Monday, June 13, 2011

Huge nail polish haul (with swatches)

I'm so sorry for not posting anything in nearly a week! I had to go to federal court for work which killed an entire day, then had a concert after work the next day... you get the idea. I was wearing Mac stuff during those days but just didn't have time to photograph the looks. I am going to be experimenting this week with doing a video tutorial as I have some time off from work. Anyway, rant over!

I have a confession: I feel guilty.

I shouldn't because it's not like I do this every week but over the last month or so, I've acquired a lot of nail polishes. So much that I ended up filling a nail wheel with swatches!

A few of you on my Facebook page said that they liked seeing hauls, so here we go! (btw, I'm having an Ardell Lash giveaway until 11:59PM EST -tonight- if you wanted to enter on Facebook (you have to 'like' the page): http://www.facebook.com/pages/Turtle-Beauty/143025935750203)





















I told you it was bad... and I actually forgot 3 of them in that photo.
























Left: Essence Irreplaceable (1 coat, no joke!)
Right: Zoya Dannii (1 coat, again)

Irreplaceable is a taupey pale brown with gold shimmer and a hint of purple flash. Very nice, especially for less than a buck!
Dannii is one I've been lusting after for a while, but wanted to see in person first. This is a medium violet with gold and pink shimmer. This makes me want Faye for sure, as I've heard that one is insane.























Left: Boots No7 Totally Teal (2 coats)
Right: Boots 17 Exquisite (2 coats)

Totally Teal is a creamy deep teal. This definitely needed 2 coats as it was a streakfest on the first one. I love this color -- think it's gonna be my go-to in the fall!
Exquisite is a sheer blue base with green/blue shimmer. Bit like a peacock. I like this but it's sheerer than I expected, so this will probably go over a blue or black creme.






















Left: Boots 17 Catwalk Couture (2 coats)
Right: Barry M Indigo #312 (2 coats)

Catwalk Couture is a sky blue with a hint of pale blue shimmer (you can see it towards the top of the nail). Very nice and almost opaque in 1 coat.
Indigo #312 is an inky deep purple-blue, more purple than the photo shows (you know how cameras eat purple). The consistency is strange, it really is like ink. Very pigmented, pretty much good in 1 coat.



















Left: Boots No 7 Sultry Sands (2 coats, limited edition)
Center: LA Colors Goddess (2 coats)
Right: BeautyUK Yellow Peril (2 coats)

Sultry Sands was an impulse purchase because of a £5 voucher I had for Boots. It's a bit sheer and now similar to Essence Irreplaceable, so this may go to my mom if she likes it.
Goddess is holographic hex glitter suspended in a pale bronze base. This is a bit lumpy so when using, I would only do 1 thick coat and use a good top coat.
Yellow Peril is AMAZING. How often do you see a good yellow? This is good in 1 coat, but I did 2 because I couldn't believe it. Formula is so nice.



















Left: Collection 2000 Fruit Salad (2 coats)
Center: Sinful Colors Hazard (1 coat)
Right: Sinful Colors Mint Apple (2 coats)

I have to apologize for the crap picture. I somehow overwrote the original photo and had to use a photo that focused on other colors instead!
Fruit Salad is a red-based, creamy coral. More red than Hazard.
Hazard is an orange-based, creamy coral as well. This was more opaque than Fruit Salad but they don't look as similar in real life.
Mint Apple is a gorgeous mint green, bordering on jade. It has subtle gold shimmer... this is amazing! I'm not a fan of the pastel mint polishes, they make my hands look so red. This is much more flattering on me.


















Left: Essie Coat Azure (1 coat, limited edition)
Center: Sinful Colors Let Me Go (2 coats)
Right: WetnWild Kaleidoscope (2 coats)

Coat Azure I managed to nab on sale for half price ($4). It's a medium blue, sort of a cornflower shade. It's not quite a cream but it doesn't have noticeable shimmer. Love this.
Let Me Go is a sheer purple base that shifts green and blue in the light. I knew it was sheer when I purchased it but the color in the bottle is a bit fooling, so don't go by that. I have enough blues and purples to layer this over for a year!
Kaleidoscope is a clear base with a ton of small holo glitter. I got this to wear over Coat Azure (and other polishes) and well, it was less than a buck...

















Left: Sinful Colors Tapping Nails (1 coat)
Center: WetnWild Fast Dry Hannah Pinktana (2 coats)
Right: WetnWild Fast Dry Saved by the Blue (2 coats)

Again, sorry for the bad photo. I actually forgot these and had to photograph them after the sun went down.

Tapping Nails is -amazing-. What more do I need to say? It's a hot orange with orange and yellow shimmer. Bright without being neon or obnoxious.
Hannah Pinktana is a groaner of a name but a pretty polish. Sort of a pinky violet with holographic glitter (small). I knew this would be slightly sheer as I have the blue version of this. 3 thick coats will get good opacity, and these dry fast so no concerns there.
Saved by the Blue is another awful name but is a really nice, glowy medium blue. My best friend would love this (he loves blue). It's a little brighter than it shows in the picture.

Lastly, just for fun, I took a few shots of the colors mattified with Essie Matte About You.

















































A few of them look like house paint but the shimmery ones mattified nicely!

Here's the info on availability and pricing:
Essence: Available in Europe but only available in the US at Ulta, polishes are $0.99 (USD)
Zoya: Limited selection available at Ulta but also available at Zoya.com for $7 each
Boots No7: Boots and Boots.com in the UK for £7
Boots 17: Boots and Boots.com in the UK for £2.99
Barry M: Superdrug and Boots in the UK, also at BarryM.com internationally for £2.99
LA Colors: Available at numerous locations, dollar stores in the US and beauty shops in Europe, usually 99pents (UK) to $2 (US)
BeautyUK: Superdrug and some Select clothing stores in the UK and at BeautyUKcosmetics.com for £3.49
Collection 2000: Superdrug and Boots in the UK for £1.99 (not sure)
Sinful Colors: Walgreens and Rite-Aid in the US for $1.99
Essie: Walgreens, Wal-Mart, CVS and Ulta in the US for $8
WetnWild: Walgreens, Rite-Aid, CVS and Wal-Mart for $0.99 or $1.99

See anything you like? Also, tell me what you've hauled lately! I love reading it too :).

9 comments:

  1. I need that Essie Matte About You!! I need it. I want to try it over a glittery polish, because I'm wondering if it would give a glitter polish a frosted effect?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm loving Totally Teal and Indigo! Matte About You seems really awesome, I might pop over to Wal Mart and see if they have any. I've never tried a matte topcoat before.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Mandy: With some, it will... I will say that the most interesting mattes out there are Zoyas. They have that frosted effect that you're talking about. The Sinful orange did get that effect too though, so I'm not sure what causes it!

    @Vulcan_Butterfly: You should, it's really fun to play with! My favorite is to flakies over black or dark blue, then mattify it. It suspends the flakes and makes them almost look like lava or something. Really cool.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oooh, the Boots one came out lovely! I really like Mint Apple as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great collection! Thanks for providing the availability and pricing! =)

    -Dinah
    dgsbeauty.com

    *Check out my giveaway:
    http://www.dgsbeauty.com/2011/06/dgsbeautys-100-followers-giveaway.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oooh. I'm lemming Yellow Peril. A good yellow is really hard to find! Hazard and Tapping Nails (I don't get the name) are also really tempting. These all look great matte, too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow I seriously want BeautyUK Yellow Peril, but I'll probably never get over to the UK. Great haul though! and don't feel guilty at all. Go and check out my three installments of hauls just from the last two months. And I'll probably be posting two more =P

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oooh fantastic haul! I really really want Dannii! I've never seen LA colors or Essence over here, which sucks because they have great polishes!

    ReplyDelete
  9. @purplegreenpanda: Tapping Nails was from some rodeo collection, so it's something to do with that and painting it on your nails I guess? lol They have weird names sometimes.
    @Janna: I know a ton of girls that can pick it up for you if you want it!
    @Lillian: I found LA Colors at some random asian perfume/beauty shop in Westfield, there's gotta be one similar near you. As for Essence, I'm not sure why they'd come to the US and not the UK... makes no sense.

    ReplyDelete