Ugly Manicure Monday - 31

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Jenette at Elfleidy's Stuff...

OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Zoya - Sooky.
Stamped with Shany plate 20.

Jenette said the color combination was perfect, but the stamping execution wasn't. For whatever the reason, she was unable to get the image to stamp well beyond her first try.

Thanks, Jenette!

I really like this idea! It's a shame it didn't want to stamp :-(

If you have an  ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 30

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Jen at Jen's Painted Tips...

Zoya - Song, Julieanne, Ivanka, Sarah, Ziv, and OPI - Cabana Banana.

Jen said her manicure simply didn't turn out the way she had hoped. She said if she had it to do over again, she'd exclude the yellow and switch the gold for a silver.

Zoya - Song, Julieanne, Ivanka, Sarah, Ziv, and OPI - Cabana Banana.

Thanks, Jen!

The color combination reminds me of Christmas wrapping paper. I might just try something like this with red, green, and gold!

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

49ers Crackle

Hi there!

I'm a member of a very superstitious household. It wasn't extreme until recently when Hunny Poo realized that every time I paint my nails with San Francisco 49ers colors, they win. When I don't, they lose/tie. This has held true all season! After I removed my nearly 2 week old manicure on Sunday, I was begged to paint Niners nails. I told him that if he chose the polish, I'd do it :-)

My nails painted with Zoya - Kimmy and China Glaze - Tarnished Gold.
San Francisco 49ers manicure.

I think he chose a nice combination. I painted 2 coats of Kimmy before adding a thin coat of Tarnished Gold. Once dry, I added a coat of OPI's top coat.

Mission: accomplished. The Niners won!

Until next time...

Ivanka's Apple

Hi there!

I imagined this looking differently...

My nails painted with Zoya - Apple and Ivanka.

I painted 2 coats of each polish to achieve what's pictured. Apple has flecks of green that are the same color as Ivanka (ring finger), and Ivanka has flecks of green that are the same color as Apple. I didn't think they'd blend together as much as they do. In person, my ring fingernail only looks slightly darker than the rest... and sometimes it doesn't even look like I'm wearing an accent nail at all.

How would you wear these colors together?

Until next time...

Zoya - Kristen

Hi there!

This one is crazy...

My nails painted with Zoya - Kristen.

I painted 2 coats to achieve what's pictured. It applied easily and all that good stuff- what I think is crazy about it is how it looks so different depending on the lighting. Sometimes it looks blue, sometimes purple, and sometimes grey. Sometimes it's a mix of all 3 colors...

My nails painted with Zoya - Kristen.

I didn't expect to like this polish based on what it looked like in the bottle. It looked kind of bland... I had never even seen swatches of it before writing this post. But I'm glad to say I'm pleasantly pleased :-)

Do you own a polish that surprised you because you didn't expect to like it based on the bottle?

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 19

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Kristin at The Manicured Monkey...

Feather manicure.

Kristin said a few things went sour with this one. Not only was the base of Loredana too dark, but some of the feathers were too dark to show as well. The feathers were a mess to trim, and they didn't lay flat in some areas. The feathers also ate her top coat so her manicure became goopy instead of glassy.

Thanks, Kristin!

The one thing that's kept me from trying a feather manicure thus far is the trimming aspect... although, now I suppose I should get to it! Even with a goopy finish, I still think it looks nice!

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Lara's Harbor

Hi there!

I painted these yesterday evening before leaving to the beach...

My nails painted with Zoya - Lara and Sinful Colors - Pearl Harbor.

I painted 2 coats of Lara and 1 coat of Pearl Harbor to achieve what's pictured. About 2 hours after snapping this picture, all of the polish had peeled clean off of my nails! I'm not positive it was because the 2 polishes simply didn't mesh well together... I went swimming for a couple of hours, so I'm sure that had something (if not everything) to do with it.

At least it looked pretty for a few hours :-)

Until next time...

Neon Purples

Hi there!

These are the neon purples I have...

Sinful Colors - Dream On, Color Club - Mrs. Robinson,
Julep - Helena, and Zoya - Charisma.

My nails painted with Sinful Colors - Dream On,
Color Club - Mrs. Robinson, Julep - Helena, and Zoya - Charisma. 

Each nail is painted with a base of white and 2 coats of purple.

In order from my favorite to my least favorite:

1. Color Club - Mrs. Robinson (middle finger)... This is my favorite of the bunch because it had the easiest application and it dried the glossiest.

2. Julep - Helena (ring finger)... This also dries glossy, but it has more of a red/pink undertone than the others it was compared with.

3. Zoya - Charisma (pinky finger)... The application was easy, but it dries matte.

4. Sinful Colors - Dream On (index finger)... This is last because the first coat was somewhat patchy. It also dries matte.

I hope this helps!

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 07

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Harri at TrailerHood Chic...

Essence - High Waist Pink and Sally Hansen - Yellow Kitty
mixed with Color Club - Soft As Cashmere.

She said that she tried a smoke manicure a while ago that she wanted to recreate. The pink and yellow are pretty together, but she didn't stop there. She added a light purple mixture...

Essence - Bloom-A-Loom mixed with Color Club - Uptown Girl,
China Glaze - Secret Peri-Wink-Le, and OPI - Skull & Glossbones.

She kept going with a darker purple...

Zoya - Areej.

Then she added a dark brown...

Color Club - Nothing But Truffle.

Harri said she wished she would have finished her manicure with Nothing But Truffle, but nooo...

OPI - Sparrow Me The Drama mixed with OPI - Skull & Glossbones.

She said she royally ruined her manicure with her last addition.

Thanks, Harri!

I have to agree that the last step is what made the manicure a flop. But I know it's not always so easy to stop while you're ahead, so to speak.

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 04

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of an anonymous reader...

Zoya - Charla, Orly - Fresh, and Nubar - White Polka Dot.

She first painted an attempted half moon with 2 coats of Charla (blue), then 2 coats of Fresh on the rest of the nail. She said it was plain and ugly, so she hoped the addition of glitter would help. It didn't :-)

Thanks, "you know who you are!"

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Zoya - Jem

Hi there!

This polish is one I'm happy to have in my collection...

My nails painted with Zoya - Jem.

I painted 2 coats to achieve what's pictured. It applied easily, and it dried faster than I'm used to. Jem flashes all sorts of different colors depending on the lighting. In direct sunlight...

Zoya - Jem.

Pretty, right?

Until next time...

Neeka and Alfre

Hi there!

As I was putting my newer polishes away, I couldn't resist the temptation to compare these...

My nails painted with Zoya - Neeka and Julep - Alfre.
Zoya is painted on my pointer and ring finger.
Julep is painted on my middle and pinky finger.

Alfre is pretty cool. I only needed to paint 1 coat for it to be fully opaque. This was my first time trying a Julep polish, and I'm pleased with the formula and the brush. The application was absolutely effortless. I like the finish of this one- it's high gloss, and almost metallic. I'm thinking that I'll have to try my luck stamping with it one of these days. Up close, it's easy to spot the differences between Neeka and Alfre... but just an arm's length away, they look like twins.

Until next time...

Zoya - Neeka

Hi there!

I forgot to post this earlier...


My nails painted with Zoya - Neeka.


I've been wearing Neeka for a couple of days now... it's great. The application was simple and I only needed to paint 1 thick coat for it to be opaque. I think the mixture of this particular shade of purple and gold flecks is rather unique. It's grabbed a lot of attention from the people I've encountered.

Do you own any of the shades from the Smoke and Mirrors collection? I'm trying to decide if I need more :-)

Until next time...

Zoya - Burke

Hi there!

I don't typically choose to wear jewel toned colors outside of the fall and winter months, but I recently got this one and I like the color... so why not?


My nails painted with Zoya - Burke.


I painted 2 coats and this polish was perfectly opaque. The application was effortless, and it dried very quickly. I'll admit, I'm a Zoya newbie... but I'm already a fan.

So here's a question... if a little polish troll told you that you had to choose just 1 favorite Zoya polish or he'd smash all of your polishes, which would you choose? This is my way of getting recommendations for which colors to buy next :-)

Until next time...