Untried: China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots

Base: none
Color: three coats China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots
Top: none
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I never thought a holo polish would sit in my untrieds drawer for months, but I guess I thought wrong. China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots is a pretty blue-gray holo from the Hologlam collection. Strap On Your Moonboots is lovely and decently holo in sunshine. It's not too holo indoors, but that's the case with a lot of holos really. Most of the time, it looks like the first picture in this post.  Quite honestly though, the whole Hologlam collection was a bit of a letdown. It's not that they're bad, they just aren't the buckets of rainbows we all wanted.

I almost never wear base coat with holos, so I can't comment on how this would apply with base coat. It applied really well without one though. No bare patches or any difficulties at all. It was opaque in two coats, but I did a third just for the camera, since my camera likes to make things look sheer.

I only ended up getting two polishes from Hologlam, this and Infra-Red. While I'm not obsessed with them, I don't plan on getting rid of them either. All of the Hologlams are still available at nailsupplies.us.

China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Lynnderella Topaz Optimism and Tanzanite Truth

Base: one coat CND Stickey

Color: (left to right) three coats Zoya Thandie, two coats Nicole by OPI What's the Mitch-uation topped with two coats Lynnderella Tanzanite Truth, two coats OPI Fly

Top: one coat Sally Hansen Salon Manicure top coat

Application (of Tanzanite Truth): excellent (out of poor, average good, excellent)

Zoya Thandie, Nicole by OPI What's the Mitch-uation and OPI Fly were sent for review. Lynnderella Tanzanite Truth was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I can't believe I am finally posting pictures of summer Lynnderellas during the summer! I keep getting so behind with Lynns, but I couldn't resist trying out two of the polishes from the new Talismans and Birthstones collection. First up is Lynnderella Tanzanite Truth. I didn't really know what Tanzanite looked like before this, but look at this beautiful image of a tanzanite gem from www.palagems.com:

Gorgeous, right? Get my a ring with one of those babies, please. I think Lynnderella really nailed the color of this gem in Tanzanite Truth, it's a stunning rich blue-purple that almost glows. I picked a little bit too blue of a base color (Nicole by OPI What's the Mitch-uation?) and I think next time I would go more purple.

Tanzanite Truth was very easy to work with and applied smoothly with the dabbing method. I was mostly pleased with the coverage after just one coat, but I dabbed on a little bit more for more glitter. Speaking of more glitter, I couldn't leave the creme finish polishes alone here and added Lynnderella Pentimento to them the morning after doing this mani. I have a glitter problem. Also, you might notice I am in the midst of changing my nail shape. I am attempting to go towards more of a pointy almond shape, but it's a big transition so it looks a little wonky here.

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: four coats NARS Desperado, two coats Lynnderella Topaz Optimism
Top: one coat Sally Hansen Salon Manicure top coat
Application (of Topaz Optimism): good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
NARS Desperado and Lynnderella Topaz Optimism were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I actually wore Lynnderella Topaz Optimism first, before Tanzanite Truth (hence the old nail shape). I wanted to wear this one first out of the new collection because topaz is my birthstone! I went with a really topaz-y base color, NARS Desperado. Unfortunately, I forgot how darn sheer Desperado is, ugh. I really like this combo though! Topaz Optimism is a pretty collection of gold glitters, yellow satin glitters and holo gold glitters. The holo gold pieces really add some zing!

Topaz Optimism was pretty easy to dab on. I found that some of the larger pieces (the star and the yellow satin flower) needed some placement and fiddling with. Otherwise, everything behaved itself nicely. This is two dabbed coats over four (ughhhh) coats of Desperado.

These two polishes have me excited to try the other Talismans and Birthstones polishes I got! I also recently got a few Lynnderella LEs that I'll probably post soon. My bank account is kind of sad, but man they are gorgeous!

Lynnderella polishes are available on Lynnderella.com, Norway Nails and Glitter Connect. 


NARS Desperado, Lynnderella Pentimento, Topaz Optimism and Tanzanite Truth were purchased by me. All others were sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Let's Go Back to Spring with Lynnderella!

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: two coats China Glaze 108 Degrees, two coats Lynnderella Candy Blossom
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
China Glaze 108 Degrees and Lynnderella Candy Blossom were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Let's take a quick break from summer heatwaves and fall collections, and go back in time to spring, when the flowers were newly blooming and the air was fresh and cool. I finally wore the remaining two polishes from the Lynnderella Everything's Coming Up Neon spring collection and they're gorgeous! According to Lynnderella, Lynnderella Candy Blossom has "pastel pink satin, neon pink and green, white as well as yellow glitters in a clear pink-shimmered base". You can see the base really has a ton of gorgeous shimmer! I love the addition of green and yellow glitters with the pink, it's so fresh and springy!

This is two dabbed coats of Candy Blossom over China Glaze 108 Degrees. It was very easy to dab on and had plenty of glitter. I did not have to do any fishing around for the glitter, it came out quite readily.

Base: one coat Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Color: three coats Zoya Neely, two coats Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty!
Top: one coat Essie Good to Go
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
Zoya Neely was sent for review. Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty! was purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I actually did this mani on Friday July 19 as my mint mani for Talia. Talia Joy Castellano was an amazing YouTube make-up guru who lost her battle with cancer at the young age of 13. She was an inspiration to everyone in the make-up community and beyond.

Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty! is a mix of "scattered assorted neon, pastel satin and matte glitters in a soft, translucent lavender-white base with subtle lilac shimmer". The sheer lavender-white base means that this polish really works best over a pastel or soft white base. I really really love the purple butterflies in this polish! I didn't realize they were in the polish, and it turned out to be so perfect for a mani memorializing an uplifting person like Talia!

This is two dabbed and pushed coats of Eggstra Pretty! over three coats of Zoya Neely. I had to spread the glitter around a bit and I felt like the application on this one wasn't as easy as some other Lynns. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't super easy. The butterflies did come out all by themselves though! No fishing for them!

Overall, the spring Lynnderella collection is one of my favorite collections of hers. I bought every single polish and really love them all. I am happy she used the neon glitters, they are so pretty for spring and summer. If you missed my swatches of the rest of the Everything's Coming Up Neon collection, check them out:
Sugar Bunny
Beleaf Is Magic
Bird Brain Blue
Her Name Is Petal
Tres Chic, Duckie Dear and Crocus Pocus

Lynnderella polishes are available at Lynnderella.com, Norway Nails, and Glitter Connect.

Zoya Neely was sent for review. China Glaze 108 Degrees, Lynnderella Candy Blossom and Lynnderella Eggstra Pretty! were purchased by me. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Nicole by OPI Family Vacation Sweepstakes!

Win the whole Nicole by OPI Modern Family collection!!! Check out the details below-

Nicole by OPI Modern Family Collection Sweepstakes

How to enter: Share your most memorable family vacation story on the sweepstakes tab on Nicole by OPI's Facebook page. This will unlock the sweepstakes entry form - fill it out and click submit! 
Rules: One entry per person. Valid to residents of US & Canada, excluding Quebec.
Winners: 3 lucky winners will be chosen at random on August 5th, so get your entry in today! 

Contest link: http://bit.ly/1b950dB

Zoya Fall 2013 PixieDust Collection, Part 2!

Base: none
Color: two coats Zoya Sunshine
Top: none (unless otherwise indicated)
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Today, we continue on with my lovefest swatches of the Zoya Fall 2013 PixieDust collection. Do not adjust your monitor, Zoya Sunshine is really that awesome. Zoya calls this gem a "Van Gogh navy blue". It is a navy, but it's definitely not as deep as most navy blue polishes usually are. It's almost like a bright navy and I love that. It has silver sparkles in it too, making it look like a night sky with stars. If you were thinking this would be similar to Zoya Liberty, it is definitely very different. Liberty is a bright cornflower/pool like blue, while Sunshine is much deeper, like ink rinse denim.

Sunshine is basically a one-coater. I wasn't mentally prepared for that, so I ended up doing two coats, but if you apply it right it can absolutely be full coverage in one coat. Even better for my lazy manis! I would, however, wear a base coat with this when wearing it as a full mani. I think it could stain otherwise. It was a dream to apply too, really excellent!

Here is Sunshine with one coat of Gelous. I think it actually needs two coats to be totally smooth and glossy.

Base: none
Color: three coats Zoya Tomoko
Top: none (unless otherwise indicated)
Application: average (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Zoya Tomoko is a pretty white gold matte sparkle. Zoya calls it a "champagne silver", but it definitely is a little too gold to really be called a silver. It's not at all yellow gold, but still has a warm-ish tone. This is going to be great for the holidays!! (Listen to me talking about the holidays in July... Yikes!)

Tomoko is by far the sheerest polish in this collection. This is three pretty thick coats, if you do very thin coats you will need four or even five. It was pretty easy to apply, but I rated it as average due to the sheerness. I love the color, but I do wish it was more opaque, especially since Zoya rates it as a 4 out of 5 for color intensity. Luckily, it still dries quickly, so your 4 coats won't take that long.

Tomoko looks very pretty with a coat of Gelous. This is the only polish in this collection that I actually almost prefer glossy.

Base: none
Color: two coats Zoya Chita
Top: none (unless otherwise indicated)
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

I have been waiting for a PixieDust just like Zoya Chita!!! A forest green matte with silver sparkles is definitely a polish right up my alley! There are plenty of sparkles in this one too, they didn't skimp on the bling. I am a huge fan of forest green for fall too. I do feel like we need some more green textures around, so thank you Zoya!

And speaking of thank you Zoya, Chita is almost a one coater! I used two coats for these pictures, but I think you could do one careful coat. Application was great and the formula is that lovely not thick, not thin consistency. I am really in love with this one!

Like Sunshine, I think Chita actually might need two coats of Gelous to get smooth. I only used one and it looks a bit bumpy. I really like it so much better without top coat though, so for me personally, this doesn't bother me.

After reviewing this whole collection, I can honestly tell you that there isn't a color here that I don't LOVE! If I had to choose a least favorite, I would pick Tomoko just for the sheerness, but I do really like the color of Tomoko. My absolute favorite of the collection is Carter, the stunning purple with pink sparkles. If you're into the texture trend, I definitely advise you to get several of these! If you're not into the texture trend, I would advise you to try one, because you might discover you actually like them!

The Zoya Fall 2013 PixieDust collection is available now at Zoya.com.

The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Zoya Fall 2013 PixieDust Collection, Part 1!

Got the Monday blues? Start your week off right with swatches of three of the drool-worthy Zoya Fall 2013 PixieDust polishes! I should have the other three swatched and ready to go in a day or so, so stay tuned for those too!

Base: none
Color: two coats Zoya Dhara
Top: none (unless otherwise indicated)
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Well, you already know that my orange loving heart is CRAZY about Zoya Dhara! Zoya calls Dhara a "dazzling copper", but it's really very red-orange with gold flecks of shimmer. It has some coppery tones to it, especially in the shade. 

Dhara was a piece of cake to apply and it dried super fast too. It only needed two coats for complete coverage and it really flowed onto the nail so nicely, with a great consistency. The Zoya PixieDusts have really become my go to "lazy" manicure polishes, because they are so easy to apply, and half the time I don't even wear base coat with them, let alone top coat!

 Below is Dhara with one coat of Gelous. Very pretty and juicy looking this way!

Base: none
Color: two coats Zoya Arabella
Top: none (unless otherwise indicated)
Application: excellent (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Despite my lack of love for pink, I am really into Zoya Arabella! Arabella is a blue-leaning fuchsia with silver glitter that is bright and rich-looking at the same time. Definitely jewel-toned, which is perfect for fall. 

Arabella was also extremely easy to apply and dried quickly. This is just two coats. I will be adding it to my mental list of polishes to grab when I need a fast and flashy mani.

 Below you can see that Arabella is also stunning with one coat of Gelous! The shiny top coat really brings out the richness of this color.

Base: none
Color: three coats Zoya Carter
Top: none (unless otherwise indicated)
Application: good (out of poor, average, good, excellent)
The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

O.M.G. This is the most beautiful purple I have ever laid eyes on! Zoya Carter is a "regal purple", according to Zoya, but that seems quite inadequate to me! Carter is a beautiful deep blue-purple base with what looks like bright purple or even hot pink glitter in it. I am totally in love with Carter and can't tell you enough how stunning it is in person. Try to pry this off of my nails in the fall. Just try.

Carter is more sheer than Dhara and Arabella, but I think that worked in it's favor. The sheerer base allows for the glitter to really pop, whereas a more opaque base might have caused the glitter to be hidden or lost. This is three coats of Carter, so it's not like it was an unreasonable amount of coats or anything, and it still dried quickly. The base is thinner than the other two as well, so it didn't quite paint itself on my nails, but it was still no trouble to work with. In the shade you can really see the pink glitter:

Here's Carter with one coat of Gelous. It looks really beautiful, but I much prefer it without top coat. It looks more like other polishes I own with top coat.

For someone who didn't jump on the texture bandwagon right away, I am certainly enjoying it now! So far, the Zoya Fall PixieDusts are knocking it out of the park! I can't wait to try the other three and show you!

The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection is available now on Zoya.com.

The Zoya Fall PixieDust collection was sent for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts.