Nail Polish Collection & Swatches - LA Colors, Finger Paints

Holiday Nail Polish Colors! (Bottles and swatches)

I went through my collection and pulled out the ones that reminded me most of the holiday season. I may have missed a few, but I think it's pretty comprehensive. Remember, you can click the photos to view them larger!

L-R: Revlon Matte Suede - Emerald City, Finger Paints Holiday 2010 - Mistletoe Mischief, China Glaze Holiday 2010 - Jolly Holly & Mistletoe Kisses, China Glaze Holiday 2011 - Holly-Day
Middle left is the polishes plain, right is the polishes with opposite-finish topcoats.
Bottom left is with a coat of China Glaze - White Cap.
Bottom right: the first two are with a layer of China Glaze Holiday 2010 - Party Hearty and the second two are with China Glaze Holiday 2011 - Twinkle Lights

L-R: China Glaze Holiday 2011- Poinsettia, Holiday 2010 - Ruby Deer, Sacred Heart , Red Pearl, and Revlon - Frankly Scarlet
Bottom left is all the polishes plain.
Bottom right: Thumb - China Glaze -White Cap, first two fingers - Party Hearty, second two - Twinkle Lights

L-R: Revlon Matte Suede - Powder Puff, China Glaze Holiday 2010 - Mrs. Claus, Sugar Plums, China Glaze Holiday 2011 - Twinkle Lights, China Glaze - White Cap
Bottom left is the polishes plain, Bottom right has the opposite finish topcoat

L-R: Milani - Ruby Jewels, Maybelline - Snow Bunny, Milani 3D Holographic - HD, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Celeb City, China Glaze - Fairy Dust
Bottom right - plain, Bottom left - mattified

The polishes I used as topcoats in a few of them
L-R: White Cap, Party Hearty, Twinkle Lights

For the matte topcoat, I used Essie's Matte About You, which I highly recommend.

Daily Manicures in November - The Final Ten

November's done which means so is my experiment with trying all the polishes I'd been ignoring! Changing polish every day got a bit annoying after awhile - sometimes I just am not in the mood or did not really have the time to dedicate to it. No regrets, though. I'm glad I finally got to see what all these look like on my nails! Swatch wheels can only do so much.

I plan to do winter/holiday themed polish posts for December - not every day, though! If you have anything you want to see along those lines, let me know! I'm open to suggestions - but keep in mind I have very minimal art skills so don't get too crazy in nail art suggestions. Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving! Happy December!

Milani - Hi Res
Top: one coat
Bottom: three coats

Finger Paints - Where Art Renoir?
This polish goes on about 90% opaque the first coat. If you're good at applying polish evenly you could probably just do the one.

Wet n Wild - Back Alley Deals
(Ice Baby Collection)

Wet n Wild - Teal of Fortune

China Glaze - Skyscraper
I LOVE THIS COLOR

China Glaze - Tempest
Not really a fan...I don't like this frosty kind of polish much at all.

China Glaze - Emerald Fitzgerald

China Glaze - Vertical Rush

China Glaze - Light My Tiki
Again...that same kind of frosty look I just don't enjoy...I think this one in particular is too "Barbie" and not in a good way.

Essie - One of a Kind
LOVE this one. Applies beautifully.

Halloween Nail Polish

 L-R: (unnamed neon orange) from L.A. Colors Color Craze Extreme Brights collection, Wet n Wild 9.0.2.1.Orange, Maybelline Orange Blazes




Wet n Wild Black Creme, Finger Paints Where Art Renoir?, Milani Silver Dazzle




China Glaze's Halloween polishes from last year - Mummy May I, Zombie Zest, Ick-A-Bod-Y

China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-Y over the L.A. Colors neon orange and the Milani Silver Dazzle




L: China Glaze Cracked Concrete over Finger Paints Where Art Renoir?
R: OPI Black Shatter over Wet n Wild 9.0.2.1.Orange



L: China Glaze Cracked Concrete over Zombie Zest
R: Black Shatter over Finger Paints Original Orange

Collective Haul: Sally Beauty and Dollar Tree

I decided I wanted to try Argan Oil products, so I picked up a bottle of the oil and then small bottles of the shampoo and conditioner to see if I like them. (Side note: I love when this kind of thing is available. I hate buying a large bottle of a product and then discovering I dislike it!)

I also picked up some hair color to use probably in the next few days. It's a burgundy/red/brown color. I got a little whisk to mix the dye as well, since I currently just have the brush used for applying it and it doesn't work that well for mixing. The lady working at the check out counter suggested getting the ion repair solutions packet for after coloring as well. This is my first experience with Ion products.

Also at Sally's, I picked up China Glaze 'Light My Tiki' because it was on clearance for $1.99 and Finger Paints 'Where Art Renoir?' because I've been wanting a polish like it for awhile. 

At the Dollar Tree, I saw these trios from L.A. Colors. I was intrigued by the colors but didn't have that high of expectations, considering they were $1 each. They seem really awesome, though! So far I've just swatched them but they are very soft and pigmented! I'll do a post on just them soon. 

I also picked up an NYC lip slider because I'd heard good things about them (and a little because I'd forgotten to bring any lip balms with me and my lips were dry)

I'm really excited to play around with this stuff more! Have any of you tried any of these products before? What were your experiences?

Spring Nail Haul and Swatches

These are the nail polishes I've gotten over the past few months!

L-R: Sally Hansen - Lacey Lilac, Sinful Colors - Soul Mate, Maybelline - Timely Turquoise

Top, L-R: China Glaze - Electric Pineapple* (Island Escape Collection), China Glaze - For Audrey, China Glaze - Dorothy Who?, Finger Paints - Laugh My Art Off, Sinful Colors - Hazard, Maybelline Orange Blazes (LE)
Bottom, L-R: Revlon Matte Suede - Powder Puff, Revlon - Frankly Scarlet, OPI - Black Shatter, Urban Outfitters - Afterhours

*There are two swatches of Electric Pineapple because I could NOT get it to photograph as it looks in real life! The real color is more of a combination of the two swatches.

Top 10: Spring Nail Polishes

China Glaze - Lemon Fizz

China Glaze - Re-Fresh Mint

China Glaze - Something Sweet

China Glaze - Spontaneous

Essence - The World's Coolest

Finger Paints - Vermillion $ Painting

Revlon - Tropical Tempation

Revlon - Candy

Sephora by OPI - Caribbean Cocktail

Zoya - Dannii

Collective Haul: Nail Polish and Products

L-R: OPI Expert Touch nail polish remover, Essence - The World's Coolest, China Glaze - Ingrid, China Glaze - Dorothy Who?, Zoya - Dannii, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Rockstar Pink

L-R: China Glaze - Lemon Fizz, China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy, Finger Paints - Vermillion $ Painting, Orly - Love Each Other 

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti Chip Topcoat, Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

Nail Polish Haul and Swatches

Here are the nail polishes I've gotten recently. Mostly holiday colors. I got China Glaze Sacred Heart for $1.99 and Orly Halley's Comet for #3.99 in the clearance bin at my Sally's. 

L-R: Milani Ruby Jewels, China Glaze Sacred Heart, China Glaze Mrs. Claus

 Sacred Heart is a lovely opaque creme classic red polish. It's called a neon on the bottle, but it isn't matte. I wish Mrs. Claus was more red than pink, but it's still a nice polish and I think it has some potential for interesting layering combinations. It's very sheer.

L-R: China Glaze Party Hearty, Milani Silver Dazzle

These Milani "one coat glitters" all look AMAZING. I decided to just get this one. This is two coats, but it's totally opaque. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it is totally matte and you can feel the glitters, so you may want to use a topcoat with it.

L-R: Milani Hi-Tech, China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses, Finger Paints Mistletoe Mischief

 Mistletoe kisses is definitely one of the coolest polishes I've seen lately and the one I'm most excited to use for the holidays. Mistletoe Mischief is sheerer than I hoped - this is 3 coats - but it's still a lovely green.

Orly Halley's Comet

I could NOT get this one to photograph well at all. It's an amazing color. It goes on fairly sheer but after 2-3  coats it's just fantastic. It looks mostly blue in this picture, but it has a lot more of a teal effect in person, and it's much more glittery looking in person as well.
Scrangie has a much better looking photo of this on her blog : http://www.scrangie.com/2010/09/orly-cosmic-fx-collection-fall-2010.html

Overall I'm very excited about all of these! It'll make for some interesting Christmas manicures!

Orange Nails

Here's another random idea for nails. I knew I wanted to do orange, but after having bought the double-ended dotting tool/brush I was in a mood to try new things, so I decided to add the stripes.
Base color : Revlon Craving Coral
Orange Stripe : Finger Paints Original Orange
Yellow Stripe : Essence Sundancer