January Nail Art Challenge Day 2: Pattern

Hello! I'm back just barely in time for the second day of the January nail art challenge. The prompt for today was to do a pattern, and I decided to do dots. My base polish is Butter London Royal Navy (a one-coater!), and I used acrylic paint for the dots. I intended them all to come out looking like the thumbnail does, but obviously didn't quite get there. I'm still rather fond of them, though.

Apologies for the messy edges - I haven't been able to find my cleanup brush, and it's definitely noticeable with such a dark color. 

On another note, if you've gotten to the end of the post, could you do me a favor and compare the challenge image at the top of this post with the one in my previous post? For some reason this one appears darker even though it's the same exact image I used last time. 

January Nail Art Challenge Day 1: Ab Initio

Someone (I can't remember who now) mentioned this challenge a couple days ago on Instagram or Twitter and I thought it looked both doable and fun, so I decided to jump in. It was after the third when I saw it, so I went straight to glitter nails and wore my first and only Urban Lacquer polish, Ab Initio.

I remember I first saw this polish on Chalkboard Nails about a year ago and was absolutely smitten. However, I have to say I was just a little bit disappointed when I finally got it and put it on, because I think they must have changed it. The glitter is really dense, which I normally like, but one of the things I'd liked about Ab Initio when I saw it on Chalkboard Nails was that the glitter was sparse enough that you could really see the different layers of glitter glow through the deep purple jelly base. While I still really like this polish and am glad I bought it, I am a bit disappointed because it wasn't how I expected. I could layer it with another purple jelly, but my only purple jelly is Milani Rad Purple, which isn't the right color at all. But I have no objection to expanding my purple jelly collection... ;) Any suggestions?

Zoya Carter

Zoya Carter is one of the polishes from this year's fall PixieDust collection. Of course, since it's purple I had to try it first - and, since it's purple, of course I loved it. It was opaque in three quick coats, and quite easy to control (i.e., not get all over my fingers). I only wish the PixieDust polishes were easier to remove. I always have such a hard time getting them off, even with the foil method! I think most of them are worth it, though, and I really like Carter. Unfortunately, my mani was a little chipped by the time I got around to taking pictures.

As far as the color accuracy, Carter is a little warmer and redder than my picture shows - I took pictures with all the cameras in the house under all the different lighting situations I could find, and this is the closest I could get to what Carter looks like in real life. Suffice it to say, if you like purple and glitter, you should probably get this. Because purple. And glitter. Right? ;) Have a great rest of the week! I'm having my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow, so wish me luck.

P.S. In case you were wondering what the green on the side of the bottle is, that would be the remains of Chita. Sadly, she did not make it to my door in one piece, but many. And boy, let me tell you what a mess that was to clean up...I had to leave it out on the front step for a while before I could even bear to bring it into the house. 

Zoya Carter was sent to me for honest review.

Spring Flowers & Stripes

Hello again! I hope all of you who live in the U.S. had a nice, long weekend and a good Memorial Day - and of course, I hope everyone else had a good weekend too. :) The manicure I'm posting today is actually the last one I did before moving out of my university apartment and going home for the summer. Since I didn't have much time to do anything but study and revise papers during finals, I thought I'd take a short break to do some nail art, and this was the result.

Sequined Savita

It's finally the weekend! Between getting my midterm grades back and the massive amount of homework I had this week, I'm definitely glad it's Saturday...mostly so I can catch up on my schoolwork. Exciting, right? More exciting is the addition I made to Zoya Savita after wearing it by itself. Born Pretty Store was kind enough to send me some items to review recently, and I decided to try the loose glitter sequins with Savita. I used a dotting tool to place them on my thumb and ring finger after adding Wet 'n' Wild Clear to make the nails tacky, and added Cult Nails Wicked Dry on top.

I absolutely love Savita with top coat! I don't think you can go wrong with a good, rich, glowing purple, and I like that it doesn't look weird on my nubbins like some shimmers do. The sequins took a while to place, but I definitely think it was worth it. They laid down nice and flat, so I didn't have to use tons of top coat, which is always nice. I've seen lots of sequin manicures that I really like, so I can't wait to try some more now that I have sequins of my own! You can purchase these here, and if you use my coupon code, ZR5X31, you can get 10% off (I don't get anything if you use the code). Enjoy!

The glitter sequins were provided to me by Born Pretty Store for unbiased review.  I was not compensated for the post.

Zoya Savita

Hello again! I wasn't planning on having time to blog today, but I had one of those pleasant days where you think you're going to be super busy and it's actually not that bad, so here I am. I absolutely love the Zoya Matte Velvet winter collection from 2009 - it's one of my favorite Zoya collections despite the fact that there are only three of them, simply because they're all so fantastic. I love the rich colors, I love the satin effect that you get with a matte shimmer, I love how they glow with or without top coat, I love that they're opaque in two coats...the only thing I don't love is the fact that they chip like crazy if you don't wear top coat, but I suppose the upside to this is that since they're matte and dry quickly, touch-ups are easy to do.

Man. Just look at that gorgeousness. If you have Savita (or Harlow or Veruschka), cherish it, because Zoya doesn't sell it any more. If you don't, find a friend who does and borrow it immediately, even if you don't like mattes - it looks great with top coat on, which I'll be showing you next time along with a little bedazzling (a.k.a. glitter). In the meantime, have a great day!

Preppy Stripes & Tutorial

Hello there! Today I bring you some nail art I did Thursday night. I ordered some striping tape off of Amazon a couple weeks ago, and I hadn't gotten around to using it yet, so I decided it was time to break it out. I wanted bold colors, and ended up picking China Glaze First Mate, China Glaze Grape Pop, and OPI Red My Fortune Cookie. The overall effect reminds me a bit of a prep school uniform, hence the title.

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Click "read more" to see the tutorial:

Milani Rad Purple + Kleancolor Chunky Holo Purple

Happy Friday! The end of the week is here at last...at that just means finals are even closer. But for now, I'm glad it's Friday. Today I'm going to show you my most recent layering manicure. Every time I get a new layering polish, I'm always tempted to try it over Milani Rad Purple - it's one of the best jellies I own, and it's purple to boot. Naturally, when I got Kleancolor Chunky Holo Purple in the mail after buying it from Colour Coated's blog sale, I had to slap it on over Rad Purple as soon as possible.

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Look at that squishiness! I used three or four coats of Rad Purple Cult Nails Get it On, added a layer of Chunky Holo Purple, and finished it off with Cult Nails Wicked Fast. I'm hoping to find the time to review both of the Cult Nails treatments soon, though top and base coat posts always take me longer for some reason, but in the meantime I will tell you readily that I'm loving them both - so much, in fact, that I may yet say goodbye to my tried-and-true Barielle Clearly Noticeable Nail Thickener, Orly Nailtrition, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. Anyway, that discussion's for another post. Enjoy your Friday!

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.

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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.

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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!

Teal and Purple Ruffian

Hi! It's been a while...I didn't realize until I thought "Oh, I should probably do a post" and logged on to Blogger that it'd been a week and a half since my last non-PR post. Whoops. I guess I wasn't too motivated to do anything but read and see friends over spring break, which I suppose is understandable. Anyway, today I have my first attempt at a ruffian manicure. I used Orly Purple Pleather and and Viridian Vinyl. I wore Purple Pleather on its own for a couple days, then added Viridian Vinyl and top coat. Unfortunately, I broke my ring nail fairly badly right before I was going to take pictures, so I decided to leave it be and cut it after I took the pictures so you could get a better idea of what it looked like originally.

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I was pretty happy with how I did, especially considering I did the ruffian part of the manicure in an Arby's on my way back to college. Yeah...it happened. I'm also definitely excited to do more ruffian manicures, perhaps including some spring-themed ones, since it is now officially spring. I'm also interested in adding other nail art to ruffians - have any of you experimented with that? I'm not sure if it would look good or be a nail fail, though I suppose it would depend on what design I did. Anyway, happy spring!

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 2: Swatches and Review

Hello there! I've finally worn all of the colors in True, and I have to say, I'm impressed! I love these kinds of colors anyway, and Zoya does them really well. Unfortunately, not all of my pictures are the best - the weather turned cloudy just in time for me to wear Lotus. Anyway, here they are!

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Skylar is probably the one of the three that represented itself best in pictures - it's a dusty blue filled with gold metallic particles, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I was really happy with this both in the bottle and on my nails, and I'd definitely recommend it, especially for spring. This was two coats.

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For some reason, the sparkle in Tru wasn't as willing to come out for the camera. The purple color is fairly accurate (and gorgeous!), but the gold shimmer is much more evident in real life. As a lover of purples, especially rich purples, I loved Tru (though, to be honest, I could do with a different name), and it's a great addition to the many purples in my stash, especially since it's an easy-application two-coater.

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Finally, we have Lotus, a prim dusty purple with purple and gold shimmer. Though I didn't like it as much as Tru, it's still an absolutely gorgeous purple and, again, one I'm more than happy to add to my collection. Like Tru and Skylar, Lotus was also opaque in two coats.

These polishes were provided to me by Zoya for an 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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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 6: Violet - Layering with Orly Love Each Other

I have a feeling this is going to be the month of long post titles...ah well. Today, like yesterday, I had a really hard time choosing what manicure I wanted to do. I had originally planned on Wet 'n' Wild Back Alley Deals, but after yesterday, I didn't really want to take off another glitter after only wearing it for a day. I vacillated for a while before finally settled on a layering manicure with Orly Love Each Other, which I picked up at Ulta on clearance a little while back. I decided to layer it over black, but to add Nubar 2010 in there for some extra oomph. So, I used one coat of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, one coat of Nubar 2010, and four (I think) coats of Orly Love Each Other. The result:

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Sorry for being a bit picspammy, but I really wanted to show this off - it deserves it. Love Each Other is a purple/pink duochrome glass flecked shimmer in a ever-so-slightly milky base, though as you can see, the pink doesn't show up in this manicure. I'm curious to see if it would over other colors, so perhaps you'll be seeing quite a bit more of this lovely polish before the month is up. I still can't figure out why I'd never heard of it before, as it's a truly lovely polish. Perhaps a few more people will learn about it from this post - at least, I can only hope!

And here are the lovely ladies doing this challenge with me (I forgot to do this yesterday and didn't realize I forgot until this morning...fail):

Aly Loves Lacquer

Manicure Addict 

Dees Polish Endeavours

Bright Lights, Big Color

Life and Polish