How To: Brush Cleaning/Cleansers

One of the most important things you can do if you use makeup brushes it to keep your brushes clean and wash them on a regular basis. This prevents bacteria and product from building up on your brushes and helps prevent any break outs that may occur.

There are a myriad of brush cleansers out there: cheap, expensive and everything in between. As I've tested a fair bit of them, I thought I'd share my thoughts.

I always always spot clean anything that has a cream or liquid product on it after each use and the majority of the time when I even use a brush with powders. Even if the brush did not get wet or get oil from your skin on it (which is most likely did), a brush that already has even a minuscule amount of product on it may distort another color that you are applying and at 6 or so in the morning, the last thing I want to do is take all my makeup off and have to reapply forgetting that I applied my blush with my powder brush the night before (red face? No thank you!).

As far as how I clean the brushes with the cleansers I have, this is what I have always done. Squirt the brush cleaner on a paper towel (I actually prefer the slightly rougher cheaper ones in this case) and gently sweep the brush back and forth on the towel, changing locations has necessary to get all the product off. Some brush cleaners suggest spraying directly on the brush head, but you have to be very careful with this as if you get any liquid in the ferrule it can ruin the glue and make your brush lose hairs or even fall apart. 

Here are a few cleansers that I've used and my thoughts on them:

Up front is Brush Off - this is by far my favorite cleanser but it's slightly hard to find and a bit pricey. I used to be able to find it at ULTA but I don't see it on their website at the moment though you may be able to find it in store. However, you can still order directly off their website. My current bottle is 4oz and retails for $13.50. They also sell a large refill bottle of 16oz for $32.

My second favorite is the MAC Brush Cleanser. My main problem with this product is that it doesn't come in a spray bottle (pouring it out would lose a lot of product in my opinion). I have decanted it into a spay bottle of a brush cleanser I didn't care for. The MAC comes in a 7.9oz bottle and retails for $11 - a pretty great price really.

The Clinique cleanser is very similar to the MAC brush cleanser except it has a slightly stronger smell (they are even both pink!). The Clinique comes in it's own spray bottle with a nice silver accent. The MAC cleanser is a bit more utilitarian and this seems more aimed at the retail market. Either way, The Clinique version comes in an 8oz bottle and retails for $13 but I often find it at the CCO (Cosmetic Company Outlet) for a little under $9.

The Paula Dorf cleanser, called Brush-Out is another one I've tried. This is advertised as a gentle and conditioning spray and I'll agree with that however I don't feel it really works with heavy duty products and it has a weird bubbly almost fizzy consistency. Not a bad cleanser but not a great one either. Brush Out comes in a 4oz spray bottle and retails for $15.00


The ELF Daily Brush Cleaner is a fairly new addition to the Studio line. It comes in a translucent squared black bottle and holds 8.5oz and is by far one of the cheapest cleansers at only $3.00. While I find this does a decent job of cleaning, my only qualm with it is the scent, which comes across as an overly strong fruity floral. This is much stronger than even the Clinique cleanser. It really smells like a room freshener. Not very pleasant.

And the very last brush cleaner and the one I've spilled out since I found it awful, is from the Essence of Beauty line from CVS. I actually found this on clearance for $1.75 (surprise surprise) and decided to give it a shot. It comes in a fairly standard round bottle and hold 2.7oz (which is pretty paltry). It's since been packaged and reformulated so I may give it another shot (it is not 4.2oz and retails for $5.99 and has a completely different ingredient list).

Price per ounce:
ELF $0.353
MAC $1.39
Essence of Beauty (new) $1.426
Clinique $1.625
Brush Off $3.375/$2
Paula Dorf $3.75

The definite winner for price and quality of the product here is the MAC and a plus you have the Back2MAC program in place.
***
Edited: Just wanted to note that I do deep clean my brushes with brush or baby shampoo but since I don't get to do this as often as I'd like, these spot cleaning products are super useful in making sure my brushes are clean in between deep cleanings!

Long Overdue Review: Good Enough To Eat Soap

Several months ago I learned that my favorite soap maker had closed up her shop and was not planning on continuing making soap. I had been used this small brand for years - seriously, I first bought her soaps my sophomore year of college to battle my seriously dry flaky skin after a few unfortunate experiences with other "popular" e-tailers. I found the prices very reasonable, the product was amazing - unlike other e-tailer soaps where they would literally stick to my skin in the shower, hers produced a rich moisturizing lather which didn't involve slathering myself in heaps of lotion after wards (I could even shave with them!). I especially liked the ones that contained exfoliating ingredients since they were much more gentle than exfoliaters I could purchase in the store.

Well, to say I freaked out was an understatement. I furiously e-mailed said soap lady asking her if she had any plans to reopen Sparta Soap: nope. So then I asked her for recommendations and asked a few other knowledgeable etsy-lovers as well. BTW- Thank you Phyrra for your help!

Here's what I discovered - soap was expensive on Etsy! I searched and searched for reasonable shop owners that didn't seem to be repackaged soap or merely poured glycerin. Now, here's the thing. While I enjoy supporting small businesses, the idea of spending upwards of $7 on a piece of soap (including shipping) seems a bit ridiculous to me. That's just as bad as buying LUSH and I have a store nearby. Granted, LUSH soap is ridiculously overpriced and seems to melt away in seconds in the shower but I admit, I do like the smell of the products.

Anyhow, I finally found Good Enough To Eat which seems to offer organic soaps at a very reasonable price. I'll admit, I was fairly hesitant as no one had recommended this particular shop, but I took the plunge... in February.

Well, it took me till very recently to try this stuff.

The shop offers a variety of different "flavors" textures, butters and other items. The highest priced soap item in the shop is a very reasonable $3.75 (most range from $2.75 to $3.00) and are 4oz. Each soap comes individually wrapped with the name, ingredient list and contact information. The order arrived quickly, wrapped in tissue paper with an invoice.

I bet you're wondering what I thought of the products, huh? Well, the first time I showered I was pleased to see a rather rich lather form, the scent was divine - the one I used first was the Oatmeal & Honey soap which has fine granola in the base. I usually shy away from honey scents as some of them can be a bit overwhelming and honestly, disgusting. Not this one. This is actually really pleasant. My skin didn't feel dry the first time I used it, but it did feel a bit tight. I was a bit worried after that but the sensation has dissipated as I've continued using the soap. One of the best things about this soap is I can shave with it! The lather is thick and moisturizing enough so that I can even use it on the delicate skin underneath my arms. And no razor burn. Oh yeah, and it exfoliates - double duty.

And a perk, though admittedly my bathroom is tiny, having the soap on the dish scents up my entire bathroom!

So, I'm quite happy I took a shot with Good Enough To Eat soaps and I'll definitely be reordering if the shop owner forgives me for waiting this long to leave feedback on Etsy. =x

Disclosure: I bought the above soap(s) with my own hard earned cash.

I ♥ China Glaze

I've sang my love for China Glaze before, they are by far my favorite polish formula (though admittedly I'm not a huge fan of some of their frost formulas). Either way, when I recently won one of their twitter contests, I was pretty psyched. I had no idea what was going to be in the package but when I picked it up at Fed Ex today, I was totally over joyed!

First off the package was huge. I couldn't resist and tore it open in the car. After that, there was a smile plastered on my face for several hours thereafter.

Wouldn't you have had the same reaction?!

Inside was a ton of goodies!

Surgi-care waxing kits (I've never heard of the brand before but I'm anxious to try them!)

An enormous bottle of body lotion by Body Drench.

Several pairs of false lashes (various brands).

Seche Recondition and Restore.

And every color from the newest China Glaze Poolside collection (!!!!!) - I'm so glad I held off on buying these. Thank you thank you thank you China Glaze!!!!

Wait, you thought that was all? Nope. 3 more bottles of nail polish. Cowardly Lyin', Stroll, and Good Witch too!

Can I possibly say thank you enough? Most likely not. Either way, I'd definitely consider participating in the China Glaze twitter contests. I never win anything but this made up for it tenfold!

Disclosure: These items were sent to me free by China Glaze since I won a contest.

Memorial Day Sales

I could post each one of these individually, but there are so many (!) so one post it is!

Save 20% off everything in the Cherry Culture shop now through May 31st with code MD20.

Save 25% at Missha now through May 31st ($40 minimum purchase). You need to have an account with Missha before being able to use this coupon. Use this link to "download" it to your account if you already have one. They recently came out with a new lighter BB cream color that I'm dying to try! Yay for us palies!

Get 20% off and free shipping at Stila with any purchase over $50 with code MEMORIALDAY. If you don't want to spend that much, you can still get free shipping all weekend long (no code required)!

In other news, my wrist is feeling a bit better (though I have a couple nasty bruises) but DH has come down with a stomach flu so it looks like this weekend is going to be more relaxing for yours truly than planned. I hate to leave the poor thing at home but I might pop out for a bit during my parent's annual barbecue. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Beauty 360 Sale

Offer valid online only in the Beauty 360 Makeup Department. Expires 5/30/10 at 11:59 PM EDT.

And don't forget, you can use Extrabucks! Anyone going to haul?

Allure Beauty Box

I'm a huge fan of the Allure Beauty Boxes. They are a great deal and they usually contribute some of the proceeds to a charity.

This year's is particularly good. It's $39.99 but worth over $200. Shipping is free. I have a feeling this is US only though it doesn't say either way on the main page.

$5 from each sale goes to the Skin Cancer Foundation

https://www.ovationtix.com/allure/


Allure summer tote
Aveeno Continuous Protection SPF 70 for Face
Biore Skin Preservation Dual Fusion Moisturizer + SPF 30
Colgate Proclinical Daily Whitening toothpaste
Dr. Loretta Dermatologist Skin Care Youth Fill Deep Wrinkle Filler
Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Sun-Damage Daily Moisture Lotion SPF 28
Frizz-Ease Smooth Start Repairing Shampoo and Conditionor
Joico K-Pak Deep Penetrating Reconstructor
Matrix Biolage Delicate Care Organic Certified Oil
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Daily Sunblock SPF 55 or SPF 70
Stila Lip Glaze Collection
Youngblood Pressed Eyeshadow Quad in Purple Majesty


The quad retails for $39 alone!

Hidden Treasure

Now that "the precious" is in my hands, last night I played around with it over my current manicure (AA L'Esprit). A note that I am having a super hard time photographing just how gorgeous Hidden Treasure is. Once you catch the flakies in a certain light, they just glow.

Anyway, this was only one coat over the American Apparel. I can't stop staring at my nails!

This picture is super small because my cuticles are disgusting so I recommend not enlarging!

It's kind of hard to see the individual flakies in most of the pictures, but I promise they are there! This is one of those polishes where it is probably dangerous to drive with it on your nails because it is so glowy and pretty!

Wet N Wild Color Icon

Here's another item that recently came out that has been pretty hard to find. Surprisingly enough, all the CVS stores in my area had this out today (meanwhile they were all missing "precious" - I found "precious" in Kmart hidden in with the regular display).

Anyhow, this collection contains some nail polishes and baked eyeshadows and bronzers. The Color Icon collection is limited edition for spring/summer. When I went to look at the display, I automatically dismissed the baked eyeshadows since a few of them were already crushed, so I picked up both of the bronzers. Colors are Scorch and Sizzle and retail for $3.99 a piece.

Honestly? I would never use these on my face. They are quite metallic and shimmery. I tend to prefer subtle highlights or matte/satin bronzers.

They come in slightly rounded containers but here's the weird part. The top twists off. I wish these were flip tops.

Here's Scorch compared to a well-loved Cargo blush just so you can get an idea of the size (for all curious, it's Molokai - a great matte peach).

On the left we have Sizzle, which is a metallic gold and on the right we have Scorch which is more of a copper color.

Slightly different lighting. Can you tell how ridiculously pigmented these guys are? I'd think that they'd perform more successfully as eyeshadows rather than bronzers.

They look about the same when blended out. Same order though, Sizzle on the left and Scorch on the right. I bet these would be nice for darker skinned ladies, but I'm not sure my NW10 skin can pull them off as anything more than eyeshadows or very very subtly just on the very tops of my cheekbones, definitely not something I could wear all over (though I doubt anyone really could with that glimmer!).

What are your thoughts? Have you seen these or picked them up yourself? I'm honestly contemplating a return.

I Found The Precious*

This entry would be perfect if you listened to this music (usually, I never post videos in my entries).

Unfortunately, I can't really choreograph blog posts. But you get the idea.


* sigh nerdy DH

NOTD: American Apparel L'Esprit

I couldn't resist picking up some of the new American Apparel polishes when they were having the 30% off friends & family code. L'Esprit was one of the ones I was excited about (though who am I kidding? I'm excited over practically any new polish). All of the American Apparel polishes are creams which I love. L'Esprit is a fairly pale lilac, there is a bit of blue in it which my camera picked up more than the purple. Also, slightly gray. Anyway, it's very pigmented but also a little thick. When you first paint your nails, you can kind of see ridges where you've placed the 'newer' polish but thankfully it all seems to level out without a problem (well, aside from the sides - but that's probably because I'm not super amazing at polish application).

Don't they all look slightly different?

Beauty Blog Link Love - 5/22/10 - #10

Retrodiva checks out the fun stuff at The Makeup Show, slideshow-form.

Mz. More from The Glamorous Gleam is taking you To The Beach with a sneak peek at the latest collection from MAC.

Who knew that baby shampoo could be dangerous? Betty Girl Makeup tells you how it could be hazardous to your skin!

Sarah from I Heart Cosmetics is ready and prepared for some sun with her too favourite facial sunscreens.

Curious as to which products Louise from MakeupLoveer is using right now? Find out here!

Swatch-o-rama! The Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks are finally landing on UK shores... Lipglossiping has them sussed and swatched!

Beautywoome.com unearths the the best dry shampoos on the market.

Jen at beautyjunkielondon gets a sneak preview of the new Autumn/Winter range from Boots No7.

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed checks out drugstore concealers.

The Pink Sith is smitten with BECCA Lip & Cheek Creme in Tuberose.

Phyrra tells you all about her Holy Grail eyeshadow product, Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy.

Sophie shows off and reviews the Sleek Kajals, with swatches.

Madame B Fatale interviews the Boss of Gloss winner, Cathy Mason.

Louise has a chat with celebrity hairdresser Andrew Collinge and reveals photos of her 80's hair shame.


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Flying of on your holidays? Enter Lipgloss86's giveaway to win some Lee Stafford haircare.

Ever wanted to check out Annabelle Cosmetics? theNotice is hosting a giveaway of their new Mineral line, and you get an extra entry just for being... not Canadian?

Oh Yeah, That's Just Pocket Change

(Sike)

Even though La Prairie items are super expensive (you can easily pay up to $200 for a foundation and even more for skincare/treatments), when I saw this gift with purchase offer, my jaw nearly dropped.

Yours with any $1200 La Prairie purchase

$1200? Not a typo? Guys, that's a little more than half of my monthly mortgage payment and more than I make in a week! Not quite sure who besides celebs has the kind of money to drop on makeup/skincare. I guess that's why it's still in stock!

As it stands, I've never tried anything La Prairie.

I think this may be the highest gift with purchase when you buy x offer I've ever seen!

NYX Sale @ Cherry Culture

Take 25% off all NYX items at Cherry Culture now through May 25th. This includes both regular and sale priced items, which means the discount is pretty decent! Free shipping over $40. The old NYX Girls polish is currently $1.50 and buy 2 get 1 free if you liked one of my recent manicures, though stock is going fast!

NOTD: China Glaze Exceptionally Gifted

So, this a fairly pale pink... but it's a frost, which means - steaks. Since it's light (though not as light as it looks here - my camera doing it's best to wash the color out) it's not as obvious as say... Mystery Poo but it's still streaky. Otherwise, it's a nice color... just I realized that I hate frosts and I realized this long after I bought this shade. They always look so pretty in the bottle, sigh. And I usually love China Glaze. Oh well.

Streak city is especially evident in picture #2, isn't it? Blah.

Beauty.com Friends & Family (20% off!)

From now until Friday, May 21st, take 20% all purchases at Beauty.com for their Friends & Family sale! They carry a bunch of different mid-high end brands. Shipping is free with any $49 or higher purchase.

Will you be taking part?

CVS Beauty Sale: Seche Vite 50% OFF!

Seche Vite has quite the following. It's a fast dry top coat which is great, although some people get shrinkage on their nails. But guys... it's 50% off at CVS. I'm fairly sure it's part of the beauty sale because I didn't see it advertised but either way, go grab the couple of bottles they keep in stock (I took 2).

Ignore the Cheetos. I get cheese/chocolate cravings around that time of the month and at least I pick the big poofy baked ones! Seche Vite set me back just $4.95 (it's $9.95 at CVS, $7.99 at Sally's,$4.20/without shipping at transdesign, etc.)

So go! And flourish!

NOTD: NYX Hot Pink Glitter

I can't seem to get an accurate picture of this, but this is NYX Girls Hot Pink Glitter which isn't hot pink glitter at all. It's hot pink and there's glitter, but the glitter is actually green in a hot pink jelly base! My camera washes this out terribly, making it look pale pink, but it's significantly brighter and much more cheery and summery in my opinion (and I need some cheering up as I've been feeling pretty awful physically lately). Anywhoo, this is 3 coats. A layer of topcoat makes it fairly smooth. I have a few of these NYX Girls shades and this is by far one of my favorites.

NYX recently changed the packaging and increased the price of the NYX Girl shades. You can get these older bottles on the Cherry Culture website for $1.50 and also buy 2 get 1 free. The new packaging is $3.00.

Discovery/Review: OPI Lipstick

A few months ago, I found some highly discounted OPI sets at Trade Secret. The sets consisted of a full size OPI nail polish and an OPI lipstick both for $3.74. The OPI colors were from the LE Australia collection and looked to be fairly safe colors and for $3.74, even if I didn't like the lipsticks, it was like getting the OPI half off, so I thought, what the hey (a sale will do me in every time as I'm sure you've picked up on). Well, I wasn't expecting to actually like the lipsticks (and enough to do a post about them).

In the back of my mind, I knew that OPI had branched out from solely doing nail polishes. They have/had a few (hand focused) skincare items, the lipstick, lip liners and gloss. But knowing the brand was focused on nail polish, I never thought that the products would actually be good and it certainly doesn't help that they didn't get a whole lot of attention before getting discontinued.

Well, I love the three colors that came in these sets (especially one particular shade which I'll mention in a bit). The three colors I got were Don't Melbourne The Toast, Didgeridoo Your Nails? and Suzy Loves Sydney.

I find the consistency really creamy and even moisturizing. They also have a shine to them and while some have a bit of frost, they are still creamy and not over the top. Don't Melbourne The Toast is by far my favorite. It's a mauvey pink bordering on nude with gold shimmer throughout but it's not frosty. My picture also makes it look a bit more orange than it is, but can you see the top of the swatch and the subtle shine? Really pretty. This is a really great neutral shade. Very office appropriate. Didgeridoo Your Nails? is a cool pink with gold/pink shimmer but again, not over the top. The fact that it has the gold in a fairly cool base makes it more complimentary for most skin tones than just a cool pink or one with a more cool glitter would be. Suzi Loves Syndney is a fairly dark raspberry. It has red glitter, but again, not obnoxiously so. What I really like about these is that one swipe, and they can be applied quite subtly but they can also be built up and although they have shimmer/glitter, they take a step back and aren't frosty.

If you manage to get your hands on some OPI lipsticks, give them a shot. I believe OPI lipsticks are discontinued but I continue to see large baskets of them on clearance at several Trade Secret locations so they may be worth a try especially on deep clearance. Personally, I'm happy I picked a few up especially for the, what? under $2 I paid? Definitely awesome for $2.

In other non-reviewy news, I have started adding items to my sale blog. More is coming once I sit down and go through some of the items I don't (or haven't) used. Much rather items go to a good home than sit around in my stash unloved. 

Review: Spell Cosmetics

I just want to say that this review is long overdue. I received my Spell Cosmetics haul in early April and didn't really start testing them out till recently. Oops! Anyway, I'm going to share my thoughts and some pretty pictures especially since Spell is having an awesome sale through tomorrow only!

Anyway, as you can see in said haul entry, I experienced excellent customer service from Spell which I guess is probably why I was hesitant to try the products, what if they sucked? That would truly be a disappointment (though the review would have gone up anyway).

To test out on the eye, I did an EOTD with Antiquity (left) and a tiny but of Treasure (right) in the crease.

The first thing I noticed is that these felt less dry than a lot of the mineral shadows I've tried (a note that the line that I picked up is advertised to be more moist than other shadows - The Jewel Thief Collection). A lot of the time, if you have a shadow that is a base of color with glitter or sparkles, the moment you start trying to apply it to the eye, you lose the sheen and they go rather flat and some of them are harder to blend than others. For some people this is a good thing, especially more mature lids that can't really handle mega frost on the lid, but for those of us that actually like the shimmer colors, it's a bit disappointing. I am happy to say that although I did get some fall out with these shades, the glimmer stayed on the lids quite well and the shades didn't go flat when I started blending them.

The one thing I wasn't thrilled about is the fact these don't have a sifter. Since I'm near blind without my glasses, I literally had to bend down to my sink to pick up shadow with my brush, swirl in the lid and then apply so as not to create a huge mess. I also found that these tend to ball up in the jar which isn't a problem but it means there isn't a lot of the product that clings to the lid, so you do actually have to "dip" your brush in the product which for me is a recipe for disaster if I'm not careful.

Before I share my EOTD with the 2 shades I used, a disclaimer. My camera washes out colors a bit that I put on my face/eyes.

I used:
Lumene eyebase
Spell Antiquity all over lid
Spell Treasure in outer V (very little)
Milani Metallic Liquif-y Eye Metallic eyeliner in black to line
Bourjois mascara (I forget which one) in brown

This was applied at 12pm today and I went out in the hot sun and it stood up pretty well (though my lashes uncurled themselves). It's now 5:30pm. Spell eyeshadows are usually $9 each which is a bit high for a small line but so far I'm impressed and you can get them for a mere $3 a pop during the buy 5 get 5 free sale.

Would I buy again? Yes, and I'll be participating in the deal that ends tomorrow.

American Apparel Discount Code

The blogosphere is a buzz regarding the new American Apparel polishes, well, I have found a discount code! Take 30% off your entire order and get $5 shipping with code AA5112414524FFd now through May 16th. Take off the "d" for international orders (so it would be AA5112414524FF)!

American Apparel polishes are $6 each or 3 for $15 in specific packs online. Enjoy!

Blog Sale: Thoughts?

I've been kicking around the idea of having a blog sale (or sale blog that I can link to). Personally, I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of blog sales, especially if they are taking away from the content of the blog so I'm a bit hesitant. However, the thought of being able to unload a bit of my makeup (and a few nail colors I'm not a fan of) is very appealing. Would you be horribly annoyed if I had one? Is there any interest?

CVS Beauty Sale

It felt like it was just weeks ago when CVS had their beauty sale with a ton of products 50% and 75% off, well it's baaaccck! I went to CVS tonight after work and they were in the process of putting all the little stickers up! So, if I were you, I'd pop by your CVS to check out the sale.

What I saw:
(all L'oreal was 75% off)
a select number of L'oreal HIP pigments
all the L'oreal HIP thick pencil liners
L'oreal Mineral Wear eyeliners
L'oreal Color Juices
L'oreal HIP glosses (duo and the newer long round ones)

Revlon Active Wear Tinted Moisturizer
Revlon Creme glosses (I think, these are in the slightly curvy tubes)

(all Maybelline was 50% off)
Maybelline Pure Foundation
various Maybelline mineral products

(All Sally Hansen/Carmindy was 75% off)
A few different Sally Hansen nailpolishes
All of the Carmindy lip glosses (all varieties)

1 Borghese nail polish was 75% off (it rang up $1.99 and I used the $3 off coupon so score!)

The entire 24.7 Mineral Line was 75% off (but rang up 50% off which means I need to go back since I bought some of the blushes)

At this point not everything was marked so I'll be returning tomorrow especially since 3 items I bought rang up as a lower percentage (and these products were expensive so I'm looking at about $10 back in my pocket - rather substantial).

Have you stopped by the CVS Beauty Sale? Did you get anything? Share the deets!

NOTD: Revlon Cherry Fizz

After playing around with the Revlon Glimmer Glosses in a previous NOTD, I decided to try out this one on its own mostly due to the pigmentation that I noticed when it was layered.

Honestly, I was pretty impressed by this but I also noticed that this is one of the only Glimmer Glosses out of the 3 I own that has minimal glitter/glass flecks. There's a few pieces of glitter stuck throughout the base, but it dissapears once it gets layered on the nails, which is fine since even without the glitter this is a strawberry jello jelly (doesn't it remind you of strawberry jello?)! This was 3 coats 3 days into wearing it. It is now day 4 and aside from a little tip wear, it's still going strong! I didn't use a top coat and it's still very shiny, neon-ish without the matte side effects. Yes, there is VNL (visible nail line) but honestly, I'm kind of liking these sheer polishes lately. I guess it's the fact that many are wearing creams and opaque neons and I want something a little different. Please ignore the VNL stains however. For Mother's Day we had crabs with nearly an inch of Old Bay stuck on top. For a good 48 hours, it looked like I had faked tan on my fingers as they were tinted orange and a bit got under my nails and sat around and stained the skin. Hey, it is totally worth the sacrifice! Yum!