Lacquered Literati

This weekend was not long enough! I don't want to be at work today, my bed is calling my name!

Here is 3 coats of Sally Hansen HD Laser.  I snatched up  two more from this line on an impulse buy, but I may go buy more :)  This color is a nice purple blue with bright purple-y glitter. On the nail it mostly shows its silver side, but I do see flashes of purple and pink. 

Here's a bottle pic where you can really see that purple glitter!

Hope everyone survives their Monday. I'm already looking forward to mine being over. 

Posted in Blue, Glitter, Sally Hansen, Shimmer, Summer '10

Hope all of you are having a good short week.  I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend again!

This is 3 coats of the super hot MAC Mercenary.  This was from last year's summer collection, Style Warrior, I think? I loooooove this polish.  It's the prettiest bronze shade with golden shimmer.  This color is such a fun summer color.  I love wearing it with teals and turquoises on my toes.  Just hotness. 

Posted in Bronze, MAC, Metallic, Shimmer

Sorry for the quick post ya'll.  It's been a bit hectic in my life right now.  A really good friend of mine passed this last week, so I haven't really been focusing on much. But,  I needed a happy color and this one suited me just fine!

Zoya Sienna is a really yummy orange shimmer.  This polish is pretty comparable to China Glaze's Orange Marmalade and has a very similar glass fleck appearance.  I did 3 coats to completely rid myself of visible nail line. 

Hopefully, everyone is having a good week.  I'll post more when I can. 

Posted in Glitter, Orange, Shimmer, Zoya

I wish all stores would get all polishes at the same time.  No more endless lists on the Nailboard about who found a certain flakie polish where! We all want it at the same time! That being said, I'm sure you know which brand is the culprit. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure...state your case.

This is 3 coats of Sea and Be Seen.  It's a light cornflower blue with a slight twinge of purple running throughout the polish.  The silver shimmer is interspersed with slightly more chunky particles making for a really pretty effect.  I will say that I prefer the bottle a little more to what shows up on my nails.  In the bottle you can see some green and purple casts, but on the nail I haven't been able to see it. 

The formula was pretty good, but be careful when applying multiple coats, they may smudge.  I like the brush, but I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea. I found that the wear on this polish has been really good, so I'm thinking of maybe picking a few more of these up

Posted in Blue, Sally Hansen, Shimmer, Summer '10

Ahhh summer is upon us! I am so excited to be wearing neon collections like China Glaze's Poolside!  So far, I've only got one from the collection because my beauty supply only had one :(

This is two coats of China Glaze Towel Boy Toy.  I would've bought this for the name, but the color so happens to be amazing as well! This is a very bright color, but not really a true neon.  It's a brightened light blue with ultra fine shimmer.  My mom, who isn't a polish fiend, was quite impressed at how fine the shimmer is in this polish.  I couldn't quite get a photo of it, but it's more apparent in the bottle than on the nail.  

Hopefully, I'll be able to get my hands on the rest of this collection.  I've got my eye on Flip Flop Fantasy!

Posted in Blue, China Glaze, Neon, Shimmer, Summer '10

Another Monday *groan* Well, I'll take the Mondays as long as we're getting closer to summer.  The weather in my area this weekend really made me excited for days to come.  I even managed to get to the beach :)
Speaking of things that don't have anything to do with the weather or the beach...

Eyes Like Sapphires is a royal blue with a slight frost to it.  It also has thicker grains of silver shimmer peeking out, which did result in me getting a few bumps of grit here and there.  A good topcoat should be able to even all that out, though. 

Posted in Blue, China Glaze, Shimmer

I really jumped aboard the matte train this last fall and I was really happy to see different companies embracing the trend.  I will say that in the case of OPI the Suede collection is FAR superior to their matte collection. Their mattes were just so chalky looking, blegh.  Here is one of my faves from the Suedes.

2 coats

OPI Russian Navy Suede is probably my favorite blue matte/suede finish polish. It isn't flat at all and the fine matted shimmer gives this polish a great depth.  Whenever I'm feeling lazy or don't have time to wait for a mani to dry, I throw this one.  It dries super quickly, so you can do two coats and be out the door.  If you do have some time, see my next photo :)

With topcoat

I love throwing on topcoat a day or two later, because it's like a brand new mani without all the hassle! There is so much shine in this polish and a quick swipe of a clear polish does this baby wonders.  I almost prefer it to the matted finish!

Posted in Blue, Matte, OPI, Shimmer, Suede

This is two coats of Diamond Cosmetics Fiery Coral.  It does live up to it's name with its bright coral pop and fine eye catching shimmer. This is a great spring and summer polish!

I love the formula on Diamond Cosmetics polish.  They have a good solid application and the dry time is relatively fast.  It's nice to see that for around two dollars you get a great quality polish! 

Posted in Coral, Diamond Cosmetics, Shimmer

So after the lovely pre-marriage bliss that was my first Sparkle post, this could be considered the honeymoon post. I think? Yeah, I've probably lost my marbles, but it's all out of love.  Imagine cool blue tropical waters and these colors on your hands....

3 coats

Oh, Charla.  This is one polish that would represent a honeymoon.  It's such a beautiful turquoise-y blue with fine iridescent shimmer that looks like the sun hitting tropical waters. I actually ran into a wall while swimming laps one day because I could not stop gaping at this polish. 

3 coats

Mimi is a purple that wants to be seen.  It is far brighter than my photo depicts.  The fine pink and silver shimmer add so much depth to this polish.  I wish my photo did it justice!!

3 coats

I imagine Ivanka being a shimmering piece of green seaweed on a hot white sand beach.  Boy, this post really tells a good deal about me, huh? This is such a vibrant happy green and the fine flecks of shimmer only make it that much better.

There you have it folks.  How could I resist wanting to be with Zoya Sparkle forever? I promise I'll be loyal and true! Ok...well...maybe until the next Zoya collection comes out ;)

Posted in Glitter, Shimmer, Summer '10, Zoya

I've never really wanted to marry a nail polish, but Zoya has made me want to marry an entire collection (possibly a bottle of remover as well).  I can picture it now....Zoya Sparkle and I will play in the sunshine and watch our little sparkle babies scamper in the grass.
Ok, I'm being creepy. On with ze photos!

2 Coat

I'm still choosing to pretend that Alegra has two L's in it and was named after me.  I shouldn't be such a jerk because this polish deserves nothing but praise.  This polish is a much more vivid, bright magenta that what my picture depicts. It's a jelly base with a mix of superfine pink and clear sparkles. 

3 coats

Gilda, you saucy minx you.  I shun pink, but how can I resist your bright pink hue and fish scale type glitter? You're right, I can't

2 coats

Nihdi stops me dead in my tracks.  For all the smack talking I do about reds, this was smacked me back HARD.  This polish has quite a dense base color that I was not expecting.  Also, instead of matching red glitter it had flecks of gold and fine silver shimmer throughout it. 

I cannot help but love all these colors and they are not my usual cup of tea.  Stay tuned for Part II and the rest of the Sparkle lovelies!

Posted in Glitter, Shimmer, Summer '10, Zoya

Oy, a week without posting. Sorry, all! Life just got away with me last week and I pretty much did not turn my computer on for the last 5 days.  Bad, blogger, bad!!

This is 2 coats of China Glaze Cowgirl Up.  This is such shimmery, frosty purple and once out of the bottle it really shows its stuff.  There are teeny little blue flecks of glitter throughout the polish and if you pay attention you'll catch them from time to time.  Ignore the wibbly application on my ring finger, because this polish applies very smoothly.

I don't normally wear purples this tone on my hands, but this can definitely be an all year polish color.  I'm thinking it'd look great as a pedi. 

Posted in China Glaze, Frost, Purple, Shimmer

Since there is no such thing as too many green polishes, I figure why not post some! Just call me Alan GreenSPAM.

This lovely is Rimmel Camouflage.  It's a beautiful green with a golden shimmer to it. The bottle says it'll be good in one coat, but I didn't find that to be the case.  This here is two coats! A great St. Patrick's Day color!

Zoya Suvi, is a great blackened deep forest/hunter green. In super dark lighting it can tend to look black, but in the sunlight this polish shows its rich shimmer.  This polish does go on sheer, so three coats were completely necessary for me. 

Zoya Verushka is one of my all time favorite matte polishes. Its a slightly steely evergreen with fine silver shimmer running all throughout it.  This was my go to fall color, but trust me it's not just for fall.  Throw a topcoat on this one, please!

Hold onto your balls! Didn't I tell you it would be great?! Simply adding a topcoat transforms this polish to an amazingly sparkly green with tons of shine.  I love that I get two very different polishes in one bottle :)

China Glaze's Gussied Up Green is hands down my favorite forest green. Although, similar to Zoya Suvi, I find that Gussied Up Green looks "cleaner" in my opinion.  I'm not sure if that makes sense, haha. 

Well, from the looks of things I think I need some brighter greens! I've got a few more greens in my collection, but have yet to be photographed.  I'll try and post my actual St. Patrick's Day mani later on!

Posted in China Glaze, Green, Rimmel, Shimmer, Zoya

Since St. Patrick's Day is approaching and green is one of my favorite colors, I figure my blog could use with a green polish.  I notice that I've got a lot more blues and purples, but not nearly enough greens as I should.

Welcome to one of my favorite drug store greens.  This is two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City with two coats of Claire's green Chunky Glitter on the ring finger.  I liked the idea of an accent nail for this mani and I think it looks fun without all the hassle of glitter removal.  I can't say enough about SH Xtreme Wears.  They are so worth their little price tag.  Claire's also has a few other shades of chunky glitter, but mine only had the blue and green.  

So what are your favorite greens? 

Posted in Claires, Glitter, Green, Sally Hansen, Shimmer

Although it's mid-week and I have Friday to look forward to, this rain is killing me! I need a sunshine fix soon or I'm going to go bonkers.  So, I'm posting a happy manicure that reminds me of glistening swimming pools and summer.  

I didn't think OPI Sea, I Told You So! needed any help being pretty, but layering Nfu-Oh 53 over it made it hot! The flakies in that polish remind me of a really light, lab created opal set of earrings I had when I was younger.  I loved the color of them, but couldn't suffer through wearing non-surgical steel earrings.  So, now when I want an opal fix, I just slap one Nfu-Oh or another over my polish and the effect is amazing!

Posted in Blue, Flakies, Nfu-Oh, OPI, Shimmer

This lumpy, bumpy, POS picture is of Sinful's Mint Apple.  This is actually the only mint I own.  For some reason, I never really got behind the idea behind all the other mint polishes of the world, but I do like this one. It looks much dustier in the bottle, but it's a beautiful pale green with very fine shimmer. The formula on this was so-so.  This picture was three coats, so be patient and use thin coats. 

All in all this is a great little polish.  For $1.99 at Walgreens anyone can afford to bulk up their polish collection with great colors like these!

Posted in Mint, Shimmer, Sinful

PURPLE RAIN!!! I finally have the polish that kicks Vendetta's wannabe bum!  

This is my first NARS polish and I am so damn impressed. This color is a deep purple with red and blue shimmer throughout the entire polish.  The shimmer in this polish is amazing.  I almost did not want this polish from how it looked in the bottle, but boy I'm glad I got it. RUN to Sephora and get this! Well, driving would make more sense, but you get the urgency, right?

These pictures looked great in my Iphoto, but they appear to be a little washed out once I uploaded them to Blogger.  This polish is a deep purple that leans on the side of red, not a light purple at all.

Posted in NARS, Purple, Shimmer

Hope everyone is enjoying the day off today! Here is my belated Valentine's day mani!  I took off this weekend for some R&R, but was a bad blogger and didn't set up any posts for you all. My love day was low key and enjoyable.  Lots of sunshine and cold drinks :)

Behold, China Glaze Strawberry Fields!!! I NEVER EVER wear pink polishes on my hands, but this dream of a polish is the only one I allow respite on my tips.  This color screams summer and was from China Glaze's 2009 Summer Days collection.  I adore this as a pedi color.  Its a medium shade of pink with gold glass fleck shimmer throughout the polish. 

Lookit the shimmer!  Two coats will give you great coverage and with the formula being so good you can wear this mani for days.  

Sorry I didn't have any exciting Konads or hearts for you.  I definitely leave that kind of stuff to the other pro bloggers out there! 

Btw, How was your weekend?? Any fun trips with your S.O. or did play it lazy like my bf and I did? 

Posted in China Glaze, Pink, Shimmer, Summer 09

I hit up Kmart yesterday for no real reason and found that they carry a decent amount of polishes.  Sadly, the Milani's had all been picked over and there wasn't anything good in the random bin of OPI polishes that were there.  OPI at Kmart? I know right? Here is one of the things I ended up purchasing...

This is a new Rimmel polish, Marine Blue. Apparently, the finish is supposed to last up to 10 days, but I doubt I'll be give it that much time :).  I am loving this color quite a bit. It's a mid range blue color with a good amount of fine blue shimmer throughout the polish.  I think this is a good choice for spring especially if you aren't into the cremes or pastels that have been released lately.  

There are a few more colors in the collection, but the store I went to had none left in the display.  I'll try and find them to post for you all.

Happy Friday as well! Any fun plans for the weekend?

Posted in Blue, Rimmel, Shimmer

Meet, China Glaze's Watermelon Rind from their Summer Days collection.  This is one of the first polishes I obsessed over last year.  I first saw it on VampyVarnish and would go back often to ogle it.  Very sad, but true. I finally got my hands on it after lurking Sally's enough for them to know my name.
This picture makes the color look a little darker than it actually is, but you can see the wonderful glass-flecked finish this polish has.  I picked this color as a little pick me up from all this grey weather we've been having.  I think I like non-vampies when its grey out because there won't be a tendency to look black in low lighting.

Posted in China Glaze, Shimmer, Summer 09