I’m sure everyone is getting really sick of me going on and off hiatus, then apologizing, then disappearing again. Believe me, I know it’s annoying and I feel awful about it. Unfortunately, I’ve had very little free time since I started my new job and things don’t look like they are going to get better any time soon. So, I would like to propose a compromise? I’m still taking photographs of my nails when I do them… even though I haven’t been able to do them as often as I did before. Also, I still have a massive back log of photos that I’ve taken over the past few months. Until my schedule clears up – I’m going to post the photos without or with very little commentary. I know some of you may be thinking, “what’s the point?” Well, I think most people visit the site to see the photos anyway. I’ll try to be diligent about answering questions from the comments section that way I’m not just throwing the pictures out there in a vacuum. It’s temporary, I shouldn’t be insanely busy forever… right? (Oh man, I hope not.)

I really loved the light pinks from this collection, delicate and work appropriate. My favorite from this collection is Cubby Cheeks – it reminds me lobsters. : )

(WTH is that… ectoplasm?)

As some of you may know, I’ve been on hiatus because I was studying for the bar exam. What you don’t know is that I was utterly and totally convinced that I failed the exam. The testing occurs over the course of two days. The first day, the Florida portion of the exam, beat me down and ultimately broke me. I walked out of the testing center, did the walk of shame back to my hotel room, thought about how I would be staying there again in February to retake the exam and I cried. Yes, it really was that bad. The questions were just absurd and completely unexpected. I could have memorized the study materials word for word and I still wouldn’t have known the correct answers with absolute certainty. The second day consisted of the MBE (the national portion), it was hard but very fair. My hope was that I would score high enough on the MBE to make up for my major failure on the Florida portion. The problem is… you have to wait almost 2 months for the scores to be released. I was hanging over the edge of a cliff over these scores.

Then, finally, the scores came in the mail. Not only did I pass, but to my complete disbelief, I actually scored very well on both portions.

What does all this have to do with nail polish? Well, sometimes life throws some pretty perplexing stuff my way and when it does I take the opportunity to find a color that expresses how I feel.

The name says it all. OPI It’s Sheer Luck is a ultra light pink toned off-white with a frost finish. This is 3 coats. This color was originally from the Las Vegas Collection (Spring/Summer 2003) but I believe it became part of the main Soft Shades Collection all of which are available on an on going basis.

I know what you guys must be thinking – is she really posting a Valentine’s Day mani… in September. I know, I know, but I’m trying to catch up on my mani photo back log. Back in February I decided against posting this mani, mainly because everyone else’s Valentine’s Day manis were so elaborated and beautiful. Mine paled in comparison.

I’m a pretty big fan of the Maybelline heart polishes. Sadly, I’ve only been able to snag one bottle over the years because the displays are ALWAYS empty when I find them. My sole lonely heart polish is Clearly In Love and it’s comprised of medium grain silver glitter suspended in clear polish with silver holographic hearts. Some girls complain about the application of these polishes. They’re finicky because the hearts are big and heavy enough to make it fairly difficult to apply strategically using the brush. If you want a random pattern of hearts, like in my picture above, just use the brush. If you want your hearts strategically placed, try using the fine point of an orange wood stick to pick the hearts off the brush and position the hearts carefully on the nail. This mani used two coats of the Maybelline Clearly in Love.

The base color here is Essie Status Symbol, a mid-tone pink and a semi-jelly consistency, from the Spring 2009 Collection. Speaking of Essie – take a minute to take their survey. They’re trying to fine tune their customer service and you can get a promo code for a prize after completing the survey.

This is a pretty surprising collection for Essie, not a pink or red in sight, I love it. With the exception of Shelter Island, these colors are pretty unique and I hope to see Essie release more shades on this side of spectrum. *Channels images of green glitter a la Essie Ruby Slippers and Essie Starry Starry Nights to Essie Weingarten* (Just an aside, but has everyone gotten a load of the dark greens this season or what!?!?!?! I know all the bloggers love greens but I can’t help but to feel a little responsible since I constantly complain about that lack of greens on the market. It’s just my poor luck that I’m on a no buy now that we’re finally getting some options! Still though, it’s great to know that we’re finally having some influence over the market.)

Ah, reviewing colors is not as easy as it used to be. I’ve been away from the nail polish game for so long that my color match recall is not up to par. Greenport is a muted green toned aqua creme. I want to say that it’s similar to Misa Dirty, Sexy, Money but not a dupe, I believe DSM is moodier. I really can’t say for sure though and finding DSM in my once immaculate but now disastrously messy stash will be next to impossible. But I do plan to do swatch comparisons as soon as I can get everything in order once more. (When will I stop making excuses you say? Neeeevaaar!) In any case, the color itself is unique and I’m glad to see variations on aqua because I don’t have many in my stash. This was a 3 coater for me; not the greatest application ever but not excessively streaky either.

Shelter Island is a somewhat muted sky blue in the same vein as Zoya Yummy, OPI Just Groovy, and Misa Right Here Now, No More Later. It might be a dupe but, again, I can’t say for sure. There will be a comparison post of all four in the very near future. This was a three coater for me, but the application wasn’t horrible.

Sag Harbor is the stand out in this collection. The color is a cementish light bluish gray. Yes, I know, cement is not usually associated with attractiveness but it works here. The finish is a light frosty pearlescent shimmer that is barely visible, it casts depth to the color. The consistency was a little thick so I had to use 3 coats to even everything out. This color is a little deceptive. In my photo it’s a bit bluer than it should be, it’s more gray in real life. In the bottle it’s like a lightly blue tinted gray but on the nail (this possibly has something to do with my skin tone) the blue is a lot more obvious. So… looking at the bottle on Sunday night I thought, “hey, I might be able to get away with this at work!” Not quite, it’s waaaaay too noticeably blue. I’d say it’s okay for most office environments save for the markedly conservative offices. But I do love the color so I’m wearing it anyway.

I’m back! Things are going to be a bit slow at first because, frankly, my life (and nails) are still a huge mess. But rest assured, I will respond to all the emails and comments very soon. Posting frequency should pick up shortly thereafter.

In any case, I know you’ve all seen it but here’s Color Club Catwalk Queen Collection. Like Femme Fatale,  this collection is composed of sheers and solids that can be mixed, matched, and layered. I like this collection but it’s a little depressing looking at these pictures. The photos are from a few months ago, my nails were so long back then. Man, the bar exam takes away everything.

Catwalk Queen, the collection namesake, is a vampy tyrian purple with complex amethyst and subtle blue shimmer. This swatch was 3 coats but this polish is pigmented enough that coverage would be fine with just 2 coats. (This image is a little blurry because I was trying to capture the shimmer – I failed. The shimmer is way more obvious in person.)

Fashion Addict is my favorite from this collection. Lilac holographic? Sign me up. The holo is medium grain like the holos in the Femme Fatale collection. Like Worth the Risque and Revvvolution, the holo has a greenish cast. The polish gets darker with each layer so it’s slightly lighter with 2 coats, this picture is 3 coats.

Here’s a shot of the holo flash. I hope Color Club does a few more holos in the future because these were just superb. Personally, I would love to see a dark green holo.

Front Row Diva is an extremely pale gray that leans towards lavender, it has a pearl finish. It’s chic and work appropriate – which is pretty much all I’m wearing now so I’m stocking up on colors like this and you’ll see plenty of them featured here in the months to come.

Runway Muse is one of those sadly deceptive duochromes. In the bottle, it’s a predominately green duochrome that flashes pink. On the nail, it’s a frosty sheer with pink shimmer that only flashes a subtle green rarely. I so wish that the bottle appearance was comparable to the on nail result, nonetheless, it’s pretty amazing over black. Scrangie has all the sheers from both the Femme Fatale collection and the Catwalk Queen collection over black on her site.

Vintage Couture. Scrangie called this a mod lilac pink baby creme and that’s definitely the best description for this color so I’m going to steal it from her. It’s pinker on the nail than I expected but it’s still pretty stark. The application was finicky. I forgot to write down exactly how many coats I used but if I remember correctly, I believe it took 4 to even everything out.

Ready to Wear is my current NOTD and as you can see my nails are little yellow nubbins right now. *More sobs*  Ready to Wear is a frosty opalescent sheer with warm pink shimmer. Usually sheers like this require 4 layers but I actually got good coverage with 2 coats, but since my nails are so yellow, I went ahead and added another layer. Edit: I’ve been wearing this color for a full day now and I want to revise my review. It’s definitely a duochrome, it’s not really noticeable until you see it in sunlight. It flashes a warm light coppery gold tone, almost some what metallic. The mixture of the gold and the pink reminds me of a sunset. I love it when colors present surprises in the sunlight.

As many of you already know, recently Ji Baek of Rescue Beauty Lounge gave me, Scrangie and Michelle from ALU the unique opportunity to create our own shade of nail polish for her collection. I’ve gotten dozens of emails from you guys concerning my color which has been inadvertently shrouded in mystery. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t able to post it sooner. I didn’t mean to keep everyone waiting. I’m still studying for the Bar exam so, sadly, I won’t be able to give this color the gushing attention I want to give it, at least not for another two weeks.

So, without further ado here it is… Orbis Non Sufficit:

I don’t think it’s shocking to anyone that I chose a shade of green. (My love for dark greens is an illness.) When Ji first approached me with the possibility of creating my dream color, my first reaction was – flail – AHHHH…. ZULU. This was during the dark long long ago when I didn’t own it yet and I was still lemming it something fierce. But, it dawned on me that it would be silly to waste this chance by ripping off a color already in existence (no matter how badly I want to stick it to NARS and ebay scalpers) and instead I should use this opportunity to create something that was more reflective of me.

If you’ve spent any time on my site at all, you know that I love dark, moody, mushroomy colors. I wanted to go with something edgy – I had three shades in mind. A muted shade of combat green, a mountbatten pink or a jelly black with black glitter a la China Glaze Ruby Pumps. Jelly black with black glitter is the holy grail – apparently, it’s an impossibility because black glitter has to be so pigmented that it sinks to the bottom of the bottle creating a gooey mess that cannot be applied properly. (I was pretty sad to hear that especially because I already had a name picked out for it, “Quoth the Raven.” I had to throw back to my boy Edgar if I was going with something black.) Mountbatten pink, while freaking awesome, was too run-of-the-mill and I felt like most people would want to punch me in the face for choosing a purply-pink no matter how bad ass.

Obviously, green was my only option.

I’m really pleased with the end product. Orbis Non Sufficit is a dark moody grayed-out combat green creme. Like all Rescue Beauty Lounge cremes, it applied like a dream, perfectly pigmented. It’s a one coater but the swatch pictured is two. As for the name, it’s the Bond family motto. Translation: The World is Insufficient (or rather, The World is Not Enough.) I know, cheesy, but what can I say? I love the cheese like I love the green.

With all that said, I miss you guys!!! I have been reading your emails but I’ve only been responding to the ones that are time sensitive. I promise – in two weeks – you’ll have me back in full force and every single email and comment will get a reply. I’ve been doing my nails all summer (I didn’t give it up to help maintain my sanity) so while I haven’t been swatching, I do have tons of new images, not to mention that I’ll be posting the three million collections that have come out since I’ve been gone. Stick with me! : )

Dearest Friends & Readers,

As many of you know, I’m about to make the transition from academia to real life. Just in the past 5 days, I have graduated, moved all my junk to a new place (still haven’t unpacked, ugh), and started a new a job all while also studying for the bar exam. Unfortunately, because I have to work full time while I’m studying for the bar, I have to stop doing all the things I love. Sadly, nail polish and blogging will have to go on the back burner until after the exam. Regular posting will resume around August 3rd – and I have a toooon of cool stuff to show you guys including all the spring and summer collections from China Glaze, Essie, OPI, Zoya, Barielle Shades and Color Club that I haven’t posted yet and also a ton of polish from Adoree, Orgasm Cosmetics, Eyeko, and many others. I know my blog has been very slow for about a month now and I do apologize, the last semester of law school was surprisingly difficult and this whole transition thing is extremely time consuming. I really hope you guys will stick with me through this tough period. : )

Much Love,

Stephanie

P.S. I wore Chanel Gold Fiction to my graduation as per one of your suggestions. Also, the stash survived the move with no casualties and I absolutely LOVE my new job. I have to say, it’s really weird to have my own office… I’ll even have my own secretary soon. Aaahhhh. I just can’t get used to it. haha. I haven’t had a chance to reply to emails or comments but I will try to get to it as soon as I have some free time. Bear with me!

Overall, this has been an excellent season for nail polish. Even so, of all the Spring collections I’ve been able to get my hands on so far, Misa Living on the Fast Lane is by far my favorite. First and foremost, a collection of all cremes – you guys know how I feel about cremes. Sorry shimmer lovers; creme is forever king on The Polish Addict. Second, although I wouldn’t necessarily call most of these colors unique, as I have some dupish colors in my stash already, I truly, truly love the entire collection. I actually really wanted to wear all these colors as opposed to just swatching or wearing them for the sake of posting. Finally, all the colors were well pigmented and applied exquisitely. Misa is stepping up the game as far as quality goes, that’s for sure.

Misa On the Edge is a very stunning dark royal blue. It’s much darker than Essie Mesmerize, and very similar to OPI Dating a Royal but slightly deeper, darker, and more opaque. My picture is not accurate in terms of the depth and darkness of the blue. It’s definitely a darker blue in person. This is 3 coats, but it looked good with 2 coats.

Misa Dirty Sexy Money is a grayed out aqua… perhaps turquoise? It has the honor of being called my absolute favorite color of the season. I simply do not have the words to describe how much I love this color. Unique, edgy, yet chic. And I think it really suits my skin-tone. It’s perfect in 2 coats. This one is definitely taking a spot in next year’s top 20. (I promise, I will finish this year’s top 20!!)

Misa Push Upon It is a marooned raspberry. It’s a very elegant, sexy shade, with perfect application in two coats. It’s a tad lighter than OPI Miami Beet which I have yet to swatch. Push Upon It is actually pretty similar to Zoya Moxie.

Misa Right Here Now, No More Later is a bright sky blue. Applied well at two coats but this swatch is 3. I haven’t done a side by side swatch but in the bottle, the color is practically identical to Zoya Yummy and OPI Just Groovy. The one difference is that both Yummy and Just Groovy have finicky applications while RHN,NML applied very well.

Misa Speed of Life is a bright tangerine orange. Like all the others it applied well, this is 3 coats. This color was actually pretty surprising. I was expecting a bright but dusty light orange because of the way the color looks in the bottle but it’s actually a very bright orange-y orange… if that makes sense.

Misa Stop Rewinding, Just Fast Forward is a bright mango-y red. Again, great application, this is 3 coats but it looked good at 2 coats. Like Speed of Life, this color looked dusty to me in the bottle but it’s pretty bright on the nail.

I’ve asked you guys to send me any stories of bad customer service, fraud, or other questionable business practices by nail polish companies or e-tailers. One reader, Rachel has been having a huge problem with Footsiesbiz.com since last November. Here’s is the story in her own words:

“Hi there,
I emailed you last November (I remember it was just before the election! BOO Palin) about my ridiculous experience with Footsies (footsiesbiz.com). Last I mentioned, they had taken my money after an order in September or October and gone completely AWOL. Many attempts to contact them were fruitless. I filed a complaint and then a dispute with paypal and nothing came of it.

Well, update:
Paypal settled the dispute in my favor, BUT said they were unable to provide any sort of refund. Stupid, no?
Better yet: many weeks later, I received a haphazardly-shipped package from footsies. You will love this: it was full of a totally random order! I had ordered several Color Club Neons and one China Glaze. What I received: two bottles of the same Color Club, one bottle each of two other colors, and 5 or 6 completely random and totally ugly, never-heard-of-before polishes. Like, some dollar store crap from the 90’s. Do not want! Also, no receipt, nothing. It was like they were saying “here, take this and f%^& off!” complete and utter scam.

So that completes my woeful tale of being scammed by footsies.”

I’ve never heard of Footsies or had any experiences with them but I’d be interested in hearing if any of you had any encounters with them, positive or negative. And I’m pretty shocked to hear that Paypal didn’t refund the money. Shame on them.

I typically don’t flip out over sales but this is a truly extraordinary, once in a life time gift from the nail polish gods. Rescue Beauty Lounge was running a 75% off sale of their bath and body products. Apparently, there was some sort of glitch in the system that allowed some people to get 75% off their entire order, even though the discount was meant for bath and body products only. In response to one would-be buyer’s thoughtful, honest email about how she did not place an order because she knew that the code was only meant for bath and body products and thought it was be dishonest to take advantage of what was obviously a glitch, Ji Baek is offering this one time conciliatory sale.

Tomorrow from 12 to 2 pm EST, you can get 50% off of all Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes if you buy at least one bath and beauty product, using the code Mea Culpa. I know a lot of you guys hesitate to buy RBL because of the hefty price so definitely take advantage of this amazing offer. Here are my swatches of some of Rescue Beauty Lounge colors.

OPI Give Me the Moon was included in the 2007 Summer collection Night Brights. Not a particularly ‘bright’ color per se, but definitely a unique, interesting color. The base shade is like an icey gray but the dense blue iridescent shimmer gives it a bluish over all glow. It’s definitely a sheer-ish color but this swatch is only 3 coats.

Here is a photo taken with flash to exhibit the exquisite shimmer.  I’d be interested in comparing this color with the new OPI Breathe Life (which I have yet to obtain, curses!) The base color looks different but Breathe Life seems to have the same shimmer that makes this color so great.

I am overwhelmed with sorrow whenever I see The Nailphile’s KOTDs. I die a little inside because I know that no matter how hard I try, Konad will always hates me. In this pitiful state I’ve learned to love, and see beauty in, my failed attempts… it’s not an ugly konad failure, no I say, it’s um… art deco. The accident pictured above is just such an example, the stamp is not supposed to look like that, but in this case I actually like the final product. This konadicure is Misa Dirty Sexy Money (one of my favorite new colors for Spring 2009) and China Glaze VIII used with Konad plate 65. VIII is a gorgeous deep purple creme, however, the formula is too thin so it’s not really suitable for Konad. The result is similar to a linoleum stamp print. The look works with this particular pattern, perhaps not with others. I actually don’t own very many Konad special polishes. I don’t know why but I just can’t bring myself to buy them without first exhausting my stash for a normal polish that works well with Konad. I haven’t found a good purple Konad polish substitute so I think I’m finally going to give in and get their purple polishes using The Nailphile’s WowSoCool 20% code. Unless you guys have any suggestions for me?

I haven’t gotten a chance to reply to recent comments yet but I will soon, I promise.

I’m ashamed to say this but I totally forgot about the first anniversary of this blog coming up. If it hadn’t been for my thoughtful friend and reader, Kyosuke, I would have forgotten completely – I’ve just been so swamped with life lately, I apologize.

In any case, I thought for this special post I would reflect a bit on what this blog means to me personally. I started The Polish Addict last year during the final examination period. I’m a notorious productive procrastinator (I procrastinate by doing everything other than the thing I’m supposed to be doing) and this site was just the newest project in a long line of things I invented to absorb my study time. I never expected that this site would become as popular as it has become but I am so glad that I endeavored to write it. This site has enriched my life, truly. I have made so many wonderful friends along the way. I thought the best way to celebrate this anniversary would be to show you guys a polish sent to me by one of the amazing people I had the pleasure of encountering through blogging. My friend and reader Magda sent me this polish all the way from Poland.

This picture just doesn’t do this color any justice at all. Vipera 558 is green micro glitter suspended in black transparent polish. The shimmer is extremely complex and gives the polish a stunning multi-dimensional depth. It flashes different shades of green and copper. Honestly, 558 is one of the most beautiful polishes I have ever seen. The application was flawless. I don’t know much about this brand. I haven’t encountered it in the United States so I’m assuming it’s only available in Central Europe.

The forces of the universe have been conspiring to prevent me from posting this collection. First, a while back, I decided to take a new approach to swatching. Instead of just painting my nails for a quick photo and just writing about my brief opinions, I decided to actually wear all the colors in collections I review. The result was a copious amount of notes on each color, similar to what I usually write for posts on manicures. But then, to my chagrin, the evil google virus did away with all my efforts. As far as nail polish goes, the notes lost, are the equivalent of the Library of Alexandria burning down. Sadly, here are my briefer impressions based on what I remember from wearing this colors.

Color Club had an interesting concept for this spring collection, these colors were intended to be mixed and matched to create various funky frenches. I can totally see where they were going with that idea, these colors (a mixture of shimmery sheers and opaques) do compliment each other well in the french format. However, this collection also lends itself to amazing layering combinations. I would have loved to have shown you guys the sheers from both Catwalk Queen and Femme Fatale over black and white but I’ve been so busy I just haven’t had the time. But, fear not, Scrangie has some great swatches of these shades over black.

Color Club Femme Fatale consists of ultra sparkly pink and yellow toned micro-glitter suspended in a gel like whitish polish that applies clear. This is 4 coats, it’s simply gorgeous over black. (Please excuse the perpetual yellowness of my nails.)

Color Club Oooooo La La is a stunning, wearable white with a pearl finish. I usually don’t like pearl finishes but I absolutely loved this color. This is 3 coats. The application was a bit off – the coats applied unevenly so you have to be careful to be apply as evenly as possible. While I would consider this color a PITA, it’s not impossible to work with and I think the pay off is worth the extra effort. This color is perfect as a base on which to layer the sheer colors in this collection.

Color Club Oui! Oui! Oui! consists of a very fine green shimmer in a sheer whitish base. My picture isn’t very accurate as far the shimmer, the green is way more obvious in real life. This one is also stunning over black. I believe this swatch is 4 coats.

Color Club Revvvolution is just, wow. WOW. I guess I might be biased because I love all holos – but this one is particularly brilliant. It’s a dark charcoal, pretty much black for all purposes, medium grain holo. The holo has a predominately greenish cast to it. Revvvoltion is very well pigmented. For me, it was essentially perfect in one coat but I applied two for good measure. I haven’t done a side by side swatch, but from memory, I can tell you that this is darker and more opaque than OPI My Private Jet. MPJ is one of my favorite polishes of all time, but I actually think that Revvvolution might take it’s place.

I’ve gotten a lot of complaints about the quality of my images of holographics so I’ve been trying to find alternative forms of lighting that are better suited to showing the holographic effect of these polishes. This picture isn’t as vivid as Revvvolution is in real life but I think you get the idea.

Color Club Where’s the Soiree? is a black creme that doesn’t dry glossy. It’s not exactly matte, but closer to a satin finish. It applies well in 2 to 3 coats. I would want to maintain the unique finish so I would probably either use no top coat or a matte top coat. Where’s the Soiree? is also perfect as a base for layering the other colors in this collection.

Color Club Worth the Risque is a medium grain holographic silver with a bluish cast. Like Revvvolution, the holo has a greenish cast to it. It’s a 2 to 3 coater. LOVE it.

Here it is in different lighting… *drool/dies*.

Even though I spend the GNP of a small country on polish, generally, I can’t bring myself to dish the big bucks for Chanel. I’m lucky though, Chanels seem to find their way to me despite my resistance to buying them. Chanel Cosmique 28 came to me by way of the lovely RaspberryBeetle who was also responsible for the best thing that ever happened to me. Aside from the fact that this polish is another example of RB’s other-worldly kindness, I know absolutely nothing about Cosmique and google was no help. The origin of this polish is a complete mystery to me.

The mysterious Cosmique is a very chic blue, actually, it’s an almost black with a deep blue sheen. It’s very fine blue shimmer in a smokey semi-sheer black base. I don’t have Chanel Blue Satin or Sally Hansen After Midnight  for comparison but word on the street is that all these polishes are fairly similar to each other.

The application is a bit streaky but it evens out well by the second and third coat. I love the color but my one  major gripe, like with Gold Fiction, is that the bottle is opaque, making it impossible to know how much of the polish remains. Although, I’m starting to feel like that might not be such a bad thing because I become incredibly distressed when I notice a quantity dip in a bottle of polish. The opaqueness hides the sad truth so I can save the craziness for another day.