Not a St. Paddy's Day Manicure

I actually had a St. Patrick's Day mani all planned out. I planned it last night, in fact. And then I went ahead and painted my nails pink and glittery, because I forgot that today was St. Patrick's Day. Whoops. I'm just going to blame it on spring break, because when I'm not at university, I have no idea what day of the week or date it is. Anyway, I really like this manicure and didn't want to take it off after less than 12 hours of wear, so here we are! Maybe this is for St. Patty's Day instead of St. Paddy's Day? (Hint: If you didn't know, Patty is a girl's name in Ireland.)

Mint & Pink Accent Mani

Hello! I'm posting this as a short break from taking history notes, because I've been taking notes for about an hour and a half now and figured it was time for a break. Last night I did my nails, and I almost immediately knew exactly what I wanted to do: an accent nail manicure with Essie Mint Candy Apple and Exotic Liras. I really think these two colors complement each other well, and I used three coats of each with Cult Nails Get It On and Wicked Fast. The picture's of lesser quality than usual because I took it on my phone, but I know I wouldn't be able to take proper pictures until tomorrow, and I just didn't want to wait. Anyway, I hope you're all doing well, and that it's a bit cooler and wetter where you are than it is here!

Zoya Beach Swatches & Review

Greetings! Before I start the polish talk, I have to do a little self-promotion and remind you to go like my Facebook page. (And thanks for doing so!) I hope Monday is going well - or at least tolerably - for everyone. Like I promised, I have swatches of the Zoya Beach collection to show you today, starting with Reagan.

natural light

Zoya describes Reagan as a "deep cerise pink cream," which I think is actually a pretty good description of this gorgeous color. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to show up very accurately in any of the many photos I took of Reagan. It's a bit more purpley than in the picture, but I think I managed to capture the vividity (which, yes, is a word - Google it) well. It's also very opaque at one coat. I'm going to be posting a comparison post for Beach later, but I'll say now that I think Reagan might be a dupe or close cousin to OPI Dim Sum Plum. Unfortunately, I didn't bring it to college, so it won't be in my comparison post.

natural light

The second polish in Beach, Lara, is what Zoya calls a "vivid cerise pink cream." To me, it's a bit more of a cross between bubblegum pink and cerise, but that's very subjective anyway. Like Reagan, Lara is opaque in one coat. Also like Reagan, I couldn't get it to photograph well, and it's a bit more purple in real life. If you're in need of girly pink to add to your polish stash, Lara would be a great choice, though I honestly don't like it quite as well as Reagan.

natural light

Speaking of girly pinks, Shelby seems to me like the epitome of Barbie pink, or as Zoya says, a "soft pinky pink creme." While it's not an uncommon color in the least, that doesn't mean it's not pretty, and I can definitely see myself doing some sort of tape mani with Shelby and, say, China Glaze For Audrey or Zoya Wednesday. Shelby is opaque in two coats.

natural light

Moving away from the pinks, Zoya Arizona is a "soft coral orange creme" that goes on easily in two coats. I'm not sure I'd describe it as coral - or soft, for that matter - but it's certainly a great color, especially for summer. Again, it's not terribly unique, but I'll talk more about that in my comparison post. Oh, and as a side note: could someone explain the logic behind naming a child Arizona?

natural light

Tracie is sort of the standout polish in Beach, as it's the only one that's not a creme. Zoya calls it a "sea grass metallic," and while I see the sea grass part of it, I really consider Tracie to have more of a pearlized finish. Normally I don't like that finish much, but while Tracie isn't my favorite, I did actually end up liking it once I put it on. The base color is very pretty, and I think it helps that the pearlescence isn't too awfully streaky. Tracie was opaque in two coats.

flash

Finally, we have Wednesday, a "soft aqua creme" that I ended up wearing as a full manicure. I love dusty cremes like Wednesday, and while I tend to think of them as more spring-y as far as seasonality goes, I will wear just about any color during any time of year. Wednesday (again, I'm not quite sure why someone would actually name their child Wednesday, but whatever) was opaque in two easy coats.

Overall, while I don't feel that any of these polishes, save Tracie, are that unique, they're all very pretty colors that would be well worth adding to a polish stash that doesn't already contain dupes. As the application and opacity was also very good for all of the polishes, I would definitely recommend Zoya Beach.

These polishes were provided by the manufacturer for honest review. However, that has and will never change what I write in a post. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Zoya Surf Swatches and Review

Helllooo there! I'm so glad I finally got these swatched so I can show them off to you all, though I must apologize for the fact that the lighting will be changing throughout the post due to the wildly variant weather we always have in St. Louis during the spring. I should be getting Beach swatched and posted relatively soon, too ... but first, Surf's up! (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

indoors, with flash

First, we have Carly, a "thalia purple foil metallic." While I don't have the faintest idea what the heck a "thalia purple" is (feel free to inform me in the comments), Carly is certainly a stunner. I wasn't the biggest fan of Carly just looking at the bottle, but I like it a lot better on my nails. I'd almost say it's an amethyst purple, but I think it's a bit too pinkish for that - it does have that lit-from-within glow of a jewel, though. I used two coats in the picture, but the only reason I added a second was because I wanted it to be a bit more vibrant.

indoors, with flash

Second, we have Kimber, what Zoya calls a "magenta pink foil metallic." Zoya, I love your polishes, but I beg to differ. Kimber is not what I think of when I think magenta. If anything, I'd call it a hot pink foil with gold highlights ... or I could just call it gorgeous. Which it is. I used two coats of Kimber, and it was actually the only polish out of Surf that I really needed a second coat on.

indoors, with flash

Rory, a "lotus pink foil metallic," is honestly not my favorite of the collection. I think it's because I tend not to like frosts, and while Rory isn't quiiiite a frost, its lighter shade combined with the foil finish isn't doing it any favors in my opinion. However, that's just my personal taste, and it's quite the pretty pink - ignore the bumpy look it has on my index finger; that's just because I have peeling there that I haven't quite been able to entirely buff out without making my nail as thin as tissue paper. I used one coat of Rory. 

natural light 

While Myrta is described as a "coral orange foil metallic" by Zoya, and while it does look like a coral orange in the color drop, I really didn't see much, if any, coral in the polish when I wore it. Regardless, Myrta is a lovely bright orange with a golden flash, and it was opaque in two easy coats. In fact, I can just picture myself wearing it once warm weather comes around again.

 natural light

I actually completely agree with Zoya's description of Meg, which they call a "mermaid green foil metallic." I wouldn't have gotten to "mermaid" all by myself, but when I saw Meg and read Zoya's description, a mental image of Ariel's tail popped right into my head. *hums Disney songs* I can't quite remember if I used one or two coats of Meg, but I think it was one. Maybe. I should make a note of these things.

natural light

I have to admit, even though I went in the order of how the polishes were in the box, the best (in my opinion) ended up being saved for last. Zuza, an "aquamarine foil metallic," is my absolute favorite of Surf by far. It's not that the others aren't pretty; it's just that Zuza is so, well, Zuza. I even love the name. It's a brilliant turquoise foil that makes me think of going to the pool - or even better, the Greek sea in the summertime. For example:

See where the color starts shifting from green to blue - in the middle, where it's that perfect teal? That's Zuza. I guess the true mark of a good summer color must be that it reminds you of last summer's vacation...at any rate, I'll definitely be wearing Zuza at least a couple more times in the next few months!

Overall, while I'm not always a fan of foils that aren't gold, silver, bronze, or copper (i.e., a metallic color that's actually the color of a metal), I thought Zoya did a good job on Surf, and my three favorites are Zuza (of course), Kimber, and Carly. Which would you pick?

These products were provided to me by the manufacturer for review; however, this will never affect my honest review of a product. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Pink Wednesday: Ulta Encore Pink

EDIT: Ooh, I just realized this is my 400th post! Wheeeee!

Hello there! It's been a little longer than usual since I've posted, and even longer since I've done a Pink Wednesday, so I decided one was more than overdue. Today I have Ulta Encore Pink, which I wore back in early December for finals week. I got it because I wanted a light pink creme that was actually opaque in three or fewer coats, and Encore Pink fits the bill.

indoors, flash

I can't remember precisely, but I believe this was four coats. It's a great color, as far as I'm concerned, and perfect for those times that you think you might have to wear the same polish for a while and don't want anyone to notice much if it's chipping (i.e., finals week). I now seem to have left it at home or mislaid it somewhere, which is upsetting, but hopefully it will be found soon. Ciao!

Day 22: Inspired by a Song

Um...let's just pretend it's still the 22nd, okay? After all, it's only 12:07 A.M. Today's manicure was pretty easy - after I applied OPI Meep Meep Meep, I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the song manicure, and I thought of the song Razzle Dazzle from Chicago (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go here). So, I added two coats of Nubar 2010 and called it good.

indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

Sorry for the blurry pictures...I simply couldn't get one that wasn't blurry that showed the polish even halfway accurately. I really need to figure out a new lighting situation for the winter, because, as I've said many times, the lighting in my dorm room absolutely sucks.

And that's all for today (err, yesterday...)! Check out the other bloggers doing this challenge:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 21: Inspired by Color: OPI Meep Meep Meep

Today's challenge was "inspired by color," which in my opinion is pretty vague. I mean, aren't all my manicures inspired by color in one way or another? I ended up picking OPI Meep Meep Meep simply because I'd been wanting to wear it...so, yeah, I was inspired by pink. As it turns out, that was a very good thing - Meep Meep Meep is fabulous.

 indoors, with flash

 indoors, with flash

indoors, with flash

I really wish I'd had an opportunity to do this manicure before the sun set, but I had class until 4:30 today, so that wasn't an option. My pictures really don't show the gorgeousness of the polish - it's much juicier and glass-flecky and gorgeous in real life. The application was awesome as well, and I barely had to do any cleanup. Basically, you need to get this, okay? Okay. :)

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 11: Polka Dots

Happy 11/11/11! Don't forget to make a wish tonight at 11:11:11. :) I hope you didn't have your fill of polka dots after my rainbow manicure, because I have more for you today. This time, I just did two vertical lines of polka dots on each nail, and I really like how it looks. I used a base of China Glaze First Mate, and the dots are in Sally Hansen Green with Envy and Color Club Overboard.

 indoors, artificial light

natural light

I can't believe I'd never used First Mate before! It's really gorgeous, and I think the green and pink complement it well. The only thing I don't like about this manicure is that because my pinky nail is so much small than my other nails and the dots are the same size, that nail looks a bit odd. Other than that, though, I'm happy with it - and even if I wasn't, I'd only have to wear it for today. Again, have a great day!

Day 10: Gradient

Today's post will also be a brief one, as I once again have way too much reading to do in too little time. For today's gradient, I used Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Revlon Victorian (from the Just Tinted collection), and China Glaze Golden Enchantment. I was very happy with the way it turned out, and then I went to bed and got sheet marks. Whoops.

natural light

natural light

natural light

natural light

That's all! I promised a short post, didn't I? :)

Splatter on Black

I was originally going to do a water marble with these colors, but for some reason it just wasn't working for me. Instead, I decided to go for an easier option: the splatter mani. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme with OPI A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find, Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, OPI Jade is the New Black, and Color Club Overboard.

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight

At first, I wasn't too happy with this, but it definitely started growing on me after I put top coat on. Unfortunately, it's chipped now, so I'll have to take it off soon. I'm not sure when that's going to happen, though, as one of my best friends, Francis, is visiting this weekend. This is Francis:

I really like how the focus turned out in the first picture, even though it was completely accidental. Anyway, that's about all I have to say now...have a great weekend!

Pink Wednesday: Revlon Dawn

Hello there! Revlon Dawn is the second polish I tried out of the Just Tinted collection from earlier this year. All three of the polishes are very sheer pink jellies that dry semi-matte. Dawn is the most differently colored of the three, with warm peachy tones that almost make it a coral. I used three coats with one coat of top coat here.

 outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

I really like the color of this one, and I think it suits my skin tone rather nicely. With the addition of top coat, Dawn has that wonderfully squishy look we've come to expect from any jelly worth its salt (or since it's a jelly, maybe I should say "worth its sugar?"). However, one thing I can't get past is that the warmer tones in Dawn makes my yellow nail tips look even yellower than they actually are, which, um . . . ick. As much as it pains me, I've put Dawn on my MUA swap list for that reason. As much as I love the color and squishiness, I know I won't wear a polish that brings out the yellow in my nails. Though they have improved since I've started using Develop 10 Whitening Scrub, I can't imagine that there will be a time when my nails are perfectly unblemished. However, I'm thinking about taking it back off my swap list - I just don't know. What do you think - should I keep Dawn, or pass it on?

Franken: Firework

This is one polish that I've meant to use for a long time, and haven't . . . and now that I have, I don't think I did a very good job capturing it on camera. :/ I made Firework (which I did not name after the Katy Perry song, just to be clear) out of Zoya Roxy, Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, OPI Sparkle-icious, OPI Absolutely Alice, Finger Paints Holly Good Time, and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I used two coats, and left it there partly because it was all but opaque in my eyes (though not that camera's, as you'll see), and partly because I honestly did not feel like taking three coats of glitter off. The picture to the left is a bottle shot taken outside in cloudy light.

outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

The shaded photo shows the opacity much more accurately than the one taken in sunlight; however, neither of the pictures show how spectacular Firework is in real life. I'll definitely have to re-do this one, perhaps when I eventually wear it for a full manicure . . . which, if I have any sense at all, will be soon! I may also add some more flakies to this one, though I'm reluctant to use up any of my small supply. Perhaps I'll add some OPI I Lily Love You . . . ? Anyway, while I'd happily do some tweaking, I'm also happy with Firework as it is.

China Glaze Tarnished Gold

Hello there! When I got home from Greece Sunday, I had the pleasant surprise of finding a package from China Glaze containing Oxidized Aqua and Tarnished Gold, two of their metallic crackles. The funny bit about this is that I had actually stopped at a Sally Beauty Supply store on the way home from the airport hoping to find Tarnished Gold, but they were sold out - which was a good thing, as it turns out! I decided to combine today's Pink Wednesday with my review of Tarnished Gold, so I used it over two coats of Essie Exotic Liras.

 outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

I never wear Exotic Liras much on its own, but I think it looks great with Tarnished Gold, don't you? I prefer this color of gold to that of the Sally Hansen gold crackle, as this one's a bit darker, warmer, and richer. Application was a breeze and it cracked quite nicely, as you can see. I'll definitely be using this a ton in the future, and, yep - it's going to college with me. There was a bit of wear because I didn't add top coat, but the bits that wore off were actually Exotic Liras and not Tarnished Gold. If you don't have this one and you're not sick of crackle yet (I know some are), I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on this one.

Tarnished Gold was provided to me for review by the company's PR, but this did not affect my review. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Pink Wednesday: Cracked Pink Dots

I know, it's a terrible post title . . . however, it's a pretty good mani, if I do say so myself. It's a pink version of a manicure I did back in April, while I was on a choir trip. This time, however, I added the crackle right away instead of wearing the dots on their own for a while. I've forgotten precisely what pinks I used (I've been really bad about writing this stuff down lately), but I think I used Essie Exotic Liras, Love My Nails Tropical Fruit, Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl, and Sinful Colors Pink Forever. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild White Creme and added China Glaze Black Mesh on the top.

indoors, artificial light

This ended up looking a bit like pink camo, which wasn't what I intended, but it makes me want to try it with green. For that matter, I'd like to try it with just about any color combination - I imagine silver and gold dots with black crackle would look cool as well. I really like the idea of covering nail art in crackle in general, too; I think it's a good strategy for people who are new to nail art, for a quick mani refresher, or for when you want to do something that looks complicated but don't have much time. At any rate, I think Regina would approve, don't you? Have a great day!

Pink Wednesday: NYX Silver Plum

NYX Silver Plum is another polish that I got in a giveaway and let sit in my untried box for far too long. It's more of a pink plum than a purple plum, but it's quite pretty. Unlike yesterday's sour grape, Milani Breezy, I had no trouble with the formula of this one. I used three coats.

outdoors, sunlight

I took a picture in the shade as well, but didn't realize it was blurry until I'd already taken Silver Plum off. I don't have much else to say about Silver Plum . . . it's a pretty color, but not really my type, so I've added it to my swap list on MUA. It's only been used this once, so if you're interested, let me know!

Butterfly Nail Art

Happy July! I still can't quite believe it's not May anymore. I better start making my packing list and deciding which polishes to take to college - I don't know how I'll pick! Anyway, today's manicure is some butterfly nail art that I did on top of the jelly sandwich I showed you on this past Wednesday. I used a black Kiss striper, Wet n Wild White Creme, and a toothpick to make the design, and I followed this tutorial by Confessions of a Polishaholic - though, of course, hers looks about a million times better than mine.

indoors, artificial light

I guess there's not much else to say about this one, except that I am shocked that it wore as long as it did - I think I had this one for four days, and there were only two very small chips at the end of that time. With all the coats of nail polish I used in the jelly sandwich with nail art and more top coat on top, I didn't expect it to last two full days, and I have no clue why it did! I'm glad, though, because I wore this during my college registration, so if it had all fallen off I wouldn't have had time to fix it. 

Have you tried butterfly nails? If not, you should - and let me know!

Pink Wednesday: Jelly Sandwich

Today's Pink Wednesday post is my first (I think) jelly sandwich. I used Revlon Desire, one of the new Revlon jellies, Nubar 2010, and a base of Wet n Wild White Creme to satisfy my hate of VNL. I used quite a few coats, as my manicure went something like this: Wet n Wild White Creme, Revlon Desire, Nubar 2010, Revlon Desire, Nubar 2010, Revlon Desire, Nubar 2010, Revlon Desire. Yeah. And then I put Insta-Dri on top to make it all shiny.

 indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

I really like this combination, though I don't think I'm quite as fond of the jelly-flakie sandwich as I am of matteified flakies...we shall see. I need to buy a new bottle of Revlon Royal (I used the last for frankens) so I can try one with that.

Pink Wednesday: Pink Fail

Before I get to the polish, I want to let you all know that I'm going to be out of town this afternoon through Sunday (I'm going to a young adult brain tumor survivor's retreat). Therefore, I scheduled posts for Friday and Sunday - I would schedule posts for all the days I'm going to be gone, but I'll be out of town next Thursday and Friday as well, so I thought I should save some. :) However, since I don't have time to do all the research and whatnot before I leave, there will be no Learned and Lacquered post this Sunday, just a regular nail polish post. Sorry!

Unfortunately, my first post now that my blog is back up and running is a bit of a fail. I got Maybelline Pink Glimpse, a pale pink shimmer, at Walgreens a little while back, and while I didn't have high expectations, it didn't wow me. I was impressed at first because the polish actually does dry quite fast. It requires four coats for opacity, but that didn't bother me because it dried so quickly. But then, there were bubbles.

indoors, artificial light

Yuck. Yuckyuckyuck. I hate bubbles, and Pink Glimpse bubbles like nobody's business. I didn't have my fan turned on, I let each coat dry before putting on the next - I did everything one can to prevent bubbles. But there they are, in full force. I think I'll empty this bottle and use it for a franken...

Also, check out the awesome widget at the bottom of this post! I love it, and it has more social bookmarking/sharing sites than I even knew existed.

P.S. I'm using my trip as an opportunity to do a wear test on some Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips that I picked up on clearance a while back, so you can look forward to a post on that in the near future! In case you're curious, the ones I got are the denim-patterned ones (Skinny Jeans).

OPI Steady as She Rose + Layering

Happy June, happy hump day, and happy Pink Wednesday! Today I have not only a  Pink Wednesday pink for you, but some layering, as well. This was my first time using Steady as She Rose, and I was very pleased with the formula, application, and opacity - I used two coats here and couldn't see any VNL, even under the extremely bright light of my desk lamp.

indoors, artificial light

Steady as She Rose is a dusty pink that pulls a bit grey and a bit purple on me, though not as much as it appears to in that picture. I would've taken one outside to see if it photographed better in sunlight or shade, but I honestly didn't think to (where was my brain?) until after I took it off. Oops. But before I took it off, I added glitter! I used one coat of China Glaze White Cap, two coats of Ulta After Party (a silver and rose glitter), one coat of Sephora by OPI Traffic Stopper Copper, and a coat of Essie Matte About You.

 indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

I like the combination a lot, though I think the warmth of the copper glitter sucked all the rosy tones out of Steady as She Rose, because by the time I finished the layering, it hardly looked pink at all. Do you think Regina would still approve, or would she ban me from their table? ;)

Pink Wednesday: Pink and Grey Crackle, Part 2

Earlier this month (May 4, to be exact), I did a pink and grey crackle mani for Pink Wednesday/National Brain Tumor Awareness Month. And that's the last Pink Wednesday I did. *hangs head in shame* However, Pink Wednesdays are officially back with this combination - OPI Skull & Glossbones (which I will show on its own tomorrow...I intended to today, but took an unexpected day trip instead) and China Glaze Broken Hearted. (I actually didn't intend to do a crackle mani, but more on that in a minute.) But first, a brain tumor fact: "A “benign” brain tumor can be life-threatening because of its location or behavior." - North America Brain Tumor Coalition This is something that some people don't realize - even if a tumor isn't malignant, it can still be very dangerous.

indoors, artificial light

Me like! You like? ;P I've always had trouble getting the China Glaze crackles to even out, regardless of what top coat I used, but I finally got this mani to lay flat by using two coats of Wet n Wild Clear and then one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.

So, I said I didn't intend to do a crackle mani. And I didn't. This was supposed to be a dotty pirate Pink Wednesday - that is, I intended to do a dotting manicure with OPI Steady as She Rose on top of OPI Skull & Glossbones. And I did. And then I realized that the two colors were so close together that I could barely see the dots when I stretched my hand out an arm's length from my face. So, I just added the crackle on top. You can probably see some of the Steady as She Rose dots, but only if you're really, really looking for them. I guess that's all for today...until tomorrow!