Monthly Manicures - January 2014

I decided I am going to do do collections of my manicure colors/shades on a monthly basis. Since I have updated all my nail swatches, I am doing this more so to give myself a reminder of what I wore, different polish combos and to make some quick notes on how the polishes wear.

Nail Polish Collection: Red, Orange, Yellow Swatches

Not my most reached for colors of nail polish, but I have still amassed quite the selection. I tend to wear the coral/orange shades in the spring/summer. Coral is one of my favorite pedicure colors for the summer time. And I think the reds I have are great for holiday manicures and cold weather. The yellows are primarily coupon deals that I got to experiment with nail art and the whatnot. I find that I do wear the lighter orange/coral shades quite frequently in the spring/summer month as well.

Right to Left: Revlon Buttercup, CG Pina Colada, Revlon Sunshine Sparkle,  Julep Blake, Revlon Crystal Glow, SH Peachy Keen, Sinful Colors Frozen Pink, Studio M Jelly Bean,
Revlon Sorbet, Color Club Clambake Coral, Zoya Maya, Maybelline Coral Crush,
SH Wine Not?, SH Red Zin, SH Flirt, OPI for Sephora I'm With Brad

Nail Polish Collection: Pink Swatches

Pink shades are great for brightening up my look in a more traditional way. I love light pinks for neutral nails. Just as with a nude polish, a light sheer pink can make your nails look better in a flash. Its perfect for when you cannot decide what to wear or do not want your nails to clash. On the other hand is the bright or neon pink, these are great for brightening up your look and I love these colors in the spring and summer, and always find that they are perfect pedicure colors. I find the deeper berry colors are great in the fall and winter.

Left to Right: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Pink Slip, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Shell We Dance, Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro French Rose, OPI Suzi & the Lifeguard, Revlon Touch of Mauve, OPI Pedal Faster Suzi, Revlon Brilliant Strength Dazzle, Studio M Hoppin' Hot, Wet and Wild Megalast Candy-licious, Sinful Colors 24/7, Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Posh Pink, Nicole OPI Promises, Promises Pink, OPI La Paz-itively Hot, Zoya Renee, Revlon Plum Seduction, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Cherry, Cherry Bang, Bang!, Revlon Top Speed Vintage

Nail Polish Collection: Purple Swatches

According to Pantone, the 2014 color of the year is Radiant Orchid. I personally usually go for a vampier purple, but I am open to lighter purple colors and I feel like I have accrued a nice collection. I plan on breaking out some more Radiant Orchid shades this coming spring.

Left to Right: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lavendar Cloud, Revlon Colorstay Provence, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Greige Gardens, CoverGirl Stay Brilliant Gloss-tini Purple Freeze Nailtini, Rimmel Lasting Finish Wild Orchid, Studio M Cute Chick, NYC Lincoln Square Lavendar, OPI for Sephora I don't Bite, Revlon Colorstay Amethyst, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Purple Potion, Maybelline Color Show Amethyst Ablaze, Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl, Julep Morgan, OPI for Sephora Domestic Goddess, OPI for Sephora Ms. Can't Be Wrong, Zoya Monica, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Plum Luck, Revlon Colorstay Bold Sangria, China Glaze Urban Night 

Nail Polish Collection: Blue/Green Swatches

My blue shades are an extension of the aqua/teal shades for the most part. I have some more true blue shades as well. I like a true blue shade at times, and I really enjoy deeper blue shades, like the navy shades I have. The greens are newer to my collection of polishes. I was really excited to pick up the hunter green shade recently.

Left to Right: Revlon Whimsical, Piggy Polish It's all about blue, CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Blue Hawaiian, Maybelline Color Show Turquoise Paradise, Julep Claire, Revlon Colorstay Indigo Night, Maybelline Color Show Denim Dash, OPI Shatter Color Turquoise Shatter, Maybelline Color Show Styled Out, Maybelline Color Show Navy Narcissist, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Navy Baby, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nightwatch, Revlon Brillant Strength Impress, Revlon Colorstay Spanish Moss, Revlon Colorstay Bonsai, Revlon Colorstay Rain Forest

Nail Polish Collection: Aqua/Teal Swatches

Without a doubt, my most loved color family of nail polish, and in general is my aqua/teal colors. I have a ton of variations on practically the same color, and I really enjoy wearing them. I find deep teal colors to be perfect for the fall into winter, and the aqua shades I find are great all year long.

Left to Right: Jordana Ocean Frost, Maybelline Color Show Mint Mist, China Glaze For Audrey, Wet and Wild Megalast I need a Refresh-mint, China Glaze Aquadelic, Studio M New Bohemian, Studio M Spring is in the Air, Orly Ancient Jade, OPI for Sephora Ocean Love Potion, China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise, Maybelline Color Show Intense Teal, OPI for Sephora Mermaid to Order, OPI Ski Teal We Drop, Zoya Frida, Zoya Cynthia, Sinfucl Colors Calypso, Sally Hansen Insta-dry Teal-Fast, Revlon Brilliant Strength Beguile,  Sinful Colors See You Soon, Sinful Colors Whats Your Name

Review: Physician's Formula Organic Wear CC Curl + Care Mascara

Side view to show the curl.

Product: Physician's Formula Organic Wear CC Curl + Care Mascara

Color:  Ultra Black

Price:  $9.99

Size:   0.26 oz

Packaging:  Silver curved flat leaf patterned packaging with green script

Brush: Large curved rubberized bristle brush

Scent: None

Yay or Nay? Nay

This was a recent product debut for Physician Formula for 2014. This mascara, like many of the Physician's Formula mascaras has a lot of claims to live up to. For starters the front of the packaging states "Say goodbye to your eyelash curler". To be quite honest I don't use an eyelash curler on an everyday basis, especially because I have a tendency to be running late for work and do my makeup on the go. I was intrigued by the claim that it curls as well as the claim for "24 hour wear". I don't ever plan of wearing my mascara for 24 hours, but I find it interesting that a mascara would claim that. This mascara is nice and I like the curl effect, which I do not think is just a gimmick. The brush is a large rubberized bristle brush. It has a curve to it. I do not necessarily find the curve on the brush to be helpful or a hinderance with the application.

Nail Polish Collection: Glitter Swatches

I love glitter.  Glitter is perfect to add to a look that is chipping or to fix a smeared nail. I love a full glitter manicure or as accent nails, either one or more.  I think that done the right way glitter is perfect all year long, not just at the holidays. I really prefer sheer coats and darker glitters. I have some brighter pinks, but I do not find myself reaching for those as much.

Starting in the middle Left side of the wheel from Left to Right: Julep Vivien, China Glaze Fairy Dust, Revlon Top Speed Celestial Fx, Revlon Stunning, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails In the Spotlight, NYC Starry Silver, Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor,  Wet and Wild Fastdry Caught on Sapphire,  Revlon Radiant, Sally Hansen HD DVD,  China Glaze Water You Waiting For,  Revlon Midnight Sparkle, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Mermaid's Tale, Sinful Colors Nail Junkie, Julep Harper, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Strobe Light, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Rockstar Pink, Revlon Brillant Bordeaux, Revlon Scandalous,  Revlon Top Speed Glitz & Glam

Nail Polish Collection: Metallic Swatches

I have accumulated quite a few metallic nail polish shades. I find that they are great for accent nails, and also for layering with glitter colors.  I do find in general that metallic shades can be difficult to work with, as they can show up streaky, but I really like the effect that they provide. 

My favorite is absolutely Orly Rage, its a beautiful rose gold shade with great reflection. I do find this shade to be a bit grainy. I also really enjoy Revlon Smoldering, it has a grey/silver/purple/green duochrome. The pictures are not doing it justice. 

Left to Right: Revlon Top Speed Metallic, Revlon Colorstay Sequin,
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Pedal to the Metal, OPI Significant Other Color,
Revlon Smoldering, Wet and Wild Fastdry Gray's Anatomy, China Glaze Hook & Line,
Essie Steel-ing the Scene, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Coat of Arms,
OPI for Sephora Already Famous, Revlon Top Speed 24K, Orly Rage, Revlon Colorstay Fall Mood,
Revon Brillant Strength Enrapture, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Gunmetal

Nail Polish Collection: Neutral Swatches

In my neutral colors I have nudes, taupe/greige, browns, white, grey and black. I find that I favor the grey/taupe colors the most. I think that these colors, while in the neutral box, are unique still. I find that when I do not know what i want to do, a greige/taupe color is the best.

I really like nude nail polish shades. I find that nudes work perfect for a no-fuss manicure that looks professional and immaculate. I do find that these manicures are a bit higher maintenance because as soon as there is any chipping it ruins the entire effect of the look, that of being a clean professional manicure. 

I use white and black colors mostly in combination with other polish colors, usually glitters. 

Left to Right: OPI for Sephora Don't Feed the Hand Models, Ulta Set the Nude, Revlon Colorstay Trade Winds, OPI for Sephora Run With It, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Commander in Chic, China Glaze Below Deck, OPI for Sephora Metro Chic, Revlon Perplex, Revlon Colorstay French Roast, China Glaze White on White, Revlon Matte Suede Powder Puff, OPI My Pointe Exactly, OPI for Sephora Break a Leg Warmer, Ulta Smoke Screen, Revlon Black Lingere, China Glaze Tinzel Town, Revlon Ritzy, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Midnight in NY

Review: Physican's Formula Organic Wear FakeOut Mascara

Product: Physician's Formula Organic Wear FakeOut Mascara

Color:  Ultra Black

Price:  $9.99

Size:   0.26 oz

Packaging:  Fuschia curved flat leaf patterned packaging with green script

Brush: Large rubberized bristle brush

Scent: None

Yay or Nay?  YAY

This mascara is holy grail material for me. It is a nice natural mascara with a natural look with a little extra oomph courtesy of the fibers. The fibers are said to be the first every natural fibers. 

Updated Nail Polish Collection and Swatches

The mass chaos that is my unorganized nail polishes: 

I initially did a posting of my nail polish collection and swatches in February 2012. My nail polish collection has pretty much exploded since then.  I had 44 nail polishes at the time, but as of today, my collection has more than tripled and I have an astonishing 154 nail polishes.

I don't even know how that happened. I am really quick to pick up cheap nail polish and use coupons, so a lot of these have been great deals. Still not really sure I need or can use all of these polishes in an entire lifetime. But sometimes a little sparkle nail polish can bring a small bit of sunshine to my day.

I have discovered some new favorite formulas in the past two years and of course kept some old favorites as well.  I am going to break down the polishes by color family with nail wheel swatches.

I thought of challenging myself to do a different polish every time, and not repeat any colors until I have used each one. However, I do not want to feel restricted, so I decided that might not be the right challenge for me. I tend to change up my polish about twice a week, sometimes more depending on the wear and sometimes if I can get away with it I will do just one change a week.

Neutrals, Metallics, Glitters
Aqua/Teals, Blues, Greens
Purples, Pinks, Yellows, Oranges, Reds