And now for the second set of colors from the Rescue Beauty Lounge Emoting Me Collection (Nearly two weeks later!! Sorry!!!)

Rescue Beauty Lounge Thank You is a very light, muted nude toned pink with very subtle fuchsia shimmer. The shimmer creates a somewhat frosty effect. This color is very delicate with a hint of glimmer, perfect for conservative work places. The application, like some of the other colors in this collection was a bit on the thick side. This swatch is 3 coats.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Become One is a leafy yellow toned green creme. It is my absolute favorite color from this collection. This color fills me with feelings of happiness and nostalgia. It reminds me of childhood, of beautiful colorful leaves, of crayons, of Luigi! This photo is a little bit inaccurate, it’s a little more yellow-toned in real life. The application was good, very smooth but it did get thicker with each coat. It’s definitely a stainer though, so double-up on base-coat.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pause is a very pigmented, vibrant mid-toned violet with subtle purple and blue shimmer. I feel like I can’t fully appreciate this color because of my purple-hatred. As far as application, like the others, it is also a bit thick. This is 3 coats.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Smile is a gorgeous, vivid mango pink with subtle fine gold shimmer. This one was not thick like the others and applied very well. This is 3 coats. I want to say I’m usually not moved by colors like this but who am I kidding? I’m such a sucker for these red/pink/coral/orange chameleons even though I hardly ever wear them.

 Bah. I’ve been going through an abnormally excessive amount of stress lately. So much so that I’ve been getting physically sick as a result. In an effort to take the edge off, I’ve taken up a few new hobbies. While I love nail polish collecting, it isn’t as relaxing as it used to be… probably because I still feel like I’m catching up. I’ve been trying out vegetable gardening for the first time, quite successfully might I add. *toot my own horn* I’m really enjoying it so far because it’s something that I get to do with DH and it’s just about the coolest thing ever to watch plants grow. Not to be a total cheese-ball but it’s pretty fulfilling. I’ve also taken up an old hobby, compulsively checking out and hoarding library books (obvi with good intentions of actually reading them) haha. I’m also trying to do my nails with more frequency. In the long, long ago when I had all the time in the world, I did my nails every day. Every. Day. Crazy, I know. Now I’m lucky if I get to do them more than twice a week. Although I do love my new unwinding techniques, nothing beats a shiny, glossy new mani in a great color.

Do you guys have any hobbies other than nail polish? How do you relax and unwind?

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Disclaimer: This collection was sent to me for review by Rescue Beauty Lounge.

Originally, I was going to split this collection into two posts but, to make up for my absenteeism, I decided to photo-bomb you all. The China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection is, I believe, China Glaze’s first foray into the indie glitter aesthetic. Out of 12, 3 polishes fit into that category. Since the indie glitter phenomenon happened while I was gone, my experience with them is limited. I don’t really feel qualified to pass judgment on how China Glaze’s interpretation of the trend stacks up in comparison to the originals. However, as far as the rest of the collection - overall, I liked it. My one criticism is that the collection isn’t as thematically cohesive as I usually prefer, but there’s something in it for everyone.

China Glaze Escaping Reality is a vibrant, bright hot pink creme that borders on neon. It dries a bit matte as neon-ish colors tend to do. This swatch is 3 coats. It applied pretty well, especially considering that neons typically do not. This is 3 coats, but it would have been good at 2. This photo is a bit inaccurate – in real life, the color leans blue.

China Glaze Whirled Away is 1 of the 3 indie glitter-esque polishes in this collection. It’s thin black bar glitter, black medium hex glitter, and very large white hex glitter suspended in a clear base. Like I explained before, I’m not very experienced with these types of polishes. A few more learned bloggers have noted that the fish & dab method is best with these larger hex glitter polishes. That’s what I did for this photo and it worked pretty well for me. Once I had all the glitter placed the way I wanted, I topped it with a very thick coat of Gelous to fill the crevasses left by the dabbing. In this swatch, I layered Whirled Away over Escaping Reality.

China Glaze Water You Waiting For is probably my favorite from this collection. It’s composed of blue micro glitter, very small green hex glitter, and medium blue hex glitter in a blue tinted base. The glitter is buildable - this is what it looks like at 4 coats with absolutely no undie. I used 3 coats of Gelous to smooth it out.

China Glaze It’s A Trap-eze is packed densely with a ton of glitter – I spotted aqua, green, purple, silver, yellow, red, and white. The sizes seem to be either medium hex and very small hex. All of that glitter is suspended in a bluish white base – not quite jelly but definitely translucent. This swatch is 4 coats of It’s A Trap-eze topped with 3 coats of Gelous. I didn’t like the look of this at 4 coats – it looked busy and clumpy. With polishes like this, I always think, the more coats, the better – and I always, always regret it. It was really lovely at 2 coats and I should have left well-enough alone. When I wear it again, I plan to layer a single coat over a light blue.

China Glaze Surreal Appeal is a vivid salmon-ish, coral pink creme. This is 3 coats. The application was finicky, thick but patchy at the same time. It all evened out at 3 coats.

China Glaze Running in Circles is a dazzling, glow-y grass-green glass-fleck glitter (woot! alliteration!) with a transparent grass-green tinted base. The shade leans a bit yellow and the flecks give it a foil-like finish. The photo simply does not do this color justice. This is 3 coats of color with 3 coats of Gelous. Running in Circles is a topcoat cannibal for sure.

China Glaze Igniting Love is a mango toned red crelly. I wore it as an NOTD. The color applied exceptionally well, glided on with minimal effort. I did 3 coats because I had VPL at 2. Although this color isn’t exactly unique, I really liked it. Orange based reds tend to be flattering on darker skin tones like my own. I go ages without wearing red but every time I wear a good red, I totally get why it is such a beloved nail color.  I know I rag on companies for releasing reds all the time, but I’ll eat my words and stop hating for a minute (but just one minute).

China Glaze Hanging in the Balance is a very well pigmented bright medium sky blue crème. Gorgeous, but definitely a stainer so beware. This is 3 coats - because it’s so pigmented, it would have been perfect at 2. This photo is a bit inaccurate - it’s a more saturated blue in person.

China Glaze Bend Over Backwards is a glowy orange toned shimmery red. The brushstrokes disappear once it’s dry. This is 3 coats but it was good at 2. This color was my least favorite in the set and I felt like it didn’t fit the collection’s wacky, whimsical theme.

China Glaze Get Carried Away is very small black and silver hex glitter, black bar glitter, and large black, copper, and silver hex glitter suspended in a black tinted base. It was tough to apply without using the dabbing method. This swatch is 1 coat of Carried Away over Bend Over Backwards and two coats of Gelous to smooth it out. Ommorphia put this over Def Defying which turned out to be a waaaaaaay better color combo.

China Glaze Def Defying is a yellowed based Shrek green creme. For me, the application was finicky – it took about 4 coats to even out the patchiness.

And, finally, China Glaze Creative Fantasy a bright neon-ish purple crelly. LOVED the color - very flattering. The formula is thin so it took about 4 coats to get to this level of opacity.

*whew* *wipes sweat of brow* I have a huge swatching back log from the recent lack of posting so stay tuned for a lot of great stuff coming up soon. : )

What do you guys think about this collection? Which shades made it in to your stash and why?

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Disclaimer: This collection was sent for review by China Glaze.

I’m probably a little late to the party on this one as I know the blogosphere has been buzzing with this for the past week (you can check out the excellent swatches already posted by Nails and Noms and Scrangie). But, as an RBL fangirl, I’m going to hop on the bandwagon too. Both Coral and Grunge are long time favorites of mine, so I’m glad these beauties are available again. As a disclaimer, my swatches of Coral and Grunge are of the original release - so I recommend checking out newer swatches in addition to mine, as it appears that there may be some slight differences worth noting. Originally, I planned to reswatch these for this post – but I’m stuck with very short nails for the time being and I felt like my new stumpy nubbins wouldn’t do these colors any justice. Consequently, I’ve recycled my old swatches. Please accept my sincerest apologies for the lack of photo uniformity in this post.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge - I lemminged this color FOREVER. Back then it was pretty unique, and still is – it’s very refreshing to see “soft shades” with bad a** names. Oh yes, I’m a child of the 90s, flannel, Nirvana and all. For these reasons, Grunge, in all its mushroomy glory, is always going to have a special spot in my collection. To quote myself: “Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge is my stick-it-to-the-man color (Ohh hoo hoo I’m sitting in your meeting wearing a color called Grunge, ha!). It’s a serious business appropriate color but at the same time it’s very moody and edgy.” You can read my entire original review here.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral. Ooh, this color brings back memories. The last time I wore it was way back as a final hurrah before a long period of color fasting. I was just beginning my career then, looking at the old photo and post makes me nostalgic because so much has changed. Here is an excerpt from my original review: “Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral is g o r g e o u s. I began lemming this one because of the bottle image on the Rescue Beauty Lounge site. I don’t know why but I was immediately drawn to it. It’s very chameleon-like in the sense that the color varies in different lighting. It can be described as a bright pink, sometimes coral, sometimes orange-y.” You can read my entire original review here.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Moulin Rouge is a very deep chocolatey, wine toned vampy. I don’t often agree with the brand description of nail polish color, but Ji is right on this one. It really does look like the inside of a cherry bonbon. Although this NOTD is with Seche Vite a top coat, the polish itself is very glossy. If you look closely, you can see my reflection. : D Application was great at two coats, but I used 3.

The universe aligned for me to wear this color. I think I’ve discussed this a few times, I have many forms of neurosis when it comes to this hobby. For example, when my nails are long, I wear a lot of neutrals, soft shades, etc. When my nails are short, I wear a lot of vampies, darker colors, and stranger/unique colors. I was going to hold off on posting this color until I had nubbins again. And since my nails were newly pretty long, it was going to be a while before I filed them down out of my own volition.

In any case, I had a day off from work, so I was planning to sit down and do some serious swatching. I get everything all set up, nails are long and swatch-ready. I’m about to plant myself on the couch for the foreseeable future… when BAM. Our Welsh Corgi, Roy, the most clumsy dog in the world, runs into my mani lamp’s electrical cord, knocking it over, shattering it into a million pieces. Cursing-up a storm, I go to our bedroom to find suitable clothing to go out and buy a new lamp. You see, I was wearing PJs – a.k.a. formal swatching attire. As I’m digging through a pile of clothing to find some jeans (because we’re bad at house-keeping so instead of a closest… we have a pile…) one of my nails chips, diagonally, down to the quick. Oh boy, my wrath knew no end. Husband cowering in fear, dogs hiding under the bed, I stomped around angrily for hours. The break was so bad repairing it was impossible. I expressed my frustrations on twitter, tweeps sent condolences. Once I tuckered myself out from being angry at my misfortune, I took a nap. When I woke up, I cut my losses. haha. That, my friends, is how I ended up with these awful, stumpy nubbins. *sobs* Buying a new lamp took the rest of the night so I wasn’t able to swatch at all. The bright side is that I ended up with a much better mani lamp and I had an excuse to wear Moulin Rouge, so I guess every accident prone Corgi initiated disaster has a silver lining.

Do you all have any nail polish neurosis? Anything goes at all times? Or do you vary the colors you wear by occasion, season, nail length, etc.?

(Also, as an aside, I’m using a different lighting system now than I was back in 2008-2009. Comparing my old swatches to my new swatches, as I’ve done in this post, makes me feel like I need to make an adjustment – the highlights seem to overpower the polish, I don’t like it. I’m going to start trouble-shooting this – please bear with me while I work the kinks out.)

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Disclosure: I’m not really sure how I ended up with Coral and Grunge. I believe Coral was sent to me for review back in 2008. I believe I purchased Grunge. Moulin Rouge was sent to me for review by Rescue Beauty Lounge.

A reader, Celine, requested swatches of these colors a million years ago and I’m finally getting around to posting them now. (Sorry Celine!) These swatches were taken with top coat and 3 coats of color. They all applied fairly well. She initially asked for 5 colors, these 4 and Zoya Kylie. However, Zoya actually has two polishes named Kylie. I only have one of the Kylies and it wasn’t the polish that Celine wanted to see so I left it out of this post. I’ll post a swatch of the bright Kylie as soon as I get my hands on it.

Celine is looking for a Zoya that her friend used to wear, it’s a neon orange-y pink creme. In my opinion, Maya is the closest thing to that description.

Eva is a bright rose pink creme. This is the type of ‘bright’ polish that is excellent for people who feel like they can’t wear bright colors because it’s not as showy as other brights tend to be.

Fergie (some bottles might say ‘Feigie’) is a funky pink-toned purple creme. It’s a little brighter in person.

Kali is a bright crimson-toned pink creme. It’s not as bright as the others in the set but still summer-y.

And finally, Maya, which is a unique semi-jelly bright pinkish coral creme. This one is my favorite from this set.

Zoya is running a promotional nail polish exchange. Send them your old unwanted polishes and they’ll send you any Zoyas of your choice. They charge 3 dollars per bottle for shipping and processing. I heard on the nail board that the last day that Zoya will accept packages containing polishes for the promotion is this Saturday, February 28th, so it’s not too late to participate if you hurry.

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Disclosure: These colors were sent to me for review by Zoya.

I’ve gotten a few questions concerning the format of my Top 20 so here is some information concerning my choices and how I went about choosing them.  First, some of the colors here are not necessarily here because they are my absolute favorites, some are here because I felt that they represented something significant about the world of nail polish. However, most are here because they are my favorites or they have some special meaning to me.

I plan to do a list every year. My list will likely differ greatly from year to year as I acquire and wear more colors. For example, Nars Zulu will probably be on this list next year but it is not this year because I did not own it when I finalized the list back in December. I am only choosing colors I own and have worn because I can provide more information and insight concerning those colors. The list would probably look very different if I were choosing from the entire universe of nail polish. I would probably lose my mind writing that list.

You can see the entire count down as posted so far by visiting this link.

And I deeply apologize for the length of time it’s taking to get this list finished. I’m trying to wear all these colors again before I post about them, that’s why it’s taking so long. It’s going to speed up a little bit now.

Whew. Okay. Now for #9: Color Club Sexsea.

Sexsea is one of the colors that is on this list not only because I LOVE the color but because it also means something  to me privately. I wore this color for the first time last year after my second mock trial. We won but it was a horrible experience for various reasons. I’ll spare you guys the gritty details; suffice it to say that by the time I got home, I was still livid heart-beating-out-of-chest-in-anger  pissed. No one else was home, so I popped in a Netflix DVD (Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror, haha) and went about the task of taking off my work appropriate manicure (Zoya Stephanie) and putting on the loudest color in sight. I chose Color Club Sexsea. I immediately felt better wearing it. This color fills me with an inexplicable sense of nostalgia, probably because the second trial was the equivalent of a final exam so I associate this color with feelings of accomplishment.

I had an immediate love affair with Sexsea. It intrigued me. I pondered and pondered, what color is it? It’s so hard to pin point. Is it coral? red? orange? hot pink? Sexsea is so tricky. Sometimes it seems like all 4. Sometimes I am convinced that it is just one of those colors, but never for very long.  It shifts between those shades, the true color is somewhere in the middle. I consider it to be truly unique, despite the fact that it is a creme and belongs to a class of colors that I usually ignore. I suppose the true test for uniqueness is the reception a color receives from the Peanut Gallery (i.e. the boys in my life). Even the usually nail color oblivious boyfriend commented on the uniqueness of this color. I rest my case.

Sexsea applies semi-chalky but well. The application looks good with 2 coats but I prefer 3. This color was released with the Color Club Yacht Club Collection (an excellent collection, by the way.)

I am so sorry for the lack of updates recently. I’m in the process of getting ready to take the Bar Exam, taking all the necessary steps to start working in May (woo hoo), getting ready to graduate, all while also trying to keep up with my classes. It’s been a huge mess but I’m going to try to be less neglectful, I promise.

In any case, on to the polish talk. Zoya’s newest collection Twist is delicate but edgy Spring installation. Zoya played it a little safe here. Most of these colors are what I consider traditional spring colors but I really love a few polishes from Twist. I had no application issues with any of these colors. All these images are 3 coat of color, 1 coat of base coat and top coat.

Cassi, a pinkish coral with glitzy multi-dimensional irridescent shimmer, is delicate with a twist. Zoya calls it peach, I disagree. This is the type of color I think of when I think of Spring.

Harley is a shimmery light gray. I’m a little bit at a loss as to how to describe the shimmer… it reminds me of concrete, course dark silver shimmer. I love it; Harley is definitely my favorite from this collection. It seems as though nail polish companies are finally jumping on the gray band wagon. Although I wish it had happened a little sooner, I do continue to love these shades.

Malia is a gorgeous lilac creme. This is my second favorite from this collection. Malia is a shade darker than OPI Do You Lilac It? and a few shades lighter than China Glaze Spontaneous (both of which can be seen here.)

Moxie, a vibrant deep raspberry, is another favorite from this collection. It reminded me a lot of the coveted OPI My Throne For a Cranberry Scone, but MTFaCS is actually darker than Moxie. Moxie is an excellent choice for anyone who hasn’t been able to get their hands on MTFaCS. The other potential dupe was China Glaze Designer Satin but it’s, surprisingly, brighter than Moxie.

Barbie is a good name for this color. It’s a Barbie pink with subtle pink shimmer (which didn’t show in my photograph at all). The shimmer is very similar to the shimmer found in China Glaze Pink Underground but the base color of Pink Underground is deeper than Barbie’s base color.

Finally, Jo is a periwinkle blue with silvery blue shimmer. This picture is a little more blue than the actual color which is lighter (I apologize, photographing blues and purples is still extremely difficult even with my new camera and lighting set up.) The base color is similar to China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le but Jo has a depth to it that comes from the shimmer.

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Disclosure: This collection was sent to me for review by Zoya.