Misa - Phazers on Stunning

Phazers on Stunning is a green/rose-beige duo chrome shimmer, and should also be spelled "Phasers", but that's neither here nor there.

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)

Color:  Misa Phazers on Stunning (4 coats)

Topcoat:  Northern Lights Gold Holo (1 coat)

Topcoat:  Revlon Quick Dry (1 coat)

Funny thing about these photos:  When I was taking them, I was having trouble capturing the pink/rose color of this polish, but when I went to edit them I saw that even though all I could see was the green, all I got in the photos is the rose.

Anyway, this is a pretty thin and runny polish.  It was fairly sheer - I needed four coats and I still have a bit of VNL.  To be honest, I don't feel like this is a very exciting color, so I added a coat of the gold Northern Lights holo topcoat, and it didn't really help.

OPI - Meep-Meep-Meep

Meep-Meep-Meep is a pinkish red glass fleck.  The bottle shows a little bit of gold flash but it is totally not visible on the nail.  It is very similar to Ali's Big Break.

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
Color:  OPI Meep-Meep-Meep (3 coats)
Topcoat:  Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat (1 coat)

I like this OK.  It doesn't totally wow me, and it actually reads red a lot of the time, which I'm not a huge fan of.  However, it applied nicely, and seems like it would sparkle in the sun - if we ever got any.

Essie - Play Date

Play Date is a bright light, almost pastel purple.

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)

Color:  Essie Play Date (3 coats)

Topcoat:  Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat (1 coat)

Here's another one of those "I waited as long as I could to take pictures" posts.  This is on the fourth day of wear, and I'd been doing dishes the day before, so I have some pretty good chips and tip wear.

I loved this color a lot more than I expected to.  I am not sure it will go with my summer tan but I can see myself wearing this as a pedicure, absolutely.

Revlon - Starry Pink

Starry Pink is a pale pink jelly with two sizes of silver glitter.

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)

Color:  Revlon Starry Pink (3 coats)

Topcoat:  Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat (1 coat)

Even though I have a hate for visible nail line, I really like this.  Also, my cuticles are super scary in these photos - our weather's been mostly overcast, and I keep waiting for sun to take photos and it never shows up, so I end up giving up and taking photos in the morning.

Anyway, about the only thing I would have changed about this polish is that I would have gone for white or opalescent glitter instead of silver.  The glitter on the bottom two layers looks awesome, but the silver glitter in the top layer just looks weird and umatching.

Zoya - Veruschka

Here's another swatch from long ago.  Veruschka is a deep green polish with shimmer.  This is a matte velvet polish.

Three coats, no basecoat.  I used topcoat on my index and ring fingers, and wow, it is gorgeous with topcoat. 

I do not know why this is, but I feel like the matte velvet Zoyas always have amazing application, and the straight matte polishes are awful.  Is it just me?

Models Own - Purple Blue

Purple Blue is a sparkly duochrome. 

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)

Color:  Models Own Purple Blue (4 coats)

Topcoat:  Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat (1 coat)

This polish was a little bit thin and runny.  I had some bald-ish spots after three coats so I went for a fourth.  Other than that, though, application was pretty good and cleanup was surprsingly easy for this much sparkle.

Initially I was disappointed in the lack of duochrome.  Then I went into another room that had no lights on (to pet the cat) and whoa!  Transformed from "meh" to "LOVE" just like that!

Butter London - The Black Knight

The Black Knight is a black jelly base with tiny multicolored gliter (mostly magenta, blue, and either gold or silver).

Basecoat:  NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)

Color:  Butter London The Black Knight (3 coats)

Topcoat:  Gelous (1 coat)

Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

Excuse the rough-looking fingers and cuticles - I'm almost midway through knitting a large blanket from super chunky 100% wool.

Let me start with the good, no - the great.  The base is perfect.  It is opaque enough to cover, and sheer enough that you don't lose any of the glitter, even at three coats - the glitter is way obvious even in inside light.

Now for the not so good:  Application was AWFUL.  Easily one of the worst polishes I've ever worn.  I don't know if it's the consistency of the polish (thick and a bit gritty), or the long-bristled brush (that I normally adore), but I could not control this, at ALL.  I really had to glop it on to make sure I got coverage where I needed it.  Maybe it's the combination of the brush and the consistency.  I don't know.  Needless to say, this went everywhere, and while the base color cleaned up easily I am still picking glitter off (I'm writing this before I take photos). 

I actually looked through my stash and ruled out some Nubar glitters because I didn't want to deal with the layers of topcoat.  I figured Black Knight wouldn't have this issue, but surprise - it so did.  It was so gritty after just one coat that I knew I'd have to pull out the Gelous. 

I think I will try this again, but over black.  I'll try not to get my hopes up.

Color Club - Nomadic in Nude

Nomadic in Nude is a beigey-grey creme.

Again, I got this one a boxed set - I would not have purchased this color on my own.  Three coats, no top or base coat.   I don't totally hate this color on me, it's just not my thing.

Zoya - Dita

Dita is a bright berry pink creme.

Basecoat:  Zoya Ridge Filler (1 coat)

Color:  Zoya Dita (3 coats)

Topcoat:  David (1 coat)

However, these photos are literally the only place where it doesn't read as red.  So disappointed.  I was hoping this would be my go-to pedi color, but once it's applied... I had to try to get it to show as pink, and the huge majority of the time it just read as red.  Too bad.

Application was good, no problems with cleanup.  Minimal stainy-ness on the cuticles, even though this is a pretty pigmented polish.  I do want to note that there is a bit of VNL, both in photos and in real life, which is a shame.  I actually think it's a little more evident in real life.