Essie Truth or Flare

Essie Truth or Flare is a new color for spring 2014.  It is a dusty blue with green undertones, which unfortunately doesn't show very well in the pics.  Application was ok - the formula was slightly streaky and sheer on the first coat, but it built nicely in opacity and leveled out with no thin spots.  It's not really a true dense creme - it has a slightly squishy feel , so I would call it a crelly.  It was a difficult color to capture accurately - it is slightly more green and dustier - softer - than it appears in the pics.  I like it!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Peel Me a Gobi Grape

OPI Peel Me a Gobi Grape is an old color from the Spring 1998 Painted Desert collection.  It is a beautiful dusty purple with a golden / coppery shimmer, and it is just stunning!  I don't use this one often, as I only have a half-bottle, but believe me if there were a modern day dupe I'd be all over it.  It is an old formula (i.e. not b3f) black label color, and boy does it smell like it!  Application was great, despite it's age - smooth formula that just glided over the nail with minimal streaking and dragging, and built nicely in opacity.  It is so gorgeous, especially in the sun.  This one is hard to find now, but it does pop up on eBay every now and then.  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Essie Style Hunter

Essie Style Hunter is a new color this spring, and is a cool toned red crelly.  Application was very nice - smooth formula, very little streaking and drag, and built nicley in opacity.  I can still see a little vnl at 2 coats, and it has a slightly squishy appearance, so I would call it a crelly as opposed to a truly opaque creme.  I love colors like this, as they look good on my pale skin, and I love red cremes in general, so this one is a keeper for me!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Color Club The Uptown over Zoya Neve

Color Club The Uptown over Zoya Neve is a beautiful combination!  I picked up The Uptown (mini size) at Bed, Bath and Beyond (they didn't have the full size).  It is a gorgeous peachy copper to green duochrome flakie in a purple base.  Alone it is very sheer and even at 3 coats on a nail wheel is still a deep lavender jelly; it looks nothing like the deep dark blue/purple base color it appears to be in the bottle.  So I tried it over yesterday's Neve mani, and it is gorgeous!  It is a pretty dense flakie, so multiple coats were not needed, just a nice even one coater.  Even though the sun isn't out today, I am still enjoying the beautiful colors this one provides.  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Zoya Neve

Zoya Neve is a beautiful blue shimmer I recently picked up.  It's a little darker than royal, but not quite navy, with a hint of a purple undertone, and has some faint purple microshimmer that unfortunately doesn't translate well on the nail.  Application was nice, as with most Zoya's; the formula was smooth and was almost a 1 coater, but I used 2 for full opacity and to even out thinner spots.  It's a very pretty color - like the color of ink in a ball point pen.  Very nice!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Essie Bordeaux

Essie Bordeaux is a classic color - a gorgeous medium to dark red crelly with wonderful application.  The formula was great - so smooth and easy to control, minimal streaking and cuticle drag, and built nicely in opacity.  I used 3 coats here for opacity and depth of color, as it got a little darker and richer with each coat.  It has a wonderful squishiness to it, but isn't sheer-ish like a true jelly, and there's no vnl.  This one is well known and revered by many as a perfect (blood) red, and I have to agree it is spectacular!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI DS Lapis

OPI DS Lapis is a recently released addition to the long-standing Designer Series collection, which notoriously started as a collection of holo polishes.  Lapis is a medium dark royal blue crelly with small square silver and blue glitter.  Application was very good - the formula is smooth, easy to control, and built nicely in opacity.  However it did want to dry matte, and not in a good way like the textured polishes do - this was like a fog on the surface and definitely needed a topcoat; I used a coat of Gelous and Poshe, and it is smooth and sparkly and beautiful.  I'm a sucker for "night sky" type polishes, and this one is gorgeous (I just wish the base color was a bit darker!).  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Kermit Me To Speak

OPI Kermit Me To Speak is a new color from the recently released Muppets collection for Spring 2014.   It is an interesting khaki tan to mauve duochrome shimmer, and it is quite pretty (and not at all "Kermit green"!).  I was pleasantly surprised with the formula - I was expecting it to be somewhat sheer, but it was actually quite dense, and built nicely in opacity.  The polish was smooth and easy to control, and clean up was a breeze.  It's an interesting color combination (mauve pink / slightly lavender to a tan / slightly green / gold shimmer), and I enjoyed this one today!     >^..^<

OPI From A to Z-urich

OPI From A to Z-urich is a beautiful muted red creme from the Fall 2010 Swiss collection.  This and it's darker sister from the same collection, Just a Little Rosti At This, are two of my favorite all time reds, and I can't believe I haven't featured this one yet.  Application was very nice - perfect creamy formula, minimal streaking, fully opaque in just 2 coats, and easy to control.  This is not a bright red - but definitely muted in tone, which just makes it so wearable in my opinion.  I'm enjoying this one on this wet dreary day - I hope you do too!     >^..^<

Zoya Milla

Zoya Milla is a color I picked up from a promo sale a few months ago.  It is a bright coral semi-sheer with muted glass flecks of various colors, although they are subtle.  Application was very nice - smooth formula, easy to control, but it is a semi-sheer, so even at 3 coats there is still vnl.  It is a great color for the upcoming spring and summer, and I can see myself reaching for it again!  Enjoy -    >^..^<

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Happy St. Patty's Day!  He he - this beautiful glitter polish was my lame attempt at being "green" for the day.  Emerald Sparkle came out a few years ago, as a limited edition color.  I bought this when it was released, and it has a darker jelly base than a later release did.  Application was nice - easy to control, smooth formula, minimal streaking, and built nicely in opacity.  It was also very easy to remove compared to some of today's uber-glitters.  I love the sparkle in this one - the small glitter is so beautiful just swimming in it's jelly base!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

China Glaze Long Kiss

China Glaze Long Kiss is a classic red shimmer that has been around for years and years.  This particular bottle is very old, pre-B3F, and it has that wonderful chemically aroma and dreamy application.  Despite it's age, it has a perfect formula, and applied very easily with nary a streak or drag mark in sight, built nicely in opacity, and dried quickly.  It is a muted red, not an "in your face" bright color at all.  It's nothing special in the world of reds, but it is still beautiful and one of my favorites!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Zoya Neeka

Zoya Neeka is a few years old now - hard to believe.  It is a dusty purple with gold glitter, and it's just gorgeous!  Application was very nice - creamy formula, slightly streaky on the first coat but evened out completely on just the opaque second coat, and very easy to control around the cuticles, like most Zoya's are.  It wants to dry slightly matte, so I used a coat of Gelous then topcoat.  This is a seriously beautiful color, and fairly unique (in my stash at least), and is worth picking up if you can!  Enjoy -     >^..^<