Zoya Rory + Zuza

I did a cocktail mani while on vacation.  I had no cocktail in mind when I did my nails, just followed the idea that China Glaze posted on their Facebook page a few weeks ago.  Thumb, index and middle finger are one color, ring and pinky are another color.  I suppose it's called a cocktail mani because if I were to be holding say a martini, cosmo or other fun drink in a stemmed glass you would see the different colors on my fingers that hold the glass and the two that are held in the air.
I had just received a package with some of the new Zoyas from the Surf Collection and was dying to try them out.  Especially Zuza - hello lover!  Zuza is a beautiful teal-turquoise.  Rory is a medium pink with a lavender undertone. Both have a silvery metallic shimmer.  Zuza and Rory wore like a dream.  2 coats created perfect coverage.  The finish is like a metallic foily matte, if that makes any sense.  Once the top coat is on it's all shiny-shimmery goodness.  Dry time of these polishes was quicker than normal and I think it was because of the unique finish.  The only downside I can mention is that Rory did stain my nails a teensy bit.
You can get Zoya on their website here.  Make sure to like their page on Facebook because they always have deals and surprise giveaways!  They are truly an awesome company!

On a side note, I was at Downtown Disney when I took these pictures.  My husband commented that I had given myself a Disneyland mani.  It was totally unintentional, but they are absolutely colors that remind me of Disneyland.  Funny how that worked out. 

Guy Meets Gal-veston + Captivated

Here's a quick post before the 3 day weekend starts.  I really wanted to use my new Cult Nails Captivated and thought it would be kind of cool to make a jelly sandwich with it.  I was found Guy Meets Gal-veston and it looked like the perfect jelly base.  

GMG is from the OPI Texas Collection and it considered a "sorbet."  It's very sheer and shiny.  It's a coral-red color and I love it.  It's fun, bright and perfect for the summer.  It has that awesome squishy-ness that we have all come to love in jellys.  I used 2 coats of GMG.  
I topped GMG with 1 coat of Captivated.  Captivated is a sheer coral-red base with gold and coral glitter.  It would be much too sheer on it's own so it's a layering polish.  It matches GMG perfectly.  I put 1 more coat of GMG on top of Captivated to make the jelly sandwich complete.
What do you think? 

Fantasy Fire + Indigo

I recently got some pretty little polishes that come from across the pond.  One is a hugely sought after  little sucker.  It's Max Factor Fantasy Fire.  I have to admit, it's really beautiful.  Many compare it to Clarins 230 (aka Unicorn Pee), but since I don't own that one I can't weigh in on that statement.  Whether it's a dupe or not, I think Fantasy Fire is fabulous all on it's own.

Max Factor Fantasy Fire is a layering polish.  It is multi-chrome shimmer that sits in a sheer purple base.  The shimmer is red, but flashes blue, green and gold.  It's really stunning and has that "lit from within" look that I absolutely love!  I used 1 coat of Fantasy Fire.  

I imagine the layering possibilities are vast for Fantasy Fire; black, blue, purple, red, etc.   I chose Barry M Indigo as the underwear for my FF.  I know this isn't an original choice because it's been done before many times over, but the two go so well together they are like peanut butter & jelly!  And why mess with peanut butter & jelly?  So I used 2 coats of Indigo, which like it's name, is Indigo in color.  Indigo went on smoothly and was fully opaque in the 2 coats I used.    

I normally take pictures outside, but my camera didn't want to play nice and I couldn't capture the beautiful shimmer in the sunlight.  So these pictures are taken indoors.

SWAP FROM PORTUGAL! I'M SCREAMING!

One day I was checking out the news on one of my nail polish Facebook groups.  A friend of mine asked if anyone was interested in a doing a swap with one of her friends in Portugal.  There were NO comments and NO takers!  I had to blink a few times and then realized if I hesitated any longer the opportunity would get yanked out from under me!  Thank goodness I was fast thinking because I snatched up that little swapper within seconds of the post going up and was quickly followed up by a second taker!  And I am so glad I did because I met a really sweet girl named Dulce (an absolutely fitting name for her!).  So after 2 months of emailing, getting to know each other and sending pictures of polish and brands we were interested in we both finally sent out packages.  This was just last week and look what arrived today!  I practically jumped out of my skin with excitement!!

You will probably notice there is a color theme, and if you have followed my posts at all you will know I am obsessed with turquoise, teal, green and sea foam green.  So that is the majority of what Dulce sent me.  Funny thing is that she is super duper into the same colors so it was basically like we were shopping for ourselves.  Awesome, right?!  Ok enough talk - check out this package!!

Hello cute Minnie Mouse letter!

Bubble wrapped goodness!

Unwrapped and I swear I fell on the floor!

The whole lot!

Essence: Irreplaceable, Space Queen, Bella, Edward, Louise, Gabriella

Catrice: Sold Out Forever, Be Pool, ACid/DC, King of Greens

Crystal: 204, 506, 2011

Risque:Armadilha Tropical, Show, Chow Chow, Affair

Yes Love: 93, Y66, 8062, Y110, 876, Y22

Flormar: PO48, PO47

Kiko: 274

Andreia: 111

Essence nail art glitter

Her son picked out a candy for my boys, yummy chocolate!

Dulce picked out handmade delicious candies for me!  They are honey hard candies, LOVE honey!

Oriflame Sweded Nature Secrets hand cream

My absolute favorite chapstick ever!  I LOVE LABELLO!

My fingers are crossed Dulce gets her package from me this week too!  Please go check out her blog, she has some beautiful polishes to show off and has fabulous swatches!  And it's so fun to see what other brands are out there in the great big nail polish world of ours.  http://miminhosqueeugosto.blogspot.pt/

SWAP FROM THE UK - ROYAL NAIL MAIL!

What seems like forever ago I joined a nail polish group.  I immediately knew two things.  1. I would love all the girls in the group.  2.  My bank account would suffer - seriously.  Fortunately for my bank account lots of swaps are always going on and I was able to get in on one with an awesome gal named Jo.  It's nice talking to and hearing updates from Jo, because like me she has 3 kids and they are about the same age as mine.  So I can relate to her and the excitement and difficulties that comes with kids.  We are also the same age and we LOVE nail polish!  So we share the excitement over new and hard to find nail polish frequently.  How could we not become friends, right?!
So I had posted a few pictures of Revlon Whimsical and Popular a while back.. Jo really wanted Popular so we set up a swap and checked out wish lists and picked up some fun stuff for each other.  
Here's what she sent me!  

The stash!

Barry M: Red Black, Denim, Indigo

Models Own: Hedonist, Balearic Sea, Disco Heaven, Ibiza Mix, Thunder & Lightning

L'Oreal Bluebell, Lizzie Wicked, 17 Juicy, VIE Midnight, VIE Bedazzled, Front Cover Guinea 

yummy yummy candy goodness!

Thanks so much Jo!  I had a major fun time opening this package!!

Models Own Indian Ocean

I have another ultra pretty polish to show you today.  It's Models Own Indian Ocean.  Indian Ocean came out recently as the spring/summer addition to the Beetlejuice collection.  It's a due-chrome like the originals.  

I didn't know about the originals when they came out, but I was all over the new additions!  I needed them and was glad MO put together a package set with a few of the original collex with new ones.  Happy camper over here!  I reviewed Tropical Sun recently and you can see it here.  Loved the glory goodness of that one as much as I love Indian Ocean.
I knew Indian Ocean was going to be sheer, so I layered it over 2 coats of Orly Pixie Dust.  Pixie Dust is a periwinkle shimmer that is quite pretty on it's own.  But I needed undies and this was the lightest blue shade that I own.  
I topped Pixie Dust with 2 coats of Indian Ocean.  IO isn't watery, but it it VERY sheer.  It will not build up on it's own, I'm certain of that.  But on top of another polish it's stunning!  It has a very prominent pink shimmer that looks almost golden in some lighting.    
So here it is…you can get Models Own Indian Ocean at Harlow & Co. or the Models Own website: http://www.modelsownit.com/.

May 19th is Holo Day!

Today is a fun post for me.  A group of my nail polish friends (aka polish hoarders) thought it would be fun to have a theme day when we all wear the same type of polish and blog about it.  And we decided today is Holo Day!  There are many participants and they are all great gals and fabulous swatchers/photographers!  I feel genuinely lucky to call them my friends!  Just so you don't think we are all totally nuts, we talk about lots of things and they aren't always polish related.  (:



So here is my mani for Holo Day.  Both holos I used are by Layla, Ocean Rush and Mermaid Spell.  I started with 2 coats of Mermaid Spell.  The first coat was quite sheer.  The second coat built up nicely.  Once my nails were completely dry I used scotch tape and created a V centered at my cuticle on each finger.  I pressed the tape down firmly so no polish would leak under.  Then I brushed 2 coats of Ocean Spell inside of the taped V.  After a few minutes of dry time I pulled up the tape and was left with this totally cool looking design!  I finished it off with topcoat and viola, my Holo Day mani is born!  
I'm very pleased with it and am looking forward to my next group mani day!

Check out some of the other Holo Day participants!