I'm Swatchin' You - Orly Prelude to a Kiss

I have another Orly to show you today!  This is Prelude to a Kiss, from the Cool Romance 2012 collection.  It's a lovely peach creme.

The formula was decent, but streaky.  Both of the first two coats showed streaks, so you are looking at three coats.  Other than that, the formula was great, and that third coat really solidified the color.  Not much else to tell you about this one, other than it really is a great color.  And you can probably see my cuticles are still a long way off from recovering from the neglect the past few months.  Still chugging along, although they do look a bit better.  And I'm still playing with options for my pictures, but I'm narrowing down what works best sans lightbox.  Bear with me, please!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Color Club Antiquated

Today, I'm showing you Color Club's Antiquated, from their Foiled collection.  This is a metallic, muted gold.

Really missing my lightbox!  Have I said that enough?  This color is really great!  Application was excellent.  It would have been opaque in one coat, but there was some slight balding.  So a second coat was needed to solidify it.  Love it!  In fact, I loved it so much, I did a full mani with it!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Orly Chantilly Peach

I guess I'm on an Orly kick, and a peach kick!  Today's color is Chantilly Peach, a light peach frost.

If Peachy Parrot was a little too strong of a peach for you, then check out Chantilly Peach.  It's a gorgeous, subtle peach.  As with any frost, you will get some visible brush strokes.  You are looking at two coats.  Again, Orly's formula is very easy to work with.  Pair that with their thin brush, and you've got me in love with Orly!  Still really missing my lightbox!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Orly Peachy Parrot

I have another Orly to show you today, and it's one of my favorites!  This is Peachy Parrot, from the Birds of a Feather collection.  It's a peach frost.  I know a lot of people don't like frosts, but aside from some visible brush strokes, I really like them.

This is two coats, and the application was a breeze.  The color is a rich peach that looks so beautiful on.  I really can't say much else other than if you don't have, go get it!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Sinful Colors All About You

Today's color comes to you from Sinful Colors.  This is called All About You.  It's yellow and copper glitter in a clear jelly base.

For a micro glitter, it applies very nicely.  The formula was great, and you get a nice, fairly even application with it.  You are looking at two coats here.  But I have to be honest, I'm not in love with this one.  It's very nice, and may serve its purpose when layered over something else.  It's just not something to get very excited about.  I think it would be a great polish if the base had been tinged with some color, too.  What do you think?

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - China Glaze Fast Track

China Glaze's Fast Track, from the Hunger Games collection, is a must-have!  You have been informed.  Again, I really wish I had my lightbox with me so you could really see how gorgeous this is.  Fast Track is a neutral with gold shimmer, and I love it!

Yes, I dinged my middle finger.  It looks much worse than it was IRL.  The light just happened to keep highlighting what was really a tiny little bump.  Figures.  Anyway, the application on this was great.  I only did two coats for this swatch.  I think a third coat would really have made it look better as it builds beautifully.  The gold shimmer is subtle and gorgeous!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Orly Synchro

Oh, how I love Orly!  This is Synchro, from their Electronica collection.  It's a pink frost that has some purple flash to it.  The frosty finish will result in some visible brush strokes, but it was barely noticeable.

The formula was a little on the thin side with my bottle.  Again, just leave the bottle open for about 10 minutes, and you should be good to go.  Application was excellent.  I did three coats on this one.  The color is really quite beautiful.  I wish I had better pics to show you.  I really miss my lightbox!  This was swatched the same day as yesterday's post, so no moisturizer.  My apologies!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - China Glaze Brownstone

Hi there!  Today's color is coming to you from China Glaze.  It's called Brownstone, which is a rich, dark brown creme with red undertones.

You are looking at two coats.  The formula was pretty good.  Mine was a little on the thin side, so I just left the bottle open for about 10 minutes, and it worked much better.  Being up north for the time being is really taking it's toll on my hands.  I didn't use moisturizer prior to taking these pics, as you can see.  For those of you in cold climates, don't forget your moisturizer!  Crazy dry hands after missing only one day of moisturizing.  Let this be a lesson to you!  LOL

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Butter London All Hail the Queen

I am so excited to be showing you my first Butter London!  I decided to show you my absolute favorite BL color, which is All Hail the Queen, a very subtle neutral holo.

For such a light color, application was quite nice.  I thought there would be a lot of streaking and balding.  One thing that is lovely about BL is their formula.  This applied evenly, and builds nicely.  I did my usual two coats here, but I do think a third coat would really solidify the color, and show its true beauty.

For those of you who are not familiar with this brand, it is a bit on the pricier side.  It retails for $14, but they do have some truly beautiful colors.  I go for BL when I want to splurge a bit.  And like I said, the formula is really great.  I have heard of some people avoiding BL because they think it would be too difficult to apply using a square applicator.  Never fear...it's just a square cap.  There is a little round handle for the applicator.  Personally, I feel it's a little too small, but that really doesn't make too big of a difference.

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Sally Hansen Wined Up

Good morning, folks!  Today, I'm showing you a gorgeous red.  It's from the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line, and it's called Wined Up.  You know the name caught my eye before the color!  But it is a gorgeous deep red with subtle shimmer.  Check this out!

Like many of the Insta-Dri polishes, this was a one-coater, which is what you are looking at here.  The formula on this was excellent.  Since it's a one-coater, it may stamp well.  I haven't tried it yet, though.  I would love to know if any of you have.

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Orchid Funky Monkey

Today's color comes to you from Orchid.  It's called Funky Monkey, and you know I bought it for the name!  It's basically a brown glitter in a brown-tinged base.

If you look closely, you will see that the shimmer is a coppery brown that even looks rose and gold from different angles.  It's a very pretty color.  The formula was great, but it does go on a bit sheer.  So you are looking at three coats.  This does build beautifully with each coat.  The only thing I don't like is that there is a slight VNL, which the brown tinge of the base makes it look kind of like there's dirt under your nails.  Do you agree?

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - China Glaze Ultamate Holiday

Hey folks!  Today, I've got a polish from China Glaze's limited edition collection that was done for Ulta.  It's called Ultamate Holiday, a gold holo glitter in a clear jelly base.

One thing I loved about this polish is that it applies really well for a glitter.  It goes on evenly and dense.  You are looking at my usual two coats.  However, this does dry matte, and it's a top coat eater.  I only applied top coat to my middle and pinky fingers.  I don't know if you can really see the difference.  If you want a smooth finish, you will need 2-3 coats of your top coat.

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Spoiled Cougar Attack

Hello everyone!  Today's color is from Spoiled.  If you are at all familiar with Spoiled, you know they have horrendous brushes.  That is my only complaint about this color, Cougar Attack.

To be honest, I didn't think I was going to love this color.  But everyone was raving about it when it came out, so I grabbed it to give it a shot.  OMG, what a gorgeous polish!  It's a copper glitter in a copper jelly base.  The base color builds quite nicely.  You are looking at two coats.  It would just get more incredible with more coats.  The result is a beautiful coppery color with a strong copper shimmer from the glitter.  It looks great and my pics just don't do it justice.  You. Must. Buy!

SH Double Duty and Insta-Dri for base and top.