Galaxy Girl

This is a polish I had a huuuuge lemming for for agess. You can imagine how happy I was when I finally saw it at my local Ulta after it was out of stock for weeks. I actually went there planning to pick up some new China Glazes, but ended up leaving with three new Orly's to add to my collection; two of which were Cosmic FX's :) Here she is:

Oh Galaxy Girl, you are everything I've dreamed of and more. Your vampy plum base, your eyecatching blue/pink duochrome...you set my heart aflutter when I look down at my fingertips! This first photo is inside under artificial light, and see how gorgeous you are!

And just as beautiful in the dim morning light of my office parking lot!

But really, Orly did a beautiful job with Galaxy Girl, as well as all the polishes in the Cosmic FX collection in my opinion. This, like it's siblings, applies smoothly and easily and wears like freakin' iron. No joke, I'm on day four right now with a tiny bit of tipwear. Love!

Limited Addiction

I used to rarely wear red polish. Like, next to never. I don't know what is going on with me lately, but I do know that, when faced with Essie's Fall 2010 collection in Face Values last night, I picked Limited Addiction over all the other colors. I'm a red convert, so shoot me!!

This is the kind of gorgeously classic color that almost makes me want to forsake all my other nail polishes and make red nails my signature. Almost.

 

Can you blame me though? Limited Addiction is one of those jelly-cremes, which means that application was flawless and clean up a breeze, especially for a red. You could definitely get away with two coats but I went with three just to make sure they looked perfect. I love this type of blue-based red, it suits my skin tone and doesn't make me want to scream (like Nars Dovima does).

The above two shots are in natural light, and Limited Addiction, like a lot of reds, looks much brighter there than it does under artificial light.

Still love it to bits though!! Absolutely gorgeous. I'm so glad I picked this up rather than going for one of the trendier shades. I'll be wearing this for years and years to come. For me, this is a backup bottle kinda color.

Is there a color that you always gravitate towards? 

Welcome to Cindy of Nail'd & Polish'd!

Red Hot

"Reddd hot, our team is reddd hot, our team is r-e-d red h-o-t and once we're hot we can't be stopped red hot!"

Wow, when I looked at the label of the Brucci polish I was instantly thrown back to middle school, where I spent two fall season cheerleading "cause everyone else was doing it". That didn't last very long, but that chant sure did, because I'm reminded of it everytime I hear the words "red hot"

Funnily enough, this isn't really a color I'd categorize as red hot. More like, reddish-pinky hot. It is bright, that's for sure, but has a definite tinge of pink to it rather then a full on red.

See what I mean? Definitely a hint of fuscia.

I did quite like this. My Brucci polishes have yet to let me down. This was one of those jelly-cremes, so it required three coats for full opacity. Also, cleanup and removal were amazingly easy and mess free - win/win!

What do you guys think?

Could it be?

Is it...

 It is!

Say hello to the illustrious Nars Zulu!

Nars Zulu is a beautiful dark, dark green jelly that cause quite a frenzy when it first came out as a limited edition color a few years ago.  It was extremely hard to find until Nars re-released it this year as part of their Vintage Nail collection for Fall 2010.

I snapped pics in all different lights so you guys could see how it would look indoors and out. You can tell it most definitely tip toes that "almost black" line and does look mostly black, especially indoors. But you'll catch the green around the edges of your polish and it comes out much more in the sun. Jellies are my favorite so I love that, even though it's so dark, you get that delicious jelly squishiness.

Application was like most jellies - a little streaky/bald spotty on the first two coats, but smooth and perfect by the third. I found that using more polish on your brush rather than less reduces the streak factor - If you're SUPER careful you might get away with only two coats, which would give you much more green and less black...my hands aren't the steadiest so three it was, but I love the "almost black" effect. Drying time is really good on this, even with three thicker coats, and it's super shiny even on it's own - I have a coat of Seche as usual here. Wear was great for Nars Jungle Red so we'll see if Zulu can compete.

I was lucky and have a friend who works and Nars, and who was able to pick this up for me when it was released a few days ago (and on discount!). WARNING - If you have your heart set on Zulu, DON'T WAIT - these babies are flying off the shelves! Have any of you taken the plunge to snatch up Zulu? Do you think it's worth the higher price tag?

Jungle Red

Ok, I lied. I may have said that OPI Keys to my Karma was my favorite red. I take it back! I have a new favorite red!

This is my last Nars mini, Jungle Red.

Not surprisingly, it's another red jelly. I dunno what it is about the jellies! Jelly polishes have become my absolute favorite. Something about the squishiness, the clean lines, and the shiny goodness melts my heart.

As I'd expect from any Nars polish, application is a dream. This is 3 smooth and easy coats, and they dry to a super shiny finish. I always add Seche for it's superfast drying power, but if you had the patience to leave it on it's own, topcoat is really not necessary for shine factor.

Another thing I really love about this? It's a chameleon! The shot above was outside in semi-decent light (it's been raining all week, yuck), and the shot below is inside: 

So different, but still gorgeous!

For this, I'd shell out the $16 for the full bottle. And with this mini, having already been used for a mani AND pedi, I'm going to have to.

Welcome to the lovely gals of New York Lady! Check them out!

What's the one polish you plan to or already have shelled out big bucks for??

Keys To My Karma

I've been wearing a lot of reds lately, which is so out of character! Dunno what's going on with me! But with a red like OPI's Keys To My Karma, I don't know how anyone could blame me.

In natural light

KTMK is a beautiful bright red jelly. The jelliness of it is what makes me love this polish so much, and what sets it apart from other reds I have, like Nars Dovima. If you guys remember, I really was not feeling Dovima at all on me. It's a touch more orange than KTMK and also a creme, and it made all the difference.

Indoors

This, on the other hand, I like a lot. It's so chic and classic, and might be my perfect red. The fact that it's jelly makes it that much better in my eyes. It's a little softer and less severe than a creme like Dovima. 

What do you guys think? 

California Coral

I was inspired by yesterday's dupes post and couldn't help but paint my nails with one of my favorites, Essie's California Coral.

And yes, I went for the nubbins. It is a bit sad, as a reformed nail biter that was the longest I had ever grown my nails and I will miss them :(  But it couldn't be avoided. A few of the nails had started peeling badly and chipping that I knew it was time to start fresh. And anyway, I'm eager to start wearing my beloved dark polishes and I like them better on short nails anyway :)

In direct sunlight

In shade

I can't help it, I love this color so much! It's got that squishy almost jelly quality, even though I wouldn't call it a true jelly. The first coat was pretty sheer and I thought I'd need three, but two worked out just fine. There's not much else I can say about this but that it's a beautiful, bright happy color and everyone should get it (or it's less expensive Sinful counterpart)! 

Happy Thursday!

Hey all! Happy Thursday! 

Isn't it so nice to have something to look forward to at the end of a work day? Today I've got two things after work that give me the strength to make it to 5:00pm without throwing myself off the top of our 10 story building. First, a hair cut and color! Yay! I don't know about you guys, but getting my hair done makes me soo relaxed and happy (as long as they're not effing it up!!).

THEN, dear readers, is something that I've been looking forward too since the end of last year...duh duh duh...the new season of Big Brother!!! I freakin' love that show so much! The lies! The deceit! The scheming! What a great way to fill up 3 nights of normally boring summer TV.

Anyway, back to important stuff. I tried to shoot my step by step photo instructions for water-marbling last night but I was having big issues.We've been having a crazy heat wave here in Jersey the last few days (over 100 degrees!), so I'm blaming the AC we had going at full blast for my polishes drying so quickly on the water. After an hour of frustration I decided to call it a day and just soldier on with a normal mani of one of my yet-to-be-worn polishes.

This deliciousness is Color Club's High Society. I am absolutely in LOVE with the taupe/mushroom/neutral trend that 's going on right now. This is reminiscent of one of my favorite colors, OPI's You Don't Know Jacques, but much lighter and much more appropriate for summer (and for work, unlike my last few manis...voopsies?). Also, it's got sort of a purple undertone that I think makes it really unique. One of the marbles I attempted last night was actually those two together along with a browny-green shimmer (forget which I was using). I'm definitely going to have to give it another try.

Formula and brush on this was standard. It's a little sheer, not quite a creme - this is two coats over Seche base and it almost looks jelly, so I'd go for that third coat if you want it truly opaque. It's pretty shiny on it's own, but I always top with a coat of Seche Vite because I love the glass-like finish you get.This is my first Color Club polish and I quite like it, it's definitely a brand I'll be visiting again.

On a related note, I gave myself a treat yesterday and ordered Nfu Oh cuticle Remover and Nfu Oh 52 from Fabulousstreet.com! 

I'm especially excited for the cuticle remover. I've been trying reallyy really hard not to cut any cuticles as I've heard it's not good for your nails, and plus it never looks as good as when they do it in the salon. I've just been pushing them back but they still don't look great :( I'm hoping this will take away the need for any snippers! Also really looking forward to 52, a flaky that i've seen on a billion blogs and looks just GORGEOUS. Stay tuned for swatches of 52 over various colors, and a cuticle before and after.

Thanks for reading :)

Holiday weekend!

Hope everyone had a great fourth of July! Besides loving fire works, having a reason to party, and Monday off, the holiday is special to my family as it's my parents' wedding anniversary! They've been married 28 years and going strong. What an inspiration! 

To celebrate the happy day, I chose one of the polishes I got from my Rite Aid raid. Wet 'n Wild's Wet Shine polish in Night Prowl was perfect for the holiday.

Forget everything else for a second, can we start with how much I love the name of this polish? LOL! Night prowl, rawr! When I saw this on the rack, I knew I had to snatch it up. It reminded me of the New Deborah Lippmann shade, Bad Romance. This is what I thought Bad Romance looked like before I saw the swatch over at All Lacquered Up where you could see the hexagonal glitters.

In any case, I liked it! Not exactly a summer shade but I thought the bright glitter was perfect for Fourth of July. This is magenta glitter in a black jelly base. It went on easily enough not too thick or thin Three coats made it nice and opaque, but even with 2 coats of Seche Vite to get it smooth, it wasn't quite and I think it could have even used another coat. Also, I had some small chips on a few nails after a night of wearing it, so the next day was a new nail color. Taking it OFF was the worst part though, like most glitters it was a pain in the butt and resulted in me with ripped up strings of cotton attached to my fingertips. Le sigh. Still, worth the $1.99 that I paid for it.

This morning I was in the mood for something more fun and summery, so I chose another of my Rite Aid purchases. 

This is a Brucci nail polish, a brand I didn't even realize was still around! I remember this brand from wayyy back when, and I still have a few oldies but goodies in my collection.

Gianna's "Rockin" Blue is a supremely hard color to catch on camera, and it's not even my blackberry's fault this time. It's a bright turquoise-green creme that just pops. This is pretty close to the correct shade, but it's juuuust a hint more green in person. Formula was a dream - gorgeously opaque in two coats, and super duper shiny with a coat of Seche. I wore this in the pool for hours with no damage, so I'm pretty impressed. I love this shade so much it's on my fingers and toes at the moment. For the $2 and change I paid for this, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone. I have another new bottle of Brucci polish and a few old ones, so we'll have to see if they're all as good quality as GRB.

I was fiddling with my old Canon which had what I thought was a broken screen, when suddenly it turned on! Just like that!! I tried it out to see if it would give me better results with the color than my Bberry did, but it no luck, so I stuck with the Bberry pics. 

On a side note, this reminds me of pics I've seen of China Glaze's For Audrey. I'll need to get my hands on a bottle soon and see if they're dupes...

...until next time :)