Friday, September 30, 2011

China Glaze Metro Collection - Midtown Magic

Hey lovlies!

Today I have the lone polish I grabbed from the China Glaze Metro Fall 2011 Collection. Don't get me wrong - there were so many wonderful colors to choose from, but I felt as though every other color had been done with another brand this fall and Trendsetter was just not for me. Here is, in my opinion, the stand-out in the group - Midtown Magic.


I seriously love Midtown Magic! I love fall polishes so muc! (I always gravitate toward darker colors) Add shimmer? I'm SOLD! MM is a great burgundy/black polish with gold & red glitter, which gives off a copper, almost orange glow. Agh, it's wonderful! Formula was great, this is two coats.



Until I really got into polish rescently, I only owned one China Glaze polish. Now they have become one of my favorite brands - the formula is lovely and they have unique colors.

China Glaze polishes can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply, (where I bought mine) Ulta, & other mass retailers.

Essie all in one base coat/Seche Vite topcoat

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength - Tyin' the Knot!

Good Morning!

Today I have for you another polish that my amazing fiance Jeff got me for my birthday. Funny thing is, he picked this one out because he liked that color, but the name is great because we ARE getting married! (Of course he didn't read the name, but it's still cute!) Here I have Tyin' the Knot!


Tyin' the Knot is now my favorite silver polish! It's a great dusty silver. It's so hard to find a great silver, and every one that I do have shows a crazy amount of brushstrokes. I love the hazy color of this beauty!:)  This shows mininal. Great job, Jeff! This is two coats.


Sally Hansen Diamon Strengh polishes can be purchased at mass drugstore/retailers and range from $4.99 - $6.99

Essie all in One base coat/ Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Confetti - Masquerade Ball

Well hey there!

Today I have an amazing  polish to share with you. I've given Confetti many chances and every time I've either been "Eh" about it, or unhappy with the brush/formula. Today I was blown away. This polish in amazing in every way. I officially have faith again in Confetti and hope that they continue to impress. (I've found that as a brand, I'm not crazy about their cremes, but I love their shimmers.) Here is Masquerade Ball! :)


I mean just LOOK at it? Don't you want to just jump up right this second and run to CVS to by it? You should! MB is a great black creme polish absolutely LOADED to the brim with red shimmer. I was actually sad when I had to take it off during swatching. It's a vampy/festive/romantic polish that I can't wait to wear as a full mani. This is two coats, the first was a little streaky, but the second evened it out perfectly.


Okay, I'm done going on and on about how you need this polish in your life. Now go get it! You won't be disappointed! :D

Confetti polishes are sold exclusively at CVS for $1.99/bottle

Essie all in one basecoat/Seche Vite topcoat

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Layering Fun - Butter London HRH & Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Strobe Light

Hello!

This morning I have the mani I wore on my birthday! :D I had rescently gotten HRH during a nail board meetup's swap with some amazing ladies and my mom gave me Strobe Light as an early birthday present! I proved to be a cheerful, festive combo! What else says happy birthday like glitter? :)


I tried my HARDEST to get good shots of the holo glitter in Strobe Light, but it's been nothing but rainy & cloudy lately! I did my best. Either way you can tell it's beautiful!

HRH is one of my new favorite purples, I'm so glad it came to be mine during our wonderful swap. I've always been drawn to a great purple polish. Strobe light is a scattered holo glitter polish that comes with the slightest light pink base. I love any holo glitter, really, but this one applied great in just one coat.


I'm hoping to start putting up more layering posts soon. I hoped you enjoyed!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Nicole by OPI - Rich In Spirit

Good Mornin!

This morning I have a polish for you from the fiance for my birthday! How great is he? He actually went to Ulta on his OWN and picked me out a bunch of polishes! Also, it's fun to see what polishes he would like to see me wear. And let me tell you, they guy did a great job! :D Here I have Rich in Spirit By Nicole by OPI.


Oh my, do I really love this color! Lately I've been really drawn to foils polishes, and Rich In Spirit does not fail to disappoint! It's so shiny!! Despite the baby blue color, it actually applied easy as can be in only two coats. This is only my second Nicole by OPI polish, and so far I really seem to like them although I've read mixed reviews. Great job, Jeffrey!


Overall, a lovely foil polish! I can see myself reaching for this as a spring polish again, and again, & again!

Nicole By OPI polishes can be purchased at Ulta, Walmart, & other mass retailers for around $7.99.

Essie all in One basecoat, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Wet N Wild On the Prowl - Buy Me a Drink

Hello again lovlies!

Today I have for you the second polish from my beloved Wet N Wild FastDry On the Prowl Collection - Buy Me a Drink.

My lovely friend Evelyn found this pretty polish for me too, I am so lucky to have polish friends to help me find these! (I've literally checked fourteen CVS's with no luck.)


Oh, Buy Me a Drink, you are offically one of my go-to pedi colors! Perfection on my toes! :P BMAD is a dark crimson jelly polish packed with a micro-fine crimson shimmer woven throughout. It's a great stunning fall polish! I really love the brushed that Wet N Wild FastDrys use - I never have a problem with them. The shape is perfect. Maybe it works with the size of my nails? Either way, I'm never left dissapointed! Two coats, although looking at pics now, I could have gone with three.


As I have said before, On the Prowl has been MIA in many states and in many areas, if you see any of these babies, snatch em up! They retail for $1.99/bottle at mass drugstores/reailers.

Essie all in one basecoat

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Wet N Wild On The Prowl - Jungle Fever

Good Morning! It's moving weekend! Goodbye Cleveland, hello Virginia Beach! I'm a tangled mess of excited, sad, anxious, & hopeful.... we shall see! Scary leaving your home state for the first time!

Today I have for you my first of the insanely lemmed and impossible to find On the Prowl from Wet N Wild FastDry polishes! After months of checking every CVS & drugstore I drove by and almost giving up, my lovely friend Evelyn finally found me a few! I feel like a kid on Christmas Morning! I give to you, Jungle Fever!

*Please note that my camera HATED capturing this beauty correctly. It photographed a bright green when in person it has a more army green color. :/


I was pleasantly surprised with Jungle Fever! It's much more stunning in person, and I was happy to find it was a foil-like polish that applied smooth as butter and required only two coats! This polish makes me very excited for the rest of the On the Prowl Collection! Wet N Wild has been stepping up their game lately. (Here's lookin at you, Mermaid's Cove!)


I can't WAIT to get my claws on the rest of the On the Prowl Collection and can't wait to see what Wet N Wild has in store for the future!

These polishes have been beyond difficult to find. If you do, you're LUCKY! They retail for $1.99/bottle at mass drugstore/retailers

Essie all in one base coat/ Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat

Friday, September 23, 2011

Orly Mineral FX - Stone Cold

Good Morning & TGIF!

It's my birthday!!! AKA, I'm getting closer to 30....(I'm 27. ugh.) Today I have for you one of my favorite fall polishes this year so far! When I first saw promos for The Orly Mineral FX Fall 2011 Collection, I knew I needed this vibrant beauty! I was just gawking at this polish when I first applied it and saw it in the sunlight. Want to see why? Sure! :D


Man I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Stone Cold! While I was wearing it I got countless compliments on my nails - it's THAT stunning! SC is a bright, vibrant royal blue foil polish that demands to be stared at! It's seriously amazing! Application was a little goopy though, but after the first coat I got the hang of it. As far as long-term wear, this polish held up very well! No chips for four days & minimal tip wear!


This polish makes me love blue polishes that much more and I definitely would like to try the rest of the Mineral FX Collection! Rock Solid also caught my eye, that might have to go on my wish list. :P Have a great Friday!

I purchased Stone Cold at my local Sally Hansen. This collection being Mineral FX, ran pricey for Orly at $7.99 with my Sally card, $8.99 without.

Essie all in One base coat/ Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Jesse's Girl LE Julie G Collection - Mermaid's Lagoon

Good Morning, Girls!

Today I have the very first Jesse's girl polish I've tried share with you! I had seen pictures of the display pop up on blogs and Twitter and knew the break-out star of the bunch would be Mermaid's Lagoon. Luckily I popped into a RiteAid with a brand new Julie G display and it was mine!


Look at that shimmer! Lately I LOVE discovering hidden shimmer in polishes!


Mermaid's Lagoon is a great turquoise creme polish with copper/gold shimmer swimming within. It's an amazing summer polish. I used two coats, although I could have stopped with one. Great application, very smooth!


Although ML was the only polish on the Julie G display that I wanted, I am excited to try more Jesse's Girl polishes in the future!

I bought ML at RiteAid for $3.99

Essie all in One base coat/ Sally Hansen Inst-Dri topcoat

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Vintage Loreal Grow Strong! polishes

Good morning, dolls!

Lately I have been positively OBSESSED with finding vintage/old/discontinued polishes. REALLY OBSESSED. I found these oldies at the Dollar Tree! They only had the two and I had never seen this bottle before. I was thinking maybe from the 90's? Hmmm not sure! And I thought after eleven years working for drug stores I've seen them all. :P So that shows you how old! 

First we have Fraise!


This being a much older polish, the formula was pretty good on this bright pink creme polish. Two coats were used. But MAN I've NEVER smelled anything like these two polishes. It. Was. AWFUL. I actually got nauseous, the fumes were unreal. Thank god polishes these days are 3 free!



Next we have Alabaster!


This pearly frost was pretty in the bottle but a pain to apply! Alabaster was watery as can be and even after three coats it was still sheer as can be and showed every brush stroke. It never really dried. I'm going to blame it on the bottle age. And yes, the smell for this polish was as bad as Fraise. I'm afraid the smell may haunt me for the rest of my life. *Shivers*


I found these oldies at the Dollar Tree, which at times can be a GOLD MINE for discontinued polishes!
Essie all in one base coat

Monday, September 19, 2011

Pixel - Deep, Dark, & Handsome

Well Hey There!

On one of my recent (and frequent) trips to Ulta, I picked up quite a few Pixel polishes, they're mini polishes that come in an array of great color choices. My fave of the bunch is the beauty I have to share today - Deep, Dark, & Handsome!



Man am I excited about this polish! I go ga-ga for a great purple polish! D,D,&H is vibrant, bright purple jelly SWIMMING with micro-fine pink and blue glitter. It really glows! The tiny brush in the Pixel bottle is very tiny and somewhat stiff, so application was a little tricky. This was three coats, I could have done four. Drooling over this color! Yummy!


Here is a great shot to show you the blue & pink shimmer. :P

Pixel mini polishes retail at Ulta for $2.49/bottle

Essie all in One base coat/Seche Vite topcoat

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Cover Girl NailSlicks - Mystic Peacock

Hello There!

Hope you're all having a great weekend! Today I have a GORGEOUS polish I obtained during a swap with my lovely friend Jana from Jeweled Tips. Man am I lucky she sent me this beauty! I bring to you, Mystic Peacock!


Mystic Peacock is a deep, dark, shimmery turquoise. The First coat applied thin and streaky, but the second coat went on like butter and evened out perfectly! MP is a perfect fall color and has a permanent spot in my stash for sure. :) I only have a couple of the old Covergirl NailSlicks. I'll be searching for more in the future for sure!



Isn't she just a great fall beauty? :P

Essie all in One base coat/ Seche Vite topcoat

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Essence @Holographic.com polishes

Happy Saturday, ladies!

I'm on vacation for a week and a half! If by vacation, you ask, do I mean packing, packing, and more packing followed by moving? Then YES! :P Ever since they built an Ulta next door to my (old) work, I caught myself going over there every lunch break! Bad for my wallet, but good since I seemed to see all the new displays as they came out! I saw them put up the Essence @Holographic display on my lunch break, and was really wowed! I got a GREAT holo eyeshadow along with two of the three polishes. (I skipped the white holo, didn't do much for me.)

First we have Blue Ray!


As much I really love these polishes, I'm left a little confused by Essence. These are duochromes to me, not holos. Hmmmm.... Either way, I LOVE Blue Ray! It's a great turquoise & blue duochrome beauty that applied great after two thin coats. This color really is fascinating!



Now it's time for Gagalectric!


Gagalectric is a very pretty light lavender & baby blue duochrome. It was very, very sheer though! Shown is three coats, and you can still see how sheer the coverage is! This polish will be much better suited for layering for sure.



Overall I fell in love with Blue Ray and can't wait to start layering Gagalectric. FYI - they have matching eye shadows for every polish. I got the eyeshadow version of Gagalectric and LOVE IT!

Purchased at Ulta for $2.99/bottle

Essie all in one base coat, no top coats