Nfu Oh 58

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have another Fall nail polish to show you today, Nfu Oh 58.  By Fall, I mean a color typical of the season, not a new release.

Nfu Oh 58 is and orange to green duochrome jelly base with a whole bunch of flaky glitter in it.  I decided to try it alone to see how well the color built up, and it did well with three coats.  Unfortunately, my short memory allowed me to use China Glaze Fast Forward over it, and jellies seem to show the polish shrinking clearly, so my tips aren't quite as fabulous as they could have been if I'd used a top coat that didn't shrink.

This is Nfu Oh 58 in sunlight after it had dried.

Nfu Oh 58 Nail Polish, Three Coats

I like this one a lot because I think it looks like I have five little tiny piles of raked up fallen leaves on each hand.  For some reason, I always like a manicure better when I think it looks like something else.

That's Nfu Oh 58 and what I know for today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumpkin Spice

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I'm wearing Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumpkin Spice, which is a very cool but kind of oddball glitter from the display that held Midnight Sky and friends.  It's a black jelly base with fine orange glitter, which sounds like the old Halloween standard, but Pumpkin Spice is a little bit different.

The black base is very lightly pigmented even for a jelly, and I ended up needing four coats to make it opaque and even.  It's not stark black at four coats, that's just enough for me to make it even without bare looking spots.  It seems like that could be by design - the result was that the glitter really got loaded up nicely, more than the Halloween polishes, and the impression I get from it is very late Fall, not Halloween.  I noticed applying it and again now that the glitter in Pumpkin Spice is very smooth, which is one of those factors that strongly affects the likelihood of me choosing a glitter polish over another when I go to change color.  I applied it last night very shortly before bed, so I used China Glaze Fast Forward to dry it.  Four coats of color right before bed is a bit ambitious and I was prepared to have it messed up this morning, but it dried quite nicely with only one flaw.  Unfortunately, that one flaw was the one that puts me off to various quick dry top coats - Fast Forward shrank the polish at my tips a bit.  I'd noticed some shrinkage with Fast Forward before, but I think it might be evaporating a little with use because it's more pronounced today.  Thinner might fix that right up, but that presents the question of where the heck I have thinner.

This is the finished Pumpkin Spice manicure in sunlight after it dried completely.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumpkin Spice Nail Polish, Four Coats

I think it's a nice polish, but particularly nice for a Fall novelty polish.  In the picture, the spots where the sunlight really hits the polish show just how smooth the glitter in Pumpkin Spice is with only one coat of top coat.  There's no unevenness to the surface, and I hope Sally Hansen keeps using glitter from whoever made this stuff so nice and flat.

That's Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumpkin Spice and just about all I have for you this morning, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

L'Oreal Coral Starfish

Good morning, Dear Reader!  Today isn't the best day ever, as it's the third anniversary of my mom's death, so this one's going to be kind of short.  It's not the worst day either, but I figure keeping it brief is the best bet to avoid tears this morning.

I picked L'Oreal Starfish Coral to wear today, the orange of the L'Oreal Summer Siren Limited Edition shades.  I tried to do thicker coats this time, but by the third nail quit paying much attention and did my normal thin coats on autopilot for the rest.  That meant that again, I had to use a third coat, but since Coral Starfish applied very well and dries fast, that's not such a big deal.  I finished it off with Diamont, let it dry, and took a picture of it outside even though it's a bit cloudy.

L'Oreal Coral Starfish Nail Polish, Three Coats

This one's also really pretty.  From a normal distance the overall appearance, like that of Pink Shells, is a bit foily, but the gold sparkle breaks it up and keeps it from being too garish.  This is a really good orange.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

L'Oreal Summer 2011 Limited Edition Nail Polish

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm a bit late with them, but today I have L'Oreal's Limited Edition Summer Siren Collection, their four polish shades for Summer 2011.  I'd seen these a few times before and kept walking, but today I took a look and liked what I saw - they're really spectacularly sparkly and shimmery.

I used Pink Shells, which you could probably guess is the pink one, today.  Two coats could have worked, but mine were very thin and with the clear fake tip I have, I needed a third.  It applied really easily and dried very fast.  Here's L'Oreal Pink Shells.

L'Oreal Pink Shells Nail Polish, Three Coats

I took bottle pictures of the other three for you.  The only picture I'm not thrilled with is of the blue, Blue Marine, which seems to have some purple duochrome going on in indoor lighting, but that got washed away in the sun.  Here's Blue Marine.

L'Oreal Blue Marine Nail Polish Bottle

Yellow Seahorse has the potential to be what I wanted Chanel Mimosa to be, and I'm really hoping its shimmer shows up well.

L'Oreal Yellow Seahorse Nail Polish Bottle

The last one is called Coral Starfish, and it's a blazing orange with gold shimmer.  It's really pretty.

L'Oreal Coral Starfish Nail Polish Bottle

It's my hope that the remaining three shades sparkle the same way that Pink Shells does - it's hard to take my eyes off of it.

That's L'Oreal Summer Siren and the update for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nicole's Heart Franken

As promised I made a fun Neon orange jelly with flakies frankenAnd named it after my dear friend Nicole (from nightly Nails blog) because it reminds me of her...warm, beautiful, happy and far more interesting and complex than some plain old orange!(I love you Nicole & you better email me your addy so I can send you one of these)This girl is so hot I wore it for 4 daysYes I took 6 billion pictures

Zoya Sunshine & Summertime - Tanzy

I had a wild need for orange nails so what other choice did I have...Tanzy is an orange gold metallic duotone3 coats to my opaque happy placeI added a little pink and gold leopard spot decal by request of my youngestI love the application on these, it's closer to a glass fleck in application so very easy to work withYes I filed my nails a little....it's summer and I'm busy so this is an easy

Sephora by OPI Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I gave Sephora by OPI's Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah from their recent Safari Luxe Collection a try, and that's what I have to show you today.  It's the one described as "opaque orange with medium gold glitter," but I think it's really that new-ish pigment that came out last year and was in several manufacturer's releases.  There's not regular glitter in it at all.  It's bright orange with light yellow gold mixed in, and it was good in three coats.  Here is is dry.

Sephora by OPI Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah Nail Polish, Three Coats

It's not awful, but it's very foil-y and looks pretty garish on my hands.  I'm not a big fan, which is a little on the annoying side since I bought three from this collection during the brief window of employment, so they're the last nail anything purchase for a while for me.  I'd much rather have a success as the last one for a while!

You know there's really no way I can get through this whole post with no discussion of the names here.  It's seems as thought the names were chosen and approved based upon the sound of the words together, and they work as long as I don't take a step back and consider what the words actually mean.  I'll start at the top with the collection name: Safari Luxe.  I've known a few heavy-duty travelers in my day, and my understanding is that "luxe" in the context of a safari is one where malaria is avoided and the intestinal troubles aren't too debilitating.  As for the polish, I can dismiss the fact that cheetahs aren't typically bright orange and say the name is cute, one of OPI's better plays on words, but it's only cute for a second until I realize that it's a play on words about infidelity, which just isn't a fun topic to me, more sad, really.  For both it makes me wonder why a manufacturer would want me to think about the topic presented in the name at all.  I perceive Sephora by OPI color names to be the ones where the most thought went into the puns and the least has gone into the meaning (Iris I Was Thinner, anyone?), which makes for some amusing misses.  They're doing something right though - they got me to mention the names!

That's the not-so-successful polish for today, Dear Reader, and until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Color Club Wicked Sweet scented Collection- I always Get My Man-Darine

I love fruity scented things but Orange is my enemy color....unless it is a Color Club neon!Warm colors look horrid on me...but Color Club is the one company that takespity on people like me! They are genius at adding a contrasting shimmer that makes it lesspainful to wear these warm sunny shades!Man-darin is hard to capture in pictures (neon is evil on camera) but it is asweet juicy tangerine/

Color Club Always Get My Man-darin

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I completely changed my nail polish last night - the last one just had too much tip wear after two days of lots of typing.  I so enjoyed wearing one from the Wicked Sweet Collection that I used another, although color selection is getting tough - my options that I haven't shown you were the green (lime), yellow (lemon), or orange.  Obviously, I went with the orange since I'll be at work, and that's called Always Get My Man-darin.  That's a super Suzi name for a Color Club, but Suzi on a good day (not the day Iris I Was Thinner was named...).

Truthfully, the plan for today's manicure had been to do medium green with a yellow, green, and red striped accent nail with that Bundle Monster pot leaf pattern right in the middle of it just I so could make a post entitled "It's 420!", but that had to go by the wayside when I returned to an office.  I acknowledge that would have been completely inappropriate for anyone, particularly a woman my age, but it would have been funny enough to me to do it (clearly, I'd thoroughly planned it out!).

Since that was off the table, I was content with my Always Get My Man-darin choice.  It's a vivid yellowish orange shimmer, a very unique color.  I used two coats of a tinted base (two coats in my desperate attempt to keep my unstained nails that way), but the Color Club still took about seventy billion coats.  Not really seventy billion, but it was either six or seven, I lost count, so we'll say six.  I think that's why there aren't more neon shimmers, but I happily used this many coats of a few of the Color Club Poptastic [I meant Electro Candy - I'm sorry] shades, so although I wasn't thrilled, I wasn't horrified.

I waited a few minutes between each of the coats of polish and finished it with Diamont (I'm still working on a 16 oz bottle I got before the formula was changed and changed back to the original a la New Coke).  I'm not sure of dry time, as I'm writing this last night about an hour after applying all that polish.  It's dry enough to do things, but I have no intention of scurrying off to wash my hair when I finish writing this.  I'm just hoping for no sheet marks!  Like the others in this release, the polish was very easy to control, so it doesn't look odd (to me) despite all the coats.

Color Club Always Get My Man-darin Nail Polish, Six Coats

I really like the color and I'm smitten with the shimmer in this, which is like the shimmer in the Poptastic colors [edit: throughout this post, I said Poptastic when I meant Electro Candy.  I'm really sorry if I confused you!  Fact is, I was and am confused because I'm exhausted, but an email exchange with a reader made me double check when I got home... Please forgive weary ol' me!].  Since it came out, Poptastic [again, I meant Electro Candy here] has been my favorite neon collection overall, but the addition of nice smells to the Wicked Sweet polishes may just put them in the lead.  They're incredibly fun!

As for the fragrance of this one, it's as subtle as the others, where I have to sniff it to really catch it.  It smells like the kitchen after making fresh orange juice out of really good oranges - kind of sweet, but there's also a nice orange peel smell to it that keeps it from being too sweet.  I was a little apprehensive about this one because I was afraid it would have that overly sweet artificial orange smell (which makes my stomach turn even if it's not too heavy), but this is very pleasant.

We'll see how this holds up.  I'd like to add some Konad to it just because I'm a Konadin' fool, but I think the color stands on its own just fine.  I'm also not willing to either stay up until 3:00 am waiting for this to dry enough to stamp or get up at 5:00 am to do it then in order to have pictures for this post.  I ♥ sleep far more than nails!

So that's just about all I know.  I notice in proof reading that today's post is just loaded with informational links.  I have no idea what's up with that, but what the heck, I'm leaving them... Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Konad m83: Konad Returns

Good morning, Dear Reader!

As I hunted down some supplies to add a bit of Konad to OPI Big Hair... Big Nails, I realized that this has probably been the longest stretch that I've gone without stamping since I first tried it out, and for no good reason!  I'm glad a stop has been put to that bleak period.

I settled on Konad plate m83, using a full nail pattern with Konad White Pearl Special Polish.  I thought I'd done a really good job and I like how it looks, but as I went through pictures I discovered that I made tiny smudges over all the stamping in applying the top coat.  The good news is that it doesn't look smudged at all in real life, the bad news is that you're sitting at home looking at a picture I took, not standing here looking at the manicure in person, so I have no way to show you how it really looks.  The best I can do is say that it looks like the picture only without smudges.

Konad m83 in White Pearl over OPI Big Hair... Big Nails

I like it quite a bit, but anything I use this particular pattern for will simply be a substitute for the manicure I want to use it for until I finally get the one I picture out of my head.  My mom had some flamboyant taste in home decor in the '70's and '80's, and if I were to double-stamp this pattern on very long nails in gold over a burgundy base, it would really look a lot like the early '80's dining room wall paper I associate with that.  For some reason, that makes me really want to do it, even though double-stamping this pattern seems like it would be a bear.  For now, white on orange on short nails is the best I can do, so I'm enjoying it just the same.

My coffee is now ready and waiting for me, and the details of this manicure are just about all I know with certainty at this hour without any coffee running through my veins, so I should wrap it up here and get started on caffeinating myself.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Big Hair... Big Nails

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I thought I'd take advantage of shorter nails and use OPI Big Hair... Big Nails.  It's one of the jelly polishes (or "sorbet" if OPI is paying you) from the Texas Collection, kind of a reddish orange.  The name of this one tickles me because I have big red hair and usually have some pretty big nails, so it seemed entertainingly fitting.  I don't have any sense of whether the stereotypical Texan big blonde hairsprayed crowd finds humor in their huge hair and nails, but somehow the name is even funnier to me if they don't.

I didn't get any of the OPI Texas jellies until I'd been assured that they don't require a zillion coats and the VNL isn't too bad, and I found those things to be true as well.  I used three coats of Big Hair... Big Nails, and that's given me even and almost opaque coverage.  With a short free edge, the remaining hint of VNL doesn't creep me out, so I like how it looks.  When I sat down to change my polish, I'd planned on using white Konad of some sort on this, but was surprised that I like it well enough on its own that I'd prefer to wear it plain for a while before adding to it.

OPI Big Hair... Big Nails Nail Polish, Two Coats in Artificial Light

Using nail polish again this week after having gotten accustomed to the soak off gel, I really have no idea which I'll end up sticking with.  At this point, having done some damage to my nails that I have to grow out that's unrelated to either polish or gel, they're so little that they hardly need the protection of gel, and I'm not too enthusiastic at the prospect of the additional application time of gel.  I wouldn't use it right now anyhow because as you can see, my application skills are much weaker with shorter nails and I think gel would take me an eternity to get right, so for now, I think I'm going with polish.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

China Glaze Island Escape Swatches & Comparison

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still waiting for word on yesterday's interview, which went really well, so I have no news on that front, [I got the call - I JUST GOT THE DREAM JOB!!!] but I got a surprise from China Glaze this morning, so I have things to show you.  I went out to get some coffee early this morning, and as I was pulling out of the driveway I saw a Post-It on my front door, and when I went to look at it I found it was from FedEx and there was a little box at the door even though I wasn't expecting any deliveries.  I'm hoping it was placed there just yesterday... Anyhow, when I got back home I opened it up to find that China Glaze had sent their upcoming Island Escape collection for review, so I have some pictures for you.

First, I swatched the six polishes on a little thingy of fake nails (I believe "thingy" is the industry technical term for it), which I've never done before.  To be honest, I have no idea why I even had the fake nail thingy, it must have come with something else at some point, but it worked out fine.  Second, the sunlight here is almost non-existent and I did the best I could for you on the pictures, but if I notice a few minutes of good light I'll take additional pictures and add them to this post.

China Glaze Island Escape Collection Swatches, Two Coats Each

For reference, everything in the picture other than nail polish is white, that's the light I was working with.  As for the polishes, I thought I'd just go through them one at a time like usual.  If you click the picture it'll open full sized in a new tab, which may be the easiest way to go back and forth to it.

Electric Pineapple is a yellow creme that has a slight greenish tinge to it, and it reminds me of a yellower Misa Green with Envy.  It's quite opaque for a yellow, and the second coat made it even and opaque.

Cha Cha Cha is a yellowish green with a gold shimmer, very much like China Glaze Moonpool, and I compared the two to find that Cha Cha Cha is a little bit brighter.  The only notable application issue was that I found brush strokes were pretty evident in the shimmer even after it dried, so it has to be applied carefully.  Here's Cha Cha Cha with Moonpool.

China Glaze Cha Cha Cha and Moonpool Comparison, Two Coats Each

Blue Iguana is a great glass flecked bright blue, very much like a glass flecked version of Nubar's Mali Blue, which is a shimmer.  Actually, three of these are about the same base color as three of that Nubar collection with a different finish.  Anyhow, the color of Blue Iguana is gorgeous - I spent a couple weeks in the Bahamas a few years ago, and the balcony of the room I stayed in had a clear view of the beach and ocean (which I could stare at for hours), and Blue Iguana is the color that the water was near the shore.  There were no application issues to mention.

Senorita Bonita has the same finish as Blue Iguana, but the shimmer bits are pink in a purple base.  Senorita Bonita's base color is very similar to Nubar's Pasadena Purple, again with a different finish.  Again, nothing was noteworthy about its application.

108 Degrees is a fantastic bright pink, also with the same finish as the previous two, and the base color immediately brought to mind Nubar's Hollywood Pink.  108 Degrees was also easy to apply and even.

Papaya Punch is an orange creme, and it reminds me a lot of OPI's Flit A Bit from last year's Summer Flutter Collection.  Papaya Punch is quite thick, but I did not find that to be problematic, and it was almost good with just one coat (it needed the second to even out the color).

That's just about everything I know about China Glaze's Island Escape Collection, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Color Club Starry Temptress Collection

Hello again. Dear Reader!

I'm back with the swatches of Color Club Starry Temptress that I mentioned earlier.  The collection is six neons with glitter and one glitter top coat.  The glitter top coat, which is named Starry Temptress, is about the consistency of one of the Color Club Japanese glitters.  In fact, it bears such a striking resemblance to Bishop Weed that I took a picture of them together.

Color Club Starry Temptress and Bishop Weed Comparison

The biggest difference is that the base of Starry Temptress is whiter, and if you click on the picture to make it giant in a new tab, you'll see that Bishop Weed seems to have a little bit more of the pink glitter.  It looks like they contain the same glitter.

The six neons were unusual (not in a bad way, just different).  The polish smelled a bit different, and the consistency reminds me more of paint than of nail polish.  However, it does what it's supposed to really well.  All six were sufficiently opaque in only two coats while allowing the glitter to show.  That's a pretty impressive feat, to make a neon opaque enough to be a two-coater and sheer enough to let the glitter show.  Additionally, all six neons are quite smooth with one coat of top coat (although Starry Temptress made them bumpier).  They're quite nice.

For all but the last two pictures, which are of the one I'm wearing, I've got two coats of the neon on all nails and one coat of Starry Temptress added to my ring and pinky nails to show you how each looks layered, and I put a coat of Color Stay top coat over all of it because the nails with only the neon were drying fast, so they'd look matte compared to the others without top coat.  All of the pictures are in natural sunlight.

Glitter Envy is a really neon green creme with fine gold glitter.

Color Club Glitter Envy Nail Polish, Two Coats

You can see that over Glitter Envy, Starry Temptress just imparts a bit of blue sparkle.

You've Got Soul-ar is a blinding neon orange creme with silver glitter.  Fabulous!

Color Club You've Got Soul-ar Nail Polish, Two Coats

Over You've Got Soul-ar, Starry Temptress just seems make it a little more sparkly, it doesn't add a whole lot.

Otherworldy is a neon blue creme with silver glitter.

Color Club Otherworldly Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here, Starry Temptress makes no real difference.  If I held my hand really close to my face in good light, I could see it was more glittery, but that's it.

Wink, Wink, Twinkle is a purple neon creme with silver glitter.

Color Club Wink, Wink, Twinkle Nail Polish, Two Coats

Starry Temptress does make a real difference over Wink, Wink, Twinkle.  Without it, the glitter doesn't have the same appearance of depth to me as it does with it.

Ultra-Astral is a deep neon pink with silver glitter.  I love this one.

Color Club Ultra-Astral Nail Polish, Two Coats

I think Ultra-Astral is also improved by a coat of Starry Temptress.

Finally, Space Case is a neon Barbie pink shimmer with silver glitter.  Here it is all by itself with no top coat at all.

Color Club Space Case Nail Polish, Two Coats

I took that picture just so you could see Space Case without Starry Temptress, which I added to the manicure.  I topped that off with one coat of Color Stay to smooth out the glitter, then a coat of Poshe to dry it all.  I was torn between Space Case and Ultra-Astral, but the notion of having fairy princess nails won out.  The sun went behind the clouds for the day as I went to take this picture, so it's not as brightly lit as the others.

Color Club Starry Temptress over Space Case

I love these.  Color Club always makes me happy with the quality of their neons and the cool twists they put on them, and as far as I'm concerned, these are another success.

That's really, really all for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Color Club Wicked Sweet Scented Collection

Hello again, Dear Reader!

I just got two of Color Club's new collections, and I have bottle pictures of Wicked Sweet, the scented neons, for you.  These, I'll wear rather than swatch, since there are usually questions regarding the strength and longevity of the fragrance in scented nail polishes.

I took the bottle pics because the sun's out and these are really far prettier than I'd hoped, so I thought you might like to see them right away.  Here we go!

The namesake of the collection is Wicked Sweet, a neon blue shimmer.  I sniffed it to find out what Color Club characterizes as a wicked sweet scent, and it smells a lot like Juicy Fruit (but in the bottle, the nail polish smell is strong, so it's hard to pinpoint).

Color Club Wicked Sweet Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Raspberry Rush is a great neon raspberry creme.

Color Club Raspberry Rush Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Get Your Lem-on (great name!!!) is a highlighter yellow shimmer.

Color Club Get Your Lem-on Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection 

Yum Gum is a bright bubblegum pink creme.

Color Club Yum Gum Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Always Get My Man-darin is a bright yellow orange shimmer.

Color Club Always Get My Man-darin Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

Gimme A Grape Big Kiss (another favorite name!) is a neon purple creme.

Color Club Gimme A Grape Big Kiss Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

The seventh and last is The Lime Starts Here, a unique neon lime green.

Color Club The Lime Starts Here Nail Polish from the Wicked Sweet Collection

That's that!  You know I love neons and scented nail polish, so I'll be wearing these this week for sure.  However, I also have the Color Club Starry Temptress Collection right here, so I'm going to run off and swatch those.  I'll get those posted for you soon, supposing the sunlight holds out.

Until then, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

China Glaze Sun Worshiper & XL A

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'd mentioned I had another theme in mind for this work week, and now it's time to tell you about it and get on to the manicures!  Food was suggested as a theme, which I thought was a great starting point, but more vague than I had in mind.  Well, I thought of the topic of food in terms of early February, and a specific idea came to mind: Produce I Wish I Had.

You see, I'm really big on fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables and on really good food.  I look forward to things coming into season all through the year, except that there's nothing that locally comes into season from December through February.  By February, I can't look at another mass-produced-and-stored-forever apple or orange, celery begins to lose its charm, and I start thinking "WOW, I wish I had ... "  When it was time to do my nails last night, it was mangoes (which are never local, but at least taste like mangoes for a few warm months per year).  I really, really wanted one, but alas, there were none to be had.

Mmmm, Mango!

More Mangoes!

Can You Taste It?

For my mango manicure, I started out with China Glaze Sun Worshiper, a neon yellow orange creme, to represent the flesh.  It takes a million coats on its own, but is worth it.  It's a little on the bright side, but remember that I'm screaming loudly here.  I decided to use a tip pattern with some tiny dots from my XL A plate, which I did in red and green to represent the skin.  The tips didn't work out quite as I had in mind at the outset - I tried to use yellow as part of the tip pattern as well, but it just didn't show up at all, leaving me with only red and green.  So it's not great, but is in the general direction of where I was going with it.

China Glaze Sun Worshiper Nail Polish with Chez Delaney XL A

Looking for the mango pictures was hard - I felt like I was toying with my own emotions.   Now I want one more than ever!

That my first Produce I Wish I Had manicure, and the start of a new work week.  I hope Monday is kind to you, and until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  

FingerPaints Spring 2011

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last week, I showed you the press release for the FingerPaints Palette of Petals Collection for Spring 2011, and this week Sally Beauty Supply sent me a set for review, so I have swatches of them for you today.  I'll get straight to the pictures and tell you about each as we go.

Aren't You Glad-iolous? is a greyish lavender creme, and it's a true one-coat polish.  Its coverage was so good in one coat that I photographed it that way.  Here's one coat of Aren't You Glad-iolous?

FingerPaints Aren't You Glad-iolous? Nail Polish, One Coat

Did You Ast-her Out? is next, a pink creme with just a touch of coral.  Something about this color reminds me of Sally Hansen Sumptuous Petal from a few years ago, which I liked but was way too jelly for me.  At two coats, it's more of a jelly and I could see through my tips, and at three, which I used here, Did You Ast-her Out? is opaque.

FingerPaints Did You Ast-her Out? Nail Polish, Three Coats

Heavenly Hydrangeas, a kind of dusty purplish creme, shows me that the one-coat coverage of Aren't You Glad-iolous? is more than just luck.  Heavenly Hydrangeas is also perfectly good in one coat.

FingerPaints Heavenly Hydrangeas Nail Polish, One Coat

Chrysanthe-mum's the Word is one where the promotional image raised questions.  The picture showed a lime shade, but the description said it was mint.  It turns out that it's about halfway between the two, either a particularly dark and yellow yellow shade of mint or a very blue shade of lime, and it's a creme.  One coat was almost enough, and in two Chrysanthe-mum's the Word is perfect.

FingerPaints Chrysanthe-mum's the Word Nail Polish, Two Coats

Carnation Creation is a teal creme, also a two coater.

FingerPaints Carnation Creation Nail Polish, Two Coats

Finally, the sixth shade is Dahlia My Number, an orange shimmer.  It's also a two coater, and FingerPaints seems to have decided that if there's only one shimmer in the collection, it would be a heck of a shimmer.  Here's Dahlia My Number.

FingerPaints Dahlia My Number Nail Polish, Two Coats

As for the Palette of Petals Collection as a whole, I'd have to say the quality is exceptional, particularly when cost is taken into consideration.  They're unusually heavily pigmented (with the exception of Did You Ast-her Out?, which seems to be by design) for any polish, let alone for a line that retails for $4.49.  I always look forward to the FingerPaints seasonal collections, and this one lives up to my expectations.

I have one more picture to show you for Palette of Petals - remember the great big flower things on the bottles in the promo picture?  Well, one of those was included with the polishes, and it's like a ring with little metal bars threaded over elastic on either end for a band.  Here's a picture of my fabulous new cocktail ring.

FingerPaints Palette of Petals Collection Ring

Girly things attached to nail polish bottles really bring out my inner five-year-old.  I have a strong desire to wear this in public for some reason.  I most likely won't since neighbors already see me wandering around outside taking pictures of something I'm hiding in my hand, and I think playing dress up in public in conjunction with that may be a bit too eccentric for this area, so I'll restrain myself.

That's what I know about the FingerPaints Palette of Petals Collection for Spring 2011.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!