Cult Nails Tempest

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter weekend, even if you don't celebrate the holiday. We had gorgeous weather here in Seattle and my parents were in town visiting, so I've been pretty busy! I also didn't have time to paint my nails for Easter, which is kind of lame, but it is what it is. 

Tonight I have one of the Cult Nails 2nd Anniversary polishes for you-- Tempest! Cult Nails describes Tempest as a "pure white, high gloss polish perfect for a manicure and great for nail art!" and this is pretty spot on. I actually have played around with this for nail art (stamping, specifically) and it worked well for that. They say this is almost a one coat white, but more on that later. I found that Tempest was a bit streaky when I was applying it and I ended up needing to use about 3 coats (depending on the nail) to get the coverage I was looking for. Overall, though, it was fairly easy to apply and was really nicely pigmented without being super thick. 

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Now, I love Cult Nails, but I couldn't make this a one (or one and a half) coat white. Is it me?! I think my application technique needs work, because in general this was a great white polish so I think with some practice I could make this work. However, Tempest is very white and I don't know how often I'll be reaching for this as a full manicure.

Zoya Ivanka

Tonight I have a drop dead gorgeous polish to share with you,  Zoya Ivanka. This isn't a new polish-- it's been around for several years (released summer 2010)-- but that certainly doesn't detract from how beautiful this polish is. I was originally going to wear this as my St. Patrick's Day manicure, but was feeling unmotivated to even paint my nails and so I swatched it but didn't actually wear it. Which is a real shame, because Ivanka definitely deserves to be worn!

Ivanka is sort of a glass fleck/foil combo and is super sparkly. Zoya describes Ivanka as a "mermaid green sparkling metallic" and I can't complain about that. This is darker than Zoya Apple (you can see my review here) and has more depth; the mermaid descriptor seems very accurate-- this color definitely seems like it would be perfect for a mermaid tail. I wasn't happy with my flash photos, but if you don't have this polish, take my word for it. It's dazzling. There was no sun (of course, thanks Seattle!) when I was swatching this, but I'm sure sure it would be blinding in the sunlight. Well, maybe not blinding, but definitely a distraction!

This shade is slightly sheer and I used three coats here. It might have been less sheer if I used thicker coats (or more) but I'm not totally bothered by the sheerness.You could layer it over a green polish if you felt so inclined. If I were going to wear as a full manicure, I'd personally just throw another coat on.

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Glass flecks are my favorite type of polish finish, and Ivanka is an amazing polish. I've had this polish for at least a year (actually, almost two now, ack!) and I shouldn't have let it languish in a drawer for so long. Needless to say, I will definitely be pulling this out this summer-- as a pedicure color and probably a manicure as well!

American Apparel Manhattan Beach

I mentioned briefly in my last post that I've been a bit down on blogging. Lots of things have been going on and my motivation to blog has pretty much vanished. I have a ton of polish I want to share with you, but am feeling burned out and uninspired. After Liesl's wonderful feature, I'm determined to power through my current low point. I really appreciate your comments and following of this blog-- I'm sorry I haven't been posting consistently of late.

Tonight I have Manhattan Beach, which is another polish from the American Apparel Sheer line of polishes. This is the amped up sister of Summerland Beach-- a darker coral that's definitely more on the jelly side of creme/jelly.

Due to the jelly nature of this polish, it's more on the sheer side and I used three coats of Manhattan Beach. The formula is great and it goes on very smoothly, no issues. It also dried very quickly, which is always a plus.

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Ohhhhh, shiny! I love how shiny this is.

Manhattan Beach is such a perfect summer polish! I love that this "sheer" polish is more on the jelly side and less of a creme, even though there is some visible nail line. I'm a sucker for coral polishes, and Manhattan Beach is no exception.

Feature over at Liesl Loves Pretty Things!

Hi all! I am so delighted to tell you that my blog is being featured today over at Liesl Loves Pretty Things. Liesl has been doing a weekly feature on fellow PNW nail polish and beauty bloggers and I'm thrilled that she approached me about doing a feature. It's been great to learn about other bloggers in this area-- so please check out her blog and learn about some of the other awesome bloggers from the PNW (and of course to read Liesl's wonderful blog)!

I have to say that lately I've been a bit down on blogging lately (hence the lack of consistent posting) and Liesl's post came along at just the right time to lift my spirits and motivate me to get back to blogging! Thanks Liesl-- I'm tickled pink that you decided to feature me on your blog!

American Apparel Summerland Beach

Tonight I have a polish that I've had swatched for some time, but haven't gotten on the blog yet. Summerland Beach is a polish American Apparel released as part of their "sheer" line of polishes. I assumed that the "sheer" moniker meant that the polishes would be jelly in texture, but in reality Summerland Beach is more of a creme/jelly hybird. I would describe it as a peachy pink.

The formula was a little difficult to work with, if only because it was a bit streaky and I would just using a light touch to prevent the polish from dragging and streaking. I needed three coats to make sure it was even, though if you applied it better than I did, you could probably get away with two coats.

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I like this polish a lot-- very summery and I felt like it made me look tan, which I love.

Nostalgic Lacquer Envy

Tonight I have another green polish to share with you. Envy was a limited edition polish that was available last summer as part of the Seven Deadly Sins collection and I've had this swatch sitting in a folder since July. Yes, July! Whoops. Nostalgic Lacquer describes Envy as "large silver and black hex glitter, small green and white hex glitter and black bar glitter" and it's suspended in a clear base. I decided to layer Envy over American Apparel Zuma Beach, which is a pea green crelly.

Here I dabbed on two coats of Envy and the formula was ok-- a little on the thick side, but as long as you dab it on it's not too bad. The color mix is good and while I'm not a fan of bar glitter, I like it in this polish.

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I like how the dark green glitter pops against the lighter green. I love this manicure!

NOTD: Green Glitter Double Accent

Tonight I have another nail of the day to share with you! In keeping with my St. Patrick's Day green theme, this is a recent manicure I wore featuring two Julep polishes-- Selena and Colbie. They don't exactly match (I originally thought they were closer in color) but I still think they compliment each other well. I love the "ugly-pretty" color of Selena and Colbie was easy to build up by itself, without using a base color.

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Hope you enjoyed this manicure!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle

Tonight I'm going to kick-off of a series of manicures featuring the main color of St. Patrick's Day-- green! I have a classic green for you tonight, Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle. This was actually one of my first RBL polishes ever! And it took me forever to wear it, too. Which is a shame, because it's really a gorgeous color. Recycle is described as a "deep blackish emerald green" and that's pretty spot-on. While the color is very deep, it's not necessarily dark, despite what the description says. You can always tell that Recycle is green, even in lower light.

The formula on Recycle was perfection. It goes on smoothly and easily, no problems at all. Even better, it dries to a ridiculously shiny finish! Below I have used two coats and no top coat. And yes, that's how shiny it is.

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Recycle is available for $20 at Rescue Beauty Lounge-- it's a limited edition color and was recently "brought back" by popular demand. While the price is a little on the steep side for a creme polish, the formula and color are perfection and I would go so far to call this the perfect green creme.