12. J is for Jet Set To Paris (L'Oreal)

When I began the alphabet challenge, I thought it would be the easiest thing- no nail art, no special requirements other than the polish begin with a letter of the alphabet, in order. It all went pretty well till I came up on the letter 'J'. It's almost absurd how hard it was to find a polish with the letter 'J' that I liked.

J is for Jet Set To Paris (L'Oreal).

A trip to my local drugstore changed that. Jet Set To Paris (L'Oreal) is a goooorgeous dark blue creme. Application was marred only by L'Oreal's too wide-too thick brushes but the formula was solid 

and with extra care I had opacity in two coats. As a plus it also dries pretty quickly. It needs a top coat to get the shine to come through and really bring out the loveliness of the color.

11. I is for Innocent - A Polish That Is New

This is kind of embarassing but I got Innocent (Sinful Colors) today specifically because I needed a polish name that began with the letter "I". Sinful Colors having the most options for a quick emergency polish, I grabbed the first "I" name I saw regardless of the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of chartreuse (or rather it's not the biggest fan of my skin tone). Only to get home and find out that I had Island Coral which I adore. Ah well, confessions of a lacquerholic.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm, Innocent wasn't too bad. Application was good and coverage was easily achieved in two coats with great dry time. This is definitely a polish that would be great for stamping or nail art, if only I could kick myself into gear about getting all the tools I need for that (it's been on the brain for a while). Gotta love Sinful Colors though, it's nice to go to a store and have an entire range to choose from and not feel like you'd be maxing your budget out to fulfill a whim.

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Polish that:

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

is my favorite
is my least favorite 
makes me happy
is "so me"
reminds me of a special day
is worn often
was gifted to me
is from a least favorite brand
is blue
was loved but is now hated
is overrated

is a pastel
was hated but is now loved
would be worn to a wedding
hasn't been worn in some time
is hard to apply
is sexy
i can't pull off
matches my favorite outfit

H is for Harvest Moon (China Glaze) - A Polish That Is From My Favorite Collection

Without a doubt, one of my favorite collections from last year was China Glaze's Hunger Games Capitol Colours Collection released around this time last year. It was the best of both worlds, really awesome books and really awesome nail polish.

The first time I saw the swatches I wanted them fiercely as everyone else did. One of my favorites from this favorite collection is the perfectly named Harvest Moon for District 9. It is a stunning copper foil with great application and full coverage at two coats. This is one of my go-tos for quick and easy manis that still look great.

Love this polish!

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Polish that:
is my favorite
is my least favorite 
makes me happy
is "so me"
reminds me of a special day
has never been worn
is worn often
was gifted to me
is vampy
is boring
is from a favorite brand
is from a least favorite brand
is blue
is inexpensive
has a name that describes me
was loved but is now hated
is overrated
was coveted
is from my favorite collection

is a glitter
is a pastel
was hated but is now loved
would be worn to a wedding
hasn't been worn in some time
is easy to apply
is hard to apply
is sexy
is new
i can't pull off
matches my favorite outfit

G is for Grape Pop (Franken)

One of the best parts about having so much polish is that when I finish off a bottle or if the level in a bottle gets too low, I make a franken! A franken is also a really awesome way to jazz up an otherwise uninspiring polish.

This lovely purple I'm calling Grape Pop; the silver glitter reminds me of fizz in soda (aka pop) and once I got the name in my head I couldn't get it out. Not to review my own polish but it's a jelly that went on smoothly in three coats though it took some time to dry which is where Seche Vite came in. I've noticed that frankens do that- dry very quickly or very slowly.

Milani Flash Light Collection - Photo Flash & Flash

Here I have two polishes from Milani's Flash Light collection that I snagged on a random whim fueled by a need for sparkles. I have to say, I'm a bit underwhelmed by these despite the shimmer being quite stunning. 

Photo Flash is a bright fuchsia jelly packed in with hot pink shimmer and Flash Light is a bright orange with yellow and hot pink shimmer all throughout. They are both very sparkly which is the best thing about them. The formula makes for very sheer coverage and these pics were taken at three coats and I still had VNL which actually bothered me this time.

Photo Flash

And for my alphabet challenge, why not, F is for Flash Light!

Flash Light

E for Elephant Walk (China Glaze)

Elephant Walk (China Glaze) is a lightly blue grey shimmer from their On Safari collection. Easy to manage, easy to apply; very pretty. Here it is in comparison to Slate (Sinful Colors)- it was my only other grey so I wanted to see them together.

D is for Desert Sun (China Glaze)

Good things come to those who wait, and sure enough, Sally Beauty's red tag sale came through for me and I snagged all the colors I wanted from CG's On Safari collection. 

First up for swatching is Desert Sun (China Glaze) which is the perfect fall candy color. I say this because it instantly reminded me of caramel, and of course, caramel apples covered in nutty goodness. It's a lot quiter on the nail without flash so it doesn't look so orange and passes as a neutralish color on my skin tone. I really like it. This creme was well behaved and was all good in two coats of application.

blurry pic but it's still gives a good idea of this polish in bright light

C is for Cha Cha Cha (China Glaze)

This is China Glaze's Cha Cha Cha with a name I love to say. She's a lovely green shimmer with bright lime yellow shimmer. It's a very fresh feel on the nails and definitely one I wish I'd had before the summer started winding down (although it's still pretty hot out here soooo... I can work it out). It's a bit sheer so even at three coats I still had VNL but the shimmer is distracting enough so it hardly matters.

I decided to switch it up and calm it down a bit so I grabbed my Matte Me Crazy (NYC). Honestly, I think I like it better matted for some reason. It just looks cool (and a little unreal which worked for me this time).

B is for Broadway Burgundy Frost (NYC) & Blue Lagoon (Revlon)

A quick and dirty mani I did on a whim to test out a dotting tool. I'm not too pleased with the dotting tool but I want to try this mani later with better tools and a steadier hand.

A is for Awakening (China Glaze)

Today marks the beginning of the alphabet challenge, wherein I try and find a nail polish for each letter of the alphabet. I can't promise to do it everyday, and I can't promise it'll be be new colors, heck I can't even promise to do it in order, but I will complete this challenge if it's the last mani I do!

Hopefully before we ring in the New Year. Heh.

Awakening (China Glaze) is part of the brand's core collection, I think- at least from the displays I've seen it seems to be. It is a pretty shifter though it's probably a love it or hate it kind of polish. I can't pin the color down though my camera seems to think that pink, gold, and purple seem to be in the running. I did a wikipedia color search and a mix of rose and mauve seems to be the closest approximate. Sort of. It's not exactly a color that calms down long enough for me to pin it down. With all that, it still manages to be subtle and not at all outrageous for all its depth. Application was simple and straightforward and I was done in two coats. If you like this sort of color, get it!