Missha HG R01

(2 coats)



The rose scent on this is so impressively strong. I could smell it days later.

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Missha swatches

A couple of Missha swatches: for anywhere from $0.99 to $2.99, it's not a bad brand but it's completely hit and miss for me.

Missha VL01

One of my favorite manicures of the past quarter. Look at all that beautiful silver (and possibly purple) glitter in the reddish purple jelly. It sparkles and shines gorgeously. Three coats.

Missha GR03

Basic grey creme. Three coats. Nice but not outstanding.

Missha GR01

A dark aqua blue shimmer. Four coats, still VNL. Not pleased.

Missha BL001

This powder blue creme looks lovely in the photo but it took four coats to even out. I know that pastels are a pain in the ass but there are tons of beautiful pastel blues out there that are perfect in three coats and a couple that are great in two. Color Club does pastel blues very well and they cost about the same as Missha polishes.

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As pristine as the newly fallen snow: some white swatches

This is probably going to be a visually boring post as it is devoted to one single color: white. But hopefully it'll be informative to somebody -- hopefully, D's whet some appetites on white nail polish with her Underware comparisons.

I'm pretty much always on a quest for a perfect opaque white creme. WnW White is often recommended. But in my experience, it isn't as fab as WnW Black. Very streaky and chalky on me.

I can't locate photos of all the opaque white polishes I've tried out and so before I forget, here are some of the ones I've tried but won't be showing photos of:

• Anna Sui 015: Soft white. As much as I love the candy rose scent of these polishes, this one was a nightmare. Three coats, totally uneven, goopy, and it never dried. (And it resembled White Out in texture.) Smelled nice... but nice-smelling nail polish is of no use to me when I can't wear it!

• Rescue Beauty Lounge Underware: Stark white. D's covered this one already. I've heard tell that this is a brilliant one-coat wonder! For me, that was simply not true. Three coats, also uneven. I tried it under the pastel jellies like Bikini Bottom for the "lit within" look... It looked pretty bad because the Underware was very streaky. So whatever power other people have over RBLs... I certainly do not possess it.

• CND Cream Washed: Beige-white. Not opaque at all. Trust me, I tried...

• OPI Alpine White: Stark white. It's been years since I've used it but have found this to be a pretty trustworthy white: two coater for me, IIRC.

OPI Tickets to Paradise

This is definitely not meant to be an opaque polish: the photo above shows five or six coats. It also leans a bit pinkish grey. It's a very nice polish with a pleasant jelly finish but not quite what I want in an opaque white creme.

Missha WH001

Soft white. Four coats, still VERY uneven. It was only a couple of dollars but totally not a worthwhile polish for me.

CND Brilliant White

Stark white. Four coats, very easy to build (please ignore the ugly chips that happened because it refused to dry for hours and hours). Certainly very close to what I want in a white (opaque, smooth and creamy in texture) but four coats was pushing my patience. Brilliant White was probably one of the better ones I've tried though!

American Apparel Cotton

Cream white. I like how soft this white is: it just has a tinge of tan in there. It does even out in three coats -- and does apply quite nicely for a white -- but man oh man, did this totally not dry at all.

Revlon Street Wear White Out

And saved the best for last: I need backups of this one. It's closer to a softer white than a super stark white. Passable at two coats but really needs three... but when you apply that third coat, it's opaque white polish perfection. So smooth (though not glossy). And so easy to apply! I hate having a discontinued polish be an HG of any sort -- and thus, the search continues -- but really, quite a jewel of a polish and one of the ones that I got for 4 for $1. :)

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December Adoree swatches

This post was sponsored by... well, half me, half Esther's Nail Center. Whenever I receive Adoree polishes from Thresa at Esther's Nail Center, the package is always accompanied by a little sheet filled with dried dollops of Adoree polishes (a service available to all customers that Esther's NC calls "stroke samples"). When I saw this month's stroke samples, I immediately put in an actual order for four more polishes because they were more perfect for December than the ones I had originally chosen. December is a good month for glitter, especially ones I can put over white. :) I ended up only having enough time to swatch five of the eight this week.

Adoree Starlight White over Missha WH001

I don't know about you guys but I really liked this combo. Missha WH001 is a slightly jelly white creme (which applies like a bit of a nightmare) and Starlight White is a sheer topcoat with fine glitter and a slight white-purple duochrome that's more apparent in the bottle than on the nail. The glitter itself looks opalescent and flashes green and gold mostly. It does a nice job of softening a bright white. Reminds me of snow... :)

Close-up of Starlight White over Missha WH001

There's the purple duochrome... but it's only barely visible on the nail.

Adoree Wild Orchid

Bluish-lavender foil. I love the color A LOT but this is far too brushstroke-y for my taste.

Adoree Golden Star

Run of the mill gold polish. I can't tell if it's suspended in a yellow jelly or if it's a clear base: my nails are pretty stained so it's hard to tell if the yellow is the polish or my nails. :( Three coats above: definitely a layering polish, not a glitter polish.

Adoree Genuine Pink

Darkened mauve creme. It's more pink IRL. Two coats and super glossy. I can't make up my mind about this color: there's something about it that I really like. And then there's something about it that whispers "boring..."

Adoree Hamilton Blue

Multicolored glitter. Four coats on the index (left), three on the middle, two on the ring and one on the pinky (right). Reminds me a lot of Amour Rain Glitter (a favorite cheap steal of mine) but less dense. It looks tons better when layered over a creme, like so:

Adoree Hamilton Blue over RGB Minty

Mmm. Much better. Actually, looking at this picture, I think it'd be fun to try layering this over all colors of cremes. I wonder how different it would look if I layered it over a red polish, since this look probably always takes on the color of the base polish. (Worry not, I'll be showing Minty some other time.)

Close-up of Adoree Hamilton Blue over RGB Minty

I have to remember to try this out over other colors. Betcha it would make a funky skittles mani. Or horribly clashing. Or both.

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Missha swatches

I don't know how to commemorate this day. Born and raised Manhattanite, and no idea what to do or say on this day. It makes me sad and bitter -- and probably for reasons different than what most people think -- and that's... all. Anyway. Swatches. Missha.

The essentials:

Cute flower-shaped bottles.

Small (0.39 fl oz).

Cheap (~$1.50 at the Missha US website).

Typical UPS shipping (~$8, though free with purchases $40+).

Hit-or-miss in terms of quality (see following).

Missha BL101

Frosty/pearly light blue. Three coats, nowhere near opaque. Looks like something I would've worn -- and not enjoyed -- in middle school.

Missha PK104

Dark pink jelly. Three coats, pretty sheer. Really nice and glossy but the sheerness does it in for me.

Missha GR101

Very bright, almost frosty, turquoise shimmer with silver and gold glitter. It's less frosty-looking IRL. Two coats, could've done three and would've been fine.

Close up of Missha GR101

Missha RD101

Basic red jelly. Three coats. Again, glossy but too sheer for me.

Missha PK102

No idea what to call this color. A dull, drab version of fuchsia? A shimmery plummy shade? Three coats here, applied very smoothly but I found it boring. The finish was slightly frosty with the occasional glimmering silver glitter particle.

Missha WN103

Deep maroon jelly. Three coats to reach opacity. Very, very glossy. I like! I think I got a slightly wonky brush on this one: a couple of loose bristles that got polish allll over my cuticles.

Missha PP101 (outside with sun and inside with flash)

Dusty mauve with peachy pink shimmer. This one looked plain and kind of frosty in the bottle but I actually really liked it on the nail. It's definitely a neutral/safe color in my book but I really enjoy the shimmer in it.

And my favorite for last:

Missha BL102

Neon cobalt blue. Two coats, great pigmentation. Slides right on. :) And because I liked it so much, I had to play with it!

Missha BL102 with CoverGirl City Lights topcoat

Spaaarrrkly. A thrill of the cheap variety at approximately $5 for the two polishes.

Closeup of Missha BL102 with CoverGirl City Lights topcoat

Video of the spaaarrkly (sorry if it seems more spastic than usual)!

All in all, a couple of gems, a couple of duds and the vast mediocre middle. I'm very happy for $1.50 polish. If nothing else, they're sooooo cute and flower-shaped and obviously, it's what's outside that counts. ;)

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I was doing research work and then the mail came: Missha bottle pics

I don't even remember how I found out about Missha but when I saw the price ($1.59), I decided I needed to haul. Shipping was an ouchy $8.99 -- especially since I was just in NYC -- but for 10 bottles, I ended up paying about $2.30 a bottle. And what a cuuuuuute bottle it is. I don't have any time for swatches today (or labelling, even) but I had to show these little 0.39 fl oz cuties off.

Cremes:

Not-cremes:

Shipping time was less than a week from East to West Coast. Hope these apply and wear well, too! Because move over Diamond Cosmetics, we've got a new cheap thrill in town. ;)

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