Piggy Polish- Daylilly's and Music

I got rhythm,
I got music,
I got my man --
Who could ask for anything more?
---"I Got Rhythm" George and Ira Gershwin



So pretty in the bottle, a dusty minty herby looking pastel green. Unfortunately, shown is 4 coats, and as you can see, it bubbled and was just not drying correctly at that point. Not to mention, it was NOT big3 free and has a bizarre odor, triggered a migraine for me. I guess I'll stick with Revlon "Minted" but if I had my druthers, I'd prefer a more yellow-based green like this one per the bottle versus Minted's bluish-tinge which looks kinda cotton-candyesque.

And these were supposed to come with a little toe-ring but mine did not. It WAS on clearance for 1.99 at Ulta, guess I can't complain too badly. I do wish I had known it wasn't Big3 Free, but oh well.

Report card:

Color= D- (the bottle is so misleading, it just was not opaque enough at all and looked sorta vomitish until I put enough coats for opacity)
Formula= D- (runny, difficult to apply, and fumey)
Brush= C- (stiff and pokey, not good with the thin formula)
Price= D (I paid just under $2, but it's $7 usually according to a quick google, which I find sorta blah considering my experience with it- not a good investment personally)

Overall= D

PS and DON'T get me started on the name. It grammatically makes no sense. Not only is "daylilies" misspelled but there's also odd punctuation, making it possessive, but without a reference to what. It's like saying "Joe's and Crab Shack!" or "Gilligan's and Island". Just... not right.

Sally Hansen- Pink Rose Diamond

A rose must remain with the sun and the rain or its lovely promise won't come true.
Ray Evans




This is one of the Nail Prisms holos I got at Dollar Tree in the Sally Hansen 2-packs.

I will try and set aside my dislike of holos, but I am really generally not a fan. It just looks too techno or futuristic to me. I'm just kinda meh.

Setting that aside, I do like the base color, a funky, juicy, fruity pink, and the holo glitters are more subtle than the other Nail Prisms I got. It unfortunately was more sheer than the others, and very very similar to the Blush Diamond. You can see the difference between those two, and the Purple Diamond here.

Report card:

Color= C+ (not my style, and kinda cheap looking)
Formula= D+ (kinda took a while to dry, and had a dull finish, so a topcoat is a must)
Brush= D- (thick, bristly, and splayed...very poor)
Price= A+ (excellent, considering it was just 50 cents basically!)

Overall= C

Essie- Demure Vixen

Among the taller wood with ivy hung,
The old fox plays and dances round her young.
---"The Vixen" by John Clare








Shown is about three days of wear, so w00t! I had a big lust for this color after seeing it on another blog, and I found it by happenstance on clearance at Ulta last month. I wasn't quite like I thought, it was much sheerer, but I have now come to understand why everyone says that about Essie. It's true! They are so sheer usually! This is about 4 coats I think, maybe even 5 on my thumb and middle finger.

I don't care though, it was gorgeous, and lasted forever, so when my mini one runs out, I will be buying another. It's just such a lovely, unique color and I can see it working for multiple occasions/scenarios.

Report card:

Color= A (love it, so perdy, but would get top marks if it was more saturated)
Formula= A (ditto, only prob is it's too sheer)
Brush= B (well, it's a mini, but even so, it's not a bad brush)
Price= D- (they seem to be 7ish bucks regular price, and that's expensive if you end up not liking it)

Overall= B-

OPI- Ali's Big Break

I'm a girl
I'm gonna live the dream
I'm gonna live out my fantasy

Look at me
And tell me what you see
You know what I'm gonna be
---Bo and Monica "I'm Gonna Be a Star"




Not much to say here- didn't like this. It was super thick, gummy, and difficult to apply. I just wasn't a fan. I love the bright, cheery, cherry-red of the bad, but the flecks where just too thick I think? Maybe my novice-ness is just too pervasive, but I just did not apply this well. I had high hopes when I looked at it in the bottle, but once I got down to applying, that hope flew out the window. It was realllllly sheer too.

Oh well...

Report card:

Color= C+ (great in theory, but not so much reality)
Formula= C- (bad, especially a letdown since I love OPI)
Brush= A (OPI generally has good brushes, but this was a mini and sucked majorly)
Price= D- ($8, a toss-up- good if you like it, but a bigtime bummer if you don't)

Overall= C

Nicole by OPI- Scene Stealer

"The scene is dull. Tell him to put more life into his dying."
---Samuel Goldwyn




I loved this color in the bottle. It is so pretty and demure and classy and fitting for all occasions. I love it. It's a light violet-toned pink. It has a very extremely faint shimmer that in my opinion was not detectable hardly at all once dry.

Now, for all my high expectations for this, considering that I have never really had a bad experience formula-wise with Nicole by OPI polishes, I must say, I am quite disappointed. It was very sheer. That I can deal with. But it was also thick and globby and streaky and dried after like...eons. And when I say dry, I mean, it was "dry" but still was easily imprinted and smudged. 48 hours later, it was STILL imprintable and smudgey. But, I love the color so much, I plan on retrying it soon. Maybe something was off that day.

Report card:

Color= A (really pretty and flattering for most people I'd say)
Formula= C (thin, sheer, took forever to dry, was smudgey forever)
Brush= C+ (too flimsy for the polish's consistency)
Price= D- (I got mine in a 2 pack for $6.99, but normally they are 7.50, which is pricy, considering you can get China Glaze or Orly for less, and OPI for similar)

Overall= C

Sally Hansen- Fizz It Is

"Get Bizzy with the fizzy baby"
---Garbage "Get Bizzy With the Fizzy Baby"




Bleh. I really was looking forward to this color. It looks much less frosty in the bottle than on the nail, so that was a disappointment. In the bottle, it looks like a slightly shimmery creamy milk off-white. On the nail, it's FROSSSSSSTTTTTYYYYYY. It's like, pure frost. It's hard to see anything beyond the icy sheen. It's nice for a holiday mani maybe. If you like frosty. I like frosty though and this is too much for me. I think I'll franken with it later.

Good news is that it was only 50 cents, since I found it in a 2 pack for a buck at Dollar Tree. Also, considering its cheapness, the application wasn't so bad, although the dry time and finish ended up fairly lacking. It was gummy and ultra-imprintable for a long time and took 4 coats to get even this weak opacity. It might be nice for layering though, so I might try that before I send it off to the franken-pile.

Report card:

Color= F (way too frosty, it's distracting, and shows the brush strokes too badly)
Formula= D (it's definitely close to failing completely)
Brush= B- (pretty average, which shocked me considering the price)
Price= A+ (can't beat 50 cents! Gotta love Dollar Tree)

Overall= C

L.A. Colors "Paradise" pink

“He that does good for good's sake seeks neither paradise nor reward, but he is sure of both in the end”
---William Penn




I love this color, seriously. It's a plummy fuschia creme. I HATE that it has no name, so I call it simply "Paradise Pink" since the package said "Paradise" on the top. It was a L.A. Colors 2 pack I found at Dollar General and half-off, when it was only a dollar to begin with. I love the color, the formula, the application, the finish, all of it. My only complaint is that it took forever to get opaque. This is 4 coats and even then, I still had a noticeable nail line in certain lights.

Report card:

Color= A- (probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I personally adore it)
Formula= A- (except for the opacity problem, no complaints)
Brush= A (no complaints)
Price= A+ (definitely no complaints here, it was a buck for 2 polishes without the sale I got on it of half off. So, I paid a quarter for this bad boy)

Overall= A-

Nic's Sticks- Dash Into the Dark

Dashing through the snow
On a one-horse open sleigh,
Over the fields we go,
Laughing all the way;
---Jingle Bells




Dare I even share this awful swatch? This was actually my third attempt. These Nic's Sticks are so varied. It seems the metallic/frosty lacquers apply pretty well but the cremes do not. This is 4 coats. Look at the persistent baldness! And the mess! But it's a pretty color, if it could just be applied aptly. Perhaps someone with a steadier hand than I. It's like a licorice/jelly bean uber-dark plum color.

Report card:

Color= B+ (pretty fun, but it's hard to say, since I can't get true opacity)
Formula= D+ (thick, gummy, hard-to-apply, prone to unwieldy bald spots, etc)
Brush= F (this format does not work with the thick and quick-drying nature of the formula, it just globs up the brush)
Price= F (they are too expensive for the small amount of lacquer you get, even more when you consider the difficulty in application)

Overall= D+

Hard Candy- Fishnet

"I do recommend it for all girls, and boys, out there: put on a pair of fishnet stockings and find your inner sexiness!"
---Nia Vardalos




I was in need of a classic red. I saw this in a clearance bin at Walmart, with no price. But since the most expensive one there was the Nicole by OPI, at 7.50, I thought surely it didn't exceed that. I hadn't bought or even perused the Hardy Candy polishes really at that point, they just never seem like something I like. So, I bought it, guessing it was around 2 bucks or maybe a little more, which seemed reasonable for the color I wanted, a classic red.

I should have paid attention when she rang it up (along with 2 other colors Splendid and Frenzy). It was NOT on clearance, despite being in a clearance bin, with tons of other duplicates. I paid $5 for this. Ick, such a small bottle, and such a regular color, I could have gotten a LA Color one for 1 dollar! But this was very much the red I envisioned, so I decided to roll with it.

I tried it. It's ok on my toes, but it's really thin on my fingernails and takes forever to get opaque enough, plus remaining tacky and gummy. It chipped within a few hours as well. Poo. :( It's a shame, because it really is a classic red. Oh well, I used it for my first attempt at frankening last night, so it's not totally wasted.

Report card:

Color= A+ (classic red can't be beat!)
Formula= D- (nearly failing)
Brush= D+ (long and thin, not good)
Price= D- (considering how small the bottle is, this is just about the biggest nail polish rip-off I've seen.)

Overall= C-

Wet n Wild- nameless "Wild Orchid?"

A rare and fragrant orchid
her bud unfolding silently in the still night
casting her glow on all who take time to notice
---Woods-Orchid, poem by Philip A. Thomas



This unusual polish is why I bought this $4 set at Dollar General last month. It came with 5 polishes, which claim to be Wet N Wild "Wild Shine" polishes. None have names. There is one dark orange with gold glitter, 1 frosty blue which I think is "Shiver" or "Rain Check", 1 frosty pink, which I think is "Wild Card", 2 identical bottles of a metallic silvery grey, which I think are "Metallica" and then this one, which is a blurple with tons of mostly red glitter. In the bottle, the red glitter is basically all I see. Once applied, a few more colors show up- gold, silver, maybe even green or blue? Hard to tell. It takes at least 4 coats to be somewhat opaque and it has a gritty finish, but it's very unique. I kinda like it. It might be fun for a holiday or themed mani maybe even for layering or a 4th of July skittle?

I WISH WISH WISH WISH WISH they had included names or at least numbers to cross-reference, but nay not so. It looks very similar to Wild Orchid, but I've compared the bottle to pics of it online and they look different. This is more purple too than I think Wild Orchid is, aside from the different glitter compositions. But they are very similar. Maybe a color they intend to release later, or perhaps one from a long time ago? Maybe a pre-Wild Orchid experiment? Who knows? This and the orange one have me confuzzled as to their identity. If you have any clues, please share! I'm thinking it may be one of their Craze polishes, Inferno?

Anyway, report card:

Color= A- (pretty unique, in my opinion)
Formula= C- (meh, it's a jelly, so I know it's going to be sheer, but it's just weird)
Brush= D- (crappy thin, unwieldy handle plus a blah brush, makes for difficult application)
Price= A+ ($4 for 5 polishes, so is a win for me!)

Overall= C+

China Glaze- Chiaroscuro

"We're each of us our own chiaroscuro, our own bit of illusion trying to emerge into something solid, something real. We've got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time."
---Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty)




I love this color in the bottle. It's a nudish pink with delicate green and golden shimmer. The formula applies easily and smoothly and dries fairly fast. However, it was so sheer, and it took on a ruddier cast once it was on my nails, making my hands look puffy and my fingers look stubby. But it was hardy and the glossy finish was nice.

I don't think you should buy this color unless this is the kind of look you know you'll like. I tend to like colors like this, but this just doesn't work for me.

Report Card:
Color= C (interesting in theory, fails in execution)
Formula= C (great with application and hardiness, but too opaque)
Brush= A (fairly good brush)
Cost= D+ (5.99 I think? I wish I had my money back on this purchase for sure)

Overall= C+