Sally Hansen Ice Queen

A very early post today! This one was a very random, unplanned purchase for me. I was in Walgreens looking for something else, which my Walgreens sadly didn't have. I also realized that no one goes to my poor Walgreens because they still have a full stock of Revlon Black with Envy! So crazy. Anyway, I always look at the displays first and this caught my eye.

Look familiar? Definitely reminded me of something.

(the base is actually lighter in real life)

Yes! Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air! 

They're definitely similar, but Ice Queen is far from being a dupe. They both have the pink and blue larger hexagonal glitter and silver micro glitter. On the other hand, Glitter in the Air has a milkier base, while Ice Queen has a clear base. Also, Ice Queen has silver micro glitter and holo micro glitter. And the colors of the larger glitter vary somewhat. Glitter in the Air has baby blue and baby pink, very soft shades, while Ice Queen has a more cerulean blue and orchid pink/purple that are more vibrant. 

(shade)

(sunlight)

Two coats of Sally Hansen Ice Queen over one coat of Brucci Alexandra's "Hot" Gray. The larger glitter is pretty sparse so you definitely nee the two coats and you really need to make sure that you have glitter on the brush, or you'll end up with none. 

Overall, it's a pretty good glitter. The larger pieces are a little sparse, but it's not too  bad to deal with. It dries pretty quickly, but definitely use a top coat, preferably a fast drying one. I do think it's a decent alternative to Glitter in the Air and at $1.99 you really can't go wrong.

Until next time,

The Wicked

Fouth of July nails!

I knew I wanted to do something 4th of July related, but I really didn't want to go all red, white and blue. So, instead I decided to fireworks nails.

You can enlarge the picture by clicking on them to get a better view. I used Brucci Black and Blue as the base color, it's a very dark blue and was supposed to represent the night sky. Then for the fireworks, I used lots of different colors and a detail brush and just made dots to look like exploding fireworks. I think it came out pretty well, people could tell that it was fireworks.

Until next time,

The Wicked 

OPI Skull and Glossbones: Matte and Comparison

I've been meaning to try a lighter color with the matte top coat, but I don't have many light colors. I think this might be the only one besides white lol

Left to right:

no top coat

no top coat

matte top coat

It's easier to see if you enlarge the picture. This is the same manicure as the last pot, but I added Matte-Astrophe to 2 fingers. And I have concluded that it looks just like a beige wall! Not that it's a bad thing or anything, it's kinda cool, but it does look like a wall.

I also decided to do a side by side comparison with Brucci Alexandra's "Hot" Gray

Left to right:

Hot Gray

Skull and Glossbones

Hot Gray

Skull and Glossbones

So, as you can see, the Hot Gray is a cooler stone, more like a stone gray, while Skull and Glossbones is a warmer, beigey gray. I love them both, but I thought the comparison was worth showing.

Until next time,

The Wicked

Brucci Alexandra's "Hot" Gray and Black Shatter

I've been on the lookout for a nice gray for about 6 years.. I didn't realize it was that long of a time until I just thought about it. Woah, that kind of makes me feel old. But on the same day that I got the OPI My Private Jet I found the perfect gray. Usually, I find that grays are too much on the purple or brown side, or are too sparkly or shimmery, but this one is a perfect creme grey.

The coverage was amazing, I have one 1 coat here and it was perfect. I would think a light color like this could be sheer, like many of the creams and beiges, but it wasn't. The formula was also great, really smooth. I've always found Brucci to be a really great brand. they have really nice quality polishes in so many awesome colors. One of my favorites is, Black and Blue and now definitely this one. I can't get over how beautiful this gray is. I loveeeee it. Yeah so, I totally recommend it to anyone looking for a nice light gray. 

Then I started thinking that gray would look great under the Black Shatter, so the experimentation continued!

And I was right, it looks awesomeeeee. I love the light creme gray under the black, it's a nice contrast without taking away from each. I'll probably be doing one more Black Shatter experiment after this, but it won't be up for a while. 

Until next time,

The Wicked

So Many Black and Blues...

I know, I know, it's getting close to Valentine's day but it's not close enough to force me into a themed manicure! I'm much happier sticking to my lovely dark blues. As you all know I recently discovered the cute Wet n' Wilds and one of the colors I picked up was Nocturnal (another gothy color).

At the store it looked like a dark purpley color, kind of like OPI's Siberian Nights, but when I took it home I tested it and found that it was blue! Quite a shock for me, but I wasn't too upset. In the first picture I have on only 1 coat. A pretty thick coat, but still it's pretty impressive how opaqe is came out. And with a quick coat of Seche Vite, it dried really fast. But it was a little streaky for me so I added another coat, and that's what you see in the second picture. It's very dark.


It did look very similar to a Brucci polish I already had that's called Black and Blue. Andddddd I also took advantage of the e.l.f. Valentine's day sale and got a three pack of polishes for only $1.50! In the set (jewel tone trio) came another dark blue that also looked similar. So I thought I would compare the 3, unfortunately its much too dark to take a picture so I'll get back to that another day.

I also wanted to mention the Deborah Lippmann sale on gilt.com. I check it out yesterday and it has pairs of polishes for sale. Most are average but a few a really nice. Its $20 for 2 which sounds awesome until you add $10 for shipping. Then it turns into regular price. So I didn't get anything, but there's still time to check it out, the sale ends tonight at midnight!

Until next time,
The Wicked