NYE Mani: Lynnderella The Glittering Crowd over Zoya Trixie

I'm wearing this through to the new year! :)

Lynnderella The Glittering Crowd (2-3ish coats) over Zoya Trixie (2 coats) + lots of topcoat to smooth it over




Happy 2012, folks! :D

Edit: Some post-Xmas shopping yielded these cuties from Crate and Barrel for $10... I just noticed now they are only $5! Aghhh!!

NOTD: Speciallita HITS Apolo

I broke down and made a Hits (or is it Speciallita?) order from Llarowe before I left for Christmas, and came back to a super sexy package including this guy!

Just a quick NOTD pic. My cuticles are looking ragged from being in Canada for just four days (*eats Coffee Crisp*). I'll take better swatch pictures of this and the others I ordered when my cutes are back to normal!

Speciallita Hits Apolo over CND Midnight Sapphire (1 coat each)

Joe Fresh swatches (incl. RBL 360 dupe!)

As you might have heard from Gotham Polish, Joe Fresh has opened a few stores in NYC this fall. Joe Fresh is a Canadian brand of clothing that also has a cosmetics line, including polishes!

In Canada, the brand was actually sold inside of a chain of supermarkets (the mega-supermarket-style ones), but they also have stand-alone stores. Every time we drove back to Canada, I would stop by Loblaws and grab a few polishes, since they were only 3 for $10 (or $4 each). The bottles are on the small side, though, at 0.2oz.

A couple weeks ago, I was in the city and decided to stop by the 5th Ave location (apparently, this is the only store that has cosmetics at this time). The pricing is the same, at 3 bottles for $10 or $4 each. There was a nice selection of polishes. I grabbed the following ones without having seen swatches beforehand:

Joe Fresh Teal - I love this polish! 2 coats, super easy to apply.


Comparison: Joe Fresh Teal and RBL 360 - When I saw it in the store, I immediately thought it was similar to RBL 360. I was ecstatic to find they are extremely close! IRL, I think you could tell them apart side-by-side, but this is definitely the closest "dupe" I have ever seen. I think the formula (or at least the brush) is better than the RBL, too.



Joe Fresh Persian Blue - A gorgeous blue creme, 2 coats.


Comparison: Joe Fresh Persian Blue and Orly Sapphire Silk - Turns out I also have a close dupe of this one as well! Oops!


Joe Fresh Khaki - This jumped out from the display at me. Had to have it. 2 coats, but almost 1!



Comparison: Joe Fresh Khaki and Essie Sew Psyched - DUPE, again. DOH. This is why I can't buy without looking at swatches first!


Joe Fresh Slate - This one really spoke to me too! 2 coats.


Comparison: Joe Fresh Slate and Misa Office Polish-tics - Similar feeling, but not dupes. I like both, but I feel like I should probably only keep one. I will defer this decision for a while, because I cannot decide now!


Joe Fresh Denim - A deep, dark blue, almost jelly-ish feeling. 2 coats.


Comparison: Joe Fresh Denim and Essie Bobbing for Baubles - Again, similar feeling, but not dupes. I don't have a lot of darker blues like this, to be honest.


I love the formula on these Joe Fresh polishes. 2 easy coats, and the brush is like a smaller-OPI pro-wide brush. The stem is a bit on the short side which can make things a bit tricky, but I think it's easy to get used to. There are probably polishes in this line that have lousy formulas (I'm thinking pastels), but all of the ones I have tried have been lovely!

The 2-3 times I've been to the 5th Ave Joe Fresh store, business has looked pretty good. Hopefully this means more stores will open in the future around the US! :D Wouldn't that be snazzy?

China Glaze Glittering Garland

I don't think I posted this yet. I am such a hoor for greens, and this one is gorgeous.

China Glaze Glittering Garland - Swapped for this on a whim, I really love it!!


There are already comparisons out there with China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, so I compared it to the polish that first came to my mind when I started seeing swatches of Glittering Garland.

Comparison: ChG Glittering Garland and Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe - I thought it was a dupe for MMutM, but it turns out they are a bit different. MMutM is cooler toned and needs 3 coats, whereas the ChG only needs 2 coats.


I am alarmed at how soon Christmas is. This is what happens the one year we don't get advent calendars!

China Glaze 2NITE

One of my lovely nail-buddies actually sent this polish to me! We had arranged a little swap, and she decided to "throw in" her backup of this gorgeous polish. WUT??? Insanely sweet of her.

It almost didn't make it to me though, as the delivery confirmation showed "Delivered" and it was not in my mailbox. I called the USPS help number and filed a ticket; nothing came of that. I went to the local USPS office and asked if the package was there; I was told it was not. I called about 10 times over three days trying to get information from my mail carrier. The PO insisted the package was delivered to my building and must have been stolen.... from inside my locked mailbox. Ummm ok. I got no help at all, and after two weeks gave up hope.

I filed a mail theft claim here, and the package showed up the next day. It had been opened and resealed with white electrical tape. I don't know if it was related to the claim I filed, but either way, it was very suspicious, considering it was "Delivered" two weeks ago.

Anyways, I am so super grateful that my friend sent me this polish AND that it was returned to me from whoever had taken the package. I like to imagine the person opening it thinking, "I bet there's jewelry or something of value in here!! Wait.. what is this? Nail polish? What????"

China Glaze 2NITE






Do you guys have any mail horror stories?

Christmas NOTD: ChG Party Hearty over ChG Glittering Garland

Sorry for the sporadic posts lately. Busy at work + busy at home = tired as heck. The four days off I get over the holidays cannot come soon enough. I have a whole bunch of polishes that need to be swatched and compared, and purging to do! I just want to relax with my stash, but instead there's holiday shopping, holiday baking, and last-minute work to do! Arghhh!

Here's a quick pic I took of my holiday NOTD, which I have been wearing for four days now. I have a tiny chip on one thumb and a litte tip wear, but otherwise it has held up pretty well. The surface is getting a bit roughed up, so I may throw on a coat of Barielle Manicure Extender tonight.

ChG Party Hearty (1 coat) over ChG Glittering Garland (2 coats). I love both these polishes! So happy it's Xmas time and I can bust out the Party Hearty... even at work! :)


Back to the craziness! Hope you guys are stayin' sane!!