ALU’s 365 of Untrieds – L.A. Girl Rock Star Head Banging
365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to.
Another day, another green. This gem was another discovery at my local Five Below store. Last summer at Cosmoprof, Melissa from The Daily Nail introduced me to the L.A. Girl brand but since you can’t purchase products at the show, it wasn’t until I saw bins of their Rock Star line polish at Five Below that I got my hands on it. L.A. Girl Rock Star Head Banging is a perfect example of why I started ALU in the first place. It’s a case of not knowing what you’ll get based simply on the bottle. What appeared to be an average teal green shimmer ended up being so much more. |
Formula & Application: L.A. Girl Rock Star nail polish is 4-Free (including formaldehyde resin) and does not include camphor which can be an irritant. The bottles are topped with a thick round, slightly curved cap that houses a thin, long, round brush. The bristles are pretty flexible which allows for precise application and even coverage of the nail.
The base of this polish is pretty sheer but buildable. It’s not thick and goopy like a jelly nor is it watery and squishy. It’s just thin, smooth, buttery perfection. I used three coats and even though you might notice slight VNL (visible nail line) in the photograph, it looks full coverage to the naked eye.
L.A. Girl Rock Star Head Banging is what I’m calling a smooth glitter. Unlike traditional glitters the base has a decent amount of pigment to it which lends to its opacity. It also has very fine micro-glitter which leaves no texture to the surface. And unlike foil glitters, there are no irregularly shaped metallic flakes. Instead you have a semi-sheer viridian base packed with tonal micro-sparkle. The finished product is one popping green glitter that doesn’t give you removal issues or cause for thick layers of top coat.
Bottom Line: This finish on this polish is so smooth I can’t stop rubbing my nails. Is that weird? I love how the glitter dances on the surface like light bouncing off a lake. And any glitter that can give me high glitz without a bitch of a removal gets two thumbs up in my book.
365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: My green drawer is going to hate me but I can’t help it; STASH!
L.A. Girl Rock Star nail polishes can be purchased online directly from LAGirlUSA.com or CherryCulture.com who also carries Milani, NYX and Sinful. You may be able to find L.A. Girl polishes at Five Below but availability will vary. The Rock Star line retails for $4/ea for a .5oz but they’re on sale for $2.80/ea at Cherry Culture.
Have you tried L.A. Girl polishes before? What are your favorite lines and colors from the brand? Thoughts on Head Banging? If you don’t own any L.A. Girl Rock Star polishes do you plan to pick up some soon?
Disclosure: I purchased this nail polish. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
This one is still on my “to wear” list!
It’s so pretty!
Maybe I’ll wear this soon!
Yes, I have a few from the Rock star collection and they are great. I’m amazed how great it is for a budget polish. I can truly recommend them all. I’ve bought some from the “bare” (?) series too- two cremes with a very delicate shimmer. Absolutly lovely!
This is really pretty. I like it better in the bottle though!
It looks lovely, I love greens/teals the most! But even if it was looking horrible it would still get some credits for it’s name alone
I am such a creeper on your blog and I am forever wondering what your stash to share ratio is… ahhh too much studying math
I’ve got two metallics – Alkaline Blue and Deep Sea Mica. Yes, the finish is so smooth I was rubbing across my nail also (odd!) I expected to feel glitter.
The blue is incredible, I really adore it. It’s so packed with shimmer and when the light hits it – shows purple/green reflections.
Deep Sea Mica is a dark green, looks a bit blue in the bottle, but gorgeous on the nail. I was suprised how well they built up.
I love LA Girl. I have two from the Rockstar collection, Groupie & Punk, and they are gorgeous. I have Antique Gold & Metallic Olive from the Metals collection, and I’m really wanting the black glitter from their Glitter Addict collection.
This polish is a perfect example of why no matter how much I like the idea of glitters/shimmers, how much I actually hate wearing them. They are distracting all day! A polish like this would make me spend all day looking at my hands thinking “I’m sparkly, I’m sparkly, I’m sparkly, so sparkly…”
I thought it said L.A. Gear at first. That would have been awesome.
I have most of the LA Girl Rock Star Collection, I can say they’re the most beatiful glitter/ flake / duo-chrome polishes that I have. I agree, this collection have a really smooth finish =)
This polish has been in my untrieds for over a year, I think it’ll be my next mani. Thanks for the inspiration. =]
I have some of the matte shades and they are gorgeous! They stay on without chipping for more than a week without a top coat. And they’re cheap!
oh this is really really pretty!
It reminds me a lot of China Glaze Watermelon Rind.
Forever21 may also have dupes of LA Girls polishes, including the Rockstar collection. The bottles even look the same which makes me wonder if LA Girls makes (at least some of) their polishes. For example, Forever21 in Currant is a dupe of LA Girls Rockstar in Addict.
I too am impressed with L.A Girl. The formula is pretty good, and the colors are so pretty!
Funny- I tried LA girl for the first time last night, and woke up to this post. I got Deep Sea Mica from the Metal line. I was also impressed at the quality. The color was good too, but looked kinda dull for my mood. So I added a couple of coats of Milani green glow (another cheapie I bought last night)- beautiful! I got the LA Girl polish at Fred Meyer in Washington state- they have a whole bunch of them.
I have quite a few of the LA Girl polishes and LOVE them!! I bought every Matte and Disco Brite I could get my hands on and have several of the Rock Star as well.
Hi Melissa, which ones of the Disco Brites did you get? I’m trying to decide, but there’s so many colors!
The LA Girl polishes are pretty awesome, I have to agree. Reading this just inspired me to go dig out my bottle of Punk and put it on. Pretty blue-purple, mmm…
If you’ve got any of the LA Girl Color Addict ones kicking around in your stash, I reccomend the heck out of those! I spent a week with Sensation (a cool-ish pink with subtle gold glitter) on my nails, and there was hardly any chipping or flaking or funny business.
WANT! Soooo pretty
Never tried LA Girl, but will have to look for them now!
i got so tempted by your swatch of this polish and went to grab one. was so happy to see it sold locally
the application was great and quick drying but a real toughie to remove lolx. recently went to grab Rockstar, it looks almost similar to OPI Tease-y Does It? Thanks to your blog, i now have LA Girl polishes. xD
Best thing about LA Girl, though, is that they don’t test on animals!
That’s what made LA girl cooler…no animal testing done. I like green!