Color Club - High Society

Here is a nice palate cleanser type color. I swatched another bunch of greige polishes today and decided to wear High Society. (I also decided to go ahead and buy the full size Essie Merino Cool.) High Society is a greige creme.
It is not quite as warm as this photo makes it appear. You can tell from the cap that I got this as part of a box set from Ross - the top is smooth and doesn't have the Color Club logo on the top of the cap. The other annoying thing is that these sets never have names on the bottle, so you're stuck relying on nailgal and Google Images to find out which polishes you have. And, if your Ross is anything like mine, just because the names are on the box, it doesn't mean you actually have those polishes in your box - people swap polishes in and out of different boxes all the time.
This photo is more accurate in color, though I should have used flash for it.

Basecoat: Nubar Foundation (2 coats)
Color: Color Club High Society (3 coats)
Topcoat: Out the Door (1 coat)

Application was excellent, as it usually is for Color Club cremes. Not streaky, not too runny or too thick, very nice. Cleanup was also very easy.

Ulta - Material Girl

I was undecided on what to wear today. Someone on the nail board posted pics of this, and I remembered I had it in my untrieds. This is a berry shimmer with holo glitter.
I'm not gonna lie - application was pretty terrible.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Instant Artificials (1 coat)
Color: Ulta Material Girl (3 coats)
Topcoat: Gelous (1 coat)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 thick coat)

Material Girl is pretty but the application is awful. Thick and goopy, and as you can tell, it's a topcoat eater. At two coats I knew I was going to have to use the Gelous, then Seche trick I first saw on Scrangie's blog, and guess what? As you can tell from the photos, it didn't work. This is still bumpy to the touch and looks it.

That said, this is a pretty polish and I'm still probably going to wear it again. Other application issues aside, I probably could have gotten away with two coats for this, but I tried for a thin second coat and had some dragging, so I had to use a third coat to even it out.

Franken - Black No. 1

I gave in to the dark side and I finally made a franken, simple as it is. I saw this idea on MUA, and since I'm not going to pay big bucks for the holo version of My Private Jet, I think this is plenty close enough. I named it Black No. 1.

Wow, that is a terrible bottle photo. If you click for the bigger version, it's better but not great. Anyway, here it is on.


Basecoat: OPI Ridge Filler (2 coats)
Color: Franken - Black No. 1 (3 coats)

Because this is a holo I didn't use topcoat. To make this, I took a full bottle of OPI DS Shimmer and poured in some Wet N Wild Black Creme. I don't know exactly how much I used, I just stopped when I couldn't get any more in the bottle and shook it up like crazy. I slapped it on and thought it wasn't dark enough, so I took it off and used the new empty space in the DS Shimmer bottle to add more WnW. Shook it up like crazy, swatched it again, and decided that was good. If I had to estimate I would say I used maybe a tenth to an eighth of the Black Creme - I mean, I can't even see a drop in the bottle level.

Because Black Creme is crazy pigmented, cleanup kind of sucked for this franken. Still, I absolutely love this.

China Glaze - Frosty and Party Hearty

Yep, I'm joining in with the Elf Vomit mani.
I don't think I've ever worn a multi sized and colored glitter. I own Milani Gems but it's untried.


Basecoat: Orly Ridge Filler (3 coats)
Color: China Glaze Frosty (3 coats)
Color: China Glaze Party Hearty (2 or 3 coats, I forget)
Topcoat: China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat (1 stinky coat)

I had something at work blow up right as I was doing the glitter coats, which is why I can't remember how many coats this is.

I'm not sure I like this overall. The combination of ridge filler and Frosty is pretty opaque but isn't nearly as bright white in real life as it looks in my photos. I think next time I might wear this over something like Zoya Trixie, or even try a white creme instead of ridge filler.

I have some scheduled posts stocked up for the holiday. Have a safe and merry Christmas, everyone!

Orly - Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is a glass-flecked Christmas-tree green.
If you click on the photo you can see there is a blue duochrome going on in the bottle. I don't really see it on my nails but I also haven't been in the sun with this on, either.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (3 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

I already have a little bit of shrink at my tips. Boo!

Application was really, really good. Much better than I expected for a polish this dark, that's for sure. It was extremely easy to control this, and I didn't have any pooling at my cuticles at all. Cleanup was minimal, and when I did need to do cleanup it was extremely easy.

I probably could have gotten away with two coats on this. I worried a little too much about pulling, I think. Anyway, this is a gorgeous polish. I may add some gold glitter or something tonight (got a work department lunch tomorrow) but I'm saving Party Hearty (aka Elf Vomit) for family celebrations, I think.

Nina Ultra Pro - In a Tiff and Nfu Oh 39

More layers! Going Incognito was LOVE. But, when I took it off I felt like I wanted a break from super saturated colors, so I went for In a Tiff. Not surprisingly, this is the Nina version of the Tiffany blue. This one has a subtle shimmer to it.
Application was not as nice as I usually get from Nina. I might try adding some thinner to my bottle. It was thick and a little streaky. I kind of already planned to put Nfu Oh 39 on top so I didn't worry about it too much.


Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: Nina Ultra Pro In a Tiff (3 coats)
Color: Nfu Oh 39 (2 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

This is nice, but not terribly exciting.

Essie - Going Incognito

Going Incognito is a green creme with a hint of blue to it.
Going Incognito is darker and bluer than Pretty Edgy from the Fall collection (that I still haven't worn). It actually reminds me a lot of the base color of the Ulta green with shimmer I wore a few weeks ago that I can't remember the name of.
Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats0
Color: Essie Going Incognito (3 coats)
Topcoat: Out the Door (1 coat)

Going Incognito has a FABULOUS application. I usually have problems with Essie polishes being thick and streaky, but this was a dream to apply. The best part is that even though this polish is dark enough that I was kind of dreading cleanup, it was a breeze, and I had hardly any staining.

I think this still makes my skin look a touch redder than it really is, but I love this polish anyway.

China Glaze - Mrs. Claus

Mrs. Claus is a sheer red with silver glitter.


Basecoat: China Glaze Ridge Filler Basecoat (2 coats)
Color: China Glaze Mrs. Claus (3.5 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (2 coats)

This is much, much prettier than I expected it to be. Super, super blingy, too. Because this is a colored jelly with silver glitter, the glitter in the first coats gets covered by the sheer color, and the glitter closer to the top doesn't get as much color. This means that it looks like there is a combination of pink glitters of various shades as well as silver. Just gorgeous.

The glitter in Mrs. Claus is not as dense as it appears in the bottle photos, hence the 3.5 coats. I found that I didn't get even glitter distribution so I had to go back and add some in barer spots.

Still, application was great, and the glitter cleanup was a pain, but not more than what you would expect from a glitter. The finish was a little bumpier than I expected and I ended up using two coats of Seche Vite to smooth it out completely. This is a gorgeous polish and if you haven't picked up this beauty yet, do it before it disappears!

Confetti - Moonstruck

Moonstruck is supposedly a dupe for China Glaze Channelesque, but I don't own Channelesque so your guess is as good as mine :) I own a few Confetti polishes but this is the first one I've tried.
CVS, I *really* hate your stupid stickers that leave a HUGE mess when I try to take them off. Anyway, Moonstruck is a mushroomy-taupey creme. I skittled this in my earlier post of nude-ish skittles and this was the one I kept as "untried" to wear later.
Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color: Confetti Moonstruck (3 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Application was pretty good, even though this polish is a little thin. Next time I would either use four coats or use a different basecoat. Fiberglass Network doesn't dry totally smooth, and at three coats the texture was still visible, but topcoat made it almost perfect. Since I am doing my first holiday nails of the season tomorrow night in preparation for a Dallas Symphony Orchestra performance I'm going to the night after that, I don't really care that this mani doesn't look perfect. I don't have to go to the office for any meetings, so this is really to have some polish on, and to look decent if I need to run to the store or something.

Cleanup was super easy, thanks to the thin consistency and light color. I had a little bit of trouble with cuticle pooling but it really wasn't bad.

I still think this color gives me a little bit of lobster hands but it was by far the best of the polishes I tried earlier, so it gets to stick around.

OPI - Have You Seen My Limo?

Have You Seen My Limo is a purple shimmer with microglitter (I'm totally guessing.)
This photo makes it look like this is a multichrome polish, but if it is, it is completely invisible on the nail. At certain the angles the bottle has some cool gunmetal shimmer particles but again, not visible on the nail.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color: OPI Have You Seen My Limo? (3 coats)
Topcoat: OPI Top Coat (1 coat)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Application was not too bad for this polish. Cleanup was a little not-fun but that has more to do with this being a dark base color. The middle photo makes this look like Orly Galaxy Girl but it doesn't look even remotely similar in real life.

I have to admit I'm disappointed with this color. I bought this on eBay after seeing a lot of gorgeous photos on the nail board, but it's just not doing it for me. This feels like a darker version of Catherine the Grape, nothing special.

NARS - Zulu

Zulu is not my usual kind of polish - I am allergic to VNL so I typically avoid jellies. However, I gave in to the hype and picked up both Zulu and Midnight Express.

Zulu is a deep green jelly. I could NOT get it to show up as anything other than black in my bottle photos.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: NARS Zulu (3 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Application was LOVE. The first coat was a little streaky, the second coat was almost right, and the third coat evened everything out perfectly. This polish is so dark t hat I have no VNL at all.

The part I didn't love was that it looks black. I tested this under three different kinds of light indoors and it looked black in all of them. Also, cleanup sucked, and I'm totally going to have jealous smurf fingers when I take this off.

The verdict: Worth the hype. I'll probably save this to wear when I know I'm going to be outside for a while. I think Midnight Express will be the same, though I haven't worn it yet.

Zoya - Anastasia

Anastasia is a brown with multicolored shimmer that flashes gold and purple.


Basecoat: Salon Sciences Instant Artificials (2 coats)
Color: Zoya Anastasia (4 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Application was pretty good. The consistency of Anastasia was a little thinner than I expected it to be, and I needed four coats to be totally opaque. I had some issues with streaking but overall it was a pretty good application. Cleanup was about average.

This is a hard polish to accurately capture in photos. In typical indoor light it looks flat brown. But add any kind of halogen or daylight and it shimmers both purple and gold. Very pretty.

After I wore this for a day I added a coat of Color Club Femme Fatale on top, and it kicked up the purple shimmer a notch but left the base color intact. By the time I took it off I figured out that I liked it so much because it reminded me of Tease-y Does It. I'm not going to do a comparison because I don't think they are *that* similar, but I liked this combo in the same way.

OPI - Tease-y Does It

I wore this on a day where about half the nail board was wearing it, too! Originally I was going to wear Nouvelle Vague but I was also planning to go test drive a car and possibly trade in my beloved Miata, and while I know the salesperson's impression has NOTHING to do with financing terms, I wanted to go a little more conservative. (I did trade in the Miata, by the way, and I even qualified for the promotional 1.9% finance rate, so go me!)
I am actually having a really hard time figuring out what the base color of Tease-y Does It is. I want to say it's a black jelly, but I don't think it's quite black. Anyway, it's a dark jelly base that is loaded with gold and reddish sparkle.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: OPI Tease-y Does It (3 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Application was damn near perfect. Next time I think I can get away with two coats. Cleanup was great, consistency was great, just an all around pleasure to work with. Wear was fantastic, too.

I'm going to need a backup bottle of this.

Comparison: Chanel Riva and Hard Candy Sky

After all the commotion about Chanel Jade, when Riva went on sale I jumped right on that bandwagon. I finally picked up Sky last night so I decided to compare them.
As you can see in this photo, both polishes are pale blue with hidden shimmer. In the bottle Riva looks a touch dustier than Sky.
I actually had a hard time getting Riva's shimmer to show up at all in any photos, but Sky's shimmer just jumps right out front and says "haaaaayyyyyy!"
Here they are on the nail (please ignore my scary dry cuticles, yikes! And also the place where I messed up my middle fingernail!) From index to pinky, I have Riva, Sky, Riva, Sky. I used four coats of each, and to get opacity you're going to need at LEAST three thick coats.
On the nail, under halogen light, Riva is CLEARLY dustier than Sky. You can see here, though, that most of the time you won't be able to tell - they look almost identical on my ring finger and pinky. Both polishes are streaky and sheer-ish, though they build well. As in the bottle, Sky's shimmer is a little more evident.

Verdict: If you're a Chanel addict, get Riva. Otherwise, save yourself some money and get Sky instead. Most people will never know the difference, and they're close enough that even someone familiar with Riva probably won't be able to tell, either.