Zoya Sloane

Hi dolls!  Long time no post.  It's been a strange week.

So for Valentine's Day Zoya was running a special where you could get a free red polish plus free shipping if you used a certain code with any $8 purchase, so it was pretty much buy one get one free.  As soon as I saw it on their Twitter I checked it out myself and posted on my Facebook about it, since the sale was only for two days.  A friend of mine asked me how I find out about these sales (because Julep was also having a V-Day sale that I mentioned on FB).  I troll on blogs, am on about a dozen mailing lists, and creep on Twitter.  I take my nail polish seriously.

This is Sloane, she's a blackened purple with a metallic shimmer that is almost microscopic, it's very muted.  I think I could only really see it in direct sunlight.  But there are hints of pink, blue, purple, and red in it, so it is very pretty.  Sloane is originally from the Pulse collection, which is entirely dark vampy metallics (my favorite kind).  I got complete opacity in two thin coats, so you could probably do the same with one thick coat in a pinch.

I know it's beginning to be Spring and all, and all the new collections have bright or pastel colors, but vamp colors are always appropriate in my book.  They just make you feel more sultry, like how bright colors make you feel flirty.  I could be making this up, but that's what I get from it.  =)

Direct Sunlight, my skin looks a little washed out.

Direct sunlight

Shade

My camera couldn't pick up the shimmer in it, and my friend C couldn't even see it very well in person, but I promise it's there.  Also, these pictures were taking after a full week of wear with only a touch up on my middle nail because it decided to break off.  This is why I love Zoya polishes so much.  Because they are made for natural nails!

Perceval

Merry Christmas everyone!  Happy Chanukah!  If I missed your holiday, have a great one!

I am so incredibly excited, I can barely contain myself.  I have been dying to get my hands on anything from a-england, I've seen posts on it all over the web and was practically salivating over these polishes.  The Mythicals collection is the very first collection from this line and they're all named after figures from Arthurian legend.  So that made the nerdy side of me happy.

I had obsessed over these lovely polishes for a while, deciding from the website just which one I really wanted to try first before I laid down my cash, since they are priced at 9 British Pounds.  Thinking of this price in terms of US dollars, I figured these to be on the nicer end of the spectrum: nicer than OPI but not as crazy pricey as say Chanel (which I have sadly never used).  If thought of that way, sure, I would have bought it myself no problem.  But, since  the British Pound is stronger than the US dollar I had to stop and think about it.  9 GBP roughly equals 14 USD, as of 12/26/2011 according to XE Universal Currency Converter.  So I decided I'd get one or two of them as a holiday splurge.  A Merry Christmas to me, if you will.

And I said as much on my facebook wall.  Luckily, my dear friend Herself's (whom I have previously mentioned) fiance (aka Brother) saw the post and wanted to know, for the sake of science, which one I liked.  I couldn't decide between two of them, but let him know which ones.  He said he'd pass it on to Santa.

Well, Santa delivered, my friends!  I opened my present and literally squealed, I was so excited.  Right in front of me were Perceval and Galahad.  Oh my goodness, they are so pretty!  When I got home I immediately put on Perceval to be my Christmas Nails.

My original assumption on the quality of the polish was correct.  The formula is to die for.  Completely smooth finish, no streaking or drag, and thick enough to be a one coat-er for complete coverage without bald spots.  And the polish has lasted through 5 days of wear!  We all know how hard I am on my nails from previous posts and that I get bored very easily.  I might just redo this one and wear it until later in the week.

The color on the website is described as "splendid and resplendent red," which I agree with.  At a glance, the shade could be compared to OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress, but that shade is a fraction too dark.  Perceval is more of a metallic fire engine red.  A great year-round red, but very appropriate for fall and winter.

I am in love.

a-england Perceval retails for 9 GBP and is available for purchase directly from the website a-england.co.uk.  Right now the website is offering FREE worldwide shipping on all orders!

**This polish was given to me as my Christmas present, so I didn't actually purchase it.  Thank you Herself and Brother!

Gold Chrome

No Sunday post this week, so we get a Super Special Monday post!  I was really tired last night and decided to just go to bed.

Christmas came early at my house--my parents decided to get me a new digital camera so I could take better pictures for my blog!  Yay thoughtful parents!  I'm still trying to figure out the best setting to take the polish pics on, but I think I have it figured out now.  Huzzah for 14 megapixels.

This is Sally Hansen's Gold Chrome pen.  Pretty handy for a manicure in a flash.  This would be perfect for that moment during the holidays where you forgot you had to be somewhere or there was a surprise gathering happening in the next five minutes.  You just click the pen, paint, and it is dry within 30 seconds.  I'm completely serious, it was smudge free dry, completely cured within about 30 seconds.

Be sure that you buff the life out of your nails before using this one, I could see every single little ridge and imperfection in my nails while wearing this and it drove me insane.  One coat does the job, two coats is best.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT put a top coat on this.  I tried to and it ruined the paint job.  It is perfectly shiny as is, it just doesn't look exactly like chrome on your car would.  It looked more like brushed gold, almost a matte.  It did wear off very quickly.  And not like polish normally wears, it faded like a marker on plastic wears (if you've ever had to write your name on your water bottle and rubbed at it, you know exactly what I mean).  But it was pretty while it lasted.

 Natural light

With and without flash













I got my Sally Hansen Gold Chrome Pen for $8 US.

Bronze Ablaze

Happy Hump Day!  I have a couple more fall colors in my arsenal since it is still actually fall, and Stateside we have one more holiday before Christmas.  I think this shade is technically in the winter collection, but it looks fall to me.

This is Bronze Ablaze from Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry line.  I'd have to classify this as a metallic, not exactly a holo even though it has some slight holo qualities.  It's a coppery gold base with green accents, like real bronze is supposed to have once it's started oxidizing.  I keep forgetting that bronze has a green tint to it when you're using it as a shade.  I either see that coppery color or full on green like the Statue of Liberty.

Application was very easy with minimal streaking, but once it dried there was no streaking at all.  The brush is huge so you can easily get the standard 3-stroke coverage, but if you're not careful it will get all over your hands.  The bottle isn't the most aesthetically pleasing to me, it's a weird pyramid shape that I don't quite understand.  It's supposed to be the middle price value of the Sally Hansen lines that are sold at all major retailers, so the bottle just doesn't fit it for me.  But it's still a great lacquer, despite what I think about its packaging.

In direct sunlight with the bottle

Natural light

Artificial light 

These pictures are all with a quick dry top coat to seal and add extra shine.

This is at day 3 of this polish.  I had no chipping and very little shrinkage (if any).  I ended up taking it off and changing it before I could do any real damage to it.

It did make me incandescently happy that as soon as I walked into work the first day I had this on I got compliments on it.  =)

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Bronze Ablaze I got on sale at Target for $4.05 US plus sales tax.

Gold Finger

Am I the only one who feels like today (Wednesday) feels like a Friday?  Why isn't it Friday?  This week will never end.

Anyway, my nails are GOLD today!  Like brushed 14k gold.  I love metallics.  It's Revlon's "Golden" from the quick dry line.  Indeed, it did dry quickly, and I added a quick dry top coat (also from Revlon), so I figured it would dry extra quickly.  Turns out it dried a normal quick dry, but I ended up putting too much polish on my left thumb nail and I hit something with the not-dry-yet nail and ruined it.  Had to start all over.  One of those "Aw, seriously?" moments.

It applied kind of streaky, but it looked much better after I added a top coat.  This color actually got me a very nice compliment when I went out to dinner earlier from the owner of the restaurant, who is a huge LSU Tigers fan.  It helped that I had on a dark purple top, but whatevs.  I did get a very nice "Ooh la la," and a "Geaux Tigers!" out of him though.

I have a feeling that this color will look great during the summer or even just with a tan.  When it first dried and I sat there admiring my nails I felt like I should be in a James Bond movie.

Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamel retails for $5.99 US plus sales tax.