Another Orly Polish?

I actually have a ton of photos of today's polish, but I'm only gonna post a few because it didn't feel like this polish was worthy of pic spam. I like the color, but it's just average to me.

Orly Gilded coral is a peachy nude with gold shimmer. I have an obsession with nudes, so I had to get this polish. If you're fair-skinned, this may lean more peach to a point where it looks like a light coral on you. I can't remember how many coats I used but I want to say it was 3 because I remember it being sheer.

Ok, that's enough photos. If you want to see more photos of this polish, you can see them here in my flickr account. 

Is this polish up your alley or totally not your style? Let me know in the comments!

Happy  Polishing,

Janelle

Satiny Pearls

Oh yeah, I've been a naughty blogger. Sorry about that! I haven't been feeling too well, so I've been laying down in bed...a lot. Quick post today though because I'm at a meeting and I'm required to be sitting up. The polish is Orly Au Champagne which was released in 2011 for the holidays. It's a satiny pearly off-white that many people liked, but it didn't tickle my fancy. It took too long to dry on me and it's on the sheer side to me. I did 3 thickish coats here. It dries to a satin finish and I didn't use any topcoat.

But it looks really pretty in the bottle. I'm sad that I couldn't get it to work this time, but I'll try again to make it work.

So it's totally my type of polish, and I will try to make it work in the future, but I say it's not worth hunting this polish down. My fave shimmery white is still a toss-up between China Glaze Frosty and Zoya Gaia. They're both sheer, but to me, the color is worth it!

Happy Polishing,

Janelle

(oh, yeah I used my full name!)

Happy 2013!

I'd like to start off the New Year with a big bang, so I chose a holographic polish to show you today! Hope it's celebratory enough for you! 

Layla Jade Groove is a very pale (almost silver) green holographic polish. I used 3 thin coats over Nfu Oh Aqua Base and had no streaking or balding spots. I recommend using this polish over an Aqua Base instead of buffing your nails. I got my Nfu Oh from FabulouStreet and my Layla from AveYou. 

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures, if not, I wish you a very happy new year anyway! Good luck with all your new year's resolutions, and see you tomorrow!

Happy Polishing,

J

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