(Late) Weekly Blog Roundup 1/31/12-Drugstore and other new swatches edition!

 I've been battling a cold and napping most afternoons after work, so it hasn't been a very productive week for me, blogwise. However, I did have some interesting stuff I wanted to share with you:

-Good news if you missed out on Wet n Wild's Behind Closed Doors, a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers. Ants in My Pants, a color in the new Spoiled nail polish line, is apparently the same polish. The I am Definitely Addicted blog did a comparison post about it, where she reveals that AiMP is slightly more glittery than BCD. Since Wet n Wild is the maker of the Spoiled line, I am not surprised.
-Scroll through I am Definitely Addicted and you'll see that she has quite a few swatches of different Spoiled colors up already. It's very exciting for those of us who are stalking our local CVS waiting for the Spoiled line to arrive. Spoiled polishes will retail for about $2, so this new brand will be a great addition for us addicts.
-Speaking of new affordable polishes, Nouveau Cheap has lots of swatches of different Jordana Glitters, which are scheduled to hit Kmarts this February.  G just posted part 3 today, and you'll find links to Parts 1 and 2 of her Jordana Glitter series in that post. Jordana Glitters will retail for $3 a bottle, so it's another exciting addition to the drugstore polish world.
-I continue to be amazed by the hard work so many bloggers do to swatch new collections. A prime example of this is The Polishaholic, who has swatches of the entire China Glaze Magnetix collection, Essie Navigate Her collection, and OPI Holland collection. Jen always does a beautiful and thorough job of swatching and reviewing the newest collections, and these are no exception. It was through her review of the Magnetix collection that I learned that the China Glaze magnet is a problem for other people, not just myself.
 -I received my polishes from the Zoya free offer today! Despite my issues with the processing time, I am thrilled with the colors I received and pleasantly surprised by the shipping time. I'm so excited to be adding these beauties to my collection. They won't be the last. Zoya's Tru collection arrives at my polish place next week, and I'm definitely going to be getting some flakies when I visit. 

Really, Zoya, really?! Late shipment leads to disappointment

Back on January 8th, I told you about how I had placed an order with Zoya to receive 2 free nail polishes as part of their special offer. I knew that the ground shipping was going to take a while, so it wasn't until last week that I started checking the mail every afternoon in hopes of finding my polishes waiting for me. Imagine my surprise when I opened my email this Tuesday the 24th and learned that the polishes had barely shipped out that afternoon! Auuughh! I mean, I totally understand that they're doing me a favor with this offer and that my shipment is going to be a low priority one. I even understand that it may take a long time, even weeks, for them to process the order. But to not even inform me of the fact that they haven't processed the order until 16 days later? WTF? Really?? I'd read on Kayla Shevonne and Rebecca Likes Nails' blogs about their negative experiences with Zoya, but I thought it had to do with the complications of international shipping. After this experience, I'm beginning to think that Zoya may have a problem in general with customer service! Maybe they didn't anticipate the response to their offer would receive and this incident is an anomaly.  Maybe I'm just overreacting. But so far, color me less than impressed with the Zoya experience. :( 


(BTW, as of the 26th, my package was in Ohio so it will still probably be a week or so before it arrives here in California.)

Orly Au Champagne-a holiday polish that's great anytime

Orly Au Champagne, sunlight

Like a lot of nail polish bloggers, I don't own a lot of white. I've never had a white polish "call out my name" the way purples, blues and glitters do. Despite this, I can truly say I adore Orly Au Champagne, a shimmery white polish from the 2011 Holiday Soiree collection. The polish looks good on its own and I think it's invaluable for another reason as well. Find out more after the jump!

??? Days of Blurple-Navy blue(ish) stripes!

I wanted to accentuate the slight blue duochrome in my unnamed Wet n Wild Little Luxuries purple, so I thought layering it over a dark blue was a good idea. Once I actually did it, I was stumped on where to go next with this mani.  Find out how I came up with my final look after the jump.

Nicole by OPI Too Rich for You topped by unnamed Wet n Wild Little Luxuries purple and Essence Space Queen, sunlight

Island Girl Surfer Babe with Cover Girl Fireworks glitter

I was in the mood for some green the other day, so I decided to try out one of my untrieds. I hadn't used it in part because its matte finish had put me off it. I figured adding Cover Girl Fireworks would give it that extra shine and sparkle it needed, so I combined both.  Find out what I thought of this combo after the jump. 

1/22/12 Weekly Blog Roundup: More of Magnetix and Jordana Glitters!

Picture of CG Magnetix Pull Me Close from  Swatches and Whatnot  blog

So I'm keeping this one pretty short, guys. My weekly roundup basically depends on what I see of interest during my week of surfing the nail blogs, and on weeks like this one where I haven't been online as much, I won't have as much to report.  Hopefully what I do report is helpful, though! :)

-See more swatches of the China Glaze Magnetix polishes over at the Swatches and Whatnot's blog post . She has 4 of the 6 colors and has swatched them all on her fingers. It seems that the polishes have different consistencies depending on the bottle.

-I am so jealous of our friends over in the UK. Max Factor has a new polish called Fantasy Fire that is a Clarins 230 dupe! I learned about it on the Pretty Digits blog in this post. Us nail philes in the States will have to cool our heels or try to arrange a swap since Max Factor is only sold abroad. :(

-View a swatch wheel featuring the new Jordana glitters, plus a pretty awesome polish from Butter London called Knackered, at this post from the Polish Pauper.

-This link is so useful, even though it's not new, I think it's time to share. Click on this link at Jeweled Tips to see Fowl Play layered over a lot (and I mean a lot) of colors. It's such a useful post, especially if you own Fowl Play and aren't wowed by it on its own. See how it can be layered and I bet you'll be using your bottle in no time!

China Glaze Electropop collection

Just wanted to do a quick post sharing the swatches I saw of the China Glaze Electropop collection. Join me after the jump for more pics.