There's No Place Like Home

Hello! Happy Friday! Hope you're well on your way to the weekend! I sure am!

Tonight's polish comes with a story. When I was a growing up, I would often come home from school to find my younger sister and my mom, watching the Wizard of Oz. My mom was always taking care of mending or other chores that could be completed while she kept an eye on my then 3-year old sister, who was parked in front of the TV with one of her dolls, looking up in amazement at the colorful world that unfolded before her. The Wizard of Oz will always be one of those parts of my childhood that I'll keep with me.
How does this relate to nail polish? Tonight, I have the nail polish incarnation of Dorothy's Ruby Slippers.

[source]

Zoya Chyna was released as part of the first, six-polish collection of Pixie Dusts. These were Zoya's answer to OPI's Liquid Sand polishes.

This is two coats of Chyna over Orly Bonder. It built up very nicely to an opaque finish, similar to fine ground ruby dust. The red is so rich that I felt like I had jewels on my nails. The red glitter adds an eye-catching sparkle when the sun (or any light) hits your nails just right.

I just love how this macro shot turned out!

Before I took this polish off, I wanted to see what would happen if I top-coated it, and BAM! The next time I'm wearing this, I am top-coating it within an inch of its life. The glitters just come alive.

Chyna is available at Zoya.com and retails for $10.

What do you think? Gorgeous? Or not for you?

Oh, and don't forget!

[source]

xo, ali

And Now For Something Completely Different

*Samples Provided For Review*

Hello! Hope Wednesday finds you all well! I'm doing great! A lot has been happening in Phalange-land.
I have something different for you. You all know that nail polish is my great love but my first love was makeup. I still hoard it like nobody's business. I recently cleaned out all my old makeup and you wouldn't even be able to tell.
I was given an opportunity Vanessa, an independent presenter for Younique Cosmetics, to try some mineral pigments. I had previously heard of Younique through Cosmetic Sanctuary, one of the blogs I read daily. Lisa reviewed Younique's 3D Fiber Lashes (you can check it out here) and I was blown away.
For this review, Vanessa had me pick out some of their Moodstruck Minerals Pigment Powder. I chose three-Vulnerable, a matte rosy pink, Daring, a shimmery, green-tinged bronze, and Curious, a shimmery pale champagne.
Younique's Moodstruck Mineral Pigments are talc-free. They are also chemical free, naturally based, and hypo-allergenic, which are all awesome qualities to have in a beauty product.
Let's take a look!

Vulnerable

Daring

Curious

What I've found is that a little bit goes a long way with these pigments and with a price point of $10, you really get your money's worth! These shots are after I used each pigment about 5 times, doing eye makeup for work and play. 

I chose three colors because I typically do my eye looks with three colors. It's a quick, easy routine that I've got down to five minutes or less each morning.

For my every day look, I always start with Fergie for Wet n Wild's Take On The Day Primer in A Little Party, which is the shimmer version of the original.

I applied that to both my lids and then applied Vulnerable all over the lid, up to the crease. Next, I used Daring in the crease and on my outer V. I followed that up with Curious on my browbone to highlight and blend. It's finished off with one coat of Benefit They're Real! mascara.

These pigments glide on over the primer, effortlessly. There is very little fallout, even from the shimmer shades. They blend well, and the wear time was all day. Even through a session at the gym. There was very little to no creasing and that is thanks to the absence of talc in the formula. I'm very happy with these and I definitely need to pick up some full size containers.

Not only are these pigments great for every day eye looks, they also appeal to the DIY-er in all of us. I was feeling brave so, I got out some supplies, including a plastic baggie to act as a kind of palette, some clear nail polish, and a nail art brush.
Here's the end result:

Top to Bottom: Vulnerable, Daring, Curious

Curious, Daring, Vulnerable

These made awesome, unique nail colors. If I had more of each pigment, I would have done a full mani. Each nail is two coats of the pigment mixed with a dollop of clear nail polish. While I can't comment on wear time, just think of the color combos you could make with all the different pigments!

Vanessa was great to work with and made sure to keep me informed and updated on the pigments she shipped to me. Being the sweetheart that she is, she has a special offer to extend to the readers of Ali's Dancing Phalanges. If you order with Vanessa, through her Facebook page, you will receive 15% off of your order of $20 or more. You can view all the products Younique offers here.

I'm so happy that Vanessa gave me this opportunity to review some of the great products that Younique creates.

xo, ali

Nail Fail: Color Club Ms. Hautie

Happy Wednesday! Hope it finds you warm. It's not here, that's for sure. The calendar says spring but the temperature says mid-January, and I'm NOT happy! All it makes me want to do is curl up and watch TV.
But you're not here to listen to me whine about the weather. You're here for the polish!

I don't know if you know this but I put myself on a polish no-buy for Lent (unfamiliar with Lent? Here's a quick lesson.). Here's where I let my Roman-Catholic upbringing and practices show. My wonderful mother informed me that yesterday was the Solemnity of the Annunciation, which, according to the Bible, is when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was with child. It's supposed to be a day of celebration and it's the one freebie you have for all of Lent. So, I bought some polish. Tonight, I'm going to show you one that I picked up yesterday--Color Club Ms. Hautie.

I wanted to use a few bottle shots because the polish in the bottle is absolutely stunning! It's a grayed out silver with holo micro-glitters and a pink iridescent flash. I was so excited to put this on my nails. 

But, as you can see, the glitters were a problem. Instead of translating onto the nail, the glitters left the manicure a bumpy mess :( 

Plus, the pink iridescent shimmer didn't come across on the nail.

Sad panda.

I mean, just look at the polish in the bottle!! I WISH it looked that great on my nails. 

I usually have such luck with Color Club polishes. Their holos are great, as are their shimmers but this was a definite miss for me. Good thing Color Clubs were buy one, get two free at my local beauty supply. They're clearing out old stock to make way for the newly branded and redesigned bottles. My Color Club collection has grown a little bit since I discovered that sale ;)

What do you think? Can this polish be saved? Love to hear about it!

xo, ali

Color Club Wildflower

Happy Tuesday! Hope you're all doing well in these last few days of winter! I just returned from a quick, weekend trip to Charlotte, NC for a bridal shower thrown in my sister's honor. What a great trip! It was the perfect weather for the shower and girl's night out on Saturday. Sunday was rainy and a bit chilly but it was cozy in my parents' new apartment with my whole family hanging out :)

I have a swatch post for y'all tonight of a color that screams spring for me. Check it out!

This is two coats of Color Club Wildflower, from their core collection. 

This is two coats and Color Club 0-60 top coat. 

Wildflower is a GORGEOUS, deep red-toned pink that is just so bright and cheery. I absolutely love it and will be wearing it again very very soon.

It's pigmented very well and is great as a stamping polish. I used it here with Bundle Monster plates and I think I'll be using it to stamp on my current mani :)

What's been your favorite polish for Spring? I'd love to know!

xo, ali

St. Patrick's Day, 2.0

Hey! Happy Wednesday from the midst of a blizzard! It's finally winding down, here in Buffalo, but it's been a long day. Started with little to no snow for my morning drive and it just started coming down. And blowing around. And they let us out of work at 11 am. I love adult snow days!

I've got another quick St. Patrick's Day manicure tonight, featuring the colors of the Emerald Isle's flag.t

I used two coats of  Essie First Timer from their Spring 2013 Resort Collection. This is a really pretty pale grass green creme. I was able to get even coverage in two coats. I know that sometimes Essie can have iffy formulas but I didn't have any problems with this one. The only thing I'd advise about is that if you go over the same spot more than once, it will drag a little bit. I really love how bright and happy this color is...it's perfect for spring.

Once I topcoated, I took bright orange studs from a wheel that I picked up at Forever 21 and stuck them on. I used Beauty Plus Salon topcoat once again to seal everything in.

What do you think? Is this something you'd try for your own St. Patrick's Day manicure? Do you have any special St. Patrick's Day traditions? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!!

xo, ali

The Luck of the Irish

Hello! Happy Tuesday! Sorry I went MIA for a little bit--my seasonal allergies kicked in and I was dealing with some thyroid stuff, which is getting figured out :)

I couldn't let this week pass by without doing some green manis for you guys. Green used to be a color that I didn't have any interest in but I've started opening up and giving them a chance. 

After all, it's not easy

Hi-Ho

Tonight, I'm sharing a quick, glitzy mani that is perfect for the wearin' o' the green.

This is three coats of NY&Co Inverness followed by one dabbed on coat of Ulta Starry Starry Night.

Inverness is a dusty forest green crelly. I really love how rich the color is and how saturated it is after three coats. It went on really smooth, too. I have a few more polishes from NY&Co that I hope to show you eventually :)
Starry Starry Night is a beautiful glitter topper with silver and pale gold holographic hexes and silver holographic micro-glitters. Your best bet to apply this one is to do a swipe like you would with a regular polish and then dab some more of the larger glitters on.

I hope to have another green manicure on Thursday!

xo, ali

Sparkling Mimosas

Happy Tuesday! Just a quick swatch post for your viewing pleasure, tonight. From the "vault," which is very tiny. We've got two polishes from China Glaze.

This is three coats of China Glaze Mimosas Before Mani's from Spring 2013's Avant Garden collection. MBM is an orange-toned coral with a golden shimmer all throughout it. Application on this one was streaky and uneven. It definitely needed the three coats to even it out. This is shown with flash to display the true color.

To add a little sparkle, I added one coat of China Glaze Glitter Goblin, from the Halloween Collection that came out in 2012. I won this in a giveaway from the amazingly talented and sweet Heather at Peace, Love, and Polish.

Glitter Goblin is a mixture of silver holo and orange micro-glitters suspended in a clear base and is a a really fun, festive way to add some glitz and sparkle to a mani :)

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

xo, ali