Zoya: Yasmeen

Since I'm feeling the Zoya love today, I thought I'd post one of Zoya's best shades ever. I have to admit, Yasmeen was my first Zoya and I was not impressed. The formula and wear were just ok for me, and I think all the hype kind of built up my expectations. I wore Yasmeen once and put it in my stash, vowing never to buy another Zoya. I even had it up for swap at one point, but I'm so glad I never got rid of it because I swatched it again recently and fell in love.

Yasmeen is a deep purple with fuchsia shimmer and a little bit of gold shimmer. It has a glowing ember effect, and it's absolutely beautiful. It kind of looks like a duochrome in the bottle, but not on the nail. Two coats, no topcoat.











Isn't she lovely?

Happy painting!

China Glaze Nightfall

Warning: lots of pictures, and gushing, in this post.

I picked up China Glaze Nightfall at a nail salon awhile back. I have no idea what collection it's from, but it's pretty old. It was almost completely dried out. I thinned it and swatched it, but I wasn't impressed at all. It looked near black and I was totally meh about it.

Well, I was going through my stash last night and decided to give it another chance. I thought maybe I had missed something. Boy, was I ever right. This polish is gorgeous. The base is eggplant, and it's packed with lots of purple and gold shimmer, with little bits of blue scattered sparsely throughout.

Two coats, Seche Vite on top.

Indoors, it's pretty and vampy, but nothing special.







In the sunlight, you can see her in her full glory




You can see the flashes of gold here


And she even has a smoky, dusky side




Formula wise, it was thick and gloopy, but that's due to age. Pigment-wise, it's a one coater. Love, love, LOVE this polish.

What polishes were you initially meh about, but fell in love with later on?

Happy painting!

China Glaze Cowgirl Up

This beauty was from the amazing Rodeo Diva collection. I'm sure you remember that one...I think every shade from that collection was a winner. Cowgirl Up isn't my favorite (Wagon Trail has that honor), but it's a close second. The base is royal purple, and it has purple shimmer. I've probably worn this shade 10 times, but I never noticed that it also has blue shimmer! (I know, duh lol). For some reason, my eyes just never caught it.

Two coats, Seche Vite on top.

Indoors, the blue isn't noticeable.



You can see it a bit here if you're looking for it (click to enlarge)




But in the sunlight....there it is!


The formula was near perfect...this was almost a one-coater. Every time I wear it, I get no chips, just regular tipwear.

Am I the only genius who's worn a polish a million times and never noticed something about it?

Happy painting!

OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

This beauty is from the OPI India Collection. I wasn't all that impressed by the collection after looking at swatches on various nail blogs, but I knew I had to have this one. For me, this was definitely the standout of the collection. It's a blackened red with red shimmer.

Two coats, no topcoat.







The formula was fantastic and I got great wear out of this. I've kept this on as long as 6 days with no chipping.

Happy painting!

Brown-y Sunday

I just felt like some brown picspam today!

Essie Decadent Diva

This one was from the 2007 Glamour Girl Collection. It's a deep brown with bronze shimmer. It's pretty straightforward and not terribly unique. Three coats, no topcoat.








Color Club Black-ish

Blacki-ish is from the Haute Browns Collection. I'm not sure why this is called Black-ish, since it's reddish-brown with gold shimmer. It's very pretty in the bottle, but less so on the nail. Two coats, no topcoat.



Now, we get to my favorites.

China Glaze Side Saddle.

This one was part of the excellent Rodeo Diva Collection. It's coffee brown with very pronounced gold shimmer. It's so gorgeous. Two coats, no topcoat (I probably should have done three coats...please excuse the sparse area on my pinky).




The last one is my all-time favorite from the brown family.

China Glaze Ingrid

This one is what You Don't Know Jacques would be if it were a tad lighter and had gorgeous gold microglitter. It was released as part of the 2010 Vintage Vixen Collection. It's stunning. Three coats, no topcoat.






Formula-wise, the Essie was the easiest to work with and the three coats dried within a few minutes. The China Glazes were next, with Color Club bringing up the rear.

Happy Painting!

OPI NYPD Beet

This shade is from the 2000 New York City Colors collection. It's aptly named, as the base is beet colored. I don't know about you, but beets were never my favorite food or color. What makes this polish gorgeous is the pink shimmer.

Three coats, no topcoat.




With flash


The formula was near perfect (after thinning, of course). I could have gotten away with two coats, but I detected some light spots so I did a third for good measure. This is one of the polishes I got on my nail salon ambush, and it was well worth the haggling.

Happy painting!

Old NsOTD (cont.)

China Glaze Wagon Trail

This was my absolute favorite polish from the Rodeo Diva collection. WT has a black base with tons of fine gold shimmer. What's great about it is that the gold shimmer makes it look olive green. Absolutely gorgeous!





China Glaze DV8

Turquoise holo. Two coats, Seche Vite on top. For some reason, this was chippy on me. I think I got one day out of it.





Orly Glam

Deep red jelly with silver microglitter. This is two coats, but I probably could have used a third. Seche Vite on top.

This is actually one of my favorite reds. I don't care for most reds because I don't think they go well with my skintone, but this one has personality.





Misa Blueberry Glaze





Happy painting!