Zoya Spam!

Happy Easter, everyone! How about some Zoya spam to celebrate? 

Zoya Aurora: gorgeous (and insanely sparkly) scattered holographic purple. Looks different in the following pictures depending on lighting- in reality, it's somewhere in between. 

Zoya Bela: soft and squishy-looking peachy pink jelly.

Zoya Jacqueline: creamy yellow-toned off-white creme.

Zoya Marley: a light pastel purple with soft pearly shimmer. Very pretty, and perfect for Easter!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Hare Polish - Pegasus

Hare Polish's Pegasus- this is a seriously awesome polish that I received as a Christmas present from a seriously awesome friend (she's currently on vacation, but if she happens to see this, I hope you're having a blast, Bee!). Pegasus features a pastel lilac-pink base with lots of silver glitter in various sizes that actually reads as more white when partially covered by the creamy pastel base. The overall effect is kind of like a jelly sandwich. Like most Hare polishes, the formula is very dense and a little thick, and covered easily in two coats. 

What do you think of Hare Polish Pegasus? Would you be as thrilled as I was to receive this as a Christmas present?

OPI Siberian Nights and F4 Polish Heavy Metal

Siberian Nights is another polish from the OPI Russia Collection (Fall 2007) that I adore; it's a gorgeous blackened aubergine-purple creme. 

Siberian Nights also made the perfect base for F4's Heavy Metal- an insanely glitzy mixture of reflective metallic square glitters in all different colours. This was a showstopper, but one that is definitely best with a couple layers of topcoat. Love it.

What do you think of this combo? 

China Glaze Tranzitions - Shape Shifter

I decided to pick up just one of the China Glaze Tranzitions polishes: Shape Shifter, a steel grey that changes to a saturated blue-ish purple after the addition of topcoat. 

This is Shape Shifter before the addition of any topcoat; a slightly frosty gunmetal grey. 

Below you can see my clumsy attempt at doing tips using a clear topcoat to change the colour of Shape Shifter; while it's kind of neat to see the gradual colour change after applying topcoat, it also makes it a touch harder to see where you've already painted while you're in the process of applying. I'm not sure it makes a better alternative for nail art- I'm not sure why one wouldn't just use another opaque nail colour altogether (although, admittedly, it's kind of cute to have "two shades of polish in one"... perhaps less so when one already has an absurd amount of nail lacquer).

Finally, the best result: Shape Shifter, fully top-coated. Gorgeous, deep, glow-y purple. Extremely pretty, and my reason for buying this in the first place.

Did you bother picking up any of the China Glaze "Transitions" shades? What did you think of them?

China Glaze - Some Like It Haute

Today I've got another mani that is from ages ago- this past New Year's Eve, to be exact. This is China Glaze's Some Like It Haute, a charcoal grey glitter with silvery/holographic accents. The base is clear, but the glitter is dense enough to be opaque in 3 coats. 

What do you think? Overall, I think it was a pretty solid NYE mani option- can't go wrong with a dramatic steely grey accented with sparkly holographic goodness! Now I just need to get better at posting these manicure pictures before they're months old...

Picture Polish - Atomic

Tonight I have Picture Polish Atomic to share with you; this has a scattered and subtle holographic shimmer in a soft silver/white base. Not visible in the pictures, but more visible in real life is a golden-pink flash. Quite pretty, and definitely better in reality than in my pictures. The holographic shimmer in this is kind of flakey and really interesting, although visible mostly in bright sunlight (unfortunately on the day I took these, sunlight was in short supply). I used three coats to achieve full coverage. 

What do you think of Picture Polish Atomic? Did you pick up any of the recent Picture Polish collaboration shades?

Hare Polish - Midsummer's Midnight

Tonight I've got a gorgeous lacquer from Hare Polish to share with you; this is Midsummer's Midnight, and it's a black jelly polish with lots of purple, green, and blue glitters swimming in it. I especially love the blue squares in this- they're not as numerous as the purple and green glitters, and it adds so much depth. If I recall correctly, this was opaque in two thick coats. 

This was also my first experiences using white glue as a base for a glitter polish; if you haven't heard about this method of glitter removal, read all about it here. I just emptied some white glue into an empty polish bottle, and applied it as a base coat (allowing it to dry completely) before applying my polish. Unfortunately, removal wasn't as slick for me as I'd hoped. It seems to work great for other people, but in my case I really struggled to get the polish off and I think it stripped some of the surface of my nail off with it (I really should have just given up and broken out the remover, but I was stubborn enough to want to finish what I'd started). Oh well, back to the tin foil method for me!

 

Have you tried using white glue as a method for making glitter polish removal easier? What were your experiences?

OPI Suzi Says Da! + Dandy Nails Grave Robber

I'm ashamed to say that these pictures are from a manicure I wore waaaaay back at the beginning of last November. I guess they just kept getting pushed to the back of my un-posted folder. Nevertheless, you're finally seeing them tonight. Suzi Says Da! is one of the polishes I picked up from the OPI Russian collection (which I'm extremely enamoured with- it's an older collection from Fall 2007, but there are still a few polishes kicking around from it if you look hard enough). This is a deep red-toned brown creme. It reminds me a little of darker Chanel Rouge Noir. From what I recall, the formula was good, and I used two coats for these pictures. 

This one was taken under bright artificial light:

This was also a perfect base colour for Dandy Nails Grave Robber, a combination of metallic orange and steel-blue shredded glitter in a clear base. Very unique, and such a cool colour combination. I applied it as a gradient to the tips of my nails. I really love how this turned out, and it wore for ages. 

I'll also take this opportunity to show you a really cool bracelet I picked up last fall- it's a white "blood vessel" motif cuff that I really loved pairing with the vampy-ness of Suzi Says Da!. I purchased it from Nervous System's Etsy store. I highly recommend checking them out- they make some really amazing and unique items!

What do you think of my accessorizing? Have I piqued your interest in anything I've shown you today?

Man Glaze - Fuck Off And Dye

Man Glaze's Fuck Off And Dye is a gorgeous medium warm-toned pink with silver shimmer. Matte finish, of course. The formula was excellent, as per usual with Man Glaze, and I might add that the label art is also awesome (also to be expected). Check it out:

It's the perfect colour to wear on those days when you'd really just like to let your fingers do the talking.  I rather like it because it allows me to feel secretly snarky and slightly passive-aggressive all day. Y'know?

Layla Soft Touch - Stone

Awhile ago I showed you one of the Layla Soft Touch polishes (a deep red, called Queen Bordeaux), and today I have another one to show you. This is "Stone", a gorgeous and soft greyed out pale purple that has silvery pink shimmer running through it. The Soft Touch finish is very unique- not quite a matte or a rubber type finish; this particular shade is most like the OPI suede finish polishes, but even then it's a little different. Not quite as dull, and the shimmer isn't quite as pronounced. The formula was good, and although it took awhile to dry, it wore like iron. Better than any matte-type polish I've ever tried, and in fact better than most manicures I would usually finish with topcoat. Impressive!

What do you think of Layla Soft Touch in Stone? Have you tried any of the Soft Touch polishes yet? If so, how would you describe the finish?