Essie "Wrapped in Rubies"

So for the final week of 2012 I spent a long looong time debating what nail polish to wear and I finally decided on Essie's "Wrapped in Rubies"!  I hadn't rocked an Essie nail polish in a while and I was a little sad about that!  Plus "Wrapped in Rubies" the perfect holiday color!  It is bright and shimmery and really pretty, so I couldn't resist!

Like always I started with my basecoat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Invisible", followed by two coats of "Wrapped in Rubies", and finished with my favorite top coat Orly's "Sec'N'Dry."  I almost could have gotten away with one coat of "Wrapped in Rubies" except for some minor streaking on about half my nails, which evened out fairly well with the second coat!  As far as color goes I adore this color!  It is a deep burgundy red color with a gold shimmer running throughout.  And when the light hits the polish it shines and shimmers in the prettiest way ever!  Essie's "Wrapped in Rubies" surprised me by easily cleaning up off my skin when I went to removed the excess polish!

Unfortunately "Wrapped in Rubies" started chipping for me on the same day I painted my nails!  Now granted I work in retail so I stock shelves a fair amount but the tips on eight of my nails was worn off less than 10 hours after I painted them!  (All five nails on my left hand and my pointer, middle and ring finger on my right hand.)  I am used to some minor chips from work on my nail polish but eight out of ten nails seemed a bit ridiculous to me!

Overall  I really do adore the color of Essie's "Wrapped in Rubies" but I seriously did not like all the chipping!  I ended up taking the polish off after only a couple of days because the chipping continued to get worse!  I will probably still wear "Wrapped in Rubies" because I love the color and its name (which reminds me of Katniss' dress in The Hunger Games) but if you are looking for a nail polish to wear for several days then Essie's "Wrapped in Rubies" probably isn't the nail polish for you!

Thanks for reading my blog!  And have a fabulous New Year's Eve!

Give this nail polish a go for yourself - it's available on Amazon (affiliate link)

Nails INC "Hampstead Gardens"

Hey everyone!  So sorry to have gone MIA for a couple of weeks but the flu took me down hard and fast!  But I am better now!  So this week I decided to try out another nail polish that I have had in my collection since this summer that I hadn't tried yet!  The color is "Hampstead Gardens" by Nails INC!  And this is my very first bottle of Nails INC that I have tried!  I love trying new nail polish brands it is so much fun!

"Hampstead Gardens" is an interesting color that I had a hard time trying to decide how to describe it!  In the end I think I would call it a burnt orange/golden yellow/brown.  I know that's a lot of descriptive colors but it looks different in different kinds of light!  I was kind of worried about wearing it because it looked like an ugly poo brown when I first put it n one night but after I saw my nails the next morning I was glad I picked this color!  It is super pretty and I have gotten tons of compliments about it!  Even the male librarian at the Library noticed my nail polish!  I love when that happens!

Unfortunately I am having a hard time judging how long the nail polish holds up because of work, but Nails INC "Hampstead Gardens" lasted me about 5 days before the chipping on the tips of my nails started.  But considering I worked and the nail polish still lasted that long I think it is safe to say that Nails INC makes some quality nail polish!  Also I was pleasantly surprised that I could have gotten away with one coat of "Hampstead Gardens" if I had wanted too!  I did use two coats just because I like too but the polish covered really well and evenly!

Overall I am very pleased with Nails INC and especially "Hampstead Gardens"!  I can hardly wait to buy more Nails INC polishes!  And just to let you know I purchased my bottle of Nails INC at Sephora and they cost about $9.50 a bottle, but "Hampstead Gardens" is currently on sale on Sephora's website for $5 a bottle!

Thanks for reading my blog!  And have a great Christmas/holiday season!

butter LONDON "Fiddlesticks"

So sorry for not posting as much as usual!  I got a part time job at the mall and it has been eating away my time that I usually spend on painting my nails!  Hopefully now that I have gotten used to how my time is being spent I'll be able to get back to posting more regularly!

So Black Friday yielded several new nail polishes, some that I had had my eye on and several that I found good sales on!  I believe I added seven new nail polishes and some nail jewels!  Though I must admit I was a little disappointed by Sephora's lack of sales!  (As in they only had one small sale table that at 9am had already been picked to death!)  However Nordstroms made me very happy with their buy two get one free on their butter LONDON and Deborah Lippmann nail polishes (and you were allowed to mix and match between the brands!).  The Nordstroms sale is actually where I got this week's polish!

So on to this week's nail polish: butter LONDON "Fiddlesticks."  I fell in love with "Fiddlesticks" as soon as I saw it on the shelf!  It is this gorgeous deep fuchsia polish with a ton of micro glitter in fuchsia and burgundy!  Together they form this wonderful nail polish!  I also love this nail polish for the Winter holidays because it is shimmer and fun but full of class and elegance!

As for application I am mixed.  The polish itself applied decently well for a glitter polish but refused to apply in one long stroke down the entire nail.  Therefore the tips of my nails look uneven and some are even missing polish!  However if you can get the polish to apply well then you could probably get away with one coat.  I used two coats in an effort to even the polish out, and from a distance my nails look fine.  In terms of chipping it began just hours after I finished painting my nails.  It started on the tips and worked its way up my nails.  (In fact in order to get pictures for this blog I had to repaint my middle, ring, and pinky fingers!)  As for removing "Fiddlesticks" it wasn't the worst glitter polish I have ever removed but it did take some time to do.  I spent about 15 or 20 minutes working it off my nails and even still it is stuck on some of the cuticles.

Oh and I went to ULTA today and they currently have a bunch of sales on nail polish!  China Glaze, Zoya, Orly, and Piggy Polish are all buy two get one free.  While OPI polishes are buy two get a free full sized holiday color (and the three choices are super pretty!)  And the ULTA brand nail polishes are buy one get one free.  And if I remember correctly this sale goes until Christmas Eve.

Thanks for reading my blog!