Sally Hansen Deep End

 purchased by me 

It's been quiet around here.  Where'd we go?  Well...you'll see next month.  Our three year blogiversary is coming up in a few weeks, along with...well...you'll see!  I've also got something kinda big I'm working on for next week.  For now...purple polish...


Deep End is a dark purple cream.

less blue in person

Almost too shiny for its own good, isn't it?  You can see my front door in the reflections.  I don't own many Triple Shine shades, but I'm always impressed by the shine when I wear one.  The color's gorgeous, reminiscent of OPI Vant To Bite My Neck, but a bit lighter.  The formula is great!  For a lot of people it could probably be a one-coater, but I used two.

less blue in person

There's been some speculation that Triple Shine is being discontinued.  A lot of Walgreens locations have every core Triple Shine on clearance, but they still seem to be full-price at CVS, Rite Aid, etc.  Time will tell, but I'd be surprised if Sally Hansen is retiring another line so soon after Diamond Shine.  They just added new shades, including Deep End, earlier this year.  On the other hand, they haven't done any LE's in this line since...what...last summer?  Time will tell, but it would be a shame to see two lines go in the same year.

 all products in this post were purchased by me 

Drake & Miss Deep: A Half Moon Gradient

promotional samples ahead

Remember last month when I posted the R.O.D Collection from Carpe Noctem Cosmetics? I couldn't contain myself, even though my swatches were nearly a month ahead of the release. I get excited, especially about nerdy things. I figured I should probably do something for the actual release date.

Technicolor Blizzard

 purchased by me 

It seems absurd, but I think the OPI Color Paints collection might be too awesome to review.  Dunno if I'll be swatching them in the traditional way.  They're certainly wearable as-is, but they're bursting with nail art potential.  Almost the moment they arrived, I started playing with them.  I didn't want to stop!  My watermarble (which will be on here soon) gave Nichole the strongest lemming I've seen her have for a mainstream brand collection in....maybe ever.  She got the whole set for Mother's Day just a couple of days later and also jumped right in to arting with them.  You need it too!  If you watermarble, stamp, dot, or do pretty much any kind of nail art at all, you need these!  Nichole and I are both completely in love with the collection and I'm starting our parade of affection with some layered stamping.

That's right, they STAMP!!  That takes their potential to a whole other level.  I used all eight Color Paints jellies with the Winstonia's The Carnival plate (last image in the top row) over a base of Silver Canvas.  The result is complex and chaotic, but the technique couldn't be easier.  It's just like double stamping, but with more colors.  By rotating the stamper between each new color layer, they overlap.  OPI calls the Color Paints "blendable", which makes complete sense when you see them used together.  They're all sheer enough that they do "blend" when they're layered thinly over one another.  Silver Canvas illuminates them in a way that a white base wouldn't.  

The result looks like nail foils, it's that metallic and glowy.

Bottom line: Great formula, bold colors, and they're perfect for nail art.  I bought the whole set (yes, even the pinks) and my only complaint is that they only did eight shades.  I'd buy twenty if they made them.  They're that wonderful.  Silver Canvas is a little brushstrokey on its own, but sets the jellies alight.


Someone on Nail Board asked me for a tutorial on layered stamping.  Would anyone else be interested?  It'd be a good excuse to do another design the same way.

 all products in this post were purchased by me 

It's 99¢ Sinful Colors Sale Time!

I've been waiting for this!  The 99¢ Sinful Colors sale is a big event among bargain polish lovers and I get a little giddy every time it comes back.  Get to Walgreens before 5/16 and stock up!  I'm way behind on my swatching because of Allergimageddon '15, but I put up what I have so far.

If you haven't been to Walgreens in a while, they're in the process of overhauling their cosmetics section.  They're bringing in a few new, exclusive lines, but they've also dropped SinfulShine and revamped their core collection earlier this year.  There have been so many new displays and other shuffling that I've labeled each shade to make it clear what's permanent and what's LE.

Around here the spring collections are mostly still around, and summer's just starting to come in.  Some low volume stores might still have a few leftovers from Halloween and xmas, but I've dropped those shades from this post.  With any luck, I'll finish my spring swatches and start summer before the sale's over...but that's if my sinuses let me.

Anyway....the swatches...

click through the shade names to read my reviews

All About You (old formula, core) on its own and over Georgio (old LE)

Amethyst (core)

Bali Mist (core) over Inkwell (old LE)

Berry Charm (new core)

Blue By You (old core)

Call You Later (core) over Happy Ending (core)

Calypso (core)

Charmed (new version, core), over nude

Cloud 9 (LE repromote, old core?)

Courtney Orange (core)

Curry Up (summer LE repromote)

Dream On (new version, core)

Enchanted (core)

Endless Blue (core)

Energetic Red (core)

Fig (core)

Flight To See (spring LE) over China Glaze Licence & Registration PLS

GoGo Girl (core)

Gold Medal (new core)

Green Ocean (new core) over black

Happy Ending (core) - LED light

Hottie (core) over Endless Blue (core)

Ice Blue (summer LE repromote) over Milani Blue Print

Innocent (core)

Lavander/Lavender (summer LE repromote)

Let Me Go (core, and its old LE damn-near dupe Rain Song) over nude and black

Let's Meet (new version, core)

Let's Meet (old version, core) over nude

Let's Talk (core, not color-accurate)

Mauvelous (LE repromote)

Midnight Blue (core)

Navy I Do (spring LE)

Out Of This World (core)

Pistache (LE repromote)

Pride (core) over Revlon Wild Violets

Prized Plume (spring LE) over Navy I Do (spring LE)

Pull Over (summer LE repromote)

Queen Of Beauty (core) over Sugar Sugar (core) - LED lighting

Ring The Belini (spring LE) over Innocent (core)

Rise And Shine (core)

Rise And Shine with Mint Apple accent (both core)

Ruby Glisten (new core)

Ruby Ruby (core)

Sail La Vie (LE repromote)

Savage (core)

Shamrockin' (LE - different version) over Sally Hansen Poison Ivy

Sheer Flight (spring LE) over China Glaze My Way Or The Highway

Skylark (new core)

Starry Night (core)

Steel My Heart (LE repromote)

Sugar Sugar (core) - LED lighting

Supernova (LE repromote)

Tempest (core)

This Is It (old core) over Pipaya (old LE)

Unicorn (formula has changed)

Why Not (core)

You Just Wait (core) over Mauve (old LE)

 all products in this post were purchased by me