Friday, July 31, 2009

Diamond Cosmetics Hot Summer Pink Winner!! And new Contest Monday!

Congratulations to the winner of the Diamond Hot Summer Pink nail polish, Xuan-An Nguyen!!

If you didn't win, there will be another giveaway starting Monday! More details then! Thank you everyone for entering!!


Diamond Hot Summer Pink

Every Day an Essie - Essie Formal Dinner and Goodbye to July

Well I hoped I helped you see a different side to Essie. They certainly are not all pink and taupe. I think with time, and seeing how exciting other brands are these days, they will continue to grow more diverse with their colors. So goodbye to July and Essie days!

I'm going to end with my favorite Essie, Formal Dinner. It looks like nothing much in the bottle, but it's a beautiful light-filled medium red jelly. It's kind of cherry colored. It has a great pink tint to it, and a subtle purple shimmer. It really pops on the nail and is so feminine and pretty.

Essie Formal Dinner:
Essie Formal Dinner

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Every Day an Essie! - Essie Viva La Vespa

I've heard this called Essie's best purple. I think I prefer Sexy Divide but this is a very gorgeous, sparkly color. Glad I own both, I tell ya!

Essie Viva La Vespa:
Essie Viva La Vespa

Orly Femme Fatale Holiday 2009 Collection!

Got a terrific surprise today in the mail! Orly sent me a preview of their Holiday 2009 Femme Fatale Collection! A hot bright red, a berry/plum creme, and a deep red shimmer make up this collection that Orly means to embody "infectious feminine charm". These are incredibly shiny, even without topcoat, like a patent leather type polish. This is a nice addition to the Once Upon a Time Collection. I have no real information, but I am betting we will see more Orly polishes this year in addition to these. I hope so anyway!

Siren, a medium bright red - almost a neon - is a creme. Keep your brush lightly coated with this and it'll give you tons of color. Very richly pigmented. I may compare it to Zoya's America to see how similar they are.
Orly Siren:
Orly Siren

Orly Goddess is my favorite. A berry/plum creme, a thick coat could give you easy one coat perfection. This is also incredibly shiny.
Orly Goddess:
Orly Goddess

Temptress is a dark burgundy shimmer jelly, with a lot of depth. You can use it one coat for a bit of sheerness and a slightly lighter color, or two coats for a deep rich full coverage that's just as shiny as the first two. I like that it has two ways to wear it. Pictured is two coats.
Orly Temptress:
Orly Temptress

These come out in November! Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Don't Forget to Enter the Diamond Cosmetics Hot Summer Pink Giveaway!

Anyone anywhere can enter, just email your name to polishmayhem@gmail.com! I'll pick a winner this Friday at 6:00 pm PST!

Diamond Hot Summer Pink

Every Day an Essie! - Essie After Sex

This is someone after sex. Apparently someplace on a person after sex is a pinky red shimmer. I will not go into wondering where exactly, after sex, someone is this color, as I have no desire to know. Maybe it's their mood. But I like the polish! I would like to imagine that after sex my mood is a nice ocean blue. If I were still this agitated someone isn't doing it right.


Essie After Sex:
Essie After Sex

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Every Day an Essie! - Essie Sole Mate

Sole Mate is a dark brownish purple jelly. Very shiny!!

Essie Sole Mate:
Essie Sole Mate

Monday, July 27, 2009

Nordstrom Exclusive Lippmann Collection "Celebrate" Nail Lacquer Set

The Lippmann Collection put out a little trio of nail colors to celebrate their 10th anniversary. It's sold only at Nordstrom, and is $35.00, so there's a $10 price break for the set instead of the usual $15.00 per bottle. It's a set of black jellies with glitter in them, always a welcome theme for me. Nothing revolutionary, but they are a bit different from the usual. Whether they are worth the price is your call. I thought about taking mine back, but ultimately I like two enough to make the set worth keeping. The formula was just fine. Easy to apply, stayed where I put it. No complaints there!

The red glitter in black, not very originally named Ruby Red Slippers (not to be confused with blue rubies, I guess) is actually a major keeper for me. As well as having regular sized red glitter it has large hexagon shaped glitter and this makes the glitter pop far more than dupe polishes such as China Glaze Lubu Heels. The big glitter is terrific and makes this very festive. I was thinking this polish would be a throwaway and a pointless duplicate, but it rises above the similar polishes to be something unique and fun.

Lippmann Collection Ruby Red Slippers:
Lippmann Collection Ruby Red Slippers

Superstar is copper glitter in black jelly. I don't see too much copper glitter and wearing this I wonder why. I think this is GREAT for tanned summer skin. Day or dancing, this would rock. Super sexy!

Lippmann Collection Superstar:
Lippmann Collection Superstar

Which leaves us with the WTF polish, Funky Chunky. If you put on too much, it looks like a black nail with a lot of black pimples. Or maybe tumors. A very sheer coat looks decent but then you get too little glitter and anyway the glitter isn't glittery. Frankly I think this polish is a mystery. The mystery being why they included it in an otherwise great trio of polishes. I've heard many people say they wished it were a sheer black, so I tried to thin it out. See my grotesque results below, if you have a strong stomach. First picture is Funky Chunky applied as thinly as possible.

Lippmann Collection Funky Chunky:
Lippmann Collection Funky Chunky

Lippmann Collection Funky Chunky mixed with clear topcoat:
Thinned Lippmann Funky Chunky

So there you go. Is it worth $35? You decide!

Every Day an Essie! - Essie Brilliant Ball Gown

Brilliant Ball Gown is a deep burgundy with lots of gold. Sounds familiar, huh? But I think this one is a cut above the rest. It really is sophisticated. It will survive some bloated polish hoard purges!

Essie Brilliant Ball Gown:
Essie Brilliant Ball Gown

Sunday, July 26, 2009

A Comparison for EnEmDee and a Few Words about Comments.

I slipped behind on my comments! I am sorry. Rest assured in the future I'll check more for new comments and answer in a more timely manner! But you can always get me fast by emailing me, and comparison requests or questions are always welcome. The below is a recent comparison request from EnEmDee!

She asked me to compare some polishes to Zoya Hope and Pure Ice Rio. Is Creative Heiress a dupe for Zoya Hope? What about Pure Ice Rio? Is Creative Kitten Has Claws a dupe for Pure Ice Rio? Let's see!

Left to Right:
Creative Kitten Has Claws
Pure Ice Rio
Zoya Hope
Creative Heiress
DSCF3482


As you can see, Creative Heiress is a bit lighter than Zoya Hope, and I think Zoya Hope has a bit more shimmer. Pure Ice has a purple shimmer but is much lighter, sheerer, and has larger shimmer. Creative Kitten Has Claws is a similar color to Pure Ice Rio but is a tad lighter, opaque and has much less shimmer. Thanks for the request and hope it helped!!

Every Day an Essie! - Essie Aruba Blue

Now this is a nice summer polish. A vibrant ocean blue. Makes me want to go to an island somewhere and... okay I'll keep the rest of my fantasy to myself.

Essie Aruba Blue:
Essie Aruba Blue

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Every Day an Essie! - Essie In the Mood

In the Mood is a brownish red with gold shimmer. Sedate yet blingy. Versatile, I think this could be worn at work. Don't see why not. That and a big sign around your neck saying "LOOKIT MAI PRETTY POLISH!"

Essie In the Mood:
Essie In the Mood

Diamond Cosmetics Hot Summer Pink Giveaway!

So as I said below in my Diamond Cosmetics polish review, Rebecca sent YOU a gift. Since she took the Cotton Candy polish from the Summer collection, she sent two Hot Summer Pinks, one for me, one for you. And believe me it's a gorgeous polish!

Usual deal, email me your name to polishmayhem@gmail.com, you can live anywhere on earth! I'll take entries til next Friday, July 31st, at 6:00 pm, and announce the winner later that same evening!

Good Luck and thanks for reading Polish Mayhem!

Diamond Hot Summer Pink

Friday, July 24, 2009

Diamond Cosmetics - $2 Polish and Not Bad At All!

Rebecca kindly sent me a metric fuckton of nail polish the other day, because she's kind and generous like that. She found Diamond Cosmetics, and decided she'd add some stuff for me onto her order. She also, dear Polish Monkeys, bought YOU a gift, which I will post about next.

Diamond has a pretty decent formula! It's more on the runny side, only one creme did I find thick (Oh, Tiff!). All had good coverage with two coats except the Glow in the Darks, which are very sheer. Some cremes could probably even be one coaters, if you put on a thick enough coat, but I prefer two coats in most circumstances to prevent sheer spots.

Diamond has some July Specials, which I will start with first. The first special is six "neons" plus a topcoat and a white, for $15.00. I do not as a rule use whites for base coats, as Diamond suggests, I find that rather than provide a bright base for colors, they wash them out. But that's just my opinion, you may like them very much that way. All these swatches are without white as a basecoat, but, as they are neons and many neons dry matte, I used a topcoat.

Diamond Froggy:
Diamond Froggy

Diamond Beware:
Diamond Beware

Diamond Danger Zone:
Diamond Danger Zone

Diamond White:
Diamond White

Diamond Safety Zone:
Diamond Safety Zone

Diamond Hot Summer Pink, fuchsia pink neon with purple shimmer and an INSTANT all-time favorite of mine:
Diamond Hot Summer Pink

Diamond Wow, just the bottle and washed out at that, could NOT photograph this bright hot pink correctly, but it's very, very like Essie Punchy Pink:
Diamond WOW

The second July Special is the "Summer Special" - six red/pinks and two blues, and a topcoat for $12.00. These are two coats with no topcoat.

Diamond Oh, Tiff! - with which I will be doing a comparison against other Tiffany blues later:
Diamond Oh, Tiff!

Diamond Pink Passion:
Diamond Pink Passion

Diamond Fiery Coral, which I say is red:
Diamond Fiery Coral

Diamond Don't Teal My Heart Away, a very nice dark teal creme:
Diamond Don't Teal My Heart Away

This collection also contains Hot Summer Pink, already pictured, and a soft pink called Cotton Candy, which Rebecca kept. The next are not on "Special", but are only $2.00 each, and they are Glow In the Dark, so damn straight I love them. Sorry I did not test out the GITD ability it was daytime and I had a lot of swatchin' to do. :( This is four coats and topcoat. To make up for needing so many coats, they dried quickly!

Diamond Tangeglo:
Diamond Tangeglo

Diamond Gloworm Green:
Diamond Gloworm Green

Diamond Blue Moonglo:
Diamond Blue Moonglo

Diamond Pink Flaminglo:
Diamond Pink Flaminglo

I have some others, but I am gonna hold them back as I see "A Daily Diamond" daily polish review in the future. :D

Every Day an Essie! - Essie Pink Lemonade

Fun shade! This pink has some body to it, which is why I like it. It's a frost though, which does not suit me. But it looks fresh and summery.

Essie Pink Lemonade:
Essie Pink Lemonade

Thursday, July 23, 2009

China Glaze Retro Diva Fall 2009 Collection

I love China Glaze, it is easily one of my top 3 favorite polishes in the world, maybe even #1. They have endless colors, nice jellies and shimmers, super glitters like Ruby Pumps, and they have the GLASS FLECKS, which rock all corners of ass. This year has not been their best year, but they have a super bunch of polishes already, so some slack can be cut.

The Retro Diva Collection for Fall 2009 features their regular formula, which is good. It's not the best or the worst formula, but it is very good and easy to use. I make sure my brush stick is scraped and wipe one side of the brush against the bottle opening so I have a good load of polish, but only on one side of the brush. This minimizes sloppy application.

As for the colors, if you like orange/brown, purple and dark red you are in luck. If not, you're kinda screwed. The collection is mostly metallic frosts, with a few simple shimmers and one drool-worthy glass fleck thrown in. It's lovely if you like the colors. I do have to be honest, while I adore these jewel tones, which are rich and glowing like Zoya's Truth or Dare Collections, I prefer the big grain shimmer of Zoyas' offering to these metallic frosts. But that's a personal opinion on style. These are pretty polishes, and eye-catching, but I know I am going to reach for the Zoyas more often. No biggie, China Glaze is an incredible line, and I hear from AllLacqueredUp's tweets that they are going to put out Emerald Sparkle with gold glass fleck for the holidays!! Who can beat THAT?!

So this collection is a lot like the summer Custom Kicks collection, in that there are kinda too many polishes with similar colors. A fewer similar colors would have been nice. Here we go, arranged by color!

China Glaze Cords, a kind of grey-taupe metallic frost:
China Glaze Cords

China Glaze Far Out, a warm brown frost that I like but makes me worry about the "Poo" factor.:
China Glaze Far Out

China Glaze Cruisin', an orange metallic frost. A jelly frost, if you will, it's sheerish.:
China Glaze Cruisin'

China Glaze Free Love, an orange frost. We needed this AND Cruisin', how?:
China Glaze Free Love

China Glaze Street Racing, a metallic frost in a super red-orange sort of blood orange shade. I adore this one!:
China Glaze Street Racing

China Glaze Drive In, a darker orange-red metallic frost:
China Glaze Drive In

China Glaze Thunderbird, a gorgeous wine colored frost with metallic shimmer to it. Love this one.:
China Glaze Thunderbird

China Glaze Stroll, the queen of the collection. An incredible burgundy jelly with glass fleck shimmer. Just gorgeous and so much better than the picture. This polish is a must have.:
China Glaze Stroll

China Glaze Short & Sassy. Easing from red to purple here, and back to the metallic frosts. Pretty!:
China Glaze Short & Sassy

China Glaze Skate Night, a juicy red-purple metallic frost:
China Glaze Skate Night

China Glaze Stella, a yummy Tyrian metallic frost:
China Glaze Stella

China Glaze Let's Groove, a gorgeous grape shimmer. This is actually tons of shimmer in a very dark almost black purple jelly. It reminds me a lot of Rimmel Night Before. Stunning.:
China Glaze Let's Groove

There you have it. Not earth-shattering for the most part, but if all I get out of this is Stroll, it would be enough.

Every Day an Essie! - Essie Over the Top

Over the Top is a nice, opaque side black jelly with a lot of silver shimmer. It's nice, easy to apply, and a good formula. This is two coats.

Essie Over the Top:
Essie Over the Top

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Nubar Modern Mattes - Magnificence!

I cannot tell you how nuts I am about the Nubar Modern Mattes Collection. Wow did they do this right. It's a collection of dark reds/purples, all with the stunning velvet style matte I loved so in the Zoya mattes. BUT. The colors are hot, and give us a variety in matte polishes we didn't have before, and the formula is terrific. It's just like Nubar's regular polish formula, like spreading something fluffy and whipped.

Unlike other mattes these are neither watery nor like spreading glue. They apply like any other Nubar polish, except they dry lightning fast, and are one - yes one coat perfect. Even on my right hand, which I always have some trouble with, these were one coat perfect. I had few polish mishaps, they mostly stay just where you put them. And the velvet glow of them is just spectacular. I LOVE these. Matte chic and trouble free? And unlike the OPI mattes, pretty colors? Who can say no? Seriously, don't say no. Try them.

Onto the swatches!

Nubar Contempo, the reddest of the bunch:
Nubar Contempo

Nubar Avant-Garde, a terrific dark wine Nubar calls "russet":
Nubar Avant-Garde

Nubar Prevail, a cool smoky concord grape:
Nubar Prevail

Nubar Vital, a Tyrian purple that's probably my favorite:
Nubar Vital

These are available now at the Nubar site, bynubar.com.