China Glaze Sun Worshipper & BM21

Has it really been over a week? Sorry, guys. My fiance came to visit (for his birthday!) and I got so bogged down planning and such, and then spending time with him while he was here this week, that I blogged nothing whatsoever. Fear not, we are now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I was iffy on this color but I'm glad I took the plunge. I own Color Club Explosive, which is a pretty similar color but sheer to a fault. A 5+ coat fault. This bad boy was 3 coats and pretty opaque. Not too shabby. And the color was blinding! In twilight it looks nearly glow-in-the-dark. Neon marigold is what I like to call it, somewhere between orange and yellow. Application was really good for a neon, and it dried in a reasonable amount of time.

Here she is:

And because I haven't stamped in a while I pulled out the star design from Bundle Monster's BM21 plate, and used Konad Black Special Polish for the stamp:

I liked this so much I wore it for two full days, which is saying a lot for me. Also: no chips after 2 full days of serious cleaning and work (where my hands were wet/submerged in water sometimes). That's pretty damn good.

Coming up soon: A few more Shreks, new American Apparel polishes & OPI Summer Flutter Colors. Thanks for reading :-)

PS: We're getting close to 50 followers, and that's when I'm going to have my first giveaway! I think it'll be pretty awesome :-) So spread the word and keep your eyes peeled!

China Glaze Towel Boy Toy

Ooooh my goodness. I can't believe that this was almost not on my list from this collection. I don't know what it is about a neon blue... but I LOVE them. Add shimmer to that? Perfection. I can't stop looking at this. It's not blinding, but it's bright and happy, and the shimmer is just so subtle and adds interest. Yay China Glaze! I love you guys. You're always on top of things. I highly, highly recommend this one. It seems a bit brighter than Zoya Tallulah (featured recently) and close to Color Club Pure Energy, but perhaps less shimmery (I'll have to check). This one is so fun for summer (I think it may be gracing my toes soon). What else can I say?

This is 3 thin coats. Perfection, despite its neon-ness.

Yay! It was over 80 degrees here today, so I think I'm starting to crave brightness. The formula on these is really making me want a few others... but I don't need dupes, right? (Right??!) Haha. OK, more to come :-) Thanks for looking!

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy & Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

First, friends, the nail polish gods have been kind to me lately!!

My Zoya exchange arrived today (minus Ivanka & Charla, which were backordered but are ALREADY on their way!). Last night, I found Hidden Treasure. Yesterday, I went to Sally's because my 15% off coupon was about to expire, and the SA allowed me to use the B2G1 promo on treatments: so I got Gelous to experiment with (I'm devoted to Instant Artificials but Gelous is cheaper by almost $3 and easier to find), a new Seche Vite (on sale for $5.99) and a lone Finger Paints polish in Blissfully Blue (my freebie, I have no true pale blues). This was all for like $10. Today, I got a NEW Sally's coupon for 20% off (check your mailboxes!) and on my way home from a meeting with one of my thesis advisors, I stopped at a Sally's I don't usually go to. Jackpot! They had China Glaze Poolside out AND the new Finger Paints (which was exciting because the B2G1 is only for April and I think these weren't supposed to be put out until May 1). So I got 3 new China Glazes (Flip Flop Fantasy, Towel Boy Toy & Sun Worshipper) and 3 new Finger Paints (Sketch N Etch, Scenery Greenery & Easel-y Entertained) for something like $14? SIX of 'em!

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure & Gelous.

L to R: Sun Worshipper, Towel Boy Toy & Flip Flop Fantasy.

My thoughts on the Poolside collection: I bought the three most unique to my collection (I'm satisfied with the pink/green/yellow neons I have now, so I skipped the other three). I hope Sun Worshipper is everything I wanted Color Club Explosive to be. Towel Boy Toy seems like it might be in the realm of Color Club Pure Energy or Zoya Tallulah (I got this one mainly because I like these bright shimmery neon blues). My thoughts on Flip Flop Fantasy are below.

L to R: Easel-y Entertained, Sketch N Etch, Scenery Greenery, Blissfully Blue.

The new Finger Paints look wicked! I'm glad they're permanent because that means I can get a few more and don't have to get antsy about it. LE's are a bitch. I swatched the cremes--so smooth and opaque. Shimmers look nice too. Not sure about the glitter but we'll see. I've never bought a "core" line Finger Paints polish before, only LE, so I'm glad for these.

L to R: Mimi, Alegra, Nidhi, Gilda.

The Zoyas, which I swatched on paper look INCREDIBLE!!! The only one that looks slightly lackluster (due to sheerness issues) is Gilda. Can't wait to get Ivanka & Charla. I'll be wearing these soon to show ya'll.

Anyway anyway anyway... PHEW after all that craziness, what did I pick to wear?? Well, obviously I wanted to try out Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure seeing as it's hotter than sliced bread lately. I found it the first place I went! And because I was itching for something bright, enter Flip Flop Fantasy--a neon pink that is slightly orange toned, like a neon salmon/coral. Unique, I think. The application on that one was about what I expected for a neon, but a GOOD neon... 3 thin coats (over 1 coat Barielle Natural Nail Growth Activator & 1 coat Gelous), didn't get gloopy. Topped with 1 thin coat of Hidden Treasure & Seche Vite. And it actually dried.

So, not to add fuel to the fire, but I really like Hidden Treasure... yes, more than my Nfu-Ohs. The consistency of the polish itself is so much better... I find Nfu-Ohs to be a tad gelatinous, even with thinner... and the flakes were so thin and not clumpy... gorgeous rainbow iridescence (though it pulls very orangey over FFF). Anyway... snap if up if you run across it.

Thanks for looking!

Zoya Swatches Part 2

OK, here's my second batch of Zoya swatches! I just want to profess my love for this brand. I love their freebies and have excellent luck with their customer service. I love their color and finish selection and the quality of their products. I love the bottle, brush, and generally the formula. I love that they're "green." Yay Zoya! Enough of my babbling, onto the swatches :-)

Here's a few links back to polishes I've already featured:

Zoya Verushcka

Zoya Nova

Zoya Rea

And the rest....

Dominique. One of my favorite reds, very opaque, very bright. More orange toned than blue, but not overly so. 2 coats.

Deidra. Kind of a toned down version of Zara, but more taupe. Very cool. I never wore it before this swatch and I underestimated it. 2 coats.

Meadow. 2 coats. Like Zara also, but pink. 2 coats. Not my speed but a pretty polish.

Avril. Very opaque pink based neutral. 2 coats.

Buffy. Bought this just for the name (Huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan). Frosty beige shimmer, not that flattering on me, but perhaps so on darker skintones. 2 coats.

Demi. 2 coats. Pinked mauve creme. Nice formula and opaque.

Trixie. Silver foil, photographed terribly. Very blingy and pretty. 2 coats.

Emme. Awful light pink frost. OK formula, just awful looking on me. 2 coats.

Juicy. A neon red purple jelly. 3 coats.

Dakota. One of my favorite pedicure reds. Didn't realize how sheer it was until I put it on my nails. I can't remember if this is 2 or 3 coats. Very pretty blue based red.

Pippa. Yellow creme (not neon). Tricky formula. 2 coats.

Paz. Neon orange creme. Very sheer. This is 3 coats. Definitely needs something under it. Very bright.

America. A muted coral-red, very pretty. 2 coats, great opaque formula.

Goldie. A super shimmery (frosty?) gold, hate this shade of gold on me, but nice polish.

Harlow. Matte velvet. Pink shimmer, a bit purple too. Love matte velvet formula. 2 coats.

Dovima. Shimmery matte velvet black. More matte than this, it wasn't totally dry. 2 coats.

Loredana. Ultra shimmery matte velvet grey. 2 coats. Love this one.

Posh. ONE coat. Gorgeous matte velvet red shimmer. One coat. LOVE.

Dita. Gorgeous saturated fuchsia creme. 3 coats.

Katy. Pretty medium bright pink shimmer. 2 coats.

Also, on another note, if you're experiencing any difficulties viewing anything, let me know! I recently moved this blog from my old gmail account to its own gmail account, but I think I've got everything working. I'm excited for sparkly paints. to have its own identity though!

Thanks for looking!

Zoya Swatches Part 1

So, my friends, here is my first installment of my Zoya swatches. They were sorta quick 'n' dirty, meaning that I used only basecoat and however many coats of color it took to be opaque. No topcoat, no cleaup. I wrote a couple thoughts on each just to be helpful. Without further ado, here's the first batch!

Savita. Matte Velvet. 2 coats. Medium purple shimmer, kinda pinky duochrome in certain lights.

Ali. Neon pink creme. 2 coats.

Renee. Neon pink, leaning more coral. 3 coats.

Blair. Awesome velvety blackened red shimmer. More depth than pictured. 2 coats.

Sloane. Deep shimmery purple/wine color. 2 coats. Beautiful.

Envy. Deep green creme. Mine is very obviously green, some say it's very blackened. I disagree, but that's me. 2 coats. Gorgeous.

Sofia. Pinked purple. Maybe magenta? 2 coats, lovely.

Ginessa. Gross shimmery white with silver glitter. Pooled and looked lumpy. 3 coats.

Racquel. Warm red creme, 2 coats, great formula.

Sam. Deep blood red, so gorgeous, 3 coats, excellent formula. My most used Zoya.

Roxy. Medium fuchsia jelly with glitter. I only put on 2 coats but you need three. GORGEOUS.

Zara. Light lilac with intense gold shimmer, so pretty and understated. 2 coats.

Lael. Slightly darker than this, a straight up plum creme. Great formula. 2 coats.

Rihana. Medium pinked purple shimmer with a definite gold flash (can't see below though). 2 coats. Like Blair, much richer in person.

Jo. Medium periwinkle shimmer. 2 coats. First time I wore it I hated the formula, but while swatching it was nice! Hit or miss, I guess. Cool color.

Yasmeen. Definitely one of Zoya's stars, a deep shimmery purple with strong gold flash. 2 coats, deep, rich, velvety gorgeous (like Blair & Rihana, better in person). Love.

Tallulah. Wicked bright shimmery blue. Love this!! 2 coats. So happy and pretty.

Pinta. A blue toned plum creme (Lael leans more red). 2 coats, another gorgeous Zoya creme.

Richelle. A gold foil shimmer, mine had the WORST formula, similar to Ginessa. Lumpy and pool-y, I hated it! The color is so neat. 2 coats.

Midori. Shimmery spring green with strong gold shimmer, 2 coats. Very fun.

Phew!!

I've got another whole batch coming at you tomorrow! Thanks for looking :-)

ALSO!!! There is a wicked RBL giveaway happening here. GO ENTER for a chance to win all three new Surf Collection colors!