Picture Polish Majesty

purchased by me

Majesty is just gorgeous.  Full stop, no-holds-barred exquisite, it's a pale rosy-beige sheer base loaded with superfine gold shimmer with a touch of green and a sprinkling of holographic micro-shimmer bits.  It's not a true duo- or multi-chrome, it simply has a ton of depth.  This is the polish that made a bling-loving co-worker swoon and ask to borrow it!

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Picture Polish can be purchased on their website or through a number of stockists.  I got mine at Llarowe.

Picture Polish Paradise

purchased by me

Paradise is a truly lovely polish, a steel blue shimmery base packed with pink, blue and holo glitters.  It was well-behaved and opaque in two coats, but it did dry rather bumpy and needed a coat of Gelous in addition to a coat of Diamont.  All swatches are two coats before top coat.

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Picture Polish can be purchased on their website or through a number of stockists.  I got mine at Llarowe.

Picture Polish Whimsy

purchased by me

Whimsy is a beautiful light blue polish with soft gold shimmer.  It's the blue of a summer sky, pretty without being delicate.  It's also a pain in the butt.  It was streaky, patchy, uneven as heck, and took four coats to reach opacity.  For $14.50, I expect better!

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Picture Polish can be purchased on their website or through a number of stockists.  I got mine at Llarowe.

Zoya Hope

purchased by me

Happy Tuesday!  Hooray, Monday is over, and Tuesday brings new Hope. :D  Hope is a gorgeous shimmer from Zoya that walks the line between purple and fuchsia and does it so very very well.  It was a little thin, but not runny, and while it looks a bit streaky in the flash picture, two coats covered quite well in real life and I got a ton of compliments when I wore this.  It's also super-shiny even before top coat!

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Hope is one of Zoya's core colors, and is available on their website for $8 plus shipping (and tax if you live in Ohio).

Zoya Persiphony

purchased by me

Summer's winding down (yay!) and I'm in the mood for cool nights and crisp sunny days.  Alas, the temps here are still in the 80s, and it looks as if they'll be that high for a while longer.  Zoya's Persiphony is a lovely color for the transition from summer to fall, a pink-coral which looks more orange in low light and more pink in bright light.  It was thin, but not runny, dried quickly, and although there was a tiny bit of VNL at two coats, a third would fix that.  It's also very shiny without top coat.

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Zoya polishes are available at their website.  Persiphony is one of their core colors, and is available for $8 plus shipping.

Sneak peek for the week of 8/26-8/30

Pretty Serious Twinkling Lights

purchased by me

Pretty Serious Twinkling Lights is from last year's holiday collection, and it's the one polish I got on Ebay.   Twinkling Lights is blue and copper glitter in a clear base.  The glitter dispersal was good, but because of the clear base, it took three coats for opacity.  Dry time was decent, and it dried a bit bumpy, but one coat of Gelous before one coat of Diamont took care of that.  I love copper and blue together, but I really loved having one of our magistrates grab my hand and ask what polish I'm wearing!

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Pretty Serious polishes are available at the Pretty Serious website, or can be found at worldwide stockists.

Pretty Serious Nightopia

purchased by me

Pretty Serious Nightopia is a gorgeous blue-green shimmer.  It was opaque in two coats, easy to work with, shiny without top coat and looks greener in low light and bluer in bright light.  Absolutely gorgeous.

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Pretty Serious polishes are available at the Pretty Serious website, or can be found at worldwide stockists. 

Pretty Serious Claris

purchased by me

My second Pretty Serious polish is Claris, a medium-toned warm pink with a lavish amount of gold shimmer.  The formula was creamy, neither too thick nor too thin, opaque in two coats and shiny even before top coat.

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Pretty Serious polishes are available at the Pretty Serious website, or can be found at worldwide stockists.

Pretty Serious CGA

purchased by me

Pretty Serious Cosmetics is an Australian independent cosmetics company which just celebrated their first anniversary.  I've been lusting after several polishes, but couldn't grab them fast enough at the US stockist, Llarowe.  Well, I finally got lucky and got three Pretty Serious beauties at Llarowe, and snagged a fourth on Ebay.

First up is CGA, a medium-toned pink-leaning purple with blue shimmer.  The formula was smooth, well-behaved, opaque in two coats and shiny even before top coat.

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Pretty Serious polishes are available at the Pretty Serious website, or can be found at worldwide stockists. 

Incoco Into the Deep

purchased by me

Another Blue Monday with Incoco.  This time it's Into the Deep, black scrolls on a royal blue background.  The scrolls don't stand out much in ordinary lighting, but the color is one of my favorites, so even though I wouldn't purchase this pattern again, I did wear it for a full four days.

Of course, all four days I had Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" in my head, but small price, right?

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Into the Deep and other gorgeous nail polish strips are available at Incoco.com for $9 US plus shipping.

Sneak peek for the week of 8/19-8/23

Zoya Cashmeres & Satins: Maria Louisa

press sample

Finally from Zoya's Autumn 2013 collection, Cashmeres & Satins is Maria Louisa, a flaky gold glitter top coat.  The formula was flawless, not too thick, loaded with glitter which dispersed well, and irregular but not jagged shapes.  I layered one coat of Maria Louisa over two coats of Sailor for a nautically-inspired look.

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The Cashmeres & Satins are available now at Zoya for $8 each + shipping (and tax if you live in Ohio).

New Velvet Goth polishes from Models Own

New Velvet Goth Collection - five intensely inky pigmented colours each with an extraordinary 2D finish! Valerian - A rich bottle blue Amethyst - A royal purple Obsidian - A deep charcoal grey Sardonyx - A blood scarlet red Absinthe - A burst of deep emerald green Matte yet sparkly at the same time, each shade applies glossy and dries down giving a multi-faceted effect that can be seen but not felt. Quick-drying, and formulated with the finest glitter shapes and sizes, to achieve the ultra smooth sprinkling of sparkle and velvety finish. Topped off with funky limited edition, colour-matched fuzzy velvet caps! Priced at just £5.00 each, Velvet Goth launches exclusively in all UK Bottleshopsfrom August 24th, online at modelsownit.com on September 2nd, in Boots from September 4th and in Superdrug from September 25th.

Zoya Cashmeres & Satins: Neve

press sample

Neve and Giovanna were the two colors I really wanted when I saw the first promo pics for Zoya's Autumn 2013 collection, Cashmeres & Satins.  Neve is a deep indigo blue metallic with a flawless formula--perfect consistency, extremely pigmented, opaque in two coats and shiny without top coat.  Neve doesn't show brush strokes, but it does emphasize flaws, so if you, like me, have less than perfect nails, you'll want to go with a ridge-filling base coat.

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The Cashmeres & Satins are available now at Zoya for $8 each + shipping (and tax if you live in Ohio).

Zoya Cashmeres & Satins: Mason

press sample

Next from Zoya's Autumn 2013 collection, Cashmeres & Satins is Mason, a fuchsia metallic shimmer.  The formula was flawless, a perfect consistency, extremely pigmented, opaque in two coats and shiny without top coat, but it does show a few brush strokes close-up.  It's less brush-strokey than the others in this collection.

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The Cashmeres & Satins are available now at Zoya for $8 each + shipping (and tax if you live in Ohio).

Incoco discounted kits and giveaway!

Whether someone you know is heading back to school, there's an important birthday coming up, or you just feel like treating yourself or your gal pals, Incoco's Nail Essentials Kits are packed full of nail care goodies to spread a little manicure joy during any occasion. We are offering four discounted kits (Classic, Wild, Subtle, and Glitter) each packed in a gift box with 5 Incoco shades plus nail care accessories. Find them all here! Any fun plans for your last couple weeks under the summer sun? If you're wearing Incoco to any of these 5 places (the beach, a BBQ, the park, a concert, or poolside), you'll have a chance to win FREE Incoco! Just tag #IncocoOntheGo AND the place (e.g. #IncocoBeach), and you'll automatically be entered to WIN! Three winners will be selected on September 3, 2013

Zoya Cashmeres & Satins: Giovanna

press sample

Next from Zoya's Autumn 2013 collection, Cashmeres & Satins is Giovanna, an emerald green metallic shimmer.  If you love blue-based green nail polish, you need Giovanna!  The formula was flawless, a perfect consistency, extremely pigmented, opaque in two coats and shiny without top coat.  Giovanna does show brush strokes close-up.  They're not visible at conversational distance, but if it bothers you to know there are brush strokes in your polish, skip Giovanna (and miss out on a gorgeous color :P ).  It's much more blue-toned than Zoya Holly, so no dupes here!

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The Cashmeres & Satins are available now at Zoya for $8 each + shipping (and tax if you live in Ohio).