Essie Shine of the Times Luxeffects over Orly Lollipop

Essie - Shine of the Times (Luxeffects) 1 coat over

Orly Lollipop (2 coats)

Seche Vite on top, Essie - Grow Stronger as base

Prepare for some serious picture spam! I just couldn't limit myself to only a few pictures with this one. Shine of the Times was just too gorgeous! Keep reading for more pictures and a review of Shine of the Times and Lollipop.

I can't believe this is my first time wearing Shine of the Times. I was so excited about it when I first got it and then never ended up wearing it. I love the flakie look but don't like when Shine of the Times flashes dark green/orange/brown like it does over black. Yup call me crazy but I hate it over black. Maybe I should get a cool toned flakie instead. Anyway I  picked up Lollipop and love these two together. I finally found a color that I love under Shine of the Times. Shine of the Times flashes mostly a coral color over Lollipop. It does still flash a bit of green but it looks like a lighter green. I don't know if Lollipop underneath has changed the color of Shine of the Times or if the color contrast is just creating that illusion. It flashes more light blue/purple in low light. I can't stop staring at my nails! Here is some bottle shots and pictures taken in different lighting around my house.

Shine of the Times formula was consistent with the rest of the Luxeffects collection. It has a thick, gel like formula that was very easy to control and spread. It has many small flakes packed into a clear base. Wear time with all the Luxeffects is quite good. Usually around 5 days with only minor chip wear.

Before removing this manicure, I wanted to see what it would look like matte. I put one coat of Deborah Lippmann's Flat Top on my ring and pinky fingers to show the difference. Personally, I don't like this matte. I feel like the flakie effect is already quite subtle and matte the flakie effect almost disappears entirely.

Lollipop has been overshadowed by Shine of the Times in this post but it is quite a nice polish as well. It is very  pigmented especially for a pastel creme so you could probably get away with one coat if you are really careful and don't go over spots twice. I had issues with the brush dragging away polish if I went over the same spot twice and creating bald spots. If you want to try for only one coat paint both sides first and then a final stroke down the middle. It also helps to apply the polish "floating" like you would Seche Vite. This means that you have lots of polish on the brush, so that you are not touching the brush to your nail when you are spreading the polish. My first coat was quite lumpy, but I realized after the first coat that part of the brush was looped over. I tried to pull down on the loop and straighten it but it was stuck and wouldn't budge. I think I got a defective brush where some of the bristles were folded over when the brush was attached to the handle. I snipped the bottom of the loop and straightened out the brush before my second coat which went on much smoother. I think now that the brush is fixed, Lollipop would probably be a one coater with careful application. The other Orly polish I bought at Sally's, Snowcone (a light cornflower blue creme) is a one coater so I'm hoping this will be too when I try it again.

*EDIT: Orly Lollipop is unfortunately too thick and lumpy to be a one coater even though it is really pgimented. I have tried it again.*