Finger Paints Gumdrops and Lollipops Spring 2012: Blue Raspberry Taffy

I've been working on my magnetic manicures, trying to get the technique down, figuring out which brand I like best, etc. In the midst of my mag-mani madness, I've gotten a little bored with having the darker stripey nails.

Then I got a flyer in the mail informing me that my Sally Beauty Supply card needed to be renewed. For a $5 renewal, I got a free Ion Color Saving Conditioner ($7.49) and a $5 off in store coupon, PLUS the savings I get for being a club member for the year. Not bad! Of COURSE, I had to buy a polish with my coupon.

I swiveled around from the cash register and immediately saw on the top polish shelf, Finger Paints in these bright, not quite electric/neon, candy colors. It was their Spring 2012 Gumdrops and Lollipops collection, appropriately named and I think slightly disregarded, alone, hardly picked through on the top shelf.

I spoke with Andi, because we enjoy texting each other excitedly about our new polish picks and trying to figure out if we want to trade colors, and she had done the exact same thing with her Sally coupon and bought another one of these eye catching colors. Great minds, my friends.

SO.... I want to tell you why you too should pick up one of these delicious colors.

Finger Paints decided to go a less conventional route from what's currently trending (i.e. glitters, magnetic and super bright neons). China Glaze and OPI have done this with their Muppets, Magnetix and Electropop lines. Even the drugstore brands, like Sally Hansen and Wet n Wild, have followed in pocket-friendly tow. I love(d) every single one of my glitter/magnetic/neons; however, I know (for me anyway) these won't be stuck in my coveted "go to" drawer.

We all have that one top, that one necklace, even that one pair of SUPER comfy socks we could wear all day, everyday. For me, I have polishes that I would be content wearing every single day of the week and Finger Paints "Blue Raspberry Taffy" had me at "hello."

The Gumdrops and Lollipops line is semi-neon but not as bold or brash as a true neon. These shades border on a neon/pastel mash-up. They are truly vibrant and they'll make your nails look like beautiful little Easter eggs.

Here are some pictures of Blue Raspberry Taffy in action:

In this lighting, it takes on an almost turquoise color... LOVE IT!

This particular color was totally opaque in one coat, but I achieved a more vibrant jelly look with two coats. I topped it with Cult Nails Wicked Fast and the shine was amazing.

This was the next day, I always paint my nails at night and hope that there is some decent natural light the next day, but you can see how the polish morphs to a more beautiful candy blue.

I work a second job (weekend retail mall job of DOOM... ok, ok, not really "doom", more like women's clothing) and I always put a good polish to the test there because retail has proven to wreak havoc on my nails. This polish made it through seven hours of cashiering, hanger wars, vacuuming, window washing, and just overall "hand sadness".... besides a little tip wear, not a single chip. NOT ONE.

Andi brought a great point to my attention, as well - if you missed China Glaze Up and Away, you're definitely going to want to pick up some Finger Paints Gumdrops and Lollipops as a Spring/Summer "must have." I know, like me, you will also fight the urge to wear it on your nails and toes everyday this summer. So fun, yet simple... so go to Sally's and show that forgotten polish display some love. 

Untried Greens - Zoya Gemma & Yara

I pulled out some of my untried Zoya greens for the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day.  These are from collections last year, but they were both so pretty that I had to share.

First, we have Gemma from their Spring 2011 Intimate collection
- a soft sage green shimmer.

 

I wanted this shade for its flash of blue-violet shimmer, but I didn't get around to buying it until I found it in an Ulta clearance bin.  The formula was pretty thin and watery, but I think that might have been my fault.  The poor thing had been sitting around for awhile - it probably needed a lot more rolling to get it mixed back up to normal consistency.  I needed three coats to get it opaque, but it might work with two if I mix it better next time.

For those of you in parts of the country where it's still feels more like the end of winter than the beginning of spring...

here's Yara, an olive green with gold flecks,
from the Mirrors half of the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection.

Yara's formula was thicker (maybe because it's also newer and needed less shaking?) and went on easily in two coats.  I really enjoyed the soft, spring-like effect of Gemma, but I LOVED Yara.  This is such a beautiful color.  Why didn't I wear this all fall?? It's smoky, it's subtly sparkly, it's so pretty!

China Glaze Capitol Colors - Smoke and Ashes

Hi there! First of all, my name is Kat and I am one of Andi's friends and a fellow nail enthusiast! Andi has been a bit of a polish mentor and over the past year I've grown a collection of colors that started with about 8 and has now blossomed, enough to fill a two foot high Tupperware rolling drawer chest. I will hopefully be editing my profile soon and I can tell you more about myself there.

So, China Glaze Capitol Colors is a totally exciting new line based off of the Hunger Games books and further boosted interest with the release of the movie coming soon on March 23rd. I have to tell you - the excitement for the movie made the trip to Ulta to find Capitol Colors feel like Christmas. I sat in the aisle for about 15 minutes trying to decide which two I wanted the most. The blue/green micro glitter in Smoke and Ashes really caught my eye.

The formula on this one was highly pigmented black/navy and it only took one coat. However, when I got a little on my skin, it made clean up a little difficult, because it would stain my cuticle, so I would say you definitely don't want to "willy nilly" paint with this one. In my indoor picture you can't really see the super cool glitter in the polish, regardless, the glitter does add to the overall awesome shine I achieved on this one and the fact that it's not really a straight/flat black made it reflect nicely with my skin tone for such a dark polish. (Don't mind my cuticles, I'm from Wisconsin... one day it's sixty degrees, the next day it's twenty and it's ALWAYS dry.)

I took the polish outside hoping I could catch the glitter for you and I think it was a little more noticeable in the sunlight.

You can definitely see some glitter shine in the pointer finger.  

Alright, so even though I was a little disappointed with the visibility of the glitter in this polish, I still love it! I do believe the glitter and the shade add a special "glimmer" to this polish that make it really morph to most skin tones and for some reason, although it's basically "black" to a quick glance, it has a certain luminosity to it that makes it multifaceted in a very enigmatic way. The application was great and I'm always a fan of a one coat wonder. If you're a fan of Hunger Games and China Glaze, I would suggest you go and pick up one of these unique polishes from the Capitol Colors line. I also picked up "Harvest Moon" and "Luxe and Lush" (which looks like an Essie/Nubar dupe). Perhaps I'll critique those in the near future, but I will be playing around with magnetic polish next! Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Thank you for reading my FIRST polish blog entry, I'd also like to do a polish giveaway... I'm such a shopping ninja, I have an almost complete set on Wet n Wild Color Icon Ice Baby glitters to give away when we reach 200 followers! Psst... tell your friends :)