What's On My Nails?

I'm a 25-year-old nail polish addict from Los Angeles. Join me on a journey through 200+ bottles of lacquer, one manicure at a time. Follow me on Instagram: @rebeccaderas

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Deborah Lippmann: Good Girl Gone Bad

Over the Labor Day weekend, Jay Z held the first installment of the Made In America festival in Grand Park (Downtown Los Angeles).  My sister and I went to day two of the festival and saw acts like Rita Ora, MuteMath, Weezer, John Mayer, Kanye West, and more.  On my nails, I wore Deborah Lippmann 'Good Girl Gone Bad'.

Good Girl Gone Bad is a burgundy base with garnet-pink shimmer flakes - it really comes to life in the sunlight.

This polish dries down semi-matte, so you'll need a high-gloss topcoat to bring out the shine.  I applied three thin coats for full opacity.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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One Direction!

I am 26 years old, and I love One Direction.  I was lucky enough to see them two out of three nights at the Rose Bowl in September.  Both shows were so amazing, I'm so glad I finally got to see them live.

Unfortunately I didn't have the time to attempt any 1D-inspired nail art, so I just drew color-inspiration from 1D's last album, Midnight Memories.

For Night #1, I wore OPI 'Over & Over A-Gwen", which is a supersaturated and luxurious red creme.  Red is not the most unique color in the nail polish world, but this red is just perfect.  Two coats for full opacity!

For night #2 I went with Zoya 'Storm", as an ode to 'Little Black Dress'.  Instead of going with a plain black creme, I chose this black polish with a brilliant scattered holographic effect. The first coat applied thin, but it was fully opaque with the second coat.

What an amazing two nights!  I'm looking forward to 'Four' coming out next week...and an announcement for Los Angeles tour dates!

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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China Glaze: Pool Party

HOLY NEON!  China Glaze is one of my favorite nail polish brands, mostly because they know how to do true neons.  China Glaze 'Pool Party' is a hot, hot pink neon that screams summer and the 80s.  Pool Party is absolutely stunning. 

Unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to photograph neon nail polishes  - so you'll just have to take my word about the super hot pink tone Pool Party has.  I used three thin coats for full coverage.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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China Glaze: Strap On Your Moonboots

China Glaze 'Strap On Your Moonboots' is an awesome blue holographic polish.  The best way to describe the shade of blue is denim.  I've seen photos of this polish where the holographic quality is super defined, but I couldn't get the same effect.  Despite the lack of overabundant holographic quality, the shade of blue is one that I absolutely love.  

I used two coats of Strap On Your Moonboots for full opacity.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Essie: Yogaga

I love theme nail polish, and I love when my nails somehow correspond with an event.  So when I went on a one-day yoga retreat in early August, I just had to wear Essie 'Yogaga' for the occasion!

Yogaga is a sandy-beige neutral that luckily reads well in both summer and winter.  It's such a zen shade.  I applied three thin coats for full coverage.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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China Glaze: Glistening Snow

Oddly enough, China Glaze's 'Glistening Snow' is one of my favorite polishes to wear during the summer.  I wore it during the 4th of July and the World Cup, and I just love how it sparkles like fireworks when you move your hand around.  It's truly one of my favorite polishes in my collection.

Glistening Snow is a mix of fine silver and holographic glitter. Glistening Snow is opaque on its own after three coats.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Chanel: Taboo

I have a pretty big nail polish collection, the brands I use range from inexpensive drug store brands, to more higher-end brands like Butter London and Deborah Lippmann...but nothing is like Chanel!  Normally, I couldn't justify spending $30+ for a bottle of nail polish, even the high-end polishes I have I got on sale or in some sort of discount pack.  But my sister and I saw Taboo, and just had to have it.

Chanel 'Taboo' is a dark purple with burgundy and blue shimmer.  As corny as it sounds, this polish "dances" in varying light.  It is...magical.  And the best part is, it's fully opaque in ONE coat.  Yup, a true one-coat wonder.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Cuccio Colour: Costa Rican Sunset

I didn't get to go on vacation this summer, which is a major bummer.  So I had to utilize some super bright, tropical nail colors to take away from my summertime blues.  Cuccio Colour in 'Costa Rican Sunset' fits the bill perfectly.

Costa Rican Sunset is a red-pink that looks absolutely stunning on the nail.  This color honestly made me feel so calm and relaxed every time I looked down at my nails.  I may not have been able to go on vacation, but my nails did!  As always, the Cuccio Colour formula was opaque in two thin coats.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features sample(s) sent for consideration.

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Deborah Lippmann: My Prerogative & OPI: In True Stefani Fashion

Deborah Lippmann 'My Prerogative' was part of the "She's Always a Woman" mini trio released during Holiday 2012.  I was excited to see it on Gilt a few months ago and had to pick it us.

My Prerogative is a deep, royal blue creme/jelly hybrid.  The formula was a dream; self-leveling in two coats and so shiny top coat seemed unnecessary.

I wore this color during the World Cup this summer, and added OPI 'In True Stefani Fashion' to make it a bit more patriotic.

In True Stefani Fashion is a full-on holographic silver glitter bomb.  I did one partial swipe and got all of this glitter for my nails.  There are a bunch of smaller glitter pieces, along with diamond shaped larger glitter.  It's really beautiful in the bottle and on the nail.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Essie: Sunday Funday and Where's My Chauffeur

I'm back! Life and work got the best of me the last few months, but I have plenty of swatches to share with you all.

I'll kick of the return of my blog with two Essie colors I wore this summer, 'Sunday Funday' and 'Where's My Chauffeur'.

Sunday Funday is a coral tangerine creme with a soft, silver shimmer.  The formula was opaque in two coats.  I'm always a bit unsure of polishes with shimmer already in the base; sometimes they come off a bit frosty - but the shimmer in this polish didn't have that effect.  Overall it was great for the summer months.

Next up is Where's My Chauffeur...

Perfect!  Where's My Chauffeur is one of those perfect shades of light turquoise that no nail polish collection can go without.  In fact, for all of you classic girly-girls, this shade is the closest to the Tiffany & Co. box I've come across.  The formula was opaque in two coats.  What's so great about this color is that it's both vivid and muted, making it wearable all year round.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Formula X by Sephora: Atom + Eve

Well, the USA played their first group-stage game this past Monday and my nails were decked out in Formula X by Sephora 'Atom + Eve'.  I won Atom + Eve, along with another Formula X lacquer and the Formula X Nail System earlier this year, and I've been saving this color for a special occasion.  And there is no occasion that called for a sparkly red more than a US Soccer match.

Atom + Eve is ruby red glitter lacquer with an jelly-like base.  The formula is awesome and was fully opaque in two coats; I used 3 coats for a little extra pop.

I previously wore China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps' to a USMNT game and I have to say that the two polishes are very, very similar.  They are both red glitter polishes that are suspended in a red jelly base.  Each of them also has the beautiful 'glitters from within' quality that I adore in a nail polish. Both polishes are beautiful, but if you have one you probably don't need the other.

Atom + Eve was a gorgeous color to wear for the match, and was made even sweeter with a victory over Ghana.  We play Portugal today and I'll have another nail look to share later in the week!

Other products used:

Formula X Nail Cleanser

Formula X Base Coat

Formula X Top Coat

This review features product(s) I won from the manufacturer; they were not provided for review

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OPI: OPI Scores a Goal!

My apologies for the lack of posts, time really got away from me the last few weeks.  Work has been overwhelming and I have a cracked and bruised nail that I'm trying to repair with silk wraps at the nail salon in order to avoid a massively low break.  Hopefully I'll be able to queue up some posts soon, I've had swatches sitting on my desktop for weeks.

In other news, the World Cup starts today! The World Cup, corruption and questionable practices aside, is my absolute favorite sporting event on the planet.  With the World Cup starting today and the US not playing until Monday, I decided a subtle homage was in order.  With that being said, I chose 'OPI Scores a Goal!' for my kick-off nail color.

As the name suggests, OPI Scores a Goal is an OPI color from the Spring/Summer Brazil collection.  I thought this color was appropriate as it references soccer aka football and comes from the Brazil collection, the country that is serving as host for the 2014 World Cup.

OPI Scores a Goal! is a raisin-brown creme that has a hint of red, mauve and brown mixed in; it's so complex for a color that looks relatively average in the bottle.  This polish might look like an out-of-place autumn color in a collection of bright, Brazil-inspired polishes, but it is truly unique and in a league of it's own.

Possibly the best feature this polish boasts, besides its fascinating color shifts, is the fact that it was completely opaque in ONE coat.  That's right, one coat.  I used two coats for my swatch because I'm paranoid about the bruise under one of my nails showing through polish.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

P.S. I'm hoping to get a few red/white/blue variations in while the US is competing in the group stage.  I'll work on posting those swatches ASAP and then eventually catch-up with the swatches I have from the past three weeks.  

GO USA!

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Nails Inc.: St Martin's Lane

So, it's been 100+ degrees in Southern California, but that didn't stop me from choosing a perfectly autumn shade for my most recent manicure.  My friends Samantha sent me Nails Inc. "St. Martins Lane" for my birthday/holiday gift in late 2013 and I instantly fell in love with the shade.

St. Martin's Lane is a burgundy/plum/purple - almost mulberry - shade that just screams autumn, but ended up being perfect for May.  The formula is great, I reached full opacity in two coats.  This polish also dries supper glossy, but I did add my beloved Seche Vite topcoat for even more shine.

Bonus: Since I've been so bust at work, I ended up wearing this manicure for TWO weeks and I have almost no tip-wear. I'm very impressed!

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) received as a gift.

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Zoya: Tomoko

Well hello there.  Yes, I'm still alive and still painting my nails, work has definitely taken a toll on my posting schedule though.  Never fear though, I'm doing my best to catch up on posts!  Let's start with Zoya 'Tomoko' -a beautiful Pixie Dust from the Fall 2013 collection.

Hands down, the biggest nail polish trend of 2013 (and 2014 so far) was texture.  Almost every major brand tried their hand at texture polishes, a few were flubs and a few were great successes.  I was reluctant to try textured nail polish, the thought of being able to feel my nail polish creeped me out.  I don't use rhinestones or any other 3D embellishments, so why would I want to use a fully textured polish?  Zoya's Fall 2013 Pixie Dust collection changed that for me, I ordered 3 of the 6 colors instantly without having tried a textured polish before.  I made the right choice; textured nail polish is amazing!

Zoya Tomoko is a mix of gold and silver sparkles that creates a perfect champagne color once on the nail.  The color reads as a neutral, but is so incredibly dynamic once on the nail.  I used two coats of Tomoko for full coverage. 

It's really important to wait a few minutes between applying coats of textured polish, they take a bit longer to dry and you don't want to move around the polish you've already applied.  Remember, don't add top coat if you want to achieve a fun textured look, but if you want to a glossy look you may need to add at least 2-coats of top coat.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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China Glaze: That's Shore Bright

It's purple, it's bright, it's China Glaze 'That's Shore Bright'!  That's Shore Bright is one of the colors from China Glaze's Sunsational collection from Summer 2013.  That's Shore Bright can best be described as an ultra-bright and vibrant (but not quite neon) orchid purple creme.  This is such a nice spring color!

There are plenty of reviews of the Sunsational collection online and many of them comment on the difficulty of applying the polishes.  While ultra-bright colors always pose a bit of difficulty during the application process, this polish wasn't terrible to apply.  The trick is to work smart; use thin coats versus thick coats.  I used three coats for my manicure.  That's Shore Bright dries semi-matte, so top coat is important for a glossy finish!

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Orly: Passion Fruit

For #FlashbackFriday I'm taking my nail polish adventure all the way back to Coachella...two weeks ago.  After an exhausting first week of work I hoped in the car and drove to the desert to meet up with my family for Coachella.  This was my fourth year at the festival, and as always it was so much fun (sandstorm and all).  I didn't have much time to paint my nails before leaving for Coachella, so any intricate nail art was out of the question.  Instead I decided to go with something bright and fun, namely Orly's Passion Fruit.

Orly describes Passion Fruit as a bright pink jelly crème and while I agree with the bright, jelly, and crème descriptors I would say Passion Fruit is more coral rather than a true pink.  Either way, this color is AMAZING.  It's so bright and really embodies the spring/summer festival season without being a true neon.

I really like the formula of Passion Fruit.  It's a jelly, but not too sheer thanks to its semi-crème formula.  I used 3 coats for full coverage and didn't have any visible nail line.  The consistency is pretty even, so I used thin coats.  The formula, like a neon, dries semi-matte so a shiny top coat is important to achieve a bright final look.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

Top coat: Seche Vite

This review features product(s) purchased by myself for review.

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Cuccio Colour: Cobalt Cool

Today I have Cuccio Colour's Cobalt Cool to share with you.  I chose this beautiful shade of blue for two reasons: to honor the Boston Marathon (4/21) and for Earth Day (4/22).  Cobalt Cool is from the Cuccio Colour Precious Metals Collection and each color from the collection is meant to be worn without top coat in order to achieve its matte finish.

Cobalt Cool is a true cobalt blue with a matte metallic finish.  This polish was easy to work with considering I usually have a hard time with matte-finish colors.  Pleasantly, I was able to achieve full opacity in one coat, that's right - ONE.  I just swiped the brush against the neck of the bottle to remove any excess polish and painted my nail with the remainder.  I'm really in love with the depth and dimension this polish has.  By nature, matte polishes are usually flat but Cobalt Cool shimmers making it seem multidimensional in sunlight and direct light. 

Cuccio Colour is DBP & toluene free, plus Cuccio Naturalé products are never tested on animals.

Other products used:

Base coat: Revlon ColorStay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

This review features sample(s) sent for consideration.