China Glaze Thataway

I received this polish from China Glaze - and two others which are up and coming - to review. Last night I was looking through all of my stash and feeling uninspired when I remembered I'd received these. (I am sorry this took so long!)

I opened up the box which has Thataway, Exceptionally Gifted and Watermelon Rind (saving that one for last - it's my "in the bottle favorite.") and found my inspiration in this frosty shimmering coral.

Full Sun

I thought it was kind of "meh" on the first coat but really liked the formula and the way it applied so neatly. The China Glaze brush is a little skinny but it's workable and I could cover my nail in three strokes. I really got into a zone applying this polish it was so easy to apply! 

Shade

I often find myself drawn to orange polish just because I love the color orange, (I know, I'm weird!) but I just think it's such a happy color. I guess orange is to me what yellow is to many of the people I know. I usually do 3 coats of polish but I'm trying to do a good job on application and see if a polish satisfies my perfection streak with only two coats. This one was really close, so close, I went with two and sealed them with a coat of Seche Vite. 

The above pictures are after a full 24 hours of wear, full mani: 2 coats Borghese Hydrati base coat, 2 coats China Glaze Thataway and 1 coat of Seche Vite. 

As I kept looking at my nails today and enjoying their appearance, it occurred to me why I like this polish so much. It is one of those colors that you might consider an "Old Lady color" but China Glaze has put their signature spin on it to create a frost which isn't too frosty with just the right amount of shimmer. It's a wee bit brush-stroke-y but when applied with care, it appears soft and smooshy with a pretty shimmer. Bonus! It looks great with Olive skin tones like mine!

The Lizard rates this color - Toasty! 

Miss Marion GARNET

Here it is, the one you've been waiting for and I apologize that it's taken this long. I love this polish just as much now as I did way back in the day. I can't stop looking at my nails. The formula is amazingly easy to apply once you get used to it. It's a little thinner then some, but the consistency is such that it stays where you put it, so you just have to get used to how much you need on the brush for best application. This is another one that doesn't like being brushed over, and seems to level itself out. The brush is a little thin, but I had no problems with it during application.
Garnet is labeled as a frost, but it's truly a shimmer. Here she is without topcoat:

sorry for the sheet wrinkles, she's not a quick dry polish, though I did give her plenty of time to dry.

I put the polish on yesterday and let it get good and dry so the transformation would be obvious. Unfortunately, there wasn't any sun today, but this is in overcast natural light and I actually think it's best for show you all what this polish does. I love this part! I put a coat of Seche Vite over the top because I needed to head to work right after I took the photos, but ANY top coat creates this transformation. 

With topcoat, the blue-red of Garnet becomes this awesome Candy Apple Red with depth and that "lit from within" appearance. This is the color every pinup girl needs to have in her arsenal. Observe:

G E O R G E O U S!

And to reiterate the transformation, here is left and right, can you tell which one has topcoat and which is nekkid?

come closer

and closer til it's a bit blurry...

Do I need to tell you that you have to get this polish? Just remember to get it directly from J Pinon and stay away from Peachtree World. They are not authorized dealers and you may not get what you pay for.

I still cannot stop staring at my nails. I've missed this color so much. GAH! Garnet, I love you.

That is all

~ The Lizard

Mexican Sage "Santa Barbara" Franken

A while back I suggested Illamasqua make a color like the Mexican sage plant with it's silver green leaves and purple flowers. A sage green polish with purple/pink shimmer, like this:

Then I asked the experts on MUA if they'd seen anything like it, and got one answer saying no, but I should franken it. I lost sleep over the idea (and my husbands extreme snoring last night - poor guy got the cootie I had) and woke up this morning knowing what I'd try...You let me know how I did.

I give you "Santa Barbara":

I used Zoya Harley, a little Essie Huckle Buckle and a few drops of Orly Enchanted Forest. I need to find some sage around here to hold to see how it looks with the real deal. I think it could use just a little more green, but I could be wrong!
Til next time!
~The Lizard

NYC New York Color Minute in West Village

This is the first NYC polish I've ever tried. I cannot believe such an inexpensive polish can be so delightful to use and be so pretty. I couldn't stop looking at my nails today. Paused a little too long at stop lights after they'd turned green because I was gazing into the blue depths of this rich, dark, Navy blue. Look!

It isn't quite dark enough to look black in low light, it's just like navy blue anything...is it black? not really, but let me put it by something black just to make sure...see! I knew it wasn't black. This is truly a lovely dark blue with some of the prettiest shimmer to give it just the right amount of depth. I think this is 3 coats, it was a little streaky the first coat, the second was ok, but I did get some pull so I applied the third coat a little more thickly and that was all she needed. I Love NY but I have no idea why this dark blue is named after the West Village. Any New Yorkers out here wanna clue me in?

These were all taken under incandescent like. I can't wait for the sun to come back to Santa Barbara, mostly the longer days will help me get sunny photos of my swatches...I'll sit at the beach and do them. People will think I am nuts...and I like that!

This was the last polish I swatched Tuesday night, so I topped it off with some Seche and went to bed. NYC polish retails here for $1.99 USD but I got this on sale for .99 I think I got a super sweet deal! Do you like it?

Just a couple more days left in my Giveaway! Get in while you can...closes Friday, February 26, 2010 at midnight in the last time zone of the world.

Zoya Anaka I love you.

I was really looking forward to this one from my latest Zoya Haul, and she did not disappoint. Thank goodness after that Miss Marion Fail!

Zoya Anaka is a gorgeous violet red with shimmer that seems to be multicolored. I simply love this one. Take a look! These are swatches, no top coat.

Come Closer...

Closer and let your focus blur a bit to enjoy the lovely multi colored shimmer that is Anaka.

Ain't she purdy??? This is a favorite for sure.
What do you think?

Blast from the Past is a disappointment. :(

So here she is, she's been reformulated or this is a bad fake...so the change isn't as dramatic as it was long ago when I was 18. I am so sad about this and plan to contact the manufacturer to find out if I got a knock off or if they did, in fact change the formula.

I give you Miss Marion "Garnet" She used to dry almost matte and about 5 shades darker than the bottle and you'd think, wth??? But now, that doesn't happen. It does dry about 1 shade darker, but not enough to blow your mind anymore. Here it is: I did 3 coats


The "special" thing about Garnet was the whole put the top coat and watch her shine and transform into this amazing Candy Apple Red. What I got here is more like Candy Tomato Soup. :( So disappointed!!!


There IS a slight difference, left side has no top coat, right side has top coat. Pardon my cotton fuzz, I was seriously swatching my brains out.


I'll let you know what I find out, and hopefully this is a knockoff. What do you think of it?

Zoya Harley

I've been sharing a lot of photos taken with my cell phone and though it does a decent job, it doesn't have a macro setting and it isn't set up for me to take a picture without shaking the crap out of the phone and therefore being super lucky to get an in focus photo. By sheer accident last night, while I was putting my laptop away for sleepy time, I pushed on something and a little plastic insert fell into my hand. It said SD on it and was shaped like a little SD card. I have a different card reader on this stupid laptop that never worked...and I've been struggling to get good photos of my manicures with my phone so I could post at night.

I DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT ANYMORE!!!!

I can now take pictures with my camera and get them on my blog with ease. I swear I am not technologically challenged. This sucker was hidden!!! But you're here for the Polish, so...here we go:


I picked up the Zoya Twist collection back when they were offering the free greens with purchase of $X amount...this was back around the Christmas holiday and I'm just getting around to trying them because I keep buying new stuffs to put into my already overcrammed storage box!!


I bring you my photos of Ms. Harley under incandescent light because my sunset natural light photos from my phone were utter crap. These are true to color, as Harley is a lovely shade of gray with pink shimmer. This gives her a bit of a lavendar hue and makes her interesting for me to look at...otherwise, she'd be gone from my nails because I am not a fan of gray nails. At least, not on me. Take a look:

She's pretty, no?

Kinda boring tho' I'm thinking she need a lil Konad to bring out that pink shimmer.

So happy my laptop can now read the card from my camera! Look at that!!!

So, what should I use to konad her? Time to sort through my plates. Pics to come.

Also coming up: My stash grew by the Milani's I spoke about - all six holos, 2 neons and then a couple a NYC colors. Today I got my orders from 8ty8beauty and Zoya and my surprise polish!!! That will be the next manicure and then I have a surprise on top of that!! So excited to share my favorite from so long ago with you.

My giveaway is soon to be ending so get signed up if you haven't yet! I've enjoyed reading what everyone is looking forward to this year and it's boosted me on some dark days...more health issues and pain, but I'm determined to get better! So keep sharing your happy thoughts with me, they truly make my day. Thank you for being here, for reading my rants and checking out my pictures.

Wishing you all Sparkle, Polish and shine!

Nubar Peacock Feathers and Borghese Stellar Notte Comparison

I have been by the end cap display of the Borghese Fashionista nail lacquer collection at least 134 times now...each time, I pick up that lovely bottle of Stellar Notte (or is it Stellah?) and also the deep, dark, rich purple creme as well. (I forget the name as soon as I put the bottle back!) I keep putting Stellar Notte back telling myself, "No! I already have Nubar Peacock Feathers WHICH I've not yet worn and it's pretty much the same color. No, No, NO!) Space is a very special thing where I live, so dupes are not allowed.

I remembered that I picked up the little mini bottle holiday collection with this lovely in it so I ran home to do comparison. I painted Nubar Peacock Feathers on my ring and index finger and Borghese Stellar Notte on my middle and pinkie fingers. Stepped out into the sunshine - when it came out - snapped some shots, took some in the shade and here you go. Picture heavy to truly show the comparison:

Full Sun:

PF, SN, PF, SN

SN, PF, SN, PF

Indoors with some cloud cover outside:

PF, SN, PF, SN

Indoors with the sun peeking in:

And this one is blurry by accident, but it shows how similar the colors can look at times:

These are both duo-chromes and about as similar as RBL Scrangie is to Sally Hansen Grape Going. :p (I've seen the comparisons...I've got serious lemmings for the whole blogger series from RBL, I couldn't take advantage of the year end sale since the holidays were upon us and the husband had just gotten laid-off. Happy Happy Joy Joy and all that...*reminds self to stop whining*)

Let me say, I love them both for their color. Peacock Feathers starts out as this gorgeous teal, applies like creamy buttery goodness and as you add each layer, it becomes more purple with depth and flash. It appears to be a teal jelly packed with purple - and a touch of pink - shimmer. Stellar Notte starts out kind of an icky, murky gray with a hint of teal shimmer. The first coat goes on streaky and fussy as all get out but - if you're careful - it does even out nicely on the second coat. I did 3 coats for both and they are topped with Seche Vite fast dry top coat.

This is my first Borghese and my second Nubar. Stellar Notte's mini bottle had a decent sized brush but it had a few wild hairs sticking out all crazy like. They settled down with use. The Nubar brush is pretty typical while the Borghese is similar to the Sally Hansen Insta Dri brush. I had no trouble with either one.

I know that Nubar has some staying power, I've been wearing Swiss Chocolate on my toes for two weeks now. :) I thought I would have a little fun with this mani and just finish it up as is...all skittle like, so I painted my left thumb with Stellar Notte and then did my right hand opposite my left. It will be interesting to see if anyone else notices I have two colors on...but also, I want to compare the wear on these two. I'll wear them all week if they'll last and I'll post up the results here when I have them.

What do you think? Did I help any of you decide which one or did I just confirm that we need both of them?