Nubar Gem and Violet Sparkle

I picked these two up from a blog sale to gift to someone, but it turns out she already had them, so I decided to swatch them real quick.


Nubar Gem - 3 coats. Yeahhhh not my style at all.




Nubar Violet Sparkle - I can't remember if this is 2 or 3 coats. There's topcoat on here too. The colour in these pictures are sooo inaccurate. Damn you purple! Imagine it being a more Mardi Gras type purple; way warmer than how it photographs. I think I would actually like it a lot better if it looked like this IRL. Haha.



Oh well, you win some, you lose some. These will be making an appearance in my next blog sale (early May?) for sure. These were my first Nubars, and I have to say, the bottles are really very nice and sleek. Smaller than I had imagined!

Zoya Bevin, Skylar, and Lotus

I picked up a few polishes from the Zoya Spring 2012 collection. Lately I haven't had much of a polish "itch" where I need to haul like a madwoman, but that's good, right? I think after I get back from my trip, I want to take a look at my stash again and see if I can weed out any more I don't love. Addicted to purging! :D

Zoya Bevin - 2 coats. Really nice, no complaints.


Comparison: Zoya Bevin and OPI Mermaid's Tears (both 2 coats) - I wanted these to be close so I could purge the OPI, but looks like all I did was just add another polish to my green collection. LOL.


Comparison: Zoya Bevin and Essie Greenport - Greenport looks so light compared to the Zoya!


Comparison: Zoya Bevin and Misa Dirty Sexy Money - If you don't have the Misa, you really should get it.


Zoya Skylar - 3 coats. Really love this. Do you think Zoya-peeps watch Breaking Bad? Because from my understanding, "Skylar" is not the traditional way to spell that name. Anyways, this colour is great.




Comparison: Zoya Skylar, Zoya Crystal, and Essie Smooth Sailing - I don't own OPI I Have A Herring Problem, but they are very close according to thepolishaholic.


Here's a bottle pic comparison with RBL Catherine H, since my friend had asked for it:


Zoya Lotus - 2 coats. Sort of a dusty purple with a bit of depth. I'm sort of on the fence about this one. The formula is nice, though!




Comparison: Zoya Lotus and Zoya Neeka (both 2 coats) - I am a FREAK for Zoya Neeka, so I feel like I would always pick Neeka over Lotus.


Comparison: Zoya Lotus and Nina Never Glum Plum (both 2 coats) - I thought Lotus was kind of greyed out, but it definitely is not when compared to Nina NGP (dupe for Essie Smokin' Hot, SH Grey Area, and Zoya Petra).


I like Zoya. I wonder if they are going to do their Earth Day promo this year? I will probably pass on that, though, since there aren't any other Zoyas I'm interested in right now.

Essence Irreplaceable

Here's a quick swatch of Essence Irreplaceable. I got this as an extra in a swap, but have been curious about it for a while.

Essence Irreplaceable - 2 coats, nice formula and very blingy.




Comparison: Essence Irreplaceable and SH CSM Fedora. Both 2 coats. Fedora is one of my all-time favourite neutrals, even though it has that horrible paddle-brush. They're not dupes, that's for sure!


I don't have Zoya Jules anymore, but this Essence definitely reminds me of it. Here's a comparison from Sonidlo's.

Just 2.5 weeks until my vacation! :D

NOTD: St Patrick's Day-style

Zoya Ivanka (1 coat) over Essie Going Incognito (2 coats)


Hope you're having a great weekend! :)

China Glaze Skyscraper and Essie SSN-franken

Hi guys, it's been busy couple of weeks! I just filed my income taxes the other day, and am super busy planning my April trip to Australia/NZ/Tokyo! It'll be a 2 week trip, and I'm dying for the time off!

I have a couple of blue glitter polishes to show you today; both were RAOKs from two lovely ladies :)

China Glaze Skyscraper - I was lemming this for a long time, but never got around to picking it up. Beautiful and super glittery-looking!




Franken of Essie Starry Starry Nights - I long gave up the idea of ever finding myself a bottle of SSN, so put a SSN-franken on my wishlist! It is made with Essie Silver Bullions so it even comes in an Essie bottle :)




Here's a bottle shot of the franken and the bottom label of what was used to create it. I believe the glitter in Silver Bullions is the same glitter that is used in Starry Starry Nights, but I don't know for sure. The recipe is below. BTW, I am wearing American Apparel Office in these pictures :)



Recipe: "And it is indeed about 3/4 Essie Silver Boullions, then enough WnW Nocturnal to get it the right color, probably 4-5 or so drops of black, and then I finished filling it up with the remaining Silver Boullions (it was SUCH an exact science ) I just added the black a little at a time, until it looked right!"

Lynnderella Connect the Dots

The infamous Lynnderella Connect the Dots! I was not really interested in this polish from the start (just not my style, I guess), but the opportunity came up to get it in a swap, so I thought I might as well give it a try and post the swatch here for you guys.

Lynnderella Connect the Dots - 2 coats over Nails Inc Warwick Way (the base polish photographs just terribly)




Black and white hex, square, and bar glitter suspended in a clear base with fine shimmer. It's definitely a cool look with quite a lot going on, but not my favourite Lynnderella. It's already been reswapped to a new home :)

To order Lynnderellas, please see Llarowe's special ordering system.

Jessica Disco Diva

I just received my Jessica Disco Diva Set the other day, and it turns out it's already sold out online :(




I think it's fun to see the holo come out as the polish dries ^^


Comparison: Nfu Oh 61 and Jessica Disco Diva (2 coats, both over the Jessica base coat) - The Jessica is maybe a tiny bit more holo than the Nfu Oh, but I still think they are dupes. This Nfu Oh is from April 2011 and I got it at fabuloustreet.com



If you're in need of holos, do yourself a favour and buy the Layla ones that are just coming out now. There's a few up at Aveyou right now. I have 3 so far, and the other 5 are still on their way. They are incredible.