It's not easy pickin' a green...

Hello!

It's good to be back posting again! I know I've been a little M.I.A for the past few months, but there are a couple good reasons for that. First, my nails have been in horrible shape. I really think the winter months did a number on my nails and cuticles. They're finally to a point where I can paint them and not be embarrassed (Thank You, Nail Envy!!!!!!). And second, I just recently got a new camera. My old Canon broke and I waited quite a while to replace it. So, now that my nails are better and I have a nice new camera, I can get back to doing what I love - blogging!

My first post back is going to be a bottle shot post. I'm planning on wearing green polish to work tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day, but I'm having a very difficult time choosing a green polish! Until tonight, I didn't really realize how many green polishes I actually own! Decisions, decisions!

My first bottle shot picture is of my green China Glaze polishes (with an Orly that I snuck in because I forgot to include it with the other Orly's!).

Left to Right:  China Glaze"Starboard", "L8R G8R", "Glittering Garland", "Westside Warrior", "Zombie Zest", "Holly-Day", Orly "It's Not Rocket Science"

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Next, is a picture of some lonely greens from various brands...

Butter London "British Racing Green", Essie "Pretty Edgy", Essie "Sew Psyched", Deborah Lippmann "Billionaire", Revlon "Mistletoe", Revlon "Emerald City", Orly "Meet Me Under The Mistletoe", Orly "Jealous, Much?"

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My first 3 Zoya's (and first 3 green polishes) came from Zoya's St. Patrick's Day promo last year (2011). In the promo were Shawn, Ivanka and Suvi

Zoya "Opal", "Bevin", "Gemma", "Yara", "Shawn", "Ivanka", "Suvi"

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And now some of my favorites....

Nicole by OPI "Green Up Your Act!", OPI "Jade is the New Black", "Call My Cell-ery", "Green-wich Village", "Gargantuan Green Grape", "Fresh Frog of Bel Air", "Zom-body to Love", "Don't Mess With OPI", "Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow - Suede", "Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow", "Cuckoo For This Color"

Now, the hard part - deciding which color to wear!

Check back here tomorrow to see which color I chose!

Essie - "Bobbing for Baubles"

Today's post is for one of my new favorites, "Bobbing for Baubles" from Essie's 2011 Winter Collection, Cocktail Bling.


Essie describes this color as "a deepest darkest sapphire". To me, it doesn't scream sapphire. It's more of a dusty gray-navy blue creme. That said, it's still pretty awesome. I got a lot of compliments on it when I wore it recently. I love the fact that it's a dark shade (as you know, I LOVE dark shades, especially blues!), but it's not black, and doesn't look black when you're wearing it. One of the women who complimented me when I was wearing it asked, "Oh, is that teal? It's amazing!". I didn't mind, because she didn't ask if it was black!


If you've never tried Essie before, you really should. It's one of my favorite brands of polish that never seems to disappoint. If you're looking to try Essie and not spend a lot, Beauty Brands has a bunch of their polish on clearance right now, since they will no longer be carrying the brand (*sad face*). Normally, they retail for around $8/bottle.

Essie - "Smooth Sailing"

Hi, ladies and gents. I know I've already posted today, but I was just in the mood to post again. I'm sure I could've written a post and just saved it for tomorrow, but blogging is sort of therapeutic for me. Kinda like crying, sometimes blogging just makes me feel better. 


Because I was feeling a little "blue" today, I decided to paint my nails blue(ish). But not just any blue, a blue that I've adored since the first time I saw it sitting in the 2011 Essie Braziliant display at Walgreens - "Smooth Sailing"! I've waited and waited to purchase this color, and finally bucked-up and treated myself last weekend! Walgreens was having a "Saturdate" day where they feature different cosmetic companies and usually have some sort of freebie or giveaway. Last Saturday, it was Essie and Maybelline Saturdate day. They were giving out $1 off Essie and Maybelline coupons, so I decided what better time than then to buy "Smooth Sailing" (plus, it was in a box with some cute little Essie toe separators!)?! And I've heard recently that SS is becoming  harder to find, so I didn't want to miss out on this beauty. 


SS does not disappoint - it's fabulous! It's a mix between a periwinkle and cornflower blue sparkle. It gives excellent coverage, even with just one coat. I used two in this mani, but probably could've gotten away with just one thick coat. I just feel like this is such a unique color to me. At first, I thought this color was very similar to a color from Essie's Spring Collection, Coat Azure (which I also own), but it's not at all. CA was more of a light baby/country blue with blue shimmer (you can see my review here). SS has more hints of purple in it (definitely more of a periwinkle) and the shimmer seems multi-colored (maybe blue, silver and light pink?).


I would recommend this to any polish lover out there. From the swatches I've seen online, this seems to look amazing on just about any skin tone. Plus, it's just a great quality polish. The formula was so easy to work with, you can't help but love it!


By the way, this is also my first time using the Zoya Color Lock System. I received a mini set from Jeanie from Midnight Manicures (you can check out her blog here). I was a winner in a recent giveaway she had, and this was one of my prizes! She also gave me a HUGE 32 oz. bottle of Remove + and I am now a changed woman! I will NEVER go back to the drugstore brands again! So far, I'm really liking this Color Lock System, too! It caused ZERO shrinkage, which is a win in my book. I'll let you know how the first day or two goes!


Application:
Zoya Remove +
1 coat Zoya Anchor
2 coats of Essie's "Smooth Sailing"
1 coat of Zoya Armor
Zoya Hurry Up Drops


Pictures taken indoors under artificial light:

Pictures taken outdoors with natural sunlight:

Have you tried "Smooth Sailing" yet? If so, what are your thoughts on it? What's your favorite blue(ish) polish?

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend! Sunday evenings sure do seem to sneak up on us, don't they (well, they do for me at least!). Back at it tomorrow! I've got a very busy week ahead (and an exciting weekend, too!). I might not get another post in until next week, but I'll try my best!

Take care!

Love,

Katie

Essie - "One Day Without Blues"

Happy Saturday, everyone! What's the weather like where you live? Here, it's a chilly, dreary day. In fact, it's so cold I actually turned on the heat! To think, a week ago we were outside practicing kickball, and I got a little bit of a tan! As they often say, "If you don't like the weather in Missouri, wait 10 minutes, it's bound to change!"


A month or so ago, Essie was giving away 5,000 bottles of a limited edition nail polish in honor of Toms Shoes' "One Day Without Shoes". The promotion was such a hit, within an hour, all bottles had been claimed! Fortunately, I was one of those 5,000 lucky fans who was able to take advantage of this awesome promotion! 


I wore Essie's "One Day Without Blues" on April 5th to show my support of Toms Shoes and the "One Day Without Shoes" campaign (since I wasn't able to go to work without shoes that day!). For some reason, I never took pictures of the mani I had done, so I decided to use the color again today and actually swatch and blog today!


I've heard that "One Day Without Blues" is actually Essie's "Coat Azure" from their 2011 Spring Collection. So, if you were unable to get a free bottle of "ODWB" and you like the color, you're in luck!


I've gotta say, I'm not the biggest fan of pastels (especially blue pastels). But the fact that I'm wearing this a second time (twice in 2 weeks!) says a lot. I'm in love with the color, and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. I can't wait to get a pedi done with this color!!!


My goal in the next couple of weeks is to bring you more lighter, brighter, "springy-er" colors, rather than more of the "vampy" ones, similar to the ones you've been seeing from me lately. Now, I can't promise I won't throw in a dark glitter/shimmer or duochrome here and there, but I'll do my best to step outside my comfort zone and brighten things up a little. And what better way than with "One Day Without Blues"?!?


Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for taking the time to read this post!
-Katie


Application:
OPI Chip Skip
1 coat OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula
2 coats of Essie's "One Day Without Blues"
1 coat of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat
1 spritz CND Solar Speed Spray

OPI's "Black Shatter" over Essie's "Platinum Perfect"

A few days ago, while I was shopping at TJ Maxx, I found a really cool bottle of Essie nail polish called "Platinum Perfect". I'm fairly new to collecting Essie's, but  I couldn't remember ever seeing this polish before. It's very similar to OPI's "Birthday Babe". It's a gorgeous silver metallic shade. For $3.99, I definitely had to have it!


Once I got home, I tried to do a Google search for the color, to see when it was released, and if it was still part of their collection. I have yet to find out anything about this polish, so if you've heard of it, or if you own it, please let me know!


Here's "Platinum Perfect" (3 coats):

I haven't used OPI's "Black Shatter" much, so I thought "PP" would be a great color to use under it. Here's 1 coat of "Black Shatter" on top of "Platinum Perfect". I also added a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat:

My first non-OPI polish review! Here's Essie's "Dive Bar"!

When I first decided to created this blog, my intent was to make it an OPI-only blog; one where I only reviewed OPI polishes. But after a few months of blogging, I realized that there are other good quality brands of polish out there that I've never tried. Sure, my main love is with OPI, but I recently purchased a couple of bottles of Essie nail polish because I loved the colors, and because I had heard many positive things about Essie polish.


As I was walking down the cosmetics aisle at Walgreens last week, I noticed a brand new display for Essie nail polish. I had never seen the Essie brand at Walgreens before, so I had to stop and check out all of the polish colors. I ended up coming home with "Dive Bar" and "Over the Edge". When I was looking at the mass amounts of colors Essie had, I was looking for colors not only that I liked and would wear, but also ones that didn't closely resemble any OPI colors I currently own. 


My first non-OPI review will be for "Dive Bar". I had read somewhere that this was a Walmart exclusive color, but that must not be the case, since I purchased mine from Walgreens.


I'd describe this color as a purple-teal duochrome (in the bottle). However, since I've had it on my nails, I have yet to find the purple in it. Regardless, it's a gorgeous color, and I'm so glad I picked it up. I was in the hospital last night, and the male nurse who was checking my pulse on my finger stopped and looked at my nails and said, "Is that green?" How sweet of him to even notice!


The application was perfect! I'm so used to OPI - which in my opinion, is perfect. I love the OPI consistency, their Pro-Wide brush, the handle, the bottle shape - everything! Essie's brush is quite different, and took a few nails to get used to. But I love it, and will definitely buy more from them again! In fact, I purchased 2 more bottles ("Merino Cool" and "Smokin' Hot") a few days later. Can't wait to review those for you, too!


Here are my pictures of "Dive Bar". This isn't an easy color to capture in pictures. Or, maybe I just need to invest in a better camera!


The application for this manicure was:
OPI Chip Skip
2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula
2 coats of Essie's "Dive Bar"
1 coat of Seche Vite 
1 spritz OPI RapiDry Spray

As close to direct sunlight as I could get

My best attempt at trying to capture the purple in the polish