My Top Picks of 2014

This year's list is shorter than last year's, and it was easier to narrow down.  I'm not sure exactly why that is.  I bought plenty of new releases and even received some press samples for a while.  There were so many polishes that I liked over the past twelve months, but I managed to winnow this post down to the ones that really grabbed me and stuck in my mind.

That's just a sampling.  Scroll on for the full shebang, my Top....45-ish?

Fandom Cosmetics: The Friends Collection

promotional samples

What is better than Christmas? That's right, nail polish! What is better than regular nail polish? Right again, new nail polish! Gosh, you guys are smart. Today, I have the swatches for Fandom Cosmetics newest collection: The Friends Collection! 

Spammity Spam Spam

Hope everyone's holidays were as great as mine!  It took me forever to get into the festive spirit, but when it hit me, it really hit me and I had a great time at all of my family celebrations.  I kinda dropped the blogging ball last week as a result.  Oops!  I'm back today with a dose of swatch spam though.  It's mostly the undies from my ILNP Ultra Chrome Flakies post, but with a couple of extras thrown in.

Octopus Party Crepucrackle

promotional sample

Crackle polish + holo sparkle madness. How can you get any better? That's right, you can't. Not even if you tried!

The Nights Before Xmas

T'were the nights before xmas

And I had to work

I still wanted to glisten

So rules I did shirk

Pretty Serious Undercover Mermaid

I am back to sorting through my new purchases! I've whittled it down to under ten, which is an achievement in of itself! I hate having untried polishes lurking around. It makes me feel like more of a hoarder. 

Peachy Keen

This is the most seasonal post you will ever see. It is. I promise. I just can't tell you which season it belongs to...it definitely isn't the Christmas season. I just felt like doing something bright and cheerful. Yes, I am feeling okay...why are you asking?

Xmas Past - OPI Spam

 purchased by me 

This week I couldn't pick a polish for Xmas Past...so I picked four.  This is also our ONE THOUSANDTH POST!!

Have You Seen My Limo?

All Wrapped Up

Ho-ho-holy shit it's almost xmas!  A week from tonight I'll be having xmas eve dinner with my family.  This is crunch time for shopping, cooking, wrapping, decorating, and everything festive like that.  I'm not ready at all this year!  Luckily, the spirit has finally hit me and I'm feeling merry.

-update- Here's a better photo than the first two...kinda.

I'm decidedly less green, but there was some shrinkage on my ring nail.  Poo.

...back to the original post...

This is my NOTD for tonight's shopping trip with The Beard.  It was inspired partly by wrapping paper and partly by a failicure from two years ago.  The idea is the same, but the execution's a little different.  This time around I used Wet n Wild Poison Ivy and Sinful Colors Hot Hot Heat over OPI Opening Night Champagne.  I'm happy with how it turned out, but not with these photos.  It's been so long since I took any in fully artificial light that I've forgotten how to not make my fingers look green.  Boo.

Maybe I'll update with a daylight photo in the morning, but for now I need to dash away.

Pinspired: Abstract

It has been a while since I have done a completely pinspired manicure. Since learning to knit, I've been trolling pinterest hard for dummy-friendly knit patterns a lot these days. While browsing, I found inspiration.

ILNP Ultra Chrome Flakies - My Picks

 purchased by me 

ILNP is a new-ish brand I've admired from afar for almost as long as it's existed.  Owner Barbra's recent timing couldn't have been better.  During PGS's first two xmas seasons, I was broke as a joke because of the flood of gorgeous holiday polish from drugstore brands.  This year?  ...not so much.  Right in time to pick me up out of that let-down and spend the money that usually would have gone to CVS and Walgreens, Barbra announced thirteen Ultra Chrome Flakies.  My head spun as I tried to figure out which to buy.  I slapped this quick collage together and suddenly my order became completely obvious.  This was my first polish preorder, but because of ILNP.com's terrific setup, it was a breeze!  There was a little delay in shipping, but they arrived fairly quickly and in the usual cute packaging.  I couldn't wait to swatch them and got right to it the moment I could...

See? I'm Festive

I'm not completely "bah humbug" this time of year. I do have two little kids, so the magic of Christmas is still in full effect around here. But I do get burned out on it pretty quick. I can only take so many warm and fuzzies before I start thinking of smacking people with a Yule log. If left up to me, I probably wouldn't do any obviously Christmas nail art...but my tiny masters have spoken and...

Rita Ora Ikat

When I got the Rita Ora for Rimmel polishes, I fell in love with the two cream shades. So much so that I knew I needed to play with them a bit more. And, because ikat is my favorite thing ever...this was born.

Xmas Past - OPI Red Dazzle

Today's oldie might have been my first ever OPI.  It's from the 2006 Kick Up Your Heels collection, inspired by The Rockettes.  I also have Opening Night Champagne from that bunch.  Both were Ulta clearance finds after that xmas, but I can't remember if I bought them at the same time or not.  We didn't have many Ulta locations here back then, so I probably did.  I'd admired OPI from afar for years, but I didn't drive back then and online shopping wasn't as easy, so deals were a rare thing.  I still remember how giddy I was to buy my first from my eventual favorite brand.


Red Dazzle is a lipstick red jelly with a scattering of gold microglitter.

If Red Dazzle looks familiar to you, it's because OPI released a near-dupe a couple of years ago.  The Polishaholic posted a comparison where you can see that Red Dazzle and The Spy Who Loved Me aren't exactly the same, just close.  Red Dazzle is decidedly warmer and has microglitter instead of microfleck shimmer, and less of it.  It's a twinkle, not a glow.  I used four coats for maximum depth.

While it is pretty and I'm happy to have it, I think the $40 someone is asking for it on eBay is a bit nuts.  The price is just high because of age and scarcity.  You could layer dupe it well enough with The Spy Who Loved Me and a red jelly.


It's just TWO WEEKS until xmas!!  I need to get a move on.  My tree isn't even up yet.  How ready are you?

Minimalist Princess: Tiana

You thought I forgot! I didn't, but I have been a bit busy. There are so many swatches that needed to be seen that my little series got pushed to the side. But even in the downtime, I've been thinking and plotting. This one is definitely the trickiest by far.

Naked...Sex Ladies?

When a new set of stamping plates comes out, it's hard to really absorb all of the new designs.  Somehow something...different escaped my notice when I bought Pueen's new Buffet Leisure set.  Something...a little risque.

The Lady Varnishes...a nice surprise.

I am bad at deciding. No one debates this. It is why I change my hair color/style monthly. When I made my first order from The Lady Varnishes, I couldn't decide on a second color to grab. (I dunno why I wanted two...but it had to be a pair.) I stumbled across a "mystery" listing...and I was hooked. Who doesn't like a sparkly surprise?

Will It Stamp?

My favorite way to browse r/lacqueristas is from the bottom up.  While a lot of really great nail art rises to the top, redditors needing advice or help stay down where relatively few others will see their post.  I like giving advice...if you haven't noticed already, so it's my favorite part.  One question I see a lot, both there and on the Nail Board, is "Do I need special polish for stamping?"  Nope!  The only stamping polishes I've ever used are Bundle Monster's Creative Art polishes (and more shades), and while they're good there are plenty of "regular" polishes that work just as well or even better.  I decided to make a general guide to what qualities usually mean good stamping potential and a list of shades Nichole and/or I have used in previous stamped manis.

Anne Kathleen Nehara

promotional sample

When I showed the swatches for the AK: Holiday Night Lights collection last week, I left out the best a color from the rainbow: purple. The bottle I got had some issues, which were already known, so I was just waiting for new version to arrive. Y'all. It was worth the wait.

OPI Nordic - My Picks

 purchased by me 

When Ulta had a Buy Two, Get One Free sale on OPI I decided to limit myself to just three from the Nordic collection.  That was tough!  I'd been eyeing the display at Wegmans and was tempted by so many of the shades.  No surprise really, since I pretty much always love OPI's fall collections.  The sale is back on at Ulta (through 12/24), so if the nail supply still doesn't have this collection the next time I visit, I might have to order from Ulta's site again.  [I might also stop going to the nail supply, if it turns out they aren't stocking new OPI collections anymore.]  I'm pleased with the three I got, but I'm pining for the fjords a few I skipped.  My Dogsled Is A Hybrid tops that list, but Going My way Or Norway is up there too.  But enough about what I didn't get.  Let's see these swatches already...

The Lady Varnishes: Lune

After the Winter boom of press samples, I am finally digging into some of the polishes that I bought for myself waaay back after Halloween. I know. I lag. But I got some really pretty things, and I promise they are worth the wait. First up is Lune from The Lady Varnishes.

OPI Unfrost My Heart

 purchased by me 

Just the polish itself, not the trio.  The glitters look cool in swatches, but I still haven't seen this collection in person.  I bought this online during Ulta's last OPI BTGO sale...and they're doing it again, if you missed it last time.  It's a good deal, but not good enough to trigger a frenzy, so I managed to be selective.  If it turns up at the nail supply, I can see myself being swayed by at least one of them.  I have a serious thing for silver foils and there's always a hope in the back of my mind that one will be even better than Nicole by OPI Give Me The 1st Dance.  Unfrost My Heart looked like a contender, so I snagged it.


Unfrost My Heart is a bright silver foil.

Radiant!  The foil bits are so tiny that it's even kinda reflective.  This is two coats and it's almost too shiny for its own good.

...but how does it stack up to other silver foils?  I grabbed a few to see.

Orly Shine * NOPI GMt1D * Unfrost * OPI Your Royal Shine-ness

Unfrost is closer to the dreaded Bieber polish than most other silvers I've tried, but I'm not sure if I beats it.  They're not quite dupes, since Give Me The 1st Dance is coarser.  (I wince each time I type "1st"...eww.)  Shine is a touch warmer and Your Royal Shine-ness is considerably darker.  The difference between Unfrost and GMt1D is more obvious when the light really hits them.  It's twinkle vs. reflection.

Orly Shine * NOPI GMt1D * Unfrost * OPI Your Royal Shine-ness

Bottom line: Unfrost My Heart is bright, super smooth, and showy.  I love it!  If you're a silver foil fanatic or are looking for your first, it's worth getting.


Do you have a favorite silver, foil or otherwise?  It's such a great color for the holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.

 all products in this post were purchased by me 

Orly Mirrorball vs Octopus Party Sizzler

Major brands duping the little guys? Say it ain't so, Orly! Well...it is so. Rather good news for us, considering that they picked one of the prettiest discontinued OPNL polishes to copy. Orly is no stranger to making dupes, but this is the first time that I have noticed them going after an indie in such an obvious way. (Remember, I am new to indies!) So lets see the swatches!

(this post has a new home. Please come visit me over at bedlambeauty.com)

Xmas Past - China Glaze Tinsel Town

 purchased by me 

Are you ready for red and green and jingle bells and merry merry and all of that?  No?  Me neither!  I'm warming to the idea, but when I went poking around in my collection for an older xmas polish to wear, I came out with something that doesn't exactly scream "HO HO HO" in your face or anything...

China Glaze Tinsel Town has silver glitter and microglitter in a black jelly base.

Rita Ora for Rimmel London

promotional sample

I was lucky enough to be offered a chance to swatch a few shades from the Rita Ora for Rimmel London collection. It is my first time swatching for a mainstream brand, and it was definitely a little different than I am used to...but who am I to say no?

BaronessX and Octopus Party: The Abominable Snow Monster Duo

promotional sample

It has been a swatchy few weeks here in the West Coast PGS headquarters. Seems like everyone is getting their Winter stuff all wrapped up, which means a flood of swatches to share! This one is not new, as I teased the hell out of it before Black Friday on our Facebook page. It is time to share (most) of my swatches!

What? Polish? Where?

This post, listing the brands carried in "brick and mortar" stores, has been a long time coming...and it will probably be edited and revised over time.  Things change.  Brands sometimes show up where you don't expect them or stop being sold where you used to buy them.  So far I've only listed a few stores and I've tried to stay to major national (or nearly national) chains.  Feel free to comment with regional additions.  I might include those in future updates of this post.  If I missed anything, let me know about that too.  For now I'm only listing "conventional" polish and not gel, strips, stripers, etc.

Foil Foliage

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over, but it is technically still fall for a little while longer.  I also like this mani too much not to post it.  It was very "last minute" but it got a thumbs up all around at dinner on Thursday.

Pick Two: Gwen Stefani for OPI

Gwen Stefani and OPI are at it again. You would think that last year's debacle would have taught them a less...but nope. Thankfully, this collection isn't as meh, but it still isn't OMGTHISISAWESOME. I only grabbed two for now. If these go on clearance again, I may snatch a few others as well.

Stash Spam - Orly, Essie, CND, etc, and My SFW Stash

Done!  A bit later than I'd wanted it to be, but my stash spam is complete!  This final post rounds out the last of the plastic boxes and goes downstairs for the horrible Sterilite three drawer thing that holds my SFW stash and my black and white creams.  I've also finished that imgur album, if you'd like a better look at the whole shebang.  Let's wrap this up...

Stash Spam - Drugstore, High End, Imports, Store Brands, and more

Thanksgiving pretty much ran me over, but in a good way.  Great meal and always good to see my family and their pets.  Time to get back to the stash spam though!  Today we're finishing up in Helmer 3 (which is in my closet) and moving to the boxes.  There's a lot of variety in this one, so if you see a brand you don't recognize, just ask.  I'll try to actually reply, though I have issues with blogger comments not working.

Anne Kathleen: Holiday Night Lights

promotional samples

Are you ready for more awesome from Anne Kathleen? This might be the awesomest awesome that ever lived in Awesometown. I've been hinting and teasing about these for nearly a week...maybe I should just get on with it?

Akira Lacquer: Winter 2014 (part two)

promotional samples

Part two! Part two! It is always satisfying when the second part comes fairly soon after the first. No cliffhangers here kids. So without too much more blathering, let's get on with it!

Akira Lacquer: Winter 2014 (Part One)

promotional samples

This is such a major collection that it is getting broken into parts. There are eight holiday colors (that I actually love. Weird) plus two others that I have been hinting about since last week. I have to say. before we get on to the swatches, that every single collection from Melodee gets better. I feel exceedingly privileged to have been invited to be a small part of it...shush, it's the holidays and I'm feeling mushy.

Anne Kathleen: The Giblet Collection

promotional samples

I was (happily) chosen to swatch the next little collection from Anne Kathleen, which makes me clap my hands like a two year old. This one is perfect for late Fall...especially if you need the shinies. Make sure you read this whole post, because there is some important Black Friday info at the bottom!

Stash Spam - Sinful Colors, Wet n Wild, Revlon, Maybelline, and more

The spam goes on!  In Part 1 I showed you what's in Helmer A and half of Helmer B.  Today it's the second half of Helmer B and part of Helmer C.  My "big" brands are in the Helmers, kinda in alphabetical order, but mostly based on what fits.  The plastic box posts will have much more variety, but not the oomph of the Helmer ones.

Stash Spam - China Glaze, OPI, NOPI, SOPI, and Sally Hansen

Last week I hinted at something big and swatchless this week.  My collection has been a mess for months and I realized that the only way to fix that and still have anything to post was to post the collection.  No better time than a holiday week right?

Octopus Party Nail Lacquer: Death and Taxes

promotional sample

Anniversary colors are often my favorites. Instead of being season/trend driven, they tend to come from the heart of the maker and be a little more unique. This offering from OPNL is absolutely no different.  The level of awesome here was an inevitability.

Ok, before we all start oogling...let's wish OPNL a happy anniversary first, and thank Dave for making such crazy-fabulous polish.  He has come a very long way in such a short time, and I am honored to have been allowed to participate even a little.

Bundle Monster 2014 Create Your Own Collection

 purchased by me 

Bundle Monster held their second Create Your Own stamping image contest back in March.  I didn't enter because by the time I thought of a few designs, I didn't have time to do them.  Hopefully they'll do it again next year.  The finished Choose Your Own (or CYO) set came out recently and I rushed to order it.  They were doing a promo with a free stamper and scraper set, so I got that too.  I'll be reviewing it in a future post, but the TL;DR is that both stampers are firm and firm stampers don't work on my curvy nails.  I'm gonna try to recruit Zeus and Player 4's flatter nails for a fairer review.  Back to the plates.  I've tried five of the images so far.  The fifth was a no-go with the polish I wanted to use.  Let's see the successes first...

Urban Decay Chaos

Happy Friday kids! I am currently enjoying my tri-weekly peace and quiet time. It is glorious. While I plot and plan, here is a nice swatch of one of the only bright blues I actually like!

Throwback Thursday - Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud

 purchased by me 

This week my throwback isn't anywhere near as old or rare as last week's and it's possible you've seen it before.  Maybe you even own it.  Opulent Cloud came out in Fall '09, one of just four limited edition shades (the rest were "permanent" for a couple of years) in the HD line.  I love the HD's in general and I wish they'd done more of them...but that's a much bigger post for another day.  I've only had Opulent Cloud since last year.  In 2009 I was much better at not buying polish.  Back then I'd buy maybe five to ten bottles a year.  Hard to imagine now.  I didn't even see the display Opulent Cloud was part of.  I wound up buying it from an eBay seller after a long lemming and much frustration.  I paid more than I normally would for a drugstore polish...and then, of course, it sat untried.  I'm glad Nichole got me to make Throwback Thursday a feature because it's gonna be perfect for knocking off collected untrieds.  Today is Opulent Cloud's day at last!

Minimalist Princess: Cinderella

Another streamlined and simple manicure, fit for a princess. This week its Cinderella, whom I consider the most painfully white-bread of all the princesses...with the exception of maybe Snow White.

Frankenpolish: Coastal Winter

Winter is looming, dark and bleak and cold...and happy. I actually love winter. I love jackets, scarves, gray skies, fireplaces, hot chocolate, and wool socks. Unfortunately, we don't get the traditional snowstorms or icicles. We get cloudy skies and slate blue waters. Such is life on the coast. I decided, with my new franken-obsession, that I would make myself a color inspired by what I see most days.

Sinful Colors Holiday '14 - My Picks

 purchased by me 

The holiday season is sneaking up, isn't it?  Thanksgiving is next week, so it's starting to feel ok.  My first sighting of the big Sinful Colors holiday endcap at Walgreens was back before Halloween, but I wasn't ready yet.  I'm still not quite there really...but here we go anyway!