Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Lava

Hello!

Today's swatch is Sally Hansen Lava.

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Lava is a pretty glass-fleck, duochrome polish that shifts from orange to pink. It wants to shift to red, but doesn't quite get there. The final look is bright and metallic.

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sinful Colors Base Coat, three coats of Lava, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish is much sheerer than I expected, so I used three coats. It will bald and streak if you are not patient and start on another coat if the first isn't dry, but once applied, it's stunning.

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, natural light, no flash.

I purchased my bottle recently on clearance at either Wal-greens or Wal-mart... my memory fails me! Happy hunting!

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Glittering Garland

Hello!

Today's polish has been in my collection untouched for far too long. This is China Glaze Glitter Garland!

Glittering Garland is a deep evergreen jelly packed with gold and green flecks. It's lovely.

China Glaze Glittering Garland. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of Glittering Garland, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish is a bit thin and streaky on the first coat, the second is better, but I did need three coats for the best result. Other than that, this polish had no other issues, and application was easy even with the thin formula.

China Glaze Glittering Garland. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Green still isn't my favorite color for polish, but I have to admit that this is beautiful and festive! It looks beautiful in matte as well.

China Glaze Glittering Garland, matte. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Glittering Garland was a part of the China Glaze holiday collection in 2011 called Let it Snow. I purchased mine from Head2Toe Beauty, I think, where it is still available.

China Glaze Glittering Garland. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Riveting

Hello!

I can't believe how long it's taken me to swatch this beauty! It is China Glaze Riveting all the way back from 2012's Capitol Colours collection.

China Glaze Riveting. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Riveting is a saturated orange polish full of orange and gold glass flecks. It is fiery and gorgeous!

China Glaze Riveting. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Swatches today are a base of Duri Rejuvacote, two coats of Riveting, and one coat of Seche Vite. This polish has a great formula. It flows smoothly on the nail for a perfect mani. One coat is nearly enough. No issues to report.

China Glaze Riveting. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

It's been quite awhile, but I think I picked this up at Sally Beauty when the collection was newly released. Head2Toe Beauty still has the collection available if you missed out!

China Glaze Riveting. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I've got some super Halloween nail art using this swatch as a base for my Nail of the Week post tomorrow--see you then! So, more soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: China Glaze Smoke & Ashes

Hello!

Today I have a quick post on China Glaze's Smoke & Ashes from last year's Colours from the Capitol Collection.

China Glaze Smoke & Ashes. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Smoke & Ashes is a black polish packed with green glass fleck. This one is a bit tricky. The first time I wore it, it just looked like a black creme. No pretty green flash showed up. I don't know what I did differently this time, but the green flash showed up beautifully! It was hard to capture on camera, but in person, it was quite apparent.

China Glaze Smoke & Ashes. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, two thick coats of Smoke & Ashes, and one coat of Seche Vite. No issues with the formula.

China Glaze Smoke & Ashes. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

If you're after this black polish with a unique twist, Head2Toe Beauty still stocks it! I'm pretty sure I bought this bottle from Sally's when the collection was newly released.

China Glaze Smoke & Ashes. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sinful Colors Nova

Hello again!

Sinful Colors Nova. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

This is Sinful Colors Nova.

This is a gorgeous deep blue jelly-like base polish with blue and green shimmer. It is well pigmented, needing only two coats for opacity. I see some balding near my cuticles in the sun, so perhaps a third coat or more patient application would have been better. Indoors, however, this was not visible.

Sinful Colors Nova. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

As shown today, I've used a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats of Nova, and one coat of Seche Vite. Formula was pretty good, but I can see the potential for a bit of staining with this one.

Sinful Colors Nova. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I found this in a random display at Walgreens quite some time ago. It's a unique and beautiful polish. I think it looks like the night sky, and it would be a fantastic start for a galaxy mani.

Sinful Colors Nova. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Cult Nails Bitten

Hi!

Cult Nails Bitten. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I am so excited to show you this one! I finally placed a Cult Nails order last month, and this beauty is from the newest collection. This is Cult Nails Bitten!

Cult Nails Bitten. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Isn't is great? For swatches today, I've used a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, three coats of Bitten, and finished with one coat of Seche Vite. The formula is wonderful--the first coat was a bit streaky but it evens itself out with two coats, and the third was just to deepen that lovely cranberry color.

The matching shimmer in the jelly base is gorgeous out in the sun!

Cult Nails Bitten. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash. Not sure what is going on with my  pointer finger here... did I smudge it? Lol.

Cult Nails can be found here, and a lot of information (and sometimes sales!) is announced via their Facebook page.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Mimi

Hello again!!

Zoya Mimi. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

Here we have Zoya Mimi from the Sparkle Collection. It's Gilda's purple sister!

Zoya Mimi. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Mimi is a deep purple glass fleck. I thought I saw some pink flecks flash in there too.

Swatches today are one coat of Sally Hansen Nail Protix, three coats of Mimi, and a topcoat of Orly Sec n' Dry. The formula on this one thin but controllable. It was slightly sheer, but covered to opaque in three coats.

Zoya Mimi. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

As I've said before: I bought my bottle from Ulta, but I usually buy directly from Zoya's website. They offer a lot of great deals, especially if you're plugged into their social networking, so like them on Facebook! They also offer deals to their existing customers (those who have an account set up at their website) on occasion. If you don't have an account and want one, you're welcome to use this link to make a new account. It's my "Share the Love" link, which if you do sign up by using it, I'll get points to use towards more deals on polish and, as a first time customer, you'll get a free bottle of polish when you order! Awesome! My link takes you to the seasonal collections page; you can create a new account by using the link at the top of that page that says "Create An Account". Once your account is set up, if you go to "My Account" then click "My Coupon Codes" you'll see the code for a free bottle of polish. I believe you have to order more items to use it, so it's not a total freebie.

Zoya Mimi. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

I'm away on vacation, but my blog is not! I might not be able to respond to comments or emails right away, but posts will continue! So... More soon!!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Faye

Hello again!!

Zoya Faye. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today's beauty is Zoya Faye from the Sunshine collection!

Zoya Faye. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This is three coats of Faye topped with a coat of Orly Sec n' Dry topcoat.

Zoya Faye in the shade. Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

Faye is a complex little thing. If a polish can be both purple and orange at the same time, this is it. It has a sheer purple base packed with gold and orange flecks (maybe some coppery ones in there as well). It's Tiffany's lovely, purple sister. ^_^ The formula is great. It's slightly thinner, but has good flow without pooling.

Zoya Faye. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

As I've said before: I bought my bottle from Zoya's website. They offer a lot of great deals, especially if you're plugged into their social networking, so like them on Facebook! They also offer deals to their existing customers (those who have an account set up at their website) on occasion. If you don't have an account and want one, you're welcome to use this link to make a new account. It's my "Share the Love" link, which if you do sign up by using it, I'll get points to use towards more deals on polish and, as a first time customer, you'll get a free bottle of polish when you order! Awesome! My link takes you to the seasonal collections page; you can create a new account by using the link at the top of that page that says "Create An Account". Once your account is set up, if you go to "My Account" then click "My Coupon Codes" you'll see the code for a free bottle of polish. I believe you have to order more items to use it, so it's not a total freebie.

Zoya Faye. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

　

I'm away on vacation, but my blog is not! I might not be able to respond to comments or emails right away, but posts will continue! So... More soon!!! ^_^



Zoya Faye. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.



Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Gilda

Hello again!

Zoya Gilda. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today we have Zoya Gilda from the Sparkle Collection!

Zoya Gilda. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Gilda is a gorgeous pink glass fleck. This is one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardening base, three coats of Gilda, and a topcoat of Orly Sec n' Dry. This has a thinner formula, but that presented no issues.  It's a bright, Barbie pink, and I love it!

Zoya Gilda. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I'm also going to include some older cell phone pictures I've taken of mani's I've done with my Zoyas in these posts. This one is from well before I started blogging, so the picture isn't great. I thought Gilda looked very candy-like so I stamped some sweets on and topped it with some glitter!


Candy mani!

As I've said before: I bought my bottle from Zoya's website, but they can be found at Ulta as well. Check them out! They offer a lot of great deals, especially if you're plugged into their social networking, so like them on Facebook! They also offer deals to their existing customers (those who have an account set up at their website) on occasion. If you don't have an account and want one, you're welcome to use this link to make a new account. It's my "Share the Love" link, which if you do sign up by using it, I'll get points to use towards more deals on polish and, as a first time customer, you'll get a free bottle of polish when you order! Awesome! My link takes you to the seasonal collections page; you can create a new account by using the link at the top of that page that says "Create An Account". Once your account is set up, if you go to "My Account" then click "My Coupon Codes" you'll see the code for a free bottle of polish. I believe you have to order more items to use it, so it's not a total freebie.

Zoya Gilda. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I'm away on vacation, but my blog is not! I might not be able to respond to comments or emails right away, but posts will continue! So... More soon!!! ^_^