NYX Lime Sparkle

There's nowhere locally to buy NYX, so I bought this polish during one of Cherry Culture's NYX sales last year. I also bought a few others, including a ton of the NYX Girl's glitters, which are pretty nice. That aside, despite the buzz I've heard online about this polish, I neglected to ever actually wear it after I bought it. Take heed when ordering NYX polishes, they tend to be misnamed, and colors tend to change. Order with care.

Now, the skinny on this guy: It was pretty damn goopy. But, for all its awful goopiness, it dried well (and didn't take too long, either). I found it pretty sheer, and I did three coats but could've used a fourth... but I don't do fourth coats. The shade borders on more of a bright apple green, I think, more so than lime. It could be argued either way I think. As my photos will evidence, the shade is a bit of a shapeshifter, and I'm not certain the camera captured the correct shade at all. But, here it is in it's blingy, green goodness:

This is with a desk lamp, this is darker but you can see the glitter detail well.

This was the most true to color, and it catches the sparkle.

Haha, I wanted to get the thumb in there, so here is my awkward claw-hand pose.

I've worn this for a few days now (unusual), and it's growing on me. And wearing like iron! It's tough shit, my nails feel like acrylics with this on. Anyway... that's all for tonight.

Nina Ultra Pro In A Tiff

So! Today we have Nina Ultra Pro's In A Tiff. In this shade range--read Tiffany box blue--China Glaze's For Audrey seems to have swept the category as far as popularity. There are several others (I believe Diamond Cosmetics makes one). These baby blue/minty green pastels seem popular lately, and I can see why. They're oddly eye-catching, and more bold that one would expect.

These Nina polishes are found at the ever-trusty Sally Beauty supply, and I'd never bought any before this weekend. I had a $5 off $20 coupon and I had already fulfilled my lemmings for Holiday FingerPaints & China Glazes. I didn't need any treatments or base/top coats (except the same night I smashed a bottle of Seche Vite on the hardwood floor... so now I could use some...) anyway. So I decided to use the coupon to try something new, and I got 4 Nina's (this one, Sailor, Emerald City and Purple X-ing) and 2 Orly's (Plum Noir & It's Up To Blue... I love Orly's, I want them all). This is the first of the bunch that I've tried, and I was quite impressed.

This is two coats, it was very opaque and the formula was OK--not spectacular, not awful--but leaning on the thick side. I probably should've thinned it a bit beforehand. It wore pretty well, but Seche Vite + Barielle Manicure Extender make everything pretty indestructible on me. In a different move than For Audrey or other Tiffany blues, this contains silvery shimmer. It is fairly pronounced in the bottle, but much less pronounced on the nail. I could barely catch it with the naked eye, much less my camera. I've seen other photos, however, where it was noticeable. Who knows. Here she is:

Let's pretend I attempted clean-up before this, ok? Haha. OH did I mention!? These babies retail for just over $3 a pop! You can shop a lot of discount polish online, but I hate forking over for shipping and often shop locally because I adore the American pastime of instant gratification (and Sally's is generous with their coupons... mmm, I love coupons). They're cheap! Very pretty colors, good quality. Buy some!

Stay tuned... lovely NYX in store for tomorrow.

Zoya Veruschka

Well, here goes nothing... I begin my polish blog. I'm Sarah, and this is my contribution to the plethora of polish-related blogging. I bit my nails for twenty-three years compulsively, and you'll be pleased to know that while I've had brief remissions in the past, I have finally passed the one year mark and consider myself a non-biter. Despite my predilection for biting, I have always had an affinity for polish. Perhaps it's the artist in me that hungers for pretty, sparkly paint. Whatever. I love polish, I have a ton. I have managed, through a lot of trial and error, to find a magic combination of treatments, base and top coats, and nutritional supplements that have allowed my nails to grow strongly (finally!). They're not long by some standards, but I am happy with their progress. I'm sure I'll introduce myself more as time goes on. Now, I share.

For my first post, we have Zoya Veruschka, part of Zoya's Matte Velvet collection. It's a gorgeous shimmery matte green. I love Zoya Matte Velvets. Of all the matte polishes that have come out in the last six months or so (trust me, I have sampled them all, swatches to come), I find them to be my favorites. They're shimmery and glowy, never chalky. I like the formula, and they all only require two coats. I find that I can get several days of wear out of them also, unlike others. Zoya also tweets incredible promo codes, so it's worth following them on Twitter to get amazing freebies. ANYWAY. I'm verbose, have I mentioned that? On to the photographic evidence!

This is indoor with flash. Click for full size.

Gorgeous, no? I have to refine my picture taking technique, I think, but we'll see how it goes. As you probably know, these shimmery matte polishes also look spectacular with top coat. I have no evidence of this... I'll have to think ahead a bit more in the future, obviously :-)

That's all for this first post, I'll be back tomorrow!