Zoya Posh with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and China Glaze Matte Magic

Ohhh man. This was such a gorgeous manicure to wear. I know most of you are probably tired of seeing Hidden Treasure manis, but I haven't posted one yet! For this, I applied one coat of Posh and let it dry completely. Then I applied one slightly thick coat of Hidden Treasure, and also let that dry completely. Then I applied a thin coat of Matte Magic.

 I really love the end result. It reminded me of red jasper, which is one of my favorite semi-precious stones.

So pretty. I love all the different facets of color in Hidden Treasure. It goes from green to orange to gold, and is sometimes all three at once. I really need to get my hands on more flakies. Or I guess I should say I really need to get more flakies on my hands, haha.

Triple review, oh my.

I'm still attempting to catch up on all the posts I promised. I've still got..four? polish reviews left, and one product review. It'll be nice to be all caught up!

First up: Nina Ultra Pro Sailor

This polish..The color is beautiful. Application was great. Wear, however, was not. It started chipping almost right away, and didn't stop until I finally took it off (on the third day). I think the topcoat is to blame in this case, though. I was running low on Poshe, so I was trying to use it sparingly, and then, stupid me, put a polish lid on the Poshe bottle. A yellow polish lid. So, as you can imagine, that was disastrous. There was yellow in my topcoat! It was horrible. So I had to revert back to Seche Vite, which I barely had any of. It just..it was a disaster. That's also why these nails look all scratched and dull and, well, crappy. Let this be a lesson for you all! Always have a good bottle of topcoat on hand! Topcoats work wonders. This polish is also insanely difficult to photograph. None of the pictures were turning out color-accurate! The second one is probably the closest, though. I think. It's just this great true navy that's navy in every light.

Second: Orly Iron Butterfly

I did this polish at night, at about 10:00 PM. I needed something that would dry quickly, since I was exhausted from a long day at the university. I like this color. It had a nice edge to it, while still being pretty. I wasn't blown away by it, though. Application was good, this was, I think, two coats. It was pretty much opaque in one coat, though. Wear time, as with most mattes, was not so great. I think it lasted a little over a day. Anyway, onto the pictures. This first picture is pre-cleanup, two coats, no topcoat. Since my nails look so horribly messy, I decided to use my bottle of Le Petit Prince EDT, to add a little bit of cute into the picture and to detract from my messy nails, haha. I ended up adding a topcoat (Iron Butterfly with topcoat is the second picture), though, because I was going to a facial the next day and in that process, my hands get covered in lotion and then put into these little hand warmer things. Lotion would have ruined the matte finish of this polish.

And lastly: Zoya Envy

Great, great color. Sort of a mossy, dark green. In a way, it reminded me of pool algae. Is that weird? It was a bit darker than I had anticipated, but it was still pretty. It only really showed up as green in certain lights, though, which was a bit of a bummer. Application was nice, and it was opaque in two coats. Wear was not so great, but I blame this on lack-of-good-topcoat, once again. With this polish, I was actually using Orly Sec 'N' Dry, which I really do not like. It definitely did not dry my polish quickly. At all. I'm probably just going to end up using it for my toes, because I really don't want to waste it. It also seriously dulled the shininess of this polish, and made it get scuffed really easily. I'm so happy I got my hands on a new bottle of Poshe on Thursday. Also, I only have one picture of this polish, and it's a bit blurry. I was in a hurry when I was taking these pictures, and didn't realize they were all horrible until it was too late. This picture is pretty color-accurate, though. Oh, and one other thing. This polish STAINED. Seriously, staining was horrific. My nails, my fingers, everything was mossy green. And I used a basecoat! I just don't get it.

Woohoo! I'm almost caught up! I'm really sorry for the lack of posts this past month. Things have been crazy here! It's getting better, though, so hopefully posting will be back to normal soon.

Merry Christmas (officially)!

Merry Christmas all! I know I'm really, really late in posting this, but I've been busy since I woke up this morning with family things and whatnot. I did manage to get a few shots of my manicure, though they're a bit blurry. Oh well! I used Zoya Posh for the thumb, middle, and pinky fingers and Zoya Suvi for the index and ring fingers. These are the first Zoyas I've ever used, and I must say, I liked them okay. Suvi does not play well with others, that's for sure. But once it dried, it was gorgeous. I think I did three coats of each polish. The wear on Posh was actually pretty good. I did use a base coat, though. I know you're not supposed to, but I just let it dry all the way before applying, and it was fine. Suvi has one coat of Seche Vite. I had originally planned to do a funky french with the base being Posh and the tips being Suvi, but I completely messed it up when I was taking off the sticker guide things. I still really liked this manicure, even though it was insanely simple. My main goal was to really showcase the contrast between the matte and the glossy, and I think this did it well.

Overall, I thought it turned out really well. Like I said in my other Christmas post, I got several compliments on it. I think next up I'm going to try Essie Mint Candy Apple. Maybe. I did get new polishes for Christmas, after all!

Actually, I got a lot of great stuff for Christmas:

- OPI You Don't Know Jacques!, which I've been wanting for quite some time. Another polish I got was Essie Very Cranberry, which is a gorgeous berry red. I think I'm going to wear it for when I start classes again, because it's cute and a little sexy, but it's not insanely crazy and out there. Very pretty color.

- Lip Service Lip Deluxe Sampler, which is absolutely amazing. I've been wanting this set for so, so long. I've only had a chance to try one of them so far, the Korres Guava Lipstick in Wine Red, and I absolutely adored it. I think I'm going to do the DuWop Private Red for New Years, because it seems like it'll be the perfect red for that.

- I've been needing good makeup brushes for a long, long time, and today I received the Sephora Brand Perfect Ten brush set. It's pink! And shiny! I love it so much. I used some of the brushes tonight, and they're soo soft.

- 1960s Vintage Inspired Gold Tone Pen Necklace from 1928 Jewelry. I've been dying to have a pen necklace for so long. They're so librarian chic. Love!

- Shoes, glorious shoes! I got a pair of Candie's black suede-like platforms that have silver pointy studs all over the heel and strap. They're so similar to the Christian Louboutin Mad Marys. I love them so, so much. I also got a pair of brown patent platform penny loafers by Apt. 9. When I first saw these shoes in the store, I kind of thought they were hideous and kind of old-looking. But then I tried them on, and got a total 70s vibe! They're amazing. Cute in, once again, that librarian chic sort of way. They'll look amazing with a pair of flared jeans, too, to give them that sort of vintage look.

- Season 2 of Flight of the Conchords and Season 2 of Supernatural. I've been wanting these for a while, but they're so expensive. So when I was in Target during Black Friday, I pointed them out to my mom, because they were only about 12 dollars because of the sale. I guess she must have picked them up then.

- The Village on DVD and a Bath and Body Works gift card. I got these from my parents' friends. I've been wanting this movie for such a long time. And I absolutely love Bath and Body Works!

- And here's the big one. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle EDT! I am ecstatic about this! I thought I would never own it, but I do! I do! It smells heavenly, just like every other time I've smelled it (Recently, anyway. I actually used to hate it. I guess my preferences are evolving.)!

I had a wonderful Christmas. I got to spend time with my family, and we all just relaxed and had an overall highly enjoyable day. I really hope your day was just as good as mine.

Jean