Swatch Sunday: Tenoverten’s Rivington

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Swatch Sunday!! I’m still excited to be swatching again. Today’s polish is one I’ve had unused in my collection. It was a souvenir from the flagship Sephora store in Times Square. This is Tenoverten’s Rivington; I’m wearing three coats of Rivington with one coat of Seche Vite.

Before I go any further with this post, I want to talk about some concerns I have with this polish and potential color fading. When I bought this polish, it was a deep turquoise, and as you can see here, it’s now a lighter jade. Comparing my own photos to swatches of Rivington online show a big difference. With this in mind, I’ll be reviewing the polish as I see it. If you own a bottle of Rivington, or any Tenoverten polishes, please let me know if you’ve encountered any fading or changes in color with your own bottle.

Rivington is described by the brand as a bright turquoise creme. Application was very nice; the product consistency is just right for a creme; it’s easy to work with and isn’t too thin or thick. The first coat was a little streaky, but the second evened it out pretty well. The polish dries quickly and with a very glossy finish.

I’d not heard of Tenoverten until the day I found this one. I’m sure I’ve told you all the story of how I was in NYC, lost my mind in Sephora, and had to be dragged out by my travelling companions. I picked up this polish because it was new to me. It’s a cool polish, and a cool brand; Tenoverten claims an 8-free formula, which I didn’t know was a thing, and the bottle presentation is really sleek and modern. The bottle cap itself is metal or something, because it makes an unusual but satisfying tinkling against the neck of the bottle. The only real downside is the price; $18 for a creme is a little expensive.

I’m a little bummed that the color doesn’t look the way I remember it, but I have to admit this is a pretty neat color. I love greens, and I love cremes. I’ll definitely try to work this into manis in the future.

Rivington and other Tenoverten polishes are sold online and in stores; see their website for the complete list of stockists.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Tea Beauty’s Vanilla Petals

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Sunday, reader! Today’s swatch is a scented polish from Tea Beauty! This is Vanilla Petals; I’m wearing three coats of Vanilla Petals without top coat.

Vanilla Petals is a nude creme with a vanilla scent. Application was good; the first coat was a little streaky, which is not uncommon with light polishes like this. It evened out to full opacity on the second. The product consistency is pretty average, thick enough to carry color, not thin enough to flood cuticles. The polish dries with a glossy finish, but does take a while to do so; more than five minutes later, my nails were not smooth to the touch and still had some tack.

As I mentioned, this is a scented polish, and I’m actually pretty impressed by how long the scent has lasted. It’s been about a day now since I applied it; I’ve washed my hands many times, I washed my face, I took a shower in the morning, and it still smells like vanilla. My experience with scented polishes — particularly the Crayola ones I got from Rite-Aid — is that the scent vanishes completely after one hand wash, and I’m really shocked this one still smells after putting it through so many washes.

I don’t know much about this brand, other than they turned up at Walgreens one day, turned up in the sale bin on another, and all Google turns up are some blog posts from three years ago. The bottom label has a URL for a fragrance company, which does not list the polish on its site. Honestly, I don’t know if you can buy these anymore, which is kind of a shame.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sweet Heart Polish’s Oh Look, A Firefly

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Sunday!! For today’s swatch I’m excited to be wearing a new-to-me brand called Sweet Heart Polish. Based on Tinkerbell, this green jelly is packed with fairy dust. Let’s get started! I’m wearing three coats of Oh Look, A Firefly with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Oh Look, A Firefly is a lime green jelly filled with iridescent glitters and gold flakies. Application was good; the product consistency is perfect, being thick enough to suspend and distribute glitter without being goopy or sad. The green base is a very sheer jelly; nail lines are still visible even after three coats. The glitters are pretty fine and don’t leave a texture when dry, though it does dry with a satiny finish. I used top coat for shine and extra protection.

This polish really is Tinkerbell in a bottle. It’s green, golden, and completely magical. I’m wearing it alone here, but it could be used as a topper over another green polish, maybe even a black one, and looks excellent with its original satin finish. It sounds like a really simple polish — it’s made with some pretty basic ingredients — but it’s a beautiful look and is a ton of fun to wear. Personally, I wanted more coverage, but that’s not a huge gripe at all, I can deal with the sheer.

In the sunlight, the green looks a little washed out compared to the studio photos, but the glitter and sparkle is all there. These photos were taken in direct sunlight.

Oh Look, A Firefly is the second half of a sold-out Peter Pan collaboration with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This duo is sold out in both stores. Other Sweet Heart Polishes are available in their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Superficially Colorful’s Breathe

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Sunday! Today I’m trying out a new-to-me brand called Superficially Colorful. This polish, Breathe, is another entry in the Lighthouse of Hope box curated by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This is a charity box that benefits the depression awareness and education network I Need a Lighthouse. For this swatch, I’m wearing three coats of Breathe with one coat of Seche Vite. All photos were taken in direct sunlight.

Breathe is matte-drying aqua linear holo. Application was good; the product consistency was spot-on, and I had no issues using it. The first coat was nearly opaque and everything evened out by the second. The polish does dry matte, so top coat is necessary for shine. Some matte holos don’t look fantastic because the holo flame just blends into the overall look, but that’s not true with this one. You could skip it if you’re a fan of the matte look.

I’m pretty impressed with this polish. It’s got a great color and the holo flame, though a little subdued compared to others, is still visible. The aqua color is very vibrant. And, because it’s a polish for a cause, here’s what the maker had to say about it:

An aqua/turquoise holographic polish with a little silver and blue shimmer. I think it’s what we all need. To take a deep breath and go on. Everything is easier when you can breathe.

I’ve written about the Lighthouse of Hope box a few times, and about some of the other polishes in the box. The box itself costs $80, and $60 of it is donated to I Need a Lighthouse. You get eight polishes from all your favorite indies and you give to charity, what’s not to love? The box is available from the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer shop, and though they’re currently on a break, do get this box when they get back. Other Superficially Colorful polishes are available from their website.

Here are links to the other polishes in this box I’ve worn so far:
Alter Ego’s Grows Hope
Peita’s Polish’s Serenity
Rica’s Alchemical Seas of Hope

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday 2: Sula Beauty’s Paint and Peel in Haze

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Surprise!! There’s a bonus swatch for this week! Since I had an easy-peasy peel-off polish in the swatch queue, I decided I’d just get it out of the way this week. This is Sula Beauty’s Paint and Peel in Haze; I’m wearing three coats without base coat or top coat. Also, apologies for not delivering the cleanest swatch ever. Paint and Peel is water-based and didn’t work with the usual acetone clean up.

Haze is a dusty blue creme. Application was okay; my bottle is old, and so the polish had a thickness that, due to the water-based formula, I wasn’t sure how to resolve. A few nuggets of dried product were also in the bottle, likely from being on the neck of the bottle and falling in when opened. Despite this, I still got a good clean-ish application. Coverage is good; I had a nearly opaque first coat that evened out with a second. It dries quickly and with a glossy finish.

Paint and Peel is pretty cool stuff. It’s the least nail-polish-like polish I’ve ever used. It’s water-based, as I mentioned earlier, so it lacks that harsh solvent smell that a typical polish would have. It does have a smell, but it’s a different smell, sort of like clay. It peels off very easily by pushing the edge of the color away with an orange stick. It reminds me a lot of the peel-off Tinkerbell nail polish I had as a child.

Of course, if lasting color is something you’re after, base coat and top coat will add to the life of this polish. Me? I’ve never been able to keep this polish on. As soon as I’m done applying it, I’m already looking forward to peeling it off because peeling is fun.

Now, here’s the sad part. I don’t know that Sula Beauty as a whole exists anymore. Their website is a logo and an email link, and their Facebook page hasn’t been updated since 2012. If they’re really gone, that’s a huge shame. I would love to have more of these peel-off polishes, and they made some other good stuff as well. Hopefully they’re still out there somewhere.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sonia Kashuk’s Two Cent

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Swatch Sunday time! I love this swatch. This is Sonia Kashuk’s Two Cent, and it’s probably the prettiest copper polish I’ve ever worn. I’m wearing it here at three coats with Seche Vite.

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Two Cent is a shimmery golden copper brown polish. Application was good; the product consistency is a little on the thin side, but was still easy to work with. The first coat went on a bit light; the nail was covered, though the coverage was streaky. Additional coats were necessary to even it out. It dried quickly and with a smooth, glossy finish. I still used top coat for extra shine and protection.

I love how shimmery this is. It’s such a warm and dimensional shade. When you look really closely, you can see all the different colors that make up the big-picture shade; there’s red, gold, copper, and brown, and that’s just to begin with. I’ve always loved these warm copper shades; it was always one of my favorite lipstick shades when I was growing up, and wearing it on my nails now is pretty cool.

In the sun, the colors warm up big-time. In the studio, it looks way more brown than copper, but in direct sunlight, it looks like liquid pennies.

Two Cent appears to have been discontinued; other Sonia Kashuk polishes are available at Target.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Monday: SpaRitual’s Intention

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Hope you had an awesome Labor Day weekend, reader! The very long weekend — in addition to today’s holiday, we all had a hurricane day on Friday — has shifted my posting schedule a bit. Here’s the swatch I intended for Sunday, but is going up on Monday instead; here is SpaRitual’s Intention. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Intention is a sheer red with red, pink, and gold glass flecks. Application was easy; the product consistency is on the thinner side, and as you may have guessed, the first coat was a bit thin, but still had good color and coverage. All three coats were necessary for good opacity. The polish dries with a satin finish, and with the glass flecks, it creates an almost metallic look. I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

I love Intention, and I’m happy to be using it so soon after trying out Intuition a few weeks ago. I bought these at the same time and think of them as sister polishes. I really love the glass flecks in them; admittedly, I didn’t even realize they were glass until I was doing the shoot for this swatch and saw the label — “infused with recycled glass” — and thought it was really cool. I even checked my other bottle and it says the same thing. I had no idea! I mean, the effect is a bit different from a regular shimmer polish, but now I know why.

In the sun, the red really warms up, and the shimmers glow really nicely. I love reds, and this is a new favorite for sure!

Intention and other SpaRitual polishes are available on sparitual.com.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Smokey Mountain Lacquers’s Pleasure In Your Base

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Sunday, time for swatches! I’m trying out a new-to-me brand called Smokey Mountain Lacquers. It’s my first from them; it came in a Beauty Quartet Box from February 2015. It’s about time, right? This is Pleasure in Your Base; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite. Also, another disclaimer today: I broke the ring finger nail and tried to cover up the torn polish. It was a lot more convincing in person, I swear. Sorry about that.

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Pleasure in Your Base is a royal blue polish with a silver shimmer. Application was good; the product consistency was smooth and easy to control. The first coat was thin; the second gave full opacity. The shimmers in my bottle sank to the bottom, but giving it a good shake helps it come back together. The polish dries with a semi-glossy finish. I used top coat for extra shine.

At first, I didn’t really care for this polish, because it wasn’t what I expected from an indie maker. It’s like the same deep shimmery blue every mainstream maker has in their collection. The silver shimmers do add something unique, but it didn’t seem as special as an indie polish should have felt. Now that I’m wearing it, I can appreciate it for what it is: a handmade product from a small business. It may not be the most unique polish, but it’s still pretty. Indie or mainstream, everyone should have a blue like this in their collection.

In direct sunlight, the silver shimmers get washed out, but the blue shimmer comes alive. It really does have a glow.

Pleasure in Your Base was a Beauty Quartet Box exclusive and is no longer for sale. The Beauty Quartet Box is now the Magic 8 Box, available from Philly Loves Lacquer. Other Smokey Mountain Lacquers are available from their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Smitten Polish’s One Heart

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Hello, reader! I’m excited to bring you this week’s Swatch Sunday. I’m wearing a new-to-me brand called Smitten Polish! I’m also wearing my one and only Hella Holo Customs polish. It’s so pink and perfect I could die. This is One Heart; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. All photos were taken in direct sunlight.

One Heart is a pink holo with some extra silver glitters. Application was good; the product consistency is very smooth, and the coverage is fantastic, giving me a nearly-opaque first coat. I had no issues with it! It dries with a smooth and glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

So color me impressed with this polish. It’s the best of both worlds; the holo is pretty intense without diluting the bright color. It’s really tough to strike that balance sometimes, and Smitten has done it wonderfully with One Heart. Let me just tell you how sad I am to be taking this off right away. So sad.

If you’re not in the Hella Holo Customs group on Facebook, you should be! Beautiful group exclusives like this one are released every month by amazing indie makers. I know, you probably don’t need another excuse to buy polish, but if you’re like me and you need every single polish your favorite makers put out, you need to be there, just in case. It also helps you discover some new favorites. I’d heard of Smitten before, but never tried anything from them until HHC, and I’m super-glad I did.

Smitten Polish is now Dreamland Lacquer; One Heart is no longer available, but other Dreamland Lacquers are available in their online shop. Check out Hella Holo Customs on Facebook for info on how to join the group and how to buy group custom polishes.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sinful Color’s Timbleberry

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back to Swatch Sunday! Even though I’ve worn a lot of Sinful Colors polishes over the years, I’ve never had the chance to dedicate a whole post to one. My Sinfuls are my workhorses; they’re always there for me when I need a basic creme or a dainty iridescent glitter. Timbleberry is the perfect example of a Sinful creme; it has great coverage, it watermarbles, and it’s up to whatever task you have. For these photos, I’m wearing three coats of Timbleberry with one coat of Seche Vite.

Timbleberry is a bright pink creme polish. Application was good; the first coat was nearly opaque, and the second brought it up to full opacity. The product consistency was still smooth and workable, despite the polish’s age. It dries quickly and with a glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

Timbleberry is one of the oldest polishes in my collection, and it’s been a part of a lot of different nail looks, though only a couple have been on the blog so far. It’s a pretty unique shade for being a creme; it’s a bright pink, but it’s juicy, warm, and in some lighting conditions, it’s almost red. It’s a great color.

Unfortunately, Timbleberry has been discontinued by Sinful Colors. Other Sinfuls are available nationwide.

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Category Archives: Swatch Sunday

Swatch Sunday: Tenoverten’s Rivington

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Tea Beauty’s Vanilla Petals

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sweet Heart Polish’s Oh Look, A Firefly

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Superficially Colorful’s Breathe

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday 2: Sula Beauty’s Paint and Peel in Haze

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sonia Kashuk’s Two Cent

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Monday: SpaRitual’s Intention

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Smokey Mountain Lacquers’s Pleasure In Your Base

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Smitten Polish’s One Heart

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sinful Color’s Timbleberry

I bought this polish myself.