NOTD: Essie Sew Psyched & Essie Kisses & Bises

Hello Everyone!

The NOTD I have for you today is a layering combination. I really love layering my polishes. I'm amazed sometimes by the combinations. I am very guilty of being very safe when layering. I tend to stay very monochromatic when I layer. I've decided to push my own limits and force myself to think outside the box. You don't have to put a red glitter over a red polish. Why not put that red glitter over a purple polish or a silver polish? The fact of the matter is, you never know what's going to work together if you're too afraid to experiment. In the spirit of thinking outside the box I came up with this mani. I really like how it turned out.

Essie Sew Psyched is a very dusty "army" green. The opacity of this polish is unbelievable! Sew Psyched was almost a one coater for me. I always have trouble stopping at one coat. Sew Psyched went on as smooth as can be and was incredibly self leveling.

Kisses & Bises is a lovely sheer polish with pink shimmer. Quite frankly I haven't found a polish I haven't liked Kisses & Bises over. Be prepared to see more layering combinations with Kisses & Bises.

Pictures shown are two coats Sew Psyched topped with one coat Kisses & Bises over CND Stickey topped with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

NOTD: China Glaze Cleopatra & China Glaze Golden Enchantment

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The NOTD I have for you is my New Year's Mani. I really wanted a glitterbomb of a mani. I've gotta say China Glaze gets me every time with their glitters. Cleopatra is a gorgeous gold glitter with a sprinkling of holographic glitter in a clear base. I have to admit Cleopatra is a little dangerous. It's one of those polishes you find yourself involuntarily staring at when you're stopped at a red light. Golden Enchantment is a gold toned fine holo graphic glitter top coat. Golden Enchantment is great over just about any polish. I especially love it over black. Golden Enchantment gives just the right amount of "oomph" to a day old mani to make it feel new again. It's one of my favorite ways to extend wear time on a mani when I don't have time to start from scratch. Pictures shown are two coats of Cleopatra topped with two coats of Golden Enchantment over CND Stickey and topped with a generous coat of Seche Vite to smooth everything out. I had no application or removal issues when using the foil method for removal.

And a blurry picture to show off all that fiery sparkle

NOTD: Zoya Rea

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The NOTD I have for you today is Zoya Rea. Zoya Rea is a purple foil. I really love the metallic finish of this polish. It's not your basic metallic polish, there are lovely bits of glittery pieces that give this polish so much depth. I've left the pictures huge so please feel free to click for more detail. Pictures shown are two coats Zoya Rea over CND Stickey and topped with Barielle Ultra Speed Dry Manicure Extender. I had no application or removal issues.

Part Deux: Essie Coat Azure

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I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season. Around the holidays I'm so busy I don't always get to do a whole new mani as often as I'd like. What's a girl to do? Between holiday shopping, meeting with friends that are coming home for the holidays, and family gatherings I was exhausted this year (and perhaps a little lazy). I will admit on occasion I will "spice up" a day old mani. It makes me feel like it's shiny & new. My favorite ways to spice up manis are to add a glitter top coat- like China Glaze Fairy Dust- or to add a french tip or a little bit of stamping. I did the latter in this case. You all remember my post on Essie Coat Azure, right? This polish just begged to be stamped so I obliged. I used my Bundle Monster stamping plate number BM14, Sally Hansen Chrome Nail Makeup in Sapphire Chrome, and Wet n' Wild French White Creme. Here are the results over two coats of Essie Coat Azure.  I left the picture huge so go ahead and click for more detail.

NOTD: Revlon Fire Fox

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Today I have Revlon Fire Fox. I don't normally gravitate towards red polishes. I guess it's just because of ALL the other amazing colors out there but this is not your ordinary red polish, it's matte. I'm a sucker for matte polishes. In fact the OPI Suede collection was the first collection I had to have all of. I think my love for matte polishes is that they dry so quickly so even when you don't have time to do a full mani you can do a matte mani. I'm also fascinated with the finish. They can range from matte to almost pleather like. The latter is the finish of Fire Fox. An orange leaning red with a pleather-ish finish with just a dash of shimmer to keep it from being too flat. Shown below is two coats of Revlon Fire Fox Over my normal Base coat, CND Stickey, no top coat.

NOTD: Essie Coat Azure

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The polish I have for you today is Essie Coat Azure. This polish has completely taken me by surprise. I shamefully admit I did not see the loveliness of this polish while it was sitting on my shelf in its bottle. I was looking for a winter mani without doing the Christmas colors thing just yet. It was then that I saw Coat Azure staring back at me and a light bulb went off over my head. Coat Azure was almost a one coater for me but I added a second coat to ensure opacity. I adore the medium blue color and, while this color was part of a spring collection, the subtle shimmer is perfect for winter. I think I might play around with layering ideas before I remove this one.

NOTD: China Glaze Some Like It Haute

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I am VERY excited about the polish I have for you today. There's glitter(!!!), MULTI SIZED glitter (!!!!!), there's HOLO GLITTER(!!!!!!!!). I was at Sally's a few nights ago and i said to myself, " Hey self! let's check the new release section " When do I not say that to myself? Anyways, sitting in the polish section was the China Glaze Eye Candy collection. My eyes immediately fell on Some Like It Haute and I audibly gasped. "Mine!" I put Some Like It Haute on my nails as soon as I got home. This is almost unheard of! China Glaze calls this collection "3d Glitters", I don't know about that but I can tell you they're gorgeous. Some Like It Haute is a rather complex polish. It starts with a clear base, then I see charcoal and silver micro glitter and a healthy dose of small hexagon holo glitter. Some Like It Haute is quite opaque but if you're careful and use a light hand you could use this as a layering polish. Two coats of Some Like It Haute over my normal base (CND Stickey) was enough to reach opacity. I had zero application issues. I added two coats of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. This is a hungry glitter! In a perfect world I would have added a nice thick coat of Seche Vite over my two coats of Fast Forward. The Fast Forward alone was not enough to make my nails smooth, but for results like this... I can live with adding an extra layer of top coat.

 I also took a few blurry pictures you really show off all that incredible sparkle!