Ulta Limited Edition Holiday 2008, Part III & A Zoya Freja Konadicure

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have the last of Ulta's holiday offerings for you now, the opaque colors. Like the others, they're two coats over a base under artificial light.

Santa Baby is a name recycled from last year, but the color is different. This year's is a wine shimmer.

The other is Winter Wonderland, a mauve creme.

I'll also show you the Konadicure I did using Revlon's Lily Chrome rather than Konad polish at the suggestion of wixbetty. She was right - it worked beautifully! I started with Zoya Freja as the base.

The added a pattern from plate S6 to my tips, using Lily Chrome in place of the Konad polish.

The silver of the Lily Chrome was more opaque and easier to apply than the Konad Special Polish, so I'll likely be using it more in the future. Thanks to wixbetty for a great tip!

That's all for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Ulta Limited Edition Holiday 2008, Part II

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today we'll take a look at the next two Ulta limited edition colors for holiday 2008, the glitters. I think both of these are Christmas in a bottle, and am happy with each. The pictures are two coats over base coat photographed under artificial light.

Deck the Halls is a silver holo-y glitter in a clear base, which will make a great top coat.

Jingle Bell Rock is a red jelly that I initially thought might be a duplicate of last year's Santa Baby, but I recall that one being a creme rather than a jelly.

Here's a little bonus pic for those of you tired of seeing sheers. I also found the original Revlon Dark Pleasures dispay, at half off. I picked some up, and here's Purple Pleasure, my NOTD.

That's all for now, Dear Reader. Until later, love and nail polish to you!

Ulta Limited Edition Holiday 2008, Part I

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I've swatched and photographed Ulta's limited edition holiday colors for you today, and will present them in three parts. Today, Part I, is the sheers.

Let It Snow is so sheer I was hesitant to publish the pics, but then figured, what the heck. In the bottle, it looks like a white frost, but it's quite sheer on the nail.

Noel looks like a pink frost in the bottle, and although it's sheer, it's not so sheer as Let It Snow.

That's all for today, Dear Reader. I'll have more for you in the morning. Until then, love and nail polish to you!

Essie Holiday 2008 Ulta Exclusives

Hello, Dear Reader! Did you think I was going to go a day without posting? Never!

I've been out and about today, and my travels took me past an Ulta store, where I found all kinds of goodies. The first of them I'll show you now, Essie's Holiday 2008 Ulta Exclusives.

Each is two coats over a base coat phtographed under artificial light.

Private Bash is a berry red creme.

Formal Dinner is a bright true red, slightly jelly, with a fuchsia shimmer.

Cocktail Party is a mauve-y red with a strong shimmer.

Now you've seen them, and it's up to you to decide whether you can live without them... I have more holiday goodies to show you tomorrow, Dear Reader. Until then, love and nail polish to you!

FingerPaints Holiday 2008

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I did have more swatching in me today, this time the FingerPaints Holiday 2008 Collection. I don't know the name of it, as I've never seen the display - a lovely nailboarder picked these up for me. I came home to them Thursday, and finally got to swatch them today.

I'll show them to you in reverse alphabetical order - there are two contenders for my very favorite, and that will save one of them for last. I'm very happy with all of them, but there are two that I really, really love. All are two coats over a base under artificial light.

Spun Sugar is an aptly named almost opaque, almost white shimmer.

Shiny Red Apple is an opaque apple red creme.

Red Marzipan is the first contender for my favorite - it's a dark red with lots of little glitter. So sparkly!

Maroon Macaroon is a deep maroon shimmer.

Butterscotch Cookie is a golden shimmer.

And (drumroll...) Black Gumdrop is my other contender for the number one spot, a blackened blue purple.

My Sally Beauty Supply doesn't get the seasonal collections, much to my dismay, but as I mentioned, a dear friend got them for me and sent them to me, so I'm able to have them anyhow. If you have a Sally's nearby, go get 'em!

Until morning, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Zoya Flourish Collection for Winter 2008

Good morning, Dear Reader! I'm late posting today, and late to the party with this collection, but was surprised in swatching Zoya's Flourish Collection this morning that some of them are different on longer nails than short, so I thought the pictures were worth posting. All of the pictures are of two coats over a base under artificial light.

From what I've seen, I thought Zara, a pale purple with gold shimmer, would be my favorite from this collection, but found that I had clear VNL (Visible Nail Line, the line where the nail bed ends and the free edge starts) with it, which was a big disappointment. The problem clearest on my ring and pinky fingers in the pictures.

Although I like Mieko, a raspberry with gold microglitter, I had the same issue with VNL as I did with Zara. Both are really unusual colors, so I'll likely try them with additional coats or over a soft white to eliminate the VNL, but the extra hassle drops them further down the list of preferred polishes than they otherwise would be.

The next one I wanted to hate simply for its name. It's Shivon, which would properly be called the Anglicized spelling of Siobhan, but which my father and I would call the bastardized spelling of it. For all of you who've been thinking I'm See-oh-bon, this polish will help you pronounce my name - it really is pronounced Shivon. But it's not spelled that way, so I'll have to get over my resentment at Zoya for doing so! In any case, I like the polish - no VNL, and it's an interesting brown/plum shade with a strong gold shimmer.

Richelle is a slightly bronzey gold, a nice shade, but my no means unique. And I'm sure all the Rochelles of the world are annoyed that their name was misspelled, too!

Cyma is a pretty mid-tone berry red with a shimmer. Again, a nice shade, but nothing I'd write home about.

Kalista appeals to my recent brown phase, a rich slightly plummy brown with a strong shimmer.

There you have it, Dear Reader - this is Zoya's Flourish Collection for Winter 2008. These can be ordered directly from Zoya, or you can get them where I got mine for a little bit less per bottle - from sparkling*nails on ebay (that's a link to the listings for these).

That's all I have for you for now, Dear Reader. Until later, love and nail polish to you!

My Picks from Maybelline's Holiday Display

Good evening, Dear Reader!

Tonight I have for you my picks from Maybelline's Holiday display. There are a few more in the collection, but I didn't want them, so this is just a sample of what it has to offer.

The pictures are of two coats each over a base in sunlight.

Ruby Luster is a great red.

Amethyst Glimmer is a vampy creme without a hint of glimmer to it.

Turquoise Glimmer is a shimmery blue.

Jade Flash is a noteworthy green.

Special Sparkle is a glitter topcoat with red, green, and silver glitter, which I used over Jade Flash.

Those are my picks. Be on the lookout for them at your local drugstore!

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!