Golden Rose Paris 108

I had really hoped that 2011 would be the year of holographics, but it's becoming apparent that this is the year of crackles.  I had never heard of Golden Rose nail polishes until I was reading the blog Chromatic Misadventures and I knew I just had to have these considering the price.  :)


So Golden Rose is a company in Illinois that has a large range of cosmetics including holographic nail polish for GET THIS - $3.50!  Now the bottles are smaller at 0.39 Fl. Oz. (versus 0.5 Fl. Oz. in a bottle of China Glaze or Finger Paints) but they are holographic! As you can see, it's a little diamond shaped bottle with a long thin handle but I didn't find it hard to work with at all.  I do wish their colors had names instead of numbers, but I'll deal.


For Paris 108 "Burgundy", I didn't use a base or top coat and this is 2 coats of polish.

Check out that opacity and coverage!  Ohhh lovely.

In the shade, you lose the holo look but it's still quite pretty.


You can purchase Golden Rose polishes from their website.  They offer free shipping for orders over $20 and free samples as well.  Sadly, they do not ship internationally.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

deborah lippmann Bad Romance

deborah lippmann's Bad Romance is a purple hex and small round glitter in a black base.  It's funny, when I start humming this song, I start singing "Judas" at the same time.  It sounds a bit the same to me!


Okay, I went to YouTube just to see if anyone felt the same - and oh, they have.

Anyway!  I originally bought this color in August of last year, but just let it sit on my shelf... forever.  Well, not forever but still.  I don't know why?!  Purple, glitter, love!

Because I'm used to deborah lippmann glitters being a bit on the sheer side for its base color (black), I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 1 coat of CND Blackjack, then 2 coats of Bad Romance and a top of Seche Vite.  The formula worked SO well with that base coat of Blackjack!  I ended up wearing this for 4 days and took the pictures in day 2 or 3 I believe, which is why there is a bit of tip wear.

Hello sun!  The hex glitter doesn't get on the nail as well as the small round glitter but it's still so pretty.

Check out the richness of the purple in the shade!  Oh I love it.

And an indoors with flash - very nice.  The formula worked well over the coat of Blackjack.  When I tried this color alone, I had to use 4 coats to get the black opaque enough to cover any visible nail.

deborah lippmann [official website] sells for $18 a bottle.  You can also Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Maybelline Blue Brilliance

I routinely like to visit CVS/pharmacy and Walgreens which, in my town, are literally across the street from each other...  One of my last visits, I spied a display of "Limited Edition" Maybelline.  Now, I don't own any other Maybelline polishes - but Blue Brilliance looked so pretty with a green blue color with tiny flashes of lilac in it (totally not seen in the bottle above).


Even though it considers itself a 50 second nail color, I used my normal routine of a base of Seche Natural, 3 coats of Blue Brilliance and a top of Seche Vite.  After the first two nails, I realized this was going to be a sheer mess for me, so on my last two fingers I did a base of CND Blackjack.  

Okay, can you smell my frustration?  My ring finger is this stroke-mess, my first two fingers are sheer and a brush stroke-mess...  The only thing that redeems this color is all the duochrome (trichrome?) available... purple, blue, green.  LOVELY.  Maybe I should try putting it over a white?

Random shade shot to show you a few more colors this thing bounces off.

Indoor picture to show you a bit more of that purple green blueness.


Honestly, I'm not happy with this one.  I don't like the sheerness, I don't like the brush strokes.  I think I paid $4.50 for this (not 100% sure), and I probably would take it back if I could find my receipt.


Maybelline can be found in various grocery stores.  Check their website for more information.  You can follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

Revlon Perplex

Gotta love my dad popping up in the background - hah.


Revlon Perplex is another dupe to Chanel Paradoxal and a much cheaper one at that.  I actually bought a couple of extras for future giveaways because it's my understanding that this color is sold out in some areas due to it's likeness to Paradoxal.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Perplex and a top of Seche Vite.  The formula was nice and smooth.

In the sun, you definitely see more purple shimmer than grey which Paradoxal was more grey, less purple shimmer.  I have to be honest, I'm more of a purple girl so I love this way over Paradoxal.

My shade picture kind of blew me away - check out that smoky purple color!  Big fan.

Indoors with flash - lots of purple shimmer in a grey base.  It's a bit dark for me for spring but I never really wear colors according to the "season" - I just wear colors.  ^_^


Revlon can be found in several grocery and drug stores - price may vary from $3-5.  Check out their website for more information.  You can also follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

Blogs of Note

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!  My 4 year old will probably hunt for some plastic eggs later... it's been in the 90s+ degrees with lots of humidity... not my favorite type of weather, as you can quite imagine.  So I might allow my parents to have their grandparent moment and let them do the hunting, haha.


First today is Polished And Frosted.  Chele is a dear friend of mine from my line of work and I'm really fond of her ^_^.  She has short to medium nails and I'd really love if you visited her blog.  


Next is Polishing The Nails!  She writes in both her native tongue (Danish) as well as English on her posts, which is super helpful.  Also, something I love about her site is she posts her swatches with 1 coat on her pointer, 2 coats on her middle finger, 3 coats on her ring finger and 4 coats on her pinkie - really helps when it comes to judging opacity for polish.  She has short to medium nails.


Last today is PolishMeHappy!!!!  She also has short to medium nails and posts swatches as well as some nail art.


Have a great Sunday!