Comparison Post: Finger Paints Avante Garde Green VS Illamasqua Viridian

This manicure is an alternating comparison of the new Finger Paints Avante Garde Green that I just purchased at Sally Beauty Supply from the 13 new shades display and Illamasqua Viridian from the Art of Darkness collection last year. When I swatched the new fp, Viridian was the first thing that popped into my head. They're not exact dupes; I think that the Illamasqua is darker (with more of a blackened effect), but they are quite similar.
This mani is one coat Spa Ritual bc, one coat CND Stickey, two coats of varnish, and one coat of Out the Door tc.
These pictures were all taken indoors using artificial lighting.




Embarassingly, messed up the labeling on this photo.

A Tale of Two Purples

The first purple on the docket is Finger Paints Passionate Purple from the 2010 Love At First Bright collection at Sally Beauty Supply. This polish photographed way more blue than the polish actually appears. The last photo is the most color accurate, but this is an almost iridescent dusty purple shimmer. It's a one coater, but I did two.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont.




This next one is technically two purples. I took two coats of the sheer jelly Lippmann Call Me Irresponsible, which is described on Lippmann's site as a vivacious violet creme. *shrug* I think it takes like 4 coats to build up to bottle color, so I decided instead to layer my new Butter London Jelly Stroppy that I bought on Revolve Clothing for less than retail with a code and free shipping.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of Lippmann CMI, two coats of BL Stroppy, and one coat of Nubar Diamont.
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All photos are taken indoors with an artifical light source.

LE Borghese Tutti Gelati and LE Finger Paints Glitter Collection

The next time I returned to Sally Beauty Supply, they had put out the little display of their (Generic for OPI Alice in Wonderland) glitter collection. They are not dead dupes, but kind of a riff on the Mad As a Hatter and Absolutely Alice glitter polishes from that collection.
Sapphire Shimmer, the stand in for Absolutely Alice, is silver holographic glitter in a blue jelly base. The base seemed to be a little patchy, so it may be better as a layering polish, but it is pretty.
Wicked Glitter is the sub for Mad As A Hatter, MAAH had a dominant silver/neutral glitter undertone, while this glitter is dominantly red and pink with silver and blue mixed in. It also turns out a bit patchy, but is a very cool glitter anyways.
I found the Borghese Tutti Gelati summer collection at Rite Aid and purchased these three colors: Pistacchio, Menta, and Limoncello.
Limoncello is the best of these three in my opinion. Pistacchio is a great color, but both Pistacchio and Menta do not provide full coverage with three coats. This was my first experience with Borghese and I found them rather disappointing given their cost.




This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nail, three coats polish, and one coat Nubar Diamont. Three coats was not particularly great for any of these polishes as they all could use more coverage.

New Finger Paints in the Permanent Collection

The last time I went into Sally Beauty Supply looking for the two new limited edition glitter polishes that I popped up on makeupalley, I was surprised to find a pretty different permanent collection Finger Paints display than I remembered. Sally puts out some great limited edition Finger Paints colors in their seasonal displays, but I was never very interested in their permanent collection of pretty standard pinks, purples, mauves, etc. They did have a few good colors, but this new display was a revelation. First of all, it had 4 greens! I can tell you from experience that green is a pretty rare commodity in a permanent collection. Times are changing, but the unfavorable Green to Pink ratio is disappointing to a green aficionado. Also, they had added glitters and interesting shimmers. Needless to say, I walked away with 5 new polishes, even though they didn't have the le glitters I had come in looking for.

L to R: Art of Theft, Easel-y Entertained, Sketch N Etch, Scenery Greenery, Tough Art to Follow
As you may observe, I took this picture wearing my keen sun hat.



Art of Theft looks like a blackish navy jelly indoors, but has a lovely purple-y shimmer when lighted properly.
Easel-y entertained is a purple-heavy blurple glitter with sparse silver glitter mixed in. I believe it's in a clear base, but it's hard to tell as it provides pretty dense coverage.
Sketch n Etch is my favorite of the bunch and recalls Essie Dominica Green with it's beautifully vivid tone and glittery shimmer.
Scenery Greenery is a blackboard green creme.
Tough Art to Follow is an almost black green creme that reminds me of OPI's Here Today, Aragon Tommorrow.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nail, three coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont. Three coats of polish was highly unnecessary. It doesn't look much different from 2, and these polishes are pretty pigmented so you could probably even get away with one. I can honestly say that I really like them all.
Get thee to Sally.

Finger Paints Sparkling Snow

Today's manicure is Finger Paints Sparkling Snow.
Sparkling Snow is a whitish silver metallic foil.
No good sun today, so these pictures are indoors.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.
with flash:

Finger Paints Snowman's Scarf

Today's manicure is Finger Paints Snowman's Scarf.
Snowman's Scarf is a warm-toned metallic red with strong gold shimmer. Red is generally tough to photograph well - the polish looks a bit coral in the first few pictures. I think the bottom picture is the most accurate for shade, but the shade is actually a brighter and deeper red in person.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.

Finger Paints Candy Cane Shimmer

Today's manicure is Finger Paints Candy Candy Shimmer.
Candy Cane Shimmer is a cool-toned metallic red shimmer with purple, peach, and a bit of green microshimmer. It looks like a silvered red foil indoors - I can only catch the multi-colored sparkle in direct sunlight.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.

blurred to show the microshimmer:

Finger Paints Icy Iris

Today's manicure is Finger Paints Icy Iris.
Icy Iris is the standout of Finger Paints Holiday 09 collection. It's a beautiful shimmery metallic purple with fiery purple/pink macroshimmer. My pictures don't do it justice.
It really takes 3 coats to get good coverage, but it's worth it.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.

Finger Paints Evergreen Dream

Today's manicure is Finger Paints Evergreen Dream from the Holiday 2009 Collection.
Finger Paints is a Sally Beauty Supply exclusive polish line and can be found in Sally BS retail stores and online at sallybeauty.com. Finger Paints puts out limited edition seasonal displays - sometimes you can find a few bottles on the website, but they're generally only available in the stores. I think the best Finger Paints shades are those released for the Holidays.
The 2009 Holiday collection was "officially" released in select Sally Beauty Supply stores on November 1. I picked up 5 of the six shades released and will be sharing them on the blog. They are limited and will be hard to find after the holiday season - so if you're interested, make haste.
Evergreen Dream is a shimmering forest green shade. It appears green even indoors in low light.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.