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

Emberstone is another awesome polish from Orly’s Mineral FX collection. I am not usually into orange polish on me, but this is a really cool color! It is a bright reddish orange with multi-colored orange, gold, purple and pink shimmer. I love it! I was hoping that the sun would peek out for some photos, but the cloud cover was persistant. It seems that the shimmer colors showed up more strongly in diffuse light, so that might be a good thing. You can especially see the shimmer colors if you click on the photo to enlarge.

Orly Emberstone in natural light

Application was excellent. Two coats and atop coat shown.

Orly Emberstone

Recently I went to visit a friend that I had not seen in awhile, and it turns out that he had been saving a birthday gift for me. It was nn adorable little silk purse. It was handmade and provided good jobs to women in Vietnam. I liked those aspects for sure, but it also is almost a perfect match to Zoya’s Rica How cool is that?!? It is a warm orangish coral with a gold sheen a a slightly color shifting quality. Although I am not usually into matchy-matchy things, I do sometimes love to match my polish to something else I am wearing.

Do you have any polishes that you match to clothing or accessories?

A polish colored purse how cool is that!

Tanzy is another beauty that I picked-up in their year’s polish exchange. It part of Zoya’s Sunshine Collection. I am not usually that into orange, but Tanzy is an exception. The bright juicy orange and gold flecked finish is gorgeous! While offering opaque coverage, this polish seems to have an almost translucent glow. Tanzy is such a beautiful, summery color!

Zoya Tanzy in sunlight

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

Zoya Tanzy

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

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

Piggy Polish is marketed as a toenail polish with the tagline, “goes on toes!” I see no reason why it would be confined to use on toes though! The Right to Bare Feet is a luscious shimmery raspberry pink/gold/orange/copper duochrome. It is a cliché for sure, but it reminds me on an amazing sunset! I did notice that this had a stronger more harsh smell than most of my polishes Although at the moment I have just swatched it on my fingers, I think I am going to put it on my toes next! The Right to Bare Feet should be an awesome pedicure color! I love duochromes for toes! Application was great. I almost had opaque coverage in one coat. Two coats and a top coat shown.

Piggy Polish The Right to Bare Feet in artificial light

Piggy Polish The Right to Bare Feet in shaded natural light

Piggy Polish The Right to Bare Feet in sunlight

Piggy Polish The Right to Bare Feet in sunlight

Piggy Polish The Right to Bare Feet

The Right to Bare Feet is a playful summery color. I can see myself reaching for this one a lot!

It totally does not feel like the week before Memorial Day. Still no sun, and it is threatening to rain! According to the Mercury News San Jose is experiencing one of the coldest Mays on record. I am considering setting-up a photographic light tent (this is how I took pictures when I worked in the jewelry industry). I still like sunlight best, but it would be nice to have an alternative for weather like this. I can’t swatch today, but I can share a bargain that I ran across…

I was browsing at Ross the other day, and I discovered some Color Club sets for only $7.99! What a steal – $1.14 + tax per polish! They had Rebel Debutante too, but that set was missing a couple I did pick-up Electro Candy and Poptastic

Color Club Electro Candy Collection

Color Club Poptastic Collection

Viva is a festive new collection for summer. Since it is “Latin inspired” I was not sure it would work on someone as pale as me. Also, I tend not to like most oranges. Overall I was surprised at how good these colors looked on me. I liked these a lot more than I thought I would! The formula on all four is quite pigmented, but it varied a lot in application.

Orly Olé

Olé  is a bright reddish-orange crème. Application was excellent! This one practically applied itself! Highly pigmented with full coverage in two coats.

Orly Olé in artificial light

Orly Olé in sunlight

Two coats with a top coat shown.

Orly Fiesta

Fiesta  is a  summery bright pink with pink  micro glitter. Application was a bit gritty and thick. Highly pigmented with coverage in two coats. Glitter not as visible on nail as in bottle.

Orly Fiesta in artificial light

Orly Fiesta in sunlight

Two coats a top coat shown.

Orly Bailamos

Bailamos is a bright teal shimmer. Application was excellent with coverage in two coats. I wore this one for two days, and got a ton of compliments from both strangers and friends!

Orly Bailamos in artificial light

Orly Bailamos in sunlight

Two coats and a top coat shown.

Orly La Playa

La Playa is a dark blue crème. Application was a bit tricky on this one. It was thick and covered well, but was a bit hard to control.

Orly La Playa in artificial light

Orly La Playa in sunlight

Two coats and top coat shown.

Orly Bailamos, Orly La Playa, Orly Fiesta, Orly Olé