Grapes of Gold

Aka Zoya Daul

So Zoya names all of their Polishes with women's names. So I'm thinking, WTF is Daul? I have never heard that name before, how do you even say it? So I Google it... The first page of results are some model named Daul Kim who hanged herself in 2009. Lovely. Mooooving on...

I'm really getting into painting my nails again for some reason, so I figured I might as well enjoy it while I can, because there will be no time for it with a newborn babe in the house. Plus, I'll be chopping all my nails off (well, as short as I can get them anyway) and keeping them that way for a while.

On to the Polish!

Daul in natural, indoor light, no flash. 

Sunlight.

Cost: I picked up this one at Ulta, where I think Zoya goes for $8. You can also get them from Zoya.com or Beauty First stores. I don't know of any reputable places to get them cheaper than $8, unfortunately.

What I used: I used Nailtek Foundation II, two coats of Daul, and a coat of Poshe fast dry topcoat

Application: Excellent. Zoya rarely disappoints, especially the foily colors. The shorter, wider brush is one of my favorites too, it really cuts down on Polish dripping and makes it really easy to cover a good portion of the nail and get a good line at the cuticle.

Color/Finish:This is a foily/glass fleck finish. The base color is a medium, cool-toned grape purple and the glass fleck is a yellow, almost coppery, gold. It's very very similar to Zoya Faye, but the purple is darker and cooler. From what I have seen, it's a dupe for Orly Oui (which I never bought because I thought it was a dupe for Faye!).

Most Awesome Polish EVER

Aka Ludurana Aurora Boreal in Show

No, seriously... For me, this is the Polish to end all Polish. I could wear this every day and never ever get sick of it. Unfortunately, my application and pictures kind of suck... Sorry about that.

No babbling for this one, here are the pics:

 Yes, I know this is blurry, but it shows the predominant colors best. When I wore it, this was mostly what color my nails were - this dark metallic aqua/teal with purplish magenta around the edges.

This shows more of the hard angle color shift... You can see the coppery orange at the very edge.

I believe I took these pics after 3 or 4 days of hard wear. It held up really well. This is somewhat color accurate, except that you couldn't see that darker blurple color most of the time.

 This color was NEVER flat. It always showed at least 2 colors, usually more, at the same time.

Another accurate one color-wise. The teal leaned slightly more green than shown here.

Cost: This was $14 at shop.Llarowe.com and worth every single penny (something I have said thus far for every Polish I have ordered from her site).

What I used: I used Nailtek Foundation II, a coat of Orly Bonder, two coats of Show, and a coat of Poshe fast dry topcoat

Application: Pretty good. I have heard bloggers describe Ozotics as being airy or fluffy when applied and I guess you could say this was sort of like that. It was definitely different than most polishes, maybe slightly thicker than normal, but not hard to control. It also seemed like it would be incredibly sheer and it wasn't at all! A lot of people apply these over black for that reason, but I really think this one looks best on its own.

Color/Finish: ZOMGWTFAMAZINGNESSS!!! It's a predominantly darker teal-aqua and purple-magenta multi-chrome that can also flash a darker blurple and coppery orange on the edges at more extreme angles. The finish is a metallic shimmer, but not chrome or foil.

Holo Yumminess (And My Renewed Polish Addiction)

Aka A-England Princess Tears (The Legends Collection)

I am pretty sure the princess is crying because this Polish is so effing AWESOME. Seriously, it's been a while since I have really been excited about Polish... It's become more of "Oh I want to get that one because it will be a good toe-Polish" or "I don't really have a color like that, I should get it"... until now.

I'd seen a post somewhere that Ozotic was discontinue some of their more awesome Polishes so I finally got my butt to Llarowe to make some purchases. Of course, while I was there, I threw a few more things that I had been wanting to try into my cart. Sadly (or fortunately for my bank account), so many of the things I wanted to try weren't in stock. So I ended up with a couple of Ozotics, a Ludurana (which seems to be an exact dupe for one of the Ozotics I got) and this gem.

Before I get on with the Polish, I just want to note that I have a renewed obsession for these unique and gorgeous Polishes. I can't wait to get more from A-England and I really, really want some Enchanted Polishes. I've been rather annoyed with all the blog posts lately of all the over-the-top (to me), glittery, chunky indie Polishes - just not my thing... but I can get behind some awesome holo-duochromey-goodiness. I see me placing some pretty pricey orders from Llarowe in the future.

Anyway, on to the awesome...

Outdoors, full sun, no flash:

You can see a bit of the pink/lilac duochrome on my ring finger.

The holo is definitely way more prominent outdoors in the sun.

Look at that holo goodiness!!! 

 ------------------------------------------------------

I attempted an indoors shot to show how the holo translates out of the sun, but my camera kept focusing on everything BUT my nails! It's still a very lovely, subtle grey/lilac/pink mulitchrome indoors with a pretty sparkle and a hint of holo.

Where to buy: In case you didn't catch it above, here is where you can buy these: http://shop.llarowe.com/main.sc. They are $12 for 13ml or about .44 oz (bottle says 4 fl oz haha that'd be a LOT of Polish - and a great deal!)

What I used: 1 coat of Nailtek II Foundation, 2 coats of Princess Tears and 1 coat of Poshe.

Application: Pretty darn good! I don't have a lot of experience with holos, but I hear they can be a real pain. This one was great, opaque in 2 coats, very easy to control and no clean up required! The brush seemed a little stuff and weird, but actually worked perfect for a nice clean line - and the polish only went where I put it and spread nicely. I guess I was expecting some difficulty, it didn't give me any. My nails didn't exactly paint themselves, but great formula none-the-less. It can be slightly brushtrokey if you're super sloppy (like me), but it's hardly noticeable and most of them disappear entirely once dry. It's a little on the thick side so watch how much is on the brush.

Color/Finish: This is a subtle grey/pink/lilac multichrome base with a fairly strong linear holographic finish. I'd say the color is predominately lilac but the pink flash is fairly strong where the light hits the polish. In very dull lighting, it looks more silvery grey. The holo EXPLODES in sunlight but is still reasonably visible indoors.

Final Word: AWESOME. I seriously LOVE this Polish and plan on buying more from A-England. Even indoors with the muted holo, it's just a beautiful color and I keep looking at it. It makes me feel happy and anything medieval themed has a special place in my heart. I HIGHLY recommend this Polish and think it's 100% worth the $12 price tag.

I Don't Have Cancer Nails

Aka OPI Grape...Set...Match & Servin' Up Sparkle


Ok, I know, what's with the title? I found out today that I don't have cancer. To make a long story short:

Went to the doc in August for other issues, he found a quarter sized lump on my thyroid. I got blood work, an ultrasound and a referral to an Endocrinologist. All the blood tests came back good and I finally got a biopsy done on the concerning nodules. One was a cyst (the one that started this all) and was drained, the rest were biopsied. I FINALLY got the results today and all is benign.

I decided I needed a mani to celebrate and I just happened to pick up one of those tennis lady duos at Beauty First. Set contained Grape...Set...Match (sparkly purple) and Servin' Up Sparkle (chunky, multisized holo glitter). I got it for 30% off, too! I know I just got done saying I am not a glitter fan, but I am a big holo fan. I'm also a purple fan (it's my favorite color), so this was the perfect combo.

Here's a pic of GSM on its own:

Not the best pic, my nails were still wet. This is 3 coats. I am very disappointed when I have to apply 3 coats of any polish (except neons, since it's expected and they dry fast). The pic isn't the greatest as my nails were still wet.

This is a red based true purple with tiny blue, pink and purple shimmer particles. It's really quite nice, but the formula isn't the greatest. It was a bit sheer and watery. Dry time was slightly better than average though, so that helped.

Here it is with SUS on top, one coat:

Flash:

My only complaint is that, despite how it looks in the bottle, the glitter is sparse, or just doesn't pick up on the brush well. I applied this coat very thick to get the glitter on the brush, then went over it a few times without redipping the brush to get the glitter to stick. I also didn't get a lot of the hex pieces (about 1-3 per nail). I guess I could have done a second coat, but that would be 7 coats total with base and topcoat, YIKES!

Here are some blurry pics to show the sparkly holo goodness:

So what do you think? I am kind of up in the air. Again, I'm not a big glitter fan and this just somehow seems like too much. Believe me, that means something coming from the 28 year old mom who wears acid green eyeshadow! At the same time, it's kind of boring to me, likes it's really nothing special and should be more than it is. I'm not totally disappointed, and I do like it, but I guess it just seems like it's missing something I thought it would have. Or maybe nothing can excite me now that I got such great news!

Heart Purple

I LOOOOOVE purple. So much in fact, that I caught myself using purple twice in a row (I usually change it up every time). 

I got a couple of hauls from transdesign and Sally's, plus a nice little gem of a Polish at Ross. Have a look:

This was after a couple of days of wear. It's Essie Sexy Divide ($8 at Transdesign.com or at Giant Eagle and Rite Aid) with CND Sapphire Sparkle ($5.50 at transdesign.com). This was taken with my Droid without flash (damn mercury bulbs!!)

With flash. Isn't that sparkle DIVINE?? It's a predominantly blue (very bright and almost teal) sparkle that flashes a purple/pink color. Duochrome sparkle? I'm in! Sexy Divide applied well, 2 coats over Nailtek Foundation II, one coat of Sparkle and one coat of Seche Vite.

*@&*#&*^!*$)($$!!!!!!!!!! Do you see this??? Yes, slightly less blue than shown... this color is effing AMAZING! It's Cosmetic Arts, made by Forsythe - makers of Color Club and Fingerpaints, and found at Ross Dress for Less for $1.99. I have a few of their Polishes and really like them. This one was a bit watery, but in a weird way. It was watery but didn't want to spread very well. You'd normally think that watery would mean a dripping, pooling mess. It wasn't awful, but not top-notch formula either. It did reach opacity in 2 coats, however, and dried super fast (and semi-matte, which makes me think there is some neon pigment in there).

The accent nail is a brand I have never heard of before that I picked up at Rite Aid for $3.99. It's Hedy's ma.nish.ma. holographic nail color. That's what the brand is called. The color is Blaster. I don't see much holo but it is sparkly and duochrome-y. There are tiny pink and blue sparkles suspended in what look like a milky, lavender base. One coat, went on nicely, not much else to report expect the $4 bottle is pretty small - .22 oz. Not really worth it for what amounts to a layering Polish that I probably won't use much.