Haulin' - Zoya Edition

As I mentioned in an earlier post I participated Zoya's annual Earth Day promotion this spring. I tried to go lighter and brighter this year with my polish picks...

First up from left to right, Harper and Stassi.

Harper is a pink jelly with golden shimmer and iridescent glitter.  I found Harper to be slightly different than the others in the Tickled and Bubbly collection from which this is apart of, having more of an opaque base. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Also apart of the same collection is Stassi, a medium green glitter with a golden shimmer and iridescent glitter. I already own Muse and Alma from the 2014 Tickled and Bubbly (summer 2014) collection which are the same idea in blue and orange. I regret now now getting Binx as well... next time. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Next up is Leslie and Rayne. Both of these are apart of the recently released spring Delight collection.

Leslie is a lavender creme with a teal shimmer running throughout. Perfect formula! Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Rayne is light blue with a teal shimmer similar to Leslie. Great formula, however more sheer than Leslie. I kind of wish this one had a creme base, but I can always layer it over a light blue base. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

And the last two are Sunshine (Fall 2013) and Stevie (Summer 2013), both Pixie Dusts.

Sunshine is a deep blue textured polish with silver glitter. Very pigmented with a thicker formula. One coat are shown in the swatch below.

Stevie is a light lavender textured polish with the same silver glitter as Sunshine. Perfect formula! One coat are shown in the swatch below.

I didn't realize until putting this post together that I had gotten two polishes from each collection, kind of funny! Other polishes I was considering included Miley, Rebel, Thea, Yuna, Lulu, Remy and Binx. I have left these in my wishlist for next time, I'll see if I still want them then!

The Archives - Polishes I forgot I had!

When I first started getting interested in polish collecting I purchased A LOT of polish! So much that I think I need to do a little de-stash and maybe a little blog sale. While looking through my collection I came across a few polishes that I forgot I owned! I thought it would be fun to do a little series to document the polishes I forgot I have at the back of my drawers.

Today's focus are Claire's! Around the time I started collecting Claire's had some pretty cool shades. The ones that are general favorites in the blogger community are Magic, Dream Catcher and Dreamsicle. The chunky glitters and various neons (here and here) are also favorites of mine.

A few from my stash I forgot about include:

Bright Skies - this is an awesome scattered holo glitter in a translucent jelly base.

Julius - a coral orange neon creme with scattered holo glitter.

Hollywood - a chunky silver glitter with a sprinkling of holo hex glitter in a silver base.

Mermaid - a sheer teal base with a pink shimmer. This one I remember being so excited about until  bringing it home and realizing it will never be opaque on its own. Bummer. This would look great over a teal creme base. Check out when I tried out out here.

Does this ever happen to you? I am in dire need of a de-stash ASAP! Everything always seems to get in the way. Soon!

Wanderlust

Another beautiful spring day, another beautiful spring polish! I have another one from the China Glaze Road Trip collection to be exact. I am really enjoying these a lot more than I initially did first swatching them. Today's polish is Wanderlust.

Wanderlust is a pale pink-leaning lavender creme with a faint gold/pink micro shimmer. When I first swatched this on my nail wheel I found it to apply quite sheer, however, on the nail it applied well and built up to opacity in two easy coats. The formula was great to work with and evened it's self out.

The shimmer is mostly hidden, like the others in this collection, but it really shines in direct lighting and outdoors on a sunny day. Considering this was one of the first I "had to have" from the collection I am happy it did not disappoint.

Dashboard Dreamer

Happy Friday! I love spring colours. I typically look forward to spring collections, China Glaze specifically, in late winter. You may have seen the Road Trip polishes I picked up this year, and to be honest, at first swatch they were a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, in the bottles they look awesome but the formula seemed thin and the magical shimmer in some of the shades were nonexistent on the nail.

 

So far I have worn three shades, Boho Blues, Pack Lightly  and now, Dashboard Dreamer. I am definitely feeling better about this collection now! Dashboard Dreamer is a soft, pale blue creme with a faint pink shimmer. The shimmer is pretty much non-existent on the nail, however it adds to the overall hue of the polish.

I applied two regular coats, the first was a bit streaky and the second evened everything out nicely. I decided to add a thin third coat for full, even coverage.

So far I am really loving this shade and the wear is fantastic, hardly any tip wear on day four.

Haulin' - Revlon Edition

I have a quick haul to share with you today. I was shopping at one of my favorite outlet malls and came across some polish for 3 for $5. I told myself only three, but some of these shades I had never heard of before! My lovely boyfriend searched swatches for each one and I knew I had to double up!

Left to right is Revlon (Parfumerie) Italian Leather, (Colorstay) Provence and Elusive

Italian Leather is one of those polishes the had rave reviews so I decided to try it out for myself. It is a neutral brown creme with a gold shimmer. It also has a slight, sweet scent when it dries which I'm not too crazy about. One coat is shown in the swatch below, very good formula.

Provence is a light lilac creme and the first of the Colorstay to make it in to my collection. One coat is show in the swatch below.

Elusive is made up of green and blue glitter in various shapes and sizes in a black crelly base. It dries to a satin finish which dulls the beauty of the polish. I would definitely add a topcoat to this one. The formula was thin, two coats are shown in the swatch below.

The next three polishes are apart of the Haute Rocks collection. After doing some research online I found that these were actually released last year! I hadn't even heard of them, but apparently they are limited edition "pebbled textured" polishes. These are super dense glitters that dry to a satin/matte finish. The bottles looked super cool, almost like a mosaic, but since I had never heard of these polishes before I had my boyfriend look up some swatches before making up my decision on which ones I wanted. I decided on (left to right) Moroccan Oasis, Seychells Sand and Lana'l Lagoon.

Moroccan Oasis is the most complex of the three made up of blue, gold and lavender holo hex glitter with tiny blue micro glitter in a crelly white base. The formula was easy to work with and built up to full opacity. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Seychells Sand is made up of small hex gold holo glitter and larger glitter hex pieces in a light white crelly base. This one also was easy to work with and built up to opacity easily. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Lana'l Lagoon is made up of green, blue and silver glitter of various shapes and sizes in a blue crelly base. This one was a litter thinner than the previous too, you can see it is a little patch at two coats in the swatch below.

I was lucky enough to pick these up on sale and will have to check out the shop again the next time I am in the area.

Pack Lightly

I totally goofed up and forgot to snap photos of this polish while I was wearing it :( It's such a pretty colour, so I still want to talk about it. It's another China Glaze from the spring Road Trip collection. I have been feeling bright nails lately with the weather skipping over spring and diving right in to summer with warm and sunny days.

Although a pastel, and spring appropriate, Pack Lightly has a bit of pop to it, I can picture it looking even brighter with a nice tan in a month or so, pending the weather of course! It is a soft pink based coral with a (mostly hidden) warm shimmer. I think it's the shimmer that helps this polish toe the like of pink and coral.

The formula was on the sheer side but I was able to build it up in three easy coats. Wear is good, I am about three days in now with very minor tip wear.

The only photo I have of Pack Lightly, third to the right.

I may try to squeeze in a few more of these pastels in the next month, but I am really feeling brights and neons right now. I've got to get my hands on some of the Summer polishes from China Glaze's recent collections ASAP!

April Favorites

This is an ongoing monthly post which highlights some of my very favorites from the month past. 

Today I have my most favorite things from March. Check it out below.

Favorite Polish of the Month: L'Oreal, Too Dimensional?
My Favorite polish of the moth I wore the least of! A simple accent nail was all I needed, however if the weather were still cool I'd probably slap this one back on my nails. A deep purple base and golden sinner with various shapes of glitter. So pretty! To see the original post which includes more photos, click here.

Favorite Green: Tree Planting
April is usually promoted as earth month (Earth Day was April 22nd), and to celebrate my boyfriend and I did some tree planting. Not only was it a beautiful and sunny day but we had a great time giving back to the earth.

Favorite Promo: Zoya Earth Day Polish Exchange
On the same note, Zoya continued their tradition with their annual Earth day polish exchange. I usually participate every year, its a great chance to pick up some polishes you have been eying. I noticed that Zoya has discontinued a bunch of polishes, their online collection seems much smaller.

More to come on what I purchased in a separate post (When it arrives!).

Favorite Book: The Botany of Desire by Micheal Pollan
Since reading this book I have gone on a bit of a reading hiatus (in favor of sodoku and crosswords on the commute home). This is the fifth book I have read of Pollan's and as the chapters went on I found myself more and more engaged. It follows the links of four human desires; sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control along with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. As always, a very interesting and informative read for those who love plants!

Until next month!

True Grit!

Do you ever impulsively buy a polish (always) and bring it home only to have it sit on your desk or in a drawer for eternity before even attempting to wear it? I do that from time to time but found a real gem not too long ago!

I picked up Nicole by OPI, On What Grounds on a whim, the turquoise colour was pretty and I was curious about the texture. I almost left it, but I picked it up anyway and had a little bit of regret as I left the store, did I really need another pretty turquoise in my collection?

This didn't sit for too long, although I did want to try it out sooner. It is just so cool, super unique in my collection. This textured turquoise polish is speckled like a robins egg and dries to a visibly gritty sand texture. I only needed two coats for full, even coverage. It's as if a turquoise stone were ground down in to sand and painted on my nails!

I am curious to see what this would look like with a top coat, I meant to try it out before removing but must have forgotten. Did you pick up any polishes from this collection?

Goldilocks

I have an interesting shade of yellow today, or is it orange?

I picked up Cover Girl Goldilocks from my last visit to Target just over a month ago. From my experience, I really loved the formula and wear of the other a cover Girls I had tried, and this one didn't disappoint. The formula was great, only needed two coats for full opacity, not bad for a yellow at all!

The only thing I can't quite describe correctly is the actual shade! In the bottle it looks like a school bus yellow creme, on the nails it can do, but depending on the light source it can lean new orange. I was doing yoga outside the other day and I have a neon pink towel, against that it looked like a dull yellow with no orange undertones at all!

I'm not sure how I felt about this colour. I wanted something bright and fun, and this is definitely both of those, but I feel like something was missing? I definitely want I try some nail art with this the next time I wear it.

Mattchy, Matchy!

I purchased these new skinny jeans recently and I love them! I needed a basic pastel piece in my wardrobe so badly, and these pastel pink jeans were perfect!

It also didn't hurt that they totally matched my pedi at the time, Bio Seaweed Gel, Marshmallow. Marshmallow is a soft, crelly pink pastel UV gel polish. I had a little bit of trouble trying to apply it, but it may have been because I suck at painting my toenails!

I applied three thin coats to reach opacity with a cure time of one minute between layers. I finished it off with the Bio Seaweed Diamond top coat and cured for another minute or two before wiping the sticky layer off with some alcohol.

So far this has been holding up well on my nails, probably has been between two to three weeks since I first applied it to my nails. And I am finally able to show off my toes, thanks to the shift in weather the last few weeks! Soooo looking forward to summer!

Bohemian Vibes

Happy Friday and happy May!

Spring has FINALLY sprung this week, and I hope it is here for keeps. Today I have the perfect shade for the weather from China Glaze's spring offering, Road Trip. I think this polish is my favorite so far out of the set I purchased. 

Boho Blues is a bright periwinkle creme. Although this is a more muted shade, it was one of the most saturated in the set, on the nail it was pretty bright for a spring shade. In various lighting it can appear slightly different, sometimes more muted or brighter and sometimes pulling more purple. Overall I really love this shade!

The formula was great, it was a little bit streaky at one coat but built up perfectly at two coats. It wore fantastically with minimal wear until I started picking at it... for a full week!

  

I am excited to try out the rest of the set from this collection, but was disappointed with how sheer the others were on my swatch wheel. I guess I'll have to try them out on my nails to know how they rate for sure.