153. China Glaze - Mimosa's Before Mani's

Mimosa's Before Mani's was one of the polishes I was looking forward to most from CG's spring collection!    Usually I don't like pinks too much, but if it leans peach or coral, I gotta have it!  Mimosa's is a peachy pink/coral with golden shimmer. And we all know how I am about that golden shimmer :)  The golden shimmer isn't really that apparent (especially in the picture below), but it does give the polish a slight glow, making the color a little warmer.

This color leans a little too peach.  Imagine a touch of orange in this swatch.

In most lights, it leans more orange.  My boyfriend even thought I was just wearing an orange polish on my toes :P  I can see myself wearing this a lot this year on my toes.  I love bright colors on my toes!  Even if I can only wear open-toed shoes 1-2 times a week, my polish will be cute :)

This swatch shows 2 thick coats, but 3 thin ones would probably be better.  The formula wouldn't self level, but topcoat takes care of all that.

149. China Glaze - Custom Kicks

Custom Kicks is one of my favorite polishes.  It's an aqua cream with sparse gold shimmer.  I saw aqua because the base color is a little too green to be teal.  Of course, I love the gold shimmer.  It gives the polish a little hidden sparkle to it.  In most lights, it's not really that apparent, but the polish gains just a little more life.  I think the shimmer makes it look as if sunlight is reflecting off the surface of a still lake.

Formula-wise, this polish was good.  It covers perfectly in 2 coats, with no balding or patchiness.  However, Custom Kicks stains like no one else's business.  I still have the stains from wearing it.

148. China Glaze - Midtown Magic

Midtown Magic is a polish I wore late last quarter.  Midtown Magic looks like a chocolate brown shimmer in the bottle, but it is so much more than that!  Well, I guess in these pictures, it does look just like a warm brown with gold shimmer.  And it's absolutely beautiful that way.  But during application, the first coat shows that this polish has a plummy purple undertone.  I kind of wish I took a picture of it at one coat.  Oh well, it's beautiful after it reaches opacity.  It kind of reminds me of fizzy coke :)

However, the formula leaves a little to be desired.  It's thin and watery, making it a little difficult to control.  Coverage on the first coat is very patchy, and drags on the second.  If you're really careful and have a light hand during application, 2 coats will work for opacity.  However, I had to use 3 due to some bald patches.

135. Zoya - Nidhi

Nidhi is quite the firecracker of a polish!  Nidhi is a bright red, almost scarlet, polish with gold shimmer running thoughout it.  If you know me in real life or have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I absolutely LOVE gold shimmer in polishes.   So when I first saw this polish, I KNEW I had to get my hands on it.  

I have to admit though, after wearing it, I am slightly disappointed by the fact that many of the gold shimmers turned to an almost red color.  Oh well, can't have it all; it's still beautiful, regardless.

The formula of Nidhi was quite good, if I remember correctly.  It was just fluid enough to control easily, but not so watery as to flood my cuticles.  This is good, since usually Zoyas (especially their creams), are usually on the thick side.  But this is probably why the opacity of their polishes are second to none!  I believe this is two coats, no top coat.

108. Jessica - Pumpkin Delight

Haha, this name reminds me of Turkish delight...that dessert the White Queen used to seduce Edmund to the dark side in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Pumpkin Delight is a perfect fall color.  It's a pinkish-bronze foil, with gold and pink shimmer throughout.  Definitely reminds me of the color of falling leaves.  However, I had to take this color off prematurely, due to some spray paint adventures.  In some lights, this polish looks a bit pink, but it is a nice bronze in most lights.

Formula was good, easy to get nice even coats, but a bit slow to dry.  The brush was also kind of big, making it hard to cleanly polish my nails.  This is 2 coats with Poshe on top.

105. Essence - Walk on the Wild Side

I may not have a Halloween mani (my Halloween's been pretty lackluster and depressing this year), but the least I can give everyone is a little swatch :)

Walk on the Wild Side is dusty dark olive green with gold and green shimmer.  This is one of the new Essence colors, and let me say that I absolutely love this color!  It comes to life in the sun, and the colors are just so warm and earthy (I've grown very fond of earth tones in the last half year).  I would say that this is a perfect fall color, muted but at the same time, vibrant...if that makes any sense.

This post is kinda pic-heavy, so read more after the jump!

92. Zoya - Charla

Hey guys!  For my first post back, I have Charla, a gorgeous, shimmery, eye-catching teal foil with golden shimmer.  It quite reminds me of mermaids.  I love this color on my nails; I can't stop staring at them!  I'm pretty sure I have a few dupes of this polish, but who cares??  This color is too pretty to purge! :D  I know we're entering fall, but it still feels quite like summer here in Davis, so I'm gonna keep wearing these brights until summer's completely gone (even though I love fall polish collections...but that's another story for another day).

Check out the gold tones in this polish!

This is 3 coats.  2 coats is acceptable if you don't mind VNL, but if you don't like VNL and you have a decent amount of free nail, you're going to need a third coat.  Also, a third coat does intensify the color quite a bit, so I would recommend it.  The formula was excellent: just the right consistency and very easy to control.

80. Zoya - Midori

NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT PART OF THE CHALLENGE.  Still haven't gotten on it, it's been a busy weekend.

Midori is a bright green with gold shimmer running throughout it.  Such a gorgeous color, and easy to apply, as well.  It makes me very happy looking at it!  Seems like a very summery color, fitting since it is definitely summer up here in Davis.

This picture's kind of overexposed.  Imagine a more yellow, more saturated green.

Application and formula were good.  I had no problems with balding or streaking.  Shown is 2 coats.

77. Zoya - Cassi

Cassi is a wonderful peachy-pink creme!  As you all know, I normally don't wear pink, but the peach tones in this polish make it way more wearable for me!  It also helps that it has that gold shimmer I love so much!  I didn't like this polish so much in the bottle.  The shimmer looked like those iridescent shimmers that make polishes look more cool toned; however on the nail, the shimmer is a lovely gold that gives the polish a flattering warm tone!

Shown with Poshe topcoat.

Other swatches online indicate that this is a really sheer polish, but while I thought it was a little on the sheer side for a Zoya, it reached opacity for me in 3 coats.  However, my nails are tiny nubbins right now, so I don't have any problems with VNL obviously.

69. Zoya - Uli

Uli is a pink-toned nude with golden shimmer.  Looking at it in the bottle, it looks nowhere close to my skin tone.  However, when it's on my tips, it's like I have mannequin hands...I think I've found The One!  Yayyyyyy!    The gold shimmer really gives a warm tone to this polish.  Uli is kind of similar to Fast Track and Irreplaceable, but I'm not sure how close.  I guess I'll do a comparison later.

 A bit warm toned, but shows off the shimmer perfectly!

Sorry about the dry cuticles!  I think these pics were taken during midterms season; handcare time is very limited...

Formula was a tiny bit runny and streaky, but nothing a little careful polishing can't prevent.  This is 2 coats of Uli, no topcoat.

64. China Glaze - Fast Track

Hey guys!  Here's the start of me catching up with all my posts!  I've been busy with working, working out,  and studying, but my nails have not been neglected!  (It's just that editing pictures and writing posts takes time)  Fast track is a warm-toned nude with gold shimmer.  The gold shimmer also occasionally flashes green and orange.  Gorgeous!  While I was wearing this, I could not stop admiring my nails xD  This polish is actually very similar to Essence Irreplaceable, but Fast Track is a lot more tan-colored, and Irreplaceable is more sand-colored.  I'll do a comparison sometime in the future to show you guys :)Cool-toned nude with gold shimmer that flashes green and orange.  comparable to essence irreplaceable.

Formula was a little watery and sheer, but with this polish, it's not all too noticeable.  The watery formula was very easy to control.  This is 2 coats, no topcoat.

58. Zoya - Yara

I wore Yara for DRD's banquet on Sunday!  I wore this, since I wanted something gold and green to go with my black dress (plus, the bf was wearing a green shirt, almost like the base color of this polish).  The banquet was really fun, the first formal event DRD's had in a long time!

Okay, back to the polish.  The base color of Yara is a dusty olive green.  There are gold and green glitters dispersed throughout the polish, almost looking like a glass fleck polish.  But these aren't glass flecks, and the glitter is not fine enough to be a shimmer.  I really like this polish!  It's muted, but not boring, and the gold brings a little something different to the table.  All the warm undertones are really flattering on my yellow skin :)

Zoya's formula is usually superb, and this one doesn't disappoint either.  Two beautifully smooth, opaque coats shown in this picture.  More pics after the jump!  I liked this polish way too much to choose only 2 pics!

23. Zoya - Elke

Zoya Elke is one of those coral-toned polishes that were really big last year.  With the nice spring weather coming back, I felt like wearing something bright and warm, and Elke definitely fulfills those qualities.  Usually this isn't the type of color I reach for (I normally go for the slightly dusty, greyed-out tones), but when Zoya had their BOGO promotion, I decided to try something a little different.  I'm really glad I did :D  Elke is a coral-toned polish with gorgeous gold shimmer.  In indoors light, this polish seems to lean red on me.  However, the pink tones come out to play in the sunshine, and the shimmer like...explodes! XD  It makes my nails look like they're on fire!

Application was good on these polishes.  Shown is two coats, but you could get away with one slightly thicker coat for full opacity.  Elke is a little brushstroke-prone, but doesn't require too much effort to get it to look awesome :]  The wear time is pretty good too!  I think it's been a good 3 or 4 days, and so far, only tipwear (and one chip on my thumb, but I'm gonna say that's a fluke).

17. Essence - Irreplaceable

Today, I'm wearing Essence's Irreplaceable.  Irreplaceable is a sand-colored cream polish with gold shimmer.  The shimmer seems to be mostly gold, with some green and orange tones in certain lights.  The base is beige with a little bit of brown and grey thrown in.  This one is another favorite of mine.  Usually, I get bored of nudes fairly fast, but this one has a little something extra that keeps it interesting.    Again, I absolutely LOVE gold shimmer; it can spice up any nail polish color.

Application of Irreplaceable was smooth; no bald spots or dragging.  When I first got this polish, I was wondering if I'd actually get full coverage, or if it'd be sheer, but this polish is wonderfully opaque with 3 coats. You can still see the tiniest bit of VNL in the pictures, but you can't really see that in real life.

I really like the formula of Essence polishes, but I don't really like their brush.  It's a little too puffy and makes the polish get all over my cuticles.  I've gotten used to their brush, but it isn't my favorite (my favorite is the OPI pro-wide brush).

Irreplaceable is a very work-safe without being boring.  I think normally, such a cool-toned color would not look very flattering on my skin, but the gold shimmer gives the polish a little extra warmth that makes the polish look nice on me.  I remember when me and my bestie went to Ulta and saw this, we freaked out and grabbed this polish immediately; we liked it that much at first sight.  I'm very glad it did not disappoint :)  I really wish these Colour & Go polishes came in bigger bottles, so I wouldn't have to worry about using it all up.  I guess it's lucky that they're not LEs.

16. Essence - Choose Me!

Today's polish is a goodie from Essence called Choose Me!  Choose Me! is a teal cream with darker teal and golden-green shimmer.  Choose Me is actually so shimmer-packed that the pictures make it look like a foil.  This polish is absolutely gorgeous!  I got a lot of comments on this :)  I love the color teal and I love gold shimmer, so this is a definite favorite of mine!  It reminds me of sunlight reflected off of a clear lake, or looking down into the bottom of a pool.

I would say this polish is a little more green-toned in real life, with the brightness and shinyness of the first picture (look at how much that polish looks like a foil).  The first picture's a little bit too blue-toned though, and the second picture's a little bit too dark.  But look at that gold shimmer!  Awesome!

Application on this polish was fairly smooth.  I think Essence polishes work better with the Essie ridge-filling base coat, Fill the Gap!  When I used the Ulta polishes over Fill the Gap,  I got a lot of cuticle drag on the first coat.  With the Sally Hansens over the Essie, I got less dragging, but still noticeable bald spots.  The polishes would even out after 3 coats, but it still kind of bothered me.  However, the Essence polishes have no dragging whatsoever.  Shown above is 3 coats with a coat of Seche Vite on top.  Choose Me's drying time was faster than normal.

I really wish we had more Essence polishes available in the US.  I see swatches of the Essence polishes available in Europe, and there are just too many colors that I want from them!  Here, I can only find a small selection of 10 or so polishes at Ulta.  Some of the colors, like this one and Irreplaceable, are absolutely mesmerizing, but there are so many more in the Essence line that we just don't get here.