I'm back! I apologize for the lack of posts during my absence. I planned to schedule some posts, but time got away from me. Anyway, I have some gorgeous polishes to show you.

3 coats

with flash

Color Club Glitter Wonderland is a lovely warm purple packed with blue and red microglitter. Because the glitter is so abundant, it overtakes the warm base, which is why it looks so cool in my photos. Imagine this a bit warmer.

2 coats

with flash

Color Club Winter Affair is a deep wine colored flecked shimmer. It's vampy without looking black in dim lighting. There's a gorgeous depth to this that I just love.





Color Club also did their first (to my knowledge) non-mylar flakie. It's nothing we haven't seen before, though.

1 coat over Color Club Winter Affair

Color Club Snow-Flakes is a red to orange to green flakie. Pretty, but it's just another duplicate of Hidden Treasure, Shine of the Times, 2010, Flashy, etc. The only difference is probably density. Hopefully we'll see more unique flakies from Color Club soon.





The formula on these was thick but manageable. Glitter Wonderland was slightly finnicky because the microglitter clumped up a bit. Waiting a minute or some in between coats worked for me.



We're probably all just waiting for the Halo Hues collection, but the Winter Affair collection holds its own with some gorgeous polishes. Definitely worth checking out.



The Color Club Winter Affair collection is available for purchase at Head2ToeBeauty.com 

I'm going on vacation  for two weeks, so there will be new posts. I though I'd share my vacation mani.

2 coats

Don't worry; I just wrapped my tips.

I chose Ozotic Pro 513 because it's one of the longest wearing polishes I own. It's amazingly stunning, so there's that as well.



I don't expect this to last more than a week, though, which is my handy dandy Lippmann Stripper To Go comes in.




Stripper To Go is definitely one of my most essential travel items. When my nails get chippy, I just use one mitt for all ten fingers and then go bare the rest of the time. I like to keep things simple, so I'm not the type to redo manis while I'm away.



What is your travel mani philosophy? Do you get a no chip mani, stick to regular polish, or go bare?

2 coats

Butter London Shag is a warm bronze metallic. This is the only color from the collection that screams Autumn to me - definitely reminds me of fallen leaves. Shag has such a beautiful finish and dries quite shiny.



Shag's formula is great. I had no application issues.



I don't have a comparison for this simply because this is not a color I typically wear or even like. I'm pleasantly surprised with how much I like Shag, though. I hope this doesn't open the flood gate with bronzey shades for me!



Have you picked anything up from Butter London's Autumn/Winter 2012 collection yet? If not, do you plan to?



Butter London Shag retails for $14 and is available at butterlondon.com and Ulta.

Butter London has holos! As in holo that actually shows up without squinting (I'm looking at you AHtQ). Their Autumn/Winter 2012 collection includes Dodgy Barnett, a typical silver holo and Trustafrian, a light green holo.

3 coats, sunlight

flash

Butter London Dodgy Barnett is a silver grey holo. I would call this subtly linear/borderline scattered as I never really saw a distinct flame while in the sun. In terms of strength, I would put this slightly above Color Club's current, non-dud holos (not the Halo Hues!). Indoors, Dodgy Barnett looks like a shimmery light grey. It doesn't fall flat like some of the stronger holos.



The formula is pretty good. Nice consistency, but I experienced a bit of cuticle drag. I dealt with this by just waiting a moment longer in between coats. Dodgy Barnett dried fairly quickly with a nice shine.



I managed to find a dead on dupe for Dodgy Barnett, but it's unfortunately not that easy to obtain.

2 coats China Glaze OMG, 3 coats Butter London Dodgy Barnett, 3 coats Catherine Arley 676

China Glaze OMG is there simply for reference. I wanted to show how much grey Dodgy Barnett has compared to a silver holo. Catherine Arley 676 is the same as Dodgy Barnett in terms of holo strength, opacity, and color.



This comparison probably won't be useful unless you already own 676. If you don't and really like Dodgy Barnett, I would advise you to go ahead and get it. Ordering Catherine Arleys is not very cost efficient unless you want several of them.



Butter London Dodgy Barnett retails for $14 and is available at butterlondon.com and Ulta.

1 coat Ozotic Pro 505 over 1 coat American Apparel Hassid

Anyone familiar with Ozotic multichromes knows this is just the tip of the iceberg. Due to time constraints, this is the only picture I snapped before I took this mani off. I'll have complete swatches and a review soon!

I saw a swatch of Butter London Gobsmacked in last month's issue of InStyle and knew it had to be mine. My weeks of lusting did not go in vain. Gobsmacked is a stunner!

3 coats

with flash

Butter London Gobsmacked is a deep charcoal grey glitter. It has a ton of depth - totally reminds me of asphalt. Gobsmacked dries matte with some texture. These pictures were taken with no topcoat but before the polish was completely dry. It was smooth and quite shiny with one coat of Seche Vite.



The formula is typical of dense microglitters: a bit thick but manageable if you use thin coats and wait a minute before applying the next coat. I've also found that adding a few drops of thinner usually takes care of the problem, but that was unnecessary with Gobsmacked. Also, Gobsmacked dried quite quickly.



Moving onto the comparison, the closest polish I found in my stash to compare is Milani Silver Dazzle.

3 coats Butter London Gobsmacked (g), 2 coats Milani Silver Dazzle (sd)

with flash

Silver Dazzle and Gobsmacked are not dupes.The key difference is Silver Dazzle's warmer, lighter color. Gobsmacked almost looks blue in comparison. Silver Dazzle is also more textured.  I had to use two coats of Seche Vite to smooth it out. Above, they are shown without topcoat.



While I don't consider these dupes (they look obviously different, even at arm's length), Silver Dazzle may be close enough for some. The price point of the Milani is definitely more desirable, but I think it will just come down to personal preference. I think I'll keep both for now.



Which do you prefer?



Milani Silver Dazzle retails for $5 and is available at most drugstores.

Butter London Gobsmacked retails for $14 and is available at butterlondon.com.

Remember when OPI was awesome?

While shopping Butter London's Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, I had a feeling I'd seen Lovely Jubbly before. I couldn't make the connection, so I bought it anyway. Of course, it clicked as soon as I got home:

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, Butter London Lovely Jubbly

2 coats Rockstar Pink, 3 coats Lovely Jubbly

I'm usually super nitpicky about what I call a dupe, and I have no problem calling Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink a dupe for Butter London Lovely Jubbly. Or is it the other way around since Lovely Jubbly is newer? The only difference is that Rockstar Pink is slightly more dense than Lovely Jubbly. There is really no need to own both of these, though.

1 coat Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, 1 coat Butter London Lovely Jubbly over 2 coats  Nails Inc. Baker Street

I wanted to try to show the slight difference in the opacity of these glitters. I do prefer the look of Lovely Jubbly layered, but again, it would be ridiculous to suggest owning both of these.



The formulas we comparable. I had no issues applying either one, and the consistencies were not too thick or thin. I prefer the SHXW brushes to Butter London's.



I would suggest skipping Lovely Jubbly (unless you collect BL) and going for the much more cost efficient Rockstar Pink.

The polishes from Dior's Spring/Summer 2012 collection are easily two of my favorite Dior shades ever. They may be dethroned when I finally get around to swatching my Les Violets, though!

2 coats

Dior Saint Tropez is a turquoise creme with Dior's signature sparse shimmer. I think it looks slightly dusty in my picture, but in person, it is very clean and vibrant. I missed this the first time around, so I'm happy to finally have it.



I don't often get to comment on wear, but I wore Saint Tropez for a full week and had no chips at all. I snapped a picture on day 4, which explains the slight tipwear.

2 coats

Dior Bikini is a pink coral creme with the same sparse shimmer. I'm a sucker for any kind of coral, so it was instant love. I have a few polishes in mind that may be comparable, so I'll do a comp post soon.



The formula is typical Dior - an absolute dream. That's why I love Dior. The colors aren't always the most unique, but I've never met a Dior polish with a less than perfect formula.



Dior Bikini and Saint Tropez retail for $23 and are available for purchase at Dior.com