Mystic Lilac is so beautiful. It’s a light lilac colored polish with a gorgeous, subtle green shimmer–almost an aqua color–that really sparkles in sunlight. It’s a pretty sheer polish, but builds up well. These are 3 coats.

Close up of the yummy aqua shimmer!

The aqua was hard to capture with the camera. It’s more evident in real life.

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It’s finally feeling like Autumn here in coastal South Carolina, and this feels like the perfect polish for the new season. From MAC’s Venomous Villians Disney collaboration collection comes the star nail polish of the three limited edition releases: Baaaaaad Faaaaairy!!! (Cue angels singing.)

Before I get on with the review and pictures I should mention that there are 2 other polishes that were released with the Venomous Villians/Maleficent: Formidable! and Mean & Green. The reason that I didn’t purchase these is because Orly Galaxy Girl and Orly Space Cadet are dupes (and cheaper, no less!!) for both of those, respectively. I will have comparison pictures coming up soon! Now, onto BF!

Bad Fairy is a beautiful multichrome nail polish which changes depending on the sunlight between fuchsia, purple, a warm pink, copper, orange, and gold. It’s a sparkle formula, with large particles of shimmer that aren’t exactly glitter. The formula is pretty sheer, but I see that as a pro and not a con. Why? Because its being sheer allows you to either layer it over other colors without covering them completely, or use it alone. I’m anxious to try it over both dark and light colors, but this is 3 coats by itself. It’s a really gorgeous and versatile color, and definitely eye-catching. One person asked me, “So is your nail polish copper or purple?” I was happy to clarify by turning my fingers every which way to show her how the color changed in the sunlight and shadows.

Without further ado, here are a BUNCH of photos! Bottle pics first:

An accidental shot that I thought looked cool, with Wicked Ways lip glass in the background!

Nails & bottle pics!

Just nails in different lights!

Base: Gelous
Layer 1: MAC Bad Fairy
Topcoat: Sally Hansen Mega-Shine Topcoat

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Wow, so before I start, another disclaimer about my nail shape: I was experimenting and went for this sort-of-rounded-but-really-just-effed-up-looking shape. Also? For the past two or so weeks, I’ve been trying to live life with cuticles for the first time in, oh, 12 years? I’ve been addicted to snipping, but looking back at these pictures makes me realize how much happier I am with well-kept, moisturized cuticles! It looks ten times better. More on that soon. ;)

As I predicted during my review of Orly Space Cadet from the CosmicFX Collection, I had to go out and get Galaxy Girl.

Galaxy Girl is another gorgeous color-shifting polishes from Orly. This time we’ve got a deep red-purple base with shimmer throughout that changes from fuchsia to blue. It’s beautiful, looks different in every light, but is always sparkling.

Color

Like most nail enthusiasts it seems, I looove duo- and multichrome polishes–polishes that shift colors, especially in sunlight. I love it when I’m wearing a polish so unique it catches my own eye during the day at the times when I least expect it. Galaxy Girl was certainly no exception. Initially it reminded me of MAC’s Blue Brown pigment, one of the first MAC products I owned and a long-time favorite. And it’s similar, but definitely not Blue-Brown-in-a-bottle. The base leans much more deep red/purple, and the blue shimmer shifts in the light to a striking fuchsia with an eggplant base. Until MAC’s Formidable! launched with Venomous Villians, Galaxy Girl was truly unique. And even now, it’s gorgeous (and cheaper!).

Formula

The formula for Galaxy Girl was good, just like for Space Cadet. Not too thin, not too thick, really just perfect. Drying time was average, even on the quick side. I was so excited to put this on I forgot a base coat, and it didn’t bubble or stain my nails at all. One coat is sort of sheer, so upwards of 2 coats is necessary for opacity.

Final Recommendations

Go scour your Sally’s for the remaining Cosmic FX colors, and definitely pick this one up if you haven’t already. I will mention that Orly decided to charge a bit more for this collection, raising their middle-of-the-road prices to $8.50 (at Sally’s) and $10 (online at OrlyBeauty.com). I think the general consensus online was that this was lame of the company, but since the colors are so awesome there haven’t been any boycotts so far as I know. :P

Base: Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Topcoat
Layer 1: Orly Galaxy Girl
Top: Sally Hansen Mega-Shine Topcoat

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One of the polishes I picked up at Rite Aid during the BOGOF Sally Hansen sale is this Insta-Dri in Pronto Purple. Pronto Purple is a violet-based frost with fuchsia and tiny hints of blue shimmer.

Color

I love this color, but it’s purple so that’s not too surprising. Despite its being a frost, it didn’t apply streaky at all for me (partly because of the wide brush, I’m sure). I love the subtle blue shimmer that you can see when you look closely. Alone, the base color may lean towards vampy, but the shimmer lightens it up and makes it a stunning polish, in the sunlight and indoors.

Formula

Personally, I like the Insta-Dri formula, but you may find it to be goopy or thick. I found it easy to use, though, super smooth opaque in one coat if you’re careful. One problem: despite a coat of Gelous, this polish bubbled like CRAZY on me. Funny thing was, as soon as I applied my topcoat, it completely smoothed out the appearance. It was like an illusion, I really couldn’t believe it. But, lesson learned: definitely use a top coat with this polish.

Final Recommendations

I’d definitely recommend the color to add to your collection. I think it’s a great transition from summer to fall if you like to keep up with nail trends, but I’d wear this yearround. Luckily, it’s a permanent color in the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line, so you don’t have to worry about shuffling out to grab it immediately.

Base: Gelous
Layer 1: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Pronto Purple
Top: Sally Hansen Mega-Shine Topcoat

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This is probably the first successful Konadicure I’ve ever done. While I really enjoy hand-painting nail art, I’ve never been able to get good results from the Konad stamping system–there’s definitely a learning curve I’ve been slow to grasp. Anyway, I thought this was a really awesome looking manicure. I love the contrasting textures along with the contrasting finishes and colors. I really suggest getting China Glaze Millennium if only to stamp with, because it’s a fantastically smooth, opaque silver in just one coat. I found this along with other China Glaze Khromes on clearance at Sally’s for $3.99!

Base: Gelous
First layer: Orly Iron Butterfly (matte)
Second layer: China Glaze Millennium with plate M62
Topcoat: Sally Hansen Mega-shine Topcoat (only over the tips)

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Before I start with another polish from MAC’s 2010 F/W trend collaboration with Jin Soi, I think it’s fairly obvious that with this manicure I decided to experiment a little bit with my nail shape. I went for a round shape (whereas I usually rock the squoval) but immediately after this manicure I went back to my comfort zone. Squoval fits me better, I think! Now, on to Jade Dragon. To see my review & swatch of another polish from this collection, Earthly Harmony, click here.

Jade Dragon is described as an emerald green frost. As was the case with Earthly Harmony, the description of Jade Dragon on their website and the actual product differ quite significantly. I think it is important to review this for readers who may not be able to get to MAC to check it out for themselves. If you’re in love with the color based on MACCosmetics.com, you’re going to be disappointed.

These pictures were taken after a couple days of wear, so please excuse tipwear!

Color

Jade Dragon has a deep emerald green base with beautiful blue specks of shimmer throughout. While the sparkles cling to the side of the bottle, in application they are a bit less prominent. I found that mostly they are obvious in flashes of direct sunlight and especially on the sides of the nails. Even though it’s described as a frost, Jade Dragon is definitely a sparse shimmer.

Formula

Formula was great, nothing noteworthy which is generally a good thing. Even with my favorite top coat, Sally Hansen’s Mega-Shine, it was completely dry really quickly. As I mentioned in my review of Earthly Harmony, I’m actually not sure if MAC knows how to make a polish with the shimmer (or, in the past, flakies) sufficiently suspended in the base. However, I think Jade Dragon was more successful in this venture, though it definitely wasn’t a homerun.

Final Recommendations

I have no regrets with Jade Dragon! I’m really happy with the color, so even though I was looking forward to a bit more blue shimmer, it is present enough to not be a complete disappointment. This color is a gorgeous unique addition to my collection.

MAC, please step it up and start taking actual pictures of your products! It can be downright misleading when you fake it, and it’s painfully obvious that even though there have been rumors you’re going to switch to actual swatches for years, you still haven’t done it.

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