“Save Me” From Boring Glitter? You Sure Did, Nicki! (Review)

Good Morning!

Today I have my last installment of swatches from the Nicki Minaj collection. I’m happy in a way to be done swatching so I can get to really wearing these polishes, but I’ve really enjoyed sharing how much I love Nicki Minaj with you guys. Oh well… onward and upward 😉 Today we have one of my favorite polishes (I feel like I say that about every polish…) from this collection: Save Me.

Check out that shine!

Color:

Save Me is tiny silver microglitter and holographic bar glitter packed densely into a clear base. The holo bar glitter flashes green, blue, purple, fire orange, and yellow. It flashes so freely and brightly in the right light that it looks like fireworks for your nails. In fact, I bet it would look fantastic layered over black or dark navy polish! It has the ability to look very different in different light levels.

Pardon this grainy photo but in low light it can look like a silver foil.

At a different angle in low light, the holo bar glitter really glows!

In bright light it also flashes as you move your hands around.

Save Me is so beautiful and sparkly

Formula and Finish:

You can see from the above photos how sparkly and shiny it is. I did use some sheer silver SC polish (Out of This World) as underwear so I didn’t have to use so much Save Me (I used 2 coats), and SV and SHMS on top, but it’s so densely packed that it gets opaque on its own after about 3 coats. Also, the finish is shiny on its own but with a glitter like this you’re gonna need quite a bit of top coat to smooth it out. I love love love this polish, but there is one problem with a glitter of this caliber: it’s ROUGH!!! Oh my goodness, even after probably 4 coats of top coat (I just keep adding another coat!) this glitter is still snaggy and rough to the touch. That doesn’t bother me so much, but what does drive me a little crazy is how some of the bar glitter hangs off the back and front of your nail. After I applied my 2 coats of Save Me first I used my cuticle nippers to clip off any pieces hanging over the edge. It was still rough and clear that some pieces were still hanging off the edge to some extent so then I got my file out and filed the edges and even the top of my nail near the edge a little. This mostly did the trick, but left me with instant tip wear:

Good thing the polish is silver so tip wear isn't too evident.

Plays Well With Others?

I will add photos of Save Me with Super Bass shatter over it when I’m ready to remove it. Due to the high likelihood that this is going to be a TERROR to remove, I’m wearing it for a couple of days before I take that on 😉

EDIT: As promised here are pictures of Save Me with Super Bass over it and also with a matte topcoat.

I LOVE how Save Me looks under Super Bass. This is my favorite combo out of all the polishes.

I LOVE how the holographic bar glitter peeks out of the cracks and through the Super Bass. I will definitely be wearing this! Please click on and enlarge this to see the detail. It's beautiful. 🙂

Save Me is so dynamic on it's own that it really doesn't neet the matte tc. This doesn't make it look ALL THAT different from how Save Me looks by itself in different light levels.

A note on the removal: I used the foil method (learn how here) and this polish came off in exactly 10 minutes. I did one hand at a time so it took 20, but if I did them all at once it takes 1 minute to attach the cotton balls, 7 minutes to wait and 2 minutes removing the cotton balls/glitter polish. It’s a life saver!!! Please don’t struggle with one more difficult glitter removal. Your nails will thank you! 😉

Yes, Please! or No, Thank you:

Even though the bar glitter poses a bit of an annoying problem, I still love this polish. It’s different than anything I have, flashes so many colors and I love how it looks so different in different lights. I just can’t get enough of variety… in everything. (I like to grow my hair out, then cut it short; I do the same with my nails; I like hair cuts that can be styled lots of different ways; I like my nails different every day; I wanna re-paint my house; I like all kinds of music, etc.) I definitely think you need this polish if you’re a glitter lover. Just be prepared to a) work at getting the edges smooth and b) spend an afternoon removing it… I know this is going to be a pain!

Just a Thought on the Name:

I love the song “Save Me” on Pink Friday, but considering the somber tone of that song, I find this a funny polish to name after it. The song conjures up a daydream of a gloomy stormy night. Nicki’s standing on someone’s doorstep in the pouring rain and as the person opens the door to see her standing there she begs them to take her back and save her one more time… from herself. It’s a romantic and vulnerable moment and of course he takes her back and she’s saved… but… it doesn’t make me think of fire-y, sparklelicious nail polish! I would have gone with “Blazin” because this polish looks like it’s on fire, and Nicki and Kanye West are (among other things) on top of the world (not to mention that’s probably my favorite song on the album). Another option would have been “Blow Ya Mind” because that song is so crazy high energy and makes you wanna have a party RIGHT NOW and wear this nail polish. 😉 Anyway… I guess I can’t talk.. I’m not a professional nail polish namer… I’m just sayin’. 😉

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your comments.