Savina - Black Pearl

Savina Black Pearl is a pretty bluish-charcoal with a light purple duo chrome.  I have to tell you, these are some ah-mazing pictures, but it's not quite this awesome in real life.  Late afternoon sun does wonders for this polish.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Instant Artificials (1 coat)

Color:  Savina Black Pearl (3 coats)

See?  I actually gasped when I saw these photos on my computer.

Application was pretty good.  I thought this was going to be less opaque than it actually is - I'd be fine at three coats.  You can see a touch of VNL in the second to last photo but it's really not bad at all.

Savina - Purple Hologram

Well, today I have kind of a weird one for you.  Savina Purple Hologram is, in the bottle, a pale lilac with holographic glitter.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color:  Savina Purple Hologram (3 coats)
Topcoat:  Sally Hansen Insta-Dri (1 coat)

In the photos I have very noticeable VNL, but it's not quite as visible in real life.  The polish was a little thick, but it does a great job of suspending the glitter (it wasn't like some glitters that I have to shake like crazy to get it evenly distributed).  Cleanup was super easy, but I might think that because the polish is pretty light in color and not as noticeable.  The glitter is also very noticeable and does not get covered up by an opaque color, too.

Here's where I am on the fence.  I would never in a million years wear this color if it didn't have glitter in it, and definitely not this sheer.  Is the glitter enough to rescue this polish from my pile of polishes to purge?  I don't know.  I'm leaning towards tossing this one.

Savina - Envy

With a name like Envy, you would think this is a green polish.

Well, you'd be wrong.

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)

Color:  Savina Envy (3 coats)

Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

The third photo is probably the most accurate, color-wise.  Still, this comes across like a screaming neon pink, but it isn't really.  It's no ChG Pool Party or Essie Punchy Pink.  But it is extremely bright pink.  Application was about typical for a neon - a little bit draggy, and dried matte.  I have a little bit of VNL but it's not visible in real life.  I actually put on WnW French White Creme under this at first, but quickly decided Envy didn't need a white basecoat.  

I didn't post about this the day I put this on, because it was dark when I finished.  So I have a tiny chip in my index finger, because I was working on a cross-stitch before I took my photos.  That is something I noticed about this polish - I have a few Savinas, but this is the first neon I've tried.  It chipped like crazy - shortly after I took these photos I went out to run errands and looked down and half my thumbnail's polish had come off in one big chip.  

Still, I'd definitely wear this again if I wasn't planning to wear it very long.

Comparison: Savina - Black Mist, Jordana - Night Fall, Hard Candy - Wicked

I was rearranging my untried drawers (okay, to accomodate a sh*tload of new polish I hauled over the weekend) and noticed that I have three untried black polishes with silver glitter.  I am pretty sure I don't need three, so I decided to compare them.  I'm going to guess these are all about as equally easy to find (unless Wicked is d/c'd).  I got the Savina at Nordstrom Rack, and I ordered the Jordana from Cherry Culture.

In the bottle they look pretty similar.  The Jordana has a lot more silver glitter stuck to its sides, but it's patchy.  A good shaking up fixes this.

Here they are at one coat each.  These are in the same order as the bottle photo:  Black Mist on my index finger, Night Fall on my middle finger, and Wicked on my ring finger.  From here we can see that Black Mist has more glitter and a sheerer base.  Wicked is the most pigmented.

Two coats.  Black Mist is still super blingy, and its base is starting to fix itself.  I have a big bald streak in Night Fall, but that's my fault.  Night Fall and Wicked are looking pretty dupe-y.

Three coats.  We can safely conclude that Night Fall and Wicked are dupes.  Black Mist is fairly different from the others.

I added a fourth coat of Black Mist, just to compare it with Night Fall and Wicked.  Still not dupes, but Black Mist is gorgeous on its own.

I went into this thinking I would find that these three are all dupes, and I would only keep one.  Instead, I am keeping Black Mist and Night Fall, and Wicked goes into the purge pile.  I liked Night Fall's application a little better than Wicked's, but this was almost a toss-up.

Savina - Money Tree

I've had Money Tree in my untrieds for a while now.  I earlier did a comparison between this and China Glaze - Cha Cha Cha and concluded that they are definitely dupe-y.  I also learned via the Nail Board that it's dupe-y to Moonpool, too.

I didn't feel like setting up the lightbox, so I don't have a bottle pic.  I might end up just using something similar, because I'm liking the way these nail photos turned out.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color:  Savina Money Tree (3 coats)
Topcoat:  Out the Door (1 coat)

Application was really nice.  Money Tree is a thin polish but I got good opacity with three coats.  I didn't have a lot of trouble with cleanup, and I wasn't particularly careful, either.  I did have a bit of an issue with bald spots on the second coat but I think that was more because I didn't have the right amount of polish on my brush.

In the bottle Money Tree looks like it might be brush-stroke-y, but once it's on, any brushstrokes are barely visible.

Comparison - Savina Money Tree and China Glaze Cha Cha Cha

I was playing around in my stash this morning, trying to pick an untried to wear later this week.  I finally settled on Savina "Money Tree", which I've had in my untrieds for a while.  I was waiting around for the washer to finish before I did anything, and while I was waiting I thought, "huh, this looks kinda similar to Cha Cha Cha".  That's also in my untrieds, so I decided to pull that out and do a quick comparison.

In the bottle they are really, really close.  The Savina looks like it might be brush-stroke-y, but otherwise they are very similar.  I didn't set up my lightbox for this comparison, because I wanted to make sure I got different light sources, and now I think I might have found a different way to take NOTD pics.  Anyway, here are the bottle shots.

The Savina looks a little bit duller in this photo, but I think it's because the Savina is a little bit thinner.

Here they are at one coat each, over one coat of Fiberglass Network.

I have Cha Cha Cha on my index and ring fingers, and Money Tree on my middle and pinky fingers.  At one coat you can see that Cha Cha has a little bit more shimmer, and Money Tree seems to be a tiny bit deeper green.

This is two coats.  They're starting to get closer now - the Savina has a little bit of VNL, but it no longer looks much deeper green than Cha Cha Cha.

And here we are at three coats.  All the nail photos are taken next to a window on a sunny day (is there anything else in Texas this time of year?).  My middle finger is at a different angle, so it looks a lot greener, but you can see from my pinky finger that they're still really, really close.  Money Tree does have a teeny tiny bit of brush-stroke-y ness, but it's really not noticeable.

Verdict:  dupey dupe dupes.  You only need both of these if you're a green hoor.  I am, but I actually still don't know that I need both of these in my stash.

Savina - Neon Yellow

This is probably the last summer neon mani. It's finally starting to feel like fall in Texas - even though the temperature is still in the high 80s, it actually gets cool at night now. Neon Yellow is... well, it's a neon yellow.
This is a tiny bit less vivid than the usual neon yellow (such as Funky Limelight). This also has a shimmer to it that isn't very evident. It's very subtle and reminds me of the shimmer in Sew Psyched.

Basecoat: NailTek Foundation II (2 coats)
Color: Savina Neon Yellow (3.5 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Application was weird for this one. I might add some thinner to see if that helps. The texture was thick but not too gloppy. Opacity was nice, but I had some streaking because it was so thick. I didn't need to use a white basecoat, either.

Next post is going to be a bit of a cheat: I am going to add a polish on top of this one and wear that as well.

Savina - Purple Confetti

Purple Confetti is a berry jelly with multicolored glitter.  Think China Glaze Atlantis, only the red-violet version.

I had a lot of trouble capturing the glitter colors in this.  But, I'm wearing Atlantis on top of my For Audrey pedi, and the bottles are right next to each other on my table - it is the same glitter.  The only difference other than the base color is that Atlantis has a lot of silver glitter plus some holo, while Purple Confetti has pink glitter plus some holo.

Basecoat:  Gelous (2 coats)
Color:  Savina Purple Confetti (3 coats)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (2 coats)

Application was pretty bad.  This is a thick and goopy polish.  I may try to thin it a little to see if helps, but with this much glitter I think it will always be a problem.  Cleanup was a beeyotch.  This dried shiny but lumpy - I needed two coats of Seche to smooth it out.   So, I'm thinking I will have some shrinkage tomorrow.

Still, this is a gorgeous polish and an absolute glitterbomb, though I couldn't manage to get it on camera. Sun photos might have helped - of course it's dark now.

Skittles

Today I decided to wear skittles. I've never worn skittles for longer than a comparison, but I'm planing to wear this one until Friday. I was originally going to do funky French tips but I have so much trouble using those stupid tip guides. I thought I might have magically gotten better since I've really gotten into polish, but nope.
I'm not going to have time to change polish at all this week, and I couldn't think of anything I wanted to wear all week long, and hey, five untrieds done, right there.

This is two coats of Fiberglass Network, 3 coats of color, and one coat of Out the Door. From thumb to pinky, I am wearing:

Sally Girl neon pink
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Claire's itty bitty teeny tiny neon green mini
Savina Marine Life
Sinful Dream On

These all dried matte except for Happy Go Lucky. Happy Go Lucky and Marine Life were pretty much two-coaters, but I did three anyway. Marine Life is a gorgeous, vibrant teal, but it stained in the short time I had it on for my "do I need a white basecoat" mini-swatch. Dream On is a beautiful neon purple.

The Claire's mini.... the set I bought this in is a direct copy of the China Glaze Poolside collection. Right down to the shimmery blue. Their version of Flip Flop Fantasy has shimmer too, but otherwise they're identical. I own Kiwi Cool-Ada, and I did a mini-swatch of it for this mani and decided not to use it because it would have needed a white base. This mini isn't quite opaque either, but it's much more opaque than Kiwi Cool-Ada.

I didn't really have any application problems with any of these. Cleanup was relatively easy, also.

No new posts until Friday, so have a great week!

Savina - Blue For You and haulage (oh, is there haulage)

Today I have Savina Blue For You. This is a light turquoise with slight shimmer. I though this was similar to Sinful's Mint Apple, but Mint Apple is a lot dustier and has more sparkle.
Here a couple different photos of this on the nail.

Basecoat: Gelous (1 coat)
Color: Savina Blue For You (3 coats)
Topcoat: Poshe (1 coat)

Application was a BEE-YOTCH. This polish is thick and goopy, and if that wasn't bad enough, the brush is terrrrible. I may try to rescue this with Seche Restore because this really is a pretty color. The shimmer is not very obvious on the nail. I actually thought this was going to be a brush-stroke-y nightmare but it wasn't that bad. Blue For You dries to a satin finish so you will want a topcoat unless that's the look you are going for. However, this polish does not self-level so if you want the satin look you'll need to be very careful in application. Cleanup was not too bad for as thick as this polish was, either.

On to the haulage. I'm cringing at the realization of how much I've acquired lately, y'all. I haven't even swatched any of it on my nail wheels.

Last weekend I went to Ulta. I was hoping to check a few polishes off my wish list since I'm technically on a no-buy except for what's on my list (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!). This is what I picked up.
On top is Ulta Black Diamond. This is a black base with fine multicolored glitter in it. I picked up the Essie Fall mini set (because AS USUAL, my Ulta has a FULL Essie display, except for the ONE color I wanted!), and I found a Butter London display. I didn't even know Ulta carries Butter London now, and I've never tried this brand, so I'm looking forward to it.

Here is a shot of just the Butter London polishes.
Left to right: Macbeth (reddish pink creme), Jaffa (pinkish coral), Victoriana (light blue-gray with silver shimmer), Henley Regatta (teal glitter).

Total Ulta haulage: 5 full size polishes, 4 minis
Items actually on wish list: 1 (Essie Sew Psyched - and I'll still pick up the full size if I see it)

Ulta also had an Orly Cosmix display up, but I already put in a Trans Design order when it popped up. This is my Trans Design haul.
This is the OPI Go Goth mini set. I used flash here because otherwise it all looks black. I was hoping to snag Unripened in the full size, but I didn't pounce on it when I saw it (as I'd already placed an order) and now it's gone. I know better than to think my Ulta will have this in the full size so I will have to hope the mini is enough for me!

More TD haul:
New York glitters: Chartreuse glitter (this is hideous, y'all - I can't wait to wear it), Angel Dream (silver glitter with round holo larger pieces), and Alpha Jewel glitter (holo glitter, clear base - ho hum).
OPI Swiss collection: Ski Teal We Drop, Cuckoo For This Color, The Color to Watch, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous. Maybe I should have used flash for this photo, hmm.

Orly: Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, Lunar Eclipse, Galaxy Girl, Out of This World, It's Not Rocket Science

Total TD haul: 12 full size, 4 mini
Items Actually on my wish list: Everything was on it except for the three New York glitters, and all the minis except Unripened.

When I was shopping TD, they did not have the Misa Fall collection up, but Head 2 Toe did:
L to R: Spinning Out of Control, Like It Like That, It's You!, Color Club Covered in Diamonds, Quirky Smile, When U Say My Name, Embroidered Emerald

Everything in this haul was in my wish list.

Overall, I am thrilled with everything I got - usually when I haul I end up hating some of what I end up with. I don't care for some of the minis, but that's OK, because I know I'll also end up trying all of them. I admit I'm a little disappointed with Covered in Diamonds, because I couldn't wait for swatches to go up - I knew I wanted it when I saw the promos. If I'd seen swatches I probably would have passed on this one.

I also pre-ordered the RBL Fall collection, and I ordered two bottles of Milani Dress Maker, so I can check those off my list too. I actually think I am pretty well covered for everything on my wish list, at least until new collections release (I'm looking at you, OPI Burlesque and CG Awakening!)

New post tomorrow night - have a great Thursday!

Savina - Fabulous

Today I have Savina Fabulous. I am sure this brand is available somewhere, however, I've only ever seen it at Nordstrom Rack. I only had one Savina before I picked up this one and a few others last weekend. This is, uh, a neon pink with, um, iridescent glitter. I'm undecided.
Should have used flash on this photo. Oops. The glitter with the neon, I think, looks more interesting in the bottle than it does on the nail.
Outside, in late afternoon sun:
Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: Savina Fabulous (3.5 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (2 coats)

Application was. . . odd. Consistency was thin and streaky like a neon, except with glitter. Fabulous is thin for a neon, too - I have VNL after 3.5 coats. The glitter is more evident in the bottle than it is on the nail. I'm totally on the fence with this one. Texture was pretty chunky, too - I had to use 2 coats of Seche and I can still feel the glitter texture underneath. This polish dries matte (expected), so you need some kind of topcoat.

Going to a polish change/new post every night this week. Have a great Monday!