Review and Swatches--Colores de Carol Inner Princess

Inner Princess is the third nail polish I've tried from the brand Colores de Carol. You can see my photos and reviews of the other two here: the yummy-looking Cupcake Fantasy, and my favorite so far, Best Polish Friend Forever.
*I received this polish as a gift with purchase from Colores de Carol.*

If you're not familiar with Colores de Carol, the brand shares its name with the creator's awesome nail blog: http://www.coloresdecarol.com/. Carolina does great nail art, swatches, and reviews. Now she also creates artistic nail polishes by hand.

Inner Princess is described by Carolina as a "White base with navy blue flakes, mix of multicolored glitter and aqua stars shape glitter."

The white base is the nice, milky-sheer-type that allows the glitter to show well. The navy blue flakes are those tiny bits that you see throughout the polish. The aqua stars are quite prominent. As for the multicolored glitter, my eyes show the mix to be: 

Small hexes (hexagons) in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, and red Small squares in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, and red  

Tiny hexes in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, red, and purple

Tiny squares in baby pink, teal, fuchsia, lavender, and red

This is a sheer polish, but buildable. In all of these photos I am wearing one coat of Orly Bonder as my base, three coats of Colores de Carol Inner Princess, and one coat of Poshe top coat. Initially, I tried using a white polish as a base color, but I found that it looked too stark and really took away from Inner Princess.

Inner Princess applied well. The formula in my bottle was slightly thick, but not a problem. I believe that it wouldn't hold the glitter as well if it were any thinner. Dry time was still good. 

I didn't have to fish out any of the stars or the other shaped glitter. I ended up with at least one star on all of my nails but one. My nails are arched and small, so star glitter is unable to lie completely flat on them. I'm hoping someday to find star glitter that is tiny so that I can wear it better. These stars didn't stick out much. If you have regular-size nails or not much of an arch, they probably won't stick out at all. 

Inner Princess is a darling polish and I'm very grateful to have tried it. I've actually worn it a handful of times before this post. However, it doesn't fit my personality as well as the the other two Colores de Carol polishes that I own, Cupcake Fantasy and Best Polish Friend Forever. That is why I am not gushing as I did with BPFF. 

Inner Princess and the other Colores de Carol polishes can be purchased for $9.00 at http://www.coloresdecarol.bigcartel.com/. (Nine of her polishes are on sale right now for $7.00. Carolina also sometimes has coupon codes on her blog.)  

*I received this polish as a gift with purchase from Colores de Carol.*

Swatches and Review--Essie Madison Ave-Hue

What a spoiled little brat! No, I'm not talking about a person, but a nail polish. You know how sometimes a kid is a maddening little person who acts up and does whatever they want and drives you crazy, but they are so cute that you love them anyway? That describes my experience with Essie Madison Ave-Hue.
*I purchased this polish with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any brand mentioned in this post.*

Our relationship started out just fine. I was shopping with my brother's girlfriend at CVS, buying boring stuff like deodorant. When I went to pay, my receipt printed out with $5.00 of Extra Bucks (the loyalty/reward program at CVS)! I turned right around to look at the nail polish to see which one was coming home with me for $5.00 cheaper than usual. 

I have been on such an Essie kick lately, further fueled by the giant display that our CVS added to the front of the store, basically in my face the second I walk in. I browsed and finally decided on Madison Ave-Hue, which I had previously picked up and put down on several other occasions in favor of my more beloved greens and blues. 

In the bottle, Madison Ave-Hue appears to be a medium, purple-leaning pink with subtle but dense silver shimmer. Those things are still true when on the nail. However, this little diva wants so badly to be neon purple that she almost makes you believe that she is. 

The formula was thin, but not difficult to apply. It was difficult for me to get even coverage, though, so I ended up with three coats over  Orly Bonder base coat. She seemed like she was going to cover evenly, but no. I'm pretty sure she laughed at me for having new hope on each nail for even coverage. One coat of Poshe was my top coat.

Madison Ave-Hue is very pigmented. Once I had finished my three coats, I was surprised at how much deeper and brighter the polish was on my nails versus the bottle. I thought it was pink, but now started to wonder if it was closer to purple. And almost neon as purples go...strange, but pretty. This observation was under artificial light. I was thinking of how difficult it would be to capture the right color on camera. It ended up being five times more difficult than I anticipated; see how she is turning out to be high maintenance?

The day after application, photo day, I was sitting in natural light indoors. Now the polish looks on my nails like it does in the bottle--what a moody lady! Still so lovely, though...

Outside in the bright sunlight, Madison Ave-Hue mostly looked pink again. But she leaned purple again if I changed the angle at all. How am I supposed to accurately portray this polish on the blog? It's so beautiful that it wouldn't be very nice of me not to share, but it took hours to color-correct all the photos in such a way as to show you what my eyes saw.

So I get completely frustrated applying the polish, taking the photos,and editing the photos, but I can't stop smiling and staring at the pretty polish. This must be how women make men feel.

After all that, she has the nerve to chip on the day after application! I don't ask for a long-wearing polish; I change my polish all the time. Two days should not be too much to ask.

Yes, it's 'just nail polish', so my story is overly dramatic. But here's the bottom line: Is Essie Madison Ave-Hue worth the confusion and the trouble? For me, yes. I loved her different personalities and she's so cute! The dense but subtle shimmer adds something special. I think that Madison Ave-Hue is a good shade both for spring and for summer, if you pay attention to seasonally appropriate things.

*I purchased this polish with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any brand mentioned in this post.*

What do you think? Do you have any beauty products that you have a love/hate relationship with? Seche Vite top coat is another of mine.

Swatches and Review--NYX Forever Young

NYX Cosmetics makes a lot of products that I enjoy. For example, see my post featuring my favorite NYX lipstick here. I've found their quality to be very good for the most part (their individual products are far superior to their sets in my experience), and the prices are quite affordable. The prices are even better when you find the products at T.J. Maxx, as I did with this nail polish, NYX Forever Young.
*I purchased this product with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or stores mentioned in this post.*

NYX describes Forever Young as "Dark pink with gold glitter". I'd like to expand on that description: The dark pink is very warm in tone and the gold glitter is both microfine glitter and small flakes. The gold flakes are very prominent. 

The formula was good, but sheer. I used three coats over Orly Bonder as a base coat. With longer nails, you may wish to use a base color or an additional coat.

I made the mistake of not using top coat. Forever Young is very smooth, so it doesn't need the top coat to even out the texture. However, I believe that I probably would not have gotten such bad tip wear had I worn a top coat. 

I found the dry time to be average to quick. My three coats were all thin coats. 

The gold glitter and flakes are very dense and flashy, which I love. 

The square bottle was easy for me to work with, not inclined to tip over. The brush was average. 

I typically purchase NYX products from ULTA or Target, but I have not yet seen any NYX nail polish at either location. 

It was cloudy when I took these photos, so I apologize for the lack of direct sunlight. Of course, if there were direct sunlight, the gold flakes may have blinded you... :)

NYX Forever Young was mostly a win for me. I wish it were more opaque, but adding an extra coat is not a big deal. 

NYX Salon Formula Nail Polish can be purchased online at nyxcosmetics.com for $4.00. They seem to have a wide variety.

*I purchased this product with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands or stores mentioned in this post.*

Lynnderella Mixed Feelings Collection Giveaway!

Check out this awesome giveaway on Oh Three Oh Four: Lynnderella Mixed Feelings Collection Giveaway!

Shorty Post--Zoya Ziv Swatches

Typically, silver is more my style. I don't wear gold very often. Then I saw Zoya Ziv. Love!
*I received this product in a trade on makeuptalk.com. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Ziv is more gold and less yellow. The finish is like a flecked foil. Below the photo is blurred; you can kind of see how sometimes the flecks flash differently depending on the light. 

There wasn't anything I didn't like about this polish. Granted, the flecks got all over my hands when I removed it. But they were completely gone once I showered. 

The above photos are with Orly Bonder as the base coat. I did not wear a top coat, and Ziv still wore well. 

*I received this product in a trade on makeuptalk.com. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Colores de Carol Giveaway

Carolina of Colores de Carol is having a giveaway, yay! The prize is her new nail polish collection--my favorite based on the photos is A Mother's Bond. See the link below to check out her blog and enter her giveaway:
Colores de Carol: Mother's Day Giveaway!♥: Hello Lovely Readers! I haven't done a giveaway in a long time and what a better occasion to celebrate Mother's Day than giving the...

Review and Swatches--Essie First Timer

What, another creme nail polish? Yup, that's my spring mood so far, and recent collections in stores have been very accommodating. 
*I purchased this product with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Essie makes some of my favorite creme polishes, so I have been on a little kick with them lately. This beauty is call First Timer and is from their Resort 2013 collection (the same collection as In the Cab-ana).

The consistency was thin, but fortunately it didn't make the coverage poor or streaky. All photos show two coats Essie First Timer and one coat Poshe top coat. 

Inside the house under natural light, First Timer pulled a lot more blue. Most of the time, it was the vibrant green that you see in my sunny photos. 

I was very happy with this polish. I am a big fan of green and kept looking at my nails while wearing it. It chipped sooner than I would have liked, which isn't a big deal for me since I change my polish so often, but maybe something to keep in mind if you want your manicure to be long-lasting. 

Essie nail polish usually retails for $8.00 and can be purchased at stores like WalMart, CVS, and Target as well as on their Web site. 

*I purchased this product with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*