As Bright A Blue - China Glaze Blue Sparrow

Random swatch! An older one, but still a fave. =) This is China Glaze Blue Sparrow from the INK collection. It's meant to be a bright blue neon, but with the added microglitter, it doesn't have the usual flat finish that neons tend to end up with.

[Indoors: China Glaze Blue Sparrow]

[Indoors: China Glaze Blue Sparrow]

The formula is great and the finish is really smooth and streak-free, though it needs at least two coats - I've used three here. You can see VNL (visible nail line) in my pics here but I don't think I noticed it on the nail until I looked at the photos later so I don't think it is that obvious.

[Indoors: China Glaze Blue Sparrow]

When I first swatched it, I was a bit disappointed. Where was my bright neon crazy blue??? Oh well... at least it was definitely true to bottle! But once out in direct sunlight, it definitely is an eye-catching bright blue, neon while still being medium blue and with the added dimension of all those glitter flecks! I ended up really liking this one!

Fruity Fizz 4: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Polish

[Revlon Sweetly Seductive: Grapefruit Fizz and Apple-tini Fizz]

So, here we are with our final post featuring the Revlon Sweetly Seductive scented polishes! Today, I'll be reviewing and swatching Grapefruit Fizz and Apple-tini Fizz.

[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grapefruit Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grapefruit Fizz]

Grapefruit Fizz has an almost bubblegum-pink jelly base with irregularly shaped and sized pale gold flakies suspended in it. Depending on the depth of the base, the flakies deepen in colour to almost a golden orange. There's also lots of coordinating pink microglitter as well as a teeny tiny scattering of a deeper pink (almost fuchsia).

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grapefruit Fizz]

The top pic is pretty accurate when it comes to the colour of the polish on the nail. Quite a girly colour, I must say! The gold flakes do warm up the slightly cool pink base. It is not very opaque though, at three coats here, VNL is still clearly seen (and this was with a creamy basecoat as well!), so don't expect to get full opacity with this polish! On the other hand, you can stick to just one layer for a wash of colour and shine.

The scent? Hmm...

EV: Grapefruit? What grapefruit? This smells a bit generic candy, if I were to pick something, perhaps strawberry chewy candy? It's not too strong, definitely sweet. I would have loved if it actually smelt tangy grapefruit-like but oh well! 

JME: I swatched this on paper for a sniff, and thought it just smelled sweet and pleasant, but not very much like grapefruit. Perhaps a hint of citrus? I connect grapefruit to a really sour taste, so perhaps it's just me.

And next.... Apple-tini Fizz!

[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz]

Doesn't it look absolutely gorgeous in the bottle! A cheerful apple green with coordinating flakies which flash gold in certain light. Add to that a scattering of blue flakies (yes, blue!) and it looks amaaazing! But....

[Index and middle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz - Four coats]
[Ring: LA Colors Black Velvet; Pinky: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle]

On the nail, goodness me! It pulls extremely yellow, more a lime than an apple shade. In addition, it never turns any more opaque - this is after FOUR coats too. =( If you have short nails, it might look fine since you shouldn't be able to see as much of a difference between the two parts of the nail.

I've also included a swatch of plain creme black (LA Colors Black Velvet) and a shimmery green (China Glaze Emerald Sparkle) to show you what happens when you swatch it over something else......

[Index and middle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz - Four coats]
[Ring: LA Colors Black Velvet + 1 coat Apple-tini Fizz]
[Pinky: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle + 1 coat Apple-tini Fizz]

Wow! It doesn't even look like the same polish! The flakies in Apple-tini Fizz now look like a medium almost-emerald green. The density is pretty good even at just one coat, and the blue flakies are a bit more obvious now.

[Index and middle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz - Four coats]
[Ring: LA Colors Black Velvet + 2 coats Apple-tini Fizz]
[Pinky: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle + 2 coats Apple-tini Fizz]

Density is even better at two coats. I definitely prefer it over the black than the green. Check out the close-ups below!

[Close-up: 2 coats Apple-tini Fizz over black (top) and green (bottom)]

How gorgeous is that! I doubt I'd wear it on it's own, but layered, it looks amazing! It makes me want to test out all the other polishes in this collection over black as well...

But that's not all... how about the scent?

EV: Sweet apple candy! Once again, not fresh fruit but a candy-type smell. For all that it's green in colour, it doesn't smell particularly of green apple either, just a general apple scent. Not too offensive, and not too outstanding either.

JME: It smells rather yummy, like sugar-coated sour apple gummies. I say sugar-coated because it smells sweeter than it is sour. I didn't try these on my nails, but I don't think they would be a hardship at all to have on.

To wrap up our four-part review of the Sweetly Seductive collection, here's a bonus peek at what happens when you layer a matte topcoat over some of them. Matte over flakies always looks pretty good, and these have a pretty muted shimmer when mattified, I think!

[With Essie Matte About You: (clockwise from left)
Orange Fizz, Watermelon Fizz, Grape Fizz, Apple-tini Fizz, Mint Fizz]

[With Essie Matte About You: Orange Fizz, Watermelon Fizz, Grape Fizz, Apple-tini Fizz]

Well, that's all from us then, hope you enjoyed it and thanks for joining us! =)

Fruity Fizz 3: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Polish

[Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz and Pineapple Fizz]



Here's the continuation of our Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented swatches, with Orange Fizz and Pineapple Fizz up next!


[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

Orange Fizz looks even more brilliant in person. It's an orange jelly, densely filled with gold and red-gold flakes and microglitters.

[Bottle with swatches: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

 The polish when applied on nails are pretty close to what you'll see in the bottle.

 

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

Aaahhh, it really is pretty! It's an eye-catching shade, especially with all that shiny flakes and glitters. I didn't use a fast dry topcoat for these mani.


Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz under direct indoor lights]

The flakes and glitter do make for a very shiny look, especially since they're lighter than the orange base so they stand out more.

With these polishes, scent obviously plays an important part too!

JME: I liked this fruity, cytrusy scent when I was applying the polish on my nails. But the longer I could smell them on my nails, the more I was reminded of this horrible orange-flavoured cough syrup I had to take as a child. So as a personal reason, I felt myself disliking the scent until it faded after a couple days to a bearable, light scent.

EV: This is pretty good! It smells like orange-flavoured Tang! I think it's possibly my second favourite scent of the lot? The citrusy kick stops it from being too candy-sweet.




[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

Hello, hello, delicious yellow jelly filled with yellow and gold-ish flakes and microglitter! Yellow jelly with flakes? Not something you see everyday!

[Bottle with swatches: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

What you see in the bottle will be pretty close to what you'll get on your nails. I think the density of the flakes made the polish looked a little more lemon yellow than the colour in the bottle, which I quite like actually.

[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

While the flakes are really dense, the base is definitely still sheer enough that at four coats, the nail tips are visible. But it was what I was expecting, and I don't think it takes away from the pretty that is the polish.

[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

Yellow flakes everywhere! My indoor picture was too washed out so have a bonus random outdoor photo:

[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

I took this picture while sacrificing my dignity, since a couple people stared at me snapping a photo of my own nails. :P  TOTALLY WORTH IT!

I don't know if it's the novelty of having a yellow polish with yellow flakes, but I really like this colour. It's so shiny and cheerful.

What do our olfactory systems tell us about Pineapple Fizz?

JME: It's not the smell of fresh pineapple of course (none of the collection smell like fresh fruits). It's more like the sweet scent of processed pineapple, and it makes me feel a little peckish for some sugary treat. It's rather nice to have on my nails!

EV: This definitely smells like pineapple! I haven't smelt it on my nails, only a paper swatch so I can only give an opinion on that. To me, it's got a bit of that syrupy scent you get from canned pineapples, but the pineapple tang keeps it from being too sweet. Not bad at all!



Overall, I really like Orange Fizz and Pineapple Fizz. I don't know if it's because I don't have that many orange and yellow polishes, but I think they're interesting, cheery colours to have with flakies.

Fruity Fizz 2: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Polish

[Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grape Fizz and Watermelon Fizz]

This is Part 2 of our swatches for the Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented collection, and it has been yummy so far! 

And let's start with Grape Fizz.


[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grape Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grape Fizz]

Doesn't that look gorgeous and amazing? Grape Fizz is packed full of purple and blue small flakes with a scattering of dark pink flakes, and purple and blue microglitter. It looks rather dense and very shiny in the bottle.

[Bottle with swatches: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grape Fizz]

Alas, I had such high hopes for you, Grape Fizz! </3

Oh, I'm kidding. I still really like the colour. But the dark purple with super sparklies in the bottle sets up a false expectation. It will be very difficult to get this polish to be opaque. You can see the difference between Grape Fizz on my nails versus in its bottle.



[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grape Fizz]

This is a terrible swatch because I was trying on my Cutex fast dry top coat...which is a joke. A terrible one. I might put up better photos in the future.

In any case, this is a Grape Fizz, at four coats, and it still has a visible nail line in person. So as long as you expect a purple jelly with flakes and microglitter, I think it's still quite lovely. And Grape Fizz's very jelly nature makes it perfect for gradient polishes, yaaaay!



[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grape Fizz under direct indoor lights]

Ah, still a lovely shiny purple. I could be just a little bit biased. I'm mad for purple polishes. :)

And what about the scent?

JME: It's a sweet scent that reminds me of grape soft drinks. I didn't find it overpowering, and I thought it was quite nice to catch a whiff of it every time my hands were near my face.

EV: I really liked this one initially but after smelling it on my nails for a bit, it just got too sweet for me.

Next up; Watermelon Fizz!

[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz]

The name really suits the polish. It does look rather watermelon-like in the bottle when photographed under natural sunlight, with the flakes adding texture to it. In person and under indoor lighting, it is a lot shinier. It looks closer to the following:


[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz under direct indoor lights]

This polish is a red jelly with heaps of small red flakies.


[Bottle with swatches: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz]

As you can see, the swatches are a pretty close match to the polish in the bottle. Oh, I'm using a Milani fast dry top coat over Watermelon Fizz here, so all is well with the world again.

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz]

It's quite close to opaque at three coats, with just a hint of VNL from certain angles. I really like the fiery colour, because it's work safe but the flakes give it that shiny, interesting edge.



[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz]

The above picture captures the polish a little darker than it really is, but you can see the flakes here.


[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Watermelon Fizz under direct indoor lights]

And here, we have the shininess caught under indoor lighting.

If you're reading our Question of the Week, you won't be surprised that Watermelon Fizz's scent is a hit with us!

JME: I loooooove it, more than I expected to for sure. It smells nummylicious, like watermelon candy, and it's a lovely scent to accompany me during manicure time and afterwards too!

EV: So delicious! What can I say.... I really love watermelon and watermelon-flavoured things and this is just like a watermelon lolly! My favourite scent of them all.

In my opinion, I find the scents of these polishes pleasant and they linger days after the first application. The scent fades a little after a few days of course, but it's still distinctively present after three/four days.

I'm really liking these polishes so far!

Fruity Fizz 1: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Polish

The Revlon Sweetly Seductive collection features 8 fruity-scented polishes all with a jelly base and coordinating glass fleck/flakies. Jme and I between us have all but one of the line-up so we'll be doing reviews of these 7 polishes throughout this week!

[Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Nail Polish]

From left to right: Pineapple Fizz, Grapefruit Fizz, Mint Fizz, Orange Fizz, Grape Fizz, Watermelon Fizz. Don't they look delicious!

Missing from this pic is Appletini Fizz (green) which we will be covering, and Colada Fizz (pale blue) which neither of us ended up getting.

The first one I'll be swatching today is Mint Fizz!

[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Mint Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Mint Fizz]

This is the most opaque polish of the collection, I believe. Look at the density of the flakies in the bottle! It appears to be an even distribution of blue and silver flakies (yep, that's silver flakies, not just a reflection!) plus a truckload of blue shimmer and microglitter.

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Mint Fizz]

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Mint Fizz]

It's almost opaque at 2 coats but I ended up using three because in certain lights, there's the barest hint of VNL (visible nail line). After three coats, it's an opaque medium blue (more like how it looks in the bottle pics than the swatch pics) with a dense glitter-effect from the blue and silver flakies.  Closeup of the flakies on the nail - click for a larger pic! Very dense and shimmery.

[Swatch closeup: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Mint Fizz]

But how about the scent, you say?? Well, here are our takes on it....

EV: I thought I would like this one the least, but I ended up quite liking it. The scents on these polishes actually linger quite a bit so you can put your hands up near your face and still smell it a few days after application. The mint, being less sweet was less obtrusive compared to the fruity candy scents of the other polishes. But I don't like supersweet smells, so that's just my opinion!

JME: While I was applying Mint Fizz, I thought the toothpaste-y smell was not terribly pleasant on my nails. Although, I probably shouldn't have sniffed the brush. Definitely don't do that! After an hour or so on my nails, the smell became much more bearable, and the fresh minty smell rather grew on me.

Watch out for the other 6 reviews... throughout this week here on Plisherrific!
Brought to you by EV and JME, polish-sniffers extraordinaire...

Halloween 2011: Grave Fungus - China Glaze Zombie Zest + LA Colors Black Velvet

I'm so happy! I finally got the related posts widget thing to work! Forget Linkwithin, go nrelate!

Anyway, back to biz. Now that Jme has provided a handy introduction to sponge gradients, here's a simple Halloween mani from this year!

[China Glaze: Zombie Zest]

Start with a base of China Glaze Zombie Zest, a brilliant glass fleck swampy green jelly, yum! This was the first China Glaze polish I ever picked out and happily put in my cart - I love the uglies!

[China Glaze: Zombie Zest]

Look how gorgeous it is! I think I used three coats here, then topcoat. ORLY It's Not Rocket Science is a close dupe of this but has a hint of blue sparkle that shows up a little more clearly.

[In the bottle: China Glaze Zombie Zest]

[China Glaze: Zombie Zest]

I tried to catch a hint of the blue sparkle in Zombie Zest. In person, it's more noticeable in the bottle but pretty much gone on the nail. Not quite sure if I succeeded in getting the blue in that pic just above or if that was a reflection of something!

And finally, the "gradient" bit! It's not much of a gradient... more like a touch of decay, or something. Sponge some plain black polish on the tips - the more uneven the better! Here I've used LA Colors Black Velvet, my go-to basic black polish.

[Base:  China Glaze Zombie Zest; Sponge tips: LA Colors Black Velvet]

[Base:  China Glaze Zombie Zest; Sponge tips: LA Colors Black Velvet]

Grotty! The delicious part is... DO NOT TOPCOAT AFTER! Because of the uneven finish of sponging gradients, polish tends to get a matte effect as it's less reflective when uneven. So the result is a nice gradient of finishes as well - the bright jelly glass fleck slowly giving way to matte black textured tips.

Super simple for all you gravedigging ghouls! Rowr!