Polish hauling as of late...

I have brought home to the Helmer all sorts of things!
Here's what I've hauled lately:


Sally Hansen:
Purple Fiesta
Purple Gala
Mystic Lilac
Shining Moments

Essie:
Sew Psyched
Merino Cool
We Can Do It Pink

OPI:
DS Classic
Suzi Skis Suede
Halloween Go Goth Minis
Pikaki Phakakta Plum (very very old)

Nina:
Never Glum Plum

Orly:
Bonder

China Glaze:
Halloween Awakenings Set

Seche:
a fresh Vite
Chemise

CND:
More of my trusted SolarOil

Borghese:
Stellare Notte

Petites:
Vintage Gray

Barielle:
Out-Grey-Geous

Along with the Nubars, which are currently on their way, that's a lot of new polish to play with! At least for me, I don't have a huge collection (yet?).

Nubar!

A good example of the pleasures and dangers of nail polish blogs- I discovered this brand.

However in the name of frugality, i vowed to not place an order until a promotion was offered.

And that means I placed my first order today! There is a 30% off $30 or more promotion going on from November 15th to the 20th.

My choices were:

*Barricade (from the Fortress collection)
*Stronghold (ditto- love that they had a complete grey series!)
*Pharaoh Purple (from the Cleopatra collection)
*Gem (from the Prisms collection)

Not a huge order but I was concerned about shipping costs. With the 30% off, it almost covered the UPS Ground, which made me feel so much better about placing an order for polishes sight unseen. Haven't done that in ages.

I will be looking forward to sharing my thoughts on these!

OPI Swiss Collection

The latest OPI collection has gotten lots and lots of positive press. I really liked the concept and the color choices. I ended up buying two: Luzerne-tanly Look Marvelous and Ski Teal We Drop.

Luzerne-tanly Look Marvelous (everyone seems to hate that name, and with good reason if you're blogging about it - it's awful to spell out) has been on my toes for ages. I put it on almost immediately after I got it, to cover up a fresh pedicure I wasn't fond of. I definitely see the green tint to the pewter, which I love. It's quite pretty.

(I had been wanting Suzi Skis in the suede finish but had not picked it up. Luzerne is even better IMO - glad to have this polish instead.)


Ski Teal We Drop is of course a departure for me, but a welcome one. Teal is one of those colors I've loved all my life. When blue and green combine on the color spectrum, well, color me happy. I just hadn't seen a teal nail polish that really spoke to me, except for the gorgeous and luxe Rescue Beauty Lounge version, of course. (My significant other thinks my burgeoning nail polish collection is silly enough as it is...if he found out about RBL's prices he'd be speechless!)

I was thrilled to see comparison pics with RBL Teal...I might even prefer the OPI version, which has been described as just a tiny bit lighter than the RBL. This is plenty dark as it is - what I like about it is how rich it is without being mistaken for black.

So, teal is the official color for Ovarian Cancer Awareness, and September happens to be the official Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. I recently stumbled across the website Teal Toes, which asks women to paint their toenails teal to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Teal is considered an unusual color in nail polish (maybe not for polish bloggers, but for most folks!) and so if someone asks you about your choice in polish shade, you can mention that teal is the awareness color.

I am proud to be able to oblige by using my new OPI shade.

Sula Paint & Peel

Stopped in a local Ulta and found these on sale. I think they were marked down to $2.99 each? It seemed like they'd be worth a try.


I chose the colors Dove and Royal.

Royal is pretty great. A beautiful blue.

Dove was surprisingly different on the nail than in the bottle, quite a bit darker than I thought it would be. Streaky application.

I admit that I have the reprehensible habit of picking at nail polish during times of high anxiety, which makes these useful, I suppose!

nubs.

It's going to be a little while before I can start posting pictures of my own nails.

As I realized for the billionth time this week, nail polish isn't just about aesthetics. It also keeps me from (ugh) biting my nails down to nothing. Anxiety much?

I've discovered it's a very simple equation:

*polish on = no nail biting
*bare nail = suddenly up for grabs

Well, onward and upward.

Not pink or grey: American Apparel polishes

I guess you could call it a mini-haul...

Took advantage of the 3 for $15 multiple special they have and grabbed Mouse, Hunter and Mount Royal.

This is directly thanks to all the many nail polish bloggers who were kind enough to post lots of swatches and talk about what they thought of these colors. I definitely would not have chosen these otherwise.

I looked hard at Factory Grey, but I already own China Glaze Recycle and I thought they would be similar. Maybe not, I'm new at this. I might have to grab that one, too. AA just came out with six more shades, so perhaps even more bottles in my taste will be forthcoming.

Have also picked up my first bottle of Seche Vite. It applies so thickly! Wow.