Nail of the Day: Bikini So Teeny

Sorry for being on hiatus for a couple of days, I was visiting family in Boston. While I was there, my aunt, knowing what a nailie I am, gave me a couple of polishes that she had accidentally doubled up on. I now have in my posession two new blue Essie polishes! (Why are all my blue polishes Essie and why are all my Essie polishes blue?) She gave me "Mezmerised" and "Bikini So Teeny". Today, I'm showing "Bikini So Teeny", a light periwinkle blue polish from Essie's Summer 2012 Collection. The colour is creamy and vibrant but still white-based. In the bottle, it definitely has some purple undertones and light silver duochrome but on the nail, it's just a creamy, flattering blue. A very lovely colour. It is similar but not an exact dupe for "Dreamer" by Revlon. Like a lot of my other Essie nail polishes, I can still see some balding and streaking even after two coats. How unfortunate. An overall nice polish.

Nail of the Day: Shivon

AHHHHHHHHHHH! A Siobhan nail polish! (Ok, technically "Shivon", but it's pronounced the same). I cannot express how happy I am that I found a nail polish that is not only a) named Siobhan but b) is absolutely beautiful as well. "Shivon" is a Zoya polish, from their "Flourish" Collection a while back. I know that it's not a new polish, but seeing as it shared my name, I had to have it. Zoya doesn't sell in stores in Canada, for those that didn't know so it is the only Zoya I've ever tried and I ordered it on eBay.

 From my experience with this one polish, Zoya has a fantastic formula! Zoya is known for their 5-Free, Healthy formula. It went on smoothly, almost a one-coater. Shivon is a stunning red-purple with gold/bronze metallic in it. The colour shifts whenever your hands move and depending on the light it seems more purple or more bronzey-red. I can't describe how beautiful it looks. I am very impressed and can understand why Zoya is so popular.

Nail of the Day: Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

What a silly name... Today I have a polish from OPI's Texas Collection - "Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?". Can you guess what colour it is from the name?! No, you can't. Silly, silly name. "Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?" is a bright orange polish and is categorized as a "sorbet" colour (which most nailies know as a "jelly"). This means that it's much more sheer than a creme but dries to a much shinier, almost candy-like finish. I found this polish on the discontinued and on-sale rack at Trade Secrets (which is where I buy all my OPIs, if anyone was wondering) and I didn't know much about it when I grabbed it. I was very impulsive and lacking an orange in my collection so I bought it without reading up on it at all which, unfortunately, led to a very disappointed me. I thought I was buying a bright, vibrant orange creme, perfect for halloween manicures and the like. Now, don't get me wrong, the colour is beautiful! The perfect orange. I'm just not, and have never been, a fan of the jelly finish. It does dry to a nice shiny finish, no need for a top coat. I just hate to see the whites of my nails, especially after 3 or 4 coats. If you like jellies, you'll adore this bright summery polish but if you're like me, don't get it. The polish does apply nicely, all squishy and shiny and delicious looking. On short nails I think this would be gorgeous.

Nail of the Day: Ruby Pumps

A classic! China Glaze's "Ruby Pumps" is one of those polishes that I just had to buy because I was almost embarassed that I didn't have it. What kind of nail polish addict doesn't have one of the most famous red polishes?! Well, I understand why it's so popular. It is absolutely spectacular! A pink-toned red, jam packed with microglitter and "glass flecks". So sparkly when you look at it, but somehow it manages not to be tacky. I can wear it to work without people looking at me like "whoa, check out the hooker nails" but they're still distracting when I'm typing haha. The formula was so perfect it was almost... luxurious. When the brush touched the nail, it basically appleid itself. It flowed outwards in the richest red, I was so mezmerized by how stunning it was that I almost forgot what I was doing. It's also the only China Glaze polish that hasn't given me problems with chipping. Incredible, absolutely incredible.

The only downside, it won't photograph right! I just took almsot 30 shots of my nails and none of them do it justice.. I found this picture on polishloveaffair, it is not my own. (we are in no way affiliated). Beautiful.

Nail of the Day: Ole Caliente!

I have one of my favourite summer polishes on today, Essie's "Ole Caliente", which was actually released as part of their Spring Collection earlier this year. I ended up getting the mini-sampler of the Spring Collection and got the mini size of this polish along with "Navigate Her", "To Buy or Not To Buy", and "Tour de Finance". This colour is BRIGHT. If you could somehow make red a neon, this would be how it would look. It's not a true red, much more of a coral. In the bottle it leans towards pink but it leans much more towards orange on my nails. I absolutely adore how bright and energetic this colour it but at the same time, it has enough red in it to stop it from looking like a traffic light. The formula on this was perfect when I first got it, almost a one-coater. It's starting to thicken up quite a bit now though and I'm wondering if that's due to the mini bottle because I'm having trouble with the other ones from this set now too... Highly unfortunate. It's still a fantastic polish and I would probably grab this in a full size if I can find it.

Nail of the Day: Leopard Nail Art

Using the beautiful gold base I had on from swatching "Gilty Pleasure" yesterday, I decided to spice things up for a girls night out tonight, and what's better than leopard print?! Now, anyone who actually knows me knows that I usually only decorate my ring finger and/or my thumb. Nail art on all my fingers is too tedious and too messy looking, I find. Sometimes, I break this rule though, and that's usually for some themed nail art or a themed party etc.

Today, I have leopard print on my ring fingers and thumbs and it is so easy to recreate. I have Essie's All-in-One Base on with two coats of Sally Hansen's "Gilty Pleasure". Then, using a dotting tool, take a basic black (I'm using my Witchcraft Nail Art Black, I love the consistency)and make random organic shapes. I use a leopard print bag as a reference but you could always just google an image of it. Then, take a brown or a bronze and place a dot of it in the centre of your black shapes (I used "Artist's Inspiration" by Finger Paints). Slick on a top coat and voila! Beautiful, sassy nails. (Disclaimer: I took these pictures before putting on a coat of Seche Vite, the topcoat really smoothes them out and makes them look almost like expensive nail decals).

Nail of the Day: Gilty Pleasure

The NOTD today is one of my alltime favourite polishes, "Gilty Pleasure" from the Complete Salon Manicure line from Sally Hansen. It's a metallic gold but it's a cool gold, more green than orange. I find it way more flattering than my other gold polishes, almost like a shiny neutral gold on my skintone. I absolutely adore this colour, it's definitely one of my most used nail polishes. The application is perfect on this one - like all others from the Complete Salon Manicure line (it's a fantastic, affordable line). It's almost a one coater, is thick enough to be used in nail art but not too thick, it levels out perfectly but doesn't flood my cuticles. I can't rave about this one enough. The PERFECT gold.

Nail of the Day: Butterfly Nail Art

Here's a quick nail art I did today! I wanted to use my new Julep "Chelsea" but I wasn't all for wearing glitter polish to the office so I used it as an accent nail here! I tend to only do nail art on my ring finger and/or my thumb. I just feel very ... cluttered when all my nails are wacky. Here, I used Essie All-in-One Base, with 2 coats of Essie's "To Buy or Not to Buy". Then, using a dotting tool, I applied Julep's "Chelsea" to the wings, finished off with my Witchcraft Nail Art Stripers in black and white. (I accidentlaly smudged the bottom wing, I was so anxious to photograph them... silly me!). I also slicked on a coat of Seche Vite to seal it in (and to smooth out the chunky glitter feel). Please note, the right side of the butterfly DOES finish.. my finger is just on an awkward angle here.

Julep Maven: July Bombshell Box

My July Julep Maven box arrived this morning - I switched the Bombshell instead of my usual Classic-with-a-Twist this month because the colours had more draw to me. I find that's my problem nowadays, I have so many nail polishes that nothing seems original to me... Sigh. This month, Julep Maven boxes contained the usual 2 nail colours and the beauty product was a lipgloss to match one of the polishes. As a bonus, they threw in an extra nail polish to celebrate Canada Day/the 4th of July - "O Canada" for Canadian Mavens, and "America, the Beautiful" for those Mavens in the USA. My Bombshell box contained "Kate" - a pearly white, Chelsea- a purple based multi-glitter, and Zinna - a creamy mulberry lipgloss. I also received "O Canada" - small multi-glitter and large red hex-glitter in a clear base.

If the box didn't come with the bonus "O Canada" polish, I probably would've skipped this month but it seemed like a good deal so I went with the Bombshell box - mainly because I wanted "Chelsea". I wasn't excited at all about "Kate" and after swatching it on my collection swatches... I'm still not excited about it. It was thick and goopy white. Boring. "Chelsea" appealed to me because I lack purples and glitters in my collection and it is both. Unfortunately, it's more of a glitter topcoat and requires A LOT of coats. Same with "O Canada" - I wish I had that last month for fun Canada Day manicures. Oh well, I think it'll work well during the holidays as well. Zinna, the lipgloss is amaaazing though. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Full swatches to come!

Zinna (Lipgloss)

Chelsea





Kate



Nail of the Day: Jade is the New Black

I know this colour is not a new one but it's new to my collection. "Jade is the New Black" was released in OPI's Hong Kong collection and is one of the seemingly few green polishes OPI has designed. This colour was said to be the new "it" colour when it was released and apparently was, it was nowhere to be found! I recently happened upon a store that had one left, placed back on the shelves in the wrong spot. Must have been my lucky day! I must say, I can see why this polish was so popular - I absolutely love it!

"Jade is the New Black" is a blue-based green creme that's not quite bright enough to be a bright, but too pigmented to be vampy. The perfect balance which makes it wearable anytime of the year. I find that the blue-base to the green is what makes this shade so appealing to me. I find that too many of the greens are too lime-y or yellow based and they don't flatter my skintone at all. I was a bit afraid of the formula on this one, it was a bit patchy and thick on the first application but it looks perfect after the second coat, smooth and ultra glossy (like, abnormally glossy). If you can find this nail polish, buy it!

Nail of the Day: Fiji

Today I bring to you one of the more controversial colours in my collection (for the other controversial colour of mine, read "You Callin' Me a Lyre?"). I present Essie's "Fiji". This colour is a beautiful, creamy baby pink. The colour is very white-based but there's enough colour to it that it's obvious that it's pink - clean and sophisticated. I adore the colour, Essie really does have the best colours. Now here's the controversial part... the formula. I have never had a worse experience with a nail polish. It's streaky, chalky, chips easily, and takes 3 or 4 coats just to level out all the brushstrokes. The only plus is that it's one of the very few opaque baby pinks I've found. If you have the patience and the care, it looks beautiful, but if not... well, the formula is gross and you can tell. Why don't all Essie polishes have the same formula? That confuses me quite a bit. Well, here are some pictures - decide for yourselves whether or not it's worth it for you!