Two luxe polishes together--Zoya Gilty and Dior Minuet

press sample/purchased by me

I got the Gilty Pleasures gift set from Zoya at the Dino Palmieri opening I attended in November 2012, but honestly, that year I was more excited about the Ornate collection and I didn't even wear Gilty until this year.

Every year, I've admired the Dior holiday polishes in their adorable little round bottles that look like ornaments, and this year I bought Minuet from an Ebay seller when I saw how uninspired this year's holiday polishes were.

The two together were a match made in heaven.  I loved the combination and I got a ton of compliments. :-D

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.

OPI Wooden Shoe Like To Know?

purchased by me

Wooden Shoe Like To Know? was part of OPI's Holland collection for Spring 2012, but I love it in autumn.  It's a warm brown with red-gold shimmer and the formula is gorgeous.  It's smooth, easy to work with, opaque in two coats and dries shiny without top coat.

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Although Wooden Shoe Like To Know? was part of a 2012 collection, it can still be found at salons and on Ulta's website for around $9.

Sneak Peek: 10/14-10/18

purchased by me

Zoya Song

purchased by me

Song was part of Zoya's 2012 Diva collection, and it's a stunner.  A bright blue glassfleck/foil type polish, it was opaque in two smooth coats, with none of the problems you expect from a diva!  It's also mad shiny even before top coat.

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 Song is available for $8 plus shipping and any applicable tax on Zoya's website, in salons and in some Ulta stores.

Tri-color, tri-finish Zoya manicure

press samples

I love cool jewel tones, and I've wanted to do a mixed-texture manicure for a while.  I had on Zoya Aurora for a day, and then decided to free-hand on stripes in Giovanna and Liberty.  The result was not perfect, but still pretty good, and got me an unsolicited compliment from one of the civil court clerks.  The base was two coats of Aurora, and each of the others only needed one stripe to show up beautifully.

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And the lovely GG did a red and gold mixed-texture mani with Ziv and Chyna:

Aurora, Giovanna, Liberty, Ziv and China are all still available on the Zoya website.  The shimmers are $8 each and the Pixie Dusts are $9.

Misa Uptown Glamor

purchased by me

Welcome to Weird Wednesday!  No, I'm not starting a new feature, I just like alliteration. ;)  Misa Uptown Glamor is an odd duck, though!  It's a shimmer which looks like a blackened red in the bottle, like black in low light, like purple in bright light, and has a blue base!  It was opaque in ONE coat and super shiny even without top coat.

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Misa polishes are available at salons, e-tailers and Misa's website.

Misa Bourbon on the Rocks

purchased by me

Last year, I saw swatches of this beauty on Vampy Varnish and put it on my wish list.  What with grabbing at new stuff the minute it was out, I didn't buy Bourbon on the Rocks until this summer.  Since it's more of a fall color, I waited to wear it, and I think it may have replaced CG Unplugged as my favorite brown shimmer!  It's supposed to be a blackened red, but on me it looks brown.  The formula is smooth and easy to control, opaque in two coats and super-shiny without top coat.

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Misa polishes are available at salons, e-tailers and Misa's website.

Sneak peek: week of September 9-13

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. 

Late 4th of July nails

purchased by me

Everything I'm about to show you is still available, and since I got a great deal of pleasure wearing these, I thought I'd recommend them to my readers for Labor Day or Veterans Day or even next year's Independence Day! :)

First up, Stars and Stripes by Incoco:

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Next, the 4th of July duo from Franken Frosting:

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Sation Let's Mingle and Jingle

purchased by me

Let's Mingle and Jingle, from Sation's 2012 Holiday collection, is a navy blue jelly with various sizes of silver holographic glitter.  It's dark without looking black, applies like a dream, and was almost opaque in two coats.  If you want zero VNL, you can use three, but my swatches are two (without top coat) because I like the jelly look of it.

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Sation's website lists Oh My Oceania as out of stock, but it's still available at Transdesign.

Jessica Cosmetics Geranium Gypsy

purchased by me

Geranium Gypsy is a soft, muted purple with a *gasp* frost finish.  It's okay, though, because even with the frost, it's a pretty color and a nice change of pace for me.  It was opaque in two coats, the brush strokes weren't horrible and the dry time was very good.  Overall, I quite like it. :-)

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Geranium Gypsy is available at  Jessica Cosmetics' website, Ninja Polish and Transdesign.