Essie Sunday Funday

I am over the moon excited for Essie's Summer collection, Naughty Nautical. I've been hunting for them everywhere and finally Anna at Business Lady Polish posted about finding them at Target. I restrained myself from getting all of them and just went with two. This is Sunday Funday. It's a bright corally orange shade that feels positively summery on my nails. It's hard to see in the pic but I still have an ever so slightly visible nail line. I did three coats, so next time I'll probably do a coat of white first. This also has a very subtle shimmer to it. Like I said, I'm completely in love with it. I'm trying to decide which two to buy next!
Did you pick up any polishes from this collection?

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

I almost completely forgot to blog this polish! This is Deborah Lippmann's Mermaid's Dream. And my picture just does not do it justice. It's a beautiful shimmery turquoise/sea green base with blue glitter. I did three coats with two coats of Insta-Dri. It feels just like what a mermaid would choose for nail polish. I'm very smitten with it. And if the price tag is scaring you off, don't let it. This is such a unique color and you definitely won't be disappointed.
And now I've swatched both of the DL's that I own. Any recommendations for more? I'm probably not going to run out right away to get a few more but I've been highly impressed by the two I've got and would be open to some other joining my stash.

China Glaze Grape Juice

I was feeling a China Glaze mood so I decided to pull out one of my favorite summer collections from them, Summer Days from summer 2009. This is Grape Juice. In natural light, it's more of a bright purple but in low/artificial light it's definitely more of an amethyst. Grape Juice is what China Glaze calls a glass fleck, which to me just looks shimmery, almost like a foil and nice and glossy. It's a pretty color but I'm not really over the moon for it. Thankfully, I didn't really have a choice on wear time. Two days after I put this on we went to Ikea and bought a bunch of furniture. It chipped pretty bad during the marathon 8 hours we were putting things together.
Speaking of which, I got a Helmer for polish storage! I'm absolutely thrilled with how perfect it is for polish storage. We also got bedroom furniture, which I had mentioned all the way back in October. Would anybody be interested in seeing our home projects and posts similar to that one, every once in a while? All of our projects are really picking up steam (which is part of why I'm working hard on my no buy) and it's so so exciting!

Zoya Mimi

Sigh :( So this is Zoya Mimi. I bought this specifically because I thought it would be everything I wanted Sally Hansen Loves Me Not to be. And it's not. Mimi is a very shimmery, foiled plum color. It's very lovely but I was disappointed by the tiny shimmer. I had looked up swatches before deciding to buy this and it seemed as if it had the big flaky pieces I was hoping for. Anyways, the formula was easy to work with. I did three coats with a coat of Insta-Dri. I'm only on my second day of wear and it still looks great. Not sure if it will last too long though as my disappointment has kind of spoiled wearing it. It will probably come off tomorrow.
Anyone know of a purple with flakies? I'm still on the hunt!

Zoya Zuza

Summer 2012 brought probably my favorite collections from Zoya, Surf and Beach. Zuza is from the Surf collection, which is all foils and pretty shimmer. Zuza is a foiled aqua. The formula was smooth and easy to apply, which is quite a change from the last Zoya I showed, Charla. I'm quite happy with it, I was worried all my Zoyas would be difficult to apply. So far, no chipping. Just minor tip wear on day 2. It's a pretty unique to my stash color, as I don't have a lot of aqua/turquoise shades.
My blog got a little makeover yesterday! I'm still working on it so, any constructive feedback is most definitely welcome!

Zoya Charla

My sister requested that I swatch all my Zoyas so I figured we could start with Charla. Charla is a sheer blue base with greenish/yellowy shimmery flakes. On the nail, it looks like a foiled turquoise. This picture is indirect sunlight and it looks so shimmery and turquoise but in artificial lighting it looks like a richer deeper bluish green. Definitely a color a mermaid would wear! I'm undecided on how much I like this color. It's one of the colors I had built up in my head to be mind blowingly beautiful and I don't think it could ever live up to my expectations. The Zoya formula is one lots of people love but I find it tricky to work with. It's just a bit too thin for my taste. This was three coats and it's still a little sheer near the tips. It chipped majorly at about 24 hours when I was trying to install a new car seat in our car. Not something I would usually note but this came off in HUGE pieces.
Please tell me I'm the only one who has problems with Zoya? I'll keep trying, as I have 7 more to show you and I really want to love them. They come out with the prettiest colors and the bottle is one of my favorites.

China Glaze White Cap

This beautiful gem is White Cap. Not one of the most impressive colors when you see it in the bottle, but it's one of the rare polishes I've actually considered getting a backup for. Ever since high school, I've been enamored with sheer white polishes. Nothing fully opaque, just sheer polishes that have a flash of something brilliant, like an opalescence or, in the case of White Cap, a fantastic golden shimmer. This is three coats and it's obviously still sheer but I'm over the moon for the way this looks on my nails. It feels like the polish a character in a fairy tale would wear. One of the great things about these types of polishes is the way they layer over other colors. They simply transform other polishes into something magical.

Swoon! This is over First Mate. It's just so pretty it hurts. And that's why I love White Cap. It looks pretty over basically everything.
So that's it for my picks from Anchors Away. Nautical is an interesting theme for a spring collection but all the colors fit very well. I would recommend any of these if you happen to come across them. I don't know how many are in permanent displays but if you can't find them in store, you should be able to find them on transdesign!

OPI Die Another Day

My second to last Bond polish! And honestly, I kind of hate this one. I'm not much of a red girl to start with but orange reds? Ugh, no. Die Another Day has this metallic, glowy, burning amber quality to it. Indoors, it looks a little more jewel toned. This is two coats but really only because I was being lazy. It could probably benefit from a third. Formula wasn't crap but it wasn't impressive either. Overall, I'm just meh on this polish and it would be among the first to go if I ever weed out my stash.
Just one more Bond polish! I'm really ready to move onto something else. I don't have any immediate plans for new spring collection purchases but maybe I'll swatch an older spring or summer collection. I'm just so ready to be out of winter!

OPI The Spy Who Loved Me

 

The picture isn't very color accurate but this is OPI's The Spy Who Loved Me. This color is reading much much more red in real life but I think the red shimmer in this freaks my camera out. The Spy Who Loved Me is a very pretty red with red and gold shimmer. If you've ever used a China Glaze glass fleck polish, this looks very similar to that. It's still slightly sheer after two coats but it's even so, I'm ok with VNL. The formula on this was incredible. So easy to use, not too thick or too thin. Seriously, every polish needs to be this amazing. I'm surprised I love this as much as I do, since I'm not really into red. I definitely recommend finding it if you like a good glass fleck or red.

It's been a long week for me. I hope everyone is having a great day!

OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

I love this color! This is another James Bond polish, Tomorrow Never Dies. OPI calls this an "intense purple". This is a true blurple. In some lights it's a beautiful royal blue and in others it's a perfect royal purple. There are some shimmers showing in the bottle but it doesn't really come across on the nail. Still, it's a perfect two coater and a just fantastic color. I didn't realize I would love this as much as I do. I've been using the same Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure base coat and Insta-Dri top coat. I love the top coat, it's fast drying and super glossy but I'm unsure on the base coat. I have a huge problem with my polish peeling off my nail and this base coat doesn't really seem to do much more for me than my OPI base coat. I'll keep testing it out but so far I'm not super impressed.
I've got four more Bond polishes to go! Does anyone have any recommendations for what to do about my polish peeling problem?

OPI On Her Majesty's Secret Service

What can I say, I'm loving these Bond polishes! This is On Her Majesty's Secret Service and I think this is definitely one of my favorites from the collection. It was three coats and an absolutely fantastic formula! OPI calls this a misty green pewter and I'm not quite sure that's how I'd put it. It's very hard to describe. It's a dark gunmetal type color with kind of a green/gold duochrome effect plus some blue specks. So multidimensional, SO gorgeous. You should be RUNNING to go find this right now.
I used a new base coat and top coat with this so I'll let you know how I like them. Base coat was Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Base Coat and top coat was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip. The top coat is great so far, very shiny and fast drying!
I didn't actually watch the corresponding movie for this but if I do, I'll be sure to tell you what I think.
Any requests for polish swatches? I'm loving the Bond polishes but if there's something you want to see, let me know!

OPI Live and Let Die

Another Bond polish! This was my Christmas mani. Live and Let Die is a deep forest green with yellow green shimmers. It was absolutely perfect in two coats. It did take forever to dry, even with a fast drying top coat. I like this color and it is very unique in my collection but it just doesn't WOW me. From an arm's length it looks almost black.
As usual, we watched Live and Let Die when I put this on. It was Sir Roger Moore's first Bond film and we all know he's my favorite Bond. Live and Let Die is the MOST ridiculous Bond movie I've watched so far. Don't get me wrong, they can all be just a little silly but this one was just crazy. I still enjoyed it and would totally recommend it if you are a Roger Moore/Jane Seymour/70's movie fan like I am. Plus I already knew the theme and love it!

German-icure By OPI

Finally, I'm showing you one of my picks from the OPI Germany collection. And honestly, this was kind of a let down. It's a very pretty rusty red color with a little brown and a little orange. I don't know exactly what I expected but it pulls a little more orange than I hoped. Still, it's a lovely color, perfect for a fall collection. I used OPI basecoat, 3 coats of German-icure and one coat of Revlon Colorstay topcoat. The shimmer isn't extremely pronounced but it does give it a little bit of a glow. It's so frustrating to wear two colors in a row that don't live up to expectations. It makes me not want to wear an untried next and just show you guys something I've already worn and love but haven't taken pictures of. If there is something on my list you want to see, let me know!

Sally Hansen Loves Me Not

Have you ever seen a polish (or a blush or eyeshadow etc...) and thought OMG I have to have that and it turns out nothing like you though? Yeah that's Sally Hansen Loves Me Not. Look at that incredible shimmer in the bottle! I found this at Walmart (in a special display, so I'm not sure if it's limited edition or what) back in like May but there was polish dripped all over the bottle so I decided to wait for when Sam was here to get it somewhere else. And in all that time it was built up in my head about how awesome it was and I had to have it. I found it at Ulta the very first day she was here so, of course, I bought it and all was right with the world. It's been sitting with all of my other untrieds since. Clearly, this did not turn out the way I wanted. The pic is showing slightly more shimmer on the nail than what translates in real life. It's a really deep plum, slightly glowy but not nearly as shimmery and cool as the bottle shot. Loves Me Not is unique to my stash and I love the Complete Salon Manicure formula and brush but it's still disappointing. Two easy coats plus Revlon Colorstay top coat and it's already showing some tip wear. At least I'm back to painting my nails again!

OPI Pepe's Purple Passion

As we continue to work through my stash, I figured I could show you some more from OPI's Muppets collection (Holiday 2011). This was the first collection I ever felt like I needed to own every single one. It wasn't because of the colors but actually because of the names. Muppets was a huge part of my childhood and to have a themed collection is so awesome. Anyways, this is Pepe's Purple Passion. It looks like a plummy burgandy flakey in the bottle but it dried so much darker on the nail. I struggled to capture it. All of my natural light pics turned out so red looking so this is artificial light. The flakies didn't end up as pronounced on the nail, they just give it a glow from within type look. It definitely fits into the oxblood trend for fall. I'm very happy with it.
Another note on the Revlon Colorstay top coat. It's working just fine for me. Formula is very reminiscent of the OPI top coat but it's a little shinier than OPI. It's nothing like my favorite, Seche Vite but it's earned it's place in my heart.

China Glaze Stone Cold

Lateness AND nasty cuticles...Ah well, this is China Glaze Stone Cold and my last pick from the Hunger Games collection. It's a matte, kind of metallic gray color. Formula is typical matte, easy and fast drying but sucks in the wear time department. I experimented with my Hard Candy Matte-ly in Love and that just made it a million times worse. UGH is it too much to ask for a long wearing truly matte polish?! This is 2 coats, no base coat or top coat. It stained.
I'm getting so behind in this swatching thing. I wanted to get half my collection (52) swatched before Sam came to visit at the end of July. Considering this is #16...I'm not sure if that's going to happen. After her visit, I will go back to swatching half my collection but it's going to be a much much bigger collection!

China Glaze Cherry Pie

So I put this on more than a week ago, took pictures exactly a week ago and took it off at least a couple days ago. And it's just going up now? Yeah, I have no explanation. The is China Glaze Cherry Pie. It was my sister's pick from this mini project I'm doing. 3 coats and definitely VNL. Fine with me. It's an orange based red but this color is fairly accurate. This is a glass fleck, which means a jelly with teeny tiny pieces of sparkle and shimmer. It's not a jelly like what I'm used to but definitely falls into that category, if that makes sense. Overall, I'm in love and can't wait to try more of these China Glaze glass flecks. ALU's description and swatches made me buy them all so look out for more swatches from this collection (Summer Days 2009). One more polish left in my mini project!

ELF Red Velvet

Happy Belated Mother's Day! I hope it was a fantastic one for you. My boys took good care of me. We went to Ikea and I got a new desk to use for a vanity table. Sadly, it can't be set up until we move. Fingers crossed I can show it to you before August ;)
I selected this polish using a method I will be trying out for at least another week. I asked some of my friends and family to pick a number and I used the corresponding polish from my google document. My friend Sam was up first and she picked 58. This is ELF Red Velvet. I have NO idea if this is the new formula or not. I got it in a gift set for Christmas and I don't own any other ELF polishes other than the 5 bottles in the set. Anyways, the application was dreamy. The brush is a little shorter than I'm used to and slightly wider than China Glaze but narrower than OPI. The first coat dried lightning fast but the second coat took ages. You can see the nick in my ring finger which happened a good half hour after application. There was significant chipping on the second day :/ I still enjoyed the color and application was easy enough that I would definitely consider purchasing more ELF polishes.

Zoya Savita

I know I said I was going to post an extra special polish this week and I didn't. I will get to it soon, I promise!
This is Zoya Savita. Savita is actually Zoya's MatteVelvet formula, hence the matte bottle and cap. But what you see here is 2 coats with base coat and OPI top coat. I LOVE this color but it is my problem child polish. If you want it to be a true matte, you can't use base coat and top coat BUT it will chip within a couple hours and absorb any moisture that ends up on your nails or is in the air. So it won't be matte or on your hands for more than a few hours. With top coat and base coat, wear time is really only 24 hours at most. The one redeeming quality to this polish is dry time - 1 minute max on this. Really. UGH, why can't I have the pretty color AND fast dry time AND matte finish without the ridiculously short wear time?

China Glaze Fast Track

So this is Fast Track from the Hunger Games collection from China Glaze. And that's my phone because when I decided to take pics I was in the car and didn't have the bottle with me. I wore this for a long time before I got around to taking pictures but it held up well. This is 2 coats with OPI Top Coat on top and I LOVED it. I don't know if you can tell but there is a slight VNL but when I did 3 coats on my other hand I just didn't like it as much opaque. It's just a really nice subtle nude color with the prettiest gold shimmer. I didn't have any chipping, just tip wear and obvious growth. But I don't think it will last until I actually get to see the movie this Friday. I'm just ready for a change and none of the other Hunger Games polishes are calling to me at the moment so I'm probably not going to end up wearing any themed polish to the movie. Oh well.