Zoya - Opal Swatch!

Hello Lovelies! So today I'm sharing another Zoya beauty with you, this is Opal.

Opal is from the fleck effect top-coat collection, it's a clear jelly base with a green tint, and all different sized blue-green duo-chrome flecks throughout it!
My one and only complaint about this polish is that it's terrible to photograph, pictures don't do it justice! In person it's soo beautiful, the effect is definitely unique.

The first shot is Opal swatched all by itself, this swatch is three coats.

The second is two coats of Opal over Zoya - Happi.

The third is Zoya - Mitzi with one coat of Opal on the accent ring.

I can't wait to play with this and experiment with it over other polishes!! :)

Zoya - Happi Swatch!

Hello lovelies!
So when I did the Zoya "Try 3 Free" promo, this was the second one I got! :)

Happi is an absolutely gorgeous, almost duo-chrome, sheer polish. It's so pretty, and has a really good formula. It's opaque in 2 coats, (though I did 3, because I'm OCD about coverage LOL) normal drying time, no streaking at all, and has a really nice, shiny finish. :)

The color is a beautiful coral/pink, and what I didn't realize just from the bottle is that in certain lighting, it has a bit of green in the shimmer! Pink + Green is one of my favorite color combos so I looved discovering that!

Below the swatch of this beauty, I added Zoya - Opal on top of it. I reeeeaaaaallllly love this polish combo! Not only does it make them sparkly, but the blue-green color of opal really brings out the green shimmer of Happi! :)

Love this polish by itself, and paired with opal! Perfect for warm weather! (Which needs to hurry up and get here already! :p)

Zoya - Mitzi Swatch!

Swatch Time!
So this Zoya - Mitzi!
Mitzi is a matte lime green polish from the Matte Velvet Collection, and it's sooo pretty!

This is actually my first actual matte polish, I've had matte top-coat before and I've had polishes that dry with a matte-like finish, but never a real true matte! So I'm excited about it! :)

The color is soo pretty, the formula is fantastic, it dries almost INSTANTLY (seriously, it's literally dry the touch in under a minute) it does take a few coats, but all the other aspects of it make up for that. There is a little bit of streaking, but that's to be expected with a matte formula, and the final coat pretty much covers it all up anyways. :)

And for an accent nail on my ring finger, I added Zoya - Opal. This took away the matte texture on that nail sadly, but they look cool together! I tried to get the Opal fleck effect on camera, but it's really hard! That's why the lighting is so weird and the color is so off. The first swatch is much more true to color. I did my best! :P LOL

LOVE this polish!! :)

Nail Mail! - Zoya Try 3 Free Promo!

So technically, this Nail Mail came yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to write up a post. So I'm a little late, sorry! :p

But I got my first Zoya polishes yesterday! I've seen Zoyas all over and heard how awesome they are, but up until now I never actually ordered from them.
But last week when they had their annual beginning of the year promotion, I finally ordered!
For those of you who missed it, the promotion was their Try 3 Free Promo, where you could pick any 3 polishes (excluding the 2013 collections) and apply the code "ZOYA2013" and it took off the price of the whole order! All you have to pay is the $10 shipping. So at $8 a piece, you're saving $24 dollars! If you do the math, since each polish is $8, it's pretty much like buy one get two free, $2 shipping! Awesome deal! :)

Oh and by the way, can I just say how cute it is that they come in an adorable tiny little box that fits all three?! Too cute! <3

So for my 3 polishes, I got Mitzi, Happi, and Opal!

Mitzi is from the Matte Velvet collection, it's an awesome Lime Green matte polish.
I really wanted to get one of the mattes, and I decided on this one. Well, technically Zoya decided for me because I was going back and forth between Mitzi and Phoebe (the blue matte from the collection) but Phoebe was sold out. So it was an easy choice. ;) LOL

Happi is a beautiful pink/coral duochrome sheer polish!
I was actually browsing around online looking at swatches of different Zoya polishes trying to decide on my 3rd polish, and I came across this color and fell in love with it! It's so pretty and pink and coral, and oh my gosh that shimmer!! This is so perfect for spring and summer, it makes me want warm weather even more than I already do.

And finally, Opal is green/blue fleck effect top-coat.
I actually first fell in love with the fleck effect collection when I saw swatches of them all over Pinterest, and I've wanted them ever since!
I was going back and forth between Opal and Maisie (the blue fleck effect) but I decided on Opal. Opal was the one I originally wanted, but I felt like since I was already getting another green, maybe I should've gotten the blue one (Maisie) but I decided to go with my gut and get Opal. I looked at swatches of both, and it seems like with Maisie it's harder to see the effect unless its over another blue, but with Opal you can see it easily. And in the end I'm glad I decided on Opal, because when it came I realized it has a blue/green duochrome to it anyway! So happy customer here! :)

So that's what I got! Swatches to come on all three of these! ;)

Did you guys do the Zoya promo? Let me know which ones you got in the comments! :)

Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Swatches: Day 5, The Final Day!

Hello my lovelies! Well, today is the last day of the Sephora by OPI Swatch-a-palooza!

Today I show you the final polish in the collection, and that is the full size bottle of
"The Only Gold Top-Coat For Me!"

The name: Perfect. And True. This might just be my favorite gold top coat I've ever tried! It's so pretty, it's a clear base with a mix of all different sized circle glitter, all ranging in different shades of gold. It's so sparkly and so beautiful!
The formula is very good, no fishing or placement whatsoever, GREAT coverage, and a pretty good drying time for such a packed glitter!
I definitely can't wait to experiment with this some more over different polishes! So far I've only tried it over gold for the bubbles in my NYE Challenge Champagne mani.

So that's that for this collection!
This was so fun to swatch, I love giant collections like this! :)

I have some more swatches and such coming up soon (*cough*ZOYA*coughcough*) so make sure to check back soon for those! :)

Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Swatches, Day 4!

Hello my lovelies!
It's time for Day 4 of the Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Collection swatches! :)

Today I show you the final four of the mini polishes, and tomorrow will be the last day where I'll be showing you the full-size gold top-coat! Now, on to the final four minis! :)

First up is "Meet Me At The Disco."
Some people say that all holographic glitters are the same, and sometimes that's true. But I don't caaaaare I still want them aaaaaaalllll! :D
This one, however, is waywaywaaay holographic! I've owned ALOT of holo glitters in my time, but this might just be the most holo one I've ever tried. It has a really good formula, normal drying time that you would expect from a glitter, and you don't have to fish for the glitter at all. My swatch here is 2 coats with no base.
My only complaint with this polish is that if you don't mix it well enough before you use it, the base gets a little foggy and covers the glitter. Im not really sure what causes this, maybe something in the formula (or maybe its just my bottle, who knows :p) But as long as you mix it well enough it isn't a problem.
My camera actually did a pretty good job at capturing the holographic beautiful-ness, but believe it or not it's actually even more holo in person! I definitely can't wait to play around with this as a top coat over different polishes! :)

Next up is "Leotard Optional."
Hehe that name is perfect for a nude!
This is a lovely nude creme, very good formula, opaque within 2 coats, little to no streaking, and a great drying time.
As you can see from my swatch it's a little dark for my skin-tone, but that's just because of the fact that I'm so unbelievably pale and fair-skinned that I have a horrible time finding nudes that are actually nude on me! Maybe in the summertime when I get a tan this will work as a nude for me? Tune back in then and we'll give it a shot ;) LOL.

Next up is "Merry Me."
I love this polish, and I loove the name! It reminds me of that song by Train, ("Marry me, today and everyday. Marry me. If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe, just say you will.") I love that song so much I can't even.
As for the polish, I love it! It's kind of a dupe for Essie's new "Leading Lady," but not totally. It's the same idea, but the red base is darker, and the glitter is silver, which (please correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't actually used it) I believe Essie's has red glitter? Either way they're both pretty, and very close in concept, but not complete dupes.
The formula of this is really good, it's a red jelly base with silver glitter, you really don't have to fish for the glitter at all, I did find that I needed to "place" the glitter were I wanted it a little bit on the final coat, but that's really only because I'm a tad bit OCD when it comes to glitters and have to have complete coverage when I use glitters like this LOL.
The drying time was good, and I was really surprised by how quickly it became opaque. When I did the first coat it seemed like it was going to be really sheer and I thought to myself, "oh boy, it's another million-coater." But then I put the second coat on and it darkened up right away! A very pleasant surprise. :)
I definitely love this one too!

And finally (!), the last of the minis! This is "Break A Leg-Warmer!"
Again, the name! OPI, you never cease to entertain me with these names.
This is SUCH a cool color! It's allllllmost blue, and allllllllmost dark gray, but really it's neither! It's like, perfectly on the line between blue and gray.
Just like "Thyme For A Mani," this is the definition of the perfect creme. The formula is amaaaazing, great drying time, opaque within 2 coats, no streaking, and just simply perfect. Like I said before, I'm not usually into the gray hues, but I'm really really in love with this one! :)

So that's it for the minis! Phew, I told you there was ALOT of swatches! There's one more to come though! This collection consists of the 16 minis, and the one big full-sized polish which is a beautiful gold top-coat just perfect for Christmas! :)

So tune back in tomorrow for that, and the end of this crazy swatch-a-Palooza! :D

French Mani Fun!

Hello lovelies! So, I decided to do a French mani last night, and I decided to go with something a little different than just the classic one color mani.

I did black (which my favorite to do for French Manis) and then, to spice it up and make it more fun, I added a hot pink accent nail! I really like the way it looks. :)

The colors I used for this mani are:
Black: Ulta - Little Black Dress
Hot Pink: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Twisted Pink
Clear Top Coat: Sally Hansen - Hard As Nails Strengthening Top Coat

What do think? Let me know in the comments! :)

Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Swatches, Day 3!

Time for day 3 of the Sephora by OPI Tinseltown swatches!

Here are the next four polishes from the collection! :)

First up is "Justa' Pinch Of Glitter"
I love this one so much! Basically any glitter is instant love for me, but this one's actually pretty unique! I think it's safe to say I've never had a glitter like this one before. It's made up of a clear base with black and silver micro glitters, with larger silver glitters. The mix of black and silver gives it this really pretty gunmetal quality, and I love it! If I'd named it I probably would've named it "Gunmetal Glitter!" :p
It has a wonderful formula, good drying time, not gloopy at all like some glitters tend to be, little to no "glitter placement" is needed (you don't have to fish around in the bottle to get the larger glitters, they come naturally on the brush and brush on your nail easily) and it's very easy to customize how much glitter you want. Like, say you want just a pinch of glitter (heh? See what I did there? ;D) you just apply one thin coat, and looks even and not sparse at all like some glitters do. Then you just build up coats depending on how much coverage you want. My swatch here is 3 coats with no base color.
I could probably go on forever about this glitter, I love it! :)

Next up is "Just A Little Dangerous."
This is a beautiful deep, dark purple. In certain lighting it can look like a deep violet, while in other lighting it looks like a deep royal jewel-toned purple. I definitely love this one, it's so vampy, and I think it's a perfect fall color. Although you know me, I don't usually follow seasons much. I'll wear dark vampy colors in the middle of summer and bright yellow on Christmas, I don't care! :p
But, nevertheless, I still think it's a very good polish for fall. The formula's great, it's opaque within 2 coats, dries quickly, and leaves no staining like some dark pigmented polishes tend to. Definitely a good one!

Next up we have "I Don't Bite."
This is a beautiful lilac shimmer. This is another one that's fun to play with in the light, it's a lilac/lavender color, but when you move your hand around in the light you can see just a hint of violet in the shimmer. So pretty! Again, a wonderful formula, goes on well and dries quickly, and opaque within 3 coats. Love it! :)

And lastly, we have "Thyme For A Mani."
First off, can I just say how much I freakin' love that name? So fun and punny.
This is a light gray creme, and usually I don't like grays very much, I like the trend but I usually don't like them on myself with my very light (read: translucent) skin tone. But I have to say that I really actually like this one! It's got a nice color, and the formula really impressed me. This is like, the definition of a creme polish. So perfect. Opaque within 2-3 coats, dries quickly, and has that pretty natural shine (even without top coat!) that the really good cremes get. This polish may have converted me to a gray lover! :)

So that's it for today, come back tomorrow for the final four polishes, and then on Friday for the swatch of the full-size gold top coat! :)

Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Swatches - Day 2!

Hello, lovelies! :)

It's time for Day 2 of my Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Collection swatches!

Now on to the polish! :D
Here are the next four polishes in this beautiful collection!

First up, we have "And A Cherry On Top."
What can I say about this, gorgeous red jelly, perfect classic red, opaque within 3 coats, and a very nice drying time. Another thing I liked is that there was no staining left on my nails like you often see with highly pigmented reds like these. I didn't even use a base coat (I know, tsktsk!) and there was no staining at all! And that name? LOVE IT!

Next up, "S-Age Is Just A Number." I. LOVE. THIS. SO. MUCH. It's an absolutely gorgeous duo-chrome, and at first glance it seemed to be yet another run-of-the-mill dupe for Chanel's Peridot, but NO. Once you put it on your nails, it is sooo much more than that! It does have a bit of a likeness to Peridot, in the way of the brown/green undertones, but in the right light, you can see brown, gold, green, purple, blue, even a little bit of yellow! I captured it a little bit on my swatch, but my camera was being fussy (big surprise there) so it doesn't do it full justice. I did catch it pretty well in my bottle shot though, especially around the edges you can see the effects that show up on your nails. It almost reminds me of oil. Like, have you ever seen a splotch of car oil on the pavement during the summer when it's really hot and sunny, and it gets these cool duo-chrome ripple effects when the light hits it? That's what this reminds me of LOL. :) LOVE. IT.

Next up, "I Think I Cayenne." This is SO fun. It's a really pretty dark orange shimmer, but what makes this one different from other orange shimmers is that when you look up close, the pieces of glitter aren't just regular old shimmer, they're red! You have to look super closely to see it, (you can really tell during clean-up/removal!) but it's really an orange base with red shimmer. So unique and so pretty, and has a really good formula and drying time. Definitely awesome!

And lastly, we have "Read My Palm."
This is SUCH a pretty color. Anyone who knows me knows I love turquoise-y type colors, so this was automatic love for me. But once it's on your nails, it's even more fun! It's a creme, with a GREAT formula and amazing drying time, and opaque within 2 coats. But the best part is that even though its a creme, it looks different in certain lights. In some lights it can look like a minty green, and in others it can look like a dark turquoise. Definitely love this one too!

So that's it for day 2, make sure to come back tomorrow for the next 4 polishes! :)

Swatch Time! - Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Collection

So today is the first of a 5-day swatch series I'm going to be doing this week to swatch the Sephora by OPI Tinseltown Collection. Why so long, you ask? Well because there are soo many polishes in this collection! 17 altogether to be exact! I'll be doing 4 each day, with the big reveal of the full-sized polish swatch on the last day.

I'll also be starting off the posts with a collage of the whole collection, and I got that wonderful idea from awesome Jillian over at http://www.jilltasticnaildesign.com

My sister got me the entire collection of minis for Christmas, and I love it sooo much! So thank you Jess! :)

Now, without further ado, here are the first four of the collection!

The first is a gooorgeous coral color that i am absolutely in love with called "I'm Wired." The name fits me so well too.(hello, insomniac/coffee addict here. I'm always wired in one way or another :p)
It's soo pretty! It's more of a creme than anything else, but I think it just crosses the line over to a crelly(creme/jelly) with its formula. It takes quite a few coats to get completely opaque, but it dries very quickly and is well worth it for the beautiful color you end up with.

Next up is "Already Famous." A gorgeous gold shimmer/foil. It's packed with shimmer, so not only are you sparkling in gold, but shimmering too! I'd describe the color as a Champagne, I actually used this in my New Years Eve Challenge Champagne Mani!

Next is "A True Romantic." And can I just say, I've been searching for a color like this for soooo long! It's the perfect nude/lightest light pink I've ever come across. Like "I'm Wired," it does take quite a few coats for true opaqueness, and has a little bit of a jelly consistency to the formula, but I would still describe it overall as a sheer. It doesn't dry quite a fast as the others in this collection, but no longer than some of the other OPI polishes of the same type of formula. And again, it's well worth the wait time, the results are fantastic! Once my mini runs dry, I will definitely being looking for this one in a full-size if they make it! :)

And finally, "What Aura Gonna Wear?" Is a beautiful, true hot pink. I like the name because it reminds me of Aurora, A.K.A. sleeping Beauty, and this pink is pretty much the perfect representation of her pink dress from the Disney movie! :D I'm a geek, sorry, but I couldn't help but notice. :p
Anyways, geekiness aside, this polish is beautiful, has a great formula, opaque within 3 coats, and a great drying time.
And what girl/polish addict can resist that perfect, princess Barbie pink?! ;)

So that's the first four from the collection! Check back tomorrow for the next four! :)