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!

Pahlish Toxic and Timeless

Happy Friday, y'all! Today I've got Toxic and Timeless to show you. Just a note before I start with the photos, my bottle is from an older batch, has no bar glitter, and a darker, sheer teal jelly base. I think the barless batch was an anomaly, as was the sheer teal base. It's definitely a lot bluer than what's shown in the current listing, so I don't think this version exists anymore. Incidentally, I'm quite pleased with what I've got! Here is one coat over my franken, Across the Ocean. I had been wearing my franken for 5 days at that point, so I apologize for the growth. And for the cell phone picture, haha. I just really wanted to show you what this looked like!

Then I decided to layer 2 coats of Toxic and Timeless over Nails Inc. Kensington, the dark teal jelly/creme that was sold with the Wyndham flakie. Here it is on day 1:

I put this on just before finals last semester, so I had no time or energy to think about the state of my manicures. I made an excellent choice though, because check out the wear on this mani. Day 10:

There's growth and a bit of tip wear, but it never lost that glossy shine. I am quite pleased.

Toxic and Timeless is quite thick, but it's not unmanageable by any means. I despise greenish yellows, chartreuse, all that fun stuff, so I'm quite surprised to say that I love the bright hexes in this. They just...work. And when you add an additional coat of Toxic and Timeless, the sheer teal base turns the hexes into an awesome lime green.

I don't have any other Pahlishes, but I think Prayers for Rain and Like Calendars Dying are calling for me. Added to the ever-growing wishlist...

Have you tried Toxic and Timeless, or any other Pahlishes? Did it wear as well for you as it did for me?

Top 30 of 2012! (part 3)

I don't post a whole lot of layering combinations, but that's mostly because I don't get around to photographing them. Here are the colors that I've reached for the most. First up, the base colors.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dorien Grey

A nice, simple, clean light grey creme. It's so versatile!

Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue

Dark blue goes with a lot of things, and I can't resist a nice jelly.

China Glaze VIII

An excellent basic eggplant creme. Smooth formula, dries quickly, completely solid in 2 coats.

Nails Inc. Kensington

Inky teal jelly, almost black. Works really well for water marbling, too!

New York Summer Hot Sky Blue

Another squishy blue jelly! This is great for jelly sandwiches, and also looks awesome under flakies.

And my favorite layering polishes:

Lynnderella Connect the Dots

Yep, it's on two of my lists. It's that good. With black and white glitter, there are so many layering possibilities!

Nails Inc. the Wyndham

This has the distinction of being my first flakie polish, and it remains my favorite. The green is so vivid, and there is a very evident blue shift.

Finger Paints Asylum

It has blue flakies!! I have been lusting after a flakie with just blue, but since I loathe Nfu Oh bottles and find Inglot to be too much of a hassle to get ahold of, this is as close as I will get for a while. It is lovely though.

Essie As Gold as it Gets

Sheer gold flecks. This is really delicate and pretty, especially over dusty, mid-toned colors.

Essie Shine of the Times

A basic orange-green flakie. It's very dense, so you don't need  much at all for a single manicure.

So, there you have it! My 30 favorites from last year. Thoughts? Do you like layering too, or do you find it troublesome?

Top 30 of 2012! (part 1)

So, about a year ago I showed you my all-time favorites. I was going to do it again on the same day, but obviously that didn't happen because I am lame. I was also going to show you how my all-time favorites have changed in the last year, but I don't think they've changed a whole lot, so instead I will show you three lists over the next three days: my ten favorite polishes released this year, my ten favorite indies, and my ten favorites for layering (both base colors and layering polishes).

Several of them, I have not yet blogged about, so you'll be getting a sneak peek of some upcoming posts. And there are a few polishes for which I've not even taken photos, so you'll get a few bottle photos here and there. So, let's get started!

OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh?

This year, I tried nude cremes! I'm still overwhelmed by all the combinations of hue, undertone, etc. but this one kinda works! It's greyish and cool-toned, but I think it has enough yellow in it that it sort of works. Regardless of my skintone weirdness, this is a great color with a great formula.

Revlon Urban

LOVE. Shiny, squishy dark blue creme with slight purple undertones. Great formula.

Essie Penny Talk

I've told you of my weakness for coppers, and this pretty much epitomizes it. One of the worst formulas I've ever worked with, but I can't resist the color! I'm even willing to forgive some brushstrokes for it.

Illamasqua Charisma

As you probably know, I'm not a pink fan. But this dark berry has some reddish undertones, and that shimmer. I just love it. Great pedicure color, too.

OPI I Have a Herring Problem

This is definitely one of OPI's better names, and one of their better colors too. Despite the sheerness, I love the finish and color, and the application is great.

Essie Ole Caliente

Coral is not really my thing but this is so pretty. It's reddish enough that I don't feel that weird wearing it, and Ole Caliente makes for an awesome summery pedicure.

Deborah Lippmann Cleopatra in New York

I'm not sure how she does it, but Deborah Lippmann really nails the balance of base color to glitter. The black base is opaque, but the gold still shines through, and the end result has so much depth. Plus, you can't go wrong with black and gold. (cue Sam Sparro playing in the background)

Essence Walk on the Wild Side

Really, I could have put all four of the new Colour & Go's on this list, but since I only left space for one, I chose this. Formula could be better, but the finish is great.

Nails Inc. Baker Street

I bet no one was expecting this. /sarcasm
Seriously though, how can you resist such a bold blue?

Revlon Guest List

In addition to nude cremes, I also tried an olive green for the first time this year. The formula is less than stellar, but I really like this.

Thoughts? Do we have any mainstream/mass-produced favorites in common? Tell me about yours!

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

Nails Inc. Whitehall Teal

Helloooo! Luckily, my hiatus wound up being much much shorter than I thought it would be. My exam schedule was quite nice this semester, so I didn't need an entire month like I did in the past. Anyway, today I'm going to show you Nails Inc. Whitehall Teal. I believe the Nails Inc. magnetics came out around Fall 2011 or something. I'm a wee bit late, but whatever. Here is 1 coat of the polish before using the magnet:

If you're one for nail art or stamping, magnetics would probably be useful to you since they are so opaque. Here it is at 2 coats, with the magnet held over it.

Photos can't capture the awesomeness of this effect. It looks so 3D and cool in real life, kind of like those marbles with the stripes inside of them.

Now here's the drawback. I've actually had a few magnetics for quite some time, at least 4 or 5 months, and I have a hard time with them. My nails are curved, and I have shaky hands, so I have a hard time keeping the magnet steady to get a crisp pattern, and the design also doesn't reach all the way to the sides of my nails. The formula is good, but basically, I can only get a good design when my nails are short like this. But out of the magnetics that I have tried (aside from this, Icing and Sinful Colors), this magnet is a pretty good one, and the color is really really nice. I think Layla Metallic Sky is similar, but much bluer.

How do you feel about magnetics? If you've tried any, did you have the same problems I experienced?

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

SHCSM Dorien Gray + Pure Ice Heartbreaker + Nails Inc. the Wyndham

I've shown you Dorien Gray quite a few times now, so I'll spare you another set of swatches. 1 coat of Pure Ice Heartbreaker adds a subtle green shimmer without changing the base color.

I'm actually really happy with how this combo looks!

Yaaayyy more picspam because why not....on a side note, I think I am getting sick of my square nails. They are starting to verge on duck nail territory.....that is a dangerous place to be.....

And to that, I added one coat of Nails Inc. the Wyndham.

I love layering but I think this last addition was a mistake. Boo.

Not to mention, a huge pain to photograph! I couldn't get any sun for the last few posts, and now, there is too much sun! Nail blogger problems, y'all.

Yeah, I don't think I can get used to the square nails. Too weird for me. Love 'em on others, but this is not working for me. Oh well!

Have you ever taken the layering thing a step too far? Ever changed up your nail shape? How'd that go? Loved it? Hated it?

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

New York Summer Hot Sky Blue + Nails Inc. the Wyndham

New York Summer Hot Sky Blue is a medium blue jelly polish. Like most jellies, it's pretty thin and streaky, so I used four coats over one coat of Essie Fill the Gap.

It's pretty, but I'm not that crazy about it on its own, so I added Nails Inc. the Wyndham, which I loooove.

Much better! I think this would also work well for jelly sandwiches.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Nails Inc. Baker Street + Lynnderella Connect the Dots

Baker Street is a fairly new offering from Nails Inc. I first heard about it when photos of Beyonce wearing it started floating around the intarwebs, and even though I don't really care for her, the nail color piqued my interest. 

A lot of times, when I've spent a lot of time drooling over a particular color, I'm left rather disappointed once I actually get my hands on it. Not the case with Baker Street! It's quite a chameleon. Indoors, it's dusty and fairly muted, but outside, it's ridiculously bright and vivid. Even one of my male friends (who ordinarily couldn't care less) looked at my hands and remarked, "Those are the bluest nails I've ever seen."

The formula, however, leaves something to be desired. It was pretty thick, which is easily remedied with a few drops of polish thinner, but it was also streaky and bubbled a little. In order to disguise these flaws, I applied 2 coats of Baker Street over my usual base (Essie Fill the Gap), waited for it to dry completely, applied a coat of Gelous, and then a final coat of Baker Street. Problem solved! It's more effort than I'm used to putting in for cremes, but it works.

I should mention that these photos are not even remotely color-accurate. Baker Street, in person, is a little darker, and has a touch of purple, but I tried photographing it under a few different lighting conditions and could not get it to look right. My dad even let me use his Nikon D3000! But that was even worse, LOL. Ironically enough, the closest I got...was with my cell phone. My Droid 2 and it's crappy camera did a better job of capturing the color than 2 proper cameras.

It's still not totally accurate, but it's a lot closer than before.

Here's Baker Street with 1 thick coat of Connect the Dots dabbed on:

I didn't use any top coat in that photo, so you can still see some texture from the glitter, but I actually kinda like it that way. Connect the Dots is just a bottle full of awesomeness and win. Which reminds me, I still haven't posted Very Pretty Vampire...I need to get around to that, haha.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Revlon Chic + Nails Inc. the Wyndham, Finger Paints Asylum

Recently, Revlon revamped their nail polish line and added a bunch of new colors, and Chic is one of them. It's a dusty blue with a fantastic formula, smooth and opaque in 2 coats. It dries glossy on its own.

I looooove this color, as evidenced by the fact that it's in my Top 20. I bought it last December, and I've worn it several times since then. It's fantastic as a base color for layering, so versatile! Of course, being the space case that I am, I forgot to take photos of most of the layering combinations that I tried, but here are two of them, both glossy and matte:

I've shown you the Wyndham before, but it's just so freakin' pretty! I love the green-blue shift, which is even more prominent when matte.

And here is Chic with Finger Paints Asylum. Indoors, Chic turns into a dusty teal, but I think that also might have something to do with the slightly milky base of Asylum.

Of course, I had to try this combo matte, and I think it's my favorite combination so far!

It doesn't really translate in the photos, but the blue flakies in Asylum show up really nicely. 

Thanks for looking and commenting!