Happy Hands Am I Not Yours?

Happy Hands Am I Not Yours was released with the Faint of Heart collection for this past Valentine's Day. It's a dark, teal-green jelly packed with glitter. I actually took a bottle shot this time, just because I'm so smitten with the glitter mix.

How cool is that? It looks pretty awesome on the nail, too. And sorry about the state of my cuticles- I wore this manicure the week before my presentation, which was full of stress and unfortunately, cuticle-picking. So my skin is looking pretty rough, lol.

But the glitter!!

I've told you of my love for square glitter, so it shouldn't surprise you that my favorite part of this polish is the big teal squares.

So, I've layered 2 coats of Am I Not Yours over 2 coats of American Apparel Passport Blue. It was pretty thick, so I'd definitely recommend keeping thinner on hand, and being generous with it. I had no trouble getting a good amount of glitter on my nails, which was great. This manicure looked so cool in person.

Have you tried any Happy Hands polishes? Thoughts?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

YSL Jade Imperial

YSL Jade Imperial was released with the Arty Stone collection this past spring. It's a lovely jade green creme. I am weirdly picky about my minty greens. Off the top of my head, the only ones I can think of that fit my tastes are Sinful Colors Open Seas, Milani Dress Maker/Chanel Jade, and YSL Jade Imperial. Of course, I didn't actually decide I liked Jade Imperial until right after it sold out locally, and I'm not big on online shopping. I got lucky though, and the SA that was helping me said I could have the tester! Sure, it's missing the gold outer cap, but I don't care about that. The tester is in pretty good condition, and it's about 75% or 80% full, so needless to say, I am very happy.

Now, onto the polish itself. Jade Imperial has a flawless formula. Almost perfect in 1 coat, super smooth application, dries shiny...I am in love. The brush is quite large, and I was a little worried about how that would affect the application, but I had no trouble. In fact, I didn't even need to clean this up.

I did leave gaps that are a little too wide, but that's because I did my nails in dim lighting while dying watching HBO's Oz. I know I'm ten years too late on that show, but OMGGGG. Kirk Acevedo. Rita Moreno. Lauren Velez. Eamonn Walker. Dean Winters. BD WONG. And holy crap, JK Simmons. That guy has RANGE. Seeing him go between Jameson and Schillinger and that Farmers Insurance guy...damn. I have a hard time thinking of him as anyone other than Vern, though.

Thoughts? Did you fall in love with Jade Imperial too? I've pretty much heard nothing but raves about it. And what about Oz? Have you watched it?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Water Marble: Essie Brooch the Subject and Ole Caliente

Goooooood morning! I water marbled again, as you can see.

No top coat, because I am impatient and accidentally smeared the nails on my right hand when I applied it. Look:

Smearing aside, I am pretty happy with how these designs came out!

One thing that bugs me about water marbling: pretty much every time I do it, I get at least one tiny bubble. Here, you can see it on the ring fingernail of my right hand. It's tiiiiiny, but it bothered me, so I tried carefully popping it with the very tip of my cleanup brush, and of course, the base color now shows through. Oh well.

Thoughts? Would anyone happen to have any tips on avoiding those tiny bubbles?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

SHCSM Greige

SHCSM Greige was not released with a particular collection, as far as I know, but is one of the new-ish colors released with the revamped Complete Salon Manicure line. I'm not sure why they felt the need to revamp it, as the two new ones I've obtained have the same formula as my older ones...but whatever. Greige, as you may have guessed...is a greige creme.

It sort of annoys me that the label on my bottle is so crooked. But the formula isn't bad. It's not great, a thick 3-coater, but it's not that bad.

This is among the colors I got so I would have things to wear to work that wouldn't bore the bejeezus out of me. And I have to say, I do like this one. I always thought I had to stick to cool-toned greys, and avoid taupe-y colors, but I feel like this one is working for me.

It's also quite glossy alone. I didn't use top coat here. Oh, and I should note that this is quite different from SHCSM Greige Gardens. Greige is darker, leans slightly brown, and has no purple in it whatsoever. Greige also has a better formula, but I like both colors.

Once again, this isn't the most unique color. The first similar one that comes to mind is Essie Chinchilly, which looks a bit lighter and just a smidge more brown. Same goes for American Apparel Mouse. You probably won't go wrong with any of the three.

Have you tried Greige, or any of the other new-ish SHCSMs? Thoughts?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

OPI Miami Beet

Miami Beet is from the Spring 2009 South Beach collection. It's a vibrant, glossy magenta creme.

Still weird. But still a nice color, and still a nice pedicure.

I have to say, the formula on this one is really nice. It's thin and smooth, like a jelly, and it's perfect in 2 coats.

Just look at that shine! No top coat. I am currently rocking this on my toenails, and it looks fantastic.

Have you tried Miami Beet? Thoughts? What kind of colors do you like for your pedicures?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Revlon Colorstay Nude Beige

Revlon Colorstay Nude Beige is from the Nude Expressions collection released this past Spring. The collection consists of 8 skintoned colors intended to help achieve a "mannequin hands" look. Of the 8, I thought Nude Beige looked closest to me, so I went with that. This is 3 coats, in the shade:

It's definitely not a match, but it's close enough, I guess. I really just got this to wear to work, and it does a good enough job pretending it doesn't exist. The formula is thick but good. It's one of those sort of sheer creme-jelly type polishes, so it needs 3 coats, but it's not streaky, and it's quite glossy alone.

So, not the most exciting color, but if we've got similar skintones and you need something appropriate for a conservative office, I would definitely recommend this.

Have you tried Nude Beige, or any of the other Colorstay Nudes? Thoughts?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

Reswatch: Essie Ole Caliente

Essie Ole Caliente was from the Spring 2012 Navigate Her collection. I wore it again as a pedicure recently and thought, eh, it's been over a year since I first blogged this polish, why not reswatch? I'm still not crazy about it as a manicure, but like Where's My Chauffeur, it looks even better with a tan.

Last time I wore this, I noted that four thin coats was the way to go. Ole Caliente has thickened up in that time, and was nearly solid in 1. I should have given it time to dry between coats though, because I wound up needing 3 coats to even it out anyway because of the streaking.

Oh, and just a quick note about the color: Ole Caliente isn't this orange on me IRL. It's more pink, and it's definitely brighter. My camera apparently had trouble with this color, too.

I remember reading last spring that Ole Caliente is either identical or very very similar to OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where? which was released at the same time. And this year's Resort collection brings us another near-dupe, called Come Here. Let's be honest, this isn't a very unique color, lol.

Have you tried Ole Caliente, or any of the countless similar colors? What do you think? Do you like bright pinks and corals on your fingernails, or are you like me and reserve them for pedicures?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Essie Where's My Chauffeur?

Essie Where's My Chauffeur was released with the Leading Lady collection this past holiday season. I also bought Leading Lady, which you will hopefully be seeing...sometime in the near future. Where's My Chauffeur is a bright aqua creme, not really what you'd expect for winter but very bright and cheery, especially with a summer tan.

Where's My Chauffeur has a pretty standard Essie creme formula, almost perfect in 2 coats but still requiring a third to even out some streaking.

The formula was thick, but manageable, and I didn't need to do much cleanup on this mani, which was nice.

I typically dislike these kinds of colors because they're so white-based, and I don't think they're flattering on my skintone at all. But this is so saturated and cheery, I can't help but love it! I really want to water marble with this one. Maybe with OPI Vampire is Buff, or something.

Where's My Chauffeur is very similar to China Glaze Aquadelic, from last spring's Electropop collection. It's also similar to China Glaze For Audrey, which is very very popular. Personally, I prefer the Essie, as it's a smidge darker, and definitely more saturated.

Have you tried Where's My Chauffeur, or any of the other similar aqua cremes? Thoughts?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

NYC Tudor City Teal + Nails Inc. the Wyndham

NYC Tudor City Teal is a polish that didn't have a proper "release," as far as I know. But it started showing up on blogs and looked like a very cute color, so for 99 cents I thought, why not? I'll give it a try. Unfortunately, the formula is thin and watery.

I used 3 thick coats here and there's still a bit of VNL, but it sure is pretty.

And over that, I added 2 coats of Nails Inc. the Wyndham, a green-blue flakie.

I really like this combination! It kind of makes me want to go somewhere tropical, which is weird because I hate hot weather despite being from a tropical country. Bad South Asian. I do miss the fruit though!

Have you also succumbed to the 99-cent allure of Tudor City Teal? What did you think of the formula?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Don't Mess With OPI

Don't Mess With OPI is a grassy green from OPI's Spring 2011 Texas collection. It's so strange, I clearly remember getting this and being excited about it and wearing it, but it also feels like 2011 was so long ago. :O Don't Mess With OPI is solid in 2 coats.

The formula is thin, but smooth.

There's just one problem with this polish...it stains blue when you remove. Skin, nails, eeeeeeeeeeeeeverything it touches turns blue, and it's a PITA to get out. The staining keeps me from using this too often, honestly.

Now, there are TONS of grassy green cremes out there. The first one that comes to mind is Essie Pretty Edgy, which I have! It is definitely warmer than the OPI, but the formula is not as good. It's thick and streaky, but the color is very nice and it doesn't stain blue.

Have you tried Don't Mess With OPI, or any of the other Texas colors? Thoughts?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Revlon Chic + Essie As Gold As It Gets

Today I've got for you a layering combo that is a little different, but I'm pretty pleased with how it looks. 2 coats of Revlon Chic, and 1 thin coat of Essie As Gold As It Gets. Chic has a perfect formula, nearly opaque in 1 coat, and very smooth.

I know people tend to layer As Gold As It Gets over darker colors so the gold stands out more, but I personally like it best over mid-toned colors, especially dusty ones like Chic.

No sunlight pics today, because the sun just washed out all the shimmer, so I figured they would be sort of pointless.

I need to dig through my stash for more murky cremes to layer this over. I've definitely got Revlon Guest List and SHCSM Greige Gardens in mind...maybe I'll also try it over a light grey...

What are your favorite bases for As Gold As It Gets?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Revlon Eclectic

Happy Friday! Unfortunately, today I have a huge disappointment to show you. I've been on the hunt for a nice, opaque aqua creme, and I thought Eclectic might do the trick. It's a bit greener than I wanted, but still a nice color. Here it is in the shade:

The formula, however, sucks. A lot. It seemed ok at the first coat, a little sheer, but probably manageable. NOPE. If you don't let it dry completely between coats, it is so freaking streaky. I am disappoint. This result required 4 coats. For a creme.

It also takes a really freaking long time to dry. Womp wompppppp. I usually have great luck with Revlons, especially their cremes, but this is bad. Mine might have been from a bad batch, but still. I do not recommend this at ALL.

So this went right back, and my search for a nice aqua creme continued. I think I've finally found the right one, Essie Where's My Chauffeur! It's a pretty recent release, and hopefully I'll get that one swatched soon.

Have you tried Eclectic? Did you have as much trouble as I did?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

Zoya Kelly

Zoya Kelly is from the Wonderful Collection released in Fall 2010. It's a lovely dark grey with purple undertones, making it distinct from the many other dark greys out there. Kelly is solid in 2 coats.

The formula had an oddly sticky feel to it, but at least it wasn't streaky.

I can't remember whether or not I used top coat for these pictures, but I do remember noticing how glossy Kelly is on its own. In addition to the stickiness, I noticed that this polish dried more slowly than usual, but not at an unreasonable pace...I changed my mind the next morning. I did this manicure at about 11 AM, and the next morning there were dings and some sheet marks. What.

I left it on for 5 days anyway because I didn't have time to fix it or change my manicure, so I have the results for you.

You can see some of the weirdness at my ring and pinky fingernails. No major chipping, which is good, but it's much much duller, and the tipwear was disappointing.

It's not the worst wear I've ever experienced, but it still looked pretty beat up after 5 days.

I'm not sure if it's my base and top coat combination, but I just don't seem to be compatible with Zoya cremes. I had lots of trouble with Pinta, and now Kelly's giving me similar issues. My go-to base coats are Essie Fill the Gap and Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps, and my top coat is pretty much always Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

I haven't come across any exact dupes for Kelly, but there are lots of dark greys out there. They seem to mostly have greenish undertones, like Essie Power Clutch, but there is also China Glaze Concrete Catwalk, which seems like a pretty neutral dark grey. If Zoya cremes don't give you trouble, and greenish greys don't suit you, I'd suggest Kelly. Despite the formula woes, it is a very nice color.

Have you tried Kelly? Did you have the same issues that I did?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

HARE Star Tropics

Now here's a glitter that I am madly in love with. HARE Star Tropics is from Spring 2012, but was a very limited release due to some formula and glitter problems. I have experienced neither of those issues, but last I heard Nikole was reformulating, so hopefully it will be released with a future collection! It is absolutely gorgeous.

Star Tropics consists of 2 sizes of silver square glitter and small silver hex glitter in a blue jelly base. The base is very slightly blurple, but still distinctly blue. It sort of reminds me of Starry Starry Night, but on some hardcore steroids. With that in mind, I layered it over a dark blue. First, I tried it over Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue. 3 coats of the Ruby Kisses, 2 coats of Star Tropics, Gelous, and top coat.

I liked the combination, but felt like my base color didn't quite go. It doesn't have the slight indigo tinge to it, so the second time I decided to layer it over Revlon Urban, and that was perfect!

As you can see, I'm a bit rusty on my glitter application, lol. Fear of removal keeps me from wearing these crazy glitters, to be blunt! Since it's a super chunky glitter in a jelly base, it's not surprising that it's pretty thick, but application wasn't bad, and I had no trouble getting the giant squares onto my nails.

In case I haven't told you enough yet, I LOVE SQUARE GLITTER. Here's a closer look, from the first manicure I did:

The depth that the jelly base imparts is just awesome, even if it doesn't quite go.

As far as I know, there aren't any dupes of this out there. I don't know about you, but I'd love to have a glitter mix with these exact sizes and shapes, in a bunch of differently-colored bases. That would be AWESOME. If someone made a light grey creme/jelly (I still refuse to use the word "crelly") with matte, retina-searing hot pink glitter like this, I would be all over that. And aqua and yellow. Dark teal jelly and an antique-ish gold. I always have these ideas floating around in my head but I'm terrified of messing up and wasting money/supplies so I never actually get around to attempting any of them ._. Story of my life.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

Revlon Urban + Heavenly

Happy Friday!!! Today I have 2 fabulous polishes from Revlon to show you. Both Urban and Heavenly are from the Bubblegum Days/Urban Nights collection that was recently released by Revlon. I believe the colors are all still available in stores. By far, the most popular color from that collection seems to be Girly, a milky glitter that seems vaguely reminiscent of HARE Rad Cloud and Magic Mist, but to be blunt....I don't like it. It looks kind of messy and chaotic to me. I did pick up a third color from this collection, Eclectic, and you will hopefully be seeing that in a few weeks. Spoiler alert: it sucked. A lot.

Urban and Heavenly, however, do not suck! At all. Let's start with Urban. Urban is a lovely navy creme with purple-ish undertones, which is a nice contrast to the green-tinged dark blues I've been seeing lately. It's solid in 2 coats, not streaky, and dries nice and glossy on its own. In the shade:

Sorry about the dry hands. I did moisturize before taking these photos, I promise, but it's not doing me much good right now. Silly winter weather, making things difficult. In the sun:

Isn't it awesome? So rich and glossy. I didn't use top coat before taking these pictures, by the way. To this manicure, I added one coat of Revlon Heavenly.

Since Urban is dark, the glitter in Heavenly really pops over that base. And I think it's a fun change to layer iridescents over dark blue instead of black. I get bored of layering over black...

Heavenly suspends the glitter in a slightly milky base, but it doesn't interfere with the layering at all. I do think the glitter mix seems...unbalanced, somehow? But it's a fun combination.

Dat color shift. And, as you know by now, I love squares....I also love green-blue iridescent glitter...not quite as much as blue-purple, but it is still awesome.

Now, Heavenly is the latest in Revlon's series of high-end dupes and approximations, and this is apparently a dead-on dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Stairway to Heaven. Based on swatches, Urban looks similar to China Glaze Calypso Blue, but because swatches of the latter vary so much, it's hard to tell. I've never seen Calypso Blue in person though, since it was released before I became a polish addict, so take it with a gigantic grain of salt.

Have you tried any of the Bubblegum Days/Urban Nights polishes? What did you think?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

HARE King of Carat Flowers

Blegh, Monday. On the bright side, I have my first HARE polish to show you! King of Carat Flowers was released last fall with the Finders Keepers collection, which was packed with interesting and unexpected glitters. This is one that could be worn on its own, but I've been advised that layering really helps, so I chose to layer 2 coats of King of Carat Flowers over 2 coats of SHCSM Dorien Gray, which I've already gushed to you about.

Check it out! Yellow/gold glitter, lavender glitter, delicate gold shimmer, and glints of iridescent blue glitter in a light grey base. I really really love this. Let's take a closer look:

Since I layered it, application was a breeze, and I didn't have to place the glitter or anything. It distributed itself nicely with my normal application method. I had this on my wishlist for a few months before I caved and bought it, and I'm so glad it didn't disappoint! Now I just need to get my hands on Bisbee and Archipelago.

Do you have any HAREs? What do you think?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?

Yaaaay it's Friday! Unfortunately, my exam schedule is starting to get into high gear, so we'll see whether or not I can keep up with posting this semester...I might switch to posting on weekends instead, lol. I dunno. We'll see. I'll definitely peace out for a bit once finals approach.

Anyway, today I have for you my new favorite neutral! OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? is from the Holland Collection for Spring 2012. It's a really strange choice for me, but I. Love. It. 2 thin coats, no top coat.

As you can see, it is a sandy beige with some strong grey tones. I'll admit, this was a total impulse buy, and I kind of expected to hate it as I started my manicure, but luckily I experienced the opposite outcome. In the sun:

Now, let's talk about the formula. It is fantastic. I had no trouble with the Pro-Wide. At the first coat, it was kinda runny and watery so it flooded a bit, but I quickly got the hang of it. It's actually passable at a single coat, if you were so inclined! This will definitely be one of my go-to colors when I'm in a hurry. It dries nice and quick.

Honestly, I suck at comparing neutrals, but Zoya Farah is apparently a dupe. It's interesting, Zoya and OPI apparently had quite a bit of overlap last spring...but if you're anything like me, Zoya cremes do not work so well for you, so I would recommend this over Farah.

Have you tried OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh? Or was there perhaps another color that you expected to hate, but wound up loving?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!