Zoya Happi

It's the last day of 2012! Hurrah! Today I'm showing you a polish I lusted after for a while, bought during Earth Day, and didn't wear until November. But goodness gracious, it is gorgeous! I'm talking about Zoya Happi!

I'm drooling over this macro of the bottle! Happi is a gorgeous medium pink with tons of gold/green shifting shimmer. It's kind of  an everyday duochrome!

This is how the pink looks when you can't see the shimmer. It's a very pretty color, but the shimmer is what really makes it stand out.

And here, the shimmer is coming out!

When the shimmer is more prominent, the color looks more coral because of the golden tones. Ugh...so pretty!

I know it looks a little brushstrokey, but I promise it's not! It's just the shimmer and the way I polished my nails. If you polish straighter than me, you won't have any issues.

Oh yeah, I used 4 thin coats here because it is kinda sheer, but so are most duochromes. Here you can see the shimmer shifting to green on my middle finger. It's a lot more noticeable in real life.

I think that was enough pic spamming of one polish for today! I'll see you tomorrow with an extra special polish for New Year's!! Hope you ring in 2013 with a bang!

Happy 2013,

J

Click quickly!

Holly and Polish is having a giveaway for the entire Cirque du Soleil collection by China Glaze! I really want almost the entire collection, and I'm sure you do too, but there's only one day left before it ends on December 31, 2012 at 11:59 CST! Go enter here or click on the picture!

Good luck,

J

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Emerald City

Seriously, this is a perfect glowy holiday green. I should have posted this before Christmas, I apologize. But now that you know, you can get it for next year...if you can find it. I believe that it is no longer being manufactured so you have to resort to either eBay or a swap. I managed to get mine in a blog sale for about a dollar, but it's on eBay for about $7. So still less than a full price Essie or OPI. I used three coats for the following photos, because it was a little on the sheer side.

I think the next three photos were taken with flash, or at least flickr confirms that they were.

Ok, have I spammed you with enough photos? I sure hope so! Hope you have an amazing day!

Happy Polishing,

J

CND Plum Truffle Duo

Sorry about the lack of posts guys! I have plenty of pics, but it's been crazy hectic around my house since I got home. But on the plus side, I went to the dentist last week and I don't have any cavities! Ok, that shouldn't be an accomplishment, but to me it is. So I managed to snag this set of polishes from a blog sale a while back and I meant to wear just the creme as a full mani, but I ended up smudging my right hand and decided to just have a swatch-a-thon that day. First up, bottle shots!

Ok, I'm sure you're bored of bottle shots by now, so just a little bit about the application. I used two coats of Plum Truffle and then added one coat of Plum Truffle Sparkle. Plum Truffle was almost a one coater, but I used two coats to cover any bald spots. Polish was a good consistency, and the brush is nice, although a little soft and wide for my liking. If you have wide nail beds, you'll love the brush, but it's not too bad for smaller nail beds since the brush isn't as big as the OPI Pro-Wide. I didn't do any cleanup, so it's a bit sloppier than I would like. And that's about it!

Hope you enjoyed this post, and if you're looking for this set, you can find it for a very reasonable price on eBay. 

My first BB Coutures!

Dragon's Breath has been on my wishlist for some time now, and when I spotted it in a blog sale, I knew I had to get it! Love Bug was another one I wanted as well and the same seller had it, so I grabbed it.

Macro of Love Bug

Love Bug has this really small iridescent glitter in it that doesn't show up too well on the nail, but it looks great in the bottle. It is on the sheer side, so it took either 3 or 4 coats for the pics below.

Macro of Dragon's Breath

Dragon's Breath is this deep maroon filled with multicolored glitter. The dark base sort of obscures all the different colors though, so it wasn't as exciting on the nail. I used 2 coats for the pics below, although if you tend to do thick coats, one will suffice.

They were all taken under a lamp except the last picture which is taken by a window. Overall, I liked them, but not enough to spend $10 a bottle on them regularly. I'd rather save that money for HARE polish and other awesome indie brands.

Happy Holidays,

J

Nubar Blueberry Pt. 3

Yes, I added even more to the combo!! If I was any good at stamping, there would be a part four, but I guess I'll just have to practice over Christmas break. So far, I added Hare Afterglow to Nubar Blueberry, but what makes any combo magical?

 

Oh yes, Fantasy Fire!!! I added one coat of Fantasy Fire to my existing mani! So this is going to be ridiculously pic heavy, I need to insert a jump here.

Nubar Blueberry Pt. 2

Ok, so remember me telling you about how I used Nubar Blueberry as the base for some awesome layering? Here's the first part of what I layered over it: Hare Afterglow!! I got my first Hares from one of the lovely ladies in one of my polish groups and Afterglow is the only one I've used so far.

Words can't describe it (I'm sure they could, but I'm terrible at descriptions) so here's a macro shot:

Click to enlarge!! It's so pretty!

This is in direct light, so it looks a bit lighter here than it really is.

The next few photos didn't come out too well, but I included them since they were closest to the polish's true color.

Ok, I kept taking photos since it was so pretty...so here are three more. :)

Oh, and I have my laptop back so this is my first post from my completely revamped computer!!! I love having it back, and I'm glad to be back here and blogging!! See you lovelies around!!

Happy Polishing,

J

Yummy Blue!!

Hey guys, I'm blogging from a school computer because I really wanted to get a post up, and everything to finish fixing my computer should be here on Monday, and I should be back blogging by Tuesday!! So tomorrow, I'm taking the LSAT, so wish me luck!!! I wanted to show you guys a polish I used for an amazing layering combo a few weeks ago - Nubar Blueberry from the Jellybeans collection. It's an awesome jelly blue, and I used 3 coats of it in the following photos.

The last two photos are the most colour accurate, although this was a hard colour to capture. I still had a little VNL after 3 coats, and I managed to smudge my index finger (as I always seem to do) so that had a 4th coat. It applied beautifully and would be great for jelly sandwiches! I think this is a must-have blue in any blue lover's collection!

Happy Polishing (and Holidays),

J

No Computer

Sorry everyone, my hard drive crashed this weekend so I'm unable to post until my new hard drive comes and I can get Windows installed on it. I'm having computer withdrawal. Can't wait to be back blogging!

Sassy Lacquer - Nutty As A...

So umm....yeah, I took these pics and was supposed to post them earlier, but I got busy...so here we are! This is 1 coat of Sassy Lacquer Nutty As A... over my previous manicure of Zoya Midori and Cult Nails Nevermore. It has gold micro-glitter and matte red, green, and purple hexes in a slightly tinted base. The slight tint of the base only affects pastels and white underwear. 

So, is it any good? Of course! I usually have a problem applying glitter polishes from mini bottles, but I didn't have to fish for glitter or dip my brush back in the bottle to finish a nail. I didn't apply any topcoat here, but from the feel of my nails, I'm sure it would be smooth with one coat of Seche Vite or Wicked Fast. So my verdict - if you're looking for a great Christmas topper polish, I'm sure Nutty As A... will not disappoint. I'm dying to try it over red and gold...but right now, I'm loving it over black, and it even looks great over hot pink! You can purchase it and other great quality indie polish here.

Happy Polishing (and get shopping!),

J