Ulta3 Autumn/Winter 2012 Metallic Crush - Part 2

Straight to the nail stuff today, with Part 2 of the Ulta3 Autumn/Winter Metallic Crush collection.

Enchanted - This one is totally different on the nail than it is in the bottle.  In  the bottle it looks to be a metallic olive green shimmer.  But on the nail I was very surprised to see it is actually a dark aubergine purple and the metallic green shimmer seems very light and almost silvery.  A very interesting polish and not what I expected at all, I quite like this one, but god damn it why are they so frosty and streaky!!

Jade - In the bottle this one looks really pretty, but now I think it's an icky light green frosty mess. Maybe if it was a darker shade of green and not a medium pastel shade I wouldn't dislike this one so much. Way too frosty for 2012 chic, it's a 1982 time capsule this one.

Pinot - This one is actually a rather nice colour and perfectly suit's it's name.  It's deep red and shimmery, but certainly not unique.

Shiraz - Hello, what were they thinking doing two almost identical shades, and naming them both after red wines!  Ok, this one is actually a little lighter and pinker, but who other than a nail nut is going to notice that!  Both Shiraz and Pinot also look very similar to past colours Foxy Russset and Brandy Wine.  I'll do a comparison swatch this weekend of those four.

Overall, the colours in this whole collection are ok, a few that I really like, one that I think will be relegated to the 'nail art only pile' and a few that are dupy but ok.  

I was really excited for this collection because I was hoping it was going to be a full collection of metallics like some of the other awesome Ulta3 foil metallics.  Lollypop Lilac, Envy, Precious and Snazzle are just a few that come to mind that are fantastic foil finishes that don't show any brush marks.  Why did these ones have to be frosty and not foily. Damn it. I'm blaming the PRC formula and the stiff and blunt ended brushes.

Ulta3 Autumn/Winter 2012 Metallic Crush - Part 1

I have a quick break my posting my Lynnderellas to bring you some swatches I did on the weekend of the new Ulta3 Autumn/Winter 2012 Metallic Crush collection.

The promo pics of this collection were on the Ulta3 Facebook site in late February.  Since I saw them I started my usual hunt to find these polishes.  I think I ventured into every single chemist in the City, Belconnen and Gungahlin in search of this collection.  Every time I asked, the sales assistance looked at me dumbly and just said 'Oh we just get what we are given, we don't know what will arrive and I don't know anything about a new collection".

I eventually emailed the Heat Group to get a list of all Canberra stockists so I could hunt these down.  Their customer service was great, and they got back to me the next day to tell me that not a single chemist in Canberra had even ordered the new collection yet.  They offered to post me the new collection for review, which I gladly accepted for the first time ever!

I'm guessing the reason that none of the Canberra stockist had ordered anything yet was because their 'bins' were all still full on the old colours.  And now, because Ulta3s are being sold in Coles and BigW and that the dupe NYC colours are in Woolies and BigW, that the polishes in the chemists aren't selling as fast anymore. Thus not clearing stock to make way for the new stuff.

Anyway, enough on my dramas trying to get these polishes, lets just get of with swatches of the first four polishes.

Antique Gold - A warm toned bronze gold metallic polish, that leans a little frosty.  It's not as frosty as Gold Rush Fever from last year, but you still need to be careful and do neat brush strokes because they hang around after the polish has dried.

I've said it before with the last few collections that have been made in the PRC, but I'll say it again.  These brushes feel stiff and crappy.  They really seem to exacerbate the brush stroke problem, because the brush is stiff and really drags through the polish.

Despite the brush stokes, this is a gold polish, which for that reason alone, I'm always going to love.

The above photos were all taken in full sun, in the sun the brush strokes look worse, below you can see it in the shade - pretty.

And the macro to see the lovely shimmer and hideous brush marks.

Burnt Orange - This one is a dark orange with a light silvery pearlesent sheen.  It's not really metallic like the others in the collection, but the crappy brush still makes it show brush strokes.

Above in full sunlight, below in the shade.

Again, macro to see the pearl finish amongst the brush strokes.

Cocoa - A dark, warm chocolatey shimmer. Please disregard the line on my middle finger, I put the top coat on too quickly and it dragged the base colour.  User error!

Copper - A copper toned orange with a lighter pearl sheen.  It does look metallic in the sun, but in the shade it is much more pearly looking.  The brush strokes weren't as bad for this polish.

 

Damn macro, I just said that the brush strokes weren't as bad for this polish and now look what I'm showing you.  Yeah, brush strokes (and wobbly ones at that) are definitely present, although not a strong as the other polishes.

Colour wise, I think this collection is pretty spot on for Autumn/Winter. I actually really love the colours.  Formula wise, it's not great.  I personally can tell a difference between these PRC made ones and the older Aussie made ones.  But I'm not sure if I'm putting blame on the formula because I find the brush crap.

All these swatches were two coats, no base coat and Seche Vite top coat.  

Despite being metallics and having a frosty finish, I don't think any of these would be work for stamping.

I'll be back next time with the other four colours.

Valentine's Day - When I think of romance...

OK, I know this is a little corny, but when I think of romance, I think of a destination like this.  Walking along the beach at sunset with my husband.  It's kind of nothing like my life in reality at the moment.  With a three year old and a one year old racing around, there isn't any opportunities for romantic destinations like this!

For this design I sponged on the blue (Picture Polish Bombshell), then the orange (Picture Polish Citrus), then the yellow (Ulta3 Frangipani).  I had to do a bit of alternating back and forth with colours to try to get it to look ok.  I'm not really that good with sponging and getting a nice blend of colours, but the end look was acceptable.  The sponging on my right had was sooooo much worse, but one never shows their non-dominant painted hand - ok.

Next I applied some homemade decals for the palm trees and the couple walking.  Then I painted a yellow sun using Ulta3 Citrus and finally I painted a freehand black french tip.

I had a huge amount of trouble getting my cuticles clean from sponging with the blue polish.  I'm sorry about that!

Here is a photo I took the next day, after I had been able to clean my cuticles a bit more.

Only one more Valentine's Day nail art to come tomorrow.

Ulta3 summer gelato collection

Here is the latest collection from Ulta3.  Canberra girls, I grabbed mine from the chemist next to Coles in the Gungahlin town centre.  I was surprised to see another Ulta3 release this summer, given they released eight polishes in spring. Usually they only do two collections a year, maybe they are going to up that to one every season.  I sure hope so.

The Ulta3 gelato collection is a set of six creme polishes.  They are not brights and they are not pastels, they are somewhere in between.

First up is Violet Crumble.  Arrrgggghhhh Violet Crumble *wipes drool from mouth* I can't remember the last time I had one of those. And now, damn I wish this polish was that metallic purpley blue from the Violet Crumble wrapper, that would have been totally awesome. Sadly it's not, instead it's dusty violet colour which is still pretty, just not awesome.  This was three coats (and it needed all three!) with no top coat.

Blue Heaven.  Oh yeah baby, this really is blue heaven.  I totally love this one. There was a serious lack of decent blue cremes in the Ulta3 range, so this one fills a big hole in my opinion.  This was three coats and a coat of Seche Vite top coat, again two coats were a bit streaky.

Kiwi Kaos - I'm surprised to see a green in this collection, given that they did three greens in the last collection.  This is a toned down green that is quite wearable, unlike the rather hideous Frog Prince. This was three coats with no top coat.  I really shouldn't have been lazy on this swatch and added the top coat, cause it would have looked so much better with it.

Lemon Tart - Very pretty light yellow.  Streaky and horrible to apply.  This was four coats with SV top coat, but once it dried it was great and very nice on the nail.  This is the last one I swatched and I wore it as a full mani.

Mango Mayham - rich orange creme, but not neon or ultra bright like tangelo or tahiti.  A unique colour in the Ulta3 range. With a name that includes the word Mango, I was expecting something more yellow, like mango flesh, mmmmmmm I have one on the bench I might go eat now! This was three coats with Seche Vite top coat.

Strawberry Sundae - A medium bright pink creme.  Ulta 3 have a stack of pink cremes so I'm sure it's similar to something they have already released, I'm just not sure which one yet.  I'm not a huge pink lover, but I'm really feeling this one at the moment.

The formula on all these was only OK.  Very much like the last collection.  Runny, but thick at the same time.  I had a lot of trouble with the brushes from these polishes.  The Ulta3 brushes used to be delicate and smooth, but I found these rather stiff.  So much so that the brush left drag mark ridges through the polish as I wiped it over the nail.  I had this same problem with the spring collection.  I'm guessing they are probably using a lower quality brush now that the polishes are made in China, rather than made in Australia like all the previous polishes.

Despite the weird formula and crappy brushes, I totally love the colours.  I also love collections like these that just go together and look like a set.  They almost did this with the Spring collection from 2009 which were almost a set of pastels, except with Hot Spring and Spring Break. 

Over all, yep they are totally worth their $2.25AUD price tag and are a great addition to my nearly complete set of Ulta3 polishes.

If anyone wants comparisons swatches just let me know what you want to see.