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Color: Desert Sun (China Glaze)
Retail Price: $7.00 (USD)
This shade is from China Glaze’s fall 2012 On Safari collection. It is an orange-brown caramel color with a creme finish.
The formula for this shade made it easy to apply, and I needed two coats to achieve bottle color. Speaking of bottle color, Desert Sun dries darker and brighter than it appears in the bottle, though I suppose the “brighter” bit is sort of fitting since this shade is named after the sun!
If you’re looking for something saucy but still work-safe, this might be the color for you!
Disclosure: Product sample provided by China Glaze.
Color: Mermaid’s Dream (Deborah Lippmann)
Retail Price: $18.00 (USD)
I’ve been wanting Mermaid’s Dream for a while and finally got my hands on it, thanks to a nail polish swap with Vanessa, who follows Blanket Print Nails on Facebook. Now, in my experience, when you want something really bad for a long time, it sometimes doesn’t live up to your expectations. I’m happy to report that isn’t true in this case!
Mermaid’s Dream is a glittered shimmer with micro gold and seafoam green glitter and large blue hexagonal glitter throughout. I’d say this qualifies as a glittered shimmer because application is so smooth and effortless, unlike many other glitter polishes where the glitter is prone to move around on your nail during application. One coat of this nail polish is pretty dense, but still great to layer over a solid creme (like Deborah Lippmann’s On The Beach, a bright sky blue creme)—perhaps to create a dazzling accent nail. For a fully opaque manicure, I needed two coats of Mermaid’s Dream (as you can see in the photo above). This does dry a little bumpy/rough, so you’ll want to use one or two layers of a thick top coat to finish up your manicure.
Mermaid’s Dream is so stunning it makes my heart ache!! Any nail polish aficionado seriously NEEDS this bottle of perfection. A+, Deborah Lippmann!
Color: Please Me (M∙A∙C)
Retail Price: $16.00 (USD)
This shade is from the M∙A∙C Casual Color collection. It is a mid-tone warm pink with a creme finish. The formula for this shade was easy to work with (a pleasant surprise after my experience with the M∙A∙C Beth Ditto pastels), and Please Me was opaque in an easy two coats.
Overall, I really like this shade. It has a really sweet, romantic feel, and it’s work-safe, too! Moreover, I think this shade (and any shade in this collection) is perfect if you’re wanting to try out the matching lip and nail color trend.
Disclosure: Product sample provided by M·A·C.
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Anonymous asked: Hi! I love your blog and I was wondering, do you file your nails so that they are flat instead of rounded at the tips?
Thanks! And yes, I file my nails like that on purpose for two reasons. First, it’s really easy to just file your nails into a straight line, lol. (I’m not sure I have the patience to file my nails in a rounded shape!) And second, I’ve been trying to keep my nails a little shorter, and I think square nails look great short. Of course…sometimes I get busy with life and my nails turn into claws before I have a chance to file them back down again!
Anonymous asked: How do you paint your nails so perfect?? I am amazed! Please tell me, I can never quite get my cuticle area as clean and perfect as i would like.
Honestly, it’s a “practice makes perfect” thing! Someone else did ask me this before, though, so I have a slightly more detailed answer here. :)
Color: Marrow (Butter London)
Retail Price: $14.00 (USD)
This shade is from Butter London’s fall 2010 collection. It is a bruised purple creme with silver shimmer throughout. I think it looks stunning in the bottle and on my nails, although it should be noted that Marrow dries much darker on nails than it appears in the bottle (which is fine with me, in this case). Another slight issue is that the shimmer is verrry subtly visible on the nail (while it’s very apparent in the bottle), but despite that fact, Marrow manages to twinkle quite nicely when the sun hits it just right.
The formula for this shade is great to work with, which makes application easy. Marrow is very pigmented, and is almost a one-coater; however, I needed two coats to achieve full opacity.
Overall, I really like this color because I don’t own anything else like it. Still, it’s important for you to know that it looks slightly darker on nails than it does in the bottle, which may potentially be a problem for some people. The best thing about Marrow is that even though it’s from a fall collection, the shimmer makes it perfect for spring and summer as well!
Color: Exotic Encounters (China Glaze)
Retail Price: $7.00 (USD)
This shade is from China Glaze’s fall 2012 On Safari collection. It is a dusty yet bright teal with a creme finish. I know this is a 2012 color, but emerald is the color for 2013, and I think this teal is a fun twist on this year’s trend!
As with all China Glaze cremes, I found the formula very easy to work with. The finish is smooth and glossy, and I needed two coats to achieve bottle color.
Disclosure: Product sample provided by China Glaze.
Color: Kalahari Kiss (China Glaze)
Retail Price: $7.00 (USD)
This shade is from China Glaze’s fall 2012 On Safari collection. China Glaze describes it as a brown, but I definitely think it’s more like a yellowy beige, if anything! On some skin tones, I think this shade would even function great as a work-safe nude.
The formula for this shade makes application smooth and easy (just like most of China Glaze’s cremes), and I needed two coats to achieve bottle color.
Disclosure: Product sample provided by China Glaze.
Infused with Magic and Wonder! Featuring the latest “must-have” nail polish finish – Textured, Matte & Sparkling. This newly developed formula is sure to captivate with a magical sparkle and sugary finish like no other. The color experts at Zoya have created six, long-wearing stunners for the introduction of this look…
Zoya’s spring 2013 PixieDust collection includes the following six shades:
Instructions for Zoya PixieDust application:
NOTE: Zoya PixieDust Nail Polish dry times are a little slower than with traditional polish but once dry, the Zoya PixieDust formulation will provide extended wear. Best results are achieved by using the product alone. No basecoat or topcoat required. Layering of the Zoya PixieDust formulation with other polishes may produce less than desirable results. Remove Zoya PixieDust by saturating a cotton pad in Zoya Remove + and pressing to nail for a few seconds. Repeat on each nail for best results.
Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.
Starting January 15, 2013, find Zoya Lovely as well as over 300 other ultra high-fashion Zoya shades at zoya.com.
This looks STUNNING and so unique! I have no idea whether or not I’ll love it as much on my nails because I still don’t have enough experience with the textured nail polish trend, but I am way too intrigued not to want to try this as soon as I can! How about you?
Lovely, just LOVELY! Spring is awash in six soft and lovely new Zoya shades including three dewy metallics and three fresh blooms of cream. Poetic in nature, this collection is sure to capture the beauty of the season like no other…
Zoya’s spring 2013 Lovely collection includes the following six shades:
Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.
Starting January 01, 2013, find Zoya Lovely as well as over 300 other ultra high-fashion Zoya shades at zoya.com.
Spring collections are always difficult for me to swallow because I can’t handle too much pastel, but I think the shades in this collection are just right! Can’t wait to try these out!
Anonymous asked: You're back! (Like Voldemort, only I'm much happier about it!) You /are/ back...right?
Haha! Yes, I’m back!
For anyone who actually missed me, I apologize for the extended hiatus. I’ve still been swatching, though, so you’ll see some older reviews popping up. Because sometimes, life takes priority over your nail blog, but not so much so that you can’t sport fabulous nails while you tackle life!
Thanks for sticking with me! :)
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