My first semi-successful stamping attempt! ...sort of.

Update: this didn't post at 2:30pm EST as planned but I'm going to upload it as it were anyway.

Hello everyone and happy hump day! I'm going to make this quick because I'm getting ready to board my flight home but I wanted to show you my first photo worthy stamping attempt.

The base is Orly Prelude to a Kiss, two coats, and the stamping was done with Zoya Myrta and Bundle Monster plate BM-206. You can see some areas where I didn't get a complete transfer but for the most part I think it looks ok. I had a little bit of an issue getting one of my thumbs completely covered so I removed it and tried again for a slightly better result. Unfortunately for this mani, the stamping didn't last through the night. I removed it shortly after these photos were taken.





Ok, now for my serving dish! I stopped by the shop around 8 am and it wasn't open yet so I had to make another trip at 11 am. Luckily the shop was finally open and this ceramic beauty is coming home with me, stowed safely in my carry on bag! Isn't it perfect!? And it was only $25, you couldn't buy a NEW one this cool for that price!





Just for funsies, here are some photos of the shop:










Alright, I made it just in time! They're calling my boarding group now so I'm signing off for now. Tell me, what did you think of my stamping... And my bad ass serving dish?

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Orly Prelude to a Kiss: a peachy chameleon!

Hello all, how has your Tuesday been? Mine, well it has been rather uneventful but still a great day. I did a little thrifting and wandered around an amazing antique shop down on the town square. I think I may have even found a killer 60's serving dish to come home with me tomorrow! I'm going back in the morning to pick it up since the shop was closed when I went back this afternoon. I'll put a picture up tomorrow afternoon so you all can enjoy my prize. I also kept score for my sister's softball game this evening, making the game so much more fun!

I'm flying home tomorrow afternoon (today since it is well after midnight) and I'm sad my visit for my brother's graduation has come to an end. Luckily, the fambam is coming to Vegas in December for my graduation! Woo hoo!

So, on to the polish! Today (tonight?) I'm going to show you my very first attempt at wearing a peach shade, Orly Prelude to a Kiss. I've never been one to wear peach at all let alone on my nails, but I thought I would give this one a shot since I swore it looked pink in the bottle. I lied to myself, that pink was too elusive.

Fluorescent lamplight:

Two coats, not too streaky and not chalky at all. Application was pretty good considering Prelude to a Kiss is a pastel crème. Application also self leveled, which I consider a plus. Under this lighting all I can see is creamsicle orange, but in the second photo, taken under a different set of fluorescent lights, this polish does view as a peach. Albeit, an orangey peach. Circus peanut, if you will.

Is it just me, or did circus peanuts taste a little funky? What was that flavor supposed to be!?









Incandescent lamplight:

Photo one, I see a pale peach. Photo two, much pinker (or is it just me?) than other photos.









Flashy McFlash:

I was bound and determined to capture the pink side of Prelude to a Kiss so I tried a random photo with my camera's flash. Do you see as much pink as I do here?

I wore this mani for two days before I tried stamping over it and I stared and stared at my nails trying to figure out if liked this on me or not. I think this might be a pedicure color in the future. I'm just not convinced it looks all that great with my skin tone. What do you think?





Tomorrow I'll show you guys my first "photo worthy" stamping attempt, even though I wasn't very happy with it!

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Zoya Myrta and Tallulah - Color Blocking NOTD

Good afternoon lovelies, it's another muggy and blustery day in the Midwest! How is your Memorial Day going? I hope your bbq's, pig pickin's, pool parties, and days at the lake/beach are amazing but lets not forget to thank the members of our armed forces who sacrificed for our freedoms and those who are currently serving. Thank you veterans, for yours is a thankless job and I appreciate all you do.

So today, in attempt to show my patriotism with my nails, I'm going to show you the other half of yesterday's NOTD post with Zoya Myrta. On my right hand I color blocked with another Zoya from the Earth Day Promo, Tallulah.

Sunlight:

Tallulah is described by Zoya as an "electric cobalt blue with fine bright aqua shimmer." As a serious lover of blue polishes, Tallulah does not disappoint! What you see in these photos is two easy coats and top coat. The formula was great and I had no issues with cuticle flooding during application and absolutely no staining after removal. Score!











Fluorescent:

Beautiful shimmer, no?






Lamplight:

I don't know why these photos came out so orange but I'm including them anyways because you get this sly little hint of duochrome in the bottle. Do you see it, the purple around the edges?? Sadly I don't recall ever seeing any action on my nails.











Well gals, I hope your holiday weekend has been great! I'm taking my little bro, the fancy pants graduate, to see MIB3 tonight. What were your plans for the weekend?

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Zoya Myrta NOTD

Hello again, greetings from the Midwest! Saturday is almost over and it has been such a beautiful day. This morning my dad and I picked up lots of top soil and composted manure and we finished planting his garden. We put in a few rows of pole beans, several mounds for yellow squash and sweet potatoes, about three jalapeños, a row of sunflower seeds, and some gourds. He'd already planted half of the garden yesterday morning and started a whole section weeks ago. So there is also four rows of corn, sweet peppers, several different varieties of tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, rhubarb, horseradish, zucchini, and red potatoes. I'm so jealous that I won't be here when it's time to harvest and set to canning all these delicious garden vegetables.

Even though it was in the 90's and humid as all get out today it was nice working with my dad in the garden, talking about how awesome it is to grow things and listening to the race on the radio. Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Now that I've bragged about my dad's awesome garden, I can get to bragging about another awesome Zoya I picked up in the Earth Day Promo along with Meg: Myrta.

Sunlight:

Myrta is a part of Zoya's summer Surf Collection (along with Meg) and is described on Zoya's website as a "warm medium orange coral with red undertone, gold and silver metallic shimmer, and a foil-like finish." While I do see Myrta as a coral, I also can't help but see a tomato red. We could chalk that up to my limited color description vocab!






Fluorescent:

For all of my NOTD photos I am wearing two velvety coats of Myrta with a coat of Seche QD top coat. Application was flawless, Zoya came through yet again with another great formula, and the polish flowed easily from rush to nail. You'll be happy to know that I had no issues with staining after removal but like Meg, the shimmer particles were a little rough to remove and I had to go back with extra cotton to get rid of all the leftover shimmer on my fingers and in my cuticles.

In fluorescent lighting the orange really comes out with the golden shimmer, Myrta really glows from within as if on fire! I got a few compliments on this color from several ladies at work, so I consider it a successful manicure.









Lamplight:

Oooh, such a pretty color. The silver shimmer in Myrta really shines under low lighting or incandescent lights. I really cannot get enough of all the shades of coral and orange this season, I almost hope it never ends!













Have a good night lovelies!

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The perfect metallic grass green: Zoya - Meg

Happy Friday everyone! I'm sorry I've been MIA lately but things have been suuuper busy and I've been traveling. I'm visiting family back home in Indiana for my little brother's high school graduation. My little bubby is graduating!! I'm so proud. *sniff sniff* I flew in on Tuesday and it has been go go go ever since. Between getting settled in, keeping score for my youngest sister's softball games (we won both games!), and cleaning house while prepping for the BBQ we're having... there has been little room to breathe!

One of the best things about being back home is being able to walk barefoot through the cool grass. I am in love with the abundance of green leafy things that grow without need of sprinklers, quite unlike the desert I call home. So, because I can't get enough green in my life I'm going to show y'all one of the Zoyas I picked up in the Earth Day Promo, Meg.







Lamplight:

Meg is an awesome grass green metallic/foil. Interestingly enough, the foil particles themselves are actually silver, giving Meg a cool undertone. In the bottle I was a little hesitant to wear this, I wasn't sure if I would really like it or not. I actually put off wearing it for just that reason nut as you can see, the results of an easy 2 coat application completely changed my mind. I love it! I got lots of compliments too. As it turns out, green is a great compliment to my fair ginger skin. lol














Fluorescent light:

Removal was fairly easy but not painless. The foil particles act/behave like microglitter so there's a little effort involved. Nothing like foiling or anything, it just took a little longer to take off using a little more elbow grease than usual. No staining whatsoever.















So, there you have it! My first post from the great Hoosier state. I've been very frustrated without having a way to blog when I'm away from my desktop but I got a shiny new iPad for my birthday and it turns out (if this post shows up correctly) that I've found the ideal method! Also I edited my photos with iPad apps! Please, let me know how this looks to you guys.


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Zoya Blogger Collection by Birchbox - Belle

Hello lovelies! Oh, how I have missed you all. I can honestly say I am completely pooped, exhausted, wiped out. I started my internship this Monday and have been working outside for good portions of the day since. Today we walked six miles of transects and my legs are feeling a little wobbly and my feet are sore. I swear, I walk in the door in the afternoon and I pass out! It's nuts really, and no matter how tired I am at the end of the day I am just so excited about this opportunity. Wildlife biology, woo hoo!

Obviously I haven't been that active here at Once Upon a Polish... but that is more a product of not being active with anything! lol I have something like 400 blog posts to go through in my reader, too. So, since I have the house to myself I thought I would take a minute from trying to get my act together (ie. laundry - hasn't been done in a month) to show you the third and final polish from the Birchbox trio, Belle.

Per the usual, here's the three together:

Zoya - Belle:

Two Coats:

But really, it could be three. I just can't remember so please, forgive me. Belle is a juicy grapefruit color shifting glass fleck beauty included with the trio as the perfect compliment for layering. In my posts on Coraline and Kate I played with layering and Belle works wonderfully with both colors. And the formula is to die for. Just like Coraline and Kate, application was easy and without drag while previous paint layers were still wet.

The bright light photos really bring out the orange/coral undertones, but when you scroll down to the lamplight photos you get the loveliest seashell pink that changes the look up completely. To be honest, I prefer the soft pink of this polish that comes out when worn alone.

Matte:

Just gorgeous! I think matte is the perfect finish for Belle, you get the best of both worlds - coral and soft pink. Plus, the glass fleck gives it a really soft look. The last photo is my favorite.

I'm sorry I've included so many photos in these last three posts but I couldn't resist! Each one looked so good and juicy. Now, lets look to the future shall we! I'll be posting my DL's finally and hopefully figuring out what a good posting schedule will be for me for the rest of the summer!

Zoya Blogger Collection by Birchbox - Kate & Belle

Greetings lovelies, happy Friday! I'm finishing up my last day at my regular job and I'm a little teary eyed, and really I have a lot to do so I don't have much to chat about other than to show you the second swatch combo from Zoya's Blogger Collection by Birchbox.

Here again is the trio:

Zoya - Kate:

Two Coats:

Kate is a beautiful coral red jelly that definitely leans to the red side of the spectrum, and in these photos looks almost neon. A gorgeous jelly, and slightly more opaque at 2 coats than Coraline. I would definitely wear Kate at two coats without needing a third. Sooo purdy.

Three Coats:

Kate is so gorgeous at three coats it makes me a little sick to my stomach, I wish these were candies so I could eat them all up. Just as with Coraline, application of Kate was effortless and even with no wait time between coats I had no issues. The brush just glides over the previous coat as if it weren't even there, I wish every polish I owned applied like this. Also, the lamplight really brings out the orange undertones to this red coral.

Zoya - Belle:

Same as yesterday, Belle is a pink grapefruit layering jelly with pink, color shifting glass flecks. It looks amazing over Kate and in these photos appears much more red than when applied over an orange hue (obviously? lol). Again, application was a breeze and this is one coat over three coats of Kate.

Shimmer Jelly Sandwich:

Three coats Kate, one coat Belle, another final coat of Kate. Pure shimmer sammich perfection. I don't think there is anything else to say about this other than it looks like my nails are on FIYAH! There are extra pictures of this layering combo because Kate is more opaque than Coraline and thus the shimmer of Belle is less noticable, particularly under low or lamp lighting. It is practically invisible really, under lower lighting, but still mega cool because as polish snobs we know it is there giving our manis a little extra junk in the trunk.

Matte:

Neon. Seriously, bright as hell and looking more like a red than a coral. Ignore the dent, fresh paint. lol

So, what do you guys think? I dig it.

Now, back to the grindstone at work... or I'll never get my stuff wrapped up!