Sunny Side Down with Extra Whites

Recently, I'm all about the bright, fun colors. I'm having a lapse right now by wearing a vampy shade (Nina Out of the Blue, see previous post) but last week I was all about the unconventional light colors.

I started last week by wearing Pure Ice Super Star! Yup, there is naturally an exclamation point in the name. With a name so exciting, the color must be great too, right? Well, I love it. Super Star! is a stark white creme polish that happens to be opaque in one coat. I used three because the second coat was a little streaky but topcoat evened everything out for me. Here it is in shade and sun:

I think white and yellow polishes make my skin look a lot tanner, which for me is annoying because for a Chinese girl I have super dark skin and when I go to China no one believes I'm Chinese. But at the same time, I love the contrast of the white against my skin. My fascination with white polish began last year when the girl that sat next to me in calculus class wore white polish once. Her skin was a lot lighter than mine but it still looked amazing, which is why I think more people can pull off solid white polish than they think. Is it a little too white-out looking though? Maybe I'm a bit biased but I think it looks waaaaay better than just painting your nails with white-out. It's a lot smoother (or at least it looks like it would be). Don't forget that you can only find Pure Ice polishes at Wal-Mart too. As you can maybe kind of tell with the shade picture, it's very glossy with a topcoat, as cremes tend to be, which adds onto the whole not-looking-like-white-out thing.

I then ended last week with Rimmel Sunny Side. Jen's been egging me to get this shade for forever because it's just gorgeous, a light orange/slightly coral color that has fine, but not micro-sized, gold glitter. I went through a lot finding it because it looks as if Rimmel is revamping some of their bottles and stuff. I even had a terrible moment where I got the last one at Walmart, but then someone stole my cart. It was a crushing moment for a polish addict. However, I eventually got it.

Application was pretty bad, there's just something about the 60 Sec. Vinyl Shine polishes that are very difficult to apply because it's as if the polish is drying mid-air so there's a bit of drag. I was also a bit disappointed because even with topcoat, the color wasn't as shiny as I hoped it would be (I LOVE gloss and shine). I normally use INM Out the Door topcoat, which is pretty glossy but it did nothing for this polish. I think Jen had more luck with Seche Vite topcoat in creating a shiny finish. She loves this polish but I think my favorite Rimmel so far is probably still Pop Apricot. Sunny Side isn't a bad color, but I was just expecting a better finish.

What a Tease!

After a long and exhausting week, I'm ready to relax.....by studying for finals next week. I've given into the fact that the first half of June has/is going to be a lose-lose situation. But look what beauties decided to drop in today:

L-R: Bermuda Shorts, Shorty Pants, Mini Shorts, Short Shorts

Yep, the new Essie Neon collection. They released a LE neon collection last year too, but those were much sheerer. From the pics I've seen on MUA and 15 Min. Beauty Fanatic, these are highly pigmented. I'm eager to try these, but I will have to wait...but instead of just being a tease, I present you with pics of another polish.....Pure Ice Tease. It's a perfect summery color, a bright fuchsia with a hefty dose of blurple shimmer. I'm not sure how to classify the shimmer in this but it's so nice!


Pure Ice polishes can be found at Walmart for fairly cheap, I've forgotten the exact price. But they are good quality polishes for the money. Everyone over at the nail board has gone crazy over Pure Ice Heartbreaker, which is a great polish for layering over cremes because of the gorgeous shimmer in it. Also, occasionally these polishes will be out of stock...don't resort to the internet! Eventually they will be restocked, sometimes in a matter of days. Patience, patience.

With Essie's new neon collection as a direct competition with MAC and Chanel's neon collections, what do you guys think? It's definitely the cheapest alternative compared to the rest, but they are all different enough to justify (in my world at least), having them all. MAC's Phosphor, for instance, is a bit more frosty than Chanel's LA Sunrise or Essie's Shorty Pants. LA Sunrise is also lighter, and Shorty Pants is the only out of the three to be a straight creme.

Also, given Essie's surprising hit with their summer collection, and now a collection of neons, do you sense that they're branching out from their usual conservatism? Granted, the neon collection is limited edition but the pigmentation is a departure from the demure Essie polishes of the past. This could be the evolution of something great....perhaps a collection of sheer holo's? Something that incorporates their signature soft, workplace-safe colors with an infusion of holographic glitter for a bit of edge. I could easily see a nice nude holographic version of Congo Bongo, a pretty soft pink holo version of Charmeuse or My Place or Yours, or a pretty white holo with Intimate. China Glaze and OPI have all released holo collections, what do you guys think? I'm always in favor of progression while not completing leaving behind the basics. I think it's possible that Essie's color selection could become more daring without alienating their original fan base. After all, their tag line is that Essie is a color-holic. It's nice to see that becoming more of a reality now.

Early Morning Hotness: Swatches

I did some swatches of recent acquisitions: OPI Kangarooby, Petites Juke Box, EA Grand Canyon Sunset, and CHI Salsalita y Margarita. I just noticed now though that I mislabeled the pictures! It's not Petites Hot Rod, it's actually Petites Juke Box. My bad! All are with two coats, taken with their respective bottles.



I'm wearing Salsalita y Margarita right now and it's GORGEOUS! Despite the fact that the name is so long, the color is hot! It's a great coral. I'm glad that I got it, initially I was hesitant because the clearance sticker at Ulta said $5.95 but it rang up at the counter for $2.99! I love getting high-ends for the price of drugstore polishes. I also usually love shimmers and sparkles but sometimes cremes are so hot too!




CHI's apply amazingly well, about on par with EA polishes. Next time if I see a color I really want, I may actually be willing to shell out the $8. Despite their small size, they have the same amount of polish as Essie's do. It just looks like they have less because of how unproportional the handle is to the bottle.

Yep, an extra-long, eye-candy worth post this time. It will have to tide ya'll over the weekend, these upcoming two weeks are going to be killer. I uploaded a bunch of pics from my camera and worked on resizing them and marking today, which is the most tedious part. On that note, does anyone know of a good free (or not-so-expensive) watermarking software? I have issues with picmarkr. Thanks!