Comparison-Nomadic in Nude vs. Waking Up in Vegas

Part of the reason I was excited to get the Color Club Back to Boho collection was that I had heard that Color Club's Nomadic in Nude is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas. Though this post proves that this is not the case, I still like all the colors in the Back to Boho collection and am glad I purchased it.

Here are Deborah Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas and Color Club Nomadic at 2 coats a piece:

2 coats of Waking Up in Vegas on left, Nomadic in Nude on right

I have a few more pics after the jump.

More of Finger Paints Asylum

I tried out Finger Paints Asylum over various colors on the nail wheel. After limited success with the two colors I did try it over initially, I did another mani with it:

1 coat Asylum over 2 coats Artist's Sapphire, both Finger Paints polishes

Join me after the jump to see pictures of Asylum over various other colors on a nail wheel.

Comparison-Revlon Top Speed Jaded vs. China Glaze Refresh Mint

Here is absolute proof that I am always drawn to the same kinds of colors:More pictures after the jump.

China Glaze Re-fresh Mint on left, Revlon Jaded on right, sunlight

Fell on my face, fell off the wagon

My no-buy lasted a total of 36 hours :( But it's due to circumstances out of my control. Yesterday I tripped and landed on my face pretty hard, and I needed something to make me feel better. I went into Ulta and found that they had Revlon's Whimsical and that they currently have a BOGO 1/2 off sale. I bought it, Starry Night, and an Ulta color that was on clearance for a dollar. (Also, the ULTA still had plenty of the Glitterati set, which I already own because it's got 3 Lippmann dupes.) My face looks like I went 12 rounds with Laila Ali, but now I have two more lemmings off my list!

Sale Alert-Sally's Clearance 1/2 off!

Crappy lighting, good polishes, awesome prices!

In case anyone missed it in my library post, just want to make sure everyone knows that Sally's has polishes from Orly, China Glaze and Finger Paints' holiday collections on clearance right now-and all clearance items are half off! Also, some of the glitters from the China Glaze Eye Candy collection were half off as well. I didn't buy any of those so I'm not positive of the final price. But I got the 4 polishes above at under $2 a piece! Make your way over to Sally's if you missed any holiday polishes-they might still be around for a steal!

Finger Paints Asylum-Flakie Flakiness

Finger Paints Ayslum over China Glaze Near Dark

After swatching Finger Paints Asylum over a variety of colors, I'm less than impressed. This pic is what I think is the most interesting, join me after the jump to see Asylum over more colors.

Edited to add: also, be sure to check out Asylum over several colors in a later post.

Curse you, Library! I.e., please vote for a flakie!

Which Finger Paints flakie would you like to see first?

-Motley(blue)

-Flecked(green)

-Tainted(purple with green and gold) 

-Asylum(purple with green and gold and more blue)

-combo of some kind

I'm pretty new at this blogging thing, so I have no idea how to do a real poll. Vote for a favorite in the comments.  (If you want a reference point for the colors, follow this link to the Nail Polish MD, who did all of them over black.)  Also, let me know what you think my base color(s) should be. Remember that flakies do better over darker colors. 

How did I end up with all these flakies? What other polishes did I get-for $2 or less?  How does the library figure into any of it? Find out after the break!

NOTD-OPI Metallic 4 Life

Metallic 4 Life, 3 coats, sunlight

I was very pleased to find the Nicki Minaj collection at my favorite nail place last night, but I was not all that impressed with the colors. Frankly, the cremes just aren't my taste, and I wasn't sure about Save Me, a silver glitter with holo bar glitter. (I'm just not sure I need it since I already have a couple of topcoats with silver in them!)   I did pick up Metallic 4 Life because I find it so unusual and interesting:

Metallic 4 Life, 3 coats,shade

 Metallic 4 Life is a sheer black/grey base with small and hex silver glitters. Overall, I like this polish but added some China Glaze Blue Year's Eve to my accent nail to add a pop of color. (And also because after having worn another charcoal/grey polish recently I needed a bit of variety.) I used 3 coats on this mani because I had applied it a bit unevenly, but it really only needs 2 if you apply well.  Removal is a pain, as is the case with all glitters.

My Christmas mani-Essie Borrowed and Blue and China Glaze Glittering Garland

Christmas mani, sunlight

As soon as I saw this on Adventures in Acetone, I knew that it would be my Christmas mani:

It's simple enough that I knew I wouldn't mess up with application, and it looks so cool!(BTW, if you look really carefully you can see that I was removing polish from something before the pics. Though I washed my hands, there are plenty of stray cotton fibers hanging around!) A bit more after the jump.

NOTD-Wet N Wild SaGreena the Teenage Witch

natural light

So this manicure started as a nail fail. I had intended to do a gradient mani with this color, but I neglected to check on this polish's opacity. Once I put it on my white nail, I knew there was no way it would ever build up sufficiently. I tried to salvage the look by doing some dots and Christmas lights.

sunlight

I used WnW SaGreena the Teenage Witch for the background green. I think it's a beautiful, shimmery green, totally appropriate for the Christmas season. Just not very opaque, LOL.  Another warning: when it came time for removal, it stained a LOT!  Afterwards, I added dots and lights with Elf Light Red and Wet n Wild Metallica and unnamed Coloricon gold for the dots.  

12/25/11 Weekly Blog Roundup: New WnW polishes and some lists

Merry Christmas, everybody! So it being Christmastime, many bloggers (including me) have been too busy to post. Others have been posting beautiful nail art. There is so much great stuff to choose from, I won't make more work for myself by trying to narrow it down. Besides, I figure most people are done with their Xmas nail art anyway. 

-One fantastic piece of news this week just got posted on Nouveau Cheap's website: Wet n Wild is releasing 2 kinds of new nail products, along with some other makeup. http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2011/12/spotted-new-nail-eye-and-lip-products.html  One of them is crackle nail polishes, which will be limited edition and were priced at $2.88 at Walmart.  I'm sure many nail philes are sick of the crackle trend, but I find Wet n Wild's entry notable because of the low price. The cheapest I've ever seen crackle before has been at $3.99. The other nail line  is "salon quality" nail polish, including a few new colors. This polish will retail at $1.99 each. Be sure to visit Nouveau Cheap's blog post for the full story. 

-A bit of bad news for me is my continued failure to find some of the new stuff I've told you about. I've yet to find Revlon's Whimsical or the Spoiled nail polish line even though I've been going to a bunch of different drugstores recently. Maybe after the Christmas season when they have more display space?

-The other thing I wanted to share is some top 10 lists.  Canadian bloggers Rebecca of Rebecca Likes Nails and Kayla Shevonne are currently doing a series on the top 10 nail polishes released in 2011!  The Nailspotting blog posted a top 10 list as well.  It's very interesting to see what their choices are and compare them to your own. Kayla and Rebecca have also done a personal top 10 list. The Polish Insomniac has her top 20 as one of the tabs at the top of her page.   I'm always trolling for new colors, so I find it fascinating to look at the colors that other polish lovers consider "the best of the best!" Here are the links: Jessica (i.e. The Polish Insomniac) and Kayla Part 1 Part 2.*Edited to add*  I got ahold of Rebecca and she provided links to her Top 10 posts Part 1 Part 2 with the caveat that her choices were made when her collection was much smaller.

NOTD-ULTA Fashionably Late

 

For this mani, I used 2 coats of ULTA's Fashionably Late. It's no coincidence that this post follows my comparison of the same polish with Wet n Wild's Diamond in the Rough. I was working on the comparison and removing polish from my swatch wheel yesterday when I accidentally removed Revlon's Carbonite, the polish I was wearing at the time. I didn't have Carbonite with me, so I covered up with 2 coats of Fashionably Late! Afterwards, I added a coat of OPI Serving Up Sparkle to add extra holo goodness to the look. 

Comparison-Ulta Fashionably Late vs. Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough

Ulta's Glitterati set has 3 great dupes of highly coveted Deborah Lippmann polishes and that makes it worth its $4.99 price. The one  color in the set that is less recognizable as a dupe is Fashionably Late, a blackened jelly base with charcoal and silver hex glitter. It may not be as well known, but I happen to think this is a dupe of a Lippmann as well. Dancing in the Dark was recently released as part of the Dance Music holiday trio, a set of minis. 

I don't own a the Lippman but I do own a very similar color, Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough. Join me after the jump for a coat by coat comparison of the two.

Simple Christmas nails-Sinful Colors Last Chance plus glitter

natural light

I did this manicure because I wanted a festive but understated look. I'm not sure how understated glitter can be, but this was what I came up with. I started with Sinful Colors Last Chance, a dark green jelly. I used 2 coats to get it opaque and added another to even it out. I regret it a little since I then added a coat of Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors, which has a slightly darkened grey base. I finished with a coat of the unnamed gold glitter in my Wet n Wild Little Luxuries set.

sunlight

Sinful Colors Last Chance

Santa manicure

Heeeere's Santa

 

 

Where would Santa be without his cookies? Plus, I had no idea how to do a sleigh or reindeer ;)

I'm not really sure what to say about this one. It's all the components of Santa's outfit.  I'm not sure that the face is all that great but hopefully you get the idea when you see the other fingers.  I got the idea after seeing this post on the suit from Swatch and Learn Santa nails and various manis featuring stamped hats.

Santa again, all pics in natural light

Sorry for the quality of the thumb pics. Taking a macro of your own right thumb while trying to hold the camera steady ain't easy!

For this mani, I used the some of the same colors as I did for my other Christmas mani.  My main colors were Wet n Wild French White Creme as a base white and the base red is an unnamed red polish I got in Mexico from a brand called Ylsel. I used Wet n Wild Black Creme and Metallica for the belt, China Glaze Blue Year's Eve for the main background color, Glittering Garland for the cookie background and acrylic paint for the face and cookies. 

12/18/11-Weekly Blog Roundup-Flakies Edition!

So this was not the most eventful week for me as far as having multiple links to share, but it was an eventful one for flakies!

Finger Paints is coming out with a new collection called Special Effects, and several blogs have featured their press release. The collection is scheduled for release in January, but a couple of people got ahold of the polishes early and swatched them. They are The Nail Polish M.D.. and the Nail Phile.

Several blogs posted the recent press release about the China Glaze Hunger Games collection. There is a flakie in that collection as well! Anyone besides me thinking that flakies will be the next trend in nail polish? 

In non-flakie news, if you missed out on Wet n Wild's limited edition polish, Correction Tape, you're in luck. The new Spoiled collection from Wet n Wild features the same polish under the new name "Trust Fund Baby." You can see them for yourself on Polish Fixation, which has a swatch comparing the two.

Christmas assortment manicure

Assortment pic 1, natural light

Thumb image-present (shade)

So I've had this manicure completed for a while now, but my schedule and the sun have just not been working together. This is my first manicure that I created myself and did based on my own design, although seeing all the wonderful nail art in the blogging world definitely influenced and helped a lot.  I did everything freehand based on shape cutouts. I did those cutting bits of envelope labels to fit the particular shapes I want. (i.e. triangle for tree, square for present, etc.)  The only one that was totally freehand was the candy cane, and it's one the ones that turned out the best, probably because it was so uncomplicated.

Assortment pic 2, natural light

Thumb image-present (natural light) I had a very hard time getting an in focus macro shot, the two pics in this post are my best attempt.

My main colors were China Glaze Glittering Garland and an unnamed red polish I got in Mexico from a brand called Ylsel. I used Wet n Wild White Creme as a base white, China Glaze Blue Year's Eve for the snowman's scarf and to shade the present, LA Colors Sea Foam Green for the ribbon, and Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters for the tree decorations.  It is definitely came out differently and not as nice than what I planned, but you can tell what each shape is so I guess it's all good. :)

OPI Texas Collection minis-Just Two Cute!

I spotted this collection of minis at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago. I love OPI and had missed this collection when it came out. And the name of the set is just too cute, considering the Texas theme. I didn't purchase them that day because the four pack included a base coat and a red-berry color that didn't seem very unique. However, I'm a fan of the sorbet (jelly) finish and don't have any (*cough* undamaged *cough*) OPI minis, so today I went back for the set. Here's what I found.

OPI I Vant to be A Lone Star and Austin-Tatious turquoise

While others may have been disappointed, I was thrilled! It was the exact two colors I liked most from the collection, and the pack would be discounted for being incomplete. Sure enough, at the register they gave me half off, so the two  polishes came to $5.00. Yay! I can't wait to try both of these colors.

Comparison-Ulta Black Tie Affair vs. Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors

Ulta  Black Tie Affair on ring and pointer fingers, Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors on pinkie and middle, 3 coats

I mentioned that Ulta has a set of glitters that all seem to be Deborah Lippmann dupes and so of course I had to go to get them for myself.  I'm now going to show you a comparison of  on a coat by coat basis. Unfortunately, I got these polishes at night and the picture quality isn't great because of the lighting, but you'll get the idea. 

Ulta  Black Tie Affair on left, Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors on right, 1 coat

Ulta  Black Tie Affair on ring and pointer fingers, Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors on pinkie and middle, 2 coats

 

I applied the polish as I normally would, didn't try to manipulate the glitters in any way, though I sometimes went back in an effort to get each coat even. In person, I would say that BTA is a tiny bit darker than but is also a bit grittier than BCD. Also, I know from prior experience that BCD's hex glitters become silver as you remove them, and BTA's glitters stayed red. I even painted a bit on a piece of foil and brushed it with acetone to check!

Wet n Wild It's All in the Cut- Sponged Glitter

Wet n Wild It's All in the Cut over China Glaze Anklets of Amethyst-sunlight

I had a bit of tipwear on my  Anklets of Amethyst manicure and would have swapped it out if I hadn't seen this post over at Chromatic Misadventures: Chromatic sponging

Wet n Wild It's All in the Cut over China Glaze Anklets of Amethyst- natural light

As you can see if you clicked on the link, the same glitter nail polish can have quite a different look depending on what kind of purple it's sponged over. I think it's beautiful either way!

A (kinda) macro of the look.

Weekly(?) blog roundup

So I"m doing this post to share what I consider to be good information or nail art for the nail loving community. I may not have enough material to keep doing it weekly, but I certainly found lots of interesting stuff this week:

-Dupe Alert! Revlon has created a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. Read a blog posting that compares the two here. http://hotpinkaurora.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-on-revlon-dupes-deborah-lippmann.html (For those few non-nail lovers reading this, Deborah Lippmann is a brand of polish whose polishes are often unique, but run $18-$20 per bottle [!]) Revlon's dupe is called called Whimsical and it is appearing with the new Revlon displays. It looks like this display also may contain dupes for the Chanel Jeans collection.  Read more about it in Nouveau Cheap, which does its own comparison in the post. http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2011/12/revlon-whimsical-deborah-lippmann.html

-Dupe Alert, part 2! Ulta is currently selling a 4 pack that contains dupes for the following popular Lippmann shades :Bad Romance, Ruby Red Slippers, Dancing in the Dark(part of the recent collection, which you can read about here: http://www.thepolishaholic.com/2011/11/deborah-lippmann-dance-music-holiday.html) AND....Across the Universe!!! That last one is the one I'm most excited about, this is my all time most coveted Lippmann and I have been searching for a good dupe of it for a while.Read about it and see the swatches here: http://adventuresinacetone.blogspot.com/2011/12/ulta-glitterati-minisaka-deborah.html

-Layering awesomeness alert: Watch two beautiful polishes transform into something even more gorgeous at Swatch and Learn: http://www.swatchandlearn.com/cult-nails-hypnotize-me-layered-over-cult-nails-iconic-swatches-review/  Like I mentioned in a prior post, seeing this post inspired me to layer more!

-A beautiful winter mani at LadyLuck Beauty Blog: http://ladyluckbeauty.blogspot.com/2011/12/winter-nail-art.html  I think it's simple enough to do with just a toothpick, no special tools/polishes necessary. I plan to test this theory and imitate the design later in the season, though I'm going to do Christmas specific ones in the meantime.  

-Rebecca over at Rebecca Likes Nails shares some flakie awesomeness with us with her swatches of Nfu-Oh 50. Maybe this is only important to me because of my huge love of flakies?  Hmmm....http://rebeccalikesnails.blogspot.com/2011/12/nfu-oh-50.html

-Nouveau Cheap posted another update about the Spoiled collection from Wet n Wild. http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2011/12/quick-update-on-new-wet-n-wild-spoiled.html  The good news is, it will be permanent. The bad news: I've been to 4 different CVS and have yet to find them! Maybe it's being rolled out slowly and California is last on the list?

-I've been to a few Big Lots! recently for non-polish reasons and checked out the beauty section. At the two I visited, there were still some Revlon Carbonite polishes to be had for $1.50. (Carbonite is a very near dupe of a Chanel shade called Graphite) Some were in the generic bucket of beauty products on the bottom shelf, and in both stores, there were only 5 or so left. Visit your local Big Lots quick if you want to pick up this beauty on the cheap! 

-Finally, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is happy to hear that Michelle from All Lacquered Up posted an explanation of her absence. http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2011/12/dawn-day.html I'm sad to hear about her recent problems, since I've also battled depression in the past and can relate. Luckily, things are looking up and she says she'll be back to posting regularly. Even if she never posted again, her blog is invaluable resource.  I wish her the best, in blogging but more importantly, in life!

China Glaze Anklets of Amethysts-A Pinky Purple or Purpley Pink?

Yesterday, when it came time to polish my nails, I had a yen for glass fleck. I checked through my colors and ended up surprising myself by choosing China Glaze's Anklets of Amethyst.  AoA is one of my first 3 China Glaze purchases. It was also my first experience in bottle fraud-a color that looks awesome in the bottle but whose color doesn't translate to the nail.  It's an amazing pinky-purple in the bottle, but I think it mainly looks pink on the nail. And it takes 3 coats to be fully opaque. I'm not much of a pink gal, so it was a color I used the one time and put away.

After using this color again, I've come to really appreciate it. It has glass flecks which are beautiful in the right light. And the color is very nice, it just wasn't the color I initially expected. Also, the opacity means you can layer one coat of this over something else to give an extra special glow. Overall, I'd say this was a good purchase despite my initial doubts.

Zoya Twila over Finger Paints Where Art Renoir?- I chose this manicure

a)     because I was inspired by an awesome layering experiment over at Swatch and Learn.

b)     because of stamping gone terribly wrong

c)     as a physical manifestation of my internal joy at finding Sally Girl cuticle oil again

d)     to show off my very first Zoya

e)     all of the above! 

Natural light

I just got the Zoya last night, and was itching to try it out. I love turquoise and liked the color I already had on my nails, so I used CND Stickey as a basecoat, 2 coats WAR?, 1 coat Twila and Seche Vite on the base, not on the full mani. There's tipwear because I had hastily applied Finger Paints Where Art Renoir? a few days ago.

Sunlight

Finger Paints Where Art Renoir? is a pretty cool color I found at Sally's. It was on sale at the time for $3.99. I had been looking for Orly Goth but this looked like a total dupe at a lower price. I love how the glitter adds sparkle and girliness to what could be a harsh black. As far as the Zoya goes, it's a clear base with turquoise micro and hair glitter. Turquoise is my all time favorite color, and glitter is one of my favorite types of polish, so it was only a matter of time before this beauty ended up in my collection.

Sally Girl Cuticle Oil news!- or, my Sally's jackpot :)

(skip to the 3rd paragraph if you just want the cuticle oil info)

Sometimes the agony of defeat only serves to enhance the thrill of victory. I think I am extra happy with my trip to Sally's today because of my 2 prior stops. I had gone to CVS looking for the new Spoiled polish and to Ross looking to see if they had any Color Club box sets. I struck out on both fronts. However, I struck gold at Sally's!

I only went into Sally's to buy some nail wheels for a friend and because the Ross and CVS are right in the same shopping complex.  I knew from my prior visits in the last few weeks that they don't have stuff on clearance right now because all their holiday stuff is taking up space in front.  I got the nail wheels, went to the register and looked for their cuticle oil once again. Ever since I ran out of the one bottle that I bought on a whim, I've been wanting to buy more.  I told the clerk what I was looking for and the manager said, "We don't have it on display but I have a bunch in the back!"

Reunited and it feels so good!

I have to say, I loooovee Sally Girl Cuticle Oil.  It smells nice and orangey but not overpowering. A small bottle lasted me months! It comes in the 5 ml mini Sally Girl bottles, which I think is a plus. When I finish the cuticle oil, I can use the bottle for frankening or for sharing polish with a friend. I know I've read at least one blog post from a nail blogger who loves it. If you search for it online or at the regular Sally Girl display, you won't find it. So here's my tip, ladies: go to your local Sally's store and ask them if they have any of their old cuticle oil in the back.  Maybe you'll luck out like I did and stumble on a store that has still them around. 

Another great thing about my trip is that it turns out that there is still a clearance section. They moved it to the back of the store because the holiday stuff is in front. I found a China Glaze from the Halloween collection there for $1. (It was actually 1.99 but when I told the clerk never mind, the manager lowered it to $1.)  The color is Near Dark, a almost black green. It's definitely not a color I would've gotten otherwise, but who could beat the price?!

I have 2 lights shining on this baby and it still looks black. Believe me, it's really, really, really dark green!

Anyway, I am so thrilled to get more of my favorite cuticle oils and could not wait to share the news with my fellow nail philes. I would be happy to figure out some arrangement where I buy these on your behalf if you can't get ahold of them. The lady had a display plastic container full of them, but I contained myself and only bought 3.  Drop me an email/comment if you're interested.  

New brand alert!

For anyone who didn't check Nouveau Cheap recently, there is now a sub-brand of Wet n Wild called Spoiled.  It looks like it will be sold exclusively at CVS for $1.99. Check out Nouveau's full story, which includes pics of the display: http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com/2011/12/spotted-new-wet-n-wild-spoiled-nail.html She also includes a link to a blogger who's already swatched a few colors. 

BTW, does anyone besides me think Spoiled isn't a great name for a brand? For me, it has negative connotations, and but I think of all things polish as being happy and cheerful :)

Nail fail-Sinful Colors Big Daddy sponging experiment

Sometimes an idea is way better in our head than it is in execution. Here's my proof:

I was attempting to cover up tipwear, thinking a simple sponge would be made interesting with a bold color like orange.  Not so much. Turns out, it just looks dull on top and makes the rest of the mani look dull as well, even with Shine of the Times on top. The culprit for this mess is Sinful Colors Big Daddy. I actually think it's probably a fine polish, the red was just too dark underneath for the bold orange to come through.  Maybe it could have been improved with more sponging to even it out, but I just gave up at a certain point. :(

NOTD-Essie Shine of the Times over Color Club Red-ical Gypsy

In my post about layering Essie Shine of the Times, I told you that one of my favorite looks was layering it over a dark red. Here is proof that it's an awesome combination:

These pictures are in natural light and in the shade.

Here's a link to Polish Amor's post about the same combination, except she used Nubar 2010 and not Essie. It includes a photo of Red-ical Gypsy on its own. It's proof that great minds think alike!

And these are the bottle shots for good measure.  

It's an unique combo for me because I don't usually wear many reds. However, I think the orange flakies in SotT play really well with the dark red color.  What do you think is the best color for layering Shine of the Times?

Wet n Wild- Little Luxuries swatches

I had a fantastic Black Friday, largely because I avoided the malls like the plague. However, I did hit the Rite Aid in search of Revlon's Facets of Fuschia. While I didn't find that one, I did get these guys:

The set was on sale that day for $2.99. I figured that even if I hated the colors, the mini bottles themselves would be worth it.  You'll have to excuse the fact that there's a red one missing. I gave it to a friend before I realized I was going to blog about this collection. I went by Rite Aid last night to at least get a picture of the full set but they seem to be out of this collection.  

Here are 8 of the colors over a bare nail wheel. None of these colors have names on them, so you'll have to match the colors to the bottle pics. 

Now, a comparison between these minis and some similar Wet n Wild products. While the colors are close, they're but not quite dupes.  

Wet n Wild Metallica vs. silver mini coloricon

The silver has a little bit of an extra sparkle compared to Metallica. Metallica is also more streaky than the mini. 

Wet n Wild Sparked vs. pink glitter mini coloricon over black

The pink in the coloricon mini is a little bit more sparse and a darker pink than Sparked. 

Finally, a look at some of the glitters over black and white. They were a little hard to see over the bare nail wheel.

My attempt to capture some of the iridescent sparkle of the first glitter, which is hard to see over white. Here it is in the shade on white and the sunlight on black.

Obviously, the glitters are meant for layering but none of them are anything totally unique.  Meanwhile, most of the solid colors except the silver and gold took 3 or 4 coats to reach opacity.  They also seem like they are more meant for layering. 

I would say that while this collection was a great deal at $2.99, it might not be worth it at $4.99 because so many of the colors are not unique and would be better for layering. I'm pretty excited to wear the gold glitter over one of my red or green polishes for the holidays but not about any of the other colors. Maybe it would be a good gift for someone who's new to polish and/or doesn't have many glitters/topcoats.  What do you think?