Perfectly Polished Tips 262 - Lemming Fulfilled

Before I get to today's polish post I just wanted to say thanks for entering my giveaway! I love hosting them. I have emailed both winners and will be sending their polish grab bags out soon :)


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Every once in a while I will come across a polish that I HAVE to have. It doesn't matter if there may be something similar out there, I need the real thing. A few years ago OPI did an Alice in Wonderland collection with a gorgeous blue polish. At the time I had no internet access and no stores with polish near by. I missed out on the entire collection and tried to just forget about it. I let it go for a while but I just could not forget about Absolutely Alice. I don't do ebay, I can't. I will put a polish on my wish list and let it sit for years in hopes of it somehow finding it's way to me. Recently I was lucky enough to have a bottle of Absolutely Alice find its way to me. I put it on immediately and I never want to take it off. I have the tiniest chip on the middle finger of my right hand but I am seriously considering doing a touch up and more top coat. That is how in love I am with it.

This is two coats of Absolutely Alice over one coat of Jessica King Tut's Gem. I don't think the Jessica was really needed but I wasn't sure about opaqueness and I didn't want to do too many coats of the OPI.

So many thanks to the lovely lady who swapped with me and sent this polish!

Perfectly Polished Tips 257 - NOTD Monday Happy Hands For British Eyes Only

Happy Monday! I usually hate mondays but so far today Monday is going smoothly. (and i probably just jinxed it and the rest of my day will suck) It is damp and rainy outside but I really appreciate the cooler weather. I have been over the summer heat for about two months now :)

Today I have Happy Hands For British Eyes Only to share. It's a gorgeous, glitter bomb, and it happens to be in my favorite color family - teal!

2 coats of FBEO over Illa Muse

It was raining yesterday too when I took these photos. The bling is understated but the color is spot on. Usually my issues are opposite. There is  all types of glitter going on in the bottle. I have become really fond of hex glitter and I really love the depth and dimension in this polish.

For British Eyes Only is from Happy Hands I Have Made A Huge Mistake collection which was inspired by a TV show. After seeing the polishes I became very curious about what they were referencing and I watched all three seasons of Arrested Development over about two weeks. I loved it, if you have not watched the show you should really check it out. I know it's an older show but some how I had never watched any of it. I'm glad I did.

For British Eyes Only can be found on Etsy, it looks like FBEO is OOS right now but the shop restocks on Saturdays at 5PM.

Perfectly Polished Tips 255 - Essie Stroke of Brilliance

A few months ago I picked up Essie A Cut Above which was very unusual for me. It's a fun polish but so out of character for what I normally put on my tips. A couple of months ago I saw a promo image for a blue version and I knew I had to have it.

I layered Stroke of Brilliance over OPI Russian Navy Suede. I wore this combo last weekend and I really enjoyed it. I didn't wait long enough for the OPI to dry before applying the Essie. There is quite the bald spot on my index finger. I used two coats of the Essie and one of RN. I don't think Stroke of Brilliance would be opaque on its own. I want to say that I tried with A Cut Above and after three coats I still had some nail space visible. I prefer to layer glitters but that is just me.

OPI Russian Navy Suede was an untried for me, I have almost the entire Suede collection. I am missing Ink and it has been on my wishlist for a while. I don't know if these are still available any where. If anyone knows where I can acquire Ink please let me know!

Perfectly Polished Tips 253 - Smitten Polish Aquarius

Smitten Polish is another new to me brand. Noelie is amazing, she has found the perfect balance between glitter and creme. I had always admired her polishes but the whole glitter in a milky base did not appeal to me. Aquarius had caught my eye a few times but I had convinced myself that I didn't *need* it, until the word "discontinued" was mentioned. Then it was OMG I NEED THIS POLISH NOW OR I WILL MISS OUT AND BE SO SAD. Ok, so not that dramatic but I know you guys know what I am talking about.

What I loved about this polish was that it was opaque in three coats. No layering needed. I am really lazy when it comes to polishing my nails. I want it to be done quickly with whatever will dry the fastest. I have been trying to do a jelly sandwich mani for weeks now and I can't get it right. I have great combos but they never dry.

On to the photos:

This polish has this wonderful green glitter that really makes the polish IMO. I'm not even a green lover but I thought it gave a nice balance to the polish.

You can find Noelie's creations on her Etsy shop - Smitten Polish.

Perfectly Polished Tips 250 - NOTD Monday!

What is better than blue nail polish? Blue nail polish topped with hearts and stars of course :)

Happy Hands Ditto over RBL Dead Calm

This polish has amazing, glowy, blue shimmer. I didn't have to fish for hearts, I did only have one star though which unfortunately was on my right hand so it's not pictured. 

If you are looking for some new reading material check out Happy Hand's blog. I believe she started it only recently but she has some pretty manis and fun stuff to look at.

Perfectly Polished Tips 245 - NOTD Happy Hands Springs

Happy Hands Nail Polish is a new to me brand and I must say I am impressed! I will be completely honest, when this whole indie nail polish thing exploded I was skeptical. I mean how how many combinations of glitter can be thrown in a bottle? I take it back, after interacting with several indie owners I see that so much goes into. They are all so passionate about their polish. I have been browsing many new to me brands and Etsy and am constantly saying "Ohhhh!! I need that!"

The first collection to make it's debut from Happy Hands was called Greetings From Florida which is where the owner/creator is from. It was made up of four gorgeous polishes. Only one of them really called to me though, of course it was in the teal family.

Springs is a turquoise jelly with small aqua hexes, medium greenish hexes, and holographic hexes; I think I had a couple of squares in my bottle as well. The small hexes really give it so much depth. I didn't have to fish for the larger hexes either! I am not great at applying glitters I will say. I have tried to perfect the dabbing method, I have watched several youtube videos as well. Ah, I guess I will get it one day. Aside from my application needing work the formula on Springs was awesome, I believe that it should be opaque on it's own in 2-3 coats. I layered it though because with jelly polish I tend to make a mess. I get lumpy, squishy areas on my nails and usually I end up picking it off. I didn't want to do that!

Here is two coats of Springs layered over one coat of China Glaze For Audrey

Happy Hands Nail Polishes retails for $8 per bottle and can be found on Etsy. Restocks happen every SATURDAY at 5PM. You can also check out Happy Hands on facebook.

Perfectly Polished Tips 242 - Zoya Diva Collection for Fall 2012

Here is the second set from Zoya's fall release. The Diva collection was inspired by the magic of NY fashion week. This set is made up of 6 gorgeous metallic polishes. I was really surprised by the Diva collex, normally it's not my thing but wow. The formula was awesome on all of them. FeiFei and Daul would be perfect with three coats, I did two but in the sun I could see they were a bit spotty.

Daul - magic purple with amazing gold flecks

Elisa - true red. I am so not a red gal, especially a shimmery red gal..this polish made me gasp. It is truly beautiful

FeiFei - Zoya calls this a magic blue and it is. The color shifts a bit, a little blue, some purple, a tiny bit of gold.

Ray - deep forest green, my least favorite. I had a bit of trouble with brush strokes with this one.

Song - I feel like this is going to be the star of the entire Fall release. An amazing, bright, royal blue.

Suri - deep purple with slight pink and blue sparkle.

With the exception of Ray these all applied like a dream. I love Zoya's brush and I love that they branched out a little with the Diva collection. I hope they continue to do so!

These are available now at Zoya.com, they retail for $8 each.

(these were sent for review)

Perfectly Polished Tips 235 - NOTD Monday! Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam Lam

I have never watched any of the Kardashian shows, but I have read about them on my guilty pleasure; ONTD. I am not a fan at all but I must admit I do like quite a few of the colors they created with OPI. I don't usually purchase Nicole by OPI polishes because I hate the bottle shape. I know it is supposed to make polishing easier but it messes up order in my Helmer. Things don't fit as well and yea.

Anyways I caved on the Nicoles & the Kardashian Kolors. (I also hate all the "K" business but I will keep my rants to myself.) As I have shared before on the blog I love teal nail polish. I am also on "Team Creme" so that made Khloe Had a Little Lam Lam doubly enticing. I absolutely hate the name of this polish, keep your cutesy nick names to yourself! The polish applied wonderfully and wore very well. I really like Nicole brushes and wish OPI would have never gone Pro Wide.

This is two coats of color & top coat. I really love this polish even if I do already own a few in the same vein. I wear this color pretty often so I don't mind the extra :)

On a side note I have not clipped my nails at all since ending the ASK Cosmetics Bare Naked Nail Challenge. I am still using the TIPS for Toes but not religiously and filing with the Contour file daily has really helped lessen snags and the pieces that had been off. I'm really happy with the progress but I don't know if I am meant to have long nails! They look so elegant but I keep stabbing my kids. I am also terrified that I am going to catch one on something and have a horrible break. I wanted to do a neutral manicure because that is something I rarely do and I thought it would look nice on longer nails. The color combo I chose was a big fail, so I am trying to decide weather to do another neutral mani or nubbinize and do something fun.

I do have pictures of the neutral mani but it rained here today so I am not sure how they turned out, if they are decent I will share. I will also do a mini TIPS conditioner update with naked nail pics before I clip them.

Have a good week!

Perfectly Polished Tips 230 - NOTD Monday!!

Finally a NOTD Monday post that actually falls on a Monday. My birthday was yesterday so last week I took myself to Ulta and treated myself to a couple of things. One of those things was Butter London Blagger nail polish. I love blue nail polish so when I saw it on the shelf I had to grab it. I am considering going back for the Black Knight I think it is called. Worth it?

Wonderful one coater but I kind of hate the cap and brush. The brush itself is fine but the handle is so tiny. I have small hands and I still feel clumsy with it. This is definitely going to become a fast favorite.

Perfectly Polished Tips 228 - Essie Barefoot in Blue

Essie partnered up with TOMS shoes and produced a limited edition nail polish. Essie/TOMS gave away 1500 bottles a few weeks ago. I had forgotten that I entered and was pleasantly surprised when I found it in my mail box!

This Essie/TOMS pairing was done to raise awareness for the One Day Without Shoes campaign. Today was the official day but please check out the website. You can always help!

Perfectly Polished Tips 225 - Zoya Beach

Here is the other half of Zoya summer.

I kind of hated the formula on these, especially Shelby. It was thin but goopy, I had many bald spots. I was most looking forward to Wednesday and it is still my favorite from both sets. I know I always always always say this but I really wish Zoya would do other colors than pink and red. Three pinks in this collection is almost as bad as the three neutral shades in the last collection. What about yellow, blue, brown, gray? I do recall saying that I had wished that the last collection had a pastel orange. This set does, most of the colors in the Beach collection remind me of spring but I guess since polish is not seasonal to all it does not really matter.

As usual two coats of polish, no base or top coat.

Reagan-Lara-Shelby-Arizona-Tracie-Wednesday

Reagan-Lara-Shelby

Arizona-Tracie-Wednesday

I saw a little bit ago on Zoya's facebook page that these are available NOW. You can get them from Zoya.com.

(these were sent to me for review)

Perfectly Polished Tips 224 - Zoya Surf

I am having a really hard time accepting the fact that it is the end of March. Time is flying and I don't like it one bit. We didn't have much of a winter or spring here in NC! Not that I am complaining, well maybe a little. I don't like highs of 83 degrees in March.

For summer Zoya is releasing two bright and fun collections. One half is cremes (with a lone shimmer) and the other is foils. Today I have the foil half, Surf, to share. Each swatch is two coats of color, no base coat or top coat

Carly-Kimber-Rory-Myrta-Meg-Zuza

Carly-Kimber-Rory

Myrta-Meg-Zuza

The formula on these was a little thick but it dries quickly. I found that if I tried to do too many brush strokes it got goopy. All of the shades are very vibrant. My camera made Kimber a little too red, it's more on the magenta side. For once I actually like each shade in a collection. Meg gives me lobster hands and I don't love green but it is still a nice polish. I love the little shimmer bits in the polishes. I remember reading some where that these were foils like Rea & Kotori. I am wondering if the ones available now are similar. My Rea & Kotori are nothing like these polishes. I actually hate Kotori because it is such a pain to apply and so sheer. I didn't have sheerness issues with any of these.

I am waiting for the sun to be over my deck so I can swatch the Beach half. I will hopefully have those up later on today or tomorrow.

Beach & Surf will be available on April 1st. They retail for $8 each.

(these were sent for review)