Essie in Watermelon

Brand: Essie Nail Lacquer

Shade: Watermelon
(bright pink color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
Ok, it's not quite summer yet, but watermelon is my favorite kind of melon and I can't wait to eat lots of it this summer.  Until then, I'll just look at my pretty nails.

Essie in Topless & Barefoot

Brand: Essie Nail Lacquer

Shade: Topless & Barefoot
(nude color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
Ok, don't look at this one up close. I took it at the END of my manicure, not the beginning. But I was kind of amazed that I had this on for 10 DAYS! So, it's a little dull, and has tiny chips, but it looks pretty good. Nice work, Essie!

Lauren B Beauty in Santorini Seduction

Brand: Lauren B Beauty 7-Free Nail Couture

Shade: Santorini Seduction
(deep navy blue color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$$

The Scoop:
I found this shade on Beauty Habit, and I loooooove it. I think if you look at my fave shades, you'll find 100 navys. I'm SO glad someone invented it as a nail color. And this one is great because it went on super smooth without any streaks. Two coats did the trick!

Essie in Winning Streak

Brand: Essie Nail Lacquer

Shade: Winning Streak
(gray purple color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
This lucky shade is a nice alternative to greens around St. Patty's Day (or is it Paddy's Day?). Maybe if you wear it, you'll find a pot of gold!  And if you do, please call me. 

Butter London in Scrumptious

Brand: Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer-Vernis

Shade: Scrumptious
(magenta purple color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
I'm loving this shade for Feb. I feel like red is too racy (and predictable), pink is too sweet. This dark magenta color feels sophisticated. Scrumptious, indeed!

Butter London in Cool Britannia

Brand: Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer-Vernis

Shade: Cool Britannia
(blue black color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
I'm always a fan of a dark nail. I love Butter too. And, it's nice that they make mini sizes that are less expensive than the biggies (though I generally buy them in packs, so that kinda defeats the purpose). What I didn't love was how this stained my nails REALLY badly when I took it off... Mr Clean Magic Eraser to the rescue!

Sally Hansen in Dig Fig

Brand: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel

Shades: Dig Fig & Top Coat
(cranberry red color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
My college roommate gave me this shade when I came over to make Christmas cookies with her kids, so it's got fun memories for me. But it's also just a great holiday color that works all month long. Merry everything!

Julep in Johnny

Brand: Julep

Shade: Johnny
(black color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
With Halloween around the corner I decided black is the way to go, and this is a great one. I originally got this shade because my dad's name is John. But now thinking about it, I wonder if it's named Johnny after The Shining? Yeah, that's probably it.

Butter London in Mum's the Word

Brand: Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer-Vernis

Shade: Mum's the Word
(mauve nude color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
You know I don't love nude shades that make my fingers look like mannequin hands. So I'm not crazy about this one. But my nails are short right now. And I guess it looks clean -- if you're made of plastic.

Essie in Roarrrrange

Brand: Essie Nail Lacquer

Shade: Roarrrrange
(reddish orange color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
I kinda love this one -- it's like Cinco de Mayo in a bottle. It's easy to find a good margarita.  It's hard to find a good orange. Wear this one to your next fiesta.

China Glaze in For Audrey

Brand: China Glaze Nail Lacquer

Shade: For Audrey
(Tiffany blue color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
As much as I like my Tiffany's jewelry, I'm definitely over this blue period.  It's bougie. And also kind of hurts my eyes. Maybe I might like it better on my toes -- where you forget you have it on, and then you take your shoe off and it's like, oh hey, piggies!

Julep in Isabela

Brand: Julep Nail Color

Shade: Isabella
(neon periwinkle blue color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:

I loved this one in the bottle.  On my nails? No bueno. Maybe because they are so stubby and this bright color draws attention to it. Better luck next time...

Aurora in 4 Alarm Fire

Brand: Aurora Gel Effect Nail Lacquer

Shade: 4 Alarm Fire
(pinky red color, glossy finish)

Cost: $

The Scoop:
I got this shade in an Ipsy bag and it sat on my counter for a few months. Decided to give it a whirl for Valentine's Day. And go figure -- it was a bit disappointing, much like VDay. I wish the gel was thicker and the polish was more opaque.

Whim in Fan-TAN-sy

Brand: Whim Nail Lacquer

Shade: Fan-TAN-sy
(mauvey nude color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
I know a lot of people think nude nail color looks clean. But this one reminded me of pantyhose. Gross. At least it was shiny. That made it better. Shiny pantyhose? Not so much.

Julep in Erin

Brand: Julep Nail Color

Shade: Erin
(gray green color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$

The Scoop:
You know I love some Julep, but I wasn't crazy about this shade.  I know gray is so chic these days, but depending on the light, my nails just looked sick. (Not in a good way.)

Ulta in Sun of a Gun

Brand: Ulta Professional Nail Lacquer

Shade: Sun of a Gun
(rich orange color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
I don't typically love Ulta polishes.  But we have some big meetings for work in LA this week, and our color is orange, so this shade was perfect.

Covergirl in Nemesis

Brand: Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss, Star Wars Collection

Shade:Nemesis
(deep burgundy color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
This shade is almost black. Like Darth Vader's soul. I'm not really into Star Wars (and if I was, I'm a fan of the old school variety), but this caught my eye in CVS. I hate being left out of a pop culture sensation. Plus, I hear this is the color Chewbacca uses on his toes.  Good choice!

Orly in Saturated

Brand: Orly Nail Lacquer

Shade: Saturated
(electric deep purple color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$

The Scoop:
I thought purple would be a nice switch from blue, but all it made me do is wish I was wearing blue. Know what will make me feel better? Turkey. And stuffing. And taters. That's something to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ten Over Ten in Commerce

Brand: Ten Over Ten Five-Free Nail Polish

Shade: Commerce
(ink blue color, glossy finish)

Cost: $$$$

The Scoop:
No matter how many shades I try, I always come back to navy. In honor of the NYC marathon, I went with this brand. Each color is named after a downtown NYC street. Even the salons feel like you're in someone's apartment. Expensive, but good.

Sally Hansen in Birthday Suit & Halloween Nailthins

Brand: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel

Shade: Birthday Suit & Top Coat, plus Halloween Bat Nailthins
(beige-nude color, glossy finish, black bat)

Cost: $$$ (for the polish + the gel topcoat) and $ (for the appliques)

The Scoop:
I get to do some cool stuff at work.  Tomorrow, I'll throw an elegantly spooky Halloween party. We'll be doing bat-icures for our guests, so of course I had to try it for myself. Loved Sally, liked the Nailthins, but they're a bit hard to apply and look better from afar.