January 22, 2012

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. 

January 21, 2012

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!

January 19, 2012

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 CremeClairvoyant, 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.

January 16, 2012

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.

January 15, 2012

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.

January 13, 2012

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.

January 12, 2012

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.