J's Stash: China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

No talk. Just nails. :)

J's Stash: Zoya Nimue

Happy Saturday! I hope you all are well :)

Wellll, I've been busy adding to my collection, for better or for worse.  I picked up 6 great new colors at Sally Beauty Supply and Walgreens yesterday, adding to the ones I grabbed from Ulta earlier in the week.  I think I've been doing a little too much, so I'll be on a no-buy for a while.  I have so many polishes that haven't even been swatched yet, since I wasn't blogging at the time I really started adding to my collection.  My goal is to slowly, but surely get all of my older colors swatched and posted here.  I've decided to call those posts "J's Stash."  I think that will help distinguish the older colors from the new collections.

The first one I'd like to show you from my stash is Zoya Nimue.  Nimue comes from "Mirrors" side of the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection.  I own most of the collection, and it is by far one of my favorite collections overall.  Take a look at my review for Jana which I love because it looks great on my skin tone and it's really just an easy go-to color.  In fact, the whole collection is one that I think works well for a wide range of skin tones.

I'm a sucker for purples and berry tones, so with Nimue being another winning Zoya formula, it's no surprise that I really liked it.

Polish Notes:

Description: "a smoky muted thistle purple with blue and mauve tones and a silvered metallic finish"
Base coat: none
Coats of polish used: Two coats
Comments about application:  Formula seemed to be just the right consistency - not too thin, not thick.  Applied very smoothly.

Zoya Nimue - direct sunlight

Zoya Nimue

indoors

Work Safe Wednesday: OPI Steady As She Rose

Greetings!! Is it too late for a Work Safe Wednesday post?  Nah, never.  Today I'd like to show you OPI's Steady As She Rose.  It's a soft...um...rose pink (I guess the name gave it away), brought to us courtesy of OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection.  Though I like the color, those OPI brushes irk me.  The finish is always nice, so I'll continue to put up with the streak inducing, curve hating brushes. :)  BTW, if you don't have this experience with OPI brushes, will you please share your technique with me?  Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

I jazzed it up an eensy, weensy bit with Wet N Wild's Sparked.  I bought it for only $0.99 at Walgreens last week :)

I've got more coming your way, so stay tuned!

Lady J

My Perfect Polish, Now on Facebook!

Hey everyone! Thanks for visiting my blog.  I'm happy to announce my brand spanking new Facebook page.  Head on over there and "like" it!  Go ahead, I don't bite :)  It's a work in progress, but I'm working hard to bring content of interest to other polish addicts like myself.  Hope you "like" what you see!

https://www.facebook.com/myperfectpolish

Mondays Around the Blogs

Anyone else NEED the Dior Summer 2012 polishes like I do? Beauty Logic
Lock up your credit card(s).  Cult Nails will be releasing a ton of collections this year. Phyrra
Win a Birchbox of three exclusive Zoya summer shades. Capitol Hill Style

Buy the exclusive Birchbox shades here and earn 200 Share the Love points. (details)

Here are a couple I meant to post a while ago:
Karen swatched Dolce & Gabbana's Bouquet Collection nail lacquers

Bonus:
Harper's Bazaar names "Spring's Most Desired Nail Polishes"


I'll be expanding these Monday posts in the future, but hope you enjoyed the first one!

I Think I'm A Cultie Now: My First Two Cult Nails Polishes

A few weeks back, Cult Nails held its $5 sale.  I'd seen a few great swatches of their colors, and thought at $5, I had to give them a try.  I LOVE the colors I purchased.  I went with In A Trance and Vicious.  I know it is spring (with summer weather around these parts), but I chose dark colors anyway.  I like what I like.

(l) In A Trance & (r) Vicious

In A Trance

One reason I love this color is because it looks like what I thought Essie's Armed and Ready (Spring 2012, Go Overboard) would look like on the nail.  I was a little disappointed with Armed and Ready because I felt you could only see the shimmer in bright light, and it was much darker in person than it appeared in the many swatches I'd seen of it.  Although bright light enhances the beauty of In A Trance, you can see the gold shimmer in other light settings as well.

Here's a cell phone pic I took and posted on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/myperfectpolish.

Polish Notes:

Description: Olive green-gold with gold shimmer
Base coat: none
Coats of polish used: Two coats (note the difference between 1 and 2 coats, below)
Comments about application:  Formula seemed to be just the right consistency
Top coat: None, but I'll add CND Shiney to it next time.  By now, you should know I love that stuff.
Where to buy: www.cultnails.com, $10

Cult Nails In A Trance. Isn't it gorgeous??

Vicious

Vicious is simply a "me" color.  I own way too many in this color family, but Vicious may just be my favorite of them all.  I was afraid my Zoya Anja (Fall 2011, Smoke & Mirrors) was too close in color to justify having both, but upon closer investigation by the D.A.C. -- Dupe Advisory Committee -- a.k.a. me, they have proven NOT to be dupes or near dupes because Anja has a much redder base than Vicious.

Polish Notes:

Description: Purple creme polish
Base coat: none used in the photos (but you will need one to avoid excessive staining)
Coats of polish used: I used two coats in the photos, but once I got outside in the sunlight, I saw some uneven areas.  Two should be fine, but three may be preferable.
Comments about application:  No complaints here!
Top coat: I wore it without a top coat, but would recommend using CND Shiney for extra nail bling.
Where to buy: www.cultnails.com, $10

Cult Nails Vicious

Ahh, I love it :)

There will definitely be more Cult Nails in my future.  I can't wait until they have their next $5 sale.  There should be one coming up for the polishes that were out of stock during the last $5 sale.  Even if you can't catch them on sale, they are worth the $10 they normally cost.

Which color(s) should I purchase from Cult Nails next?

Orchid I Love You Berry Much + Ulta Material Girl

When I started this blog, I wanted to not only show polishes in my stash that I liked, but also those that I didn't whether it was due to the color, formula, or otherwise.  By doing that, I figured that I could help someone out there avoid making the same mistake (if you can call it that), or help someone choose their next perfect color.  Countless blogs have done just that for me.

I swatched Orchid's I Love You Berry Much and chose Ulta's Material Girl for an accent nail.  It wasn't my favorite, but I accomplished my goal of wearing I Love you Berry Much.  I have a bad habit of buying polish and letting it sit forever collecting dust, so I forced myself to put these guys on.

Polish Notes:

Base coat: CND Stickey
Coats of polish used: I used 3 coats for the Orchid color, and I'm still not sure it was enough.  Coverage still seemed uneven.  For Material Girl, I used two coats.
Comments about application:  The Orchid formula is a little on the thin side and it was runny.  I didn't like it very much.  The Ulta glitter applies fine, but looks dull when dry, and feels gritty.
Top coat: I added CND Shiney to the accent nail only because it dried a dull matte.  It didn't help much because it looked the same after the Shiney dried.  I guess it likes topcoat.  I won't be feeding it anymore, though.  I wasn't a fan of this manicure.

Interestingly, I like it more in these pictures than I did immediately after application.  What do you think?

UPDATE***DEAL ALERT!!: Zoya's Earth Day Polish Exchange is Back***

UPDATE: I mistakenly though you'd be limited to 6 polishes per order, but that isn't the case.  There is a minimum purchase of 6.  I apologize if this confused anyone!


Last year, I made my first Zoya purchase using their Earth Day nail polish exchange deal.  I have been hooked ever since!  For the uninitiated, you may send your non-Big5Free polishes to Zoya, and they will properly dispose of them for you (you can still take advantage of the deal if you don't).  In exchange, Zoya gives you up to 6 of their own polishes for $4 each plus shipping and handling.  The polishes normally retail for $8 each.  If you want to try Zoya, this is a great time, but you must hurry.  The deal will only be valid from April 21, 2012 - April 22, 2012 (11:59PM EST).


Read the details here:
http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com/2012/04/its-back-earth-day-zoya-nail-polish.html

Work Safe Wednesday: Zoya Jules

Zoya Jules delivers subtle, golden awesomeness that is perfect for either work or play.

Zoya describes Jules as:

A sparkling neutral light taupe with gold, silver and champagne metallic shimmer. A new modern metallic that gives an ultra-luxe look.

 Yeah, what they said.  Point is I like it :D

Don't Panic! It's Just More NerdLacquer

Fine, I'm in.  I'm really starting to love NerdLacquer polishes!  They're just fun.  Like Crunchy Frog, Don't Panic applied easily, and I didn't even have complaints about glitter stuck to the side of the bottle this time.  I think it would have looked better layered over something, but I didn't have any complementary greens to choose from.   I guess I could've gotten all wild and crazy and chosen a totally different color as a base, but I'll have to save that experimentation for another day. (BTW, thanks to gutsandgrace for bringing me into the world of NerdLacquer.)

Official color description:

DON’T PANIC is a brilliant clover green base with emerald and grass green small and large hexagonal glitter, plus a sprinkling of holographic sparkle. Friendly, non-threatening, and extremely glittery.

Sounds pretty accurate to me.  On to more pics!

Polish Notes:

Base coat: CND Stickey
Coats of polish used: 2
Comments about application:  Applied easily - no real complaints here!
Top coat: None, though I imagine it would be a guzzler.

Annnnd...the Etsy store is STILL closed. *sigh* Oh wells.

'Til next time,

Stay polished!

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint reminds me of, well....anything that has been described as mint green.  It's simple and pretty.  I thought it compared to Essie's Absolutely Shore, but when looking at them side by side, it's clear Re-Fresh Mint is much greener.

Polish notes:

Base coat: CND Stickey
Coats of polish used: This baby is streaky, so I used two coats
Comments about application: This formula is a little on the thick side, so I had some trouble avoiding obvious layers and had to do one finger twice.
Top coat: none 

Comparison of  1 v. 2 coats:

Sun:

Shade:

Indoors w/natural sunlight:

This Diva is DEFINITELY Decadent!

Last year sometime, I bought Essie's Decadent Diva from Ulta for $0.99, at least that's what the orange sticker on the bottle says.  It's been in my polish stash box ever since.  I decided to swatch it for precisely that reason.  Now that I have it on, I can't stop marveling at my nails!  This polish reminds me of why my collection mostly consisted of Essie lacquers when I first started seriously building it up.  It is simply a gorgeous color and has a shiny, professional-looking finish.

Decadent Diva comes from Essie's fall 2007 Glamour Girl collection.  It is a deep reddish-brown with beautiful copper shimmer.  As with a few others I have, this is one you really have to wear to appreciate.  The chemical smell nearly knocked me out at first, but I'll tolerate it to wear this color again.

Polish Notes:

Base coat: CND Stickey
Coats of polish used: Two. One coat allowed me to see the fabulous copper shimmer more easily, but two coats were needed for a proper finish.
Comments about application: This formula goes on smoothly, and interestingly, looks like it's in a black base on the first coat.  Everything evens out with the second.  Apply and prepare to stare for long periods of time.
Top coats: None - it has an awesome shine to it even before you add a topcoat.

Indoors:

Direct sunlight:

If you find this one in a bargain bin somewhere, I highly recommend you snatch it up.  If you don't want to go hunting through bargain bins, just head over to ulta.com where it is listed as in stock and still selling for $0.99.

I'm Baaaaaack!

Hey Everyone!  I've missed you :)  Since I've been away for a couple of days I wanted to do a quick post to show you more of my little pretties.

Dim Sum Plum was my very first OPI polish.  Some sweet ladies at a dreamy resort & spa recommended it because they thought it would look great on my skin tone.  I wasn't convinced, but I said what the hey and went with it anyway.  So glad I did!  I searched up and down until I found the color at a local store because I just felt it needed to be with me.  Funny thing is I never wear it.  I just had to have it but never wear it.  There's no good reason.  I love the color, but the brush?....The brush can go away.  I do not like the flat, broad OPI brushes.  I've tried, but they make it hard for me to follow the curve at the base of my nail.  Anyone else have the problem?  Any tricks to get around it?

Take a look and let me know what you think.  These aren't the best pics, but you get the idea.

OPI Dim Sum Plum

indoors

Until next time,

Stay polished!!

***DEAL ALERT: ZOYA NAIL POLISH AND TREATMENTS***

Zoya is on Facebook making a BIG push to get 100,000 likes before the end of the night.  If they get 100,000 likes TODAY, they will run a BOGO promo and add 100 Share the Love points to any account taking advantage of the BOGO promo.

*For the newbies, Share the Love is Zoya's new reward program.  You can redeem points for free shipping, free polish, and other goodies.

Quick, go like their Facebook page before 11:59 p.m. EST!!

Zoya Spring Breezes Trio Preview

I was very happy to receive my Spring Breezes Trio from Zoya's GMA promo a couple of weeks ago.  Here's a quick swatch of the three colors I received.

Full review and tons of swatches to come!

Out of My Comfort Zone With NerdLacquer's Crunchy Frog

Crunchy Frog...where do I begin?  When I first saw this color, I wasn't sure whether I thought it was really odd, or oddly awesome.  This was such a mysterious color to me...I just couldn't decide whether or not I liked it.  But once I put it on, there was no question.  I loved its brown, glittery, crunchy goodness.

Here's the official description:

CRUNCHY FROG is a revoltingly gorgeous milk chocolate shimmer base with emerald glitter, small and medium grass green hexagonal glitter, olive microglitter, and you might also notice some large chunks of silvery white. The bones, obviously. If we took the bones out it wouldn’t be crunchy, would it? The easily-nauseated should feel free to think of this color as “chocolate mint.”

Since I'm among the "easily-nauseated," I'm just going to describe it as "chocolate mint."  I don't like the taste of chocolate mint or things that taste like chicken, but aren't...however, I'll take chocolate mint on my nails if this is what it looks like :).

(Lots of pics inside!)

Zoya Max - A Very Pretty Not Red Red

Happy Saturday!

One of the polishes I'd like to show off today is Zoya Max.  I received it free as part of Zoya's Valentine's Day promo.  I like red polish...on other people...so I had a hard time choosing a red for the promotion.  The stock pic of Max on Zoya's website caught my attention because it didn't look like a straight on red...it was kind of unusual because of its pink, coral and orange undertones.  Trust me when I say you have to see this in person to appreciate the beauty of the color.

Hit the jump for more...

Essie Resort 2012 - No More Film

I'm posting late today, but no worries, it's a good one! After seeing a few swatches of Essie Resort 2012, I had to pick one up.  I was only going to allow myself one from the collection for now, so I grabbed No More Film and ran quickly walked to the register before I had a chance to change my mind.  I can be really indecisive when I have to pick just one.  Usually I just stand in front of the display looking like a crazy lady looking up swatches on my phone, trying to figure out which one to purchase.  What?  I'm the only one?  Hey, I have to be sure!  I hate ending up with polish I can't use because it looked horrible against my skin tone.  Annnnd, that's a waste of money.  We don't like wasting money around here.

Anyway, back to No More Film....