[Comparison] Maybelline Tangerine Tango and New York Color Peaches 'N Cream

I bought Maybelline Tangerine Tango nail polish because it is a vibrant spring orange, somewhere between a tangerine and a coral.  Unfortunately, its formula is terrible.  It is streaky and a little chalky, and its texture does not even out on my nails.  I then bought New York Color in Peaches 'N Cream, which has a far superior formula.  Peaches 'N Cream is creamy, not at all streaky, and it looks great in 1 to 2 coats.

New York Color Peaches 'N Cream | Maybelline Tangerine Tango

In the pictures, I wore two coats of Tangerine Tango on my middle and pinky fingers, and I wore two coats of Peaches 'N Cream on my pointer and ring fingers.  I wore Orly Bonder for a basecoat and no topcoat.  The two colors are identical (dupes), but as you can see, Tangerine Tango has streakiness.

New York Color Peaches 'N Cream (pointer, ring) | Maybelline Tangerine Tango (middle, pinky)

New York Color Peaches 'N Cream (pointer, ring) | Maybelline Tangerine Tango (middle, pinky)

Tangerine Tango is in Maybelline's Spring 2012 Fashion Week collection.  Peaches 'N Cream is in New York Color's Spring 2012 Sweets collection.  Both are limited edition.  Both can be found at various drugstores.  Locally, Tangerine Tango costs $5.50 (at CVS), and New York Color costs $1.99 (at RiteAid).

[NOTD] Revlon Whimsical

I adore Revlon Whimsical, a polish with various sizes/shapes of blue and pink glitters in a blue base.  It indeed looks whimsical, but I call this color "Unicorn Farts."  The base is semi-transparent and leans towards seafoam green, so I wore two coats of Whimsical over one coat of China Glaze Sea Spray to make it pull more blue.  I used Orly Bonder for my basecoat and New York Color Grand Central Station for my topcoat.

Revlon Whimsical (over China Glaze Sea Spray)

Revlon Whimsical (over China Glaze Sea Spray)

[NOTD] Orly Cupcake and Artificial Sweetener

The two Orly polishes I am wearing today have saccharin names.  My manicure is three coats of Orly Cupcake, and my pedicure is two coats of Orly Artificial Sweetener.  Normally, I only need two coats of Cupcake, but I was having a bad nail-painting day, and I even had to redo my manicure.  I like the creamy lilac pink that is Cupcake.  I'm not fond of the blah-neutral-pink-with-shimmers Artificial Sweetener.  I think it's an old lady color (whatever that means in my mind).

Orly Cupcake

Orly Cupcake

Orly Artificial Sweetener and Cupcake

[Orly Pinks] Cupcake mani, Artificial Sweetener pedi

[Favorite] Spring 2012 Nail Polishes

I wear spring colors all year.  I love pastels, bright colors, and crisp whites, and they suit my skintone.  Every spring, I stock up on spring clothes and the new spring nail polishes.  This spring, I've been particularly enamored with lavender and light blue nails.

These are my favorite nail polishes to wear this spring as both manicures and pedicures.

[Spring Purples] Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily, Essence No More Drama, Orly Bon Bon, Essie She's Picture Perfect

[Purple Nail Polish for Spring] Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily, Essence No More Drama, Orly Bon Bon, Essie She's Picture Perfect

My Top 4 Purple Polishes for Spring 2012

Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily :: This is a bright lavender polish with silver shimmers.  It will take a few coats for opacity, but it's not streaky.  I wore it here.

Essence No More Drama :: This is a light and desaturated grape purple.  This polish has a great consistency and looks good in two coats.

Orly Bon Bon :: This is a gray yet bright purple.  It is a very light color yet it's opaque and not chalky.  It has a jelly-like consistency.  It looks good in two coats.  I wore it here.

Essie She's Picture Perfect :: This is a blue-tone purple with fuchsia shimmer.  This is another great formula, and it looks good in two coats.

[Spring Blues] Essie Borrowed & Blue, Revlon Whimsical, Zoya Kristen

[Blue Nail Polish for Spring] Zoya Kristen, Revlon Whimsical (over Essie Borrowed & Blue), Essie Borrowed & Blue

My Top 3 Blue Polishes for Spring 2012

Zoya Kristen :: This is a desaturated sky blue.  This was a favorite of mine during the winter months too.  I wore it here.

Revlon Whimsical :: This glitter polish has blue and pink large hexagons, smaller pink hexagons, and dots of blue and pink glitter in a milky blue-green base.  I think it looks better as 1-2 coats worn over another opaque blue polish because it will take a few coats for opacity on its own.

Essie Borrowed & Blue :: This is a very light blue, but it doesn't look stark against my skin.  The formula is excellent: it is not streaky or chalky, and it looks great as one coat.

[Spring Pinks] OPI Japanese Rose Garden, Orly Cupcake, Essie Pink-a-boo

[Pink Nail Polish for Spring] OPI Japanese Rose Garden, Orly Cupcake, Essie Pink-a-boo (over China Glaze Innocence)

My Top 3 Pink Nail Polishes for Spring 2012

OPI Japanese Rose Garden :: This is a medium blue-leaning pink with subtle shimmers.  It's bright and cheery.  I wore it here.

Orly Cupcake :: This is a bright yet slightly dusty pink.  It might lean a tiny bit blue.  The formula is excellent, and it looks good in two coats.  I like this color much better than Orly Lollipop, which leans more blue, is more chalky, and looks too stark against my skintone.

Essie Pink-a-boo :: This is a light, bright pink with fuchsia, blue, and purple shimmers.  This is sheer and somewhat streaky on its own, so I prefer to wear it over another light pink polish (like a coat of China Glaze Innocence).  I wore it on its own here.

[Spring Colors] Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Yellow Kitty, New York Color Peaches 'n Cream, China Glaze Kinetic Candy, China Glaze Techno

[Bright Pastels for Spring] Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Yellow Kitty, New York Color Peaches 'n Cream, China Glaze Kinetic Candy, China Glaze Techno (over Kinetic Candy)

My Favorite Bright Pastel Polishes for Spring 2012

Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty :: This is a sunny yellow.  It is a little streaky, but it's not chalky.  It leans slightly green.  I need three coats for opacity.

New York Color Peaches 'n Cream :: This color is between tangerine and coral.  The formula is excellent, and if applied carefully, it could be a one coater.

China Glaze Kinetic Candy :: This is a slightly green blue.  It is very light and bright but not too neon or too stark against my skin.  It looks good in two coats.

China Glaze Techno :: This is a glittery topcoat.  The glitters are holographic hexagons and small dots.  One coat of this builds up plenty of glitters on a nail.

For reference, I am very fair and have cool-toned skin.

What are your favorite spring nail polishes?

My Nail Polish Collection

I'm 29 years old, and I only started painting my nails a year ago.  To make up for 28 polish-less years, I have collected 129 bottles of nail polish.

My nail polish collection

I store my bottles of nail polish in two wooden clementine crates on my dresser.  Pictured above is my collection as of a couple weeks ago - before my latest acquisitions.  Now the bottles are overflowing onto my dresser countertop, so I either need ANOTHER crate or maybe some fancy shelves to display my polishes on a wall.

Where I store my nail polish

My nail polish collection on my dresser

Excluding top and basecoats, this is my current tally of bottles of nail polish:

24 Essie

18 Zoya

17 China Glaze

14 Orly

10 Revlon

10 Wet n Wild

8 Maybelline

8 Sally Hansen

5 New York

5 Color Club

3 Milani

3 Nicole by OPI

2 OPI

1 Essence

1 Sinful Colors

[NOTD] Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily

Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily is a bright lavender with silver shimmers.  This has become one of my favorite nail polishes.  The consistency is semi-sheer, but opacity is buildable.  I wore three coats below with Orly Bonder for the basecoat and New York Color Grand Central Station for the topcoat.

Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily

One Big Happy Fame-ily is the perfect polish for an Easter manicure.  It matches my favorite Peeps: the lavender bunnies.

Nicole by OPI One Big Happy Fame-ily matches the lavender bunny Peeps!

[NOTD] Essie Pink-a-boo

Today, I'm wearing Essie Pink-a-boo.  Pink-a-boo is a very shimmery pastel pink with flashes of fuchsia and blue shimmers.  My pictures do not fully capture the lovely shimmers.  The formula, however, is not lovely.  I wore three coats of Pink-a-boo, but I wish I had either added more coats or layered this over another polish (maybe China Glaze Inner Beauty) because this polish is sheer and streaky.

Essie Pink-a-boo

Essie Pink-a-boo

I wore three coats of Pink-a-boo over my basecoat, Orly Bonder. I finished my manicure with a coat of New York Grand Central Station.

[NOTD] Easter Skittles Manicure

Easter is approaching, and to celebrate, I painted a pastel skittles manicure featuring Color Club's Blossoming Collection.  The featured color is Color Club Sweetpea.  The accent nails are Color Club Lavendarling, Color Club Hydrangea, Color Club Blushing Rose, and Wet n Wild On a Trip.

Pastel Easter skittles manicure, featuring Color Club Blossoming Collection

Easter skittles manicure using Color Club spring 2012 polishes

These were my first Color Club polishes, and I'm disappointed.  The consistency of the polishes is poor.  They don't even out, so they look textured on my nails.  Blushing Rose is the worst, and Hydrangea is slightly better than the rest (also my favorite of the collection).  Because the consistency is poor, I used only 2 coats of the Wet n Wild color but 4 coats of Blushing Rose and 3 coats for each of the rest.  I used Orly Bonder for my basecoat and New York Color Grand Central Station for my topcoat.

[NOTD] Cherry Blossoms

One day, I want to see the cherry blossoms in bloom in Japan or Washington D.C.  Until then, I'll admire pictures and paint them on my nails.

Cherry blossoms manicure, featuring OPI Japanese Rose Garden

Spring cherry blossoms accent nail

I used OPI Japanese Rose Garden as my main nail color (2 coats).  For my cherry blossoms accent nails, I painted 2 coats of China Glaze Sea Spray, then I drew the tree branches with a tiny acrylic paint brush using China Glaze Fois Gras.  With a bobby pin, I dotted on the white flower petals using Sally Hansen Extreme Wear White On and the center of the flowers using OPI Japanese Rose Garden again.  I used Orly Bonder for a basecoat and New York Color Grand Central Station for a topcoat.