Zoya Happi, Heather, Malia, Pinta, Posh

A bit of a Zoya round-up, as I think I have posted swatches to all my other Zoyas except these!


Zoya Happi - A midtone pink with lots and lots of gold shimmer.




Comparison: Revlon Sublime Strawberry vs. Zoya Happi - I don't have many pinks (actually, that might be a lie), so this is just to help you get an idea of the colour.



Zoya Heather - This was picked out by DBF from the Zoya catalog. It's a hard colour to describe, since it's pink but with lavender tones.



Comparison: OPI Pandamonium Pink vs. Zoya Heather - Here you can see that the Zoya is not nearly as pink as the OPI.



Zoya Malia - Also picked out by DBF, this colour is really gorgeous and applies flawlessly in 2 coats. However, it is impossible for me to capture the correct colour!!


Comparison: OPI Funky Dunkey vs. Zoya Malia - You all know what OPI FD (and its various dupes) look like (a bit warmer than this pic), so I hope this gives you a sense of what Malia really looks like.


Zoya Pinta - This is an old swatch, but lovely colour. I've heard it is a dupe for OPI Sapphire in the Snow (which is HTF now).


Zoya Posh - This has been OOS on the Zoya website for quite a while, so I was glad to have found it at the beauty supply store near my brother's house in NorCal. Unfortunately, I probably won't be visiting him again any time soon, so byebye lovely BS! This polish is amazing... so awesome, I adore it. Then again, I love all Zoya's matte velvets! I'm not so impressed with their mod-mattes summer collection, to be honest... they seem so flat compared to the matte-velvets!




Comparison: Zoya Posh vs. RBL Cherry Love - Here is Posh with topcoat compared to an RBL to give you an idea of how the red leans to the "cherry red" side :)

OPI Parlez-Vous OPI? and Done Out in Deco (aka DOiD!)

I think we all sometimes have regrets about not getting into nail polish sooner and missing out on x, y, or z. I try really hard to ignore those what ifs and just focus on what is easily available now, since I'm sure there's plenty to keep me happy.

That said, I got into nail polish last year, so I just missed PVO and DOiD. Through the power of the internets (MUA swap and TD order) I got these two recently, haha. But trust me, you won't see me staking out Ebay bidding on Unicorn Pee!

I usually believe in supply and demand, but when it comes to nail polish and beauty products, it feels ridiculous. I have no problem using spread positions on interest rates for pricing derivatives or swaps, but nail polish? C'MON! :)


OPI Parlez-vous OPI? - Received a very nice pm on MUA while I was waiting for my flight to Orlando requesting a swap for this! I was pretty happy, hehe. I like it, but I'm still not sure if I love it on my skintone.



OPI Done Out in Deco - Who can resist a polish whose acronym is "DOiD"? Bonus that it is a really nice colour :) I really like this shade a lot! I think it did take me 3 coats, but I wasn't irritated by it at all.


Comparison: OPI Done Out in Deco vs. OPI Rumple's Wiggin' - I don't really have anything close to DOiD, but here it is against Rumple's Wiggin' so you get an idea of how dusty it is! :)


I got DOiD from Transdesign, but it was listed as "Don't Out in Deco" instead of "Done Out in Deco". I was slightly worried that I would receive a bizarre mislabeled polish, but it worked out in the end :) The right polish came, haha.

I added Disqus as my commenting system now, I like it a lot because I can reply individually to people! \o/ Hope it's not too annoying to use! :)

Essie French Affair and Coat Azure

I picked up two polishes from the new spring Essie collection: Coat Azure and French Affair. To be honest, I would have only picked up Coat Azure, but DBF somehow saw swatches of the others and begged me to get French Affair and Nice is Nice because they were such "cute" colours. I yieled on French Affair since I'm still looking for a good pink, but had to deny him Nice is Nice, since it looks soooo dupey and I am swimming in pale lavenders by now.

Essie Coat Azure - Like everyone says, the formula on this polish is great. 2 easy coats, great colour and finish.

Comparison: Essie Coat Azure vs. Zoya Jo - They have a very similar finish, but different base colour. I actually think I prefer the Zoya in this case, because it's more of a periwinkle. The finish is also similar to that Icing Laura's Fave I showed a while ago, but the base is also quite different.


Essie French Affair - I'm rather bearish on pale delicate pinks, but this one is alright. The formula requires 3 coats, not the easiest formula to work with, but not the worst. DBF insists it is the *perfect* pink, though. I showed him my swatch and a NBer's swatch, and he claimed that it looked way better on her nails than mine! You cannot win with this manchild!!


Comparison: Essie French Affair vs. OPI Mod About You - Here it is compared with another polish I purchased against my will in DBF's hunt for the perfect pink for me :p OPI Mod About You has a notoriously bad formula, but what can you do? You can see they are not that close at all. I think the Essie is definitely more wearable on my skintone than the OPI.


I was happy to find these salon bottles at a beauty supply in the city; I didn't want to give up the cute 'e' caps, dang it! They're $6 a piece at this store and so even after tax it's not so bad. I would have preferred to pick them up at Ulta, but it's been a long time since we went out there and I haven't seen a B2G1 free sale in a few weeks now. The retail versions are being sold at my local CVS, but for $8.79 a piece - are you serious?! Bahhh.

*sits in the corner pouting*

NOTD: Misa Office Polish-tics and CND Gold Sparkle

Oops, I think MUA is now no longer accessible from work! I know I shouldn't be on there at all during work hours, but it's hard to resist when work is slow! :'( Oh well, here's to increased productivity (and/or increased blog posts through the workday! LOL) False alarm! MUA was just down. *rejoice*!

Today's NOTD is Misa Office Polish-tics (which, is gorg on its own!) topped with CND Gold Sparkle. I experienced a bit of shrinkage from using SV on the Misa. I'll probably thin the SV soon, it's starting to get gloopy again!

I made my last TD haul mostly to grab the rest of the CND sparkle effects, and I am glad I did! I spent a few minutes deciding what to top the Misa with and I'm happy I chose Gold Sparkle. It's a bit more subtle than some of the other sparkle effects, but I think it's a great way to add a little bit of interest without overwhelming you with glittah and glass flecks pew pew.




It reminds me a little of BB Couture Impact Driver, but deeper and with more gold toned sparkles. I can't put my finger on it, but it also reminds me of a stone.

Here's the macro shot, but my flash killed the sparkle somewhat. I hope you can tell that the finish of this sparkle effect is not uniformly sized.


I need to pick up another bottle of WnW Black Creme next time I'm at the drugstore so I can swatch my CND effects properly! For now, this will count as my CND Gold Sparkle swatch :)

Misa DSM, Office Polish-tics, Toxic Seduction

My TD order came in this week and within it held my first Misas!

Misa Dirty Sexy Money - I had been lemming this polish for ages, bought the $OPI dupe (Ocean Love Potion) and promptly fell in love with it. I still ended up buying this Misa though and love it as well.


Comparison: Misa Dirty Sexy Money and $OPI Ocean Love Potion. I feel as though the Misa was a tiny bit greener than the $OPI, but they are pretty much dupes. Good thing I adore this shade! :D




Misa Office Polish-tics - Originally, I was going to buy the whole 9-5 collection, but then I had a brief moment of sanity and managed to keep the rest out of my TD cart. I really like this shade!



Comparison: Misa Office Polish-tics and Zoya Kelly. The closest thing I have is Zoya Kelly, but they are slightly different, though about the same darkness. I prefer the Misa, I think, since it leans a bit more blue.



Misa Toxic Seduction - This is pretty hot. Sorry for the out of focus macro shot; my flash batteries started dying!



Comparison: Misa Toxic Seduction and ChG Emerald Fitzgerald. The ChG looks awful brush-strokey next to the Misa, doesn't it O_o?



I bought a Kindle last week and have been lost in the Hunger Games (by Suzanne Collins) trilogy. Just finished it yesterday afternoon. I loved the first book, really liked the second book, and the third book was kind of a let down, to be honest. I just started reading Room (by Emma Donoghue), and so far it's really chilling. I'm almost a little scared to keep reading it! Amazon has a great business strategy with the Kindle, imo. I've already spent $50 in my first week when I haven't spend money on books in a long time!

Um my point being, I have been so consumed by my reading, that I am super behind catching up on nail blogs and leaving comments! I'm sure I'll have plenty of time at work though LOL. :D

Hope you all had a great weekend!

China Glaze Strawberry Fields and Watermelon Rind

Since people are going crazy over the Zoya promo (BOGO on their 15 new summer shades, in case you really do live under a rock! :)), let's think about some older glass-flecked summer shades. How about these 2 from China Glaze Summer Days in 2009?

I wasn't around when these first came out, but they really are lovely. I think I should have added the orange one to my TD order last night... oh well! This year's summer ChG collection looks like it will be similar (glass-flecks and all)! Yay!

I'm going to make a collective haul post after my TD order gets in. I need to see it all in one big pile!

These swatches are a bit old... the pics are not as clear and my nails are longer than I wear them now! I need to make a list of polishes to reswatch for my spreadsheet :)

China Glaze Strawberry Fields




China Glaze Watermelon Rind



Oh, and happy first day of spring! Nothing like wet snow to start the new season, right? Right?

Essie Pretty Edgy

Happy St Patty's Day! Today's NOTD is Essie Pretty Edgy:




Had a great time in Orlando, too bad it didn't last longer! Here is me and DBF with Stitch :) They must hire very short people to wear those costumes! Haha XD

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Spam!

The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line was the first "expensive" nail polish I bought. To be fair, they really are quite expensive for drugstore polish!

I distinctly remember thinking "OMG this is expensive!!" when I bought 3 on sale for $5 each at Walgreens. Ahh... the good old days.

The brush is really huge, but manageable. The really downer with these is the paddle-like stem, which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to wipe off excess polish at the neck of the bottle because flat + round does not work!

Sally Hansen Fedora - This is my hands-down favourite SH CSM. I just love the way it looks! It is a dupe for $OPI Under My Trenchcoat.



Sally Hansen Sequin Scandal - This came out in the same collection as Fedora. I do like it, but wish it was a bit more sparkly. I hear it is very close to ChG Wagon Trail.



By the way, one of my favourite ways to wear ChG Zombie Zest is over this polish. Take a look:




I swear, if that layering combo could be achieved in one polish, it would EASILY be in my top 10! *swoon*

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure - Infamous little sucker. I remember finding the display and seeing both HTs gone. I didn't find this until months after it came out, in a random little bin at Kmart (of all places!). I wore it over everything for a week before promptly never looking at it again. Sounds familiar, right? *sideways glance to OPI Black Shatter*



Sally Hansen Gilty Pleasure - One of those first 3 CSM polishes I bought. I was really excited about it and almost bought Petal to the Metal in its place. I do like this pale gold shade, but now that my stash is much larger, I've come to somewhat hate the brushstroke appearance, as mild as it is.



Sally Hansen Fairy Teal - (first eww cuticles!!) I loved this shade like crazy until I got Illamasqua Muse. They were too close (but definitely NOT dupes) to keep both... especially since this SH one stains! Now that I have a better handle on basecoats, I wonder if it would still stain?


Sally Hansen Pink Slip - One word: ICK. DO NOT WANT. So so bad. Maybe my application is better now, but I already gave this one away to a friend who prefers to wear things sheer. I think Essie Ballet Slippers is a much better alternative to this monstrosity.



Even though I hate the brush/stem, I still have some CSM lemmings... such as Gray by Gray.

Your turn: any fav or hated Complete Salon Manicures?