Summer shades with Pahlish and SpaRitual

* Polishes purchased by me *

Hello, hello!  I haven't been wearing anything super interesting lately and mostly just posting them over on Instagram.  These are 2 shades I have been loving for summer so I wanted to share!
This first shade by Pahlish was a limited edition mystery shade, so unfortunately is not available.  This beauty is Test Batch: Wild Roses and gives you an idea about the spectacular polishes you can find on her site though!  This was a test batch, so they get named and sometimes they are prototypes for later releases. Fingers crossed!

If memory serves this was just 2 coats and of course I'm in love with the flakies in this one!  It reminds me of an older Pahlish, Sarey's Berry, and I wish I had that one to compare the two. 

Next is a mainstream that is still available.  Now that textures are making a comeback for summer, I had to pull this one out because I adore the color.  This is Wilderness by SpaRitual - a pinky melon texture with a microfine gold shimmer.  This was 2 coats of Wilderness and is a go to polish because it dries so quickly without a topcoat.  My perfect summer pinky coral! (It looks orange on their site, but mine definitely has pink in it).

Shades like these are what I have been loving lately.  What are your go-to summer shades or colors you tend to reach for time and time again lately?  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Hayley ~ 

Summer Favorites Swatchfest!

*All Polishes Were Purchased*

A few of my favorite colors to wear this summer are notorious for formulas that are a struggle.  That being said, the colors are worth it. I'll give you my honest thoughts below:

First up is Urban Outfitters Honeydew.  This was 3 coats that dry slightly matte, and topcoat to even things out.  In the bottle it looks extremely close to Color Club Under the Blacklight.  Honeydew is in the pastel neon bunch and I cannot get enough of colors like this!  On the nail it's slightly brighter than Under the Balcklight, which you'll see below.  Decent formula (since I have come across a pastel neon that has yet to be easy, I was expecting it).  This one was slightly on the easier side to work with.  I  love the glow in late dusk and early morning you get with these colors.

Next is Color Club Under the Blacklight. I LOVE this color - I wore with matte topcoat it in the above picture because it was my first try with the polish, and figuring out the formula was a struggle.  This was 3-4 coats (some had 3 some had a thin 4th coat).  This was an indoor shot which leans more yellow than outdoors like you see with Honeydew (I promise these two colors really are similar!) but my camera was a little freaked out so it is very slightly greener.

Pure Ice Feisty is up next.  This one was from a few summers ago, but Pure Ice does bring back previous shades and I came across this in Walmart just the other week, so it's still around!  This was 2 very easy coats.  Pure Ice formulas are thin, so I was pleased with how opaque the coats were and that it didn't flood at all.  I recommend this polish if you see it.  It dries semi-matte like neons do - this was without topcoat.  I later tried to matte it - and it almost acted like a crackle polish - it was so odd!  I'll try it again with a different matte, but it is a beautiful purple leaning fuchsia!

This is Sweet Cheeks by Bonita Colors. This was the first polish from Bonita that I have tried.  I was a little thrown by this coral.  In the bottle it look more pink than in the picture, BUT this is definitely color accurate on me.  It dried on my nails more orange coral than the pink coral in the bottle.  Still very pretty for summer and stellar 2 coat formula.  It is not terribly unique - so if you don't have it there are a ton of similar options out there.  SinfulColors Island Coral comes to mind, because that is another one that leans pinker in the bottle, but more orange coral on the nail. 

Outside - sunlight

This last polish was one of my favorite colors, but I'm pretty sure I cried and almost threw the bottle out of the window when I applied it.  This is Spring In My Step from China Glaze.  I adore this color! It's a beautiful pinky-peach, and it's bright!  The formula was HORRIBLE though. It was streaky and patchy - this is 4 coats + topcoat and every single one was a struggle.  But I cannot express how I LOVE this color!  I give it a pass for that only, but I'm on the hunt for anything similar.  I might have found one, so I'll report back.

Thanks for stopping by!  Are there any other colors you recommend similar to these?  What are your favorite summer polishes?

~ Hayley ~

Coral Crush: Orly Cheeky

Hi again! It's been way too long!  Life has gotten in the way for both me and Jackie, but I'm so excited to be writing again.  I just got around to wearing this shade for the first time and it's so pretty and perfect for summer that I had to share.  Meet Cheeky by Orly:

Reminds me of the sunsets in Arizona!

This was a beautiful peach/ coral polish that leans slightly pink, from their Blush collection that came out Spring 2014.  My bet is that you can still order it online or might come across it in the Ulta clearance sale.  I purchased mine at one of Sally's clearance tables. It is just beautiful and the gold shimmer that is not too perceptible on camera is definitely more visible in person.  Vampy Varnish did a much better job at photographing the shimmer in Cheeky than I did, but I love this polish so much I had to take some pictures of my own and share.  I love that in certain lighting it leans more pink than coral (not pictured here).  I tried to capture that but my camera would not have it.  All I'm trying to say is that you need this polish!  It was pretty enough to make me blog again after a year hiatus...so there's that. :) 

Shimmer! Coral + gold = swoon!

I used 3 coats in these pictures; the formula was sheer and very easy to work with.

Thanks so much for reading, if anyone is still out there!  I promise to be posting more often as well as some NOTDs on my Instagram and our Facebook page. 
I have been obsessed with coral lately, so if you have some must-have coral polishes please let me know what they are! :)

~ Hayley

P.S. you can still purchase Cheeky on Orly's website.