Deco Miami Nail Lacquer in Rosé All Day, swatch

Deco Miami — Rosé All Day (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2017-05-172017-05-17 fivezero4 Comments

Brand: Deco Miami

Last November, I spotted Deco Miami‘s beautiful, jewel-like bottles of nail polish on Ashley’s blog (Short Nail Swatcher), and immediately placed my own order. Like, the next day.

Deco Miami Nail Lacquers in Black Like My Soul,
Brickell Blue, Champagne Mami, Rosé All Day, & Tied Down.

Just. Look. At. Them.

So yes, I bought five of them all in one go and haven’t played with them until last month! The packaging was just so spring-y to me that I buried them all winter…but now it’s time for them to come out and play!

I’ll do a little review here of Deco Miami’s online store, too. Ordering was super easy, and they delivered to Canada, no problem (US$12.99 for my five polishes). They arrived in about a week, and included was a surprise free glass file with Swarovski crystals! Yay! I think it may have been because I bought five, because right now there’s a promo on their site for a set of five Winter 2016 polishes that comes with a free glass file.

Deco Miami Nail Lacquers + Glass File with Swarovski Crystals

Each polish comes in an adorable, illustrated triangular box, making it perfectly giftable.

Here’s a box unfolded!

Zoya Professional Lacquer in Zahara, swatch

Zoya — Zahara (Professional Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2017-04-262017-05-22 fivezero3 Comments

Collection: Zoya 2016 Spring, Petals

I posted three nail polish swatches on Monday in a 3 Spring Favorites post, and today I’m reviewing one of them.

Zahara (ZP838) is described by Zoya as a “brilliant shimmering coral made modern with an opalescent effect”. It’s from Zoya’s 2016 Petals collection, which included four shades with shimmery, glass flecked finishes. I love a glass fleck effect (some of China Glaze’s older ones are particularly stunning) so I bought three of the shades.

I describe Zahara as a gentle, translucent pinked peach with a mixture of pink and silver glass fleck shimmer. It is semi-opaque.

Zoya Professional Lacquer in Zahara

[Incidentally, Zahara is not the last of all Zoya’s polishes, alphabetically! There are not one, not two, but at least seven Zoya polishes that come after Zahara, though some are discontinued. Zoya’s Z polishes are: Zahara, Zanna, Zara, Ziv, Zoe, Zooey, Zsa Zsa, and Zuza. I’m waiting on Zelda and Zinnia… Seriously, how have they not done Zelda, yet? Or Zoya, for that matter? I guess the owner is a modest woman!]

3 Spring Nail Favorites (Collaboration)

2017-04-242017-04-24 fivezero9 Comments

Today, my blog is dipping a toe into uncharted territory! This is my first ever collaboration, with the lovely Kanza of Faded Rouge. We’re each sharing three favorite nail colors for the spring.

I’ll review each of these selections in more detail later this week, but here are my current top 3 picks for delightful, spring-inspired nail colors! I’ve selected them from Orly, SinfulColors, and Zoya.

Coming into spring from the icy winter, I always love pastels and brights on the nail, with a touch of crisp sparkle.

Chanel Le Vernis Longwear Nail Colour in Tulle, swatch

Chanel — Tulle (Le Vernis Longwear) Swatch & Review

2017-03-202017-05-22 fivezero4 Comments

Collection: Chanel 2017 Spring, Rouge Coco Gloss

Tulle (568), from one of Chanel’s Spring 2017 collections, is not the same as an old (circa 2004) Chanel polish with the same name, which was apparently a pink shimmer. The new Tulle, in Chanel’s new Le Vernis Longwear line, is a pastel apricot cream.

It’s totally my kind of shade: a clean blush peach with just a pinch of pink. I picked it up very recently from beautyBOUTIQUE.

Chanel Le Vernis Longwear Nail Colour in Tulle (568)

Essie Nail Lacquer in Oh Behave!, swatch

Essie — Oh Behave! (Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2017-01-232017-05-10 fivezero3 Comments

Collection: Essie 2016 Winter

Last December, I picked up three of Essie’s Winter 2016 polishes from Shoppers Drug Mart when they were supposed to be on sale for CA$7.99. I suspect that because they were from the new collection, they rang up at regular price. I asked if they could check the price in the flyer, and they kindly honored it for me, which was cool. The shades I got were Oh Behave!, Party on a Platform, and Satin Sister.

Today, I’m reviewing Oh Behave! (1006)†. Essie describes it as a “minx peach frost”. It’s a very Essie shade to me: a semi-sheer pinked copper with warm golden shimmer. There’s a hint of milkiness to the color, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a pastel. I say it’s semi-sheer because you can easily wear it with one or two coats to get a sheer look, but it gets just about opaque with three coats as I have in my swatch.

[† The code is 1890 on my bottle sold at Shoppers Drug Mart. The retail bottles have shade name-and-code stickers on top of the bottle cap and a clear sticker on the front that says “Essie Nail Lacquer”. Essie bottles made for salons have an embossed “e” on top of the bottle cap, no clear logo sticker on the side of the bottle, and a shade name-and-code sticker on the bottom of the bottle. The salon sticker also folds out with an ingredient list, but I’ve never peeled it off as I like to keep the labels intact. The retail packaging also displays either no shade code or a different shade code from the salon packaging. I wish they wouldn’t do this! Currently, I just keep the salon codes in the database, but I should probably try to update it with the retail codes, too.]

Essie Nail Lacquer in Oh Behave! (retail bottle)

Color Club Professional Lacquer in Safari Sunset, swatch

Color Club — Safari Sunset (Professional Nail Lacquer) Swatch & Review

2016-05-272017-07-03 fivezeroLeave a comment

Collection: Color Club 2014 Spring, Safari Garden

A while back, I scored a pack of six Color Club polishes, plus a clear top coat, marked down to CA$5 at Winners.

The Color Club packs sold at Winners are typically unlabeled, but the colors all looked like the ones in Color Club’s Spring 2014 Safari Garden collection. I’ll have to label the bottles myself.

Safari Sunset (1023) is a rather unique shade of orange: it’s a peachy amber with honey-gold frost. The African-inspired collection reminds me of those honeypot ants (no pic ’cause it’s a bit icky if you’re not into this stuff).

Honey, honeycomb. Image: candidahub.com (Yes, this image came from a site about yeast infections!)

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Orange Blossom, swatch

Throwback Thursday! Chanel — Orange Blossom (Le Vernis) Swatch & Review

2016-04-142017-07-04 fivezero5 Comments

Collection: Chanel Spring/Summer 2005

The last time I posted a Chanel polish for Throwback Thursday, I chose a chocolate brown, Madness, because I’d had a few “complaints” about posting too many orange swatches at the time. Well, I’m back with another Chanel today and it’s orange! Nyeah!

Orange Blossom (no code, for some reason) actually reads quite coral on me, so I wouldn’t classify it as a true orange. It’s more of a soft, peachy pink with Chanel’s famous “invisible shimmer”—which is subtly noticeable only in bright sunlight—in fine coral and silver. The resulting finish is like a glowing, semi-opaque cream.

The actual flower of an orange tree is white, however, so this polish’s name takes a bit of poetic license. Incidentally, orange blossom and neroli are amongst my favorite perfume notes—both are derived from flowers of the bitter orange tree, but they differ in extraction method; orange blossom is a touch sweeter. L’Amande Neroli is one of my favorites, and a souvenir from a much-enjoyed Italian vacation.