Zoya Veruschka

Veruschka...what a sexy name for a sexy polish!  This was released as part of the Matte Velvet collection last winter, but I just scooped it up in a recent swap.  I've been dying to get my hands on this deep emerald green beauty (or get it on my hands?) for a while now, and it really did not disappoint!

It dries completely matte, and it's super pigmented.  An even application could probably get away with one coat, but as you can tell by that ring finger, I don't have even application.  :-)  Two coats it is for me! Mattes are kind of hard for me to work with, since they're usually a little thick and they dry so darn quick.  Like, ridiculously quick.  The fewer brush strokes, the better with this stuff.  But look how chic it is!

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But the absolute best part is that this is like two polishes in one!  Look how gorgeous it is with a top coat!  Hubby prefers the matte look, but since mattes also tend to chip pretty quickly (and I'm wanting this to last until Friday), I'm opting for the glossy look.  I love this!  It looks so plush - like real velvet.  It's got such dimension and such versatility, and that's what makes Veruschka so awesome.

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If you have OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow Suede, you probably can do without Veruschka.  They're very close, but from comparisons I've seen, Veruschka has just a smidge more depth to it than HTAT Suede.  And it's $1.50 cheaper and easier to find.  That's a win in my book!

Butter London Henley Regatta

Can you tell I'm having fun with my Nordstrom birthday haul?  ;-)

Butter London Henley Regatta is like Zoya Charla's sister on steroids!  It's a similar blue-green glitter, but it's a much finer glitter in a clear base.  Perfect for layering!  I used one layer of Henley Regatta over one layer of Wet n Wild Black Creme (gotta love one-coaters!) for the majority of this look.  The accent nail is four coats of Henley Regatta on its own.  The fine glitter means it definitely takes at least three coats for opacity.  I probably could've stopped at three, but I just wanted ooooone more coat for vibrance!

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Is she stunning or what?!  So much more gorgeous in person.  It just doesn't translate as well in pictures.  I think I love it best over black - like little blue-green stars in the night sky!

Don't get me wrong about Charla though, they're definitely sisters and not dupes.  One day I'll actually get a nail wheel, but until then here are some scotch tape swatches.  Apologies for the horrible pictures - I couldn't believe how hard it was to capture these!  (This is actually OPI Catch Me in Your Net, but that really is a Charla dupe!)

(L) Butter London Henley Regatta - one coat; (R) OPI Catch Me in Your Net - one coat

(L) Butter London Henley Regatta - two coats; (R) OPI Catch Me in Your Net - two coats

You can see the difference between the two even at one coat.  Henley Regatta is blue and green glitter (you can see each color separately in real life) suspended in a clear base.  Catch Me in Your Net is a blue-green duochrome shimmer in a blue base.  I'd definitely say Henley Regatta is sparklier. but CMiYN is more opaque.  Definitely different enough to own both!  :-)

Butter London All Hail The Queen/McQueen

I needed a total change of pace after my glitter-ific birthday mani, so it couldn't have been more perfect that my Nordstrom order decided to show up at my door today.  My mom got me a gift card, so of course I splurged on a couple Butter Londons and one Lancome polish.

Butter London is a lesser-known, but definitely fabulous and on-the-rise brand.  One of their founders is English-born, and thus the super cute and cheeky English pun names like Aston, Snog, and Big Smoke.  This is All Hail the Queen.  It's exactly the same as the (apparently) limited edition All Hail McQueen, in honor of the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen.  I wasn't aware that the name was going to be changed, so I'm a little bummed that I didn't pick it up a while back when it was still McQueen.  Oh well.  :-)

All Hail the Queen is a dark nude/beige with holographic shimmer.  My pictures don't quite pick up on the holo as well as I'd hoped, but it's more noticeable in the sun anyway.  It's so hard for me to find nude polishes that work well with my skin tone, but I think the dark beige of this one is what makes it work.  The application was good overall, but I did notice that it didn't really spread out on its own.  I felt like I was constantly dipping back in for more polish.  Luckily, the formula is buttery (pun...intended?) smooth, so it wasn't really a big deal.  Ok, enough of my jabber.  Behold!

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Nice, right?  I'm not totally smitten with this, but I do really like it.  It's the perfect palate cleanser, without being boring at all!

UPDATE:  The sun decided to finally show it's beautiful face!  So here's All Hail the Queen in full sun:

Sorry my camera doesn't seem to like sunlight pictures very much.  But you can see the holo shimmer so much better.  It really is lovely!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, today is my birthday (YAY!), and I decided to celebrate with a fun and bling-tastic mani!  I orginally saw this on MUA and immediately knew it just HAD to be my birthday mani! 

I used Color Club What a Drag! (similar to other silver foils - Sally Hansen Celeb City, China Glaze Cheers to You, etc.) as the base color.  Then I added a very thin layer of OPI Mad as a Hatter, starting about 3/4 of the way up the nail.  I finished up with two gradient layers of Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday, starting the first about half way up the nail and the second about 1/4 up the nail.  I'm so thrilled with how this turned out!

This is so fun and festive, and I'm so happy to share it (and my birthday!) with you!

Thanks for looking!

Welcome!

And so it begins...

My blog, that is!  I'm SO excited for my first post!  I've been interested in nail polish for as long as I can remember.  It's such a fun and easy way to accessorize and have fun with color!  Over the last year I've discovered new worlds like All Lacquered Up, Scrangie, and the Makeup Alley Nail Board, and watched my stash quadruple in size!  Though I'll never compare to the goddesses behind those sites, I decided to create a home for my own polish love on the web, where I can show and review my current polishes, as well as the new ones I pick up along the way.  I hope you find my blog to be welcoming and informative, but most of all FUN!  I look forward to sharing my passion with you!

So grab your favorite polish and pull up a chair!  Without further ado, I bring you the *stunning* China Glaze VII!

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Isn't she beautiful??  I really didn't expect anything more than to "like" this polish, but I absolutely fell in love!  This is 2 coats and it practically applied itself.  It was super shiny, even without Seche Vite.  It really hides its beauty in the bottle - you have to see this one on the nail.  PURE.  LOVE.