Zoya Kelly

          So, as many of you probably know (courtesy of Zara from Never Unpolished) May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. Grey is the patron color or whatever you call it for this cause, which I think is pretty cute, because much of the brain is grey matter. Heehee. Zara is going to be wearing grey nails every day of May, and I thought it would be fun to join in. I can't do it every day like she is. That's dedication, yo. But I'll try to wear it quite often. 
As my first grey of the month, I have Zoya Kelly, from the Wonderful Collection.

Kelly is a dark grey creme with undertones of blue and maybe purple. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I quite like Kelly. It's a fairly complex shade of grey, and all the undertones make it look different depending on the skin tone of the wearer and the lighting conditions. This dynamism is what makes Kelly fun and sets it apart from other grey cremes. I also think that the darker tone of it gives it a more refined, modern, and chic feel. And if I do say so myself, it looks really good on my nails. Yeahhh conceited moment. However, I think Kelly has been kind of hyped up as the best Zoya color of life, and in my opinion, it is not alllllll of that. I could think of some other Zoyas that I'd name as must-haves before Kelly. But with that being said, it really is nice color and I don't own anything quite like it, so I will be giving it a permanent home among my children.

  As far as formula goes, Kelly was fab. I only needed two coats for opaque, creme-y deliciousness, and I also found the dry time to be quite good.

The Hungry Asian Sneeze Breeze

       Like...a week ago, Kae from The Hungry Asian had a blog sale featuring her amazing frankens. I set my alarm so I'd be ready, and happily, I managed to get everything that was on my wish list. One of them was the polish that I've got on today, Sneeze Breeze. 

Sneeze Breeze is small-ish azure blue and black hex glitter, floating in a clear base. In the bottle, it reminds me of the hand sanitizer with the little beads in it.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

I also tried it with some Essie Matte About You on top:

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

lol, I've used up so much of this stuff. 

   Whee, I love Sneeze Breeze! It's so utterly unique and pretty, and I love how saturated and bright the glitter is. The black accents in there are also really cool, and give the polish this speckled bird egg look. And even though it's technically a glitter bomb, it doesn't sparkle at all. What you get indoors is exactly what you get in sunlight. Normally, that would be a bad thing, but it totally works for this polish, and makes it a good choice for winter days, because you can enjoy it to the fullest, no matter what the sky is looking like. 

   In terms of formula, my only complaint about Sneeze Breeze is that the glitter was a bit sparse. I ended up needing underwear (one layer of China Glaze Blue Sparrow) and three layers of Sneeze Breeze to cover my nakedness. Also, it needed Gelous and Poshe to be smooth. AND clean up was hellish, so I shudder to imagine what removal is going to be like. But besides that, everything was all good! ^_^

And that's all from me for today! Thanks for reading, and have a great day! 

Studio M Purple Medallion

          For today, I've got Studio M Purple Medallion. 

Purple Medallion is a bold and saturated red-based purple jelly base, packed with medium-sized silver and holographic hex glitter. The color in these pictures is not perfectly accurate...in real life, the purple is redder and brighter. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Blurred for sparklies. 

Sunlight, no flash.

    Purple Medallion is a really fun and cute color. It's nice and bright, and the sparkles are lots of fun, because as long as there's even a hint of light, you can get some holo goodness out of them.

   I also found Purple Medallion's formula satisfactory. To be so full of chunky glitter, it went on pretty smoothly, and didn't gunk up at the neck of the bottle. I was also surprised at how smoothly it dried. I used three coats of color and one layer of Poshe for the pictures, and it felt and looked good to me. 

    But with all that said, I don't think I'm going to be keeping this polish. It should be right up my alley, being purple and super sparkly, but I just don't feel like I really need it, you know? 

NARS Mash vs. OPI At Your Quebec and Call

      As I was decluttering my stash, I ran across OPI At Your Quebec and Call. I felt that it was pretty, but wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it or not, because I thought that I had a dupe in NARS Mash. To be sure, I procrastinated on life did a quick comparison of the two.

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Mash, AYQaC, Mash, AYQaC

Natural light, no flash.

L-R: Mash, AYQaC, Mash, AYQaC

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Mash, AYQaC, Mash, AYQaC

And some closer shots:

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: AYQaC, Mash, 

Natural light, no flash.

L-R. AYQaC, Mash, 

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: AYQaC, Mash

      Anyone would be justified in owning both of these guys, because they look quite different.  At Your Quebec and Call seemed to have more gold in its shimmer and Mash's base color is darker, greener and more saturated. The bright center, dark edges effect was also much less pronounced in At Your Quebec and Call.
     In terms of formula, I found Mash easier to apply...the pigmentation was better and I felt that it was more controllable than At Your Quebec and Call. And finally, I think that Mash looked better on me than At Your Quebec and Call did, so Mash was the clear winner in my book.
     I can't imagine ever wanting to wear At Your Quebec and Call when Mash is an option, so with a slightly heavy heart (because it's so hard to say goodbye ;_;), I will relinquish it to the purge pile.


Which one do you like best? o_o

Color Club Magic Attraction + China Glaze Black Mesh

       Today, I'm gonna show you guys Color Club Magic Attraction, from the Glitter Vixen Collection. And all the pictures are in sunlight, without flash.

Magic Attraction is made of small multi-sized and multi-shaped silver and holographic glitter pieces, densely packed into a clear base. 

Blurred for sparkliness.

   Magic Attraction is amazing...definitely one of my favorite Color Clubs. It's ridiculously blingtastic in sunlight, and even sparkles in lower lighting conditions. And the size of the glitter gives it this wonderful refined quality. Like, instead of looking childish (some glitters look childish) it just looks really airy and delicate. Throw in the fact that it only costs like $2 or $3 USD, and you have a polish that you really cannot go wrong with.

   Formula-wise, Magic Attraction was a typical glitter bomb. It went on fairly smoothly and dried fast. I used three coats of color and two layers of topcoat in the pictures, and I'm very satisfied with the coverage and smoothness that I ended up with.

After wearing Magic Attraction alone for a day, I put on some China Glaze Black Mesh. 

I know you guys are like omg again?! but don't worry...I won't be using crackle polish again for a while after this. 

  These pictures do not do this look any justice, and the video I made won't upload right, but trust me...this is awesome. Definitely the best crackle combo I have ever done. I love how the sparkles and holo flashes peek through the cracks. I got lots of compliments on it too. ^_^

And that's all I've got today! Thanks for reading!

China Glaze Lighthouse + Crushed Candy

           I was picking out a color to wear today when it hit me that I really need to get rid of some of my children.  I love them, but this is getting out of control. Plus, I have to go home soon. My family hasn't seen my stash in a year, and it's kind of doubled in size. I don't want to hear any concerned speeches or have to deal with Hoarders knocking on my door, so yeah...time to purge. I've gone through my worn polishes, so now I just have to start on my untrieds.
First on the chopping block is China Glaze Lighthouse, from the Anchors Away Collection.

Lighthouse is a sheer lemon yellow base packed with gold glass-fleck shimmer pieces.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

I blurred a little to show off the sparklies.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I went back and forth on Lighthouse, but I'm glad that I bought it. It would look better on someone with a darker skin tone, but I don't think it looks terrible on me. And objectively, Lighthouse is quite pretty. The shimmer keeps me from looking like I have a terrible nail disease, and I love how it sparkles in the sun. 

   But as pretty as Lighthouse is, the formula gave me a headache. It applied smoothly, but it was so sheer and thin. I ended up doing one layer of Barielle Natural Nail Camouflage, another layer of Essie Limo-Scene, three layers of Lighthouse, and one layer of topcoat. It was so hard. Haha that's what she said. But no really, it was alot of work. 

I also added some China Glaze Crushed Candy to the mix. This was a combo that I'd been wanting to try forever, but the results were less than...awesome. 

   It would have been nice, but those damn ripples came along and messed it up. I don't know if they were because of all the layers or what. 

 But anyway, Lighthouse can stay. It is unique in my collection, plus I really do like it.

And that's all for today. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!