My Picks from Sinful Colors Bright Essentials

Sometimes Sinful Colors displays are fraught with confusion.  This is one of those times.  Some Walgreens stores got the shelf display shown on Nouveau Cheap.  The ones around me got either this endcap display (I'm mad at myself for not keeping track of all of the shade names in there! I think Exotic Green was there.)...or never got the collection at all.  Between finding a different display and passing on some of the colors, these swatches don't completely correspond to the shelf display.  I skipped Over It, Cream Pink, and Eva So Bright and included some that are in the endcap, but not the shelf version.  Most of these shades aren't really neons, which are slightly sheer and dry a bit matte.  Some aren't even that bright.  Still, there are some really good things ahead.


Burning Bright is a slightly dusty azure cream.

Sadly, Burning Bright isn't a one-coater.  Two.  I don't even care.  It's still a great blue.  Frequent readers will know how I am about blue creams.  I can't think of any dupes off the top of my head.  Weirdly for a blue, these photos are pretty close to the true color.

High Strung is an acid-green cream.

I think this might be a dupe for OPI Did It On 'Em, but that's another I don't own.  The color is awesome, but the formula's not the best.  Four coats, but still thick-ish.  The result is a little lumpy.  I still like it!

The color looked familiar...and I found a near-match in the kitchen.

The "SuperTool" for my Zoku popsicle maker is only a touch bluer.  I've had the Zoku for a couple of years, but I'm tempted to review it sometime anyway.  One of the best xmas presents ever!


Clementine is a bright warm orange cream.

I think I'm starting to like orange!  Clementine (originally from the Wow Pop display) is almost exactly the color of the powder in $0.40 mac 'n cheese mix.  It's....kinda awesome.  This is three coats, but it applied very well.

Another almost-match here.

Energetic Red is a bright red "neon" that borders on orange.

Its tough to call a red a neon, but Energetic Red applies kinda like one.  It's sheer, taking three to four coats and it dries slightly matte.  It's also almost impossible to photograph correctly.  Neither of these is *quite* it.  There's something orangey to it, but it's still red.  Odd shade, but bright and summery.  It was also part of the Wow Pop last summer.

Outrageous is a bright-ish berry pink cream.

Another brought back from Wow Pop.  The name though?  Outrageous?  Hmm.  High Strung should have switched names with this shade.  The formula's decent, taking two coats, but the shade's a bit ho-hum for the theme.

Dream On is a red-violet neon.

A true Sinful Colors classic!  A real neon too!  It's the perfect '90s brunette Barbie purple.  I've worn it over white before, for full intensity, so I decided to try it on its own this time.  Three coats and still pretty intense.  Absolutely needs topcoat because of the neon finish.  Also completely baffling to cameras.  You need to see it yourself.  No...you need to own it!  Every Sinful Colors fan should have this shade.

Tempest is a bright lilac cream.

So close to being a one-coater, but it wound up needing two.  Good formula anyway.  Tempest is on that pastel/bright border, so it's in my comfort zone and I like it.

...and a couple of reruns here.

Endless Blue is a vivid ultramarine cream.

I wanna wear this again sometime soon!  It's perfection.  Simply perfection.  Happily, it's a core shade at Walgreens and Target.


Exotic Green is a vibrant leaf-green crelly.

Easily in my top 10 Sinful Colors shades!  I love it!


Bottom line: Other than the classic, Dream On, and Endless Blue (which is also core) I don't think any of these shades are must-haves.  Still, I really like Burning Bright, High Strung (in spite of the formula), and Clementine.  Energetic Red is cool too and stands out among my many other reds.  Tempest is pretty, but Outrageous looks ho-hum alongside more intense shades.


My vacation is going a little too well in some ways.  Having a blast, but getting way less swatching done than I wanted.  Only a few days left before I *sob* go back to work...gotta make the most of the downtime I have left.  So much polish, so little time!