The Nailphile

Nubar Jellybeans Swatches

2012-01-28T13:02:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I received samples of Nubar's Jellybeans Collection for Spring 2012, so I have swatches of them to show you. They're all either cremes or jellies, but the jellies are not the super-sheer variety. All eight colors were good in two coats, and the jellies stayed even and are super glossy. For the swatches, each is two coats of color (no base or top) in sunlight, with the exception of one that I did a full mani with and I'll point that one out. The color names are all flavor names that correspond to the color, like their Chocolate Truffles Collection had, which is kind of fun. The collection will be available on Nubar's site on February 1st, so in just a few days, and they're $8 each.

Strawberry is a cheery light pink almost-jelly, one of the work-appropriate shades.

Nubar Strawberry Nail Polish, Two Coats

Toasted Marshmallow is a light caramel colored creme, and it fits in the least with the others for me, but it's another work-safe shade with the same super glossy finish.

Nubar Toasted Marshmallow Nail Polish, Two Coats

Cherry is a really bright orange red almost-jelly creme. The shine on this one is outstanding.

Nubar Cherry Nail Polish, Two Coats

Blue Raspberry is a light aqua jelly, and the color is very even when applied.

Nubar Blue Raspberry Nail Polish, Two Coats

Kiwi is a pale spring green jelly, also unusually even.

Nubar Kiwi Nail Polish, Two Coats

Lemon is an intensely bright yellow creme, and I was surprised it only needed two coats since yellows are typically fussier.

Nubar Lemon Nail Polish, Two Coats

Blueberry is a very vivid blue jelly, more vivid than my camera would pick up in any of the pictures. It's this tone, but with an exclamation point after it.

Nubar Blueberry Nail Polish, Two Coats

The one I'm wearing is grape, a purple jelly. This one has base and top coat in addition to the two coats of color. Dry time was better than average, and the shine is spectacular.

Nubar Grape Nail Polish, Two Coats

I love the finish of these polishes, which is like that of the Nubar Jeans in that they're really even and super shiny, and I really like the sort of modified jelly opacity. The colors largely strike me as just really fun for spring without being too outlandish. It's a cool collection for me.

Those are the Nubar Jellybeans and all I have for you today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Magnetix Swatches

2012-01-27T15:05:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have swatches of the China Glaze Magnetix swatches with their magnet today, and the sun held out pretty well the whole time. I bought these for under $5 each with the magnet at the same price, so I sprung for all of them both to be able to show them to you and because I think just about any magnetic nail polish is a safe bet for me.

I used the China Glaze magnet for these swatches, and I like it quite a bit, especially for under $5. It has three patterns on it, and the same guide design as the Nails Inc magnet I raved about with the additional feature of a center dot to aligning the ledge. I took pictures of it for you, and figured I'd start with that so you know what you're looking at in the swatches.

China Glaze Magnet, Front and Back Views

China Glaze Magnet, View of Ledge for Placement

That curved ledge just goes on the cuticle, and in the center of each of the three there's a tiny red dot of raised red plastic to aid in alignment, and it's held as close as possible to the polish. My alignment isn't ideal since these were just quickie swatches, but I found the magnet easy to use. One thing I found is that keeping coats very thin helps, because when they're thicker the magnet pulls up a tiny peak of polish that can touch the magnet (which is kind of fun to watch!).

The first swatch I did is of You Move Me, a light bronze. The directions in the magnet's little box say to use one coat of polish, magnetize for 5-10 sec, and to work one nail at a time. I used two coats of You Move me because it wasn't close to opaque at one. I did a coat of color and let it dry for a few minutes, then did the second coat with the magnet one nail at a time. I used the magnet for 20 seconds just because that's about how long most take, and it worked really well. I added top coat to this one too soon and messed up the diagonal line pattern on one corner, so I quit using top coat after this swatch since I was racing sunlight. The deal with top coat is that you can mess up the way the magnet arranged the pigment pretty easily, and even the directions say to let the polish dry before applying it. It worked fine where the coat of top coat was thick enough for the brush to not touch the polish, but for manis I'm patient and let the pattern dry a bit.

China Glaze You Move Me Nail Polish, Two Coats

Cling On is a faded green, and it also needed two coats.

China Glaze Cling On Nail Polish, Two Coats

Pull Me Close is a very pretty grey blue, and I tried this one at one coat just because I could to find out how it worked. I think the effect is cooler with two, so that's how I did the rest of them after this one.

China Glaze Pull Me Close Nail Polish, One Coat

Instant Chemistry is a deep plum, pigmented enough to be good in one coat, but I used two.

China Glaze Instant Chemistry Nail Polish, Two Coats

Drawn to You is a lighter pinky purple, and also could have been a one-coater but shown here with two.

China Glaze Drawn to You Nail Polish, Two Coats

The last of them is Attraction, a charcoal with a shimmer I don't believe I've seen in a magnetic polish before. I waffled on this one since I have silver magnetics, but this is darker and the shimmer is quite pronounced.

China Glaze Attraction Nail Polish, Two Coats

I like all of these, especially Attraction and Instant Chemistry because they're unique for magnetics. I'm a huge fan of the magnet as well, and think it was $5 well spent since it has the same user-friendly design as the Nails Inc magnet with three different shapes on it. At less than $5 for 14 ml, these were a great price for magnetic polishes as well. Obviously, they work really well, so I don't have a single complaint.

Those are my China Glaze Magnetix swatches, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Konad m87 & Light Bronze Special Polish

2012-01-26T11:51:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm having more fun with new Konad supplies, and today brings safari nails with plate m87 and Light Bronze Special Polish.

I couldn't find the darker brown special polish nor could I find a tan to paint a background that I liked enough for giraffe print, so I just reversed the colors of giraffe print. That way I could try out Light Bronze and figured it would give the all-purpose animal print impression just the same.

I started with base coat and two coats of Anna Sui 001, a sheer, neutral, sparkly fine glitter polish, and topped it with Good to Go to dry it. I chose SpaRitual Hush for the tip background color, and used the same trick to give myself a guide line as I did yesterday (that was using Hush and m87 to stamp to smile lines so it would correspond to the pattern on m87) before filling in my tips. It took two coats for the tip color to be even and opaque, then another round of Good to Go to dry it.

Once all that was done, I was ready to stamp. Light Bronze is like Vivid Pink in terms of opacity, dry time, and easy stamping. The older metallic Konad Special Polishes are more sheer, but Light Bronze is very opaque and thick enough that I had no problems with the picked-up pattern tearing as I placed it. It was just super easy to work with on every level, so double stamping all ten nails took about ten minutes. One last coat of top coat to seal it and I was done. It's cloudy out, but I still got a decent natural light picture of the manicure.

Konad Plate m87 in Light Bronze Special Polish

So now I'm all set to go on safari in the midwestern United States in January. Maybe I'll see a squirrel, or if I'm lucky, a 'possum (that would really be unlucky, those things are so gross!).

That's my take on m87 and Light Bronze, and this one really tickles me a lot. It's also all I have to tell you about today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Konad m88 & Vivid Pink Special Polish

2012-01-25T14:10:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

My new Konad plates and polishes arrived today, and if you recall, in the post about them I mentioned that I intended to be sporting pink and black zebra tips in the near future. Well, the future is now except that it's more tiger stripes than zebra on closer inspection, and I used plate m88 with the Vivid Pink Special polish for today's manicure. Actually, I used a lot more than that, as it's a pretty elaborate one, but I am smitten with the final result. It's exudes about a Snooki level of stylish grace, but I'm hoping that the fact that I'm skin-colored rather than orange lets me pull it off.

I wanted a sheer-ish base, but of course sparkles had to be incorporated, so after applying a coat of base coat I used two coats of Misa Sugar Daddy and topped it with Essie Good to Go to dry it. After giving that about 15 minutes to dry, I added black tips. Since I wanted the back to line up as well as possible with the tiger pattern, I first did a round of quickie stamps from m88 in Wet n Wild black to give me a guide (only lining it up mattered to me here), then painted over the stamps with the black using the smile line I'd applied as a guide. The tips only needed one coat to be opaque and totally black, and then I added another coat of Good to Go and waited ten more minutes for drying. Finally, it was time for the pattern...

While waiting for the black to dry, I tested Vivid Pink over black on paper, and it worked well. Vivid Pink is an extremely pigmented sparkly chrome, but it dries at about the same rate as other Konad polishes rather than at the speed of light like other chromes that work for stamping, which meant it was really easy to get very clean solid stamps. I double-stamped each tip with Vivid Pink, lining up the first with the smile line of the black and then the second with the top edge of the first stamp. The last step was to seal the Vivid Pink with another coat of Good to Go, and now I have a ridiculous yet fabulous manicure. Here it us under an Ott light.

Konad Plate m88 and Vivid Pink Special Polish

In room lighting, the light sparkle of Sugar Daddy and metallic finish of Vivid Pink are clearer, and I absolutely love it! In the bottle, the other new Special Polishes (Moss Green and Light Bronze) look like they have the same finish as this one, and I'll be trying them out to show you this week.

That's all for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Metallic 4 Life

2012-01-24T14:16:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today brings one of the OPI Nicki Minaj polishes, Metallic 4 Life. To be honest with you, this collection held little appeal for me until I saw it in person in a beauty supply store. The promo pics didn't seem like anything special to me, and quite frankly, I'd never heard of Nicki Minaj before promo materials for these polishes were published. When I saw the display, I saw a couple of cool polishes I liked, looked at the picture on the display and confirmed that indeed, I have no idea who she is and that I probably don't care to. That's not intended to offend, I'm sure if asked if she knew what The Nailphile is, Ms. Minaj would have much the same reaction and that would be fine. However, Metallic 4 Life looked like a cool polish, so now I'm wearing it.

Metallic 4 Life is a black jelly base with a whole lot of very sparkly silver glitter in various sizes. The glitter is what brought my attention to the display, and I was hoping that it would have the same cool effect in the somewhat translucent base as Lippman's Forget You and Candy Shop, which I was a big fan of. It kind of does, but since the glitter's smaller and silver, it's different.

I used two coats of color over a base coat, and that was plenty for it to be even, opaque, and covered in extra sparkly silver glitter. I finished it off with two coats of Essie Good to Go (it needed the second to smooth it out), and it's a cool manicure. Here's Metallic 4 Life in sunlight.

OPI Metallic 4 Life Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at part of one nail to give you a better look at the glitter.

A Closer Look at OPI Metallic 4 Life Nail Polish's Glitter

The name seems fitting for the color with the exception of the use of a number for a word. I'm all for efficiency, but that kind of shorthand drives me nuts. Perhaps it's because I'm not cool and don't text much, or maybe I'm just a fan of preserving the integrity of language, but whatever the cause it makes me cringe. Typing it here has been painful. Getting past that and again, knowing nothing of Nicki Minaj, it seems like a polish more inspired by Lita Ford or Joan Jett than the crayon-color-wearing woman I saw on this display, but the name still fits the polish well regardless of the collection it's in.

I drank coffee to get through class last night and got up for an early appointment, so I'm working on very little sleep as a result, which might explain my various ramblings about tangentially related thoughts that have drifted through my brain writing this post. I'll let your suffering stop and just wrap it up here with the summary that OPI Metallic 4 Life is a cool polish. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Revlon Whimsical

2012-01-23T12:52:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today's manicure is Revlon Whimsical, which is copper and blue hex glitter, sliver regular glitter, and very fine blue glitter in a baby blue jelly base. Since it seems sheerer than I prefer, I layered Whimsical over one coat of Illamasqua Caress. I needed three coats of Whimsical for the glitter to really show up, and then finished it off with Essie Good to Go. Here's the finished manicure under an Ott light.

Revlon Whimsical Nail Polish, Three Coats over Illamasqua Caress

I like it, and I think it pairs well with Caress. That's the news of the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Icicle & Servin' Up Sparkle

2012-01-21T15:05:00.001-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I was up for a silver manicure today, so I reached for China Glaze Icicle, the good two-coat silver from their Let it Snow Collection. After applying two coats, I decided I wanted to add just a little bit to it, and OPI Servin' Up Sparkle is a good glitter for adding a bit without any danger of adding too much. I added two coats of Servin' Up Sparkle to Icicle, a couple of coats of top coat to smooth out the glitter, and called it a mani.

The sun is out today, so I was able to get two pictures to show you why I like Servin' Up Sparkle as much as I do.

China Glaze Icicle with OPI Servin Up Sparkle, Two Coats Each

Another Look at OPI Servin' Up Sparkle

The powder-fine glitter in Servin' Up Sparkle throws off light just like the hex glitter, but the direct sunlight washed it right out. I think this is my favorite of all the Serena Williams polishes released by OPI, and I've used it several times without a single disappointment. The only negative about it is the constant threat of blinding other drivers in traffic when out on the road.

That's my fabulous silver manicure and all there is to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

New Konad Plates & Polishes

2012-01-18T22:30:00.001-06:00

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I don't have a new manicure to show you, but some cool new Konad plates and Special Polishes that are at WowSoCool (the new stuff is at the bottom of the page that links goes to). I have some of their pics here, and you can click them for a larger version.

For the plates, I'll try to hold my giddiness at bay in order to post pictures. They're longer tips, one solid and two animal print patterns.

Konad Plate m86, Longer Solid Tips

Konad Plate m87, Giraffe Tip Pattern

Konad Plate m88, Zebra Tip Pattern

I'm thinking the solid with an animal print over it would make one impressive manicure. If that ain't enough for you, there are three new polishes, a metallic, a pink, and a green.

Konad Light Bronze Special Polish

Konad Vivid Pink Special Polish

Konad Moss Green Special Polish

Those are the new goodies, and the only other thing I really know about them is that I'll be sporting pink and black zebra tips as soon as possible.

That's all I have for you, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Edited a few hours later to tack on more info I just saw on Twitter: If you're thinking of ordering, check this post on WowSoCool's blog before placing an order.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Brattlesnake

2012-01-17T15:30:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

My next semester starts tomorrow, and I picked Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Brattlesnake to start it off on a fun note. It seemed like a good choice since it's pretty calm neutrals that happen to be in a snake skin pattern, so it's not very eye-catching in an environment where nobody cares about nails at all.

Brattlesnake was kind of middle of the road in terms of applicattion. There are patterns that are a good bit better, but there are also patterns that are a good bit worse. The biggest issue I had was that the strips weren't tremendously flexible, so there are some small creases at some curves. Other than that they're good, and I just used a second coat of Essie Good to Go to smooth them out. Here's Brattlesnake under artificial lighting.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Brattlesnake

I'm definitely a fan. I believe these would likely horrify anyone with an aversion to snakes, but I'll find out if that's a problem when I show up tomorrow. It ain't a problem for me!

That's my Brattlesnake manicure and just about all there is to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

YSL Ultra Violet

2012-01-15T12:31:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I'm wearing Yves Saint Laurent Ultra Violet (#42), and I can't really say I know a heck of a lot about it other than I found it in some stuff yesterday. It's kind if a jelly, a little more pigmented than some like those in OPI Texas, but definitely less pigmented and much more glossy than a regular creme. It's partway between berry and purple, and it's just on the safe side of neon.

I used two coats of color with base and top coats, and it probably could have used a third to be totally even. It's a tiny bit blotchy on some nails, but I can live with that for now. Here's Ultra Violet in sunlight.

Yves Saint Laurent Ultra Violet Nail Polish, Two Coats

It's a good color, but there are plenty of others close enough to it that are cheaper, so although I like it I wouldn't really recommend it. There's nothing fabulously unique about it.

That's YSL Ultra Violet and the update for today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Fly with Me

2012-01-13T13:57:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I used Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Fly with Me, which is a bunch of colored butterflies on a white background, and they worked out really well. I was long overdue for a pedi, and the Salon Effects strips last an eternity on my toes (hence long overdue), but I only need two strips per foot, leaving plenty for a manicure as well.

For the pedi, I just use the giant strips for my big toes, and one of the thinner strips for the remaining four toes on each foot. I just cut off a little piece to completely cover each nail, and once they're all covered use the file and little wooden stick in the pack to remove any excess. Once the strips are done, a coat of top coat to seal them finishes the job.

For the manicure, I didn't use anything under the strips, and this pattern is one that's easy to apply. One strip tore a bit as I too aggressively pulled it off the backing, and that was the only mishap. I find the patterns on white to be my favorite strips in terms of application, and these were even flexible enough to avoid the always-present wrinkle I get where my left index nail has a bit of an arc. Today, I finally got it smooth. I figured I'd use another Color Club Copycoat to seal the mani, and I used Duplicity. Color Club describes it as "feminine and irresistible with citron, bluebell and musk top notes," and to the novice nose it's a nice light perfume-y smell that's a tiny bit soapy. I'm sure there's a perfumista name for the soapy smell, but to me "soapy" is clear and accurate so I'll just stick with that. I really love the end result of Fly with Me.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Fly with Me

It looks like I have and eight-year-old girl's wallpaper on my nails, and that's not a bad thing to me. I think part of the inspiration to use this pattern today is that earlier this week it was 60° and perfectly clear, and the last time I checked it was 12° and snowing, so I'm doing what I can to pretend it's still 60° and perfect outside.

That's Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Fly with Me and all I have to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Valentine's Day 2012

2012-01-12T11:49:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I ran across something I thought you might be interested in, so I'm back to tell you about it. I came across a Sally Hansen Salon Effects Valentine's Day Collection for 2012 on Ulta's site. They're full price, but Ulta's doing some good codes and freebies right now, so depending on what you need the discount can be pretty good. Here's a link to the page for them.

I have some pictures of the designs, and if you click the picture you can see a full page version. I don't have any commentary other than "this is cute", so I won't subject you to that and I'll just put the title of the design under the picture. Some can clearly be approximated with Konad, but some can't and sometimes easier is worth a few bucks.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Are You Single?

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Cross Your Heart

Sally Hansen Effects Nail Polish Strips How Romantic

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Love Always

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips, Speed Dating

That's what I know about the Salon Effects Valentine's Day Collection, and now you know it too. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Zoya Skylar

2012-01-12T06:36:00.000-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I wanted a change from darks and brights today, and Zoya Skylar (the light blue from the True Collection) was calling my name, so it's the one I'm wearing. Since Zoya True goes online tomorrow, I figured you wouldn't mind another look in case you're making big decisions.

I applied it last night, using base coat, two coats of Skylar, which again went one really beautifully, and Good to Go to dry it. It dried quickly and well, and it looks like it's pretty durable since I took a hot bath last night and washed my hair this morning, which is a good bit of really hot water on a fresh manicure. The surface was fine at one coat of top coat, but not perfectly glassy smooth, so I added one coat of Color Club Replica to it this morning, and that dried quickly.

With Replica, the Color Club Copycoats are back on their winning streak. It's described as "cool and flirtatious with pink peppercorn, pear and grapefruit top notes," and it's just a light, clean perfume fragrance. It caused no flashbacks to cologne induced traumas of my youth, which is always a plus in any product, and made the manicure as shiny as I like and it smells good now, so Replica goes into the Winner pile. Here's the manicure under artificial light (an Ott light).

Zoya Skylar Nail Polish, Two Coats

This particular shade of blue is one I always favor in general (my comforter's a lighter shade of it, I have towels this color, ...), but it's the extra cool shimmer that really makes Skylar for me. Here's a closer look at part of a nail so you can see what I mean.

Closer Look at the Shimmer in a Zoya Skylar Swatch

It looks like there's light colored gold dust in it without magnification, and it's clearly visible in regular indoor lighting, so it's not just the thing of pretty pictures. It really shows up.

That's a second look at Zoya Skylar and all I have for you today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Dead Ringer

2012-01-10T12:14:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I tried out another Color Club Copycoat today, Dead Ringer. I put it over a dry manicure of SpaRitual Mood, and I'm not wild about this one. It didn't do anything bad to the manicure, I just don't care for the smell. Color Club describes it as "fresh with a playful of innocence featuring strawberry, violet and vanilla top notes," but it really reminds me of Giorgio perfume. A lot. Anyone who attended a reasonably large high school in the late '80s probably bears the same scars associated with Giorgio and Drakkar Noir that I do (when you pack a few hundred people with minimal experience regarding appropriate quantity of cologne into the same hallway, it's inevitable), so I can't imagine I'll get through the whole day without having an absolute need to be free of the smell.

SpaRitual Mood always makes a nice manicure though, and here's three coats with the Dead Ringer bottle in sunlight.

Color Club Dead Ringer Scented Top Coat over SpaRitual Mood Nail Polish

I've got an appointment to get to, so I'll be wearing this for a bit. By the time I get home I imagine I'll either be able to live with it or take it off, only time will tell. In the meantime, I'll just have to manage this overwhelming desire to blow off Geometry.

That puts the CopyCoats at two for three, we'll see how the others do. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Parallel Universe Scented Top Coat

2012-01-07T15:04:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I've got another Color Club Copycoat scented top coat to tell you about today, Parallel Universe. I used it over two coats of Nail Inc St John's Wood, a light blue purple creme. I picked St John's Wood because I know it has normal drying time (not bad, nothing spectacular) so I could find out whether Parallel Universe is a quick dry top coat.

Unfortunately, it seems it's not. Things were looking good when the manicure felt mostly dry after about ten minutes, but after twenty it still had that very slightly sticky feeling to it where I knew it would be dentable. Since I wouldn't consider longer than twenty minutes quick dry, I added a coat of Essie Good to Go to finish the job. The good news is that it dried right away, and that its fragrance, described by Color Club as "a classic green oriental blend of lush fruits with soothing amber," is still there. It's mild and pleasant, like Copycat was, and after wearing Copycat for two days its fragrance had faded to almost nothing.

I remembered to take a picture of the squat little cube of a bottle I'd mentioned, so that's the bottle in the picture.

Color Club Parallel Universe Scented Top Coat over Nails Inc St John's Wood Nail Polish

I'd also mentioned the labels were different and hard to read, so I took a picture of the label for you while I was at it.

Color Club Parallel Universe Scented Top Coat's Label

Without magnification and direct sunlight, you can imagine how challenging that is to read given that it's not easy with both. However, it smells pretty and that's why I got it, so I can live with that.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Copycat

2012-01-05T18:08:00.000-06:00

Good evening, Dear Reader!

Today I don't have new colors for you, but a new scented top coat. It's Color Club Copycat, one of the six scented top coats in the Color Club Copycoats Collection. I'd asked their PR for info about them, but never heard back so I'm completely winging it.

The name of the collection seems to imply that they're copies of existent fragrances, but unfortunately I don't know a heck of a lot about fragrances. I try samples and if I like them enough, I buy a bottle to wear when it's time to replace one of a few I have in rotation. That probably makes me the perfume equivalent of someone who always wears clear polish most of the time and goes out on a limb with a sheer pink, but I wanted these to wear rather than because I had lofty ambitions of an eloquent review.

The first thing worth pointing out is that the bottles are different, still 0.5 oz but kind of a squat cube and heavier than the normal ones. I figured I'd use it like a refresher top coat after my manicure dried, so the picture of today's mani doesn't include it since I got them after the sun had set, but I'll show you a picture of one next time. The labels are different too, really tiny black print on a clear plastic label and kind of hard to read. The packaging for the set of six isn't fantastic - I picked it up and all the bottles flew out of it onto the floor. Fortunately, that was over carpet, so no harm done, but it seemed like I ought to point that out. If you get a set, pick it up carefully...

I added a coat of Copycat to my current manicure, a Nails Inc Kings of Neon rainbow-with-five-colors manicure. Copycat is dry now, and the fragrance, described by Color Club as "fresh and clean, this sensual scent is infused with black currant, green apple and peach top notes" turned out to be quite nice. I'd wager a perfume person could accurately guess what it's supposed to smell like, but as I mentioned, that ain't me, so I'll just tell you what I do know. The scent is light but clearly there, like I used a perfumed hand lotion, one of the little lotions that comes in a perfume gift set. It's not so strong that it seems as though it would clash with actual perfume, just a good clean fragrance, but strong enough that I'll probably keep sniffing it. I like it.

Here's my Kings of Neon manicure, just so there's a picture. It was taken before the top coat was added, before the fabulous sunlight was gone. The top coats have a tiny bit of tint, but it didn't affect the color at all so it looks just the same.

Nails Inc Kings of Neon Manicure, Three Coats Each

The Kings of Neon set is six minis with base and top coat minis, so I figured I'd put the yellow in the picture since it was the one that didn't make the cut. The purple is actually very bright, but neon purples are a nightmare to get an accurate picture of and the other five shades look right. From thumb to pinky, they're Paradise Walk, Orange Street, Lime Street, Phoenix Street, Orchid Street, and the bottle is Sun Street. Nails Inc didn't break their backs coming up with those names, did they?

The addition of fragrance to this manicure makes it even happier. I've often told you of my love of scented polishes, so the idea of scented top coats really appealed to me. I figured I'd either be really happy or totally disappointed after trying one out, and the result is happy. Color Club seems to do particularly nice fragranced polishes, not sickly sweet or overwhelming at all as so many that have come before their have been. I'll likely be adding these to everything, and since I knew I'd have them this evening, one of the points of doing a skittles manicure was to see if the tint affected color. Since it didn't, I won't hesitate to use them either under quick dry top coat or over a dry manicure.

That's my first try of a Color Club Copycoat, and I'll include a bottle picture and try to remember to tack a link on to it from here next time. Until then, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Dior Garden Party: Waterlily & Forget-Me-Not

2012-01-03T14:12:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have more Spring 2012 in store today with the two polishes from Dior Garden Party, Waterlily and Forget-Me-Not. Yes, I know it's barely January...

These are available from Nordstrom, which I always think is the safest possible place to order higher-end items since they have amazing customer service, and that's where I bought mine. Dior is my favorite high-end brand of polish (I think of anything over $15 or so as high-end prices for polish) because the quality of the polish is outstanding and the ones I have all apply unbelievably well, are very well pigmented so not much of the 0.33 oz bottle gets used at once, and they wear nicely. I'd read that the Dior Garden Party polishes are scented, and that was pretty much the last nail in the coffin of any resistance I had against them.

I have great sunlight today, so I used that for the pictures. I'll show you Forget-Me-Not first, a sort of dusty purple creme. I just did a three nail swatch of Forget-Me-Not since I didn't want to part with more of it for a swatch, but I figured I'd use base and top coats and give it a few minutes to dry for the picture to make up for it. The polish is thick but easy to control, typically well pigmented and requiring only two coats, and the brush in both of these is the newer upsized one. It's most similar in both shape and size to the one in Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes. The first time I opened a Dior and saw the new brush, I was horrified that they broke a luxury brand I love, and although I still prefer the old one, you can see in the pictures that it does do a really nice job for application so any complaints I have about it aren't about anything of substance. This is two coats of Forget-Me-Not with base and top coat in sunlight.

Dior Forget-Me-Not Nail Polish, Two Coats

When painting the first coat on the first two nails (the top two), I was getting a feel for the brush. Those big brushes always throw me a little bit at the start. Even while getting the hang of it, the color is very even and opaque at two really thin coats. It's a pretty color, but unless you're a big fan of Dior and/or scented polishes, it's likely not worth the $23 it costs. Since I am both and love purple, it is and I like it.

The other Garden Party shade is Waterlily, and I changed my manicure to it after the swatch. It's a stunning green shimmer, very much along the lines of Chanel Jade in color but with a different shimmer. It's a more pearl-like shimmer, but quite stunning just the same. I found Waterlily to be a bit thinner than Forget-Me-Not, but equally easy to apply and just as good in two coats. Here's Waterlily after it dried.

Dior Waterlily Nail Polish, Two Coats

Waterlily is the nail polish embodiment of spring, which I love. There's not one thing I'd change about it, and you can see I'd gotten the hang of the brush by the time I started the manicure. You can also see my pink camera in all of today's pictures.

I have one more picture for you, and that's of Forget-Me-Not's box because this collection has different packaging than normal. It's all silver, and surprisingly reflective...

Dior Garden Party Vernis Parfume Box

The fragrance of these is subtle, and if you like one or both but don't want to smell it, I'd suggest swatching a nail with a tester at a store before writing them off. It's not the overpowering fake rose smell that I think anybody fears at the mention of a rose scent, it's more like really nice lightly scented rose soap. I have to put my hand near my face and pay attention to the fragrance in order to get a whiff to describe it, so I don't think many would find it offputting at all.

Dior's Garden Party polishes are a huge hit with me. I love the polish, the colors, and I really like the scent a lot, just a nice clean springy smell, so I'm glad I decided to get them even though they're expensive. They're genuinely luxurious, so I don't mind a luxury price in this case. I'll try to get back to showing you some winter things I have here untried, but for now, I'm going to admire Waterlily and pretend it's April. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Zoya True & Fleck Effect Swatches Spring 2012

2012-01-01T00:01:00.102-06:00

Happy New Year, Dear Reader!

I'm starting off 2012 with swatches of Zoya's Spring 2012 collections, True and Fleck Effect, which Zoya sent for review. Both of these collections will be available at Zoya on Jan 13, 2012, the polishes will be $8 each. Those are the details, so let's get to the swatches. I used artificial light (an Ott light) for all the pictures in today's post except for two, and I'll mention the lighting for the other two when we get there.

I'll start with True, which Zoya describes as "slightly muted and unexpected spring shades," a description I'd agree with. I found all six easy to apply and control, good in two coats, and really unusually shiny without top coat. The drying time with these seems good (I know for sure it is on the one I wore, but the swatches dried quickly as well). Here are Zoya's descriptions of the colors:

Cho (ZP585): Full coverage, vanilla shimmer metallic
Farah (ZP586): Full coverage, latte beige cream
Bevin (ZP587): Full coverage, pale sage green cream
Skylar (ZP588): Full coverage, silvered slate blue metallic
Tru (ZP589): Full coverage, gilded purple orchid metallic
Lotus (ZP590): Full coverage, light lotus purple metallic

The swatches are two coats over base coat, and only one has top coat and I'll point that one out.

Cho is described as "vanilla shimmer metallic," and I'd sign on for vanilla with a subtle shimmer. The shimmer shows only in strong light, the secret kind where you need to know to look for it to see shimmer, but it adds a depth to the polish on the nail that works well. This color really appeals to me, but I think darker skin (which would be anybody's) would work better with it.

Zoya Cho Nail Polish, Two Coats

Farah is described as "latte beige cream," and I think that's an accurate description for a good updated beige.

Zoya Farah Nail Polish, Two Coats

Bevin is the shade the model has on in the promo picture (I didn't include promo pics just because there are already a ton of pictures here and those will be on Zoya site), and it's a wonderful spring green. "Pale sage green" is good for Bevin, but there's a touch more color in it than many of the pale greens of the last year or two that sets it apart. Two coats for a pale green is a bonus, and Bevin was perfect in two. Check out the shine on the almost-dry polish without top coat.

Zoya Bevin Nail Polish, Two Coats

Skylar, the "slate blue metallic," is a real stunner. I wouldn't call the finish metallic, but I also don't know what else I would call it. It's loaded up with sparkly kind of microglitter bits that are just really cool. Slate blue is a favorite color in general for me, but the shimmer in Skylar really breathes life into it.

Zoya Skylar Nail Polish, Two Coats

Tru, the "gilded purple orchid metallic," is the one I wore as a full manicure, so this one has top coat. It's a great modern purple, and the shimmer in it is visible in normal light but not overpowering. It's also where the gilding comes into play.

Zoya Tru Nail Polish, Two Coats

Lotus, the "light lotus metallic," is a more muted purple. It's definitely a modern take on purple, but it stops just shy of the line of looking muddied, which I like. Again, the shimmer is outstanding.

Zoya Lotus Nail Polish, Two Coats

It's evident in the swatches that Zoya's not using the term "full coverage" loosely. All six True shades were totally opaque and even in two coats, which is a big plus. I especially like the fact that all six are very wearable but all are good updates of "safe" colors, and the three shimmers are very strong. The shine of all six is also outstanding before the addition of top coat.

That brings us to Zoya's Fleck Effect Collection, described by Zoya as "mylar fleck glazes" (more commonly referred to as flakies), and their descriptions of the three shades are:

Chloe (ZP584): Pink tint with mylar green and gold fleck effect
Opal (ZP583): Green tint with mylar green fleck effect
Maisie (ZP582): Blue tint with mylar green fleck effect

To looks at the flakes, I swatched them over black first, and have pictures with one coat and with two coats over a black creme. From top to bottom, they are Chloe, Opal, and Maisie, one coat each.

Zoya Fleck Effects Swatches, One Coat Each over Black

This is two coats in the same order.

Zoya Fleck Effect Swatches, Two Coats over Black

Black gives a good look at the flakes, and as you can see the tint doesn't seem to make a big difference here. However, it does over lighter colors, so I layered it over some of the True Collection to see what it did. Here's a look at all three over the swatches of Cho, Farah, and Bevin in the same order as above (the pictures are labelled with them as well) with one coat of each Fleck Effect.

Zoya Fleck Effect Swatches, One Coat over Zoya Cho

Zoya Fleck Effect Swatches, One Coat over Zoya Farah

Zoya Fleck Effect Swatches, One Coat over Zoya Bevin

The tint in each slightly alters the overall color of the base shade, which is good to know. I didn't have the heart to cover up the shimmer in the other three Zoya True swatches, so I didn't add Fleck Effects to them. However, the morning after applying Tru, I was out in great sunlight for a bit, and I decided I really wanted to see what Chloe, the Fleck Effect with a pink base, would look like over it, so I added two coats to my Tru manicure. Since the sun was shining, I took a sunlight picture and one in the shade of the combination. With one coat of top coat over two of Chloe, it dried to a remarkably smooth finish.

Zoya Chloe over Zoya Tru, Two Coats Each in Sunlight

Zoya Chloe over Zoya Tru, Two Coats Each in the Shade

Chloe's tint changed the color of Tru a bit, and both colors of the flakes really show up well. Chloe's my favorite of the Fleck Effects, but I think all are cool with the tint added. The density of the flakes in all three is just right for me, as I'd wear them at either one or two coats, but not more. Since two coats of a Fleck Effect is totally smooth with only one coat of top coat, they're something I would not hesitate to add to a manicure to change it up for another day's wear. I'm a fan, and this collection might be an indicator that 2012 will be The Year of the Flakies.

It looks like 2012 is off to a very good start with Zoya's Spring 2012 collections, and I hope the coming year holds many more great things for all of us. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Prep's Cool

2011-12-31T06:00:00.052-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader, and Happy New Year's Eve!

At the end of the day Thursday, I realized that I'd given my NYE manicure not a single thought as a was gathering supplies to do it, so I ended up with what fit the bill, which was Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Prep's Cool. I don't recall if these were a holiday pattern or not, but I remembered buying them because they're really a great pattern. I wanted something fun and I tend to think of metallics for New Year's, and black argyle on silver seemed like a good choice for that. After the lengthy wear of the last set, the fact that I was applying them right before a trip didn't seem problematic at all, but I was a little bit concerned about application. When I've had troubles, it's been the shimmery strips, and I'd have to start over if I couldn't get them smooth since I didn't want to bother redoing my nails while away.

I'm glad I gave them a shot because they were one of the easiest Salon Effects applications I've done. I started with a coat of nail strengthener, which I let dry thoroughly before applying the strips to minimize its interference. I found the only time I had to be unusually cautious with these was in peeling them off of the paper backing - it was easy to just pull the tab right off without the strip, and there was a tendency for a little edge on the side to stay on the paper (like when unrolling plastic wrap goes wrong). However, being careful took care of that, and there were no difficulties in keeping them smooth and uniform when sticking them on my nails. The bonus was that the pattern itself made them really easy to line up and keep straight. I noted that they're very shiny and could do without top coat, but I applied a coat of Essie Good to Go for durability. Here's Prep's Cool under artificial lighting.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Strips in Prep's Cool

These things never do well with picture magnification. They look kind of bumpy, while in person they were remarkably smooth on their own and are as smooth as glass with top coat. With that in mind, the picture shows you just how well they applied, and what sets these apart from Konading argyle (which was the one pattern that had me enamored with Konad for a year before buying and which I have yet to perfect) is the perfectly clean, sharp lines. I've just never been able to pull that off with the Konad argyle pattern (that's me, not the pattern, since I've seen others do it just right), so it's fun to finally have argyle nails just as I wanted them!

That's my fabulous New Year's Eve 2011 manicure, and I hope yours makes you just as happy. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Best Nail Polishes of 2011, Part IV

2011-12-30T06:00:00.161-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm wrapping up my Best Nail Polishes of 2011 (that link will take you to all twenty on one page) today with numbers sixteen through twenty, and I tacked on my favorite manicure of the year as a little bonus. As before, these come from polishes released in the U.S. in 2011 which I've reviewed and they're in no order. Let's wrap up 2011!

16. Orly Flirty is a bright pink, almost neon, that had such a fantastic shimmer in the bottle that I bought yet another pink even assuming that like most amazing-in-the-bottle shimmers, it would fall flat on the nail. Flirty did anything but fall flat, and the shimmer is just as striking on the nail as in the bottle It was easy to control and a well-pigmented two-coater as well. It was such a pretty polish that I was able to leave a bright pink alone, adding no stamping, glitter, or anything else, and I was happy that it came in the giant 0.6 oz bottle.

Orly Flirty Nail Polish, Two Coats

17. OPI Excuse Moi was the pick of the Muppets for me (of the few I tried). Even though it needed the several coats of top coat that glitters often do, since it provided full coverage in just two coats of color, that wasn't a problem. It's really an outstanding multicolored glitter, and the reason it's a top pick and the other Muppets I tried and very genuinely enjoyd are not is that Excuse Moi wasn't terribly difficult to remove. I'm giving you the close-up of this one because the glitter is so cool.

OPI Excuse Moi Nail Polish, Two Coats

OPI Excuse Moi Nail Polish, Close Up of Glitter

18. Santa's Cinnamon, one of the Sally's exclusive Color Club scented holiday polishes, made the cut even though it was a little high-maintenance. It needed extra top coat to smooth the glitter and I took the preventative measure of using drying drops over quick-dry top coat based on the drying troubles with its sister (brother?) in the collection, Gingerbread Man. However, two thin coats made the tiny dense glitter in an opaque red jelly base a stunning holiday polish as well as gorgeous all-purpose sparkly red, and the mild fragrance of cinnamon red hots made it a lot of fun to wear.

Color Club Santa's Cinnamon Nail Polish, Two Coats

Color Club Santa Cinnamon Nail Polish's Glitter

19. Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough over black creme was what I've wanted a million more expensive glitters to look like. It was gritty and needed a lot of top coat, but the exceptional holo glitter in it made it worth the effort. It's rare that I literally get distracted an play with my polish in the sunlight while waiting at a red light in traffic, and that actually happened with this one, which makes it a noteworthy polish for the year. Additionally, only one coat of Diamond in the Rough really did the trick. Unfortunately, sun was coming and going the day I wore it, so my picture doesn't capture just how fabulous it is.

Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough Nail Polish, One Coat over Black

Wet n Wild Diamond in the Rough Nail Polish, Closer Look at One Coat

20. My last pick is one I've gone back and forth on a few times, but the final conclusion is that it's really just a super cool rendition of a current color. Comet's Collar from FingerPaints Merry & Bright Collection is modern, toned down, kind of olive green, with those kinds of greens becoming much more mainstream in recent years, but what's outstanding about it is the very cool shimmer. The little shimmer bits reflect different colors, and they're too tiny to call microglitter (and I just use the made-up "shimmer bits" when that's the case) and distributed sparsely enough that they're not flashy at all but densely enough that the effect of them is clearly visible. Yet again, this is a smooth two-coater. Comet's Collar is the kind of polish where when I see someone else wearing it in person, my first thought it "nice polish," but then I see the sparkle and the thought turns into "Hey, that's cool!" and I pay a compliment if it would make sense in the situation. Those are polishes worth wearing!

FingerPaints Comet's Collar Nail Polish, Two Coats

Since I'm a math geek, I figured I'd point out the overall themes here in terms of numbers (that's really the only objective way I can think of to evaluate a subjective list, really). I would have acknowledged that I'm fond of pink before making this list, but am surprised that five of my choices are pinks. I noticed that theme early on and reviewed each to see if any could be booted for more variety, and I couldn't honestly knock any of them out. In my choices for the summary, I was struck by how many blues there are, six including the FingerPaints Asylum manicure, because that was a surprise. I like blue, but I wouldn't have said it's a favorite, but evidently it is, and even more surprising to me is that my favorite color in general, purple, doesn't show up at all. I think that's because I was thinking in terms of outstanding polishes of the year, and no purples jump out at me as exceptional. What shows clearly in today's post is true overall: I love glitter. Seven of my picks were glitters and there are lots of sparkly shimmers, but I have always loved glitter. I'm also aware that I'm more fond of novelty polishes than most, and using the strictest definition of them, only the ones that have an element not normally in polish (sometimes holos and flakies are called novelties, I'm not including those), there are three, two scented and one magnetic, and it's only three because I allowed myself just one choice from each scented collection (I set the limit because otherwise I'd include more than were reasonable just because I'm enthusiastic about them). The last thing I noticed that was surprising to me in putting this together is that FingerPaints is the most represented brand with four of my picks, which is fully 20% of my favorites of the year. I knew I liked them a lot and that recent releases have given me the sense that they're getting even better, but that was more than I'd anticipated.

That wraps up my Top 20 of 2011, which was an absolute blast to do. Along the way, I was able to pick a favorite manicure of the year as well. I chose several others to compare to it and be sure it's really #1, but there was no second guessing it alongside anything I put up against it. This is not my most perfect polish application ever, I got a bit on a cuticle when I applied the base color and I don't Photoshop that kind of thing, but even in light of imperfection I love it. This is stamping plate D09 over Nubar Marble Tower.

Nubar Marble Tower Nail Polish with Nail Art Stamping Plate D09

That wraps up 2011 but for my New Year's Eve manicure! I actually wrote this whole post yesterday while still wearing my Christmas Eve manicure because I'm leaving town this morning to spend NYE with one of my favorite people in the whole world ever, so my hope is that I'll have polish changed and a picture taken to schedule that post for tomorrow. If not, it'll keep until I get back, but it felt kind of jerky to leave for a few days in the middle of a series wrapping up the year so I wanted to be sure to get this finished up.

I'll wish you a happy and safe New Year's Eve and a 2012 filled with all good things now on the off chance I don't get one more post in. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Best Nail Polishes of 2011, Part III

2011-12-29T11:03:00.004-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today brings the third entry in my Best Nail Polishes of 2011 series with the eleventh through fifteenth choices from my top twenty polishes of the year. The details of assembling my list are at the beginning of Part I, but the bare bones info is that these are my twenty favorites released in the U.S. in 2011 which I've reviewed presented in no particular order. After the long explanation in the first post, I didn't offer much explanation for the inclusion of each polish, and after doing so yesterday, I think that's information I'd want to have reading someone else's list, so I included that again today for you to either read or skip. Let's get straight back to looking at the list!

11. Color Club Space Case from their Starry Temptress Collection was a real hit with me, so much so that the picture here is from the second time I wore the same manicure with it last Spring (I prefer this picture, sometimes swatches of whole collections include a few I wish I'd done better but am too painfully tired of swatching to repeat). Color Club does excellent neon polishes in general, but what I especially like is when they do neons with a fun twist, like shimmers, scented, or in the case of Starry Temptress, loaded up with glitter. Space Case is the super vivid Barbie pink from that collection.

Color Club Space Case, Two Coats, with One Coat Color Club Starry Temptress

12. For the same reasons as in #11, Color Club Wicked Sweet, the namesake of the Wicked Sweet Collection, had to be on my 2011 list. I had a hard time restricting myself to one favorite from Wicked Sweet for this list, as I really loved several and specifically recall enjoying them, but when I did Wicked Sweet was it for a couple of reasons. First, it was a two coater, and for a very vibrant blue shimmer (it's arguably a neon, but I'm using the more inclusive "vibrant" to avoid debating the point). That alone is an impressive feat, but then on top of that the shimmer completely glows and it smells like Juicy Fruit gum if the sickly sweet factor of the actual gum has been removed. This year, Color Club's scented polishes have been far more creative than others I've used with nontraditional fragrances that smell really good and are not overpowering by any means, and the two collections in this post really impressed me and bumped up my interest in Color Club. For the record, they're also two that I purchased and didn't have press info about.

Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish, Two Coats

13. China Glaze Skyscraper is a really outstanding silver glitter in a navy base. I reconsidered including this one simply because silver glitter in a navy base has been done so many times before, but Skyscraper remained in my top twenty picks after I thought about the other takes on that which I've used, and this one is simply extremely well done, quite possibly the best of them (since I haven't compared it to others, that's all the commitment I can give!). While I did need a third coat to even out the color, that seems reasonable given that the base polish can't be terribly pigmented if the glitter is to show through well, and since the glitter really showing in this one is an outstanding feature, I'll take the trade off. Additionally, Skyscraper was very smooth for all the glitter in it.

China Glaze Skyscraper Nail Polish, Three Coats

14. Nails Inc Whitehall is a top choice for 2011 because the Nails Inc's magnetics are the best I've used (with Lancome, L'Oreal, and LCN being the others) by a lot, and Whitehall was the most unique shade in the set of three I bought (with the purple that disappointed as a result of promo picks overstating the color and silver being the third). I know that the color choices of magnetics are limited as a practical matter, since it's the use of iron based pigment that makes them work, so again it's simply a trade off, but Whitehall's shade is really striking in person. Additionally, as I mentioned in the posts for the two I've worn, the design of the magnet on the Nails Incs is genius, definitely the easiest to use well. I only wish I'd had sunlight for this picture, but alas, I didn't.

Nails Inc Whitehall Magnetic Nail Polish, Two Coats

15. Nubar Boyfriend Jeans, the dupe for Chanel Blue Boy, also had to make my list. I got Les Jeans des Chanel as a birthday gift, and was kind of surprised when examining the bottles how appealing Blue Boy was to me, enough so that it was the first one I wore even though I knew there was more interest in swatches of Coco Blue, and I recall that I kept peeking at it while wearing it. When I compared Nubar Boyfriend Jeans to it, I found the Nubar to be easier to apply (it's a jelly and evenness can be a problem sometimes) and one heck of a color match. One of the two had to make the list as a result, and given cost and availability, Nubar Boyfriend Jeans made the cut. One nail here is Blue Boy, so I included the picture where that nail is labelled as well.

Nubar Boyfriend Jeans Nail Polish with One Chanel Blue Boy Nail, Two Coats Each

Nubar Boyfriend Jeans and Chanel Blue Boy Comparison, Two Coats Each

One shortcoming I'm aware of in presenting an honest assessment of my favorites of the year is that I don't have a whole lot that most people could wear to work. I think only the last one today would even be an option for many, so I thought I should point out that my own experience has been such that a great deal of freedom has been allowed. In office work, being the only woman on a team of more than twenty people has been a recurring theme, and I haven't dealt with anyone outside of the organization at all (other than interviewing applicants or consultants). What I wore on my nails was simply never an issue, although when an office-wide "The Board of Directors will be in the office [this day], business attire is required" email went out, I had the good sense to wear a polish that pretty much made my nails invisible, and if the window for interviewing others was brief I'd go with a traditional red or something, but otherwise nobody has ever cared at all. The same is true now that I'm in grad school - I was the only woman to complete one of my courses (the one with the most students, no less), and I just don't think the men care at all. If they notice, they have no clue whether something's currently fashionable or whatever, so I've always been able to just do my own thing. However, my sister was a district sales manager for a pharmaceutical company, so I have seen the other side where personal presentation is a big part of a professional position, which makes me aware that my preferences are far from universally appropriate. I just wanted to point out that I'm aware that the loud and novelty polishes are heavily represented amongst my picks and why that is so it's clear that an authentic list of my favorites is coming from a particular frame of reference.

Wow, this got long and chatty! I have lots to do before tomorrow, when I take off for a fun New Year's trip, so I'll just wrap it up! Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Best Nail Polishes of 2011, Part II

2011-12-28T06:00:00.098-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today brings the second installment of the Best Nail Polishes of 2011 (that's a link to see all the posts for this on one page, although as of now there's only the one other). They're just my picks and in no particular order, and all the details of how and why about the list are in the beginning of Part I. I'll spare you the lengthy recap and get right back to the list and pictures! Here are numbers six through ten.

6. The second appearance of FingerPaints Palette of Petals Spring 2011 Collection is with Dahlia My Number, the light orange shimmer (and only shimmer) in that release. It had to make the list because literally every time I see the bottle, I wonder what that gorgeous light orange shimmer is and look at it, then laugh at myself for my zillionth check of what that color is. It's a softened light orange with a strong shimmer that's just this side of frosty, and it was non-brushstroke-y perfection in two coats.

FingerPaints Dahlia My Number Nail Polish, Two Coats

7. Orly Stone Cold from their Mineral FX is a vivid, sparkling, non-staining blue that was incredibly easy to apply, and again good in two coats (that seems to be an emerging theme!).

Orly Stone Cold Nail Polish from Mineral FX, Two Coats

8. I really loved Zoya Kennedy from the Feel Collection for its clean simplicity. That whole collection was a good one for me, but Kennedy is a great updated neutral for my coloring and it applied really beautifully. This one was kind of a surprise for a top choice of the year for me in that I tend to wear more flamboyant colors much of the time, but office-appropriate or not, I found Kennedy to be a noteworthy polish to wear. It felt elegant.

Zoya Kennedy Nail Polish, Two Coats

9. FingerPaints appears again with Asylum from the Special Effects. A unique, cool, affordable, and versatile flaky top coat kind of has to be included on my list. FingerPaints might be the most represented brand on my Top 20 (I haven't checked that nothing else makes more appearances), but each of the polishes I've included from them is genuinely outstanding from 2011 for me, so that seems right. For this one, I included both pictures from the original post since the detail shows how cool the flakes are. Asylum is also unusually smooth as well as easy to remove for a flaky.

FingerPaints Asylum Special Effects, Two Coats over Navy Shimmer

FingerPaints Asylum Special Effects, Closer Look at Two Coats over Navy

10. Color Club Hot Like Lava from their Foils Collection was also a memorably good one to wear. Right between pink and red, a great foil finish without streaks, and easy to apply - what more could I ask for? I think it was fun to wear because the overall color is kind of girly and the effect of the finish is kind of unexpectedly badass, so the two rolled into one is just plain cool.

Color Club Hot Like Lava Nail Polish, Two Coats

That wraps up Part II of my Top 20 Polishes of 2011, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Best Nail Polishes of 2011, Part I

2011-12-27T11:23:00.003-06:00

Good morning, Dear Reader!

For the first time ever, I'm doing a Best Of year-end wrap up. It's always been an idea that appealed to me, but quite frankly it just seemed like a daunting task. However, over the weekend Stephanie from Imperfectly Painted made a mention in passing on Twitter about doing hers in several parts, one of those brilliantly simple notions that never fails to elude me, and that got me thinking about it.

I decided four parts seemed workable (I added a Best of 2011 label so I could give you a link to all posts from each of them for viewing all twenty polishes on one page), and that if I limited the scope of my selections to polishes I've reviewed that were released in the U.S. in 2011 (only nail polish, nothing UV cured, strips, etc.) and did not order them in any way, I could just go over post titles on the right of the page and look at the ones that jumped out at me as memorable and have a good list. I started with the goal of a Top 10, but that began getting too involved with the wheel spinning of rethinking over and over that made the task of a Best Of seem daunting in the first place, but when I expanded it to twenty I just had to swap out the final two selections a couple of times, and that tells me I'm solid on my picks. The length of my nails is inconsistent over the year, lighting isn't always the same, and in a perfect world the details would be perfectly uniform but they're just plain old not. Of course, this list would more accurately be named The Best Nail Polishes of 2011 According to Me, but that seemed redundant since this is a blog and essentially everything here falls into the According to Me category.

So that's how my little list came into being. In choosing each to confirm that I really was as fond of each as I recall, I looked over my reviews and I'm including links to the original reviews, which include whether the polish was sent by the manufacturer or not. That had zero bearing on my choices, which you'll see, and linking to them gives you more information about any that might strike your fancy in addition to giving you that information. That's all I can think of that I'd want to know looking at someone else's Best Of list, so I'll move on to them and just let you ask anything else you'd like to know in the comments. Again, I'm presenting my choices in no order at all, although I've picked my favorite manicure of the past year to tack onto the final entry.

1. SpaRitual Knowledge is Power, the bright pink creme from SpaRitual's Spring 2011 Truth Collection. I rethought this one several times (it seemed like a boring choice), but it's really just an exceptional vivid pink that appeals to me in a great formula, and I used it a few times last spring.

SpaRitual Knowledge Is Power Nail Polish, Two Coats

2. Revlon Copper Penny, an easy to work with metallic that really looks like copper. When Revlon does a good one, they really do a good one.

Revlon Copper Penny Nail Polish, Two Coats

3. FingerPaints Chrysanthe-mum's the Word from their Spring Palette of Petals Collection, the super happy not-quite-lime green creme that's almost a one-coater.

FingerPaints Chrysanthe-mum's the Word Nail Polish, Two Coats

4. Glitter Gal Marine Blue, which became readily available in the U.S. this year, is just an amazing blue holographic. It's so vivid and so holo that it absolutely had to make the list, and it was really easy to work with as well (a huge bonus for a holo).

Glitter Gal Marine Blue Nail Polish, Two Coats

5. This entry was rethought a few times because I didn't want to like it enough to include it, but I do so I have to. Chanel Graphite is gorgeous and looks like fabulously sparkly graphite in just two coats. It's painfully expensive, but I do not regret buying it.

Chanel Graphite Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's the first batch of my Top 20 Polishes of 2011, and since they're in no order anyway I figured I'd mix up the presentation a bit to offer some variety in the posts. You'll see a couple of personal preference themes emerge by the time all twenty are posted, and I'll point out the ones I've observed that have an explanation at the end.

Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Party Hearty

2011-12-24T12:25:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I had a chance to change to Christmas manicure this morning and I picked China Glaze Party Hearty, the gold, red, and green glitter from the 2010 Tis the Season Collection as the starting point. My bottle seems to have evaporated a good bit in the last year, but I figure that just happens sometimes and I'll thin it when it needs it, but it seemed worth mentioning.

As the base for Party Hearty, I used China Glaze Poinsettia and Holly-Day, the bright red creme and green creme from this year's China Glaze Let It Snow Collection. I used two moderate coats of each over base coat, with Holly-Days as an accent nail on my ring fingers and Poinsettia on all others, gave the color a few minutes to dry a bit, then added one coat of Party Hearty to all nails. One coat of glitter was enough for me, although two wouldn't be too much, but I left it at one since it was sufficient and the less glitter I have to remove, the better. I finished it off with one coat of Good to Go, and after it dried I took pictures in the sunlight.

China Glaze Party Hearty Nail Polish, One Coat over Red and Green

There really no arguing that this mani isn't Christmas-y, is there? I'm happy with it, and I think it's cool the way the green glitter in Party Hearty shows up so much on the red nails and the red glitter shows up more on the green, with the gold kind of tying it all together. Party Hearty is one cool holiday glitter polish!

This may or may not be my Christmas Day manicure, we'll all find out tomorrow, and either way I hope your holiday is peaceful and happy. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Servin' Up Sparkle

2011-12-23T11:59:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

My candy cane Salon Effects are still holding strong, but on Tuesday I decided to make them a little more festive with OPI Servin' Up Sparkle, the OPI/Serena glitter top coat that was packaged with Grape, Set, Match.It took three coats to get enough of the hex glitter on there for it to show up over the mostly white background of the candy cane pattern, which made the fine glitter a little more dense than I'd like, but it's surprisingly durable, as I've been organizing some stuff I took out of storage this week and quit bothering to wear gloves after the first day. With the same manicure and being hard on my hands for four days, it's holding up impressively well with no chips or wear. For the record, I topped off Servin Up Sparkle with Good to Go to dry it. Here's my durable mani in what little light there is today.

OPI Servin Up Sparkle Glitter Top Coat over Candy Cane Salon Effects

It gives the snowfall effect I was after. The hex glitter looks like falling snowflakes and the fine glitter looks like the sparkly fresh snow on the ground to me. It shows that this is four days old in how grown-out the strips are, but I guess I'm more interested in having a fabulous manicure than a perfect one most of the time, so it still makes me happy.

I'll be wearing this one out to celebrate a Christmas birthday tonight, so I'm finally getting geared up for the holidays, so there should be at least one more holiday manicure this weekend. Until then, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!