China Glaze - Island Escape Collection

I had planned on posting Chanel Mimosa next, but umm... you're going to have to wait on that one.  I did wear it, but ugh, application was terrible and it didn't look good.  It didn't seem so bad when I initially swatched it, but a full mani was not good.  I'll try it again when I get over being angry with her!  ;)

I knew I had to have the entire Island Escape collection the first time I saw swatches, but I've been lazy and haven't gotten around to posting it, though I've had it for, umm... at least 2 weeks.  Oops!  I really like the collection as a whole, though a couple of the formulas were a bit disappointing.  There is nothing earth shattering here, but it is a great summer collection that I will get a lot of use out of!

108 Degrees is a glass flecked pink, perfect for summer.  A bit on the sheer side, but I don't mind VNL when it's crazy-hot out.  I don't have an exact dupe in my stash, but it didn't seem all that original.

Seniorita Bonita is mostly purple, but it has some heavy pink shimmer, which is quite hard to capture.  This was the sheerest of the collection, and slightly disappointing because of it.  I really had to layer this one on to get it to show up.  It did dry though, and super-shiny at that, so maybe I shouldn't complain?

Blue Iguana is the last of the glass flecks in this collection, and I really love it.  I have seen a lot of complaints of how sheer it is, but I've seen worse.  It's a bit of a stainer, so be careful!  I can't wait to wear this one!  There is a slight pinkish duochrome to it, which makes it awfully similar to Nicole's You're S-Teal the One - I've compared them below - NOPI is in the middle.

These two are pretty much dupes.  Blue Iguana is much more pigmented than You're S-Teal the One, so if you're torn, I suggest it.  You can usually get China Glaze's cheaper too!  :)

Cha Cha Cha is the lone shimmer in this collection, supposedly similar to the famous Moonpool.  I don't own it, so I can't compare, but I prefer this to the pics I've seen of Moonpool - less frosty!  However, the application on this one wasn't great.  You can see some bald spots on my index nail, and this was 3 coats.

Electric Pineapple is a bright green/yellow creme which applies easily, especially after the sheerness of the previous polishes.  It looks similar to OPI's Fiercely Fiona, but they aren't dupes, as you can see below.

Fiercely Fiona is much more yellow than Electric Pineapple, but I love 'em both!

Papaya Punch is the last of the collection, and the best formula.  It's a gorgeous bright orange, not neon at all, but it will get attention!  It leans to the yellow side of orange, so depending on your skintone, this one might be troublesome for you.  I am addicted to oranges - it seems like I gotta have every one I see!

The cremes in this collection apply much better than the glass flecks, but the only real problem children are Seniorita Bonita and Cha Cha Cha.  SB was kinda watery and extremely sheer, CCC is prone to balding.  I <3 the colors, so I will deal, but if you don't have much patience, you might want to avoid these!  I LOVE Papaya Punch and Blue Iguana - both of them were stunning and pretty easy to apply.

Are you thinking about picking up any of this collection?  Tell me which ones you like!  :)

In other news, I head back to work tomorrow... ugh.  Can't vacations last forever?

Basecoat: none

Topcoat: none

Number of coats: varies, 2-3

Zoya Intimate Swatches & Comparisons... and a plea for help

So... it's been 2 weeks since I've posted.  I don't want to constantly be saying "sorry 'bout that", but umm... sorry 'bout that.  I have been so stressed out with work and life that I really haven't felt like blogging.  I have been painting my nails, but only every 4-5 days or so, and I haven't been taking pictures.  I'm having a bit of trouble with my camera - it is suddenly refusing to capture light correctly, as you will see in these pics.  I almost didn't post them because they are all kinda dark and not what I prefer, but I haven't felt like re-swatching everything either, so I hope they are helpful to you.

Work has been just... terrible lately.  I really need to find another job.  I have been there nearly 10 years, but things have changed so much and it's just not a place I am comfortable working anymore.  :(  It's really sad, but it's the truth.  I had mentioned before that we switched our focus from service to sales, and with that came a daily sales requirement that is... well, I won't say it is unreachable, because it isn't impossible, but it isn't likely to happen.  My department started off very well with the new program and put a lot of effort into it, but then the bank decided to change the rules of the program and did not reward for the hard work like they had promised they would.  As a result, most of the department quit putting in the effort.  Since I am responsible for them, if they don't do it, I lose my job, so everyone is breathing down my neck.  I am basically begging the staff to put some effort into it, with hardly any improvement.  I asked the other day what would motivate them to their original efforts again, and was told nothing was going to do that.  Um... so basically, they have gotten me fired, along with themselves.  *sigh*  I love my staff and I absolutely understand their feelings, but they don't seem to understand that if they don't follow along with the program, we are all getting fired!!

In other life news... anyone in Illinois (or anywhere else that we can get her to!) willing to take in a very sweet and loving cat?  Sydney is my parents' cat, she is around 13 years old, black and tan tiger-striped and will be your very best friend.  She has had a few potty problems lately and my parents have decided to put her to sleep, even though otherwise, she is healthy and happy.  Recent vet visits have proven she has no diseases, but my parents do not want to deal with the inconvenience of these litter box problems and are going to have her put down.  I have begged them to let me have her and they refuse, same with taking her to the local humane society.  They claim they don't want her to be anyone else's problem, but that is not fair - someone else could love her and understand that there are potty issues with age.  I am so angry, hurt, disappointed, and disgusted with them.  I'm also not speaking to them, which does suck because we are normally very close.  I am hoping if I can find her a loving home, my parents would be willing to try that instead of killing her because she is inconveniencing them.  I wish I had a good picture to show you - if you look in her adorable little face, it is impossible to not love her. Sydney is tiny, weighs maybe 3 lbs?, has a tiny short tail that is all wonky and weird at the tip (we believe it was caught in something when she was young - we picked her out at the vet's office when she was a couple of years old, they found her roaming the streets), and is missing a bottom tooth (not sure when that happened, I just noticed the last time I was there that it was gone!).  She is extremely quiet - she actually is unable to make sounds!  When we first got her, she made little creaky sounds instead of meows, but within the last few years, she has lost the ability altogether.  She still tries, but no sound comes out.  She has the biggest green eyes and the sweetest little face.  Sydney wants to be everyone's best friend.  She will do anything for attention, including walking on her hind legs just trying to get you to pet her!  She currently lives with another cat and they get along great - he thinks she is his mother and she treats him as her own.  If anyone has any suggestions for anything else I can do to try to help her... please let me know.  I am heartbroken over this.  Here are a couple of blurry pics of Sydney with my hubby... she adores him and as much as he hates to admit it, the feeling is mutual:

So... moving on now to what you came here to read about - Zoya Intimate Collection.  I've had this for awhile... basically, since Cilucia at Spaz & Squee posted swatches and I HAD to have it!  She has a great post with them and great comparisons - check it out here.  I've done different comparisons than her, so hopefully between the two of us, you'll figure out what you need and what you can skip!

Dove is a light grey creme that leans neither blue, brown, or green - just a true grey.  Not too many of those around!  Similar in color to China Glaze's Pelican Gray, Cilucia compared them - PG has shimmer.  I tried another pale grey I had, Avon's Urban Grey.  Definitely not a match!

Compared to Dove, Urban Grey looks off white!

Marley is a shimmery lavender that is surprisingly opaque in two coats.  I dunno if I would classify it as a shimmer... it's more like a hidden shimmer, but it's not so hidden as, say, Essie Sew Psyched.  I don't have much in the way of lavenders (lemming Rumples Wiggin' bigtime!), but I do have this, Avon's Luxe Lavender.

Umm... again... no match.  Not even close.

Gemma is a dusty army green with a blue shimmer - totally unique, I haven't seen anything else like it!  I decided to try to make it myself with a similar colored polish topped with CND Ice Blue Shimmer.  Here are my results (resluts!):

From left to right: Essie Sew Psyched, American Apparel Army Jacket, and Gemma.  As you can see, Army Jacket topped with Ice Blue Shimmer comes close - if you have both of these, you might be able to skip out on Gemma. 

Caitlin is a beautiful periwinkle cream and honestly, I have nothing even close in my 700 +/- stash.  Others have said it is an exact dupe to Petites Periwinkle, but that polish is not available to me here, so I haven't gotten to see for sure.  All You Desire compared it to Spa Ritual's A World of Compassion and has stated they are dupes as well - check out her post here.  Then don't forget to come back - I know her, blog is AMAZING!

Dannii is a purple umm... I don't know what to classify this finish as!  Any suggestions?  It's kinda foily, but not a foil, and the little particles in it kinda remind me of a glass fleck, or something like Charla... but it's not really any of those things.  This is the one I was most excited for and I really love it.

In the bottle, the color seemed similar to Zoya Zara, but as you can see, totally different!

Finally we have Jules, another weird finish like Dannii, but this time in a gold/silver blend.  I like this one a lot more than I thought I was going to, it's pretty unique.  I heard rumours that it was dupe-ish to Wet 'n Wild's Shield and China Glaze's Swing Baby, but it really isn't... at all!

Left to right: Swing Baby, Shield, Jules.  The other two, besides being different colors, are way different in finish to the Zoya.

Overall, I was very pleased with this collection.  Nice range of colors, nothing is a total dupe to something in my stash, and application was great.  I think I did 2-3 coats on each (depending on color), which is pretty standard, especially for Zoya.

I've got to wrap this one up for tonight, as lots of other things are waiting on me (like hubby, who needs me to pick him up from work!), but please leave your thoughts in the comments.  I have switched over to Disqus because it is SO much better for replying to comments and keeping track of conversations, so please, comment away!

And any suggestions on the Sydney situation would be much appreciated.  *sniffles*

Basecoat: none

Topcoat: none

Number of coats: 2-3

Zoya Ivanka - My St. Patrick's Day Mani (a little late!)

My mom was still in the hospital on St. Patrick's Day, but I did manage to squeeze a mani in - White Kwik Silvr was looking so terrible by then that I had to do something, and I couldn't resist painting my nails green!  I had a ton of bottles sitting out on the coffee table and was having trouble deciding.  I asked hubby, but he doesn't care, so finally I started looking through clothes to figure out what I was wearing and which green would match it the best... and suddenly I thought of Ivanka.  I've had it since the summer and it is still untried (I'm embarrassed at how many untrieds I have!), plus it was a perfect match to the cardigan I was wearing.

In the bottle, Ivanka is gorgeous.  On the nail... I was speechless!

WOW.  No words to describe her beauty!  I couldn't stop staring at my nails for 2 days straight.  It is such an intense, vibrant color that practically glows.  Check out this low-light pic to see what I mean!

Even in super-crappy lighting, Ivanka still glows and stuns.  The finish is amazing too - it's sparkly like glitter, but flat particles that are extremely foily.  The Sparkles collection by Zoya is full of these, but Ivanka (and Charla) are truly the stand outs.  My macro setting isn't as amazing as some peoples *looks over at Cilucia at Spaz & Squee* but I did get a close up of these flat foil flecks...

I normally have a bit of trouble with the Zoya formula - almost all of them are pretty runny and I don't know that I have any that are one coaters (I don't even know of too many two coaters!), but this one wasn't too bad.  I believe this was 3 coats, dry time was great, and it looked great for 2 days.  I ended up slapping Black Shatter over it on day 3 and it looked pretty cool.  No pics of that though, my Shatter job wasn't so great!

It doesn't seem like Zoya does many limited editions, so this one should be available for quite awhile.  If you don't have it, I suggest picking it up during the next Zoya promo - Zoya Exchange perhaps?  *crosses fingers*

Basecoat: Essie Feed Me + Instant Artificials

Topcoat: Poshe

Number of coats: 3... I think!

Nicole by OPI - One Less Lonely Girl Collection

I rolled my eyes when this collection was announced, but then I ended up getting 4 of them... and I keep talking myself out of a 5th!  I don't hate Justin Bieber or anything, I don't really have an opinion of him - hell, I didn't even know who he was for a long time, just the name.  One of the girls I worked with had Bieber Fever and when I told her I had no idea what he sang, she played "Baby" for me.  Ooops, I had heard that song, but I thought it was a girl!  Needless to say, that's not really my kind of music.

I am typically a big fan of Nicole polishes even though they don't seem to get a lot of love anywhere else, so I started hunting for the collection when it came out.  Wal-mart's website has a feature where you can see where items are in-stock, so I had to drive to Urbana to find these.  Yeah, yeah, Champaign and Urbana are sister cities, but from my house to the Urbana Wal-mart is like 20+ minutes!  :P  I found OMB!, One Less Lonely Glitter, and Me + Blue there - I had to order My Lifesaver online, as it hasn't appeared here quite yet.

So first up is my fave, OMB!

Red is my favorite color, but I typically don't love it on my hands.  However, OMB! is so amazing that I didn't want to take it off - evar!  I have never seen a red foil like this.  It is intense!

When I rooted around through my collection, I thought this looked pretty similar to I Stop For Nicole, also by Nicole.  In the bottle at least.  Not so much on the nail.

As you can see, OMB! is a deeper, more true red than ISFN.  The finishes are totally different too.  I don't think I've seen anything quite like OMB! before - have you?  I'm thinking it will make one sexy pedi!  Application was superb - 2 coats went on flawlessly.  Might be able to get away with 1 if you are careful!  Super-quick dry time because of the foil finish.

My Lifesaver is a mint green that doesn't seem all that unique, but it has just the right undertones to be flattering on those who mint is usually a problem for.

I have to admit, I ordered this because of hype.  Lots of people on the NB were saying how great it was and I caved.  It's pretty, but I didn't super-love it.  The formula seemed a bit thick and you can tell in the application.  :P

It's not an exact match for anything in my collection, but I think I might like the squishiness of Turquoise & Caicos better.

Next is One Less Lonely Glitter, a pretty lavender glitter-bomb...

Wow, look at all the sparklies!  A unique color too, at least in my collection.  I don't have anything even remotely similar to this one, so here's a close-up where you can see the different shape/sizes of glitter.

Can you think of anything this might be dupey to?  *stumped*

And finally I've got Me + Blue.  AKA Me + Lumps.

So when I re sized this, it made it not look so bad.  I should post another close-up so you can see how lumpy this one is, but I won't... it's too scary and gross.  Me + Blue is a gorgeous blue with silver holographic glitter, but the glitter sinks to the bottom and just makes everything look rough and bumpy.  Here it is again with 2 coats of Gelous:

Me + Blue + Gelous = still bumpy.  :P  Maybe if I thinned it?  It's pretty danged thick, so maybe that's the problem.  I'll let you know after I try it.

Nicoles also introduced a new brush with this line - it's very similar to the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure brush, but the stick is short!  I was super-excited when I saw this because I do like the CSM brush, but hate the long funky sticks SH puts everything on.  I think the new brush works great on everything but creams - i.e., My Lifesaver.  Maybe my brush is a bit wonky, but it seemed to bring out the flaws in the polish and make it really hard to get an even coat.  No problems with the others though - I will have to try another cream and see if I have the same problem.

Apparently My Lifesaver is from the second round of these polishes, but it was available before the rest of the collection, which is kinda weird.  I have to talk myself out of Step 2 the Beat of My Heart every time I see it.  I have Honey-Dew You Love Me?, which is a teal version of the same thing and I haven't had much luck with it, so I keep saying NO to S2tBoMH, but I know I will eventually cave.

Did you pick up any of these?  What were your faves?

Basecoat: none

Topcoat: none (Gelous on Me + Blue)

Number of coats: 2 for all but One Less Lonely Glitter - that was 3

China Glaze - Anchors Away Comparisons

I didn't do comparisons for all of AA because I had some that were totally unique in my collection, but here are the ones I did do!

First up, Pelican Gray.  I filled a request on the NB for it compared to Zoya Harley and then I thought about it later and decided to compare it to Recycle as well, so sorry there are two pics instead of just one on this one.

Pelican Gray vs Harley Bottle:

On nail:

As you can see, Harley is more purple-toned than Pelican Gray and its shimmer is no secret!

Here it is compared with Recycle:

I thought these looked pretty similar in the bottle, though PG is a little lighter and has shimmer, but on the nail, they really don't have much in common...

Recycle is much browner, darker, and has no shimmer.  Not really anything alike at all!

Cilucia over at Spaz & Squee compared Pelican Gray with Zoya Dove and Diamond Cosmetic's Concrete Jungle (which is a dupe to RBL's Concrete Jungle I hear) as well, so stop by and check our her AMAZING pics!

Next we have Below Deck.  It is supposed to be similar to Channelesque also by China Glaze, but I don't have that one to compare it to.  I have a ton of greige/gruples/whatever you call this color, but I decided to go with a couple of drugstore ones since those would be the easiest to procure - Confetti's Moonstruck and Revlon Top Speed in Stormy.

Bottle:

You can see from this bottle pic that the Revlon is more brown than Below Deck and Moonstruck, but those two are nearly identical.

Moonstruck is just the tiniest bit browner than Below Deck, but they are close enough I doubt anyone but a NBer would notice the difference.  If you have a CVS in your area, you can pick up Moonstruck for $1.99 and maybe save yourself a bit of cash?

When I showed Knotty, I mentioned that it had the same kinda shimmer as Sally Hansen's Fairy Tale Ivory.  The base colors are quite a bit different, but they both have a rainbow shimmer that really perks up a neutral.

I'm having a hard time photographing the rainbow part of the shimmer, but trust me, it's there!  You can see Fairy Tale Ivory's in the post I made about it - the shimmer in Knotty is identical.  I think the base color of Fairy Tale Ivory flatters me a bit more, so I probably won't wear Knotty as often, but it is nice to know I have another option when I'm looking for an interesting neutral.

White Cap vs CND Jade Sparkle:

In the bottle pic, you can see how dense the sparkles are in Jade Sparkles - White Cap just looks white in comparison!

On the nail, the differences are much more subtle.  They both have a lovely green-to-gold sparkle that will easily get noticed, but White Cap has that milky white base instead of the clear Jade Sparkles has.  I guess the question here is what you are planning on doing with it - if you are looking to layer this polish, you probably should do Jade Sparkles instead.  However, if you are planning on wearing it on its own, White Cap is the one for you.

Cilucia also compared these and you can see her layering experiment (scroll down) and decide which one you prefer, or both!  After seeing her pics, I ordered Orly Enchanted Forest!  :)

Now I'll move on to the Knotty Nauticals set.  I know others are comparing Ahoy! to lots of other China Glaze pinks, but I really have no pinks that look even remotely similar, so I didn't do anything for it.  I haven't seen it confirmed as a dupe to anything yet, so if you love it, get it!

I don't have very many red cremes in my collection, so I pulled out the two brightest I could find to compare to Hey Sailor! - Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Rapid Red and American Apparel's Poppy.

They look pretty danged close in the bottle, don't they?

Not so similar on the nail, which I am glad to see!  Hey Sailor! is more distinctly red than Poppy, but not as dark as Rapid Red.  I have been seriously lemming OPI's Color So Hot it Berns (is it sad to say that it is the only one I'm missing from the Swiss collection?!) and All You Desire did a comparison of it and Hey Sailor! - maybe I don't need CSHIB?

I had originally gotten AA Poppy out to compare it to Life Preserver.  They really aren't too much alike, but it was the closest I had - I need more oranges!

My photos all show Life Preserver being more vibrant than it really is.  There is a dusty quality to it that you can't see here.  I'd like to see it compared with OPI's Hot & Spicy, but I don't have that one yet.  Do you?  What do you think?

Now, I know that there is no way that Lighthouse and Sally Hansen's Sunflowers would be dupes because of the different finishes, but I did want to compare the base colors for you so maybe you could decide if this is a yellow that would work for you!

In the bottles I thought they looked close, but on the nail, they don't really seem like it... but odds are if you can't wear one, you probably can't wear the other and vice versa!

I was really concerned that Starboard and Essie's Pretty Edgy would be dupes... so much so that I almost didn't get Starboard, but then I decided to just get all of them.

When I started pulling out greens, Nina Pro's Salsa also seemed pretty close.  You can see here that there is a smidge of dustiness to Starboard that Pretty Edgy doesn't have.

On the nail, Salsa dries darker than it's bottle color, so it's definitely not dupey.  However, Pretty Edgy and Starboard are pretty darn close.  Again, there is just a hint of dustiness to Starboard that separates them.  If you aren't a NBer or a green lover, you probably could get away with just one of the two!

The last one I have for you is First Mate.  I pulled American Apparel's Mt. Royal and OPI's Dating a Royal.

I was a bit surprised how much Dating a Royal and First Mate looked similar in their bottles, but you can definitely see differences on the nail.

While they seemed similar in the bottle, you can see here that First Mate is definitely navy, whereas the others are more cobalt blue.

Whew!  Thanks for sticking with me there, I know the last two posts have been majorly pic heavy!  Can you think of other polishes the Anchors Away collection should be comped to?  Let me know!!

Also, while you're letting me know about that... do you like the text being on the pics, or would you rather I just told you what order they were in under?  I couldn't decide, so I added the text, but it might look tacky?  Someone make up my mind!  :)

Basecoat: None

Topcoat: None

Number of coats: varies