Sand Tropez - Essie

My mani was looking a bit worn out, so I knew I needed to change it.  I went through my stash and found this Essie:

I bought this Essie a long time ago, when it first ever appeared. I had been lusting after it, and then I heard it was on clearance. I literally ran out to a CVS and got it 30 minutes after reading that, for half off.  Great buy.
Then...I didn't like it.  I put it away and didn't use it again.

But today is the day I rediscovered it.  And I think this one has a place in my collection.

It's a pretty unusual color, kind of taupy, yellowish and sandy all at once.  It's also concrete like, but really no where near dark enough to be described as that.  This one could be hard to pull off for many (like if your cool, or maybe if you just don't have any olive in your skin).

The formula is ok.  Funny, when I first got it, I hated the formula.  I thought it was way too thick.  The reality was I just wasn't used to using cremes and that must have been why I had a hard time with it.  It's actually almost too thin, but too thin is, imo better than too thick.  Only real problem I have with this formula is it can drag.  Just have to be a little careful with it, but for a creme polish, it's not bad.

This is three coats, which I felt like I absolutely needed.  I probably went too thin on the first coat, but it was horribly patchy after just one.  I think I could have gotten away with two if I did a better job at applying the first coat.  Dry time was pretty quick despite the three coats.  I did use a quick dry top coat.

Cuticle Care Series

Another up for review is a Qtica product, which is a Zoya branch.  Qtica specializes in skin care, including lip care.  Pretty neat!  The only product I've tried from them though, is Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm.  I hope to try out some of their other stuff, though.  Because it's a great product.

For consistencies sake, I've decided to break this down into another pros/cons list.

Pros:
1. Ok. I love the container.  It has a very high end feel, with a rubberized cap and heavy frosted glass.  Off to a good start.

2. Lasts forever.  I do have a sizable dent, but no where near the bottom of the glass. I can't foresee how long I will have it, but it's gonna be a long time.

3. With a formula like this, it should work...and it does.  Thick and creamy, it sticks to your skin so that it gets down to business and does a great job with moisturizing.

Cons:
1. Sticky.  Never thought a lotion could be so sticky.  Every little fuzz, every little hair will be drawn to your finger tips like magnets.  This is also what makes it so good. The stickiness is what keeps it on, but...well forget about wearing this during the day.  IMO, this is designed only for night time use, when no one cares what your hands look like.

2. While it does a great of moisturizing, it did little to soften up my hard cutes.  Not a deal breaker, but it's not the answer to everything that ails you.

3. The smell.  Don't like it, period.  It has a very strong floral and powdery scent.  However, unlike the Badger, which grew worse to me the more i used it, this is the opposite: I've gotten used to it.

I'd buy this stuff again, unless some kind of less stinky product came along with the same or better work ethic.  It's totally worth it to me.

This product is available at www.qtica.com/

Bubblegum pink

Pretty late night posting.

Today is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear line, Bubblegum pink.  When I opened this up, I actually half expected it to smell like bubble gum.  It's pretty much a dead ringer for it.  Apt name.

My photos came out much bluer looking than it really looks.  My led lamp provides tons of light but it seems to gives some colors a bluish look.  This is much pinker.

Formula on this in my opinion was not good.  Very thick, hard to apply.  Not a good even spreader, so it would tend to just sort of stack on and look uneven.  Going over the same spot more than once made it look especially bad.  Had to do three coats to get it anywhere near well covered and experience some evenness.  Still pretty unacceptable though.  Easy to clean up.  Great color and will probably do much better after a little thinning.

Badger cuticle care

Alright guys.  Something a little different today.  A cuticle product review.  I will probably do these
occasionally since I find this a little fun.

Up first in the cuticle care series: Badger Cuticle Care. This is a solid oil product inside of a little tin can.  I decided to break this down in a series of pros/cons to make it easier to see the benefits and detriments of what you're getting with this one.

Oh, hey...here's some photos!

Pros:

1. Easy to carry with you. Even if all you used was a clutch or even a pants pocket, you will have room.  It's really truly a portable product.

2. Easy to apply.  All ya gotta do is dip your finger in the container, and it will go from solid to oil instantly.  Rub it on your cuticles and you are good to go.

3. Man, this stuff last forever. I have a huge dent in it, but I probably could use it every day for a year and still not run out.

4. It really does improve the look of your cuticles.  After it's soaked in, it makes them look nice and clean.

5: USA made and all natural products.

Cons:

1. I have to complain about the container.  It is hard to open with wet nails, and you usually want to moisturize after you've recently painted.  Try prying it open with a wet nail; guaranteed to ruin it.

2. To me, this stuff takes a long time to sink in.  It just kind of sits on the skin.  Lotion helps with this but still, not pleasant to have oily looking fingers for so long after.  I have tried Essie Apricot oil and I thought it would be the same.  But no, that stuff sank in right away.  Not sure why it takes this stuff so long.

3. I'll be honest here, I don't think it's all that moisturizing.  Sure, it will make your cutes look better, but after it's all gone, you'll still have dryness.  I've heard a lot of people say that oils are more drying.  That may be the case, however I didn't notice this with my Essie sample.  Lotion applied in conjunction will obviously help with this.

4.  This is the MAIN reason I will never buy this stuff again.  It stinks...to high heaven.  Not a rotten, spoiled scent, but a "I just walked into this alternative health store and their burning incense in here" smell.  It's bad and it's strong.  Granted, there isn't anything fake about the smell (it seems like a lot of cuticle products have a fake smell) but honestly...I'd rather have fake by a mile than this.  I hate the smell.  I still use it, but I slather it on in the morning, when I know I still have time for it to absorb before work so I don't smell of it.  I also liberally apply a great smelling lotion to my hands which helps mask the scent.

That's my review.  I know it's a little...harsh, but I'm being honest here.  I will eventually try more oils but I won't be trying this again.

Bohemian for work

This is cheating a bit...maybe.  But I did top this polish.

Swanky Silk is one of China Glazes Bohemian polishes.  It is rather plain looking at first glance, but I actually love it.  It's a great work appropriate color, one that's a little flashy, but it's so muted at the same time that nobody will question you on it.

Great color, it flashes from gold to pink.  The only issue I have with it is that it shows brush strokes like no other.  I sponge the last coat on to give it a less brush stroke look.  This is three coats with a quick dry top coat and then...mattified!  Mattifying it gives it even more of a muted look and can really tone it down if you still are uncomfortable wearing it to work.  Try it.

This polish I think has been discontinued, but I've seen it here and there...and for cheap too.  If you like the looks of it, I'd get it on discount.

Are mermaids real...or what?

Whew!  It is hot outside, and I mean hot.  Not sure how to do much with this weekend with the way it feels out there.

Today I'm showing Spoiled's (a Wet n' Wild line) Are Mermaids Real?  First off, I have to say, what a weird name for this.  Mermaids are blue/green, not purple!  Well, maybe they're what you make them.

This another very foily finish, a deep purple filled with a lot of gold foil intensity.

For some reason my images are showing much more of a purple look.  The foil is actually so apparent in this that it gives in a darker hue in real life.

I gotta say, I like this polish but it's not a be all end all.  And the dry time is ridiculously slow, even for a Wet n' Wild.  It's still somewhat dentable the next day.  This one might need some thinner to help the formula.

Yellow Mark

Yep, another texture.  I don't know whether I love them or not.  But you gotta hand it to them; they are unique.

Today is Yellow Mark by Milani.  I think all of these from Milani are limited edition.  I have no idea where you can buy them; I've only seem them in one store (Walgreen's) and that was where I got these. I've been a number of other Walgreen's since then and haven't seen them so I just don't know.  Anyway...

This is a real yellow.  It might be a hard polish to pull off for some, then again, it's sort of a novelty polish anyway, so...does it really matter?

First off, I have to say, these polishes are strange.  Swiping the brush along the bottle to get rid of excess creates a sound like little pieces of glass rubbing against each other.  It looks downright foamy.  Like, just full of bubbles.  I don't know what the other matte textures look like but it's just weird.

With that said, these are easy easy easy.  They go on smooth, clean up is easy.  First coat is thin though.  At two it was almost perfect, but there were still some bare patches so this is three coats.  I would caution though that you need thin coats.  In some places, I placed more on and it didn't texture like the rest of it.  It looks almost smooth in the thicker spots; I have no idea if it will settle eventually after drying or if it will always look that way.

I have to admit after all that.  I do like these weird things.  It's probably a fad, but it's kinda cool at least.

Sunday Toppings

Woo, I did another one!

Today is Hip-Anema layered with Wicked Polish Cardiac Arrest.  Here are the two side by side.

I did one coat of the Cardiac Arrest.  I just want to show you guys something about my bottle of Wicked Polish before the next photo.  Take a look at the line of use on that guy.  I've only used it twice!  It's dwindling away before my very eyes, I'm not sure what is going on.  It is thick, but it ain't that thick.  Considering this time I only used the one coat, it's going quickly.

This is a weird polish.  I much prefer it layered, it looks much cleaner than alone.  There are odd bits of black stuff in it (remember it is a diseased heart after all) which I didn't mention in the previous posting of this.  Also, some of the glitter bits are really stuck on the glass, I guess I'm not strong enough to shake them down.  I wanted this nice and smooth so I used a coat of Gelous and then a QDTC.  Came out real pretty.

Edit: Difficult to remove.  I did have quite a few layers of other polish on, but the difficulty in removal mostly lied with the glitter.