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The second of my NOTDs this week was Ciaté Cupcake Queen, a hot pink with a very subtle shimmery blue flash:
Picture taken in natural light. Even though this is a bold color, I needed three coats for full coverage. It wasn’t so much for full opacity as it was to cover up dark spots. I had no sunlight for my photo so the subtle shimmer doesn’t show up, but it’s so subtle that you don’t really see it unless you’re looking for it, under bright light. The blue flash is pretty, though. When looking at your nails normally, it just lends a glow to the overall finish. I love the shade of pink as well; it’s a nice, bright pop of color, and does make me think of girly sweets. I paired this with Sephora by OPI Cartwheels on the Catwalk on my toes.
<3sarah
I have a bit of a backlog of this week’s NOTDs to post, starting with OPI Can’t Find My Czechbook (Euro Centrale, Spring 2013), a bright, saturated aqua creme:
Picture taken in sunlight. (I think the color looks a bit washed out here, because it is quite saturated in real life.) This applied well; I got full coverage in two coats, with some touchups in between to cover up streaks. I’m always drawn to this type of color whenever it shows up in a collection. It almost looks like a really bright, bold sky blue, but in the end I’d call it an aqua. I didn’t buy as many polishes as I thought I would from this Euro-themed collection, but I think this is one of the standouts. It’s bright and pretty and perfect for spring. I paired this with OPI A Roll in the Hague on my toes.
<3sarah
This is a polish I had planned to wear in April because I thought it was a pastel. I guess it worked out that I’m just trying it now because it turned out to be a springy bright! OPI You’re Such a Budapest (Euro Centrale, Spring 2013) is a light but bright periwinkle creme:
Picture taken in natural light. Although its appearance was streaky, this applied pretty well, needing three coats for full coverage. This actually has some very, very subtle silver shimmer, but it’s not noticeable unless you’re really looking for it, in bright light. It’s such a pretty color; I just keep thinking “airy” when I look at it. In some lights, it seems like a cool light blue, other times it looks more lavender, so periwinkle is a perfect descriptor. It is a light shade, in one of those categorically pastel colors, but it’s not a true pastel (It’s not bright in the whited-out, stark way). It’s not extremely electric and vibrant like Illamasqua Jo’Mina, another light but bright color, but it is rather bright for the type of shade it is. I paired this with Illamasqua Stagnate on my toes.
<3sarah
Now that the weather has gotten consistently warm-ish, I’m excited to get started on the lot of springy/summery brights I’ve been buying. Thankfully most of them are cremes, which I’ll welcome after all the glitters I tried last month. Essie Under Where? (Resort Collection, 2013) is a light orchid creme:
Picture taken in natural light. The formula was not devastatingly sheer, but it wasn’t that strongly pigmented; for this light color I needed three coats for full coverage. Normally, with this type of milky jelly formula I would expect to have some tip pull from the quick-drying topcoat I use, but to this polish’s credit, I had none. I wasn’t as excited about this color as I was about the three others in the collection, but I’m glad I got it anyway, because it’s really pretty! It does strike me as more springy than summery, but it does make me think of orchids, which I guess I would see at a resort back in the Philippines. 
I paired this with Essie Mojito Madness on my toes.
<3sarah
After so many glitter polishes in a row, I gave myself a little break from the tough removals with a creme. I also wanted to make my last mani with my talons a creme; for some reason I prefer a creme finish (no matter what the color, light, bright, vampy) on long nails. American Apparel Palm Springs is a peachy nude creme:
Picture taken in natural light. It’s a light color, so it was a little streaky, but the formula actually applied smoothly. It was also very pigmented, so I only needed two coats for full coverage. It gives the polish a really nice, solid appearance on the nail. I was unsure of how to describe this color; it does have peachy tones, but it’s not a typical peach pastel. It’s not exactly a warm beige because it’s orange-toned instead of yellow-toned. When I look at this on my own nails, it does look more like a peach-toned nude than a faded peach. I paired this with OPI Sand in My Suit on my toes.
<3sarah
This is the last of the black glitter-speckled polishes I have. I always used to associate glitter with “sparkly,” so I before these polishes came out I couldn’t imagine what black glitter would look like, but matte black glitter works perfectly against light/pastel creme bases! Lippmann Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Staccato Collection, Spring 2013) is a white creme with small black hex glitter:
Picture taken in sunlight. (I’ve been loving growing out my nails, but the length makes it harder to crop pictures as closely as possible. :/) Out of the three in this collection, this one seemed to contain the most black glitter. The formula was a little thick but still applied pretty well, and I only needed two coats (with touchups in between) for full coverage. I love the simple contrast of black and white (and grey too, the glitter that sits under the surface takes on a lighter hue.) When I saw these in stores, I only bought Rockin’ Robin because that was the only one I thought I really “needed,” but I’m glad I ended up buying the rest. It’s a lovely collection, and I’m Not Edible actually turned out to be my favorite! The other two reminded me so strongly of ice cream, and this one definitely does as well, of cookies n’ cream, another one of my favorite “standard” flavors. It also makes me think of dalmatians! I paired this with Lippmann Funky Chunky on my toes.
<3sarah
I think I like these speckled polishes so much because I have a sweet tooth, and they make me think of a number of sweet treats. The ones from this collection make me crave ice cream. Lippmann Rockin’ Robin (Staccato Collection, Spring 2013) is a soft pastel mint creme with small black hex glitter:
Picture taken in sunlight. This applied smoothly and was well-pigmented; I got full coverage in two coats, with some touchups in between. It could have just been my application but I got less glitter on the nail here than with I’m Not Edible. Based on trying I’m Not Edible, I also expected this to be much more brightly stark, but it actually has a really soft look. It’s a gorgeous mint color. I previously said that Illamasqua Mottle reminded me of mint chip ice cream, but this one really, really looks like I have mint chip ice cream right on my nails (but as there can be different shades of mint nail polish, there can be different shades of mint ice cream). Mint chip is my favorite “standard” flavor of ice cream, so I love looking at this. I paired it with OPI Mod About You on my toes.
<3sarah
The pastels I’ve tried recently have been of the speckled variety, but I do have some plain cremes as well. Ciaté Strawberry Milkshake is a warm, light pastel pink creme:
Picture taken in natural light. This was pretty well pigmented, but still streaky. It went on smoothly though, so I got full coverage in three easy coats. I thought this would be like your standard pastel pink, but I love it so much more than I expected to! Perhaps it’s because I just tried it, but this color reminds me of I’m Not Edible without the black glitter. It’s a warmer shade than baby pink, which sets it apart from other pink pastels. My favorite thing about it is how very stark it is! It’s stark without being too pale, so it actually looks really bright and vibrant. It totally gives me an ice cream craving, and this sort of pink also reminds me of adorable piglets. I paired this with OPI Thanks a Windmillion on my toes.
<3sarah
I couldn’t stay away from these speckled, sprinkly polishes for long, so today I have on Lippmann I’m Not Edible (Staccato Collection, Spring 2013), a sweet pastel pink creme with small black hex glitter:
Picture taken in sunlight. The sun sort of washes out the color, making it look really light, stark and very pastel, but it can look a a couple of shades darker (but still light pink) out of direct lighting. I’m so pleasantly surprised by all these smoothly-applying pastels I’ve been trying lately! Because this one was so pigmented, with some touchups I only ended up doing two coats instead of three full ones. Even though this look involves black hex glitter in a pastel creme base, the polishes from this collection are different than the Speckled Nail Varnishes from Illamasqua’s I’mperfection collection. While the Illamasquas had both large hex pieces and small regular glitter, these only have smaller hex pieces (which was justification enough for me to get them all :p) The black glitter works equally well here. There’s quite a lot of it, and it stands out nicely against the pastel base. The pink color looks incredibly sweet and delicious, too. It really makes me want a strawberry ice cream! I paired this with OPI Hey! Get in Lime! on my toes.
<3sarah
I did love trying those speckled polishes, and I have even more to try this month, but instead of trying so many glitters in a row, I thought I’d give my nails a break, removal-wise, by throwing some cremes in between. Essie Maximillian Strasse Her (Spring 2013) is a cool, faded sage green creme:
Picture taken in natural light. (My photo makes it look a little mintier than it should; it’s a slightly warmer green in real life.) Because this is a light color, I expected to need three coats for full coverage, but since the formula is nicely thick and pigmented, I only needed two, with some touchups. I like this polish a lot more than I expected to! Apart from the good formula, I love the color as well. It’s a dusty color, but it’s not too greyed. Despite being faded, it still actually looks like a very fresh, springy green. There’s something really calming about this shade, too; I can see it as a color someone would paint their walls with. I also really love the concept behind this collection, that the polish names are inspired by major global shopping destinations. This one is named after Maximilianstraße in Munich. I paired this with OPI Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh? on my toes.
<3sarah
