Vintage Stash Spam Week - Maybelline and Random Drugstore Brands

Hi all! I'm running late today so I have a super quick post for you all today! Maybelline is one of my favorite vintage collections because....well, just because. The short and stout bottles are so adorable and the colors are fantastic. I threw in a few other brands too because they were in the same helmer drawer as the Maybellines! Enjoy =)

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 Maybelline Express Finish Glitters, L-R:

Red Comet, Pink Twinkle, Mandarin Mars, Bolt of Blue, Planet Purple

 Maybelline Wet Shine, L-R:

Juicy Tomato, Juicy Melon, H2O Pink, Peach Gleam, Banana Puddin', Spiced Cider

 Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds, L-R:

Cherry Carats, Candy Hearts, Beaming Ruby, Sparkling Opal, Brilliant Amethyst

 Maybelline Express Finish Matte, L-R:

Matte Ruby, Matte Gold, Matte Khaki, Matte Sapphire, Matte Grape, Matte Grey

 Maybelline Express Finish, L-R

Blackened Maroon, Pink Sorbet, Purple Punk, Silver Lilac, Plum Aluminum,

Purple Aluminum, Purple Comet

 Maybelline Express Finish, L-R:

Electric Apple, Lime Aluminum, Khaki Fringe, Blackened Teal, Jungle Green, Jaded Blues

 Maybelline Express Finish, L-R:

Button Fly, Stone Washed, Boot Leg, Blue Riders, Diva Blues, Indigo Chic, Zip Fly

Maybelline Express Finish, L-R:

Tassled Taupe, Bronze Beam, Shooting Stars, Planet Pluto, Silver Spells

 Cover Girl Nail Slicks, L-R:

Mod Swing, Sunshine, Galactic Green, Blue Parfait, Sheer Orchid

 Cover Girl Nail Slicks, L-R:

Midnight Rose, Mystic Peacock, Deep Blue Sea, Denim, Chocolate Mint, Smoky Topaz

 Cover Girl Slicks, L-R:

Arctic Violet, Silver Violet, Crystal, Anti-Freeze, Gold Front

 Naturistics, L-R:

Pink gloss, Silver gloss, Pink Flirt Pearl, Fool's Gold Pearl, Periwinkle Pearl, Glacier,

Green gloss, Blue gloss

Randoms, L-R:

Jordache Green, Blue, Jane Up All Night, Pure Ice Wild Thing, Celestial, Grape Ice, 

Smackers Blue Glitter

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Do you have any vintage Maybellines? Any other vintage drugstore polishes?

Thanks for stopping by everyone! I know this stash spam is probably getting a little boring but we're more than halfway there now! Only 3 more days left!

Stash Swap with Rach from stuff i (s)watched

OMG A NEW BLOG POST! COULD IT BE?!

Hi everyone!! I'm baaaaaaaaaack! We are finally all settled into our new house, my polish room set up, my nails finally grown back from the breaks I suffered during moving and I'm ready to go! Thanks for sticking around during my long hiatus! I'm a bit rusty with my swatching and photographing skills so hopefully they get back up to par in the next few weeks =)

A while back, Rach from stuff i (s)watched and I decided to do a stash swap! A stash swap is where you send each other a few polishes from your own stash for the other person to swatch and then send them back. I'm so glad to have done this with Rachel and I'm sure she's glad that I'm finally swatching her polishes after a few months of having them so I can finally send them back to her =D Anyways, stash swaps - they're a good time!! Thanks Rach for letting me try these polishes and being patient with me while I found the time to swatch them!

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First up is RGB Camp. Rach wanted me to try this one because she is a huge fan of RGB and I had never tried one of their polishes before. Camp is a lovely greyed-out dusty green creme. The end result is gorgeous but it was a little streaky for me, and I wasn't in love with the formula.

In the bottle, the pigment has separated a bit and even through vigorous shaking, I wasn't able to get rid of the little blue streaks throughout. It ended up being barely noticeable on the nail though. The formula was a bit thick, and if it were my own polish I probably would have thinned it out.

But, despite the less-than-perfect application, it is a GORGEOUS color and I may have to pick up a bottle for myself because a) I don't have anything quite like it in my stash and b) I am a huge camper, went to summer camp every year as a kid and the word "camp" just gives me warm fuzzies.

Anyways, here is 2 coats of RGB Camp!

Next up is Maybelline Hip Huggers! This is a vintage Maybelline Express Finish polish from the Denim collection. I'm not sure what year this came out, and I'm not even sure if there was an official name for this collection. My guess is that this is circa late 90's-early 00's. I own pretty much the whole collection, but Hip Huggers has been one that has eluded my reach!! I'm so glad to have been able to swatch it because it is a beaut!

Hip Huggers is a dark, dusty periwinkle creme with the tiniest bit of hidden shimmer. The formula was a bit thick, very on par with other Maybelline Express Finish polishes from that time. Again, if it was my own polish I probably would have added a few drops of thinner but it did fine without it. It was a bit difficult to capture the shimmer on the nail but I did my best!

Here's two coats of Maybelline Hip Huggers. If you click to enlarge, you might be able to see hints of shimmah!

And last, but certainly not least, is China Glaze Paper Chasing. This is the polish that started the whole stash swap idea! I told Rach that had never tried it, and she insisted that I must as it is one of her favorite greens! I was not disappointed folks, this is one heck of a green!!

Paper Chasing is an awesome shimmery grass green polish from the 2009 Summer Kicks collection. It is a bit sheer so it took 3 coats to reach opacity, but its sheerness allowed the depth of the shimmer to show through and it was just perfect. Formula was absolutely outstanding, thin but not runny and easy to control! UGH! Rach, you are right, I am head over heels for this green! As a lover of all things green, I'm fairly certain I will need to pick up a bottle for my own stash.

Here's 3 coats of China Glaze Paper Chasing.

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Thanks everyone for stopping by today! I have lots planned for you all coming up, so stay tuned! Have a fantastic Friday <3

Retro Sunday Squared with Polished Claws Up - Maybelline Glitters

Hi my lovely readers! I'm so excited about today's post, the first edition of Retro Sunday Squared with the lovely Dana over at Polished Claws Up! Dana and I met at a Cleveland nail bloggers meetup back in September and discovered that we are pretty much nail polish twins - we have the exact same taste in polish and always have amazing luck dusty hunting together. Since Dana and I both share an insatiable love for vintage polishes, we decided to team up every week and show you all some of the retro gems in our collections! This week, we decided to share with you some vintage Maybelline glitters, so I hope you all check out Dana's post as well to see what she has in store for you all today!

First up is Brilliant Amethyst from the Wet Shine Diamonds and Gems collection. I don't have an exact release date for this polish, but I believe it was somewhere between 2002 and 2005. Anyways, Brilliant Amethyst is an AWESOME pinky-lavender foil packed packed with tons of holo glitter! I did two coats here, the polish was a bit runny so I had to be careful not to flood my cuticles but otherwise the formula was great! One thin coat of Seche Vite smoothed out the glitter and there was no grittiness to the touch. I really love this one!! Since amethyst is my birthstone (and also happens to be in my engagement ring), I'm always a sucker for any polish with "amethyst" in the name =)

Next up is one of my most favorite reds in my entire collection - Cherry Carats! It is from the Wet Shine Diamonds collection, which I believe was released in 2003. Cherry Carats is an AMAZING cherry red jelly packed with pink microglitter. Upon my first cursory glance CC, I figured that the microglitter in it was just your standard silver, but it actually is this amazing pink glitter that shines through the jelly finish of this polish. IT IS SO AWESOME YOU GUYS! This was two super easy coats, and was a bit thicker than Brilliant Amethyst so I had no worries about flooding cuticles. I wish all polishes could have the same formula as Cherry Carats! I swatched this one second so I could do a full manicure with it and stare and my nails all day. Anyways, make sure to enlarge to pics to check out that pink glitter!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the first edition of Retro Sunday Squared! Don't forget to check out Polished Claws Up! as well!