Essie "The Resort Collection"

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Check this out!  Essie - with a blue and a green?!  Here I just mentioned two posts ago how it was all about pinks and reds.  Well, never say never.

Essie can be purchased on their website [official website] or etailers like Head2ToeBeauty [official website] or TransDesign [official website].

Essie "Mother's Day"

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Although Essie has been purchased by L'Oreal, they are still sending me plenty of emails.  ^_^  I've heard the largest complaint about Essie is the mountain of pinks and reds they have and this is no exception.

Essie can be purchased on their website [official website] or etailers like Head2ToeBeauty [official website] or TransDesign [official website].

Cheeky Monkey Martini Daze

Cheeky Monkey Martini Daze is listed as streaky silver - how's that for a description?  Heh, I was hoping this was more of a creme, but it's definitely a shimmer - reminds me of a chrome even.


I used a base coat of Cheeky Monkey Wet Dream, followed by 3 coats of Martini Daze, and I did not use a top coat.  I was hoping that Martini Daze would be more of a solid grey than a silver.

Oh shiny nails.  I did use 3 coats instead of the recommended 2 since I felt that after 2 I still had a little VNL.

Under my patio, I have this odd green sheen that comes off on my nails sometimes (as you see on the middle finger especially).  I assure you that there is no green in this polish.  ^_^


Overall it was a nice color to wear - you can see the brush strokes a bit but it's definitely more of a silver shimmer than a streaky silver.


Cheeky Monkey can be purchased on their website [official website] for $15 a bottle.

Zoya Nidhi vs China Glaze Raspberry Festival

Hey cousin, what's up?  It's difficult to sometimes be original in colors, and these two buddies are pretty close to each other.  Zoya Nidhi is from the 2010 Summer "Sparkle" Collection and China Glaze Raspberry Festival is from the 2009 Summer "Summer Days" Collection.  When I was swatching Nidhi, I had the feeling I had seen the color before.

As I said before, the sun doesn't really like red glass fleck for some reason.  My font also doesn't like the work "Nidhi"  These two look very close in the sun, as seen in both the sun picture above and the bottle picture up top.

In the shade you can finally tell a little different.  I used 2 coats of Nidhi and 3 coats of Raspberry Festival for this manicure... in the index and middle fingers you can tell that Nidhi (index) is darker, more pigmented with a silver glitter, while Raspberry Festival (middle) is lighter with red glitter.  For whatever reason, the ring and pinkie fingers look the exact same to me.


Now these two colors do have their pros and cons - both applied and removed quite well but I did have to use 3 coats of Raspberry Festival to achieve the same opaqueness that Nidhi has.  But Nidhi is $7 a bottle and you can find Raspberry Festival for as low as $3.50.  Oh decisions, decisions.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Zoya Nidhi

Zoya Nidhi is listed as a rich red sparkling metallic from the Summer 2010 Sparkle Collection.  I must say, I was not in love with this color as I have been the rest.  It has the same glass fleck glitter in it as the rest, but maybe to me, there will never be another China Glaze Ruby Pumps, so I don't care?  Either way, this is still a very pretty color but doesn't like the sunshine at all.  It looks like a creme almost in full sun.


I used a base coat of Seche Retain followed by Zoya Anchor.  I used 2 coats of Nidhi and topped it with a layer of Zoya Armor.  Because I was only swatching and not long wearing, I didn't wear any Seche Vite with it.

All the "metallic" is just lost with the sun - still a very rich red as described, but just not the WOW of Charla or Mimi.

In indirect sun, you can start to see the glitter again.  However, I felt like I had a dupe for this color after taking this picture (more on that later).

The glitter is a bit lost in the shade as well - such a weird color.  It's odd that the bottles look JAM PACKED with glitter but it's very loosely translated on the nail because it's glass fleck, not glitter.  Overall a nice color - great formula.

Zoya [official website] can be purchased on their website for $7/bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.