Revlon Royal + Essie Shine of the Times

Revlon Royal topped with 1 coat of Essie Shine of the Times

This manicure was SO BEAUTIFUL! I kept it on for this whole week! The dark, vibrant blue crelly of Royal perfectly complimented and shown off what flakie polishes like Shine of the Times are known for: green, red, orange, and yellow (and intermediate colors too!) flashes at various angles. Because Royal is a dark color, the flakies are not hard to discern and the color flashes are very prominent. I loved looking at my hands and seeing the colors reflect.

This manicure lasted the whole week with very minor wear; I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Strengthener as my base and top coat. It really depends on your body chemistry because certain top coats that work for others tend to chip off in flakes on me.

And here are some gorgeous close-ups...

The green shift is much more prominent in real-life, but red, orange, and yellow are the dominant colors. The camera I used just did not want to cooperate with this manicure (too beautiful, maybe?) and I could not get any decent pictures of how the manicure really looks. You have to see it in real life to see its beauty!


And here is a swatch of Revlon Royal...

Revlon Royal

Just look at it! Royal is soooo beautiful. It is a vibrant blue creme jelly and took 2 coats to become opaque. Because it is jelly-like, there is a little visible nail line. It is not very noticeable because the polish is dark enough to hide a lot of it. The formula was alright; the polish was a bit hard to control and was runny. When it dried, there was a little bubbling. The polish dried slower than Revlon Mistletoe though. However, I did not experience any thickening of the polish like I did with my first purchase of Revlon Jaded (also part of the Top Speed line). I got it a couple years ago, when the line was still pretty new so I assume Revlon improved its formula (thank goodness!). Let's hope Royal does not separate as quickly as Jaded!

Royal is available wherever Revlon polishes are sold. Shine of the Times, however, is much harder to find. It was released as part of Essie's Luxeffects Collection that had people going WILD! As far as I know you can still get Shine of the Times from e-tailers such as transdesign.com. There are also many polishes similar/the same as Shine of the Times, like Nubar 2010 (online on bynubar.com as far as I know) and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure 2010 version (released in a 2010 collection and impossible  to find except on maybe ebay). Be careful! Sally Hansen reused Hidden Treasure to name a recent polish that is similar to Sally Hansen Ring My Shell.

I hope you guys enjoy the weekend! (I will be sleeping and studying for my next bio exam... x__x) I got some VERY good and exciting e-mail today from TOMS: I won a bottle of Essie Barefoot in Blue! I am SO excited to receive it and I want to swatch it as soon as it gets here! Hopefully, it ships to the right place because I remember the address line was so small...

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M

Essence Lime Up!

Essence Lime Up!

Lime Up! is a very yellowed green creme. The formula was very nice and took about 2 medium coats to become opaque. Dry time was average and Lime Up! dries to a nice shine. Essence polishes tend to thicken up after a short while so they need to be shaken up well so the formulae can become thinner. Unfortunately, this can induce bubbling. Nevertheless, I am happy that the yellow tone in this green polish cancels out the redness in my hands. Some greens tend to amplify the my hands' redness and that makes me so sad. :( Green is one of my favorite polish colors to wear.

Essence polishes are available at ULTA and ulta.com. They retail for $0.99 each.

TGIF!!! This week has been so exhausting! I had a qualitative analysis lab that lasted two lab periods and my labs are scheduled at 8:00 - 11:59 AM. If there's one thing you never do, it's giving a pre-health major an early morning class! x__x And I had a chemistry exam today (well, now yesterday) too. Enzyme kinetics, nuclear chemistry, and induced dipole moments. Fuuun.

I hope you guys had a great week and even better weekend!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M

Revlon Mistletoe

Revlon Mistletoe

Mistletoe is a blackened green packed with gold, green, and brown-copper shimmer. It applied beautifully and was opaque in 2 coats. If you were more careful than I was, you could have gotten away with 1 coat, but it wouldn't have been as green. True to claim, the polish did dry relatively quickly (around 1 minute or so); I have not bought any Revlon Top Speed polishes since Jaded because it had such a horrible formula and slow dry time (a painfully slow one at that). Revlon has definitely improved its Top Speed formula and I am very impressed! I am very excited to swatch Royal now! As Mistletoe is loaded with shimmer, be careful when you remove it so you can minimize the amount of shimmer left on your nails and cuticles.

Here are more pictures of the beautiful polish! You can see the light green, gold, and brown-copper shimmer here.

Mistletoe was released as part of a limited edition collection. As far as I know, you can still purchase it on ulta.com. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! See you guys on the other side of the day!


P.S. Please ignore my slightly lobster hands. I think the camera made my hands appear so red.


- M

Ulta Envy

Ulta Envy

Envy is a beautiful emerald shimmer that dries with high shine (yes, that swatch is without a topcoat). It has slightly blackened edges that lead to an emerald center. In some lighting, it is a very dark, rich green shimmer. The polish is opaque in 2 coats and dries a bit fast (provided you do not apply thick coats). The formula tends to thicken a little so you will need to lightly shake it up to get it "thin" again. The brush is a bit shorter than usual brushes are, but it had just the right amount of flexibility and sturdiness. However, I still had some trouble with the brush because my nails are actually pretty small. The polish is easy to control and does not pool around the cuticles.

Envy  is available in ULTA stores and online at ulta.com.

I hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patrick's Day tomorrow! Remember to wear green!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

- M

Ulta Haul + Barielle on Hautelook!

You guys! There's a 2-day coupon for $25+free shipping on ulta.com right now! I do believe the coupon just went live today, but please don't quote me on that. Usually, it's $50+free shipping. Use the coupon while you guys can!


My Haul:


China Glaze Crackle Lightning Bolt- Right now it's only $2.99! I don't know if it's a sale or if ULTA officially changed the price for the China Glaze Crackles, though. :(


Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam Lam- Last time I ordered it, ULTA sent me an e-mail apologizing that it was out of stock. :( I guess the inventory wasn't updated yet. Great service though! I didn't have to pay for the polish!)


Revlon Royal, Mistletoe, and Whimsical- Whimsical, you are finally mine! The other colors were also on my wish list.


Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil- My main objective, but I didn't want to pay shipping and it was a way to cut down on my wish list. :x Can't wait to try this because my cuticle cream is NOT working for me! I guess I may have very dry cuticles.


And, of course, 3 free samples. :) FREE!!! I love free stuff, even though one of the samples I chose I already had.


But most importantly... Hautelook is selling Barielle right now!!! They're selling at $4 a pop instead of $8!!! Get them soon because the Barielle event is ending soon (how soon I'm not quite sure). The website is hautelook.com and click on the beauty tab. It's too bad I didn't see this sooner. :( So many colors I wanted Hautelook is selling. Oh, well. You win some and you lose some. Regardless, I'm happy and this won't kill me. :)


See you guys on the other side of the day!


- M

Back Again! + Mini Haul

I'm really sorry guys! I had 3 midterms and 1 lab exam all in the span of 3 days and now I'm finally free (on spring break)! Yay! But I didn't bring my DIY light box with me because it's too bulky and I have to study for a lab practical that's after I get back. Ugh.


I really hate leaving and returning erratically like this so I think I'll do a few posts here and there with various topics when I'm not posting up swatches. Everyone fair game? (I hope so...)


So the other day, I went to my local Rite Aid to see if it had any Sinful Colors polishes (like another one I go to more often), but couldn't find any. :( HOWEVER, I spotted one polish I've been lemming and some Sally Hansens that were 75% off!


#1- It is an olive green polish with gold shimmer. At some angles, I see some pink-orange duochrome in the bottle.


#2- It is an opaque dark blue. Very pretty; not quite dark and dusty enough to be navy in my opinion.


#3- It is green with light teal and pink duochrome in the bottle. The formula seems a bit thin and the polish might take 3 coats to become opaque.


Can anyone guess them? ;)


PS. I haven't updated you guys on the after picture of my Sally Hansen Strengthener trial because there was no clear/physical difference. The difference is in the strength/thickness of my nails. They aren't brittle anymore. :) I definitely recommend it!


See you guys on the other side of the day!