Revlon Enrapture

   I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's Day yesterday.  Sorry I don't have a green polish to show you today.  I didn't plan well when swatching recently.
   Revlon recently added a new line to their polish collections.  The new Brilliant Strength line has a strengthening formula to help prevent breaks and britlleness.  They also feature a built in protective base and top coat.  According to the Revlon website anyway.  The bottle shape is the same as the Colorstay line, but with white caps instead of black.

   Enrapture is a burgandy/mauve shade with gold shimmer.  There is also some blue and orange/copper micro-glitter in the mix.  This is close to a metallic finish, but not quite one.  There's a touch of frostiness and therefore shows brushstrokes.  Formula and application were good though and I only needed 2 coats for full coverage.  I used Finger Paints base coat and no top coat for these swatches.  The brush is a paddle style brush, but a smaller one than some other brands use, so it's not as bad or hard to use.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   I'm not a huge fan of the color, it's too dated and matronly for me.  However, I would like to try other shades in this line based on the formula and application I experienced with Enrapture.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me for consideration.

China Glaze Jungle Queen VS Revlon Perplex

   Wow, where has this last week gone?  So sorry this has taken me so long to post, I picked up a bunch of extra shifts at work and had a migraine or two since my Jungle Queen review.  But here is my comparison with Revlon Perplex, you can find my review of Perplex here.

   In the bottle Jungle Queen and Perplex look very close, but Perplex comes across maybe just a it more greyed.  For this comparison I used 2 coats of each polish over Finger Paints base coat and no top coat.  Jungle is on my pinky, middle, and thumb while Perplex is on my index and ring fingers.  There aren't any real application differences.  Formula wise Perplex is touch thinner.  

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   If I look really closely, I would say Perplex is maybe 1 shade lighter than Jungle Queen.  I asked the hubby what he thought and he couldn't tell them apart.  The slight difference might be from the shimmer.  I feel the shimmer shows up a tiny bit more with Perplex, though it is still VERY subtle.

   In case you missed out on Perplex when it was first released, Revlon has renamed this polish Naughty and it is now part of the core line.  I'm not sure why there was a name change for Perplex, and a few other newer polishes, but at least it is more readily available now.

   I'm calling Jungle Queen and Perplex dupes.  If you already have Perplex, or Naughty, you don't need to pick up Jungle Queen.  If you don't have one yet, then either brand is great.  I would pick whichever brand's formula works best for you.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were sent to me by the company for consideration.

Purple Ombre Manicure

   If you don't know, an Ombre is a gradation of color.  It can be different shades of the same color or different colors blending together.  Originally I thought it was pronounced ahm-bur, but David informed me it's actually pronounced ahm-bray.  And yes I trust him on this, much as it pains me sometimes, because he learned it from the girls in the costume area of his graduate theatre department.  Plus Tim Gunn said it that way in one of the first episodes of this season of Project Runway.

   The first part of this manicure is finding 5 polishes to use.  They need to be the same finish and the same base tone.  In the case of purple for instance, they should all be either blue-based or red-based shades.  For my manicure I went with creme finish and chose: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lavender Cloud, Revlon Top Speed Lily, OPI Planks A Lot, China Glaze Grape Pop, and Zoya Pinta.

   Yes the bottles are sitting on top of my printer.  I was not brave enough to venture outside, even into my parking lot, earlier when I realized I forgot to take a bottle picture.  There was a home football game at UGA today and I live about a mile from the stadium.  

   I started with a coat of Seche Rebuild, I'm trying to get rid of a peeling problem, then a coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat, 2 coats of each color, and topped it all with a coat of Barielle Manicure Extender.  I decided to go light to dark starting with my pinkie on each hand, but you could do it the other direction as well.

Direct Sun

Indoor next to window

   I think this is a fun look and a good way to bring some interest to your nails if you aren't very good at art, like me, or don't have time for any.

St Patrick's Day NOTD

   Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!  Did everyone remember their green?  Today is also Day 4 of my week of green.  I only have one picture for you of my mani from today because right after I took one just for fun shot with my phone, I managed to smudge my left thumb.  And of course there was no time to redo it before I had to go to work.

   I debated between several different polishes on which to use today.  Finally I ended up with Revlon Jaded from the new-ish Top Speed collection..  Jaded is a mint green with just the tiniest amount of hidden shimmer. I only needed 2 coats for full, even coverage.  Application and formula were both very nice. 

   The stars are shiny glitter pieces that I picked up on clearance from Sally's Beauty Supply earlier this week.  To apply them, and smooth out the surface of my nails to keep them from catching on everything, I waited a few minutes to let my base color dry.  Then I applied one thick layer of Gelous instant gel base coat, placed the star with a toothpick, and applied a second thick coat of Gelous.  I did this to all 5 fingers then added a thick coat of Seche Vite top coat.  I can still feel the stars, but this stopped most of the rough edges.  I've started using a coat of Gelous on heavy glitters as well in the same way, after the polish but before top coat, and it really helps smooth out the finish of rough polishes.

   Jaded reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream color wise.  Which gives me some nail art ideas for later.  I was impressed with the Top Speed formula and application.  

   So what color(s) did all of you choose for today?  Any nail art or did you just go with straight color?  Let me know in the comments.

Revlon Perplex

   Every once in a while a color comes along that you know you just have to have.  No matter how long it takes you to track it down.  For me, Revlon Perplex was one of those colors.  Perplex is a grayed purple with a lighter purple hidden shimmer.  
   There has been much talk, that I've seen, about Perplex being a dupe of Chanel's  Paradoxal.  I do not own Paradoxal, but the swatches and comparisons of the two I've seen make me say yes it is a dupe.  Or at least close enough that for the $20 price difference I do not feel the need to own both.

   Look closely at the middle of the bottle.  See the light purple shimmer that's just barely visible?  That shimmer gives the polish a depth and life on the nail which keep it from being just another grayed purple creme.  The formula was very thin I found.  I had to make sure to wipe not only the brush against the side of the bottle, but the wand as well to keep polish from pooling in my cuticles.  However, it is so pigmented that only one coat of polish is needed.  The one coat factor counter acts the thinness for me.  I used 1 coat Seche Base, 1 coat Perplex, 1 coat Seche Vite.

Direct Sun

Shade

Indoor

   As you can see, Perplex does dry a few shades darker on the nail that it looks in the bottle.  I found this to be a very almost neutral color on me.  It works well with my skin tone, doesn't call too much attention to itself, and yet isn't boring.  I even had one customer at work stop and ask what color it was before she left.  

   I apologize for the visible tip wear.  These shots were taken after a full day of wearing the polish and a shift at work.  The weather here has been very unpredictable and uncooperative for pictures.  Just today the sunlight and blue skies gave way to cloud cover and gray ickiness as I was in the middle of changing polishes to show you.

   The name Perplex is rather accurate for a couple reasons.  Not only is it reminiscent of Paradoxal, but right now you might be very perplexed trying to find the polish.  A search of the Revlon website for Perplex nets no results.  None of the stores in my town have started carrying it yet.  I found a display about a month ago at a nearby Ulta.  They had a separate display of nothing but Perplex, though it is no longer there.  Some people have reported finding it just mixed into the regular displays, but unmarked.  The bottle top says new shade not limited addition so eventually Perplex should be readily available most places. So if you can't find it right now, don't freak out you should be able to find it eventually.  But if you do find it, I say grab it.  I really like this color and even more so on than in the bottle.  I have a feeling that it will continue to be a bit hard to find for a while longer.