Be My Lover & Creme de Konad

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have two variations of the same mani in different colors to show you. The first I did earlier in the week and was really pleased with it. The second is my travel mani - if all is right in the world, as this publishes I'm getting into the car to drive downstate to visit family and friends (and I'm writing this yesterday!). Since I'll have to leave my travel mani on for three days, I wanted it to be one that I really liked, so I thought I'd give you a peek at that one as well.

For the first, I started with Misa's Be My Lover as the base.

It's a great color on its own, but I thought it could use a little something extra, so I used white Konad polish to stamp my nails with a pattern from Konad plate S6 and then did my tips with a pattern from plate M45.

I was so happy with how the patterns worked together I decided then that I'd use them again for the manicure I'd have to look at for a couple of days. As I unpacked a box of nail polish yesterday, I ran across what became the base for today's, OPI's Creme de Menthe.

This is a spectacular color on its own, but since I'll be wearing it from Tuesday through Thursday, it needed the Konad to make it a little more interesting. Besides, I haven't been downstate to visit since I got the Konad, and wanted to show my friends what fun it is, so I proceeded to duplicate the patterns above using green Konad polish. The result is Creme de Konad.

That's what I'm wearing this very minute, and will be wearing for a bit. As you can tell from the pictures, I like it a lot! You can probably also tell that I'm already growing weary of dark fall colors and am starting to break out the pastels again. It's only a matter of time before I get tired of the pastels and go back to darker shades, so if you're one who prefers the darks, I'll be wearing your colors again soon!

That's all for today, Dear Reader! I might be able to check in this afternoon, but if I don't answer a question or seem to ignore your comment, please don't be offended - that simply means I wasn't able to use a computer, and I'll reply as soon as I can. Until tomorrow, 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!

YSL's Latest Offerings

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have pictures of Yves Saint Laurent's two newest colors for you. They are Moonlight White

and Deep Blue.

Deep Blue is distinctly blue, not blackish, while Moonlight White is a sheer white with a slight blue flash.

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