I took some photos of a few more Halloween polishes that I bought this week, but I'm really unhappy with the pictures and will have to re-swatch over the weekend. *sigh* I was all set to make 3 posts and schedule them to post all weekend and then my shitty photography skills ruined everything. To be fair though, it's half my cameras fault. It hates red :(

Luckily though, I did manage to get some decent photos of Sinful Colors' San Francisco. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to some of the holly jolly Christmasy greens coming out, just head on over to Walgreens and pick this up.

Color:
An emerald green super shimmer.

Application:
It's a bit sheer, but easy to control. Requires 3 coats for opacity. Dries a little slower than I would have preferred.

Downside:
Brushstrokes, brushstrokes, brushstrokes! Some people don't mind them, but I absolutely loathe visible brushstrokes. To me, it ruins the whole look. And as you can see, San Francisco is plagued with them. This is a classic example of why I normally steer clear of shimmers. HOWEVER...something about this color makes the brushstrokes more tolerable. Maybe because it's so festive looking???

Bottom Line:
When it comes to Sinful Colors, it's basically a hit or miss. Some of their polishes are fantastic. Others get thrown in the untried pile and remain there for months and months because they just don't measure up. But hey, what can you expect for $1.99?

San Francisco is a hit rather than a miss. Yeah, I dislike the brushstrokes, but it's still a stunning color. I do think it's a color best left to the holiday season though.

To me, half moon manis are chic and a good way to use nailart to achieve a unique but simple look. But, as you can see from this mani I did for today, it's quite easy to "jazz them up". This is 2 coats of China Glaze's White on White and the black I used is Sinful Colors' Black on Black. So essentially you could call this a "White on Black on White" half moon mani. :)



If you're interested in how I did the basic half moon look, you can head on over to Painting Rainbows and check out the tutorial I did as a guest blogger.

try to ignore the little white baby hairs on my thigh in this one...

I actually swore off gradients a few months ago because I did one that required literally over an hour of clean up. Fuck that! I love the look, but I'm just not patient enough to deal with all that. But then I remembered that I used a totally different technique that time and that my old trusty technique never left me with such a horrible mess to clean up afterwards. So I tried again, with pretty awesome results (if I do say so myself). The only real issue I have with this mani is the fact that I got extreme tip wear and lifting on my middle finger, which is likely due to the massive chip I have in the side of the nail.

I used Funky Fingers' Cayman Island for the yellow base, N.Y.C.'s Times Square Tangerine Creme for the orange overlay and a coat of Sinful Colors' UFO for the glitter. I then topped it off with 2 thick coats of Seche Vite.

Curious as to what Chunky Holo Black would look like over other colors, I decided to layer it over (from left to right) Ruby Ruby by Sinful Colors, Volts by Funky Fingers, Funky Dunkey by OPI, and Port Royal by Funky Fingers.

If you were looking at my nails from just a few feet away, you might think that this is a creme, but once the light hits it you get to see that amazing golden shimmer that makes it special. The first coat of Mint Apple is pretty sheer, but I was amazed at how easily it built up. This is 3 coats with a base and top coat. Drying time was also surprisingly fast.