Chanel - May

Hey everyone! It feels so good to be back and getting into a routine again! Thus, I'm reinstating blogging everyday until at least the end of April :) Just a forewarning of sorts though, I purchased a bunch of Chanel and Face of Australia nail polishes when I was on holiday, so expect a lot of swatches over the next 2 weeks because I can't wait to wear them! Today I'm sporting Chanel's spring/summer 2012 release in May - a soft bubblegum colour. It painted on smoothly in 2 coats and I absolutely adore the colour.

Direct sun

Cloudy

Direct sun

Revlon - Popular

Yum. Yum, yum, yum. I wasn't expecting to love this colour, but I did. It took 3 coats for opacity, but layered over a light mauve/pink colour or a beige/nude, it would look amazing in one coat (I assume).

Just a note: My nails have been in really bad shape lately and I managed to break 7 nails in 2 days and now I can't bare to look at my fingers :( What I may do is buy some falsies, or I may just wait until they are a little longer and just swatch a bunch in one day of what I've worn this/last week. Sorry if this is a pain for you, it is a pain for me too! PS - I've started using Essie's Millionails and it seems to be helping, so if you suffer from weak, brittle nails, maybe give it a try :)

Revlon - Scandalous

This is a polish I've been eagerly awaiting since it hit (mainly US) nail blogs quite a few months ago. Pink glitter in a dark purple jelly base, it went on opaquely for me in 2 coats. It would be so much nicer with a top coat (I forgot one and you can notice the "roughness" if you enlarge the images), but I loved it all the same that I wore this for 2 days! Haha. Anyway, enjoy the prettiness :)

Essie - Power Clutch

Catch up time! This was a nice enough shade, but it's not one I will reach for very often (and only in the dead of winter). This was 2 coats and it went on slightly patchy, definitely not enough to notice unless you put your fingers about a centimetre from your eyes.

Cloudy

Cloudy

Direct sun

Essie - Very Structured

Browns make me uncomfortable. The darker the brown, the more uncomfortable I get which is why I thought I'd be able to like a very reddened brown (especially when I'm quite fond of taupey, purpley colours). Wrong - the whole day I kept hiding my fingers in my palms :( But, if you're into browns, here is swatch for ya.

Essie - Carry On

Today I decided to sport another polish from Essie's Fall 2011 collection. I did paint this on last night in a poorly lit room, so I thought that one coat was fabulously opaque. This morning I realised I was much mistaken, with this shade needing at least two coats and a well lit room ;)

Direct sun

Direct sun

Shade

MAC - Toco Toucan

Yay, finally all caught up! This one is so lovely. 1 coat and no top coat. MAC really stepped up their game with these formulas, even if the colours are generic.

Direct sun

Direct sun

Shade

Sally Hansen - Bejewelled

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting much from this glitter, so I layered it over Sally Hansen's Save the Date. This was one coat of glitter, and I think on bare nails it would only take 2 coats for opacity. 

MAC - Oriele Orange

Once again, MAC has made a polish I love (though I do agree with everyone about the price tag). This was 1 coat, no top coat.

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

Shade

Essie - Lady Like

I picked up a box of Essie's Fall 2011 collection from Myers the other week and I was so excited to try Lady Like. It has been raved about as a great neutral colour, as well as a great base for glitters, etc. It was the first one from the collection that I tried and I really did like it. It went on smoothly and opaquely after two thin coats, and it was a very work appropriate colour. I am wondering though, is Lady Like just the base colour of Demure Vixen because (minus the shimmer) they look the same in the bottle.

Direct sun

Direct sun

Shade

Colour Comparison: Lady Like vs Demure Vixen - direct sun

Colour Comparison: Lady Like vs Demure Vixen - shade

Sally Hansen - Bride to Be

This colour looked so un-bride like to me that I just had to pick it up. It's a silver polish with a green tinge, and it was nice enough to wear, but definitely not a shade I will be drawn to often. I also haven't seen this colour on any of the nail blogs I regularly visit. This is 2 coats and it went on a little patchy, and this was a pain to remove so be patient with this one. It also dried slower than I'm used to.

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

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Essie - Da Bush

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'd be busier than normal for a couple of weeks. Those couple of weeks finally ended yesterday and the sense of relief I felt waking up this morning was wonderful. I'm sorry I didn't post at all last week (I didn't even turn on my computer!), but I did photograph my nails every day so I'm catching up today. 

I picked up Essie's Da Bush from the resort collection last year, and it is a very 'me' shade. It applied easily in two thin coats and I really enjoyed wearing it. I did put this colour on my toes as well (my fingers and toes usually match) but it made my feet look a little ill-looking. I definitely recommend leaving this one for your fingers!

**There was no sun so all photos are taken in cloudy daylight. Also, if you enlarge the photos, you'll see bubbles. That was entirely user-error >_>

MAC - Salad Dressed

This is green enough that I expect I'll get a lot of use out of this colour. A lot of people seem to complain about MAC nail polish, but I haven't had a single problem with any of the ones I own (though maybe thats thanks to the nail blogs I read). This is an amazing teal that applied smoothly and opaquely in 2 coats, and it is a perfect polish for sunny days.

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

Shade

Ulta3 - Kiwi Kaos

Not a colour I would wear daily (or for more than a day) but pretty for a lazy saturday. I seemed to have caught the only sun this morning, and the rest of the day is looking dreary and dull :( Anyways, this polish is smooth and opaque in 2 coats (as per usual with Ulta3) and was from the summer Gelato collection.

direct sunlight

direct sunlight

shade

OPI - Up Front and Personal

This polish looked so pretty in the bottle, it's a shame the sparkle isn't picking up on camera. I did think it would be more opaque than what is was (this is 3 coats on my nails and there is still vnl) but I think this would be a perfect topcoat for beige or grey polishes. 

Direct sunlight

Direct sunlight

Shaded