Recent NOTDs

Hi there!

Well I've had quite a long break, mostly because this winter has been exceptionally unkind to my cuticles. I even had a couple of fingers splitting and cracking with the dryness, and of course they looked absolutely hideous. I've posted pictures here where my cuticles weren't the best, especially in my camera's macro view, but there was no way I would have posted pictures of my nails in that condition. It was downright unappetizing, folks.

I turned to the wisdom of nail world for a solution. Word has it that Lanisoh lanolin is a sure fix for dry and painful cuticles, and it's absolutely true. I've been using a little bit each night before bed and sometimes during the day as well, and the improvement is remarkable. My hands still get dry right after a shower (hot water is not a friend to dry skin) and during the day, but I've had no more splitting and cracking. I just moisturize as usual and everything's much better.

If you want to use Lanisoh, there's no special trick to it, but be warned it is extremely thick and greasy until it is absorbed, so you won't want to handle anything for a while.

I thought I'd share some NOTD photos that I snapped with my iPhone over the last couple of weeks. They're not spectacular but they will mostly spare you from Cuticle Apocalypse 2012.

Laura Mercier Twilight

I bought this on impulse after Janice described it as an amped-up Paradoxal/Perplex. You can't see the subtleties in this Instagram photo, but it's much more lively than Paradoxal (I don't own Perplex), but it still has that smokiness.

OPI Fly

This is OPI Fly from the Nicki Minaj collection. It's greener in real life - again Instagram isn't spectacular for catching color accuracy. Formula on this was wonderful and I really enjoyed wearing it.

Essie School of Hard Rocks

I love colors like this lately...slightly dusty blues and greens...dark but not too dark. This was almost a one-coat wonder. Also contrary to what this picture might have you believe, I have not recently been jaundiced.

Revlon Whimsical over 10 Professional Pinky Promise

This was a huge favorite of mine; I hated taking it off. I had been half-heartedly looking for Revlon Whimsical but never saw it in any of the displays with the re-named Perplex and Facets of Fuchsia, so I kind of forgot about it until it turned up in a regular display at Rite Aid. Plus it was on sale for $3, so I caved. I LOVE IT, especially over Pinky Promise, which I'm now wishing I had a backup or even several backups of. It's the perfect perfect perfect pink sheer. So this is two coats of Pinky Promise alternated with two coats of Whimsical and topped with Seche Vite. I love it, it looked like a gel manicure.

Chanel Blue Rebel

Finally, my current NOTD. This is one of those colors I mentioned above, a dark dusty blue that's dark enough to be vampy but not so dark you can't tell it's blue. This is from the Les Jeans de Chanel collection, which I ended up really liking in spite of the furor that it's not unique enough to be special. Chanel knocked it out of the park with the formula on this and Blue Boy, though I can't speak to Coco Blue as I haven't used it yet.

Anyway, thanks for your patience with my sporadic "attendance"...with the help of Lanisoh I hope to be back in full action soon!

Zoya Feel Collection - Winter 2011

My heart grew three sizes when I saw the promo pictures and preview swatches of the Zoya Feel collection - six soft cremes for winter. I had the same reaction to the Misa 9-5 collection, of which I ordered all but one. I'm not sure why these colors are so appealing to me - they're not all that unique, or eye catching to others, but I just really love the way they look on the nail. The colors remind me of angora sweaters...soft and cozy. And they're completely appropriate for almost any workplace.

I ordered four of the six colors in the collection: Kendal, Kennedy, Kristen and Carey.

Kendal

Kendal is a soft purply gray - too dusty and gray to be lavender. This would be a great shade for anyone who has trouble with lavender shades or just doesn't care for Easter egg-type colors.

Kristen

Kristen is a soft blue creme with a lot of gray in it. Typically I'm not crazy about baby blues on me but this has enough gray in it to change my mind. I found myself looking at this polish a lot...it's unusual in my collection.

Carey

Carey is a gray creme and is pretty standard. I have...um, a bit of a problem with gray cremes...I have to stop myself from buying them sometimes. This is a really pretty choice if you are in the market for a gray creme, though!

Kennedy

Kennedy was my runaway favorite in this bunch. I'm sorry the picture is a little unfortunate (my cuticles are suffering with the arrival of colder weather) but this is almost a perfect "mannequin hands" shade for me! I got a lot of compliments on this one...weird how sometimes the quietest polishes elicit the most response.

All of the four shades I bought were excellent in terms of formula. All but Kristen could even be one coaters if your application is very good - Kennedy in particular was nearly perfect in one coat. The Zoya brush is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, and each of these polishes applied beautifully. Wear time was good for me - I got probably 3-4 days out of Kendal and Kennedy, though Kristen chipped the morning after I applied it and I only wore Carey for about 24 hours.

As usual, I used Palladio Fuse base coat, Palladio ridge filler and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri (red bottle) top coat with most of these. I tried Rush 60-second top coat with Carey and it didn't work all that well. I'll try it with different polish brands though...Zoyas can be funny about top coats, which is why I don't use Seche Vite with them.

Overall, this is a really nice collection of neutrals with something that should suit a variety of skin tones. If you're always looking for more work-appropriate shades, these would be perfect to consider!