Mish Mash Challenge, Week 7 (I think!), Least expensive polish

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Hello again lovelies. I've been struggling to post the past few days since I am sick as all get out. Just my luck - I finally take a much needed break, come back to the blog and wham! Evil cold germs invade. I am very, very miserable, let me tell ya.

However, I feel horrible if I don't post for long, so here I am with my Mish Mash Challenge post for this week, even if it is 2 days late.

This week's challenge is to post our least expensive polish, meaning the polish that we actually shelled out the least amount of money for. Mine just happens to be one of the new Maybelline Color Show Vintage Leather polishes, which I snagged for nothing due to a BOGO sale, a $1.50 coupon and some CVS extra bucks. Pretty cool since I paid almost $4 each for the 2 I grabbed at Target.

This one is called Vintage Violet, and is a really beautiful deep Plum color with some lighter flakies. It has a matte finish, and is designed to streak and leave a somewhat distressed looking surface to mimic old leather. The effect is fairly cool, too. This one, unfortunately, is one from this collection that doesn't show the flakies all too well, but they *are* there.  The only ones that really show the flakies well are the lighter pinks/purples, which I'll be showing soon (I hope)

This is 2 coats of Vintage Violet, no top coat:

Ya know, I wasn't sure I would like these sans top coat, but I really do! And the color is definitely up my alley (although a complete pain to photograph, I tell ya!)

I did decide to try this one out with top coat as well. And I wasn't as impressed. This is the same polish with a single coat of HK Girl Top Coat:

Okay, so it's still pretty with top coat, and look at the shine from my HK Girl! I think I'm kinda let down with the shiny version since it seems to really cover up the flakies as opposed to bringing them out more.....some of these polishes really show their flakies when you add some top coat. Some, not so much. At least the color is still fabulous though! And it still looks somewhat distressed.

Vintage Violet's formula is a bit tricky to work with since it is a matte, but it is not supposed to be level or perfect and this really threw me. I kept trying to get it all even, when it's just not meant to be. It's thick, dries almost instantly and the flakies will leave some balding if you don't float the polish. Application was tricky for the same reasons - opacity was decent with full opacity at 2 coats. Wear, however, was a real let down. I had lots of tip wear and some serious chips before I was even able to photograph this (about 2 hours). I spent a lot of time doing touch ups. At 24 hours my nails looked like I hadn't changed polish in a week.

As much as I love the concept behind these, the wear really puts me off. I have 5 of these, and even though I want to wear them since  love the effect, I'm shying away due to the crappy wear time. Maybe the others won't be as bad.

What do you think of the Vintage Leathers? Are you planning on grabbing any?

I'm working on posting a review of some polish strips tonight. Otherwise, with this evil cold on board, I make no guarantees. I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things tomorrow. I have a literal ton of Indie awesomeness coming up ASAP.

In the meantime, head on over and check out all my polish sistah's and their Week 7 manis!

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Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber


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Holo, Holo, Holo! Julep Rebel and Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu review!

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*Julep Rebel purchased by me. Stuck on Blu provided for Review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information**


Hello Lovelies! Happy Sunday! Sunday's are one of my favorite days, since the hubby starts his weekend on Sundays. That means I have an extra pair of hands for toddler chasing, and I can get some swatches and photos done!

Quick reminder - The giveaway is still going, but there are only 6 days left to enter.  2 complete sets of Daring Digits 80's Hits Collection are up for grabs, and if I hit 500 GFC followers before the giveaway ends, I'll start ANOTHER giveaway. Come on! You guys want another giveaway right?? You can earn DAILY entries by sharing on twitter and Facebook, so share, share, share!

Today I have a polish that I meant to post a week ago, but with Autism Awareness Day and the start of Autism Awareness month, I got caught up in promoting awareness and since I really wanted to wear those manicures for Autism Awareness Day, etc., this poor beauty fell by the wayside. You can actually tell these pics are a bit older due to the puffy cuticles - I had an allergic reaction to this really lovely floral scented lotion (I have very sensitive skin and am allergic to so many things - this is why I stick to normal or vanilla scented lotions!) that I got for Xmas last year and my skin and cuticles were annnnnnngry!

Julep Rebel is Julep's first foray into holographics. When I first saw this polish, I was highly disappointed. The swatches I saw showed more silver than anything, with barely a glint of holo. I was determined to show the holo in this girl, since I was able to see it in direct sunlight and low light. I will admit, Rebel is not all that holographic in normal lighting conditions. You have to have direct sunlight and the perfect angle to get the amount of holo shown here. And even then, it's not all that holo. I do actually really like this polish though. There was just something about it that made it alot of fun to wear. 

One of the odd things about this polish was that it dried very matte, and the holo really didn't come out to play until I added top coat. 

This is 2 coats of Julep Rebel over Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu Basecoat and topped with HK Girl top coat. All photos taken in direct sunlight:  

Okay, so it's not the strongest holo out there, but I still really like it! When the holo does come out to play, it's beautiful. 

Rebel's formula was quite lovely. Perfect consistency and no thickening during use. Application was easy peasy with no dragging, balding, or glopping up. As I mentioned before, Rebel dries fairly matte and needs a top coat to bring out the holo. Backward, I know! I recommend HK Girl Top Coat from Glisten and Glow. Not only is it better than SV, but it does not dull your holos! You can check out my full review here.

 Now, keep in mind that holo application has ALOT to do with your basecoat. Alot of people use an Aqua basecoat with holos, but those can be incredibly pricey. I was lucky enough to receive a bottle of Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu Basecoat to try. Stuck on Blu is a sticky basecoat, much like Orly Bonder and CND Stickey. I found that  Stuck on Blue is a bit more sticky than my Bonder, which made my manicures last longer. It also doen't dry out my nails like Bonder seems to, and no weird discoloration either. I had read that Stuck on Blu was amazing with holographics, many people swore it worked even better than an aqua base. So, I tried it out with Rebel. And woah! Am I impressed!!! I have never had a holo apply this smoothly, with ZERO dragging or balding. I usually use Orly Bonder with my holos and always have issues with dragging and balding. Needless to say I am going to be sticking with Stuck on Blu from now on! Not only does this base coat work wonders with holos, it's also incredible with other finishes. I've been using Stuck on Blu for a few weeks under most of my manis, and application is so much smoother, and my manis last longer. This is truly the best sticky base I've tried!

Stuck on Blue Basecoat can be found via Glisten and Glow's website for $6.50. You can also grab the HK Girl and Stuck on Blu combo for $13.50! HK Girl is my Holy Grail Top Coat and Stuck on Blu is my new fave base coat.  I cannot recommend them enough.

Julep Rebel can be found at Julep's website, along with the rest of Julep's fabulous colors. You can also sign up to be a Julep Maven. If you're interested, feel free to use my link to sign up, and use invitation code 494263.  

 What do you think of Julep Rebel? Have you tried Stuck on Blu from Glisten and Glow?

Be sure to check back this week for Daring Digits, BG Cosmetics and Polish TBH as well as some more nail art!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber   

*Julep Rebel purchased by me. Stuck on Blu provided for Review. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

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Let's talk about Top Coats - HK Girl Fast Drying Top Coat Review

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 *Product(s) Featured purchased by me. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

Hello lovelies!!!! Happy Friday! Although it's Flakie Friday (and I assure you I will be back with some awesome Flakies today) I want to talk about something other than pretty polish today. I know, I know...perish the thought! 

A few months ago I was on a quest. We've all spent a ton of time and money searching for the perfect top coat, am I right? Most of swear by Seche Vite, but let's face it. SV has issues. Like shrinkage. ANd it doesn't play well with dry polish. And using more than one coat without waiting all day to let the first coat dry cause insane wrinkles. Not to mention that SV thickens up terribly about 1/3 of the way through the bottle, and regular thinner will not work - in fact, it jut makes your SV cloudy! SO, if you want to use more than 1/3 of your bottle, you get to spend another $9 or so to purchase Seche Restore, the only way to keep your SV usable and clear. Sounds like alot of aggravation, right?

Despite all of the evil associated with SV, I swore by it for almost 2 years. I've tried other top coats, Essie Good To Go, Orly Second Dry, and Orly's drying drops were all decent - they did the job but they just weren't as fast, shiny, or as solid as SV. I moved on to Sally Hansen Mega Shine as well, and I really loved that top coat - it's super fast drying, shiny as all get out and dries rock solid. I really thought I had found my Holy Grail there, but I kept hearing about this incredible, better than SV top coat that played well with all polish and well - curiosity won out. And let me tell you, I am so glad it did!

The top coat I'm referring to is the infamous HK Girl top coat. I had heard so many wonderful things about HK Girl - no shrinkage, intense shine, dries hard but doesn't chip, dries faster than SV, no wrinkling with multiple coats, and it plays well with every polish out there. Pretty big claims, right? Well, I am here to tell you that THEY ARE ALL TRUE! 

Check out this awesome bottle - is this not the best looking top coat bottle ever? Black and clear rhinestones with bright pink curled ribbon. So cool! I love this stuff so much that I'm ordering the gigantic 2.5oz bottles now. The bottle alone is worth the money!

*Note - HK Girl top coat is not cloudy at all. What you see here is a result of my lighting.
 
The bottle is adorned with black and clear rhinestones and a hot pink curly ribbon. Gorgeous looking top coat, right?

But let's talk about performance for a moment.  I was skeptical when I first heard that HK Girl was actually better than SV. I'll admit that. So when my first bottle arrived, I used SV on one hand, ad HK Girl on the other. I really wish I had had the presence of mind to take photos, but I had no idea that I would end up so in love with HK Girl. 

Dry Time- Hk Girl dries lightning fast. We all know that SV dries to the touch within minutes, but the polish underneath is still a touch moist for awhile. HK Girl dried faster than SV by about a minute, and was dry enough that the polish underneath didn't wrinkle or dent within 20 minutes.  I have a tendency to whack my hands against everything in sight right after I polish, so this was impressive. HK Girl is also completely self levelling, and requires only a thin coat.

Shine - SV is no doubt one of the shiniest top coats on the market. However, HK Girl manages to outshine SV somehow! I was born with glitter in my veins (In case you haven't noticed, I love me some glitters and it's rare that I don't have glitter on my nails), and I use Glitter Food to smooth out my glitter manis. Glitter Food dries very matte, and HK Girl restores my nails to ultra-shiny with a single, thin coat. If you haven't noticed that my photos always have some glare from my top coat now,  well I don't know how you could actually miss it. When I used SV, I had some minor glare, but not as blinding as with HK Girl. Some people may find this detrimental to photos but I'm not one of them. I want shine. Alot of it. I want people in airplanes to be blinded when the sunlight glints off my nails. HK Girl delivers!

What about shrinkage, thickening, and polish compatibility?  I can honestly say that I've been using HK Girl exclusively for about 4 months, and I have had zero shrinkage, even if I don't wrap my tips. I'm on my 4th bottle of this stuff and have yet to experience any thickening, even at the bottom of the bottle. If it were to thicken, regular thinner would do the trick, but I have a feeling that I'm never going to need it. If it hasn't thickened up after 4 bottles, it isn't going to! I also want to mention the formula - SV is notoriously thick to begin with, and despite being self leveling, I'd always end up with some top coat that spilled over the side of the nail. I have yet to experience this little annoyance with HK Girl.  The consistency is always perfect - thin but not watery. perfect for nice thin coats. HK Girl also plays well with every single polish that I have used it with. We've all had those few polishes that SV just did not like and ended up never drying, bubbling, or shrinking like mad. Not an issue with HK Girl. 

Have I raved enough? If all of that isn't enough to convince you that you need to try HK Girl, then let me mention one more thing. I actually threw away all of my other top coat, including my SV, when I started using HK Girl. I have one bottle of SH Mega Shine in case something horrible happens to my HK Girl (in which case I will cry and throw a gigantic tantrum), but that is it. Not a single bottle of SV to be found in my house. That's a big deal for me, since even when I used other top coats, I always kept SV on hand just in case. 

Have I also mentioned that HK Girl doesn't dull holos? Bonus! I cannot say it enough - if you only try one new product all year, make it this one. You will do the dance of joy, seriously. 

If you would like your very own bottle of HK Girl top coat, head on over to Glisten & Glow! The standard 0.5oz bottle sells for $6.95, and the giant 2.5 oz will run you $25.95. Jill also carries polish bath and body products, cuticle oil, and of course, Glisten and Glow Stuck on Blu Basecoat (review coming soon!), which is a sticky basecoat that rivals expensive Aqua bases for your precious holos! 

Be sure to check back later today for Flakie Friday! I'll also have some more Daring Digits, BG Cosmetics, 27 polish and Polish TBH coming up! 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Top-Coating!
-Kimber  
   

 *Product(s) Featured purchased by me. Please see Disclaimer/Legal Page for more information** 

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