L'Oréal Royalty Reinvented

Royalty Reinvented is a cream purple color that refuses to be color accurate in my photos. Note: It is not as blue or periwinkle in real life.

The formula was smooth and easy to apply. The wider brush on the L'Oréal polishes does make application quicker, however this is the second L'Oréal polish from this collection that has had one brush bristle sticking out longer than the others. That one bristle always gets me because it puts polish past the line of polish that I want and the line that the rest of the bristles extend to.

Essie Splash of Grenadine

Splash of Grenadine is a popular and much loved polish among the nail artists I follow, but I never got around to trying it for myself.

It is a beautiful dusty pink-purple polish and the formula was very smooth and easy to work with.

This is two coats with no top coat.

L'Oréal Not a Cloud in Sight

Not a Cloud in Sight is a bright and sheer cream polish. I needed to paint three thin coats to cover any streaky areas. My bottle was very "fluid" which I guess is better than a thick polish, but when I painted just my nail, it would run onto my cuticles.

Oh well, this is three coats with no top coat.

L'Oréal Orange You Jealous

I recently went on a polish splurge and got nine new polishes plus a new Seche Vite top coat and, to try for the first time, CND Stickey base coat. Thank goodness I had a 30 percent of coupon from Ulta!

One of the polishes I have been wanting to try out is L'Oréal Orange You Jealous, as well as every other spring polish in the world.

This is three coats with no top coat. The color is a creamy orange and the formula is pretty smooth. It did take three coats to cover up any streaky spots, but I'm glad it didn't end up being thick.

Layla Ceramic Effect 52 a.k.a. The Butterfly Effect

Here's a swatch on Layla Ceramic Effect 52. For those of you who don't know, the Layla Ceramic Effect line states that no base or top coat is needed for this polish to look shiny like...you got it...ceramic.

I loved the deep purple and the suspended orange-to-green flakies of this polish so I had to try it out.

Below you will see two coats of this polish without top coat, three coats without top coat, and three coats with top coat all under artificial and natural light. Enjoy!

Two coats, no top coat - Natural Light

Two coats, no top coat - Artificial Light

Three coats, no top coat - Natural Light

Three coats, no top coat - Artificial Light

Three coats with top coat - Natural Light

Three coats with top coat - Artificial Light

Three Coats with top coat color shift - Artificial Light

And for the grand finale...

Three coats with top coat in direct sunlight

Three coats with top coat in direct sunlight

Barielle Hidden Hideaway

Barielle Hidden Hideaway is a very dark purple with purple/red shimmer. It looks almost black unless it is in direct sunlight like in this picture. The orange of the sunset made it look a little more red here though.

Ciaté Mini Mani Month Reds and Pink Review

Yesterday I swatched the Ciaté Mini Mani Month reds and pink. Compared to the blues and purples I have already done, I think that the reds have a better formula and look at those colors, gorgeous! The pink is very nice too, but I'm still blown away by the richness of the reds. All swatches are over Butter London Nail Foundation with no top coat.

Dangerous Affair is a deep berry red, deeper and darker than I was able to capture. I painted two coats here and liked the way it looked, but you still can see my nails a little bit through the polish on my index and middle fingers. I would describe this as a high pigmented jelly.

Enchanted Rose is a bright red glitter in a clear base. This is three coats over base coat. This glitter really glistens and I wish I was able to capture that in my photos. Like the other two glitters in this collection, there is no grittiness whatsoever.

Mistress is a bright red and reminds me of the most iconic shade of red lipstick possible. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but that's the first that popped into my mind as I painted this. I would say that it is a jelly formula, but it was opaque in two coats. The reason I say it has a jelly formula is because I tried it over Enchanted Rose and could still see the glitters underneath.

Cupcake Queen is a bright/neon pink with an iridescent blue shimmer. It has a very smooth formula that is opaque in two coats. 

Nicole by OPI Mer-Maid for Each Other

I had been eyeing this polish for some time. I was mesmerized by the metallic finish and iridescent shift from green to blue. So far, I have not seen another polish like it. It has great application and I highly recommend it.

SinfulColors Hazard

I haven't found a SinfulColors polish that I didn't love. They have a very smooth and creamy formula and Hazard is the perfect example of that. I wish my nails had not chipped because then I would still have the square nail shape but I'm trying to embrace the round/oval nail shape I now have.

Ciaté Mini Mani Month Blue and Purple Reviews

My husband recently got me the Ciaté Mini Mani Month Collection which includes 17 colors, three glitter polishes, and four mini bottles of caviar pearls. There are so many new colors to try that I decided I would swatch the blues and purples all this morning. None of the swatches are with top coat.

The individual polish reviews are underneath the photos as a caption. Just wondering, does anyone else have issues moving the order of photos around and then the photos move on their own when you want to create space in between them and/or add text?

Magic Carpet is one of the three polishes exclusive to this collection. It is a small purple almost fuschia glitter in a clear base. I painted three coats over base coat and, as you can see, it would take several more for full coverage. But I do love how bright the glitter is.

Cabaret is a dark purple polish that requires three coats to be smooth and fully opaque, but I only did two coats here. 

Fade to Greige is the first greige color I have ever owned. It is a muted gray eggplant color that needs three coats so that there are not any sheer spots. However, the formula is very smooth.

Glass Slipper is another one of the three polishes exclusive to this collection. It is a small bright blue glitter in a clear base. I painted three coats over base coat and, as you can see, it would take several more for full coverage.

Headliner is a bright aqua cream blue. It is very smooth and only requires two coats to be opaque. It is my favorite out of this swatching session.

Power Dressing is a dark and smooth navy polish but it does require three coats so that it does not have sheer or streaky areas.

OPI Pedal Faster Suzi!

This is a swatch of OPI Pedal Faster Suzi! It is a shimmery and creamy light pink that I absolutely love.

e.l.f 28

e.l.f 28 is a polish that I found at Target. From what I understand it is a Target exclusive and so is the rest of the Fall "Python" Collection. ("28" is on the bottom of the bottle and is the only indication of the polish name.)

28 is a black polish with a shimmer that goes from pink to blue to purple depending on the light. The pictures do not do it justice...especially since you can only see the blue shimmer. I found it to have an even consistency, however the brush was rather small.

ChinaGlaze Frostbite

Frostbite it a vibrant shimmery blue that is smooth and opaque in two coats. I believe something must be wrong with my bottle of Frostbite because it has a horrible smell. To be frank, it smells like a skunk. My other ChinaGlaze polishes do not have the same odor. Nevertheless, this color is too gorgeous to pass up so I just lean back when I use this polish.

Ulta Sun-Sational

I am loving Ulta polishes. Sun-Sational is a bright yellow polish with a smooth consistency. This is two coats and is completely opaque.

OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress

I posted a photo of a very old swatch of I'm Not Really a Waitress before on my blog but decided to replace it with this newer one. As always, I'm Not Really a Waitress never fails on delivering smooth application and vibrant color.

Ulta - Limelight

Color swatch time again. My posts are a little out of order but this manicure was done right after I removed the cherry design. I realized that I am more critical of polish wear and tear when I have a design on. Is anyone else the same way?

Limelight had a very smooth consistency. Unfortunately, my top coat shrunk the polish. I used Essie Good to Go which is my current favorite but, because it had become thick with time, I added Seche Restore to return Good to Go back to its normal, smooth self. As a result, my top coat shrunk my polish just like how Seche Vite does to me. More details on this in my next post.

After a few days of wear and while eating peanut M&M's

Nicole by OPI - Miss Independent

This is my first time using Miss Independent. My mom picked it out for herself so I did her nails as seen here. It is a silvery pink metallic color with smooth application. Even though it looks pink in the bottle, I think it looks more silver on the nail.

SinfulColors Mint Apple

Mint Apple is a cream teal color with silver shimmer. This color is very similar to Essie's Turquoise & Caicos. It is opaque in two coats and was smooth in application. Note: I was enjoying my grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookies at the time of this picture.

Two Coats

OPI Purple With a Purpose

Purple With a Purpose is a vibrant purple. It is opaque with two coats and has never failed me with its intense color and smooth application.

Two Coats

Ulta Duty Free Shopping Spree

This is the best lavender ever! Duty Free Shopping Spree is my probably my favorite polish. It is a creamy light purple with amazingly smooth application. The brush on this bottle is also great.

Two Coats