Wet n Wild Wild Orchid

2 coats over black

I don't usually like to layer - if a polish requires layering, I dismiss it as too sheer and move on. But this beautiful holographic purple was too awesome to miss! It was b1g1f too, so it cost me about 45 cents. I layered over 1 coat of Milani Black magic (my favorite black because it is opaque in one coat.) It's actually very holographic for a sheer, but I had a hard time capturing the sparkles. I got a bunch of the new Craze polishes at the same time, so I will have swatches of those later this week.

NOTD: Color Club Pure Energy

3 Coats, Indirect Sunlight

In my opinion, this is the best color from Color Club's "Electro Candy" collection this summer. I'm not generally a fan of the blues from brights collections - I like my blue dark and vampy. The shimmer in this color, however, is totally fabulous. It gives the color a much more interesting appearance, and a weak duochrome (in some lights it can appear more green.) It took 3 coats, and the texture was excellent - thin without being runny, and not a bit streaky. I also have the green and the violet from this collection, and they are more sheer than this shade. Highly recommended, along with Color Club's previous neon collections (see: Explosive from yesterday, and an awesome upcoming neon purple that is dupish to Essie's new neon purple.)

NOTD: Color Club Explosive

Direct Sunlight, 3 coats

I'm not a huge fan of yellow or orange, but I am a sucker for this sort of in between shade. It looks more subdued in the photo than in real life. It's really a bright highlighter orange. It applied a bit streaky, but I figure that the color is so bright you can't even see the the marks. It wasn't sheer like some yellow. It's similar to OPI's "The it color" only more of a neon. I expect to get some looks on this color today!

Indirect Sunlight

NOTD: Orly Pixie Dust

3 coats, indirect sunlight

Pixie Dust is from the new "Once Upon a Time" collection from Orly. I bought the whole thing, because I'm a sucker for fairy tale themed names. This is my least favorite color in the collection. I much prefer the other gray in the set, mirror mirror. Pixie dust has a blue tone that isn't so flattering on me (a little more blue that it looks in my photo.) It applied a little gloppy, and has a bumpy texture even with a topcoat.

Orly is one of my favorite brands, a lately all their collections have been winners. They definitely have my favorite formula, and I love the rubberized caps and sizeable bottles.

NOTD: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

2 coats, direct sunlight.

I held off on buying China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle forever. I know - what's not to like, with the green and the sparkles? Well, it's often compared to Ruby Pumps and Lubu heels, and I don't much like either of those. I do like Ruby pumps over black, making my own version of Lubu, but on it's own it's disappointingly sheer, and for some reason it doesn't dry. Lubu is pretty in the bottle, but not sparkly enough on the nail, and again it is rather sheer.

Well, I was totally wrong about emerald sparkle! I have the newer version, which has a blackened base. I think I prefer this one, because otherwise I might have layered it over black on my own. I find it similar in a way to NYX Las Vegas, a glass flecked looking green jelly. They are not dupes however, as ES has glitter and the black base.

Application was very good - unlike Ruby Pumps, this polish was nice and thin, not at all runny or gloppy. It dried almost immediately with a coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine on the top. I did experience one small chip during the day, but I was doing a fair amount of work with my hands.

First NOTD - Zoya Roxy

Welcome! After ages of reading everyone else's nail blogs, I've decided to start one of my own! Nailpolish has been a lifelong love for me, ever since my grandma painted my nails for the first time as a little girl! I had acrylics (that I did myself) through high school, and now I'm proud to be all natural (and I'm happy with the shorter length.)

I love almost any color, as long as it isn't boring! For my first post I'm featuring my current favorite polish, Zoya Roxy. It's a magenta jelly with bright purple glitter. I love jellies and I love glitter, so this is a winner! I used 3 coats, topped with Poshe. It has a "glow from within" kind of look, which is hard to capture in photos.

Here's looking forward to much polish in the future!