I'm back with more brands from my stash. It's so interesting to see what colors I'm drawn to. This is also another exercise in purging my stash. The more I see how many similar polishes I have, the easier it will be to get rid of some of them. Thanks for indulging me during this arduous process.

Deborah Lippmann

Deborah Lippmann

Adorable minis!

Orly

Orly

My Zoyas were all over the place! Each time I took a photo, I remembered I had more sitting around in another drawer.

Zoya

Zoya

Zoya

This battle is a bit different because I haven't chosen suspected dupes, per se. Instead, I've simply chosen three (of many) Deborah Lippmanns that I have yet to try. I went through a phase of collecting a great deal of her polishes because I love the formula, brush, and bottle. In a short amount of time, I ended up with a lot of Lippmann polishes, which made the process of trying them seem overwhelming. Isn't that crazy? I fawn over how beautiful these polishes are and yet the prospect of trying them all overwhelms me. Strange, I know.



Anyway, I forgot to do a bottle shot, so let's jump right into it. The polishes I selected for this battle are Satin Doll, I Dreamed You, and I'm Not Innocent

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann Satin Doll is a warm tan with lots of silver pearl. The pearl reminds me of the pearl that is in Zoya Touch polishes. I don't love it. I'm not even sure I like it.




The formula is a great consistency, and the opacity built up nicely at three coats.

3 coats

Deborah Lippmann I Dreamed You is a soft pink pearl. It has an iridescent quality as sometimes the pearl looks slightly red or slightly copper. I can honestly say I only bought this because it was in a duo with another polish that I actually wanted. I like it, but I'm not sure I would wear it again.



I Dreamed You is a bit prone to brushstrokes, but a careful application (I applied quite haphazardly) would likely minimize that. The formula is on the thin side but not at all runny.

4 coats

Deborah Lippmann I'm Not Innocent is a light peach creme. When I'm shopping for soft shades, I tend to gravitate towards colors like this, so I probably have a few other polishes that are similar.



I experienced some streaking during application, and though it was opaque in three coats, I needed the fourth to even everything out.



Side note: If you've been on the hunt for work/interview appropriate shades, all of these fit the bill quite nicely.





Battle casualties: I Dreamed You and Satin Doll. I just don't like the finish on these, and I could live without these shades in my stash.



Wounded in action: I'm Not Innocent. I'm keeping this, but it is contingent on a comparison with other similar shades in my stash. If this is the best, it'll stay. If I find something else that applies better, into the purge pile it goes.



That's it for this week's battle. Which would you have kept? Are you more into nudes or brights?



Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

2 coats

Dior Lucky is a gorgeous pinky red creme. There's a bit of hidden shimmer in there, which I've noticed is in a lot of my Dior shades. Lucky is my kind of pink - rich and vibrant. This one is definitely a keeper.



The formula is lovely as usual. The pigmentation is top-notch - I could have stopped at one coat. I really love the brush as well. It's overall a really beautiful polish.



Dior Lucky (10ml/0.33 fl. oz.) retails for $23  and is available at Dior.com

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. You know how life goes.



I've started taking pictures of my stash, which has proved to be quite the task. Eventually I'd like to have close up shots of my entire stash, large group shots will have to do for now. Here's what I've accomplished so far.



Note: I do apologize for photo quality (or lack thereof); I only had enough time to take one picture of each group.

American Apparel. That's Light Year crowd surfing

China Glaze

China Glaze

Yep, more China Glaze

China Glaze, most from the Summer Neons collection

ETF silver capped China Glaze

HTF silver capped China Glaze

Essie

Essie

Essie

That's all for now! I can't believe how much my stash has grown since the last time I posted.

My lovely friend Lakeisha, of Refined and Polished, invited me to do a guest post on her blog. It features this summery mani:






Check out the details here!

2 coats

China Glaze Pink Plumeria is a warm pink with gold shimmer. Like most neons, it dries matte but is pictured with top coat. This is the shade I was looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint. I love the color.



However, the formula was just okay. It's slightly goopy, so I had to use thicker coats than I usually like to. I'm hoping the others from the Summer Neons collection have a better formula.

I'm taking a break from purging cremes to take a look at my ultimate vice: holos. I can't get enough of them! However, I thought it would make this whole process easier if I could purge from my beloved holo stash.

Layla Mercury Twilight, Gosh Holographic, Nfu.Oh 61

I only did comp pics because swatching each of these with aqua base would've taken more time than I had.

Pinky to middle: 2 coats Nfu.Oh 61, 2 coats Gosh Holographic, 3 coats Layla Mercury Twilight

I purchased my Nfu.Oh 61 October 2010, and it was one of the dud batches. I have a few other bottles that I'll have to compare it to.



Gosh Holographic is very holo, and out of these three, it looks the least dull indoors. I love how smooth this is.



Layla Mercury Twilight is the most holo of the bunch. It's gorgeous!



I think it's pretty clear that the battle casualty is Nfu.Oh 61. I think I've heard that 61 is back on track and no longer dud city, but I can't say for sure until I swatch my other bottles from more recent batches.



I'm going to keep Holographic and Mercury Twilight for now until I have a chance to comp them against some of my other silver holos.



Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thanks to everyone who entered my 600 follower giveaway! After the additional entries were added, there was a total of 114 entries.






The winner of the Layla Hologram Effect collection and a bottle of Nfu.Oh Aqua Base is







Congratulations, Johana! Please contact me from the email address you entered with to claim your prize.



I decided to also give away 1 Layla of choice to the following people:



























Congrats Vixxan, Jessie, and Melanie! Please contact me to claim your prize.





Thanks again to everyone who entered.:)

3 coats; natural lighting

with flash

Ozotic Pro 604 is a white gold scattered holo. I love the Ozotic scattered holos because the shimmer particles are so chunky and lovely. I can't do yellow golds or anything warmer than champagne, so I am really happy to have this. I have seen people note that it pulls green on them, but it stayed a true white gold on me. I much prefer this to Glitter Gal White Gold Sparkle.



The formula is awesome. It not only applies smoothly, but it also dries super quickly.



In case you were not aware, Oztoic Pro is discontinuing their holo and duochrome lines. Now would be the ideal time to get any polishes you have on your lemming list! Just be clear, this includes their 500 series only, so 604 is not in danger of discontinuation yet.



I would suggest getting your Ozotics from Kim at overalbeauty.com. She has wonderful customer service!

2 coats

Dior Riviera is orange coral creme with super secret shimmer. They could have left the shimmer out, to be quite honest. I suppose it adds a slight sheen, but it's negligible. The color itself is gorgeous, though.



The formula is perfection! Riviera basically applied itself.



The secret shimmer in Riviera made me want some visible shimmer, so I layered Deborah Lippmann Diamonds and Pearls on top.

1 coats Diamonds and Pearls over 2 coats Riviera

Deborah Lippmann Diamonds and Pearls is a gorgeous peachy gold shimmer. One coat added just the right amount of shimmer I was craving without making it over the top.



I typically go for pink corals, so Riviera is a nice addition to my collection. I'm thinking Sally Hansen Caribbean Coral may be close in color to Riviera, so I can't say it is extremely unique or that Riviera is a must-have. However, the formula is wonderful, and I don't regret my purchase.



Dior Riviera (10ml/0.33 fl. oz.) retails for $23  and is available at Dior.com

Deborah Lippmann Diamonds and Pearls (15 ml/0.5 fl. oz)  retails for $16 and is available at Deborahlippmann.com

Nails Inc. Portobello is a squishy coral neon - three of my favorite words. It's coral that definitely has more orange in it than pink or red. It's less red ad slightly lighter than Deborah Lippmann Party Girl, in case you were wondering.



The formula is a nice consistency, and I had no issues with applying this one.



I've accumulated so many neons in the past few weeks that I'm sure I have something that is similar to this. I will do a comp of some of my recent acquisitions. For the meantime, though, I'm glad I bought this.



Nails Inc. Portobello retails for $9.50 and is available at Sephora stores and online.

Orly Mermaid Tale is from the new Glam FX collection, which is a collection of glitters. Apparently, Orly plans to release a total of twenty-two glitters. Remember when China Glaze released fifty glitters? Good times! So far, the Glam FX collection consists of five glitters, and Mermaid Tale is definitely my favorite.

1 coat over AA Peacock

Orly Mermaid Tale is a clear base with green micro glitter, blue and green mini sequins, and well as larger green holo sequins. There's a lot going on, but it all works really well.








The formula is definitely thick, so I added a few drops of thinner before I even started applying. I had no problems with the application. I dabbed the glitter on rather than painting strokes.

1 coat

Here's American Apparel Peacock on its own. I love my AA's because so many of them are one-coaters and apply like a dream. Plus, they're only $6! So cheap. :)



I definitely should have made sure I had a color accurate picture before slapping Mermaid Tale on top. It's much more teal and a bit deeper than what's in the picture.





Orly Mermaid Tale retails for $10 and is available wherever Orly is sold. If you have a beauty club card, they are $8.99 at Sally Beauty.

American Apparel Peacock retails for $6 and is available at americanapparel.net

This week's battle features three mid-tone purple cremes. Surprisingly, I don't own a lot of these. The more examine my stash, the more I'm learning about what colors interest me. So far, coral is hands down the winner. What color dominates your stash?



Anyway, into the arena:

American Apparel African Violet, Barielle Grape Escape, OPI

Disclaimer: Purples are always a challenge to photograph, but I tried to
get the most color accurate photos (to my eye and monitor) that I could. I sacrificed focus for color, so sorry for any
blurriness you see.

2 coats

American Apparel African Violet has more of a red undertone than I expected. I think slightly warmer purples look better on me than the cool ones.



I thought African Violet would be on the thick and a one-coater like most of my AA's. However, its consistency is thinner and a bit tough to control on the nail. I was prepared for it on the second coat, though, and it was totally manageable.

2 coats

Barielle Grape Escape is just a touch cooler than African Violet, but it is almost negligible. They are pretty much dupes. The formula on this is quite similar to African Violet's formula as well.

3 coats

OPI Funky Dunkey is much cooler than both African Violet and Grape Escape. The formula is also superb compared to the other two. It practically applied itself, which is something that almost never happens with OPIs. Pleasant surprise.

3 coats of each

Battle casualty: Barielle Grape Escape. Another Barielle bites the dust!



I chose African Violet over Grape escape because I like the bottle and the brush better. Funky Dunkey's wonderful formula and cool undertone saved it from the purge pile.



Which polish(es) would you have purged?



Have a wonderful weekend!