Misc Comparisons - Essie Seen on the Scene (Shimmer Brights)

From left to right: Hotter than Hibiscus (Heavy Petal, Spring 2012), Choreographed Chaos (Mash-Up, Summer 2013), Kiki (Glitterati, Summer 2006), Azalea (Petals, Spring 2016), Yvette (Re-Cher-Che, Spring 2006), Bite Me (Lite Brites, Summer 2016), Seen on the Scene, I Wanna Be Your Lava (Core), Light My Tiki (Caribbean Temptations, Summer 2004), Adeline (Endless Summer, August 2016), Polly (The Deep End, June 2015), Always a Flirt! (Spring 2014), Shut the Front Door (House of Colour, Spring 2016). Swatch Stick: China Glaze Son of a Nutcracker (Cheers! Holiday 2015)

I don’t think I realized just how dark Shut the Front Door was! Anyway, Hotter than Hibiscus has a lot of silver frost in it, Choreographed Chaos A) is a neon, B) is lighter, and C) has blue shimmer in it. Kiki and Azalea have silver and pink glitter, and Kiki is also a neon. Always a Flirt is darker, Polly has no pink in it, and Adeline has gold glitter as opposed to a gold shimmer. Bite Me is the closest in color, but it’s a neon with gold shimmer instead of a metallic with gold shimmer. Son of a Nutcracker has a lot of orange in it that Seen on the Scene is lacking. Yvette has silver and Light My Tiki is darker, but they’re all pretty close. I Wanna Be Your Lava though is almost a dead-on dupe. It’s darker but it’s almost dead on.

Misc. Comparisons - Essie DJ on Board (Shimmer Brights)

I really wish I still had my old bottle of DJ Play that Song, it’s kind of funny how a polish with such a similar name is basically the non-shimmery neon version of the same color! Also, why didn’t I think to include this in the Millie comparisons?

From left to right: Let’s Jam (Lite Brites, Summer 2016), Areetha (?), Gothic Lolita (Electropop, Spring 2012), Katie (Wanderlust, August 2014), DJ on Board, Millie (Charming, Spring 2017), Suzi & the 7 Dusseldorfs (Germany, Autumn 2012), Louvre Me Louvre Me Not (France, Autumn 2008), Haven (Wishes, Holiday 2014), Stella (Retro Diva, Autumn 2009), Yasmeen (Provocateur, Summer 2006), No Peeking! (Twinkle, Holiday 2014)

Well, yeah. Everything Louvre Me Louvre Me Not on right are way too dark. I guess I thought DJ on Board was a bit darker than it was. Let’s Jam is also way too light and the shimmer is blue, and Areetha is lighter, not at all warm toned and has a whole lot of silver frost in it. Suzi & the 7 Dusseldorfs is too dark, but not by as much as everything else right. Katie is too pink toned to be exact, but it’s pretty close. Millie is definitely the closest to DJ on Board, but it has a lot of glitter in it.

Miscellaneous Comparisons - Essie Sexy Plunge (Shimmer Brights)

From left to right: Cruisin, Free Love, Street Racing (all from Retro Diva, Autumn 2009), Feel the Beat (Dance to the Musique, Autumn 2008), Coral Star (Core), Bright Lights, Big Color (Brights, Summer 2005), Annie (Chit-Chat, Summer 2008), Ginger (Classics), Sexy Plunge, Summer (Rainbow Bright, May 2016), Riveting (Colours from the Capitol/Hunger Games, Spring 2012), Amy (Irresistible, Summer 2013)

The Retro Divas and Feel the Beat are way too dark, even Cruisin has a lot more brown in it. Coral Star, Bright Lights Big Color, and Annie are all too coral, although Annie is fairly close. Riveting and Amy, while close in color, are respectively a glass fleck and a foil, very different from Sexy Plunge. That leaves Ginger and Summer. Summer has a pink flash to it and Ginger’s more of an orange with gold as opposed to Sexy Plunge being orange with tonal shimmer, but they’re all close enough you don’t need all of them.

Detail of Summer, Sexy Plunge, and Ginger:

Detail of Cruisin and Sexy Plunge:

Miscellaneous Comparisons - Essie Aim to Misbehave (Shimmer Brights, Summer 2016)

From left to right: Daisy (Delight, Spring 2015), Melodious Utopia (Hope and Freedom Fest, Spring 2013), Aim to Misbehave, Sun’s Up Top Down (Road Trip, Spring 2015), Lighthouse (Anchors Away, Spring 2011), Cowardly Lyin’ (Wizard of Ooh Ahz Returns, Holiday 2009), Champagne Bubbles (Let It Snow, Holiday 2011)

Nothing here is exactly like Aim to Misbehave – nothing’s quite as egg-yolk-y yellow. Daisy is lighter, a pastel yellow, with blue shimmer. Melodious Utopia is lighter with red shimmer. Sun’s Up Top Down is the closest base color wise, but it’s really a crème with red shimmer in it while Aim to Misbehave is metallic with gold shimmer. Likewise Lighthouse is a yellow glass fleck. Cowardly Lyin and Champagne Bubbles are distinctly gold metallic bases, as opposed to Aim to Misbehave’s yellow, Cowardly Lyin with gold glitter and Champagne Bubbles with silver.

China Glaze Street Regal Swatches and Review!

Hey everyone! Today I have for you swatches of the full China Glaze Street Regal collection! I got these from Transdesign for 3.25 a piece. Stay tuned for comparison swatches down the line, after I’m done with the summer comparisons!

Throne-in’ Shade is a beige crème. It doesn’t look good on me but Throne-in’ Shade has a fabulous formula! This was two easy coats.

Street Style Princess is a light blue toned gray crème. I think it’s a bit more blue toned than Change your Altitude, a polish I need to get my hands on before I do the comparisons. It’s so pretty! This is one you can get opaque in one coat if you want to, I don’t recommend doing that though. This is one coat.

Just a Little Embellishment is a teal satiny matte. I did not know this was a matte until I put it on, what a pleasant surprise! It’s super opaque but it dries pretty fast. This is two easy coats, careful for staining with this one.

Born to Rule is a bright cobalt blue crème. This is one of my least favorite colors of polish to wear but if you like this color you’ll like Born to Rule. This is two coats. Watch out for staining with this guy too.

Dawn of a New Reign is a dark purple crème. This one is really opaque and pretty! It’s a really rich and royal color. This is one coat.

Rock n’ Royale is a really awesome dark brick red. It makes me think of one of the reds from OPI’s old Switzerland collection, I forgot its name. This is probably my favorite of the crèmes, it’s easily opaque in two coats and I don’t have anything like it!

Truth is Gold is, well, gold. It’s really close to both High Standards and Best Ponies Forever, it’s weird how China Glaze has done the same color pretty much in three consecutive collections! Anyway, this polish is fabulous, I love gold. It’s not as brush stroke-y as a lot of gold metallics, most of them fade away as it dries down. Two coats.

Haute & Heavy is an awesome gray metallic that’s completely streak free! I love polishes like these, they’re a pretty way to wear black without looking too edgy. And this was one coat!

Oooh, interesting! Accent Piece is an orangey mustard yellow shimmer. This is what I was hoping Scout would look like! It’s not for everyone but I’m digging it. This is two coats.

Royal Pain in the Ascot is a really beautiful red metallic. No one’s made something like this in years! It’s so fabulous. This is one coat but when I wear this out of the house I’ll definitely wear two coats.

Baroque Jungle is a really pretty green shimmer. No brush strokes here, this is more of a green with tonal shimmer. Two easy beautiful coats.

Glamcore is a super blackened purple shimmer. But it never really looks that black, in fact it almost looks like a duochrome! This is two awesome coats.

All in all, I really love this collection! I always love China Glaze’s fall collections but this one is probably my favorite in a while. The only one I don’t really like is Born to Rule but there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just not my kind of color. My picks are Accent Piece, Just a Little Embellishment, Baroque Jungle, Street Style Princess, and Glamcore!

Orly Epix Flexible Color Swatches

Hello everyone! Today I have a handful of swatches of polishes from Orly’s Epix gel-effect line. These seem to have been phased out of most stores, but Orly still sells these direct from their site for $11.99.

Hollywood Ending is a sheer white French manicure polish. This actually is pretty opaque at three coats, but it’s still pretty patchy. You could probably wear this out of the house with four coats on its own.

Know Your Angle is a hot warm pink crème. All of the crèmes in this line are really nice, their formula isn’t too thick or too thin. This one was still a little patchy on two coats though so I used three.

Nominee is a bright berry. 2 easy coats.

Casablanca is… really close to Nominee. It’s darker but they’re really almost the same. Two coats.

Iconic is a dark red crelly. It’s a little sheerer than the rest of the cremes, so this is three coats.

Opening Night is the Epix line’s take on Ruby Pumps or Orly’s own Star Spangled. But unlike any of its predecessors, Opening Night seriously lacks the bling. The glitter is super small so it barely shows up at all on the nail. It’s pretty in a subtle way but it’s not quite as nice as the bottle front would make you believe (the bottle front makes me think of Orly’s Darkest Shadow, actually.)

Green Screen is absolutely nothing like the bottle front. It’s really a sheer blue metallic with a green sheen. It looks very aquatic!

Cliffhanger is another really sheer polish, a fine blue glitter. The finished product is really pretty but the formula is super watery. 3 coats.

Melodrama is a cobalt blue with tiny silver and pink glitter. I’m not really a fan of cobalt blue but the color combo is really unique! This one was more opaque than the other two blues, only two coats.

Silver Screen is a warm toned gray metallic. This is one of my favorites, I really love this color! The formula was pretty watery, but it was opaque in two.

Backlit is a super duper sheer pink with glitter. This is so pretty, but it’s just too sheer to use regularly! That said, it makes a good glitter topper. This is four coats.

Subtitled is Backlit in purple. But unlike Backlit, Subtitled is much more opaque! This polish is so awesome. It’s not as sheer looking as the flash photo makes it seem. It’s so sparkly and beautiful!

Acceptance Speech is a fabulous berry metallic. I love this so much! Such a pretty color for fall. You can still see a tiny bit of VNL at two coats but I’m good with it.

Star Treatment is a gorgeous red metallic. You know these are my favorite kinds of colors, and Star Treatment is awesome! It’s so chic. Two easy, opaque coats.

Special Effects is a nude holographic. Now this color is terrible on me, but the polish is really something special. It’s a really strong holographic; Orly doesn’t do holos often but when they do (Miss Conduct, Mirrorball) are really amazing. Three coats but you could go with only two.