OPI - You're Such a BudaPest

Whilst I was very tempted to just touch up yesterday's mani, but I decided to see how similar OPI's You're Such a BudaPest was to China Glaze's Tart-y For the Party. It is VERY similar. Tart-y is warmer, and BudaPest is cooler, but they are very similar tone wise. BudaPest did take 3 coats and it was a little hard to work with, so if you're trying to pick between the two and aren't too concerned with warm/cool undertones, I would pick Tart-y.

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sunlight

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China Glaze - Tart-y For the Party

This is quite a standard medium/pastel purple cremes, but I got quite a lot of compliments both times I wore it. It's one of those purples that looks more vivid once on your nails, and it really is quite a flattering colour. It had a good formula and painted on smoothly in 2 coats, and I topped it off with Essie's top coat. Really glad I purchased this, though I'm definitely sure you could find the exact same colour elsewhere (and it's definitely a close match with a lot of other purples I own!).

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slightly cloudy

China Glaze - Fancy Pants

I wasn't even sure I was going to like this polish but it ended up being one of my favourites from the Avant Garden collection. The shimmer is thankfully really noticeable and it painted on with ease - smooth and opaque within 2 thin coats. Highly recommend this one :) I also love that the colour doesn't really change much from sun to shade! (Though in really low lighting it does take on a slightly darker, more purple hue.)

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Essie - Madison Ave-Hue

Today's notd is Madison Ave-Hue, another from Essie's newest collection. I'm afraid the sun isn't going  to show today, so these are all cloudy/shaded pictures. When I saw this on eBay, I really didn't think it'd be anything special - just another pink for my collection. But I really do like this one. Unique? Not exactly, but it has a bright but subdued colour and the shimmer is actually noticable once on the nail!! This was a really nice formulated polish as well because it wasn't too thick, wasn't too thin. Covered completely in 2 coats, and I popped Essie's top coat on top.

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cloudy

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Zoya - Kendal

Zoya's Kendal was thursday's notd, and it's another perfect work colour. Leaning a little mauve, it's really subtle but elegant and I really enjoyed wearing it. Though I do apologise about the dryness of my fingers, I didn't have much time for nail care this week :( Painted on perfectly in 2 coats, with 1 coat Essie Good to Go top coat.

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direct sunlight

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shade

Essie - Maximillian Strasse Her

This is possibly the hardest to spell polish name I own, I've stuffed it up so many times! This was monday's notd because I didn't have time to turn my computer on this week at all! This is from Essie's new spring 2013 collection and it's the only colour I was really looking forward to (I did also purchase the pink one with silver sparkle but I'm still debating on whether to get the other colours). This is a pretty grey-green and I don't have anything exactly like it in my stash (might do a comparisons post if I find time this weekend).  People seem to have issues with Essie's streakiness, and whilst the first coat was a bit streaky the second was fine. I personally don't care much about the streakiness of a first coat, but if that bothers you, then this maybe isn't for you.
I really do like this one and can see myself wearing it almost year-round. 2 coats, 1 coat top coat.

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direct sunlight

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shade

Chanel - Emprise

This colour sold out so quickly from my local counter that I had to resort to buying it over eBay, and I'm almost tempted to buy a backup (something I don't think I've ever done before with polish!). Milky polishes tend to look a little weird on me, so I've never found a light peach colour that I was happy wearing. Emprise definitely isn't a milky peach, and I absolutely love it. I think I've worn it 4 out of 7 days a week for the last 2 weeks! If you can't pull off milky polishes as much as you wish you could, I definitely recommend checking this out at your local counter or (if it's sold out) buying it online!

2 coats, 1 coat top coat. Excuse the messy polish job, I tried using Revlon's Colorstay top coat and it stopped my polish from drying properly :(

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direct sunlight

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(dry nails, eek!)

OPI - My Very First Knockwurst

This was a semi-recent NOTD that I never got round to posting, and I'm wearing it again today. I LOVE this colour. I was sure I was going to prefer Don't Pretzel My Buttons, but this one was a clear winner once they both came in the mail. This is a very pink toned nude, and it goes so well with my skintone. I wear this to work at least once a week!
2 coats + top coat from the Germany collection

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direct sunlight

February Nail Polish Haul (and mini reviews)

February was a crazy month for me. I broke my camera; I started a new full-time job; I got a "promotion" at my new job; My camera got fixed before I promptly broke it again; Two of my close friends moved away; I got sick; I got my camera back; and I finally stumbled into march feeling a little worse for wear. This is one reason why I haven't posted any NOTD's in February. The other reason is that my nails have been in the worst condition they've been in months, which has bummed me to no end.

So instead of trying to photograph my roughed up nails, I decided to post a monthly nail polish haul (which I'm  totally copying from Alanna because I eagerly await her hauls all month!) As a bit of a disclaimer, I know my photos aren't great. They're often wonky and the background isn't always a true white, but I'm trying and it's the best I can do for now on my time schedule. Also, I wanted to point out that I know this is quite a lot of polish to buy in 1 and a half months, but I told myself I was on a no buy in February, and this was the result >_< Maybe in march I should say I'm on an all-buy? ;)