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!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber


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Flakie Friday! Zoya Chloe

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Hello Lovelies! Happy Friday!!!!!!!!! Not a payday Friday here, so it's not as exciting as it could be (especially with the ILNP Ultra-Chromes pre-order going live today. Ahhhh I want those so badly!!!), but with Friday comes Flakies, and Flakies always make things awesome.

Today's Flakie is Zoya Chloe, a mix of orange/red/gold/yellow and some green/blue duochrome mylar flakies in a barely pink tinted base. I've been in love with this since the day it was released and am seriously wondering if I am insane since I am just now wearing this pretty. Poor Chloe...she's been neglected.

I've seen Chloe paired with a number of awesome base colors, my favorite being purple, but I really wanted to try her over a dark, but not quite black color. I chose Essie Devil's Advocate, a deep plummy oxblood color.

This is 1 coat of Chloe over 2 coats of Devil's Advocate, topped with Glossy Glam. I apologize for my pinkness here - I'm working hard to moisturize and baby my hands since I'm healing from the evil blistering allergic reaction, which always seem to give me a bit of a pink flush.

Okay, I have to admit it,  I was kind of hoping the darker, plummy base would bring out a little more pink in the flakies, but I was wrong. However, this is still a beautiful combination and I'm quite happy with it. The color shift is truly amazing! How about a macro shot of those colorful flakes?

Gorgeous!!! I particularly love the Green/Blue in this one. That shift to cobalt blue just makes my heart skip. You can see a bit of the pink in the center as well, but with such a deep base color, they end up fairly washed out.

Chloe's formula is fabulous, although she does have a lot of base vs. flakies, which can make holding onto those flakies at the tip of your nails a bit of a pain. Application was wonderful, save for the aforementioned base vs. flakies issue. Dry time was average, and wear is excellent with no signs of wear at around 20 hours. These are Mylar flakies, and a bit thinner than the usual flakes, which means that they lie very flat on the nail. No need for glitter food or Gelous with Chloe. I used a single coat of Glossy Glam here and my mani is smooth as glass. I do need to mention that the tint in the base color does not have any effect on base color at all. It's so barely there that it's essentially clear.

I really wish that I had worn this flakie much sooner. I mean, look at those colors!! I must try this again over a purple so I can really see that pink shine.

What do you think of Chloe? Do you have this beauty of a Flakie in your stash?

I'll return tomorrow with some Indie awesomeness! I have a ton of Indies to share with you, including some new to me brands that will blow you away, so be sure to check back.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



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Flakie Friday! OPI DS Mystery

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Hello Lovelies! Happy Friday!!!!! I am very much looking forward to this weekend - hubby has 5 days off this week, and it's a payday Friday! Looks like I'm going to be a swatching, cleaning, and shopping (mostly necessities...boo!) fool!

Since it's Friday, it can only mean one thing around here...Flakie Friday! Today's polish is a personal fave, yet I had never worn this color myself until now. I have no idea why.....it's just gorgeous!

OPI DS Mystery is a beautiful deep Eggplant/Plum packed with fine gold flakes. At first glance, it looks like more of a glass fleck that a flakie, but I assure the flakes are there. I'm still shaking my head at myself with this one - I've had this polish for a good year or so and it's just been sitting in my untried OPI's. What a shame!!!

This is 2 coats of DS Mystery, with top coat:

*Sighs* Soooooooo pretty!! I love how this baby is so jam packed with flakies that they don't even look like flakies. Except when you remove it - then you can see all of the flakes pop up through the polish as it dissolves. This polish is also amazing in sunlight. Almost blindingly so! But speaking of those flakies...how about a macro shot so you can see them?

See! There they are! They're just so densely packed that they look more like a glass fleck to my eyes! Either way, it counts! ;)

DS Mystery's formula was standard OPI awesome-sauce  Great consistency, no thickening during use, and no glopping, even after sitting on a shelf for over a year. Application was a cake walk with no dragging or balding and I only needed 2 thin coats for full opacity. I do recommend using top coat with this baby, since she seems to dry a touch on the dull side. Dry time was fast, and wear is good - although I haven't even worn this for 24 hours and I have a couple small chips on both thumbnails.

I think this is one of my faves from the entire DS Series. You know me and shimmery, shiny vampies! I could wear vampies all year long and be perfectly content.

What do *you* think of DS Mystery?

I'll be back either this afternoon or tomorrow morning with more from Live Life Polished, so be sure to check back! I also have pretties from NPB, Luscious Potion, Fandom Cosmetics and Shimmer Polish on the way.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!
-Kimber



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