*Press Release*

     Hi everyone. I've just got a quick post to share with you today. I've been dealing with sick kiddos for a few days and don't really have a lot of time but I wanted to make sure I shared the latest release from MoYou London with you. 

*Nothing to disclose*

     Does anyone have a case of the Mondays? I had a very uneventful weekend but I'm still not ready to start the work week. I thought Id start out this week of posts with a polish I gave a sneak peek at on my page last week. Absecon was released by Philly Loves Lacquer as part of the Summer Down the Shore collection. Each polish in this collection held a special memory for Esther. Absecon is based off the Absecon Lighthouse in New Jersey.  Here's a little bit about this collection in her own words. 

     Absecon is a light icy blue with a hint of grey crelly polish with subtle linear holo that reaches full opacity in 3 coats.

    Application is easy and smooth with the first coat applying quite sheer. When I say smooth application I mean smooth application. I had absolutely no streaking which is impressive for such a sheer polish. 

  

     The holo effect in Absecon is not as strong as most holos but you can get a quick glimpse of the  flame effect in the right lighting. Unfortunately it decided to hide during the photo session and I wasn't able to capture it on film.

     And of course because I can't seem to wear just plain polish anymore I had to add an accent nail. If you've followed me for any amount of time you know I love floral manicures and I had the perfect item here to complete my look. 

     

      I picked these water decals up at Claire's a few years ago and they worked out perfectly. They add a little something to the manicure but still allow you to see all the sparkle. What do you think? 

     Absecon is still available for purchase if you'd like to add this beauty to your collection. You can pick up a bottle for $12 here. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

*Gift*

     Who's in the mood for some holographic gorgeousness? Good because that's what I've got for you today. Feast your eyes upon Summer Breeze from Ellagee. A medium teal/green base with scattered AND linear holographic shimmer! There are a few indie makers out there that know how to do holo right and Ellagee is one of them. Wouldn't you agree?

     Summer Breeze has a great formula with the first coat going on quite a bit more opaque than I was expecting. There was however some minor streaking and I found out the hard way to just leave them alone. When I tried to even it out I experienced some dragging. The lesson here? Don't do what I did and play around with multiple strokes. With the second coat everything evened out nicely and reached full opacity. All photos are show as 2 coats plus top coat.

  

     Just look how pretty this is. I love the fact that you get the scattered sparkle along with the flame effect. Even though the holo effect isn't as strong in this polish as others the sparkle still dances on my nails. 

*Press Release*

     This Friday brings up the second set of plates to be released in the Literature Collection from MoYou London. If you missed the first set you can find them here. Just like last time the theme is centered around classic novels only this time instead of being great love stories, these plates focus more on the dark side. Let's take a look below.

*Nothing to Disclose*

     I know it's spring and time for soft pastels or bright neons but for those of you who like to wear dark vampy colors no matter what the season , this post is for you. Today I have for you Into Dreams from Pretty Serious. 

    Into Dreams is a gorgeous royal purple with magenta shimmer. This is another one of those polishes that I've had in my collection for quite some time but am just getting around to using now. Its a shame it sat for so long being unloved. And you'll see why in my pictures.

    See what I mean? How pretty is that! The formula on this one was a bit thinner than I'm used to and I had a few places that it wanted to pool at my cuticles. You can see where it stained my skin during clean up. To avoid the pooling I recommend very thin coats and for the staining a great base coat. I used simply smooth because it also helps even out my nail surface.  The first coat went on smoothing with more opacity than I was expecting, and full coverage was reached after 2.  If I had done thinner coats to avoid the pooling issue I think 3 coats would have been needed. Just keep that in mind when using this polish. 

     I love how this picture captured the rich purple color. This is 2 coats plus top coat. But I didn't stop at just the polish, I had to add something to this and I wanted to keep that dark vampy feel, and maybe a little pop. So of course I broke out my stamping plates.

     I used Bundle Monster plate BM-406, Zoya Black Swan and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep to create my final look.

     Sadly the black didn't show up very well against the purple background. I thought a matte top coat might help but no such luck. Silver Sweep worked out really well though.  Here's a macro shot that shows both colors a little better.

*Nothing to Disclose*

     Over the weekend I was sent an e-mail asking if I could compare 3 grey nail polishes I own by one of my readers. Naturally I was thrilled! Someone had taken the time to look through The Collection tab and ask for my help in a polish purchase decision. The polishes in question? Intelligence, Integrity & Courage, Elephant Walk and Sea Spray by China Glaze. 

     At first glance these 3 look fairly similar in the bottle, but when placed right next to each other you start to notice the differences. But do these differences carry over once applied to the nail? We've all had those polishes that look one way in the bottle, and completely different dried on the nail.

     

      Let me start off by saying that as far as application goes all 3 are pretty even. Kind of what you'd expect from nail polishes from the same company, even though that doesn't always happen. (I'm looking at you Essie!) I had nice smooth application with the first thin coat having some minor streaking and full opacity reached after 2. Shown here is 2 coats of each polish plus top coat.

     On the nail these 3 don't look much different than they do in the bottle. Elephant Walk is still the darkest and Sea Spray is still lighter. Sea Spray has a slight blue under tone to it, while the others look more like a true grey. What you don't see in the bottle is that Elephant Walk and Sea Spray both have some subtle micro shimmer to them. Intelligence, Integrity & Courage is the only straight creme in the bunch. 

     In this picture it's a little easier to see the micro shimmer, Especially in Elephant Walk. Needless to say these 3 are not dupes, not even in the slightest so if you're into grey's Id say it's a safe bet to have all 3 in your collection. But my comparison isn't over yet. In my previous post on Intelligence, Integrity & Courage I showed you how well it worked as a stamping polish.  Since then I have rediscovered my love of stamping. I also wanted to have this post go beyond the typical comparison post where I only shared about the color and formula. Can you guess what's coming next? That's right I also compared how these 3 will work for stamping.

     Now this was a hard picture to capture thanks to the glossy finish my Out the Door top coat provided! I applied Bleached in Peach from the Maybelline Bleached Neons Collection as my base color. I wanted something besides white to showcase the grey.  The image I used I think is supposed to look like snake skin from Shandy plate SH213. It's an interesting pattern but not one I can see myself using over and over again. I liked it for this post though because it had a lot of tiny details that would really test the polish.  Id say all 3 passed the test and worked as a stamping polish. I knew with Elephant Grey being the darkest it would show up the best but I was surprised to see that Sea Spray stood out more than Intelligence, Integrity & Courage. 

     Big shout out to Cassi for making my day and helping me to remember that people do actually read my blog and find it helpful! I want all my readers to know that if they'd like to see a certain polish swatched or compared Id be happy to do it if I own it. I have all of my polishes listed on The Collection Tab up top for you to browse through. If I've already posted about a specific polish , the name links directly to that post for easy convenience. 

     I hope you've enjoyed this post, thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing! 

*Nothing to Disclose*

     I've got a real quick post for you today. You may remember that I recently broke a nail on my swatching hand. Well it broke down pretty low and I had to resort back to super nubbins. When my nails are short I tend to be uninspired when it comes to painting my nails. Which also means that I didn't have anything lined up to post about. Enter my impromptu visit to a salon/spa yesterday to get my nails nicely shaped and painted. Why go to a Salon when I paint my nails all the time for free? Well the answer is simple. No matter how much I try or how patient I am I can never get my nails shaped nice and even on my own and usually end up with much shorter nails than I want. 

     My experience at the salon was so much different than it normally is. For one and I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say this but the girl painting my nails was not of Asian descent and I didn't have to try and navigate a heavy accent when asked questions. And I was asked a lot of questions. Before she even touched my nails we had a lengthy discussion about how I wanted my nails done. She asked about length, shape, my typical nail polish practices. And double checked that everything was to my liking every step of the process. I felt very involved and in charge of my manicure even though I was not the one doing the work. Even though this Salon is 45 minutes away from where I live I know I will be going back there. 

     This particular Salon only uses CND polishes which is a brand I have never used before. I wanted something springy so I picked out one called Desert Poppy from the Vinylux line. A pretty coral with subtle shimmer.  Like all coral polishes this one was hard to photograph and get the true color. In the picture below the color on my pinky in most accurate. 

    I love the color of Desert Poppy but I needed something else, since starting my blog I have a hard time wearing just one color on my nails. 

     I haven't done a water marble in a long time and I think they are actually kind of fun to do. Time consuming but fun so I added one as my accent nail. I used Citrus Collide and Ultra Violet from the Maybelline Bleached Neons collection, Sinful Colors Snow me White and a Wet N Wild clear for the design. 

*Press Release*

     MoYou London has gone and done it again! This Friday they are releasing 5 plates in an entirely new collection. With quotes from 5 beloved classics there's sure to be something that sparks creativity in every nail artist. Check out the plates below.

*Nothing to Disclose*

     Today I have yet another pink polish to share with you. This time it's Zoya Katy. Now I am a lover of pink nail polish in case you hadn't noticed but I picked this polish up specifically for the name. Even though it's not spelled the same I thought it was still cool to have a nail polish with my name on it. I admit it I'm a bit of a dork but I'm ok with that.