I was so pleasantly surprised by these polishes. I thought they'd be a bit dull -- you know, red, green, gold, silver, holiday bells are ringing, tralalala, tis the season to go shopping, etc -- but I really like Orly lately and I felt like hauling from VNS. So I got four and I do not regret any of them!
It almost looks like it belongs in the Foil FX collex... which is a good thing. This warm gold metallic foil beauty goes on a bit thicker than the Foil FX polishes. I used three coats here but probably could have stopped at two. Super gorgeous and burning bright.
I don't really get the name of it. Like "rocket's red glare"? Either way, another gorgeous polish that I didn't expect to like at all. I thought it'd be a normal red shimmer but it turned out to be really lovely, understated and unexpected. It's a muted burgundy red that is shot through with warm gold shimmer. It's a very autumn-y color to me. A bit dull indoors but once the sunlight hits it, the gold really shines through and enlivens the red and gives it an orangey glow. Three coats.
This one is the hands down star of the collection. OMG. You HAVE to click on these photos to see them full sized. I posted this on Nail Board a week ago when I swatched it because I thought it was just so excitingly pretty and people kept asking me if this is how it really looked, since other photos didn't make it look this exciting. My answer is: YES, this is how it really looks! Shimmering emerald amazingness. Three coats but would probably be good for most people at two.
This looked awful on my bare nails but it's a sheer white shimmer that brightens up any other mani you might want. It gives it a icy, frosty (in a good way) look that is ridiculously bright. I just decided to layer it over Meet Me Under the Mistletoe here but I'm sure there are better combinations out there for this.
In other news, I have a research fellowship for this coming quarter which means I don't have to TA (for this quarter)! I can concentrate on my research (for just these ten short weeks)! I have so much planned and am totally psyched to really aggressively pursue a more diverse research agenda. The only thing I feel really bad about is that there isn't a huge long waiting list for TAships in my department this quarter which means that the psych department might have to get TAs from other departments... which means underqualified TAs for the undergrad psych classes.
I'm not sure I should be sacrificing career advancement type activities so I can grade undergrad papers -- and have the inevitable grouchy undergrad that treats me like mud -- but I also feel bad that I'm not doing my part. Not that "doing my part" is going to do me any favors. Teaching is not often looked well-upon in a CV when going for an academic post (unless it's at a community college or a very small liberal arts college) and it's more impressive to have research fellowship to one's name. That and I need to build up my research credentials. I want to build up my research credentials. It's the best way to ensure I will have work after my PhD is done!
Also, it's a cool project that I will be paid to be on. I'm working with a computer science professor who is interested in natural language generation. Interdisciplinarity is awesome. Especially when the other discipline has more money to support research activities. :P
September 3rd (35m cardio), September 4th (35m cardio), September 5th (15m cardio), September 6th (30m cardio)... Went to physical therapy yesterday to hurry up the healing of the wrist. Getting SO bored of cardio with no significant amount of strength training with free weights.
