Essie's Naughty Nautical Collection

For my birthday last week, I got a few of the Essie Summer 2013 Naughty Nautical collection.  Here are two of them that I am currently wearing.  These are almost kind of jelly-like polishes with a bit of silver/grey shimmer.  I really love the collection as a whole, but there where a few I probably wouldn't wear myself.

The coral color is Sunday Funday and the teal one I used for my accent nail is Naughty Nautical.  These are not fully opaque, but not quite sheer.  That's why I said they are almost a little jelly like.  I used two coats and the formula was great. 

Here are some pictures in natural light and in the direct sun light. 

What summer collections have you been eyeing/trying?

-polish. impress. repeat.

Lime Scented Nail Polish!

So first off, props to my friend Andrew that got my this polish.  I tell you, I have some amazing friends.  One of my other friends got me some nail polish that I will be posting about in the near future.  I am so blessed by their friendships!

Take a look at this nail polish, it is incredibly bright!  It is the Love & Beauty Lime scented nail polish from Forever 21.  It is a lime jelly polish, so I painted two coats of it over OPI's Alpine Snow so the color would pop a bit more, and it definitely did!  It is like a neon green.  IT SMELLS LIKE LIME CANDY!  It is really subtle, but it's just enough.  I like that it has that 'fun factor' to it.

Have you tried any scented polishes?  What is your experience with them?

-polish. impress. repeat.

My Holiday Manicure with Essie's Leading Lady

It has been a month since I last posted on nail polish!  With the holidays, school was chaotic and I didn't have enough time to paint, take pictures, and post.  My nails have been nail polish free for about three weeks.  Even my kiddos at school were asking why my nails weren't painted.  (They know me well!)  Now that I'm on break, I had some time to get back into the swing of all things nail polish.

I recieved Essie's Leading Lady from the Winter 2012 Leading Lady collection in my Winter 2012 Luxe Box this week.  Honestly, out of all the colors, this is the one I wanted least.  I love Where's My Chauffeur and Beyond Cozy, but I won't complain about a full size polish by Essie.  I don't know that I'd wear this any time of the year besides Christmas, but it's fun.

Leading Lady was very runny for a glitter polish.  It applied really nicely.  It dries to a jelly finish with red glitter.  I hated it on the first coat, but after the second coat, it looked much better with the layering of the glitter.  Thank goodness!  I didn't want to do all red, so I did an accent nail with Butter London's West End Wonderland  It is one of my favorite polishes and I thought it would be a nice festive edition to Leading Lady.

I'm really liking this combination for Christmas!  :)  What do you think?

-polish. impress. repeat.

Comparison of Ulta 'Island Hopper' and Julep 'Miranda'

First off, apologies for my dry cuticles.  I didn't even think about it before snapping these pictures.  Since I've started this blog, I've tried to get in a variety of colors from week to week.  I was about to paint my nails and was picking through my collection when I came across Ulta Professional's 'Island Hopper'.  I thought it would be a great color and then Julep's 'Miranda' which I had already done a post on.  They look nearly identical in the bottle, so I decided to compare them to see if they are dupes or not.  ****Note:  in the pictures of my nails, from left to right it is 'Miranda', 'Island Hopper', 'Miranda', 'Island Hopper'.

 Miranda, Island Hopper, Miranda, Island Hopper

 Miranda, Island Hopper, Miranda, Island Hopper

left:  Miranda          right:  Island Hopper

Conclusion, it the direct sunlight, they look almost identical.  In natural lighting, the slight differences are a little more apparent.  'Miranda' is more jelly-like while 'Island Hopper' is more creamy and opaque.  They are both a light teal/turquoise color, but Island hopper is a little more blue-ish.

Dupes?  Not quite.

-polish. impress. repeat.

China Glaze - Under the Boardwalk

Hello readers!!!!  Under the Boardwalk is another polish from the China Glaze Summer Neon collection.  It is a beautiful purple-y fuschia color.  I wouldn't quite call it a 'neon', but it is pretty bright.  I added a coat of So 70's by Sally Girl for an accent nail.  This is a fun color to wear that is fun, but not tooooo crazy.

It wears almost like a jelly nail polish, but it isn't.  This is two coats and it is still a little see through.  If you want the color to stand out more, I would suggest putting a coat of white nail polish under it.  You can still pick these up at your local Ulta, Sally's Beauty Supply, or China Glaze's website.

-polish. impress. repeat.