My Kind of French MANicure Niuton Chavez Felix

Hello my fellow polishers! 

If you follow my blog, you may have noticed I was absent for a while. 

My life has had some twists and turns that have absorbed my time quite a bit. All changes, fortunately,  are for the good and advancement of myself. 

Some of these changes are job related and others are spiritual related. But all is more than good. 

Due to these changes I just haven’t been looking to purchase new nail polish shades, so no new swatches have been posted because of that. 

The purpose of the blog was not in any form intended to be a “nail polish review” blog, but somehow, that was the form it took. 

Letting it sit for a while has given me the time to refocus the main objective of this blog. It is OK for men to wear nail polish. 

These last couple of months I have been going to the salon to have my nails done with gel polish. 

I started doing them with gel polish more than anything because I didn't have time to go shopping for nail polish. On occasions where I would go shopping, I just didn't feel enamored of any particular shade I saw at the stores. Everything I saw was very close to something I already had.

One time I went to have my nails done and I saw a very nice pink with blue shimmer polish. When I asked my nail tech to apply it, she told me it was gel polish, so from that point forward, I have been doing gel ever since.

I have always loved shiny top coats, and I have to admit, you can’t beat gel polish for that. Even Seché Vite, which has the best top coat shine for regular polish, can't match gel top coats.

As far as how long it lasts, now that I am wearing longer nails, I am more conscious about them and take better care of how I handle things to avoid breaking a nail. So for me at least, both regular nail polish and gel based nail polish is the same when it comes to how long it lasts. I almost always outgrow them before they chip.

I have always liked french manicures but never did any on my nails because from my point of view, the nails have to be a bit longer for the french to look nice. Also, french manicures look very nice and clean, but a bit boring for my taste. Si I opted to have the french effect with color.  

I have also been experimenting with different color combinations and white tip length.

Nevertheless, I let my nails grow so I could sport a nice french manicure, and let me tell you, unless I need to cut my nails short for some very strong reason, I don't intend to shorten them any time soon.

Letting my nails grow just a bit has been a very pleasant experience for me. They are great for scratching. I just love to scratch my scalp and run my nails thru my hair ( I wear my hair long) and they are fabulous to scratch my back. 

Anyway, I hope you keep coming back to read my blog. I will be posting more, but less often. I will be venturing into other kinds of activities and traits that are considered "female", but that when we start to discern about them, we can come to the clear conclusion that we make them like that, but that there is no real solid reason why they should be that way. We have the power to change things. Of course, nail polish in no exception. Remember, one of the universal immutable laws is that everything is constantly changing. 

In the mean time, Happy Polishing!

Zoya “Liberty” Pixie Dust Collection Niuton Chavez Felix

In the spirit of this forth of July, I chose to continue with Zoya’s Pixie dust collection. There is something about the finish to pixie dust colors that I love. 

I can never grow tired of that sand pixie sparkle finish. To commemorate the month of July, and in celebrating independence day, I chose Zoya’s “Liberty”.

Like all of the previous Zoya pixie dust polishes I have tried, this one is no exception to the quality and durability. Like I said before, one of the things I love about this particular nail polish finish is that I don't have to use a top coat. Just use some primer before applying it and it will last at least 10 days with out chipping. Just so you won't stain your nails, apply a good base coat.

Viscosity is good enough for full coverage with just two coats. Brush is great and application is very smooth considering the finish it has. If you are into sparkly blues, you will absolutely love this. Happy Forth of July weekend and 

Happy Polishing!

Nubar “Geisha Blaze” Niuton Chavez Felix

We are full spring ahead,  25 days into the season. Time to change that polish again!

Last February I tried my first pink, Butter London’s “Disco Biscuit” and I had a so so experience with that particular polish. You can read it here. So in my quest for that great hot pink nail polish, I looked and searched all over until I found Nubar’s “Geisha Blaze”. 

Definitely my kind of shade! 

I can highly recommend this nail polish line. This was my first experience with it, has a great brush, and at least with this bottle, the nail polish was superb. Not too thin and not too thick, just right for a three coat application. Finish was perfect, Color was super, hot pink with a slight hint of purple hue. This color really jumps at you when the sun hits it. It is absolutely gorgeous. 

Definitely what I was expecting. Perfect for spring and even summer. 

Pair it with a great fuchsia shirt or spring blazer. 

Also looks great on the toes. 

This is a keeper for me, as far as pinks, this one will be hard to top. 

If you are into pinks, give this one a try, you will not regret it. Until next time, happy polishing!

“Khloe has a little lam lam” from the Nicole by OPI Kardashian collection Niuton Chavez Felix

March is here and so is green! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March, the month of Pisces, at least until the 20th. It’s element is water which brings out the green. When I think of green, I think of a forest green, or a green landscape like Ireland. 

No wonder St. Patrick’s Day is in March. Love the green, it represents Life and Abundance. The color of money. The color of Ireland. The Irish and the deep culture they have.

So this month I chose “Khloe has a little lam lam” from the Nicole by OPI Kardashian collection.

One thing for sure is that OPI products are mostly keepers. This one is no exception.

This is a very nice deep emerald green cream color. No glitter, no metallic finish. Just pure cream color.

As with all other OPI products, the brush is very nice. The only thing I can not get use to is the shape of the bottle. It is very nice to look at, but a bit tricky to hold when applying nail polish. Other than that, I really like this polish. The shade is dark, depending on the lighting, It can look almost black. Only when the sun hits it can you see the rich color this nail polish has. Totally oposite from last month’s experience, this polish is just a two coater for full coverage. 

The polish glides with no streaks.

If you like jewel tone colors like me, this is for you.  It is a perfect color for the transition to spring and more brighter or pastel shades. One thing I noticed is that this particular color, goes very well on short nails. I can honestly say this is a 5 bottle rating. Remember to file, prime, base, color and top coat for a full 12 day manicure without the use of gel polish. Until next time, Happy Polishing!

Butter London “Disco Biscuit” Niuton Chavez Felix

Even though we are just finishing February, I wanted to express the feeling of this beautiful month. The month of Aquarius. The unconventional. The month of Love.

I was browsing thru Pinterest and came across a photograph of a swatch from Butter London “Disco Biscuit” and I was awe struck.

Only one other nail polish color has moved me so much as this one, and that was Chanel “Taboo”. This is my first time wearing hot pink nail polish and I have to say, I love it. I have pale pink shirts and pink ties, but aside from the light pink base used for french manicures, this is my first pink nail polish. The first thing I just loved about this polish were the blue sparkles that it has. The contrast of the blue with the hot pink of the base, works extremely well.

This is my first Butter London nail polish, so aside from the color, I did not know what to expect. The verdict for me is not so great. The color is very thin, I usually apply 3 coats of polish, but this was so thin that I had to apply 5 coats on top of the base coat for the color to really come through like you see it on the bottle.  That poses a problem because there is not enough time for the polish to dry and the later coats become chewy. Three coats definitely wont cut it unless you are ok with partial coverage. The square bottle is ok to hold and the brush is fairly decent. Color is absolutely wonderful if you can get full coverage. One of the things I noticed is that the polish dries to a mate finish, so if you like mate finish you will love it. I opted to apply high shine Seche Vite high gloss top coat. All in all, I ended up with mixed feelings about this polish. The color is extremely beautiful but the quality of the polish itself  is not as good as the color. The mate finish was also unexpected. Color wise it is a keeper, but it is definitely nothing I would buy again. If I had to give this a rating, I would give it just 3 bottles. Until next time, happy polishing!

Morgan Taylor's "Time to Shine" and L.A. Colors "Blue Lagoon" Niuton Chavez Felix

I guess it’s a little late, but Happy New Year! Being January still, I think it is in order. Better late than never.

Anyway. Something curious happened to me a couple of weeks ago. My 5 y/o daughter, like most 5 year olds, Is a fan of Disney's Frozen.  So I wanted to surprise her doing a Frozen inspired nail color combo. I gave some color combos a thought. Aqua Blue, White and Deep Blue. I also thought about getting some white and silver. I ended up using an old favorite called “Blue Lagoon” from L.A. colors and a previously unknown to me  called “Time to Shine” by Morgan Taylor.  

I did not want to get too elaborate with nail art, I just wanted it to be enough to get noticed by my daughter and just enough to try to get as close to the Frozen theme. When I finished applying “Time to Shine” I was awestruck. I just discovered that I LOVE GLITTER! Wow! I have to say, I did not get why so much people love glitter, I guess the child in all of us goes into hiding. Now I get it and I am not putting it away. Combining it with “Blue Lagoon” makes it pop even more. I applied it on two nails as accents and I have to say, I just loved the way it looks.

“Blue lagoon” is my “go to” color when I feel I want to wear a dark blue nail polish shade. It really applies very smoothly, perfect viscosity, great nail brush. Three coats to make it last. When it came to “Time to Shine” I thought that it would be a 4 or 5 coat. Many glitter formulas come in transparent polish so It you want to get full coverage of glitter, it can be tricky. Fortunately, “Time to Shine” comes with a grey-silver base, so I just used the usual 3 coats on top of my base coat. Finished it of with “Seche Vite” top coat and used “Fast Dry” drops from Orly. I encourage you to try glitter on at least one of you nails if you have not done it already. At least you will know if you like it or not. Believe me, it is not the same looking at some one else nails with glitter that looking at your own nails with it. I have become a fan of glitter. Until next time, Happy Polishing!