Comparison- Sheer opalescents

This is one of my favorite type of polishes. Shiny, shimmery, duochromatic, opalescent sheers. Above, from left to right, we have: Nina Ultra Pro "Molten Copper," Borghese "Patina Pearl," Pure Ice "Sea Shell," which is discontinued, and Sally Hansen "White Diamond," also discontinued.

The Pure Ice polish is my oldest actual bottle of polish. It was the originator of my "lazy mani" attitude of swiping on one coat of a sheer, opalescent polish and going on about my day. "Molten Copper" I bought back when I first got back into nails, this fall. Sally was having a buy 2 get 1 free for that brand I believe. The Borghese polish I found on sale recently at Walgreens, for $2.19 down from $8.17. I knew I already owned the similar Sally Hansen one, but I haven't been impressed with its quality, so I picked up the Borghese one to put them both through the gauntlet. I found the Sally Hansen one at my local Dollar Tree, along with other Sally Hansen polishes.

Now, when I swatched these, it was obvious that "Sea Shell" and "Molten Copper" looked nothing like the other too, so since my camera was getting full, I decided to just take pics of the Borghese and Sally Hansen polishes.




They were both pearly in general, with green on one side and pink on the other. They looked so similar, although the Borghese has a slightly stronger pink flash than the other. Ultimately, I liked the Borghese finish, and application, best. Poor Sally Hansen "White Diamond" now sits in my to-franken bag. It just takes way too long to dry and smudges like crazy. It is slightly more sheer and better for layering though, I'll give it that.

Pure Ice- Sea Shell

She sells sea shells by the sea shore...




This is an ancient polish of mine, from high school I'd wager. I was (and still am) all about pearlescent, opalescent, duochrome awesomeness, and especially sheer polishes, so this was a love of mine. It was the birth of my love of "lazi mani's". One coat and I'm good to go, my nails are interesting and subtly fancified. I'm normally not much of a girly girl.

My mom found this amongst her polishes at their house and gave it back to me. I must have overlooked it when I packed for my new house. I decided to give it a whirl, to see if it was still worth keeping or if it had not aged well, and whether it was analogous to any other polishes I have. It doesn't appear to be, except maybe a Sally Hansen Nail Prisms "White Diamond." I'm going to do a full on comparison soon.

Sea Shell is very aptly named, as it looks like that mother-of-pearl type flash you see inside shells. It has a golden and silver flash and then a very rosy pink on another. As I wore it, I kept thinking about how it might look interesting for layering, especially wondering how it might look over a brown. I added layering it over Orly Prince Charming to the list of experiments. Kind of a cherry cordial look perhaps?

It's also very sheer, this is 3 coats, which I wanted to do only to see if it could gain full opacity. I actually prefer it sheer, as was it's original intention, for my lazi manis. I still like it for that. It is a discontinued polish but I noticed in googling for other swatches that it is in stock at ABeautifulSecret.com in case you'd like to own it. It has an interesting smell too, almost a citrusy or perfumey aroma, these might have been a scented collection? It smells unlike any of my other polishes. If I had to guess, it is not Big 3 Free. Mine does not say.

Report card:

Color= C+ (I understand that this isn't a color for everyone)
Formula= C+ (it is kinda slow-drying and was prone to scuffs and scratches for about 12 hours, which was annoying, especially since it's been my experiences that sheers should dry quickly)
Brush= B (average)
Price= B+ (I think it was $2 and that's what Pure Ice runs even now)

Overall= B-