Layla Ceramic Effect Nail Polish in 24, 40, 42 and 44 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  I actually had an awesome makeover with one of my friends this weekend that was super fun!  Today, I have four Layla polishes to show you!  I will be showing you all the Hologram and a bunch of the Magnetics soon, but today, I have their Ceramic Effect line to show you!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  3 coats of Layla Ceramic Effect 24

Ceramic Effect 24 is a gorgeous baby blue with pink shimmer in it.  This is like a more subtle version of Models Own Indian Ocean or a more intense version of Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily.  In person, you can absolutely see the pink shimmer.  I wouldn't call it a duochrome but the pink shimmer is apparent and really pretty!  The formula was a bit thin and needed 3 coats for full opacity but it's so pretty it was worth the extra effort!

Above:  2 coats of Layla Ceramic Effect 40

Ceramic Effect 40 is a bright red cherry creme.  This is a bit more pink leaning than blue so it's a really warm red creme.  It almost looks like a jelly because it's so squishy!  The formula was really nice, fully opaque in three coats.  Not a terribly unique polish but good if you need a standard red!

Above:  2 coats of Layla Ceramic Effect 42

This is as close as color accurate as I could get to 42.  It's a tad bit more green in person and is a gorgeous turquoise!  I love this shade!  I'm such a sucker for a turquoise or a teal and this straddles the line of the two.  The formula was excellent, opaque in two coats and really pigmented!

Above:  2 coats of Layla Ceramic Effect 44

Last but certainly not least is Ceramic Effect 44.  Ceramic Effect 44 is a red foil nail polish.  It's definitely tilting to the pink side but it's more red than my pictures are showing.  It's gorgeous!  It was also practically a one coater which is amazing and with two coats it was really vibrant and amazing. 

All in all, I really liked these polishes!  The tall skinny bottles were a tad bit hard to work with since they seem more like stripers than bottles of polish but you get used to them pretty quickly.  Layla Ceramic Effect runs for approximately $8.00 depending on where you buy them.

What do you think of this collection? Any must haves? Any dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel in Midnight, Sequin and Vintage Rose Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers!  I hope you are all having a nice Tuesday!  Today I have a few polishes to show you from the new Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel line!  I'm so happy that these are a different bottle shape than the rest of their line because these are so much easier to use!

Today I have three to show you, Sequin, Vintage Rose, and Midnight.  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Midnight

As most of you probably know, I love blue nail polish!  Give me a dark teal and I'm sold!  Midnight is a gorgeous and rich teal creme.  I love that this is more blue based than a lot of teals we have been seeing recently!  The formula was great, opaque in two coats and really easy to use. 

Above:  2 coats of Vintage Rose

Vintage Rose is a deep, dusty rose shade.  This polish actually reminds me of my great grandmother (who was one cool and awesome lady when she passed away last year just shy of her 104th birthday) because she always had her nails polished in a shade like this!  This isn't a shade that really appeals to my palette but if you are a pink lady or need more subdued polishes for work, this could be a winner!  The formula was really nice, opaque in two coats and easy to use.

Above:  2 coats of Sequin

Sequin is amazing.  A few weeks ago, some of you were asking me for an affordable silver foil.  This is it!  Sequin is a tad bit darker than your run of the mill silver which makes it unique in my collection of many silver foils!  Honestly this polish was almost a one coater but I added a second for good measure.  I love how sparkly this looks and how easily it applies!

All in all, I was impressed with these!  The formula was excellent on all three, the silver was great and the bottle redesign is so much better!  Revlon ColorStay Nail Enamel runs for around $7.99 per bottle and is found wherever Revlon is sold.

What did you think of these polishes?  Any must haves?  Any dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy above for additional information.

Zoya Surf Collection Summer 2012 Swatches and Review!

Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! As promised, this afternoon I have the second half of Zoya's new summer collection for you!

When I first saw this collection, I was super excited by this half!  First of all because I love foils and they looked gorgeous.  Second of all, there is a polish named CARLY!  Finally!  I have a polish with my name and it's spelled correctly AND it's stunning!  Now, without further ado, on to the polish!

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Carly

Yep, my polish namesake is GORGEOUS!  Carly is a beautiful deep purple foil.  It looks like the silver would be a lot more apparent in the bottle but on the nail it's just gorgeous.  And no, I'm not just saying that because it has my name, look at it!  Rich, purple amazingness.  Plus this formula was so great and with so much pigment that it was practically a one coater.  I added a second coat just for good measure and I just love the depth and brilliance of this shade!

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Kimber

Does this remind anyone else of an exotic drink on the beach?  Zoya Kimber is a bright pink with a lot of red in it.  It's basically the color of fruit punch!  I honestly can't wait to wear Kimber on my toes this summer!  The formula was great, almost a one coater, tons of pigment and glided on so smooth!

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Meg

Meg is the cooler toned sister to one of my all time favorite Zoya polishes, Apple.  Meg is an apple green with silver shimmer to it that gives it a cooler feel which means it should work on all skin tones!  I actually love this shade of green because it's light but still rich looking!  Formula was perfect, opaque in two coats and very pigmented.

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Myrta

I am really loving these oranges this year!  Myrta is a pink based orange, almost coral but leaning more to the orange side, and is a gorgeous foil.  I love how rich and citrus looking this is!  The formula was fabulous, opaque in two coats and just stunning. 

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Rory

Rory was my least favorite of the bunch because I just can't get into light pinks.  However if you are a light pink fan, then Rory has the tiniest hint of purple giving it an almost mauve look.  The silver shimmer showed up really strongly in Rory.  The formula was like the others, opaque in 2 coats and lots of pigment.

Above:  2 coats of Zoya Zuza

Oh Zuza, where have you been all my life!  Now, if there hadn't been a polish named Carly, this would have been my favorite from the collection!  Zuza is a stunning turquoise foil.  You need to buy this polish because it's one of the most gorgeous shades I have ever seen.  It's seriously amazing.  The formula was fabulous, opaque in 2 coats, and I pretty much want to include this color in every manicure I do this summer.

So there you have it!  The Zoya Surf collection!  I was seriously wowed by this collection, amazingly gorgeous foils in vivid colors and a CARLY polish!  We all need more Carly in our lives haha.  These polishes are now on sale through Zoya's website for $8 each.  Just for fun, here is a crazy manicure I did last week using four of the polishes from the Beach and Surf Collections!

What did you think of this collection?  Any must haves?  Any Dupes?

The products in this post were sent to me for my unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy above for additional information.

(Almost) Mirror Nails

Ever since my love of nail polish really took hold (Summer of 2007, I decided to stop biting my nails and had gels which I would do in crazy colors until I kicked the habit and started wanting to change the color more often so went back to natural) I have been searching for the most fun and unique polishes. Sure, I have my reds and a few pinks, but the crazy blues, purples, greens, metallics, sparkles, that's where my true passion lies.

However when I first got into nail polish, my local beauty salon only carried OPI and Essie, so almost all of my first 50 bottles of polish were those brands. In the past year I started reading the blogs and fell in love with Zoya, China Glaze, CND, Lippmann Collection, you name it, I started buying it. Then I decided I wanted to find a polish that would make my nails as mirrored as possible. Not just a metallic or foil, but a full on mirror finish. Now I understand that it's impossible to do with nail polish due to brush strokes, but I finally found one that is pretty close!



China Glaze Millennium. Came out as part of the Khrome Collection in the fall of 2009, this is as close to a mirror finish as I have ever seen. Pure silver, in the bottle it looks like any silver, but as it dries it becomes more and more mirrored. Pictured above is two coats on each finger with OPI Quick Dry topcoat on top. Unlike a lot of metallics, this does not really show brush strokes which is great and the light reflects off of the nails beautifully. Here is another shot:



However there are a few down sides. For starters, this polish shows every single flaw in my nails. Any ridge, rough area, it's out there on display. Definitely use a thicker base coat like a ridge filler to smooth out the nail first. Secondly, it dries super fast which is great, however I am finding that it's chipping very fast as well. I'm only on day 2 of the manicure now, and my right hand has a few chips and a bunch of the edges are peeling.

If you are looking to add a silver collection, or are on the hunt for a mirror finish and don't want to spend a ton of money on a nail sticker like Minx to get it, China Glaze Millennium is the polish for you. However I'd save it for a special night where you can just put it on, let it dry, wear it, and change it in the next day or two due to the chipping.

Let me know what you think! Do you have Millennium? Thoughts?