Revlon-Victorian and Finger Paints-Twisted

I initially wanted to do a jelly sandwich with flakies, but liked the look of this so much that I decided to forget about the sandwich part.

most true to live colors in this pic than the others

Revlon Victorian is a part of their Just Tinted jelly polishes that came out last summer. I have no idea if they were LE or if they are a part of their collection now. Victorian is a medium pink that almost toes the line into hot in person. I used three coats here and as you can see VNL is still there. The polish is streaky but does come out smooth once you get to three coats. It dried on the slower side but nothing too big to freak out about I don't think.

close up

We've all seen the Finger Paints flakies polishes by now. I had two more to use and wanted to get one out of the way. I love the look of Twisted here on Victorian. We've seen how flakies look on dark polishes, and it's fantastic. But seeing them on lighter polishes is a bit few and far between and I think they look just as good. I used two coats of Twisted here.

jelly sandwich

I love this mani so much! I did try the jelly sandwich on my thumb (which you can see above), and I like the look of that as well. :) (Note: that one thumb took a few hours to dry.) And lookit, not only am I continuing to wear colors out of my usual comfort zone, but also I've join in on Pink Wednesdays. Huzzah!

Zoya-Dree and Finger Paints-Flecked

Because Zoya is having a nice little promotion for the new year and since I just bought that and will be buying the new spring colors soon as well I thought I'd wear my last Zoya just sitting there. And I'm so disappointed in myself that I didn't wear this sooner.

indoors, artificial light

Dree is a dark olive/army green creme. Not much to describe it but it's so beautiful. I love these types of colors and it was a big trend during the fall so Zoya was right on time with this one. The formula was okay. Not amazing, but good. Two coats was all I needed and it dried well. I'd been lusting after this color the minute I saw swatches of it on blogs last, what, September I think. And yet I didn't wear it until now. I have no idea why, but I tend to be weird like that. Anyway, this is great polish. I know not everyone is a fan of greens but if you are this is definitely one that needs to be in your collection.

indoors, artificial light

Since I have the Finger Paints flakies still just hanging out (I know they have an official collection name, but you all know what I'm talking about anyway) I decided to top this off with Flecked. Flecked is the green/blue flakie. With this mani I definitely see more green, but in the right light the blue comes out as well.

blurry. sorry. but i was trying to show the green and blue in the flakies.

Now, my pictures of this is crap and I know it. This is one that looks 100x better in person than in the picture. The green and the blue just wouldn't show up on my camera for some reason. But the shock of light emerald green and blue on the olive/army base is just awesome to me.

another shot. hoping yall can see more blue in this one.

With all that said, I think I like Dree as a polish on its own. The color is so unique you don't need something else with it. However, if you wanted to add some flash I would recommend Flecked. The brighter green in the flakie really does pop off the dark olive base. And that's it. If you don't have Dree make sure to pick it up during Zoya's promotion. $6.95 for two polishes? You should already be sold on it by now (unless you're overseas at which case, sorry guys. :( )

China Glaze-Blue Year's Eve and Finger Paints-Motley

Happy New Year y'all! I hope you all had a wonderful and safe New Year's celebration. During the last week of December I did a bit of nail shopping. A few things online, some discount items from Sally's. And I got from Sally's these two polishes. Of course I'm going to wear a polish called Blue Year's Eve on New Year's Eve, so that was a given. And they finally (finally!) put out the Finger Paints flakies collection. So I decided to combine the two. And oh you guys. I'm in love.

indoors, artificial light

Blue Year's Eve is a dark royal blue almost jelly with lots of little glass flecks in it. The polish in certain lights flash purple which you don't really see in the bottle, but comes more than across on the nail. The formula on this is thin (ridiculously thin to be honest) but it dries oh so quickly. The picture above is of three coats, which is definitely needed in my opinion. Two coats and I still had bald spots. Still do a bit, but since I was putting on Motley I didn't care too much. I wish the purple showed up in this pic, but honestly this was the best I could get. Damn fading daylight.

excuse my weird skin coloring. had to change settings on my camera to pick up the flakies.

I knew from the beginning that I was going to layer one of the flakies on top of this, just to see how the flecks in BYE would show against the flakies. Since Motley is the blue/green flakie I went with that one. At one coat I wasn't impressed, but two did the trick.

indoors, artificial light. close up.

This is so gorgeous. You can't see it all that much in pictures, but in person you can see the blue/green flakies of Motley AND the glass flecks/glitter of BYE shining through. There isn't so much of a contrast as it's like the two are working together. Motley dried a bit slowly, but nothing too troubling about it. Especially after I put a coat of Seche Vite on top.

I love this. Oh so much. There are times where you can see the purple shimmer of BYE and the green flakes and the blue flakes of Motley. It was the perfect NYE mani for me (of course I'll be ringing in a new year in my favorite color). It's special without being over the top. I don't have to tell you to get Motley (I'd hope you guys know that already) but I'd highly recommend Blue Year's Eve. That purple shimmer is unexpected but pretty. Nice surprise. And can we already call 2012 the Year of the Flakies? I have a feeling it's going to be a big thing. Finger Paints already, Zoya coming up. Why do I have the feeling these won't be the only big brands releasing flakies this year? I just hope there will be some variety

Speaking of New Year's, do you guys have any nail resolutions? I have just a few:

1. Wear more colors outside of my comfort zone. (reds, pinks, beiges, bright yellows, neons, etc.)
2. Start wearing more glitter.
3. Buy one ridiculously price nail polish for the hell of it.
4. Get my nails to stop peeling.

That's really it. Is it strange to make resolutions for your nails (or nail polishing in general)? I hope not cause I like those resolutions and think they're all doable for me this year. Anything you guys wish to accomplish this year?

Nina Ultra Pro-Sailor and Cult Nails-Unicorn Puke

Why must professors hand out so many assignments right before Thanksgiving and the end of the semester? Gah. Anyway, I found some time to do my nails today and decided to pull out a polish I've had in my stash seemingly forever and play around with the awesome known as unicorn puke.

indoors, artificial light

First I put on Nina Ultra Pro in Sailor. Sailor is a navy blue creme. Nothing that hasn't been seen before, but it's a gorgeous polish anyway. I'm sure you all have a polish like this already in your stash, and several brands have come out with a polish similar to this for fall. The formula was amazing. It was thinner than most, but could go on thick. This was one coat. It dried faster than I expected for a navy blue. The picture is without topcoat. I have to say, I love this so much. Again, I know I have something similar in my collection already (and have my eyes on another like this) but for me I can never have too many navy blues.

indoors, artificial light. sorry about the blurriness.

Because I haven't properly played around with Unicorn Puke I finally put it on. Um, can we say wow? This is so much more amazing than I thought. I love it against this dark blue. The rainbow effect changes just a bit with this, makes it a bit darker. Plus, you get just the right hint of the multicolor flakies when you glance down at your nails. Love it so damn much I can't even speak correctly.

indoors

I love this mani so much! This is right up my alley. Navy blue, awesome flakies. What could be better?

Cult Nails-Enigmatic and Orly-Fowl Play

I decided to wear my last Cult Nails polish from the fall collection, Enigmatic. Enigmatic is a dark purple with shimmer that flashes red, purple, and even blue. It's pretty, if not particularly a color I go to first. I think I said in a previous post that I don't have a huge amount of vampy purples, so this is probably much needed in my collection.

indoors, artificial light

The formula on this was thin. I should have done three coats but I hate doing three coats. Dried okay. I have to be honest, I'm very much meh to this, and I thought I'd love it. It's why I saved it for last. I was pretty bummed about the polish and ready to take it off, and then my eyes caught Fowl Play just sitting there and I said what the hell.

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Now that's more like it! I don't know if it's visible in the pictures, but Fowl Play made the purple darker and added those gorgeous red and blue flakies.

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Now, I love this combination! I didn't have to do two coats of FP, and it greatly improved Enigmatic to me. This together is a winner in my book.

indoors, closeup

I still plan on wearing FP by itself sometime before the year is out. But I love this mani so much right now I'm okay with not getting to it soon. Or at least as soon as I was expecting too.

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Zoya-Sienna

Late, but this is what I wore for Halloween. I actually forgot I had this polish until I was going through my untrieds box trying to find something that wasn't so dark. I'm a bit dark polish out and all I have right now is dark polishes. So even though it's probably a summer polish the orange fit the day so let's go.

indoors, artificial light

Sienna is a orange glitter/flakie/shimmer. I don't even know. I just know when I look at it I see orange and gold shining back at me. I actually wish more brands released sparkly orange polishes for Halloween instead of the greens/blacks/greys/reds. I only ever see the orange cremes (I know Wet N Wild did one this year, but eh).

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This one is sheer as you can tell. I did two coats (because I'm lazy) and you can definitely see VNL. But I don't mind it. The polish is so gorgeous you don't notice it. The formula on this was okay. A bit streaky at one thin coat; evened well at two. The drying time was average. Nothing to write home about but nothing to complain about either.

indoors. closeup

I was going to add some of those Halloween stickers or maybe a black crackle on top, just to get more into the spirit, but I didn't have the heart to do it. I love this so much I don't want to take away from the prettiness. So this will do for today.

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I'm pretty sure this is my favorite orange polish. It has to be, right?

Butter London-Chimney Sweep

Remember that Butter London salee back in September at Ulta? Well, unfortunately I got there late and there was only a few polishes left. Chimney Sweep was one of them and since I wanted a dark grey anyway I got it. Really happy I did because I'm digging this polish.

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Chimney Sweep is a dark, charcoal grey creme. That pretty much sums it up. It's that regular dark fall/winter grey that's popular this time of year. I did two thin coats and maybe I could have done a third (or made the coats a bit thicker) but I'm happy with it. The formula, while thin, flowed on nicely. This is different from my other two Butter London polishes, which gave me such a hassle that I was a bit put off by them. No problems like that here.

indoors, artificial light

This dried normally. Not too fast but not too slow. Pretty damn nice. I had some Halloween stickers so I decided to put a few on. I can't konad for crap so stickers it is. I didn't put a topcoat over the stickers cause, well, I'm lazy.  But the stickers have held on even with my relentless  handwashing/cuticle creme reapplying so it's all good.

And today I finally was able to pick up the one and only Unicorn Puke! Yep, I also pre-ordered this beauty. I got bottle #4. I don't know why that makes me happy, but it does. I wanted to see what it would look like on a dark background like this, so I tried it out. I like it!

So, that's it. I'm sorry I haven't been around. It's my go-to excuse, but school really has taken up almost all of my time. About six more weeks and the semester is over. Woot!

Revlon-Royal Cloak

First thing first: I hope to announce the two winners Monday at the latest. Thank you all for joining it and following this little blog here. It means so much to me.

Royal Cloak is a medium to dark purple base with lots of silver glitter of various sizes. When I saw this in the store a few weeks ago I grabbed it immediately and couldn't wait to try it on. But now that I have I'm not all that enthused.

indoors, artificial light

The formula for this is weird. It's on the thicker side, but after two coats I still had a few bald spots. The bigger glitter were easy to grab. Or should I say easier than most. But it's not like there were big flakies, which I think I would have liked in this. The drying time was actually pretty good, which I'm not used to with Revlon.

indoors, artificial light. close up.

Here's the thing with this, I think I like the idea behind it. A darker color creme with glitter in it to make it interesting. But the finished product didn't really work for me. I think the purple is too dark (it's darker in real life than in the pictures). It actually reminds of a those jelly sandwiches everyone loves (nail kind, not like the pb&j jelly sandwiches). But it's not as impactful. Maybe if the polish was a purple jelly? Maybe if the color was lighter? I don't know.

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So, yeah. I'm not wow'ed by this, despite it being a beautiful purple color and the silver glitter. It's pretty, no doubt about that. It just fell a little flat for me.

Cult Nails-Iconic

Yes, I have finally joined the Cult. :) I took advantage of her Fourth of July sale and bought two colors I wanted since she first introduced them. I wanted to get Let Me Fly as well but it was sold out by the time I ordered. Oh well.

First polish is Iconic. I've seen this describe as a red/berryish polish with red flakies. And I can't disagree with that. The thing is, it's darker than what I was expecting. It's darker than what is in my pictures. Although to be fair, it's been super overcast and rainy the past few days in Charleston so I didn't get an opportunity to see this in the sun. Maybe in the sun it's more berryish than red. But what I see now is a dark red almost wine like color. It's still pretty, but I was hoping for the berryish color.

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The flakies in it makes this polish. The flakies are a smidge lighter than the polish. And it has hints of gold in it. Or at least that's what it looks like. So while it's not the color I was expecting and hoping for, it's still so very pretty.

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The formula was perfection. I did two coats, but if I put it on thicker for the first coat I don't think I would have needed two. The polish flowed on my nails, wasn't too thick or thin. And dried pretty quickly. And I have to say, Seche Vite usually gives me shrinkage (which I don't care all that much about since I change my polish every three or so days) but not with this polish. Score!

indoors, artificial light

So I like this. Really like it. I just wish I would have realized the swatches of this from earlier this year aren't necessarily true IRL. If I wasn't expecting pink/berryish I think I would have loved it then. Darn expectations.

NYX Girls-Pop Culture and Misa-Endless Keys

The last of my NYX Girls polishes for a long while. Pop Culture is a medium orange, red leaning creme with a little bit of gold shimmer. And when I say little I mean little. Small, tiny, miniscule. Whatever word you want to see. I think it's supposed to do that whole hidden shimmer thing, but it doesn't work. Honestly, I'd rather they had just kept it as a creme. You almost can't tell the difference anyway.

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I used two thick coats this time and I didn't have any coverage issues, but it took a bit longer to dry then my others. Still, wasn't that bad. It went on great as well. Nice and even and I had no issues with the formula. This is two coats btw. I think for me what's most disappointing is the shimmer. If you're going to do it, do it full out so we can see it. Or at least enough where we can tell. Unless you're under a direct light source and you look hard (and I mean HARD) you're not really going to see it here. So what's the point?

indoors

I had Misa Endless Keys from their current summer collection just sitting there and since Pop Culture wasn't doing it for me by itself I thought I'd add a layer of this to my mani.

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Bingo! Now, I probably could have done two coats, but I love the look of one. You can see the flakies/glitter without it be overwhelming. It gives it the glittering look without it being the only thing you can see. Since Endless Keys isn't just orange and gold flakies/glitter in clear polish (the polish is light orange) it did change the look of Pop Culture a bit. Made it a bit lighter which I love. It looks all tangeriney and ready for summer goodness.

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So that's it. Not much more to say. I love the look of both Pop Culture and Endless Keys together. It's summer for me. I just wish Pop Culture was better all by itself.

Misa-Mega Margarita

Mega Margarita is a part of Misa's current summer collection, Paradise Shore. It's a sheer lime green with lots (and lots) of flakies. The flakies are lime green as well, with some red and gold shimmer thrown in there. The formula was much sheerer than I expected. This is four coats and I'm still not completely happy with it. I wish it was just a bit darker.

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The dry time was long, at least dry to the nail time was long. I'm at six hours right now and I can still dent it pretty easily, although like before it dried to the touch okay. Formula was a bit runny, but nothing horrible.

outdoors, sunlight

I like this, but I don't love it like I was expecting. I guess I thought it'd be darker. And sorry for the quick post. I've been up almost 24 hours now and I'm TIRED. Need sleep.

Misa-Under My Sunbrella

I finally got the three polishes I wanted from the Misa Summer collection today and I promptly put one on. I have to say, I think Misa is a bit underrated. I don't think I've ever seen someone say that their favorite polish is by Misa, yet they consistently put out really great shades. They have a great bottle design (my favorite to be honest), that awesome rubber handle, and a pretty good brush. I don't know, I just don't think they get as much press as other brands. Anyway, let's get to the polish.

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This is Under My Sunbrella, a golden yellow sheer polish with lots (and lots!) of flakies in it. I decided to wear this one because we haven't been getting that much sun here in Charleston. Been overcast like whoa. I have on three coats and you can still see VNL. I couldn't push myself to add a fourth. I just...I just can't do it y'all. Formulas was a tiny bit runny, but again, it's sheer and it wasn't hard to work with. Quite easy actually. I threw Seche Vite on top of this so I can't judge drying time, but its been five hours since I've put this on (as of writing this) and I can still dent it with my finger nail if I press hard enough. It's completely dry to the touch. I've washed my hands several times and it hasn't messed up. It's just not totally dried to the nail yet I don't think. So, yeah.

outdoors. closeup. trying to show the flakies.

The real genius in this polish (and I'm going to say the entire collection) is in the flakies. There are gold, orange, and just a hint of green flakies through this. I wish my camera picked up on them. It's really pretty. I actually didn't expect it to be this packed with flakies and glitter, even after seeing other swatches. I'm not a big glitter person, but I was pleasantly surprised. It fits this polish I think.

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I don't think it goes great with my skin tone. I keep wishing it was lighter or darker, but I think I'm being picky. It's very pretty and so darn apropos for the season.

Zoya-Raven

Even though blue is my favorite color (and my favorite nail polish color) and for the past few months I've been feeling oranges like whoa, I love black nail polish. LOVE IT. It started in middle school when my mother wouldn't allow me to buy any black clothing (I don't know y'all) so I put the black on my nails. It continued through high school and college until my polish hiatus. So even though I haven't worn it in about a year and a half I still love it. What's a shame is that I haven't seen too many people in the blogging community wear it. But I came on the nail blogging scene about a year ago so maybe I just missed everyone rocking the black.

Anyhoo, I've been in a black nail polish mood recently so I decided to paint them black. I haven't taken it off yet because, again, I love it so much and I don't really want to yet. I guess I'll have to eventually. And since I had Zoya Raven sitting in my untried pile I decided to finally try it.

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The first thing I noticed about Raven was that it was thick. Which is a bit surprising to me cause I have yet to meet a Zoya polish that was thick. I mean, it wasn't so thick that it caused me trouble, but it definitely wasn't the Zoya cremes norm. I did get it off of a blogsale, so maybe the previous owner had it for a long time? I don't know. Anyway, because of the thick/sticky nature of it I only did one coat. I probably should have done two, but I was satisfied with the look with one.

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Again, it wasn't a problem to deal with in applying. Relatively easy. It dried fast, which is the norm for Zoya cremes. However, I didn't get too much wear out of it. It chipped like hell. Now, maybe this is because I started using an old base coat I had put away for winter (Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler) but I didn't like that it chipped after less than a day. Oh well. I'll be changing it soon anyway.

After having it on for about a day I decided to pull out my Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and do a bit of an accent. I like the look, but you guys tell me. I usually can't judge these things too well.

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Can I go on a mini rant here? Whatever happened to Hidden Treasure in the blog community? I remember when this was all the rage and everyone just HAD to have it. Now? I don't hear too much about it. I think I've seen one person use it recently. I'm just saying we move on so quickly we forget about some of the awesome stuff we bought. And I'm definitely including myself in that. If I hadn't happen to glance at it out the corner of my eye I wouldn't have used it. I don't know, I'm just saying maybe we need to remember some of the awesome polishes we have in our collection.

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Okay, rant over. In fact, if you totally disagree with me forget I ever said it. Anyway, I like this. I wish it was as thick as it was, but all I need to do is add some polish thinner to my bottle. I still haven't gotten Wet N Wild Black (*hangs head in shame*) and when I do you guys better believe there'll be a post. :D I miss wearing black nails all time. Glad I used this.