Quirius Erin Island

I'm squeezing this post into the last few hours of the last day of August, desperately trying to ignore how hot & humid it is right now. I don't know where my head is, but I managed to forget to write in my polish notebook what base & top coat combo I used. Somebody take away my polish fiend badge.

Quirius Erin Island, morning sun


Three coats to even out the color. While not completely unworkable, the consistency of this polish is a bit chalky and streaky. But I'm completely gaga over the color. Neon pastel green = Kitty Love. I wish had captured the neon better.

Quirius Erin Island, shade


Note the teensy chips on my middle and ring finger. I have no idea how that happened in less than 12 hours. Obviously this one isn't going to have long staying power on me. Still, gorgeous.

Quirius Erin Island, noon sun with water decal


And finally, I had to add a water decal. Water decals are so much easier for me than nail stickers. This particular design is from the blogger sample pack I got from Viva La Nails last month. If you've never used water decals before, there's a nice video tutorial on their website.

Zoya Zara

Good morning! (or afternoon or evening....) Today I have for you another Zoya from the polish exchange, the delightful Zara!

Zoya Zara, morning sun


Two perfect coats over a base coat of CND Ridge Out and covered with Poshe fast-drying top coat. Polish consistency was thin and smooth with good coverage. Another winner from Zoya!

Zoya Zara, morning sun


I love this delicate lavender with a touch of pink and the golden shimmer gives it just the right amount of Pow! look at me! It's beautiful. And looking at it reminds me of something...ah, you're going to laugh at me. It reminds me of a My Little Pony doll I had when I was a little girl. I don't remember her name, but she was lavender and had these transparent wings that snapped to her back and a pinkish mane...I haven't thought of My Little Ponies in years. It's funny what triggers memories, isn't it?

I'd just like to take a moment to let you know I really do appreciate all your comments. I've been bad about responding to them lately but I do read all of them and I'm working on catching up. Coming up, a few more NYX swatches and another Quirius. You all have a great day!

Quirius Love in Hawaii

I believe I've mentioned before that I like to collect polishes with names that refer to Hawaii, regardless of whether I like the color. Quirius Love in Hawaii has the bonus of being a gorgeous mildly-neon pink creme.

Quirius Love in Hawaii, morning sun


Quirius Love in Hawaii, morning sun


Quirius Love in Hawaii, morning sun


I chose to use 3 coats (had minor OCD moment) but it is pigmented enough to use two. Love in Hawaii dried with a matte-ish finish as neons do and had a tendency to streak if I brushed over the same spot too often. Easily fixed with careful application or a third coat.

Now I don't normally comment on wear because I usually change my polish too often to make any real judgement. And personal body chemistry seems to affect how different brands wear on different people, so who am I to say what might work for you? But I gotta say, I wore the heck out of this one. I haven't had the time lately to change polish as often as I get the urge, but if my nails are chippy I will make the time, even if only to go naked. Quirius Love in Hawaii wore so well on me I didn't even realize how long I had been wearing it.

Quirius Love in Hawaii, shade, Day 5


The chip on my index finger is what finally urged me to change my polish. When I went back to my polish notebook I realized I had been wearing Love in Hawaii for five days. Was it the base/top coat combo? Possibly. I used CND Ridge Out for the base and Poshe Fast Drying top coat. Whatever it was, I'm glad it worked!

NYX Girls Swatches II

First of all, I apologize that these are not the best pictures. It was late afternoon and clouds rolled in while I was swatching and the sun decided to start playing peek-a-boo. Anyhow, here's Part II of my pick-me-up grocery store haul. These swatches are without base/top coat. As always, click for bigger pics.

NYX Girls Deep Space


Three thin coats for full coverage. Sadly the glitter is not as visible on the nail as it is in the bottle, especially indoors. Otherwise, application was good.

NYX Girls Robotic


Again three thin coats for full coverage. The turquoise glitter in this one is more visible than Deep Space was. Smooth application.

NYX Girls Royal Purple


Three thin coats. The base polish is more purplish than the other two. Royal Purple dried rather flat (matte?) whereas Deep Space and Robotic were fairly glossy without top coat. I added top coat to my ring and pinky finger so you could see how a shiny top coat enhanced the glitter, but yeah, my pictures suck. *sigh* I added a second pic to try (and fail) to make up for it.



Overall, I'm still pleased even though my glitter expectations were higher. Subtle can be good too, right?

I haven't been without polish even though I haven't been able to post these last two weeks. There are several manicure pictures awaiting editing, so look forward to some Quirius and another Zoya coming soon! And there's still Part III of the NYX haul to be swatched!

NYX Girls Swatches I

I've been feeling a little down this month, but nothing a little retail therapy can't help. =D Over the weekend, I discovered one of the local grocery stores is stocking NYX Girls in the pharmacy section. At 1.59 each, I couldn't resist buying a few (or eight!). I thought I'd show you a few swatches today. Being swatches, these have no base or top coat.

NYX Girls Luscious Green, 2 coats, morning sun


NYX Girls The Taupe, 2 coats, morning sun


NYX Girls Chick Lit, 2 coats, morning sun


Anneliese, sneaking out the window!


I was surprised at how well these applied. Luscious Green seemed thin on the first coat, but the second coat was so smooth and easy. There is a bit of a bald patch on my pinky, but that's because I goofed getting my camera out. I thought I fixed it up alright, but cameras don't lie, lol.

The Taupe (haha, I love that name for some bizarre reason) had an unusual consistency. Not bad, just...different. I don't quite know how to explain it. At first I thought it was going to be horribly streaky, but I just let it be and each coat self-leveled. I think if I had tried to fix it I would have created problems. Left alone, it took care of itself. And so shiny!

Chick Lit was like Luscious Green. A nice smooth application, a bit thin on the first coat, but with a nice color payoff on the second. I'm in serious like with that one. Overall, I think these are great for the price. They certainly cheered up my day!

A Layering Experiment (Warning! Pic heavy!)

Last week I wore Zoya Yasmeen and Zoya Tallulah, both lovely polishes, but the sun refused to come out long enough for me to take decent pictures. Rather, the sun came out while I was at work & I'm not brave enough to take pictures of my nails at work, lol. I can only imagine the questions I'd get.

Anyway, I gave up on waiting for the sun and moved on to a new manicure, a layering experiment that's been simmering in my head for a few weeks. I probably took too many pictures. Rather than go on and on about it, I'll just let you see for yourself. XD

















I'm in love. I didn't want to take it off. Eventually I had to, the tip wear was pretty bad. Oh wait, you want to know what its made of? Here ya go (in the order of layering):



Hot Topic Iridescent Blue was the first layer. A Perfect "10" The One was next (this is very similar to Pure Ice Oh Baby). Third layer was BT Snow Angel, a polish brand I've only seen in this one clothing store in the mall. There are other polishes out there with that golden-green glitter, I'm sure. And finally Nfu-Oh 52, gorgeous thing that she is.

So what do you think? Did I do good? I've got another idea simmering that involves reds...