Nail Polish Mega Haul

I cleaned out the vanity and reorganized, and along the way I found a lot of nail polish that was really old or I don't use anymore. Afterwards, I noted that I lacked cool tones and more neutral colors. Neutrals are my favorite lately and I only had about two, so I decided to make a few purchases.

Below I will list the colors I purchased and a description of the color and the finish. I will also let you know the place of purchase, though some were on clearance so they may be gone by now.

Creme colors:
Whim Nail Lacquer in 405 Faux Real - teal (Ulta)
Whim Nail Lacquerin 490 Thyme to Celebrate - blue-toned grey (Ulta - Clearance)
Ginger + Liz Color Collection in Grounded - slate grey (Ulta - Clearance)
Sally Hansen Insta-dri in 310 Slick Slate - grey-toned mauve (CVS)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in 430 Royal Hue - purple blue (CVS)
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in 230 Pep-plum - warm-toned purple (CVS)
Avon Speed Dry Nail Enamel in Red Red - true red (Avon)
Maybelline Color Show in 115 Pretty in Peach - pastel orange (Ulta)
H&M Nail Polish in Go Lemon - pastel yellow (H&M)

Sheer colors:
Revlon Nail Lacquer in 215 Daydreamer - shimmery pink with a green shift (CVS)
Revlon Nail Lacquer in 565 Wild - shimmery green with a silver fleck (CVS)
Revlon Nail Lacquer in 933 Chameleon - shimmery dark green with an orange and yellow shift (CVS)

Metallic colors:
Wet n Wild Wild Shine in 446C Caribbean Frost - metallic teal green (Dollar Store)
Arissa Nail Lacquer in ABN374 Beaming Bronze - metallic warm brown (Dollar Store)

Shimmer colors:
Sally Hansen Insta Dri in 155 Making Mauves - soft beige with silver micro shimmer (CVS)
H&M Nail Polish in Precious - orange and yellow duochrome (H&M)
H&M Nail Polish in Amaranthine - red and orange duochrome (H&M)
H&M Nail Polish in Skylight - pastel blue-white and purple duochrome (H&M)

Clear Glitter colors:
Whim Nail Lacquer in 260 Midnight Wink - sheer blue with blue green and purple glitter (Ulta - Clearance)

Opaque Glitter colors:
Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Rave - pink toned mauve with silver glitter (Avon)
Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Absinthe - chartreuse green with silver glitter (Avon)
Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Ruby Slipper - true red with silver glitter (Avon)
Sinful Colors in 1383 Gilded - light pink with pink and gold glitter (Big Lots)
Pure Ice in Purple Reign - lavender purple with gold glitter (Big Lots)
Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant in 80 Violet Flicker - deep purple with purple and blue glitter (Big Lots)
Maybelline Color Show in 240 Twilight Rays - black with gold glitter (Big Lots)
Whim Nail Lacquer in 425 Cable Knit - white with white glitter (Ulta - Clearance)
OPI Nail Lacquer in Cosmo with a Twist - navy with purple and blue glitter (Big Lots)

I've pretty much loved all of the colors. There have been a few I was slightly disappointed in. Starting from the top, Slick Slate from Sally Hansen was very hard to apply cleanly because of the wide flat shape of the brush, it applied way too much product despite being wiped off prior to application. I was not so pleasantly surprised that the Revlon colors were all sheer and had little color payoff despite looking very opaque in the bottles. They require multiple coats to get them to be opaque, but still do not have the best color payoff. Making Mauves by Sally Hansen has the same brush as Slick Slate and also applies way too thick despite my efforts to fix it. Whim's Midnight Wink was surprisingly sheer compared to how it looked in the bottle, and while it's pretty over Whim's Faux Real I was much more hopeful to wear it on its own, but the glitter is very sparsely dispersed during application and is not easy to create a sufficiently opaque coverage to wear it on its own. Still very pretty. Finally, Rave from Avon was far more pink than I expected, from the color swatch online it seemed like more of a purple than a pink so I was surprised to apply it and have it dry into more of a pink color. Other than these few things the formulas and colors of them all are true to color and easy to apply, requiring only one coat, maybe two to even out any areas of thinness.

Beauty Steal: Michael Kors Nail Polish

I have been cleaning out all my drawers of polish to make room for colors I will use more and replacing old bottles with new ones. I've gotten rid of a lot and I'm learning what colors I lean towards when painting my nails. Lately I've been going for more neutral colors like greys and skintones, as well as leaning more towards shimmers and placing a matte top coat on everything. When I do go for colors I tend to lean towards jewel tones and deep colors. I used to pick warm colors over cool shades, but lately that has switched and I have been on the hunt to buy more cool toned polishes.

I picked up some beautiful jewel tones from Nordstrom Rack recently. I wasn't keen on buying anything from a higher end company at first because I'm completely satisfied with drugstore brands, but I was blown away by how beautiful the colors were and had never seen anything quite like them.

I purchased 3 shades: Cabaret, a wine red that had a golden shimmer(unfortunately no gold when dry)
                  Thrill, a beautiful teal green, more on the green side and unlike anything I own
                  Femme Fatale, a deep royal blue almost to the point of navy
(photos are below)

Instead of being 18 dollars a bottle it was only 7, so I decided that I would give them a try. the packaging was really cute at first, but when I went to open the bottles to use them I was annoyed to find that the gorgeous gold topper for the lid is just a cap you have to pull off before unscrewing the brush from the bottle.
While I don't think there's anything special about them to convince me to buy them full price, I find that I did enjoy the colors, and with a thick first coat they went on pretty opaque. The polish was shiny and had a nice fine metallic in it. With only one coat of polish and a top coat it lasted for about 3 days before it chipped. It probably would last longer if I wasn't working in a warehouse using my hands all day.

All in all, I would definitely run out and buy a few more colors of these from Nordstrom Rack if I could find some, but it's nothing to write home about and is hardly worth ordering the 18 dollar colors from the Michael Kors company unless there's something truly unique that I can't get somewhere else. I was dissapointed in how some of the finishes changed as they dried, and it was unfortunate that my favorite polish, Cabaret, morphed into something so normal compared to how it looked in the bottle. 0.3 fl. oz. seems like a pretty large amount of polish for me and I'm happy I got the chance to play with some of these shades before they disappeared.

Although I had higher hopes for some of these than they delivered, I am not at all disappointed in what I got for the price I paid, and if I see more colors of these in my local Nordstrom Rack I will be picking them up for sure.

Oldie But A Goodie

I found out today that I'm almost out of my favorite nail polish by Revlon. I can't even tell you how old it is, but it's a gorgeous duo chrome silvery purple that in some lights comes across almost green. It's a long time favorite of mine for my toes when I just need a little shine. Unfortunately, they no longer make the shade "030 Silver Switch". It must have been a seasonal shade because the whole "color illusions" line is gone. It makes me sad to know that once it is gone I can't get any more of it, but it will give me a reason to hold on to it a little tighter and use it less. They have a color out now called "Wild" that seems similar but it's darker and shows mostly green based on pictures. I will be picking it up and comparing them soon. I would love to see Silver Switch make a return to shelves so I can stockpile it.