Five colours I can't wait to wear for Autumn

From thumb to pinkie: H&M Envy Me, Illamasqua Scarab, China Glaze First Class Ticket, China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-Y, OPI Ski Teal We Drop

Illamasqua Scarab doesn't look great here, but it is a beautiful polish. This is one coat. It dries without too much lustre, so looks much prettier with a top coat (which I didn't use here) - it's a beautiful browned ruby colour that really glows. Ease of application and opacity is amazing. I love this for fall.

First Class Ticket looks a bit blah in the bottle, but is gorgeous on - the purple really pops, and it's got flashes of silver microglitter. It's a dark blurple but it never looks black. A very glamorous polish.

Ick-a-bod-y is a crazy name for an excellent polish - thick orange glitter in a dark olive jelly base. With three coats the base practically disappears, but this is two over white, so you can just about make out the tone of the jelly. Very chunky so top coat is non-negotiable, but it wears like teflon and looks so spicy and yummy.

Ski teal we drop is one of my favourite teals - and I have a lot. It's dark, very glossy and very sophisticated. This is two coats.

Saving the best 'til last, on my thumb is H&M Envy Me, the perfect ivy green. Two coats to complete opacity, this practically glows. It's similar to Illamasqua Viridian, but less blue and without the duochrome. This is my favourite dark green. I even prefer it to Emerald Sparkle - praise indeed, no?

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H&M Blue My Mind

Oh neon blue, my old nemesis. My favourite colour to wear and my least favourite to photograph. This one's worth the effort, though:

Two coats. I've used a topcoat but the polish (surprisingly for a semi-neon) dries glossy in any case. It pools a little at the cuticles because it's a thick creme but the brush makes it very easy to control, I had barely any clean up. H&M polishes are only £2.99 and while the quality isn't the best I've tried (I tend to get wear after 2-3 days), for the price they're pretty unbeatable.

And the colour? Drooooool. Very very bright mid-blue with a hint of violet. It's really gloriously loud and opaque.

(If any of you are into mosaic, there's a bright blue smalti tile that matches this colour. It was my favourite when I was a kid, I used to use it in every craft project going. So I'm pleased to be able to wear that colour on my nails!)

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RAOKs are wonderful

IceRozie, one of my favrits on MUA, sent me over the most wonderful package of nail polishes all the way from Amsterdam.

Here are three of them...

Reflecting Pool

(4 coats)

This is OPI's Reflecting Pool. This is an EU exclusive, seemingly. I think the blue and gold foil looks cool in the bottle but it's kinda eh on the nail. Especially since it took 4 freaking coats to get it to full coverage.

Sorry for the crappy swatch pic.


Enchantress Emma

(3 coats)

This is H&M's Enchantress Emma. I like this one more than I thought I would. This is a bright blue (with a small touch of green IMO) with blue shimmer. It's a little streaky tho.


17 elegant

(3 coats)

OMFG I LOVE this one. This may become my go-to light purple. It's from a polish brand I have never heard of: p2 Color Victim nailpolish. Anyone know it? This is a grayed out super light purple BUT it leans more pink than blue. This was my problem with OPI's Done Out in Deco; it was more blue than pink. The non-blurple factor in this polish may be enhanced by the soft pink shimmer in it. Issues? The application suxxxxx. It's quite goopy. Hopefully some thinner will help it.

Thanks, IceRozie!

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I hope everyone had a nice holiday and that you're gearing up for a great new years eve party!

While I was visiting my mom in Canada, I convinced her to let me paint her nails (she is a pedicure only type of lady).

You Don't Know Jacques (Suede)

(2 coats)

I blame the poor pic quality on my mother's POS camera. I tried!

What's your mani plan for NYE?? My plan was to do Kati Perry's disco ball nails for NYE but I forgot my rhinestones at my apartment in NYC :(

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Two NOTDs from this week

My classes started up this week and already I'm exhausted about thinking of my coursework. When am I going to have time to do research? When am I going to do grading (fifty papers every two weeks)?! I fully expect to have my ass kicked thoroughly by the advanced statistics class: structural equation modeling looks like it's going to be an awesome thing to learn but I haven't had a stats class yet that hasn't put me through the ringer. I love statistics and think that it's crucial that I understand as much as I can as fully as possible... but I am so bad at it. It's weird -- and frustrating -- to do something you enjoy but at which you completely and totally suck.

Also we're in a terrible classroom without tables or desks. It's hard to do straight-up stats lecture and take notes on your lap.

H&M Goddess on Stage

I got this in a swap from a lovely MUAer. I've found polish at some H&Ms but not all of them. This is a dark purple with red and gold shimmer. Pretty plain until the light hits it: it reminds me of a toned down version of Milani Totally Cool. Alas, it didn't survive too well, as you can see from the tipwear and chip after one day. I WAS doing a lot of housework with it but still... one day?

Amoresse Mambo Madness on top of H&M Goddess on Stage

Blurple with silver glitter (mostly -- there may be some blue glitter in there). It doesn't sparkle as much as it just shines. Continuously. Very luminous in all lights. Truly striking color, I absolutely love it. It's also extremely dense and can be built up to be completely opaque; the above pictures show only one coat.

Closeup of Mambo Madness on top of Goddess on Stage

As for Amoresse polishes, I don't find these very often... and I don't even think they're supposed to be called "Amoresse". The bottles (which are identical except for logo to the Adoree bottles down to the stylized A on the top of the cap) say "Philtra Colour by Amoresse", Amoresse being the surname (I think) of Lauren Amoresse. ...anyone else think that Amoresse is a better brand name than "Philtra"? It's sort of stereotypical, almost a portmanteau of the words "amorous" and "caress", but I just think it looks and sounds better than "Philtra Colour"

Many of my NOTD posts will probably take this format of "old NOTD with new NOTD layered on top of it" now that school's started again and I don't have as much time to do a new mani every day. I hope to at least refresh it every day with a new layer of something or other -- heaven knows I have enough glitters and sheers to do that.

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