Watermelon Rind

Watermelon Rind by China Glaze

Watermelon Rind is a super-sparkly emerald green. I've read it described as "glass-flecked" and I can see why. My photo here doesn't do it justice, since this was taken after several days of wear. To give you a better idea, around my house this is called "beetle green" because it looks like the spectacularly brilliant sparkly carapace of an emerald beetle on each of my fingertips. Seriously if I heard this was made out of beetles I'd be a little disturbed but I'd totally believe it.

It was released as a summer color in 2009, but I wear it all the time, and I think it is gorgeous as an alternative to red around the holidays.

China Glaze is not the most inexpensive of polishes, but I consider them mid-range and you get a lot of wear for your money. The coverage of this color is what you'd expect from a micro-glitter, it takes 2-3 coats to achieve an even opaque cover. Once it's on you will marvel and stare though, I promise. It hardly needs a top coat and it is very chip-resistant. I've abused the hell out of this polish. Everything from playing with shelter dogs to metal-filled medical record filing, it is built to last and the glitter is easy to touch-up if you so desire. It can be difficult to remove but if you let your polish-remover-soaked- cotton-wad sit on your nail for a few seconds and then wipe, it'll budge quicker than most other glitters. The color in the bottle and on the hand are completely identical and completely awesome.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Hot Cocoa

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Hot Cocoa

Hot Cocoa is a nice dusty rose color, and holds up pretty well, though not quite the 10 days the package suggests. This picture was taken on day 5 and there is a bit of wear starting to show at the tips of my nails. It's a good choice for something demure and muted for work, and I think it was a good choice to get me in the mood for autumn.

I don't remember exactly how much I paid for this color but since it's my only Rimmel polish, I'm guessing I got it because it was on sale. It's not a typical color I would choose. The wide brush helps with application but the formula is thin and still a bit streaky and uneven in some places even after 2 carefully applied coats. Hot Cocoa does not quite live up to the long wearing promise of this line of polishes. I use acetone polish remover, and it took 1 total cotton pad to clean up. No staining, easy to remove. I got almost exactly what I expected. This shade is a bit more pink in the bottle, and a bit more tan on the hand.

Over all, I give it a 6 out of 10, and I'll probably destash this one.

Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away!

Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear nail color in Blue Me Away! #04

Blue Me Away! is a rich and vibrant creme color, and an active member of the extreme wear family.

Rocking this bright blue always gets me in a good mood. I think among my blueish polishes, this one is definitely my favorite. It even has it's own nickname around the house, which I can't say is true about any other color in my collection. This, my friends, is my Tron blue.

I picked this color up on sale, buy one get one 50% off, original price $2.99. Can't beat that deal! Okay, I guess you could, but you don't really need to. It went on and covered well in one coat, though two looked much more uniform. The paint tends to separate in the bottle, but blends back together easily and glides on smoothly. Blue Me Away! definitely lives up to the long wearing promise of this line of polishes. I use acetone polish remover, and it took 4 total cotton pads to clean up. My finger tips were a bit more blueish than I would like, but that all came off in the shower. I got exactly the color that I expected. A brilliant blue that matches the bottle.

I give Blue Me Away a 9 out of 10, only because of the staining during clean up. This color is easily my desert island pick. If I could only have one color for the rest of my days, it'd be Blue Me Away!