Manicure Monday

GUYS! I DID IT! I finally finished wearing every single one of my polishes. It would have happened sooner if I could have stopped myself from picking up new ones, but...whatever. New Year's resolution DEFEATED. Boom.

This is a pretty massive post, so I'm going to try and keep it short(ish) and sweet(ish). I got gradually less successful at being brief over time...

Sally Hansen Rosy Outlook with Wet N Wild Waves of Enchantment, taped

WoE is sheer, but it's really pretty layered over Rosy Outlook.

Manicure Monday

So much for resuming super regular posting, ha! Comes as no surprise, I'm sure. Working on an abstract due at the end of July, so I haven't had much time for anything besides coding lately. This still isn't all the manis I've worn and not posted about over the past few months, but it's some! And I'm down to less than 15 unworns, HUZZAH!

Zoya Storm with Sally Hansen Golden Tourmaline

Two holos, both lovely in their own way. Storm is opaque in 2 coats and is a scattered holo; Golden Tourmaline is a one coater and linear holo. Taping is fun! This was taken on day 2, hence the tip wear. Keeping them both!

Manicure Monday

Another week, another batch of unworns.

OPI Black Cherry Chutney with Wet N Wild Night Prowl
Night Prowl may very well be opaque enough on its own, but I was too lazy to find out, so I just did it over a coat of BCC. Pretty!

Manicure Monday

My friends and I came up with New Year's Resolutions for each other, ranging from the absurd (A has to pet 365 dogs) to the pragmatic (T has to cook using an ingredient new to her at least once a week). The boy has to leave a review for a game before he can purchase any more (his Steam account is just ridiculously overstocked), and I have to wear all my polishes (not just new ones!) before I can repeat any, though I am allowed to re-wear things so long as the manicure contains at least one polish I haven't yet worn. So y'all will be seeing some polishes I've featured before, as well as some new and exciting ones, and I'm hoping the exercise will result in a sleeker, better polish collection.

Essie On a Silver Platter* and Sephora+Pantone Rose Dawn
My NYE mani was a great way to start the year. I layered Essie On a Silver Platter (my Christmas gift from Z!) over Sephora+Pantone Rose Dawn (one coater! which I could have sworn I'd reviewed, but apparently not...). The contrast of warm rose under the blue holo hexes and gold shimmer was really, really pretty (and actually reminded me of the guest post Z did for my birthday!). I would totally re-wear this if I could, but alas, it will have to wait. Also, I was going through a rebellious phase and didn't want to photograph with a real camera, so you get crappy phone pictures.

in sunlight

Manicure Monday

Only two manis (though three polishes!) for your viewing pleasure this week.

Zoya Yummy and Maybelline Beaming Blue
Zoya's polish names are ostensibly all female names, but...Yummy? I certainly hope that's no one's name. I picked it up because I wanted something to layer under Beaming Blue, picked up a few weeks ago, and from the online swatches, it seemed the closest in base color out of Zoya's blues. Happily, it's perfect! Though it doesn't look as wonderful in pictures as in person.

Beaming Blue is much prettier and more
interesting than it looks here. Yummy is pretty
accurate, though!

I did two coats of Yummy on all my non-layered fingers, and 1 coat topped with 1 coat Beaming Blue on the others. It was very pretty! Beaming Blue has a beautiful lavender duochrome, though it still does not outshine Lavishly Lilac (and I of course neglected to photograph it...), and Yummy is interestingly pastel-bright. I see it being ideal in spring!

Manicure Monday

Betcha didn't think I'd be posting again so soon, didja? I'm so on top of things, guys.

Sinful Colors Ice Dream
I saw this one at the drugstores last winter and passed on it, only to later decide I wanted it and go back to find it gone. So I was very happy to see it again this year, and snatched it right up! It's a very sparkly, very pretty silver shimmer with blue small hexes (I think they're hexes, at least; they're very wee!).

You can build it up to opacity on its own in 3 coats, but I was lazy and just did it over one coat of Wet N Wild Silvivor, which gave almost exactly the same effect. Only one coat of top coat needed, too. Very wintry! Here's hoping we get snow this year so I can wear it and feel like the Ice Queen.

Manicure Monday

Another Monday, some more manicures!

Color Club Halo Hues Beyond

Another one of the polishes I got from Amanda a few months ago. Like the others, the formula on Beyond is flawless––it could have been a one-coater if I'd been more careful in applying, and it just glides on like butter. No issues over my current base coat (p2 8-in-1, purchased in Berlin), and super holographic. Awesome stuff.

Manicure Monday

Finally, nail polish! On my fingers! Aaaah. It's nice to be back.

First up, Zoya Godiva, purchased when they had free shipping and waiting for me when I got home. Yippee! Unlike Miranda, I preferred Godiva without top coat. I actually liked it best at one coat, when it was sparkly and not too nude, but I didn't photograph it then. You'll just have to wait until I wear it again! It was quite opaque; I used 2 coats, and it's a bit too nude for my taste, but the silver sparkle helps. Very, very sparkly. It's fun!

Without and with top coat, respectively.

Manicure Monday

I found these photos on my computer and realized I hadn't posted about this polish yet! The polish in question: Zoya Miranda Pixie Dust.

I picked up Miranda and Liberty at Ulta when I was in Salem, the former for myself and the latter for Amanda. I've been wanting more "traditional" nail shades, as pink is, but the unorthodox finish made it interesting enough to appeal to my novelty-seeking self. You're supposed to do thin coats on bare nails with no top coat, but I put on Deborah Lippmann Hard Rock as a base coat and it worked fine. I wore it without top coat the first day, shown below:

In the shade

In the sun

Ditto

All photos are two coats, letting dry a few minutes between layers.

Manicure Monday

Whee, another week's worth of manis!

Zoya Avril (3 coats) with Revlon Girly (1 coat)

Avril is a pretty color, but I'm not in love with it––partly because it's not self-leveling, so I find that it builds up in some places while being sheer in others, even after 3 coats, and partly because it's a creme, and I find creme finish polishes to be generally super boring. I did like the accent nail, though! Girly is really sheer on its own, though it can be built up in 3 coats, but I liked how it looked over Avril (and, as a bonus, I only had to do 2 coats of Avril on my accent nails). I'll be holding on to both of these to use in the future! An unstoppable combo, in spite of it being pink ;)

Quick Comparisons

Here's a very brief post of comparison swatches for two of the polishes featured in Manicure Monday.

The Purples

Left to right, 2 coats each of: Milani Hi-Res, Zoya Aurora, Zoya Carly

Hi-Res is, as I suspected, lighter and sheerer than Aurora, and has finer holo particles. Carly is a similar shade to Aurora, but completely different in opacity (almost a 1-coater) and finish (not holo).

Manicure Monday

This is a super-quick MM before I run off to my last class of the day (I hate not getting done until 5:30––no time for a nap!). These were all part of my order from Zoya during their 3/$10 promo.

Zoya Blaze

ugh, the only half-way in-focus shot I could get. sorry :(

I initially only ordered the black holo (Storm, seen here), but decided I needed the others, too. Aurora is absolutely amazing; it's a rich red jelly-creme with scattered holo sparkles, but the effect is more glowy than rainbowy, as the red base obscures the sparkles. I love it. I wish there were more polishes like this. It's mesmerizing! And really nicely opaque in 2 coats. It's been added to my "polishes I wear when I can't decide what I want because they're always pretty and make me happy" shelf (there's only 7 or 8 polishes with such distinction!).

Zoya Beach and Surf Picks: Wednesday, Carly, and Kimber Review and Swatches

Last month when Zoya had their 3 Beach and Surf polishes for $15 promotion, I went through the painful process of narrowing down my picks to just three, and ended up getting Wednesday, Carly, and Kimber. I can happily report that I was not disappointed by any of them!

Left to right: Carly, Kimber, Wednesday

More Random Polish Spam

I am just about drowning in work right now, so I'm doing a cop-out post: Nail polishes that I'm too lazy to write individual reviews of! With my thoughts, if you can call them that...

China Glaze Grape Juice

Pretty purple foil. It's much warmer than it looks here, but purples make my camera freak out. I think this was 2 coats? Might have been 3, but the formula was good. Good wear, too. I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would, because the foil is mostly silver with less pink than I was hoping for, but it's still a very pretty color.

Zoya Reece Nail Polish Review and Swatches

I finally, finally felt like my nails were looking nice enough to try painting them. Turns out, they're not quite there yet, but close enough that I felt okay taking swatch pictures!

I got this back during Zoya's Red promotion for Valentine's Day (it wasn't the red I chose––that's Reva, which I'll be posting once I wear it!) because I felt like I didn't have enough pink polish (that's not glitter or holo or cream) and Reece looked pink but still interesting. And lo and behold, pink and interesting it is!

Zoya Nail Polish in Neeka Review and Swatches

Another Zoya for your viewing pleasure! I put off posting this one because I was hoping I could reswatch it, since the pictures didn't come out as well as I would have liked, but then my nails went to hell so for the time being I'm staying away from polish and just using treatments. Long story short: I'm using my old photos. I apologize for the slight blurriness!

Zoya Neeka, enlarge to see the shimmers!

Zoya Pandora Nail Polish (From the Touch Collection) Review and Swatches

Next up for the Zoyas: Pandora, the one neutral in my collection. I figured I should actually try the nude trend out, since it's ever popular, and figured that even if I didn't like it, it was free (ignoring shipping)!

Zoya Pandora

Zoya Zara Nail Polish Review and Swatches

I got this polish lightly used from Steph during her blog sale, and let me tell you, I am just thrilled to death about it. Zara is, in a word, stunning. She's a light cool orchid purple with gold and copper duochrome shimmer.

Zoya Zara

An Introduction to Zoya

Several weeks ago, Zoya held a 2-free-polish promotion (just pay shipping). I was, of course, on that like bread on butter. Zoya is an incredibly popular 4 free (no DBP, toluene, formaldehyde, or formaldehyde resin) polish company in the blogging sphere, but there's no place to get them nearby, and at $8 apiece, they're a little more than I want to spend on polish (at least, when I'm not actively nursing a broken heart). But they have a truly staggering array of colors (more than 300!), and are known for having a great formula. Some of their shimmery/glittery shades are really breathtaking (go here and here if you have some time to drool) and they're equally, if not more, well-known for their creams and classic colors. I decided I needed to go outside my normal preferences, so I steered myself away from the pretty sparkly duochromes and opted for a couple of more demure shades.

Left to right: Pandora, Neeka, Zara