Ready for a triple play?

Instead of beating myself up over not posting every single day, I'd rather be happy that I can post two nails every other day.  I originally wanted to paint and post in a way that would let my pictures be posted a day after I wore the polish.  In the case that I royally mess up my polish at work (which is not at all unheard of), I wanted to have a slight cushion of time to put up my next pictures, instead of feeling pressured to repaint my nails to make my daily post.

And part of even wanting to post daily is to show that I can stick with something and be consistent.

Would you like to laugh with me? :D  HA HA HA HA!!

Well, I feel much better now. :)  Onto the polish?  Today has some good ones!!

Parlez-vous OPI? by OPI

Don't mind the little bubbles.  I'm still working out the tiff I've been having with top coats.

This was two coats to opaque.

Looking at it in the bottle, I expected a boring taupe.  It was rather un-boring, though.  Though it was still somewhat taupe-y, it leaned more toward a lavender greige.  If it were slightly more taupe and slightly less lavender, it would remind me of the frilly underside of a mushroom cap.

Parlez-vous OPI? is ultimately rather pretty.  Very workplace friendly as well.  It's not my personal cup of tea, but a) lots of bloggers rave about it, and b) it was on sale.  And let's not forget c), everyone needs a "grown up" color or two in their collection.  This is one of mine.

I still have some problems with OPI's wide brush.  Not all of my nails are wide, so it does pose a problem sometimes.  The polish's formula is pristine, though, which completely makes up for the big ol' brush.

Next up is Orly's Wild Wisteria!  Honestly, sometimes I just buy a polish because I love the name.  Once I put on Wild Wisteria, I adored the color.  I originally bought it, though, because I spent a lot of time writing for an online group with a character I created that I named (any guesses?) Wisteria.  Even though I don't have the opportunity to write with her in that forum setting anymore, I still can't help it that I really enjoy a persona I created.

This is the most recent picture I would have used for her. :)

(I do not own the pictured character.  Don't sue me. :P  She just looks so much like the Wisteria in my head for me to pass her by.)

So, without further ado, Orly Wild Wisteria

Hardest time ever capturing the deep, beautiful purple as anything other than blue.  The pictures I'm posting are the best I did. :(

This one would have been perfect in one coat, but I did two to ease my mind. :)

Also, I'm not wearing topcoat in these pictures!  Look how shiny it is!! <3

The polish in the bottle isn't far from the actual color.  My nails are just being stubborn.

I really liked this polish.  I have yet to try an Orly that I don't like, but for some reason, it's rarely my first polish brand choice.  Maybe it's because most of the colors I see are safe?  Not sure.  The ones I have are lovely, though, and the application is perfect.

Collectively with my now!:  "Oooooooooooo...!!"

I couldn't stop staring at them!

This is a Cosmo polish called "Lords of the Bling."  The name is ridiculous, I know.

BUT JUST LOOK AT IT!!! :D

You can see several of the different flashes in this picture.  Brilliant greens, teal, royal blue, shimmery purple.

Even when it's not shimmering other colors, it's pretty!

The only visual thing I didn't like about this combination was that it turned Wild Wisteria's deep purple into a navy blue color.  It was still lovely.  Just much less purple.

Orly Wild Wisteria and Cosmo Lords of the Bling

Until I started hitting up salons, I'd never seen Cosmo polishes.  I've only bought two so far (Lord of the Blings and I Found Nemo), which are both shimmery topcoat polishes, so I'm curious to see how the rest of the polishes look when applied.  I had some issues with this one, though.  First off, it smells like chemical death.  Secondly, the dry time on this is very, very long.  If I remember right, I got impatient and just put a speed dry top coat on it.  This didn't keep me from having to wait for the first coat to dry, though.  (This is two coats of Lords of the Bling, by the way.)

Critical application flaws aside, I really adored this look.  I kept them like this for at least two days (which is forever for nail polish, in my world) and was still flicking them around in the sun to see that glimmer.

What do you guys think?  Any Parlez-vous OPI? fans out there?  Any ladies ready to stalk their salons for Cosmo polishes?

-E

Sunshine Award!!

Sylvia and April over at Wizards of Bling were so very sweet to give me this award as a new blogger!  Sometimes I find myself a little discouraged, and oftentimes I don't know how to go about promoting my blog.  After they linked to Persistently Polished, I got four new followers! :D  Thank you ladies so much!

These are the rules of the award.

1. Post the logo within your blog or post.
2. Pass the award onto several other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received an award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person whom you received this award from.

I'm passing the Sunshine Award on to:

Also Known As...
Crystal Polish
Little Music Boxes
NAILSTAH
Prim and Polished
Short 'n Chic 

China Glaze: QT

Let me tell you a tale.


Once upon a time, there was a newbie polish lover.  She read blog after blog about shimmering blues and greens, glittery purples, and every other eye-catching hue.  In her devoted reading, though, she was dazzled by something so interesting, so exotic, that she was determined to find it for herself!  What was it, you may ask?

The elusive dusty.

Oh yes, the newbie polish lover was enthralled by the thought of finding discontinued polishes and ridiculously low prices.  For her interpretation of the dusty she'd read about, she searched high and low.  Wasn't there a discount supply store going out of business SOMEWHERE in the kingdom?!  No!  She couldn't find a single one!  And as her search dwindled, she grew despondent.

As a last resort, the tired and disappointed girl walked to a small nail salon after consoling herself with ice cream.  The chimes tinkled overhead, and a woman yelled from the back of the shop to ask if she wanted a pedicure.  But the girl was paralyzed by the sight before her.

Oh wonder!  Oh glory!

"Do you sell your polishes?"


Believe it or not...  The newbie nail polish lover is me (WHO KNEW!).  This whole last week has been a complete joy.  Step aside, Sally Beauty Supply!  Get out of the way, Ulta!  Nail salons are officially the bee's knees.  One great thing is finding the discontinued or highly coveted shades for next to nothing.  Another great thing I've found is that now I'm able to get my grubby little mitts on polish brands not even commercially sold in my city.  My favorite part of this is the hunt, though.  You may go into one salon looking for a certain polish and not find it, but it's almost guaranteed that you'll find something different but just as fantastic!

Let me just name off the fantastic polishes I found this week! <3

China Glaze:  QT (featured today!), OMG, L8R G8R, Blue Island Iced Tea, Entourage, Rainstorm, and Paper Chasing.
OPI:  Holiday Glow, Midnight Blue Glitter, and Can't You Sea?
New York Summer:  Amaranth and Hot Atomic Red
Cosmo:  Lords of the Bling and I Found Nemo (also, super great names!)
Creative: #373 Limelight
Freshcover:  Chez Michelle, Anticipation, Hard Grape

Actually, this week was filled with polish-y goodness.  While cleaning my room, I found some (China Glaze Shower Together [my first CG!], and Sally Hansen's Honeydew and Night Hydrangea).  While visiting a friend, I was gifted some (mini OPI bottles of Eiffel for this Color and RapiDry Topcoat!  Thanks, Angela!!).  And while trying to resist at Sally's, I bought one (but WHO can resist China Glaze Medallion for $2?!).

...Also, my ebay order came today.  OPI Black Cherry Chutney, and China Glaze DV8, TMI, LOL, Cherry Pie, Orange Marmalade, Dollhouse, Moulin Rouge, and Gussied Up Green.  I was SUPPOSED to get Mom's Chiffon, but I was sent a bottle of Groovy Green instead! :(  And lucky me, the only bottle that leaked was (you guessed it) Groovy Green!  And I can't even be excited about the color, as it looked JUST like Re-Fresh Mint from Up and Away.

All of that said, I'm up to my eyeballs in polish right now.  The next few weeks would serve me VERY WELL if they were no-buy (or very minimal-buy) weeks.  Cheap salon polishes are a great find and SO cheap, but that only lets me believe that I can get more. *o*


QT was the first polish that I picked up and refused to put down again at my very first dusty.  The ebay store I'd decided to buy from didn't carry QT, even though I desperately wanted it!  Imagine my joy as I found the bottle, brand new and untouched, on the rack!  Let me show you this little darling!

Isn't it beauuuutiful??  Quick apologies for the sloppy application.  I was in a hurry to meet a friend, and I NEEDED to show him this really great polish!

Swoon!

This was two coats.  I wasn't used to the holographic formula, so I did have some drag, but it dried very quickly with perfect coverage.  I also didn't experience bad flaking or chipping!

This is near the top of the list for my favorite polishes of all time!

 

Just let me have one more enchanted sigh before I go!

Now that I have a bunch of the OMG collection, I'm looking forward to wearing them.  Indiana actually took a turn back to freezing temperatures and snow flurries toward the end of the week, though, and it felt unjust that I couldn't wear these gorgeous holo polishes out into the sun!

Hold onto your socks, ladies.  I had some really gorgeous finds from my dusty hunting excursion this week, and I can't wait to share them all with you!

-E

Claire's Mood Polish: Happy/Earthy and China Glaze: Rose Among Thorns

I keep promising that I won't schluff off, and then I do it anyway.  Tonight's entry is going to have to be another double post.  Between working, cleaning, family stuff, and a certain boy who shall not be named, I'm being kept very busy.  Physically, mentally, emotionally.  It's not at all a bad thing.  Just bad news for the poor photos that wait in my folders to be posted. :)

So less blah-blah, more pictures!

This is Happy/Earthy, one of the really neat color-changing "mood polishes" from Claire's.  I don't really think we need to go into the fact that the colors change due to body temperature rather than actual mood (and really, who ever gets into "earthy" mood?  Not me!), but we DO need to get into the clear truth that these polishes are still pretty cool.  I own the yellow/green, teal/blue, and pink/magenta colors.  I have yet to try the pink/magenta, but I have worn the teal/blue before.

The application is kind of nasty.  I'm not very used to using polishes that dry to a satin/matte, so the polish setting up while I was still painting was a bit of an issue.  Top coat is almost mandatory, as the finish without one is substandard.  I did really enjoy the fact that, when you're painting on the second coat, you can see the difference in the dried polish on your nail vs. the different color of polish on your brush.

Ignore the nick, please.

This polish really looks fantastic on ladies with longer nails.  I still think it's fun on my shorties, though. :)

I still think that yellow is hideous on me, though.

With the temperature of my hands, this is how it looked most of the time, though sometimes the nail bed had a bit more of a greenish tint.

This is what it looked like after a douse of hot water.

BRIGHT HIGHLIGHTER YELLOW.

This was after a few moments under the cold water tap.

Notice how my pinky is already changing back, as are the very bases of my nails?  That's just a good testimony as to how warm my hands are all the time.

Check out this great water spotting action!

True story concerning this polish:  The day I wore it to work, I spent a lot of time watching it.  My favorite thing happened when I was filling up a bucket of water for my bread.  The water I was using was very cold, and the tiny spatters coming from the bucket would fleck my nails with green for a few seconds before my natural body head would overtake the spot with yellow again.  It was the coolest thing!

This was two coats of Earthy/Happy.  I had trouble with it flaking off in giant chunks once I'd gotten it wet, but if you don't have worries like that, then these mood polishes will be a lot of fun to try out.

Next up on the docket...

 

China Glaze's Rose Among Thorns

Where has this polish been all my life?!  It's fantastic!

Indoors, the polish might looks like an ambitious but not overly rich red.

In the direct sun, though, it's a gorgeous neon red-coral.

Gorgeous!

Instead of being a thick, goopy bright, Rose Among Thorns was a very thin polish.  The mani above is three thin coats.  It does dry to a satin-matte as well, but top coat fixes that right up.  While we're on the issue of top coats, though, please ignore my index finger.  I've found that my top coat is what's making bubbles appear in my polished nails.  I ceased use of the topcoat I'd been using and switched to something else temporarily.  The temporary fix is working well enough for now.

Rose Among Thorns is a very "me" type of color.  I love it, and I'm definitely wearing it again.  Next time, I'm going to try white polish beneath to keep the main focus on the real star of the show: bright neon coral!

I hope that you're all doing well!  I need to kick my blogging routine into gear and start posting earlier so that I can't even use the excuse that I'm tired or need to go to bed.  No excuses, just polish!  And I have some really neat stuff coming up to show you, so I'll be back!

Thank you all for reading and being so patient with me!

-E

Ulta: Tutu Cute and Orly: Pixie Dust

Apologies to my very few (but very awesome) readers. :)  Easter was wonderfully lazy and I've been working on some cleaning projects as well.  I continue to dutifully paint my nails and take pictures, but I've been slacking off in taking the time to upload the pictures and then blog about them.

Tonight you get double the bang for your buck!  These were the two polishes that I wore over Easter weekend.  Considering that I should be in bed, though, I'm going to photo dump and try to keep things short and sweet.  If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask!

Ulta:  Tutu Cute

Oh my goodness, I love it.  It's tutu adorable!!

(Come on.  Who didn't expect a lame joke?)

Sun pictures of this turned out so periwinkle!

 

Two coats to perfect opacity, and the formula was nearly perfect.  I had a few issues with some streaking, but I think that's standard fare with pastels.

I can honestly say that I didn't expect such a nice result from an Ulta polish.  What a great surprise!

The photos of Tutu Cute are a little excessive.  But I went through a lot of pains to get my hands on one of these new Spring colors and goshdarnit, there will be pictures!

Make sure that you get a bottle before they're gone!

This is Orly's Pixie Dust.  It's a super pale, grayed-out blue with loads of silvery shimmer.

This was three thin coats.  It applied very well, but it's just not the kind of color that I can't live without.  It did fill a hole in my collection, though, which sets that obsessive collector inside me at ease.

And it was on clearance to boot.  Bless you, Ulta.

Regardless of whether I loved it or not, Pixie Dust matched one of the colors in the sheer, flowing kimono top that I wore to our Easter service, and was therefore a perfect manicure color choice. :)

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Easter!!

What did you think of Tutu Cute and Pixie Dust? 

-E

China Glaze: Grape Juice and Raspberry Festival

It's so hard to get back on track when I want to show you the polish I'm wearing today so much!  But after skipping the post that I had planned for yesterday to showcase Timbleberry, I feel the need to go back and cover what I missed.

Because let's face it.  China Glaze's glass fleck polishes?  TOO GOOD TO MISS!

Grape Juice.  Oh, how lovely!  Can I admit that this is the one polish from that collection that I thought I could live without?  I very humbly retract that statement!

Just look at this shine!  All of the light-refracting glass flecks in this polish make it gorgeous.  Packing jelly polish with these little babies was sheer genius.

Who could really decline to wearing something so shimmery and gorgeous out on a sunny day?

Though it looks rather blue in the bottle, it's not. :)  My nails in these pictures are a much better representation of true color than this bottle shot.

Cute enough to eat. <3

This was two coats of Grape Juice, and I felt it was a good amount.  In the sun pictures, I can see that it's still a bit sheer.  This doesn't bother me considering the type of polish being worked with, but if it bothers you, hit it with another coat.  I also feel the need to say that I do have very short nails compared to other blogging laides.  I didn't see a visible nail line under two coats, but you may.  Sweep on another coat or two until you're satisfied with the results. :)

So, onto China Glaze's Raspberry Festival.  I should just warn you now...

 

That's right.  I'm going out on a limb and showing you my pudgy little Hobbit toes.  But let me tell you.  Nobody in Middle Earth could resist these little tootsies. lol  I put this polish on Thursday.  After wearing open-toed shoes, spending too many hours in my work shoes, running around bare-foot, and just being a bit unkind to my feet in general, this polish hasn't budged.

LOOK AT HOW SHINY IS IT!!!

Raspberry Festival is my Preeeeciiioooouuuussssssssssss. <3

Not to mention that I was so darn lucky in finding it for $3.99 at Ulta a while back!

Oh my goodness, I love these polishes!  Of China Glaze's 2009 Summer Collection (consisting of Raspberry Festival, Cherry Pie, Orange Marmalade, Strawberry Fields, Grape Juice, and Watermelon Rind), I'm only missing Cherry Pie and Orange Marmalade.  And you can bet your sweet glass flecks that they're on my list to buy!  The collection is so perfect for the bright sun that I may forgo most of the new Pool Side neons to get my hands on this collection.

What do you think?  Are you in love with the glass fleck?  Which is your favorite color from the collection?  Should I just give my stubby toes back to the Hobbits already?

-E

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

...for Sinful Colors' Timbleberry.

(Annstah, this one is for you!)

Right before I started up Persistently Polished, Annie over at NAILSTAH posted this review of China Glaze's Pink Chiffon.  (Of course, her review only made me want it. *facepalm*)  Sinful Colors' Timbleberry was brought up as a possible dupe, and was suggested as a possible dupe for China Glaze's Sugar High from the Up and Away collection as well.

I think that both Pink Chiffon and Sugar High are similar pinks, so I can't at all blame anyone for feeling like one polish could dupe both.

I put Timbleberry on last night in hopes that it would come close to Annie's super pretty Pink Chiffon. Unfortunately, it isn't even close.

A word of apology for the glitter all up in my cuticles in the pictures. lol  The last post I made about the struggle with Slamming Red?  That's what's left of it.  After that disappointment, I didn't feel like going at my poor nails with an orange stick.

I'll admit that in some pictures, it does look pinkish.  This direct sun picture brings out some interesting tones in Timbleberry.  But make sure you take a good peep at the picture below with the polish's name sticker and my thumb.  That seems closest to real life.

This polish is a bright, almost neon color.  Unlike a neon polish, though, it dries with a shine. :)  I would consider it a coral, but it very much has a red base rather than pink.

This wasn't an overly pigmented polish, but it was far from sheer.  Two coats was perfect.  It was a little thick, but I imagine it was just the bottle I got.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems darker in this picture.  Which is overall more accurate.

And just for comparison, I took a couple more pictures.

This is Timbleberry next to China Glaze's Sugar High.

And here's Timbleberry next to High Hopes.

(Both Sugar High and High Hopes are from the China Glaze Up and Away collection)

Almost the same, right? :D

The photos don't seem to show that High Hopes is subtly lighter than Timbleberry, but if you're not a stickler for owning the name brand, you can save yourself a few bucks. :)

Thanks for reading!

-E