A little while ago, I promised a comparison of Essie Naughty Nautical (from Essie’s summer collection) and NYC Short Shorts, from NYC’s limited edition Rooftop Party collection. And, I have good news for those seeking a cheaper alternative to the Essie – the NYC polish is extremely similar!
As promised, here is my review of NYC’s Sweet Splash Gloss Sticks! These are from the Rooftop Party display and they are a new product. According to NYC’s facebook page, they are limited edition. They were $3.99 each at my CVS.
NYC has a new collection out, called the Rooftop Party collection. I found this today at CVS. The display contains one totally new product, called the Sweet Splash Gloss Sticks ($3.99), and several new nail polishes which come packaged with a topcoat ($1.99 for the duo). It’s a great topcoat by the way – one of my favorites. There’s no information on the display as to whether any of the products are limited edition or permanent.
Luxury Reborn
I’ve given NYC’s eyeshadow a couple negative reviews, so I’m not sure why I decided to buy yet another one – but I’m glad I did! The NYC eyeshadow single in Luxury Reborn is great – the texture in particular is wonderful, very silky. It has medium pigmentation and a satin finish.
Luxury Reborn
*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Apple Fizz // Raindrop // Apple Fizz + Shimmer Blast // Raindrop + Shimmer Blast //
Black Creme + Shimmer Blast
This is the final post (at least for now) in my series of swatches of NYC’s new Let’s Paint the Town collection. I purchased three of the four nail polishes, which are all from the $2 quick-dry nail polish line. Note that all swatch photos in this post are in natural light.
Apple Fizz // Raindrop
First, the cremes. Both were thick and streaky, which is not uncommon with lighter colors, but is still not what I want in a polish! I had a lot of difficultly applying them neatly, and I was not happy with the final result; so I thinned them with nail polish thinner (I like Orly’s; be sure to get one that doesn’t have acetone as an ingredient). After thinner, they performed much better. The first coat was still streaky, but was thin enough to apply smoothly, and after 2-3 coats they looked even and smooth. Thinning is definitely recommended with these polishes!
Raindrop
You can see the thickness and streakiness in the Raindrop swatch; the first coat of Raindrop was applied as bought, and the second coat was thinned, but not quite enough.
Apple Fizz
And you can se how much better Apple Fizz performed – this is three very thin coats, because I thinned it sufficiently. This is a fantastic color – bright and pastel at the same time.
Shimmer Blast is definitely a top coat; it doesn’t really show up alone. Over black (or other dark colors), it appears blue-green (due to the density of the blue-green shimmer particles) with some pink and gold shimmer as well.
Shimmer Blast over black creme
Over Raindrop & Apple Fizz, it adds a very subtle shimmer:
Raindrop + Shimmer Blast
Apple Fizz + Shimmer Blast (I lied; this photo is actually with flash, not natural light!)
Overall, I do recommend these polishes. Raindrop isn’t a shade I am particularly drawn to, but that’s just a personal preference – I can tell that it’s a shade others will love. And I love Apple Fizz and Shimmer Blast! It’s too bad that the formulas of the cremes aren’t better, but it’s nothing that some shimmer can’t fix; for polishes this cheap, I don’t mind a little diy.
*I purchased the three polishes featured in this post. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Next up, also part of NYC’s new Let’s Paint The Town Collection, are the two Big Bold Bronzing Powders. They come in two colors; ManhaTan is the lighter one, and MetropoliTan is the darker shade.
ManhaTan // MetropoliTan
And both have a really lovely design embossed on them – but note that it won’t last very long at all, because the embossing is quite shallow and the bronzers are on the powdery side. In fact, you can see some of the fallout / powder in the following swatches.
Daylight bulb: ManhaTan, MetropoliTan
With flash: ManhaTan, MetropoliTan
Despite the fallout, these are both quite smooth and blend well. They’re on the sheer side (which I think is a good thing for bronzers!) and, as you can see, are buildable to a moderate intensity – the swatches are multiple swipes with a sponge-tipped applicator.
I’m not great at undertones, but ManhaTan looks yellow-based to me, and MetropoliTan looks more neutral, but slightly red-based. I would not contour with either of them, because I prefer a more ashy / grey toned contour (like the ones I swatched in this post), but I do think they colors will work bronzers.
I see a slight sparkle in the pan with both shades, but it’s not visible in most lighting. In full sunlight, ManhaTan (the lighter shade) is matte with a slight sparkle, and MetropoliTan is a bit sheeny with a slight sparkle. Inside, Manhatan appears quite matte, and Metropolitan has a bit of a sheen. I would say that if you generally prefer not to wear shimmer on your face, these are still wearable; but if you loathe the thought of even a fleck of shimmer ever appearing on your face, skip them.
Overall, I think these are quite nice for the price (around $5 each; and there are some $1 off NYC coupons floating around right now that I used). The texture of these is a bit powdery and not particularly refined, but they’re smooth and blendable, and the pigmentation level is exactly right for a bronzer – sheer enough to be foolproof, but easily buildable. If you’re in the market for an inexpensive drugstore bronzer, these are worth a look!
*I purchased both of the featured products. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.