100th Post: Zoya Yara

OMGIT'SOUR100THPOSTYAY!!!!  Holy cow, time sure flies when you're having fun!  I can't believe we've already made it to the big 100!  Triple digits - woo-hoo!  *raises the roof*  *happy dance!*

Over the weekend I realized something.  A revelation, perhaps (overdramatization).  I apparently wasn't kidding when I told you I was "like, obsessed, with these weird greeny-goldy colors lately."  Look what I've accumulated over the last month....

China Glaze It's Alive, Zoya Yara, Butter London Wallis, China Glaze Westside Warrior, China Glaze Zombie Zest

That'd be a glitter, a shimmer, a foil, a creme, and a glass-fleck.  I think my obsession has blossomed into a full-blown addiction.  But hey, admitting is the first step, right?  ;-)  I've already shown you Wallis, and I promise you the rest of these beauties are soon to follow.  I've got the lovely Zoya Yara for you today!

Yara is a muted olive green with gold irregular-shaped shimmer.  The shimmer shape reminds me of a glass-fleck style, but the overall finish is much more subtle.  It's not the sparkly kind of shimmer, but the kind that adds depth and richness.  The formula was amazing - almost a one-coater!  Two coats were all I needed for complete perfection.  Definitely click to enlarge these photos!

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Ugh, I DIE!  This is so unbelievably beautiful.  I love it!  The color is gorgeous and the shimmer is just the cherry on top.  It's rich and warm and cozy - perfect for fall.  I love it so much I'm almost at a loss for words.  It's just stunning.  100% must-have for me.  I'm proud to have Yara star in the 100th post.  ♥

A huge thank you to everyone for sticking with us up until now!  I know 100 posts isn't a whole lot, but I really think we've come a long way, and I'm sure I speak for Jessie as well when I say we've had such a blast sharing our love of polish with you guys and watching our little blog grow.  GROUP HUG!  :-)

Stay tuned!  Super duper fun and exciting things might be right around the corner!  

Rescue Beauty Lounge Starfish-Patrick

Jessie and I must've shared a brain wave the other day or something.  We both realized that we were running out of days for our summery polishes, and I think I had a mild panic attack (complete over-exaggeration).  Why does summer always have to be so short?!  I feel like just a few weeks ago I was pushing snow off my car.  Sigh.  Jessie showed you RBL Bikini Bottom, so I'm completing the Spongebob trio with Starfish-Patrick!  :-)

It's hard to really accurately describe the color of this one, but I'm gonna go with orangey-corally-salmon.  In some lights it looks a bit pinkish, but others a bit more orange.  The jelly formula of this one means two things - a soft, squishy look (YAY!), and four coats.  But don't panic.  As with its counterparts, RBL's smooth formula makes it easy to apply, even if it does mean waiting longer for it to dry.  As far as these photos go, I'd say they're pretty color accurate, but they're not as opacity accurate as I'd like.  Starfish-Patrick is a smidge more sheer than these photos suggest, but if you're rocking nubbins you probably wouldn't notice the difference.  

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Of the Spongebob polishes, I have to say that Starfish-Patrick was the one that worried me the most.  I love pale blues (even though they don't always love me), and you guys know how much I ADORED Square Pants, but this guy was a wild card.  I wasn't sure how it would look against my skin tone.  On the first coat, I was all HAYULLLL NAW!  It got better with the second and third coats, and by coat number four I was in love!  It's strange and beautiful all at the same time.  Plus, who doesn't love this guy?

Image from http://bbceleste16.glogster.com/spongebob-and-patrick/

Ji did a great job with this entire collection.  Each polish is unique and gorgeous, and they're all must-haves in my book (even with the hefty price tag)!  I really love that she went down an unbeaten path with the names.  Square Pants and Bikini Bottom are still up for grabs at http://www.rescuebeauty.com/, but unfortunately Starfish-Patrick is sold out.  HUGE SAD!  You can still find some bottles floating around for swaps and I do see a fair few pop up on eBay from time to time, but I honestly would be surprised if this one doesn't make a comeback on the next vote.  :-)

I'm so not ready for the summer to be over!  *shakes fist at winter*

Last Chance Summer Mani: Rescue Beauty Lounge Bikini Bottom

Now that it's officially September, I've got my last "summer mani" to show you.  It was pretty funny, I was rocking Stormy Weather when it hit me that September was right around the corner and I still hadn't worn Rescue Beauty Lounge's Bikini Bottom.  Bikini Bottom is a bit different from my other RBL's in that it's sheer.  To achieve an even sheer look, you must do two coats.  One coat alone is super streaky.  I wanted an opaque look, so this is 4.  Bikini Bottom is a beautiful soft pastel blue.  You get this great squishy texture to the polish.  This mani took forever!  I had to wait a bit longer between each coat to avoid dragging, but look at these results!!!

I love the look of this.  It pulls a little more teal and a little too bright in these pictures.  In real life it's much lighter and softer.  I've also heard layering this over Essie Marshmallow gives you a good effect.  I'll probably give that a shot soon, as I'd like to wear this again before winter rears it's ugly head.  Not that I wouldn't wear this polish year round, it's just summery, so I want to wear it in the sunshine!\

In the effort of full disclosure, I want to note that the next morning when I work up (about 8 hours after I finished this mani), I woke up to bubble and lump city.  I've had issue before with my RBL top coat and/or base coat ruining my manis.  This happened again!  I ended up redoing the whole thing the next night with some thinner added to my base coat and top coat.  And one again, I still have bubble and lumps,  but they are fewer.  Honestly, while at first i was in love with my RBL treatment system, I hate it now.  I don't know if there is some particles or stray polish, or it's just too thick, but it's ruining everything.  I'm going to give up on it for a while.  Which is a shame, cause I spent like $50 bucks on it.  WTF!

Bikini Bottom was released as part of RBL's Pre-Fall collection in 2008, it was inspired by the runway but named after SpongeBob Squarepants. It's brothers are Square Pants (see our swatches here and here) and Starfish Patrick.  It was loved so much it was brought back in the Bring-It-Back Vote and is now available again on the RBL website for $18.

PINK Jelly Sandwich!

So we had an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week.  Business as usual in Maryland, I suppose.  ;-)  I hope everyone is safe and well.  In my neck o' the woods, we didn't really see much besides some heavy rain and wind for a couple hours.  We were fortunate to have kept power the whole time.  We dodged a big bullet, and having lost my home to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, I'm grateful.  While Jessie rocked an awesome weather-appropriate manicure, I was a doofus and picked just about the farthest thing from "Hurricane Manicure."

So I started out the weekend with Desire, a bright pink jelly from Revlon's Just Tinted release.  These polishes mimic their Just Tinted lip color, so they're a sheer wash of color.  The formula on this was a little thick, and I had a surprisingly difficult time getting an even application.  It took me three coats to get it looking good.  I'm partially blaming Revlon's abnormally long brush, but I think next time I'll add a few drops of thinner to see if that helps.

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I'm not gonna lie.  I absolutely hate the name.  Desire.  It screams 1980s frosty pink, doesn't it?  That being said, I LOOOOVE the polish!  It's bright and fun and squishy looking.  Jellies used to weird me out so much, but I'm telling you, once you fall for them, you fall HARD.  I can't get enough!  I can speak very highly of the wear as well.  I wore this while eating crab at a friend's birthday dinner and only suffered a teeny tiny chip on my right index finger.  If you've ever picked crabs, you know how awesome that is!

The next day was Irene-is-coming Day, so I decided to rebel against the storm and create another jelly sandwich!  Mmmm...jelly sandwich...

I started with one coat of OPI Teenage Dream over my Revlon Desire manicure.  Teenage Dream is pretty sheer, and you could leave it just like this if you wanted.

Then I added one layer of Revlon Desire, followed by one layer of Pure Ice Rio.  Aaaand...ta-da!!

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I was really happy with this combination, objectively.  I think Teenage Dream is perfect for a pink jelly sandwich, and Pure Ice Rio is just the crowning glory with that gorgeous blue shimmer in a pink base.  Subjectively, though, I kind of hated it.  I'm a girly-girl, but for some reason this just felt over the top girly to me.  I felt like I needed cotton candy and pigtails.  (My hubby though I was crazy when I told him that, by the way.)  I don't know how to explain it, but as much as I loved Desire on its own, I just couldn't stand all the glitter.  Eh, you win some and lose some, right?  ;-)

As far as I know, Revlon's Just Tinted line is limited edition, so grab those polishes now while you can.  I got mine at Bed Bath & Beyond for less than $5 with my 20% off coupon.  OPI Teenage Dream is limited edition as well, but you may still be able to find it in some stores.  If not, Sinful Colors Pink Glitter (original, right?) and Sally Hansen Strobe Light are pretty close for super cheap.  

I'm just about out of ideas for jelly sandwiches, so let me know if you guys know of any good combinations, or have any ideas for combinations that you'd like to see me try!  :-)

Hurricane Irene Mani: Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather

Hurricane Irene! Seemed like a perfect excuse to wear Deborah Lippmann's new Stormy Weather.  This polish is HOT.   Seriously.  It is so chic!  It's not super original, by any means.  There are probably 100 dupes of this color, but man, I love this one.  I bought it off a blog sale and I'm so happy I did.  I don't have any charcoals or dark greys, and this one is just perfect.  Not only did the name suit Hurricane Irene, but the deep charcoal color just evokes a bad storm you don't want to be out in.  Hurricane Irene was not a storm you wanted to be out in.  And while we fared pretty well, some areas were not so lucky...

Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather

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Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather

This polish went on beautifully in one coat, a true creme.  I did a second coat for consistency, but I really didn't need it.  Obviously these swatches were done the day after.  I had fully intended on doing my mani Saturday night before the storm his to get a great shot of it in the storm, but the power went out too early and we are in such a wooded area we don't get a lot of sun.  Oh, and there was a ton of pre-hurricane clouds.  So I took these Sunday afternoon.  It was nice and bright then.  It actually made me think - hey I should totally top this with Deborah Lippmann's Some Enchanted Evening (it looks amazing over dark cremes)!  So you'll see that at the bottom of the post.

But first, let's take a look at Stormy Weather in front of all the "destruction" it caused outside of our house.

Stormy Weather

As you can see, just a ton of leaves and twigs and small branches everywhere.  But we were lucky.  We also only lost power for 24 hours.  Which was good, cause unlike ALL our neighbors, we do not have a generator.  Some people in our neighborhood weren't so lucky.  Here are a few shots of "Stormy Weather"'s rath.

Downed tree, hanging from power lines
We stupidly drove under this, twice...

BGE to the rescue!!!!!

Huge tree that had fallen, most of it had been cut up already

And since you are all really here for the polish, as promised, Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Stormy Weather.  LOVE! What a fashionable way to spice up this charcoal grey creme!!!  Some Enchanted Evening is a clear base with mutli-sized and shaped pink glitter.  This is one coat. It also looks awesome over a deep navy (I love it over RBL Dead Calm).

Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Stormy Weather

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Deborah Lippmann Some Enchanted Evening over Stormy Weather

Deborah Lippmann polishes are available at Nordstrom and Deborah Lippmann's site, or other online retailers like BeautyBar.com and Zappos.com. Stormy Weather retails for $16 and is a new Fall 2011 color. Some Enchanted Evening retails for $18 and was originally released in the All That Jazz trio for Nordstrom in 2010, but is now individually. Would I pay full price for either of these? No. Do I love them? Yes. Would I recommend buying these one sale (or from blog sales like I did)? Absolutely.

Butter London Rosie Lee over OPI Lincoln Park After Midnight

Rosie Lee - how I love you so.  Who knew a pink glitter bomb would steal my heart? Particularly when you layer it over a vampy eggplant like OPI's Lincoln Park After Midnight!  You guys I am seriously in love with this mani!!!!!!!

So first, let's chat about butter LONDON, while while produced here in the states, was founded by a Brit.  So all the polishes have fun British references or slang.  Just like Wallis, there is a meaning behind Rosie Lee.  Take it away butter LONDON dictionary!

Rosie Lee   |   roh-zee lee   |  
Cockney Rhyming slang for a cup of tea. “Put the kettle on Love, I fancy a Rosie Lee.”

First thing I did was put on one medium coat of OPI's Lincoln Park After Midnight (LPAM), which I promise to show you on it's own sometime.  Unfortunately, like always, I was in a huge rush doing this, so I didn't have time to take pictures of it on it's own.  (I also didn't have time to take these pictures till a day later, and between my Seche Vite top coat and using my "nails as tools" I've got some bad tip wear - SORRY!)  I thought LPAM would make a great base for this beautiful polish packed full of pink glitter.  The glitter is very dense in this clear base.  This is ONE coat of Rosie Lee over my LPAM mani.  It does have a gritty texture, but one coat of Seche Vite cleared that up.

butter LONDON Rosie Lee

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butter LONDON Rosie Lee

I really loved this over the dark base, really gave it some character, so I took some extra pictures of it!

Beautiful Beautiful Rosie Lee

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SPARKLE!!!!!

The formula on this one was good, it was thick, but not No More Waity Katie thick.  It cleaned up easily too and was pretty good to work with considering all that glitter.  Obviously the base color helped too.  My ONLY complaint about butter LONDON is their brush.  It's too tiny for me and won't hold enough polish.  I usually have to dip twice to cover my larger nails.  

butter LONDON Rosie Lee is part of the core collection and is available online at butter LONDON's website or at Ulta.  Or you can do like me and get it from Zappos.com with free shipping!!!!  This puppy will run you $14, but it's SO worth it :).

P.S. I'm officially using the boyfriend's camera for "dark box" shots.  What do you think?  

Something Borrowed: BB Couture Moon Over Manhattan

Last, but most certainly not least, I have the final installment of my Something Borrowed mini-series! (You can check out Parts 1 and 2 here and here if you missed 'em!)  I mentioned to you guys that Rach and I decided to go outside our comfort zones, and pick two of each other's polishes in finishes we don't typically wear (shimmers for Rach and cremes for me).  We both took it an extra step further and threw in a third mystery polish in a more familiar territory.  So much fun I could hardly stand it!  So, what mystery polish did Rach send me?  Oh, just a little piece of awesomeness!   :-D

BB Couture Moon Over Manhattan is a medium-toned dusty teal blue with aqua and silver shimmer.  In some lights it looks more blue, but in my office lighting it leans very green.  The shimmer is that kind of irregular, glass-fleck looking stuff.  So pretty!  This is the first BB Couture I've ever tried, and lemme tell you, the formula did NOT disappoint!  I should've tried this sooner!  It applied flawlessly in two coats and wore like iron.  As I write this, I've been wearing it for four days with only very minimal tip wear.  Click to enlarge these photos and check out all that gorgeous shimmer!  

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Rach, I don't know how you did it, but you knocked it outta the park!  It's like you read my mind!!  I.  LOVE.  THIS!  It is complete perfection from color to formula to shimmer to wear!  Dare I say it?  Moon Over Manhattan is everything I wanted Catherine H and Smooth Sailing to be (even though we're in a totally different color family now).  The shimmer shines through exactly how I want it to, and it's just stunning.  I'm smitten!  I'm already planning my first BB Couture purchase, and you betcha Moon Over Manhattan and Impact Driver are gonna be part of it!  You can purchase BB Couture polishes for $9.95 at www.bbnailpolish.com.

I'm sooo grateful to have had the chance to try out these polishes!  Thank you, Rach, for letting me raid your stash and find some brand new loves!!  One day you and Jessie and I will have to meet up and have a polish play date!  

If you guys haven't already visited Rach's blog, stuff i (s)watched, go check it out!  She's intelligent, funny, fantabulous, and awesome, and I absolutely love reading her posts.  Plus, I totally have a nail crush on her and envy her ability to take amazing photos with her cell phone!!  Rock on, girl!  :-D