Zoya Zenith Winter/Holiday 2013 Collection Swatches

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Hi everyone! When I think of holiday polish, I think of a lot glitter and sparkle. Today's collection is no exception. Zoya's Zenith collection features an array of deep jewel tones, glitters, and shimmery silvers.

Nicole by OPI Modern Family (Part 2)

Today's post contains all the reds and pinks from Nicole by OPI's Modern Family collection!  If you missed Part 1, you can check it out (here).

Zoya Gloss Collection Swatches

Katherine, 4 coats: a vampy eggplant jelly gloss.  This isn't one of those red-brown vampy shades.  It definitely stays true to its purple base.  While I like the color, unfortunately the formula is just as problematic as any other vampy polish.  The color applies very unevenly.  Even at four coats, you might notice uneven application.
 

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Frida, 5 coats: a teal blue jelly gloss.  4 coats would have been fine for this shade, but I wanted it to be darker for pictures.  However, even at 5 coats you can see that it is still quite sheer.  (Yes, I have those white bruise marks on my ring finger.)  With that said, I love this color.  It's so gorgeous and shiny!  This is a color I wouldn't mind doing a few extra coats for.

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Paloma, 3 coats: a berry pink jelly gloss.  OMG!  Haha, I don't use that word often, but this color is so pretty!  It's my favorite of the bunch, and the most opaque.  It's a lot lighter and brighter on the nail than in the bottle (as are all of these).  In the bottle, it just looked like another berry shade, but on the nail it's more of a berry-magenta mix!  It's also so shiny and so squishy and gahhh...  It makes me want to eat my nails.  Haha.

You can also layer glitter under these for a jelly sandwich look.  Here I layered two coats of OPI Pirouette My Whistle under one more coat of Paloma (making it 4 coats).  At four coats, Paloma become slightly darker and almost fully opaque (as far as jellies go).  The purple in it is also more emphasized.

Verdict:  Out of the three shades, I was definitely impressed by two of them: Frida and Paloma.  If you love jellies and sheers, these might just be for you.  They are definitely sheer though, and that's how Zoya is marketing them.  If you follow Zoya on Facebook, you might have seen their numerous pictures of ways to layer the glosses with glitters to make glitter sandwiches and ombres.

Availability:   This collection is currently available on Zoya.com for $8 each.  You might also find these at Ulta as well.


What do you think of these sheer glosses?  Is this something you would wear?  Let me know in the comments! :)


Liz

*The polishes reviewed in this post were sent to me for my honest review.
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Come on, Barbie / Let's Go Party

Doesn't this color remind you of Barbie?  It's as if Barbie's holding a disco party on my nails!

If you're a girly girl who loves pink, you'll love Skinfood Party Tox Nail in #2 Ruby Party.  Ruby Party is actually a hot pink jelly with very fine and fine holographic glitter.  There are also small pink holographic glitters scattered throughout.  The whole thing is very sparkly and very pink.  I've never been a pink girl, but I can't deny my love for glitter. :P  I'm wearing 2 coats.

A blurry pic to show off all the sparkles.  It's really a lot more sparkly than this.

And finally... I can tell you about a book I finished almost a week ago!  (I wanted to share right away, but was waiting to do it in a more personal post.)

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Have you read it?  If you haven't...go. read it. now.  No, I'm serious! :P  I found out about this book through another blogger's post.  I forgot who it was but thank you for sharing!  I wanted to read it right away, so I looked it up at my local library. 7 holds on it already.  I grumbled a lot and put in my hold request as the 8th person in line when my dad surprised me by gifting me the Kindle version.  After that, I did nothing but read.

I don't want to give anything away, so I'm just going to say that it was good enough to leave me breathless at the last word.  You know, that feeling where you just slowly put the book down and sit there trying to soak it all in.  It had me laughing, crying, thinking...  It was goood. Anyone else read it?

♥ Liz

American Apparel Sheer Nail Polish Swatches

When American Apparel first sent me the press release for these new Sheer Nail Lacquers, I was both excited and skeptical.  I loved the gradients they did in the images, but would an average person be able to recreate the gradients as well?  Let's see!

Zuma Beach (1 to 4 coats successively from left to right): a build-able sheer lime green jelly.  As you can see, 1 coat is very sheer; however, you can build up the color to full creme-like opacity in 4 coats.  3 coats will give you good coverage as well, while maintaining the jelly finish.

The fact that these polishes can become as sheer and opaque as you would like means you can easily layer them over polishes to create a gradient.  If you have time, you can actually get a very nice gradual gradient.  You can also use more than two colors for a tie-dye effect.  Please note that since these are macro shots, the gradients may not seem as smooth.  Of course, it won't be like those sponge gradients, but since your eyes meld the colors together (while a camera picks them apart) it won't look as choppy in real life.

Manhattan Beach (1 to 4 coats successively from left to right): a bright coral jelly.  Very similar to Julep Sasha, but Sasha is a creme and therefore looks less translucent and more muted.  Between the two, I like Manhattan Beach by far because of its lower price and better formula.  I found this color to be the most opaque of the three I've tried.  It was jelly opaque in 2 and creme opaque at 3.

Zuma Beach (green) blends almost seamlessly into Manhattan Beach.  Don't you think so?  For the best gradients, try layering both colors over each other where the two colors meet.

Redondo Beach (1 to 4 coats successively from left to right): a dark sky blue jelly.  I found this to be a bit streaky?  Not sure if that's the word, but you can see that the color is uneven at 3 coats.  I found it fully opaque at 4.

As you can see, colors that sit closer to each on the color wheel will obviously blend better (like the green and blue).  More different colors like the red and blue are a bit harder to blend seemlessly; however, a more tie-dye like gradient is possible between all colors.  I really liked using all 3 colors together.  For some reason these colors remind me of sour gummies.  Yum!


Verdict:  Love!  The polishes I tried delivered on their sheer and opaque claim.  I found all three can be both sheer and opaque, which means you can layer any color over another without overpowering it.  I also found these fun to use!  If you're like me and like the process of painting your nails, you'll enjoy these.  Take your time layering different colors to make new colors and pretty gradients.

There are 3 other colors in this line: Summerland Beach (light pink), Moonlight Beach (dark blue), Pacific Beach (bright green-teal).  I know for sure that Pacific Beach will be mine.  I might pick up the other two as well, since I imagine the light pink would go well with the coral, while the dark blue would go well with the sky blue.

P.S. I love these frosted square bottles!  So pretty! ♥
 

You can purchase Sheer Nail Polishes from American Apparel's nail store* online for $6.00 each (15ml).  They also carry other types of nail polish, such as cremes, metallics, glitters, and neons.  Some of these can also be purchased in either a 3-pack or 7-pack set for 15-20% off respectively. :)


Liz

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*The polishes reviewed in this post were sent to me for my honest review.

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Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed

Hey all!  Today I have Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed for you!  I wish I could tell you how many coats this was, but  I can't remember.  I'm pretty sure it's either 3 or 4.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Toxic Seaweed is a dark green jelly that leans aqua in certain lightings.  I would say my pictures came out more aqua, but this is more green than blue.  Indoors it's definitely green, but outdoors it's like an aqua leaning green.  What makes Toxic Seaweed unique are the fine gold glitters and the red to green shifting flakies swimming in it.  It's a lot prettier than I expected, and I don't think my swatches or any I've seen online really do it justice.  It's a pity, because I feel like this one didn't get the attention it deserved.  I would say this is like China Glaze Atlantis's greener, more mysterious sister.  Although it's just as sparkly! :)



Blurred to show you how sparkly it is!



In the shade: look at the red-green shift in those flakies!



Shade; close up

Unfortunately, Toxic Seaweed was a limited edition shade, so it is no longer being sold on Cult Nails. :(

What do you think of Toxic Seaweed?  Were you able to get it?  Let me know in the comments! :)


Liz

OPI NYC Ballet Soft Shades 2012 Collection Swatches

Hello ladies!  Hope your weeks are turning out fine. :)  Today I have for you the entire OPI NYC Ballet collection for you.  The collection as a whole features sheer creme-jellies that offer squishy, milky finishes and a soft glitter top coat to pair.

I had so many pretty pictures of these shades, that I actually found it a bit overwhelming to edit all the pictures.  I even considered dedicating a post to each shade, but in the end I want to review it as a collection.  I think the general consensus was that most of the shades look pretty similar to each other, so I wanted them all in one place for you to compare.  Below, you can see my swatches of each shade in direct sunlight, shade, and with Pirouette My Whistle.

China Glaze Atlantis

I present you, Atlantis, one of my lemmings.  This one's discontinued, but is still easily found for retail price.  Atlantis is a blue-green jelly jam packed with small holographic glitter.  I want to say this is 3 coats, but it may be 2.  Atlantis is a lot more sparklier and opaque in real life.  The glitter is so dense, that it actually almost has a chunky holographic finish. 

A blurry shot to show off the holo goodness.

What do you think?  I can see myself wearing Atlantis a lot this summer.  It's so much fun to wear! :)


Liz

OPI Vintage Minnie Mouse Collection

Today I have for you my picks from the OPI Vintage Minnie Mouse Collection!  Let's take a look at the swatches, shall we?

Pink Wednesday: Ahoy, Glitter!

It's been way too long since my last Pink Wednesday post.  Today I have for you a pretty layered combo. :)

Milani Limited Edition Blue Lightening

Hey all!  Take a look at this gorgeous polish I have to share with you today. :)

Deborah Lippmann: Get This Party Started Swatches

My first Deborah Lippmanns, and I'm so in love with this set!  Muchas gracias to the bf for getting these for me! <3

Black: Forget You  // Pink: Candy Shop

Essie Skittles

Sort of.  I swatched these yesterday after swatching $OPI Caught With My Khakis Down.  That day was just not a great swatching day.  Originally I started out with Essie Turquoise and Caicos on all my nails, but as you can see there is now only one on the middle nail.

Sinful Colors: Daddy's Girl

Hey all :)

If you hadn't noticed, there was a poll asking which polish you'd like to see next.  The winner was the Essence magnetic polish.  I think I'll swatch and review Steel Me and Copper Rulez! on the same day.  I'm currently looking for some strong magnets (there doesn't seem to be any at home), as well as the sun.  I haven't been able to swatch because it's been quite cloudy, rainy, and cold these past few days.  So until then, I have a swatch I've already done in preparation for days like these.

BYS Wonderland Collection

Minus one.  I got two out of the three in a swap with Ame of GiMiKd Girl!

L to R: Down the Rabbit Hole, Through the Looking Glass

Down the Rabbit Hole is a black jelly base with tons of holographic micro glitter.  This one is really gorgeous in the sun and super sparkly!  I think this was opaque in 3 coats.

Through the Looking Glass has a clear base filled with blue and yellow micro glitter.  This one's apparently a close dupe to OPI's Absolutely Alice.  I think the difference was that Through the Looking Glass had less yellow glitter, which is a shame because it would be perfect with a bit more yellow glitter!  For some reason while I was swatching this, I was determined to get it opaque.  5 coats later it wasn't anywhere near opaque, but I didn't want to take pics of my stained nails.  I noticed China Glaze Blue Iguana is a similar blue to the glitter in here, so I did one coat over the glitter, then another coat of TTLG.  The result?  Amazing!  The blue is a perfect match and you need only one coat as a base.  It actually makes it just look like it's opaque from the blue glitter, not like it has a jelly base.  So I was pleased.  I suggest doing one coat Blue Iguana, than 2-3 coats TTLG. :)

Pink Wednesday: Ahoy!

Ahh I'm typing this 5 mins before Thursday >.<  Sorry for the late post guys.  I want to get this out before 12am so here's the pic!  I'm sure you don't need a review of Ahoy anyway since it's been done by everyone. :P

Nights everyone!


Liz

Sephora by OPI: Caliente Coral

Ack.  Where did the weekend go?  I'm pretty sure I didn't get enough rest or weekend hours... did someone just fast forward time when I was sleeping?  If you did- rewind it back!  Anyway, I've been meaning to post this all weekend. >.<  Ah it's so hard trying to post every day now.  I have two weeks till finals which means a boatload of projects and essays are all due this and next week before exam week.  On top of that I need to edit/ send out to a publisher a campus cultural guide book with another student by the end of April.  That's two people updating/ editing a book. >.<   And I still need to look for 8-12 sources for my upcoming humongous research essay. T_T  Why....?????  Okay, I'm done complaining- but if I don't post much, just know that^ is the reason I'm MIA.

On to the pictures...

Caliente Coral is a bright (but not neon) orange creme that leans towards coral in certain lights.  It is a teeny tiny bit streaky, but nothing a second coat won't get rid of.  Otherwise formula is superb and drying time is good too.  I love wearing this color in the summer and I think it's super flattering on me.  Sorry about messy application and bad pictures.  :/  I didn't have time to clean-up and wanted to get some quick snaps in while the sun was still out.

I'm actually behind again because I change my nails every day but haven't been posting every day.  I want to show you the mani I'm wearing right now, but alas I must get some more work done before I hit the sack.  I might just be keeping it short and posting pictures for the next three weeks at least, so keep checking back.  ^^


Liz

Essie Night Cap & Holographic Jelly?

I finally got the Essie Night Cap I won from Body & Soul in the mail about a week ago.  I've been meaning to post the swatches but haven't gotten around to doing it until now.  Also if you haven't already, please go check out Body & Soul!  Mary has some awesome polish swatches and reviews of other beauty products as well.

Now on to Night Cap.  Night Cap is one of the older Essie polishes and is classified as a watery-tint.  It is indeed very watery and dries quickly.  The color is more of a grayish teal leaning more towards one or the other depending on the light.  Since it's a tint, I decided to layer it over Nicole by OPI's Make a Comet-ment.

The result was grey/teal squishiness of Night Cap made super holo by Make a Comet-ment.  Night Cap kind of softened the edge off the holo glitter, yet made it more sparkly.  I really liked it.  Since it was my first time working with a tint, I did some experimenting.  The pinky (far right) has 1 coat of holo glitter and two coats of Night Cap.  Then I thought hmm...should I add some white since the tint is sheer?  I htought it might bring the color of the tint out more so that was the result of my ring finger.  But I thought it looked too busy with all the holo glitter, so for the next two nails I did 2 coats of holo glitter and 2 coats of Night Cap.  I think I prefer one coat of holo and 2 coats of Night Cap better since there's more depth and color from the tint.

In retrospect, maybe I'd add another coat or two of Night Cap.  Currently I'm trying to think of what other polishes I can layer this over without taking away its color.  Oh and if you were wondering what Make a Comet-ment looks like on its own, here's a swatch with 2 coats.

I kinda like it on its own.  It looks delicate and pretty like lace.


Anyway that's it for now!  Enjoy your Friday. :)


Liz