NYC Sidewalks & Sally Hansen Multi-Faceted

Hi everyone! Remember me? It's been a while, a loooong while! I guess I should explain myself.... First off, life is great, just crazy. We are doing a big house remodel, getting ready for the baby, yep, I'm pregnant! Baby number two is expected to show up Valentine's Day:-) Also I know I mentioned before I got a new job, well I'm taking some classes (2) on top of that. So between a 2 yr old, baby on the way, full time job, 2 classes and a house remodel, I've been a little busy! I really miss you guys and my blog! To be honest I haven't had my fingers polished in months! I tried to juggle things and keep posting at first, but I ended up feeling guilty all the time that something was getting neglected. So a little break was necessary. I won't be back full time yet, but I wanted to let you guys know I will be trying to post occasionally and eventually get back on track. I understand that some of you have dropped me from hour blog rolls, I get it, I've been a bit of an absentee blogger!

Anywhozzle, today I thought I'd share my mani. It's NYC Sidewalks & Sally Hansen Multi Faceted. These pics were shot on my phone at work so fingers crossed that they come out! I like this, sidewalks is one of my favorite med grey cremes. It has great coverage in 2 coats. Multi Faceted is fun, I like the color combination. Black,silver, and iridescent hex glitter, all the same size. The glitter is suspended in a clear base that doesn't alter the base at all. This is shown with one coat. I tried Out the Door instead of my usual Seche Vite, and so far do good, although I do see some bubbles. I'm not sure who to blame that on quite yet....

So it was nice being back! Hope you guys understand! I'll try and get back into the swing of things soon. Muah!

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Comparisons: Strawberry Fields/Kimber & Smooth Sailing/Sklar

Ok, so I haven't ever done a comparison post before, but I've decided to do one and to kill two birds with one stone. Two recent purchases reminded me of other colors in my stash at first glance. So I figured someone else might be thinking the same thing without seeing them side by side.
First off is the last color I swatched, Skylar. I thought that this looked a lot like Essie Smooth Sailing (one of my favorites)! The are similar but after putting them next to each other I instantly knew these were very different. Skylar is more cornflower blue and SS is more periwinkle. Both have shimmer that is quite noticeable. Skylar has iridescent shimmer that shifts from gold to silver to pink; the base is lighter and more dusty. Smooth Sailing is more saturated, brighter, and its shimmer is silver.

The next two I thought looked like they might be alike are China Glaze Strawberry Fields, and Zoya Kimber. Even next to each other these look strikingly similar, not dupes, but close. That is, until you put them on... Both are warm medium pinks with gold glass fleck. Kimber has substantially more

 pigment, it's nearly a one coater. SF is pretty sheer needing 2-3 coats, and still coming out lighter. The formula on Kimber is wonderful, while SF is slightly watery.

So without further ado...pictures. Please forgive the state of my nails (I wasn't leaving them like this so I was a little lazy).

Left to Right: Skylar, Smooth Sailing, Kimber, Strawberry Fields

Top to Bottom: Skylar, Smooth Sailing, Kimber, Strawberry Fields

I have reviewed all of these except SF, so there are full swatches and write ups n the others. Being the polish collector that I am I have no problem owning all of these. The are all different enough to justify buying. My favorite blue between the two is Smooth Sailing, and pink is Kimber.

Zoya- Skylar

Hi guys, I hope you are all having a great holiday weekend. We are camping in the NYS finger lakes, eating, drinking wine and relaxing with the family...what could be better? It is an issue that two of my favorite summer pastimes are at such odds with my nails: gardening and camping. Neither are kind to my hands, so my nails will most likely be kept short in the near future.
Anyways today I have another Zoya polish I just picked up, Skylar. I remember opening this and thinking that it was pretty close to Essie Smooth Sailing, but although they are in the same color family, they are different enough that I need both. I will post some comparison pictures here shortly.

Skylar is a dusty cornflower blue with shimmer that I believe is iridescent. The shimmer shifts from gold to pink to silver, and really makes this polish interesting. It applies like a creme. These pictures are with two coats and SV. I had significant shrinkage at the tips and needed touch up after one day. I will attribute that to the topcoat, but am only guessing at this. Skylar is one of those season-less colors that I feel works well with my skin tone, I will be keeping her handy...

Zoya- Rica

Ok, so Rica is a polish that was on my wishlist for a loooong time! I remember seeing this and how badly I wanted it. At the time, I didn't realize I could still get Zoya polishes after the collections left the store shelves, and was so very sad at the thought that I had missed the boat. How happy was I when I realized I could still get them off the website? Well lets just say I may have done a little dance in my living room, lol! I have not resolveds my computer issues yet and this week my 2 year old son decided to hide mommy's camera card, so needless to say I was lost as to what to do, until today he walked up and handed it to my husband. He still wont say where it was, but I guess it was never really lost after all since he knew exactly where it was the whole time!
Anyway here is Rica:

I am not satisfied with the pictures I have here. None of them really capture the beauty that Rica has. This is three thin coats, with Sv topcoat. It is a orange, copper, pink, gold color glass fleck. I don't really want to call it a foil but it kind of a glass fleck-foil hybrid. If you look at the bottle, the formula looks pretty thin, but it builds to opaque nicely. To truly appreciate how much this glimmers you have to see it in the sun. If you like colors in this category, this is a MUST! I promise you will not be sorry.

Revlon - Red Bikini

Hi Guys!!! I interrupt my scheduled Zoya post for this lovely red creme! If one color cries out to be worn on short nails, its red! Red Bikini is a very on trend orange leaning red creme. I got this at Ulta last week as an impulse buy in the checkout line. I couldn't leave without it coming home to live with me. I was going to wait to put it on until I finished my six new Zoyas but the short nails and my nautical outfit I had today needed this color:-) My camera tried really hard to make this look coral, but it is a tomato red.

The color is most accurate in the first picture. This is two coats, I used topcoat but it looked just as shiny without. This went on super smooth, kudos Revlon, I take back all the things I said about you! Such a simple color, but it yells look at me (and I did...all day)!

Zoya -Kimber

Hi Guys! How is everyone doing? I have exciting news...I got a promotion at work! Yay!!! I really wanted this position but wasn't getting my hopes up just in case... I start next Thursday and am already planning my nails:-) Anyways back to the point...today I have another new Zoya polish, Kimber. I love this color, its a bright warm pink with pink and gold glass fleck. A rich saturated color that screams summer:-)

This is two coats, the formula was pretty much perfect. I have it shown here with topcoat. This reminds me very much of a slightly darker China Glaze Strawberry Fields. I'll post a comparison soon! My poor nails had to be filed down, my middle fingernail broke so short! Hopefully my nails will grow fast...I don't want talons, but these nubbins are a little short for my taste!

Zoya- Rory

Hi Guys! Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mommies out there! I am spending the beautiful day with my family, and it couldnt be more perfect! I hope you are all having a great weekend!!! So if your a polish addict, chances are you have bought a polish strictly because of the name. I am guilty of this on a number of occasions, and this is another. I know most of your minds will go straight to Gilmore Girls when they hear Rory, but Rory is my step dad. When Zoya released their summer collection, I instantly liked a few of them and this one was a fringe one for me. Sometimes I have to go for the fringe ones or else I would never try anything different, so that is how I ended up getting Rory. I was lucky enough to catch Zoya's Earth Day Sale (half off!) and 6 new polishes came to live with me:-) I really hope they do this sale every year, because I am already planning for 2013!
So here we go...

I really like this color with my skin tone, until a girl I work with said "hmmm, mauve?" What does she know anyway! Now when I see it, all I see is grandmas mauve polish. Not cool! I really liked this, so I am not happy about that turn of events.

Rory was a 2 coater, easy and smooth. This is shown with a topcoat. She is a lavender leaning pink with silver shimmer. Very cool toned, and almost icy. So what is your opinion, mauve or not?