Saturday, June 2, 2012

Finally a haul! (Pic heavy and long)

My polishes have not yet arrived from California, and I honestly couldn't take it anymore, so I hit up the local Rite Aid and walked out with some awesome deals! Then, my Bloom.com order arrived adding two lovely Zoyas to my collection! 



Revlon: Chic, Fashionista, Dreamer Wet n Wild: White and Black Creme


Zoya: Arizona, Wednesday Sinful Colors: Dressed to Kill, Exotic Green


L.A. Colors: Pink a Boo, Splendid NYC: Extra Shiny Top Coat, Starry Silver Glitter


A straggler! L.A. Colors - Sassy Sparkle 

Obviously I was super excited to try everything out, so that's just what I did! First, Wednesday by Zoya: 




I dented it :( I didn't clean up or anything as I wanted to minimize acetone exposure. My cuticles have been doing pretty well, I don't want to ruin it. Next, Arizona!




I read a lot of complaints about the formula for Arizona, but I didn't have any at all. Mine was anything but runny! The pointer finger is actually only 2 coats, the rest needed 3 as I used very thin coats. 


Splendid, Exotic Green (SC), Pink a Boo (LA C)



Dressed to Kill, Chic, Dreamer, Fashionista (Revlon)




These were done without top coats, so I could show the actual polish finish. Fashionista (pointer finger) had an impressive shiny finish. I think this might be my favorite polish of the day. I saw a similar polish in the Nicole by OPI Kardashian collection (still probably have to get that one too!). It applied very easily and evenly in two coats. 

As you can see, Dreamer (middle) bubbled quite a bit. I did nothing to encourage that, but I could have applied it more carefully. A steadier hand and thinner coats would probably fix the bubble problem easily. It would take 3, though, for even coverage. What is it with light blues?! 

Chic is just that -- chic. A blue-ish grey that has a formula that reminds me of some of the thinner Zoyas. The coverage is fine, it just needs a top coat to appear a little less... chalky? Thin? I don't know. You can see in the pictures what I mean (enlarge them!) 

Dressed to Kill and Exotic Green both applied surprisingly well. I can tell Dressed to Kill will need thinner in a bit, though. Exotic Green is almost a jelly, it seemed to me, and reminds me of grass :) They both needed two coats. If you notice in the pictures above, you can see my face and camera in my nail on the green - no top coat necessary for that shine!

The two L.A. Colors that I tried, Splendid and Pink a Boo, were a little less easy to apply. Splendid is really lovely though. A medium purple with gold shimmer? Sign me up! It jumped out at me right away, and I was super glad I got it once I saw it on the nail. The pictures don't really do it justice. It's very pretty! Pink a Boo was slightly underwhelming and not really worth writing about as there are many similar pinks that don't take 4 coats for opacity. 

Whew! That should hold me off till my polish comes ;) 

I'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences with any of these polishes!
Thanks for reading :)

Pure Ice - Vinyl Remix

A few weeks ago I came across an opportunity to sample some polishes from the Vinyl Remix collection released by Pure Ice. Here is what they sent me:




The polish sets each come with their own record-shaped nail file, a "magic" base coat, and a black polish which is also obviously magic. The white needed 3 coats to be opaque, but I guess you don't really have to have it be opaque if you plan on going over it with the black. You'll see with these pictures:








The two I used were Emcee Me (yellow) and DJ Spinner (green). Despite the weird coloration of my fingers in certain pictures, the colors are all accurate. I had a lot of fun playing with these. With more colors, the possibilities are endless. 

In case it's hard to tell, you stripe on the black and depending on which color it is, it transforms to that color with a crackle effect.

That heart was surprisingly easy to draw with the regular old polish brush. I was even impressed with myself ^.^

I didn't have a top coat, so this manicure lasted about 6 days with minor tip wear. I was pretty surprised because some polishes don't last that long with a top coat! Crackle hides mistakes and wear, though, so I can't be sure. 

I appreciate being given the opportunity to sample these products, and these thoughts are completely genuine and my own!

Thanks for reading!!


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Zoya - Cynthia + Northern Lights

This manicure is a few weeks old, done and photographed before I came back to Pennsylvania. I started off with a base of Cynthia by Zoya and then topped it with 2 coats of the very wonderful and shiny Northern Lights. I CANNOT GET OVER NORTHERN LIGHTS. Seriously guys. I know it's not new or anything, but this shit BLEW MY MIND. First, just Cynthia:






I don't have anything bad to say about this polish. It applied perfectly in two coats and dried fairly quickly as well. 











I loved this polish so much I even made a freakin' video. Bam! Anyone else own this? Love it? I know you don't hate it if you own it so I won't even give that as an option.... Thanks for reading :)


ALSO I NOW HAVE A FACEBOOK! CLICK HERE!
I had resisted making one, but I want an easier way to communicate with readers and the comment section just doesn't cut it so I did this! Join me, won't you? :)





Sunday, May 27, 2012

Splatter nails (again)

I know I recently did some splatter nails, but the technique is so fun and the color combinations are so endless that I had to try it again with the minis I have with me. Still no nail polish shipment from California - if it's lost in the mail I swear I'll completely freak out. 

For this manicure, I used Silvivor as a base, then "blew on" Buffy the Violet Slayer, Saved by the Blue, and SaGreena the Teenage Witch. No top coat as I don't have one here. 






I feel like I might run out of Silvivor by the time I get my shipment!! I have used it quite a bit. 

What do you guys think? I definitely love the color combination, but needed to do a better clean up job!

Thanks for reading :)