Zoya - Ginger

Ginger is a bright orange with gold shimmer.  It's not quite neon, though it looks like it is in at least one of my photos.

Basecoat:  Zoya Ridge Filler (1 coat)

Color:  Zoya Ginger (3 coats)

I didn't use a topcoat here because Ginger didn't need it, especially not just for a swatch.  There's still a tiny bit of VNL but I don't think it's enough to bother me.

Application was great - no dragging, easy cleanup.  I don't know why I've never worn this, though - maybe because I like screaming neons in the summer and this just seems a little too bright for winter.

Wet N Wild - 9.0.2.1.Orange

Wet N Wild 9021Orange (I'm not going to type out all those periods) is a glass-flecked orange.  It looks like it would fit in perfectly in one of the Zoya collections we've seen recently.

Basecoat:  Gelous (1 coat)
Color:  Wet N Wild 90210Orange (3.5 coats)
Topcoat:  Sally Hansen Insta-Dri (1 coat)

Application was not too bad for this polish.  It got glitters EVERYWHERE, though, so cleanup was kind of a pain.  As you can see, I have very visible nail line after 3.5 coats, and it's more obvious in real life.  That said, I do really like this color, and it is super sparkly.

Icing - Orange shimmer mini

I picked up this Icing mini set probably a year ago or more.  All of the polishes have a barely visible shimmer, and all of them are fairly opaque.  I wouldn't call any of them neons, but they are definitely bright polishes.  This set contained a blue, apple green, yellow, and orange.  I'm sure it probably had at least one other color, but I've forgotten since.

Basecoat:  Gelous (1 coat)
Color:  Icing orange shimmer (3.5 coats)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

This polish was pretty thick - possibly because it had been sitting in my untried drawers for a while.  It was opaque but still streaky.  I used 3.5 coats because I thinned it right before my third coat, and so the .5 is to cover up any remaining bald spots.  The shimmer doesn't really come across either in my photos or in real life.  Still, this is a nice color - again, it's not quite neon, but it's definitely bright.  I have a noticeable drop in bottle level, which I don't usually notice in mini bottles of this size.  That's disappointing.

Heaven - Sunshine and Misa - Endless Keys

When we moved into our new house, we had no idea where any grocery stores were, or what was the most convenient one.  We checked out an Albertson's nearby, and I came across a display of Heaven polish.  I've never heard of this brand, and I don't think I've ever seen this brand reviewed on any of the blogs I follow.  Most of the colors were kind of meh, frankly, but they had a few neons, so I took a closer look.  When I looked at the bottom of the bottle I saw that this brand is made by Blue Cross (maker of the Liquid Euphoria and Touch-Up Paint brands), so I threw a few in my cart.

Sunshine is a neon orangish-yellow.  The bottle alone really freaked out my camera - it is a tad more orange in real life.  I would say it's pretty similar to China Glaze Sun Worshipper, but I'm not going to compare them.  I actually wore this on its own before I started posting again, and when I was looking at my untried Misas I decided this would work as underwear.

This is two coats, over one coat of Insta-Dri Whirlwind White.  This photo was taken with no flash, and the color is more accurate here.  If I was going to wear this on its own I would definitely add a third coat, but then if I was going to wear it alone I would have cared more about my sloppy white coat underneath, too :)  You can see I have a little bit of dragging and a couple of bare spots.

Here's a closer look at my application.  This polish does not self level, at ALL.  Like most neons, it doesn't dry glossy, so you will probably want to use a topcoat.

This is Misa "Endless Keys".  It is part of the summer collection, and so far all of them seem to be sheer-ish than I like.  Endless Keys is a little more muted in real life, even in the bottle.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Instant Artificials (1 coat)
Color:  Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White (1 coat)
Color:  Heaven Sunshine (2 coats)
Color:  Misa Endless Keys (3 coats)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

Lots of coats here!

Amazingly, I didn't have any shrinkage with this many coats.  Endless Keys had the usual great Misa application - smooth, not too runny, easy to control and clean up.

Sinful - Summer Peach and UFO

Despite its name, Summer Peach is in no way peach, and if I saw a peach this color I would not even think about eating it. Summer Peach is a bright screaming orange neon. UFO is the orange version of Nail Junkie and Hottie.
UFO looks more muted than it is only because Summer Peach really freaked out my camera.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: Sinful Summer Neon (4 coats)
Color: Sinful UFO (3 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (2 coats)

I originally was just going to wear Summer Peach. I got to four coats and it wasn't streaky or anything but I still had really noticeable VNL. What's a girl to do? Add glitter.

Summer Peach had a sort of difficult application. For the fourth coat I added some thinner to my bottle and that really helped. UFO had typical application for a Sinful glitter bomb.

This is a lot of coats and I fully expect to have shrinkage tomorrow, but that's fine. I really love these Sinful glitters - I think I have all the colors they made, but if they make more I'll be buying those, too.

Sally Hansen - Snappy Sorbet and Orly - Heat Wave

Snappy Sorbet is an Insta-Dri polish. I've been trying to use Heat Wave for a while, but it's so sheer I knew it would have to be on top of something else.

Snappy Sorbet was kind of an application fail. It is on the thick side for an Insta-Dri, and while it covered really well (I used two coats), it didn't self level at all.
Heat Wave is a sheer orange sparkle. Snappy Sorbet is a pink-leaning orange/coral, but Heat Wave was enough to push it to the orange side, as well as adding a ton of sparkle.

Basecoat: NailTek Foundation II (2 coats)
Color: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Snappy Sorbet (2 coats)
Color: Orly Heat Wave (2 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

A short housekeeping note: I think I'm going to delete the tags for color names. My tag cloud is getting ridiculous, and so far I haven't worn something twice since I've started this blog.

Have a great Monday!

Color Club - Lava Lamp

Today I have Color Club Lava Lamp. This is a bright neon orange-red.
This is definitely a jelly finish, but it's not as sheer as some jellies. It looks nice and squishy on the nail.
Basecoat: Salon Sciencs Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color: Color Club Lava Lamp (4 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

Application was good. Flowed nicely, tended to be a little runny, but not too bad. Cleanup - apparently harder than I thought, looking at the photo above! This is a hard one to capture accurately, too. I still have a little bit of VNL but I'm satisfied with the result.

Have a great week - new post Thursday night.

Essie - Haute as Hello

Today I have Essie Haute as Hello. I got this as part of a mini set - I was after Pretty Edgy, but my usual Ulta didn't have it in the full size. Of course, after I bought this I did find the full size bottle and bought it anyway.
Haute as Hello is a bright pastel orange. Very hard to describe color. On some blogs this looks neon, but it just looks like a bright pastel on me.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats - my nails are a little longer than usual right now, so I want to be careful while I decide whether to grow them or not)
Color: Essie Haute as Hello (3.5 coats)
Topcoat: Out the Door (1 coat)

Application was typical for an Essie. Nice formula, but prone to streakiness. I still actually have a tiny bit of VNL, but I'm the only one who notices it.

All that said, I really love this color. It's a nice bright summer color without being eye-searingly neon. I do love an eye-searing neon, but sometimes I want to tone it down some. I think I am going to buying the full size bottle of this.

Zoya - Paz

I wore this from Saturday through Monday. Zoya Paz is a neon orange. I would call it a jelly, because it has that kind of squishy feel without the usual neon streakiness.
I opted not to use a white basecoat (I don't own a Zoya white anyway), but because I hate VNL so, so much, I might use a nude basecoat next time. This photo is outside, under overcast skies:

And this is inside, in a lightbox.

Basecoat: Zoya Ridge Filler (1 coat, for opacity)
Color: Zoya Paz (4 coats)
Topcoat: Zoya Armor (1 coat)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

This wore really well for the short time I wore it. Application was great, as it usually is for Zoyas. Cleanup was a breeze, too. I still had VNL but I was able to overlook it. Next time I would use a nude base, though.

I acquired Paz in the 2010 Zoya Exchange. I was trying to use my oldest untrieds, but now I'm just picking anything I feel like wearing.

I didn't think this was very similar to Say Cheese, but I had a friend that I saw on Friday night and again on Saturday night, and she swears they are the same color, even though Say Cheese has shimmer and Paz.... doesn't.