China Glaze Treasure Chest: review and layered swatches

China Glaze Treasure Chest was one of the 50 Specialty Polishes from China Glaze which came out a year or two ago. It's available at etailers and possibly at brick and mortar stores for a reasonable price. The small, round gold glitter is suspended in a clear base, and with three coats you could probably make it opaque and give your nails a metallic scaled look, but I like it best as a layering polish. The pictures show one coat of Treasure Chest over two coats of Joe Fresh Prune.

Inside with flash:

In sunshine:

Wow and hello and thank you

to all my new followers! And thank you as well to Giveawayland for including me on her blog!

Orly Love One Another: review and swatches

Orly Love One Another is a shimmery topcoat rather like the CND Effects. I like Orly better both for availability and because you get more polish for your buck! Love One Another is a purple and blue shimmer which is almost invisible over a dark polish. I had to stare at my hands and shift them around in the sunshine to see the shimmer but I am hoping it will really pop over a light-colored polish. The pictures are of one coat of Love One Another over two coats of Joe Fresh Prune.

Inside without flash:



Inside with flash:



In sunshine:

Joe Fresh Prune: review and swatches

It's Prune Week!

No, I'm not going to make my readers eat prunes. *grin* I'm going to make you look at various layering combos with Joe Fresh nail polish in Prune. Btw, I always thought prunes were dried plums, but it turns out they're a variety of plum, eaten both fresh and dried!

Joe Fresh nail polish is exclusive (I think) to Loblaw's in Canada. Fortunately, I have a lovely Canadian friend who hooked me up with some JF polishes--thanks, Helenie!

Prune is a dark purple crème which looks black in low light. You really have to see it in sunlight or very bright indoor light to tell that it's purple. The short, squat bottle and brush don't bother me at all, probably because I have short, squat paws. I used two medium-thick coats for all pictures, but someone more careful could probably get away with one thick coat.

Pictures:

Inside without flash:



Inside with flash:



In sunshine:

Swatches & comparison: Nubar Black Polka Dot v. Wet n Wild Tangled in my Web

Happy Black Friday! I hope you're either done with your shopping and safely home, or like me and not leaving the house today. In honor of Black Friday, I have two black glitter polishes to show you.

Tangled in my Web is from the elusive and limited edition On the Prowl collection from Wet n Wild, so it was cheaper and is now hard to find. Black Polka Dot is not anywhere I can find on the Nubar website, but is still available on ebay.

I used Wednesday's Marshmallow manicure as a backdrop for the swatches of these two polishes, and while I like the idea of black & white nails, I'm thinking this wasn't the best way to go about it. My fingernails look sort of diseased. Eek! Anyway, swatches--pinky is one coat of Wet n Wild Tangled in my Web, ring is one coat of Nubar Black Polka Dot, middle is two coats of Tangled in my Web and index is two coats of Black Polka Dot. You can see that while they're both black glitter in a clear base, the Nubar has black microglitter in addition to the larger round glitter. If you missed out on Tangled in my Web, Black Polka Dot might fill the void.

Indoors, without flash:



Indoors, with flash:



In diffuse daylight:

Joe Fresh Marshmallow review and swatches

As I mentioned Monday, the lovely and obliging Helenie sent me three Joe Fresh polishes and a top coat. This is the first of the three I tried. It's a soft cream-colored jelly and very sheer. These pictures are with three coats, and it might have been opaque with four. For someone with less nail flaking and staining, it would be a gorgeous work-safe polish, but it isn't right on me. The formula was interesting--very thin, but there was absolutely no pooling.

In diffuse daylight:



Inside, no flash:



Inside, with flash:

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

Zoya Color Box Gift Sets

Give The Perfect Gift! The Zoya Color Box Gift Set is a crushed velvet collectors box with three pre-selected Top Selling Zoya Nail Polish Shades (o.5oz full size). Each box comes individually packaged in a black glossy gift box which is then individually wrapped in "Zoya" tissue paper. The Color Box Gift Sets make the perfect gift for friends, family, co-workers, teachers or just as a personal treat. Every Color Box GiftSet qualifies for FREE EXPEDITED SHIPPING to make sure your gift arrives in time for the holidays.

Want to send this as a gift? Use the "Gift Option" at checkout and we will remove all price information from the order and let you type a message to that special someone.

As a special promotion starting now through Monday (11/28/11)at 11:59PM ET, Buy 3 Color Boxes and get 1 FREE plus get a coupon code for a FREE bottle of Zoya Nail Polish of your choice with any purchase online. No Coupon Codes Necessary. See full details at zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com.

Color Box options:

Classic Contrast: Raven, Trixie, Luna

Classic Reds: America, Sooki, Carmen

Bold Greige: Caitlin, Kelly, Freja

Soft Greys: Harley, Marley, Dove

Spectacular Sparkle: Alegra, Charla, Ivanka

Rich Reds: Isla, Sasha, Sarah

Perfect Greens: Yara, Edyta, Envy

Beautiful Beiges: Avril, Mia, Addison

Bold Pinks: Layla, Gilda, Lola

Classic Purples: Anaka, Moxie, Brie

Deep Purples: Jem, Roxie, Casey

Delicate Pinks: Laurie, Erika, Madison

17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Lilac: review and swatches

Here are some swatches of the second magnetized polish Juliette picked up for me. I'm still in love with magnetized polishes, although I actually like the blue better than this one, which is unusual because I'm a hardcore purple lover! Like Blue, Lilac has an utterly uninspired name, but unlike Blue, "Lilac" doesn't even fit the color of the polish! This is a deep, red-toned purple verging on plum, and while there are lilac trees with blossoms of that color, the word lilac, when referring to color, means the lighter version.

Yes, I know, I'm a geek. :p

The formula on this one was much the same as Blue's formula, quick-drying and thick like a matte, but not unmanageable and certainly not calling for a lot of cleanup. It dried glossier than Blue, but still needed top coat (I used Nubar Diamont) to keep from chipping, and it removed like a dream.

I tried to take pictures from as many angles as possible so I could show the way the pattern forms from the magnet and the fact that at certain angles, the lines actually disappear! I have spent way too much time watching my nails lately. ;)

First group is without flash:





Second group is with flash:

17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Blue: review and swatches

This is just gorgeous, and I'm utterly in love! I used one coat of Nubar Ridge Filler and one coat of polish for this manicure, and then wore it all week. It applied like a matte, meaning it dried very quickly, with not much time to fuss with getting the application right, but there were no real difficulties, as the polish sat right where I put it. Cleanup was fantastic--I just used non-acetone remover and it all came off quickly and with no staining! I did hit my nail a time or two with the magnet, but basically managed to make it work. I loved, loved, loved the satin finish without topcoat--it looked like a star sapphire! Unfortunately, without topcoat, I had chips by the end of one day, so I removed the polish and re-did the manicure with a coat of Nubar Diamont, and it lasted four days before starting to chip.

Shut up, Jammies, and get to the pictures! ;)

Sadly, only two of them came out, and one is grotesquely blurry, but you can still see the finish and the pattern:

One coat, no flash, no top coat:



One coat, with flash, with top coat:

Terrific giveaway going on right now!

K over at Haul of Fame is doing a gorgeous holiday giveaway--check it out!

Nine days left to enter

the Wet n Wild Ice Baby giveaway! You can use the link in the sidebar or just click here.

More nail mail!

My lovely friend Juliette hooked me up with these!



Lilac and Blue magnetic polishes from 17 and Aqua Violet and Blackened Emerald from Models Own! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!

And I got my Inque order of Red Plaid, Pink Camo, Winter Storm, Snowy Day and Night Lights:







From my sweet Canadian Bpal, Helenie, Joe Fresh polishes in Marshmallow, Prune and Ink, plus a bottle of matte top coat!

NE Ohio polish fanatics--hot new polishes at Marc's!

My local Marc's (State Road in Cuyahoga Falls) had full displays of the Sally Hansen Gem Crush and Smooth and Perfect and the new L'Oreal Colour Riche polishes. The L'Oreals are down to two bottles, but both of the first two are still full!

Ali has swatches of the Gem Crush here and G has pictures of the displays of L'Oreal and both Gem Crush and Smooth and Perfect.

I have not seen these at any other local drugstores, and believe me, I've looked. So if you're looking for any of these polishes, get thee to Marc's!

Color Club Gingerbread Man: review, swatches and lame nail art

I really can't thank Siobhan of The Nailphile enough for posting about these as promptly as she did! If she hadn't posted, I wouldn't have made my late-night run to Sally Beauty, and I might not have this darling in my hands!

Lame joke:

Why is a gingerbread man the best man?

Because if he gives you any trouble, you can bite his head off and no one cares!

Okay, srs now. :


This is a gorgeous, pale gold color. It's like a combination of yellow gold and white gold. It's a foil, so it shows every ridge and fault in my nails despite two coats of Orly Ridgefiller and I don't care in the least. The color is rich and lavish and makes me feel so spoiled! The gingerbread scent is soft and layered--at first there's a bread note, then the spices come out to play. It lasted overnight, although it was never so strong it was overwhelming.

Gingerbread Man is so well-behaved that I don't feel any need to yell at him, let alone bite his head off! All pictures are pre-cleanup (i.e. I didn't need any) and ONE. COAT. Yup, one coat of this rich, luxurious, scented jewel of a polish!

Inside, no flash:



Inside, with flash:



In sunlight:



And my very first stamping effort, with my goodies from Born Pretty:



This was stamping plate M76 and China Glaze Unplugged. It's not wonderful, but it's not bad for a clumsy first try!

Zoya Noel: review, swatches and a comparison

Noel is one of three new foils from Zoya's Gems and Jewels collection for the 2011 Holiday season, and it's a shimmering denim blue foil. It took two coats to reach bottle color and was very easy to work with.



Indoors, no flash:



Indoors, with flash:



In the sunshine:



I wondered when I first saw the promos and press releases and swatches how close Noel would be to Zoya Crystal, which was part of the Flame collection.



The answer is, not very! They're in the same color family, but in addition to the gold shimmer in Crystal, Crystal is much lighter.

Two coats of Crystal on my middle and pinkie fingers, two coats of Noel on my index and ring fingers, in the sunshine:



So yes, if you have Crystal and want Noel, you should definitely go for it! :)

Zoya Rina: review and swatches

Rina is one of three new bar glitters from Zoya's Gems and Jewels collection for the 2011 Holiday season, and it's gorgeous! Rina has green microglitter and green bar glitter which flashes both blue and silver suspended in a clear base.



Rina could easily be made opaque in three coats, but I'm planning to use it as a layering polish. My ring finger is and pinkie are one coat, middle and index fingers are three coats.

Inside, no flash:



Inside with flash:



In the sun:

Zoya Holly: review and swatches

Holly is one of three new foils from Zoya's Gems and Jewels collection for the 2011 Holiday season, and it's a luscious emerald green jewel. I wish my camera had done a better job of capturing the foil/metallic qualities of this polish, but it is truly amazing. It's just barely on the yellow side of green, but dark enough that it doesn't make me look sickly. I'm betting that with a matte topcoat it will look like plush.



All pictures are two coats, although someone with more skill or patience could probably do this in one coat, that's how good Holly is!

Indoors, with flash:



Two sunshine pictures, because this polish deserves it!: