Zoya Marley

Keep reading to see if you are the winner of my Revlon Whimsical giveaway winner!


Zoya has described Marley as "lightest baby lavender touched with a hint of gray-silver and a subtle pearl finish." You can't really see the gray-silver on the nails, but you can see it in the bottle.  It's a great color to wear in the winter if you are sick of wearing dark. Marley is subtle without being boring. 

Marley did not apply as easily as some of my other Zoyas, but it could be user error. Different types of finish applies differently, so I might have been picking up too much on my brush and needed to have thinner coats to get a more even finish. Overall I am glad I got Marley. I don't have this color in my stash yet and glad to have her.

And now for the winner of Revlon Whimsical is............. Tiffany Crooker!

Please email me at blogthenail@gmail.com to claim your prize. Congratulations!

Review: Butter London Powder Room

Today I am reviewing Butter London Powder Room. It is an acetone free nail polish remover. I got a tiny bottle as part of a set when I purchased Yummy Mummy. It has a floral smell but not too overwhelming. The thing with acetone free polish remover is that it is not very good at removing nail polish. I usually buy removers with some acetone in it. But this is not the case with Powder Room. I used it to remove my Clairvoyant mani and it worked like a champ. A little goes a long away and I like that it doesn't have a strong chemical smell.

It is pricey though..... $5.00 for a 2 fl oz. I might get more when this buttle runs out but I won't use it for every removal.

Icing Magnetix Polish Gold

I've been wanting magnetic polishes for a while, but just couldn't quite plop down $16 for a bottle of Nail Inc. So when I read The PolishAholic's post yesterday I was ecstatic! She showed swatches of Icing's version of magnetic polishes and they were only $9 a bottle PLUS buy 1 get 1 50% off. There is a Claire's at my local mall but no Icing. Coincidentally, I was meeting my family for lunch near another mall and that mall had an Icing store. I really thought it was my LUCKY day.

Since I've never tried magnetic polish before, I decided to only buy 2, but there are 4 in the collection: gold, silver, blue, and red. I bought gold and blue. If you don't know what magnetic polish is, it's basically regular polish, but the cap has a magnet that you place just above your nail for about 10 seconds. Then magically a pattern appears! The pattern will vary depending on how you position the magnet above your nails.

Today I am showing you the Gold/Green version. IT IS AWESOME!

That's my thumb on the magnet part of the cap. The little "lip" is where you place on your cuticle so you don't accidentally touch the polish with the magnet. The direction says to apply a thick coat and place the magnet directly over for 10 seconds. What I did was, I applied a base coat, a coat of color, then another coat of color, magnet, then top coat. When applying the second coat of color, you'll have to use the magnet right after you apply the color on each nail. It is more work but well worth it. The result is more than what I had hoped for! I LOVE IT! I love the gold flecks too. I'll be showing the blue one with a different pattern another day. But out of the 2, this one I like far better.

You can't purchase Icing online, and I have yet to confirm if Claire's will be carrying this line.

Butter London Jaffa

I had no idea what a Jaffa was but this color is just to DIE for! The orange is bright and vibrant but it's not in your face like a neon. And it's my favorite finish, creme. I love can't wait to wear it for spring/summer.

So it took me a bit longer to figure out what a Jaffa was. First Wikipedia said it was a seaport of the  Mediterranean coast, but I don't think that was it. It has to be something English related. Next on the search was Cricket, I knew I was on the right track because that is an English sport. "Jaffa (also corker) an exceptionally well bowled, practically unplayable delivery, usually but not always from a fast bowler. Taken from the idea that a 'Jaffa' is the best type of Orange." I don't know what any of that meant except for the last word, ORANGE!


Jaffa is a fruit, or more specifically, a type of orange! In the UK and Ireland, they eat something call a Jaffa Cake which consist of the orange flavoring. I love learning about other cultures.


On to the swatches!

The color is bright but not off putting, not to me at least. And it doesn't make my skin look weird, which is a big bonus. This is 2 coats, perfectly opaque.


BTW, have you ever wonder how this weird rectangular bottle actually works? I thought it would be really hard to hold and pain until I bought one. Check it out!

Have I mentioned how much I love Butter London? I only have one more Butter London in my collection to show you but I will wait a little bit. That one has my favorite name EVER. 

Butter London Yummy Mummy

::don't forget about my giveaways::

I just LOVE Butter London polish names! Today I am showing you Butter London Yummy Mummy. I knew mummy meant mom but I didn't know exactly what "yummy mummy" meant so Wikipedia to the rescue. "Yummy mummy is a slang term used in the United Kingdom to describe young, attractive and wealthy mothers." Think Victoria Beckham. 


Yummy Mummy, the polish, is a beautiful beige color with a slight sliver shimmer. The shimmer is not too noticeable but it keeps the color from looking flat. It is a wonderful nude and it works well with my skin tone. This is great to wear to work or on a mellow day. 

I only needed to apply 2 coats for opacity. The formula was great. If Butter London wasn't so expensive, I would have more...... I really like their products!

Cult Nails Clairvoyant AKA Unicorn Puke

Super sad news, Maria from Cult Nails announced that the lab won't be able to make any more Clairvoyant AKA Unicorn Puke because one of the ingredients is no longer available. I was lucky enough to be able to pre-order before Thanksgiving and got the whole super power collection. So I decided to show case Clairvoyant today. Also, I received Cult Nail's base and top coats yesterday so I will be reviewing those as well.

The line up for today's NOTD (nail of the day):

L to R: Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulatior, Cult Nails Get It On base coat, Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat, Cult Nails Clairvoyant, Wet n Wild Black Creme.

I won't give review on the Qtica, I am waiting for 2 full weeks of use to do that.

If you don't know what Clairvoyant is, here is what I know. Clairvoyant was previously named Unicorn Puke. Only a limited amount was released and that was it. But Maria, the owner of Cult Nails, brought it back renaming it Clairvoyant. It is a purple tinted base with lots and lots of flakies. It is meant for layering but I believe with 4 coats, you can get it opaque enough to wear it along.

I wanted to layer and here is the result:

I applied one coat of each: Qtica, base, Black Creme, Clairvoyant, and then top coat.

The bloggers RAVE about Wet n Wild Black Creme saying that it's the best creme polish out there. It was pretty cheap and applied easy. If I was going to wear it alone, I would have to apply 2 coats, but since I was layering, I decided to do just one.

I thought the Get It On base coat did well to grab on to the polish. It was not necessary for me to apply another base coat with the Qtica acting as well. But I did anyways.

For just one coat of Clairvoyant, a lot of FLAKIES got on the nails! There are blue, orange and green yummy-ness. Wicked Fast top coat is pretty great too. In my opinion, it does NOT dry as fast as Sache Vite, but it smells a whole lot better. Actually, I don't remembering it smelling at all which is a big plus with the hubby.

On a side note, see how bad my index nail broke?? BOOOOOOO

Cult Nails could be purchased on their website. What I love about Cult Nails is that they are a 4 Free brand! I find that nail polishes without camphor stinks A LOT less. I hope the lab can figure out some other substitute, because everyone should have a bottle of Clairvoyant.

Finger Paints Asylum

I am flying home today after a weekend in Denver house hunting. We had to get up at 4 am for a 7 am flight. I am sitting in the airport now, editing this post because I know I will be dead the rest of the day. And I miss my kids like crazy so we will be doing whatever they want :)

Flakies! If you don't know what they are, they are basically the new "glitter." Flakies are just that, flakes of different colors in a clear (sometimes tinted) base. Today I am showing you Finger Paint Asylum. There are 5 bottles in the collection but I only bought Asylum and Twisted. I feel that the other flakies are too similar to have bought all 5.

This is Asylum over A-England Lancelot. Asylum consists of red and blue flakes but since they are holographic, the flakes can look orange or green and sometimes purple.

I love buying these "special effects" top coats because they bring new life to the polishes you own already.

Depending on how much flakies you want, you can apply just 1 coat or if you're like me, and wanted a flaky explosion, I applied 2. The formula was easy to work with and with a clear base you can apply this to virtually any color polish and it will not change the color. Flakies are big this year! See if you can score some at Sally Beauty Supply.

Zoya Faye

Still super depressed about my broken nails, because it took my a long time to grow them out. Now I am on day 2 of using Qtica Growth Stimulation treatment, so far so good. I will give full review after 2 weeks of use.

Anyways, on to today's swatch, Zoya Faye!

She (I like to call all zoya polishes "she") is described on the website to be "A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle." The gold sparkle is unavoidable. It is in your FACE, which makes photographing the mauve part hard. 

My nails look even shorter in pictures! ::Sniff Sniff:: Faye is really feminine which is not really my thing. But She is just SO pretty to look at.

 The formula was easy to apply, like most of my Zoyas. I did use 3 coats to achieve a darker color. Because of the gold glitter, this will be harder to remove than a regular polish.

Please excuse my dry cuticles, have I mentioned that I live in a very cold and dry state? I am constantly using lotion and cuticle cream, otherwise they would be a lot worse. 


You can buy zoya at zoya.com or in store at Ulta.

A-England Lancelot

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! I have a foreigner to show you today.

Boy oh boy, did I have trouble with this one or WHAT? A-England is from, you guessed it, England (unlike Butter London)! Lancelot is from The Mythicals collection with characters from King Arthur mythology. Lancelot is a jelly/creme polish that I always always have trouble with. It doesn't matter what brand it is, I have trouble applying jelly/creme. I know this looks black, but it is actually blackened red. If I could only apply it right, it would look awesome.

It looks like my nail had dust particles on it and I painted my nails before they were completely cleaned off.

From everything I have read, when wearing dark nail polish, your nails are suppose to short. My nails were short so I decided to swatch Lancelot. I'm going to give this another try some day. I'm an inpatient person and this is the result. It's not bad, but it's not perfect either.

I ordered 2 more from The Mythicals collection and they should be here next week or there after. I can't wait to try the other colors. Quite honestly, I can't remember which one I ordered on the top of my head. But hopefully by then, my nails will have grown out more and cuticles will be in better shape.

You can purchase A-England at http://www.a-england.co.uk/ or if you don't feel like making an international purchase, Llarowe is their US stockist. BTW, Adina, the owner of A-England, has mentioned on Facebook that a new line is coming out soon! I can't wait to get my hands on some of those.

Zoya Trixie

Zoya Trixie, Hellooooooooo foil! It is as shiny IRL (in real life) as it is in the picture. On Zoya's website, Trixie is described as "Stunning light silver with a sparkling metallic foil finish." It She makes me wanna PARTAY!

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This color is not for the faint of heart. People can notice this color on your hand from miles away. The formula was very easy to apply. Many foil finish polishes can leave streaky marks but not Trixie. 

I couldn't stop looking at it her after I was done painting my nails. She demands your attention.

This color really is great for "night activities." I don't think it's work safe. Who can get any work done when your nails are "bling-ing?" I have a couple of silvers in my stash but Trixie is by far my favorite! Trixie can be purchased at zoya.com.

Wet n Wild Megalast I Need a Refresh-Mint 218A

I really shouldn't go into drugstores or any stores that sell nail polishes. I can't leave without buying something. The great thing about drugstores is that you can find nail polishes at any budget! Wet n Wild is CHEAP compared to other brands I buy. Most of polishes are under $5, this one I'm showing today, I got for $1.99.

Went n Wild megalast, I believe, has undergo a bottle changed. It's not a new line, but I think it has a new bottle and also a new brush. The brush is very similar to Sally Hansen Insta-Dry line. It is wide and stiff, and I know some bloggers do not like these type of brushes. For my wide nail bed, this brush was perfect.

I was trying to go outside of my comfort zone when I decided to get I Need a Refresh-Mint. Everyone is pushing spring colors now, and I don't have a mint green, $2 is the perfect price for trying colors.

It is a cream finish (my favorite) and only needed 2 coat to reach opacity. It reminds me of Easter and Jelly Beans.

I might go back to ShopKo and get more colors.....

I am sick of winter... I live in a very cold state and winter can drag on forever. I Need a Refresh-Mint is the perfect pick me up for those winter blues.

I broke a nail

I broke a nail today, it was just a tiny break but I decided to just cut them all down. The quality of my nails at the tip weren't very good anyways. It was thin due to peeling. I am hoping that with my nail treatment and constantly using hand lotion/cuticle balm that my nails will grow stronger. ** Fingers Crosses **

Luckily, I had swatch 2 colors before the break so I will still be posting in the coming days. Anyways, here are my new short nails!

This is one coat of Nail Tek Foundation II, one coat of Nail Tek Intense Therapy and one coat of NYC Grand Central Station.

NYC New York Color Grand Central Station is my favorite drugstore quick dry top coat. It dries fairly quickly and it is cheap. Less than 2 dollars a bottle and you can get them at Target or Walmart. Since it's a smaller bottle, you don't have to worry about the formula getting goopy when it reaches the bottom like other top coats. 

Butter London No More Waity, Katie

In honor of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's 30th birthday today, I give you: Butter London: No More Waity, Katie!

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, formally known as Kate Middleton, was dubbed Waity Katie by Londoners for the length of time she was dating Price William. Personally, I think she is just lovely! She was made to be a princess. Heck, if I was dating a prince, I wouldn't care how long I'd have to wait.

Now on to the polish, it is a dusty purple base with lavender glitters. The first coat was sheer, the second coat was blotchy, and the 3 coat was opaque.

I guess if I am being super critical, the overall result is kinda patchy. But you can't really tell from a distance.

But I am not being super critical, I love the color. I love the bottle. I love the name! Even though I had to apply 3 coats, they formula was easy to work with.

The color looks darker indoor but you can see the glitter/shimmer more indoor as well.

I got this bottle (along with 2other Butter London polishes) at Nordstrom when they were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale. Butter London retails for $14 each and can be purchased at Nordstrom, Ulta, Sephora and various other places. I know it's a bit more pricey but splurge once in a while! Oh, BTW, Butter London is in fact an US brand, not actually from London.

NOTD: Nude Sandwich

I have a quick one for everybody today: Nude Sandwhich!

We are going to a baby blessing today and I didn't want anything overpowering. Plus it is nice to wear nude after wearing a vampy color. I like to mix it up like that. Unfortunatly, I did this mani at 2 am because I was phsycho couldn't sleep. At, 4 am I really needed to sleep so I did, but it really wasn't dry enough so my thumb now has a big ol' sheet mark on it.  The good thing about light colors, though, is that you can't see imperfections as much. I hope it won't bother me too much today. I'm sure it will be off by the end of the night .
On to the recipe:

Base coat first of course, then a thin coat of Sephora by OPI :Nonfat Soy Half Caff. It is very sheer and usually a 3 coater to reach opacity.

Then I added a coat of Orly Shinning Star. I picked this up recently on clearance at a Sally Beauty beauty store. It looks like it is from an older collection, not their regular line. IT has a clear base and gold holographic glitters. It was easy to apply and the glitters were evenly scattered.

After that, I added another coat of NSHC. NSCH is not a jelly and usually you sandwich glitter with a jelly finish polish. I didn't have any nude jelly polish so I made do.

As you can see, the combination is still pretty sheer. VNL (visible nail line) galore, but I don't mind. The glitter isn't overwhelming but clearly there. I love it!

What do you think?

Review: Lovely ME:EX Nail Polish Remover

To be totally honest, this was a impulse buy. I thought the bottle is cute and it has a small opening for dispensing the remover. The pink smells like strawberry and the purple smells like lavender. When we asked how much they were, the sales girl said "two dollars." I thought, oh! That's not bad. But now that I am thinking about it at home, 2 dollars for a tiny bottle of polish remover is pretty expensive....

The solution is mild, the smell is minimal. It's comparable to Zoya's remove+ but not as strong. It removed glitter polish like a champ.  The Lovely ME:EX remover does have acetone in it but didn't dry out my skin. $2 for a 100 ml bottle is pretty steep compared to other brands but I was on vacation! Even if I want to get more, I wouldn't be able to. I think I will reserve these for glitter polishes and use my Beauty Secrets polish remover for everything else.

Most of you will not be able to find this polish remover because I found it in a Korean beauty boutique called The Face Shop. I found this store in CA while visiting family over the holidays. They do have a website but it's in Korean. I tried using Google translator but no success. On Wikipedia, it says they have stores on the west coast and you can also find their products at Walgreens, but I've never seen it before. If you do, let me know!

Zoya Yasmeen

There is no better way to kick off a nail blog than with a purple nail polish! I love purple, A LOT. So you will be seeing different shades of purple through out the year. I am starting with one of my favorite brands, Zoya. Zoya is a 4 free brand (toluene, formaldehyde, DBP (phthalates) and camphor free). Zoya is very customer friendly and they have free promos all the time. They are currently running a promo right now that I will tell you more about it later. But first.....




Zoya Yasmeen!

** natural light**

Yasmeen is described on Zoya's website as "Dark blue-toned purple base with very strong red-toned medium purple shimmer and hints of gold duochrome. The ultimate complex purple for maximum drama." I don't really see the gold duochrome, but it's lovely nonetheless. 

It applied easy, very opaque. I applied 2 coats for the pictures along with base and top coat. 

** bounced flash **

** bounced flash **

I am more into vampy colors so Yasmeen is right up my ally. Now about that promotion:

Zoya is starting the new year by letting everyone try 2 Zoya polishes for free! All you have to pay is the shipping ($6.95). If you spend $25 dollars, then shipping is free! You can't beat that. It is very hard to find Zoya in stores, I know Ulta sells them but not all the colors. You can read about the promo HERE.

I will be posting my own giveaway tomorrow.... so stay tune!