Cirque Potosi

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but watching the Olympics has taken up the majority of my free time. This is Potosi, and it is the last Cirque polish I got from my order a couple of weeks ago (but not the last one I will get from Cirque :D). It's a silver shard glitter immersed in a clear base filled with small hex shaped gold glitter and silver micro glitter. Like all the other polishes from Cirque, the application was free of hassle. Potosi applied smoothly and did not have a thick texture. I layered one coat over two coats of Nails Inc Baker Street, a vibrant blue creme. The shards shine like mirrors in the sunlight, and made my bright blue nails pop so much more. Cirque hit a home run with this one!
As always, you can purchase Potosi on Cirque's website here.

Cirque Tibetan Nights

 I'm a fan of small brands, so when I received my Cirque order, I was reminded why I liked them in the first place. In my package, I received the cutest polish in a black pouch (what I expected), and a couple of Werther's Originals (yum!), as well as a written thank you note on my packing slip by Annie Pham, the creator of Cirque. I don't know about anyone else, but I truly appreciate these small gestures that shows how much Cirque appreciates its customers. It's hard for small brands to establish themselves in any industry. They are competing against behemoths that have prestige and experts at marketing, so I feel that brands that puts this much effort in ensuring their customers are pleasantly surprised deserves respect. 

I'd also like to mention that I'm going to try and post 2-3 times a week instead of once a month, as I did originally plan on updating on a regular basis. Now, onto the review!

Cirque is a new nail polish brand that is Big 3 free. Part of the Dark Horse collection, Tibetan Nights is a royal blue jelly packed with small silver and blue micro-glitter and light blue bar glitter. I don't have anything like this in my stash, nor have I ever seen any polish like this.

  

I ordered this nail polish on the 11th, and received it yesterday, so I really commend the fast processing/shipping of this brand. I used three coats for the pictures below, which provide a fairly opaque coverage for a jelly. My nails are rather short right now, so if there is VNL, I can't see it. I did use thicker coats though, so I don't think there would be VNL (take that with a grain of salt). The polish dries to a semi matte texture, so be sure to add topcoat to get a shiny and smooth manicure. Also, apply this polish slowly, as it does have a thin formula that can go out of your control is you aren't careful.

 I have a tendency of applying nail polish to my nails before the last coat is completely dry (the moment I finish painting one coat on one hand, I add a second coat on the same hand), which sometimes creates bubbling depending on the formula of the polish (some topcoat takes care of that problem). Tibetan Nights didn't bubble at all on me, so I'm pretty happy about that, though I still used topcoat because I wanted the polish to be shiny. You can't win everything.

I'm a fan of the color and of the brand. Tibetan Nights is a gorgeous and unique color that positively glows. Cirque nail polishes can be purchased here for $12 (Duochrome, Glitter, Shimmer) and $16 (Holographic). I'm definitely planning on getting more polishes from this brand. I'm eyeing Potosi, Devris, and French Roast, though I have the strangest feeling that I'll get the entire collection. Decisions, decisions...

Oh! Before I forget, here's a blurry picture... Shows how pretty the glitter is, and how awesome the polish looks when it is shiny <3

Linear Holos!

The sun was out this week, so I decided to try out a couple of gorgeous linear holos!
First up is OPI DS Sapphire. I got this a couple of days ago at CVS for *drumroll please* $7.29. I was really happy about the price, since this sells for $20+ on Ebay :D
This gem is a linear light blue holo that is noticeably holographic even with artificial light. It was sheer (I used three coats) and had a distinctive scent, different from the other OPI I own. I don't own any OPI that have the old formula, so it might be due to that. One thing I have to note is that the holographic effect you get on your nails is not as strong (not by much, mind you) as what you see in the bottle. I'm wearing this right now, and so far (one day), I haven't experienced any chips or tip wear. I used one coat of Poshe in the pictures below.
EDIT: After 10 days of wear, I had minor tip wear and some chipping on one of my nails. Pretty good for a holo, don't you think?

 The next polish I have is Nubar Reclaim, a beautiful grassy green holo. Unlike OPI DS Sapphire, the formula for this one was perfect. The holographicness (yes, I create new words) of this polish was very strong, stronger than the OPI. I wore this for a week and only had some tip wear before I removed this. I used two coats (you could get away with one if you are a careful), no top coat. I got this on Amazon for $8 (including shipping).

Triple Post

Is this finally an update?
To make up for the fact that I didn't post for a while, I give you the first ever Triple Post. Created for your convenience, the Triple Post will feature not one, not two, but three (3!!!) different nail polish reviews from three (3!!!) different brands. I might make this a regular theme in the blog if I don't update in a while. What do you guys think?

First up is Revlon Midnight Affair. It's a gorgeous dark blue shimmer that is opaque with two layers. The color itself is not unique, but it is a good staple color to own. Though the polish takes time to dry, it's consistency is excellent; not too thick and not too thin. It's glossy without a topcoat, and though the shimmer isn't very apparent in the shade, it glows in the sunlight. You can get this for $4.99 in drugstores and online.

Look at that shimmer!

Closeup of the bottle

While I'm reviewing a Revlon polish, here's a few bottle pics of another Revlon beauty, known as Runway Pearl. It's a recent release, and is a sheer coppery pink shimmer that I will review soon.

The second polish I'm reviewing is one that I now consider my favorite polish of 2012. It's RBL Aqua Lily, the prettiest turquoise with pink shimmer interlaced in the polish. It is one of a kind, and has a perfect application. There's not much else to say about it, since praise is the only thing this polish deserves. It was released as part of RBL Fan Collection, and is now sold out. I used two layers for the swatches below. Prepare for spam pics:

*swoon*

Lastly, I have OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston, a coral 'sorbet' (jelly) released in the Texas Collection. It's extremely glossy and has a self leveling formula. On the other hand, it takes sheer to a whole new level. Pictured below are four swatches, and I still have VNL. It's a pretty color, but I'm not a fan of how corals look with my skintone. You can get it for $8.50 in salons, drugstores, online, etc.

It's a bright color, but it isn't as pink as it look IRL

That's the end of the Triple Post. Hope you enjoyed this picture spamfest!