I’ve had the same shade of nail polish on my nails for the last ten days: Essie Playa del Platinum, from this year’s resort collection. I like it much more than I thought would.  It’s a nice summer neutral.

But I’ve been wearing it for TEN DAYS.

This is so not typical of me.  I had planned to change it on Sunday, before my sister and I went to the Rihanna concert at Jones Beach. I was wearing an oversized black tee with a crescent moon over a forest printed on it, black leggings, black flats. Nothing special, as it was raining. I wanted to wear Nubar Midnight Sparkle on my nails to match the blue of the scene on my tee. But I took a nap and woke up too late to change them. And I’ve been putting it off every night since.

I have so many bottles of nail polish that remain unopened! This is so sad! What is wrong with me????

I don’t know, but I need to get over it because I just ordered a shit-ton of polish.  I got all of the Deborah Lippmanns from my wishlist (Across the Universe, Bad Romance, and Happy Birthday); I bought 4 of the OPI Swiss Collection (The Color to Watch, Cuckoo for this Color, Diva of Geneva, and Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous); both of the Summer 2010 Essie’s on my list (Pretty Edge, Demure Vixen); Orly Royal Navy, Space Cadet, and It’s Not Rocket Science; and all the Zoyas on my wishlist (Shawn, Kelly, Edyta). With so many new additions to my ever-growing stash, I’m gonna need my nail-polishing mojo to make a re-appearance ASAP!

Next up: RBL Diddy Mow, No More War (if it’s still available), and Frugalista. Maybe one of the Real Housewives of Tudor collection when that goes on sale.  This nail polish thing is an addition, I tell you.

I haven’t abandoned you…I’ve just been SO busy. I was in the Dominican Republic for a week, then I went to San Francisco for an absolutely amazing workshop for writers of color. I’ve been back for two weeks now, but I’m just getting back into my usual groove. Jet lag is no joke!

Now, I haven’t purchased any polish in what *feels* like a very long time.  And now I’ve definitely got the itch. Here’s my wish list:

• Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, Bad Romance and Happy Birthday;
• The ENTIRE OPI Swiss collection;
• Orly Royal Navy, Bailamos, and Luxe;
• Rescue Beauty Lounge Diddy Mow and Frugalista;
• Zoya Edyta, Shawn, and Kelly;
• Essie Pretty Edgy and Demure Vixen.

That’s a good $150 worth of nail polish right there. I’m not going to buy it all at once. But next paycheck I’m definitely gonna holla at the Zoyas, Deborah Lippmann’s, and Essie’s.

I’ve realized that my favorite colors are greens, blues, purples, and glitter polishes. I have to be in the mood for red, but it’s usually a bright one, and the same goes for pink: SCORCHING HOT PINK is the only way to go!  I <3 glitter on my nails above all else, though.  It just makes me happy.  Right now I’m rocking RBL Teal, which is kinda dark for summer, but it’s been rainy, so it doesn’t matter.  It’s really pretty, and really smooth. I used Seche Vite, and I wrapped my tips this time, so I don’t have much tip wear.  I’m going to try another member of the green/blue family next, probably Zoya Akyra since I’ve had it for a while (it was one of the first Zoyas I bought back in February) and I’ve never used it.

So I was over at Scrangie’s and I saw that she had posted a link to pre-order the sold out Rescue Beauty Lounge shades of No More War and her very own Scrangie, that beautiful, shimmering teal and purple combo.  Even though I already have a bottle (that I got from eBay, of course), what did I do?

If you guessed that I pre-ordered another bottle of Scrangie, you get a gold star.

I don’t know what I was thinking. I ALREADY HAVE A BOTTLE. But I’m a fiend, and I know the color will sell out again…I think I told myself that I should get another bottle as a back up.

I also ordered 360, which is a dusty blue-green, and Under the Stars, midnight blue with light blue glitter.  I have no control.

Right now I’m wearing Zoya Charla, which is *AMAZING*.  I’m going to the Dominican Republic for vacation in about ten days, and I think I’m going to keep Charla on my toes, and wear Scrangie on my tips.  I love glitter polishes…they are my little bit of sunshine when the weather is crappy.

I need to re-up on my Zoya Remove, because my big flipper is running low. Other than that, I can’t really think of any other polishes I want, except maybe one of the OPI Summer Flutter collection. I forgot the name, but it’s a bright pink with blue and purple shimmer. 

Speaking of OPI, I haven’t tried out my Shrek colors yet…maybe when I get back from my vacay. Or shoot, maybe tonight. I’ll let you know!

Nubar is my favorite polish right now. Last week I wore Nubar Earth for a record SIX days. I took that off and replaced it with Zoya Pia, which was pretty but not earth-shattering by any means. When I got home from work on Tuesday, my box of Nubars were waiting for me. I immediately ripped the box open and fawned over my lovely haul. Even though I’d only been rocking Pia for two full days, I just *had* to try Nubar Pasadena Purple that night.

Can I just tell you how AWESOME this color is? I wish I could get a proper picture but they all come out waaaaay too blue. Pasadena Purple is this lovely red-purple that literally glows. It is so bright and attention-grabbing. I LOVE it. I’m probably going to be on a Nubar kick for the next few weeks. Application was smooth, even on my left thumbnail, where I forgot to remove a teeny bit of cuticle clinging to the nail bed. You can barely even see the dent through the polish.  It dried pretty quickly, too.

Speaking of which, I used Nubar Foundation Base Coat and their Diamont Seal & Shine Top Coat, which I absolutely adore. Diamont was really easy to apply. I finished polishing my nails around 12:30 am, and I was in bed by 2 am. When I tucked myself in, I must admit, I was shook because my nails felt dry, but still soft. I just knew I was gonna wake up with sheet marks and a ruined manicure.

But I was WRONG, oh-so-wrong!! I woke up at 9 and my nails were just as smooth and lovely as when I’d gone to sleep 7 hours earlier. Not a single smudge, mark, or dent in my polish. Diamont, will you marry me?

So yea… Nubar is DEFINITELY my favorite polish right now.

I wish I could get a good picture of this polish. I mean, it is amazing. I am currently wearing Nubar Earth nail lacquer, from last summer’s Going Green limited edition collection. It is absolutely STUNNING. First of all, the formula is incredibly smooth and it flows on easily. It took almost no effort to get this polish on my nails. Further, I swear it was bottle color in just ONE COAT. That never happens for me, and I must admit to being pretty damn heavy-handed when it comes to my nail polish.  I added a second coat out of pure habit. This color is a gorgeous, dark green-blue with teal micro-shimmer. I just do not have the words to describe how beautiful it is. Today, on my way to work, I was waiting to pay the toll and someone honked at me to move up because I’d been staring at my nails, that’s how pretty Earth is. Definitely one of my favorite polishes.

I have a few other Nubars (Milk Chocolate Creme— I wanted to try my own version of “mannequin hands” and I’m pretty brown; Violet Sparkle, because purple is my favorite color; and Sour Candy, which is a sheer teal jelly with holographic glitter. I actually put a coat of Sour Candy over Earth on my ring fingers and it’s pretty cute). But this is the first of the lot I’ve tried. And you know me, I’m a fiend…so what did I do? I ordered a bunch more today: Pasadena Purple, Greener (emerald green with green shimmer, also part of the Going Green collection), Peacock Feathers (dark green and purple duochrome), Geisha Blaze (hot pink), Noir (black), and Night Sparkle (midnight blue glitter), as well as their base and topcoat. I’ve noticed that Seche Vite does odd things to certain polishes, but is relatively harmless with others. For example, last week when I wore OPI You Don’t Know Jacques, I used SV, which is not unusual, because I almost always polish my nails *right* before bed, and I need them to dry ASAP.  The Seche Vite behaved almost normally— I had very little shrinkage. But with Earth, it seemed to shrink the top coat of polish only. So my tips are a bit lighter than the rest of my nail. *shrug* I just want to see what happens when I use Nubar’s own base and top coats with their polishes.

Random and slightly unrelated: I found a bottle of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Hidden Treasure, which is why I bought the black Nubar. Last fall, China Glaze released a limited edition color called Fortune Teller which sold out fairly quickly, and earlier this year, Michelle at All Lacquered Up found that Hidden Treasure over black is the perfect substitute for Fortune Teller.  I just happened to see Hidden Treasure at my local Walgreens and snatched it up once I realized what it was. It was the last one, too! So now I have the perfect color for whatever Halloween party I will be attending, lol.

One that I, unfortunately, do not have.

I ordered colors from the Essie Resort Collection and the OPI Shrek collection and I cannot wait for them to arrive!! I’m also thinking of ordering some more RBLs even though I swore them off— eighteen dollars a bottle??? C’mon son! But I like the new colors they added, minus Banging (I already have a red orange, don’t need another one), plus I reallllllllllly want  Under the Stars. I’m a fiend.