Favorite Holiday Polishes: Basics Edition

Hello!

After a couple of false-starts, lol, here is the real post about my favorite basic holiday polishes!

I'm going to do two 'Favorite Holiday Polishes' posts, one that looks at basic, standard polishes, and another that looks at specialty polishes. Today I'm doing the 'basics', and what I mean by that are the typical colors you think during this season that you'd want to use for basic wear, and for nail art. In my mind, these are reds, greens, blues, golds & silvers, and purples. I think these cover a variety of the holidays that are celebrated this season, but if there is a holiday color that I've missed, please let me know...And please don't judge the older, very icky, swatches too harshly. >.<

Reds

Barielle Dinner At 8

Barielle Dinner At 8

Barielle Dinner At 8

The perfect happy Christmas red. Good for nail art, or just shining on it's own. I'm pretty sure that this is what Mrs. Claus wears on her nails. :)

Orly Smolder

Orly Smolder

Orly Smolder

Orly Smolder

If Mrs. Santa was a vampire, this is the polish she'd wear. Sexy, vampy, perfect for that amazing holiday party with that cute guy that you're hoping will ask for your number...Heck, wear this polish and you won't feel like waiting. You'll walk up to him and tell him what time to pick you up.

Zoya Elisa

Zoya Elisa

Bad swatch of an awesome polish. This is what Mrs. Santa wears when she wants to make some new elves. Hmm...is that how that elf thing works? I'm not sure, and I don't think so, and the more I think about it, the more I realize I don't want to go there. A-hem. But yeah, this is what she'd wear. Christmassy but sexy all at once. :)

Zoya Pepper

Zoya Pepper

Zoya Pepper

This is a little darker than the typical Christmas red...But for those girls who like a little danger in their polish...why should that have to stop at Christmas time? ;-)

Greens

Color Club Ho-Ho-Holly

Color Club Ho-Ho-Holly

A pine green flecked with gold. If you put a Christmas tree decorated with gold ornaments into a blender, this is what would come out. But please don't. 

Julep Cindy

Julep Cindy

A lighter, more grass-green polish with gold flecklets in it. Perfect for gatherings that are fun, flirty, and funky. 

Barielle Polished Princess

Barielle Polished Princess

Want to capture that retro 1960s How-The-Grinch-Stole-Christmas sort of look? This is the perfect polish to send you on your way. Add some kartoonkers and some foo-floonkers, and you're set.


Zoya Hunter

Zoya Hunter

If you're looking for something a little more adult, understated, and elegant, Hunter will do the job for you while still capturing the spirit of the season.

Models Own Golden Green

This actually has a bit of duochrome to it, so I maybe should have saved it for the specialty polishes list. However, I think this is the perfect polish if you're going for a more Victorian Christmas-type of feel, so I wanted to include it here. :)

Blues

Zoya Crystal

Zoya Crystal

Zoya Crystal

Bad swatches and shrinkage aside, this is a beautiful blue holiday polish. Slate blue with flecks of gold throughout, this feels like it's reflecting candlelight all the time. If you've had too much red and green this season, reach for this beauty.


Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel

Hazel is Crystal's lighter, more silver cousin. This also is a salve for the soul if you want something festive, twinkly, but not red or green.


Zoya Neve

Zoya Neve

Zoya Neve

Neve has a lovely holiday jewel-tone royal blue with an incredible shimmer. Very, very sexy without being typical or expected. :)


Sinful Colors Ciao Bella

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella

Ciao Bella is a bit brighter for your more fun, funky holiday looks, but still keeps that sexy sizzle. This is one of my favorite blue polishes of all times, for any occasion. :)

Layla CE10

Another slight cheat, but totally worth it. Bright, fun, and beautifully blue. :)

Purples

Orly Velvet Rope

A rich, velvety blue-leaning purple that sits firmly in the jewel-tone family. The little brush of teeny glitters gives it a bit of extra holiday punch. :)

Wet n Wild Fergie Ferguson Crest Syrah

This one makes me think of a yummy plum pudding, with those spiced raisins and plums and the amazing rich sauce...It also makes me think of mulled wines. :)

Finger Paints Plum Startled

This one screams visions of sugar plums to me...Deep plum purple with blue shimmer...aaahhhhh.


Zoya Mason

This is possibly my favorite red-leaning purple ever. Ever. Gorgeous. Flawless application. A.Dore.

Golds & Silvers

Orly Flare

I don't like plain metallic colors, I think they look a bit tawdry unless they're done really, really well. In my opinion, a metallic has to have some je ne sais quoi to make it acceptable for wearing on its own or as a base for nail art. Flare has that in the form of a very lightly flecked polish that gives texture to the color. This is what a gold should be.

Jessica Gingersnap

If you took a gingerbread man, gilded him, and them crumbled him up, this is what you'd get. I love the rusts and the golds all together, making this a very compelling polish. If you want something that has the richness of gold but doesn't just blind you, check her out.


Julep Faye

You could argue that Faye is a brown. Okay, you don't have to argue, it's a brown. But the gold shimmer in it is so pretty, I felt it needed to make an appearance here somewhere. This is another way to get a glimmer of gold without having 24-karat nails. :)


Julep Mia

As I was putting this post together, I realized I have a lot of silvers that I use for stamping, but none that I actually like to wear as a base, except this one--and I just got this one in my most recent Julep box! This is a complex, interesting color, not just a plain silver--it has greenish-gold to it, and little gunmetal flecks. So if you're like me and don't want to look like you simply poured molten silver over your nails, I think you'll really love Mia.

Okay, that's it for the basics! Tomorrow I'll have some selections from the Incoco Winter 2013/2014 collection for you, and then I'll be back on Saturday with my favorite specialty polishes.

Thanks for your patience with those false-starts! Darn internet gnomes...sigh...
M.

Before & After: Catching Fire

Hello!!

You knew it was coming.

You might remember that this month's theme in my Nail Challenge Collaborative is to do nail art using your favorite color. And, this week the second Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire, is releasing. Red? Fire? Of course it was coming.

So here it is, my Catching Fire mani, with a lovely red base.

I started with Barielle Dinner At 8; I showed you this before when I reviewed the collection so I won't say much other than to sigh over what a gorgeous shade of red it is:

Barielle Dinner At 8

Next I sponged some Dollish Polish I Survived The Fire Swamp (an orange jelly with orange flecks and glitters) about two-thirds of the way up the nail, and brushed some Models Own Golden Shore (an orange-tinted jelly with large yellow shards) over the whole nail; this was to create the look of the flaming cinders that come off of Katniss' dresses (all polishes except the Barielle were purchased with my own money):

Dollish Polish I Survived The Fire Swamp and Models Own Golden Shore over Barielle Dinner At 8

For step three, I stamped with Sally Hansen Orange Lightning using Mash 48, to create orange flames across the bottom of the nails. Next I busted out the acrylic paints to create yellow flames...and finally, I took one of those flames on the accent nail and tried to create something that looked like a flame coming up in the shape of the Catching Fire mockingjay pin:

I'll leave it to you to judge how successful that mockingjay is. But I'll just say in my own defense that the wings cut off in a very strange place on the cuticle, and the proportions would have made way more sense if the whole wings had been there, lol. At the end of the day, I was pretty happy with it, especially considering it's on my off-hand. No idea why I always forget and try to do nail art on my off-hand...I blame it on the fact that I still can't tell right from left because everyone told me that 'your right hand is the hand that you write with', and that really messes up left-handers like me, lol. :)

Hope you're having an awesome weekend,
M.

Favorites: Green!

Hello!!

I'm back with my next installment of my favorites, this time with my favorite greens. :)

I've decided to abandon any sort of distinction between this year and last year, etc., and just pick my top greens, period, end of story, done and dusted. It's just too hard to not include a polish I'm excited about just because I only discovered it recently. And that's the cool thing about having your own blog...you can shift the rules as needed! :)

So, let's get to it, my favorite greens:


Barielle Date Night:

This is my favorite Christmas green shimmer. Not just for Christmas, of course, but that rich, wintery green that makes me think of forests and glens. If you'd like to see some nail art using this polish, click here to see my snowy trees. :)


Barielle Polished Princess

A slightly blurry picture to show the spray of holographic glitter throughout, while preserving the color This is the sort of goldenish-green that makes me think of lush meadows on a spring day. Ths shimmer and the splash of glitter make it interesting and eye-catching, without being over-the-top.


Butter London Wallis

Ah, Wallis...my very first lemming. This polish was a lemming of mine before I even knew the polish term 'lemming'. I waited and waited for it to go on sale at Ulta, and then still only got it as a special gift for myself, 6 months after I started my blog and polish obsession. It was worth every penny and every day I waited. This stunning golden-green-black-flecked polish is like no other that I've seen, and it makes me think of some magical mossy bog in the Highlands of Scotland (which may be nothing like reality, since I've never been to Scotland--but I want to believe it looks like this). The formula on this polish hates me, and I don't care. Not at all. I love it with all my heart.

China Glaze Tree Hugger

A limey-margarita-y sort of vibrant green, this is shimmery summer grass in a bottle. Not only is it pretty in its own right, it's magic for nail art and stamping, and for me, that's a really big deal. I dropped my original bottle of this polish and it hit the edge of my garbage can and smashed--and I almost cried, because I didn't know if I could replace it. Luckily, I was able to. And I will never judge anyone for having back-up bottles of polish, ever. Some risks you just can't take. Here is some nail art using Tree Hugger as a base. :)

InDecisive Nail Lacquer Lush: 

Lush is a richly pigmented Kelley green with a soft spray of teeny silver glitter. This polish is just so...lush. Seriously, not trying to be funny, it is. It's lush and luxurious and smooth and rich and intense. Among other things, I think it's the perfect Irish-y green, so of course I had to do some nail art with it for St. Patrick's Day.


Maya Hex

Mmm, olive green. Maybe I love this color because it's he same color my eyes are in mid-range outdoor light, flecks and all. Nah--I love it because it's just plain beautiful. It's one of those cases of a polish that takes what might be considered an 'ugly' color by some, and makes it beautiful and elegant. I love my olives, and I haven't found one I like better than this. It's a very vintage sort of color, which is why I used it for this art nouveau nail art. :)


Models Own Golden Green

This one was on the verge of not being included because I think of it as a duochrome, and wasn't sure if it should be included in that bunch. It does shift from a deep gold to a dark green, and so technically is a duochrome. I love the particular olivey-golden greens in it, though, and had to include it here. I used it as the base in this Renaissance Christmas manicure.


Nina Ultra Pro Mossy Britches

Another border-line duochrome, although it's hard to see in the photo. A forest-olive with hints of golden brown, it changes color if you layer it--it's a chameleon, even going to a red-brown at times. Here it is in one of my all-time favorite manicures.


Orly Coachella Dweller

This is a newcomer to my collection, having just been released this spring. A light, soft avocado green creme, it's pretty and soothing. To loosely quote a commercial you might know...I don't often do pastels, but when I do, I do Orly Coachella Dweller. Here it is with a little nail art. :)


Ruby White Tips Lonesome Pine

I'm not even quite sure how to describe this one...it's not a frost, but it looks a bit like a frosty feel to it. It's a unique darker avocado green with teeny holographic glitter throughout. It looks gorgeous in all lights and has enough shine to keep the eye dancing.


Zoya Irene

 Irene is a gorgeous forest green with rich wisps of copper throughout. This is one of those polishes I can't stop looking at when I wear it. If you don't have it and you love green polish--get it. You won't be sorry. Here it is with a copper glitter accent nail.


Zoya Gemma

Gemma was one of the first polishes I bought when I began my journey into polish obsession, and she still blows my mind when I look at her. Who thinks to take an olive drap polish and give it a soft blurple flash? Who does that? I don't know, but I hope they got a raise for it. This polish is otherworldly and ethereal. It's like a cool breeze wafting through sheer curtains on a summer day. It's fairies and mystical creatures but also aliens and butterflies, all wrapped up into one. And if you think I'm going off about it, I absolutely gush about it in my original post about it here, along with some of my first freehand on it. This is another must-have if you love greens, in my opinion.

So there they are, my favorite greens so far in my polish explorations! I hope you saw something you liked, and if you have a favorite that didn't make it on here, please let me know about it so I can check it out! Let's work together in this enabling thing. :)

Peace, love and polish. :)
M.