A Chameleon of a Polish

Happy, Happy Friday!

The last few weeks have a blur! I am so busy I literally have had zero time for myself let alone my nails. Sunday I actually had some time to myself and decided I wanted to wear another duochrome for re last week in September. I have such a large array, but decided on one of the newest additions to my collection, Rare and Radiant.

As I'm sure you already know, this is one of the many Chanel Peridot dupes. The base is a yellow/gold and the colour shifts between green and teal. I only needed two coats to reach opacity.

In the sun it is super sparkly and in the shade or indirect lighting is appears to be a metallic chrome, like melted metal! I did see some slight brush stroke marks but it didn't bug me too much. I know there are some methods out there on how to avoid them, I will have to try it out when I have more time.

The duochrome on this polish is petty prominent and I think it is definitely one of the stand out polishes of China Glaze's Bohemian collection. For one it doesn't take too many coats to reach opacity (two coats is usually the norm for me) and secondly it had a pretty noticeable shift in colour which I know some of the other polishes in the collection were lacking.

More fall nails!

Today I have a fall polish from last year, I just had to have it right away and it just ended up stashed in a drawer since then. I have really been inspired by fall colours for my polishes and have been really feeling the duochromes that have been coming out this year. Rococo a Go-Go is from Orly's Mineral FX line and it so awesome! I would say the main shade in this polish is purple, but in some lighting it is way more of an amber/wine. Very jewel toned.

The finish is foily, very flecky and similar to the polishes from the preppie years Cosmic FX line (think Space Cadet, one of my all time FAVORITE POLISHES! Have a look at the photos.

Similar to Space Cadet the shimmer flashes many shades depending on your lighting source, they range from gold to orange. It so rich! I could have used one thick coat, but applied one medium and one light coat.

The Layering Continues! Glitter Sandwich

Happy Friday!! I cannot wait for the weekend to start. So a random thought popped in my head the other night before I headed to bed and I knew I must try it. I had thought to myself I wonder how a layer of blue jelly polish would look over my Dive Bar, Meteor Shower concoction...

I didn't think, I just did it! And I am soooo glad :) I applied a thin layer of Revlon's Royal and this manicure just came to life. The glitter looked like crushed ice trapped between the layers of polish. This has got to be one of my favorite layering experiments ever!

It just looks so great, nothing else so say. I'll let the photos do the talking:

Gold Shards of Glitter

I decided to refresh my mani the other day with a thick coat of American Apparel's Meteor Shower. I got the inspiration from another mani I had seen with a black base and gold hex glitter in top.

I find the best way to apply these chunky, sparse glitters is to dab the burst at the base of the nail and gently blot and swipe up to make sure enough glitter appears on the nail.

This combo was alright, it didn't wow me like I had hoped it would. I do love how irregularly shaped the glitter is, so sharp and pointy. They are like little pieces of broken glass.

I have been really craving glitter lately! I hope the removal for this one isn't too bad since it's not a huge amount of glitter.

Dive Deeper

I don't own many Essie polishes but Dive Bar has quickly become on of my favorites! I had seen it around the blogs a while back now and thought it looked just awesome, but it was nowhere to be found. I ended up picking it up for more than I would have liked to have spend when I was cross boarder shopping, It was the last bottle and I could not resist!

In the bottle Dive Bar has a deep indigo/black base with a shimmery duochrome that looks to shift between purple, teal and blue. On the nail the duochrome is not so prominent, however it is still so beautiful. The shimmer mostly shines of teal and blue, on extreme angles you can catch a slight glimpse of purple.

I loved the deep dark looks for the first part of September, so perfectly fall :)

My Little Glue Experiment

Today I have a review for the method I used earlier in the week to create a base coat that peels of easily when you want to change your mani. For more on that post click here, for more info on the method I used watch this video.

So here we go, the first photo was taken right after application.

The next photo is after the first full day of wear.

Midday I noticed a small chip on my pointer finger on the top left side. This was on my left hand only, my right hand did not experience any chipping. After my shower that evening I also noticed that the middle finger had slight lifting at the base, must have been the hot water. It did not peel off.

Day 2

I noticed some minor tip wear on both hands, it's hardly viable and not really abnormal. I also got some tiny chips on my thumbs. This is where I usually get my chipping first no matter the finish or type of polish. Still very minor. After my shower this day I did not get see or feel anymore peeling.

Day 3

I had slightly more chipping on my thumbs. A bit of the polish pulled up which was annoying.

But the rest of my nails looked fine :)

Day 4, Time to peel it off!

This is such a great idea, not only is the removal process much easier, but it also saves a bunch of time. I can tottally see me removing my polish on the bus ride home afterwork without a mess or smell of remover, so I don't have to spend time scrubbing them later when I get home. I heard that the polish is supposed to peel off in sheets, but i had to pick at mine a bit. Still overall a lot easier than traditional removal and not damaging at all to the nail.

I will be trying out this method again over a creme polish in the next few days which I only anticipate wearing for three days. I'll let you know how it goes.

Zoya Haul!

I had mentioned that Zoya had a great promo going on at the end of August, buy one get one free on all  polish with a max of four polishes free. The great thing about this offer is that shipping was also free if you had at least six polishes in your cart at checkout.

I picked out all of my polishes out individually but noticed once I received them all that they are super perfect for fall!... maybe with the exception of only one polish.

So here is what I've got! Lets start with the shimmery polishes Left to right Song, Fiefie and Apple. (all full swatches of each polish are at the end of the post.)

Song is also apart of the latest fall collection and it is stunning! Application was outstanding, one coat gives you perfect coverage and glitter. The polish it's self is a deep royal blue shimmer jam packed with blue microglitter. The only thing that worried me about this polish is that it is so rich and pigmented it looks like it may cause staining, so beware! I have not yet tried this on my natural nails so I don't know for sure.

sunlight

semi shade

FeiFie is one of the two polishes I picked out from the fall collection, Designer & Diva, and it is even more stunning in person. I find it hard to describe it the exact shade, it has what appears to be a deep purple/blue base with gold and blue shimmer. It is the blue version of Daul from the Designer & Diva collection and similar in colour to one of my favorite Zoya's, Crystal.

sunshine

semi-shade

Apple is the exception to the fall shades I've purchased. I had been wanting this one for a while but was convinced it was too close to another Zoya I have, Ivanka. Once compared side by side I think they are different enough to own both. They both have that awesome shimmery foil finish, and while Ivanka is deeper, Apple is lighter and more of a spring or summer shade. Ivanka still screams Christmas to me!

sunlight

semi-shade

And the cremes Lulu, Envy and Pinta.

Lulu is a light, soft pink/coral. I'm not sure how many coats are needed for opacity, I would have to test it out on my natural nails to decide. The formula on this one is awesome, self leveling and smooth. This can easily be used as a base for a French manicure or built up on its own.

Envy is a deep, dark mossy green that builds up perfectly in two coats. I noticed something unexpected during application, there appeared to be a graininess and slight blue sheen when wet. Once dry I did not see much shimmer or grain.

I have seen Pinta around for a while now and was indifferent. It looked pretty but did I really need it? To put it simply, YES! This beautiful deep plum is a one coater and perfect for fall. It's more of a blurple type colour and I love it :)

Below are some quick swatches of each polish

Which one is your fave? Did you participate in the promo? If so, what polishes did you pick up?

Fall Glitter

Today. Have my first full wear of a fall collection polish of the season AND it's a glitter! I find myself not reaching for glitters as much anymore, mainly due to dreading the removal process. That being said I'm sure you have heard by now about Essence's Peel-able base coat and what others are using as a substitute, good old white glue! Here is a great tutorial that shows and explains the full process the best. I decided to give it a try myself with a beautiful polish from China Glazes fall safari line, I Herd That.

I Heard That it a densely packed glitter made up of mostly copper and yellow micro glitter with a sprinkling of holo glitter that appears silver in low lighting. In the sunlight the holo glitter flashes a bunch of colour which you can see in the photo below. Although the glitter is set in a clear base I only needed two coats to reach opacity. They were a bit thicker than usual coats and I blotted a tiny bit to get it even, but application was awesome for a glitter. The overall formula is perfect, not too thick not too thin.You could also use one thin coat over another polish for a glittery top coat.

This polish reminds me of one of my all time favorite fall/Halloween polishes of all time, Trick or Treat by Del Sol. In it's normal state it looks pretty close to this polish, to see how the colour shifts in the sunlight check out this past post.

I applied two coats of Seche Vite to really make the glitter sparkle and get a nice, smooth surface. I will be tracking the wear of this polish with my DIY peel base coat and let you know how it goes later in the week.

New Polish Collections at Shoppers + A HOT Zoya Promo!!

Happy Friday! Just a quick short post to showcase some of my finds over the weekend. I love when other blogers showcase new collections  and deals at local retailers, however most of them are based in the States. The main retailer I decided to showcase is Shopper Dug Mart since they usually have a good amount of he new displays and collections. However, I usually do not buy my polish from there because honestly their prices just suck! Here are a few of the many collections that I though were worth sharing. First up Quo by Orly.

Take a look at these beauties... look familiar? They should because they are the exact same as the latest Orly glitter FX polishes found at Sally's! The display even includes a black polish for layering. Although the glitters are identical to the Orly's, the dames are different. Below is another shot of the full display.

Shoppers has a lot of Revlon polish displays, including those double ended polish combos with white and neon and the flakies. The one below I hadn't seen before so I decided to share it with you. I'm not sure if these new polishes are added to the core collection for this new line but there were some nice ones :)

One Last item before I end this post, Zoya has another great promo going on that you can read more information here (scroll down to the Zoya section close to the bottom of the page). Basically they have a couple of different fall trio packs they are selling for a limited time for $12! These are full bottle polishes plus you get a 1 oz version Zoya remove and only spend $2 on shipping! I am going to order mine right now! Today is the last day of the promo!! 

 UPDATE: These trios are quickly selling out so if you want yours you better get them now.

 on What do you guys think of these types of posts, I know this one was a bit short but if you'd like to see more I will actually go out to other Canadian retailers and see what I can find.