Green
Pop Beauty Nail Glam – Grass & Berry
 I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Pop Beauty brand from seeing it at Sephora, right? Sadly the makeup isn’t carried at Sephora anymore but did you know the brand makes polish? I know I didn’t. It wasn’t until the beyond fabulous Tamar from Fashion Binge recommended I check them out that I discovered this amazing line.
Nail Glam from Pop Beauty is a range of Big 3 Free (including formaldehyde resin) lacquers that come in a rainbow of vibrant shades including an AH-MAZING fluorescent GREEN! |
To quote the Pop Beauty site, “Each Nail Glam shade is non-occlusive so it won’t stain nails and contains nylon creating a strengthening non chip barrier.” Can I just say that with the two shades I tested, the formula WOWED me. It’s smooth, flows easily with a jelly-ish texture yet it’s so so pigmented. After five days on my nails, only a bit of tip wear was showing.
Application tip: Extend your dry time even if using Seche Vite. I found that though the top coat was completely dry, the lacquer underneath was still moving like cellophane wrap on pudding. So tack on a couple minutes and test a nail for movement.
Berry is a vivid rosy hue, it’s a bit darker in person. Kids, this one is so pigmented that I only used one coat. That’s right, one coat!
Grass is… well you know about me and greens so I instantly swooned over this kicky neon green. Though unlike most neons, it didn’t dry uber-matte. I’m showing it without top coat. Crazy, no? Neons are incredibly hard to capture on camera so you can just imagine how much brighter this beauty is to the naked eye.
Pop Beauty makes so many lustworthy shades that I’m already plotting which ones I’ll try next. A few of the polishes on my list include Lilac, Ocean, Mandarin, Orange, Turquoise and Violetta.
Oh and they have new colors coming out for Summer. Check it! Another purple? I’m so on it!
Pop Beauty Nail Glam nail colour ($14) is available on the Pop Beauty website and in stores at the new CVS Beauty 360 locations. Unfortunately there are only two Beauty 360s at the moment but hopefully they’ll be popping up in more states soon.
Has anyone tried Nail Glam before? What did you think?
MAC Sugarsweet – Peppermint Patti & Seasonal Peach
 MAC‘s newest collection, Sugarsweet, launched online on Tuesday and the polishes are already SOLD OUT on MACCosmetics.com! The crazy power of MAC fanatics, huh? However, the on counter date was yesterday so I suggest if you’re dying to own one of these precious shades, you bolt on out and snag them.
Being a total sucker for packaging or any kind of gimmicky looking product, I’m all about the collection’s Tricolour Lipglasses but I’m trying to restrain myself. It’s not easy folks. I drive past the mall on my way home every night and I know they’re there, waiting for me. Like a basket full of free kittens, they’re hard to resist. Back to the task at hand, the polishes. Sugarsweet introduced one new shade, Peppermint Patti, and one repromote, Seasonal Peach (from Creamsheen). See how they look after the jump! |
Seasonal Peach is a soft, pinky peach cream and as much as I want to love this one, the formula is no bueno. Application issues and streakiness plagues this one from being a big time winner. I tried every trick I could think of but it wasn’t playing my reindeer games. If you tinker around long enough and apply three coats it can look decent but for me, Seasonal Peach is a pass.
Now Peppermint Patti I love!! That perfect after dinner mint green you’ve looking for, it’s right here! It’s just pigmented enough to not be washed out or too pastel. Though I’m not gonna lie, it’s not the easiest to apply either but better than its collection sister above. Application Tip: Apply two THIN coats with at least two minutes dry time between then one THICK, even coat. It’s not ideal but to get this gorgeous shade to work, I’m willing. Are you?
Just for funsies I added a thin line of Seasonal Peach to create a funky french. What do you think?
I knew the comparison questions would come a calling so here it is next to Essie Greenport and Barielle Sweet Addiction.
Like I said above, both shades are sold out online. That’s a big fat boo for online shoppers but don’t lose hope. Run, drive, fly etc. to your nearest MAC counter to scoop them up for yourself.
So, who else picked these babies up? Thoughts?
The ALU Archives – Sinful Show Me The Way
 The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.
This week, we continue on with the Archives’ green theme for March. It’s been so incredibly beautiful and warm here in the Cleveburg and I noticed some of the ten billion daffodils in our yard starting to pop up. The previous owners were major green thumbs. The boyfriend and I, not so much. However, the new growth inspired me to look for a grassy green. That brought me to drugstore fave Sinful Colors Show Me The Way. I seriously don’t write about Sinful enough. It’s such an underrated brand. They have a wide color range with some outstanding greens and blues and if you’re looking for a cheap, glossy jet black for frankening or just to wear, you can’t beat their Black On Black creme. |
Show Me The Way is a mossy, yellow tinged, metallic looking sparkler. The formula is semi-sheer with a jelly-ish feel that requires three coats. What I love is that the specks of micro-glitter float in the polish so you get a completely smooth finish, similar to the China Glaze glass flecked formula. Also, it prevents the metallic nature of the gold shimmer from leaving brush strokes on the nails. Basically, it’s pretty damn fab.
Sinful Colors polishes retail for $1.99 and are carried at a number of drugstores but I have the best luck in my area at Walgreens and Discount Drug Mart. At Walgreens, the display is typically on fragrance counter. According to the Sinful Colors website their products are also carried at Eckerd, Longs, Meijer, Safeway and number of other regional chains.
OK raise your hands kids. Where are my Sinful lovers? What’s your favorite shade?
Barielle Sugar Rush for Summer 2009
 Sugar Rush is the alternative to last year’s neons -celebrity manicurist, Elle
Barielle spokesperson, Elle, created six hot candy colored lacquers for the Shades by Barielle summer collection and I’m loving every single one of them. We’ve seen candy inspired collections in the past but never with this kind of pigmentation, consistency in formula and hello, TWO GREENS!! To steal a line from Clueless, they give me a toothache just looking at them. |
I had the chance to speak with Elle about her latest polish confections and get her take on the collection. “It’s high voltage color but they’re more wearable. I wanted to keep it creamy, like taffy, with a lot more pigment rather than on the sugary edge.”
You know I’m a girl that loves her brights and Sugar Rush hits that spot dead on. Neons are fun and all but they can be too harsh if you don’t have the right coloring so these shades are definitely more my deal. I applied two coats of each polish and they flowed on perfect and even with pigmentation to spare.
Let’s start with my hands down winner, Sweet Addiction. I’m so loving these variations on dusty, minty greens. Sweet Addiciton, Misa Dirty Sexy Money, MAC Peppermint Patti and Essie Greenport are all on the same vibe yet surprisingly different enough to own them all.
Swizzle Stick‘s light azure hue makes me think of my college days. My sorority’s colors were white and azure blue and now I want to go dig out one of my old t-shirts to wear with this shade.
Can I just say that I’m so not over yellow? Lemondrops totally revived it for me. Yes, the pastels are safer and easier to pull off but give me a fab golden yellow and I’m in. Think of Lemondrops as a more pigmented, creme version of China Glaze Solar Power. Very similar base shade but with a different finish and pigmentation.
Cotton Candy really is the perfect descriptor for this hue. It takes me right to the fair. And the subtle sparkle reminds me of the iridescent quality of spun sugar threads. It adds playfulness and depth to the polish. I know my skin looks a bit ruddier than normal in this pic but that’s just to get the polish color right. It’s actually a bit more vibrant in person.
Grape Escape even more vivid in person that it appears in pics. It’s a pretty dead on purple. Not too dark, not too light. In comparison with the other summer purple, Lippmann Call Me Irresponsible, Grape Escape is definitely more pigmented and a couple shades lighter. All I can say is, LOVE!
Decadence is unlike any teal I own. It has amazing depth and fire, very much like a jewel. Being the only metallic-ish shade in the bunch, it definitely stands out. I like to think that if ChG Turned Up Turquoise and Passion In The Pacific hooked up, you’d get Decadence.
The Sugar Rush collection from Shades by Barielle retails for $8/ea and is available now on Barielle.com. And if you buy 2 colors, you get one FREE with free shipping on all orders over $50.
St. Paddy’s 2009 NOTD – Illamasqua Elope
 Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Yay for the day of greenness and Irish pride. Everyone is Irish today or at least they pretend to be. I’m certainly in the pretend camp and I’ll happily swig green beer or Harp (can’t do Guiness) with the best of ‘em.
I’ve been contemplating my St. Paddy’s green mani for a couple weeks now, like it’s that serious (it’s not). I had my color all picked out and then I totally switched up my game when some polishes from Illamasqua appeared on my doorstep. Holy shamrock gorgeousness batman! I could hardly control myself. Decision made, Illamasqua Elope is the shade for me! |
Elope is the most perfect kelly green creme. It’s even more vibrant in person. I just wish my camera would show that. I’m wearing Seche Vite on top because the formula dries matte.
UK readers can pick up Illamasqua nail varnish at Selfridges and EU readers can order from Illamasqua.com.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
