NOTD: Shimmering Zoya Crystal

Crystal. She is gorgeous. At the same time showy and subtle, elegant and flashy. Ice-blue shimmer embedded with gold flakes. I wish I could have photographed it better.

Zoya Crystal is a dupe for OPI Reflecting Pool, which was a Europe-exclusive shade. It's a really fantastic color, which I will definitely be wearing again. I got opacity after three coats, and tipwear after only one day, both of which are usually polish dealbreakers for me, but I love this color so much that I am willing to compromise. Crystal, you and I are going to be good friends.

Nailgirl

NOTD - Essie Coat Azure

Here's a beautiful ocean blue - Essie Coat Azure.

This was my first time using Essie (I got a few bottles on my trip to the US), and I don't totally love it. The brush is narrow, and the formula is thin. I prefer thick, gloopy polishes that do the evening out for you. One coat was streaky, but if you're a better polisher than I then maybe you could pull it off. I had to settle for two.

The color, however, is lovely. After two coats it's nice and opaque, and it's a true medium blue with shimmer. The shimmer is fairly subtle in the bottle, but more noticeable on the nail. Application issues aside, I do like it quite a bit. I'll be wearing this one again.

Nailgirl

Hauling in the USA: ULTA!

ULTA! Oh, Ulta. I wish I had one of you anywhere near me. How amazing. On my very last night in the US, I was out with a bunch of the girls and we stumbled upon an Ulta store. I casually suggested that we pop our heads in and see what's there. I am so glad I did.

At first, I was good - I carefully selected two of my must-have polishes from the displays. I chose Don't Mess with OPI from OPI's Texas collection, and China Glaze White Cap from their nautical collection.

Then, we found the clearance section, and I had to spring for three more:

In clearance I found a polish I've been wanting for a while! From China Glaze's Vintage Vixens collection, the copper brown bottle you see up there is Foxy.
Light pink with gold shimmer is Essie Cool Lots, and the purple Ulta is called Femme Fatale. I'm not too crazy about the purple, but it was only 50 cents! So it, uh, leapt into my shopping basket.

Nailgirl

Notd: YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW (Rimmel Sunshine)

Sometimes, even if you don't think you want to, even if yellow totally does not suit your skin tone, even if you've never done it before... you need some bright yellow polish to cheer you up.

This wasn't strictly an untried - I've used it before in my weather newsprint manicure - but I've never had a whole manicure in it.

Now it's true, this yellow looks pretty awful on me. And it's from Rimmmel's "I <3 Lasting Finish" line, the cheapie polishes aimed at preteens - the color is called Sunshine. But I still love it. It's a true yellow, no orange or green undertones, and it's a beautiful creme with hidden shimmer. I had NO IDEA there was shimmer when I bought the bottle, but it's really neat.

As far as application goes it was surprisingly good. One coat is unbearably streaky but two is almost perfect. If I were in less of a hurry when I was doing this mani, it would have looked much better - there are still streaks on some of my nails.

When you want yellow, sometimes you gotta have yellow. And this is a good yellow in my book.

Nailgirl

Eyeko Rain, for city nails

I mentioned that I couldn't wait to try it, and indeed, it's the first color that went on my nails after the wear test was over.

What a lovely polish... It's a slightly grey-tinged sky blue, with a subtle shimmer. It's not exactly the 'hidden shimmer' of Paradoxal/Dusky Mauve/Perplex, but it's not flashy either. I think this is going to be one of my go-to polishes.

The only downside is that Eyeko polish bottles are pretty tiny. The bottle contains 8.5 ml - to compare, Barry M is 10ml, Sally Hansen polishes are 13ml, and OPIs are a whopping 15ml. So, this Eyeko polish is a little over half the size of a regular OPI polish. Still and all, two bottles of Eyeko (at £3.50 each) are less than the price of one OPI in a store.

Eyeko Rain might be dupeish for Chanel Riva - a baby blue with hidden shimmer. I haven't seen any comparisons, but it does seem close judging from pictures. I think Riva might be brighter, and not have the hint of grey that Eyeko Rain has.

I'll definitely be using this again. The color suits me well I think, and the subtle shimmer is mesmerizing.

Nailgirl