OPI's Koala Bear-y is Bear-y Nice!

A few weeks ago, after spending more time than I'd like to admit deciding on the ONE OPI I'd buy, I ended up with Koala Bear-y.  It comes from OPI's 2007 Australia collection.  It's very pretty in the bottle, but I was concerned about how it would look on me.  Since I refuse to swatch polish before I buy (I hate when I see people do that!), I decided to take my chances and was very glad I did.

See for yourself:

J's Stash: China Glaze Heart of Africa

Hey there! Here's an oldie but goodie -- China Glaze's Heart of Africa.  Oh, how I love (and have unfortunately neglected) this color.  It's a beautiful shade of burgundy with shimmer.

For this manicure, I used Zoya Anchor as a base followed by two coats of HoA.

Look at how rich this color is!

 

The formula is very smooth - I wish more were like it.

 

Love. It.

Essie Mirror Metallics

A couple of weeks ago I told you about my accidental encounter with a new display for Essie's Mirror Metallics during my search for Stroke of Brilliance.  This week I want to show you two that purchased from the collection - Blue Rhapsody and Good As Gold.

Blue Rhapsody

Polish notes:

Color description: "a jazzy blue metallic"
Base coat: Zoya Get Even
Coats of polish used: 2
Comments about application: Metallics are kind of funny to work with.  They can easily become streaky, and I don't think these play well with Zoya's Get Even.  I experienced some "pull" on the polish after allowing a sufficient amount of time for the first coat to dry, and had to re-do the nails to avoid unwanted clumping in my finish.
Top coat: CND Shiney

I really liked Blue Rhapsody.  It kind of made me feel like my nails were wrapped in foil, only without the skin crawling effect.

This will make a great color for pedicures!

Good As Gold

Color description: "a guaranteed gold metallic"

Base coat: Zoya Get Even
Coats of polish used: 2
Comments about application: same as the notes for Blue Rhapsody
Top coat: CND Shiney

 

If Essie had named this "Oscar," I wouldn't have thought twice.  Wearing Good As Gold was like wearing a lacquer version of the coveted statue.  Pretty.

FingerPaints Summer in the City - Sexy Sundress

Hey there!  Just wanted to drop in and show off Sexy Sundress from the FingerPaints Summer in the City Collection.  I don't typically wear this shade of green, but sometimes typical can be boring!  Sexy Sundress is not.

The formula was okay for the most part.  I went with my usual two coats and found that was sufficient.

Here's an older picture, pre-clean up:

Colors from this collection retail for about $3.29 at www.sallybeauty.com, and shouldn't cost much more in stores.

Zoya Gives Us THREE Reasons to Care about Fall Right Now

"Inspired by backstage beauties, talented designers, runways and VIP fashion events, the NYFW 2012 Color Collections by Zoya for Fall 2012 are simply stunning."

Last year, Zoya knocked me out with their fall collection, Smoke & Mirrors, and they are back to do it again with not one, not two, but THREE sets collectively called Designer, Diva & Gloss!  As per their usual, there'll be one set of creams and one set of sparkly or metallic colors.  The third addition is a trio of buildable jellies.  I typically don't wear jellies, but I have to have all three of these.  When you see the colors, you understand why.  A couple of shades -- Rekha, Evvie and Katherine -- are from previously released limited edition designer collections.  I didn't get a chance to order any of those, so I'm glad the company decided to release these with their regular collections.

Designer

• Elisa (ZP632) - Crimson red metallic

• Suri (ZP633) - Royal purple metallic

• Song (ZP634) - Egyptian blue metallic with a subtle sparkle

• Ray (ZP635) - Pine green metallic

• FeiFei (ZP636) - Magic blue foil sparkle metallic

• Daul (ZP637) - Magic violet foil sparkle metallic

Diva

• Elisa (ZP632) - Crimson red metallic

• Suri (ZP633) - Royal purple metallic

• Song (ZP634) - Egyptian blue metallic with a subtle sparkle

• Ray (ZP635) - Pine green metallic

• FeiFei (ZP636) - Magic blue foil sparkle metallic

• Daul (ZP637) - Magic violet foil sparkle metallic

*Can I have Song now, please?

Gloss

• Katherine (ZP638) - Sheer eggplant jelly gloss, buildable formula (Peter Som custom shade)

• Paloma (ZP639) - Sheer berry red jelly gloss, buildable formula

• Frida (ZP640) - Sheer teal blue jelly gloss, buildable formula

I love these so much, and they are all in hues that I know will complement my skin tone.

These will start shipping in mid-July.  Check out www.zoya.com for more.  

What do you think?  Are you going to go for broke by filling your collection with ALL of these?  I'm sure going to try :)

J's Stash: Zoya Gemma

Zoya Gemma from the Intimate Collection for Spring 2011.

"Light muted olive green with an overlay of blue and violet duochrome shimmer. Unique, hip and cutting-edge yet subtle enough to suit any wardrobe."

Zoya Gemma -
It looks just like it does
in the bottle
*photo from zoya.com

Quick Nails: CND Blueberry Whip and Chocolate Milk...and Anita Baker (?!)

Earlier this month, I picked up my first two CND polishes from Beauty Brands on clearance for around $3.  I'd been eyeing a couple of CND polishes for a while, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try their polishes for so cheap.  (If only they'd put some of the CND Effects on clearance!)

Blueberry Whip

Chocolate Milk

Colors like Chocolate Milk, while pretty, tend to make me feel a bit dated, and a song that popped up on Pandora from an album that came out in 1994 told me I was right...

Check out her polish LOL!  Does it look familiar?  For the record, I <3 Anita Baker to no end.

What do you think?  Do certain earthy tones make you feel dated, or more "mature" than you are?

China Glaze Will Take You "On Safari" This Fall. Will You Go?

Well, hello there!  I hope this week has been treating you well. We're getting close to my favorite time of year for polish collections - fall (or is winter my favorite? maybe spring?  ah, nevermind)!  I was lucky enough to snag a couple of newbies from China Glaze's Fall 2012 On Safari collection (shout out Sally Beauty Supply!).  If you come across any of these in your local stores, I highly advise you to snap up the ones you like.  The displays I did find had already been raided of the more interesting colors, despite having only been for sale a couple of days.

Let's go ahead and jump right in...I have a lot of pictures, taken under different lighting conditions to help give you good idea of what these actually look like.

Kalahari Kiss:

When I first saw this color, I knew it would be just the type of muted yellow I've been looking for.  CG describes it as a light sand brown.  Yellow, sand.  Whatever.  I'll take it.

base = Zoya Get Even
coats of polish = 2
top coat = CND Shiney

Desert Sun:

CG describes this as delicious caramel.  I don't know about being delicious or caramel, but I think I like it.

base = Zoya Get Even
coats of polish = 2
top coat = CND Shiney

Last, but not least: I'm Not Lion

CG describes this one as "glistening gold and multi-color glitter."  I'm not that into glitter, but I LOVED this one.  There's another glitter in the collection, but I guarantee this will be harder to come by.  The fine gold sparkle is very pretty.


base = CND Stickey or Zoya Anchor (sorry, I can't remember which)
coats of polish = 2
top coat = CND Shiney

China Glaze - I'm Not Lion (one coat)

Warning: Since this was my favorite one, and the hardest to capture on camera, I ended up taking a ton of pictures to give you a good idea of what this will look like in person.

intentionally blurry pic

About the collection:

 Swatch and Learn has the press release and more official promotional photos of the collection.

As always, I want to know if you see anything you like.  Drop me a note in the comments!