Borghese?

If you're like me, you love drugstore nail polish. You stalk the makeup section of CVS and Walgreen's on the off-chance that they've stocked the latest polish collection of your favorite drugstore brands. However, drugstore polish hunting can be an often disappointing pursuit, as most drugstores stock new collections days or even months after the collections are released.

So, you end up looking through the permanent collections to heal your wounded heart...and more often than not...you pass by a strange looking brand of polishes called Borghese. You think to yourself...wow...only reds and pinks? Lame...and look at the bottle! Ridiculous! Ho ho ho! Well...maybe you don't 'ho ho ho'...but I do (shame-face).

So, while looking for the new Borghese duochromes that were recently released (more on that in a later post) I noticed that some of the colors were actually quite pretty. Although they retail for about $8, which is pretty ridiculous for drugstore polish, I decided to give them a try...

...AND I'M SO GLAD I DID.

This is Bellisima Rose, a stunning red creme, in natural light. The formula on this was like butter...SUPER pigmented, barely visible nail line with only one coat, fast dry-time, and SUPER easy to apply. I've only tried two of their cremes so far, but I'm SUPER impressed. Cremes can be tricky...for instance, I often have a hard time with China Glaze's cremes. They can be rather thick and hard to manage.

Yes, these are expensive. Yes, I'd buy more of them, because the formula is amazing! Try them! Besides, every woman should have a signature red creme. Why not shell out a little bit more for that special shade that you can slap on when you want to feel a bit sexy?

This is also Bellisima Rose, but in typical shoddy indoor lighting (aka: that of my dorm room). As you can see, it turns into a vampy red :D


And for reference, here is the brush. It tapers out a bit towards the end, which can cause problems on super small pinky nails (like mine), but it's do-able. The brush isn't as stiff as Sally Hansen's (which also have large brushes), so application is easier in my opinion.

Larger brushes can be daunting, but once you get the hang of them, they make application not only easier, but possibly FLAWLESS :D

See you next time, nail nerds!



http://www.borghesenailcare.com/

Hello again! The other day I picked up four of the new Milani "3D Holographic" polishes. I got Cyberspace (blue), Hi-Tech (green), Digital (pink), and Hi-Res (purple). The names aren't exactly original for holographic polishes, however, I think that their finish makes them unique. The holographic glitter in these is VERY fine and very bright. It almost makes the polish look 'coarse' in the bottle, but on the nails, these are perfection!

The formula was thin but manageable, which is pretty much the norm for Milani polishes. All of the pictures below show two coats and no top coat. To bring out the brilliance of these holos, I would recommend pairing them with a super shiny top-coat!


"Cyberspace"

"Digital"

"High-Res"

"High-Tech"

For you ladies who love drug-store polish (I do!) you should be sure to pick these up! I found mine at CVS, but not every CVS has them...I know because the one by my college does not!

Also, two random bonus polishes, both by Sally Hansen, and both purple!

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails X-treme Wear "Virtual Violet." This polish is hard to describe. It's not really a pearl, and it's not a duochrome...it has an opalescent finish, it that makes sense. It's quite sheer, and required three coats for me.

"Grape Going!" DRUGSTORE DUOCHROME GOODNESS! This is a purple with subtle flashes of blue when it hits the sunlight. Shown here is two coats, but I think that at three you'd really see the depth and shine of this polish better.