Cirque Curiosity Swatches

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Today I have the gorgeous Cirque Curiosity to show you. Curiosity is a beautiful bright red (it leans just a touch towards blue, but is very well balanced). The polish has a jelly base loaded with tiny gold flakes that form a shimmery finish. In the bottle the gold flakes seem very obvious, but on the nail they are absolutely perfect, very visible without overpowering this gorgeous red.

The formula was very good, not too thick or too thin but completely opaque in two coats. I wore this polish for three or four days without any wear, in fact, the photos you see below are after about three days, and it still looks just as gorgeous as day one!

Curiosity has been on my wishlist since I first saw swatches of this gorgeous red, and I'm a fan of the Cirque brand (particularly when I can catch their sales, since they are on the pricey side of indie polishes). In my collection of reds I can't say that Curiosity is absolutely unique, but it has a great formula and is a perfect choice if you're looking for a golden shimmery red.

Cirque Curiosity retails for $13 USD and is available for order online.

OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls Swatches!

Today I have just a quick swatch for you, this is OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, my new favorite white! I remember when the OPI Spiderman Collection was first released, everyone was talking about how fantastic My Boyfriend Scales Walls was, and I can't believe it took me so long to try it!

My Boyfriend Scales Walls is a beautiful white creme with just a hint of grey. It's still very white, but just a touch less stark than some white cremes. The grey hint makes it much more wearable than any other white I've worn.

The formula on My Boyfriend Scales Walls was good, but pretty typical for a white creme, and clean-up was essential. I had some streaking with both the first and second coats, so pictured below is three coats with topcoat, and it looks perfect.

 I normally won't wear white nail polish because it looks so much like white-out that it isn't flattering at all. My Boyfriend Scales Walls is a very clean, wearable white, and I absolutely love it! Do you wear white nail polish?

Julie G Gumdrops Collection: Blueberry Fizz

I'm sure everyone has been seeing the Julie G Frosted Gumdrop collection textured polishes around lately. I ordered the full Gumdrop collection when it was available on Groupon, but Julie G is also available at Rite Aid and I'm even starting to see these polishes show up in the nail polish sale groups on Facebook. Overall I'm very happy with the collection and I happened to get them for a great price, making them even better in my book!

Today I'm wearing Blueberry Fizz, a beautiful light blue textured polish with a sparkly finish and a silvery base. It's definitely blue, but has just the slightest purple hint to it. I adore light blues in the summer and Blueberry Fizz is absolutely perfect. The formula was great, opaque in two coats, and it dried very quickly. I decided to wear it with topcoat (the textured finish actually annoys me) and was happy to discover that it doesn't look much different with top coat, but it's smooth and shiny.

The first few pictures are without topcoat, and the last couple are with a single coat of Seche Vite. It is a bit less sparkly with topcoat, but since this polish in particular is very silver-based the topcoat didn't change it too significantly.

With topcoat:

Have you tried any of the Julie G textured polishes? These were my first Julie G purchases and I'm impressed!

Nail Foils - Ice Blue Crush (from Dollar Nail Art)

Quite some time ago I bought some nail foils from dollarnailart.com and I finally go around to trying them out! This is my first experience with foils, and I'm quite happy with the results.

I started out with a base coat of Butter London Artful Dodger because I wasn't confident that I'd be able to transfer foil onto the whole nail without bald spots and I didn't want my naked nails showing through. My base polish was several days old and completely dry. I applied the nail foil glue, let it dry until it was clear, then pressed a small piece of the nail foil carefully onto the nail, pressing around the edges. When I carefully peeled off the clear backing I was left with a beautiful foil on my nail!

With nail foils there is definitely a bit of wrinkling, so don't expect a perfect finish. Personally, I didn't mind the minor wrinkling I experienced. My index finger is the worst with wrinkling because it was my first foil, and I got progressively better as I went. If you look at the free edge of my nail you will notice that there's a bit of Artful Dodger showing through, so I'm glad I used a base color!

I experimented with the foils topped with Seche Vite on a color wheel and discovered that it caused wrinkling, so I opted for a LED cured gel topcoat (Gelous). The gel topcoat didn't cause any significant wrinkling since I cured it very quickly. Since nail foils are glued to the nail and not polished, they don't last as long as nail polish, or the nail polish strips that I have used. These are a lot of fun and perfect for a special occasion.

Here's my attempt to make a GIF to capture the depth of these nail foils that is unmatched in any polish!

Overall, the foils from DollarNailArt are exactly what I wanted in nail foils and very fun to wear (although they will be for more of a special occasion for me). The only problem with the DollarNailArt website in my opinion is that they have a $25 minimum order, which is a lot if you haven't tried foils before.

***Please note that I was NOT sent these foils to review and that I purchased them with my own money. ****

Reswatch: Dandy Nails Come Out and Play

The last time I swatched Dandy Nails Come Out And Play was over a year ago! Since then, Come Out and Play has continued to be one of my favorite (and most complimented) polishes.

Come Out and Play is a beautiful violet purple polish with small white glitter. The overall look of this polish is very unique and incredibly cool. The white glitter is matte in finish, not reflective at all, so Come Out and Play is a beautiful polka-dotted purple.

The jelly base beautifully shows all of the glitter, yet it's opaque in 2-3 coats (depending on how thick you apply each coat). Best of all, the wear time on this polish is fantastic, it goes days without chipping. I can usually wear Come Out and Play for 4-5 days without even a hint of tipwear!

You may notice something is missing in these photos... it's amazing how big of a difference a solid colored background makes!

Dandy Nails polishes (including Come Out and Play) are available from her Etsy shop where they retail for $8 for a 0.5 oz bottle. 

Butter London Artful Dodger

Before I share this gorgeous polish with you, there's something we need to talk about... Google Reader.

I'm sure you've been seeing blog posts everywhere about the end of Google Reader and Google Friend Connect (or GFC) which many of you use to follow my blog. In July, Google Reader will cease to exist and we will all have to find alternate ways to follow our favorite blogs. I sincerely hope that you enjoy my blog and would like to continue to follow it and stay in touch with me after July 1st!

Here are some great options to keep following Polish Etc:

1. Bloglovin'
1. This is the easiest way to keep following Polish Etc!
2. Bloglovin' has a format very similar to Google Reader so it will be a familiar way to follow all of your favorite blogs. 
3. Bloglovin' allows you to import all of your Google Reader feeds, so you won't have to individually re-follow all of the blogs you currently follow.
   
   
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1. Each of my blog posts automatically posts to Google+ including a thumbnail image and a preview of the blog post. 
2. Add Polish Etc to your circles to see blog posts!
3. RSS feeds
1. (from wikipedia) RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.
2. There's a lot of great RSS feed readers that let you follow your favorite blogs, so pick your favorite and make sure to add Polish Etc!
4. Tumblr
1. Each of my blog posts automatically posts to Tumblr, so if you are on Tumblr, it's a great way to keep following my blog!
5. Twitter
1. Since Twitter is naturally fast moving, it's not the most ideal platform to follow a blog.
2. I post a link to every Polish Etc blog post on Twitter, so if you are active on Twitter, it might be a great way for you to continue following my blog. 

I really hope you choose to continue following Polish Etc! :D  Swatches after the page break!

Neon Patchwork Mani

Do you ever have nail art that just doesn't work out like you want it to? Well I do... quite frequently unfortunately. The photos that follow are the results of my nail fail.

I started out with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, a beautiful grey-toned white. It was a blank canvas just begging for some nail art so I decided to use a few of my neons in an abstract color-block mani. Since the neons were sheer my color ended up being uneven. I used striping tape for the outline, which was too thin for my heavy handed application and I colored outside the lines at times, making this quite the nail fail.

Colors used: OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (white base), Essie Shake Your $$ Maker (green), Zoya Ali (pink), China Glaze Orange Knockout, Orly Royal Navy (blue) and Butter London Matte Top Coat.

What do you think, definitely a nail fail? What's your worst nail fail?

piCture pOlish Wisteria Review

Today I have a polish that was very recently on my nails (yesterday in fact) that I just have to share! This is the stunning piCture pOlish Wisteria.

Wisteria might be one of the most beautiful purple polishes I own. I'm usually not a big fan of cremes because they can be boring but Wisteria is anything but boring. It's a bright purple creme, and no pictures I take do it justice. It's a light purple, sort of a neon pastel because it's very bright yet still creamy and white-based.

The formula on this polish was excellent, it was opaque in two buttery smooth coats. A while back piCture pOlish changed their brush style to a slightly wider firmer brush and it's absolute perfection for the perfect application. Wisteria also dried quickly and clean up was a breeze.

What amazed me most about Wisteria was how long I wore it without chipping. I wore this polish for 5 days, compared to my usual two. I just loved the color and couldn't bring myself to take it off. After 1 day I filed my nails, which should have made it more prone to chipping. Instead the polish lasted a full 5 days without any chips!

I absolutely adore this color I can't explain how much I love it. It's bright and soft, feminine but not too girly. Love! I did finally trade it in for a hot pink (Pretty Serious The Pink One) but I'll be wearing this polish again soon! What's on your nails today?

piCture pOlish Wisteria retails for around $12.50 USD and is available from Llarowe (USA), Harlow & Co. (CAN), and directly from piCture pOlish (AUS). Select piCture pOlishes are also available from Ninja Polish (USA) and Mei Mei's Signatures (SIN). 

Butter London Victoriana Swatches

Today I have an absolutely stunning blue to show you: this is Butter London Victoriana. Now, I know people are pretty split when it comes to the Butter London brand, either you love their formula or you hate it (I'm a lover), some of their colors may not be very unique, but you can't argue with me that this blue isn't absolutely stunning and unique.

Victoriana is a medium, dusty, teal toned blue loaded up with foil-like shimmer. The color is deep and rich yet soft. I love this color, there's something about a soft blue that looks great on anyone. Butter London actually calls this one a glitter, but that's definitely large foil particles to me.

Victoriana has a lovely formula, it's smooth yet pigmented, and incredibly fast drying. I used two coats for the photos below, and one thin coat of topcoat.

Just look at those gorgeous macros! I need to wear this polish more often, it's totally unique in my collection. What do you think?

Ozotic 617

Do you ever get in a mood to wear the same color of polish over and over again? I definitely do, and I've been wearing a lot of blues lately. I'm usually a red kind of girl but I just haven't been feeling the reds lately. Today I have the gorgeous Ozotic 617 to share you.

Ozotic 617 was on my wishlist for quite some time when a friend found it for me for a great price. In my experience, Ozotic is quite well known for their duo/multichrome finishes, but they really make a spectacular scattered holographic. 617 is a light sky blue loaded with scattered holographic particles. The particles are so dense than you can definitely see the full rainbow effect in direct light. I love how this polish is light colored without being pastel blue (which would look awful with my skintone).

The formula on this polish was fantastic, I was pleasantly surprised that it was opaque in two coats since it has such a light colored jelly base. It dried quickly and very smooth, and this is pictured with one coat of SV.  I often have problems with polishes in humid weather (humidity really makes polish bubble as it dries) but this dried smooth even with my hot, humid, South Carolina weather.

I just love this color, and it looks fantastic on my skintone. Don't you just love scattered holos?

Pretty Serious BSOD Swatches

Today I have one of the most beautiful blues in my collection, Pretty Serious BSOD (named for the sadly well known blue screen of death).  BSOD is a gorgeous bright teal blue loaded with just so much sparkle!

The base is sort of a neon-jelly teal blue loaded with silvery microglitter. When I say loaded with glitter, I mean loaded, this blue is intensely sparkly and I absolutely love it!

The formula on this one was good, application was smooth and easy (and it dried pretty fast). I did however feel the need for a third coat to hide my visible nail line. Now, the white tips of my nails tend to be particularly bright white, so you may not feel the need for a third coat. Either way the third coat added a significant amount of depth to the mani. This isn't the type of glitter that dries rough and eats top coat, I used a single coat of top coat for a smooth glass-like shine.

I really can't get enough of this sparkly blue, it even looks great on my nubbins! What do you think of this super sparkly blue?

Cartoon Nails!

Some time ago after breaking the corners off of several nails I decided to try rounding my nails. Normally my nails are rectangular in shape, or a rounded rectangle, but after repeated breaks months ago I rounded my thumbnails and I think they look great that way. I had hoped that round nails would look good and break less frequently than my current nail shape. I had round nails for about a week but I ended up hating them with a passion. I quickly squared them off again but I hated most of the manicures I did during that time, except for these cartoon nails.

These cartoon nails were so fun to wear that I just had to share them with you. They aren't very well done technically (as you can see the ring finger is smeared quite a bit) and my nails are extremely short, but I love how fun it looks.

I started with two coats of Zoya Sooki, then used Cult Nails Nevermore (the black) and a striping brush to outline my nails (which is much harder than I expected it to be). I added the white reflection with Cult Nails Tempest and topped it all off with Butter London's Matte Top Coat.

Have you tried cartoon nails? I was inspired to try cartoon nails by my friend Erica with her awesome manicure. I really love how this looks and it was really fun to wear!

Pink and Black Stamping!

It has been a long time since I've done any stamping! I pulled out my stamping plates the other day and my favorite black for stamping (Cult Nails Nevermore) and get to work.

I stamped with Konad M-69 , a nice argyle pattern, over Pretty Serious The Pink One. I absolutely love the combo of black and pink, it feels a bit punk rocker to me. I can tell it's been awhile since I've stamped, my pattern is a little bit smeared!

That's all for today, keeping it short and sweet. :) What do you think of this combo?

Butter London Posh Bird Swatches

Sometimes I see a swatches of beautiful polishes that inspire me to buy that polish instantly (usually spending more than I should, I typically don't pay retail for polishes). Butter London Posh Bird was one of these such impulse buys. I saw the gorgeous swatches by Essie of iHeartPrettyPolish and fell instantly in love. So in love that I immediately ordered it from Butter London's website for $15 plus shipping (which was quite expensive if I remember correctly) because I absolutely had to have this limited edition polish (I remember wondering how long limited edition polishes would last and freaking out that I might somehow miss it if I waited to order it). Why is it that when someone says limited edition it just makes me want it more?

So onto the polish, which I love, but sadly don't love as much as I had hoped. First of all, Butter London describes Posh Bird as a taupe glitter polish, and it most definitely is not. I think they should re-assess what they define as glitter polish because I consider Posh Bird a greyish-taupe shimmer polish. The shimmer is made up of big particles, which remind me more of foil particles than anything else. Posh Bird has the same exact finish as the gorgeous Butter London Victoriana.

The formula is the same as most Butter London polishes (and identical to Victoriana) which I happen to love, but I know some people don't care for. It's a nice thin yet opaque consistency that is easy to apply with their small short brush. This is two coats of Posh Bird with base and top coat.

Overall, the greyish-purple-taupe of Posh Bird didn't look the best with my skintone and I think I'm a little bit disappointed in it. It's beautiful, but not as unique as I was expecting and probably not worth the money that I spent on it. Sometimes though, you just have to have it.