My Nail Polish Collection and Storage

Since we've moved, I haven't been super happy with my beauty product storage. We definitely took a step in the right direction when I picked up a Helmer from Ikea for my nail polish! Honestly, the room I keep my beauty products in is incredibly ugly, so for now, I'll just stick to the Helmer and what's inside.
On top, I keep a long Skubb box (love those things!) with a bunch of products I use regularly, plus nail polish remover.

Top drawer is random nail related things. Top coats, base coats and thinner in the paper boxes (Jenn made those). My manicure set in the bag. Sally Hansen Color Quick pens (I hate them), Reinforcement stickers, labels, superglue pen, and nail stickers.

Second drawer is China Glaze. I can fit 13 more bottles in here, so yeah, I'll be surprised if I don't overflow into another drawer by the end of the year.

Third drawer is OPI. I can fit 15 more bottles in this drawer. Again, I would not be surprised if I overflow.

Fourth drawer is randoms. It's only about half full. I've got Orly, Zoya, Color Club, Sally Hansen, ELF, Wet N Wild, Illamasqua, Essie, Nicole By OPI, Ulta, Nails Inc, Butter London, Studio M, and Deborah Lippmann.
The fifth and sixth drawers aren't worth showing. One has just a bag of cotton balls and the other is empty. I'm not gunning to fill this baby up any time soon but it is nice to know I've got a couple open and available drawers.
And that's it! I know it's a lot of polish, but hey, at least I only need one Helmer and not multiple. How do you store nail polish?

Zoya Reagan

My very last Zoya polish to share! This is Zoya Reagan. Reagan is a beautiful berry pink cream. Actually, if you have Revlon's Raspberry Pie Lip Butter, that's exactly what Reagan looks like. I'm surprised at how fantastically spring like this feels, considering it's not a pastel.  Not the most easy to work with formula but really not that bad either. This is two coats plus my trusty Insta Dri top coat. Normally I'm not one for pinks, but I'm so so happy with this color. It just makes me feel all bright and cheery inside!
I hope my swatches gave you some ideas of what you'd like to pick up from Zoya. I don't purchase from them very often but there are always at least a few on my lemmings list.

Zoya Tiffany

Ah, Zoya Tiffany. It's one of my very first Zoyas and I have quite the love/hate relationship with it. Tiffany is a pretty orangey copper foil. It's fairly sheer, this is three coats and it probably would need a fourth for full opacity. The formula was a bit tricky, part of my hate relationship with Tiffany. It's a touch runny and dry time is very long. This one takes some working with. But the color is just lovely. I am always a little sad when I put this on because I ordered it thinking it would be a rose gold and it just isn't.
Just one more Zoya to show you! Then I will move on to some more summery colors!

Zoya Carly

I am just so tired, it's hard to form coherent sentences but I'll try. This is Zoya Carly. It's a raspberry foil. The pic shows it quite bright and pinky but in low light/artificial light it looks more like a deep wine color. It doesn't blind me with its beauty but it does feel fancy on my nails. I don't know how to describe that. Anyways, formula was spot on. Easy to control, almost a one coater. Maybe I just had bad luck with the one or two I had mentioned before but it seems like the trend with Zoya is a fantastic formula! I just wish they were easier to locate in person.
Just two more Zoyas and then we are moving on to some decidedly summer colors!

Zoya Aurora

I'm absolutely in love with this color! This is Zoya's Aurora. It's a sheer raspberry jelly with a scattered holo effect. I did two coats which does make it look a bit transparent but I kind of like the way that looks. Three coats would have been fully opaque but I was just too lazy for that. The formula was fantastically easy to work with. Overall, a great polish and one I would definitely encourage you to get if you are looking to jump into Zoyas.
This year, I sort of made it a goal to not buy as much polish while I'm trying to work my way through my swatches. Until now, that hasn't been too difficult. I've fallen so hard for China Glaze's summer neons collection though! Transdesign will have it on May 1st and I'm tempted to order 6-8 of them plus a few other polishes I've been lemming. I don't plan on resisting but I'm hoping to not go completely overboard. Considering how well that worked in March, we will see what I'm come up with. Any other summer collections I should be taking a look at?

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 Kelly

This is Zoya Kelly, probably my favorite Zoya! Kelly is a deep purple tinted gray. I'm absolutely in love with it! It dries much darker than the bottle color. The formula is beautiful on this. It's very easy to control and only takes two coats. This polish is so special to me. I've worn it quite a few times. Most notably, this was the last polish I wore before my son was born. Yes, I do remember those types of things. It gives me fond memories of those last few weeks of being huge and just waiting. I even have a picture of it!

This was from our maternity shoot 9 days before he was born!
So that was much sappier than I intended. Am I the only person who has tied certain memories to a polish? Please tell me no!

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.

Collective Haul: March 2013

So when I said at the end of February I wasn't going to get too crazy...yeah, that went out the window! March was a month of retail therapy for me and I don't regret it one bit. So let's just dive right in.

Color Club Halo-Graphic and Angel Kiss, Studio M Spring Fling, Illamasqua Fragile and Mottle

So I randomly found the Color Club halos at Meijer and of course Studio M is a Meijer brand so Meijer was an all around win this month! I broke down and ordered Mottle from Sephora but found Fragile in store and got that one too! Both of those will be up next week (and I'm so proud of myself for not letting all of these languish in my untrieds for months on end!)

Skin79 VIP Gold Super Plus BB, Skinfood Good Afternoon Rose Lemon Tea BB, Holika Holika Moisture Petit BB, Mac Mineralize Moisture foundation

YAY for Asian BBs! I ordered the Holika Holika on Ebay at the very beginning and loved it so much I ordered the Skin79 and Skinfood. They just arrived yesterday so I haven't been able to do anything other than swatch but I'm so excited to test them out. I'm hoping to get a review of the Holika Holika up some time this month. MAC's Mineralize Moisture foundation was something I was so interested in as soon as I saw the PR so after some adventures at the counter trying to find the best shade for me, I got a bottle in NC15. And it's perfect!

Nars Amour blush, MAC Melba blush

So I noticed during March that I don't actually own any matte finish blushes and only a couple satins. MAC Melba (which I keep wanting to call Peaches for some reason) was recommended to me at the counter but I'd had my eye on it for a while. Nars Amour was a complete impulse purchase at Sephora. When the mua put it on me, it was pure love at first sight. 

Revlon Lip Butters in Juicy Papaya and Wild Watermelon, Cover Girl Lipperfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in Blush Twist

I happened upon the new Revlon Lip Butters in Target one day and picked up three of them. I already passed along the third, Pink Lemonade, to my sister as I just couldn't pull it off. If you're looking for them, check the permanent display. I decided I had to have another of the chubby lip pencils from the drugstore (just not a Revlon one) and went with this one from Cover Girl, Blush Twist. It's been my favorite everyday lip color lately!

Wet N Wild Nude Awakening palette, Smashbox Entice Me palette and Full Exposure mascara (deluxe sample size)

I found the WNW palette at Meijer at the very beginning of March and it was the last one in the display! See, I told you Meijer was full of win this month. It's a great palette for sure, but I don't find myself reaching for it as often as I thought I would. The Smashbox goodies were a prize from their Love Me promo! I also got my entry on their billboard in Hollywood, even if it was for like 30 seconds.

Zoya Remove+, Bath and Body Works Beautiful Day fragrance mist, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream, Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry scent, Beautyblender

I needed new nail polish remover and justified the cost of Remove+ because I had a gift card and I can reuse the bottle. I've used it a couple times and it's ok but not incredible. I had a coupon for BBW and decided to get Beautiful Day because I hardly ever see them have scents with green apple in them, which I LOVE. I threw the FAB cream in my Sephora order so I could get free shipping but it's so awesome! I got the Batiste with my gift card as well and I love it! It does exactly what I thought dry shampoo should do and it smells nice. Also in my Sephora order, I got a two pack of beautyblenders. Yes, they are worth all the hype they get.

So that's it. April shouldn't have even have half this amount because damn, that's a lot. I did place my first Candles By Victoria order a couple weeks ago but that shouldn't arrive until tomorrow. I also ordered during their April 1st sale so I guess I'll try to get a collective haul for you together whenever my sale order gets here. If you want a review of anything, let me know!

Disclaimer: The Smashbox things were sent to me for free from Smashbox for participating in their Love Me promo. Everything else was purchased by me with my own money.

Recent Purchases

I hesitate to call this a haul because it's a few new things I accumulated over the course of January. I did mention that I struggled to jump back into restricting my spending but I feel like it is worth showing what I've picked up.
I kept seeing the display for the Maybelline Color Whispers and I admit I was sucked in! I got Pin Up Peach and I've worn it just a couple times. I love it so far but like most lip products I feel like I need a lip balm before application. I loved the original Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser for dark circles so I had to pick up the one for dark spots. I like it but I've only used it once so I can't really give it a full review. Everyone talks about how awesome the Maybelline Color Tattoos are (geez, Maybelline got a lot of love this month) and Temptalia gave it an A+ rating, so I had to pick it up. Then Zoya had their three free promo so I got Mimi (which I'm hoping is everything I wanted Sally Hansen Loves Me Not to be), Zuza and Aurora. Meijer had a ton of polish on sale and this Sally Hansen Gem Crush polish in Lady Luck was just calling out to me. Finally, Jenn had one of these and let me try it and I had to get all three with Bath and Body Work's buy two get one free promo. These are the C.O. Bigelow Organics Moisturizing Lip Shines. They smell (and taste) AMAZING! They are super moisturizing too. The apple jelly one is such a nostalgic scent for me. If you've ever been to one of those little cider mills that sells donuts and fresh cider, that's what this smells like. It's a little sugary donut and a little fresh apple cider.
So not a whole lot this month. I'm definitely feeling a lot better about jumping back on the no buy wagon for February. I'm definitely thinking March I'll pick up another Color Whisper, anyone have any favorite shades?

Polish Debauchery Haul!

What happens when two polish junkies spend a week together?

This! We ended up going to three different malls, one Cosmetics Company Outlet, Ulta twice, and Target three times (I think). We did other things besides shop but this is what I have to show you today. You might want to get a drink and settle in, this is a LONG post.

 Zoya Charla, Sally Hansen CSM Loves Me Not, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue, Wet N Wild Megalast Through the Grapevine, Wet N Wild Megalast Bite the Bullet, Revlon Colorstay Top Coat

The first three were lemmings, especially Pacific Blue. I've hunted for Pacific Blue for a while. The Wet N Wilds were buy one, get one 50% off but they aren't that expensive at full sale price. I know I've said this a few times but I really just needed a new topcoat and I've heard good things about this one.

Nails Inc. Topping Lane, Nails Inc, Sweets Way, Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream, Butter London No More Waity Katie, Butter London Lovely Jubbly

All of these were major lemmings for me and my firsts from these brands! 

Lush Mask of Magnaminty, Bubblegum Lip Scrub, Heavanilli Massage Bar, Sultana of Soap, (not pictured) Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask

My first Lush items! There are two near me and even then they are both more than an hour away. We ended up visiting both. The only things I was absolutely determined to get were Bubblegum, Sultana of Soap, and a fresh face mask. The first Lush didn't have any of the fresh face masks so I ended up with the Mask of Manaminty. It's the only thing I haven't used yet. I love everything else. It all smells wonderful (except Cosmetic Warrior).

Benefit Sugarlicious set, Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, MAC Fix+ mini, Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid Makeup, MAC Lipglass in Pink Lemonade, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in Lovesick and Honey, MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in In Anticipation

AHHH! I'm such a Benefit fangirl and I'm LOVING this set! Pretty much everything here has been major love even though half of it was unplanned. It's been a struggle to find the right match for me in the Invisible Fluid but this one is perfect (1N1, if you are wondering).

MAC 15 Pan Pro Palette, Motif, Jest, Woodwinked

Well, I got caught up in being at a MAC store for the first time and ended up with a palette. MAC is quickly turning into one of my favorite brands. I have 4 other shadows that I already owned that I need to depot.

Overall, I was happy with everything I got. I'm definitely going to be on a no buy for a while. I'm not really sure the terms of my no buy but we have so many things coming up in September and October that it probably won't matter that much anyways. If you want a review or swatches of anything in particular, let me know!

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?