Taupe Skittle: China Glaze Release and Essie Chinchilly

I was looking through my collection to come up with some inspiration.  I lined up my taupe polishes and couldn't decide on one to use, so why not try them all?!  This was the result:

This skittle was such a chameleon (and that's putting it lightly!) These pictures are the most color accurate of the individual shades but in most lighting situations they were very close...only a shade or two off and fluctuated between looking grey or purplish.  I'm sure I don't have to explain the personality of taupe polishes for that to make sense!  But I will tell you the polishes I used (from thumb to pinky):  L'Oreal Liya's Nude, Essie Chinchilly, China Glaze Release, L'Oreal Sparklicious, and L'Oreal Eiffel For You. 

These polishes are all available currently, with the exception of Sparklicious (which is amazing...think Beyond Cozy but with different size glitters).
- All polishes were 2 coats and a topcoat and the formula was fantastic on every one! These are pretty much the only Loreals I own and the first time I used any of their creams. I was totally impressed!  Release (the most purple of the bunch) is from the new China Glaze limited edition collection, The Giver. After I purchased Release, I suspected it would be a dupe for something in my collection but I haven't found that to be the case by bottle comparison.

Outdoors - shade

Indoors

Natural light - shade

I'm going to have a really tough time picking just one of these to wear...but Eiffel For You (on my pinky) is one of my favorites.  I am in love with these neutrals and the promise that fall might show up in Arizona!  If you have a taupe or fall color that you can't live without...please let me know in the comments!:)

~ Hayley

*These pretty polishes were purchased by me 

A Quick NOTD Post: A Friday Favorite

It's been awhile since an actual post...so I wanted to share a quick nail of the day with you.  Unfortunately, we are in the middle of our dry season here in Arizona and it's very likely we may not get any rain until July.  This has been wreaking havoc on my hands and cuticles, so I apologize in advance but I wanted to share another color with you!

This is Dusty Blue by Love & Beauty from Forever 21.  It definitely has a slight dusty quality to it, but is more purple leaning that blue for sure.  It's softer looking indoors and that's where I can see more dustiness to the color.  It was one of my very first polishes and I still reach for it time and time again. 
There is a good chance that Forever 21 has a 'Dusty Blue' polish in their stores or on their website...they tend to recycle names though.  So, if they have one it could be the same, but it may be different...just fair warning!

This was 2 easy coats and the dry time on it is impressive!  I added an accent nail of L'Oreal The Bigger The Better (just one gentle coat) and a topcoat.  I love this polish because the glitter is so small but still a fun combination of black and silver glitter. 

I feel like Dusty Blue is similar to some other polishes that have come out recently; Sinful Colors and OPI had shades that come to mind.  But they are more saturated colors in my opinion.  This polish is a dustier purple indoors and looks slightly lighter than the others. 
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great Friday!

Valentine's Day Nails (Part 1)

I went out of my color comfort zone for this one!  I wanted to do something different for Valentine's Day, so I picked a few colors I have not tried yet.  I like that polish is such a subtle accessory that you can do something a little different and not feel too uncomfortable. :)

I decided to use Stunning by Pure Ice, which is a pink and slightly silver velour finish polish from their Runway Collection.  I used 2 coats and the dry time was fast!  I've never used a polish with this type of finish before, but it was pretty amateur friendly!  
For my accent nails I used The Bigger The Better from L'Oreal.  It's a mix of fine black and silver glitter in a clear base.  The glitter is pretty dense so this was just 1 coat and I wiped the brush a few times before applying.  I did have to dab glitter on a few spots, but it was to avoid getting too much on my nails so the base color would still be visible.  

Claws in effect :)

I don't know that I'll be wearing Stunning very often, only because I lean more toward lighter colors.  The layering options with The Bigger The Better are endless, so I'll likely be using this one quite a bit!

Outside - natural light

Both of the Pure Ice and L'Oreal polishes came out late last year (around October/ November).  I still see a few bottles of The Bigger The Better here and there at Ulta and Walgreens.  In fact, I just purchased mine about a month ago, so chances are decent that you can still find one!  Stunning was part of a limited edition collection, but there could still be some bottles lingering around.  Pure Ice really keeps up on their social media presence and you can visit their Facebook page here.

What do you think?  Do you go out of your polish comfort zone when there's a holiday?  

Disclaimer: Since we are just getting started we are learning about lighting and such. Please bear with us as we get better at the photography. Thanks!