Sea Blossom (Orly)

 I kinda hated my previous polish so much I just covered it up with this one and I'm so glad I did!

Sea Blossom (Orly)

It's been so long since I have worn a baby pink and in two coats it covered up all the sins of Wistful Water Lily including the weird bubbling! 

Any imperfections are on me; I applied this with my ceiling fan going AND committed the nail polish heresy of tacking it on top of another polish without removing it.

More of these pretty cremes, please Orly!
Throw all the pearl pigments in the trash and never look back!

$elf Made (OPI)

 From the OPI Your Way Spring 2024 collection.

I made the mistake of applying this with the ceiling fan going so it didn't get to show off its self-leveling chops because it kept drying too fast, hence the weird levels. Entirely user-error on an otherwise gorgeous polish.

$elf Made (OPI)

Beau Khaki (Sinful Colors)

Coming back to nail polish after a very long time. I want to continue to use this space to document what I have and how it looks on me. Going to try to release any urge to compare my application skills (which have obviously regressed) and my nails to more professional bloggers. 

This is for me. So I want to keep that as the focus. 

Okay. Intentions set.

Now back to an old favorite with an absolutely horrible name. You can tell how old the bottle is from this picture. Still love this green though. 

Beau Khaki (Sinful Colors)

Zoya Mystery Trio! - Anais, Severine, & Charlotte - Peter Som A/W 2014

It took nearly a month, but my Zoya Mystery Trio package finally arrived! These came with my three free polishes from their New Year New Hue promotion. This is a rather large promotion tactic and I expected some stunning shades, perhaps even new textures on the level of their amazing Pixie Dust line.

Alas it was not to be.

They're cute shades, but hardly living up to the anticipation, of a month no less! To make it worse, they are old shades, from the collection created for Peter Som A/W 2014. That and I suppose that as the collection wasn't put up for individual sale, this is one of the few chances to get it. Free polish is free polish, so here we go.

First up is Charlotte, a rather standard neutral beige creme. It's a bit cold for my nails, and I wish it had a bit more warmth to work as a neutral for me. It had a bit of a streaky application and required three coats to cover well. Looks like a good base for nail art for those of you interested.

A frost, oh man. Severine is a desaturated metallic gold. Application was pretty standard for a frost, runny but solid formula that covered in two coats. Still, a frost, but a lovely one! I actually would have liked to have this for the New Year's season.

Last but not least is Anais, my favorite of the collection. It's a black base with the gold shimmer found in Severine that lights it up and saves it from being a a standard black frost. Two coats leaves bald spots, so I suggest three to get it all nicely covered. It's beautiful.

Not bad for a free set, really.

China Glaze Road Trip for Spring 2015 Swatches: Part 2 - Pastels

Here are the pastels. See if the application was easier and the formula more stable, this would be one of my favorite China Glaze collections. As it is, with the exception of Boho Blues, the only creme in the batch, all these are rather troublesome.

PART 1 - THE BRIGHTS

First up, Boho Blues, the periwinkle darling of this bunch. Two coats standard creme, and great application for a lighter color. I love it.

 Dashboard Dreamer is a light blue pastel with very subtle pink shimmer. It's gorgeous, but as mentioned earlier rather troublesome to get on the nails. This is four coats.

 Urgh, would have been my favorite but I just had to stop fussing with it at four coats and still carrying bald spots. This lovely baby pink with gold shimmer is Pack Lightly.

Debating whether I should keep this one. Wanderlust is gorgeous but looks rather cold on my tips, probably due to the silver shimmer in it.

China Glaze Road Trip for Spring 2015 Swatches: Part 1 - Brights

I got them! My picks for China Glaze's Spring 2015 Road Trip Collection. Kudos to Head2Toe Beauty for startlingly fast shipping. I have to say though, that application is a bit of a problem with these polishes. The thin and runny nature of the shimmers and cremes means that finding a balance between layers to avoid either drag or puddling. It's up to you to decide if you like them enough to work through that.

First up, License & Registration Pls. It is probably the most uninteresting shade of polish in this collection. Pretty standard blue creme, but lovely all the same. It's also the one with the best application and two quick coats I could have done blindfolded was all it took. Tempted to keep it for just that.

This is Sun's Up Top Down. It's a loverly bright yellow with subtle shimmer. It needed around two or three coats, to level out. This one had a tendency to puddle and run which either created little pools at the tips or dags at the root. However, the warmth of the yellow makes it exceedingly wearable.

I love this one, this is Trip of a Lime Time, a yellow leaning chartreuse creme. Application was shaky, despite it being a creme, and it went on opaque after three coats. While noticing the bald spots was a disappointment, I would gladly ignore it for its brilliant color.

Bottoms Up (SinfulColors) from the SinfulShine line

A great basic blue creme with shine for days, Bottoms Up (SinfulColors) goes on nice and easy. It was opaque in two coats. It was also a bit odd in that in the shade it looked rather teal, and actually I probably wouldn't have bought it if the display it was in was better lit. It's alright though.

Spitfire (SinfulColors)

I leave the polish world alone for a few months and I come back and SinfulColors not only produces a lemming worthy shade in that time but also promptly decides to make it HTF (Hard To Find) by discontinuing, or at least it seems that way, the entire line from their most popular retailer! Leaving alone the fact that I just bought the raved over Prosecco for three times its former price, I decided to go ahead and snag whatever shades were left of the line in my local Walgreens. For the most part, I'd ignored the SinfulShine line, thinking it would always be here and I'd have an opportunity to try it when I ran through all the SinfulColors shades. If I only new.

In any case, here's a lovely blue toned lilac called Spitfire, radiant orchid anyone? My one complaint is that it is rather sheer and runny for a pink creme, and definitely below SinfulColors' creme standards, and it took three coats with some drying time in between to reach opacity. Otherwise, it's super shiny and pretty and dries rather fast so I'm not feeling like I have to complain much too much. I really wish they didn't decide to let this drop from circulation at Walgreens.

Valentine's Day Flirt with Hearts Collection: Pink Smart (SinfulColors) & Love Sprinkles (SinfulColors)

SinfulColors is revving up for the new year, planning ahead for February with the Valentine's Day Flirt with Hearts Collection.

This is Pink Smart a lovely standard bubblegum pink creme that was easy to apply and quick drying in two coats. Meant to be layered over it is Love Sprinkles. It's made up of white and pastel pink hex glitter of multiple sizes and white heart glitter. Very pretty, but almost too girly. If I did wear the glitter I'd use it on perhaps just an accent nail. Fair warning, you will have to fish for the heart glitters.

Too Yacht To Handle (China Glaze)

Ran into a box of China Glaze's 2013 Sunsational Collection minis at Sally Beauty Supply the other day. Snagged a couple on a whim as they were only $2.99 and I was on an impulse buy binge.

This is Too Yacht To Handle and it is greener on the nail but impossible to capture, even in different lights. While it is quite a lovely payoff, the application is a pain. It gets incredibly gloopy by the second coat, and the only solution I could find was two thin coats and thicker third one with space to dry between coats. Annoying, but I guess if you're looking for a particular shade, you do what you have to do.

Show Steel-er (Sally Hansen)

I'm on a mission to get more greys in my collection.

Show Steel-er is a gorgeous blue toned grey creme from Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri "new and improved" line. I'm not sure exactly what is to be new and improved here, formula and brush seem about the same. I recommend thin layers in application here, thick coats tend to get gloopy due to the quick dry formula. Once you've got that part down, two coats is good for this polish.

Please Sea Me (Sally Hansen)

Please Sea Me (Sally Hansen) is a lovely blue polish. It glides on, really just glides on, the nail with no application problems. Two coats and I was done. I'm sneaking it into my winter polish catalog simply because it's so gorgeous and easy to manage. This is one of those polishes I apply in the car outside wherever I have to be because it doesn't take much to manage it and dries quickly because I use two thin coats. Perfect!

I Lilac You (Sally Hansen)

I Lilac You (Sally Hansen), more like I Lavender You, which is just as absurd a name but infinitely more color accurate. I expected this to be troublesome, what with it being a pastel, but it was a pleasure to work with. Two coats is sufficient for opacity. Absolutely no problem with this lovely shade. Fair warning, I did yank it off a clearance display so it is likely that they are pulling it from the core line.

Maple (Forever 21)

Talk about a soft return. This is Maple (Forever 21) and it is a gorgeous beige with just a touch of pink tone, more a rosy light taupe than anything. It's a lovely neutral with a touch of lovely barely there shimmer, and one of the better ones I've come across for my skin tone. It went on in three thin coats, though I'm sure two thicker ones would have done. I was just a bit out of practice (nearly four months with no polish, I was practically ill!) and took more care than was strictly necessary.

Punch Drunk (Sally Hansen)

Grabbed this off a clearance sale, I'm not sure if it's being discontinued, but it would be unfortunate. In some lights Punch Drunk (Sally Hansen) is a muted pink but in brighter lights it's a lovely lilac toned pink. Applied great at two easy coats, I had no problems with it.

Immediately reminded me of the higher tones of Pantone's Color of the Year, Radiant Orchid.

Beige of Honor (Sinful Colors)

Beige of Honor is a taupey beige creme that was in the Silk + Satin collection display despite not being an alternative textured polish. Still, it's a great neutral, and at three thin coats, not a bad polish at all. I'm hoping that SinfulColors continue to improve their neutral options. Beaches and Cream,  Nirvana and Vacation Time cannot be enough!

Beaches and Cream (Sinful Colors)

Beaches and Cream is a new release from Sinful Colors. I believe it slid in under the Silk + Satin collection group, or at least it's been on the displays for the collection. It's a great neutral creme (and if you get in real close there's even the slightest hint of shimmer), perfect summer to fall transition. The cream has just enough yellow to give it some warmth but not so much that it loses its quiet quality. Application's good, two coats and it's opaque, though I do warn that it can get pretty thick. A great addition to the Sinful Colors brand.

Twin Sweater Set (Essie)

Here's a classic color. Sometimes it's nice to go back to lovely classic red. This is a crelly from Essie's For The Twill of It fall 2013 collection called Twin Sweater Set. It's a bit of an odd name, despite its fit with the collection, I think of pale pastels when I think of sweater sets. In any case, I like it. After two coats I still had VNL but it's not so noticeable and application was great and I can't complain.

21. Delight (SpaRitual) - A Polish That Was Gifted To Me

Here's a brand I haven't tried in a while. Sparitual is a brand that prides itself on something called Slow Beauty:

 "It is a place unconstrained by time, envy or vanity. This world of Slow Beauty. Where the practice of restoration and healing begins with a choice. Unique to our body care and nail lacquer categories are four States of Slow Beauty. Each contains a signature scent and color palette to create a multisensory State of Slow Beauty experience."

Uh huh.

Still, I adore their bottle design and applaud the fact that the polish is vegan. They call Delight a 'light milky green creme' but I'd say more blue than green, aqua really. For a pastel it wasn't absolutely horrendous, but it did need three coats. Beyond that, I just took the usual care with a pastel. The result is in fact delightful.

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Polish that:

was gifted to me

reminds me of a special day
is sexy
is a pastel
is hard to apply
i can't pull off
would be worn to a wedding
is blue
is new
is from a favorite brand

has a name that describes me
is a glitter

is easy to apply

is vampy

was coveted
is from my favorite collection

has never been worn

is boring

is inexpensive

makes me happy

is my favorite
is my least favorite 
is "so me"
is worn often
is from a least favorite brand

was loved but is now hated
is overrated

was hated but is now loved
hasn't been worn in some time
matches my favorite outfit

Crème de Mint (L'Oreal) from the Miss Candy Summer 2013 Collection

Crème de Mint (L'Oreal) is a gorgeous mint green from their Miss Candy Summer 2013 collection that was made up of crellies. The formula is a bit difficult where opacity is concerned, and I got the coverage in the pic after four coats. The best strategy, and I may have gotten this at three coats if I'd waited after the first, is to wait for the coats to halfway dry between coats. Other than opacity issues, application was very smooth and the final look is semi-squishy crelly goodness!