I started writing this post during that week that my site went on the fritz. I gave up after I banged my head against my computer and had to go outside to burn a WordPress effigy. Last week, I finally figured out what caused the issue in the first place. As it turns out my website does not like the WordPress Jetpack Plug-in. I deactivated it, along with everything else, when I was trying to fix the problem originally. It didn’t help instantly, but after being deactivated for a couple of days, I logged back in to find that everything was working perfectly. Fast forward to a few days ago, I tried to check my stats and I realized that that function is dependent on Jetpack so I reactivated the plug-in. Instantly, the site stopped working again and it took about 24 hours after deactivation for the site to function normally. At the very least, I finally know what happened but I’m flying completely blind in terms of site stats. Haha.

In any case, back to the post, I got an email recently from a newly minted nail polish collector who was interested in layering techniques. I don’t layer often because my nail polish OCD compels me to wear a color in its unaltered form the first time I wear it. But when I do layer, I love it. And some colors scream “layer me!” despite my obsessive tendencies.

Hits Moonbow, from the Phenomena collection, is precisely that type of color. This polish is ridiculous. Just ridiculous. It’s a color-shifting multichrone glitter suspended in a cloudy base.  The glitter shifts from green and fuchsia to purple and occasionally it flashes gold. When I first saw photos of this color I was instantly obsessed, I had to have it, stat! However, from the swatches I saw, it didn’t look like a glitter polish, it looked like… well… magic. So I was a little disappointed when I received it and discovered that while it was still quite magical, it didn’t really look the way it looked online. (This is the second time this has happened recently *makes Mikayla is not impressed face*). My next hope was that it would be a buildable glitter, meaning the whole surface of the nail would be completely covered within a few coats. It is buildable, sort of. The glitter will cover the surface of your nail but it takes about 4 coats. That would be fine, except that, for whatever reason, the glitter does not coat the tip of the nail very well. The end result looks a bit like tip pull. You can definitely see what I’m talking about in the photo above – needless to say, it’s not very flattering.

Because of that issue, I don’t recommend wearing this color on its own. It is gorgeous for sure and it definitely has a crash-inducing-stare-at-my-nails-while-driving quality to it but it looks infinitely better layered over another color.

Case in point, Hits Moonbow over oldschool Essie Grape Crush. Looks much better, right? Grape Crush, a sheer purple glaze, is from an older Essie collection that consisted of all sheer glazes (as opposed to more modern jellies). For reference and comparison Essie Cherry Pop, which is still widely available, is from the same collection and has the same look and consistency. The beloved Essie Night Cap is also from that collection. I somehow neglected to photograph Grape Crush on its own – bad nail blogger, bad. I’ll make that up to you, I do plan to post the whole collection soon. I’m only missing one more polish, Essie Apricot Fizz, to complete the set of 6 from the original collection! In any case, this NOTD is 3 coats of GC and 3 coats of Moonbow. I know, I know that’s too many coats. But I liked the end result and I didn’t have any drying issues after a coat of Seche.

Hits is a new brand to me. I’m a little biased because it hails from the mother country, Brazil. The Phenomena collection is my first experience with this brand and I was pretty wowed by it even though it wasn’t what I expected. There are a few more Hits polishes on my lemming list, including pretty much ALL OF THE HOLOS. My one gripe is that the bottle is pretty small so you end up with that noticeable, and uber distressing, dip in the bottle after just one mani. It gave me some serious angst, another aspect of my nail polish OCD, so I do plan to get a back up bottle.  These bad boys retail for approximately $6.50 to $7.00.

When I was on the hunt for Moonbow and company, all the e-tailers had it listed as out of stock. That day, I placed orders with both Llarowe and Ninja Polish for several other colors. I included a note in the comments section of my order for both e-tailers that I really needed this color and asked that if they happened to have a bottle laying around in the stock room to please add it to my order and charge me for it. Ninja Polish did just that (excellent customer service on their part), meanwhile Llarowe very kindly included a bottle of it in my order without charging me. Even though I do want a back up bottle of this color and I was very grateful, I felt badly because I like to support small nail polish related businesses whenever I can. I figured that the best way to repay that kindness was to gift the bottle that I bought to another blogger and keep the gifted bottle. I did that in hopes of spreading the awesome around because more swatches = a better world, right? In any case, I don’t say this often but I highly recommend both e-tailers. They are both great so you can’t go wrong with either one. 

 Thoughts on Hits or Moonbow? What about nail polish OCD? Do you have it? If yes, how does it manifest for you?

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.

After a couple of days of fiddling with no success and getting shot down by my brother and a computer tech (both told me nothing could be done to fix the blog problem), I logged in one more time to fiddle some more and suddenly the problem was gone! I still don’t know what happened and hopefully it won’t happen again… but for now, the blog is functioning, finally. I’m just happy to be up and running again. I feel so relieved!

The Emoting Me Collection is the newest installation in the Rescue Beauty Lounge library of colors. The theme here is self-awareness, introspection, self-appreciation, and reflection – this meaningful message appeals to me, especially right now. I’m hard on myself and when things get rough, be it at work or at home, I have a tendency to engage in a lot of wallowing as a result. Wearing these colors has been a small reminder to take it easy (and if ever there were a week for that type of reminder, this was it).

Color-wise, this collection is a well-balanced mixture of moody work appropriate colors and bright, exciting colors. My one gripe is that there are only two true cremes. Granted, the two are really great, but it’s only two none-the-less. You guys know me, I’m a creme girl. With that said though, I really do love these colors so I’ve been actually wearing them instead of just swatching which is why I’m only showing you half of the collection in this post. Tonight’s mani will be either Become One or Thank You – I haven’t been able to decide yet.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Be Humble is tough to describe. It’s a mushroomy, light grey putty with a purple/pink undertone and with subtle blue and violet shimmer. The shimmer ends up being nearly invisible – the over-all effect is sort of a snowy “interference” on the surface of the nail that gives the color depth. This is a chic, professional color. Definitely, me gusta. Be Humble dries slightly darker on the nail than it looks in the bottle color. The application was good but a smidge on the thick side. This mani was 3 coats.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Forgiveness is a greyed-out, dusty lilac creme. Moody… work appropriate… right up my alley. If you have trouble wearing lilacs like I do – this might be a good color to pick up. It didn’t wash me out and was not just wearable (usually the best I can hope for with shades like this), but actually affirmatively flattering. This NOTD was 3 coats, like Be Humble – a little thick but not terrible.

And, finally, Rescue Beauty Lounge Turn It Around a dark olive green speckled with course copper shimmer. I think my Husband summed it up best, ”Whoa… that’s a cool color.” Yea, I completely agree. I don’t own Rescue Beauty Lounge Halcyon (waaaaaaaah) but I imagine that Turn It Around is a distant cousin. The application was good but a little thicker than the others – probably as a result of copper specks. This is 4 coats – but it would have been good at 3.

What do you think of the Emoting Me Collection? Hoping to pick up any?

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Disclaimer: This collection was sent to me for review by Rescue Beauty Lounge. (Sorry! I forgot to include the disclaimer when I first posted this!)

I was back to blogging for about two seconds before this bomb was dropped on me: Holos – there’s a ton of them out there now and… they come in green. Having reached the peak of my nail polish collecting in 2009, this was practically unheard of for me. My first encounter with this unicorn, the green holo, was the glorious Glitter Gal Lizard Belly. It wasn’t too long before everyone told me about A England and the mantra was ”you need all of these, right now.” I was lemming about three-quarters of their line, particularly their holos. With that said, I’ve had these for months but it took me forever to photograph them because I didn’t want to just swatch them. I loved them so much I really wanted to actually wear them. And, sadly, although I have a lot more nail liberty now than I did before, I still can’t go balls to the wall all the time so getting this post together took a hot minute.

A England Dragon *deep breath*  a sage green holo. The holo in these polishes is pretty subtle, definitely not blingtastic at all. In my opinion, the holo is neither linear nor scattered – a better description would be “ambient,” like a shimmery interference. Application was good but the formula was a smidge on the thick side, perfect at two coats but I did three. Dragon is my favorite of the three polishes featured in this post because this shade of green was very flattering to my skin-tone.

A England Saint George is a teal leaning dark green holo. *swoon* Like Dragon, the holo is fine grained. This was my New Year’s Eve NOTD! Application was comparable to Dragon – this is three coats, but it would have been fine at two. It’s a bit of a stainer, so beware of sloppy application. Please excuse my gross flairy ring-finger nail. This photo was taken when I was struggling with peelies a few months back. My nails tend to flair like that when they’re weak. Taking biotin and switching back to my old holy grail base-coat that was unfortunately discontinued before its time, Sally Hansen Nail Quencher, really helped with the terrible peeling. My failed attempts to find a new go-to base-coat will be the topic of many anguished posts to come.

Last but not least, A England Lady of the Lake, a dark grape ambient holo. This shade is consistent with Dragon and Saint George in terms of look and application. This is my current NOTD. As you can see I had to nubbinize so I used that as an excuse to holo-it-up - looooooove it. Generally, I have a love\hate relationship with purples. I feel like purple is so over done: the “red” of “wacky” colors, if that makes sense. But, like with red, I’m a hater until I actually wear a purple polish, then I remember why everyone loves the color so much. It’s just gorgeous. Not to keep making excuses for my sub-par nail situation but please also excuse this photo. Since the past few weeks were so rough, I fell off the wagon in terms of keeping up with my moisture regime - these cuticles are the sad, sad result. womp womp.

This was my first foray into A England and I’m hooked. A England is the brain child of Adina, an evil nail polish genius. (You can follow her on twitter @aenglandtweets). I feel like if we knew each other in real life we’d be total besties… a love for nail polish, legends & myths, a gothic aesthetic, and a touch of anglophilia … um, sign me up for that life long friendship. A England is an indie brand and hails from the United Kingdom. [edited - thank you Chia & Aglaya for catching that for me] Although A England used to ship to the U.S. they are no longer able to ship internationally. However, you can get them from U.S. retailers like Ninja Polish and Llarowe for $10. You can get additional information about where to buy A England here.

Have you tried A England? What do you think?

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Disclosure: These were sent to me for review by A England.

Just when I thought things were beginning to calm down, I had, without any exaggeration, the roughest two weeks at work that I can remember. And it really was the perfect storm because in addition to work stress I’ve been dealing with some major life stress too. I’m sure you know all how it is… sometimes things get so that you only have enough wherewithal to keep your head above the water. And, unfortunately, when I get overwhelmed I have a tendency to just want to go to work, come home, and lay in bed (and watch Netflix so I’ve been watching Bones like whoa.) I think things are under control now but there won’t be any swatching for a little while. I’ve been stress-picking at my nails so I’ll have to wait a little while for them to be healthy again – they are in no condition to be photographed. But fear not! I still have a ton of back log from the lack of recently posting and the swatch-fest I had at the end of February. Thank you for sticking with me through this rough period – blogging is really rewarding for me and although it’s the first thing that I let fall by the wayside when I get stressed (along with actually doing my nails, reading, and exercising… and um pretty much anything that requires mental or physical activity haha) it’s something that I really want to keep doing.

Anywho, that’s enough boo-hooing from me. Behold, my swatches of Zoya NYFW Designer Collection Fall 2012. I know I’ve been saying this a lot about Zoya lately but I really feel like they’ve stepped up their game color-design-wise. Love, love, love this collection – moody, edgy but mature cremes that fit together thematically, now that is a collection of nail polish. Obviously, for me the stand outs are Noot, Evvie, and Natty but Rehka, Toni, and Monica are nothing to scoff at either. All in all, a solid collection definitely worth owning.

Zoya Evvie *cat calls* is a green tinged soot gray creme, with an overall muted, somewhat faded look. I live for colors like this – edgy but not obvious. The application was great, perfect at two coats but this is three.

Zoya Monica is a moody dark eggplant crème. Like Evvie, the application was excellent. This is three coats.

Zoya Natty oh, where have you been all my life. Natty is tough to describe. I know I sound like a broken record - it’s an edgy, moody, darkened, grayed-out denim blue. This collection, and this color in particular, has made me come to a sad realization. What am I going to do when this grayed-out trend is over? Will my passion for polish die with it? Will I ever love another nail polish ever again? Like Evvie, I wore this one to work because it’s not obvious. The application was great – this is three coats.

Zoya Noot is a dark smoky muted army-ish green. Again, like Natty and Evvie, this color is moody and chic. I’ve read that OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fein! is a close dupe – I can’t independently confirm that because I haven’t picked up the Germany collection yet. But you can see LTHP’s comparison here. Like the others, application was perfect – this is three coats.

Zoya Rekha (sorry typo on the photo!) is a deep vampy medium red crème – it’s hard to peg the base color, at first glance in the bottle it seemed orange based. On the nail, at one coat, it seemed pink based. Zoya describes it as blood red – that’s accurate. Red is red and like most reds, this one is sexy and flattering. This is three coats, smooth application.

And, finally, Zoya Toni a muted vampy plum-toned oxblood crème. Oxblood. Definitely the “it” shade of last year but what a baffling name for a color. What is the origin of that phrase? Does an ox’s blood look like burgundy? If we’re going for, like, strong, scary animals… Why not lionblood or tigerblood? But I digress, this is 3 coats and the application was perfect.

So, do you agree? Is Zoya stepping up their game? or am I alone on that one?

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Disclaimer: This collection was provided for review by Zoya.

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.