Zoya Smoke & Mirrors Collections

Hi there friends! I know it's been a little longer than I'd like since I've blogged, but this week was c-razy. My computer was being a total beezy and my cuticles are all cut to hell from filing at work :( Anyway, here is a little blast from the past, Zoya's Smoke & Mirrors. These came out last year for the Fall 2011 season. I got them right around the time I went on my unplanned hiatus and never got around to posting them. Here they are in all their glory!

The Smoke collection starts off with Anja, a rich, deep, vampy red-toned wine purple. I absolutely love vampy colors and this is nice and dark and sexy. This is two coats.

Next is Jana, a medium nude putty creme with grey, mauve and purple tones. Very complex for a crème, as it tends to be a kind of chameleon, changing in different lights. I love the whole grunge purple thing that this has going on. Three coats.

Here is Codie, speaking of vamps, this baby has sexiness in spades! This is a very dark blackened espresso brown. Just dark enough without being black. This is two coats. I should do a comparison between this and RBL Fortissimo...

This is Petra, awesome name, reminds me of Kylie Minogue's character in Bio Dome (90's pop culture anyone?). Another greige purple, this one is darker and more moody. This is two coats.

Dree is a light, dusty drab olive green with yellow tones and a touch of grey smoke. I was sure I would love this when I saw initially saw promo images for the collection and it was no disappointment when I saw it in person. Ugly pretty for sure. Two coats here.

Last in the Smoke collection is Cynthia, a smoky, blackened peacock teal with soft warm undertones. This one has almost imperceptable teal shimmer to it, interesting. I had trouble with the application on this, it was incredibly thick and I got bubbles every time I tried to do a mani with it. Pity because it's gorgeous. This is three coats.

Now for the Mirrors collection, first up is Marina. One of my very favorite female names. This is a super beautiful slate blue silvery grey with a dusty metallic finish. I love how it's frosty but not too frosty so it becomes really brushstrokey, it dries very soft. This is two coats.

Here is Neeka, a lovely smokey amethyst purple with subtle pink duochrome shimmer and gold glitter speckles. I love this, very interesting and unique. I adore how the glitter isn't terribly sparkly, just scattered and makes the polish look very deep.

Tao is a light smoke grey with blue undertones and a muted, softened metallic finish. This gal is along the same lines as Marina, very metallic but not really frosty which is lovely. This is a very sophisticated and classy color. Two coats.

OOOH. Jem is a drop dead gorgeous color, you NEED it. She's a dark red-toned purple base with metallic dark pink highlights and subtle gold duochrome flecks. This would be a sister polish to Valerie from Fire & Ice, both beautiful but this is more my style. Uber velvety texture and sparkle for days! Two coats.

Nimue is another frosty "mirror". This time done in a smoky muted purple with blue and mauve tones. This is just as pretty as the other two frosts, la la love. This is two coats.

I wasn't sure Yara was even a name, but found out it's a pretty popular Brazillian and Arabic name. It was actually the name of one of the drag queen contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race season 3, which I'm addicted to. I watch the seasons over and over again! Anyway, back to the polish. This is another super unique lacquer, same type of finish as Neeka, a medium smoky olive drab with a dash of gold glitter. Same speckled look, reminds me of a dinosaur egg!

You can get these on www.zoya.com for $8 each. Do you have any of the Smoke & Mirrors colors? I realize these are much more suited to fall and winter than the middle of the summer, but hey, everyone needs a break from neons once in a while ;)

Products provided for review.

Nars Night Series Nail Polish Collection

Here are two polishes from Nars' Night Series, based on the iconic Night Series eyeshadow palette.

Night Porter is a fantastically drool-inducing blackened emerald with green, blue, and gold shimmer flakes, almost glass flake looking. This is seriously ga ga gorgeous, I can't handle it. This one I passed on buying but my sister snatched it up, so I borrowed it to swatch. O.M.G. I can't believe I didn't get it. This is two coats with a topcoat for shine, as it dries dull.

Night Rider (of course, my mind immediately goes to David Hasselhoff) is a greyed pinky lavender jellyish base with plummy pink and silver shimmer flecks. This formula wasn't fantastic but it was acceptable. This is two coats.

Currently these are still available on narscosmetics.com along with Night Flight, the blue polish. It looks like the only one currently unavailable is the black and silver Night Breed. You may also still be able to find these at your local Nars counters. Have a great one dolls!

Products provided for review.

Zoya - Jem & Yara

Hi folks! Today I have two polishes from the Zoya Fall 2011 collection Smoke and Mirrors.

Jem is a dark red-toned purple with metallic dark pink shimmer and some subtle gold bits. This color is phenomenal. I put this akin to Valerie from last year's holiday collection, which I loved but for some reason didn't look great on me. This one hits the nail on the head. It GLOWS and BURNS and is just fricken' fabulous. This is three coats.

Yara is a really dope color, medium olive green with fabulous yellow gold flakey speckles. It makes me think of a dinosaur egg! (P.S. is it just me or is Zoya reaching these days for names? no offense to anyone out there named Yara ;) haha.) I love the smokey yet bright quality of this polish. This is two coats. It's not particularly shiny so a topcoat would bring out more glam for this one.

I will be reviewing the rest of the Smoke and Mirrors collection soon so keep your eyes peeled loves ♥

Products provided for review.

OPI Touring America: Swatches & Review Part 2

Hi everyone, I'm back with the second installment of OPI's Fall 2011 collection, Touring America. If you missed the first half, check it out here.

Are We There Yet? is a orangey melon coral crème with a subtle sprinkling of pink and gold shimmer. This one had  just an ok formula, two coats with some dragging. The shimmer is really light and easy to miss unless you're in bright sunlight. I was surprised this color was so vivid, it looks muted in the bottle.

I Brake for Manicures is a great name for a polish, haha! I need a bumper sticker that says this. This color is pretty interesting, it's a deep dark, muted eggplant purple. This is two coats.

Color to Diner For is an interesting color too, I don't think I have anything quite like it. It's a medium brick red that is very warm toned. The shimmer in this one is pretty spectacular, it's pink and gold, but it's really finely milled and catches the light really awesomely, like crystals. I think the more watery finish of the red allows the sparkle to be more center stage in this one than in the others.

My Address is "Hollywood" is a very normal color, rose medium pink with subtle shimmer. I'm not in love with this but it's rather pretty. Slight dragging, two coats.

Honk if you Love OPI is a vampy purple, more warm toned than I Brake for Manicures. It's a plummy shade and it looks purple, not black on the nail so that's a good thing for a vamp in my opinion. This is three coats.

Last is I Eat Mainely Lobster, a pink coral shade that's (I'm guessing) universally flattering. Same shimmer as the other pinks in the collection, rather shy but pretty when it flashes in the sunlight. Two coats, no dragging on this one. Fun fact about me, I hate lobster :P but I like this polish haha.

There ya have it, late enough for ya? I swear I got so backed up on collections this season. I'll be better in the winter ;)

Products provided for review.

OPI Touring America: Swatches & Review Part 1

Howdy there folks! Hope you are all doing splendidly :) I've had this collection forever and a day so I figured it was time to review it at long last haha. The OPI Fall collection is called Touring America, which is a fab theme if you ask me. I know they do "states" themed collections (like Texas, Chicago, etc.) but this really encompasses the entire country. Fall collections often become permanent colors in the OPI core collection, but I haven't heard if these will be or not. This half of the collection are the more subdued neutral-esque polishes out of the 12 and they are all crèmes.

First up is French Quarter For Your Thoughts, a slightly blue tinged pale smoke grey. I like this color a lot, it is flattering and simple yet chic. This is three coats.

Next is A-Taupe the Space Needle, which is a greenish taupe poop brown. I don't love this color, it really doesn't do much for me haha. Two coats.

This is Get In the Expresso Lane (express + espresso?) is a deep dark cool toned brown. There seems to be a few dark browns out there for Fall this year eh (Zoya Codie, RBL Fortissimo). This was a typical OPI formula two coater.

Suzi Takes the Wheel is a slightly green rainy day grey, different from FQFYT but only slightly. I would guess you wouldn't need both per say, but rather the one that looks better on your skin tone. Three coats here.

I really don't understand the name of Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window. First off it sounds disgusting, but I don't get it, does it mean someone farted in the car on the "trip"? Does it refer to someone having a bathroom accident? Or is someone car-sick? No matter how you explain it, it's gross. I really dislike toilet humor, so this is of course too far for me, but I've only heard one person say they like the name. *shrug* This is a swampy muted army green, two coats.

My favorite of this half, Road House Blues is a deep dark indigo blue. All of these colors dry a little darker than they appear in the bottle which was interesting. This is two coats of sexxxxyness.

Stay tuned to see the second part of the collection!

Products provided for review.

Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless: Sneak Peek!

Illamasqua will announce their highly-anticipated AW11 Theatre of the Nameless collection this Friday, September 2 and in the mean time, they have a sneak preview for you, and a fantastic competition to celebrate!

Be the first to win the new Nail Varnish shades of the collection with a unique, rubberised finish by entering at www.illamasqua.com/kinkynails 

Taking a lead from the colour-coded specialities of the Wittenberg Platz’s domineering Boot Girls, Illamasqua introduces confident new shades, in a brazen display of utter indulgence. The Theatre of the Nameless proudly parades a kinky new waxy “rubber-look” finish to Illamasqua’s hardwearing, chip-resistant

 Nail Varnish …

Taint – Stone Brown, Kink – Bottle Green, Vice – Deep Cerise, Faux Pas – Blue Violet

To enter, go to Illamasqua.com/kinkynails – the internationally open competition opens on Friday 26th August and runs until Sunday 4th September – all T&Cs on the website.

Omg, I am so looking forward to these! The Illamasqua "rubber" finish is really cool, I still regret not grabbing Scorn earlier. Their imagery is astounding too, they always have such beautiful photographs!

Images courtesy of the manufacturer.

Guest Post by Crystaliciousss: Essie - Power Clutch

Please enjoy this guest post by my friend Crystal from Crystaliciousss!

Power Clutch from Essie's Fall collection is the star of this classy and sophisticated collection. No loud shades here, just very chic and elegant hues for an upscale manicure. Power Clutch is a "greyn" creme wich has lovely formula and is opaque in 2 coats. This is what you get when you mix a smokey dark grey with a cool dark green.

It is much darker than Essie's Sew Psyched, I wanted to do a comparison on my nails but the nail on my ringfinger broke at the skin (auch...) so I guess I will have to wait untill all grows back into a better length :( So for now I did a bottle comparison, hope that helps.

Have a lovely day and thanks Kellie for having me on your blog :)

I really like Miss Crystal, she's so nice and good-natured! I read equal amounts of foreign blogs and American blogs about polish so I can get the scoop from all over the world. It's the only way ;)

Guest Post by Polish Pauper: Butter London - Bluey

Hello my dears! This is the start of a 'Guest Post' series that I'll be doing for a week or so. My nails are going through a horrendous ugly phase right now :( so I figured it was a good time to share with you some posts from my wonderful blogger friends that I love and admire! Please take a minute to check out their blogs if you like what you see, which I know you will!

This post is by my gorgeous friend Kisten from Polish Pauper, enjoy! 

Hey lovelies! I am super honored to do this guest post for the la la lovely Kellie! Butter London is one of my favorite brands so of course I had to pick up Bluey from the new fall collection. Described as a slightly metallic dark peacock blue, this one is gorgeous! Shimmery, glowy teal/blue goodness! My only complaint is that the formula was a little thin, but after two coats it was perfection. This is my typical combo, RBL prep, Butter London Horse Power, 3 coats of Bluey then SV. On a side note, Butter London uses British slang or terms for the names of its polish, which is hysterical, check it out here! On that note, thank you to all of you la la lovelies! Ta!

Til next time, thanks for reading guys n' dolls!

Butter London - Wallis

Hey folks, hope you're well. Today I have to show you one of the new Butter London colors, called Wallis. It came out in the Nordstrom Anniversary sale and is now a part of the Fall collection from Butter London. I am SO happy that this brand is now available at Nordstroms. I used to only be able to get them online, then when they came out in Ulta a few months ago, it took at least an hour drive to get to my closest store. Now, they are much more accessible to me which I am real happy about.

Wallis is a tarnished gold olive green foil shimmer. It is named after Wallis Simpson, the "saucy yank" that King Edward VIII left his throne for. I LOVE this polish, it's fantastically beautiful and complex. I have seen a few other bronzey green polishes come out this season, so it is definitely on trend. The formula is thin but builds on itself very well. This is three coats.