Revisiting Sexy Divide with Shine of the Times

Hello!!!  Hope all is well... It is D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G-L-Y hot here in NJ/NY which does not make Athena happy... I HATE the Summer.  I like all the things that come with it, but I don't like feeling like I have to crawl out of my skin in order to cool off.  Add in a dash of some people that don't believe in deodorant, it's not a good day.  You get the point... LOL So to cheer myself up from the 94+ degrees we're sure to hit today I have a pretty, pretty mani to show you. 

I posted about Essie's Sexy Divide a little while ago & since I itch to paint my nails every 2-3 days I decided to jazz this one up instead of doing a new mani.  I went with some Essie ~ Shine of the Times from the Holiday 2012 collection.  Jazz indeed...

How GAWGEOUS is this?!

FLAKIES!!!!

Gaaaaahhhh... cannot take it.  Look at that green!!!!!!

Green, red, gold, orange FLAKIES!!!!!

I mean seriously... how friggin' gorgeous is this?!  It's so amazing how dark colors can bring out the beauty in a topcoat.  It's like it took on another life.  I LOVED this!!!  As you can see Shine of the Times is certainly the shining star of this mani... such pretty flakies, red, gold mostly... the green & orange comes out at certain angles.  When you zig, it zags.  What do you think?

Read Between The Lines - Tape Mani inspired by Enamel Girl

Hellooooooo everybody!!!  How are you?  I am... EXHAUSTED... we had such a busy weekend & I feel like we never stopped moving.  I paid for it today at work by practically drooling all over my desk.  LOL 


During my busy weekend I somehow managed to find a minute or 2 (or more) to attempt a mani I saw from Enamel Girl.  I saw it on Pinterest & wanted to try it immediately.  I headed to Sally's to look for a perfect pink - or at least one close to it in order to do it.  Luckily I already had my perfect yellow courtesy of Zoya ~ Pippa.  While at Sally's I picked up another bottle of Seche Vite (can you really ever have too many bottles LOL) & managed to save $1 w/ a coupon.  Not a huge victory, but a victory none the less =) & I scooped up China Glaze ~ Love's A Beach (part of their Summer Neons Collection for 2012).  You can check out Enamel Girl's AHHHMAZING tape mani using the above link & here is my attempt:

Bottle Shot!!

My attempt close up

Sheck out my thumb...

Close up of my favorite finger (I think cause it looks like an "A")

How I did it --> Did my base colors (the base color comes out in the color of the lines), then I cut thin strips of scotch tape & placed them on my nail (after a nice thick coat of Poshe), once attached securely I put the contrasting color & removed the strips of tape as soon as I finished the top color.  Waited a bit & then topped all fingers off with a coat of Gelous followed soon after by Seche Vite.  Whew... 3 fingers in (pinky, ring & middle) I realized i should have attempted my own design - but I was so friggin' nervous to mess it up I copied Enamel Girl verbatim LOL, but I did do the thumb on my own as well as my index finger.  But once I saw the pictures above i realized the pinky & index are exactly the same just different direction ::insert face palm::.  Ah well, next time.  So what do you think?  I think I did it justice.  I see myself attempting this mani over & over.  The possibilities are ENDLESS.  Hope you enjoyed!!!

Pretty Camo - Zoya ~ Yara ~

Hello!!!!  Hope all is well.  Been a bit busy - the weather has been such a mixed bag here in Jersey - HOT making you want to crawl out of your skin, COOL enough to put on a jacket & now GLOOMY the type that makes you just want to stay in bed all day.  I choose GLOOMY!  Not that I'm gloomy, but because I LOOOOOVE to sleep :) Anywho, I hope you're ready for a pretty little lady Zoya calls Yara!!!!


Zoya Yara was one of my 1st Zoya's, I was a little worried to go for such a dark olive-y green (remember terrified of color - THIS GUY).  I never owned a green & certainly not a dark green such as this.  When I got it I was pleasantly surprised by it!  Camo green is the 1st color that came to mind when I saw it, but was so happy to see the pretty gold glitter that resides in Yara.  The abundance of glitter is so much so that it almost takes on the appearance of flakies (you'll see below), giving it such a nice depth to it.

Reporting for Nail Polish Duty!!

Same indoor lighting, but darker at a different angle

EXTREME closeup!  See how it could take on a bit of a flakey appearance?

Obligatory bottle shot

1st up - APPLICATION:  Amazing.  Application was smooth, not thick or thin, perfect.  The glitter spread out so evenly, never leaving a bald patch or ever made me have to try to get the glitter into place.
2nd - COVERAGE:  Excellent.  This is a 2 coater for me! 1st application gave such a great amount of glitter a 2nd added even more to it. 
3rd - SHINE:  Super shiny & what amazing quick dry time... dries to a pretty metallic finish
4th - WEAR:  This was easily a 3 day wear with no chipping, topped off with Poshe - Mama is pleased!  It could have probably gone for more, but I cannot have 1 color on my nails for more than 3 days - as hard as I try!


All pics were taken indoors.  All in all, so pleased with this Zoya purchase & so happy to have a pretty green in my collection made even more of a stand out star because of the glitter.  They go for $8.00 a pop & I got mine at Zoya.  The fairies over at Zoya run such an insane amount of generous offers, this ::might:: have been part of a buy 3 get 3 free offer.  Even without the awesome offers, Zoya is a no brainer when it comes to a beautiful array of quality color (any color you want they have!), free of toxins & vegan friendly to boot!  You can also scoop some up at Ulta.  Ciao for now!

Gone & Joined a Cult - Cult Nails ~ Crusin' Nude ~

You read that right... I am officially a "Cultie"!  FINALLY, I've been wanting to own some Cult Nails polishes & I finally got 2 - MORE TO COME... Maria had a great sale where a select number of polishes were on sale for $5!!!  How could I turn my nose up at such an offer you ask?!  I couldn't... is the answer.  As I stated in my 1st post - I was a nude girl - so a huge part of my heart of course will ALWAYS lie in nude/neutral colors.  Besides, how cute is the name?!  The name of this polish is absolutely perfect to me.  I have a few nudes & every  time I wear them I feel like my hands look longer, sexy, naked, completely exposed.  Crusin' Nude lived up to my expectations & more! 

Do you hear the Angels singing?  LOL

Blurry close up look of shim-shimma

::LOVE::

 As you can see... GORGE.  Let's delve deeper; shall we?


1st up - APPLICATION:  Phenomenal - I can't really remember the last time I tried a polish & was amazed at the ease & amount of coverage it gave, as I was with this.  Went on smooth - with NO streaking, balding, wasn't too thin or thick.  Perfect.  
2nd - COVERAGE:  This was sooooooo close to being a one coater for me.  I missed part of the edge & I hate going over a spot I just did, so I did a second thin coat.  If it wasn't for my shakey hands it would have been a 1 coater for me!  Opaque in one coat?! No!! YESSSS!!!!
3rd - SHINE:  Honestly the shiniest polish I've ever used.  I would have skipped top coat if I wasn't so paranoid about chipping.  The finish was PERFECT (there goes that word again!)


The color itself is beautiful.  It's a perfect nude (although it looks slightly brown in the 1st pic), with a stunning pink shimmer.  It gives it that extra something & has easily weaseled it's pretty little way into my heart as my very favorite nude!!!  As I mentioned I was able to scoop this up & Enigmatic (swatch on the way!) during the sale.  Cult Nails polish is available at Cult Nails & go for a very well worth it $10.  If you don't own, get thee into the Cult!  Ciao!

Butter London ~ Disco Biscuit

Hey there, hi there, ho there!!  Stopping in with a quick swatch for ya... It's certainly one I've had my eye on for a little while.  Had myself a nice little shopping trip in Ulta - with my obsession with nail polish the Hubs bought me some nail polishes for Mother's Day as part of my present :) This was one of 'em.  I was so excited about it, I even went outside to let the sun do it's work!  It's pretty, it's juicy, it's bright, sparkly & fun it's Disco Biscuit!!

SUNLIGHT PICTURE!!!!!!

4 fingers for ya.  So pretty <3

Closer look

Love the pink against the green grass LOL

I'd love to know how this name came up for Butter London.  It's weird, but after looking at it; I think it suits it really well.  Disco Biscuit is a hot pink jelly, packed to the rim with a fine blue micro glitter... upon my first wear of it I saw the blue micro glitter ONLY.  My second wear, under much closer inspection I realized that it actually has other colors of micro glitter, including red & green.  But like I said, the most obvious is the blue... it's so pretty & refreshing.  Application was easy, glitter went everywhere without an issue.  Not too thick or runny, I did have a bit of balding in some spots... perhaps it was just me.  This is as as opaque as I could get it after 4 coats.  Even with 4 you can still see a visible nail line.  But it isn't crazy obvious, so it's fine with me ;) Perhaps I'll try it was a white or nude base next time.  This was Day 2 of wear.  It's a little bit of a pain to remove (not as easy as a flat color, but not as much of a pain in the ass as full on glitter is).  As I mentioned I picked this baby up at Ulta for $14... problem is I saw a whole lot more colors that tickled my fancy... this is gonna be a problem... hope you enjoyed it. Ciao for now...

Feelin' Sexay with Essie ~ Sexy Divide

Hello Dears :) How are you?  Hope all is well.  I finally got to organizing my nail polishes ::read as Hubby is EXTREMELY grateful I got to it:: & realized I have a nice amount of Essie.  One color I was missing that I had always wanted was Essie's Sexy Divide... I actually came across it late last week & decided to bite the bullet & get it!  Boy am I glad I did...

Perhaps the most beautiful true purple I've ever laid eyes on...

Glowing...

Reddish & blue tiny shimmer particles

This is an oldie but a goodie from the Essie 2008 Winter Collection.  It's a gorgeous deeeeep purple but not so deep it looks black.  It has some pretty shimmers in it which I LOVE, it gives it such a nice depth, not your run of the mill flat color.  It's almost like it glows because of the pinkish/reddish shimmer.  It's sophisticated, sexy & bold... I love me some purples & this is certainly one I'll be hitting up again & again!!  I picked this lovey up at CVS for $8.00.  Hope you enjoyed it!