Nails: January 2012

Here I am, ready to get the ball rolling on this resolution and talk about nails. I don't know whether these posts are going to be weekly, monthly, per manicure or some combination of those. But seeing as it is the last day of the month, I'll just do a round up of all my January manicures.

Manicure #1: Nerd Lacquer "Don't Blink" This was a surprise Christmas gift from Taylor and I loveloveloved this polish. It's a gorgeous dove grey with small silver and black glitter and larger hexagonal silver glitter. The black glitter really makes this polish and gives it a great speckled effect. Right after I took this picture, I broke half the nails on my right hand while trying to open a stuck sliding door. Ouch.

Manicure #2: Essie "Very Cranberry" with Finger Paints "Twisted" on top

My first manicure on my newly short nails. "Very Cranberry" was another surprise polish from Taylor. I know that red is probably the most common color for nail polish, but it is the color I have the least of. This polish leans a little pink and has a definite sheen to it. I wouldn't say it's a full on shimmer but there is definitely something that keeps it from being a creme. The shimmer is very, very subtle. I purchased "Twisted" the same day this picture was taken, so I had to throw it on top to see how it looked. "Twisted" is a top coat with blue, red, purple, orange and green pieces of iridescent flake glitter in it. I love flake glitter and it didn't disappoint over this mid-tone red. I am looking forward to trying it over some darker shades.

Manicure #3: Nerd Lacquer "Cold and Calculating"

Shock and surprise, another polish from Taylor. A deep purple with silver glitter and larger hex pieces. I don't love this one as much as "Don't Blink" but I still really liked it. For some reason, I had a hard time getting the glitter pieces in this polish to lay completely flat, which made the finish rough even with a top coat.

Manicure #4: Zoya "Yara"

Yep. Taylor polish. I swear, I buy 96% of my own polishes, but I got a bunch for Christmas and felt compelled to wear them one right after another. I wish I had taken more pictures of this polish, because it's much prettier than this photograph would leave you to believe. "Yara" is an olive green that is loaded with gold shimmer. The shimmer really glows when the sun hits it, but unfortunately this picture was taken indoors, near my desk and in a rush.

Manicure #5: MAC "Blue India"

I bought this polish! I picked this up at a CCO in Charlotte over the summer. It was limited edition from MAC's Liberty of London collection and I had admired swatches of it online when it was released. I never purchase MAC polishes at full price because they are kind of expensive and the formula is not that great. This was also a little difficult to capture in a photo. It is a deep greyed blue that tends to photograph too bright or too dark.

Manicure #6: China Glaze "Sunset Sail"

This was a manicure fail. I should probably mention that I am trying to work through all my untried polishes this year as well. As I was looking though my stash, I pulled "Sunset Sail" thinking that I had never used it. Wrong. As soon as I finished my manicure, I realized that I wore this back in September and I hated it. This polish looks fine at first, but the longer I had it on, the more and more I felt like an old lady. The color goes from peach to dirty band-aid in like, 15 minutes. I'm sure this looks lovely on other people, but not me.

Manicure #7: China Glaze "VII"

"VII" is a pretty straightforward raisin colored creme. It was nothing spectacular, but It applied nicely and I probably could have gotten away with one coat. I always feel like an actual grown up when I wear colors like this, which is simultaneously nice and no fun.

Manicure #7: Essie "Fair Game"

I wasn't a huge fan of this polish, but I liked it more than I thought I would. Does that make sense? I was talked into buying this polish nearly a year ago, although I wasn't totally sold on it. I pulled it out for a manicure and then looked at a dozen streaky, frosty swatches of it online. Fortunately, it had enough shimmer to keep it from looking like a complete 1980's frost nightmare. I think it would probably look better on shorter nails, so I don't know how often I'll be reaching for this one.

Manicure #8: Orly "Androgynie"

This polish was somewhat of a letdown, though I still like how it looks. The bottle looks amazing, but that amazingness doesn't translate to the nail quite as well as I would have hoped. The main issue is that the black base is sheer enough to require several coats, but opaque enough to completely cover the glitter in previous coats. Next time, I'll use this over a black base to maximize the glitter. Okay folks, there you have it. All my manicures for the month of January, including the one I am currently wearing. Hopefully I can get it together and make an collective January book post sometime this week.