Zoya - "Dominique"

Zoya's "Dominique" is another one of my acquisitions from the nail polish exchange promotion deal. **Please excuse my horrendously dry cuticles** I bought this purely because of the name. (FYI - "Dee" is one of many nicknames I've been given over the years) Yes, I'm a dork for buying this simply so I can respond to the "Ooo what's the name of this polish you're wearing?" with, "Dominique". LOL (I actually had the opportunity to do this when I was with two of my girlfriends and they both exclaimed, "Yeah right! Are you serious?!" When I told them that Zoya's polishes all have female names, they asked if there are polish colors with their names. Guess I' not the only dork!! LOL) Growing up with a unique name (Dominique seems to be more common now than back in the 19-XX-ties) made it hard for me to find any "personalized" souvenirs (like those keychains or mini-license plates at theme parks or tourist attractions), so when I saw this I thought "HOW COOL IS THIS!!!" (As a side note, this whole scenario reminds me of the Simpsons episode where the family goes to Itchy & Scratchy Land, Bart and Lisa go to the gift shop and Bart can't find his name, but there's "Bort"...check out the YouTube clip if you have chance - "BORT")


Anywho, Zoya's description on its website is "Very bold medium orange-toned brick red creme. Not a subtle color by any means, this vampy red is ultra-provocative!" I don't necessarily agree with the whole "vampy" "ultra-provocative" part, since it seems like any other red creme. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty color with good application and it's the Big 3 Free which is a plus, but I guess part of me was thinking of a red with a little more "oompf". When I asked my husband if he thought this color was "me" (as in was it my style or represent my personality), he said, "No, I pictured you more as a purple-colored polish." He knows me best ;)

Does Zoya have a polish that shares the same name as you? Did you get it? Do you like the color??

Submission for Polish Hoarder Disorder's Weekly Challenge - Color Accent

One of the blogs I regularly follow (and my fave by far), Polish Hoarder Disorder, does a weekly challenge.  Up until now I've always liked watching from the sidelines, but not participating, either because I don't have the time (deadlines are usually Friday at midnight), the resources (haven't purchased that Konad Stamping Set), or the "know how" to send in a submission.  However, her challenge this week is a "Color Accent" mani: use grey, black, white and ONE color as an accent.  The deadline is tonight instead of last night, so I figured, "I can TOTALLY do this one."  Mind you that I've never done any sort of nail design before, and my skills as an artist are the next step up from "caveman drawings", so this is really my first time doing anything outside of just putting polish on my nails.  (It's been years since I've even given myself a french manicure!!!)  Anyhow, here's my submission for the challenge:

I used American Apparel's Factory Grey as my base, Orly's La Vida Loca as my accent color, and then Sally Hansen's nail pens in Black and White to fulfill the other two polish requirements of the challenge (strangely enough I don't have bottles of black or white polish).  My idea for the design was "a car's racing stripe".  You know, you see a beautiful Mustang or other muscle car with this nice wide white (or some other colored) stripe going up the center of the car....I guess I watched too much of "Pimp My Ride" when it was on MTV.  LOL

While it's not quite to my liking (the perfectionist in me kept saying "You can do better"), I figure it's pretty good for a first try.  I LOVE the color of La Vida Loca, which is why I chose it as my accent color.  I had some other candidates, but I figured this is a unique color, and since my design is so simple, I had to add something special to make it "pop".  What do you think?  Is this something you'd wear?  I'd like to try it again once I've perfected the technique and do a comparison :)

Whyyyyyy??????????????

*Update on the nail tear situation* - After finally thinking that the silk wrap did the trick and that trouble was behind me...WRONG!!!!  I put the silk wrap on Tuesday night, went threw majority of Wednesday and outlook seemed hopeful.  I went to wash dishes (I was wearing brand spanking new gloves btw) and as soon as I finished cleaning I whip off the gloves to find THE PATCH CRACKED IN THE SAME SPOT AS THE TEAR!!!!! AGAIN!!!!  This sucker refuses to be fixed.  UGGGG.  I don't know if it was the heat from the water that loosened everything while being in the glove, or I buffed the nail more than I should have, which weakened the structure, but whatever it was, I've applied another patch.  Hope this works.....

The Mother of All Nail Tears!!!!!

While I was getting ready for work yesterday morning, I reached down to open one of the sink cabinets. To give you some background, the doors to my sink cabinets are weird in that they are old and outdated things with tiny little handles (think the size of a doorknocker of a dollhouse) located in the MIDDLE of the door.  (more ornamental than functional) To make the process of opening said cabinets even more difficult is that they are sealed from within by magnets.  So I try and pull at the corner of one of the cabinets, not paying attention to what I was doing and LOW and BEHOLD I catch the corner of my thumbnail, my nail polish peels/chips off the corner ruining my mani, and I get a small tear.  I was annoyed at the polish chipping because it was pretty noticeable and it meant that I had to take off all my polish before trying to get out the door on time for work.  I didn't really worry about the nail tear since I have this lovely little nail repair kit, which I tossed into my bag.

I've used this only one time previously and it worked really well, so as soon as I got to work, I applied some glue, threw on some powder and went about my work.  Towards the end of the day I notice that the repair didn't hold, and to make it worse it got bigger!!! ( > o < )  I'm disappointed in this product and will not be using it again.  I got it because it was cheap and I definitely got what I paid for.


I remembered a tip from a book I read where it said you could use kleenex as a patch.  I grabbed some kleenex, applied some glue and that seemed to work.  

I awoke the next morning to find that my second attempt to fix this tear failed.  I remembered that a piece of teabag used with nail glue could ALSO be used as a patch for a torn nail, and that previously worked for me.  Got to work, applied glue and patch...more glue....more glue....OKAY.  I go about the rest of my day, check on the patch...still holding...good good!  BUT when I come back from the gym, I notice that my THIRD attempt to fix this stupid tear has failed and my tear is worse.  (FYI...this tear is below the quick and it's deep enough into the nail bed that it would be impossible to try and salvage by cutting and filing it down.)

I whine and complain to my friend/co-worker and then immediately search the web for a better solution.  I find this lovely tutorial using silk wraps by a fellow blogger, My Simple Little Pleasures.  (Click here to view her tutorial)  I get the necessary items and am in the process of putting the finishing touches to this patch.  I'm hoping FOUR times is a charm.  Here's the offending nail:

OUCH!!!  I'll post an update if this works. Stay tuned...

Urban Decay's Aquarius from the Summer of Love Collection

"Aquarius" in Natural Sunlight

"Aquarius" taken indoor with flash

After seeing this collection swatched by Scrangie I had to get my hands on it. Here are the pros for this polish:

• Color is gorgeous!!
• Application easy
• Good durability.  Usually I have tipwear and some minor chipping after a few days, but I applied this last Wednesday and didn't have problems until yesterday morning (more on that later)

The only thing that really bugged me about this polish is that it was sheerer than I expected.  I applied three coats and still has Visible Nail Lines (VNL).  Maybe they'll be less visible if I use a ridgefiller. 

( o _ O ) ???

Glitter & Sparkle

There are two ways to break from the traditional or classic nail polish colors: (1) Neon or other bright color (2) Glitter!!  Who doesn't like a little bling now and then?  Here are some random swatches of glittery polishes for your enjoyment. :)

Nfu Oh #52: A dark blue/purple base with green micro-glitter and larger green flakes.  The color reminds me of peacock feathers, but a friend of mine referred to it as "very mermaid".  This polish is tricky to capture.  It's really a bit darker than how it's pictured here.  I took this indoors and used the flash because I wanted to try and catch those lovely irregular flakes. (Don't think I was too successful)  In any event it's a gorgeous color.  I received a lot of compliments when I wore this one.

Sinful Colors' "See You Soon": Black with blue micro-glitter.  The application was "meh" but I liked the dark base with the shimmer of blue.  This was three coats, I think.  (Shot indoors with the flash)  Here's what it looks like in natural sunlight:

Zoya - "Roxy": Magenta Jelly Base with Fuchsia glitter.  This is one of ten polishes I acquired from the Zoya Nail Polish Exchange program that ended last month.  My first time using this brand and so far I'm pretty pleased with it.  The wear is nice and the application is pretty easy too.  I had to use 3 coats to make it look nice and even.  

Indoor Shot (Natural Light)

Outdoor Shot in Sunlight

Let's Do This Thing!

I've been debating for some time whether or not to start my own blog and share my love of nail polish...will I have the time? will anyone even read it?   Obviously I decided to go for it. While I've always been into nail polish and doing my own nails, I've only recently discovered that there are blogs about nail polish.  (Should have been a "well duh" moment, but I assumed that there were only blogs about fashion and make-up....)


The purpose of this blog is mainly swatching - showing real life examples of how a nail polish color looks on a live person rather than on some computer generated tool of what it "would" look like if you had the bottle of polish right there with you. Even when you go to buy a bottle of nail polish at a store, how do you know that the color looks good on you, or that the application is good or not? It's not like they give you a free mani before you purchase, like a polish "test drive" or something. If this can be of any help to total strangers...Great! If it's just a blog that my friends check out now and again, well, at least I have a hobby! :)

Here are a couple O.P.I. swatches (unless noted otherwise, all swatches are 3 coats polish, plus base and top coat):


Mod About You: Cotton candy pink.  It's opaque, which I love, because most pinks out there are sheer.  The first coat went on kind of streaky but it evens out after that.  It was easier to apply than the dupe I bought (Essie's Fiji), which was a TOTAL NIGHTMARE!!

Here Today..Aragon Tomorrow: I think it's a "Robin Hood meets G.I. Joe"-type of green.  Please excuse the tip wear because I took this photo about three days after I first applied.  I'll try and post a better one later on.

Damone Roberts 1968: A minty green candy apple.  It's a special edition polish, and unfortunately I only purchased one bottle.  It's one of my faves so I'll have to make it last.