You warned me!

Remember how I was raving on Twitter and Instagram about how amazing these new Maybelline Color Show Brocades polishes are? And how you all warned me that they were going to chip pretty much immediately?

I was wearing Gilded Rose (which I honestly still adore, it's too gorgeous not to love), and I was just about to photograph it for a post, when I noticed...

Maybelline Color Show Brocades in Gilded Rose

Well, damn.  That's unfortunate.  And what a weird place for it to chip, too.  In my defense, I wasn't wearing basecoat, so there's still hope.  Right?

I guess that means I get to switch colors now.  Always a silver lining.  Hah!  Okay, but seriously, these are absurdly pretty.  Prettiest (mainstream) polishes I've seen in months.  They remind me of the China Glaze Prismatic collection glitters, but with more variety.

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel in Autumn Spice

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel in Autumn Spice

I've had my eye on this color ever since I first saw the Parfumerie collection on Nouveau Cheap.  This particular shade combines several of my favorite things: multichrome/color shifting glass fleck shimmer, dark, vampy color, the words autumn and spice in the name, very attractive packaging, and a gimmick (it's scented!) to make it completely irresistible to me.

Finally found it just last weekend and it's even better than I anticipated.  Color? Gorgeous.  Formula? Excellent.  Scent?  Surprisingly un-artificial and not excessively strong.  Perfect fall polish.  I love it.

I like scented polishes, but sometimes they can be overpowering and headache-inducing.  This one strikes a good balance between being noticeably scented, but not so noticeably scented that it turns your stomach because it's all I can smell.  It has a spicy (duh), rich cinnamon scent.  Very pleasant.

I also grabbed Italian Leather and Sunlit Grass because they were buy two, get one free at Meijer.  Have you tried any of these?  Which other scents are good?  I was thinking about getting the Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream dupe but the mint scent didn't sound too appealing to me.  Should I go back for it?

Enchanted Polish Seven Nation Army

Here's a cool one from indie brand Enchanted Polish.  It's a polish made up of multiple sizes of matte black and white glitter, with some holographic microshimmer in between to fill in the gaps.  You can wear it alone as a topcoat:

Enchanted Polish Seven Nation Army, one coat

...but it looks even more amazing worn solo (three coats):

Enchanted Polish Seven Nation Army

(Looks like granite, right?  I think so at least.  I think it's awesome. And bonus points cause Jack White. Mmm hmm.)

The formula on it is good.  I didn't have any noticeable texture or application issues.  One thing to be aware of is that it is a sparse glitter polish, likely intended to be worn as a topcoat.  The coverage isn't so heavy that the base polish won't show through.  That's a good thing.  However, if you want to wear it by itself (and you will, cause look at that!), it's a three coat minimum (I'm wearing three coats here).  It's not particularly rough or gritty when it dries, but you'll still want to use topcoat for shine.

This has been sold out for ages, but I'm hoping it'll be back in stock at some point.  You can see it here on Enchanted Polish's website: Seven Nation Army.

(sample provided for review.)

Nicole by OPI Gumdrops Textured Polish Collection Swatches and Review

Flashback to earlier this year: Textured polishes.  Textured polishes EVERYWHERE.  So many textured polishes.  Not many of them catching my interest.  Okay, lumpy nail polish, it's different, kinda cool, not really my favorite, it'll pass soon.  But textured glitters?  Ones that look like sparkling, sugar-coated little gumdrops on your nails?  Oh yeah.  Now I'm paying attention.

 Nicole by OPI A-Nise Treat

 Nicole by OPI Blue-Berry Sweet On You

 Nicole by OPI Candy is Dandy

 

 Nicole by OPI Cinna-man of my Dreams 

 Nicole by OPI Lilac Gumdrops

 Nicole by OPI My Cherry Amour

These can be worn with topcoat, but it negates the gumdrop-textured finish:

A-Nise Treat with topcoat

Cinna-Man of my Dreams with topcoat

The formula on these is perfect.  Good texture, great coverage, very easy application, no running or clumping.  Very fast dry time as well.  This is three coats of each, but most of the colors looked exactly the same at two coats.  Blue-Berry Sweet On You was the only one that I felt needed the third coat.  Since these are glitters and have added grit, they need, at the very least, three coats of topcoat if you want to cancel out the textured finish and wear them like a regular glitter polish.

My favorite from this collection was Candy is Dandy.  The candy pink shade paired with the sugary-looking glitter (accented with a little bit of hologram glitter!) really drives home that sugary gumdrop theme.  Cinna-man of my Dreams was nice because of the multi-color glitter, but it didn't immediately make me think of gumdrops. 


(samples provided for review)

Dior Dioriffic Vernis in Diva (Grand Bal Collection Holiday 2012)

Dior Dioriffic Vernis in #901 Diva

Whoa, flashback!   I was just thinking about all the polish collections that came out for last year's holiday season and remembered that this is what I was wearing last year around this time.  I remembered being pretty smitten with this color when it came out, but I only ended up wearing it twice.  It's a black creme base with tiny gold flake shimmer accented by a little bit of (mostly red and purple) multicolor microshimmer.  The shimmer isn't immediately obvious, but it reveals itself every now and then when the light hits it just right.