Best of 2013

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. This post is a bit late, as you can see. These polishes are just those that I have tried in 2013, but they were not necessarily released in 2013. I didn't try very many indies this year but I hope to next year. High on my list to try are KB Shimmer, Picture Polish and Pahlish. Hopefully I can save enough money to splurge a bit on some new brands. Alright, here is my list of favorite polishes in 2013. Enjoy!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Killa Red
I snagged this during the RBL sale and am so glad I did. I don't have a shortage of reds but there's just something about this rich red jelly that I just love. I am totally considering a backup.

Maybelline Emerald Elegance
This whole line was gorgeous and I especially loved this beautiful emerald green. Look at all the glitter!

Maybelline Crushed Crimson
Another polish from Maybelline's Brocades collection. I love how rich and opulent this looks. The gold and red go together perfectly.

China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle
I love these pastel neons and Too Yacht to Handle was a super gorgeous addition to my collection this year. Formula was a bit fiddly but the results are stunning.

Sally Hansen Red-io Active

I hate the SH Insta-Dri brush but I will suffer through it for this gorgeous, glow-y red. Ugh, so beautiful.

Dare to Wear Ready For My Close Up

So. Much. Glitter. I love the mix of glitters in this polish and it really sparkles in the sun. 

Salon Perfect Playful Plum

Another polish that seems to glow. The purple lover in me is really happy that I found this one. Perfect for fall or any other season.

Nicole by OPI Cinn-a-man of My Dreams

This one stands out from the other textured polishes because of its unique color. I don't have anything like this in my collection. I love how warm and shimmery it is.

Cult Nails Fetish
This black wax finish polish is so sexy and edgy. Love it a lot.

Illamasqua Fragile

This was my first Illamasqua polish and I immediately fell in love with it. It's unique and delicate looking. 

Zoya Carter

Zoya does texture so well. Carter is beautiful and complex. 

There's my list of favorite polishes of 2013. Did any of these make your lists? What must have polish am I missing?

Have a safe and happy new years, everyone. See you in 2014! :)

Halloween Week: Jack Skellington Mani

OMG look! I actually have something ready in time for a themed/holiday week. It's really a miracle. I have been getting a Halloween manicure or two done every week for the past few weeks just so I would have something fun and Halloween-like this week. First up is a manicure inspired by Jack Skellington from A Nightmare Before Christmas.

I actually saw something like this on Zoya's Instagram account which inspired me to try this. For  this look I used Kleancolor Black for all of the black creme accents and Cult Nails Tempest, an awesome white, for all of the white details. For accent nails, I used OPI Emotions from the new Mariah Carey holiday collection. It's a very cool textured black Liquid Sand. I will be reviewing it at a later date. 

I used a small brush for Jack's face and used tape to make the stripes. For my index finger and thumb I used 2 coats of Emotions without top coat. Other nails have Poshe top coat on them.

This manicure was super easy to do and it looks great.  You could also do endless variations of this and play around with the accent nails. A quick and easy Halloween manicure. Thanks for coming by today. Stop by later this week for more Halloween nails. :)

Stashed (7): Cult Nails, China Glaze, OPI, Color Club

Hi, everyone. This post is a bit late. Last weekend was a little crazy and I really haven't had time to do much swatching or blogging. But I did have time to shop and go to my local beauty supply. Picked up some fun fall releases as well as a few older shades I had been wanting. Also had a tiny bit of nail mail last week. Polish diet is back in effect now though as I need to enjoy these goodies before I get any more.

I picked up Minnie Style by OPI at Nordstrom Rack recently. I wasn't super interested in this polish but then I found a bottle with the white square glitter and figured I would give it a go. Also received two bottles from Cult Nails. They had a BOGO sale a couple of weeks ago and I finally got Tempest. Hoping it's a magical white like everyone says. Also got Ay! Poppy, a fun orange/coral.

Picked up a couple of neutrals from Color Club that might be good for nail art. They are Bonjour Girl and Silver Lake. Also shown are Ruby Wing Strawberry Shortcake and OPI My Current Crush (Mariah Carey holiday) and Lucky Lucky Lavender, a shade I have been wanting for a long time.

Also spotted the new China Glaze Halloween display. These were the two that interested me the most - Howl You Doin' and Boo-gie Down. Nanoco Love Me Tenderly was on sale for $1 and I picked up another Nanoco that is only white bar and hex glitter. It's called Snowflakes. I can't wait to try that one. It looks really interesting.

Managed to find the black and white Konad polishes for $4 each and a few Dare to Wears on sale for $1. I got Ready for my Close Up, Illusions and Celestial. Also picked up a backup cleanup brush. I love mine. 

Lastly, I hit up my local Dollar Tree and picked up a few of the Milani 3D holos. I don't have any of these but many people like them. And I can never say no to a holo.

That's it. Hoping to try some of these out this week. Have a good week, everyone!

Cult Nails Love At First Sight

Good morning, everyone. I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I am a little bit wiped out from this week, but not too horribly. Hopefully I will be able to get some rest this weekend and recharge. On to the swatches!

Today I have Cult Nails Love At First Sight from their recent Dance All Night collection. I don't usually buy whole collection (on pre-order no less) but I loved the colors and all pre-orders came with a free bottle of the new Cult Nails Wax Top Coat. I haven't tried that yet but am really excited about it since I love Fetish, the polish I have of theirs that has a wax finish.

Love At First Sight is a really beautiful lavender with pink undertones. It's pulling more blue in my photos but, in real life, it leans more red. The formula on this was fantastic. Super creamy and smooth. It was a little thicker than I like my polishes but it made for a very creamy application. This was almost a one-coater for me but I did 2 just to even it out a bit. Shown here with top coat.

In my notes I put this down as "dreamy" and yes, it is pretty dreamy. Gorgeous color and fantastic formula. I can't wait to try the rest of this collection!

Cult Nails Fetish

Oh Cult Nails Fetish. How I was lusting after you. When there was finally a sale, I didn't hesitate to pick you up and I am so glad that I did. As you might be able to tell, I am in LOVE with this polish. It's so simple but there's just something about it. The first time I saw a swatch of it, I knew I had to have it. I love the smooth black finish that't not quite matte and not glossy. With a name like Fetish, I think it's supposed to look like smooth, black leather, and it really does.

Formula on this was excellent. Like with any matte type polish, imperfections in the nail or application are going to be really noticeable so you have to be really careful when applying just so you get that really smooth finish. Because you don't use top coat, it is easier to ding and damage the finish. Below is 2 glorious coats.

I recently bought the Cult Nails wax top coat. I am really hoping that it gives polishes a finish similar to this one. I just love it and wouldn't mind trying all of my polishes with a wax finish. Imagine the possibilities. :)

Fetish is definitely going into my favorite polishes of this year so far. Does anyone else have this polish or other wax finish polishes? Let me know because I could always use more. :) Thanks for stopping by and have a good weekend!

Stashed (1): Sinful Colors, Hard Candy, Avon, Cult Nails and More!

Hi, everyone. I've been meaning to do a stash type post periodically since I started this blog but never got around to it. But I am doing it now. :) Nothing too fancy. Just a little post with some of my recent acquisitions. I know it's called Nail Mail but not all of these came in the mail.

I won't get into too much detail. If you're curious about what something is, just ask in the comments and I will be more than happy to answer.  Hope you enjoy this bit of stash flashing. :)

sinful polishes haul

awesome new hard candy polishes gifted to me

sinful stripers from dollar tree

new avon holos

cult nails order

l'oreal jellies (or gellies)

:)

Cult Nails Princess

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a good weekend. I was at home with my family this past weekend. Long story but my dad had to go in for an exploratory heart thing but he's fine and at home now. I got to spend some quality time with my baby niece while I was home, which is always nice. Also went a bit nuts buying Sinful polishes at Dollar Tree since I do not have any near me. Anyway, on to the polish.

Today I have Cult Nails Princess for you. Princess is a very pretty pale blue shimmer (though the shimmer is a little hard to see). This has a very greyed out look which I love. I believe this was 2 coats with top coat.

you can see the shimmer a little better here

All in all, I am very pleased with this one. I like it a lot and I love the fairy tale theme. I think I got Froggy from this collection, too, which I need to try sometime. Cult had a coupon code this weekend as well, and I may have made a purchase. OK, I totally did. Am super excited to finally be getting my hands on Fetish and Wicked Fast. Once I get my order, I will definitely be swatching them.

Have a great week, everyone!