Facebook Page

I have a Facebook page for the blog here.  I would love to have more visitors and likes to the Facebook page.  I have separate giveaways that may not be mentioned here on the blog, like the one that ended Friday on the Facebook page.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Versatile Blogger Award

I got nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award on LuckyLoveNails' blog here.  All the way from the Philippines!  It's so nice when another blogger likes your blog!  On the post here on her blog, she has linked to another 14 blogs that she nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award, and I think I recognize only three of those, so I have a lot of new blogs to check out!  She does adorable nail art, so go check out LuckyLoveNails!

Prior to LuckyLoveNails nominating me, Angel of Mega Nailattude nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award and so did Polish And Such!  Please go check out the Versatile Blogger Award posts by Mega Nailattude and Polish And Such; reading their lists of blogs they nominated for the award is such a great way to learn about other blogs that you might have missed out on!  And, definitely check out their blogs, too.  Angel's nails are GORGEOUS!  Her manicures are flawless, and she does nail art and uses trendy nail polish.  Polish and Such also has amazing pictures of flawless manicures on her oh-so-BEAUTIFUL nails, and she also uses trendy nail polish.

I had been nominated originally by Cee of Absolutely Cee for the Versatile Blogger Award, and I have a blog post with my response here. I also got the Blogger Appreciation Award on this post from Miranda of the Splat (by Arfblat) blog, and in addition to getting the Blogger Appreciation Award from Miranda (a name I love, BTW--I would have named a daughter Miranda had I had children), I also got the Versatile Blogger Award from Victoria of Denny's Digits.  If you go look at her Versatile Blogger Award post you could find other blogs you have been missing out on!  I have a blog post with my responses to Miranda's Blogger Appreciation Award and Victoria's Versatile Blogger Award here.  I have to also thank Jessica at Love for Lacquer for giving new bloggers exposure with daily posts for a week like the one in which she mentioned me.  I'm sure if it had not been for Jessica, Cee wouldn't have known about my blog.

I'm going to repeat my prior Versatile Blogger Award and Blogger Appreciation Award and my A-Z post content below, so if you already read those posts in the past, you can just stop reading this post here. :-)

Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging.
2. Let them know that you have nominated them.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post.

More information about the Versatile Blogger Award here.

7 things about me:

     1.  I have two adorable Chinese crested hairless dogs.
     2.  I have allergies, and the Chinese crested hairless dogs are better for me with my allergies.
     3.  When I see a dead creature by the side of the road, I have to suppress a strong urge to cry.
     4.  Although I don't do it often, I like to dip french fries into shakes.
     5.  Like Cee, I have some OCD, and I can tell when things have been moved.
     6.  I love Invader Zim, or more specifically, Gir.  America Loves Gir.
     7.  I love sci-fi.




Nominations (10 for now instead of 15 . . . more later):

1. SoFlaJo
2. Paulina
3. Kim
4. Polished Cousins
5. Lace & Lacquers
6. Emm
7. Maria
8. Bubble My Licorice
9. Jamie
10. Pointless Cafe

I got the Blogger Appreciation Award on this post from Miranda of the Splat (by Arfblat) blog.  THANK YOU, MIRANDA!  If you follow the link to her post, you can see the other blogs she gave the award to.  Looking at these lists of blogs is a fun way to discover great new blogs to follow.  I knew I had to follow Miranda's blog when I read her tag line below her blog title:  "I like to paint my nails, play with my puppy, and be silly from time to time."  She must be my long-lost twin!!!!

The Rules for the Blogger Appreciation Award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award with their blog link in your post.
2. Answer the Four Questions below.
3. Give the Blogger Appreciation Award to other bloggers.
4. Let the blogger know you awarded them (through comments, tweets, e-mails, etc.)

The Questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?
2. What are 1-2 reasons why you started blogging?
3. What types of blogs do you like to follow/read?
4. What is 1 thing you would like to improve on as a blogger/on your blog?

The Answers:

1. I have been blogging since Saturday, March 31, 2012.
2. I started blogging to share information about nail polishes so that other people might benefit from my experience.  I like to read other blog posts on the nail polish I'm about to use.  Sometimes I get tips that way about taking a little more care with application or not using a particular top coat with that polish, etc.  I would like to be able to provide that kind of helpful information to other people who love nail polish.  Another big reason is to be able to connect with other people who love nail polish and to be able to discuss nail polish with them . . . so my husband can get a little break from my nail polish obsession.  ;-)
3. I follow nail polish blogs, of course.  I also follow a few blogs on technology for lawyers, more specifically iPhone technology as best used by lawyers, and I follow a few blogs on my practice areas as a lawyer.  I also follow some scrapbooking blogs.
4. I would like to improve my photos and learn more about photo editing.  

The Bloggers:

1. Elfleidy's Stuff  I *love* her blog.  She's from Florida, too, like me.  She is very active on her blog.  Her pictures and her nails are SOOOO PRETTY!!!  She's AMAZING with nail art.  She has 40 official GFC followers.
2. College Polished  Kim lives in Florida, like me.  And, she's a full-time law student, so she will be a lawyer, like me!  And, she has a little doggie, a little Maltese!  I not only love Kim's blog, but she's super-sweet, and she has been very supportive of my brand new little blog.  Her blog is just so fun to read and so easy to read, and she posts great pictures.  Kim has over 130 followers.  She has some giveaways going on, too.
3. Glitter Puke!  #1, what a name for a nail polish junkie's blog!  Leah is another South Florida gal, like me.  I love reading her blog.  You can tell she is such a good person.  I have loved her recent posts to bring awareness to Autism this month.  She has 80 followers.  She has a giveaway going on.
4. Fierce Makeup and Nails  Norelis is also from Florida.  She *and* her manicures are fun and upbeat, and she has lots of pretty photos on her blog!  She has almost 1,000 followers, so if you're not already one of them, you might want to see what 1,000 other people love by checking out her blog.
5. Lace & Lacquers  Lacey writes a great blog, very informative and thorough and fun to read, with lots of frequent posts.  She is *not* from Florida; she's in South Carolina.  She has been very supportive of me as a new blogger, and she has been very helpful to me and given me great tips.  She has almost 140 followers!
6. Absolutely Cee  Cee writes another great blog, with frequent posts.  And, she is AMAZING with absolutely adorable nail art.  She should change her blog name from Absolutely Cee to Absolutely Adorable Nail Art.  ;-)   She is *not* from Florida.  She is from New York, but she has in-laws in Florida, and I have in-laws in New York!  Maybe one day we'll get to meet!  She has been another daily source of support for me with my new blog.  She has almost 100 official followers through GFC!  Go be her 100th follower!!!
7. Denny's Digits  Oh my gosh, Victoria has the prettiest nails, and she uses beautiful indie polishes, and I love her haul posts!  She is *not* from Florida.  She is from Wisconsin!  She has almost 50 official followers through GFC.  

A-Z GETTING TO KNOW ME:

Miranda did this cool A-Z post here on her Splat (by Arfblat) blog, and Cee saw it and did a similar post here on her Absolutely Cee blog, and I thought it would be fun to do.  By now probably a lot more of my fellow bloggers have done a similar post.  Here is my A-Z (answers are copied from my original post, so they're not current with today's information):

A is for Age:  42

B is for Breakfast today:  Bagel sandwich with scrambled eggs and bacon and cheese with a side of home potatoes.

C is for current Craving:  Strawberry twizzlers.  I often crave what I *don't* have in the house.

D is for Dinner tonight:  Pizza with sausage and onions and extra cheese.

E is for favorite type of Exercise:  Walking with or playing with our dogs.

F is for irrational Fear:  I have many of those, but I guess fear of insects is the most irrational as I am a bazillion times their size and could squash them , . . if I was not irrationally afraid of them.

G is for Goals that you have for yourself:  to lose weight and get back to exercising with Wii programs for the Wii Balance Board.

H is for Hometown:  Miami, Florida.

I is for something Important:  My husband and our doggies.

J is for current favorite Jam:  Hmmm.  I had to think there for a while.  Tom Jones, "If I Only Knew."  If anybody else reading this has heard that song, please let me know.  Heck, if anyone reading this blog knows who Tom Jones is, let me know.  ;-)

K is for Kids:  I have two furbabies.  They are Chinese crested hairless dogs.  (We have allergies).

L is for ???:  I don't see L in the other two A-Z posts I've read, but for me it's for Lacquer-Loving Lawyer, the name of my blog!

M is for most recent way you spent Money:  Me, personally, on nail polish this morning at Walgreens.

N is for something you need: TO WIN THE LOTTERY so my husband and I can retire!

O is for Occupation:  Lawyer, but you knew that already.  ;-)

P is for Pet Peeve: Injustice.  I just am deeply bothered by injustice.

Q is for Quote:  "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato?

R is for Random fact about you:  Spanish was my first language. I learned English around the 4th grade.

S is for the most random place(s) you have ever Slept:  I get up in the middle of the night a lot and go sleep on the couch . . . under an A/C vent.  I get hot flashes.  :-(

T is for favorite Treat:  Cheesy fries with bacon and ranch dressing dip on the side.

U is for something that makes you Unique:  every single trait of mine is one shared by many, but I figure the best chance of anything unique would be the particular combination of all my traits.

V is for your favorite Vegetable:  I love potatoes.

W is for today's Workout:  Does walking around Walgreens looking at nail polish count?

X is for X-rays you've had:  dental x-rays, chest x-rays, neck x-rays, back x-rays, maybe even pelvic, so I guess that's my entire torso!!!  No x-rays of extremities, I don't think.

Y is for Yesterday's highlight:  Having an avocado boba at the local Vietnamese restaurant.

Z is for your time Zone:  Eastern Standard Time.

I look forward to reading other bloggers' A-Z Getting to Know Me posts!

Thank you for reading my blog!

Nail Polish Art

I saw a post on Facebook with a video by PBS on the topic of nail polish as art.  I loved the video.  It's short (3 minutes long) and funny and well worth watching, and I recognized beautiful nail art from bloggers I've been following.  Seriously, if you haven't seen this video already, go look at it now!


Here's a link to the video:  Does Nail Art Prove That Anything Can Be a Canvas for Artistic Expression?


I showed the video to my husband, and I was surprised that he actually liked several of the pictures of the nail art on other blogs.  He liked a gorgeous green water marble on Colette's blog:

Image from Colette's blog, My Simple Little Pleasures, in her post on her Extreme Green Water Marble.
She used these colors:  China Glaze Paper Chasing, China Glaze Jolly Holly, Sally Hansen Emerald City, Savvy Andrea's Mint, and China Glaze White on White.

Colette has many step-by-step pictures of the process on the post, and she has a tutorial video in that same post also.  You can see the post here.



My husband also liked the oh-so-pretty bandana gradient nails on Sarah's blog, Chalkboard Nails:

Image from Sarah's blog, Chalkboard Nails, in her post on her Bandana Gradient Nails.
She used OPI Manicurist of Seville, L'Oreal Haute Couture
and stamped with Konad Special Polish White using Shany plate SH20.

There was another picture he liked, but I cannot identify the source.  If any of you can let me know where the image of the polka dot pointed nails comes from on the internet, I would appreciate it.

Seeing other bloggers try out stamping and dotting and other nail art techniques is making me build up the courage to try it myself.  I see myself getting stamping plates soon!  If any of you can highly recommend any brand of nail stamping plates (or warn me to stay away from any brands) and give me tips on where to buy them as inexpensively as possible, I would appreciate it so much!

Thank you for reading my blog!

China Glaze Magnetix Attraction

China Glaze is one of my favorite polish brands, and I like their magnetic polishes.  I have reviewed their blue magnetic polish, Pull Me Close, here.  I have also worn their magnetic polish in a gold/brown shade, but that was before I started taking pictures of my nails and blogging about them.  I have also reviewed some Nabi magnetic polishes, most recently their red and black polish called "Wine" here and earlier their gold and brown polish called "Dark Gold" here.  I think I like the formula on the China Glaze polishes more, but the color selection (60 different colors of magnetic polish, all in very vibrant colors) of Nabi is amazing, and they cost me less than the China Glaze magnetics.  Also, the Nabi polishes have their magnet built in, whereas with China Glaze you had to buy the magnet separately (and store it--storage is always something I think about).  But, the China Glaze magnets are stronger than the Nabi magnets.  And, the China Glaze doesn't have the strong smell that the Nabi polishes have.  I don't even notice the Nabi polish smell anymore.  I use Seche Vite as a top coat, and it has a stronger smell to me than the Nabi polishes.  But, there are people who are very sensitive to strong smells in nail polish.

I started trying to make the star pattern with the China Glaze magnet, but it is hard to get the star centered on your nail the very first time.  Eventually I had gloopy multiple layers of polish on the first few nails I did.  Inevitably, I smudged the polish on a nail on my right hand as I moved on to start painting my left hand.  When I went to use a brush instead of an orange stick with cotton to try to remove the polish on that nail without getting cotton fibers all over, the brush fell into the bottle of acetone.  It was a brand new 16 oz. bottle of acetone.  The brush was an E.L.F. concealer brush with the white paint on the handle.  I couldn't get the brush out quickly, so I had to move to the kitchen, pour out the acetone (now with white paint in it) into a glass, get the brush out (now with a rough and unpainted handle), and pour the acetone back into the bottle.  It was a brand new bottle, so I didn't have a backup bottle, so I had to use the paint-filled acetone later for cleanup.  I was *not* in a good mood.  And, I had been, as usual, trying to rush through the manicure because it's always the last thing I do on Sundays before dinner, and I always seem to take much longer than I expect.  So, there I was rushing, and now I had to start over on my right hand.  So, I switched to the diagonal stripe magnet pattern.  It is much more forgiving and takes much less time.  If you are too high or low on your nail, it doesn't make a difference.  You still get diagonal stripes all over your nail.  If you are too much to the right or to the left on the nail with the magnet, again, it makes no difference because the pattern doesn't have a center like the star magnet does.

I like the China Glaze brush.  It's thin like the Revlon brushes.  Those are the brushes I first used decades ago to polish my nails, so I'm attached to them and used to them.  Now I am slowly learning to like the slightly flat and slightly wider brushes, like the ones in the Hits polishes.  The polish was easy to apply and dried quickly but not so quickly that I couldn't go over strokes if needed.  I used two coats of the magnetic polish over a base coat.  Then I used a coat of Seche Vite top coat, and throughout the week on some days I added a coat of Revlon's Quick Dry Top Coat.  The wear was the same as with my other magnetics.  They last a week on me just like my other manicures, but they do start to wear away around the edges faster than non-magnetic polishes.  They didn't chip at all, though.

I really liked the look of Pull Me Close with hematite bracelets and dark bracelets with a gritty finish that I have.  My secretary even noticed the manicure!  The polish is a beautiful dark gray, and parts of it are like metallic silver or metallic charcoal but with a gritty and grainy look that is really pretty.

Here are some pictures:

In Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

This is blurry, as the camera seemed to focus on my skirt rather than my nails,
but you can see the sparkle in the polish and how it reflects a rainbow of colors.

Indoors, office lighting.

Indoors, office lighting.

Indoors, using flash.  Look at that beautiful metallic-like shimmer!

This was after a few days of wear.  I was trying to get a picture of the polish in sunlight, and the sun came out for a moment while I was walking my dogs.  We have had several weeks of bad weather in South Florida and not much sunlight.  Normally I crop the photo to just show my nails, but in the upper right-hand corner of the picture you can see my little girl doggie out of focus.  Aw!

After a week of wear.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Cover Band Sticks and Stones Comparison to Candeo Colors Sprouse and Lush Lacquer Salt N Peppa

On Saturday I put a coat of Cover Band's Sticks 'n Stones as an accent on each ring finger nail on top of the Revlon Top Speed Chili that I had been wearing for a week.  On Sunday, before removing the polish, I added Candeo Colors' Sprouse to two different fingernails and Lush Lacquer's Salt N Peppa to another fingernail to compare them to Sticks and Stones.

Sticks 'n Stones is a copy (of sorts) of Lynnderella's Connect the Dots.  Sticks 'n Stones comes in a clear base, which I like.  It doesn't affect the underlying color, and the pattern comes across as very crisp.  The matte glitter is larger in Sticks 'n Stones than in the other two polishes.  Lush Lacquer's Salt N Peppa has a lot of colorful holo glitter large enough to show through and obscure the base color.  Sprouse has very tiny holo glitter that shimmers a little, and it has larger blue glitter.

I didn't have a problem with application, and the glitters dried relatively flat and were even smoother after a coat of Seche Vite.  I didn't have to fish for glitters.

My husband's favorite was the Salt N Peppa because it didn't "have all those 80's" bars and hexes.  My favorites were the other two, of course, *because* they have all those 80s-look bars and hexes.  In terms of getting the look of paint splatters that I like, I think the Sticks 'n Stones does it best with a little more white to it.  I do like the little blue hexes in Sprouse, though.

In each of the pictures below, I have base coat, three coats of Chili, a coat of Seche Vite, about four coats of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat, a coat of each of the glitter top coats, and a coat of Seche Vite, and I had been wearing Chili for a week with no chips and just a little tip wear and shrinkage (from the original Seche Vite but not so much shrinkage from the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat).

Outdoors in the sunlight (holding my husband's phone)

Top to bottom:  Sprouse, Salt N Peppa, Sticks and Stones, Sprouse.
I asked my husband if he could tell which two were the same, and he figured it out!

Top to bottom:  Sticks and Stones, Salt N Peppa, Sprouse.

Sprouse, Sticks 'N Stones, Salt N Peppa

Sprouse, Sticks 'N Stones, Salt N Peppa

In these last few pictures, you can see that the glitter lies flat.  There's a little piece of black bar glitter on one nail that was outside the polish area (near my cuticle, ring finger, last finger on the right in the photos), and I clipped it off easily later on.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Revlon TopSpeed Chili

I painted my nails with Revlon TopSpeed Chili, a red polish with a little orange to it.  The shade is similar to Hits Hula that I love so much (but without flakies and a smidgen more opaque), and it reminds me of Revlon's Dragon Lady Red from 20 years ago (or 25 years ago) that I loved so much (but less opaque than DLR).  I like the color so much that I think I'll need a backup bottle.

The formula is O.K. to good.  It's the color that really gets me.  The polish applied well and while it dried quickly, I did have a chance to go over some strokes quickly if I wanted.

I had visible nail line with two coats, but when I swatched the color on my nail wheel, it looked darker than the bottle color at three coats, so I hesitated to do a third coat on my nails.  I called my husband in for an opinion.  He said my nail polish on my nail bed was the color of the bottle, but the color on the tips of my nails was lighter.  I went ahead and did a third coat, and I still have visible nail line in most lighting.  I don't care.  I love the color that much.

It's a regular Revlon thin brush, and the polish is the perfect consistency, not too thin or too thick.  It doesn't flood my cuticles, but it does take a little extra cleanup effort because the red bleeds all over when it comes in contact with acetone.

My little girl doggie punctured the polish on one nail with one of her own nails as I was going to sleep after doing my manicure.  I got up and fixed the one nail, patching the little hole with a little extra polish and then smoothing things out with Orly's Smudge Fixer and then adding another coat of Seche Vite and trying to fall asleep with my hand out of the way just in case.  ;-)

Seche Vite caused minor shrinkage.  I also used the polish for my toes.  That's the first time in I don't remember how long that I've used the same polish for my toenails and fingernails *and* not had any special effect in or over the polish.

Today is day three, and so far no chipping, and the manicure looks gorgeous.

Here are some pictures:

Direct morning sunlight.  Camera freaks out when bright light hits the polish!  Love that orange flash, though.

Indirect morning sunlight.  Fairly accurate as to color.

The sunlight x-raying my nails.  ;-)

Indoors.  Office lighting.  Fairly accurate as to color.

You can see the orange-like tinge of color starting when bright sunlight hits the polish.  Also, on my pinkie, you can almost see how curved my nails are; they're like tubing cut in half lengthwise.

Indirect afternoon sunlight.  When I put my nails up against my suit pants, I finally got a color-accurate picture.  Once the camera focused on the color of the suit pants, it got in proper focus to capture the color of the polish accurately.

You can see the beginning of the orange flash effect (near my cuticles) when bright sunlight hits the polish.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Nabi Magnetic Wine

I have many untried polishes in my collection, and there are so many gorgeous colors that it's hard to choose. But, one of my Facebook fans, Emma Brown, saw a bottle of Nabi Wine in an old picture of my stash and mentioned not having seen it on my blog yet, so here it is!

The color is gorgeous.  It seemed more of a pure red to me, like red with black magnetic stripes, when I saw it swatched on other blogs, but it is definitely a shade of wine, a very vivid shade.  It was pretty even without the magnetic effect, but I didn't take pictures of it by itself.  I think it would make a very nice holiday color, maybe Christmas or Valentine's Day.

Application and the brush were O.K., but there seems to be a learning curve with magnetic polishes, and each polish is different from the last, even within the same brand.  I normally have to use thin coats for the magnetic effect to be clear, and blowing on the pattern as I hold the magnet over my nail normally produces the best effect.  However, with Nabi Wine, it was a much thicker coat that gave the best effect, and blowing on it while holding the magnet over my nail made the effect very weak, so I stopped doing that.

I did get some bubbling with my top coat.  I've been getting some bubbling lately with my top coats.  I don't know if it's the heat and humidity here in South Florida, although I do keep the air-conditioning on indoors. The top coat didn't weaken or blur the magnetic effect, but there was SIGNIFICANT shrinkage from both Seche Vite and Revlon's Quick Dry Top Coat.  It not only shrank at the tips, but there was a strange effect near my cuticles that left a rim of blurred paint outside my top coat as the top coat seemed to recede from the paint while shrinking.

I learned about the Nabi magnetic polishes from a post on another blog, and the blogger had found them in a large display of many, many, many magnetic colors in a Walgreens store.  My local Walgreens never carried the Nabi magnetics, though.  I ordered mine online and for about $20 got about 5 different colors.  The magnets are on the top of the brush cap, but I have enough bottles that I use the magnet from another bottle and not the one from the bottle I'm using to paint my nails.  It's just much easier that way.

Cleanup took a little effort.  I don't use an orange stick around the edges as I paint my nails with magnetic polish because by the time I'm done with holding the magnet over my nail, the polish is too dry, and I would drag it and ruin it.  So, there's more work at cleanup time.

The wear was O.K.  I did wear the polish an entire week--it's still on now as I type--but it doesn't look so great after a couple of days with all the shrinkage.  There were only teeny, tiny chips, though, and they weren't very noticeable.

Here are some pictures:

Cloudy day -- we have had a lot of cloudy and rainy days lately in Florida.

Indirect sunlight on a cloudy day

Indoors, office lighting.

Indoors with flash.

Using flash.

With flash -- blurry, but the colors are so pretty!

In some sunlight on a cloudy day.

I was walking the dogs, and the sun came out suddenly and briefly, so out came my iPhone.  I had been wearing the polish several days by then, and you can see the weird shrinkage near my cuticles that seemed to leave smudges of polish behind.  

My right hand, also while out walking the dogs.  I don't usually photograph my right hand because it's my dominant hand, and I use it to take pictures.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Candeo Colors Sprouse over L'Oreal Greyt Expectations

I painted my nails with L'Oreal Greyt Expectations on a Sunday, and the following Saturday, 6 days later, I added Candeo Sprouse.  Sprouse is similar to Lynnderella's Connect the Dots, but it has holographic microglitter instead of CtD's shimmer, and it has blue glitter that CtD does not have.  I really like Sprouse.  It was very easy to apply.  I had no problems with getting enough glitter on each brush stroke, and I had no trouble with glitter placement, and the glitter lay flat except for one bar glitter that I put on the most curved part of my nail.  I used cuticle nippers to clip the piece of bar glitter that was sticking out.  I believe I added a coat of Gelous and then a coat of Seche Vite.  The finish was smooth after that.  I like the paint splatter effect of top coats like this one; I think the paint splatter effect would have been even better with a little more white in the mix.  Because I wore the L'Oreal manicure for 6 days before taking these pictures, there is visible tip wear.

Here are some pictures taken in low sunlight on a mostly cloudy day:

Thank you for reading my blog!

L'Oreal Greyt Expectations

My husband's Aunt Carole sent me surprise nail mail earlier this year, and inside were three L'Oreal polishes.  One of them was Greyt Expectations.  I really like it, but I have to say that my husband just can't wrap his head around the fact that women wear this color on their nails and that it's trendy.  This coming from a man who was into the goth look briefly in college . . . including non-traditional nail polish.  I really like the color, though.

The formula and brush were good in terms of application.  It has a creme finish.  The polish took a while to fully dry and cure, though.  I do my nails on Sunday night, and this polish had a nasty accident on Monday morning.  A nail dug into another and dented the polish all the way through to the nail.  I had to redo that nail quickly before work.  Luckily that nail dried quickly, and I didn't have any other dents.

The color is very pretty.  I don't think you can see it in the pictures, but it has the tiniest black specks that really add to the beauty of the color in my opinion.  The color to me looked like it had some purple in it.  In some lights it was just regular greige or concrete, in other lights it reminded me of some kind of clay, and in lower lights I could see the purple undertones.  I started calling it grurple.  And, I have Chinese crested hairless dogs, and one of my dogs' skin is the same shade of grurple here and there.  That has to be a first in the nail polish world:  matching the color of your hairless dog's skin.

The wear was good.  It lasted the entire week, although I did have to patch up my tips early on.  I did get shrinkage from Seche Vite and from Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat, but it wasn't too bad.  Cleanup and removal were easy.

Here are some pictures:

Morning Sunlight

Indoors Office Lighting

Afternoon Sunlight

Afternoon Sunlight

Thank you for reading my blog!