Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle

I had an untried Rescue Beauty Lounge polish. Can you believe it? I almost can't. And for someone who has 20-some odd RBL polishes, I've only swatched one other for this blog. Geez. I'm failing here, guys! This is the last really old NOTD that I have saved here. I finally decided on an occasion to wear this gorgeous grey: a friend's wedding back in late June. This polish conforms to all the standards upheld by the RBL line: gorgeous opacity, formula, drying time. It's top notch. Sure, they're wicked expensive, but Ji has blessed us with a few sales (which is when I've bought all of mine). So patience is key with this brand.

Anyway, this is two coats of Concrete Jungle:

So, I have a semi-new one coming up next, and after that, who knows! Thanks for reading, and I'm so please to be back to regular posting! I appreciate you all so much :D

Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers

Another oldie today. Almost out of old ones, phew. But in the advent of all the new Nordstrom exclusive Lippmann glitters, here's the one that seemed to start it all: Ruby Red Slippers. I've worn this polish before, but never blogged about it, so I slapped it on for a few new pictures. I like to layer this over a coat of an opaque black. For these photos, I used KnockOut's Flatte Black, a matte polish. I like to use it for layering because it's opaque and dries super fast, due to its matte properties. I love the effect of this polish. Like crushed jewels. I got so many compliments when I wore this.

This is one coat Flatte Black, and 2 coats of Ruby Red Slippers:

I mean, there's really not much more to say about this, is there? It's brilliant. It means I probably should've ordered the new polishes (but I didn't). Oh well, hopefully they'll be released separately later. Anyone order any of the new ones?? Bad Romance and Across the Universe are calling to me...! Thanks for reading :D

American Apparel Berry

Another old NOTD today, playing catch up all week here! I've seen some people write that the name of this polish is "Berries" (I've also seen it written that way on the AA website), but mine says "Berry" on the bottom, so Berry it shall be called. Another stellar color from the original release, opaque in 2 coats, near perfect formula. Vampy yet understated.

I don't have much else to say, about this. You'll have to excuse the state of my nails: things have been insane in my life right now, very dramatic. I had some really tough decisions to make, and I gnawed a bit at my nails. So I chopped 'em down a smidge (I didn't really do any damage but nonetheless). This was pre-major-choppage though. Sigh.

Please excuse the tip-wear and general scuffiness of this manicure, I'd worn it for a day already when I took this photo (unusual for me). Another great one from the American Apparel line! As skeevy as they are over there, they have some great polish.

Thanks for reading :D

Orly Royal Navy

Um, this polish is flipping gorgeous. I really have no words to describe the amazing vibrancy that is held within this bottle. This is yet another old NOTD. Royal Navy came out recently with a slew of other new and repromoted Orly polishes that recently became part of the permanent line. This is the perfect shade of blue--saturated, bright, deep. Gorgeous. It has blue microglitter that really reads as a shimmer. I didn't have any problems with the opacity of this polish, but some did. The base is kind of a jelly, but it's pretty opaque. Gah! It's so lovely. Another I seriously suggest getting your butt to Sally's to grab.

This is two coats, excellent formula and drying time, as I have come to expect from Orly. These pictures, unfortunately, fail to do this polish justice:

And that's all for today :-D Thanks for reading!

OPI Funkey Dunkey

So, as we all know, when it comes to nail polish, I, like most junkies, am weak. I have China Glaze's Grape Pop, but yet I needed this polish. I can't explain why. Maybe it's because OPI wears amazingly on me. I'm not sure. And I love purple? And the name is weird? And yeah... I have no excuse. Again, this is from quite a while ago. This is two coats of this gorgeous royal purple, and I really have nothing else to say other than that. OPI really outdoes themselves with their creme polishes, in my opinion. I've never been disappointed.

This is Funkey Dunkey, from the Shrek collection:

I bought almost all of this collection, except Rumples Wiggin. I left that one because I have a bunch of pastel purples and I'm just not much into the color. These were all pretty awesome, I do have to say. Anyway, not much else to say with this one, but that's a good thing. More tomorrow! Thanks for reading :-D

OPI Jade Is The New Black

Back with yet another one from my archives here, and I'll begin with a question: Is it? Is Jade the new black? I dunno. This color doesn't scream jade to me, but it's not too far off the mark depending on what type of jade you're looking at. There are lots of things about this polish that rock my world: it's opaque, it has an amazing formula, and it wore very, very well. The other side of it? I was just not blown away with this color. Everybody seems to love it and I... I'm underwhelmed. I mean, it's pretty, but it pulls boring on my skintone.

What do you think of this color? Gosh, looking at these just makes me want to slap on some fakes... grow nubs, grow!!!! Anyway, more coming tomorrow! Thanks for reading :-D

Nina Ultra Pro Purple-Xing

Another real oldie here. Probably a month ago I wore this one. It's a shimmery gorgeous purple with multi-sized holographic glitter--and yes, this polish has been untried in my Helmer for over six months. I think my polish lover card needs to be revoked. Not only this, but it was flawless. The base was opaque in 2 coats, and it didn't swallow the glitter. It dried fast. It was freakin' magical. I only have a handful of Nina Ultra Pro polishes and I don't have a complaint about one of them (I've reviewed a few here before, see the Nina Ultra Pro tag on the right-hand column).

So here's two coats of Purple-xing (my take on the name: It's not Purple X-ing (like crossing) it's Purple-xing like perplexing, as in confusing, which I think makes more since because this polish is kind of busy and distracting):

If you do not own this, you must. I think these are $3-something USD at Sally's. Woo! And seriously? It's a must have. I can't believe I let this sit here for so long!!

Thanks for reading :D

OPI Catch Me In Your Net

First, I want to thank all of you who wrote kind things on my last post! The elopement went very well! It was actually more romantic than I was expecting--I cried while saying my vows! Maybe I can scrounge up a picture or two soon :-) I wore a blue dress and while the polish I wore when I met my now-husband was Essie Rock Star Skinny, I decided I didn't really like the tone of it with my dress, but I went for another vampy red (same color family, I figured, plus he loves me in reds... men!) and chose BB Couture Napa Valley Red.

This was from several weeks ago, and I'm sure you've seen pictures of it elsewhere over and over again but tough. This is OPI's Catch Me In Your Net, exactly a dupe for Zoya Charla. Okay disclosure: I love Zoya but OPI wears like serious iron on me, so I bought this anyway. Plus, I think there is no "too much" of this color. It's foily bluey greeny goldy gorgeousness. I want to swim in it. But seriously: the only thing different about Charla and this polish is that I liked the formula on this one slightly better. And it was more opaque, for me. I've heard others had the opposite experience so who knows! I think this is three coats, but it might be two.

I mean, seriously: does it get more gorgeous than this??

Oh, damn. I miss my longer nails! Gah! I'll have to get a picture up of these pathetic nubs soon... but this is giving me serious filer's remorse :-(

Glad to be back in the saddle over here! Thanks for reading :-D

PS: OHMYGOD have you guys seen the promo images for China Glaze's Halloween polishes floating around the blogosphere?? HOLYSHIT! I haven't been this excited about a collection since... I don't know when! Screw Vintage Vixen, this Halloween is right up my alley!

Just another update:

Guys, I've had a major nail disaster. As in: all my nails are gone. I had a couple accidents and then a few were just in poor shape and I filed them down. Way down. As in, barely any white left. They're polished but not photographable right now. Nubs on me=fat fingers. Or so I think. Hopefully a week or so of TLC will be enough improvement to start photos again.

In the meanwhile, I'll be posting a couple older NOTD's over the next couple days. Sorry I've been MIA all of June and July basically. For those of you who don't know, my fiance is Canadian and we've been working on my immigration application which is really intense. Also, we're eloping next week! We're going to have a real wedding next spring, but we want to get the legal part done now so we can submit the immigration paperwork and hopefully be able to go home together after our real ceremony. But, officially, next week, we'll be hitched! So that's been sucking a lot of my time. Still haven't decided what polish I'm going to wear to my elopement--Essie Lapis of Luxury? BB Couture Vampy Varnish or Napa Valley Red? I CAN'T DECIDE!! I was also thinking Essie Rock Star Skinny, because it's what I was wearing when I met my fiance. We'll see. Suggestions?? We're very unconventional, so don't hold back.

I just wanted you all to know how much I value your readership and that I don't plan on abandoning things, not one bit. Hope you all are well and happy! Thanks again :-D

Sarah

And the winner is.....

The winner of our first giveaway is Savvy of the blog Addicted to Polish!! Congratulations!!! I've emailed you :-)

I also want to take a moment to welcome all you new followers! We've passed 100, I can't believe it! June's been a dry month for the blog, but I've got plenty planned, I've just got to get back in the swing of things! Stay tuned! We return to our regularly scheduled programming soon!