KB Shimmer Periwinkle in Time

purchased by me

Periwinkle in Time is a gorgeous periwinkle crème, shifting from a bright light blue in direct light to a softer, greyer blue-purple in low light.  It's also stuffed with white, blue and purple glitter!  The formula was thin enough to let the glitters show through, but thick enough to be opaque in two coats.

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Periwinkle in Time is available for $8.75 + shipping from KB Shimmer.

KB Shimmer Lilac Dreams

purchased by me

Lilac Dreams is the lilac yin to Very Sirius's lavender yang--it's a smoky purple base full of lilac holographic glitters.  It was opaque in two easy coats, but sheer enough at one to use as a layering polish.

One coat on pinkie, two coats on all other fingers, in the sun:

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One over two coats of FingerPaints Wild Bikini, in the sun:

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Lilac Dreams is being discontinued, so if you like it, grab it before it's gone!

Sweet Heart Polish Sirius

purchased by me

Sirius was one-half of a collaboration between Sweet Heart Polish and Literary Lacquer.  It's a stunning Han blue linear holographic polish that's opaque in two effortless coat, and shines like a dream!  H/T to my friend Caro, who will probably be the only person reading this who won't have to look up "Han Blue." ;-)

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Sirius is no longer available, but you can find lots of other cute polishes at the Sweet Heart Polish Etsy store.

Literary Lacquer Very Sirius

purchased by me

Very Sirius was one-half of a collaboration between Literary Lacquer and Sweet Heart Polish.  It's a stunning smoky purple base filled with lavender scattered holo glitter and itty-bitty silver holo stars.  It was opaque in just two coats, and I got a few stars without fishing or storing the bottle upside-down.

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Very Sirius is no longer available, but you can find lots of other great polishes at the Literary Lacquer Etsy store.

FingerPaints Sailors Lure

purchased by me

FingerPaints has a new collection of textured polishes out now at Sally Beauty.  It's called the Enchanted Mermaid collection and has a white, green, teal and blue polish which are supposed to look like scales.  I picked up the blue because my local Sally Beauty was out of the green.  I'm honestly not sure if I like it or not.  I do love the color, a bright medium blue, and the formula was decent, if a bit on the thick side.  It's just that to achieve the "scaly" effect, the polishes have a shiny base and larger glitters along with the smaller bits that give it texture.  Maybe I'm wearing it wrong, but it just looks chunky and clunky to me.  Sailors Lure was opaque in two coats and dried relatively quickly.

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If you're looking for something a bit different, check your local Sally Beauty for these.  They retail for about $6 + tax, depending on where you're located and whether or not you're a Beauty Club member.

FingerPaints Poolside Paradise collection: Wild Bikini

purchased by me

Wild Bikini was the other polish I grabbed from this collection, and you can see why!  It's a rich, red-toned purple glassfleck beauty with a well-behaved formula.  Wild Bikini was the perfect viscosity, opaque in just two coats and shiny even before top coat.  It's a bit redder in tone than Equinox.

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Wild Bikini is sold out online, but Be My Baby, Aloha Lei, Hula Aruba! and Margarita Mambo are still available for $5.49 + tax and shipping.  Or you can visit a brick and mortar Sally Beauty store.

FingerPaints Poolside Paradise collection: Be My Baby

purchased by me

The Poolside Paradise collection is now available at Sally Beauty stores, and while they're far from unique, they are all beautiful, glowing glassfleck polishes in stunning summer colors.  Be My Baby is a bright cherry pink with a smooth, well-behaved formula that was opaque in two coats, dried quickly and was shiny without top coat.

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The blue and purple Poolside Paradise polishes are sold out online, but Be My Baby is still available for $5.49 + tax and shipping.  Or you can visit a brick and mortar Sally Beauty store.

Zoya Jolie

gift with purchase

The third and final free polish in my recent Zoya order was Jolie, which is a beautiful pearl sheer with pink and gold shimmer.  The formula is a tiny bit thin, almost runny, but it can be worn opaque in three coats, or as a transformative top coat.

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One coat over Zoya Codie,

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One coat over Zoya Dawn,

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Jolie can be purchased for $9 + shipping and any applicable tax at Zoya.  Unfortunately, I no longer have my bottle, because Mom took one look and fell in love! :-D

Zoya Naturel Deux (2)

press release

more is more…
Inspired by the desire to expand the popular neutral palette of the Zoya NATUREL collection, six (6) NEW, full-coverage creams in deeper hues were born.

Perfect as every day go-to colors, the Zoya NATUREL DEUX (2) collection bridges the transitional gap between late summer/early fall 2014 with three, rich brown family shades and three plum based beauties. All in the long-wearing, BIG5FREE formula Zoya is known for!

ZOYA NATUREL DEUX (2) - 2014

ZP742 – Spencer: Camel Cream, Full Coverage Formula.

ZP743 – Chanelle: Toasted Almond, Full Coverage Formula.

ZP744 – Emilia: Dark Chocolate, Full Coverage Formula.

ZP745 – Marnie: Deep Warm Plum, Full Coverage Formula.

ZP746 – Aubrey: Medium Mauve Cream, Full Coverage Formula.

ZP747 – Madeline: Muted Rose, Full Coverage Formula.

COLLECTION PRE-ORDER
STARTS JULY 21, 2014

ZOYA IS THE HEALTHY COLOR OF FASHION!

$9 (US)
Available on Zoya.com and at finer salons and spas.

Art of Beauty
(makers of Zoya)

Formula X for Sephora: Sci-Fi

purchased by me

Sci-Fi is a super-pale mint green textured polish.  It's very sheer and took three coats to reach bottle color, but it dries quickly and there's a lovely gold shimmer in it that makes it worth the extra coat.

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Sci-Fi and the rest of the Formula X Celestials are vailable at Sephora for $12.50 + tax and shipping.

Formula X for Sephora: Equinox

purchased by me

Slowly but surely, I am whittling down my wish list full of Formula X polishes.  Equinox is part of the Liquid Crystal collection, and it's a beautiful red-toned purple jelly with magenta glitter and a blue flash.  It was quite sheer and took three coats to be opaque, but the color is exquisite and it dried very quickly, so I didn't much mind the third coat.  The formula was nice, thin but not runny.

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Formula X polishes are available at Sephora for $12.50 + applicable tax and shipping.

Zoya Codie

gift with purchase

Codie was the second polish in my surprise gift from Zoya, and it's another one-coater!  Codie was originally part of the Smoke collection in 2011.  A deep brown crème which looks black in low light but has hints of green in brighter light, Codie was smooth and easy to work with.  Dry time was average, Codie is shiny without top coat, and like Dawn, is a nice staple for any polish wardrobe.

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Codie is available at Zoya for $9 + shipping and handling.

The Great Polish Giveaway of 2014!

sponsored giveaway

Nail Polish Canada has partnered with Cirque Colors, NCLA & Picture Polish to host the biggest giveaway ever.

One winner will take home up to 200 nail polish from over 10 different brands! The prize starts at zero, then bloggers can each pick a favorite shade to be added to the prize.

My choice was Sky Woman by Cirque Colors, one that I don't own yet, but plan to very soon!

Photo courtesy of Nail Polish Canada

You can enter below. You can also enter once on each blog that adds a shade to the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zoya Dawn

gift with purchase

I needed to re-stock on Zoya Remove+, so I grabbed one of the big bottles and a couple of scrubs.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive not only a mini hand lotion in Lemongrass Ginger, but also a three-pack of nail polish!  Dawn is, as far as I can tell, part of the core collection and always has been.  It's a one-coat raspberry pink crème, bright and cheerful and summer-gorgeous.  The formula is thin but not runny, intensely pigmented, dries quickly and is shiny before top coat.  Swatches are one coat, no top coat.

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I don't seem to be able to find Dawn right now on Zoya.com, but hopefully that's only temporary!

Germanicure by OPI

purchased by me

I always say that I'm not celebrating my birthday, I'm celebrating Bastille Day.  Last year, I wore OPI's Bastille My Heart, which was a gift from a wonderful friend.  This year, I'm acknowledging the very tiny part of my heritage which is German and wearing Germanicure by OPI, which was part of the 2012 Germany collection.  On a side note, most of my forebears were English, Cornish and Scottish, with only my great-grandfather being German.  But since the Germans had the boys, I've got a very German last name. :-)

 Germanicure by OPI is a deep, glowing chestnut shimmer.  The formula was smooth and thin without being runny, patchy on the first coat and perfect on the second.  I added some water decals (my first time using them) and was surprised at how quickly I got the knack of using them!

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Germanicure by OPI can be found at Drugstore.com and the water decals I used are from the Born Pretty Store.

Revlon Parfumerie: Beachy

purchased by me

Beachy is an unusual and very pretty scented metallic polish.  The color falls somewhere between copper and gold.  The formula flowed easily and was opaque in two coats, although a bit brushstroke-y.  Beachy doesn't smell like salt or ozone, but rather like tropical flowers.  It's rather a heavy scent, but it's not strong enough to be overpowering.

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Beachy and other Revlon Parfumerie polishes are available at most major drugstores.

ibd Midnight Martinis

purchased by me

Midnight Martinis is my first ibd polish, although I've seen their gel polishes.  It's a deep, inky purple jelly base with orange and violet-blue glitters.  The formula was thick, but not horribly so, and it covered in two coats.  It does need some top coat to smooth out the glitter bumpiness.

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As I've said, I've seen the gel polishes at various beauty supply stores, but I got this at Head 2 Toe Beauty for $3.00 + shipping, and I'm very happy I did.

Incoco Made with Love

purchased by me

Made with Love is from the Valentine's Day 2014 collection from Incoco, and it appears to be out of stock on their website.  I've seen other out of season patterns come back in, so if you like this one, check the website now and then.  This is a cute pattern, and I do like it, but it reminds me I need to get off my butt and do a proper spun-sugar man!

Incoco nail polish strips retail for $8.99 each for a package of 16, plus any applicable shipping or tax.

nails inc. floral: queensgate gardens

purchased by me

queensgate gardens is a clear base with pale pink flower-shaped glitters, small blue bar glitter and smal blue hex glitter.  The formula is the same as that of daisy lane.  My swatches show one coat over Sinful Colors Matte About Blue

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The nails inc. floral polishes are available at Ulta for $11 each, plus tax and shipping.

nails inc. floral: daisy lane

purchased by me

When I first saw the nails inc. floral polishes, I knew I wasn't going to be able to resist, and so two of them came home with me.  daisy lane is a clear base with small, matte, white hexes, pink flower-shaped glitter and red flower shaped glitter.  The base was neither too thin nor too thick, the glitter spread was good, and I got flowers on most nails with no fishing.  My swatches show one coat of daisy lane over Cult Nails Kiss My Rose Bush.

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The nails inc. floral polishes are available at Ulta for $11 each, plus tax and shipping.

Sinful Colors Hot Chili

purchased by me

Like Peppered Amazon, Hot Chili is part of the Summer 2014 collection from Sinful Colors, and I absolutely adore it.  It's a medium brick red shimmer stuffed with gold holo glitter.  Hot Chili is a tiny bit thick, but eminently well-behaved (no cleanup necessary!) and opaque in two coats.  The funky top on my bottle is because the handle that came with the bottle broke and this is the handle from an empty bottle of Nubar Diamont that happened to fit. :-)

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If you like the double pop of shimmer with glitter, grab Hot Chili before it goes away!  Sinful Colors is available at most major drugstores with a typical price of $1.99 + tax.