The Untried Diaries: Zoya Dove With a CND Sparkle

Good Morning!  Is everyone starting the countdown to the weekend?  I’m actually flying to Dallas for the weekend for sorority stuff, and looking forward to the heat!  LOL I know, I know, it drops below 70 degrees one day in LA and I’m ready to whip out the turtlenecks!  Even though I spent my first 25 years on the east coast, living in LA the past 6 years has made me a weakling!






Today I have for you some polishes I purchased last spring but still hadn’t worn.  First up is Zoya Dove.  Dove is a light grey creme with a slight blue hue.  I applied 3 coats for this mani, as the formula was a bit streaky.  This is my first light grey, so I’m not sure if this is just how the color tends to be – like yellows – or if it’s this particular brand.  Either way, I really liked how Dove looked on me!

I think Dove is a great work appropriate grey creme for a paler friend.  It looks good on me, but because it’s so pale I think it contrasts more than a medium or darker grey would, so something darker may blend better and appear more neutral on me.

To have some fun with Dove, I whipped out one of the CND Effects polishes that has been collecting dust in my untrieds, Sapphire Sparkle.  Sapphire Sparkle is a layering polish with micro glitter that appears blue or raspberry in color, depending on angle and lighting.  Take a look!

LOVE!  I think the blue hue from Zoya Dove is perfectly paired with CND Sapphire Sparkle, and the raspberry tinted sparkle is a nice bonus!

Unicorn Pee Wanna-Be: OPI Movin' Out

Good Morning! Today I have a fun, picture-heavy post for you. If you're like most regular folks, the title of this post probably had you doing a 'huh?' when you first read it. Unicorn pee? Whaaa? If you're a nail polish fanatic, though, you probably know what it is - Clarins #230. #230 is this multichrome-y awesome polish that is pretty much the Holy Grail for nail polish fanatics. Swatch and Learn has one of the best posts on Clarins #230. (Really, do yourselves a favor and follow the link and check out photos for a few minutes. It is a stunner, this I cannot deny.)

Would I love to show off for you all my own bottle of Clarins #230? Why, of course! But I don't have one. Why not? Because it was discontinued years ago. And it sells on eBay for around $50 or higher a bottle. Yes - crazy eBayers are spending $50 on a bottle of polish. Crazy people - I mean, think of all the polishes me and my bargain-hunting skills could find for $50!

So, instead of dropping $$$ on #230, I spent about $ on #230's wannabe little unicorn sister, OPI Movin' Out. Movin' Out was released back in 2003 as a part of the OPI Holiday on Broadway collection, so it's pretty old and took some effort to find. The Polishaholic reviewed Movin' Out a few months ago, and ever since her post I've been lemming this polish. I finally got my hands on a bottle, and here we are at today's picturefest!

First, I started with CND Blackjack. Blackjack is a basic black creme with the CND formula I love. I could have gotten away with 1 coat, but applied 2 to make sure it was even and give Movin' Out the best opportunity to pop.


Then, over Blackjack went 1 coat of Movin' Out.


How many different colors do you see? I started counting, but stopped at a BAZILLION:


Oh snap! She sparkles!


No really, she SPARKLES! She's like polish and nail bling all in one:



OPI Movin' Out is long discontinued, but you can get your own bottle of Unicorn's little sister with just a little bit of googling. Check out sellers on eCrater or Bonanza first, before you go and get ripped off on evilBay. Happy hunting!

NOTD: Smokin' Hot Mani On Fire!

Happy Friday! Are you getting ready for the weekend? Any plans? I only have one - to stay low key! I'm heading up to NorCal next weekend, so am going to try and lay low this weekend, catch-up on reading, chores, laundry, etc. Really, can you believe life in LA is this exciting?!?!

Today's Nail of the Day (NOTD) was a complete surprise to me. Last night I was updating my spreadsheet with recent purchases, and also doing some swatching on a nail wheel just to get an idea about the new colors I'd bought and possible future manis. After an hour or so, as I was heading to bed I got one last idea for a mani - essie Smokin' Hot, which I had been lemming since another blog reviewed it a few months ago, and CND Ice Blue Shimmer, which you just heard me rave about on Wednesday. Not quite sure why I thought the 2 would go together, but decided to give it a try.

Smokin' Hot is a purple-gray creme polish. It applied okay in 2 coats (really, essie should be a 3-coat mani, but I was in a rush to get to work!) with minimal streaking.

(Today's mani was unplanned an in a hurry this morning, so I apologize for the less-than-stellar application and photos.)

Then, I layered on the Ice Blue Shimmer and got this:


This is a less flattering shot of my hands, but shows what the mani looks like in indirect lighting (not quite as electric blue as the previous pic):


AAACK! I don't know why, maybe it's the blue polish lover in me, but this mani is an instant favorite. I love how the blue shimmer catches the light, and takes a winter/cool color and makes it warmer and hip for a a great summer mani. It almost reminds me of dry ice, or the cool air that you can sometimes see rolling off a block of ice when first exposed to warmer air. You know what I mean, right? I will say that Smokin' Hot was kind of a PITA to apply - the more I use essie, the more I know it's not very pigmented, requiring 3 coats always and going on super streaky. Since I didn't have the time this morning to really work with the polish like I normally do, the mani was not my best work.


Smokin' Hot was released as a part of the essie 2010 winter collection and I thought was limited edition - but a new batch has recently showed up at salons and possibly retailers, so you may want to call around and hunt down your own bottle. Ice Blue Shimmer is currently available and can be purchased at salons or online at transdesign.com.


What do you think? Is this mani as great as I think it is, or am I just overly excited by anything shiny? What CND effects do you love (I need to build my wishlist!)?

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: CND Plumville

Hey everyone! Hope you all are ready for a fabulous Wednesday! I'm heading back to work this morning after a 4 1/2 day holiday, and I'm not looking forward to it! Fingers crossed that these next three days fly and then the weekend will be here!

For this week's pink manicure, I decided to try out a new (to me) brand, CND. A few years ago CND switched from a typical collection of hundreds of colors to their Colour & Effects collection - 50 colours and 15 effects that can be made into hundreds of combinations to make a different manicure each time. I had seen something similar with Wet Paint on ideeli last week, but was unfamiliar with the brand Wet Paint and decided not to buy. So, when I learned about the CND Colour & Effects, I had to try it out!

All 50 colors in the line are creme polishes - which we know are my fave! - and the 15 effects range from a pearl, shimmer, or sparkle (read: bling!) finish. For today's mani, I picked up Plumville, a warm pink-purple plum creme. It reminds me a lot of OPI Dim Sum Plum, but I think this is more purple/blue and Dim Sum Plum skews more pink.

Here's a look at the mani with just Plumville:


Great color, right? And let me tell you - this polish applied perfectly. CND is a thick buttery polish, and the brush was comfortable to work with, not too wide and not too firm. I couldn't believe it - fully opaque in just one coat! I did apply a second coat to a few nails, but it was mainly to get more coverage closer to the nail bed.

So what would happen when I applied the effect Ice Blue Shimmer over Plumville? Well, take a look:

And here's a close-up of the shimmer effect:



GORGEOUS! I love the blue sparkle the shimmer added to the mani!

The verdict - this mani is hot! I am so excited about both Plumville color and the Ice Blue Shimmer effect. Knowing my obsession, I'm tempted to go out and buy up all the other CND colors and effects, but I'm on a self-imposed ban for June - I have to save up money to snag some UK and France polishes when I go on vacation next month!


What do you think? Have you tried any of the CND colour & effects polishes yet? Which are your favorites? And can you just imagine the possibilities with these effects and the polishes already in your collection? Amazing!