Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Gala

What to wear for Mardi Gras?  Something purple, something gold, something festive & sparkly... time for Purple Gala!!

This is a limited edition polish from the Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear line. The display didn't specify a season and it started popping up in July and August, so I'll say it's from their Fall 2010 collection.

Purple Gala is a sparkly foil with purple, silver, and gold glitter in a smoky purple base overlaid with lots of larger gold glitter pieces. You'll see more purple versus more gold depending on the lighting. This polish was opaque in 2 coats, but I put on a third coat for a little more depth.

This was a challenging polish to find even after it was recently released. Since that was almost a year ago and this is a limited edition shade, it might be near impossible to get Purple Gala now.  But never fear! If you like the look of Purple Gala, I recommend picking up Hard Candy's Mr. Wrong, which is close enough in color and finish to be a dupe to the casual observer.

Essie Wedding 2010 Collection

While exploring our new city, I stopped by the Ulta and found some Essie Mini 4 Packs on clearance for $5. I'm off to a bridal shower this afternoon so here are the shades from the Essie Wedding 2010 Mini Collection. All of these swatches are shown with 3 thin coats over a pink-tinted ridge filler base coat and Redi Quick Dry top coat.

Walk Down The Aisle - a soft, creamy white.  This was my least favorite of the set because it was so streaky!! This shade was probably about 90% even after 3 coats and a leveling top coat. I think it looks wonderfully elegant in the shade and less direct lighting, but OPI Funny Bunny will still be my go-to sheer white because its formula is easier to work with.          

Petal Pink - a sheer light pink. This shade wasn't streaky at all. Why wasn't Walk Down The Aisle this easy to apply?  Petal Pink looks like a very light white-pink in direct light with a more pronounced pink tint in the shade. I'm not sure this will replace China Glaze Innocence as my go-to sheer pink, but this was a good polish for this mini collection.

Show Me The Ring - a white shimmer with a gold flash. This was the most opaque polish in the set. I couldn't capture it in these pictures, but there's a beautiful multicolor microshimmer that sparkles in the sun. The lower the lighting gets, the golder this polish looks.

Sunlight - White Gold Shimmer

Shade - Light Gold Pearl

Main Squeeze - a light gray shimmer with a lilac flash. I could see a blue and pink hidden shimmer in the sunlight - I think that's what gives this shade such a strong flash that it almost looks like a gray-purple duochrome effect.

I thought this was a comprehensive mini bridal set - streak-free sheer pink, soft white, white-gold shimmer, gravender shimmer.  It has a classic feel with a touch of new spring trendiness.  The mini brushes are full and I didn't find one stray wonky bristle.  I also love how cute the box is!

There are little squares of the colors inside all over the box.  Each polish even fits in right by their corresponding shade square on the inside of the box.  And even though they're minis, the polishes still have the "e" on their bottle top. I appreciate these little details :)

Now off to the first bridal shower of my wedding-packed year!!

Online At Last!

I'm back!!!

After 3 1/2 loooong days of driving, we made it to our new place in sunny & warm Casa Grande, AZ.  After 5 more even longer days, they turned on our internet & cable!!

It's going to take our moving company about 5-15 business days to get here. Isn't that time range a lovely estimated date of arrival? *grrr* Until then, I only have the polishes I could pack into one photo box. All the rest are coming across the country slowly with the movers.

It's not a ton of polishes but it's still enough to take some pics and do some posts, so look forward to that!  New polish post coming up soon :)

We Have A Winner!

Muchísimas Gracias to everyone who entered my Fun Friday Giveaway!  I received so many responses and wonderful comments and I wish I could give polishes away to all of you :)

The official winner of the Fun Friday Giveaway is...

*drum roll*

 ...checking the spreadsheet...

...Jennifer J!!

No worries if you didn't win this giveaway now!  I'm 11 followers away from having an even bigger giveaway with prizes for even more winners. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend - I'll be busy packing and getting ready for the big cross-country drive.  I might not post while we're on the road, but I'll definitely be back once we get settled in AZ.  Happy Friday!!

Reds, Berries, & Glitter - Oh My! featuring Cult Nails Iconic

I put off getting my Valentine's Day post ready over the weekend. I kept thinking "no problem -  I'll just do one on Monday night." Really? What was I thinking?! Westminster Dog Show was going on Monday and Tuesday and I can't blog AND look carefully at all the breeds being shown at the same time :s

But that doesn't mean I don't have some Valentine Day-inspired colors to share with you!

First, a red creme -
OPI Color So Hot It Berns from the Fall 2010 Swiss Collection

This is a bold warm red that goes on smoothly on two coats. Looks opaque in most lighting, but a slight VNL is visible in bright light. I only have the mini bottle from the Irrre-Swiss-Ables Minis Collection, but I would like a big bottle because none of my reds are as bright as this one.

Now, a burgundy shimmer -
Diamond Cosmetics Cherry Tobacco from the Fall 2009 Collection

Darker on the nail than in the bottle, this blackened burgundy leaned brown on me. The rich shimmer really lights this shade up from the inside, so it never looks entirely black - there's always a flash of that luxurious shimmer that pops from every angle.

My first "vampy" love reinvented for 2011 - 

the classic Revlon Vixen topped with the new top glitter top coat Revlon Slipper!

A deep brown-based dark red creme topped with small red and silver glitter and larger holo hex glitter.

aaaaaand the Pièce de résistance... the latest from Cult Nails.... Iconic!

 

 This is two coats - with only one coat on the pinkie to show the base color and opacity of the shade. 

Iconic is a berry creme with red flakes and gold shimmer. I don't have any top coat on in these pictures. Iconic goes on smoothly and has an incredibly high intensity shine when it dries!  Look at that shade shot - this polish is really that shiny on its own!!

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day :)  To all my friends back home - Happy 99th Birthday to AZ!  

And a big congratulations to Hickory, the first Scottish Deerhound to ever win Best in Show at Westminster!!  This is an impressive win for an old breed - a Scottish Deerhound was even shown in the first Westminster show in 1877.  135 years is a long time to go without a breed getting a Best in Show and Hickory finally won the big prize for all those Deerhounds.  Ok, enough dog trivia for tonight!  

I'll be closing the Fun Friday Giveaway on Thursday, 2/17 at 9 pm EST so I can do the drawing and announce the winner on Friday.  Be sure to send those entry emails to vivapolish@gmail.com for your chance to win those polishes!

BIG News & Fun Friday Giveaway!

What happened last week?  What's going on?  Well.... I moved to New York on February 25, 2008... and on February 25, 2011, we'll be moving back to Arizona!!  How crazy is that?!  Three years exactly?!

My husband got an excellent job offer and now we're rushing around trying to get ready for the big cross-country move - packing, finding a place, wrapping up things at our current jobs. Boy, packing wreaks havoc on nails with all of the tape and moving unwieldy boxes. Ugh!

That doesn't mean that I can't celebrate all of my fabulous followers, though - I have over 50 now! So now it's time to take a break from all the moving details and have some fun this Friday with a little giveaway :)

Winter blues are the worst, but blue polishes are a different story, so... 

I'm giving away some of the loveliest blue polishes released this winter!

Revlon Top Speed Royal, Hard Candy Sky, Revlon Galaxy





and

Funky Fingers Blitzen, Revlon Street Wear Midnight



I know Blitzen is more of a green & StreetWears are discontinued, but green-ish teal is a close cousin to blue and I just found this StreetWear this winter, so they still fit in the "theme" ;)

To enter this giveaway, please send an email to vivapolish@gmail.com with Fun Friday Giveaway in the subject line. Include your name and the email address you'd like me to contact you at if you're the lucky winner.

You can earn an extra entry if you tweet about me or my giveaway (I'm Andi_Frise on Twitter). Just share the link with me in your email.

You don't have to be a follower to enter this giveaway, but, of course, I'd appreciate your follow.  I'd also like a friendly comment on any of my blog entries because I want to know what you think, what you like, what you want more of from Viva Polish! 

This giveaway is open to toda mi gente - US and Intenational!  It starts now, ends next Thursday, and the winner will be announced on Friday, 2/18.

China Glaze Ahoy!

I'm going to try and be really brief because I gotta get to the TV. Two of my favorite shows are on tonight - Community and Parks & Rec! It's the D&D episode on Community and would I really be a good MPA if I didn't LOVE Parks & Rec?

Know what else makes me smile like these funny shows? A really pretty polish! I heard an ice storm was going to hit the city this week and Ahoy! was bright enough to counter the freezing weather.

This pink is one of the big stars from the China Glaze Anchors Away Spring 2011 Collection. Even though it's from a spring collection, I think Ahoy! looks like the winter cousin to CG Strawberry Fields.

This is a bright magenta jelly infused with tons of orange-gold shimmer (see it towards the bottom of the bottle - that's what the shimmer looks like on the nail in daylight). The shimmer is almost always visible at every angle. Indoors - even in dim lighting - the shimmer keeps on sparkling but it looks more red-fuchsia.

Also, I believe that Ahoy! is related to OPI's Let Me Entertain You, but LMEY is a cooler shade that leans toward purple-fuschia with a more foil-like finish.  Definitely not dupes, but I think they can be called 1st cousins.

Off for TV time!  But I will be back tomorrow with something fun for all - be ready!!  **EDIT: I'll be back NEXT Friday - I'll explain the delay then ;) **