Zoya Danii

Danii was one of the 2 polishes I got back in the January Zoya promo... It takes me so dang long to get to polishes! She's a beautiful purple with seriously amazing gold shimmer. Compared to the letdown that was Your Hut or Mine, I am super excited about this one!

2 coats, no top coat.

That's it for today! Short & sweet.

Pink Wednesday: Essie Your Hut or Mine

I love Essie. They aren't the most exciting of nail polish brands, but I like their cute little bottles & I like their brush, and I think they have some really beautiful shimmers (see: smooth sailing, mochacino). I got Your Hut or Mine thinking that it's a beautiful pink with a great gold shimmer, and... it halfway delivered.

This picture isn't in focus at all, but I just wanted to say: this is how YHOM wants to photograph. This is so far from accurate it isn't even funny.

This is closer to reality, but it's still not quite that bright. The real color is closer to the next picture, though my skin looks totally dead:

I will definitely be reaching for this color again, because it's a pink that walks the fine line between old-lady-pink and bubblegum-pink. I have had a really hard time finding a pink that doesn't feel too young or too old, and I think this one is exactly were I wanted it to be. But do you see any shimmer in there? Because I don't. It makes me sad. :(

But it's still pretty, and if you're having a hard time finding the right mix between young-old-bright-pale pinks, I highly suggest this one!

Also, don't forget that I'm having a little giveaway with red & blue goodies over here!

KU Final Four giveaway!!

I said there would be a giveaway to celebrate KU getting to the Final Four, and here it is! It doesn't end until next Tuesday, giving you a week to enter and me time to add more goodies if we make it to the championship. Follow on GFC & leave your email; for bonus points, follow me on twitter, too!

Red & Blue! Red nails, blue eyeliner, red lips.

Also, and I hate to say this but I have to for monetary reasons: US residents only, please. :(

China Glaze Traffic Jam

This is a quick post today, because I am really unhappy with these pictures. China Glaze Traffic Jam is really lovely. It's a mid-tone berry; not light, not dark, just perfect. But these pictures are way too pink.

The sweater I'm wearing here is brick red, but my skin tone here is pretty much that pale, so I have no idea how to accurately edit this. Just... try to imagine the polish a little less pink and a full shade darker.

Bah. Displeased. Sorry these aren't better.

Sweet 16!

Yet another weekend of the NCAA tourney is upon us! KU plays in the Sweet 16 tonight, so hopefully I'm in for another weekend of red & blue nails!

I started by painting all of my nails solid colors.
Essie Russian Roulette
Nina Ultra Pro Like Butta
Zoya Tallulah

My thumb I painted like a ref's shirt.

 The red is more jelly than cream, so it took a couple coats. I used a really thick coat of Like Butta, and it evened itself out surprisingly well. And Tallulah is absolutely gorgeous in one perfect coat.
No clean up or top coat to be found anywhere here.

But of course I couldn't leave them that plain.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

China Glaze Stone Cold

I love the Hunger Games polishes. Have I said that enough yet? Because I do. They're amazing. Stone Cold is no exception!

Named for District 2, it definitely has a look of granite. And I love a good shimmery matte! Plus, 1 coat for opacity? I'm sold. The only tricky part of this polish is that it dries SO fast! I was rushing, so a couple fingers didn't level out correctly, and I got a little messy in a couple places. I left these with no clean up or photo editing so you can see what it actually looked like for me!

And then, top coat:

I liked it matte, but I loved it shiny!

As a matte polish, it read to me "gray & shimmery," but shiny it read to me "black with a crapton of shimmer." I'm not sure why it felt darker after the top coat, but it definitely did. And the shimmer is seriously gorgeous. This is definitely one of the HG polishes I highly suggest you pick up.

China Glaze Hunger Games Riveting

I know there have been a million swatches of all the Hunger Games polishes, but I have to share this one. I've shared several others of the shades I really liked, and this one shares their formula. So easy to control that these pictures have absolutely zero cleanup; so shiny that I don't feel the need for topcoat; opaque in a coat or two (depending on how heavy-handed you are). But somehow either I wasn't paying attention, or none of the swatches were quite accurate, because I was completely surprised by how orange this polish is. Orange. ORANGE. Orangey orange orange orange. It doesn't look bad on me, and it's beautifully pigmented, and the shimmer is gorgeous, but orange is my least favorite color. Period. Done. I own absolutely zero orange clothing, there isn't a single thing in my house that's orange. I am absurdly, irrationally against the color in any form.
Basically, my high school rivalry is the oldest on this side of the Mississippi, and we HATE each other, and their school color is orange. This hatred goes back generations of my blood. Orange and I will never be reconciled.
But this polish, I might be able to tolerate... for a little while.

Just like I told you: ORANGE, incredibly shiny, flawless application, amazing gold shimmer, and so, so, so orange.