[Nails of the Week] Zoya Shivon, Essie Lady Like, Essie Size Matters, & Revlon Gray Suede

For all nails in this post, I used Sally Hansen "Double Duty" for the base coat and New York Color "Grand Central Station" for the top coat.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I wore the festive Zoya "Shivon."

Zoya Shivon (2 coats, tungsten lighting)

"Shivon" is a metallic red with gold shimmer on top.  This is one of my favorite nail polishes.  It has a flash of gold, but the base color is blue-toned, so it still looks good on my cool-tone pale skin.

Earlier in the week, I tried to paint my nails with my favorite nail color from last fall, Revlon's "Gray Suede," but the polish has gotten goopy.

Revlon Gray Suede (2 coats, tungsten lighting)

"Gray Suede" is a gorgeous taupe with a slight shimmer, which wasn't picked up in my picture.  I love the color, so I will try polish thinner to spruce up the polish or buy a new bottle.  Unfortunately, I was busy preparing for Thanksgiving, and I ruined this manicure within an hour.

A week ago, I was wearing Essie "Lady Like," a lovely creamy mauve color.

Essie Lady Like (2 coats, outdoor cloudy-day lighting)

All last week (and still now), I wore Essie "Size Matters" on my toenails.

[NOTD] Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

I just repainted my nails, but for the last week, I was wearing Revlon "Facets of Fuchsia."  It lasted a week before chipping... because of my new favorite top coat: New York Color "Grand Central Station."  I used Sally Hansen Double Duty for a base coat.

Revlon "Facets of Fuchsia" (indoor tungsten lighting)

"Facets of Fuchsia" has hexagons and tiny dots of fuchsia glitter in a black base.  It was opaque in two coats.  While I normally shy away from black polish (because I am very pale), this polish had enough sparkle to brighten the dreary black.

My only complaint with "Facets of Fuchsia" is that this is by far the worst glitter polish to remove.  I took an hour and a half to remove it all from my nails.  I first tried the method of soaking cotton balls in acetone nail polish remover, putting those on top of my nails, and covering my nails in aluminum foil for a few minutes.  Ultimately, I just scrubbed (and scrubbed... and scrubbed) off the glitter with cotton balls and remover.

On my toes, I'm wearing Zoya "Nina," a creamy red-toned chocolate brown.

Manicures From the Last Two Weeks

Since the snow storm and power outage, I have fallen behind sharing my pictures.  These are my manicures from the last two weeks.

The first manicure was inspired by a Halloween carnival, like the one from Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.

"The night was sweet with the dust of autumn leaves that smelled as if the fine sands of ancient Egypt were drifting to dunes beyond the town." --Ray Bradbury

Halloween manicure inspired by Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (tungsten lighting)

Thumb:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360" topped with CG "Black Mesh"
Index finger:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360"
Middle finger:  2 coats Milani "Purple Passion"
Ring finger:  2 coats China Glaze "It's Alive"
Pinky:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360"
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Next, I tried to create a second Halloween manicure, but to me, it looked more "leopard print" than "spooky Halloween." (Note: In person, the orange is darker and less yellow. It is an orange rust color.)

Halloween mani with China Glaze "Cross Iron 360" and "Black Mesh" (tungsten lighting)

Base color:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360"
Crackle: China Glaze "Black Mesh"
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

This next mani was a huge failure.  It only lasted a few hours on my nails before I removed it.  I tried out the new Wet n Wild polish "FuchiasRama," a gorgeous color.  The manicure looked fine when I first applied it, but within a couple hours, it looked mottled, worn, and chipped.  This is probably the worst nail polish I have ever tried in terms of quality.  The picture below shows the mani immediately after painting.

Wet n Wild "FuschiaRama" and Sinful Colors "Frenzy" (tungsten lighting)

Main color:  2 (or was it 3?) coats of Wet n Wild "FuschiaRama" (spelled as one word on the bottle)
Ring fingers: An additional 2 coats of Sinful Colors "Frenzy," a pink and blue glitter
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

The last mani I have to show you was a huge success.  I love this red.  It is Essie "Plumberry," a gorgeous medium red with blue undertones and a slight bit of shimmer.  It is my new favorite red nail polish.  It is between a raspberry and a cranberry color, so "Plumberry" is the perfect name.  The polish applies evenly and looks amazing in 2 coats.  I love it, and it looks great against my pale skin.

I had a difficult time capturing the true "Plumberry" color in a picture.  Its true color is somewhere between the two from the images below.  Imagine the brightness from the first picture but make it a little darker and more blue-toned like the second picture.

Essie "Plumberry" (sunlight)

Essie "Plumberry" (tungsten lighting)

Color:  2 coats Essie "Plumberry"
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  New York Color "Grand Central Station"

I'm not sure if it was the "Plumberry" or the top coat (see next paragraph), but this manicure lasted three to four days before any chipping or wear, and I am rough on my nails.  I was amazed.

I tried a new top coat, New York Color "Grand Central Station," and it is my new favorite top coat.  It is easier to apply than Seche Vite (not as thick), and it is less shiny (which I prefer).  It dries just as quickly and seems to last longer, and it costs much less.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!  What are your favorite fall nail polishes / manicures?  I will be doing a post on my favorites soon.

[NOTD] China Glaze Ghoulish Glow

I have glow-in-the-dark nails!  I feel seven years old.

I used Orly Ridgefiller as my base coat, which right now, I'm not loving - it applied a little streaky.  Then I added 1 coat of Essie "Cloud Nine," a milky white - which isn't streaky at all.  China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow" had a good glow after 3 coats, but I added a 4th for good measure.  Since it dries fast, this wasn't an issue.  I finished with 1 coat of Seche Vite.

China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow"

"Ghoulish Glow" looks like a milky (very slightly green-tone) white on my nails in bright light.  It really just looks like sterotypical 80s glow in the dark color - a somewhat mottled, translucent, faint greenish milky white.

China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow" (indoors, tungsten light)

Like most 80s glow-in-the-dark items, the polish glows strongly after being in direct light, then its glow quickly diminishes.  I took one picture, then I took another less than 30 seconds later, and the glow intensity had already diminished significantly.

China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow" : The glow diminishes after 30 seconds.

I'm still wearing my glow-in-the-dark manicure from Thursday.  Today is Saturday, and there is minimal tip wear (and I'm rough on my nails).

Earlier in the week, I had another Halloween mani/pedi.

[Haul] China Glaze 2011 Halloween Collection

I first saw online the China Glaze 2011 Halloween Collection, Haunting.  I loved the yellow-green glitter, glow-in-the dark, and black crackle polishes.  Sally Beauty Supplies had a set that also included a rust orange polish from the 2010 Halloween Collection.  The 4-set everywhere else included a clear top coat instead, so I ordered from Sally's.

Orly Nail Lacquer Thinner | China Glaze 2011 Halloween Collection

I also picked up the Orly Nail Lacquer Thinner because I still have nail polish from high school (I graduated in 2001).  I haven't tried the thinner yet, but I've tried or swatched all the polishes.

Cross Iron 360 :: This is a medium metallic orange.  It goes on the nail lighter than it looks in the bottle.  This is an all-around good autumn color.

It's Alive :: This is a yellow-leaning green polish with small and large flecks of yellow-green glitter.  It looks ghastly against my cool pink pale skin.  With this polish, I plan to rock zombie hands this Halloween.

Black Mesh :: It's a black crackle.  I've never used crackle polish before, but I think this will create some awesome Halloween manicures.

Ghoulish Glow :: This is a glow-in-the-dark polish.  It's a stereotypical glow-in-the-dark color: faintly green but translucent.  This needs at least 2-3 coats for the glow to be apparent in the dark.