China Glaze-Strawberry Fields

Today is day two of me feeling ultra girly.  Not sure why I feel like wearing pink lately, but here's another gorgeous one!  Strawberry Fields is a wonderful bright pink jelly(ish) base with lots and lots of lovely gold shimmery goodness.  I actually like that this one isn't completely opaque after two coats.  It adds to the girlyness I think :)  These photos are two coats topped with SV:

Ultra pretty, yes?  Reminds me of Essie Your Hut or Mine? but a bit brighter and less opaque.  Definitely an awesome shade to be wearing while I'm wishing for an early spring :)  Not that I really need to ask, it's basically been spring here all winter.  Are any of you ladies experiencing the same thing?  We only got a touch of snow and it's been pretty nice other than that...weird.

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Color Club- Foil Me Once

I've definitely been feeling a more girly vibe for the last few days...hence the super girly pink and purple polishes that I usually don't go for.  Today I have Color Club's Foil Me Once, a lovely pinky purple foil from their Foiled collection. (How many times did I say foil in that sentence?!?)  This is two coats topped with Seche Vite:

Definitely fulfilled my girly polish craving for the day.  I love all of the polishes from the Foiled collection.  Color Club did such a nice job with them :)

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Essie-Shine of the Times

I'm sure all of you have seen Shine of the Times around multiple times, but I just had to get my two cents in :)  It's a gorgeous gold/green/orange/multi flakie that is really saturated with flakes.  Compared to my Finger Paints flakie of the same color variety, this one seems to have twice the amount of bling.  I didn't want to layer it over boring black, so I decided to go with China Glaze Ingrid (not sure why Ingrid doesn't have her own post yet, I'll get working on that ;))

Let me tell you, it is super hard to get the green flash of this polish on camera without the photo being really blurry.  You can get a glimpse of it on my pointer finger and ring finger, but otherwise the orangey-red and gold are prominent.  Like I said, the glitter is really dense, and this was only one coat of SotT over two coats of Ingrid.  I topped off everything with Seche Vite.

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Zoya-Trixie

Trixie is a PERFECT silver foil.  I love silver foils, and I can never resist them!  Especially when Zoya was having a two free polishes promo!  This applies really nicely in two coats and is really shiny even without topcoat.  You don't see that too often in foil polishes.

I love her.  So flashy and gorgeous.
What do you guys think??

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NYX Girls-Indigo Blue

Indigo blue is a nice medium/lightish blue with lots of shimmer.  It's really sheer, so I layered it over Zoya Purity to show the true color.  The other thing that I didn't like about this polish is that it's kind of streaky.  This was three coats over two coats of Purity, so it was kind of a pain to apply.  But after three coats, it came out smooth.  Because of the many layers, I completely jacked my pointer finger and didn't feel like taking the time to re-do the whole thing, so I just left it out of the picture.

Pretty color, overall, but not worth the effort of all those layers.  I really like how it looks over white, but I'm not sure if I'd like it on my bare nail.

What do you guys think?  Anything similar out there that's easier to work with?
Thanks for reading!
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Gel Manicure! Red Carpet Manicure-The Night is Young

So a few months ago, I discovered a brand called Red Carpet Manicure at my local Ulta.  I thought it was such a great idea!  Who wouldn't love to have a gel manicure that you can do yourself at home?  Well, I ended up getting the starter kit for Christmas, which came with a nice red.  I went and picked up a couple of other colors, including this one! The Night is Young is a gorgeous gunmetal grey with tons of beautiful shimmer.

I think it's just beautiful.

The thing that I love about gel manicures is that they last for weeks without having to touch them up.  Because of their flexible nature, they don't chip, flake or scratch like regular nail polish.  Gel nails are extremely resilient.  I can also swatch over these if I wanted.  They don't come off with non-acetone nail polish remover, so if you swatch over them, just use non-acetone remover and they'll be good as new underneath!  The only downside to gel nails is that they take time to apply.  This mani took me about an hour and a half in total.  I guess it's worth it if you think about how long they'll last me :)

If you guys would like a tutorial on how to do these gel nails, let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!
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ELF-Cranberry

I love this color, you guys.  It's so sexy and deep and winter-y.  It's really rich, and I can't stop staring at it!  Pretty good for only a couple of bucks.  This was two coats, but I could have gotten away with one.  So far, all of the polishes that I've tried from ELF have been awesome!

Again, I'm still adjusting my new lighting, so bear with my photos :)

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Zoya-Holly

I know this is a little late to be posting Holly, but it's such a beautiful color and I couldn't resist it.  I got it in a swap from a girl from Reddit Lacqueristas :)

Isn't she pretty?  Perfect application, too.  I love how vivid the green is and how shimmery it is :)

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OPI, Glam Slam England duo (way behind the times)

So I know I'm wayyyyy behind the times on this one, but this is the Glam Slam England duo from OPI and Serena Williams.  The duo comes with Grape, Set, Match and Servin' up Sparkle.  For this mani, I used two coats of  GSM and two coats of SuS.  I was holding off on posting this because it's months after the collection was released, but it's so beautiful that I couldn't resist:

blurry to show the holo sparkle

SuS is a gorgeous glitter with large and small scattered holographic pieces.  A must have in a collection, if you ask me.  I think these colors go amazingly well together :)  The purple is pretty on it's own, but it's not entirely unique.  Put it together with the glitter, though, and bam! Gorgeous.

Thanks for reading! (Even if you've already seen this a billion times)

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Christmas Tinsel!

I felt like doing another Christmas inspired mani, and I wanted it to be inspired by tinsel on a Christmas tree! I used two coats of Zoya Edyta and topped it with one coat of W'n'W 24 Carats.  I used a coat of Gelous to smooth everything out and then topped it all off with a coat of SV:

I actually really like how this came out.  And I got a TON of compliments on it when I wore it to work the next day.  I think the bar glitter in 24K really adds to the tinsel effect that I was going for.  What do you ladies think?  Is it a hit or a miss?

Thanks for reading!

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Sally Hansen-Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset is a beautiful orange polish with an awesome subtle teal shimmer throughout it.  I found it on clearance at Walgreens, and it caught my eye right away.  It's so unusual and unlike anything else I have in my collection so I had to have it.  This is three coats, as it it kind of sheer:

You should probably click to enlarge to see the teal-y shimmer.  It's a little hard to capture in photos.  This one is kind of frosty, and I should have been more careful with my application, but it came out kind of brush-strokey.  I definitely love this color, and next time I wear it, I'll be more careful with my brush strokes.

What do you all think?
Thanks for reading!
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Orly-Rock the World

Rock the World is a polish that was on my wishlist, so naturally I'm in love with it :)  I have a soft spot for colors like these (but who doesn't love the Mineral FX collection???).  Application and formula are awesome, but removal is a pain in my booty.  Two coats, topped with SV:

Looooove.  Definitely my favorite from the collection :)

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Sinful Colors-Love Nails

This is another beautiful blue from Sinful Colors.  Love Nails (horrible name, btw) is a really pretty teal blue shimmer that is pretty sheer.  Here, I layered it over Why Not, from my last post.  I think they go really well together and it really brings out the base color of LN.  This was one coat layered over two coats of WN with no topcoat:

I really like this combo and can see myself wearing it a lot in the future :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  (Link in upper right)

Thanks for reading!

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Comparison: Orly Rock Solid vs. W'n'W Diamond in the Rough

So...when I first saw these polishes in the bottle, I thought they would be dupes.  They are close, but not exact.  The W'n'W has much grittier glitter and a stronger rainbow sparkle effect.  The Orly is much smoother on the nail and has a tinted base while the W'n'W base is clear (you can't tell the base is clear after three coats).  Pictures!

Orly, WnW, Orly, WnW

WnW, Orly, WnW, Orly

WnW, Orly, WnW, Orly

As you can see, the rainbow/holo glitter is much stronger in the W'n'W and the base color is darker in the Orly.  Definitely not dupes, but similar that if you have one, I don't think you necessarily need the other.  I used three coats of the W'n'W and two coats of the Orly.

Ulta-Purple Haze

Purple Haze...do I like you or not?  I can't decide.  I feel like I like it, but I'm on the fence because of the slightly frosty finish.  I guess the brush strokes aren't that bad for this polish.  The color is gorgeous, though.  Kind of a purpley/blue duochrome :)  I used two coats here to reach opacity:

What do you guys think?? Persuade me to love it!

Thanks for reading!
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Zoya-Meadow

Initially, I thought that Meadow was going to be a really close dupe to Essie's Your Hut or Mine?, but as it turns out, I like this one better.  I think that this is what I wished YHOM? was.  This is a more pale, true pink with gold shimmer while YHOM? is a tad more coral-y and a bit brighter.  I love you, Meadow, I really do!  Application was alright.  The formula is a tad thick and gloopy, so I had to thin it.  Very opaque, though, almost a one-coater :)

Prettyyyy.  I think I need to thin it more the next time I wear it, though.  I've only seen Meadow around the blogosphere a couple of times...I don't think she gets the credit she deserves!!

Thanks for reading!
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Zoya-Faye

Faye has been one of the polishes I have wanted for a really long time.  I finally got my hands on it :)  I love colors like these that have a ton of gold shimmer to them and this one really shines!  This was two coats and no topcoat:

Lovely, yes?  I want to do a comparison post soon with Faye vs. Orly's Rock the World.  They look super similar to me in the bottle :)  Let me know if you ladies want the comparison!

Thanks for reading!
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Zoya-Edyta

Edyta is an amazing shimmery/glittery olive green with gold glitters.  It is beyond beautiful for fall and it reminds me of the leaves changing from green to gold.  Application is gorgeous and opaque with two coats.  I found this unusual with this type of finish because these types of polish usually take at least three coats.  Pictures!

Isn't she a beaut?  Love it.
Stay tuned for the announcement of who won my contest later on today!!

Thanks for stopping by!
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Color Club-Cold Metal

Oooh my first Color Club post!  Cold Metal is from the Foiled collection (6 foils) and I love it.  It is a super true royal blue foil that sparkles like crazy!!  I found the whole Foiled collection as well as half of Back to Boho at my local Ross for only $7.99 per pack.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  If you have time, stop by your local Ross and see if you can't pick these up :)

Isn't that color just stunning?  Application was a breeze as well.  Didn't even have to worry about brush strokes or anything!!  I'm in love :)  And with winter headed this way, a name like Cold Metal is perfect!!

Thanks for reading!
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ELF-Dark Navy

Today I have for you the last of my ELF polishes.  This one is Dark Navy, and, as you can imagine, it is a dark navy!  It has lots of beautiful blue shimmer in it, as well.  Formula on this one, as with all my ELFs, is good and is completely smooth and opaque after two coats.

And don't forget that my contest is closing tonight!!  Be sure to get any last minute entries in before it's too late!

Thanks for reading!
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