We have been enjoying some sunny weather this week in Portland. I recently picked-up No-Miss South Beach Red on a trip to New Seasons. I think this warm summery red would be the perfect shade to compliment the sunny weather It is a classic warm red crème, and really is a perfect polish for summer.

No-Miss South Beach Red

Application was very good. It applied smoothly, and was almost opaque in one coat. I probably could have used one coast if I had applied it more thickly. Two coats and a top coat shown.

No-Miss South Beach Red

I have been loving all of the fun gradient manicures I have been seeing on other beauty blogs, so I grabbed some make-up sponges and decided to give it a shot. I was thinking of a Cartier rolling ring when I picked these colors, but on my nails I am reminded of candy corn more than jewelry It’s a bit more subtle than I had hoped it would be. I think I need more contrast between the colors. Perhaps using a black base? Having said that this particular mani was also a bit photo shy. I think it looked much better in real life!

Orly's Rage, Luxe and Shine in natural light

Numerous coats and a top coat shown (since I sponged them on, and then did some touch-up work I am not sure exactly how many coats are in the final result).

Orly's Rage, Luxe and Shine in natural light

I guess I really underestimated how much moving could knock me out of my groove. Mostly in a good way, but it has left me a bit disoriented. It has also taken more energy than I had anticipated getting settled and getting back to doing normal things like blogging. Anyway, Milani’s Orchidia is an orchid purple with a subtle silver shimmer. Yikes! I did not do a post manicure clean-up with nail polish remover, and it really shows in the picture. I hope you will forgive my mess, as I previously mentioned I am totally not in my normal groove! Orchidia is a pretty purple, and a nice beauty fix at a great price. I think I paid $3.49 at Fred Meyer.

Milani Orchidia in sunlight

Application was very good, but slightly sheer. Three coats and a top coat shown.

Milani Orchidia

Wow, it feels like it has been forever since my last blog post! Well I’m not dead and haven’t lost interest in blogging. My husband got a new job, and we moved to Portland, OR. The past month has been crazy, but we are really starting to settle into our new home. My nails and cuticles are in bad shape from the move, but I am woking on rehabbing them. I have also picked-up a few polishes since we arrived here just before midnight on April 21st. I am looking forward to blogging again, and having fun with nail polish. Portland is a beautiful place, and hopefully it will provide a lot of inspiration! We have a yard now, and I am looking forward to trying my hand at some gardening. It is likely that I will start wearing my nails a bit shorter so I can better tend to my flowers and veggies. I will need to work on getting a photo tent though, because one thing it will likely not provide is a lot of sunny days for outdoor photo shoots. Anyway, it is so good to be back!

a few polishes I have picked-up since our move

Harvest Moon is another polish from China Glaze’s Hunger Games collection. It is also another not typically “me” polish that I am enjoying. It is a golden carmel brown shimmer/foil and it is lovely! I wore Harvest Moon to lunch with a friend yesterday, and she loved the color. In fact she mentioned it several times

China Glaze Harvest Moon in sunlight

Application was excellent. Two coats and a top coat shown.

China Glaze Harvest Moon (with flash to show shimmer)

It seems that I might be the only person who hasn’t read the Hunger Games books, or seen the movie. I wasn’t able to ignore the polish though! I just had to grab several polishes from China Glaze’s Capitol Colors Hunger Games collection. When I saw Riveting at Sally’s it struck me as being an autumn color. I am not feeling spring pastels at the moment, so although I generally avoid oranges this bright color seemed to fit the bill. It has been overcast and raining pretty much all week, so a pop of color is most welcome! I like it in the bottle, but this bright orange  and gold shimmer is even better on the nail. It is such a flattering bright orange that is totally on trend. There is not doubt that this fiery color is perfect for spring and summer. Based on the promos I have seen, some of the movie’s costumes are a real visual treat. Maybe I should go see it after all

China Glaze Riveting in natural light

Application was excellent. This polish really glides on. Two coats and a top coat shown.

China Glaze Riveting

I am always learning new slang terms from Butter London. In the 1970s a Disco Buscuit was a quaalude, but more recently it describes an ecstasy tablet. There you go – word of the day!   I bought Disco Biscuit on our recent trip to Portland. The salesgirl at Nordstroms seemed amused by the name. She had to dig for a while in their display to find it, but I had to have it! It is a bright pink jelly with purplish-blue glitter (click on the picture to see the glitter detail).

Butter London Disco Biscuit in sunlight

Application was good, but it went on quite sheer (what one would expect from a jelly finish). I tend to like my polish opaque, but this lovely jelly is still pretty even with VNL It is also quite thirsty. It needed two coats of top coat to achieve a glossy finish. Although it required too many layers, I think the payoff was worth it Four coats and two coats of top coat shown.

Butter London Disco Biscuit, Butter London Slapper & Butter London Knackered

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This week I have a final project and final project papers due, but I still wanted to do a green mani to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I just picked-up Zoya’s Bevin at Whole Foods a few days ago. It’s a pretty sage green crème from Zoya’s spring True Collection.  In some of the pictures I took of the bottle it looks similar to the walls in my living room, but in real life Bevin is a bluish-green and my walls are a yellowish-green.

Did you do a special mani or pedi for the holiday? What are your favorite green polishes?

Zoya Bevin in natural light

Application was very good. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Zoya Bevin

I have more holo goodness today Ozotic 533 is a “mishmash” polish that is both duochrome and holographic! This polish is pretty sheer, so I layered it over Nails Inc. Fashion’s Night Out. The color shifts from blue to a reddish-purple, and the linear holo effect is strong.This is one of those, ” I can’t stop staring at my nails” polishes.

Ozotic 533 in sunlight

Ozotic 533

Ozotic 533

One coat of Fashion’s Night Out and one coat of Ozotic 533 shown without a top coat.

Ozotic 533 with flash to show the holo effect

I have long admired the frankens I have seen posted by other beauty bloggers. Making your own polish colors? How cool is that?!?! I have been meaning to try it for a while, and I finally decided to take the plunge. I have a set of Color Club polishes that I bought at Ross, All About Color, for $7.99. I could not find any information online and unlike the other Color Club sets I have, the names of the polish were not printed on the box. I have had this set for a while, but never blogged about them as they were mystery colors. For my first franken, I decided to use a Barbie pink from this set and jazz it up with some holographic and pink cosmetic glitter. I added three small scoops of each to the base color and mixed it up. The result looked good in the bottle, so my hopes were high. I tried my new concoction on a nail wheel and was dismayed to see that I had some very bumpy polish that looked like it had a bad rash! Uggh. I though the polish was too thick, but I did not have any thiner on hand as I never finish a bottle. Since the bottle was already ruined I took a chance and added a few drops of polish remover. I again applied it to the nail wheel with disappointing results. I added a second coat anyway, and a top coat. The top coat smoothed the polish and made the glitter particles more visible! Although the polish was not amazing, it was pretty cute. Now the mystery polish is a Barbie pink with the subtle twinkle of glitter. I am calling it Princess Polish. I have ordered some polish thinner, and can’t wait to give frankening another crack!

Princess Polish in sunlight

Application was ok. The formula was a bit bumpy and uneven. Most issues were smoothed out with a top coat. Three coats and a top coat shown.

Mystery polish on the left, "rash" polish next to it and Princess Polish on the right

What do you think? Do you franken?

Princess Polish