The Nail Polish M.D.

Nail Pattern Boldness Bigger On the Inside

2013-04-24T15:17:00.000-04:00

Afternoon All,

Quick post because I need to be studying (fail), but I really wanted to post this even during my posting funk. I have been wearing blues all month for autism awareness, which is great. I love the idea of spreading awareness, blue is my favorite color besides purple, and it's the color of my birthstone, so easy peasy for me to go through my serious untrieds section of blues. Today's NOTD is Nail Pattern Boldness's Bigger on the Inside from the Time Traveler Collection. It's a royal blue jelly with silver sparkles throughout. It's actually not this bright, think Revlon Royal, but it's a stunner nonetheless. This is two coats with topcoat. It's got the Starry Starry night quality all those lemming a certain Essie shade from the antebellum (lol) will enjoy.

Enjoy the day! Back to studying...

Pretty & Polished: How do you spell Chanukkah?

2013-04-19T19:24:00.000-04:00

Hello All,

I know, its been forever. However a lot has happened since my last post. I have been wearing nail polish, I've just been a in posting funk. I got in a car accident and my car was totaled- don't worry, the Lovebug and I are safe and sound and up and driving again, but school has been a whirlwind, and I'm swamped. Plus I'm pretty sure not many read these post anyways, but just for old time's sake here goes.

This is three coats of Pretty&Polished How do you spell Chanukkah? from her limited edition winter collection of 2012. It's a light blue creme with various blue, white, and yellow glitters, along with pearlescent white hexagon glitter. I inverted my bottle to get more of the large hexes out- more made it on my non-swatching hand. You also have to be careful to allow the coats to dry or risk dragging the large glitter around the nail. I topped it with Color Club's 60 second top coat and was out the door.

Well, that's all I have for now, I don't know if I'll have any time soon to do more collections or swatch appropriately, but I hope you enjoy for now. Goodnight :)

PS: for those of you interested in this shade, go to www.prettynpolished.com, there may still be some left!

Lime Crime Desserts D'Antoinette Swatches and Review

2013-03-23T14:01:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Well unfortunately this will be my last post for a few days- my nails decided to go on a break-fest and ruined my plans for swatching this weekend- I envy you people with strong amazing nails... Anyway, here is the last collection I swatched, pretty pastels from Lime Crime I purchased last summer. This collection is Desserts D'Antoinette, and are every bit as rich as their names.

Crema De Limon is a pastel yellow. It actually is brighter than the picture shows, think more like China Glaze Happy Go Lucky. This is three coats.

Pastelchio. I love this green. This too photographed less vibrant than it is in real life- it has almost a neon quality to it in person. This was two coats.

Peaches N Creme was a bright peach pastel nightmare. Pretty color but sheer and streaky. This was four coats.

Once in a Blue Mousse is a perfect light blue pastel creme. I really enjoyed this color on me, and plan to wear it again soon. This was three coats.

Parfait Day- This is the epitome of pastel Barbie Pink. I was wearing in Panera and the girl at the register exclaimed that she loved it and asked what color it was. I was more than happy to oblige :) This is three coats.

Lavendairy is a pastel, obviously Lavender, with more pinkish red tones than blue tones in it. I really like it, however I am more partial to lavenders that have a bit more blue in them. Two coats.

Milky Ways is an off white creme, and instead of just swatching it alone, I decided to make a dotticure with all the other colors from an idea originally posted by Jen of The Nail Polish Project. I was pretty happy with the result. Milky Ways reached opacity with two coats.

Well, that's all I have for now. I am going to begin using Duri Rejuvacote as a base in my never-ending quest for the best nail strengthener for my nails and will be back soon!

OPI Mariah Carey Studio Shades Swatches and Review

2013-03-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning,

Today I have for you the first installment of swatches from the Mariah Carey Collection released in January by OPI. I know, late me, but it's still pretty. I will post the Stage shades hopefully tomorrow.

First up is Sprung, a pretty copper-esque shimmer foil with pink and green and gold shimmer sparkles. It's the more copper sister of this spring's OPI Woman's Prague-ative. I love these shades, it makes it ok I missed out on the amazing Jessica shades from last fall. This was three coats.

A Butterfly Moment. I really was excited about this- I felt like it will be appropriate on the wards for me in a few months, but still be pretty. I was a little worried about it with my skin tone, but after seeing the pictures, I remain sold by it's pale peachy beige base with golden shimmer. Lovely, at two coats.

Anti-Bleak. I wasn't excited about this one, it looked very similar to my OPI Casino Royale from the Skyfall collection of winter 2012 which I have yet to swatch (shame), but I like it! I like the pluminess of it- I feel like I'll wear it to death like I did OPI Miami Beet when that first came out (throwback shoutout!).

Pink Yet Lavender is a glitter topper with pale pink hexagons, with holographic glitter bits. I like it, it's in the same realm as OPI Polka Dot Com, but not as cool. I think I would like it more over a black. I appreciate the mainstream companies trying to keep up with indies.

Well there are you are, the Studio Shades. Any favorites! I'll be back with the Stage shades Soon!

Pahlish Eleven Pipers Piping

2013-03-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Today I have for you Pahlish's Eleven Piper's Piping, a limited edition shade from her twelve days of Christmas collection of 2012. I wanted to love this one, as I love most of her creations, but it was a thick disaster. I used some thinner to try and better the formula. I think the concept was cool, raspberry microglitter, with black and lighter magenta glitter interspersed throughout. I think that maybe the base was just too sticky. This was three painstaking coats. I have some others from this collection, and I love her polishes, so I'm hoping this was just a miss :)

You can purchase Pahlish polishes at her Etsy store. Have a great day!

OPI Euro Centrale Swatches and Review

2013-03-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Today I have the OPI Euro Centrale Collection picks from me that I swatched and reviewed. I actually swatched these a few weeks ago, but it takes me forever to edit pictures, probably because I take too many trying to get a good shot! Anyways, I'll try to keep up :)

A Woman's Prague-ative. One of my favorites, a beautiful golden brown orange shimmer. This could easily be mistaken as an autumn shade, or it could be reminiscent of those flashes of good weather interspersed with cold when spring is trying to push on through. Easy two coats with topcoat.

My Vampire is Buff. Off white creme, leaning ivory. I chose to pick this up over Zoya Jacqueline because my friend Lisa was in love. I like the color, it's very Olivia Pope-ish to me (for all you Scandal lovers :) ) Application was a little streaky though for me, this is three coats.

Polka Dot Com over You're Such a Budapest. I got this on a whim, and I really like it! It's a glitter topper with small blue glitter, and turquoise, magenta, and blurple glitter throughout. It's got great coverage, this is one coat. I think it would be cute in a OPI Funny Bunny Sandwhich....

Where's My Czech Book? Another fave. This is actually a little more dusty than the picture shows, but it's a really great calm turquoise, not really amped up neon, which is nice. This is two easy coats with topcoat.

You're Such a Budapest. I'm a sucker for any purples, so this is of course a like for me. It's a lavender shade with a hint more blue than white to it, and it has a really subtle silver shimmer. Very feminine and pretty. This was three coats, and another favorite for me.

My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours! Ok, I like this shade, but it was a B*^&! to photograph, and I never captured it's intensity well. Think OPI Hot and Spicy with more red neon tone. It photographed poorly for me in my normal setup and when I tried to do it in natural light it looked way too red. Saturated red orange- it's beautiful in person, take my word for it, but for me more of a summer shade. It also has a little subtle shimmer like You're Such a Budapest. This is 3 coats.

OPI... Eurso Euro. I love this. This is what I wanted RBL IKB: 2012 to be like in formula. Great super rich, bright crayola blue, with great formula. My nails suffered a break during swatching, I'll probably redo this one, because the color is so freaking awesome.

I Saw....You Saw... We Saw... Warsaw. Love the concept and love it on others, but on me, not so much. Navy blue creme, great formula. Two coats, and be careful, this bad boy stains. I think I may have to pair it with something else to enjoy it more.

So that's my OPI Euro Centrale pics. They are 9$ apiece and now a prestige item at Ulta (ouch!) Which ones have you picked up? Any favorites? Have a great day!

Estessimo TINS The Diamond

2013-03-16T17:30:00.000-04:00

Hello Again Today,

Just wanted to get through a backlog of some pictures. My husband during his deployment to Japan and countries of Southeast Asia was kind enough to bring me back some of the local polishes- He was mortified shopping for them, but I feel loved because he did quite a good job! Anyways, one of the TINS he brought back was this lovely, The Diamond. The Diamond is a silver holographic glitter, way too dense to be a glitter topper. I used three coats to achieve opacity. It was sunny the day I wore this, so I got to feel quite blingy.

Have a Good Evening!

NailPatternBoldness Madame Rose

2013-03-16T00:07:00.002-04:00

Good Morning,

I've been out of it this week, due to family bereavement of my grandmother and the like, so I apologize for the lack of posts. I actually wore this last weekend. I began with a base of Impala Listrado, a coral pink crelly which covered well in two coats.

I then layered three coats of Madame Rose a pink and white matte glitter over top of it. Shown is three coats of Madame Rose. It's quite the topcoat eater, so I used a layer of Glitter Food before topcoat.

I really loved this combination- Nail Pattern Boldness allows for the used of different matte glitter combinations, and I'll show you some others another time. Madame Rose is stunning in it's own right- it's the Pink Floam we've all been waiting for :)

Have a Great Day!

HARE polish Holiday Hoopla

2013-03-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This is the final red I got around to wearing for February Heart Health Month. HARE polish Holiday Hoopla was a limited edition glitter topper made for the holidays, but that can be pretty much enjoyed all year round, or whenever your pining away for some red sparkly goodness. Shown is (gasp!) one coat over two coats of OPI Glints of Glinda from the recently released Oz collection. I wanted to the polish to take center stage, and it did- it may be a glitter topper, but I think with two to three coats, this could be opaque.

Back to studying... have a good rest of the day :)

Zoya Lovely Spring 2013 Swatches

2013-03-07T19:06:00.003-05:00

Hello All,

More swatches finally edited... Here are the shades I purchased from the Zoya from the Lovely 2013 Collection:

Zoya Blu- A beautiful almost white blue creme. Perfect in two coats.

Zoya Neely- This is the exclusive re-release from the "limited edition" Peter Som trio from NYFW. This is a pastel "white-mint" (is this a real descriptive?) creme. A little streaky in application. This is two coats.

Now for the shimmers:

Zoya Piaf- beautiful sun yellow shimmer. I didn't expect to like this as much as I do. This applied a little thick, two coats.

Zoya Julie- My tied favorite. Beautiful lavender shimmer. Two perfect coats.

Zoya Gie Gie- such a cutsie shimmer pink. My other favorite. This is two coats, and it was a little thick.

Well, all in all I love my picks from this collection. They have pretty great formulas, even the streaky and thick weren't the worse I have dealt with. This collection is available now, toodles!

Sonnetarium Spring 2013 Swatches and Review

2013-03-06T02:43:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry, I've been swamped with studying and the like....I did these swatches last weekend, and I just finished editing... This is Sonnetarium's Spring 2013 collection of pastel crelly glitters. This collection has a little something for everyone.

Banana Pudding

This is a pastel yellow creme with golden yellow hexagon glitter throughout. It is a bit streaky, this is three coats, I suggest you layer it over another pale yellow.

Raspberry Sorbet

This is a pretty mauve crelly with gold glitter throughout- two coats with topcoat.

Strawberry Smoothie

This is one is one of my favorites. A delicate light pink crelly, with white and red glitter. Two easy coats.

Cucumber Salad

A turquoise green crelly with white and dark teal glitter. This was a little streaky too, and could possibly benefit from a similar color base. This is very sheer- five coats is shown here.

Blueberry Yogurt

The star of the show. A beautiful lilac base with purple hexagonal and micro glitter, with shimmer. It's no surprise this one sells out the fastest. Two coats.

So there you have it- Sonnetarium's Spring Collection- It has a little something for everyone- and I love her simplicity and genius in creating polishes- all she has made is lovely in its own right. My favorites are Strawberry Smoothie and Blueberry Yogurt (obviously), but I think there's something here for everyone. Have a good day!

BB Couture Napa Valley Red

2013-02-27T00:14:00.005-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I know I've been a little behind with the reds, but I will try to squeeze in a couple more before Friday. Honestly, this month barely made a dent in my red untrieds, lol, but I still enjoyed feeling red and sophisticated :) This weekend I wore BB Couture's Napa Valley Red, a beautiful dark red jelly with red glitter, created by blogger extraordinaire Kelly, from Vampy Varnish. This was very easy to apply, and took three coats with topcoat.

Goodnight!

OPI Ali's Big Break

2013-02-24T12:05:00.000-05:00

Hello,

Last one for now. This is OPI Ali's Big Break, from the 2010 Burlesque collection. This stunner was hard to photograph- a deep red with shimmer sparkles- I think you may be able to see it on my pointer. This is three coats with topcoat because the shimmer tends to make it dry dull. I have to say I pretty much loved this collection in every way- and can see myself wearing this lovely again soon just because.

Tata!

A-England Perceval

2013-02-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Again,

So I once again ventured into the foray with A-England Perceval, a deep red metallic shimmer. This is described as a "resplendent red," and I think the interpretation is dead on! This is another one coater- I know in the pic it may look patchy, but I was really impressed, it glided smoothly on my nails, and I had none of the issues I had previously with Ascalon. Only thing is I think I may use a ridge filler next time with this one- you can see any lines you have in your nails, which is par for the course with metallics.

Enjoy!

Pretty Serious Santa's Sunburn

2013-02-24T11:51:00.001-05:00

Hello All,

So I suffered a break, but stubborn as I am, I will continue on these last few days with reds. Pretty Serious is a company created by the lovely Kaz who runs the Pretty Random blog, which I peruse frequently to enjoy her swatches of vintage nail goodies. She has made some amazing polishes, and I have quite a few at this point, but my first on the blog is Santa's Sunburn, a beautiful red metallic shimmer with gold from her Christmas without Snow collection of 2012. I fell in love with it seeing it a few times on the More Nail Polish blog, and decided it needed to join me. This is one coat (amazing) with topcoat.

Enjoy!

L'Oreal Fancy Me

2013-02-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Last post of the night, promise! Then I'm caught up, for now :) This is L'Oreal's Fancy Me, a red based glitter with gold glitter throughout. It covered well in three coats, and was not gritty with topcoat. It was released this past winter of 2012. Goodnight all!

One Billion Rising Manicure Featuring Zoya

2013-02-19T21:06:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This was my One Billion Rising Event Manicure, bringing awareness to violence against women worldwide, which took place this past Valentine's Day. I decided to do both some marbling and some saran wrap nails. I used Zoya Maura, Lara, Purity, and Raven to achieve this look, and got plenty of compliments while giving other ladies manicures to celebrate One Billion Rising. My hubs has a penchant for marbled nails :) Enjoy!

Sonnetarium Hong Bao and OPI Danke Shiny Red

2013-02-19T21:00:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the delay, I came down with a cold from the cutest germ incubator on the planet! Also my first wedding anniversary was this weekend, so I was a bit pre-occupied :) . However, I will trudge on wearing reds this month!

First up is OPI's Danke Shiny Red from the Fall Germany collection 2012. Shimmery red perfection in two coats.

Next, I added two coats of Sonnetarium's Hong Bao, a red shimmer base with large gold hexagons and black glitter. It's supposed to bring good luck, so here's to hoping!

Tata!

China Glaze Dynasty

2013-02-12T23:42:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone,

In my red for 28 days of American Heart Health Month, I decided to wear China Glaze Dynasty, a red based glitter with holographic hexagonal silver glitter in various sizes throughout. This is two coats. It pulls more red in person, and may need 2 coats of topcoat to get smooth.

Don't forget to join the One Billion Rising Women's Dance on Valentine's Day! We must end the cycle of violence against women, or anyone for that matter! Show your support by doing a great manicure, the dance, or just acknowledging the importance of the day. If you missed me talking about it last post, here's the video again:

Goodnight!

Reds of OPI, Nubar, and Kleancolor for American Heart Health Month :)

2013-02-09T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

I apologize for being MIA, I had an Oncology exam this week, and basically all went haywire from there. I am trying, for the month of February to wear red for not only American Heart Health Month, but also for Women's Heart Health Month! I have a lot to choose from because I pick up reds without thinking about it- I'm just hoping I don't zone out myself or you with a bunch of red. At least it's the shortest month of the year :) I will be only not wearing red on the 14th, but I'll explain why below, so for right now, let's get to some reds of this previous week.

OPI The Spy Who Loved Me from the Skyfall Collection

OMG. This is definitely one my all time favorite reds now. It's just sooo gorgeous, I loved it, and I felt lovely wearing it on my nails. This was so hard to photograph, imagine a deep red jelly with gold microglitter throughout- divine! This is three coats with topcoat.

Next up is Nubar Pink Flame. This is a pinkish-red duochrome, which shifts to an intense orange in lowlights, which is impossible to get a good photograph of. On a side note, this polish did this wonky shrinkage at my cuticle when covered in topcoat. This is three coats, with a Bundle Monster stamp (325) in an Essence gold (sorry can't remember name) on the tips.

Finally, this is Kleancolors Chunky Holo Scarlet, a deep red jelly with duochrome glitter that shifts from red to gold. This is three coats, and it stinks to high heaven. Thank God it's only 1.99$. It's kind of camera shy as well- This is much prettier in person.

Ok, so that was a lot. My reason for wearing non-red on the 14th is that I will be wearing a design-shock! for the Billion Women Rising Dance, a Dance choreographed by Debbie Allen for Women's Health and Security on the 14th. Women all over, including the ladies of Women's Health and Prevention group at the State Health Department I intern at will be doing the dance during the day to promote Women's Health and Domestic Violence Prevention. Watch the video to get an idea :)

If anyone blogger, or just inspired, would like to join me and post pics of their art for V-day, let me know! Goodnight!

Pretty&Polished Rat-a-Tat over Color Club Blue Hawaii

2013-02-03T01:10:00.000-05:00

Good Morning,

I have been wanting to try this combination for a few weeks now, and this weekend afforded me the opportunity. This is Color Club's Blue Hawaii, a limited edition Japanese glitter, topped with Pretty& Polished Rat-a-Tat, a great dense glitter topper, with teal bar glitter and both black and teal heaxagonal glitters. Blue Hawaii looked opaque to me in the bottle, not a topper, so I wanted to try it out, and it was a great shade of blue glitter, with no VNL after three coats. I really like this combination, it's a great pop of color.

Back to studying :) Enjoy the day- hopefully it's not snowing and sub-degree temperatures where you are!

Nyx Girls Frizzy Spots

2013-02-01T23:14:00.000-05:00

Hello All,

Wore a quick black manicure of a polish I got during a visit on my husband's base- not far from where he's stationed are some amazing little beauty supplies with stuff I can't find near me, and I picked this baby up for 1.50$. Shown is two coats over black.

Goodnight!

Sonnetarium SugarPlum and China Glaze Coconut Kiss

2013-01-31T23:12:00.000-05:00

Good Evening,

Today I have a throwback and an indie. First I began with China Glaze Coconut Kiss, a great staple purple shimmer. This is two coats.

Next I layered Sonnetarium's Sugar Plum a beautiful purple shimmer with glitter over the Coconut Kiss. Sugar Plum was sheer, and also had a great pink shimmer that I couldn't photograph.

Goodnight!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle /Pretty & Polished Vampire Sing-a-Long

2013-01-30T01:23:00.000-05:00

Good Morning,

I decided to use of my many untouched Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes ( I know-hoarder, and to think she has four new collections coming out? Shudder....) Concrete Jungle a staple light grey creme. It applied true to Rescue Beauty's mantra, smooth and effortless in two coats. To jazz it up a bit- which may be blasphemous to say when discussing Rescue Beauty Lounge, I added the Pretty & Polished Vampire Sing-a-Long topcoat from the recently released Mathematical collection. This topcoat was a bit difficult- the pretty bar glitter came out effortlessly, but I had to use the dabbing method to attain those illusive black circular glitters and some of the white and purple hexagons, even with the bottle being inverted before use. Either way the manicure was a success, and I loved it until it chipped :)

Have a great day!

Orly Rock It

2013-01-29T20:03:00.000-05:00

Good Evening,

I actually wore this over the weekend and am just posting it.... Anyways, I remember there being such a hype around this shade in the 2011 Mineral Fx collection from Orly. "It Glows!" I remember reading that numerous times. I am here to report it can glow, in the right lighting conditions. Otherwise it is a very mature color on me, that has spurned me to try other "mature"shades I own. This is two coats, with Poshe topcoat. Night!