Zoya Intimate Collection

All these amazing Spring collections coming out are making me happy...and broke. There just seems to be one 'must-have' colour after another, and frankly, I want it to stop for a while. Come on polish companies, please just churn out some crappy stuff that I can pass up so that I can take a breather from buying for a while! Nah, I don't mean that...really.

Here is a case in point: Zoya's Intimate Collection for Spring. I had to severely restrain myself to getting four out of the six. A girl's got to have her limits, after all.

First up is Dove:

This is two coats without top coat. A beautiful smooth grey creme, which applied easily. Yum. I love grey cremes, and this is no exception.

Next up, Marley:

I adore this one. This is two coats without top coat, and Marley is an amazing lilac. She's a devious little trickster though - although she gives the impression of being a straight up creme, there is a hidden pearlised shimmer (which is difficult to see in these pics cos the sun runs away when it sees me with my camera these days).

Third, we have Caitlin:

This is two coats without top coat. A divine purple/grey/blue, which pulls a lot bluer on me than some swatches I've seen. Love, love, love this colour - so different from your usual but still demure enough to fit in with the low key theme of this collection.

Lastly, Danni:

This is two coats without top coat. A gorgeous purple with gold shimmer running throughout. Sparkly yet still somehow subtle...if you can call purple nail polish subtle. Which I absolutely can, considering what I have sported on my nails over the years.

Overall I love this collection. The formula was nice, and all were two coaters and easy to work with. I do love me a bit of Zoya, and this collection is no exception.

MCB

Milani Rockstar Heavy Glitter

This is a mani I did while I was playing around with ideas for New Years Eve. I didn't end up going with this one, but I did take some pics:

And a blurry one to show the sparkle:

This was 2 coats of Purple Gleam with 2 coats of Blue Flash on the ring finger. I then stamped with China Glaze 2030 and covered it all with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. The Milani glitters decided to eat through top coat, so I ended up having to do 2 coats of CND Shiney top coat in between 2 coats of Seche Vite! All in all this ended up being 7 coats of polish, not counting the stamping! It was an absolute nightmare to get off, even using the foil method.

That being said, it was so much fun, and a sparkl-o-rama on my nails! The Milani glitters are so blingy in real life - it was hard to truly capture it in pictures. They applied easily and were opaque in only 2 coats. I ordered these online from Cherry Culture, which ships internationally (thank you Cherry Culture!).

MCB

Revlon Perplex

Chanel Paradoxal was one of my favourite polishes of 2010, so when I heard that Revlon Perplex was similar, I knew I had to try it! 

I was lucky enough to participate in a polish swap with my nail-friend Ali from Ali's Nail News. If you haven't already, you should check out her blog - its awesome! Doing the swap was so much fun, and Ali's package to me was so so sweet and generous. We plan on doing it again some time, and I'm looking forward to that. If you're reading, Ali, thanks again - you're the best nail polish buddy ever!!! :)

Anyway, Perplex isn't out here in Aus yet, so this was one of the polishes I asked Ali to swap with me. Despite the fact it was hard to find at the time, she found it straight away and it made its way across the world into my waiting arms. Or waiting nails, I should say.

Here is the result of the union:

This is 2 coats plus Seche Vite topcoat. The formula was pretty nice to work with - no major problems.

I absolutely love this colour - all versions of it. I have Chanel Paradoxal, Revlon Perplex and Sportsgirl Supernatural (an Aussie brand) and in my massive stash, these get the most wear. It is hard to describe the colour - my beautiful friend J asked me if it was purple, grey or brown and I answered that it was a purply greyie brown with purple shimmer :) Whatever it is, its gorgeous in all its permutations, and I can't get enough of it.

Are you feeling the love for this colour?

MCB

Essie Luxedo

After all the reds and greens and bright sparkly bits of Christmas nails, I needed a palate cleanser in the form of a dark, vampy purple. So I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try out Essie Luxedo:

The top pic is two coats with a top coat of Seche Vite. This colour is gorgeous - luscious and dark and super glossy and smooth. Just what I needed!

Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to see what it would look like with some stamping over the top, so I added a stamp from plate BM20 in Konad Purple Princess polish. I love it - all baroque and luxurious but understated and subtle as well.

In other exciting news, I managed to get my hands on all of OPI's new Katy Perry collection yesterday, except for the Black Shatter (crackle polish), so I will swatch those as soon as we get some sun here! Don't get me wrong, I am loving all of this rain, but it is not conducive to nice, colour accurate photos.

MCB

Clarins 230

Yes, you read that title right. Unicorn pee (as it is commonly referred to). I finally have it. One of the most sought after, coveted and expensive polishes in the world. I have wanted it since I first got into polish, and I never thought that it would actually be mine.

I can't tell you how much I paid for it, because some of my friends read this blog and they would come around to my house and slap my for my impulsive stupidity. But I don't regret it for a second!

This is the most beautiful polish I own. If I could only pick one polish to wear for the rest of my life, it would be this one:

Sorry the last pic is blurry - I was trying to show the green shimmer as well, and just couldn't get a good shot of it in normal light (and low light + no tripod = blurry).

I love, love, love this polish. This is two coats layered over one coat of Barry M Indigo, and topped of with Seche Vite. Definitely the jewel of my collection!!

MCB

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

I love this polish. Yes, I know I say that about a lot of polishes, but I really love this one. I am a huge fan of Scrangie's blog (check out my blogroll if you want a link to it), and she created this polish in collaboration with RBL founder, Ji Baek.

Less words, more pics:

Scrangie herself describes it as "a medium blue-based purple with green iridescence and green microshimmer". It is totally stunning! From some angles the purple is really prominent and from others the shimmer is more obvious. It changes all the time depending on the light.

It's available online from Rescue Beauty Lounge. This is three coats plus Seche Vite topcoat. If you love purples or duochromes, then this polish needs to be in your collection!

MCB

2 Polishes from Essie Winter 2010

I have been known to squeal with excitement, despite being old enough to know better. And that's exactly what happened when I received my new Essie polishes last week. I only got 2 from the Winter 2010 collection - Smokin' Hot and Going Incognito.

First up, Smokin' Hot in the sun, then in the shade:

This is a delicious dark purple grey creme. I applied 2 coats and topped it off with Seche Vite. I like this one - glad I picked it up.

Next up, Going Incognito in the sun then in the shade:

Luscious emerald/forest green. This is 2 coats topped with SV. I LOVE this colour - creamy green goodness in a bottle. I am a big fan of greens, and this one ticks all the boxes for me. I'm pretty sure that if you don't have this, you need to drop everything you're doing, including reading my blog, and go out and find it right now.

I did a comparison of Smokin' Hot with Models Own Purple Grey:

Although they're similar, the Essie is a cooler, more smokey colour than the Model's Own. The Model's Own has more red to it and is slightly warmer.

I also compared Smokin' Hot with OPI's Jade is the New Black:

As you can see, the Essie is a lot richer and deeper, whereas the OPI has a lighter, more dusty and more muted look.

Well that's it for another post...what do you think of these colours from Essie's Winter 2010 collection?

MCB