Zoya Jules and A Half Moon Manicure

This is 2 coats of Zoya Jules. It's a lovely taupe shimmer with one of the nicest formulas I've ever used! Another winner from the excellent Zoya Intimate Collection.

The next night I did a quick half moon with Zoya Dannii.

You can see my thoughts on the Zoya Intimate Collection in this post.

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Zoya Dannii

This is two coats of Zoya Dannii. Just two coats and a very nice formula! Zoya describes this one perfectly, "medium orchid purple with pink and champagne highlights and flecks of silver metallic shimmer." Another lovely and unique shade from the Intimate Collection.

You can see my thoughts on the Zoya Intimate Collection in this post.

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Sally Hansen Baroque Bronze

This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Baroque Bronze. Very nice formula but I don't really like the narrow brush. Nice color but nothing exciting.

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NYC 249B

This is 2 coats of NYC 249B. Almost a one coat wonder.Very nice formula with almost no clean up & a nice wide brush.It's a dark burgundy with golden micro shimmer. Too dark for my tastes but gorgeous.

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China Glaze Jitterbug & holo glitter gradation

China Glaze - Jitterbug & holo glitter gradation, 2 coats

Party on my nails! Too bad we didn't get any sun so I only got to admire the pretty bling under supermarket lights (my camera is too large and clunky for any discreet photo sessions between the aisles, teehee). The gradation was done with a kitchen sponge (an unused one! :D) using Nubar Hologram Glitter, China Glaze Nova and Model's Own Silver Spangle - oh, and removal was a major PITA... Read Full...

Orly Lunar Eclipse

This is 2 coats of the beautiful Orly Lunar Eclipse. It's a gorgeous true blue shimmer with purple duochrome. I got lots of compliments while wearing this one!

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OPI Catherine the Grape & Lumene Magical Moment

OPI - Catherine the Grape, 2 coats

Catherine the Grape is a muted red/brown purple with shimmer what I think is a sort of an orange colour. It's quite chic, methinks. Formula was okay but not quite on par with most of my other OPI's.

OPI - Catherine the Grape & Lumene - Magical Moment, 2 + 1 coats

Magical Moment might be too sheer to be worn on its own, but layered over another polish is when the real magic starts happening!

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Lumene Night Party

 Lumene - Night Party, 2 coats

Remember OPI's notorious Shim-Merry Chic from last year's holiday collection? The bronzy brown shimmer that had flakies in it? Well meet Night Party, her twin sister (we don't know which is the evil one but both are pretty deranged). It may look cute in the bottle but opaque shimmer base and flakies don't mix, period. Each time someone scrolls down and gets to the last picture I think I can hear a distant "Oh that's not that bad, in fact it's quite uniq-- KILL IT!! KILL IT WITH FIRE!1!" :D Application was piss poor as the formula is very chunky and porridge-like. The only reason I got this lacquer for was its sheer ugliness.... and I got a discount. A very generous discount, Lumene has discontinued the Quick & Chic nail polish line and shops are getting rid of the uglies. Read Full...

Zoya Happi

Zoya Happi, 2 coats

Happi is a Barbie pink loaded with duochrome shimmer that changes from greenish yellow to soft orange. It's a wee bit brushstrokey and may even appear frosty to some. Application was okay but cleanup was harder than usual and I had to go over the mistakes several times with my trusty corrector pen.

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Revlon StreetWear Envy

 Revlon StreetWear - Envy, 2 coats

Envy is the love child of olive green and chartreuse - too saturated and bright to be the former and too muted for the latter one. It has small golden flecks and orange and green shimmer in a green creamy base and two coat were enough to reach opacity. Unfortunately, this one didn't quite suit my skintone. :L BTW, the UK version of Toad is almost identical with Envy except I find Envy a bit prettier than the UK Toad as it has a bit more of that gorgeous golden shimmer. Read Full...

L'Oréal 413 Supernova

L'Oréal - 413 Supernova

Hello, and welcome to another disappointing episode of Bad Swatch Day. This old-ass L'Oréal comes from their long extinct LaquiResist line (good riddance!). It's a dark plum shimmer with some silver glitter thrown in and it took absolutely ages to dry. All my other LaquiResist polishes were/are also this way and most of them also have god awful splayed out brushes. Still, it's fun to have some remaining relics from the darker ages of nail polish no matter how bad they are, and Supernova isn't _that_ bad a lacquer, just a very mediocre one and layering some kick-ass polish over it could save the poor Supernova.

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China Glaze Tempest & Orly Lunar Eclipse

China Glaze - Tempest, 3 coats

Ah Tempest, you're one of my very favourite lacquers. ♥ The formula was watery but not especially runny and I had to do three thick coats to get full opacity. Tempest has a very shy duochrome side to her but it's there alright!

China Glaze - Tempest & Orly - Lunar Eclipse, 3 + 2 coats

I tried to stamp some snowflakes over Tempest but that was a big fat fail, so I grabbed Lunar Eclipse and hid the offending designs with two coats of this liquid loveliness.

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Avon Golden Wine

Avon - Golden Wine, 2 coats

First of all - I looove the Avon brush, it's wide and flat and stiff enough to allow precise application of polish. Speaking of the polish, Golden Wine reminds me of lingonberry jam, yum! It's a burgundy-ish red shimmer packed with larger flecks of gold, it's very Christmasy in a distinguished way. The formula was watery and somewhat runny but also quite pigmented, this is two coats. You can see a tiny bit of VNL and general streakiness in the last picture and it could honestly have used a third coat. Formula issues aside, I'd seriously recommend every red lover to get this polish. Read Full...

Orly Galaxy Girl

This is 3 coats of Orly Galaxy Girl, my favorite from the Cosmic FX collection. It's a drop dead gorgeous, dark reddish purple with turquoise glass-fleck. The formula isn't the best. It's sheer yet thick, but worth the extra effort for this beauty. Galaxy Girl is darker than I normally love, but it never looks black because it's always flashing turquoise.


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April

Current Giveaways

• American Apparel Polish Giveaway! Ends 12/3.

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Eveline 489 & nail art stickers

Eveline - 489 & nail art stickers, 2 coats

Eveline 489 is one hot magenta with super fine fuschia shimmer. The first picture is the most accurate one, this cutie glows! The nail stickers are by Fing'rs and I almost think they're made for babies' nails as they're so darn tiny! That seems to go for all others Fing'rs brand stickers I've seen - either that or my nail beds are huge!

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