2017 Favorites

Kind of a mish mash year with a ton of old photos discovered.

There were, however, a few standouts that strum the heart strings.


Milani Showy Sea Green

This baby really just got me, but good. Love it a lot.



Dance Legend Chimera

Shimmery metallic blurple that just stole my heart. And kept it locked up!



Layla Flash Black

This black holo made the venerable OPI MPJ step aside: the complexity and depth of this one. Wow! It's a beauty!



Zoya Serenity

Pantone says purple for 2018, who am I to argue? I've been saying "purple" since 2010!
You go Purple!



Bees Knees House on Haunted Chill

While toppers are always a good thing, this one takes it to the next level for sheer glass fleck multichromicity.



El Corazon Kaleidoscope Leo

This baby is absolutely a stunner and I have a hard crush on it.
Darling!!




A short list, but all are so nice!

Thanks for reading my little nail journal.

Happy New Year!!!

Konfetti~*~*~``~`*

Actually, from Dance Legend's Confetti Collection, a bunch of super saturated metallic pearl shades that are hard to dislike.
Well not much at Dance Legend that is hard to love!! I've got a running cart that is in the low three digits and I really have a hard time paring it down.

Meanhile, Dance Legend 533

Luminous is the first word that pops through my head.

Three coats, no top coat.

Excellent formula, excuse my slapdash application!


Dance Legend has such an extensive line that international stockists don't carry the full array. Their site is fairly easy to navigate and though it takes time, they ship internationally. I haven't pulled the trigger on an order, but I anticipate doing a big one when I do!!

You can find them in the smaller indie shops, blog sales, etc. Worth the hunt!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Dance Legend Chimera

I think I've posted some Dance Legend before. I will be honest: It's a brand that I adore.

I need to buy some more, it's just that getting what I want entails a huge international order or random indie sellers who import the brand.

Meanwhile, here is a great polish that is still available:

This is a metallic blue shimmer with pops of micro shimmer. Though in most lights this just doesn't show up, it's a normal metallic.

This is a three coater, first coat is very thin, but surprisingly by the third coat it's just find. Not going to transition into a stamping polish, but is a gorgeous stand alone beauty.

A true blurple it hails from the Dance Legend Mystery collection. Lots of shifty flakes and some shifty metallics.

This is a favorite of mine: easy formula, and while needing three coats, this is a no fuss formula. If you can't stand brushstrokes this might be an issue, but in truth, they settle for the most part. 

I am very biased: I love the color, I find the formula super easy to work with, and I love how the hidden sparkle comes out in the sunshine.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Shamrocks On The Green

Green of a special variety.

When I think of green, I think of this: intense, pure, and no-no-doubt-about-it-green!

Dance Legend 377

Three coats

Lovely rich luminescent bright green.

My camera made it more dusty, but it's a winner.

No top coat, very glossy.

Purchased at the Llarowe sale, so nice - both the sale and the polish!

From the Dance Legend "Enamel Mix" selection on their web site.

I recommend just browsing their site for the sheer eye candy.

Take a page, polish sellers: you don't need a flash heavy site! Just give a bottle shot and a couple of tasty swatches. 

SinfulColors Shamrockin'

I will admit that the large flower glitter needed some fishing, but this wasn't too painful. 

I like the combination of white and pale celery colored glitter. Best of all these are matte glitters.

Here's another photo with the SC bottle. I just thought I'd throw it in:

I think if I had planned a bit better I'd have turned the bottle upside down for a while and let more glitter slowly move toward the top before doing the mani, would have helped with the fishing of the large glitter.

I do wish there was more density on the smaller glitters. This is two coats

I believe at this point I put a top coat onto the whole thing, as the flowers are flat and my nails curve and well, you can imagine there was some incongruity.

Found this at Walgreens and it was a fluke because their selection in my area is sparse for new stuff.
It's a pretty little thing and may still be out at drug stores. I know there are similar indie polishes, but $2 is hard to beat. This further illustrates the influence that indies have on mainstream polish brands. 

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

A Plentitude Of Passionate Purple Swatches

I've been working on the idea that I'd work through my untried sooner rather than later, but later is here and I need to get it going. Let's just say I have a lot to work on. 2015 might be full of "tests" like this, we'll see.

Here are 9 purple polishes that I haven't blogged before.

Couple of things first:

• All are three coats unless I otherwise mention it
• All are without top coats unless I otherwise mention it.

Let's go!

Etude House P501 Lunatic Purple

I've had this one for so long I had to shake, shake, shake, shake to get it thoroughly mixed. 

Bit of a satin finish and not quite perfectly self leveling. Very  nice, though.

Like my Etude House polishes, they deliver.

Perfectly gorgeous purple.

Purchased on eBay some time ago.

Jordana Silky Purple

A saturated dusty purple that pushes into the pastel realm. Excellent formula.
Jordana and Milani stand out in the drug store polish category. Take note, Sally Hansen. You've been served.

Hard to fault this puppy. Jordana does a really nice formula although I don't see many of these locally, they are on Beauty Joint and Jordana also has a website, too. I may have to look into that one!

I purchased mine at the rare visit to Kmart.

L.A. Colors Amethyst

This is one that I thought I'd swatched before, but in looking back don't think I did. At least, if I did I buried it in another layering thing. Hmm.

Healthy dose of glass fleck in a dense purple jelly base. It has that purple blue shift in the glass fleck, which I love a lot.

Found in a multi-pack at Ross or perhaps the Dollar Tree, I can't recall which! This also does double duty as a layering polish, but also builds to a good coverage. Nice!

Nfu FS16

This is from Nfu Oh's Fluorescent Series. Nfu Oh is a Korean brand available through Fabulous Street. (oh, forgot to put them in my "where I get it" page)

Intense. Purple. Color.

Very gorgeous. Self leveling, delightful formula. My photo is a touch too blue, but I have it firmly in my purple stash and not the "red purples".
Purchased through Fabulous Street's website. She also has a blog with swatches, it's extensive and worth the browse. I follow it, hasn't updated a lot, but hit a lot of the Nfu Oh's with force.




Nicole by OPI Purple Yourself Together

I've longed for this polish for a while. Gold glass fleck in purple creme and shimmer are really quite a win for me.
This photo was insane. For some reason I could not white balance my camera and my skintone came out so jaundice yellow, I wondered if I had a liver at all. I had to tweak this one a bit, but the color matches the bottle. Mine is very bright, red toned and not as deep as I'd seen online. Certainly not a near dupe of OPI's Dutch You Love OPI.
Wish this one came out better. So frustrating. Need to redo it. Still, lovely polish and nice formula.




OPI Lincoln Park After Midnight

This is an old polish in my collection. Bought it a long time ago but can NOT recall where!
Trifle loosey-goosey. Very dark. As you can see by my index finger, it goes into the realm of black with very little effort.
It's a rich, deep purple that truly reminds me of eggplant, a color that is tossed around with easy, but doesn't always fit.
If you love purple, don't have a dupe, this one is wall to wall purple darkness.




Zoya Lael

Another one that came out far to yellow/orange. This is a bit brighter than the real Lael, but very close on the index finger.
Oy. What a pain!
Not the polish, though. Easy to work with and creamy formula.
Very beautiful dark purple creme polish that, despite my photo, is more plum than straight up purple. It's a very complex polish with a very grown up vibe to it. I will re-blog it down the pike.




China Glaze Anklets of Amethyst

A reddened purple glass fleck that is able to double duty as a stand alone polish - it builds - or a layering polish. Shows a strong blue shimmer.
Here it is alone, three coats.Easy to use, nice tight little formulation.
Double duty polishes are always a win.
I purchased this one through Transdesign/Nail Supplies.
From a collection that came out in 2006 We Adorn You collection.




Dance Legend 827 Surfing At Night

New brand to me based in Russia.They have such a depth of products. They are like an independent label and throw new ideas out there like crazeee.
I buy mine through Llarowe and blog sales. I've not purchased directly, but they do sell it to US customers and their website will instruct you who to buy it from if they don't ship to your country.
Back to the polish: great formula, easy to use and perfectly glossy finish.
I put mine over a pale pink/nude base, so it popped the color up.



There you have it, a ton of purples. I love them and this barely taps into my collection. Long time coming. Some old, some new, but it feels good to get them swatched. Yaaaasss!

Thank you for reading my nail polish journal!