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!

4 Swatch Comparisons - China Glaze, Zoya, L'Oreal and Revlon!

It's SATURDAY!!!! Yaaaaay! Except for getting a run in this morning, I have nothing else on my to-do list today! I love weekends like this!


I wanted to show you all a comparison I did of 4 polishes that appear to be similar to each other in the bottle, but that are actually quite different on the nail. I picked up Revlon's "Mistletoe" a couple of weeks ago at Walgreens and once I got home, I wondered how much it looked like one of my all-time favorites, China Glaze "Wagon Trail" (but I just never got around to comparing the two). Then, just tonight, I thought about two others that are kind of close: Zoya "Edyta" and L'Oreal "Owl's Night". So, while I was thinking about it and had time, I thought I'd swatch all 4 to show you how alike and different they are.

China Glaze "Wagon Trail", Zoya "Edyta", 

L'Oreal "Owl's Night", Revlon "Mistletoe"

Same order for the swatch photos below:

I used 2 coats of each color in the photos above (no top coat or base coat).

Which one is your favorite of these 4 colors? I'd have to say that my favorite is still Wagon Trail. Up next is Owl's Night, followed by Mistletoe, then Edyta.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Zoya - "Ki"

What a beautiful Sunday we're having! It's about 83* outside right now, without a cloud in sight!


Because of the great weather we have today, I chose a polish that I could get good outside pictures with (and since I'm not a big fan of holos, my next option was duochromes!).


I know there are tons of pictures of Zoya's "Ki" on the internet, but I don't care - I wanted to show you my own pictures! The pictures I took were the best I could get inside and outside. It was very difficult to capture the amazing duochrome finish with my camera. If you're thinking about purchasing this color, I suggest searching for more images on the internet.


Ki is one of the best duochromes I've ever seen. Depending on the light, sometimes it looks like a dusty purple, other times it looks sort of olive green. I'm a big fan of duochrome polishes, and this might be my new favorite! In my opinion, it should be a staple color for any polish collector/hoarder/lover!


I purchased Ki during Zoya's recent promo where you got 2 free polishes with any order. I chose this and Edyta as my free colors. I'm looking forward to trying that, too! I can't say that Zoya is my favorite brand, because I always seem to have issues with either bubbling or smudging (due to the polish not being completely dry). However, as a company, Zoya is my favorite. They are so generous with their promos, that they make it affordable and accessible to just about everyone (with free polish, BOGO, or free shipping). And, I'm noticing more Zoya colors popping up at the Ulta's near me, so that's perfect, too! Now, I can try (or at least see!) before I buy!


Application
OPI Nail Envy, Sensitive and Peeling Formula
2 coats of Zoya's "Ki"
2 spritz's of CND Solar Speed Spray

Outside, under direct sunlight:

Inside, with flash:

Inside, under artificial light:

 Do you have a favorite Zoya color? What do you think about Zoya polish all-around? Have you taken part in any amazing Zoya promos?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Thanks for stopping by!


<3,
Katie

Gradient Mani - White to Black

I was recently inspired by a post I saw on Chloe's Nails for an "Ombre Mani". Basically, an Ombre Mani is where you go from the lightest of a color to the darkest. Here, Erika went from White to Black, with gray in between. Since I already owned 3 out of the 5 colors she used, I thought this would be a fun mani to try to duplicate. The only differences are that she used a Franken she made for the gray closest to the black nail. Since I had never made a Franken before, I used my Zoya "Kelly" (although, it's a little more purple than I had wanted). I never realized until yesterday how hard gray polishes can be to find! I went to 4 stores in search of a color similar to her Franken, but came home with nothing. I was, however, able to find the Pure Ice polish at Wal-Mart; it was their last bottle, and was not even in it's correct spot! Score!


I had another reason for wanting to do this mani. I am on a kickball league here in St. Louis, and our first 2 games are today. Our team color is charcoal, so I thought it would be fun to wear all of these colors today. I guarantee no one else on the team will have a mani as hot as this! :-)

I used 3 coats for each finger, plus a coat of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

I'd love to have nails like Erika (yes, hers are real!), but I don't, so I guess I just have to work with what I have. The mani isn't perfect, but for my first try, I think it turned out nice. I might try looking through my polish stash to see what other Ombre Mani's I can do!

Zoya's "Mira"

Recently, Zoya had a Buy One, Get One Free promotion for anyone who had a Zoya account online. Since I qualified, I decided to take advantage of the great deal! I ended up purchasing "Mira" and "Faye", both from their Summer 2011 collections. I ended up getting both for a total of $10 (shipping included!).


Tonight I'd like to share with you my pictures of "Mira". Even though this color is very, very similar to OPI's "Funky Dunkey" (I really need to do a swatch comparison of these), I'm still glad I purchased it. As always, Zoya didn't disappoint. The application was perfect! And the color -it's just a fun, vibrant purple cream which will be perfect for Spring and Summer!


Application:
OPI Chip Skip
1 coat of OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula
2 coats of Zoya's "Mira"
1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
1 spritz of OPI RapiDry Spray

My St. Patrick's Day Mani - Zoya's "Suvi"

For the past few days, I've been thinking about which green polish I am going to wear for St. Patrick's Day. When I choose the color I'm going to paint my nails, I always take into consideration the colors I've never used. I mean, I'm new to blogging, and am working feverishly to get as many of my polishes swatched and reviewed. So, since I had already worn Zoya's, "Shawn", OPI's "Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow - Suede", OPI's "Don't Mess With OPI" and OPI's "Jade is the New Black", I chose to wear one of my newest polishes from Zoya, "Suvi". This was one of the three polishes I received in their recent "Get Your Green On" trio. As you know, I've already worn Shawn, so it was between "Suvi" and "Ivanka". As pretty as "Ivanka" is, it's pretty "flashy", and I'm not sure if it's work-appropriate (I'm sure it is, I'm just trying to find excuses to avoid wearing it, I think). I am, however, excited to show off my Suvi-nails tomorrow at work! I have a feeling they will become a distraction while I'm typing all day!


Suvi is one of the prettiest emerald greens I've ever seen. I mean seriously, it reminds me of an emerald stone. In my opinion, the color in the bottle isn't the same color that it appears on your nails. I was pleasantly surprised by the final outcome!


I should also mention - my experience with "Suvi" was much better than it was with "Kelly". The application was incredible, and I noticed very little bubbling. I actually completely paint my nails the first time, but smudged quite a few nails when I was cleaning up my cuticles, so I started all over again. The first round, I had zero bubbling. The second (and final) time around, I noticed a teeny bit of bubbling, but it was because I was in a hurry and made my coats thicker than they should've been. 


So, here she is, Ms. Suvi herself!


Application:
OPI Chip Skip
2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula
2 coats of Zoya's "Suvi"
1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Zoya's "Kelly"

I've been anxious to try Zoya's "Kelly" ever since I got it in the mail last week. Zoya describes this color as a, "rich gray shade with soft purple and blue undertones. An easy to wear alternative to black and a perfect NEW neutral."


I've been searching for the perfect gray for quite a while. The problem I've been having is that most of the grays out there are just too light or too silvery for me. When I saw this on Zoya's website, it seemed like exactly what I was looking for - and it is! I've finally found my go-to gray! 


I found this polish to be extremely easy to apply. Just like "Shawn", I probably could've gotten away with just one coat, but I prefer to always use at least two. My only "problem" with this application was that I noticed bubbles after both coats of polish I used (as you can see in the photos below). Now, this could've been operator error on my part. But I did kind of notice it with "Shawn", too. The next time I use a Zoya polish, I will be sure to keep my coats as thin as possible.


Application:
OPI Chip Skip
2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Maintenance Formula
2 coats of Zoya's "Kelly"
2 coats of OPI's RapiDry Top Coat
1 spritz OPI RapiDry spray

Zoya's "Shawn"

While browsing other blogs last week, I noticed an advertisement for Zoya polishes - a "Get Your Green On Trio" for $5 which included 3 of their green polishes ("Shawn", "Suvi" and "Ivanka"). I had never tried Zoya before, so I thought for $5, this was a good time to test 'em out. So, I purchased this trio, along with 2 other full-priced ($8 each) polishes, "Caitlin" and "Kelly". Apparently, this deal was such a hit, it sold out within hours of it's announcement! I'm so glad I decided to make my purchase when I did!

Well, my polishes arrived today! 

The first color I decided to try was "Shawn". Zoya describes this color as, "Warm, mossy yellow-toned medium green cream with olive undertones. A chic yet edgy way to wear the green polish trend." Since I'm not the best at describing colors, my first impression of the color was that it looked sort of "army green-ish". Of the three colors in this special promotion, "Shawn" was the only cream color, the other two were shimmers and glitters. I haven't tried the other two out, but just based on the color of the bottle, this one's my favorite, and probably the one I'll be sporting on St. Patty's Day! Although, it sounds like "Ivanka" (the 2nd bottle from the left in the picture above) is one of their best-selling greens, so maybe I'll fall in love with it, too!

Application:

OPI Chip Skip

2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Dry & Brittle Formula

2 coats of Zoya's "Shawn"

1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

From what I've read on other blogs and on the Zoya Facebook fan page, Zoya is big on promotions and specials, so I have a feeling these 5 polishes will be the first of many in my collection! 

I was very pleased with the formula of "Shawn". I probably could've gotten away with 1 coat, but I prefer to always use at least 2.