Swatch: Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Collab, 'Green Apple'

Today I have another quick swatch from the Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Collab, 'Green Apple'. Just like most of the other Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes, this polish was a very opaque, highly pigmented, one-coater. This should be really great for nail stamping and nail art, which is how I primarily plan to use it. I also really like this particular shade of green - the cooler undertones add a bit of complexity, but it is still overall a very crisp, clean, standard green.

Swatch: Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Collab, 'Berry Blue'

Today I have a quick swatch to share of a polish from the Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Collab, 'Berry Blue'. This is the lighter of the two blue polishes in the collection. I typicaly like the Insta-Dri formula because the polishes tend to be very pigmented and opaque one-coaters, making them ideal for stamping. This collection in particular had a lot of crisp, clean colours that would work well in a variety of nail art applications. 

As anticipated, this blue performs really well as a quick-drying one-coater. I've actually used two coats, and a glossy top coat in the swatch photo above, since I actually put it over my previous mani: a chipping glitter crelly that I wanted to change, but didn't feel up to taking off at the moment (I forgot to use peel off base coat!). 

Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri 'Bubble Gum'

Today I have another polish from the Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen Insta-Dri collaboration that was released earlier this year. The colour is called 'Bubble Gum' and it is a vibrant, cool-toned pink:

This pink is so bright and fun - perfect for the summer! I've really enjoyed the creme polishes that I've used from the Jelly Belly + Sally Hansen collection so far. Previously, I made a post about another polish from the same collection, 'Very Cherry'. Both of these creme polishes have great formulas, and are easy to apply. For me however, it's the vivid, candy-themed colours that truly make these polishes so awesome!

Nail Polish Empties!

Today, I have a couple empties to share! It's not very often that I actually have a completely empty bottle of polish to dispose of, let alone 2 of them! I'm strangely proud of this accomplishment. Just for laughs, I thought I'd add little badges to the picture to celebrate this amazing feat! Perhaps I'll even make this a tradition for any future emptied bottles!

The red polish on the left is called 'Cherry Brandy' by Covergirl from their 'Nail Slicks' line of polishes. Previously, it was one of the oldest polishes in my collection... I'm pretty sure it has to have been at least 12 to 15 years old!  I decided to try to use it up some time ago, and since then I have used it consistently as my pedicure colour, until it was gone.

The colour applied beautifully right up until I was nearing the bottom of the bottle, when it got quite thick. I added a little nail polish thinner, and it was as good as new, allowing me to squeeze an extra few pedicures out of the bottle. For the last pedicure, I had to dump all of the remaining polish onto a plastic baggy, and use the brush to apply it from there, as the brush didn't reach all of the way to the bottom of the bottle. I never really had to do that before, as it is truly quite rare that I finish an entire full size bottle of nail colour!

The other bottle is a Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat that I have been using underneath my manicures. There still is a tiny bit of product left in the bottom of the bottle, but after so much use, it is very thick, and since it is quick dry, it pulls and then dries into little wispy strands of polish that break off from the brush, and go flying! That final manicure's worth of polish is definitely not worth the trouble!

China Glaze 'Cranberry Splash'

Today's manicure features China Glaze's 'Cranberry Splash':

'Cranberry Splash' originally came out in China Glaze's Holiday 2012 'Holiday Joy' Collection. It's a gorgeous metallic red polish. I would have to say that metallic red polishes are my favourite way to wear red on my nails.  The look is so polished, and elegant, but still very chic and cool. 

Zoya 'Alegra'

Today's post features a manicure using Zoya's 'Alegra':

This polish first came out in Zoya's Summer 2010 'Sparkle' Collection, however, I got it during Zoya's last black Friday sale as part of the 'Fa La La La La' Holiday Quad Gift Set. It came with 3 other polishes: 'Dakota', 'Sarah', and 'Veronica'.

In real life, the polish was a bit more sparkly, and a bit more pink-leaning than it appears in the photo.

Zoya's website describes it as "a fuchsia pink sparkling metallic".

The colour, and the formula were great, and I think the shade complemented my skin tone rather well - I find this to be true for most jewel tones. Overall, I really enjoyed wearing this polish!