Jessica Botanicals Collection Spring 2009

I think this may be the first time I've ever reviewed Jessica products on my blog! I don't have very much experience at all with this brand, but I've been doing a little more research and I found out some cool facts.

In 1969, the founder of Jessica Cosmetics, Jessica Vartoughian, opened a salon just for natural nails called Jessica Nail Clinic. The salon was the first of it's kind: the main focus of Jessica Nail Clinic is to care for and 'cultivate' the natural nail instead of covering them with enhancements. This is interesting because most nail salons don't seem to care about the health of the natural nail and almost all of their services involve applying or maintaining artificial nails.

Since I'm a natural nail girl myself, this seems like a brand that I can really get into.

Anyway, Jessica does a color line as well as natural nail treatments, and I've been playing with their beautiful spring collection, Botanicals.




Birds of Paradise. A pearly, glowy purple. This color was completely unexpected and it has me absolutely THRILLED. It's one of the most beautiful purples I've ever seen. It's bright and shimmery but it also has a soft, pearly, glowy quality that keeps it from being too loud. It looks less blue and more purple in real life.



Butterfly Kisses. A metallic blue. This is another unexpected color and also ridiculously cool! It's a foily metallic blue with lots of shimmery silver particles. It's not a shiny chrome finish metallic, more of a foil like Zoya Trixie, but blue.



Color Me Calla Lily. A soft pink-purple creme. My camera can't do this color justice. It's extremely soft and pretty like petals of a beautiful flower. It's more purple than pink like this picture shows and has a muted, dusty quality to it.



Coral Reef Daisies. A metallic coral. This is another foil metallic, but in a soft coral shade. Same texture as Butterfly Kisses.




Loving The Lilacs. Pale, shimmery lilac. Another muted lilac shade for spring. This one's not quite as colorful as the other shades in this collection. It has more of a dense shimmer finish as opposed to the foil metallic finish the other polishes in this collection have.





Rosy Romance. Rose pink metallic. This is another foil-finish metallic shade like the others. The color of this seems a lot more pale and dusty indoors, but in the sunlight it becomes a cleaner, brighter rose pink.


The formula on these polishes is great. I have not tried very many Jessica polishes so I'm not sure how they compare to each other, but based on these I'm quite impressed with the quality. The polish is on the thin side and very smooth. The drying time is average. The wear on these is really good- I wore a few of these before I photographed them and didn't experience any major tipwear and there was no chipping.


This collection was a surprise for me. For the most part, these shades all look pretty bland and uninteresting in the bottle, but when you apply them they come to life. Birds of Paradise is especially amazing, and I'd highly recommend it for purple lovers like me. The metallics are smooth and sparkly and the shades are not what you'd typically find when looking for metallic polishes. My least favorite shade is Loving The Lilacs- it seems lifeless to me compared to the other spring-like shades in the collection. Overall, a little mainstream but still a beautiful, enjoyable spring collection.

Jessica can be purchased directly from their website, but I have also seen a limited selection at Target.

Dazzle Dry Nail System

I've been seeing the Dazzle Dry nail system advertised in Nails Magazine for months, and it had me very curious. I finally broke down and had to have more information on this mysterious brand. Now that I've tried it, I am in love!

Dazzle Dry is a line of super fast drying nail lacquers, if you can't tell from the name... And when they say fast dry, they mean it!! They are seriously the fastest drying polishes I have ever used in my entire life. I am extremely impressed.

For best results, it is recommended to use the entire Dazzle Dry system when applying the polish on natural nails. The system consists of a nail prep/primer, a basecoat, the color and a topcoat.

The Dazzle Dry Nail Prep is sort of like pimped-out rubbing alcohol. It removes oil and sanitizes nails to provide the ideal surface for the bascoat and polish. This step really helps polish wear and prevents chipping.

After you prep your nails with a Nail Prep soaked cotton ball, you apply the special Dazzle Dry basecoat. A word of warning: if it is cold outside or wherever you are storing the basecoat, it will solidify. No joke. When I got my bottle it was a thick, cloudy gel, almost the texture of Vaseline. This is easily remedied by running some warm water over the bottle. It returns to a clear liquid state very quickly. Apply one coat of basecoat to your nails.

It is important for the basecoat to be fully dry before applying the Dazzle Dry polish. If it's not completely dry, it will make the polish streaky and stringy and you don't want that. So give the basecoat a couple seconds to dry before you try to polish.

Applying the polish is a breeze. Of the three colors I tried, one was completely opaque in one coat and the other two only needed two coats. If you are doing two coats of color, wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second to avoid streaking or clumping. The polish dries so fast, you really only need to wait a minute or two for it to be totally dry.

This polish dries to a semi-matte or satin finish. If you prefer a glassy shine, apply the Dazzle Dry topcoat. The topcoat dries in seconds and is incredibly shiny.

Pretty straightforward. The coolest part is how quickly this polish dries. If you do only one coat of polish, it dries completely in about three minutes. If you do two coats like I did, it's completely dry- not dentable, smudgeproof, absolutely bone dry- in about five minutes. Holy crap!!!

The polish dries very hard and shiny. My nails feel very strong while wearing it. And on top of all that, this stuff wears like iron!! I've been wearing it for a couple days already and there's barely a hint of tipwear, no chipping, no shrinkage even after cleaning, cooking, dozens of hand washings and a very hot bath. Friggin' amazing.

Here are the colors I've tried:





Carnival Coral. A vibrant, saturated, summery coral creme. I'm currently wearing this as a pedi and it's very flattering! I don't normally wear this type of shade, but this is bright enough to be interesting.



Lavender Parade. A soft, springy, Easter-egg type lavender creme. It's delicate and feminine but still fun because it's purple! These types of purples seem to be really popular this season, nearly every spring collection released so far has one... I like them, but I think they need a little visit from the Konad Fairy...

And I saved the best for last...




POLAR JADE!!! Wow, can you believe this color??? It's a medium slightly dusty emerald green shimmer, and it's drop-dead gorgeous. Seriously. I'm head over heels for this color. It looks darker indoors than it does in sunlight and it's proving to be a very difficult color to photograph. I'd say it's in between the indoor and outdoor colors- it's not as warm as the outside one and it's not as cool as the inside one. Right in the middle. Absolutely stunning. I'm still wearing this polish and I don't want to take it off!

Overall, these polishes rock. I am very impatient when it comes to polish drying time. I always use Seche Vite and quick dry drops and even then it can still take too long for me. That is nonexistent with this polish. You don't need Seche, you don't need drops, you don't even need to wait for it to dry because before you even realize it it's already dried! This would be the perfect "Emergency Polish" to keep in your purse- you can apply it three minutes before you need to be somewhere and not have to worry about ruining wet nails.

Removal is impossibly simple. Just use regular polish remover and it comes off in seconds. It might be due to the thin texture of this polish, but it is way easier to remove than regular polish.

The formula is great IF you let the basecoat dry. Like I mentioned above, if the basecoat is still wet, the polish will get stringy and sticky. The polish formula is thin, smooth and pigmented. No bubbling or shrinkage at all, no dents, nothing. Perfect.

The color selection is small but good. They have your traditional reds and pinks, but they also have a good selection of unique shades like Polar Jade. They have purple, blue, yellow, gold and even black. I'd love to see this line expand even more, it's become a new favorite of mine and I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to test drive it. It's awesome.

You can get the Dazzle Dry Nail System and Nail Lacquers directly from VB Cosmetics. Individual polishes are $9, the treatment system is $54 and comes with the Nail Prep, Basecoat, Topcoat, three nail colors of your choice and complete instructions on how to use the system. They even sell a special thinner designed to restore the texture of Dazzle Dry polishes and treatments.

Quick post: Nicole by OPI Spring Shades

I'm still sick, but I ventured out of bed to do a little fishing on the Selbina boat... Unfortunately the Sea Horror had other ideas, so I figured I'd pop in with a little post while I'm waiting for it to leave.


I've had these swatched for a while now and have really just forgotten to post them, but better late than never I suppose.

These are new shades from Nicole by OPI. I don't know much about them other than that! I'm not really sure if Nicole does traditional 'collections' like OPI, but they usually have new colors a few times a year.




Do Good... Feel Good. A soft, delicate petal pink. Semi-sheer, an almost jelly-like texture.



Dream Maker. An opalescent pink with crystalline shimmer. Not quite iridescent, but flashes hints of white, silver and gold.



Find Your Passion. A hot pink jelly.



Imagine If... A sheer silver holographic polish. Almost too dense to be a topcoat, but sheer enough that it needs at least three coats for opacity. This is four coats.


It's Possible. Pretty, shiny bronzy metallic chrome. Dries without brushstrokes.




No Limits. Very dark, inky blue-purple creme. Not obviously blue unless you're in bright light.


Light A Candle. A silvery chrome with a purple tint. Almost gunmetal.





Play Fair. A soft lilac shimmer. It's not as warm as the first picture suggests- it's closest to the second picture.


Positive Energy. Bright, gleaming silver chrome.




Reach Out. A candy-like medium pink jelly. Almost seems to appear coral colored in certain lights.


You're A Star. A sparkly and surprisingly opaque shimmering white. This is only two coats! It's extremely sparkly and it has hints of silver and blue.

Also worth noting: The chromes in this 'collection' work extremely well with Konad! Here's a demonstration:


No Limits topped with Imagine If... and Positive Energy stamp.


The chromes make such a crisp, clear Konad design, it's like they were made for each other.

The formula on all of these was excellent. I have no complaints. The only potential issue is the sheerness of a couple shades- Imagine If... and Do Good... Feel Good were definite three coaters, but this isn't really too much of an issue because these Nicole shades dry very quickly even without a quick dry topcoat. They are also very shiny and durable without topcoat. I kept my Valentine's Day Nicole manicure on for at least four days with no topcoat and there was no tipwear or chipping by the time I removed it.


Pretty, springy, versatile. A little bit of everything in this collection- sheers, pastel, vampy blue, holo, chrome, brights... Very cool. Now all we need is some green and some glitter and we'll have something for everyone!

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 Winter 2008 Flourish Collection

The sun decided to come out today just long enough for me to get my swatches done. Yay!



Cyma. This is one of those in-between colors that I have a hard time describing. Is it pinkish red? Magenta? Light red or dark pink? Whichever it is, it's a reddish color with shimmer. Applies like butter. Very pretty, just not my type.



Kalista. Oh, Kalista. So beautiful. It's one of those lit-from-within vampy colors that I love so much, but this time it's brown! Rich, shimmery, lovely brown. Perfect for fall and winter!


Mieko. A rich pink loaded with golden shimmer. Not glitter, but very visible shimmer. When the light hits this, it just comes alive. It sparkles like crazy. It almost seems like a pink/gold duochrome because of the shimmer.


Richelle. Gorgeous metallic gold. In my opinion, this is the best gold that's been released by any company in a long time. It is reminiscent of Dior Golden Nugget. It's smooth but super-sparkly. This is not a subtle gold, this is FIERCE!


Shivon. Another amazing fall/winter shade. It's sort of a duochrome where the second color is visible all the time. It's burgundy and gold and it's fantastic. It even has this fascinating micro-sparkle texture when you look at it under bright sunlight. Very unique. It reminds me of an old discontinued Urban Decay polish that I can't recall the name of at the moment...



Zara. Wow!! An amazing lavender purple chock-full of intense golden shimmer. This is so cool!! I can't stop looking at it. Normally you would need to layer polishes to achieve this sort of look, but this one is born with it. I really like how purple and gold look together. This color makes me think "sugar plum fairy" when I look at it... Random, eh?


Overall, this is one gorgeous collection. I love the Zoya shimmer- it's not really chunky, but it's this sort of visible particle that looks like crushed shells or maybe that edible glitter made of gelatin... Hard to describe, but the polishes that have it are all mesmerizing. In this case, it's golden shimmer and it looks really fantastic in sunlight.

These all applied very well, very smooth and no application problems at all. I only used two coats of polish for these pictures, but Mieko and Zara would probably look better with three. None of these stained my fingers after removal, and none left shimmer behind. I have no complaints!

I have a feeling that Kalista is going to become a cult favorite. It's my second favorite of the collection (Richelle is my number one pick!) and it's a color I can see myself wearing all the time.