally sent in my grad school application! Ahh! While I am nervous to hear from them, it's nice to know that everything is out of my hands and I can relax a bit now.