Greens, Greens, Greens!

This next bulk post consists of all of the green manis I wore during the week of St. Patrick's Day. Green is my absolute favorite color, so I'm always psyched for St. Patrick's Day week, and it gives me a good excuse to wear greens! I probably have enough green polishes to wear one every day for a year, but I kept this to a week.

First up is Zoya- Vespa. This is by far my favorite from the Pixie Dust collection recently released in February. The finish on these is amazing!! I previously wore Chyna, which is the red from that collection, and Vespa has more of a gritty, sandy texture. I would describe this shade as a dark mint green.

The application was simple, and I could have gotten away with just two coats of this, but I added a third one just to make it more textured. The dry time wasn't too bad either. It was tacky for a little bit, and I hate not being about to use fast-dry topcoat. It took about a half hour to dry completely.

Indoors with the flash, the shade looks really different! The name is so fitting too. When I think of a Vespa, I think of those scooters that have the exact shade of green.

Indoors without the flash. You can see how much darker this looks in lower lighting. Removal of this was challenging in the sense that it was more difficult than a creme or shimmer finish, but not as difficult as a glitter. It was worth it though!

Pretty & Polished- Bubble Tea is stunning. I've been lemming this one for a while and finally caved in and bought it right before it was discontinued. It's a yellow green base filled with medium black hexes and small bits of yellow matte glitter giving it a slightly textured finish. 

The base was more opaque than I thought it would be and this only required two coats for full coverage. I love how the black hexes look suspended in the base. I am a huge fan of bubble tea, so I just had to have this one.

Indoors with the flash. You can see in the bottle how the tiny pieces of glitter have a slight shimmer effect to them.

Indoors without the flash

Hare Polish- Asteroid Turf consists of medium pink hex glitter suspended in a kelly green jelly base. I just love this combination of colors. It's a jelly sandwich in a bottle. 

Car picture! (I apologize this was before I cleaned up fully, I had to run to work before I could clean up) I thought that this showed the suspension of the glitter well.

Indoors without the flash. I believe I used three coats of this, but it can also be pulled off with two.

For St. Patrick's Day, I wore the combination of Candy Lacquer- Kiss Me I'm Irish layered over China Glaze- Running in Circles. The shades of glitter in Kiss Me I'm Irish match the Irish flag perfectly. There are various sizes of green, red, and white glitter in hexes and squares. There are also red and white hearts! 

The glitter in this was so concentrated that it only needed one coat! I'm always impressed with Candy Lacquer's glitters.

Here's China Glaze- Running in Circles by itself indoors with the flash.  I am wearing two coats of it. It is a beautiful emerald green shimmer. This was from the Cirque de Soleil collection released in December 2012.

Here it is indoors without the flash. It has that glassfleck type shimmer.

Here is ORLY- Monster Mash. This one blows me away! It has various sizes of prismatic green glitter suspended in a yellow-green jelly base! When I first started applying this, I was questioning if it could be worn alone because the first coat was so sheer. It built up nicely with three coats.

Monster Mash was released last summer in ORLY's Flash Glam FX collection, but repromoted around Halloween. I was so amazed with how many different colors flashed in the glitter and I couldn't stop staring at my nails.

Indoors with the flash, you can see what the yellow green jelly base looks like.

Indoors without the flash. I used the white glue base coat with this one and it peeled off easily in sheets. I imagine that this one would be a nightmare to remove the old-fashioned way.

This next combination was an unexpected success. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did! This is Nina Ultra Pro- Electric Slide layered over Venique- Ga-lashes Glow.

Nina Ultra Pro recently revamped their line and branding, and this shade stood out to me. A green neon jelly? It immediately caught my eye and I just had to have it. It was quite sheer and I recommend layering it over another shade. I used two coats of this. This mani was very long-lasting too! 

Here's Venique- Ga-Lashes Glow taken indoors without the flash. I don't know much about Venique. I received this from a partner in a secret swap in one of my facebook groups. I think Venique is only sold at Cosmoprof, which I don't have a membership to. This came in a set with four minis. It's a lime green creme. It reminds me a lot of OPI- Who the Shrek Are You? It applied like butter in two thin coats and the finish was so smooth! 

Indoors with the flash

Hockey fans, just for fun I wore this mani to an autograph signing and met James Neal. He signed this puck, and I held it wearing this combination. It looks so bright in the photo! Just thought I would share :)

Last is Funky Fingers- Pixy Dust. I picked this one up at 5Below. It's a green apple colored glassfleck shimmer. The first coat applied very sheer, and I was unsure if I would like it. It was another one of those shades that I had doubts about, but once the coats built up, I was surprised! It's absolutely gorgeous. It reminds me of Tinkerbell. This needed three coats.

Indoors with the flash

Indoors without the flash

A Lot of Catching Up!

I apologize, I've been MIA, but I assure you I'm still alive. Life always has the tendency to get in the way, and although I've been keeping up with painting my nails often, I slacked with updating the blog. Once I get a couple posts behind, it's just harder and harder to catch up. I've taken pictures of all my manis and I just have to sporadically update them in bulk. Although I fell behind in updating the blog, I have been regularly posting on instagram. My account name is ihatebaconn (completely random, I know, and I just came up with the name on a whim just because bacon is one of my non-preferred foods). Give me a follow on there if you'd like to see frequent nail posts. I'd like to thank everyone for remaining loyal followers, and I'm going to try harder to get back into the swing of things.

First up is Revlon-Sparkle Aplenty. I believe I purchased this one around fall of last year. It's very similar to OPI- Metallic 4 Life, only the silver hexes are somewhat mattified. It is suspended in a black jelly. There are also black hex glitters in this mix. The formula was great on this, and it only needed two coats! 

Indoors without the flash. This is such a great pre-made jelly sandwich in a bottle shade.

Indoors with the flash- if you look carefully you can see some of the black hex glitters. I really like what Revlon has been releasing lately.

This one is an oldie! This is Loreal- Fatigues. I have no idea how old this one is, but judging by the packaging, it looks like early 2000s. I got this one from a lot on ebay. It is a olive-green shimmer. It was absolutely gorgeous and long-lasting. 

The formula on this was a little bit on the thin side, and it needed three coats for even application. 

Here's a shot taken in my car (which I pretty much live in for work). Absolutely stunning! 

This was a nice layering combo. It is Sally Hansen- Multi-Faceted layered over Revlon- Peach Smoothie. Multi-Faceted is a very unique glitter. It was released in the Diamond Strength Jewel Overcoat collection around Spring 2012. It consists of silver, black, and irridescent medium-sized hex glitter.

Here's what it looks like with the flash indoors. You can see all of the different colors in the iridescent hexes. Unfortunately my Seche Vite had a lot of bubbling with this combo, but this is the only complaint I have. 

Here's Revlon- Peach Smoothie by itself with the flash indoors. I believe this only needed two coats. The best thing about this polish was that it was scented! It held true to its name and smelled like a delicious peach smoothie. The scent lasted for the whole two-day span that I wore this mani!

Here's Peach Smoothie without the flash indoors. You can see the subtle hint of shimmer. I really like this peach shade! It's practically nude and so elegant, even though it doesn't exactly match my skin tone. 

The next combo up is ORLY- Sashay My Way layered over Wet n Wild- 450A. Sashay My Way was released as part of the Flash Glam FX collection in summer 2012. It is a glitterbomb for sure! I'm talking so concentrated with glitter that this is only one coat of it! It's filled with gold prismatic medium hexes as well as gold prismatic bar glitters.

Here's a picture taken indoors with the flash. I just love all of the different dimensions of color Sashay My Way has!

Wet n Wild- 450A is definitely an oldie! It's so old that it was before Wet n Wild started giving actual names to their polishes and instead a combo of numbers and letters. I believe I purchased this one from a blog sale. It is a unique shade, almost a light bronze. I am only wearing two coats of it, and although the formula seemed kind of thin, it built up nicely. This picture was taken indoors with the flash.

Indoors without the flash. It kinds of has a mix between a frosty and shimmery finish, but the brushstrokes weren't terrible.

The last combo for this entry is Revlon- Heavenly layered over ORLY- Unlawful. Heavenly is a rather new release and I believe I purchased it around December. It is a pretty close if not exact dupe to Deborah Lippmann's Stairway to Heaven, but I do not own it since I have this one. The names are even similar. This is an ideal layering polish and it's filled with iridescent glitter. 

I only used one coat of Heavenly over Unlawful and it looks amazing! I'm always intrigued by all the different colors shown through iridescent glitters.

Here's ORLY- Unlawful by itself indoors with the flash. It was released in ORLY's Holiday 2012 Naughty or Nice collection. It was practically a one-coater but I added two out of habit. It had a great formula, but I own so many reds so I wasn't really impressed with how unique this shade was. It's just a typical red creme to me.

Indoors without the flash

A Week of Zoyas!

For the past week, I wore Zoya nail polish. Although I managed to keep up with changing my polish color every day, I fell behind on updating. This is a mass post of the week and it's very pic-heavy. Enjoy.

First I have Zoya- Indigo. This is an older one, which was part of the Fall 2007 Downtown Collection. It has not been discontinued. Although I absolutely love dark navy blues, this one didn't play well with my Seche Vite and shrunk a bit. I was also a little bit disappointed that the scattered prismatic microglitter only showed up in the bottle instead of on the nail.

Here it is indoors without the flash. Application was very smooth and it needed two coats. I'm sure I would love this if I tried it with a different topcoat.

Here it is indoors without the flash.

Next is Aurora. Aurora is from this past holiday's Ornate collection and it is a beaut! It is a magenta filled with holo particles. The holo isn't linear, but more scattered; but I am fine with that.

In some lighting this looks magenta and in others it looks like a light purple. I received so many compliments on this shade.

Application was a breeze and it only needed two coats.

Indoors without the flash.

Indoors with the flash.

This is a special one! It is a jelly sandwich with Zoya- Katharine and China Glaze- Make a Spectacle. Make a Spectacle is from last Halloween's Wicked collection. It is filled with irridescent glitter. I had a lot of fun with this mani!

I used two coats of Make a Spectacle. One coat was sandwiched in between layers of Katharine and the second one was on the top.

Here's a picture of what it looks like indoors without the flash.

I took a picture after applying two coats of Katharine. It is a jelly, so the sheer effect is to be expected. It's like a grape color.  I got Katharine in the Peter Some NYFW gift box, but it was re-released last fall as part of the Gloss collection.

You can see how stained my nails are with the flash!

I applied two coats of Katharine, one coat of Make a Spectacle, and one more of Katharine over that. This is what it looked like with the flash.

without the flash

Zoya- Chyna is my first Pixie Dust that I have tried and I absolutely love these! They have a sandy texture effect and you're not supposed to use topcoat with them. It is a classic red with textured twist.

Although this was completely opaque in two coats, I added a third one just to make the texture more gritty. I was a little bit apprehensive about not being able to use a topcoat, because I use Seche Vite religiously, but it didn't take that long to dry. It remained tacky for at least a half hour, but it wasn't as easily smudged or messed up like a regular polish would be. I recommend doing your nails with these right before you watch a movie or something that doesn't require the use of your hands.

This wore very well, and since I didn't use a glue base coat, I was dreading the removal. I used pure acetone, and it was actually easier than removing glitter. It was still rather tricky, but it was worth the price for wearing this polish.

For some reason my thumb turned out the best in terms of the textured effect. Pardon my car picture.

indoors with the flash

Traci is from the Summer 2012 Beach collection. I absolutely love greens! This is a more subdued lime green with a very subtle shimmer.

It had a wonderful formula and it was so glossy. It applied flawlessly in two coats and dried very quickly.

Taken indoors without the flash.

The last one of Zoya week is Jo. Jo is from the Spring 2009 Twist Collection. It is a Periwinkle with a subtle shimmer.

In different angles, it looks like a darker blue. The formula of this one was very similar to Tracie. It had a smooth application, and dried quickly and smooth with two easy coats.

Indoors without the flash

Indoors with the flash. You can really see the shimmer in this one!