Nails Inc Week: Porchester Square

Happy Tuesday, Polish Fanatics!

As I mentioned in my post late yesterday, Nails Inc. polishes recently launched in the US! I am super excited that you all can now share in this brand, because they make fantastic polishes in great colors with buttery formulas. To celebrate the launch, I'm going to be reviewing Nails Inc. polishes all week to help you guys figure out which polishes you need to buy first!

For today's mani I have Nails Inc. Porchester Square. Porchester Square is a light taupe creme, a perfect nude for the work day. There is a light hint of lavender in the polish, but it's not overstated. Porchester Square is the lighter sister to the deeper mushroom taupes of last season, a la Chanel Paradoxal and Sally Hansen Commander In Chic. I'm not sure what was wrong with me when I did this mani, but I had heavy hands and needed 3 coats to smooth out some of the bumps. I've worn Porchester Square before, and it only required 2 coats then, so I chalk this up to operator error (read: I'm a ditz!).

(Nails Inc. Porchester Square; direct sunlight; no flash)


(Nails Inc. Porchester Square; shade; no flash)

(Nails Inc. Porchester Square; close-up; direct sunlight; no flash)

Is it any surprise to you that I am a fan of Porchester Square? It shouldn't be! This is the perfect shade for work; it's beautiful, fashionable, but not so loud as to draw a lot of attention at work - the perfect trifecta!

Porchester Square is currently available at select Sephora locations and online at sephora.com. If you're in the market for a pretty color for work, definitely check it out!


What do you think? Are you excited about Porchester Square? Have you ran to Sephora yet to pick up a few Nails Inc. polishes? If not, what in the world are you waiting for?!?!

Nails Inc Comes to America!

Hello Everyone!

I heard the best news a few weeks ago, and have been waiting for the perfect time to share it with you all! Remember my recent trip to London and Paris? Well, when I was there, my primary goal (besides drinking like a local and shopping like I couldn't spell r-e-c-e-s-s-i-o-m) was to pick up one of the hottest UK nail polish brands, Nails Inc. I journeyed over to the Nails Inc. flagship store off Bond Street and had the best time with the ladies in the shop. They were impressed that I ventured out specifically to see them and buy some Nails Inc. polishes, and that I had brought packaging on my trip to safely ship my new beauties home with me. My Nails Inc. haul is still one of the highlights of the trip, but I was sometimes sad to sing their praises, knowing you all couldn't easily find the brand in the US.















Well, lo-and-behold, friends, your Nails Inc. deprived days are over! Nails Inc. polishes are now available in the US! How friggin' awesome is this! A few weeks ago Michelle at All Lacquered Up did a fantastic review of the Nails Inc. US launch - definitely check it out. To quickly summarize, Nails Inc. is on sale now at certain Sephora locations across the US and online at sephora.com. This initial launch includes 40 of their most popular colors, crystal cap colours (read: blinged out polishes!), special effects 3D glitters, and the current craze, crackle colors!

Nails Inc. polishes retail at Sephora starting at $9.50 for a 0.5 fl oz bottle. I kinda feel bad for our UK fanatics - Nails Inc. retails there for approximately £11 ($18USD), and I was really surprised by the low price point when the polish launched stateside. (Note to my UK readers: PLEASE venture to the Nails Inc. flagship store on South Molton Street - you can get such great deals there if you buy several polishes, way better than the £11 each pricing in department stores!)

To celebrate the arrival of Nails Inc. in the grand old U-S-of-A, we are going to celebrate Nails Inc. Week at Polish & Tonic! Yes, that's right my friends, all entries this week are going to be reviews of the fabulous colors from Nails Inc. - nudes and greens and blues and pinks, oh my!

I hope you all are as excited - or getting there! - as I am about Nails Inc. coming to the US. If you're not, you will be by the end of Nails Inc. Week! Hang around here for reviews on some of the US and UK exclusive colors, and when you see something you like, hop on over to Sephora to check out a few polishes - I promise you won't be disappointed!

Last Night's Nails: Chanel Graphite

Last Night's Drink: London Pride
Last Night's Mani: Chanel Graphite

Hi Everyone! I had another post planned for today, but late last night a friend called and we decided to hit up my local bar for an hour or so before closing. I had a polish on my tips that I wasn't feeling, so I quickly acetoned it and reached for a new, sexy fall color - Chanel Graphite. Graphite is a metallic foil polish with hints of silver and gold. It really reminds me of pewter in color. This is my first Chanel polish (actually, my first polish ever over $20!) and I was curious about how the color would look on me. Graphite applied easily; I could have gotten away with 2 medium coats, but in order to get rid of all VNL, I applied 3 thin coats. Check it out!

(Chanel Graphite; direct sunlight; no flash)

(Chanel Graphite; in shade; no flash)

(Chanel Graphite; closeup; direct sunlight; no flash)

Chanel Graphite is all kinds of WINNING! I absolutely adore this polish. It's a beautifully cool-toned metallic, but as you can see in shade, it flashes green/gold. Graphite was perfect for going out - I wore it with jeans and a cute black top, and dark/smokey makeup, and pewter/metallic flats. Kind of wish I had a photo of the full ensemble for you! The only problem I have is trying to figure out what polish to pair with Graphite on my toes - I was wearing a summer bright that obviously clashed, but I feel another metallic on the toes - like Chanel Peridot - would be too much metallic. Maybe a vampy dark?? I'm not sure. Going to have to play around with it.

Graphite was released as a part of the Chanel Illusions d'Ombres Fall 2011 Collection and is currently available at Macy's, Nordstrom's, and other Chanel counters, as well as chanel.com. Graphite is only available for a limited time, so if you like it, be sure to grab one up soon!


What do you think? Are you loving this mani? If you have Graphite, what pedicure color have you paired with it? Do you have any polishes from Chanel? And are you still in the mood for summer, or anxious to start wearing the fall colors, too?

Announcing the Julep Maven Program!

Good Morning! I have another polish post coming to you later today, but this morning I wanted to catch you all up on one of the best new ideas in nail polish that launched this month, the Julep Maven Program! I have been singing the praises of Julep Maven to anyone who will listen to me all week, and now I want to share with my readers the latest opportunity to dig your tips and toes into Julep polishes!

Julep Maven is an opportunity for Julep fans to receive their own Sneak Peek Box that Julep sends out to beauty editors and celebrity trendsetters every month to showcase current favorites and upcoming products available from Julep. Yes, the same exact products send to editors at Vogue, W, InStyle, Marie Claire, and more! Each Sneak Peek Box is tailored to your unique style and preferences - when you sign up, you'll need to take a fun style quiz to help Julep understand your personal style, skin type, and beauty concerns. It's a totally fun quiz, I promise! (Although, it may stump you - how can anyone choose between Bradly Cooper, George Clooney, and Robert Pattinson?!? I wanted an option to select 'all of the above'!)

To give you an idea, I took the style quiz Julep determined that my personal style is "Classic With A Twist":

'Classic and elegant, this timeless look is most famous for beautiful yet simple cuts and colors. You love to wear fine, natural fabrics that accentuate your prestigious leather accessories, and you are most often drawn to polished sophisticated hues. This timeless, iconic look exudes effortless couture and is always profoundly in style.'

I thought this description matched my personal style perfectly! One of my favorite movies of all time is Breakfast At Tiffany's, and I love Holly Golightly's style - refined beauty, pearls, and of course the classic Chanel little black dress (I did quit the smoking, though!). I won't spoil the surprise for my readers who haven't taken the style quiz yet, but let's just say I am thrilled with the sample of colors Julep will include in the CWAT Sneak Peek Box, as well as the actual polishes and products selected for my first month. Look for a blog post next week once I receive my Sneak Peek Box, showing you all the goodies inside!

Julep Maven is an awesome value, as Maven members receive over $40 worth of product each month for just $19.99. And between the polishes, nail treatments, and or hand care products you'll receive, the program is definitely worth it (this month's box alone is worth over $70!).

You can sign up for Julep Maven by visiting the Julep website and taking a short style quiz. The quiz will help Julep determine what type of Maven you are, show you samples of colors that will be sent to you, as well as the goodies you'll receive in your first Sneak Peek Box. The August boxes are currently shipping and include one of Julep's new fall colors that will be released in October, so hop on over to Julep now to sign-up!


What do you think? Are you excited for the Julep Maven program? Do you like these subscription programs that let you explore a new polish brand? And if you signed up, what kind of Maven are you?

The Untried Diaries: Julep Amy

Welcome to the weekend! Well, almost weekend. It's Friday! I am so ready to kick back and relax this weekend - just 9 (hopefully) short hours of work, and then I'm a free woman for a few days!

Today I have for you a mani I wore awhile ago, Julep Amy. Amy is described a "smoky turquoise", but I see a lot more blue in this polish than green to be a turquoise. It applied easily, as I've come to love from Julep polishes. It's very similar to the Butter LONDON formula and applies easily. You could probably get away with one thicker coat, as Julep polishes are so highly pigmented, but for this mani I applied 2 thinner coats of Amy. I apologize for the rough cuticles - I actually took these photos months ago, in my early days of blogging and before I stepped up my nail care routine. Oh, what a difference 6 weeks can make!


...and here's the close up:



Amy is definitely another winner from Julep! While this may not be the most original color I've ever seen, it's the only one I have in my collection and Julep's formula is fantastic. I've only ordered once from Julep, but Amy reminds me I need to do some more shopping at Julep for fall colors!

Amy is currently available online at Julep. Julep polishes retail for $14 for a 0.27 fl oz bottle. It's a little pricey (in comparison, Butter London is $14 for 0.4 fl oz), but I promise it's worth it!

What do you think? Have you tried Julep yet? Are you as in love with their formula as I am?

The Untried Diaries: Essie Sew Psyched

Happy Thursday! One more day till the weekend! Got any interesting plans? I put in an application yesterday for a new apartment - squee! - and so will be doing my least favorite task this weekend - going through my stuff to figure out what to sell/donate/trash. Maybe even packing some initial boxes. The move is taking place at the end of August, so life is about to get really crazy!

It's green week over at my favorite nail forum, and to celebrate I dug through my untrieds to find my most safe-for-work green and came up with Essie Sew Psyched. To be honest, I'm normally not much of a green person; greens tend to have a lot of yellow in them (duh, yellow + blue = green, right?) and are warmer, meaning they don't look great on my cool-toned skin. However, in my recent obsession with the polish brand Rescue Beauty Lounge, I heard Sew Psyched is a dupe for RBL Diddy Mow. After spending hours looking at swatches on the internet, I agreed, and Sew Psyched quickly made its way into my stash.

Sew Psyched is what I would call a grayed-green with the hint of a light blue shimmer. You can't see the shimmer indoors, but it really picks up outside in direct sunlight. Sew Psyched is the color of seaweed in a clear ocean; a muted, but gorgeous. I've struggled with loving Essie as a brand recently due to watery and streaky formulas, but I am happy to report that Sew Psyched went on easily, no wateriness or streaking, and only needed 2 coats for full opacity. Take a look! (Note: both photos were shot indoors under artificial light)


And here's the closeup:


I am definitely into this color on me! Like I said, it's rare for me to find greens that I absolutely love on myself - this is only the 2nd time it's happened, the first being RBL No More War, which was just epic. Obviously Sew Psyched is a keeper, and my desire to find my own bottle of RBL Diddy Mow is renewed!


What do you think? Are you feeling this murky green? Do you know of any polishes with a similar murky quality? And what is up with the inconsistencies in Essie's formula? Have you figured out the rhyme to their reason?

Pink Wednesdays: Zoya Areej

Good Morning! Oh, how I've missed you guys! I had a great long weekend in Virginia Beach with my family, but getting back to LA was heck on Sunday! First my flight from Norfolk to Charlotte was delayed due to storms, and then leaving Charlotte to fly to LAX we were delayed due to a disabled plane on the runway and later storms. I was delayed overall about 3 1/2 hours, crazy! It did make me realize, though, that I am so spoiled living in LA - it's not near any other airports, so we never have congestion issues with landing/taking off (like you have in NYC), and I've never had a flight delayed due to weather conditions. Aaah, there are so many benefits to west coast living!

Today we're celebrating Pink Wednesday with Zoya Areej. Areej is bright pink creme that has blue undertones. It applied easily in 2 coats, as I've come to expect from Zoya polishes. they really do have a great, consistent formula! I occasionally find 3-coaters with other salon brands, but not at all yet with Zoya. Take a look:


When I tried Areej on, I thought she looked familiar and I might have a similar color already in my collection. I dug around and pulled out one of my favorite pinks, OPI Dim Sum Plum, to see if I had a dupe on my hands. Check out the swatch below!

(Zoya Areej and OPI Dim Sum Plum; direct sunlight, no flash)

(Zoya Areej and OPI Dim Sum Plum; artificial light, with flash)

To my eye, in the direct sunlight they look identical. However, with artificial lighting and flash, I can see a slight difference. Areej looks at tad more blue than Dim Sum Plum. However, I don't think this is noticeable to most eyes, so for all intents and purposes I'm calling them dupes. I am a huge fan of Dim Sum Plum, which means Areej is likely going to make her way over to my share/swap drawer. She is a beauty, though, so maybe I'll change my mind!

Zoya Areej was released as a part of Zoya's Summertime Collection this summer. It retails for $8 per polish and can be purchased at Zoya.com (be on the lookout for promotions! they have them all the time) or in store at Ulta and other salon retailers.


What do you think? Do you think Areej and Dim Sum Plum are dupes? Which formula do you prefer, Zoya or OPI? And do you have any other colors from the Zoya Summertime Collection?