Zoya Charla

           Since today was sunny, and according to the news man, the sun won't last long, I decided to swatch my sparkly Zoyas this afternoon. I'll be posting them individually, because I went a little too far with the pictures to put them all in one post. So this post will be dedicated to the lovely Charla, from Zoya's Sparkle Collection!

Charla is an aqua, vaguely metallic base, packed with small iridescent blue glitter. The glitter also faintly flashes green at times, although the effect is much more pronounced in the bottle than on the nail. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Bottle Charla is so beautiful, but she exaggerates just a tad.

      I'm in all types of love with Miss Charla. It's such a fun and flattering polish, and I love the glitter. Although it was sparkly and eye-catching, it was still fine and delicate, reminding me of the scales on a beautiful fish. My beautiful fish, in fact. His name was Neptune, and even though he was a fighting fish, he was so good and friendly. He didn't jump out of his tank (like some fish do) and was never finicky. And he used to play with me. I had a penlight, and he used to chase it around when I shone it into his bowl. And on top of that, Neptune was freaking gorgeous. 

    If it was sunny outside and I was doing my homework on the dorm balcony, I'd take him with me. Although he was nice to look at indoors, the sun really made him a star. It would reflect off his scales and filter through his fins, and he would look so hot. I'm sad I don't have any pictures of him. He was a really nice fish and I miss him often. Charla looks like him, which probably has something to do with why I love her.  

   Charla also boasts a perfect formula. It applied so smoothly and easily, and was opaque in three coats. I could have gone for a fourth, but it was fine in three, so that's where I left it. It also dried nice and smooth, so topcoat was only needed to enhance the sparkle factor. And removing it was so easy. I just used some Cutex Acetone remover and it came right off. No elbow grease required. ^_^

P.S. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Charla gave me a stain. I'm surprised, because it doesn't seem the type to stain, but it did. So I guess I recommend using a good base coat with it. The one I used (Borghese Hydrati Treatment) isn't really much of a base coat, but I like to use it when I swatch.

   

L.A. Colors Nuclear Energy (And some Nfu-Oh)

           Today, I'm wearing Nuclear Energy from L.A. Colors. It's a bright and cheerful color, which is exactly what I needed after breaking another nail this morning. *sucks teef*

Nuclear Energy is a darkish, red-based, purple jelly. The first time I looked at this on my nails, I immediately wanted a green Konad polish, so I could do a Barney-inspired mani. Nuclear Energy is the color of his flesh, but I think the color in this pic is slightly off.

Kind of sunlight, no flash. 

We got a little bit of sun, but it was pretty watery and thin, so I don't know if I can count it all the way as sunlight.

Kind of sunlight, no flash. 

Natural light, with flash. 

    Nuclear Energy is another simple, inexpensive, and pretty color. I bought it thinking that it would be creme, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was in fact, a jelly. Jelly polish is so cute...I always feel like squishing it.

     The formula was....a little iffy? It spread easily and dried in good time, but it was also quite watery. I know that translucence is par for the course with jellies, but Nuclear Energy took it too far. smh. The pictures are with four thick coats, and even though I can't see it on my nails with my eyes, the pictures still show my tips. In the future, I'll be wearing this over white, because I generally like to draw my line at three coats, unless the polish is so spectacular that it warrants the extra work. While Nuclear Energy is nice, it isn't spectacular, so I'll be taking the lazy man's way out from here on out. However, it did dry super glossy and didn't even need topcoat. I put on some anyway out of principle. 

   Overall, I'm happy with Nuclear Energy. This is my very first time ever trying a L.A. Colors polish (I never see it in stores), so I'm happy that my experience was positive with them. I hate trying a brand for the first time and having it be awful. *looks at Nubar*

Later:

I added one coat of Nfu-Oh 51 to Nuclear Energy.

The sun suddenly came out. o_O

Sunlight, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash. Sorry about all the glare. >_<

Natural light, no flash.

    I like this! The shimmer and color-changing flakies are so pretty!

Funky Fingers Alice

           Before anything else, I'd like to thank all the lovely ladies who kindly informed that other people have gone and are going through similar things and are not dead, and therefore, everything would in all likelihood, be alright. I really appreciate all the kinds words and support, and it means alot to me that you guys would take out time from your respective days to try to help me. Thanks guys! ^_^ 

          

        Today is gloomy and dark, and it's raining rats and frogs outside, but I love it. Rainy and cold weather is the best weather for me, as long as I don't have to go outside too much. Although I intended to wear something grey today, at the last minute, I changed my mind and picked something more cheerful: Funky Fingers Alice. Alice is a part of the Funky Finger's Alice in Wonderland Collection. I didn't buy any of the others that I saw in Five Below, although I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for Jester, which they didn't have last time I went.

Alice is a cerulean blue foil. Although it's not visible in the picture, the surface is speckled with silver. 

And I'm using my index finger because the foil pronounced every bump and ridge in my ooglay patch, and no one needed to see that. 

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

Indoors, flash. 

        I really like Alice. I didn't really like the other FF Alice-themed colors, because they were a little plain and not so fitting of their characters, but Funky Fingers did a good job with this. The shade of blue is perfect. It's deeper than the shade OPI chose for Absolutely Alice, and due to the foily finish of the polish, it shows different darknesses across the nail. Really pretty. 

      I thought the formula was on the easy side too. It was a little thick, and I had to be careful to let the polish dry between coats, because if not, I got cuticle drag. But besides those two things, there were no problems, and drying time was reasonably fast. 

Funky Fingers Screamin' Fucshia + New Girls on the Block!!

            I'm a little blue today. First, I accidentally leaned on my flat iron and now my arm vaguely resembles a ball park hot dog, complete with grill lines. Second, my mother's minivan attacked me, and now my right thumb looks like this:

I miss having a usable thumbnail on my dominant hand.

    And lastly, I'm pretty anxious about school. My grades this past semester were great, but I still need lots of credits to graduate on time. I'm not sure that I can complete them, while maintaining my GPA and fulfilling my work study requirements.

      I'm trying to stay positive and calm, because if I work really hard, give up some things, and do a summer semester, I think I can manage. But I want to have  a meltdown, because I'm scared. So to cheer myself up (it worked a little) I decided to wear Funky Fingers Screamin' Fucshia.

Screamin' Fucshia is a highlighter-pink, neon creme. 

Natural light, no flash. The weather is so gloomy today.

Natural light, no flash.

        I like Screamin' Fucshia. It's a pretty, basic,  and inexpensive pink neon.  It's also a little more wearable to me than other neons, because it just doesn't seem that bright. The formula on it was pretty good too...it applied evenly and smoothly, but I think I would have preferred something more opaque. I'm wearing three coats of Screamin' Fucshia over two coats of Essie Limo-Scene, and I think I can still see a hint of VNL. I'm not sure if I should blame Screamin' Fucshia though, because Limo-Scene is already pretty sheer, so next time, I'll use SH White-On instead. It dried matte, but I put some Poshe on it, and everything was all good. It shrunk a little bit at the tip, and clean-up was a half-hearted effort, but it's shiny, soo...it's all good. ^_^

   And there are new girls on the block!

Meet Bebe, Adina, and...Adina. Yes...I accidentally bought two Adinas. >_< I'm struggling with myself about whether I want to exchange it for something or not. I guess it depends on how I feel about Adina on me.

And here's Mimi, Ki, and Charla.

      Such lovely ladies, no? ^_^

      Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out and hunt Hidden Treasure today, because my mom made me stay at home and wait for the TV guy. So yes...my no-buy begins today and ends on August 17.  But if I happen to see Hidden Treasure in the store, I openly admit that I cannot be held responsible for my actions. 

    And this is why I like blogging. Can you believe I feel more calm about school even though nothing has changed?  lol! 

OPI Damone Roberts 1968

           Happy Saturday to everyone! Today is a lovely day in New York...the sun is shining and birds are singing. And my mom isn't making me do any chores today, so I'm in a great mood. To reflect my mellow mood, I decided to wear OPI Damone Roberts 1968, which made its way to my doorstep a few days ago. 

Damone Robert 1968 (DR'68 from here on out) is a great mint green creme. As Damone Roberts said, it has a little bit of brown and grey, which sets it apart from many other mint greens out there. 

Sorry for the crazy looking finger...I tried to patch a tear in my thumb, and it didn't come out so nicely. 

Sunlight, no flash. I think this picture is the truest to color.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

      I have to confess again....I have never owned any other mint green polish in my whole life. DR'68 is my first one! It's not that I dislike mint green, but I've just never wanted any. I did want Maybelline's Minty Minty, but I couldn't get it because they don't know how to play nicely with animals. Then, I heard that DR'68 was coming back out, saw the swatches, and had to have it. It's such a pretty color...creamy and cool, with a little more green than other mint polishes. And the dose of grey keeps it modern and chic. Plus, I like Damone Roberts...he's such an adorable and seemingly nice man, so I don't mind giving him moniez.

    The formula on DR'68 was pretty good. It was streaky on the first coat, and was opaque on the second. These pictures are with three coats, because I did have cuticle drag on a few nails that needed to be corrected. The brush was wide, but manageable, but the polish seemed a little thick, so it took a bit of effort to spread it.  But overall, application wasn't anything too traumatic.

    When I bought DR'68,  I wasn't too happy about paying full retail ($9 USD), plus shipping. But now that I have it on my nails, I'd say it was worth the money.  But no more! I have items from Zoya coming, and when they get here, I'm declaring a summer no buy. I'll probably stick to it too, because every time I get a package, and there's nail polish inside, my mother starts praying in her native language (Igbo). She doesn't do that unless she's really distressed, and I'd truly like to not give her a heart attack, so I have some real motivation there.  I guess I have until my Zoyas get here to track down SH HT. Ugh. 

   

OPI Fiercely Fiona

           Today, for the sake of continuity, I'm wearing OPI Fiercely Fiona, from the Shrek Forever After Collection. The pictures aren't too cute today, because it's rainy and cloudy outside, but I did my best. lol!

Fiercely Fiona is a bright but light yellow creme, with some green and brown thrown in. 

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Indoors, flash.

I don't think any of these pictures are exactly true to color. I think if there was sun, I'd have one that was.

     Okay, confession time: this is the very first yellow nail polish I have ever owned. I just hate yellow on me. I think it looks horrible. But I love Fiona, wanted to give yellow a chance, and I didn't have to pay retail price for it, so I went ahead and scooped it up. The shade of yellow is interesting, and I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it before. But that said, I don't think I like this on me. It pains me to say that, because I really wanted to like Fiercely Fiona and there's nothing wrong with the color, except for it being yellow. And I can't hate a yellow polish just because it's yellow. But deep down in the cockles of my heart, I can't bring myself to like this. :(

     Application wise, Fiercely Fiona wasn't anything horrible. The pictures are with 4 coats of polish and one layer of topcoat, even though the polish was opaque in two coats. I needed the extra 2 coats to smooth the polish out, because it was streaky. But it wasn't traumatic for me, despite the fact that in addition to the streaking, there was dragging. I just kept on globbing on the coats until the streaks were gone.

OPI Who The Shrek Are You? Ahahahaha!!

          I would have totally bought this just for the name. I can just imagine someone being like, "Oh, what color is that on your nails?" And then I could turn around, look at them all wild-eyed, and shout, "WHO THE SHREK ARE YOU?" lmao!!

Who the Shrek Are You? is a bold, yellow-based green creme. My mother and sister called it puke. I call it Shrek. ^_^

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

     Who the Shrek Are You? is such a great color. There's mostly yellow in it, but then there's some brown and a hint of grey too. I love it! It's such a quirky shade of green that I can't help but smile when I look at my hands. It makes me think of all the hilarious moments in all the Shrek movies (if you've ever seen them, you know they're mad funny) and I just start laughing. 

   Application was easy too. The first coat was a little streaky, but the next two went on fine. I just made sure to make them on the thick side and to use very little pressure to spread the polish around. The brush was easy to control, and my nails dried in a reasonable amount of time. The only thing is that my pinky is full of bumps and stuff...I don't know why that happened.

  But anyway, my final verdict is that Who the Shrek Are You? is a winner. I'm still mad at OPI, but I must shake them grudgingly by the hand for this one. 

Later:

I decided to fauxnad over this polish. Not because it needed jazzing up, but more because I was kind of bored. Having no responsibilities is only fun for like one day. 

I forgot to circle it and now I'm too lazy to go back and do it, but I used rightmost pattern in the bottom row, on plate BM10.

I stamped it on with Color Club Where's the Soiree?

The pattern was a little tough to work with, so the overall look isn't exactly great, but it was nice enough to fool random passerby. I got lots of compliments on the look (not so much on the color, LOL!) and my sister even wanted to take a picture of it with her Blackberry.