AS SEEN IN STORE: Essie's Mirror Metallics

So, I was on the hunt for Essie's Stroke of Brilliance the other day -- I just knew Ulta wouldn't let me down.  Sadly, I didn't find one bottle between four different stores (I had running around to do anyway), but I did see this fresh display for Mirror Metallics at Walgreens.

Here's what Essie has to say:

Colors in the Collection:

Nothing Else Metals





Penny Talk

Good As Gold

No Place Like Chrome

 

Blue Rhapsody

Good As Gold is calling me.  See anything you like?

Essie's Stroke of Brilliance

Essie has added a new shade to its Luxeffects line - Stroke of Brilliance.  Judging from the promo pictures, I think it might just be.

"Stroke of Brilliance"

The new "multi-dimensional top coat" joins its older siblings, As Gold As It Gets, A Cut Above, Set In Stones and Pure Pearlfection.  Essie recommends you try it over Chinchilly ("a sleek, granite gray"), Lapiz of Luxury ("a dreamy ocean blue") or Over the Edge ("a dramatic metallic midnight silver"). 

You should be able to get it at CVS, Target, Walgreens and Wally World Walmart, just to name a few stores.

Jump Into Summer With wet 'n wild megalast's Club Havana

*singing* "It's getting hot in hurr, so take off all your clothes...I am get-t-ing so hot, I wanna take my clothes offf..."

wet 'n wild's Club Havana is fiery hot.  The brand has given me quite the surprise with their megalast line of polishes.  It first started when I saw a Gimme That Glow blog post on two colors from the line.  Curious, I went out and bought a couple for myself (I'll get around to posting those first two one of these days, btw).  Then, last week I saw that Walgreens had a buy 2 get 1 sale (it's still going on!), so I picked up three more.  The newest additions to my collection were languishing in the bag all set to be forgotten until I saw Color Republic's post on Club Havana.  The color not only looked familiar to me, but it looked great on her.  Familiar because I'd already purchased it and it was sitting in that crumpled up bag on my shelf.  I went ahead and pulled it out, and I'm glad I did. 

It's a hot tangerine that can't quite call itself a neon, but it's definitely eye-catching with its bright pop of color.

It looks much more tame in the shade and indoors

That ManiCurve brush served me well before--it's makes it easy for me to paint nearly the entire nail in one swoop--but this one had a few straggly ends.  A piece of it ended up embedding itself in my mani.  Not cool. 



close up, indoors

Aside from issues with the brush, this one definitely gets the MPP stamp of approval.

*DEAL ALERT* 3 For $15 Zoya + Free Shipping

In case you haven't heard (what, you haven't liked my Facebook page yet??), Zoya is running a new promo for zoya.com account holders*.  Through 11:59 PM EST on 6/25/12, you can pick 3 colors from the Beach and Surf collection for $15 AND get free shipping (gotta love when they throw in free shipping).  Don't know what colors to get?  Let me see if I can help.

I bought Rory, Zuza and Wednesday. 

Color descriptions:

Rory: "Medium mauve pink with lilac tones, gold and silver reflective metallic shimmer accents, and a foil-like finish."
Zuza: "Deep, saturated, oceanic turquoise with gold and silver metallic shimmer and a foil-like finish."
Wednesday: "Faded dirty medium turquoise with green undertone and an opaque cream finish."

If you only pick one of these, pick Zuza.  I've seen many swatches of the color, and I think it looks good on everyone.  I didn't even know I liked foil finishes until I put it on.  I'll warn you though, you'll need a good base coat.  My hands looked like death when I removed the color lol.  Rory also gave me a funny stain, so protect your nails!

*You must've had an account prior to 12pm on 6/11/12.  Be sure to check out Zoya's blog for all of the fine print.

Around the Blogs

Hey Ladies!


Just want to highlight some posts I've read in the last week:

• Kellie Gonzo has Illamasqua Naked Strangers nail polishes. See anything you like?
• Colors De Carol tries her first jelly sandwich.
• Polish Police swatches the Laura Mercier Tres Chic collection.
• The Cult Nails Fairytale collection is finally on sale! Eeek! I need them all lol.  Chit Chat Nails has some great swatches of Charming.  If you haven't seen her site yet, you should.  She puts a twist on standard swatching.  
• I came across Wet N Wild's Bejeweled collection in Walgreens the other day.  Glad to see Vampy Varnish has swatches of the collection.  Born into Privilege sorta reminds me of Cult Nails' Always Winning which is no longer available.
• GiMiKd Girl has a few swatches of some NerdLacquer polishes she's had stashed away.  Must be nice to have some.  The Etsy shop mysteriously disappeared before I ever had a chance to place my first order.
• I found a newbie site, the Color Republic, and she has Wet 'n Wild's Club Havana.  I think I just bought this color during the buy 2 get 1 sale at Walgreens.  It looks great on her, so I think it'll look great on me.  

Get Frosted - Zoya Rory

*singing* "Frosty the snowman, was a jolly happy soul..."

Wrong time of year, I know, but each time I wear Zoya Rory, I can't help but sing it!  Rory is part of the "Surf" side of Zoya's Beach & Surf collection for summer 2012.  It is a "medium mauve pink with lilac tones, gold and silver reflective metallic shimmer accents, and a foil-like finish."  This is a different kind of polish for me because of the foil-like finish.  Until I purchased this and Zuza, I don't think I had anything like it in my collection.  It had me feeling all dainty and stuff. *pouts*  I'm not dainty, like at all, but funny how a little color on your nails can make you feel like it.

I used two coats here with no base coat and no top coat. BE SMARTER THAN ME.  Use a good base coat.  Rory stains like grape juice on white carpet.  My nails had a pink tint to them for several days after I removed it.

I have two more polishes from the Beach & Surf collection - Zuza and Wednesday.  I had them all swatched and ready to go, but something was off about the color in all of my photos.  I'm going to have to re-swatch them for you.  Until then,

Stay polished!!

 

Cult Nails Mini-Haul Part III: Let Me Fly

I knew I was going to love this color.  It was gorgeous in the bottle and that much more so on.

Cult Nails describes it as a "dusty turquoise shimmer with gorgeous silver shimmer"

I just can't say enough how much I appreciate the Cult Nails formula.  The application for this one was so smooth.

Can you see why this one was my favorite of the three in my haul?  I can't wait to order more from this fast growing company.  I've got my eye on Always Winning and Time Traveler....and the Fairy Tale collection.  

Are you part of the Cult?  Which ones do you love?

Cult Nails Mini-Haul Part II: Iconic

Hopefully, you've already seen part I of my Cult Nails haul.  Here's part II, featuring Iconic.  Iconic is a "deep berry creme with gorgeous red flakes and stunning gold shimmer throughout."  

As I've told you before, I (usually) don't do reds, but the color description and reviews won me over.

Just as with the other Cult Nails polishes I reviewed, the formula was great.  I only wish the gold shimmer and red flakes could have shown through a bit more.  When removing the color, I realized just how much the flakes and shimmer had been hidden.

Inspired by the gold shimmer, I added Orly's Sashay My Way on an accent nail.

Hope you like! :)

Next up, part III, and it may very well be my favorite of the bunch!

From the Stash: Zoya Charisma

Good morning sunshine!  One of the polishes I have for you today is a popular Zoya neon, Charisma.  They describe it as an "ultra bright neon fluorescent magenta/red-toned purple cream."  This was among the first polishes I purchased from Zoya last year, and I think it's a great color to wear when you want to punch things up.

As with all other neons I know, it dries matte.  With this one in particular, you will need to add a topcoat.  If you don't, it'll peel like crazy, and quickly.  Although it might be kind of fun to see how it peels off in whole pieces, your nails will look like a total hack job.  And that, my friend, is not cute.

Even with this issue, I highly recommend this color.  Use a topcoat like I said and you'll be ok.

Zoya Charisma without topcoat

I added CND Shiney to the middle nail so you could see a comparison of the polish with and without topcoat.

CND Shiney on middle nail, others matte

And with CND Shiney on all nails...

Zoya Charisma with CND Shiney

Zoya Charisma indoors with CND Shiney

Visit www.zoya.com to purchase Charisma and more.  Also be sure to check Zoya out on Facebook where they are always cooking up fun (fun=promos).

Next up, Part II of my Cult Nails haul.

Stay polished ladies!

Lady J