OPI DS Indulgence

Add this one to the "My Bestie is flipping awesome" file. She gifted me with this beauty from OPI's Fall 2012 DS Collection for my birthday. Look at it!  

DS Indulgence has a cool, sparkly, vivid red base and is packed to the gills with gold flecks. It was perfectly opaque after two easy coats, but adding a thin third coat really gives it depth. I haven't gotten so many compliments on a polish from patients and co-workers in a long time. 

Bestie, you're the best!

Fandom Cosmetics Still Betting on You

Today I have a polish from Fandom Cosmetics, a super awesome indie brand that pulls inspiration from all sorts of nerdy fandoms. Be still my heart! :)

Still Betting on You is from the Hunger Games collection and is inspired by one of my very favorite characters, Cinna. It is described as, "... our ode to everyone's favorite Capitol resident, and the mastermind behind the girl on fire. It is comprised of a gold holographic dust base, and scattered with soft pinkish orange and red hex."

I decided to use this one solo. Shown is three coats with CND Stickey base coat and Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That quick-dry top coat.

Blurred to show off the holo! Fandom Cosmetics polishes are available for $8.50. They also sell eye shadow, scrubs, t-shirts, and candles. Check out the wares here!

Zoya Tomoko and Maria Luisa

And my string of Zoya polishes continues! This mani is the super awesome Zoya Tomoko from the Fall 2013 PixieDust collection. Tomoko is a champagne colored textured polish packed to the brim with silver/gold glitter. I used three thin coats without any base or top coat and got excellent wear, as I have with all of the PixieDust polishes.

I also got a blurred shot to show the glitter in Tomoko. Definitely another winner from Zoya.

The only other polish I picked up from Zoya's fall collection was Maria Luisa (look at me showing restraint!). I remember seeing it in shots from NYFW, but  it wasn't available in the Zoya Fashion Sets. I was so happy to see it available to purchase!

Maria Luisa is a gold flake polish in a clear base. I'm sure you can build it to opacity, but I chose to layer it (one coat) over my Tomoko mani and to use it as an accent nail with Carter. What do you think?

butter LONDON Sunbaker and Champers

Today I have for you two polishes from butter LONDON's Summer collection. Both are bright, shiny foil finishes that caught my eye right away. 

Sunbaker (index through ring fingers) is a metallic tangerine color that applied like a dream. I love that the inspiration behind the color is those people who spend too much time in the sun (usually fake baking) and turn orange!

Champers (pinky accent nail) is a fantastic rose gold color that takes its name from the British slang for champagne. I'm now realizing that this photo doesn't show the rose vey well. I'll have to reswatch and get a better shot. Two coats to opacity with this one as well.

Love these colors! I think they're the perfect tribute to summertime. Did you grab any from this collection?

A Study In Polish 221B

Today I've got another great one from indie polish maker A Study In Polish. I reviewed four polishes from her initial launch in this post. There were two additional polishes released recently, and since I'm trying to keep some money in my bank account, I only chose one. Take your pick from the full collection here.

221B is a glitter topper with varying sizes of gold and black hex glitter in a clear base. It is inspired by the black door with gold numbers that leads to Sherlock's flat. Here you see one coat of 221B over 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls from their Spiderman collection.

221B was simple to apply. The base is thick enough to keep the glitter suspended, but not too thick to be easily workable. There was no need for dabbing or fishing at all, and the glitter dried smooth. I used two coats of Essie Good to Go, but I think that was overkill.

SpaRitual Conduit and Rusted Lux - Swatches and Review

I spied the SpaRitual gold-infused polishes at Sephora when I went to Chicago to visit Bestie last year, but didn't want them for $12.50 a piece. However, when a friend on Twitter tweeted that she found them in a store for MUCH cheaper, I jumped on it!

Conduit is a warm, bronze-gold polish that has a beautiful foil finish. It was rather thin and watery, and these swatches are three coats with some visible nail line. I allowed a couple of minutes between each coat, but I think this one may have benefited from layering or a fourth coat.

I was very excited about Rusted Lux. SO excited about Rusted Lux. And so disappointed when I actually wore it. These photos are three coats with a good 2-3 minutes between each, and check out that bald spot on that first finger!

This photo shows the lovely rose-red base with that intense gold glass-fleck shimmer. So stunning in the bottle, but really a poor payoff on the nail. I may try it layered over a color like Zoya Kimber and see how that looks.

Isn't it pretty? *sigh*

My picks from the OPI James Bond collection - Live and Let Die and GoldenEye

OPI's Holiday collection this year is in celebration of fifty years of Bond... James Bond. (Sorry! I couldn't help myself!) It was full of great colors, but my Helmer is getting full, so I tried to show restraint. I grabbed GoldenEye because I have nothing like it in my stash, and after seeing swatch photos pop up on the internet, I knew Live and Let Die had to be mine.

Application with both was just lovely. I love OPI's brush and the formula wasn't to runny or too thick. Neither of these swatches involved any clean up.

Live and Let Die is a dark, muted green with prominent green and gold flecks. We have had very little sun here, so I wasn't able to get an outdoor shot to show off that shimmer. I may have to add one later. The above photo is two coats, no top coat. Beautiful.

This is three coats of GoldenEye, a warm-toned gold foil. So stunning! I think this would be great for a holiday party. I do believe I read that this polish is featured in the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, which is in theaters now. I don't know if I can tear my eyes away from Daniel Craig long enough to notice. :)

On a non-polish note, I hope all of you people who Black Friday-ed it up made it out with what you wanted and were unscathed. I went out for the past two years, and I just didn't have it in me to do it again. I also hope that your Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) was full of family, good food, and enjoyment.

Enchanted Polish Austin Powers

I've had this one in my stash for awhile now after snatching it up in a blog sale. I've recently read that it's being re-released, so I thought I'd dust off my photos and post this thing. 

Austin Powers is a densely packed gold glitter polish with a linear holographic component and copper/bronze hexes. It is very versatile polish, looking great over both light and dark colors, as well as on its own. I originally swatched it over Zoya Dove, so that's what is shown in these first couple of pictures. Please, enbiggen these photos.

One coat of Austin Powers over Zoya Dove

I was inspired by Jeanette's post, so later threw it on over a mystery dark mani. :) I did paint just two coats of Austin Powers on the index finger.

Two coats of Austin Powers on index nail, one coat over a dark creme on other nails

Blurred to show the linear holo, rainbow glitter beauty

The nail polish world was saddened by the news that Austin Powers was being retired. This is why I may have been fist pumping and emailing in Walmart when I happened to see a posting on Instagram that this beauty was being sold (unused!!) in a blog sale. Groceries? What?

As I said at the beginning of the post, it's being re-released with Ballerina Slippers and will be able to be found at the following sites: shop.llarowe.com, pshiiit-boutique.com, harlowandco.org, and meimeisignatures.com. Keep an eye out!

China Glaze Holiday Joy 2012 - Select swatches and review

I visited my local Sally Beauty Supply this week and had the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection shoved in my face. :) (Hi Christy!) Seriously, she knows how much I love polish and gets just as excited about new collections as I do. I'll bet she's pretty amused watching me paw through boxes deciding what I "need." 

I only grabbed three from this collection of twelve polishes. As is typical of a holiday collection, there are reds, greens, silvers, golds, cremes, and glitters. Winter Holly, Glitter All The Way, and Pure Joy jumped out at me as polishes that are unique in my collection. I did something different on each nail, so I think I'll discuss that in captions under each photo. 

L-R: 2 coats Winter Holly, 3 coats WH, 3 coats WH over butter LONDON British Racing Green,  2 coats WH over bL BRG

L-R: 2 coats Glitter all the Way over Zoya Monica, 3 coats GatW over Monica, 3 coats GatW, 2 coats GatW

Same as above photo

Index - Pinky: 2 coats Pure Joy over red creme, 3 coats PJ over red, 3 coats PJ, 2 coats PJ

Same as above photo

 All polishes had excellent application for your typical glitter bomb in a clear base. I will definitely be using Elmer's Glue as a base coat when I use these for a regular mani. I also prefer the look of these with a solid color as "underwear."

Review! Zoya Gilty over Nails Inc Chelsea

I declined to get Gilty for myself, but picked up the trio (Gilty, Purity, and Raven) for bestie for her birthday. Basically, she totally deserves it but wouldn't get it for herself. :) So I posted a pic on my Facebook when it came in, and she was all, "Swatch it for the blog!" And I was all, "Okay!" So, here it is...

Of the 18K topcoats I've seen, Gilty is my favorite. Several have teeny, tiny flakes (I'm looking at you, $OPI!) but these were a nice size. Noticeable, but not gaudy. Says the girl with gold nail polish.

The texture of this polish is odd. It's rather gel-like. I decided not to brush it on like normal polish after the first nail. I found that it worked best to dab on. The flakes stayed nice and flat, but the base was thick enough that the texture showed very nicely. All in all, it allows a great effect and will be a fabulous addition to our holiday wardrobe!

I'd like to end with a super belated birthday to the best bestie ever. We've been attached-at-the-hip for the past twenty-one years (OMG!) and it seems like both 2 months and forever I the same time. I <3 her hard core.

Holy Duochrome! Swatches & Review: Limited Edition Sally Hansen lustre shine Lava *Pic Heavy*

Swatches! Ahh! This is a pic heavy post, and it's well deserved. Promo pics of Sally Hansen's lustre shine collection have been all over the place, but I was rather stunned when I saw what was left of a picked-over display at Meijer today. There were only four colors left, and only one bottle of Lava. I didn't really pay attention to the others (the ever-present Chanel Peridot dupe, the Deborah Lippmann Sugar Daddy dupe, and a teal/blue that wasn't very duochrome-y) and the next thing I knew, Lava was in my hand!

All shots are three thin coats over a coat of Elmer's Glue (I'm experimenting) and under one coat of Poshe Super-fast Drying Topcoat. The first coat had me a little worried as it looked very thin and patchy, but the second coat had near-complete coverage. The final coat added a nice depth to the color. My brush was a little wonky, but workable. The long, thin cap was very comfortable to hold.

Here you can see the pink near the tips, and yellow/gold over the bed of the nail. The photo is a little blurry, so please excuse that.

This photo has a very nice representation of both colors across the nail.

Okay, these are just because it's so freaking pretty!

Go. Buy. Now.

(I've also built a light box in an effort to bring you better pictures. I think it makes an improvement!)

China Glaze First Mate & Black Poppy Gold Saran Wrap mani

I wore China Glaze First Mate for the Doctor Who season 7 premiere Saturday. I was going to do something more fancy-pants, but ran out of time. So, TARDIS blue it was! (If you want to see an awesome set of Doctor Who nails, check out Sarah's post at Samarium's Swatches!)

Two perfect coats of First Mate. Man, I love China Glaze's formula!

Last night, I was putting away dinner and decided to try the Saran Wrap mani I've been seeing everywhere. It's very simple! I cut off a few pieces of Saran Wrap and scrunched them down into loose balls. I added a coat of Black Poppy Gold to one nail, then immediately smooshed the Saran Wrap ball onto the nail. It lifts off some polish, and mars up what's left on the nail for a cool effect. 

Sorry about the blurriness of the photo, I was quickly snapping and didn't realize it wasn't clear. I;m shooting with the wrong hand as I've got a nasty hangnail on my left hand.

SpaRitual Sun Salutation

We stopped by Sephora during our trip to Orlando, and I decided that I wanted to get a polish from a brand I haven't tried before. This color caught my eye, and I chose it in part because it was only $10 and I had already went a little crazy with polish buying via the internet during my conference.

I am interrupting quickly to say that I really, really, really don't like the nail bar at Sephora. It's a little dark in the store anyway, and the bright lights under the polish itself makes it very difficult to see what you're getting. I didn't think to get a picture of it, but there are pics floating around the internet. Cool aesthetic, but not very practical. 

Below are three very thin coats of SpaRitual Sun Salutation over American Classics Bridge the Gap Ridge Filling Base Coat. The rose-gold foil color caught my eye, and the name sealed the deal for me. Sun Salutation is one of my favorite yoga poses. (See an example here) It's actually a series of moves that stretches your back and feels really wonderful. 

Because the foil finish will highlight any imperfections on the nail, a ridge filling base coat is key. Unless you have perfect nail beds. :) The formula was thin and really, really nice. SpaRitual's brush is rather short, but wide and very flexible. The cap is rubber coated and substantial. Between the cap and the brush, I feel you have very good control with application of this polish.

All in all, I'm very happy with this one, and plan to pick up more SpaRitual polishes in the future.

China Glaze For Audrey and Black Poppy Gold Foil

I had seen swatches of For Audrey popping up all over Instagram and realized I had this beautiful polish and hadn’t used it in over a year. I had my Black Poppy mani on, so I decided to do a gold accent nail. I love the look of this mani! But…

Man, on man is application a nightmare!! I was hoping I just had an off bottle and not every For Audrey was thick but runny and very streaky. Sadly, it doesn’t seem the case based on Instagram comments and the blogosphere.

Like I said, great results, but you’ve gotta work for them!

Black Poppy Gold Foil Polish

This lovely polish is one I picked up at Pac Sun during an "Everything must go because we're closing!" sale for $1. I had originally intended to use it for frankens to sell at my Etsy store, but I've since decided to mix my own polishes from scratch. So, I decided to swatch it and throw it into my regular rotation!

Above is 2 coats of the nameless Black Poppy gold foil polish under a coat of Seche Vite. The formula is great, going on thin, smooth, and opaque in 2 coats. Not brush stroke-y at all. Wear time wasn't all that great, but even at full price, it's $3 a bottle. Not too shabby.

OPI Muppets Collection Warm & Fozzie

I wanted this polish from the time I saw the first bottle shots. I don't have anything like it in my stash.

It has a sheer greenish-brown base, but is packed with tiny glitter particles. I see pale gold, dark gold, green, and red glitter. The first coat is rather sparse, but the second coat makes it pretty opaque. I really like glitters because they are pretty forgiving as far as coverage goes. The shininess detracts from any bald spots. I am very happy with this polish and am getting excellent wear with Zoya Anchor and Poshe topcoat. The finish is very smooth. I'm so glad I was able to get my paws on this one!

Why my son rocks... Part 3 of 472,984

I slapped this last one on with a quickness after I chopped all my nails off. They were getting long enough to peel on the sides, and when that happens, my index and middle fingernails grow oddly. It's hard to describe. So, off with them!

This is the last Rimmel 60 Second Vinyl Shine polish I have. It's called Star Dust, and is a really beautiful gold that has silver and red glitter in it as well. The red is pretty obvious, and I tried to get a good macro shot, but it just wasn't happening. This is just one coat.

And this is Christopher and I being silly with the iPhone.

Wet N Wild Shield & Orly Nailtrition

I bought a tiny bottle of Nailtrition at Sally's, and I'm really glad I did... because getting a big bottle would've been a waste. It didn't help with my nails peeling at all. In fact, I now have 2 more nails peeling after using it. I just left it on 1 week.

So, on my nails... This one is Wet N' Wild Shield. I picked up it and Morbid at CVS. They are $1.99 and were BOGO 1/2 off. The formula was very nice. I used 2 thin coats and had only a couple of bald spots. As with my other glitters, they hide the thin spots. Shield is a warm gold glitter with larger red sparkles in it. It looks much "dirtier" in the bottle. Bonder, 2 coats Shield, and Seche Vite. Nice wear. I had it on for 3 days. I feel like I have to catch up since I had a week of no color. ;)

Also, sorry for the iphone photo. I just got one and I was testing the quality.