Illamasqua Phallic

Illamasqua Phallic is quite an interesting color.  The company describes it as a shimmering midnight navy, which is pretty darn accurate.  I haven't seen a bottle of Essie "Starry Night" in person, but this is what I'd imagine it would look like.  Illamasqua's website shows Phallic to be lighter than it is - it's definitely a DARK color.  I'm calling this a glitter since it has glitter in it - more so than a shimmer.  The polish was very easy to take off as well.  I wore it overnight and didn't have a problem with color bleed on my cuticles when I was removing it.


The squared off bottle is a little hard to work with but I preferred it to the actual brush top, after I removed the square top.

I used Seche Retain as my base coat (trying to keep my nails strong!), 2 coats of Phallic to cover all bald spots, and a top coat of Seche Vite.  The formula on this polish was quite nice - I didn't have any pooling into the cuticles and but it wasn't too thin either.


Shade pictures just wouldn't work here, so instead I have 2 sun pictures for you.

This one shows you more of the blue in the bottle - while this picture is color accurate for the blue, it's definitely not what you see mostly on your nails.

This is more like it.  Very dark dark navy with a hint of blue glitter.  It's still very pretty but not a good spring color by any means.  ^_^  I'm interested in trying more of this line - the application was very nice.


For those in the States, you can purchase Illamasqua from Sephora [official website] for $14 a bottle.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Zoya Nail Polish Exchange

It's back!  Zoya kicked off their Nail Polish Exchange on Earth Day, and this will last a whole 2 months!  I still can't get into the site myself, but from what I have seen from others and from Zoya's Twitter [official Twitter page], there is NO MAXIMUM for this, but there is a minimum of 6 bottles per order.  Additionally, you have to include $3.50 per bottle.  You can send Zoya your old top coats, base coats, polish (even mini bottles!) but you can only order Zoya polish for your exchange.


From Zoya:  Zoya Nail Polish will exchange your old, out-of-style, unwanted nail color and replenish your nail polish supply with fresh Zoya fashion colors. Simply send in six or more bottles of old polish - any brand other than Zoya, Qtica or Nocti, new or used - and we'll send you the new Zoya colors of your choice in a bottle-for-bottle exchange.


To start exchanging your polish, please click [here] to go to Zoya's website.  *In case of crashing, please wait and try again.

Essie "Color Me Delicious"

[Please click on image to see full size]

Essie can be purchased on their website [official website] or etailers like Head2ToeBeauty [official website] or TransDesign [official website].

Color Club Pucci-licious

Color Club Pucci-licious was a neon purple from the Poptastic collection.  Like most neons, it dries matte, and it nearly impossible to photograph, although it was a problem of my camera seeing purple and thinking BLUE.  I was able to color correct my pictures to show the true purple of this color.


I've been having hit or miss problems with Color Club, and this was another one.  I used Seche Natural as my base and my first coat of Pucci-licious was very hard to apply, but I'm going to chalk that up to being a neon.  I went thicker than normal to try and make sure I didn't have bald spots, and then used a second (still thick) coat to even out any lumpiness.  I did not use a top coat to keep with the matte.  I did, however, totally screw up the polish on my thumb before walking outside to take pictures.  Go figure.

It looks nice on the nail once it's all said and done though - almost a cornflower purple blue?  Either way, it's unlike anything I have, and I like it.

I had a peek of sun, and tried in vain to get a good picture but this just makes it look glossy instead of matte.  I assure you, it's a matte finish.

Color Club is located on several etailers, including Head2Toe Beauty which has it for $3.00.  You can also Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Barielle Myrza's Meadow

Barielle Myrza's Meadow is being called a light lime green with silver glitter but really it's multicolored glitter in the bottle.  This was one of the special colors from the Wildflower collection that Barielle was donating 100% of the proceeds to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  Now, I recently saw this color featured as one of the "pretty ugly" colors on another blog, and while I can't quite call this color "ugly", I am slightly reminded of weird baby vomit when I see it.  Blame my kid.

I used Seche Natural for my base, 3 coats of Myrza's Meadow and just for fun, I did not use a top coat.  As you can see, it definitely leaves the nails a bit gritty from the glitter.

I'm sure if I had a coordinating dress or maybe a nice white button down shirt (?) that I wanted a pop of color with, this would work out.  I almost wish that Barielle had left the glitter out of the color, and then I think this would have been a perfect color.


Barielle retails for $8/bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Cheeky Monkey Come Hither

Come Hither was an awkward color for me in the bottle.  It looks black, or even espresso brown, but when I put it on my nail wheel, I totally saw red.  Yes, red creme.  Cheeky's website describes it as black plum, so black purple?  Either way, I knew I needed to try it on.

I used Cheeky Monkey Wet Dream for my base and started with 2 coats of Come Hither.  However, I wasn't totally happy with it application with 2 so on my index and middle fingers, I put 3 coats.  I did not use a top coat, since this stuff was pretty lethal without it (shiny wise).

I guess I can see the whole black plum thing now - but this was only in the "sunlight" (which for me is cloudy with a bit of sun right now).  It was easier to see the "plum" with 3 coats, but it was definitely more reddish purple with 2 coats.  In the shade, this color was just super dark - I'd like to wear it during the day.

Cheeky Monkey can be purchased on their website [official website] for $15 a bottle.

Cheeky Monkey Hot Slut

Check out that rain!  I even got some on the bottle cap.  Well despite the flash flood warnings and the tornado watches, I must continue to swatch!  I ended up purchasing the entire Cheeky Monkey line of polish, mostly because I absolutely wanted to try them all.  When the box arrived, I pulled them all out and arranged them on my shelf, and well, like the ditty that she is, Hot Slut caught my eye.

Cheeky's website calls Hot Slut a "soft red with blue".  I personally didn't see the blue, but this was a HOT red for me.  In fact, I liked it so much that I wore it for THREE days, which is almost a record for me - well, it is a record for a red for me.  (Purple still holds my "one week" manicure record.)  The application on this color was awesome - so much pigment in just one coat.  I used Cheeky Monkey Wet Dream for my base, and just to be consistant, I used 2 coats of Hot Slut, and a top coat of Seche Vite.

No sun, but I snapped a "rain" picture

Maybe I do see the blue?  Either way, I love this color.  It's my new favorite red.  I also grabbed a picture under my porch.

This red is ALMOST a jelly when you add the top coat, but it's really a creme.  It was almost cherry tomato red in my eyes, but either way, it was freaking awesome.

Cheeky Monkey can be purchased on their website [official website] for $15 a bottle.

Piggy Polish Pink for Yourself!

Piggy Polish [official website] is also a new brand to me - they market their polish mainly for pedicures, but their website says you can also wear it for manicures.  I'm not about to show you my feet, so I used it as a manicure.  ^_^


I used Seche Natural as my base, just one coat of Pink for Yourself! and a top coat of Seche Vite.  I was impressed by the pigment and smoothness of the formula.  This isn't a neon pink, but a deeper "Barbie" pink.  It is definitely a creme though - no shimmer to it. It reminded me of a China Glaze color but I didn't take a comparison.  As you can tell a bit in my picture, we were in for a LOT of rain.

All bottles come with a tiny toe ring made from beads with a little foam flower on it - totally cute!  It's definitely a toe ring but if you had tiny hands (I don't) it may fit on your thumb or pinkie.  Very cute!


Piggy Polish can be purchased through their website [official website] for $6 or at retailers.  You can check their website for the closest retailer to your location.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Book Mention!

My nail polish collection is now featured in this book "Anthology: A Collection of Collections" by San Antonio artist, Brittany Gates.  I'm going to buy my own copy soon and if I can get up there to see the exhibit next month, I'll be sure to take pictures.  I'm excited to be published for my obsession!


The book is available for purchase on Blurb [official website].

Color Club Mrs. Robinson vs China Glaze Purple Panic

Are you seeing double?  Sure looks like it.  As soon as I put on Color Club "Mrs. Robinson" I was thinking "Hey, I have this color."  Introducing China Glaze Purple Panic from the INK collection - a purple neon...


I used Seche Natural for my base, and 2 coats of each polish to stay consistent.  I did not use a top coat to keep the matte look of the neon polish.

Oddly enough, on the nail, you can actually tell this is two different colors, but just slightly.  Mrs. Robinson has a darker purple hue to it and slight more red, where Purple Panic is lighter with more blue in it.  I showed a friend my hand, and he instantly knew they were different colors, so while these are totally related, they aren't complete duplicates.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.