NOTW ❤ China Glaze's Japanese Koi (Neon)

IT'S GONE. FINALLY, I HAVE BEEN FREED.

For weeks, my nails of the week have been plagued by similar colors. I couldn't escape the beautiful green-blues, until finally something stopped me in my tracks: Valentine's Day. While I didn't post the nails that I did for VDay specifically, it finally forced me to choose a different color, and that has finally freed me.

This week, I found myself craving something bright and bold on my nails, after weeks of so many muted colors. Maybe I'm finally getting tired of winter, but I think it may be all of the spring and summer trends starting to appear, which of course means bright neon colors.

I wanted to go for a neon green, but I seem to be lacking one in my collection, which means I'll be on the hunt for one for the next few months. I settled instead of China Glaze's Japanese Koi, a bright, traffic cone orange that even my camera had trouble picking up.

This polish is not messing around. I don't usually wear any kind of yellow or orange since they tend to wash me out, but I make an exception for this color. It's literally so bright that it would wash pretty much anyone out, so I don't have to worry.

The only downside of this color is that it is somewhat sheer - after three coats, my nail line is still visible, which you can see in the non-flash pictures.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to capture this color in the sun, but take my word that the picture above doesn't do it justice, though it's not as blinding as the flash picture. 

Because this polish is on the sheerer side, the plus side is that each layer dries very quickly in between coats, so you could pile on more layers pretty easily. 

What do you have on your nails this week? Are you starting to miss the bright colors of spring and summer like I am, or are you content to stay with your winter favorites?

Love & Beauty by Forever 21's Seafoam Nail Polish ❤ Swatches, Pictures, and Review!

You will groan at me. I'll be honest - I'm groaning at myself.

I seem to be stuck in a nail polish color rut. I sort of got myself out of it for a week or so, but now I've fallen back into it. The deep, dark pitfall of dusty green-blue colors.

I know. My past two NOTW's have been two entirely different shades of green-blue colors, but nevertheless: I present to you a brand-spankin'-new green-blue color, appropriately named Seafoam. Seafoam is a dusty, muted teal. Its coloring almost reminds me of denim in certain lighting  but in more yellow-y lighting, it definitely comes off a bit greener. If I had to succinctly summarize it, it would be: dusty teal-grey. From a distance, it almost does look entirely grey.

This is another Love & Beauty nail polish from Forever 21, because I seem to be unable to resist them as I move through the checkout line, their cute little glass bottles twinkling at me from the corner of my eye, seeming to call out to me, saying, Valerie, look at us! It's not like you have a million other nail polishes at home! I need to escape this place! Look, I'm a creme finish! You LOVE creme finishes!

And so, here we are. I'm glad that they at least have a good wear time and color payoff, otherwise I would be a lot more annoyed about buying them as frequently as I do (plus their $2.80 price tag isn't terribly offensive either.) Seafoam was a tiny bit on the sheer side, but it's definitely buildable. I used OPI's Natural Nail Base Coat, three coats of Seafoam, and two layers of Seche Vite.

Nails of the Week!

So, like pretty much all other girls, I love Forever 21. One of my favorite things about the store is surprisingly not their clothes, but their cheap nail polish. The brand they carry, which is normally labeled as "love & beauty," sometimes with an added on "By Forever 21," is actually a quite long-lasting, well-formulated polish brand (for the most part - I've had a few misses amongst their polishes, but far more polishes that I've adored, which keeps me coming back for them.)

Anyway, the last time I was in Forever 21, I heard a girl telling her friend that she thought this polish was an ugly color. After she put the bottle down, I (being the nosy person that I am) checked out the bottle and fell in love with the color. It's labeled on the back of the bottle as "Avocado," but that's not the right name or color of this polish at all.