Nail Polish Stress Test: Revlon Parfumerie Autumn Spice

I was sifting through a bin of Revlon’s Parfumerie polishes at Ocean State Job Lot, when I came across Autumn Spice. I was really taken by the color, and it was only $2. How could I resist?

Autumn Spice is a really pretty glass fleck polish that looks either brown or burgundy depending on the light. It was really easy to apply and went on smoothly. I only needed two coats for full coverage. I added my usual coat of Seche Vite on top.

This polish is also scented. As you might have already guessed from the name, Autumn Spice really means pumpkin spice. Once this polish dries, it smells really good. Maybe too good. The scent is definitely pumpkin spice, in a perfumey kind of way, if that makes sense. The perfume in this polish has crazy staying power and didn’t really fade much. I found I was acutely aware of how often I pushed my glasses up my nose because any time my hand got anywhere near my nose I could smell pumpkin spice and it made me hungry! If you’re attempting to lose weight, don’t buy this polish! Using top coat didn’t diminish the effect at all.

It turns out Autumn Spice is good for stamping too, and the results are really pretty. The glass flecks transferred over to the stamped design, adding a little extra sparkle. The scent carried over strongly as well. It was nearly as strong as it was when I used it on its own. Sadly, it doesn’t do well in water marbling.

So, how did it hold up?

It did okay. It made it two days before I felt it needed to come off.

Verdict: Good

This polish is a really nice color, and the way it stamps was a pleasant surprise. This is definitely worth getting if you can resist the scent’s hunger inducing evil powers. 

Nail Polish Stress Test: Del Sol Twice As Ice

Well, it’s been a full year since I started this blog, so happy blogoversary to me! To celebrate, I’m doing a couple extra reviews this week. Today’s target is Twice As Ice from Del Sol.

Twice As Ice is polish that changes color when exposed to sunlight. Indoors, it’s a very slightly orangey tinted base with holographic shards.

In sunlight it turns purple, and looks like a jelly polish. The transition takes 10-15 seconds or so.

It can change somewhat indoors or in overcast weather, but for the best results, you need to go actually 

outside.

I used three coats with my usual layer of Seche Vite on top. It went on as if it were a normal polish. I recommend applying this very carefully; you won’t be able to spot any mistakes until you’re outside. I found the holographic shards just didn’t distribute well on the nail. They don’t really lay flat and were a bit scratchy. However, I didn’t buy this for the bling; it’s all about the color change!

In fact, since the shard payout was so poor, I thought I might be able to use this polish for stamping. I tried stamping on my ring finger, and as it turns out, I’m right! There are some special challenges in using Twice As Ice for that, namely you have to do it while it’s in its indoor state. I used the spiderweb design from this plate, and as you can tell, the spider got left off because I couldn’t tell where it was on my stamper. However, if you used a design where orientation didn’t matter, the results would be impressive!

I didn’t try water marbling with it. The shards would be a problem, not to mention the color change aspect makes it impractical.

 So, how did it hold up?

It did pretty well. It’s hard to tell, but it went two days before I noticed enough damage to make me want to take it off. The shards started sticking up more which was a bit annoying as well. I would have taken that pic in sunlight, but this polish seems to make the weather turn overcast.

Verdict: Good

I think this is really meant to be a top coat unless you’re the kind of person that spends a lot of time outdoors. Still, it’s pretty good quality, and the fact that it actually stamps makes it an even more interesting find. I ordered mine from Del Sol’s website. As of this writing, it goes for $7.

Top Coat Stress Test: Dance Legend Sahara Crystal

I’ve made no secret of my love of textured polish. I love the finish, the wear time is frequently excellent, and it’s fun to use in nail art too. Sometimes I wish it came in certain colors that seem to be hard to find, so when I learned Dance Legend made a top coat that would make any polish textured, I had to check it out.

Sahara Crystal doesn’t look like something that’s textured in the bottle. It reminds me of Milani Sardina with smaller flecks. Once you put it on and it dries, there’s no questioning that it’s textured. I had a lot of fun trying it out on different polishes. I found two light coats gave me the best results. I let the first coat completely dry before I added the second. 

One thing I noticed is that this polish is thicker than average. Over the course of using it in a couple full manicures and a bunch of swatches I noticed I’ve already used up a good quarter of the bottle!

This top coat changes how polish looks depending on what type it is. Here are some swatches I did over some polishes I’ve already reviewed. In all cases, the swatch on the left is the polish in its natural state, the one on the right has Sahara Crystal over it. 

First, here's Claire's Money Bags. I really like how this one looks.

Next, we have Color Club's Burnt Out.  This looks okay, but the duochrome properties of this polish really don't show through very well.

Here's Colour Prevails Date Night. I think this one is my favorite.

This is Color Club Beyond. It turns out that holographic polishes don't play nice with this top coat. I tried this on a couple other holos and had the same result. Pity, a textured holo would have been awesome. 

Finally, here's Sparitual Intention. This one looks pretty nice too The glass flecks in Intention add a little extra sparkle over and above what Sahara Crystal does.

I didn’t try water marbling with this. It almost seems like you could stamp with it, but I was afraid to try. I don’t want to risk scratching up my stamping plates.

Now, on to the actual stress test. I used my beloved Ulta Blue Holiday. This is one of my very favorites.  I know this polish is excellent, and what to expect from it, so I put the same two coats of Sahara Crystal over it to see how it’d do. As you can see, this top coat lightens it up a bit and adds sparkle.

So, how’d it do?

Turns out this top coat significantly reduced the wear time on this one. That was a bit disappointing. It was done in after one day.

Verdict: Party Polish

I was hoping this would have the same wear as a full on textured polish, but that definitely isn’t the case here. It goes for $9, so that's something to keep in mind if you decide you want it.

Still, this top coat is fun! I look forward to using it to get textured colors I can’t find.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Hearts & Glass Cloud Nine

On one of my regular nail polish hunting trips through Ocean State Job Lot, I found another brand of nail polish I’ve never heard of before: Hearts & Glass. The packaging seemed to promise an awful lot, but since they were only $1.50 I had no problem buying one for science.

First of all, I need to comment on the bottle. Is this not the most adorable bottle ever? Even the cap is heart shaped! It’s not just cute though. It’s actually very easy to work with. The bottle is nicely weighted at the bottom, so there’s little chance of accidentally knocking it over. Trying to take a picture while holding it was a bit awkward, but that’s not a problem the everyday lacquerista will have.

As nice as the bottle design is, the important thing is the polish within. Cloud Nine is a pretty sky blue crème. I used three coats with one coat of Seche Vite on top. The formula was nice but it was too sheer for stamping. I didn’t have any luck with water marbling either.

My expectations for durability were fairly low. The packaging made a lot of big promises. The polish itself didn’t exactly keep them. It went two days before I felt I had to remove it. That’s a day longer than I thought it was going to last though!

Verdict: Good

This didn’t knock my socks off, but for what I paid, that’s fine. I have no idea where this polish is traditionally sold, but if you come across it for the price I paid, give it a try.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Color Club It’s Raining Men

As you may have noticed, blue is my very favorite color, with purple being a fairly close second. When I saw It’s Raining Men from Color Club’s Oil Slick collection, and they just happened to have a 30% off sale at the same time, I decided I’d give it a go.

It’s Raining Men is a blue jelly with a strong blue shimmer. It occasionally shifts to purple, but not often. Sometimes the shift looks pink, and I’m sad to say it doesn’t look as pretty as I’d hoped. Most of the time, it looks like the dark blue polish with blue flash every collection has. I used two coats here, with my usual layer of Seche Vite on top.

This polish will stamp, although it’s a bit…smudgey. Interestingly enough, the shimmer does show a bit in the design. A tiny bit. It didn’t work for water marbling.

So, how did it hold up?

Not well at all. It was a one day affair.

Verdict: Party Polish

I was really disappointed in this polish. After the awesomeness that was Burnt Out, I was expecting more of the same great color shift and durability. I don’t think you really need this one.

Nail Polish Stress Test: Pretty Woman Love Boat

One of my favorite places to go hunting for nail polish is Ocean State Job Lot. They’ve blown me away more than once with unexpected bargains on polishes like OPI, China Glaze, Sparitual, and more. On occasion, they’ll get in a brand I’m not familiar with. That leads me to today’s test subject; Love Boat from the brand Pretty Woman.

According to Pretty Woman’s website, their polishes can be found in select Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, and Party City stores.

Love Boat is a beautiful textured red polish. It’s got an awesome iridescent sparkle to it that is hard to stop looking at. I used three coats with no top coat.

As a textured polish, it’s a no go for stamping or water marbling. I can’t help thinking this would be fun to use with nail vinyls.

So, how did it hold up?

Not so great. It was pretty beat up after one day.

Verdict: Party Polish

This definitely is on the disappointing side. I’m used to textured polishes holding up way better than this, but Love Boat is so darn pretty that I’m keeping it in my collection anyway. I don’t have a textured red quite like it. I paid $1.50 for my bottle, which I’d say is a fair price. It sells for $7.99 on their website. No way should you pay that much. Only buy this one on a good sale.