piCture pOlish Focus Swatches

Today I want to share with you piCture pOlish Focus, which is truly one of my favorite new polishes I've purchased in the last few months. Focus was designed by Sheila of Pointless Cafe (also one of my favorite bloggers) and it's just so stunning.

Focus is a red-violet jelly base loaded with micro-flakes. Micro-flakes and glass flecks are right up there in my favorite polish finishes of all time, since they are just like glitter nails without the bumpy finish. Focus is an interesting color, in some lights it looks red violet or almost purple while in other lights it's fuchsia to me, but with a darker almost blackened look to it.

The formula of Focus was very good, like most of my piCture pOlishes. I used two coats for the pictures below, it applies beautifully and dries smooth. Although they come in a slightly smaller bottle than other brands, piCture pOlish is reasonably priced since they definitely make top quality polish.

The pictures show how pretty this color is, but they can't quite capture just how gorgeous and sparkly this finish is. This polish is so much prettier in person.

Have you tried piCture pOlish? Is Focus on your wishlist? :)

Pretty Serious Seasonal Sunset

Have you ever gotten it into your head that you need a polish of a certain finish or color only to realize it doesn't seem to exist? I searched everywhere for Pretty Serious Seasonal Sunset before it was released as part of their holiday collection. I wanted a red-orange-brown loaded with shimmer, and Pretty Serious delivered.

Seasonal Sunset is a deep russet red loaded with gold shimmer. The base is sort of the color of rust, orange-red, and a jelly base, but there's so much sparkly gold and copper flecks that it's hard to care about the base. The overall finish is almost a glass fleck, but the particles are larger.

The texture of this polish was a bit odd. Not outright bad, but different. I guess it was a bit goopier than the other Pretty Serious polishes I've tried. It was still easy to apply and nice and dense, this is two coats and top coat.

Isn't this one of the prettiest polishes you've ever seen? I'm seriously in love with it. I've already ordered a second bottle. <3!


Pretty Serious polishes are sold by Pretty Serious Cosmetics in an 11 ml bottle and Seasonal Sunset, as well as their other polishes retail for for $9.95 AUD (ships internationally, this is where I purchased mine). Pretty Serious are also available from Llarowe for $12 USD.

OPI You Only Live Twice

Today I have another gorgeous color from the OPI Skyfall collection to show you.

OPI You Only Live Twice is a beautiful raspberry-red with a glass fleck finish. The color sits nicely between red and pink, in some lights it looks very red while in most lights it has a strong pink-tone to it. Overall though I love it because it is incredibly sparkly. I love glass fleck finishes for their shiny jelly-like finish and the smooth sparkle that doesn't take any special top-coat.

The formula is nice and pigmented, I could have used 2 coats on most nails but instead used 3 to add more depth and cover up any application mistakes (I had a few bald spots near the cuticle, which was probably more my fault than the formula's). Dry time is average, but I recommend waiting just a bit longer than usual to prevent any pulling near the cuticle.

OPI is one of my favorite brands because they wear well and don't chip on me, so please excuse any wear in the photographs as this is after three days of wear. I didn't realize it looked so bad until I was watermarking the pictures!

Blurry to show that sparkle:

I just love how beautiful this color is. You Only Live Twice is one I'll be wearing all year long as both manis and pedis. Also, this polish is a bit more special since it was a gift from my sister, and any day my family indulges my 'addiction' is a good day!

Cult Nails Behind Closed Doors Collection (Photo Heavy)

Today I have the much-awaited Cult Nails Behind Closed Doors Collection to review for you! As you may know, I was extremely excited for this collection, and it didn't disappoint what-so-ever. But enough chatting, on to the swatches!

The names of the polishes fit well with the "Behind Closed Doors" theme, and each and every one of them gave me a little chuckle.

...to see pictures and a detailed review of each polish in this beautiful collection click read more!

China Glaze Red Curl Girl

Oh how I love red polish.. are you sick of seeing it yet? I've got some other polish sitting around ready to be swatched but haven't had a chance to do it yet! But since I wear red about 50% of the time I have a bunch of red swatches saved up that I will now torture you with. I'm sure I can find something else, but you're not sick of it yet right?

This is China Glaze Red Curl Girl. It was released as part of a surf-themed collection if I remember correctly. It's a bright cherry red with fuchsia and red glass flecks. It's pretty... but very bright! This one might be a bit too RED for me to wear as a mani. I might reserve this one for the perfect pedi color. I find that the China Glaze glass flecks last FOREVER as a pedicure. It's wonderful for this girl who is too lazy to paint my toes that often (no one sees them most of the time!). I made the mistake of using neons on my toes the last time.. awesome look... wear-time=zero... pedi=fail.

CG Red Curl Girl Shade:

CG Red Curl Girl Sun:

But anyway, isn't this just a splendid color? Imagine it on your toes sitting on the beach with a nice tan sitting in the sand, drink in hand... I apologize for the imagery for any of you in the southern hemisphere. 

Dollish Polish Check Out Those Sweaterpuffs!

Hey y'all

Sorry that I haven't posted in the last two days. Life got a little crazy after I PASSED my huge exam! It feels so great to be able to say that.

I thought today that I would show you my new favorite pink, China Glaze Ahoy! I wore it for the 3 days prior to my exam while studying, then added another coat the day of my exam, and had the perfect manicure for exam day. Somehow I've managed to wear Ahoy four different times without taking a single decent picture!

So instead tonight I want to show you a polish from Dollish Polish. This is from her newest collection: Dolly DOES Polish. If you aren't familier with it, I'll warn you that it is riddled with inuendos and some pretty dirty minded slang.

This is Check Out Those Sweaterpuffs! The color is described as "creamsicle Orange with copper glass fleck shimmer" which is a perfect description of a beautiful polish. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when I saw that the newest Dollish Polish collection was just colors, no fun glitter or crazy combinations. With the release of the minis I decided to give it a try. I picked up there colors and I LOVE them all. These aren't plain colors they are gorgeous flecked beauties. They sparkle and shine and are absolutely spectacular. Props to Dollish Polish for coming up with an indie collection unique for how normal and wearable the colors are. They are bright and perfect for summer. I'm kicking myself for not checking out with the whole collection (9 shades).

Sun:

Shade:

Dollish Polish is available from dollishpolish.com  polish is available in both mini bottles and full size bottles, however stay tuned to Dollish Polish on Facebook for news about the next sale.

Quick swatch! Spoiled Shrimp On The Barbie

Spoiled Shrimp on the Barbie is a pretty pink with yellow-gold glass flecks. It's still slightly sheer with two coats, but wearable. It's a fun color, and I love that Spoiled polishes are available in so many colors and finishes for just $2. I have such easy access to Spoiled that I often stop and pick up a couple on my way home from work after a bad day. Let's just say I have a large and growing collection of spoiled polish. :)

Quick Swatch! Spoiled Dive Deeper

Dive deeper is a dark blue glass fleck with a hint of teal not quite apparent in these photographs. The glass flecks are sliver, and this polish definitely has depth! (Pun intended). This is a great blue, I love the name and I love it!

China Glaze Raspberry Festival

Well the time came to chop my nails ridiculously short again. Today I'm volunteering to help out at a carnival-like event tomorrow, and I'm going to be hauling sand, pluff mud (if you don't know what pluff mud is, it is the thick, smelly, gooey mud found in South Carolina Salt Marshes), and living organisms all drenched in saltwater... Not the time to risk breaking off my still soft nails.

So to make up for nubs that don't reach the end of my finger, let's go for a bright pink! This is China Glaze Raspberry Festival. It's a very pretty red-ish pink glass fleck. I love this color, it's not quite red but not quite pink. Using two coats left it a little sheer (slight visible nail like) and it looks very feminine in person.

On another note, I wish my nail-beds were even... My nails are all the same length but they look so different!

(Not much sun today so my pictures are a little dull, but quite color accurate).

New Polish and a second look at China Glaze Riveting

I've had Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe on my wishlist for some time now and I've only recently picked it up! But upon seeing a display of Deborah Lippmann's beautiful polishes who can pick out just one?

I purchased: Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? Happy Birthday and Across the Universe.

Next up my NOTD (well nail of several days). China Glaze Riveting. I showed you a quick swatch of this one after I purchased it, but I thought some sunshine photos would be even better.

I've worn this polish since I picked up the first hunger games book on Wednesday. I'm now finishing up the third book and I haven't been able to put it down! Fantastic books (particularly the first one) and a fantastic polish.

... so pretty!

I apologize for the messy photographs. With an ugly cut on my left hand I'm forced to photograph my dominant hand.

(My previous review of Riveting can be seen here)

China Glaze Strawberry Fields

I was looking through the swatches that I've posted and I realized just how many blues and greens there are compared to reds and pinks. I'm not sure quite why this is because I wear red and pink more often than blue!

So here is one of my new pinks: China Glaze Strawberry Fields. The finish: glass flecks. The color: warm pink with a hint of purple. The glass flecks: gold, although on closer inspection some are more of an orange gold while others are yellow gold. The coverage: Three coats.

I love how soft and feminine this color looks, even though it is bright. I'm going to be wearing Strawberry Fields more this summer. :)

Spoiled Haul and some really awful pictures.

At the CVS pharmacy the other day I picked up four new Spoiled by Wet n Wild polishes. I love the bottle shape on these little guys, unique yet simple. Spoiled polishes are inexpensive, and they have some amazing colors. The only complaint I have (which will be familier to you if you've picked up a bottle or read any reviews) is the brush. The brush on these polishes is thick, wide, coarse, and it has a strange angle to one side. This makes it extremely difficult to paint my nails with even though I have very broad nails.

But the colors were too pretty to resist.

I then proceeded to completely botch a few swatches. It was night and my camera wasn't doing any of these colors justice.

From left to right: Shrimp on the Barbie, Plastic Flamingo, Jewelry Heist, Show me the Money, and Ants in my Pants. .

Shrimp on the Barbie is a light mauve toned pink with yellow/gold glass flecks. It's a very pretty color and the glass flecks make it unique in my collection.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but it was the closest I could get to the right color. (2 coats)

Plastic Flamingo. Oh yes, an impossible-to-photograph neon pink creme. This was two coats and applied wonderfully, for some reason the brush on this one was perfect, still wide but not so coarse.

The true color is somewhere in between this over-exposed pink and the dark yet glow-y pink below.

Jewelry Heist I only did a quick swatch with since I was lazy, the glitter was very hard to get out of the bottle (especially with the giant brush) and I sort of had to dab it on the nail (made more difficult with the wide awkward brush). Two coats over OPI Sparrow me the Drama. In a clear base, Jewelry Heist has big hexagonal pink and gold glitter (the gold glitter pieces looks almost curved in the bottle and on the nail) as well as small black glitter and tiny square holographic glitter.

Show me the money can be seen here: layered over top of China Glaze Paper Chasing.

Last, and certainly not least is Ants in my Pants. Its a black jelly base with little red glitter and big hexagonal red glitter suspended in the glitter, truly beautiful! The glitter was a little bit hard to get onto the nail but built up beautifully with three coats.

I'll have to re-do these swatches when I get a chance. How atrocious!

Sally Hansen HD Laser

I've been wanting to get my hands on this color for quite some time now. I saw it in the local CVS Pharmacy and I had to have it! Got home and did some quick swatches. This is three coats with no topcoat.

Laser is a bright blue glass fleck with a purple duochrome which I sadly couldn't capture in my pictures. It is quite sheer but application was great.

With flash

Without Flash, here you can see the purple duochrome if you look at the bottle closely.

Blurry to see the sparkles