Pantone Universe Purple Parachute

  Very rarely do I purchase polishes from Sephora. Although it's a lovely store, it tends to run a bit on the spend-y side. Despite that, after seeing preview pictures of this polish, I promptly ran to my local Sephora so I cold get it in my hot little hands. The packaging really was decedent, and even the bottle shape screamed class. Enjoy my swatches :)

L'Oreal Brit Invasion

  When I bought this polish I really thought it was going to be a purple taupe with gold shimmer. I was quite surprised at how brown it was on the nail, but even more surprised by how much I liked it! Yes, this color actually has made me realize what a nice polish color brown can be. This polish really is fabulous for the fall, mimicking the appearance gilded leaf about to fall from the tree. 

Essence Colour & Go grey-t to be here

 Essence Colour & Go recently revamped their line. They are now sslightly bigger at .27 oz, have a sexy new bottle, and have not significantly increased in price. Among the new colors in this revamp was grey-t to be here. This soft grey is very unique because of the pink/red/gold shimmer. It was pretty easy to use, though I don't believe the wear time was exceptional. This is still a great cheap thrill and I am happy to have it in my collection. 

Sinful Colors Winter Wonder

 

This polish rocks! I don't think it's a Zoya fei fei dupe though. It leans more green and sparkles many more colors. These pictures are two very easy coats. If you have not already picked this up, check your local drug stores- it's a truly fabulous find for only $2. 

Urban Outfitters Green Holo

Picked this up the other day with a very dear friend. The sweet sales associate even gave us the 2 for $8 price :) 

This is sooo freaking holo it just makes me want to squeal!  :heartbeat: 

The pictures are of two coats, no undies topped with SV. Enjoy  ;) 

Companion Cube inspired manicure

Oh dear Companion Cube. You deserved so much better than to be thrown into the fire. I hope this tribute to your memory helps easy the pain of the flames. This manicure was done with Orly Faint of Heart, Mosaic Laquer Paper Anniversary, Jordana Fairy Dust and Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter.

  

Sinful Super Star

Did you say it without doing the Molly Shanon voice? Lol, I can't. 
Any who- this is 2 coats of this pretty glitter bomb over a dark blue base. It was hard to capture in pics, but this is loaded with blue, purple and teal glitter. Love it! And for only $1.99, I love it even more :)

Mosaic Lacquer Vampire at Heart

This is another awesome polish from Mosaic Lacquer!
Vampire at Heart is an ode to the Count on Sesame Street. The classic black and purple colors are captured in a clear back. There is a great variety of glitter shapes including some irresistible black hearts. When I asked Jessica what color she would like to see this polish featured over, I was surprised to hear her request for green. Despite my initial doubts, when I paired Vampire at Heart with Four Leaf Clover, the Count came to life before my eyes!
Enjoy this one, and visit her shop on Etsy.

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover

With dreams of cooler weather, I reached for China Glaze Four Leaf Clover. The grassy green color made me think of cooler weather, a spring day. The first coat on this polish was horribly streaky- I was really worried that I was going to be extremely disappointment, but by the second coat, this polish had completely redeemed itself. With the second coat bringing some fantastic color to the table, I was also really happy with how easy it was to paint with.

Mosaic Lacquer Best Friends

A friend of mine, Jessica, is an indie polish maker- she runs Mosaic Lacquer . She sent me some beauties that  I will be featuring over the next few weeks. Today, I am thrilled to bring you Best Friends.
We know that there is a sea of rainbow glitter out there- OPI Rainbow Connection, Debra Lippmann Happy Birthday, Milani Gem, etc., etc. With some many of these rainbow glitters already out there, you really need something special to make them stand out. I really think Mosaic Lacquer really was able to accomplish this! Between the bright happy primary colors, adorable hearts, and thoughtfulness that went into deciding the ratios of each glitter, she really hit it out of the park.
This assortment of glitter comes in a clear base so you can layer it over anything. Today I am featuring it over China Glaze China Rouge. This is two coats, though I did fish out a few hearts to make sure I had at least one on each nail.
Enjoy and check out her shop!

China Glaze China Rouge

Everyone now and then you want something red hot- something sexy!
China Glaze China Rouge totally fit that bill. This beautiful, super glossy polish is your classic bold red, a must have staple in any woman's collection.
In just two coats it was completely opaque. I do warn you to be careful when polishing because it will stain your cuticles, and it is not an easy polish to remove from skin.
I still really like this polish and I hope you do too.

CQ Idyllic

CQ is a drug store brand I don't know that I have given a second glance at while shopping. Despite that, I have good friends who know my passion for duochromes and who wanted to make sure I tried these little delights.
Idyllic is a beautiful rich duochrome that shifts from a deep burgundy to a gold, with what seems to be the occasional green flash. I was very happy with the coverage- two coats did the trick just fine. The polish was also very easy to paint with thrilling me with no clean up. My only compliant is that by day three I had some pretty rough tip wear.
All things considered, I'd still recommend this brand for the unique colors like Idyllic

Zoya Feifei

This has been the only polish I picked up from new Zoya NYFW 2012 Diva collecion, but I am so happy I did!
The simply stunning foil packs a soft blue, gold, and in some lights, even purple. It was completely opaque in two very easy coats, and required ZERO clean up. So very easy to work with- love it!
Now, to put the cherry on top, this polish wore for a solid week with no chipping at all- I only changed it because of minor tip wear and growth by the cuticle.
I beg you, if you have not picked this up yet, please do- you will certainly not regret it. :)

My other hobbies...

If you follow my blog it's likely that you are a fellow nail enthusiast or know me some how or other another.

In case you're curious about what I do outside of nails, here are a few of my favorite things...

Baking!

These are my most recent endeavor - the best darn carrot cakes I've ever made! Even friends who do not normally care for carrot cakes gobbled these up. 

Travel!

My most recent trip to lovely San Luis Obispo with dear husband was quite fun. We ate chowder and baked goods at Splash Cafe, and chuckled at some of lawn decor offered at the local hardware store... I wish I would have grabbed a few pictures of my dog on the beach. 

and Filming!

We're just one episode away from releasing season two of What's Good, Fresno?

Here's some behind the scene filming at Max's Bistro- who, by the way, has the best truffle fries I have ever had!

China Glaze Swanky Silk

China Glaze Swanky Silk from the 2012 Bohemian collection
This polish hasn't got much love in the reviews I have read, but when I saw it in the store, I thought it was interesting, so it came home with me. This polish appears to shift between pink, golden and soft jade in the bottle.
The formula was very easy to work with and it only took two coats to be opaque. However, my biggest complaint about this polish was the very visible brush strokes- I had to do a third very careful coat with the least number of strokes possible because they bothered me so much. With the third coat, they were minimized enough where no one else seemed to notice them.
It was a very pretty not quite nude and I enjoyed it quite a bit!