Monday, April 30, 2012

Brown Polish Swatches

I decided to swatch all of my brown polishes to see how they compare.

Sally Hansen Plum Licorice

I got this polish as an extra in a swap and haven't tried it until now. I'm not usually a fan of deep browns but the shimmer in this polish is gorgeous in the sun. 
 
 Essie Lady Godiva

I am such a huge Essie fan so it is a rare occurrence when I absolutely hate one of their colors.  This brown is the exact color of chocolate syrup but for some reason I just can't like it at all!  I think this one will go into the swap pile. 

 Butter London Flash Pack

Don't let this picture fool you, the shimmer in the polish is hidden and it looks like a light brown creme in almost all lighting.  Not a bad color though and great formula!

 Butter London All Hail The Queen

This is one of my favorite Butter London polishes!  The micro-shimmer is holographic, but it looks like a normal nude from a distance. Very work appropriate with a little bit of extra appeal.

 OPI You Don't Know Jacques

 A nice medium brown, perfect for the fall season. 


 Which one is your favorite? 

Zoya Lotus + BL No More Waity Katie

Today I painted my nails with Zoya Lotus, a gorgeous dusty purple with pink shimmer. Zoyas don't seem to work with the chemistry of Seche Vite so I used my Revlon top coat for this picture. 


The base color of Lotus looked very similar to Butter London No More Waity Katie so I decided to do a coat on top to see how it looked.  I have tried to wear No More Waity Katie on it's own, but it is so thick and takes about 3-4 coats to be opaque.  I really enjoyed this combo, hope you do too!


Leave a comment with your favorite purple nail polishes so I can add to my purple addiction!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Birthday Mani

Today is my birthday so I decided to use some of my "special occasion" polishes.  Here is Chanel Graphite by itself and with 1 coat of Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday layered on top.




Hope you like this combo!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Introduction

Hello there!

I decided to start this blog to catalog my large collection of nail polish that I have acquired over the past couple of years and maybe, just maybe, someone will benefit from my swatches.  I have been painting my nails for as long as I can remember, but my collecting really amped up when I was trying to deal with the stress of graduate school.  Nail polish has now become my outlet for self expression and stress relief in my life.

I don't know the exact number of polishes I own, but I'm guessing it is somewhere around 200-300.  My favorite brand by far is Essie.  Their colors appeal to me the most and they wear amazingly well on me.  My collection also consists of OPI, Zoya, China Glaze, Butter London, Deborah Lippmann, Chanel, and various drugstore brands. 

Here is my very first NOTD (nail of the day):

Essie Camera 

This polish was just released as part of the Poppy-Razzi 2012 Collection.  I also bought Essie Action, a traffic cone orange, from the same collection.  This is 3 coats with 1 coat of Seche Vite.  I love this neon coral!  It dries matte and is a bit sheer.  Next time I think I will try it with a white base coat to make the neon really pop. 

I'd also like to share some of my favorite nail products: 

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Gelous Advanced Nail Gel Coat
Sally Hansen Insta Dri
Revlon Extra Life Top Coat 
Deborah Lippmann Hard Rock
Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter
Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
J.R. Watkins Hand & Cuticle Salve 


Until next time, 

-NN