UPDATED! Review: Blackheart Beauty Stacked nail polishes

Hello!!!


UPDATE: I just want to let everyone know that I called Hot Topic about a replacement for the polish that arrived mixed up, and they sent one out no problem. Great customer service! :)

UPDATE: These polishes contain lead. While it seems that this is probably in trace amounts such that it doesn't need to be disclosed in most states, it does contain some, and you should be careful to not bite your nails or put your fingers in your mouth while wearing polishes from this line.

I was recently contacted by a reader asking me if I'd had any experiences with the new Blackheart Beauty 'Stacked' nail polishes. "New Blackheart Beauty stacked polishes?!" said I, "No I haven't, but I'm sure gonna!!!"...and off I ran to order some since they were having a sale. I did manage to keep myself under control, and only bought four of them...>.>...:

Blackheart Beauty Bruiser

Blackheart Beauty Dark Alley

Blackheart Beauty Iridescent

Blackheart Beauty Bright Stick (note that this bottle arrived mixed up and not properly stacked)

The concept behind the 'Stacked' (also called 'stackable' on some of the bottle labels) nail polishes isn't really explained on the site, which makes the idea mysterious and intriguing, but frustrating. There are several different coordinating colors of nail polish 'stacked' on top of one another in the same bottle, and the implication is that this will create some sort of interesting effect on the nail, when the polishes in the bottle somehow work some magic with one another. Of course, after you sit and think it through for a few minutes, you start to come up with some potential problems. What if the colors just streak and look like crap? Does it do whatever it's supposed to do in one coat, and if not, how does a second coat not mess things up? And what if it all just muddies together and turns brown?

These were questions to which I needed to know the answers. I am nothing if not dedicated to the search for information, and selflessly devoted to helping others. Those are definitely my motives. Of course this does not have anything to do with some polish addiction/obsession that I have. Not even one teeny bit... ::clears throat:: #TwelveStepProgramForNailPolish?

I tested each bottle out on one nail. In each case I started out with a base coat of white, so that the colors would show up as clearly as possible. I didn't pay much attention to perfect application or cleaning up my cuticles, as I wanted to just get a down-and-dirty test of how these polishes work. First I'll show you the pictures, then I'll discuss my findings. :)

Blackheart Beauty Bruiser

Blackheart Beauty Bruiser

Bruiser was definitely my favorite in the bottle. As you can see from the pictures, the colors stayed separate to a degree, and there was some differentiation of color. In the closer-up picture, you can see what happens when they blend, and you can see the pretty sparkle in the polish.

Blackheart Beauty Dark Alley

Dark Alley is the one I was most worried about, given the sharp contrasts between the pinks and the black. You can definitely see the color differentiation even though it melds a bit, and the glitter does add an interesting dimension. I'm on the fence, however, about whether or not this just looks too messy for my taste.

Blackheart Beauty Iridescent

Iridescent gave my favorite result. The colors go on the nail and settle to give a cool dimensional effect--the purple layer with the smaller glitter seems to go to the bottom while the blue glitter stays on the top. I couldn't capture it easily in the picture, but there is a very slight blue-green duochrome aspect to the glitter in the right light.

Blackheart Beauty Bright Stick

 As you can see in the bottle shot above, Bright Stick showed up at my door all mixed up, so I wasn't able to test out the 'stacked' effect. I will be calling Hot Topic on Monday to ask them to send me a new bottle, and I'll update you here about the customer service I get--I think it's a lot easier to take a risk on these polishes if you can feel secure knowing that they'll arrive at your door in their proper state or be replaced. In the meantime, the silver lining to the situation is that I was able to see what the polish looks like when all mixed up, and the good news is, the final color is very pretty, certainly something I'd buy on its own. Plus, I love that the finish on this is the 'rubber' sort of finish, not just a typical creme or jelly finish--that's a fun bonus in my opinion.

Okay, so overall, what do I think?

These polishes were neither as good as I hoped or as bad as I feared. They don't give super dramatic rainbow effects like part of me had hoped they would, but they do give subtle rainbow effects that are pretty cool. Each type gave me a somewhat different effect--Iridescent was a uniform effect over the nail, but it had amazing depth (this is the sort of gorgeous glitter you usually only find in Indie brands). Dark Alley was a more marbled/streaked effect with a glitter accent--this would be a tough look to create another way (although as I mentioned, for me personally, I'm still on the fence about it). And Bruiser gave more of the rainbow-stripey effect I had been anticipating. All three were cool, and I'm glad I got them.

Bright Stick eased my fears about what these polishes will eventually look like when they've been used enough to mix them up, which is inevitable, no matter how careful you are with them. I don't know exactly how long it will take to lose what differentiation there is, but I do know that the bottles say 'do not shake' clearly on them, and that every time you open the bottle and dip the brush in and out, you're going to get some mixing. So, what will you be left with? In each case, it seems fairly clear to me that the color you'll be left with is an attractive one, not an unpleasant mosh of ick. Bright Stick is a pretty deep grape purple when mixed that I'd be glad to wear in its own right. Bruiser looks like it will turn into a sparkly deep blurple, also pretty judging by the area on my nail where it mixed a bit more. I'm not sure Iridescent will change much at all once it gets blended, since its effect seems to be more of a settling of colors on top of one another across the surface of the nail. And Dark Alley looks like it will turn into a pretty muted dark-lavender purple with glitter. I think this was a very smart choice on the part of the developers, to ensure a beautiful final color.

A couple of words of advice if you decide to get these. I found I got the best results when I abandoned the standard application method of putting a dot of polish at the base of the cuticle, pulling it to both sides, and finishing up the middle. I got uneven, streaky results when I did this. Instead, I used even strokes starting on one side of the nail and working across toward the other. I tried to minimize dipping and swiping off polish on the side of the bottle, as well. Last but not least, I do recommend some sort of underwear under these, so you can get away with one coat; two coats is going to minimize any color differentiation you get in your first coat. Plus, if any of your undies end up showing through at the edges (like you can see on my fingers) you can always clean it up with a little acetone and a nail brush. Regardless of your method, you'll want to apply these slowly and carefully for best effect.

So, do I recommend these? I do, with conditions. If you like the effects I got above, you'll enjoy these. Beware that you may get a bottle that is too mixed up to get any special effects--but I'm hoping Hot Topic will make that right, and I'll let you know if they do. Finally, be aware that you aren't going to get the specialty look for the full bottle; I'm not sure how long it will last, maybe for a lot of manicures, maybe for only a few. So I'd also recommend that you pick a bottle where you like the ultimate potential color of the polish when it's mixed up, so you get your full use out of the bottle. From what I can tell, each bottle will turn into a pretty color even once the stacked effect is gone, and that's good news.

When I bought my polishes (you can find them and other Blackheart Beauty polishes by clicking here), they were selling for $5.00 each, but were on sale buy-one-get-one-50%-off. Shipping was $4.95, although they do periodically have free-shipping specials. But if you have a Hot Topic near you, these would be a good thing to pick up in person, because then you can be sure your bottle is stacked properly. :)

Let me know if you have any other questions, and my deep thanks to Blue Violent for bringing these to my attention! :)

Xoxox,
M.

(The polishes in this review were purchased with my own money.)

Before & After: Hot Topic Blackheart Beauty's Violet Tendencies + China Glaze DV8

Hello there!

Today the manicure I'm going to show you features one of my favorite blurples--Blackheart Beauty's Violet Tendencies. This is a really gorgeous glass-fleck finish duochrome that I fell in love with a few months ago:

Hot Topic Blackheart Beauty's Violet Tendencies

Hot Topic Blackheart Beauty's Violet Tendencies in sunlight

After wearing it for a day (sorry for the tipwear, I always forget to wrap my nails!) I decided I wanted to do a subtle stamping to highlight the beauty of the polish without overwhelming it. To do this I picked another of my favorite purples, China Glaze's DV8 from the OMG holographic collection. I used Konad plate m69 to stamp on it:

Violet Tendencies + DV8 in indirect sunlight

Violet Tendencies + China Glaze DV8

Violet Tendencies + China Glaze DV8, with holo sparklin'

Violet Tendencies + DV8 in direct sun

And a picture to show the duochrome flash :)

The more I stamp with holos, the more I fall in love with it. It's an excellent way to exploit the different effects that holos give in direct vs. indirect light. I love the way that this gives a subtle color-on-color effect in more indirect lights, and a sharper, flashy contrast in direct lights. :)

I hope you love this as much as I do...Have a great weekend, and thanks for looking!

M.

Review: More Hot Topic Blackheart Beauty Polishes!

Hello!!

UPDATE: I have been informed that these polishes contain lead. While it seems that this is probably in trace amounts such that it doesn't need to be disclosed in most states, it does contain some, and you should be careful to not bite your nails or put your fingers in your mouth while wearing polishes from this line.

Today I have three more polishes from Hot Topic's Blackheart Beauty collection to show you; as you know, I really loved the first four of these that I bought, and lusted after more. You can find these polishes on their website, or by clicking here. Let me get right to the review:

First up is Royally Screwed (gotta love that name):

More skull bottles...I love them so much...

Royally Screwed in the shade

Royally Screwed in the sun

Royally Screwed is a royal blue glitter with small glitter particles and medium hexes, in a clear base. Here I am wearing it by itself, two coats, with no topcoat; I show it over other colors below. The deep blue color is gorgeous, and is rare to find in a glitter (at least in my experience). The hexes are well-suspended, and don't require a ton of fishing to get out, although just like with any other hex glitter, some strategic dabbing will help you get even coverage (if that's what you want, I often don't). The clear base makes this ideal for pairing with other colors (see how stunning it is over Jealous Type below), but means you probably won't be wearing it alone. It's versatile and rich.


Next up is Bright Night:

Bright Night in the bottle

Bright Night in the shade

Bright Night in the sun

Bright Night is one of the glow-in-the-dark polishes in the line, and it is a pale sky-blue jelly. Here I have it alone on my index finger, and over a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On on my middle finger. In both cases, I have three coats on. As you can see, when worn alone, even with three coats you don't get much coverage; over white it fares better. While I could not find a way to capture it in a picture, Bright Night definitely glows in the dark--but only faintly if not put over white. The finger that did have the white undercoat glowed fiercely in the dark, while I could barely see the other finger. As you'll see below, the polish does well in blacklight with or without an undercoat.

Of all of the Blackheart Beauty polishes I've tried, this is the first one I'm not really that happy with. For most of the glow-in-the-dark uses I can imagine, this color doesn't really come to mind; I'd rather go with Creep Show (a neon-ish green), a yellow (Toxicity) or an orange (Safety Dance), as these are more Halloween type colors. In terms of the color itself, it isn't unique, and you need to apply a lot of it to get the actual color if that's your focus. However, if you're going to a costume party and need a sky-blue that glows in the dark, this is the polish for you. :)


And finally, Jealous Type:

Jealous Type in the bottle

Jealous Type in the shade

Jealous Type in the sun

Okay, now we're back on track. Jealous Type is a kelly-green jelly that has a creme feel when it covers fully, which takes three coats. Here I have three such coats over white on my ring finger, and alone on my pinky--as you can see, you can't really tell a difference. Now matter what else it does or doesn't do, I love this color and am very happy to own it on that count alone.

Jealous Type is one of the polishes in the line that is intended to glow in blacklight. Note, it isn't meant to glow in the dark, and it does not glow in the dark. But under blacklight, it's vibrant:

In this picture, I have Bright Night on my index and middle finger, and Jealous Type on my ring and pinky. Both colors show up well in the blacklight, but as you can see, Jealous Type shows up a little bit brighter and better. And you can see where my cuticle clean-up was passable in regular light, but ain't foolin' nobody under blacklight, lol. If you want to make a splash under UV light, this polish will work perfectly. :)

I promised you above I'd show you Royally Screwed over both of these colors:

Royally Screwed over Jealous Type and Bright Night in the sun

Royally Screwed over Jealous Type and Bright Night in the shade

The glitter looks very pretty over both colors, and you can see it glitters and captures the light nicely. It looks good over Bright Night, and this is probably how I'll wear Bright Night, rather than on its own. But O-M-G--look at how amazing it looks over Jealous Type--that deep blue over the kelly green is a  gorgeous pairing.  I can see myself wearing this combination over and over again, and using it as a basis for nail art. It's a complete win.

All of the Blackheart Beauty polishes sell for $5 on the Hot Topic site, and they have a very reasonable shipping charge, particularly if you maximize it by buying several polishes. They have also started carrying other polishes, including some NYX polishes exclusive to their site, some magnetic polishes and some intriguing polishes called 'Manic Panic'.

Hope these swatches help you decide if these are for you! Thanks for reading. :)

M.

(the products in this post were provided by Hot Topic. This did not impact the opinions, which are honest and are my own.)

Review: Hot Topic Blackheart Beauty Polishes (updated!)

Hello!

Today I have a review for you of 4 of Hot Topic's Blackheart Beauty polishes (you can find these polishes here). I know at least one of these is new (Beautiful Revenge), but read somewhere that several are new, so I'm not quite sure how many are or are not. What I do know is that when I went to buy these, I couldn't find any swatches online to help me choose, so I thought I'd review and do mini-swatches for you here of the 4 colors I bought, in case that helps someone decide to buy or not. While I certainly wanted more, I had to limit myself to 4 for budget reasons...sigh. I need to just win the lottery already so I can have all da pretty polishes!!

UPDATE: I have been informed that these polishes contain lead. While it seems that this is probably in trace amounts such that it doesn't need to be disclosed in most states, it does contain some, and you should be careful to not bite your nails or put your fingers in your mouth while wearing polishes from this line.

Here are the ones I got:

Violet Tendencies; Creep Show; Beautiful Revenge; Deceit.

I know that packaging isn't supposed to matter, it's the polish inside that counts. I know it. But SERIOUSLY--How awesome are these skull bottles?!!?!!111111?

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's move on the the actual polish. First up is Violet Tendencies:

Violet Tendencies bottle

Violet Tendencies swatch in sunlight

Violet Tendencies swatch in shade

Violet Tendencies is a blue-purple duochrome filled with glass-flecked magical goodness. When I saw this online, I thought it was a small glitter, but no, it's glass flecks and it could not be more gorgeous. For once, I was able to photograph a purple without doing handstands, and I'm so glad because this picture really speaks for itself. When I went to swatch it, I was afraid it would be too much like some other colors I have, but it stays true to the colors you see in the bottle and isn't like anything else on my swatch wheels. Not Galaxy Girl, not Mysterious Curse, nothing. This is two coats, and as you can see, it covered well and without fuss. And, believe it or not, this is with no topcoat. I'm in love love love love love. This polish simply makes me happy.

Next up, Creep Show:

Creep Show bottle

Creep Show swatch in sunlight

Creep Show swatch in shade

When I saw this online, I thought it was a run-of-the-mill glow in the dark polish and I've always wanted one of those, so I grabbed it. But when I opened up my package, I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that it has a generous sprinkle of glitter in it! For me, that makes it wearable even if it doesn't glow in the dark. This applied well, but did have two downsides. As you can see, it goes on a little more yellow than it looks in the bottle. Possibly this could be fixed with a coat of white polish under it? Also, it's more sheer than I would like--this is three coats, and as you can see, the nail line is still clearly visible (also could be fixed with a white undercoat). This swatch is without topcoat.

UPDATE: I had a request to swatch this with a white undercoat. Here is the result, with two coats of Creep Show and no topcoat over one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme's White On. This definitely gets rid of the VNL, but the polish still seems to be a bit lighter/yellower than it shows in the bottle, just not as much (hmmm...I wonder what that says about my nails!!):

Creep Show on top of White On, in the sun

Creep Show on top of White On, in the shade

Neeeeeext! Beautiful Revenge:

Beautiful Revenge bottle

Beautiful Revenge swatch in sunlight

Beautiful Revenge swatch in shade

Ah, Beautiful Revenge. Now that's the sort of name I expect for a goth red-glitter-in-a-black-jelly-base polish (sorry, Spoiled, I still don't get the name 'Ants In Your Pants'). This is two coats, and covers completely, although the color was a bit thin near my cuticles--probably the fault of my application--so you can definitely wear it on its own. The glitter does sit in the base a bit, so it has a more matte-ish look than a super-sparkly glitter look (see sunlight picture)--not that this is bad, it's just a different type of look. The finish doesn't dry super shiny, which is a great option if you're going for a more dark type of look. And if you want shine, you can always throw on a topcoat (I am not wearing one here).

Speaking of Spoiled's Ants In Your Pants, that just so happens to be right next to this one on my nail wheel, so I thought I'd include a little comparison for you:

Beautiful Revenge is on the left, Ants In Your Pants is on the right; both have two coats and no topcoat. AIYP does not cover fully in two coats; you might be able to wear it on your own with more, but would have a much higher density of glitter. Which could be exactly what you want, and if so, great! Also, I found AIYP had a bit more of a light-catching sparkle (probably exactly because of having less black base), and went a little more to the orange side with the sparkle. So it's just a question of what look you're going for, and whether you want to wear it alone or over something. They are similar, but certainly are not dupes.

And last but definitely not least--Deceit!

Deceit bottle

Deceit swatch

Deceit over Peachy Keen swatch

If you've been following my blog, you may think it's odd that I bought this, because it's pink, and I don't really care for pink. I was really taken by the glitter in this--I could see flashes of peach, blue, purple, etc. I wasn't sure if that was a trick of the light but figured it was worth a shot to see if it really was that pretty. And, it turned out to be even prettier than I was hoping. In the first swatch, I have two coats of Deceit by itself, no topcoat. It is a multi-color, multi-shaped glitter set in a thick, semi-translucent gel-like base; the glitter shows different colors in different lights. It was hard for me to capture that on film because it changes as you move, but it does show all of the colors that you see in the bottle--don't let the swatches fool you. I suppose you could wear it on its own for a soft look, but it's pretty clearly meant for layering; in the second swatch I did just that, layering one coat of Deceit over two coats of China Glaze's Peachy Keen. Here is a comparison picture of Peachy Keen, on my index finger:

Deceit changes the color of the Peachy Keen very slightly, giving it a more pinkish tinge, but without turning it pink. This is just what I was hoping for, and I can't wait to try it over purples and reds. :)

The formula on all of these was great; no problems, good control, and they seemed to dry fairly quickly even though I didn't use a topcoat.

So there you have 4 colors from the Hot Topics' Blackheart Beauty line--one glass-flecked duochrome, one glow-in-the-dark glitter, one down-and-dirty glitter, and one multi-everything glitter; the collection also contains crackle colors, and colors meant to be used with black-light. I'm very pleased with the ones I got, and will happily buy more in the future.

Hope this helps you decide if these polishes are for you! I'm off to stroke the bottles lovingly...Thanks for reading. :)

M.

(the items in this review were purchased with my own money.)