Encyclopedia Part One:

Hey everyone! Bria here- Micayla and I did a swatch overload a few days ago and got through a lot of my pale colors for the "encyclopedia"! This is a VERY picture heavy post... don't say I didn't warn you!

 

 AA- L'espirit

 CC- I Believe in Amour

 CC- Oh Naturale

 CC- Pardon My French

 CC- Take Me to Your Chateau

 CC- Worth the Risque

 ChG- Hope Chest

 Franken- UnNamed

 Franken (From my HP Collection)- Duddykins

 NYC- 104A

 NYC- 129A

 OPI- Damone Roberts

 OPI- Gargantuan Green Grape

 Orly- Chantilly Peach

 Pure Ice- Pussy Cat

 Savina- Goldie

 SH- Celeb City

 SH- Guilty Pleasure

 SH- Lighthearted Lavender

 SH- Purple Potion

 SH- Stone Serenity

 SH- White On

 Sinful- Bali Mist

 Sinful- Let Me Go

 Sinful- Mint Apple

Urban Outfitters- Blue #2

Urban Outfitters NP: Swatches & Review

Ew.

I thought I'd love these, honestly. The color look amazing (Not the most unique, but great nonetheless), the bottles are adorable, and I haven't heard horrible things about the formula.

However, that may be because it's so bad that it's practically bad voodoo to speak of it. I may be exaggerating a bit- they could be worked with if one had the time, skills, and patience.. but it's not worth it for me. See my 'NYC Hauls' post for the bottle pics.

Another thing I don't like is that these polishes are unnamed. They are labeled only with a color and a number- making it possible to find a specific shade, but confusing and rather boring. This is Blue 2. This one was a four coater, and there's still streaks. Sadly, I love this shade.. but hate the polish. I'm really into brights and grey-toned shades right now, and this fits the bill (it's a bit more grey IRL)

This is Blue 1, with plenty of streaks and bald patches for everyone. This is a really common color though, I'm sure I could find a dupe of it if I really wanted to. This is four coats. I'll admit the bald patches were probably my fault- I rushed, and ended up dragging. This shade isn't that special- pretty but unoriginal. It reminds me of ChG Shower Together IRL, sans shimmer.

Woohoo, streaks! I found a genuine 'Barney' purple. I'm really tempted to do a mani with this and lime green polka dots. Barney was my favorite show when I was little.. next to Out of the Box & Rolie Polie Ollie. Anyway, this swatch is three or our coats.. I'm not sure exactly. I'm going to guess four though, because I have a four coat limit for swatches. I do like this color, and I think five coats could make it look alright.

And this is 'Purple 6'. How is this purple? I know purples are had to photograph, and this is a bit more purple IRL, but I never understood that. I think overall this is the one with the most promise. I believe this one is three coats.. a miracle! I quite like this shade.. it's a nice one. 

Overall.... not a good collection, not a good brand.

Their clothes are amazing though!

NOTD: SH- Speedy Sunburst

Have I ever mentioned I love the Insta-Dri brushes?
Oh my goodness, it applied itself. Literally.
This polish line is my all-time favorite (right now).

OPI? Pshhhh.
ChG? Pshhhh.
Insta-Dri? YEAHH.

Anyway, here's the picture of this lovelyness.



Isn't she lovely?

Essie Swatches & Review

Hey guys :)

I just received a few samples from Essie to review- two from the upcoming Resort collection, and one from the spring 2010 collection.

Starting off, we have the lovely Red Nouveau.

After hearing about the ridiculous sheerness of most Essie polishes, I was extremely pleased to open this hottie up, and discover a one coater. I did two coats in this picture because I have a hard time breaking habit, but it could have easily been a one coater. This color is described as a "fiery hot crimson", which I find very accurate. This picture is quite accurate, except that the polish is just a tiny bit cooler IRL. It looks to me like the color of a frozen tomato (yes, I do freeze tomatoes). It's a great polish for casual events, but I wouldn't use it at work.

Next up is A Splash of Grenadine, from the summer 2010 Resort Collection. ASoG is a really nice cool-toned pale pink. It's described as "playful magenta pink", which I don't exactly agree with- I don't see much magenta at all. This swatch is 3 coats, but they were rather thick so perhaps four for the very thin-coaters out there. The application had no issues at all, but it was nothing special either. I love this shade because although there are a lot of pinks, this one is quite unique- I've never seen anything like it. I also love the name, though in real life Grenadine is a deep red... perhaps that's why it's only a splash of Grenadine. This shade is great for anything, I think it's very work appropriate. Overall, very nice.

Last but not least is my personal favorite, Turquoise & Caicos. Though it didn't turn out exactly how I expected it to look (In my mind it looked much bluer- more teal than turquoise), this is a really nice shade, and very unique for Essie. The color is less vibrant in real life, a bit more on the pastel side. Essie describes this color as a "flirty and tropical pretty aqua", which is pretty spot-on. This swatch is three normal coats. Application was fine, it did get a bit streaky on my ring finger but that was my fault, I rushed this one. I don't really like this color on me, as I don't like any form of mint/pale green on me at all. I think it's look wonderful on people with either really tan or really pale skin though. Though it's definitely not work appropriate, it's not overly obtrusive either, making it a great, versatile shade.

Thanks for reading, guys!

**These were sent to me by the company for review.

A few swatch requests:

A few recent swatches/swatch requests. Very messy and frazzley ones, but swatches none the less :)

Milani Hi-Res


SH Celeb City


Un-named Icing


Zoya- America


SH- Fairy Teal


SH- Blue It