First Post: Nail Mail!!

What better way to kick off a blog than to show off some recent nail mail!  These polishes are from some awesome swappers.  I love swapping nail polish; it's a great way to get a hold of unusual polishes you can't find yourself.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Spring Green:

This is a very Kermit-ey green creme.  It will be an awesome background for glitter and stamping.  I was able to get rid of a duplicate polish I had in order to get my hands on this one; it's always nice to be able to expand my polish collection!

I love the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line of polish; it dries quickly, and every one that I've tried has been a one-coat polish.  Some people are on the fence about the fat brush trend that brands like Sally Hansen, Wet n' Wild and OPI are embracing, and some people flat-out hate them, but I love them (if they're well made). It makes applying polish quick, with far fewer passes per nail.  However, if the brush isn't well cut and has funky, mop-like bristles, it can be nightmarish (I'm looking at you, Wet n' Wild).

Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Lady Luck:

A clear base with small fuscia glitter and larger silver holo glitter.  This is a packed glitter polish; it was nearly opaque with 2 coats on my wheel, and for a glitter polish that's pretty crazy. 

 This will be great for glitter gradients.  It also dries with an almost matte finish, which is pretty interesting to look at, but the shiny punch of the glitter is brought back to front-and-center with a topcoat.

China Glaze Virtual Violet:

This is a super grapey, scattered holo polish. It really comes to life in the sun, but it's a pretty interesting shimmer indoors as well.

I tend to prefer scattered holos to linear holos, for two reasons; first off, they're waaaaaaay less expensive.  Second, the highly linear holos remind me of Lisa Frank folders.  They're stunningly beautiful, but I worry about being able to wear them to a lot of occasions.  I may be overthinking it, but since scattered and weaker linear holo polishes are way more accessible, I'm not too worried about my preference!

OPI Y'all Come Back Now, Hear?:

OPI has the goofiest polish names.  This polish is a bright orange jelly; I've recently discovered that I really like orange polishes, so it's been fun to find ones that I can pull off.

This is a dupe for Zoya's Coraline, which is awesome because out of the Birchbox trio they recently released, Coraline was the only one I was particularly interested in, but it isn't for sale on its own.

Essie Luxeffects in Shine of the Times:

The flakie polish trend is pretty interesting, as they're just SO very different from the typical glitter.  This flakie polish is probably the densest available, with a beautiful orange/green duochrome.  I'm excited to layer this one and see how well it plays with other colors.

Zoya Anne:

Along with orange nail polish, I've recently discovered I enjoy nude polishes a lot.  Anne is a somewhat sheer warm-toned nude with a slight shimmer. I have very cool-toned skin, so I can't pull all nude shades off, but the warmer ones work with me.  I'm so excited to wear this one, maybe with Shine of the Times over it!