Comparison Thursday: Periwinkle Holos

As I was working through my stash trying to find things to sell (because I seriously need to downsize asap), I realized I have a ridiculous number of light blue, medium blue, and periwinkle holos.  It's almost insane.  So, I broke them down into several comparisons so I could work through them bit by bit.  Here's the first of those comparisons tonight!  Make sure to click on the photos to see them in greater detail.

[Purchased by me or given as gifts by friends.]

The polishes included in this comparison are: Enchanted Polish Keep Watch, Model City Polish October Sunset, Emerald and Ash Trick, Girly Bits Bachelor's Button, and Darling Diva True Blue.

Four out of five of these polishes are very close in shade and have a little added extra to give them some depth and oomph.  However, none of them are exact duplicates.  Let's check out the differences below.  I have used one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top for all of these photos.  Most are taken in full sun, but one is taken in outside shade.

Thumb: Keep Watch

Keep Watch is definitely the darkest and most purple of the grouping.  As such, it's a bit of an outlier in that it's not really periwinkle.  The consistency was great - it was a bit thick but self-levels.  Application was also easy, so there wasn't any balding or streaking.  It was almost fully opaque in one coat, but it did need that second  coat to completely cover.  This polish was a special limited edition created for Mishka NY, and I'm not sure if it'll ever be coming back.  But you can buy other Enchanted Polishes at her store.

Index: October Sunset

October Sunset is definitely a proper periwinkle.  It seems more silver than the others, which I attribute to the larger holo particles.  It's also got a lovely blue flash.    The consistency is sheer, but it's not too thin or runny.  It also required very little cleanup.  It's closest in color to Trick, but they're not exactly the same color.  In the shade, it looks like an exact dupe to Trick, but, as you can see, they are quite different in full sun.  I used three coats for full opacity.  Sadly, October Sunset has been discontinued, but you can purchase other Model City Polishes here.

Middle: Trick

Much like October Sunset, Trick is a true periwinkle.   Also like OS, it has the same size holo particle, which gives it a silvery look.  However, it has a pink flash instead of the blue flash you see in OS.  Trick is sheer but easy to apply and required no cleanup required.  I used three even coats for full opacity.  You can purchase their polishes at their store, but it's closed until 10/1/2014.  So, make sure to follow their Facebook page for news and updates!  I know that Trick was a limited edition, but I'm not sure if it's completely gone yet.

Ring: Bachelor's Button

Bachelor's Button is very blue in comparison to the others.  It's probably the second most deeply pigmented of the group after Keep Watch.  It's got smaller holographic particles, which means that the base color shines through a little more than it would with a larger grade of holographic pigment. Much like Trick, it's got a lovely pink flash, but it's several shades darker than Trick.  BB has easy application without the need for much cleanup.  I wore three even coats, but as you can see, it's still got a little visible nail line going on in my photos.  To the naked eye, though, it looked fully opaque.  You can purchase Girly Bits at her store here.

Pinkie: True Blue

True Blue is a bit more blue than periwinkle.  Also, it includes flakies and iridescent glitters, which is different from the rest of the polishes in this set.  TB has super smooth application without the need to do much cleanup.  I wore three even coats for full opacity.  The glitters were smooth, so I only used one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  You can purchase Darling Diva at here store here, but True Blue is no longer available.

So, what do you think?  Which is your favorite?  Obviously, I like this color, so I'm not sure I could actually pick a favorite!

Blog 2 Year Birthday Giveaway Prizes Part One

Ok, remember how at the end of July I posted about a big giveaway I was doing with all of my favorite polishes?  Well, tonight and Friday, I will be showing you all of the prizes!  Tomorrow, I'll have a special post with the new Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Special Edition, Terrific Twos, with a comparison!  There will be twelve winners, and each winner will receive one of the 12 favorites plus my Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Special Edition Terrific Twos and a few other assorted goodies!  So, let's get started!  I think we'll start with the blues because, if you haven't been able to figure out, my favorite color is blue.  Oh, but first, here's a link to the giveaway.  Hop to it if you haven't entered yet!  Only a couple days left!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[I purchased all but Maui Wowee myself.  Maui Wowee was given as an extra in my order from Indigo Bananas.]

This post will be picture heavy, so be prepared.  As always, click on the photos to enlarge them.  

Prize 1: Zoya Blu

Blu is a lovely gorgeous pastel blue cream.  Application is super easy and self leveling, which isn't always the case for me with Zoya cremes.  This is only three coats with one coat of topcoat.  Dry time was quick as well.  I did a proper review of it here.

Prize 2: Indigo Bananas Immortal Game

I've done a full review of Immortal game here, so I guess I just really wanted to show you guys some more pics of it.  You can never have too many photos of this beauty.

Prize 3: Indigo Bananas Maui Wowee

Maui Wowee is a lovely blue holographic with a teal to purple shift.  It's a little on the sheer side, but it's still opaque in three coats.  Application was super easy, and dry time was fairly quick.  It's also got a bit of a metallic finish, but none of that obscures the holo, which is super vibrant!

Prize 4: Girly Bits Blue-Eyed Beer Drinkin Music Lovin Lawyer

Yeah, this one has a pretty special place in my heart because the most amazing and awesomest Pam of Girly Bits made this for my blog's 1 year birthday!  This squishy blue jelly is packed with blue iridescent glitters that glow while on the nail.  Even though it's a jelly, you can reach full opacity in just three coats!  You could probably get away with just two, but I always add on an extra for my photographs.  As you will note, my bottle has a super special label that was designed by my friend, Austen.  That was a limited edition label, so the new bottles are in Pam's gorgeous printed bottles (whit hot hot hot white lettering!!).

Prize 5: Picture Polish Cosmos

Check out my full review here.  I just adore those irregularly shaped silver holo glitters.  I soooo wish I could find them for sale somewhere, because I would be putting that stuff in EVERYTHING.  

Prize 6: Lynnderella G. Whizard, Esq.

This limited edition polish has a clear base with silver and sky blue microglitters.  It dries with a textured finish, so I needed to use one coat of Gelous (still waiting for my new bottle of Glitter Glaze to make it's way across the earth!) and one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top.  I did NOT need undies.  This polish is fully opaque in TWO COATS.  Yes, you read that right.  Two coats.  Is that not insane???  I used three to touch up any potential bald spots that would show up in my photos, though.

So, there are the blues!  What do you think?  Are you as excited as I am about this giveaway?  What's your favorite prize?  Stay tuned for more exciting prize photos later this week!!!

[I purchased all but Maui Wowee myself.  Maui Wowee was given as an extra in my order from Indigo Bananas.]

Summer of Untrieds: Week 3

Another week down, and only one more day left for the Summer of Untrieds challenge!  Without anymore preamble,let's get to week 3's polishes!

Here are the prompts and the rules:

Rules:

• Use at least 1 untried polish that fits with the prompt for the day.
• If you don't have anything that works with the prompt, then consider it a free day and choose a random untried from your stash.
• There won't be an inlinkz, so keep up with the group by tagging your photos #summerofuntrieds.  I've also been including #julyuntriedchallenge in my posts, so you can add that too if you want.  Also, feel free to add a tag to me if you'd like (either @blueeyedlawyer or #wishesofablueeyedgirl).
• Start crossing off those untrieds in your stash!

[I purchased these polishes or received them as gifts from friends.]

July 15: Pink

For pink I chose to use Zoya Kitridge, Peita's Polish Pinkaholic, Accessorize Lilac Sorbet, and Lilypad Lacquer Bubble Yummo.  Kitridge went on smoothly and easily without streaking and built well in three coats.  I chose to top this baby pink with the vibrant neon Pinkaholic, which was also easy to apply with the glitters coming out and spreading easily.  I did a watermarble using Lilac Sorbet, Kitridge, and Bubble Yummo over a coat of Cult Nails Tempest.  This is probably the best watermarble I've ever done in my life, and I'm super proud of how it came out!  All three of these polishes were easy to marble with, and I can't wait to wear Lilac and Bubble Yummo on their own.

July 16: Flakie

I decided to try something different for my flakie manicure, and I wasn't in love with the outcome.  Someone told me that it looked like mermaid scales, which made me feel a little better about them, though.  I used OPI's Amazon... Amazoff, which applied easily but stained just a little bit on the accent nail that had all of the flakies combined.  I used Finger Paints flakies from a few years ago (from thumb to pinkie): Asylum, Flashy, Flecked, all 4,and Motley.  The flakies were easy to use, but I wouldn't recommend layering them over each other unless you've got some time to wait for them to dry!

July 17: Elevation Polish

The EvPs I chose to wear were Higravstinden and Haba Xueshan.  I was hoping these two would look nice together, and they really did!  The mint accents of Haba on top really pulled the look together nicely.  Hig applied well and in only two coats, but it had a bit of staining on my nails upon removal.  The blue shimmer in Hig isn't as noticeable in my photos, but it's very clear in person.  Haba was also easy to apply, and the glitters came out and spread across my nails easily.

July 18: Green

I feel like I have a million green Enchanted Polishes that I haven't worn, which I admit is probably an exaggeration, so I went with two of those for this prompt.  I used July 2013 topped with Wish Me Good Luck.  July was amazing!  It applied so well and could've been a one coater, but I chose to do two to ensure no bald spots in my photos.  The pink shimmer in it is striking, but I couldn't get a photo of it to save my life.  In person, however, it's extremely evident in the bottle as well as on the nail.  WMGL was a pain in the butt.  Application was difficult as the glitter to base ratio pulled heavily in favor of base.  The glitters were difficult to extract from the bottle, and if you tried to get enough glitter on the brush you'd end up flooding your cuticles because there was too much base.  All in all, I wasn't really in love with this mani despite the fact that I adore July.

July 19: Neon Glitter

I always love the look of neon over pastels, so I knew I just had to do Enchanted Polish *69 over something light.  I looked around my stash and was afraid that I didn't have anything untried that would work, and then I remembered my bottle of Enchanted J'adore!  This dainty pink was thin, a bit watery, and applied with some streaking and frostiness.  Thus, wearing it as undies for *69 was the perfect use for it!  I used three coats of J'Adore with one coat of *69, which is a lovely neon green and pink glitter topper with a shimmered base.  I have a decant, so I can't really speak to the polish's application truthfully since I was using a mini bottle.  However, in the mini bottle, everything came out alright and very easily and spread without much manipulation.  I was pretty disappointed with J'Adore, though, because the holo effect was practically nil, and even with three coats, I could still easily see my nail line.  It's not at all like the other EP holos I own.

July 20: Duo/Multichrome or Shifter

I received a couple decants of the I <3 Nail Polish chromes, Cygnus Loop and Birefringence, from a friend to try out before I took the plunge in purchasing them myself.  I'm really glad she let me try them because it helped me realize that I don't really need more than a decant.  While the end effect is lovely and the shifts are gorgeous, I just didn't love them.  Plus, they both had the same base color, which made differentiation a bit difficult.  As you can see, I was able to easily smudge two of my nails even though I had used a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top at least five minutes or longer before the smudges occurred.  I don't like polishes that don't dry quickly on me, so these two were nice to try, but I probably wouldn't buy full sizes of either of them.  Plus, they're so similar to the million of other, cheaper, chromes out there, that I just can't justify spending that type of money on a bottle or two of something I can get for much cheaper (and that could be better quality!).  I can't really speak to their application because I used the mini bottles, but I will say that they were a pain to apply from the mini bottles leaving bald spots and streaks with not-so-careful application.  Keep in mind that could be because the mini brushes are annoying to use.

July 21: Girly Bits

My mani for Girly Bits kind of reminded me of Christmas in July with the rich green and dark maroonish red.  I only had two Girly Bits polishes I hadn't used yet, Fathomless and What Happens in Vegas Ends Up on Facebook, so I decided to wear them together!  What Happens in Vegas Ends Up on Facebook is a lovely maroon scattered holographic with a pretty dense smattering of blue iridescent glitters.  Application was super easy, and the rainbow effect was really nice with the bits of iridescent peeking out.  Fathomless is a dark hunter green with silver micro glitters.  Again, application was great, and it only really needed two coats for full opacity.  Here, however, I used three for photo purposes.  Dry time for both was average.  

July 22: Teal

For my teal mani, I decided to cheat and do skittles using five different teals.  Is that really cheating, though?  I'm going to pretend like it's not since I did wear all five of these for over 24 hours.  From my thumb to pinkie I wore: Elevation Polish Arabian Sea 2 (a light teal with gold flakies), Lilypad Lacquer Neon Ocean Lights (a medium teal holographic with a super strong pink/purple flash), Lynnderella Do You Paraiba? (a medium teal micro glitter), Elevation Polish Twinkle in Yeti's Eye (a darker teal with a green to red shift), and Enchanted Polish August 2013 (a dark teal linear holo).  All of these guys applied amazingly, and I don't have a single complaint about any of them.  I wore three coats of them all except Paraiba and August, which only needed two coats.  Dry time on them all was quick.

So, what do you think?  Are you playing along still?  I think this is the first nail challenge I've done every single prompt for through completion!  I've gotten through an outstanding number of untrieds, so I think I'll be bringing it back again in October!  What do you think?  Do you like doing challenges like this?

[I purchased these polishes or received them as gifts from friends.]