Catrice Virgin Forest

Today I have my one and only Catrice polish to share with you! Catrice is a European brand with stores in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, and Slovenia.

I won Virgin Forest in a giveaway from Chester of Chester's Drawers. Chester was one of the very first bloggers I followed, and I absolutely adore her blog. I was so happy when she emailed me about winning her giveaway, because not only did I win the prize that I wanted the most, this was my first Catrice polish!

Virgin Forest is a rich forest green with fine silvery shimmer (the brushstrokes seem very obvious here, but they weren't noticeable at all in person). I don't have very many greens in my collection, so this polish is like nothing else I own. The green color is a nicely balanced green and I love it.

The formula was very good, and it was almost opaque in one coat, I ended up using two for the photos below. Removal wasn't a problem and I didn't notice any significant staining with this color.

Have you tried Catrice polishes? I was very impressed with my first!

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

I have a bit of a polish theory for you today... My theory is that the popularity of textured nail polishes began with a single polish: Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream. When it was released, Mermaid's Dream was original in the polish realm, with an unexpected combination of shimmer and glitter. Mermaid's dream is frosty and bumpy, and it dries to a textured appearance that every polish addict might have hated... instead everyone loved it. Mermaid's Dream was one of the most popular polishes from last summer, enough that Deborah Lippmann has released a mermaid collection with pink, purple, and blue versions of Mermaid's Dream (I have the pink and purple, and the original is still my favorite).

Mermaid's Dream is a frosty turquoise base with blue glitter, and tiny sparkly glitter. It's a complex polish, and it reminds me of pearls and the ocean, mermaid's dream indeed! The formula is good, it's easy to apply, but just a touch sheer. I usually find the need to use three coats, although it's nearly opaque in two (three pictured below). I usually wear it with a coat or two of top coat since I'm not a huge fan of bumpy polish, but top coat doesn't change the look of the polish very much at all (pictured with 1 layer of top coat).

Don't you just love it? I certainly do, and it looks particularly amazing with a little bit of a summer tan.

I'm planning on wearing Mermaid's Dream to go with a dress I bought for a friend's wedding this summer. (From Maurices, pictures on the left) Isn't it a perfect combination?

Photo link

Urban Decay Naked Collection Swatches

Today I have my first Urban Decay polishes to show you! I've long been tempted to purchase the well known Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palate, but at $50 it's not really worth it for someone who doesn't wear makeup on a daily basis (or weekly/monthly basis... wow I'm boring). When I saw the Urban Decay Naked nail polish set I absolutely had to have it. I purchased it from Sephora for $26.

---

Naked is basically a rosy beige nude creme. It's smooth, it's shiny, it's gorgeous. By looking at it in the bottle I never expected it to match my skintone so well, it's probably my perfect nude. Flawless formula, this is two coats no top coat. I will definitely be wearing this one again!

---

Sidecar is a rosy pink nude glitter. It's a very fine milled glitter in a nude jelly base. Super sparkly but in a subtle way. This one was more sheer, this is three coats and you can still see my nail line. With the glitter it dries a bit rough but one thick layer of top coat smooths it out completely. This would look great layered over any nude. First picture is without top coat, the rest are with a thick layer of top coat.

---

Toasted is nude frosty shimmer. The base color is a bit of a darker nude loaded with silver shimmer giving it a bit of a lighter color overall. The formula was good but thin, I needed three coats to cover my visible nail line and had to be careful to avoid showing brushstrokes.

---

Smog is a very interesting color. In dim lighting it's just a coppery brown, but then the light hits and it's a deep purple base with glowing fine golden shimmer. Absolutely stunning. I love this color so much, it's absolutely fascinating. The formula was great, this is two coats plus top coat.

---

Hustle is a dark silvery-purple shimmer. In my opinion this shade is the least unique but still pretty. Hustle is the most opaque of this set, almost opaque in one coat, but I used two for the photos below (and top coat).

---

Creep has the same fine-milled silver glitter, but this time in a black jelly base. I love how it looks in the bottle, and it translates well onto the nail. The formula was very smooth and this is two coats with a thick top coat (as it dries a little rough similar to Sidecar).

---

My favorite in this collection is definitely Smog with Naked coming in a close second. Creep and sidecar are glorious with such fantastic glitter formulas. Hustle and Toasted are pretty colors, but I'm a bit disappointed that the shimmer is quite frosty, and I'm not a huge fan of frost finishes.

Overall I'm very happy with this collection. It's a great set for anyone who has a conservative workplace where wearing bright polish colors isn't allowed. This set provides some some interesting nudes and some fun darker shades for after work or weekends.

Zoya Marina Swatch and Review

Hey everyone! I can't believe I missed the last day of the challenge, but I had a 38 hour project at work and didn't have much time for blogging.

Today I have a good ol' swatch to show you. I'm actually really enjoying just getting to wear nail polish for fun without having to do anything fancy to it for the challenge. I defininitely am appreciating the basics more now!

Without further ado, here is Zoya Marina. Zoya Marina is one of my fabulous blog sale purchases. It's a dark, blue-toned dark grey with frosty shimmer. The formula was nice, it seemed thin at first but was opaque in two coats that dried quickly, but I did have a few brushstrokes. I've been looking at this color for a few months so I was excited to find it on a blog sale. It's a nice dark color for fall, and the shade is neutral enough to look nice on any skintone.

Zoya Marina

Zoya Marina

I don't reach for grey very often, but every time I do I'm reminded just how much I love this color! It's almost neutral, yet unique. What's your favorite grey for fall?

A Month Late: June Julep Maven Box

June's It Girl Maven box came with three gorgeous colors this month. The theme is 'Be Bold' so all three of these are right up my alley and I'm quite happy with them.

The box also came with a lip balm and pixie sticks (which I surprised myself by eating). Because this was only my second Maven box they also included a gift voucher for a free polish that I gave to my mother because she loves Julep polish.

Since I love all three colors, this box seemed to be doomed... First of all I had a problem with Sandra. For some reason my bottle of Sandra bubbled horribly. I read other blog reviews of Sandra and no one mentioned the problem so I tried using every combination of base coat and top coat, then I tried it without any base coat and still... more bubbles than I could stand! I used thin coats or thick coats, I waited two hours for the thinnest coat possible to dry and it still bubbled! In the end I emailed the Julep Maven program about Sandra. They hadn't had any other problems with Sandra bubbling, and sent me a new bottle that arrived within three days. I haven't had a single problem with the new bottle!

Then before I could even get the polish into my storage container, I dropped Sasha and the neck of the bottle cracked off. I caught it as soon as it broke but still lost quite a bit of polish.. Luckily for me it broke on a  dvd case sitting on the floor rather than the carpet! Sasha now resides in one of my mini 5 oz bottles I have for frankening. 

Then there was Morgan, a gorgeous vivid purple frost/shimmer. It has brush strokes like a frost, but if you are careful it's hardly noticeable and looks more like a pretty shimmer.  The depth of this purple was amazing, and I didn't have any issues with bubbling. This is two coats and SV topcoat.

Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order Swatches and Review!

Sephora Mermaid to Order is not a polish I've ever seen before. I've seen similar colors, but I haven't seen Mermaid to Order swatched. I picked this polish up in a blog sale for $2, and I can't believe how great of a deal this was. :) It's from an old collection, so I'm not sure how easy it is to find (although I just looked and it's available on amazon.com, and there's even one for sale on ebay). 

Mermaid to order is an aqua blue metallic frost with a faint blue/green duochrome. When it came in the mail I immediately painted my toenails (because they were due for a new pedi!) and fell in love with the color. For the last two days I've been looking at my toes wanting to try this as a mani. It's just so bright, vivid and shiny, definitely Mermaid-scale-like. 

The formula wasn't perfect, although two coats made it opaque, I had to be very careful to avoid obvious brushstrokes (a common problem with frosts) and even with all of the care in the world it bubbled. I used good ridge filling base coat under this one since frosts are soo good at showing any little flaw in your nails. The overall finish ended up being nice and smooth although you can see the dent in my index finger where I got a little overzealous with my chef's knife a few days ago. :)

Click read more to see more photos (it was quite the photoshoot)

China Glaze Agro

Happy Friday!

I'm not sure if I'm compulsively buying all of the polishes from China Glaze Capitol Colors because they are such awesome colors or if I just love the book inspiration. Either way, I'm very happy with my purchases.

This is China Glaze Agro, it's a dark olive green frost with a bit of a gold tone. It's really the perfect olive green if you are a fan of the shade. I'm not entirely certain if I'm an olive green girl, but I love the polish. It was opaque in one coat, but I used two coats for good measure. The formula was perfectly manageable and I didn't have any issue with brushstrokes. It dries a bit darker than the bottle, but has that "lit from within" look.

So happy. :D