stuff i swatched

This was going to be next Friday's post until I realized it wasn't quite what I was going for and I could do better. What's going down on Friday? You'll have to come back and see. ;) For now, this is what you get. Enjoy.

Three? four? coats with NYC Grand Central Station. I'm sorry, I forgot!

In terms of color, Show Me the Way is a pinch more brown than SH Hard as Nails Hard Cash, which I blogged last year, but not as swampy as Confetti My Favorite Martian. It contains faintly visible glitter specks. That glitter doesn't really add anything to it, so I would have left it out. Not a bad color, but I was looking for something a little brighter; it's not something I'd wear again, either.

This polish went on sheer-ish and needed a little bit of build up before it started looking opaque. I derped and I can't remember whether this required three or four coats, but I want to say three. As far as I can recall, I didn't have any drying issues with this. I took it off after getting these photos because it, like "Pitch Perfect," was a solid eh. --Not even eh+ or eh-, just eh.

Sinful Colors just redid their core line, but I'm pretty sure this one is still a core polish. You can pick it up for $1.99 at Walmart, RiteAid and Walgreens -- my favorite place to go for Sinfuls is Wags, since they run some baller promos from time to time. I never would have picked up Show Me the Way on my own, so I'm glad I received this as a swap extra.

What do you think of Show Me the Way? Interesting? Boring? Worth picking up during the next Sinful promo? What was the last thing that was just "meh" for you? I'll probably discuss "Pitch Perfect" in another post, but I'll just say I wasn't feeling it AT ALL. At least I was able to rent it for next to nothing, thanks to B's Redbox rental code!

New for 2013, STUFF ON STYLE is a monthly feature that focuses less on trendy, sartorial pursuits and more on my writing adventures (or misadventures) in the nail polish blogosphere. Other topics, including "how-to" posts and various blogging issues, also will be featured here. This month, I get a little pedantic. And I'm SUPER sorry. (Pun VERY MUCH intended -- you'll see!)

Now that China Glaze officially has released the Avant Garden collection for spring, everyone's posting Avant Garden swatches, myself included. But every time I see a post about Mimosa's Before Mani's, a little part of me dies inside.

Ugh, it even hurt me to type the name of that polish just now. THOSE APOSTROPHES ARE NOT NECESSARY, OKAY.

In this case, both the mimosas and the manis indicate plural form. No possessives or contractions here.

Clearly, the good folks at China Glaze did not stumble upon this little gem from The Oatmeal:

(source: above)

I may have stopped working in news a long time ago, but you know how it goes: You can take the girl away from the copy editing desk, but you can't take the copy editor out of the girl. --However, if the copy editor looks like Tom Welling near the end of "Smallville" = he totally can stay in *this* girl. GOD. Why did no one in college look like that? JESUS. No one should look that beautiful pushing up glasses. NO ONE.

(source:comicsalliance.com)

I could stare at that .gif all day, but before I do that, let me share some quick pointers on common copy errors.I need to make it clear that I do not mean to discourage or anger anyone. I've been reading blogs longer than I've been writing this one; over the past ten years, it's become easier for me to identify errors that are red flags and sometimes, dealbreakers. We all make typos ... but I see some things far too often to believe they're legit typos.

I know, Clark, that CAN'T be a typo ...

(source)

I can't possibly list all of my red flags and dealbreakers in one post, so here are a handful of my biggest pet peeves as seen on beauty blogs (and in general).

Sometimes when something AFFECTS you, it might have an unintended EFFECT.
Affect is a verb, meaning to influence. Effect can be both a verb and a noun; as a verb, it means to cause. As a noun, it means a result.
TO, TOO and TWO: In a nutshell = preposition, also, number.
"Anyways" is not a word. But "anyway" is. I know, I know. I can't help it. "Anyways" is like nails on a chalkboard to me and it's the worst.
ALOT vs. A LOT: You know what else isn't a word? "Alot." That's two words. Learn it and love it.
If a color complements your skin tone particularly well, you can be sure to receive a few compliments! In a similar vein, the glitter polish you just bought with complimentary shipping may be comprised of complementary colors.
IT'S vs. ITS: It's = it is. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a CONTRACTION! Hello, apostrophe! Its = possessive.
THEY'RE, THEIR and THERE: The first is a contracted form of "they are." The second is a plural possessive adjective. The third is often used as an adverb indicating place; also, an introductory subject. Boom.
YOU'RE vs. YOUR: You're = you are. Also a contraction. Again, you'll need that apostrophe. Your = possessive adjective. If your polish is thick, then you're gonna need some thinner.

Now, am I nitpicking unnecessarily? I don't think so. All of these might seem like really minute details in the grander scheme of beauty blogging, but I look at the big picture, the final product, whatever you want to call it. A blog can have a killer layout and design and amazing photos, but if the writing is not as great, I tend to make like Cher Horowitz -- Di, I'm Audi. (And come back for the occasional picture, ngl.)

(source: liketotallyclueless)

If you make these errors online on a blog that's your hobby, then there's a good chance you make them in real life, too. Knowing and mastering these basics are so, so essential offline, though -- totally cohesive content can get others to take you a little more seriously, people who potentially would be in the position to take you seriously (future employers, business partners, industry collaborators, that sort of thing).

But hey. What's important to me might not be important to someone else, and vice versa. Like I said, you can't take the copy editor out of the girl. The Chloe Sullivans of the world would salute you, that's for sure.

Before I depart, some tips to writing copy that you can be proud of, online and off:

Read your copy out loud to yourself. Sometimes skimming alone won't cut it. If something sounds "off," that's probably because it is! Make corrections as you go long.
For my fellow nerds who want to know everything, I suggest investing in the latest edition of the AP Stylebook. I used AP in college and for two seconds when I was working, so I'm Team AP Style. You can purchase the book on Amazon for less than $13, and it's so worth it. I actually need to get a new one!
If you get stumped on the particulars of usage and don't have a stylebook or want to put your faith in Google? Try to find another way of phrasing your sentence or graf. I do this all the freaking time to the point where I may not know the correct way of answering my original question.
Read your copy out loud to yourself again. Seriously, this saved my ass so many times in college.

What are some errors YOU are guilty of making? For me, it's split verbs. In fact, I'm pretty sure I did that a few times last week. I didn't realize how often I made these errors until my Intro to Newswriting professor pointed it out, her exact words being, "RACHEL! You know BETTER!" I've been making a more conscious effort to avoid splitting my verbs since then, but sometimes, it happens. My professor knows I'm out of the news game, but she probably would flip her shit if she knew I were dropping AP style on my nail polish blog. Gotta use that college education ...

Thanks for reading! I reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaally hope I didn't just make you hate me. Would you be interested in seeing me tackle more copy and style errors in future STYLE columns?

I'm not going to throw in this last picture to convince you to say "yes," but ... LOOK AT THIS GQ MOTHERFUCKER AND WHY IS HE SO HANDSOME HE NEEDS TO COME BACK TO TV AND OMG I CAN'T IT'S SO UNFAIR

(source)

SO. GD. UNFAIR.

Doing this a little early this month because I have something awesome ready for Friday and Sunday.

Remember how good I was last month? OOPS. Also, it's pretty insane how into pink and light purple polish I am right now. IDEK what that's about.

The rules: If I bought other items at one store along with polish, I won't include the tax, just the total amount I spent on polish. Additionally, swaps or anything I bought as a gift for someone else won't figure into this and won't count.

Notes: No pictures. Ever. (I'm working on a tiny lightbox. I might just cave and buy one next month.) I WILL edit this post if I end up buying something before Sunday.

MARCH 1: Ulta coupon ($5 off $15 purchase, SH B1G1 50% off) - TOTAL: $29.90

OPI A Butterfly Moment - $9.00
OPI DS Magic - $12.50
Sally Hansen CSM Shoot the Moon - $7.99
Sally Hansen CSM I Lilac You - $7.99

MARCH 1: Sally 15% off coupon + ChG 2 for $11 - TOTAL: $15.59

China Glaze Fancy Pants - $5.49
China Glaze Budding Romance - $5.49
Orly High on Hope - $6.49

MARCH 1: Illamasqua clearance at Sephora - TOTAL: $30.00

Gamma - $7.00
Jo'mina - $7.00 (back-up)
Obsess - $7.00 (back-up)
Poke - $7.00 (back-up)

MARCH 3: Ulta coupon ($3.50 off $10) - TOTAL: $10.64

OPI DS Luxurious - $12.50
I bought Seche Restore & Essence Grey-t To Be Here for my friend.

MARCH 4: Sinful Colors $5 purchase = 1000 pts Walgreens rewards bonus - TOTAL: $6.56

Candy Coated - $1.25
Sugar Rush - $1.25
Mauve - $1.25
Calypso - $1.25
Cream Pink - $1.25

MARCH 4: Ulta coupon ($3.50 off $10) - TOTAL: $15.23

OPI Care to Danse? - $9.00
OPI My Pointe Exactly - $9.00

MARCH 4: Catdoccannon's blog sale + shipping - TOTAL: $9.50

OPI Mimosas for Mr. and Mrs. - $4.00
Nicole by OPI Back to Reality ... TV - $3.00

MARCH 13: Steph's Closet store + shippng - TOTAL: $16.47

NYC Golden Glam - $3.99
NYC Peach Sparkle (OMGGGG) - $3.99
Wet n Wild Waves of Enchantment - $4.99

MARCH 14: Zoya Zang Toi NYFW F/W 2013 Imperial Russia trio - TOTAL: $33.00

Chinoiserie Fantasy
Imperial Russia
Peterhof Palace (a.k.a. Ziv)

MARCH 15: Cult Nails 20% sale, order with Anna - TOTAL: $22.65

Evil Queen x2 (one for Anna) - $24.00
Tempest - $12.00
Wicked Fast (Anna's) - $10.00

MARCH 15: Ulta $3.50 off $10 coupon + $11.00 reward points - TOTAL: $26.96

butter LONDON Disco Biscuit - $9.00
butter LONDON Fruit Machine - $9.00
Orly Jealous, Much? - $8.00
Orly Nite Owl - BOGO -- free!
Nicole by OPI Still Into Pink - $7.99

MARCH 18: random Pretty Serious buy - TOTAL: $26.31 (USD)

The Pink One - $9.95 AUD
Viscous Vampire - $9.95 AUD

MARCH 22: Essie Feed Me x2 + free shipping - TOTAL: $11.18

MARCH TOTAL: $253.99
2013 TOTAL: $600.25

OH, GOOD LORD. Those are some TERRIFYING figures., and we're only one quarter into 2013. THIS IS NOT OKAY. I'm going to shoot for $150 for April, but that is going to be exceeded if there's an RBL preorder. I can tell you that much. Man, I have GOT to rein it in.

Fug Friday is a (relatively) new feature dreamed up on Twitter with gal pal Jacqui of The Scholarly Nail, who shares my penchant for '90s nostalgia, live tweeting TV shows and fugly polishes. Who will out-fug the other? How many Fridays can we possibly keep this going? More importantly, which one of us will break down and order BB Couture Anal Probe? Only one way to find out: keep reading!

Long time, no Fug Friday! Whatever my excuse is, it doesn't compare to Jacqui's (school and her latest project, The Scholarly Nail's Wax Blog-- if you love scented wax, give it a follow!). But we're back today, so please cross your fingers and hope it doesn't take us another five months to execute another one of these.

Let's get to it and address the question of whether MAC Dry Martini resembles a bodily secretion. Obviously, I think it does. It looks like the result of consuming any grocery store sugar cookie or cupcake topped with blue frosting -- gross in reality, great in polish and perfect for Fug Friday purposes.

Four coats with NYC Grand Central Station.

Dry Martini has a brown cast to it, but on me it built up to a deeper greenish color after four coats -- I'll get to the four coats part in a second. This was far more green indoors under artificial light than it was outside, where you really could see the brown. This doesn't seem especially martini-like to me. It's more like ... a hat. I don't know. I haven't had a martini in forever (mostly because they're overpriced).

Admittedly, the formula on this polish was a little weird. Because it's sorta old (from '09, I think), a small amount of polish had evaporated, although I don't think that's what made Dry Martini so confusing to work with. It would have been perfect if it hadn't been slightly watery! It was opaque at three coats but unfortunately, I still had bald patches, so I slapped on a fourth coat and that seemed to fix it. I'll give MAC the benefit of the doubt this time because this is an older release; every MAC polish I've used since 2010 has been quite pigmented. Dry time was great with Grand Central Station, and -- I was so thrilled about this -- it didn't shrink after one day. This was a huge deal to me because I usually get shrinkage after one day with SV. I wore this for five days with minor tip wear and chips.

Dry Martini is discontinued, as it was released in Fall 2009 for MAC's Nail Trend collection by Jin Soon. I lucked out either in 2010 or 2011 and nabbed this at the CCO up in Williamsburg, VA. Dude, I loved that CCO -- I found so much good shit there, like my back-ups of MAC Blue India (looooooove), MAC In the Buff and MAC Ming Blue (another Jin Soon hit). Speaking of Jin Soon, she released her own line of nail products and polishes, yay! Michelle at ALU reviewed her spring collection; you can check out Jin's other polishes on her site.

Is Dry Martini fug enough for ya? Don't forget to visit Jacqui's blog to see today's Fug Friday pick! And if you're feeling so inclined, we'd both love it if you left us comments telling us whose polish was fuglier. ;)

Thanks for reading, especially if you came over from The Scholarly Nail -- welcome! I hope you all enjoy the your Easter weekend, and I'll see you back here tomorrow.

Oh, does it EVER.

Also, Happy Easter! In case you've been living under a rock (not Casterly Rock, hee hee), the third season of "Game of Thrones" kicks off tonight on HBO. I don't get HBO at temporary RachQ, but B does, so I'll try to be there tonight. My mom was a little taken aback when I said, "OMG, Easter is on Game of Thrones Premiere Day?" and tried to correct me by telling me, "No, Game of Thrones Premiere Day is on Easter." That's my mom for you.

Also, a local bar is tapping this tonight, so I kiiiiind of have to be there. As I told B, I don't care if this tastes bad, I need it in me, and that's what she said.

(source: Capital Ale House Midlo Facebook)

Last year, I blogged American Apparel Summer Peach for thesecond season premiere and it was ~~hysterical~~ fun. This year, I'm afraid I'm just indulging myself. Ghost was not this polish's original name, as we know, but that's okay. Anything to tie it into GOT, right?

Jon Snow is not exactly my favorite character in the books. On the TV show, he's not exactly in the running for my favorite character, either -- you know I'm not feeling someone when THE HOUND gets a higher Rach ranking (... yarp). The wonderful thing about Jon, though, is that he is ripe for internet hilarity. Take, for example, this .gif.

(source: Jon Ho)

And this one:

(source: Tumblr -- if this is your .gif,

PLEASE LET ME KNOW

SO I MAY CREDIT YOUR PERFECT CREATION ASAP)

And then take a moment to collect yourself.

I nearly died laughing when I saw this. If you're not laughing, you're broken. The puppet is Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy in the series, the Alfie Allen who is Lily Allen's brother and the guy she's singing about in "Alfie." That puppet was her representation of her brother in the music video. BOOM.

Okay, RBL Ghost. I have to warn you that these swatches are kind of sad, but (1) I came home from work later than I expected to and I was losing light, so (2) I will try to re-do them if you would like me to do that.

Three coats with SV.

I HATE starting off using the original color description (it's like beginning an essay or speech with the dreaded "Webster's Dictionary defines ..."), but the "nebulous glow" of adobe in twilight sounds about right. Ugh, that glow is so gorgeous. I think I would like it a little more on me if it were less warm and more of a neutral brown.

The formula on this one was classic RBL. You have to work quickly with most metallic finishes, so I liked that I could take my time with Ghost a little bit. It wasn't brushstrokey, either. I would suggest waiting longer than I did in between coats to avoid bald spots and dragging -- like I said, I was losing light, so I was in a big damn hurry. Two coats will get this opaque, but as a compulsive three-coater, two just feels wrong to me.

So far, Ghost is my favorite polish from the RBL GOMM collection released last summer. It's still available on the RBL site for $20and if you really don't want your bottle, I'll be happy to give it a loving home. I need another backup of this, it's so good. I have Bella, Poppy and Jack left to try, and you may see Bella next month if I can find it.

RBL Ghost: Like it? Love it? Missed it and need it NOW? What or whom are you most excited to see in Season 3? I never got around to reading the book because I can't seem to read any more -- maybe that's lies and deceit soup because I finished Mindy Kaling's book last night -- but I know the changes D&D made to the show. I can't say I approve of some of them (*cough* the Catelyn/Robb dynamic *cough*), but I'm ready. Give me the Reeds. And the Queen of Thorns. And Mance Rayder. Just give me everything.

All right. I have to hop in the shower, like, 20 minutes ago, so I'm out. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and a wonderful premiere day!

I have no idea how I haven't blogged any SH Insta-Dris until now. Yes, Xtreme Wear and the Complete Salon lines are my jam, but every now and then some Insta-Dris manage to surprise me. When I saw the new LE spring Insta-Dri shades at CVS, I had to take this one home for ~~posterity~~ science. Let's take a look.

Three coats with SV.

I was so drawn to this polish because of its fine, seemingly iridescent green shimmer. In the bottle, it was so, so gorgeous against the green teal (I feel like this teal is closer to Pantone's definition of emerald). As you can see, it didn't really show up on the nail.

VERY DISAPPOINT., which is a total first world tragedy because the formula was perfect. This polish was super opaque with one coat and ready for top coat at two. You know me, though, three-coater 4 life. S-teal a Base wasn't a total stainer, since I doubled up on base coat and then applied Orly Cutique anyway. Everything was all good after that.

I did enjoy the name. For some reason, I thought it wasn't a reference to, you know, bases. No, my special self thought it was a reference to bouillabaisse. This is how you know OPI and their dumb names have taken over my brain. I love OPI, but wow, their names have been uber ridiculous lately.

I took S-teal a Base back to CVS yesterday to return it ... and exchanged it for something else you may or may not see here (let's see how this week unfolds). I noticed some SH coupons at Rite Aid that you can use for anything over $2.99, so if you have a coupon, you may be able to get a new Insta-Dri shade for $3-ish. I honestly would skip this one, though.

P.S. I drove almost three hours on Sunday to watch "Game of Thrones" with B. No, I don't need to check my priorities. They're good. Stannis Baratheon's face was worth it, which was a nice bonus. Clearly, the night is dark and full of sexy up in Dragonstone. (Praise R'hllor.) And if you generally donut like Stephen Dillane, we will have to have words because HOW DO YOU NOT?!

P.P.S. I was way too bushed to go out and have Iron Throne Ale -- a decision I came to regret an hour later when I got hungry, but my pants were already off and lbr, I never leave the house when the pants have come off. This is usually okay with me and definitely a very good thing for the rest of the world, but I was so hungry B had to make me popcorn. I hate eating popcorn before bed, but we had nothing else that wasn't cat food or tuna. Maybe I should have re-titled this post "First World Problems." If I somehow developed a sense of humor, that's what I would call my Comedy Central special.

I know I haven't done a good job of keeping up with my ABCs of Untrieds. In hindsight, tackling that sort of thing is much more feasible for a daily blogger, not someone like me who updates whenever I get around to it. But let's forge on anyway.

I don't remember what possessed me to buy The Black Knight. I DO remember being at Nordstrom, buying my feelings in Dior polish. Obviously my senses took leave of me, because now we have this post, but ... I really don't know what made me break down and buy this. I remember Courtney being in love with it, though. (She also blinged it up and I have to admit it was great.)

Please forgive the awful photos. The glitter freaked out the camera.

Two coats over two coats of Illamasqua Boosh (double B untrieds!) + one coat of SV. Sheesh, that is some rough tip wear for having it on for an hour, isn't it?

And blurred for sparkle, a.k.a. the "I can't take photos for shit, but okay, that's pretty" shot:

People fall into two camps with this polish. They either LOVE it, or they're like me and have major sads because something about it is a bit ... off. I can't put my finger on it. Part of this stems from my preference for slightly chunkier glitters -- I like to actually SEE glitter from a distance when I wear it -- so this wasn't doing much for me. I did like the color combination, though. The blue/turquoise, fuchsia/red and silver (GOLD) glitters were a nice touch.

Normally, I prefer building up as many coats as a polish requires for opacity on its own, but I'd heard that The Black Knight was a real beast, the kind of four-coater that really feels like a four-coater. You know what I mean? So I opted to layer two coats of it over two coats of Illamasqua Boosh, a glossy black creme. Bam, instant results. The microglitter makes the formula a little gloopy, so you have to work with it a bit; it also dries gritty, so a coat or two of Gelous would be helpful before you apply top coat. I saw no need to add the Gelous on for swatching purposes. I guess it would have been a better move, since SV shrinks my bLs something awful REAL QUICK (see: every bL post on this blog).

The Black Knight was touted as a limited edition holiday release in 2011, but you still can buy it since butter LONDON apparently defines "limited edition" differently than the rest of us do. It's $15, and you can pick it up anywhere that sells the line. I'd wait until there's a B1G1 promo because $15 is getting kind of steep.

Anyone care to share your thoughts on The Black Knight? If you also didn't like it because you thought something was missing from the polish, I'd love for you to weigh in. And if you're planning to keep up with my ABCs of Untrieds, I should have C and D up this month, so stay tuned! :)

Finally, the obligatory:

The Black Knight (the polish) DOES make me sad, because I ought to be able to find it within myself to love it for Monty Python alone, and I can't. Even if I command it.

I got this polish in exchange for returning S-teal a Base last week. I have been OBSESSED with this color lately -- that is, if you count carrying a similarly-colored moleskine ~cahier~ around Staples for half an hour as being "obsessed" -- but it's just so goshdarn bright and cheerful. I also missed out on Dior Mango, and have been searching for a reasonable facsimile ever since I realized I wanted it (so, two weeks ago). Enter Man-go Team!, which is as close as I'm going to get, right down to its name ... and its mop brush.

Three coats with SV.

These last two photos had to be enhanced juuuuuuuust a pinch to get the color right. This is more of a very yellow orange in some light -- it darkens a little bit after top coat.

I think the color is pretty close to some mango varieties, although the mangos aren't exactly THAT orange. Anyway, I promise this is NOT a mac-and-cheese orange/yellow. It's not quite neon, even though it dries matte. --Again, I don't know how close this is to Dior Mango, but I really think you could content yourself with this one.

I DID wonder if the formula on the Dior might be a little smoother. This was a little thick, and I don't think the long paddle Insta-Dri brush helped. Maybe if the bottle and brush stem weren't so tall, it would be easier to work with. Take your time in between coats because that brush stem is a PITA, but that's par for the course with the Insta-Dri line. I wore this for four days with minor tip wear and a chip on one of my peelie-prone fingers.

Man-go Team! (MUST! HAVE! EXCLAMATION POINT!!!1!) is a limited edition Insta-Dri for spring. I found it at my local CVS, but I'm guessing it would be at other drugstores, plus Target, maybe Bed Bath and Beyond, as well as your Kroger or Wegmans or whatever. You know, all the usual places.

Sooooooo, what do you think? I love this color. Add some thinner to my bottle, and I'd wear this again. Definitely a better buy than S-teal a Base, in my book! (But let it be known that I will pounce on Dior Mango if it miraculously becomes available in the future.)

Also, you know what's hilarious about mangoes? Teaching your white friends how to cut them. Oh my God. I've been doing it a certain way since I was little and I'd never given it a second thought until college, when one of my friends asked me if her grocery store mangoes were ripe and if they were, how would she cut them? I think I cackled and said something to the effect of, "OH SURE, ask the Asian girl," but PC or not, jokes like that are how I say hello. I know, I'm a terrible person.

But seriously, do it like this. The middle part is the seed, and you really don't want that.

(source)

TOTAL. GAME CHANGER. Amirite?

Zoya, hooray! I thought I'd get a few Zoya posts up so you have something to go by when it's ZOYA EXCHANGE time later this month. I know, I'm so thoughtful. (Oh, Virgo ...)

The term is "palate cleanser," but when it comes to polish, I like to say "palette cleanser" because that's what this polish is. I feel like I haven't worn a light grey creme in forever, so when B said "you should wear grey next because you'll match the cat," I didn't immediately dismiss him. Then I asked Anna to help me choose between Dove and Tao. What can I say? Just like my life, my manis are a team effort.

Enjoy the shload of pictures. Apparently my subconscious goal was to capture Dove in ALL THE LIGHTING -- I don't mind, because it's a really great color. I'm sorry/you're welcome.

Four coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

It's pretty obvious how much I love this color, isn't it? I have a hard time wearing light grey cremes because some of them pull really strangely against my skin tone, but Dove was the nicest one I've tried since Orly Mirror, Mirror (which I still love, and is a little bluer than this). I considered layering something over it, but decided against it because it's such a soothing color on its own.

I've heard that some people own bottles of Dove that were two-coaters. Um, WHAT. Now I'm wondering if my bottle was part of a freak batch, because the formula wasn't the most cooperative. It went on pretty streaky after my usual three coats, but a fourth put it right. It took longer to dry than most of my Zoyas, and I got very light sheet marks on my right hand. Also, see how raggedy it dried on my free edges? That's typical of pastel and other light colors. It's not visible from far away IRL, the color payoff was worth it, and it wouldn't bug me if I weren't taking pictures for you -- no big deal. I wore this for five days with only one chip, courtesy of the sprinkly plastic top of my ginger container.

Dove is my other pick from the Spring 2011 Intimate collection (see my post on Jules here). Looking back, that collection was on point, and WAY more interesting (and sophisticated) than the typical pastels and brights you see every spring. It's just too bad my wackadoo skin tone didn't play well with it. You can buy Dove for $8 at Zoya's site, or anywhere that sells most of Zoya's permanent line. I can't remember if I saw this at Whole Foods, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Despite its formula, I think my feelings about Dove are pretty obvious. (I LOVE it.) If you own it, is your bottle a smooth two-coater or a streaky four-coater like mine? What else did you scoop from the Intimate collection?

And can you please help me choose my next Zoya post? Your choices are Jo and Adina. Go!

Heads up: I know this isn't Jo, but I've been sick since last Friday and haven't been feeling great, so I've had to move some posts around. This Monday's and Wednesday's posts were scheduled last week, while this particular post was part of a megapost I intended to blog on April 1 and never finished to my satisfaction. Enjoy! (I've scheduled next Monday and Wednesday's posts as well -- hopefully I should be back on track by *next* Friday.)

Frankly, I donut understand why more bloggers don't talk about this polish more often, because it's AH-MAHZING. I ordered it on a whim during last year's Zoya exchange, and ... damn. It's better than I thought it would be.

Why did I want this polish so badly if no one talked about it? Well ...

... yeah. I'm afraid it doesn't get much better than that. This is "Vissi d'arte" from Puccini's "Tosca" as performed by Montserrat Caballé (the same Montserrat Caballé who dueted with Freddie Mercury!!). I have a Puccini compilation CD somewhere that includes one of her recordings of this song, and it's so great. She's so great. I first heard her voice in the film "Life is Beautiful" during the Barcarolle in the opera house scene, so if you loved that movie, you've heard her, too. And as a bonus, today is her 80th birthday! :D

And now Tosca, the polish.

Three coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

HOW. FREAKING. GORGEOUS. IS THIS?!?!?!?! I mean, yes, on its own, the red/coral creme base color would be amazing, but the golden shimmer adds a little sumpin' sumpin' to it. I think the Zoya description is "metallic strawberry with gold duochrome shimmer" -- LOL, duochrome is a stretch, since the shimmer is very fine and can be faint at times, but for the most part, you know it's there. It's a nice little secret.

The formula on Tosca was perfect. It applied beautifully (two coats would have been kosher had I not wanted to apply a third) and dried quickly and ... well ... I could have worn it all week. Consider this my new spring and summer staple!

I have no idea when Tosca was released, but it's part of Zoya's Classics collection, which I'm guessing makes it a super core color. It sells on the Art of Beauty site for $8, and I'm sure you can find it anywhere that has the Zoya line.

Seriously, just get this polish. (Let me know if you do. Also, you're welcome.) Do you love Puccini's "Tosca"? Have you seen it? I've only seen the Met's Live in HD 2009 transmission starring Karita Mattila, but I honestly don't remember much about it because Ms. Mattila made more of an impression on me in the HD transmission of "Salome." I'd love to see a production closer to me, though.

I'm out. I hope you have a lovely weekend! I'm probably going to stay indoors and catch up on some reading and sleep. Not much you can do when you're sick. :/

Part of the reason I own a shit ton of nude polishes (a shit ton to me, anyway) is because I'm constantly preparing myself in case I end up getting a job that would require a less colorful nail wardrobe. In that eventuality, a girl never can have too many options. Especially if that girl is me.

Here's a polish I picked up last month out of curiosity from catdoccannon's ongoing blog sale (check out both the blog and the 'for sale' page -- so many good finds!). Apologies for the mess on the tip of my pinky finger, the problem child of this manicure. After messing it up AND redoing it twice -- which wouldn't have bothered me if I hadn't been sick last week and too strung out in the first place -- I just said, "Fuck it, I'll deal."

So let's deal.

I want to say this is five coats with SV. I lost count after four and I was watching "Parks & Rec," oop @ me. :/ But look how pretty!

In the bottle, Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs. looks sort of close to OPI Barre My Soul from the NYC Ballet collection -- both are peach-tinged nudes. On the nail, they're different. Mimosas is sheer, but it's the old-school "thick and patchy but totally buildable" kind of sheer. Color payoff as shown in my pictures will require your utmost patience, since I waited a while in between coats. It's slow to dry, IMO, so if you're wondering whether this or Barre My Soul is a better choice, I'd tell you to go with Barre My Soul. I have crazy patience when it comes to nude polishes, so I was willing to go the extra mile for Mimosas. --Then again, I'm willing to go the extra mile for a mimosa, PERIOD.

Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs. was part of OPI's 6-piece Honeymoon Edition collection, the SoftShades theme for 2005. I'm fairly certain this is part of the OPI core line, and it's super easy to find in stores and online. Can we talk about this name, though? I ~~don't know ANY (straight) guys~~ know of one straight guy who will drink mimosas (haha, thanks Angie). Why would Mr. and Mrs. get mimosas? Was Mr. in an unusually good mood after getting it on in the honeymoon suite with the Mrs. and therefore agreeable to mimosas? Or do the mimosas come in a his and hers spa package? What is it? TELL ME.

...

A day after wearing this, I added one coat of China Glaze White Cap and topped it with NYC Grand Central Staysh.

UGH, I DIE. When I look at this combination, I can't believe I'm two years late to the White Cap party. I wasn't sure that Mimosas was a shade I wanted to keep, but I forgot all about those feelings after busting out White Cap.

What do you guys think? Do you possess the patience to deal with buildable sheers? Do you have a favorite? And is this layering combination not tdf?

Thanks for reading! Come back next month for another nude polish. As always, don't forget to pop over to Business Lady Polish to see what Anna's wearing today!

This post was supposed to go up yesterday, but I didn't finish going through photos in time to do it because I thought I would catch a few winks instead. I really like blogging, but I really love sleeping. Ask anyone who's ever lived with me. I've had roommates who didn't know I was home because I slept all weekend. In fact, B can tell you that shortly after I started spending the night, one time I slept in until he practically had to kick me out of bed so he could go about his day.

Right off the top, I'm going to tell you I wasn't crazy about this polish. I'm beginning to wonder if this is going to become a regular thing with me and Zoya's K-shades, because this is the third one in a row -- I ditched Kimmy and Katherine.

Now we have Kimber, who is gorgeous, but just not for me. Here are some photos anyway in case you might love it more than I did.

Also, if these photos look nicer than usual, it's because my new phone was able to get the color more accurately than my old one. It's a long, boring and PAINFUL story. (I fell down and skinned my palm. The fall was so Chronicles of Riddickulous^{TM Tom Haverford} that I cursed and then asked my mother if I'd ripped my pants.)

Three coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

And for the record: the only Kimbers I could think of were (1) pistols and (2) Kimber from "Nip/Tuck." I wasn't the biggest fan of the show, but it had its moments. If I'd known that Ryan Murphy would continue to troll television ... well. (IMO, he is the worst.)

I thought I would enjoy this color more than I did. The base is a lovely blend of fuchsia and deep pink, and goes on like a foil, but then the gold shimmer peeks out. It's super pretty, and it applies really well, but I don't know. I just wasn't feeling it. I'm passing it up because while China Glaze Ahoy! is a completely different animal (the base color is similar, but it's a true glass fleck), I would reach for it more than I would reach for Kimber.

Kimber was part of last summer's Surf collection, and it's still available online. I'm sure you could track it down and find it in person if you really wanted to.

What do you guys think of Kimber? I also have three more Zoya K-names to try from my stash: Kelly, Kieko and Kotori. And I want Kennedy and Kerry. (Should I not?) I want Rory from the Surf collection, but I hope that's not a fail; I also haven't tried Zuza yet ... I wasn't crazy about Myrta when I tried it last summer. Come on, Surf collection. I know you have a winner in you. (... That's what she said.)

Thanks for reading! I'll be back with Zoya Jo tomorrow, so look out for that.

Hay gurlfrans. We've got a LOT of ground to cover today, so let's get to it.

But first: EDIT- I don't know how many readers I have in the Boston area, but if you're out there, a lot of us will be thinking of you all today. Please be safe.
Second: The annual Zoya Exchange is underway today until April 26 at 11:59 p.m. EST, so go fill your cart! And tell me what you're getting, of course.
Third:I posted Zoya Kimber pretty late yesterday, so click on the link in case you missed it.

Aaaaand back to our scheduled programming.

Last week, I asked you guys to help me choose between Zoya Adina and Jo. All except one of you who responded wanted to see Jo, so here it is. Thanks for playing along!

What is that scraggly bit of hair? fuzz? on my ring finger? WHO KNOWS.

Three coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

You might not believe it, but I was a bit underwhelmed with this color at first. I thought it gave me major lobster hands, but after wearing it for three days, I got over it. (I also have really bad circulation, which is part of the problem.) I knew I had to have it after seeing The Polish Addict's swatch, although I didn't track it down until 2010 or 2011. Anyway, I don't think there's anything quite like Jo! I'm going to say it's more cornflower than periwinkle since this is quite blue and to me, periwinkle suggests a hint of purple, which there isn't here. The silver shimmer is very nice, but I can see how some people would find it borderline frosty. It isn't to me.

The formula was okay. It reminded me of Zoya Midori -- "thick, but workable," though not quite as thick. I've noticed that my Zoyas have a tendency to be gummy, especially the shimmers, which I think might be attributed to the resin. --Don't quote me on that, btw. I'm too dumb to science. But while it was a tad gummy, it wasn't bad to work with, and it dried in record time with Wicked Fast. I wore this for four days.

Jo was from the Twist collection for Spring '09, the collection that gave us fan faves Malia and Harley. I have Malia (I used it for my "Bitchin' Kitchen" skittle look last October), but not Harley. I'm interested in it, but I don't know if I'm interested in it enough to acquire it, if that makes sense.

But, you guys.

You know that part in "Little Women" where Winona Ryder's Jo is freaking out to her mom after turning down Christian Bale (more on this in a second)? She's freaking out not so much because she turned down a babe, but also because her sister is going to Europe instead of her, and the general tone of the scene is "WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!?!?!" Marmee, of course, is all, "Jo, you have so many extraordinary gifts. How can you expect to lead an ordinary life?"

Yeah, after eighteen years, I've memorized that part. Anyway, it gets worse from there because:

I've been feeling a lot like Jo lately, minus the extraordinary gifts. This week, I had a minor freakout that was along the lines of "OMG WHAT IF ALL THE WONDERFUL AND EXCITING STUFF THAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN IN LIFE HAS ALREADY HAPPENED TO ME AND NOTHING WONDERFUL AND EXCITING WILL EVER HAPPEN AFTER THIS?!?!" Also, my younger sister and her kitties moved to New York City at the beginning of the month to start a new job, and while I'm super excited and incredibly proud of her, I cannot keep ignoring the fact that I basically feel like a sad sack all the time.

My sister's oldest kittybaby, Boomer, 4, staring at us from around a box

Yes, I have a college degree and I enjoyed a brief stint in one of the most unstable industries ever. Yes, I currently have a job that pays the bills and lets me indulge in some of my creature comforts (hello, this blog). Yes, I am in generally good health. But overall, no, I am not happy with my life. And I don't know how to change that. I will be 30 in three years and I haven't done anything I want to do; I know few people actually get to, but obviously this bothers me. I think it would help if I knew what my talents were, and then I could find a way to put them to use for money. Only, you know, how do you figure that stuff out? Ugh, you can see I am not big on having feelings. They are sofa king gross and this is why I try not to talk about them. Sorry.

Also, because I just referenced Little Women, I am obliged to say this: "Such a small name for such a person."

(source)

To quote Madeline, TEAM BHAER 5EVER.

I mean, obviously. I'm not going to write an essay about it (I could if you gave me a couple of days), but let me be clear: I don't think Laurie would have been a good life partner for Jo. Yes, Laurie was young and rich and bright and handsome and passionate and beloved by the family. BUT! He and Jo were far too alike in temperament, which as Jo pointed out, would not be ideal in the long term. I guess that's why Mr. Bhaer is more appealing: he was more her intellectual equal, and more emotionally stable. Plus -- and you really see this in the '94 movie -- Mr. Bhaer is the person who sees Jo for the best woman (and writer) she can be. Sure, he was a little long in the tooth, but what more can you want?

In other words, I too have been ruined by Mr. Bhaer. Anyone else? Hands up.

If you read all of that, I commend you. Thank you. Here is some bonus Jo with one coat of China Glaze White Cap action (and a coat of NYC Grand Central Station), because White Cap is my new favorite thing. I promise this looked much more beautiful and delicate in person.

ILY, WHITE CAP. DON'T EVER LEAVE ME.

I'll be back with more Zoya on Monday. I hope you all have a great weekend. Mine will be off to a promising start, as less than 10 hours stand between me and a fancy steak dinner. Don't worry, I'll enjoy it. I'm not paying for it. :)

When I asked you to help me choose between Zoya Adina and Jo, the nearly unanimous vote favored Jo, which I posted on Friday. Today, I've got Adina for Ashley, the lone dissenter. I hope you enjoy, Ashley!

I wore this all weekend, and I could not quit staring at my hands. I had lunch with my aunt yesterday, and she was pretty into this, too.

Four coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast. You can stop at two, but I was curious to see if additional coats would give this color more depth. I had some bald spots after a third coat, but a fourth took care of that.

I've always been intrigued by Adina, but I didn't want to take the plunge and buy it in case it turned out to be a massive fail. However, when I got a chance to swap for it last fall, I jumped on it. Try new things, right? I'm glad I did.

As soon as I put it on, you could say I was mesmerized by how it sometimes goes from looking like this:

To this:

That's pretty nuts, isn't it? Okay, MAYBE it isn't, but this is the first real duochrome I've ever worn, so cut me some slack for being so into it. ;) At first, I thought the mauve/lavender base color would not jive with my complexion and I wanted it to be darker, maybe even RBL Scrangie-ish, but now I actually think a darker base color would stop this polish from evoking such a dreamy, ethereal feel. I've read some posts in which some bloggers say they didn't really see too much of the green on the nail -- in my case, I see quite a bit of green. And this purple base pulls pretty mauve on me, not as purple as it looks in some other bloggers' photos.

The formula for this polish was fine. I explained the whole four coats thing earlier, but again, you could stop at two or three. I think this would have dried faster if my bottle of Wicked Fast hadn't been beginning to die its slow death; I wore it for three days with minimal tip wear and no chips. Booyah.

Adina was part of Zoya's Reverie collection for Spring 2010, and if you want to add it to your Zoya cart, you totally should DO IT NOW. God, it's so funny to think that in early 2010, I had no access to Zoya, and that I was losing my mind (and dollars) over OPI Hong Kong, which I still think was a totally baller collection. Scrangie's post on the Reverie collection informed me that this polish was named after the blogger Adina of Krasey Beauty. I wanted to confirm that, so HERE is Adina's post on the matter.

I didn't know about Adina or Krasey Beauty until I read Scrangie's post, so this is who I thought of immediately because I'm a classy lady:

I never saw all of "Sorority Boys," and although the parts I HAVE seen are pretty dumb, I keep the TV on whatever channel is airing it. In my defense, I was going through a slight "Smallville" thing when this movie came out, and Michael Rosenbaum, dear God, YES. *sparkly HTML hearts*

Any thoughts on Adina, "Sorority Boys" or Reverie? (Ashley, what say you?) Do you think you might maybe possibly add her to your Zoya cart? I'm going to hang on to her for now. Allegedly, Duri Divas Only is a very close dupe, but I don't have that, so I can't tell you one way or the other.

Before I sign off, I just want to say thank you to those of you who left some sweet comments on Friday's post. I wasn't crazy about sharing my loser feels on this blog, but it happened anyway. I promise to keep that kind of word vomit to a minimum. And if you are having similar feelings, please feel free to e-mail me to vent if you think that will help. The twenties are hard. We gotta stick together.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you on Wednesday.

P.S. My steak was awesome (but free food always is). I ate THE WHOLE FRICKING THING by myself. No regrets.

P.P.S. Other Adinas I now know of include Adina, creator of a-england polishes, and Adina, the heroine of Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore."

Last January, I borrowed Zoya Mimi from my friend Courtney in a stash swap and posted some truly hideous pictures of it. If you indulged me by doing so much as looking at that post, I AM SO SORRY because those pictures were SO BAD.

I liked Mimi so much that I bought my own bottle last summer. I took the next few photos last month, intended for the April 1 megapost that never happened. So they are more recent, sure. But are they better? To that, I say HELLS YES. It's amazing what you can learn to do with a camera in a year. (That's what she said.)

I can't remember whether this was 3 or 4 coats. Oop @ me. Sorry! Top coat was Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch mo' better.

I did my spiel about Mimi last year, but here are the basics again:

This purple glass fleck awesomeness needs at least 3 coats to build up, since the base is sheer.
It dries super quick, but take a couple of minutes in between coats anyway.
It's from the Sparkle collection of Summer 2010 with Charla, Ivanka, Gilda, etc.
If you love glass flecks and purples, you probably need this.

Seriously, if you don't have this already, add this to your Zoya cart NOW.

This is probably one of the shortest posts I've ever written (if not the shortest), BUT! This afternoon, I'm heading up to NoVa to see a Josh Rouse show. His new album is solid (you can listen to it on his site), and I can't wait to hear tunes old and new. Although I'm still dealing with my allergies, I'm just planning to bring my inhaler, drink LOTS of water and stand near a hallway, bathroom or someplace I can make a quick exit if I have a coughing fit because this guy hasn't done a srs U.S. tour in at least two? three? years and he lives in SPAIN now, so I HAVE to see him. Nineteen-year-old priorities ftw. I'll have the dish on Friday, so come back for that!

Heyyyyyyyyyy, you guys. Saturday posts are not the norm for me, but on Thursday I had a MAJOR case of the lazies and yesterday was spent running around town until Tara got off work and I figured, WHY NOT JUST WAIT until Saturday?

I know last night was the deadline for Zoya Exchange orders, so maybe you can think about Julie the next time there's a sale or some kind of crazy promotion. I wore this to the Josh Rouse show on Wednesday. Call me obsessive if you must, but it was the obvious choice to me.

It's cold and I can't wait forever ... for pictures, you say. Okay, okay.

Three thin coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

Sometimes this looks periwinkle, but trust me, it's much redder and lighter than OPI You're Such a Budapest.

Julie first came on our radars near the end of last year during NYFW when it was a custom, limited edition color for designer Zang Toi's spring 2013 looks. Those looks were based around the idea of an "ice princess," and holy crap, I wanted Julie so hard because it was gorgeous and light purple and I really like the name Julie. It's now part of Zoya's Lovely collection for this spring, but at the time I think Gei Gei and Piaf were the other parts of the Zang Toi set, which sold out epically quickly (to me, anyway).

My friend Janice wasn't especially enamored with Julie and Piaf, so I maaaaay have bought them from her. After trying out Julie and wearing it for five days (with no chips and minimal tip wear, natch), I can't wait to try Piaf! The formula was not as bad as I thought it would be -- I think the shimmer can make application annoying for some people, but if you use thin coats and work slowly like I did, then you won't have any issues. Removal, however, left little bits of shimmer around the skin, so just wash your hands before you slap on a new color.

"Julie (Come Out of the Rain)" just so happens to be name of the lead single off the new Josh Rouse album, "The Happiness Waltz." (I embedded the music video near the top of the post.) Usually I'm very wary of new albums from my favorite artists, because sometimes you know how it is when you like only three songs, but I'm happy to report that I really love "The Happiness Waltz." Usually I'm also very wary of albums that are released when a songwriter or band seems to have "settled down" in life, but I think the album retains the same hopefulness and sunny melodies showcased in his earlier songs. They're rather infectious.

Rouse (right) playing an encore, "Lemon Tree"

I would like to say that I first heard of Josh Rouse via his song "Directions" on the "Vanilla Sky" soundtrack. I loved that movie, although I can see why other people wouldn't. But I LOVED that soundtrack. Cameron Crowe knows what he's doing, right? So after hearing that track, I decided I wanted more Josh Rouse stuff. And boy, did I find a treasure trove of it. I've been listening to him since I was 18? 19?, so getting the chance to see him live was like getting to scratch something off my concert bucket list. (Especially since, y'know, he lives in Valencia now.)

I'd never been to The Birchmere before, but it was easy to get to (for once, 95 was not a PITA) and I really liked the size and amenities of the venue, plus the staff was super helpful and pleasant about answering my neurotic dum-dum questions. I would love to go there again; Billy Bragg (!!!) was there the night after I was, and I could have gone to that show if I had budgeted accordingly, but I did not. Anyway, I made a concert buddy (another solo showgoer) and the set was AWESOMESAUCE. I hope it is not three more years before Josh Rouse comes back there.

He stayed to meet fans after the show. I got a signed poster and I would like to say I was not a dork, but I probably was. And now that I think of it, I should have gotten him to write my name on that poster, but oh well, a signed poster from one of my faves is still PRETTY DAMN GREAT.

I want to say this is the very last song of the set, "It's the Nighttime"

(a crowd favorite, which goes for me too)

I don't know yet where "The Happiness Waltz" ranks among my favorite JR albums, but here are my top three:

"1972" (2003)
"Nashville" (2005)
"Subtitulo" (2006)

Really good stuff there, if you want to give it a listen. I mean, I think you should, but I'll be the first to admit that my taste in music verges heavily on WGWG. (But, like, REALLY good WGWGs.)

What did you guys end up getting in your Zoya Exchange orders? What do you think of Julie, the Zang Toi colors, or the Lovely collection? Will you give Josh Rouse and "The Happiness Waltz" a listen? You can stream the album on his site. Tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Har. Lovely.

I was OK this month. And then I got my tax return and went to Nordstrom. You'll see.

The rules: If I bought other items at one store along with polish, I won't include the tax, just the total amount I spent on polish. Additionally, swaps or anything I bought as a gift for someone else won't figure into this and won't count.

Notes: Depending on how much time I have after work, my monthly STYLE post may run any time between tomorrow and Thursday.

APRIL 1: CVS run - TOTAL: $5.49

SH Insta-Dri S-teal a Base (exchanged for Man-Go Team!)

APRIL 1: RiteAid run - TOTAL: $17.16

SH CSM Butterscotch - $7.59
SH CSM Hot Lava - $5.59
Sinful Colors Endless Blue - $1.99
Sinful Colors Pistache - $1.99

APRIL 1: Pretty Serious 20% off Easter sale - TOTAL: $30.86 (USD)

Nightopia - $7.95 AUD
Phantom Planet - $7.95 AUD
Twinkle Lights - $7.95 AUD

APRIL 4: The Scholarly Nail blog sale + shipping - TOTAL: $47.65

BB Couture Sea of Cortez - $7
Essence Irreplaceable - $0.50
NARS MASH - $20
OPI Keys to My Karma - $4
OPI INK - $4
Pretty Serious Poltergeist Puddle - $7

APRIL 9 : RiteAid run of death - TOTAL: $5.59

SH CSM Resurrection - $5.59

APRIL 12: RBL Emoting Me preorder - TOTAL: $45.50

Pause - $20
Smile - $20

APRIL 19: Zoya exchange! - TOTAL: $43.95

Amy - $8 $4
Destiny - $9 (PixieDust)
Elke - $8 $4
Kennedy - $8 $4
Kerry - $8 $4
Neely - $8 $4
Richelle - $8 $4
Rory - $8 $4

APRIL 26: Nordies haul - TOTAL: $96.08

Nordstrom Shimmering Shamrock - $8.50
Dior Bird of Paradise Samba 001 duo - $29
Chanel Azure - $27
Chanel Bel-Argus - $27

APRIL 26: Random beauty supply haul - TOTAL: $24

China Glaze It's a Trap-eze! - $4
Essie Shake Your $$ Maker - $4
Essie Using My Maiden Name - $4
OPI Diva of Geneva - $6
OPI Quarter of a Cent-Cherry - $6

APRIL 27: When you go to Wags for Midol and end up with this - TOTAL: $13.61

Revlon Coast is Clear - $4.99
Revlon Urban - $2.99 (thank you for the coupon code, nice Wags beauty associate)
Sinful Colors Ciao Bella! - $1.99
Sinful Shine Man Hunt - $2.99

APRIL TOTAL: $329.89
2013 TOTAL: $995.50

WELL HELLO NOT EVEN JUNE AND I'M ALMOST BREAKING $1K. No wonder no one logs this shit. I hope nothing awesome comes out this summer because I really donut need it.

If I hadn't gotten my tax return, the 4/26 Nordies haul and the 4/27 Wags haul never would have happened. On the other hand, I knocked out some SERIOUS lemmings (NARS MASH!!!!!, Pretty Serious Phantom Planet), so I'm really, really happy about that.

I know I said May would be mostly Orly-centric, but is there anything in particular in this post that you would like to see next month?

Usually, I post my monthly haul spendage and my STYLE column at the end of the month, but this here polish was so darn pretty it DEMANDED to be squeezed in before May, and who am I to protest a blue like this?

Get ready to experience what Steff refers to as a full-on nail polish boner, in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Three coats with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

I love this polish so much I want to move to Vermont and marry it.

No lie, I could show you pictures of this one all day. WOULD YOU BELIEVE I've had this in my stash for about two years without truly wearing it? -- swatched on a couple of fingers, yes, but never as a full mani? To quote Jacobim Mugatu, I feel like I'm on crazy pills. Tallulah became my NOTWeekend when Tara picked it out for me after I arranged her Helmers by color because I can't make decisions. To be fair, my other choices included my new Chanels (Bel-Argus and Azuré), China Glaze Igniting Love, Illamasqua Nomad and Essie Using My Maiden Name, so you can see why I was having such a hard time. Thanks, T. <3

Everything about this polish is amazing (HOW RICH AND SATURATED IS THAT COLOR OMG), including its formula. My Zoyas have a tendency to be a little gummy, but this wasn't. It dried in record time with Wicked Fast, and wore well with barely visible tip wear and no chips. I haven't tried removing it, but I wore my double base coat combo, so I'm not worried about stains.

Tallulah was part of the Ooh-La-La collection from Summer '09; you can buy it for $8 on the Art of Beauty site and I bet you could find it in person (I found my bottle two years ago at a beauty supply in Potomac Mills). That collection makes no sense to me -- they're all gorgeous, but the color palette and the different finishes weren't exactly cohesive. I blogged Midori last year, and picked up Ginessa and Goldie in last year's Zoya Exchange. I'm going to tell you right now: Goldie is FANTASTIC, and you should get it if you love golds.

In closing, Tallu will be in HEAVY rotation on my tips this summer and if it did not give you a full-on NPB^{TM Steff}, then I'm going to guess you hate blues.

My boyfriend, who loves anything blue, was really into it. I think he laughed at me a little on Saturday when I couldn't stop staring at my nails during the intermissions of the Met's final Live in HD broadcast of the season. I dragged him with me to this movie theater at a high-end mall that serves food and is a halfway point between my apartment and his house, so that was nice. That transmission was Handel's "Giulio Cesare," and while it was fun, I felt it ran JUST A BIT longer than I wanted it to because it was such a nice day outside and I wanted to look at puppies (this mall is also dog-friendly. I MEAN, if you're going to drop $$$ at Saks, you may as well be able to bring your favorite furry friend -- which reminds me, the only Tallulah I know is my friend's sweet pittie).

Later that night on Facebook, this is what B had to say about the opera:

"I don't know much about opera, but I'm pretty sure the one I just watched told the classic story of how Julius Caesar marched into Egypt with his British troops (commanded by a Scotsman) to drive out the Indians and Moroccans.

"However, he was defeated by the evil brother of Cleopatra and left for dead by the seaside. Somehow survived and returned to Egypt with an army of now-undead British soldiers (still commanded by a Scotsman, but I don't think he was a zombie. At least, unlike the others, I never actually SAW him dead) and a formidable force consisting of dirigibles (or possibly zeppelins. Hell, they might have all been Hindenburgs for all I know) and battleships.

"With his zombie army and future weapons he defeated Cleopatra's evil Moroccan brother and his henchman, transformed Cleopatra into Marie Antoinette, and married her in a Victorian wedding that was so awesome that all of the surviving Moroccans and Indians from across Egypt showed up.

"So did the dead evil brother.

"And his dead henchman.

"It felt as if all of this was being portrayed in real time (approximately 3 years) but I am assured it was, in fact, a mere 4 hours and 35 minutes."

Now admittedly, the production was ALL OVER THE PLACE in terms of location and period, and that wedding was not a Victorian wedding, although Cornelia would not have looked out of place at one. NO T, NO SHADE.

But all nitpicking aside, yup ... I'm hitting that.

I am going to end this post with what happens when you go to Costco during Shark Week:

After watching the oh-so-timely "Bitchin' Kitchen" PMScapades episode, I had delusions of baking Nadia's goat cheese brownies. But when I saw this at Costco, I decided it was less effort and told B to stop laughing. I still want to try the goat cheese brownies, though. Let me know if you do.

I was gone all weekend and came home on Sunday to find my mom had whipped out my childhood Easter tablecloth, despite Easter being almost a month ago. But it was nice to see that tablecloth again after so many years, because BUNNIES!

Last Saturday, I bought the first two Revlons I've purchased in over a year, the main reason being that Poshe was the only top coat that I knew played well with the brand. If you've tried Poshe, then you know just how annoyingly stringy, gloopy and uncooperative it is when you're halfway through a bottle. Well, I'm done with Poshe. I needed to find a new Revlon-compatible top coat, but I didn't feel like experimenting with the Revlons I already had.

Then I stopped into a Wags last weekend looking for the new Sinful Shine display (SUCCESS!) and also found a new Revlon summer display containing this little beauty. I'm pretty sure I exclaimed, "OH, SHIT" out loud. (Richmonders, if you too are on the hunt for the Sinful Shines, this Wags is the one on Parham and Three Chopt.)

Four coats with NYC Grand Central Station.

Every time I see a color like this, I have a hard time resisting it because it screams summertime and vacation to me. This polish is gorgeous, which is a good thing, considering that (1) it was sort of streaky and (2) the shimmer didn't pop up as much as I'd hoped it would -- granted, it's been rainy since I've worn this. The shimmer was like a less insane Zoya Lovely shimmer, and also reminded me of two Revlon Summer Romantic polishes from 2011, Sunshine Sparkle and Blue Lagoon. (Which I own, and have yet to try. Oops.)

But yeah. It wasn't exactly a streaky MESS, but although I worked slowly, waited for each coat to dry and used thin coats, it pooled near the cuticle on a few fingers. Hence the four coats -- had it not pooled, three would have been okay. The good news, though, is that it dried with NYC GCS. Sure, it dried sloooooooowly (I sat through one episode of "Breaking Bad" before I felt okay with it), but it's held up amazingly well for over a day now -- minimal tip wear, and it wouldn't have chipped if I hadn't messed with a super stuck container lid.

Coast is Clear is a limited edition Revlon from the Haute Tropics collection (here's a link on Nouveau Cheap, one of my fave blogs!) and it's $4.99. This was my only must-have from Haute Tropics, although Belize, Please almost sucked me in because GASP, THAT PINK.

Anyone else digging this, or hoping another company comes out with a less fussy dupe? I'll probably wear it again, because I'm a glutton for punishment. I went out yesterday to buy a printer cable for work, and the cashier was IN LOVE with this polish, so there's that. I've also been wearing purple for the past couple days, and this looks SO GOOD with purple.

I probably won't see you guys until Friday at the earliest, or, failing that, on Tuesday. HOWEVER, I'm going to see "Iron Man 3" on Thursday night with my parents (hashtag: whatismylife) ... and I will report back to you. I'm glad I get to keep my own tradition of seeing the "Iron Man" movies on Thursday nights. The showing we're going to is at 9, not midnight (I couldn't find a midnight showing in my area), but I know one day I won't be able to go to these things, so I might as well do it and have the greatest fucking time ever, right? Yes.

Has it really been almost a week since my last post? WHOOPS.

One of my reporter friends from college got married on Saturday, and I wore this polish to his wedding ...

... because it matched my shoes. Like DJ Pauly D, I like to build my outfits from the ground up.

The sun was setting, which is why the color appears more yellow than it truly is. I bought these Nine West espadrilles back in July 2006, and for the most part, they're in good shape. Little did I know I should have begged my mother to buy me one in ALL THE COLORS because I feel like shoes haven't been as comfortable or fabulous as they were from 2006 to 2009. :/ (Yes, I know that was weirdly specific.)

Anyway, I didn't quite have my outfit together but when I decided I needed green nails, my roommate graciously offered to let me use her bottle of KC Metallic Green. Look, when there are three Helmers in one apartment, you're bound to find something. Thank you, Tara!

I majorly failed at getting awesome pictures of this polish, but it is INSANELY WONDERFUL and I NEED A BOTTLE.

Three coats with SV. All pictures were taken after three days of wear. Not too shabby, right?

Also, the OttLite pictures are the most accurate for some reason (for once). And if you want to see a SUPER ACCURATE pic, check out Goose's Glitter.

It's been a long time since I wore a baller foil, and I'm so glad Metallic Green was the one to break that dry spell. Holy crap. SO PERFECT. It was crazy pigmented, which means it went on easily (opaque at two coats, but hello, compulsive three-coater) and conversely, it probably will stain like a mofo when I take it off tonight. I'd never used a KleanColor before, I think because the MUA nail board used to say they smelled and took forever to dry. Although I am quite familiar with eau de KleanColor, I don't recall Metallic Green smelling noticeably funky; it DID take a while to dry, but I did my nails after midnight, at which point I was ready to faceplant into bed.

However, my nails were dry in the morning and survived the shower. As I mentioned earlier, I've been wearing this polish since Friday night/Saturday morning with NO CHIPS, barely visible tip wear and SO MANY COMPLIMENTS. If this is what KleanColor metallics are like, SIGN ME UP FOR MORE, PLEASE. Thanks again for letting me try it out, T!

Soooooooooo, this wedding -- my friend got married at Union Station, an ~historic~ train depot in Petersburg, VA. It doesn't serve as a proper depot any more, but the space is used for city and private functions. A train line still runs behind the building, and a Norfolk Southern train even whooshed by during the reception.

Union Station also was featured in last year's Spielberg/Day-Lewis Oscar bait, "Lincoln," during one of Lincoln's speeches. So Steff, I guess you can say I have partied where DDL once worked. ;)

Some wedding champagne ...

... my "Jewish mother"-sized slice of wedding cake (I can't remember what flavor this was, only that it was tasty and it was from Whole Foods, the bride's employer) ...

Obligatory May 4th goodness:

The day started out fairly overcast and at one point, I was afraid it would rain, but the skies cleared up during the afternoon. On my drive to B's house from the station, I saw a rainbow. I took it as good luck for my friend on his wedding day. While I was unable to get this rainbow on camera, you can see what a gorgeous afternoon it ended up being.

I should have done a toast to the couple during the party when they invited guests to come up and do one, mostly because I have some hilarious things I can say in front of a roomful of people. I don't know why I didn't. This is the second time I wished I had. I'm so chickenshit (read: NOT DRUNK ENOUGH). Oh, well. Maybe in September, I will.

I ordered my bridesmaid dress for another girlfriend's wedding last night. It's from David's, which is quite convenient on account of the bridal party living in three different states. I have four months to tone my arms (hello, Blogilates?), but I don't think I need to go full Mobama/FLOTUS with this. Anyway, it's a nice dress. I'm kind of with the groom -- I prefer purple -- but the bride won out and so we're wearing blue dresses.

All right, that's all for me today. I hope this post makes up for being away for almost a week! I'll try to have something up before Saturday, and I hope to have some time to catch up on all the blog posts and comments I missed while I was out. Definitely share your thoughts on my shoes, Metallic Green, KleanColor metallics, eau de KleanColor, friends' weddings, all that good shit -- I'd love to hear them. Thanks for reading!

P.S. HANDS UP if you saw "Iron Man 3" over the weekend. I know people are bitching about certain characters and plot points and comparing IM3 to TDKR, but COME ON. This is MARVEL UNIVERSE, so comparing Tony Stark to Bruce Wayne ... are you really going there? Apples and oranges, my friends. There were a few things in the movie that made no sense to me, but I don't think it matters because ultimately, I enjoyed this installment more than "Iron Man 2," and let's face it, most of us got into it for RDJ five years ago.

P.P.S. My parents also enjoyed the movie. When we got back in the car, my father's Bluetooth device chimed and said, "CONNECTED." My dad said, "See? I'm Iron Man, too." SCREAMING, BECAUSE DADS.

P.P.P.S. My friend Madeline's birthday is tomorrow. If you want to give her an early birthday present, you should give her new blog a follow!

Sinful Colors Show Me the Way

[STUFF ON STYLE] Egregious copy errors

The Long Haul: March 2013

Fug Friday returns! ... on a Saturday

MY WATCH BEGINS: Rescue Beauty Lounge Ghost

NEW: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri S-teal a Base

ABCs of Untrieds: B - butter LONDON The Black Knight

NEW: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Man-go Team!

Zoya Dove

Zoya Tosca

Skinny Dipping (With Friends): OPI Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs. + China Glaze White Cap

Belated Pink Wednesday: Zoya Kimber

Zoya Jo, feelings and why I'm Team Bhaer

Zoya Adina (this is for you, Ashley!)

Rach Redux, Zoya Mimi edition

Zoya Julie (come out of the rain)

The Long Haul: April 2013

Zoya Tallulah + weekend wrap-up

NEW: Revlon Coast is Clear

KleanColor Metallic Green + a May 4 wedding