OPI DS Luxurious

Hi everyone! Here is the second of two new polishes to join OPI's Designer Series this fall. DS Luxurious is a coral orange loaded with tons of shiny, glowy, sparkling gold shimmers.

I asked my husband how he would describe this color and he said "It's orange... with flecks in it... and the cap is nice." Ok, let me try to do a little better than that. :D It is the most intense, vibrant orange with tones of coral and red, and it is full of glistening golden shimmers. As I turn my hand and the light catches it, the polish looks like it is positively glowing on the nails.

The formula for DS Luxurious is just as great as for DS Indulgence, providing smooth, even coverage that is opaque in two coats. OPI totally hit it out of the ballpark with this one. After swatching this color, I promptly removed my pedi color and put this on. I feel like a spotlight should follow me around and shine on my nails at all times so that I can properly show this off! :-)

DS Luxurious will be available starting in September at your local nail salons and beauty stores for $12.50 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Zoya Daul

Hi, wonderful readers! <3

I am wrapping up Zoya's six-piece Diva Fall 2012 Collection today with Daul. Daul is a cool-toned purple with tons of sparkly gold shimmers in a metallic finish.

Just like FeiFei, Daul has these gorgeous micro-glitters that sparkle like crazy on the nails. Daul's inspiration of gold sparkles in a purple base sounds familiar. We have seen something similar before in Zoya Faye. From what I have seen, Faye's base leans more reddish purple while Daul's base leans more blueish purple, although I am not able to have a visual comparison for you because I don't have Faye.

Daul's formula is smooth and thin, so application is a total breeze. You can see it is still a little bit sheer after two coats, so a third coat would be useful if you prefer opacity.

Now that I have tried all the polishes from the Diva Collection, I think my favorites are Elisa, Song, and FeiFei. Elisa is just a gorgeous red that is appropriate all year round. Song is the most vibrant, intense blue. And FeiFei is fascinating with its shifting colors. What do you think of this collection? Will any of the polishes be making it onto your wishlist?

You can find Daul on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 total and free shipping! More info HERE.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Zoya FeiFei

Today I have FeiFei, one of the more anticipated polishes from Zoya's Fall 2012 Diva Collection, to show you. As it turns out, I was almost unable to write this post. I showed this polish to one of my friends before I had finished swatching, and she tried to borrow it. The last time she "borrowed" a polish from me, I have not seen it again since. :P

FeiFei's base is a cool steel blue that is slightly sheer. It contains tons of those big smooth-to-the-touch micro-glitters that Zoya does so well. The sparkling colors of the glitters remind me of the shifting colors of fish scales: gold, silver, blue, and pink. They are clearly visible both in the bottle and on the nails. No sparkles disappearing into the base here.

The formula is just a tad bit thicker than ideal. It results in thicker coats, some pooling around the edges of the brush strokes, and a slightly longer dry time. But that doesn't affect application too much, and I think some thinner should fix that right up. What you see in the pictures is two coats, but a third coat won't hurt if you want total opacity.

You can find FeiFei on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5 fl oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 total and free shipping! Info is HERE.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Hi everyone! Today, I have one of the two glitters and in my opinion one of the prettiest polishes from the China Glaze On Safari Collection to show you. I'm Not Lion is densely packed with small sparkly glitters in a sheer neutral base.

The glitters are silver, gold, and holographic, and are all uniformly small in size. When the light hits the glitters, they sparkle like crazy, with the holographic glitters shining in a variety of colors. The colors given off by the glitters remind me of a spinning disco ball. When light is not directly reflecting off of the glitters, the polish looks to be a neutral taupe color.

Because the glitters are so densely packed and are all small in size, application is quite easy. The polish distributes evenly, so you do not need to worry about careful placement of the glitters as you would some other glitter polishes. I'm showing two coats in my swatches, which is opaque enough for me. I also did not use a top coat in my swatches, so that you can see the interesting sandy texture of the polish.

You can find I'm Not Lion at your local nail salons and at beauty stores such as Ulta and Sally Beauty for a retail price of $7 for 0.5 fl oz.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Zoya Reva - Guest Post at Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom

Hi, lovely readers!

My post today is being featured over at my lovely friend Destany's blog Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom! I'm sharing one of my favorite polishes, Zoya's Reva, so head on over and let me know what you think! :-)

Thank you so much for having me, Destany! <3

Last chance! One day left to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win three Barielle polishes, plus their speed dry top coat, nail protein base coat, and nail strengthener cream!

Zoya Bijou

It has been quite a while since I have featured any Zoya polishes on here, so I will make up for it this week with some Zoya polishes that are perfect for the summer. :-)

Today I have for you Bijou, a bright, almost neon pink with tons of silver and blue sparkles in a squishy, jelly-like finish.

This is such a bright pink in person. The pink base leans slight blue, which combined with the cool-toned silver and blue micro-glitters, just make my hands look super tan when I wear it. Brights and neons are so popular right now for the summer time, so Bijou is quite on-trend.

Because of its jelly-like texture, Bijou is more on the sheer side. What you see is three coats, and some nail line is still visible, which is how I prefer to wear this color. You can play around with the sheerness vs. brightness of this color to suit your personal preferences, with each coat adding more brightness and less sheerness.

You can find Bijou on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5oz. If you are new to Zoya, you can get your first two bottles of Zoya for $8 total and free shipping! Info is HERE.

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for a chance to win three Barielle polishes, plus their speed dry top coat, nail protein base coat, and nail strengthener cream! Just two days left to enter! <3

Barielle Satin Glow

Hi guys! Hope everyone had a lovely Saturday and Sunday, and those in the US are enjoying the long weekend! I'm currently on vacation, but I was able to write up this post beforehand, so that I would have something for you guys while I'm gone.

I have Barielle's Satin Glow to show you. It is a light, girly pink with a hint of peach and lots of pretty shimmers.

Satin Glow is exactly the shade of baby pink I have been looking for. It is light without being too sheer, saturated with enough pink to not be a neutral, and mellow so as not to be too bright. The sparkly shimmers in the polish are more sizable than typical shimmers, so they show up noticeably on the nail. They are predominantly silver, but depending on the angle, you can also see some green, blue and pink sparkles as well.

Satin Glow is a little more on the sheer side. What you see in the swatches is two coats, and there is just a hint of visible nail line still. I like the way it looks, with the sheerness adding to the soft, pink look. But if you prefer total opacity, an extra coat would achieve that with no problems.

You can find Satin Glow on Barielle.com for $8 for 0.45oz, but there is an ongoing sale for buy one get one 50% off.

** This post contains a product that was provided to me by the company for honest consideration. How I obtain the products does not influence my opinion. For more info, please view my Disclosure Policy.

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

I have for you today Mermaid's Dream from Deborah Lippmann. I am super excited because this is my very first Deborah Lippmann polish! I have been wishing for this polish ever since I first knew of its existence, and after hearing that it was starting to sell out at many stores, I took the plunge and bought it. My husband--who puts up with my crazy love for nail polish--accompanied me across town to search for this, and we finally found it at the second Nordstrom we went to. Now that I have this on my nails, I am happy to report that it has lived up to my very high expectations. :-)

Mermaid's Dream is one of two polishes from Lippmann's Spring 2012 collection. It has a seafoam green base filled with golden shimmer, small gold sparkles, and large blue glitter pieces. This polish is unique (I cannot think of a dupe or even one that comes close) and amazingly complex. It is both a glitter and a shimmer, and it is green, blue, and gold all at the same time. On her inspiration for this polish, Deborah Lippmann said the "vibrant blue and shimmering green shades evoke a peaceful, relaxing feel that reminds me of being seaside... that easy, breezy and carefree feeling you would have on vacation." I think she certainly achieved that feeling with Mermaid's Dream.

Application of this polish is great. It goes on super smooth and easy. As with all glitter polishes, the glitters have a tendency to clump together, leaving some spots glitter-free. I find that dabbing some extra polish on those bald spots and then smoothing it over helps to get even coverage. What you see in my pictures is two coats, but there is a small bit of sheerness left. If you want total opaque coverage, I recommend using a blue or green polish as a base first. I also recommend using top coat with this polish, since the glitter makes it feel gritty without.

You can find Mermaid's Dream at Lippmanncollection.com, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus stores, and other beauty retailers, for $18 for 0.5oz.

Julep Portia

Hiya everyone! Hope your week is going along smoothly! :)

Today I have for you Julep's Portia, which is also from my March Boho Glam Maven Box. Portia is a light blue sheer filled with tons of glittery sparkles.

This is one of those polishes where swatches are super useful because it looks quite different on the nail than in the bottle. Portia's base looks distinctively blue in the bottle, but once on the nail, it is so sheer that the base color does not really show through. It is a mostly clear glittery polish, best used as a topcoat over another color. I tried Portia over Alicia in my swatches. You can see that Portia toned down Alicia's ultra bright color and added some lovely sparkling complexity.

Portia has a great formula and is easy to apply, and it dries to the touch in only a minute or two. The glitters tend to clump together on the nail during application, but that is pretty typical of glitter polishes. I find that dabbing some extra polish on the bald spots and then lightly smoothing it out helps to get even coverage.

That's all for today! Hope the rest of your week is fabulous! <3

Zoya Tanzy

During the long and dreary winter months, I find myself continually reaching for bright happy colors as I paint my nails. Tanzy is one of those lovely colors, and it is from Zoya's Sunshine Summer 2011 Collection. It's a tangerine orange loaded with super shiny gold sparkles in a glass fleck finish.

With the first coat, Tanzy looks quite sheer to me, but the second coat (shown in the pictures) brings it to a good level of opacity. If I look carefully after two coats, I can still see faint visible nail line, but it would not be noticeable to anyone else. Wearing Tanzy gives me hope that summer is coming soon, and it was an appropriate choice for today because we got a rare burst of winter sunshine in the pacific northwest.

What colors do you wear to chase away the winter blues?

You can find Tanzy on Zoya.com for $8 for 0.5oz.