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!
