I was at Target a few days ago, and I spotted more Target exclusive Nicole by OPI colors. The idea of Target and exclusive still makes me laugh a bit, but hey they are pretty colors. Anyway, everybody needs to go to Target.  Why not throw some polish in the cart too? I picked-up Midnight Snowfall and Fell from the Tree. Fell from the Tree seems to be a bit shy in pictures though. It really is quite pretty, so I am working on getting a better representation for you!

Midnight Snow

In the bottle this looks like a medium purple, but on my nails it was a medium bluish-purple. Sadly this one was a bit camera shy too – it is much more purple and less blue then the bottle picture shows. The swatch is much more color accurate.I really like this color, but for some reason I want to try it with some glitter top coats. I am in a glittery mood! I bet it would make an awesome pedicure.

Application was ok, but I still had some bald spots after two coats. At three coats I achieved good opacity. Three coats and a top coat shown.

Nicole by OPI Midnight Snowfall in sunlight

Nicole by OPI Midnight Snowfall

In the Bay Area often some of the hottest days of the year are early in the fall. This afternoon it is expected that the high temperature will be 95. It seems like a good time to share pictures of some of summer beauties that I was too busy to swatch before now. Anyway, I think these particular polishes would be a great pop of bright color for fall!

Vermillionaire

A read leaning bright orange crème. I am not usually a huge fan of orange, but this is quite pretty.

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

Essie Vermillionaire in sunlight

Pretty Edgy

A medium green crème. This is a cool color!

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

Essie Pretty Edgy in sunlight

Essie Miss Matched, Essie Demure Vixen, Essie Haute as Hello, Essie Knockout Pout, Essie Pretty Edgy and Essie Vermillionaire

Harley is a cool dove grey with silver metallic shimmer. I love it! Many of the light greys I have tried before are warmer, and don’t really work with my skin tone. Here’s a light grey that would make Goldilocks happy because it’s just right! Harley was released as part of the spring 2009 Twist collection, but I think this beautiful color is great for fall too!

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

Zoya Harley in sunlight

Zoya Harley

Nightfall is a shimmery dark charcoal grey frost. Indoors and in indirect lighting it looks almost black. Dark and shimmery – I quite like it!  I am looking forward to this and other greys for fall and winter!

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

MAC Nightfall in sunlight

MAC Nightfall in shaded natural light

MAC Nightfall

Magic Elf

A green and gold glass fleck type finish, with a glowing from within look. Very pretty!!!

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

Color Club Magic Elf in natural light with decals on the accent nail

Wish List Red

Bright red jelly infused with red glitter. This is a great red. My husband remarked that he really  liked it.

This polish was a bit thick, but I was able to control it fairly well. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Color Club Wish List Red in sunlight with Magic Elf & decal on accent nail

Enchanted Holiday

A dense gold glitter polish. Not very unique. It reminds me of a gold glitter polish I had when I was a kid (that my little brother spilled on the carpet). It might be fun for a holiday party, but I can’t see myself wearing this one.

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

Color Club Enchanted Holiday in natural light

Snowflakes

A multi-colored glitter (blue and violet were two of the most prominent colors) in a milky base. This polish was really sheer, and I hate it by itself! It does make a decent top coat though.

Three coats and a top coat shown.

Color Club Snowflakes in natural light

Two coats of Magic Elf and one coat of Snowflakes with a top coat.

Color Club Magic Elf and Snowflakes in natural light with decal on accent nail

Color Club Enchanted Holiday set

This set had some hits and misses for me. I love Magic Elf and Wish List  Red.  The decals are also a lot of fun. Enchanted Holiday and Snowflakes really aren’t my cup of tea. Overall for the price I paid ($8.50) I think this set is worthwhile addition to my collection.

Two days ago Chaosbutterfly made by day by giving Playing With Polish the Sunshine Award and the Happy 101 Award

Rules:

1. Save the image above and post it on your own blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
3. Link the nominees
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.

Rules:

1. Post who gave you this award
2. State 10 things you like
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

Ten things I like

1. My wonderful husband

2. Samwise and Princess Leia (our kitties)

3. Friends

4. Nail polish

5. Diamonds/jewelry

6. Nature & walking in the hills near our house

7. Reading

8. The internet

9. Taking pictures

10. Learning

I am sending the Sunshine Award and the Happy 101 Award to (in no particular order):

1. Carinae L’etoile’s Nail Polish Swatches

2. Sparkled Beauty

3. Linnie’s Favorites

4. Polish Me Happy

5. Also Known As…

6. Fleur’s Nails & Stuff

7. Beautopia

8. Parokeets

9. Nail Story

10. Tassa’s Blog

11. Fashioned in Finland

12. Chromatic Misadventures

I love fun holiday themed sets!  Color Club’s Bewitching includes four mini polishes and a sheet of nail decals.

Hocus Pocus

I generally love sparkly nail polish, but I tend not to be as crazy about regular glitter polishes. Most of them remind me of craft glitter that I used as a kid. I prefer micro glitter, holo glitter and shimmer finishes. I figured Hocus Pocus would probably be just “ok,” and best used as a top coat on a darker color. I was in for a surprise – WOW! The glitter was very dense, and had a knockout combination of silver, multi-colored and holo glitter! I probably wouldn’t look at Hocus Pocus and think Halloween, but I would think “magic”!

Application was good. Although I had fairly opaque coverage after two coats, I used three for maximum sparkle! Three coats and a top coat shown.

Color Club Hocus Pocus in sunlight

Color Club Hocus Pocus showing its sparkling personality

Spellbound

Spellbound is really orange. Although it looks pretty bright in the pictures it was a bit photo shy, because it is much brighter in real life.  I would describe it as being an intense “caution” neon orange! It practically glows in the dark! Being a neon it was not a surprise that it dried matte, but it was a softer matte like an eggshell paint. Although it was way too orange for me to wear on a regular basis, it is a cool color for Halloween. The soft matte finish is also more appealing to me than a harsher matte.

Application was good. Two coats shown (no top coat).

Color Club Spellbound in sunlight

Charmed I’m Sure

A blue leaning purple polish with lighter purple shimmer (although it is not quite as blue as it appears in the picture). It looks like it has a bit of a duochrome effect in the bottle, but I didn’t notice it on the nail. This was a nice color, but it did not seem like it was that unique. The nail decals that come with the package include a number of fun designs like ghosts, a graveyard, haunted house, etc. They were very easy to apply, and secure with a layer of top coat.

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

Color Club Charmed I'm Sure in sunlight (Spellbound & decal accent)

Bewitching

Bewitching had an eggshell matte finish similar to spellbound. I like this matte black much better than OPI’s Halloween mini, Obscurity from the Go Goth! set.  Application was much easier and smoother compared to Obscurity.

Application was good. This polish was extremely opaque. I probably could have gotten away with one coat, but added a second anyway. Two coats shown (no top coat).

Color Club Bewitching in sunlight

Color Club Bewitching Set

Bewitching is a cute little set! I also found Color Club’s mini brushes easier to work with than OPI or Essie’s mini brushes. If you love Halloween, this set is a must buy!

It has been a busy week for me, and I haven’t had time to swatch while the sun was out. I just got some new holiday themed polishes that I can’t wait to share! I should  have some time to write and take pictures tomorrow, so hopefully the sun will cooperate with me! Until then, here is a preview

Bewitching

Color Club Bewitching set

Enchanted Holiday

Color Club Enchanted Holiday set

Vintage Vixen is China Glaze’s collection for fall 2010. There are a dozen colors, but I only bought six of them (so far anyway). I love the change of seasons from summer to fall (even though I live in Northern California where the seasonal changes are more mild than in many other parts of the world). I am looking forward to some gorgeous and glamorous fall colors!

Classic Camel

A shimmery golden tan/yellow that reminds me of honey mustard. I am sure this would be a unique and cool color on someone, but I really hate it on me!

Application was good. For some reason the texture reminded me a bit of mustard too. It made me feel like I might actually be spreading mustard on my nails. Three coats and a top coat shown.

China Glaze Classic Camel in sunlight

China Glaze Classic Camel with honey mustard

Ingrid

A medium brown with a golden shimmer. I wasn’t expecting much, especially after trying Classic Camel. This color was a pleasant surprise! In fact I really like it! This polish strikes the perfect note for fall!

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

China Glaze Ingrid in sunlight

Hey Doll

A brownish-rose colored shimmery metallic frost. I thought I was going to like this more than I actually did. It is a pretty color, but something about it is a bit boring. A bit old lady perhaps?

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

China Glaze Hey Doll in sunlight

Bogie

A brownish-eggplant purple with the same shimmery metallic frost finish as Hey Doll. This one is much prettier on me though! The blue shimmer really adds a wonderful dimension to this color!

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

China Glaze Boogie in sunlight

Jitterbug

A lovely gunmetal foil. It was difficult to get a crisp focused picture that really showed how shimmery this color is.

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

China Glaze Jitterbug in sunlight

First Class Ticket

A blue leaning purple with a ton of blue shimmer. It’s yummy! I am generally a big fan of purple nail polish, and this one is a great addition to my collection!

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

China Glaze First Class Ticket in sunlight

Although not all of them look great on me, overall these are great fall colors! I am especially looking forward to wearing Boogie and First Class Ticket. I may even pick-up a few more Vintage Vixen shades.

China Glaze Classic Camel, China Glaze Ingrid, China Glaze Hey Doll, China Glaze Boogie, China Glaze Jitterbug, China Glaze First Class Ticket

Here are two beauties from Orly’s holiday collection Tis’ the Season. It seems way too early to be thinking about Christmas though!

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is a blue leaning forest green shimmer.

This polish was pretty opaque. I almost had full coverage in one coat. Application was very good. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe in sunlight

Rockin’ Rocket

Rockin’ Rocket is wine colored with a gold shimmer. It is very festive! I am a bit confused about the name on this one. Rocket does not have any Christmas/holiday association for me. Rockin’ Rockette would make more sense! I double checked and my bottle says Rockin’ Rocket. Oh well, it’s still a beautiful color!

This polish was also pretty opaque, and I probably could have gotten away with one coat. Application was very good. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Orly Rockin' Rocket in sunlight

Overall these are fun holiday colors with great application. I am glad I added these two to my collection!

Orly Rockin' Rocket and Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe