Zoya Breezi

         Okay, so in case you were under a rock for all of last week, Zoya had a BOGO to promote the launch of their new summer collections. I joined in on the buying fun, and on Monday, I received my polishes. Yay! One of the ladies that made her way into my home was Breezi, from the Summertime Collection.

Breezi is fairly complicated. Zoya describes it as a soft, dusty, dirty, medium cerulean blue creme, which is actually very accurate.

What is not accurate are these pictures...in real life, Breezi is a bit darker and much dustier.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Breezi is the only color from this collection that I saw and immediately knew that I had to have. I feel like Zoya almost never does blue, but when they do, they do it so so right, and Breezi is no exception. It's a really compelling and pretty shade of blue, with just enough green in there to make a statement. The smokiness also adds a certain je ne sais quoi and gives Breezi this...faded, favorite pair of jeans look that Zoya mentioned in the color description. To be fair, I own very few blue cremes, but Breezi is my new favorite one. 

    Application was super easy too. I only needed two coats of color to get full opacity and they went on  super smoothly. No dragging, no bubbling, no streaking....just creme-y goodness. Zoya did a great job with this one, and if you only get one polish from the Summertime Collection, please make it Breezi. 

And with that, I'm all done for today. Thanks for reading!!

ETA: So a couple of people have asked in the comments how OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui and Breezi compare, but since I skipped SSFS, I couldn't give a definite answer. Happily though, the wonderful BMR from Doing My Nails busted out a great side by side comparison of the two. Take a look: Zoya Breezi vs. OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui

Nubar Going Green Collection

          So, as many of you know, a few days from now is St. Patrick's Day. I love St. Patrick's Day, not because I'm Irish or know any really cool Irish people, but because it is the one day where I can wear all green everything and not be looked at as a complete freak. And I sure do love green. So I thought it would be fun to bombard you guys with lots of green polishes in the following days. To start the party off, I battled clouds and other such weather-related tomfoolery to re-swatch the polishes that I own from Nubar's Going Green Collection. I think it's the only all green collection in nail polishdom, and it celebrates our lovely planet to boot, which makes it so very near and dear to my heart.


So we'll start off with my least favorite, Conserve. 

Conserve is a slightly light emerald green polish, with green shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

      Even though Conserve is my least favorite in the collection, it's still pretty. I think it's just a little bit plain...the color itself isn't very arresting, and although the shimmer is nice to look at and adds depth, since the color of it is not dramatically different from the base, it's not particularly interesting. 

Next up is Earth.

Earth is a blue-leaning green base with green and turquoise shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I like Earth much much more than I like Conserve. It has a more interesting and unique base color, and I love how the shimmer is more contrasting, even though it doesn't really come across in the photos. For me, Earth evokes images of the ocean and frolicking sea mammals, and it's so glowy! Nubar did a nice job with this one. 

Third is Greener.

Greener is a deep foresty green with lighter green shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I can't resist a good dark and dangerous green, and Greener is a great one. It's just so sexy, and the shimmer with the base gives some really lovely depth and plenty of glow. Ahh it's so hot. 

Next is Forest.

Forest is a slightly dark blue-based green creme. Those gold thingies are not part of the polish....they're reflections of something. Sorry. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

        Forest is a great green. I really can't explain why I like it so much, but I do. I just like to look at it on my hands. ^_^

And finally, I have my favorite, Wildlife.

Wildlife is a duochrome with a khaki green base and that flashes different shades of copper and green. There's also a rose pink/gold shimmer in there. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Wildlife is such a beautifully unique polish. The duochrome is really strong, and although it looks best in lower light, you can see the color shift all the time. I also really love the color combination...watching the greens and browns dance across my nails, lions and cheetahs running across a yellow Kenyan plain comes to mind. I love this one so much....definitely one of my favorite greens ever. 

   So pretty much, the whole collection is awesome. Every color is lovely to behold, and I appreciate that it covered a range of shades and finishes. The real must haves for me would be Greener and Wildlife, although buying the whole shebang is perfectly justifiable, and if you are an ardent green-lover, advisable. I myself wish that I had just bought the whole set, because I got them separately across several hauls, and it ended up costing more. Plus, I still don't have Reclaim. And I didn't get no Diamont.  -___-

   The formula on all of these were quite good...I used three coats or color and one layer of topcoat for all the polishes, although three was only necessary in Wildlife's case. For the others, two sufficed. They all went on smoothly and easily, and dried quickly as well. 

And that's all for today!! Thanks for reading and have a good night! ^_^

Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

           Yesterday was my birthday...it was pretty lame. I went to work, went to class, and then collapsed into bed. But before all that happened, I wanted to pick a really festive and gorgeous color to celebrate what was gonna be a glorious occasion. My first thought was Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, but that stupid polish miser in my heart was like...no...you should save it for a special occasion. I don't know why I thought that....if 20 years on Earth isn't a special enough occasion to bust it out, then I don't know what would be.

Pictures and opinions (I'll keep it brief) after the jump!

Milani Silver Dazzle

           When Milani released a line of what they called "one coat glitters" late last year, I was simultaneously skeptical and elated. Elated, because I love me some glitter and to get it opaque in one coat has always been a dream. But skeptical because it kind of felt like...the Loch Ness Monster. Like, logically, you know it shouldn't exist. But there's always the chance that it really is out there. So when CVS finally had a BOGO on Milani, I strapped on my boots and walked for hours until I found a display with the colors that I wanted. One of them was Silver Dazzle. 

Milani was really innovative with how they formulated this. Basically, Silver Dazzle is a shitload of teeny square black and charcoal grey glitter in a clear base. That stuff essentially comes together to form like...glitter soup. Then, in the glitter soup, you have lots of small square silver glitter. So the whole entire polish actually sparkles, but the silver glitter on the top sparkles the hardest. It looks really cool. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, with gentle flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     So the name isn't the most creative, but Silver Dazzle is amazing. I love love love how the silver glitter looks against the charcoal base in natural light. And in sunlight, I love how Silver Dazzle like...explodes. The silver glitter is so uber sparkly, and then in the background, you have tiny flashes and stuff from the mini-glitter in the base picking up on the light. I couldn't get a good picture to express it, but if you look at some of the nails that aren't in focus, you can see a bit of what I'm talking about. It's like wearing glassphalt on your nails. Love this one!

    Formula-wise, I had my issues with Silver Dazzle. It had a bad habit of gunking up at the neck of the bottle, and I couldn't really get it smooth at the edges. You can see some of that on my pinky in the last picture. However, Milani did not lie...Silver Dazzle is essentially a one coat glitter. I ended up needing two to even out thinner spots, but someone could get away with one thick coat, if they were careful. Silver Dazzle dried matte (which actually looked kind of cool) and ultra gritty,  so you will definitely need to use a topcoat here. But because the whole thing is glitter, Silver Dazzle eats topcoat the way that I eat cake. I used three coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, and I can still feel some texture on my nails, so for a really glassy finish, you'll need lots and lots of topcoat. On the upside, it dries really fast and looks kickass. 

But that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading and have an awesome night! ^_^

Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers

            Ahh I'm sorry about the lack of posts lately! Finals are in full swing, and there has been no time to paint my nails and barely any time to read or comment on all the lovely blogs that I follow. But I did get to have lunch with Savvy from Addicted to Polish on Sunday, and it was almost as exciting as it was fun. Deborah Lippman's Ruby Red Slippers came up during the conversation, and she said it was pretty, so I decided to blow off studying for geology and paint my nails with it instead. 

Ruby Red Slippers is small and large jewel-toned, ruby red hex glitter in a black jelly base. 

And I apologize for all the damn bubbles. I repainted my nails twice with different base coats and topcoats before finally giving up. If I can ever manage to not get bubbles on this, I'll retake these.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I love Ruby Red Slippers. It really is gorgeous, and all day, I have not been able to stop staring at my hands. Because the glitter floats in the black base instead of being swallowed up by it, the polish has this incredible depth and sparkle. And in lower lighting conditions, it reminds me of dying embers in a campfire.  I'm a little ashamed to love it, because I cannot stand Deborah Lippmann (the brand, I don't know the person) and I think the whole ruby slippers thing is overdone. But despite my personal feelings, I cannot deny this polish. It's the perfect vampy glitter. 

  Formula-wise, Ruby Red Slippers is pretty good. Besides the damn bubbles, I don't have any complaints.It was fairly easy to apply and although the first coat was fairly sheer, it built nicely, becoming opaque in three coats. It needed a few minutes between coats to avoid messing with the glitter, but at least the glitter didn't need to be fished or placed. Ruby Red Slipper will eat your topcoat though...I had to use three coats of topcoat for a glassy smooth surface. 

  However, I do have a big problem with the cost of Ruby Red Slippers, especially because it's not that hard to recreate. I ordered through Beauty.com and got four dollars off and free shipping and ebate cashback, which took some of the sting out of it, but it still cost mad money. Steph from Imperfectly Painted combined Wet n Wild Prancer and Black Creme to get something that looks really similar, and those polishes cost like two dollars together. You may even be able to mix them with some clear polish and get a perfect dupe. But I don't regret buying Ruby Red Slippers...I'm too lazy to hunt down Prancer or something similar and then mess with it and blah. For a lazy like me, it's easier to have it all in one (gorgeous and classy-looking) bottle for my using pleasure. ^_^

And that's all I've got for today! Have a great night!

Illamasqua Rampage

           Lol, my eyes needed another break. So instead of my customary glitter or shimmer, I have Illamasqua Rampage, from the core line. 

Rampage is a deep forest green jelly. If you happen to see any sparklies or whatever, please disregard them. My topcoat got contaminated by Black Diamond, ugh.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash

Sunlight, no flash.

Ahaha my nails look so thick, no?

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Rampage is extra hot. In the sunlight, you get this gorgeous, pure, leafy green. And then in other lights,  it's dark and dangerous-looking enough to send chills up and down my spine, but never so much that one would mistake it for black. I also really like its jelly-ish finish...it gives the polish this depth and gloss that is just mesmerizing. And as an aside, Illamasqua gets a big high five for how they named this polish. Looking at Rampage, I think of forests and wild things. And not the adorable wild things that will make you king when your mom sends you to bed without dinner for being naughty. I'm talking claws and teeth wild things....like jabberwocky wild. And the word Rampage definitely captures that whole...feeling. I love it.

      Application-wise,  Rampage was pretty good. The formula was an okay thickness and went on fairly nicely. It was a bit streaky on the first two coats, but that is par for the jelly course and nothing that moah polish couldn't fix. By the third coat, things were opaque and by the fourth, Rampage was perfection. My nails did turn out a bit thick, but it's not that noticeable, and I kind of like it. Makes it more...jell-o like. 

     

And that's all I've got for today!! I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!