Emerald & Ash Blue Corundum LE Swatches & Review

Hello readers! Today I have a beautiful polish from Emerald & Ash to show you, Blue Corundum.  I was lucky enough to receive this as a gift from a friend during its one day Black Friday resurrection.  The bad news for you guys is that this limited edition polish is no longer available.  I hope that it makes another one day reappearance sometime in the future because it is truly stunning.

Blue Corundum is a medium blue holo polish.  I like to call this shade of blue 'ocean blue' since it instantly reminds me of gorgeous tropical waters.  The formula was a tad thicker than I'm used to BUT it dried really quickly and only took two coats for full opacity so in the end I wouldn't consider the slightly thicker formula a negative.  This polish dried with a satin matte finish so if you want high gloss (like I did) just add a shiny top coat.  Photos show two coats of Blue Corundum with one coat of CND Super Shiney top coat.

I apologize for showing you (and potentially making you want) a polish that will be quite difficult to get your hands on.  However, if you like the style of this holo polish there are several other holo E&A's that are for sale.  Personally, I have my eye on Trick.  The micro flakes in Moonlit Snow also look gorgeous.  I just can't resist a good looking flakie!  You can find Emerald & Ash here:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle

Stamping Over Multichromes

Hello readers!  I am really excited to show you the nail art in today's post because I think it looks amazing.  I used two of the metallic multichromes from the most recent Girly Bits collection - I Hit My Bunny Phone and Wave The Sails, China Glaze Hook And Line and Bundle Monster plate BM-208 to create this look.

First I painted my nails with I Hit My Bunny Phone.  Once that was somewhat dry I dabbed small blobs of Wave The Sails in a random pattern all over nail.  Then I let my nails dry completely.  Finally I used China Glaze Hook And Line to stamp the design on the top of the plate onto my nails.  The final look kind of reminds me of stained glass.  The contrast of the teal vs blue based multichromes is more evident in shaded lighting.  This is definitely staying on the nails until it chips!

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle

Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone Swatches & Review

Hello readers! Today I have another multichrome polish to show you.  I'd been eyeing the newest collection from Girly Bits since it came out a few months ago but when they went on sale during Llarowe's Days of Christmas my willpower just couldn't  resist any more and I bought a whole bunch of them.  I just love the names of these.  They're common saying with some letters reversed.  They totally appeal to the scrabble loving word nerd in me.  Today I have I Hit My Bunny Phone (aka I hit my funny bone) to show you.

I Hit My Bunny Phone is a metallic multichrome that shifts from blue to purple to a coppery orange.  The formula was fantastic.  It applied smoothly, went opaque in two coats and dried quite quickly.  If you don't have super smooth nails I do suggest using a ridge filling basecoat under these kinds of polishes.  It's hard to capture the full beauty of a multichrome with just a couple photos and I couldn't decide which ones to cut from the post.  As a result you get ten swatch pictures to stare at!  Photos show two coats of I Hit My Bunny Phone in natural sunlight.  I did not use a top coat.

Concusion: This polish is amazing and I am in love.  It reminds me of Enchanted Polish Octopus's Garden that I reviewed about a week ago but without the scattered holo.  They are different enough that they are definitely not dupes.  I can't wait to also try Wave The Sails which is the same style of polish but starts out more teal.  (I actually have it on my toes right now... but no one wants to see pictures of my toes :P).  I think I'm going to use this mani as the base for some stamped nail art.  I haven't done any of that in a while.  You can find Girly Bits polishes at https://www.girlybitscosmetics.com, Harlow & Co. and Llarowe.

Happy polishing!

- Michelle

Off Topic Tuesdays: Julep Blank Canvas Mattifying Face Primer Review

Hello readers! Today I'm going completely out of my comfort zone and doing something I've never done before on the blog... show you my face!  Get ready for some forehead close ups too!  Along with everyone else who ordered the Julep Naughty or Nice mystery box I received their Blank Canvas Mattifying Face Primer.  I don't normally use primers but I figured since I already had it, I might as well put it to the test.  I don't wear foundation so I'm testing the mattifying aspect of this primer and seeing if it actual makes a difference.

I have combination skin with my forehead being more towards the oily end of the spectrum.  I decided to test the primer on that area to see if it actually reduced shine.  I started out by following my normal skin care routine.  I washed my face with The Body Shop's Tea Trea Skin Clearing Facial Wash and then moistured with Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer.  I then applied the primer to the right half of my forehead (so left side of the photos).  Here's what it looked like right after application.

After Application

You can clearly see the difference that the primer makes.  The right side in the photo is much shinier than the left.  This is  good start... but will it last?

Two Hours After Application

There is still a clear difference between the side with primer and the side without.  After two hours the left side in the photo is still quite matte.

Eight Hours After Application

Do you like my last smiley full face picture? I'm smiling because I know I don't have to take any more awkward pictures trying to capture the shine on my forehead :P.  After eight hours the side with the primer is still less shiny than the side without but is no longer completely matte.  It's still an improvement over no primer at all though.

Conclusion

Does the product work as a mattifyer? I would say yes.  It did do a good job of reducing the shine on my forehead for eight hours and completely prevented it for the few couple of hours.  I think in the future I'll probably use this when getting ready for an evening out.  Now, is it worth the cost?  For the price of $28 ($22.40 for mavens) I think I would have to pass.  I think you could probably get comparable products at the drugstore that would give similar results.  However, on sale, I would definitely consider it.  Since I didn't use it as a make up primer I can't comment on how it fares in that department.  I should also note that I've used this a couple times now and didn't have any negative reactions.  My skin breaks out pretty easily so I'm really glad that this product doesn't seem to contribute to break outs.  Did you get this product in the mystery box or have you tried it before? What did you think?

Happy Polishing,

- Michelle

Dupes: Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano vs Darling Diva Polish Maxed Out vs Ozotic 528

Hello readers! Today I have a comparison post for you that has been floating around my brain for a while.  I wanted to see how close Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano, Darling Diva Polish Maxed Out and Ozotic 528 really are.  These three polishes all contain glitter that shifts from green to purple to coppery orange depending on the angle.

Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano, Darling Diva Polish Maxed Out and Ozotic 528

They all look quite similar in the bottle.  Maxed Out looks a little bit more purple but I think this is just because of the curved bottle as opposed to the flat fronts of the EP and Ozotic bottles.  I used China Glaze First Mate, a medium blue creme, as the base colour for all three.  I left my pinky finger with only the base colour so you can see the change due to the glitter toppers.  For Ciao Milano and Maxed Out I used one coat and for 528 I used two coats.  Photos show the three polishes in natural lighting with no top coat.

I think I'm seeing double...

Source

So what do you think?  I think they look pretty much identical!  There were only a few small differences.  Maxed out has a tiny bit more sparkle in person since along with the colour shifting glitter it has a tiny bit of holographic sparkle as well.  The Ozotic dried a little bit more smoothly than the other two but it did require two coats to get the same glitter coverage.  If I could buy only one I think would have to go with Maxed Out.  First of all, it's much easier to actually get your hands on.  EP restocks as we all know are just crazy.  Ozotics don't seem to be in stock consistently either.  Second, it's way cheaper.  Darling Diva Polish Maxed out is $9.  She also makes a version of this polish without the added holo, Happy Wife, Happy Life, that retails for $8.  The Enchanted Polish and Ozotic are in the $15 range depending on where you purchase them from.  Are these dupes? I would definitely say yes!

Enchanted Polish - https://enchantedpolish.bigcartel.com/
Darling Diva Polish - https://www.darlingdivapolish.bigcartel.com/
Ozotic - https://www.llarowe.com/catalog/Shop-by-Collection/Ozotic, https://www.nailpolishcanada.com/categories/ozotic.html, https://www.harlowandco.org/collections/ozotics

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle