Misa Living On The Fast Lane Collection, Spring 2009

Ooh, I just got the latest collection from Misa, Living On The Fast Lane, and I am so excited! Check it out!



Dirty Sexy Money. Some sort of dusty green-turquoise creme. I have no idea how to describe this color other than freakin' sweet. Dirty Sexy Money is totally unique- I don't own a single color like this. I can't even think of a color to compare it to- maybe if you mixed some green and grey into China Glaze For Audrey? Who knows. I'm in love. Dirty Sexy Money also has a retro kind of look to it, and it really kinda does look like dirty money.


On The Edge. Stunning dark blue creme. Indoors, it's quite a bit darker and more subdued looking, but outside in the sunlight the color really pops. It's bold and dramatic. What's not to love?


Push Upon It. Rich, pigmented berry creme. This color breaks my camera! I can't seem to get a good picture of it. It's like the picture, but darker, deeper, more purple and not as glowy looking. It's close to Zoya Moxie, they have a similar 'feel' to them. I will try to figure out how to get a more accurate shot of this.


Right Here Now, No More Later. Bright sky-blue creme. WHOA. Bright! The picture speaks for itself- this color really stands out. It's cheerful.


Speed Of Life. Orange creme. Orange!! I love orange!! This is a lighter orange, not too deep like a true pumpkin orange would be, but it's not neon, either. It has a soft look to it, like Halloween candy or orange sherbet. Truly beautiful.



Stop Rewinding, Just Fast Forward. Bright coral-red creme. I've been seeing a lot of this color lately. It's like some of the other colors in this collection: Bright, but not neon. It dries shiny. Very rich, very punchy, great spring and summer pedicure color. I imagine that this color would look good on any skintone.

Overall, I'm super-excited about this collection. I have two new favorites, Dirty Sexy Money and Speed Of Life. The creme formula really makes these colors stand out. With all the shimmer I've been wearing lately, these are quite a refreshing change. There's just something about cremes in bright colors that makes your nails look perfect. I love them.

Sure, not all of the colors are completely unique- I could probably find a couple duplicates for On The Edge, Push Upon It and Stop Rewinding Just Fast Forward, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful. I really like how this spring collection is not your stereotypical spring collection. No pastels, no pink! I dig it. Spring collections are my least favorite, and this one is a sigh of relief for me. It was fun to swatch, unlike swatching 24857 shades of pastel pink and red.

The formula is perfect. No issues at all. Smooth like butter. These also, oddly enough, dried much faster than most of my other Misa polishes. I don't know if it's because of the pigment of these particular shades, or if it's the creme formula or what, but I like it. Fast drying polishes are an absolute must for me, I don't have the patience to deal with polishes that never dry even with quick-dry topcoat and drops *cough*CND*cough*.

If you are a fan of blue or green, you need to check out Dirty Sexy Money. You will either love it or hate it. I love it. Like I said, it's totally unique, one of a kind, can't think of a single polish to match it.

One final observation: These smooth, glassy, perfect creme finish nails are just screaming KONAD ME!!!! KONAD ME NOW!!!!!!!

OPI South Beach Collection Spring/Summer 2009

OPI South Beach Collection - Spring/Summer 2009. Release date is February 4th.

Pics first, opinions second :)


Bronzed To Perfection. A warm reddish-bronze with awesome flaky shimmer. Very strange shade choice for spring, but I'm digging it. The shimmer in it is what makes it stand out to me- instead of tiny, round particles it has itty-bitty little irregular shaped shimmer.


Clubbing Til Sunrise. Shimmery, orangey gold. Reminds me of maybe a cross between OPI 18k Ginza Gold and OPI Live From NY... It's OPI!



Conga-Line Coral. Shimmery reddish coral. I like the shimmery finish, but I can't say I really like the shade. It's too in-between for me. I need something that stands out.



Done Out In Deco. Pale lilac that leans a little bit blue. I love this one. Very spring-appropriate, another "Easter Egg" type shade. It's a lot lighter than I had expected it to be, and it is somewhere in between lilac and periwinkle.


Feelin' Hot-Hot-Hot! Bright pink creme. I know that a lot of people will really love this color, but it's just not for me. First of all, I hate the name- it instantly brings to mind that incredibly irritating song that drives me insane. Second, this could easily be mistaken for a dozen different OPI polishes... Elephantastic Pink comes to mind first. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the color itself, it is a very pretty hot pink. It's just that it feels done to death.



Miami Beet. Rich beet-purple creme. Whoa, this one was a surprise! it looked really uninteresting on the promotional shot, but I love this on the nail. Just goes to show me that I can't always judge my favorites based on the promo pics. This is a little more of a vibrant purple in real life, my camera couldn't pick up the richness of this shade.


OPI On Collins Ave. Very bright orange-red. Maybe more orange than red. This is a really cool color- for some reason it reminds me of shrimp. OPI Cajun Shrimp maybe? I want to do a pedicure in this color. I've really been drawn to near-neon orange-reds lately.


Overexposed In South Beach. Shimmery purple. My favorite out of the collection! Again, looks nothing like I thought it would from seeing the promotional pictures. It's saturated and shimmery and reminds me a lot of OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not.


Paint My Moji-Toes Red. Muted red creme. Very muted, actually. So much so that it looks almost mauve in the bottle. I know that the use of the word "mojito" in the name is just so they can make a toes pun, but I really think that this should have been green. Mojito says green to me! Again, this color will probably be really popular with the average salon client, but I can't see a whole lot of nail junkies being excited about another red polish.


Party In My Cabana. Bright pink creme. Wait, didn't I just see this color? Zzzzz, booooring. Okay, I'm being harsh. Again, nothing wrong with the color, but it's been done to death.


Sand In My Suit. Shimmery, sandy nude. This really does remind me of sand. This is not my type of color at ALL, but I have to admit, I actually like it. At first I thought it was ugly, but then I put it on and it really grew on me. I like the silvery shimmer.



Suzi & The Lifeguard. Shimmery light pink. The shimmer in this baby-pink shade is very fine, almost to the point of being a frost. Very cute, very sweet. It reminds me of seashells.


I have very mixed feelings about this collection. Nothing in this collection really excites me. On one hand, it's all very work-appropriate, conservative and feminine and will most likely be a well-loved collection by a lot of women. On the other hand, it's too safe and there's really not a unique shade in the whole collection.

I do really like a few of the shades- Overexposed In South Beach, Miami Beet, Bronzed To Perfection, Done Out In Deco, OPI On Collins Ave. Wait... that's almost half the collection, isn't it? Okay, I like half the collection. That's reasonable. I was just hoping to really love the entire thing, like I have with so many OPI collections in the past.

I will admit that I know absolutely nothing about South Beach. The only thing that comes to mind when I think of South Beach is the South Beach Diet. I can picture the cover of the book, a metallic shade of green and aqua. Sparkling sea water. And that's what I think is missing from the collection. Water! South Beach is still a beach, and beaches have water, right? This collection could have used a seafoam green, an ocean blue, even a turquoise or a mother-of-pearl seashell shade. When I think of beaches, I think of fun, lively colors- swimsuits, sparkling water, beach balls, tropical drinks, sunshine. The OPI South Beach seems like a sleepy, vacant beach next to a retirement home. The colors look weathered and washed out, like they need a new coat of paint.

I know, I'm probably in the minority here, but I feel like this collection is missing something.

That being said, I'll move on to application issues. There are none. These polishes apply amazingly well, they're silky smooth and most shades only need two coats for complete opacity. Even with one coat, these colors aren't streaky or uneven at all. OPI must have really been working on their three-free formula, because this is a huge improvement! No running, no globbing, no overly thick polish. Just perfect. Dreamy, even.

That's my take on it. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. It's just okay. I wish they would have been a little more 'risky' in the color choices, or at least had a little more variety within the collection. Red, red, pink, pink, pink, nude, brown, purple. Maybe OPI has something really super-exciting planned for us in upcoming seasons. What do you think?

Zoya Twist Collection Spring 2009

Zoya Twist. Swatches first, then I'll give my take on this awesome spring collection.



Barbie. Just as the name implies, it's a bright Barbie pink. It looks like a creme, but there is a small amount of subtle hot pink shimmer in this. This is a really cute color. I don't normally wear pink, but I can definitely see myself wearing this because it's a pink that's not subtle. This pink says, "Yeah, I like girly pink, you got a problem with that?" Barbie is sheer on the first coat, but completely opaque on the second coat. If you wanted to wear this as a sheer, you definitely could because it's not streaky at all.




Cassi. A medium pinky coral with silvery shimmer. Another Barbie-type color. This would make a really cute pedicure. Cassi has that pretty Zoya shimmer that I love- it's like tiny little crystal flakes! This is also sheer on the first coat and mostly opaque on the second coat (this picture is two coats).



Harley. Oh hell yes. This color is awesome! It's a light shimmering concrete grey with just a hint of coppery sparkle. It's like a cross between OPI Sheer Your Toys and Sephora By OPI Run With It. I love this. I have been waiting for Zoya to release a nice grey polish and I am soooo excited that they created Harley! Woohoo! Grey rocks!!!



Jo. First of all, please excuse the tipwear. The minute I saw it, I HAD to wear it, so I slapped it on just-oiled nails with no basecoat or topcoat, and then I decided to scrub the bathtub. I'm surprised it lasted long enough for me to take a picture of it! Anyway, Jo. Dreamy overcast blue. It really says spring to me- it reminds me of a rainy day. There's a small amount of blue and silver shimmer in this, but again, it's subtle. I really adore this color. It makes me feel calm. It's odd for a color to effect my mood, but this one makes me feel all sorts of unexpected emotions. Strange. Awesome.


Malia. Light purple cream. Love at first sight. And you know what's really cool about this color? It's totally opaque in one coat. Shade-wise, it's somewhere in between Rescue Beauty Lounge Purple Haze and OPI Do You Lilac It?. Very springy- reminds me of Easter eggs! It's also not a bright purple shade- it's muted. Cloudy purple.


Moxie. The oddball of the collection. It's a rich crushed-berry creme. Also opaque in one coat! I suppose that this color is also a little muted, but it really stands out among the pastel shades in this collection. I'm not complaining- this is a beautiful color! This is just screaming for some Konad art.

Overall, this is a strong collection. Three feminine colors for the traditionalists and three unique colors for the hardcore nail people like us. I am quite pleased at that trade-off. Normally spring collections are very blah for me, but this one is different. I can foresee Harley being a big favorite with everyone. I'm already wearing Jo and I can't stop looking at my fingers.

The formula on these is top notch. All of them were the perfect texture and didn't even hint at giving me a problem. They were all smooth and perfect without having that gooey, drippy three-free texture. No issues in the formula department.

And on a slightly related note, I got the chance to try out Zoya's new ridgefiller, Get Even, and I'm in love! Due to some health issues, I have recently developed severe ridges on two of my nails and I've been using Seche Base to fill them, but it wasn't quite cutting it. I've also used Lippmann ridge filling base coat as well as OPI ridge filler, but Seche seemed to be the best so far. Not anymore! Zoya Get Even is exactly what I needed. I used it in these pictures- can you even tell where the ridges were?

I'll post more about that later (as well as the new Polish Exchange program Zoya is doing!)
but I wanted to mention it before I got distracted by shiny things.

Zoya's Twist Collection is available for purchase on Zoya.com.

Essie Winter 2008 Collection

I've finally seen the Essie Winter 2008 collection (does this collection even have a name?) in person, and I'm surprised! A lot of these are much different than they looked in the promo pics from Essie- not a bad thing!


Bold and Beautiful. A deep red jelly-like cream. This is the one polish from the collection I'd probably never wear. It's boring. Unlike some of Essie's other reds, this one has no character, no edge, no 'BAM!'.... It's just... red. Doesn't stand out at all.



Damsel in a Dress. Deep, dark eggplant with very fine silver shimmer. Very pretty. Reminds me of OPI Lincoln Park At Midnight or Laura Mercier Avant Garde. It's very dark but still purple- I think the silver shimmer makes the purple stand out more. Nothing at all like the promo pics suggest- they describe it as "Oh-so-deep currant"- I like the real life version better.


It's Genius. Bright grape-purple with fine gold and silver shimmer. Oooh! This was a pleasant surprise. It looks nothing like this in the promo pictures! In this picture it looks like a full-on metallic like Zoya Rea, but it's really not. It's just so packed full of gorgeous shimmer that it looks metallic.



Rock Star Skinny. Kind of a plum or mulberry shade with fine silver shimmer. Stupid name, really nice color. Again, nothing like the promo pics. It's described as "glamorous crimson red"- huh? Maybe I'm colorblind- I don't get glamorous crimson red from this. Either way, it's really pretty.



Sexy Divide. Bold, saturated purple with multicolored shimmer. My favorite from this collection. My picture makes it look blue, but it's much more purple in real life. The bottle color is closer to the actual color. I was hoping it would be like Viva La Vespa, but it's a different type of purple. It has really interesting shimmer, too- sometimes it looks gold, sometimes red, you can see some blue in there... Really cool. Love it. I only wish it was brighter.


Shifting Power. Sheer metallic gold. This one is kinda 'meh' to me. It's really sheer, definitely a three coater. This picture is three coats and you can still see my nail through it. It's kind of streaky as well. I was hoping for something richer based on the promo images, but this is sort of anemic. It's not a bad color, but it's not anything special. The promo picture made it look like a dense, shimmery cooler gold, but this is very warm, almost orangey, and not very shimmery at all.


Again, I think Essie played it safe, but despite that there are some really great colors in this collection. Two were total disappointments to me, the rest were nice surprises (and no sheer pinks! Hallelujah!). Sexy Divide is, in my opinion, the standout color. It's so un-Essie like! I love it! Keep it up, Essie!

The formula on these was great. It was thick but not runny, like three-free polishes tend to be. The thickness made the colors nice and opaque and the polish was very easy to control. No mess. These also dried extremely quickly. The Essie formula is really nice. There was also no staining after removing the polish, which is also pretty rare for reds and purples.

Overall, pretty solid collection. None of the colors strike me as particularly 'wintery', but I'm not complaining. Nothing too exciting here, but if you're into vampy colors or fine shimmer, you'll probably like these shades.

Essie Fall 2008 Swatches!

This collection really surprised me. In the bottles the colors all looked like deep, rich creams but on the nail they pop! They're vibrant, saturated and somewhat translucent. I think it's what you would call a "jelly" finish. Really quite a nice effect, especially in these colors. Definitely unexpected.

They're all very feminine and glamorous, albeit a little "safe". Still, I think these will be perfect for fall and will hold up well against fall fashions.


Big Spender. This is surprisingly bright for a fall polish, but I'm not complaining. It's kind of similar to my favorite Essie Laced-Up Bootie, which was an old Ulta exclusive. Laced-Up Bootie is more muted and purple, but Big Spender is in the same vein.



Forever Young. WHOA! I didn't expect this. In the bottle it looks like a muted red cream, but on the nails it's a super-vibrant bright red with a translucent finish. You can sort of see my nail through it if you look hard enough. Reminds me somewhat of Essie Jelly Apple.


Lacy Not Racy. This looks awesome. I'm not sure how to describe this color- I can't figure out if it's cool or warm. All I know is it looks different on the nail than how it looks in the bottle, and it has that really cool almost see-through finish.


No Boundaries. Isn't this pretty? It's purple-plum, exactly the color I was hoping it would be. It's so smooth and applies effortlessly.


Swept Off My Feet. This is a strange color. It's not ugly, just strange. Like a dusty rose or mauve sort of color, very soft.


Tomboy No More. LOOK AT THIS! Holy smokes, this color is sexy! I don't even wear reds and I love this. It has the same awesome translucent jelly finish, but the color is so jewel-like, like a ruby or garnet or something. I'm not too good with my gemstones, but I know I could picture this on a queen's crown.


Overall, I'm happy with these. They all applied wonderfully, the polish was so smooth and just the right consistency. While they are very 'safe' colors, I can still see myself wearing them. The colors aren't terribly unique, but the finish is- I love the jelly texture of these, it's something I don't see very often. I thought they would be a lot darker, but they're really not very dark at all!