Christmas Skittles!

Good morning, and happy Thursday! Today I have some Christmas nails to show you. I am super excited for Christmas this year - partly because I'm actually excited for Christmas, and a little bit because I just want to be done with the semester. It's wrapping up! I only have one final, two projects and two papers left, and I'll be done it a week. So excited. Anyway, here's my Christmas nail art skittles mani:

Thumb & ring finger: Pure Ice Kiss Me Here with two coats of Lac Attack Holidays in Hogsmeade
Index finger: Two coats of China Glaze White Cap, topped with two coats of China Glaze Snow Globe, topped with two-ish (I say this because there was some finagling involved to get enough glitter on) coats of OPI Lights of Emerald City. (Not looking forward to removing this.)
Middle finger: Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe with gold circles in Zoya Ziv.
Pinkie finger: Zoya Rekha with snow in Cult Nails Tempest

Whew! That was a long list of polishes. I started this mani not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, but I really like how it turned out. This was the first time I tried Lac Attack Holidays in Hogsmeade, despite having bought it almost a year ago - I just felt weird about wearing it in January. I really like it, though, especially the stripey large red hex glitters. So cute.

It's supposed to snow here in St. Louis today, tomorrow, and Sunday. I really hope we get some accumulation, and I might just have to do another wintry/Christmas mani to get in the mood. :) Have a great day!

Green & Gold Sponging

Hello again! As you're reading this, I'm about to move back into my apartment for the fall semester. I'm writing this on August 11, so hopefully I will have packed by the time this is published, but you never know...I am a pretty good (bad?) procrastinator, particularly when it comes to things like packing, which you just have to undo again later. The nail art I'm blogging about today is a little something I did back in late July. I used Zoya Neely as a base, Zoya Josie, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, and another green (the darkest bits) that is escaping my memory right now for the green sponging, and added a little bit of China Glaze Blonde Bombshell for some sparkle. On a side note, Blonde Bombshell is pretty much the best gold glitter ever, and you should get it now. But anyway, back to the sponging ---

I was very happy with how this turned out. The green sponging is subtle, but pretty, and the gold glitter adds an extra bit of oomph that makes the whole thing pull together. I thought after completing the manicure that it was more of a spring-y sort of nail art, but, ehh, who cares? I say wear whatever you want all year round, whether it's your clothes or you nail polish. Though I do tend to be a bit more versatile with polish, since it's not affected by the whole weather thing. ;)

P.S. The background for my pictures is a page of Mental Floss magazine, which is my favorite magazine ever in the entire world ever. I was reading it at work on lunch break, which is when I took these pictures.

Eyeko Military Polish

Hello, and I hope your Mondays are going well! I started class today and had Research Methods from 1:10 to 2:00 and then Contemporary Challenges in the U.S. Health Care System from 2:30 to 5:00. Research Methods sounds like it's going to be kind of scary - it's never a good sign when the professor starts class by saying, "this is the worst class you will have as an undergraduate." Eek! Good thing I only have 15 hours this semester, and no honors classes. Tomorrow I'll have Intro to African-American Studies (which I'm taking as a core "U.S. Diversity" requirement), Issues in Political Philosophy, and my English class, which is on Muslim women in literature.

But more importantly (on here, anyway), I'm wearing Eyeko Military Polish for the first time today! I don't even remember where I got my bottle at this point, but I've had it for at least a year and hadn't worn it, so I figured it was about time. I used two coats, and I took this picture before I applied top coat.

Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of Military Polish. From the way it looked in the bottle, I thought it might be a little more green, but in most lights, it just looks brown with a green tinge. It's nice, but not quite what I expected. I've been collecting a few polishes that I don't think I want, and I think this will go in that pile. I think I might have a blog sale once I have enough to get rid of, but I feel like it would be a huge hassle. Anyway, we'll see!

Zoya Beach Swatches & Review

Greetings! Before I start the polish talk, I have to do a little self-promotion and remind you to go like my Facebook page. (And thanks for doing so!) I hope Monday is going well - or at least tolerably - for everyone. Like I promised, I have swatches of the Zoya Beach collection to show you today, starting with Reagan.

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Zoya describes Reagan as a "deep cerise pink cream," which I think is actually a pretty good description of this gorgeous color. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to show up very accurately in any of the many photos I took of Reagan. It's a bit more purpley than in the picture, but I think I managed to capture the vividity (which, yes, is a word - Google it) well. It's also very opaque at one coat. I'm going to be posting a comparison post for Beach later, but I'll say now that I think Reagan might be a dupe or close cousin to OPI Dim Sum Plum. Unfortunately, I didn't bring it to college, so it won't be in my comparison post.

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The second polish in Beach, Lara, is what Zoya calls a "vivid cerise pink cream." To me, it's a bit more of a cross between bubblegum pink and cerise, but that's very subjective anyway. Like Reagan, Lara is opaque in one coat. Also like Reagan, I couldn't get it to photograph well, and it's a bit more purple in real life. If you're in need of girly pink to add to your polish stash, Lara would be a great choice, though I honestly don't like it quite as well as Reagan.

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Speaking of girly pinks, Shelby seems to me like the epitome of Barbie pink, or as Zoya says, a "soft pinky pink creme." While it's not an uncommon color in the least, that doesn't mean it's not pretty, and I can definitely see myself doing some sort of tape mani with Shelby and, say, China Glaze For Audrey or Zoya Wednesday. Shelby is opaque in two coats.

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Moving away from the pinks, Zoya Arizona is a "soft coral orange creme" that goes on easily in two coats. I'm not sure I'd describe it as coral - or soft, for that matter - but it's certainly a great color, especially for summer. Again, it's not terribly unique, but I'll talk more about that in my comparison post. Oh, and as a side note: could someone explain the logic behind naming a child Arizona?

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Tracie is sort of the standout polish in Beach, as it's the only one that's not a creme. Zoya calls it a "sea grass metallic," and while I see the sea grass part of it, I really consider Tracie to have more of a pearlized finish. Normally I don't like that finish much, but while Tracie isn't my favorite, I did actually end up liking it once I put it on. The base color is very pretty, and I think it helps that the pearlescence isn't too awfully streaky. Tracie was opaque in two coats.

flash

Finally, we have Wednesday, a "soft aqua creme" that I ended up wearing as a full manicure. I love dusty cremes like Wednesday, and while I tend to think of them as more spring-y as far as seasonality goes, I will wear just about any color during any time of year. Wednesday (again, I'm not quite sure why someone would actually name their child Wednesday, but whatever) was opaque in two easy coats.

Overall, while I don't feel that any of these polishes, save Tracie, are that unique, they're all very pretty colors that would be well worth adding to a polish stash that doesn't already contain dupes. As the application and opacity was also very good for all of the polishes, I would definitely recommend Zoya Beach.

These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for honest review. However, that has and will never change what I write in a post. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Zoya Surf Swatches and Review

Helllooo there! I'm so glad I finally got these swatched so I can show them off to you all, though I must apologize for the fact that the lighting will be changing throughout the post due to the wildly variant weather we always have in St. Louis during the spring. I should be getting Beach swatched and posted relatively soon, too ... but first, Surf's up! (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

indoors, with flash

First, we have Carly, a "thalia purple foil metallic." While I don't have the faintest idea what the heck a "thalia purple" is (feel free to inform me in the comments), Carly is certainly a stunner. I wasn't the biggest fan of Carly just looking at the bottle, but I like it a lot better on my nails. I'd almost say it's an amethyst purple, but I think it's a bit too pinkish for that - it does have that lit-from-within glow of a jewel, though. I used two coats in the picture, but the only reason I added a second was because I wanted it to be a bit more vibrant.

indoors, with flash

Second, we have Kimber, what Zoya calls a "magenta pink foil metallic." Zoya, I love your polishes, but I beg to differ. Kimber is not what I think of when I think magenta. If anything, I'd call it a hot pink foil with gold highlights ... or I could just call it gorgeous. Which it is. I used two coats of Kimber, and it was actually the only polish out of Surf that I really needed a second coat on.

indoors, with flash

Rory, a "lotus pink foil metallic," is honestly not my favorite of the collection. I think it's because I tend not to like frosts, and while Rory isn't quiiiite a frost, its lighter shade combined with the foil finish isn't doing it any favors in my opinion. However, that's just my personal taste, and it's quite the pretty pink - ignore the bumpy look it has on my index finger; that's just because I have peeling there that I haven't quite been able to entirely buff out without making my nail as thin as tissue paper. I used one coat of Rory. 

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While Myrta is described as a "coral orange foil metallic" by Zoya, and while it does look like a coral orange in the color drop, I really didn't see much, if any, coral in the polish when I wore it. Regardless, Myrta is a lovely bright orange with a golden flash, and it was opaque in two easy coats. In fact, I can just picture myself wearing it once warm weather comes around again.

 natural light

I actually completely agree with Zoya's description of Meg, which they call a "mermaid green foil metallic." I wouldn't have gotten to "mermaid" all by myself, but when I saw Meg and read Zoya's description, a mental image of Ariel's tail popped right into my head. *hums Disney songs* I can't quite remember if I used one or two coats of Meg, but I think it was one. Maybe. I should make a note of these things.

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I have to admit, even though I went in the order of how the polishes were in the box, the best (in my opinion) ended up being saved for last. Zuza, an "aquamarine foil metallic," is my absolute favorite of Surf by far. It's not that the others aren't pretty; it's just that Zuza is so, well, Zuza. I even love the name. It's a brilliant turquoise foil that makes me think of going to the pool - or even better, the Greek sea in the summertime. For example:

See where the color starts shifting from green to blue - in the middle, where it's that perfect teal? That's Zuza. I guess the true mark of a good summer color must be that it reminds you of last summer's vacation...at any rate, I'll definitely be wearing Zuza at least a couple more times in the next few months!

Overall, while I'm not always a fan of foils that aren't gold, silver, bronze, or copper (i.e., a metallic color that's actually the color of a metal), I thought Zoya did a good job on Surf, and my three favorites are Zuza (of course), Kimber, and Carly. Which would you pick?

These products were provided to me by the manufacturer for review; however, this will never affect my honest review of a product. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Lavender Mint

Hey there! Today I have a mani that's been sitting in my "Nails" folder for way too long. It's actually from late October last year, and while I had almost started to think I should just not post it, I'm working on the Zoya summer collection right now, and since it's going to take me a little while to get through, I thought it'd be good to post something in the meantime. However, just because it's been sitting on my hard drive for several months doesn't mean I didn't like it - I honestly don't know why I haven't posted it before now. I used Icing Mint 2 Be for the mint green and Zoya Malia with Sephora by OPI Only Gold for Me for the accent nails.

outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

I realize that Malia isn't a lavender, but when I was thinking of what to name this post, I thought of Paul Mitchell's line of lavender mint hair products (they smell wonderful, of course - what of theirs doesn't?) and decided it was about as interesting a title as I was going to come up with. I need to start doing accent nails more often again, I think...I haven't done any lately, and it's one of the easiest ways I can think of to give your nails a little more pizzazz.

Now I have a question for you all - would you rather have me split Zoya Beach and Surf into two parts, or four? I kind of like doing it in four because I feel like I can devote a little more description to each polish and because I can post more often that way, but I've done Zoya collections in two posts before, and I can certainly do it again if that's what you prefer. Please leave a comment telling me if you'd rather have two posts, four, or if you don't care either way. Thanks!

Deep Sea Flakies

Happy Saturday! I'm writing this on Thursday, but by the time this is posted, hopefully we'll all be having a great weekend. I did this manicure about a month ago and am just now getting around to posting it. At the time, I was going through one of those phases where you wear the same sort of polish for about five manicures, and at the time, I was in a dark polish phase. One of the manicures I wore during that phase was Essence Just Rock It layered with one coat each of FingerPaints Flecked and FingerPaints Motley. This was one of the first manicures I did with Flecked and Motley, and I have to say, I think it turned out quite well.

 indoors, artificial light

Mardi Gras Nails

Happy Mardi Gras! It's a day of indulgence, and while I haven't been indulging myself too much today, I did give my nails a special Mardi Gras manicure this past weekend. I wasn't even really planning on doing Mardi Gras nails until I thought of this and decided it was too good to resist. Who could resist having their nails dripping with gold?

indoors, artificial light

For this manicure, I used Zoya Veruschka on most of my nails, Zoya Savita on the ring fingers, and Orly Luxe for the dripping gold. Though my left pinkie nail was a bit of a mess-up, as you can see, I was really happy with the way the rest of them turned out. In fact, I actually got a "that's really cool" from a straight male, so perhaps that's one way to define manicure success. I meant to add top coat and see how it looked after some wear, but after a couple of days one whole nail peeled off before I had time to do so. I have to say, though, I was impressed with how long it stayed on! I'm really going to have to try to use drip nail art more often.

Again, have a great Mardi Gras - and let me know if you're doing a Mardi Gras manicure!

Zoya True Part 1: Swatches and Review

So, six posts in January...woot? I know I've been painfully absent, but I have been extraordinarily busy with school and extracurriculars (please ignore the fact that I've only been at school for two weeks), and my nails are still refusing to be nursed back to health. Anyway, I have for you today the first half of Zoya's True collection, Cho, Farah, and Bevin. On to the review!

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Cho is the first polish in the collection. It's described by Zoya as a "full coverage, vanilla shimmer metallic," which is sort of accurate, though I wouldn't really describe Cho as a vanilla color - more of a yellow nude. It has the same shimmer finish as the polishes from last year's Touch collection. As you can see, it doesn't complement my skin tone at all, but it was opaque and easy to apply, so I would recommend it to someone it would suit better. I used two coats.

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Farah is the second polish in the collection, a "full coverage, latte beige cream." Zoya's description is definitely more apt in Farah's case than in Cho's, but as with Cho, there's something about the shade that just doesn't suit me very well. It's a shame, because I do like it - just not on me. Farah was opaque in two coats, as well.

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Finally, we have Bevin, a "full coverage, pale sage green cream," or what I see as a cross between sage green and jade green. In either case, it's a gorgeous color that covers perfectly in two coats, and one I will be definitely wearing again, especially when my nails get a tad longer and healthier . . . and hopefully that will be soon. 

Another thing that I hope will be soon - my review of the second half of Zoya True!

P.S. Paula from WoW Nails sent me a very kind email a while back asking me to check out her blog, so I did, and I thought I'd post the link here in case any of you are interested: http://mywownails.blogspot.com/ Have a great day!

These products were provided to me by the manufacturer for a fair and honest review.

SinfulColors Holiday 2011 - Swatches & Review

Good morning! I took my last final this morning for my political science class, and now I'm done! My mom's not going to be here until this afternoon because of work, though, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to post the SinfulColors holiday collection that I swatched Saturday. The collection is made up of five repromoted colors and two stripers. Although none of the polishes are new, they're all new to me, so I was pretty excited to try them out, especially with all the good things I've heard about Daddy's Girl. I do have to apologize, though - my nails were really short to begin with, and then my pinky nail broke halfway through swatching, so the last half only have three fingers. Sorry!

 sunlight

shade

Sugar Sugar, described by the SinfulColors press release as "a candy cane, red-hot tint," is just that - I love the color, and the glowy quality reminds me of my favorite red shimmer, Dr.'s Remedy Revive Ruby Red. The only thing I didn't like was the formula, which in combination with the brush was very hard to control, and as you can see, I ended up getting some bubbles. With a little more care, though I don't think this would happen. I used two coats.

 sunlight

shade

I decided to show Flower Girl next because I used it on top of Sugar Sugar. It's a bronze-gold color that I haven't seen in a striper before, which is really nice - I always like to find something unique. It was also really opaque, which is essential in a striper because it's more of a pain (for me, at least) to go over stripes twice. It's worth noting that the brushes on these stripers are thicker than Kiss or Nubar, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing; after all, it can be good to have some variety.

 sunlight

shade

Next, we have Midnight Blue, "a bold, bright twist on navy," or what I'd call a vivid, medium-blue shimmer. This polish kind of reminds me of Sally Hansen Blue It, but brighter and less metallic. I used two coats with this as well, but was more careful and only got a couple bubbles, though it was still a bit of a pain to apply. I like Midnight Blue, but I don't think it's a must-have.

 sunlight

shade

This is the second striper, Fashionista. It's a silver glitter, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with this one. The base was thicker than I like in stripers, and the glitter wasn't as dense as I had hoped it would be. However, if this is your thing, I would definitely recommend it - after all, it's cheap and easy to work with.

 sunlight

Sorry I don't have a shaded photo for this one - I didn't realize until I uploaded them that all the ones I took were a little blurry, so I decided not to include one. Anyway, Last Chance is a dark evergreen creme that seems to me like a non-jelly version of Nars Zulu. As I've never been a huge fan of Zulu (I don't tend to love vampy polishes), I'm perfectly happy with Last Chance. I used two coats.

 sunlight

shade

As you can see, Out of this World is a whitish silver, and I have to say, I'm not a fan of this one. It wasn't quite opaque with the three coats I used, and it's not really a color I would wear on its own. I think it might be good for layering, though...I'll have to try that sometime.

 sunlight

shade

Daddy's Girl, "a deep purple with a drizzle of shimmer and glitter," is by far my favorite of these. It's a gorgeous purple jelly with gold glitter, and I love it. It's not quite opaque with three coats, but it's more opaque than it looks in my first picture. I'm not sure why I didn't buy this one before...it's a vivid purple; what was I thinking?!

If you'd like to buy any of these for yourself, you can find them for $1.99 at mass retailers like Walgreens.

And with that, I need to go pack...I hope you're all having a great week, and don't forget to read my NO H8 post!

These products were provided to me by the manufacturer for honest review.

Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy Swatches and Review

Hello again! I'm back, as I said I would be, with the holiday 2011 collection from Dr.'s Remedy. I know for sure that one of these, Revive Ruby Red, is a re-promote because I reviewed it before, and I think Passion Purple is as well; however, I'm fairly sure the other three are new - but by all means, correct me if I'm wrong! Now, let's get to the polish.

outdoors, sunlight

First, we have Revive Ruby Red, which as I said before, is not a new color - it was in last winter's collection as well. However, that doesn't make it any less gorgeous! If you read my original review, you will remember that I absolutely loved it then, and that definitely hasn't changed. It's got the same lit-from-within, glowing quality that made it love me so much the first time around, and is opaque in the same two easy coats. I encourage you to read my previous review of Revive Ruby Red for more details if you're interested.

outdoors, sunlight

The second color in Jolly & Joy, Passion Purple, is described by Dr.'s Remedy as "a bombshell-boysenberry with subtle silver meshed throughout," and I think that's an accurate description. I tend not to like shimmers with a colored base and silver shimmer quite as much as other shimmers, but I think this one is nice. I'm not wowed by it, and I'm not sure that I'd wear it all that often. However, if this sort of finish is your thing, go for it! The application was fantastic, and it got opaque coverage in two coats.

outdoors, natural light

Essential Emerald, the third polish, is described by Dr.'s Remedy as "a take on the classic tree-and-plant-inspired gem of a shade, with delicate glimmer and unparalleled amounts of glamour." Now, this is an area where I really have to disagree with the description - to me, this is a jade green, not an emerald. However, it is a very lovely color, and I like the silver shimmer in this better than that in Passion Purple. This one also took two coats, and the application was great.

outdoors, sunlight

Serene Silver Glitter is described by Dr.'s Remedy as "a seasonal sizzler like no other: shine, chic, totally unique in the metallic scene," and on this one, I totally agree. As far as I know, there really is no other polish like this one. For one thing, it's definitely a glitter, but the particles are so fine that it applies almost as smoothly and evenly as a foil, and looks a somewhat like a foil on the nail as well. Additionally, it has not only silver glitter, but red and blue as well, which is a combination I haven't seen anywhere else. Best of all, the glitter is very highly packed into the polish - I barely needed two coats!

outdoors, natural light

Finally, we have Resolution Red Glitter, "a red-meets-copper spin that's sequin-look-alike laden with high-shine and sparkle." I sort of see where they get the copper, but to me, the polish is mainly a red, pink, and silver glitter. It also barely needed two coats, and the application was good. 

Check Dr.'s Remedy out on Twitter and Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/Remedynails

http://twitter.com/#!/remedynails

These products were provided to me by Dr.'s Remedy for honest review.

Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

Hello there! Today's prompt was a bit challenging for me to turn into a manicure, as I didn't want it to look explicitly like a Halloween manicure. I ended up pulling out some random polishes and doing a layering manicure. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme with China Glaze Zombie Zest, China Glaze Snow Globe, and a gold Orly glitter that I recently got and can't remember the name of (and I'm not in my room now, so I can't check - I'll update the post later). I topped it all off with Essie Matte About You.

natural light

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I like it! I wasn't sure if I would at first, but after I decided to put matte top coat on it, it all sort of came together. Sorry about my terribly dry fingers ... I took these photos after I showered this morning, and though I tried to put cuticle moisturizer on without ruining the matte effect, it clearly didn't work too well. Maybe next time I'll remember to plan my picture-taking better.

There will be another post up later today on the Dr.'s Remedy holiday collection, so look out for that! I've been meaning to get it up since I took the pictures last week, but the world has seemed to conspire against Never Unpolished lately ... oh well. I should also have swatches of China Glaze Let it Snow posted within a week. I got the samples when I was home for Thanksgiving break, and they're sitting on my desk anxiously waiting for me to try them - and I for them!

Don't forget to check out the other challenge posts for today:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 28: Inspired by a Flag

Sooo . . . I must confess, I was feeling lazy today. I didn't really want to do nail art, I just wanted to slap on some polish and be done with it. Therefore, I chose as my inspiration the Libyan flag, which is the only national flag that's just a solid color. Hint: it's green.

indoors, artificial light

This is two luscious coats of Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, one of my favorite "basic" greens. That's all for today! Now I just have to figure out what to do for tomorrow . . .

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 11: Polka Dots

Happy 11/11/11! Don't forget to make a wish tonight at 11:11:11. :) I hope you didn't have your fill of polka dots after my rainbow manicure, because I have more for you today. This time, I just did two vertical lines of polka dots on each nail, and I really like how it looks. I used a base of China Glaze First Mate, and the dots are in Sally Hansen Green with Envy and Color Club Overboard.

 indoors, artificial light

natural light

I can't believe I'd never used First Mate before! It's really gorgeous, and I think the green and pink complement it well. The only thing I don't like about this manicure is that because my pinky nail is so much small than my other nails and the dots are the same size, that nail looks a bit odd. Other than that, though, I'm happy with it - and even if I wasn't, I'd only have to wear it for today. Again, have a great day!

Day 4: Green - Barielle Date Night

I know I said I was going to do another crackle mani today, but then I remembered I had Barielle Date Night sitting in my untrieds. Date Night, an emerald green shimmer, was on my wishlist for quite a while, and I took advantage of a recent sale to get both it and Elle's Spell for what ended up being basically a steal. I used two coats with Insta-Dri top coat, and again, I retouched my hangnail, because it's still getting better.

 direct sunlight

 direct sunlight

direct sunlight

Isn't it gorgeous? I took some pictures in indirect light, too, but none of them really turned out accurately, so I decided to stick with the sunlit pics. I wasn't sure Date Night would live up to my expectations when I first saw it in the bottle in real life, but it's turned out to be every bit as rich and decadent as I hoped it would be. I may just wear it in May next year, because my birthstone is the emerald. And with that, I'm off! I have an Arabic quiz this afternoon, so I need to study. Wish me luck, and have a great Friday!

EDIT:
Whoops, I forgot to include links to my fellow bloggers doing the challenge this month:
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Aly Loves Lacquer