OPI Pamplona Purple and Nfu-Oh #56

I didn't post my last mani with Nfu-Oh #56, mainly because I was house-sitting at the time and did not have access to my uploader cord until after I got back, and by then the mani was a chiptastic mess.

Anyway! So the other night I put on Pamplona Purple, which I lemmed for a while and then found in a tiny salon in town. Now..I hate to say it, but I just don't think Pamplona Purple loves me the way I love it. It's such a gorgeous purple, but it makes my skintone go all crazy.

I so did not want to completely redo my nails, though, so I slapped on a layer of Nfu-Oh #56, and oh my goodness. Match made in nail polish heaven, if I do say so myself! I totally feel ready for Halloween with this slightly witchy combination, but I don't care! Mainly because I love Halloween, but also because this combo is just so awesome. The Nfu-Oh turned Pamplona Purple into this crazy browish purple bruise color. Love!

I really wish I could have gotten some sunlight pictures of this mani, though! Those would have been pretty amazing.

Needless to say, I think I need to get more Nfu-Ohs.

ETA: I forgot to mention, Nfu-Oh has my favorite brush/handle combination ever. The handle is really long and curvy, because, you know, corset. This means I can hold it kind of like a pencil, which makes for really precise polishing.

OPI Cuckoo For This Color

This is one of the newest offerings from OPI, part of the Fall 2010 Swiss collection. I think it's gorgeous! It's a vampy green with definite teal undertones and packed full of blue-based teal shimmer.

This polish, despite a little tipwear, is really wearing great. No chips and I'm on the..third day already? Yes, I think that's right. I know a lot of people are saying this polish is pretty dupeable, but I know I don't have anything like it in my stash. Well, okay, that's not entirely true. I do have Zoya Suvi. HOWEVER. Suvi is much, much more green. If they were trees, Cuckoo For This Color would be a blue fir and Suvi would be an evergreen. Same family, but noticeably different.

In other news, my nails are growing quite well! I've been keeping them polished, and trying to take really good care of them. However, I think I need to find a new base coat. I just don't think my Zoya Anchor is doing much for me anymore. I know I've heard a lot of talk about Gelous lately, but I'm kind of confused about what it is, exactly. I know it's a base coat, but does it make your nails really thick, like you have gels on? If it does, I definitely do not want that. Do any of you have suggestions for a good (easily accessible) base coat?

Diamond Cosmetics Amethyst & Diamonds

So, so, so gorgeous. I really don't know why I've waited so long to try this! It's a very pretty grape purple  with holo glitter. I decided to stamp a butterfly on my ring fingers using a mixture of China Glaze Ruby Pumps and L'Oreal Lady Luck.

Please click to enlarge this picture so you can see the beautiful holo sparkles. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of this polish! So pretty.

OPI You're A Doll!

This polish is perfection. If I had to pick only five polishes to wear for the rest of my life, this would definitely be one of them. Thank goodness I don't have to be limited like that, though! I'd probably go crazy, haha. I don't think I could ever pick just five polishes!

 You're A Doll! is such an interesting color. It's a weird taupey lavender pink creme that sometimes leans gray. Oh, and it has strange red flecks in it. Odd, right? But it's so pretty!

I definitely encourage you to enlarge the pictures to see the fantastic red flecks.

So, tell me, what are some of your Desert Island Top 5 Polishes? (Honestly, though, who could ever wear only five polishes? Crazy!)

Clinique Black Honey Velvet

Hello, all! I know I've been AWOL for a little while, sorry about that! I so did not mean to not post for so long.

This was a request from KarenD. I just wish my nails weren't so wonky looking in these pictures! The color is accurate, though. I really need to remember to NOT use old topcoat on jelly polishes, or, really, any polish at all. It makes the finish of the polish look horrible and scuffed and just plain bad. Also, oy! I'm so sorry for the crazy tipwear. I couldn't find my camera charger, so I couldn't take pictures. But then I found it! But I'd already been wearing the polish for a few days. :\ Enough excuses, though! Onto the pictures!

I love this polish. It's a great vampy berry red that would be perfect for fall. It does sometimes seem to have slightly chocolatey undertones, but for the most part, it's a true vampy berry. 

I'm not quite sure when Clinique released this polish, but I do know they don't make it anymore and that when they did make it, it was a limited release and only in minis. (I could be wrong about that, though. This is just what I've found from various Google searches.) I bought my bottles on ebay, and ebay's the only place I've ever seen this polish for sale. I just checked, and there's currently one bottle for sale at the time of writing this post. Honestly, though, this color is pretty dupeable and there are many other polishes out there with better formula, too. Because the formula on this was..eh. It was okay. Not the best, but not the worst, either. This is three coats.

Orly Coffee Break.

This polish is so atypical of my usual polish choices, but I do love it quite a bit. It's the exact color of café au lait, and it makes my nails look so clean! I remember when I got this polish in 11th grade. I wore it so much! It really is a pretty color, but the wear wasn't the best. For the first few days it was okay, but then it really started chipping. Application was pretty good, though, and I think it only took two or three coats to be opaque.

Finger Paints Sketch N Etch.

This is one of Finger Paints' latest releases, and I believe it's a new addition to their core line. This is great news, because it means that most of you will be able to get a bottle! And, really, you should get a bottle. It has swiftly become one of my favorite greens.

It's a gorgeous, lit-from-within emerald green shimmer. The second picture is a more accurate depiction of the lit-from-within-ness. Application was awesome. It was smooth, and I only had to use two coats to get a decent amount of opaqueness. I suppose I could have used one more coat, though, to really ensure that I wasn't going to have any VNL. Wear was decent, and, honestly, the only reason it chipped so quickly (on the second or third day of wear) was because I was house-sitting and I had to do a ton of cleaning. Also, my nails have been peeling pretty badly lately.

Speaking of which, does anyone have any suggestions on how to combat this? My nails are usually pretty strong, but lately I've been having serious problems with peeling/breakage. I've heard Nail Tek suggested before. Is this a good option? What do you suggest?

Avon Viva Pink.

I actually only own a few Avon polishes, and I haven't worn the rest of them in years. This was actually a fairly recent acquisition. I might consider buying more, if the rest of them are as nice as this. Application was decent, wear was decent, and it was nice and shiny. When I bought this polish, I had been lemming a great, candy pink, and that's exactly what this is.
But seriously, though, this polish is impossible to capture. The color is so bright! My camera reacted to it like it would react to a neon. Meaning, not well! The second picture, which was taken in direct sunlight, is a much more accurate depiction of the color.

Rimmel Violet Metal.

Ha, whenever I go to write about this polish, I accidentally type Violent Metal. I guess that's an accurate description of how I felt when I wore this polish, though: violent. Because, even though the color is beautiful and the application was pretty decent, the wear was HORRIBLE. 10 days my foot! It barely lasted a day before it was chipping off in huge chunks! I was so, so mad. I normally don't have issues with Rimmel polishes! But this one was seriously a disaster.

China Glaze Something Sweet.

Oh, this polish.. I wanted to love it. I really did. I mean, sure, I love the color, which manages to be delicate and mod at the same time. But application and wear were both horrendous. It took so many coats to even it out and get it smooth, and then, due to the massive amounts of coats, it chipped so fast. I only have one other polish from the Up & Away collection, Grape Pop, which I haven't tried yet. I'm kind of a bit nervous to try it, to be quite honest. I don't want another application disaster like I had with this one.

China Glaze, cremes are not your strong suit. Just saying.

OPI Meet Me On the Star Ferry.

This polish is so, so beautiful. It's a wonderful plummy purple with slightly holographic (!!) shimmer. This is from OPI's spring 2010 Hong Kong collection. Honestly, when I first saw this one, I wasn't all that interested. But then I started seeing it more and more, and I fell in love! I'm so happy I was able to win this one from PolishSWATCHES.

So, so pretty. I realize that in these two pictures, the polish looks to be a different color. But that's the thing about MMOTSF! It shifted in different lighting! Goodness, I love this polish. Application was a dream, and wear was pretty good, too.

China Glaze Entourage.

This color was impossible to capture. It's a beautiful crisp Granny Smith apple green with a slight green shimmer. I love it! I did two coats here, but I'm realizing now that I should have done three. Oh well. Application was lovely, though! Pretty much one of the best China Glazes I've worn.

China Glaze Millenium.

Oh, the famous (or infamous) ChG Millenium. Loved and hated by nail fanatics worldwide. Seriously, this polish is..something. I love the look of it. Silver foil? Count me in! However, the application was horrendous. It accentuated every bump, dip, and ridge on my nails. It's streaky. And it chipped on the same day that I put it on. The only good thing about its application is the dry time, which was majorly fast.

I think I'm going to relegate this to the "stamping-only" section of my polish collection. Because, really, this entire manicure was a disaster.

Essie California Coral.

Oy. I apologize for the horrible webcam picture! But, seriously, it was the only camera that could even remotely capture the color of this polish. And it's still not bright enough! Seriously, this is one bright polish.

I actually got this for..Christmas, I believe? I really love it. It's part of Essie's core collection, and, honestly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about it before. That's understandable, since it looks like a pretty basic coral in the bottle. But on the nails, it just pops! It's so bright and vivid, and it made my nails look flawless. The formula was a bit fussy, though. I was able to achieve (almost) perfection by doing three thin, meticulous coats and allowing them to settle a bit before I did the next coat, but, yes, it's a bit of a hassle to apply. Totally worth it, though.

On another note, do you see how long my nails were at that point? Man, I miss them. They've been breaking like crazy lately. Does anyone have any tips on how to help them grow better? I normally have pretty strong nails. I've heard Nail Tek suggested before. Anyone have any experience with that?

BB Couture Fairy Blood.

Say hello to the polish that rekindled my love for nail polish. In November of last year, I saw an image of BB Couture Fairy Blood somewhere. Now, this was way back when I only had about 60 polishes. I did happen to have China Glaze Ruby Pumps, though, but from what I saw of Fairy Blood, the two weren't identical. I had to have this polish. So I searched and searched, and finally I found where to buy BB Couture: Overall Beauty. So I ordered the polish and the rest, folks, is history. I have several red glitter polishes and, seriously, this trumps them all.
This is one of my absolute favorite polishes. It's a beautiful blood red jelly with red, almost glass fleck-like glitter. Application is flawless, and wear was pretty good. Sadly, I can't compare wear with any other BB Couture polishes, since this is my only one.

Zoya Swatchapalooza!

Finally! I'm able to post my Zoya Polish Exchange swatches! I wanted to get these up as soon as possible, so that, if you're thinking about participating in the Exchange, you'd have an idea of some of their shades. (Mixed in with my 10 Exchange polishes [the other 6 went to my mom] are my 3 polishes I got from the LIPPY code a while back.) Also: Sorry for the messiness of these swatches! I did my best to keep them clean, but, well, I was running on very little sleep, haha. Oh, and if you have any questions about a particular polish (application, opacity, etc.), just ask!

Note: All are taken in lighting that allows for their true colors to be shown. All polishes are shown without basecoat or topcoat, except for Roxy, which has one coat of basecoat, then two coats polish, then one coat of topcoat. Also, I apologize for the random pieces of fuzz/cat hair. Those always seem to sneak into pictures somehow!

OPI Alpine Snow Matte

Just a quick post today, since I'm technically supposed to be cleaning, ha ha.

About a month ago, I had nice long nails. Then one night..they decided to break. Like, three of them. So, obviously, I had to file them all down. And all this happened right before I was about to go out. Enter Alpine Snow Matte.

Now, some of you know that I had been searching for a good white to use as a base for neons, sheers, etc. Well, I think I have found it.

ASM dries super fast, and, yeah, okay, it does look like you painted your nails with Wite-Out. But since most of the time it's going to be covered up, that's fine! I had a good coat of not-totally-streaky white on the first coat, and then the second and third really evened everything out. I decided to add a topcoat, so that it would be nice and shiny. And, boy, was it shiny!

I really do think I've found my perfect white.

Sorry that I don't have any pictures of ASM sans topcoat, but I really was in a hurry when I did this mani.

My Zoya collection.

I just wanted to show you all some quick nail wheel swatches of my Zoya collection, to give you an idea of a few more Zoya colors that you could add to your Zoya Polish Exchange order. All of these except for Akyra, Anastasia, and Cassi have been swatched on my blog.

From L to R: Akyra, Anastasia, Cassi, Envy, Gwin, Irene, Kaufda, Posh, Richelle, Suvi

(without flash)

(with flash)

1. Akyra - metallic blackened teal with blue undertones
2. Anasasia - purple/brown with golden brown and plum duochrome (has glitter)
3. Cassi - strawberry milkshake pink (has glitter)
4. Envy - dark, almost black green
5. Gwin - melon/orange with gold, green, and yellow flash
6. Irene - metallic moss green with golden brown undertones
7. Kaufda - metallic rustic orange/copper/red
8. Posh - matte wine red with slight matte shimmer
9. Richelle - shimmery, slightly bronzed gold with foil finish
10. Suvi - metallic smoky evergreen

I will have 16 more Zoyas to swatch once I get my Polish Exchange order, so keep an eye out for that post!

Zoya Kaufda.

Kaufda is one of what I like to call the "unsung heroes" of the Zoya polish family. Seriously, this color is gorgeous. It's a wonderful rustic orangey reddish copper. I just love colors like this. Really earthy, but still super pretty.

Application was flawless, as usual. It was a teensy bit sheer on the first coat, so I ended up doing two more, just to even things out. And it's seriously long-wearing! Mine lasted seven days before I finally took it off because I was starting to get sick of it, haha. The worst wear I had was from where my nails were growing out.

Also, note the nubbins. They were even worse. In fact, they were so bad, they hurt whenever I bumped my fingertips. They're doing so much better now. I've got some growth past my fingertips again, which is great.

Now. I know I had promised to swatch Akyra for you all. HOWEVER. When I went to put it on, that sucker would not dry! Seriously, I didn't do anything different than what I normally do, and I didn't pile on an excessive amount of polish. It just wouldn't dry! It actually ended up peeling off. Literally peeling. It was awful.

I'll get my Zoya nail wheel up soon, so that you guys can have an idea of a few more of Zoyas colors, just in case you're planning on participating in the Polish Exchange.

Zoya Gwin.

This is seriously one pretty polish. I picked it up during that NYFW sale that Zoya had a while back, along with Akyra, a new basecoat, and Anastasia (for my mom). My swatch definitely doesn't show half the beauty of this polish. It's an amazing melon/orange with green and gold flash.

I really wish I would have gotten better pictures of this polish. At least you can somewhat see the yellow-gold flash.

My ankle is doing much better today! I think maybe I didn't actually sprain it. It just definitely felt like I did. Really, I'm surprised it didn't break. I've sprained this ankle before, meaning it's weaker, meaning it's more prone to breakage.

I have so many packages on the way with stuff to review for you all! My Zoya Exchange picks (Well, actually, those won't be here for a while. I'm mailing out my trade-ins tomorrow.), four lip lustre samples from Fyrinnae (Type A, Bloodstains, Hair Dye, and Meloncholy. These probably won't be here for a while, either), OPI Damone Roberts 1968, Demeter Honeysuckle (from HauteLook), A few things from the LORAC HauteLook sale (Sheer Peach Gloss Stick, Sheer Berry Gloss Stick, and Groovy Fruit Lip Polish)..

And two other amazing packages! The first is a swap with Stephanie of Imperfectly Painted. She had a spare Hidden Treasure and offered to swap with me for Opulent Cloud! I'm insanely excited about this.

Also on the way is an RAOK from an amazing woman on MUA. She saw I was new to MUA, and offered to send me a decant of BPAL's The Unicorn. Huzzah! My first BPAL!

What's really exciting, though, is that I barely spent any money on all of these packages. The most expensive will be the Zoyas, but I'm also recycling a ton of polishes, so it pretty much evens out.

Whew. That's a lot of stuff. Tons of posts for those weeks in June, which is awesome. Oh, and I should have more Zoya for you tomorrow.

Oh! If you haven't yet, add me on twitter! I'm having so much fun talking to those of you who are following me on there. :D