The tip to keeping your manicure fresh and chip-free all week is applying a top coat daily. This keeps the polish from becoming brittle. Which leads to chips.This topcoat is my hands-down favorite: it literally dries almost instantly and has a great shine to it. I carry one with me in my purse at all times- just make sure to check that the top is screwed on tight every day to avoid a nail polish disaster inside your luxe handbag.
Well, I finally have it in my hands. The infamous shade "Zulu" by a favorite makeup brand of mine, Nars. I've been reading about this elusive shade for a few months now. Apparently, Nars discontinued this color a while back, when they were re-formulating their nail polishes. Once word got around that this dark, forest-y green shade was about to go MIA, a frenzy ensued.
Once the last few bottles were scooped up, the ebay scalping began - and Zulu immediately went from the already-expensive pricetag of $17 at Sephora to upwards of $50, $60 - even over $100 on EvilBay. A "Give Us Zulu" online petition was created, and Zulu fans from all over began to contact Nars in hopes of convincing them to re-release the now infamous shade. Finally, Nars did just that...and they also made the formula more environmentally friendly as well. However, the re-realease was short-lived, and off the market it went once again. Wow! When brands take long-standing products off the shelves, this often happens. The fans go nuts - and begin to stockpile whatever coveted product is about to be gone forever. I'm a culprit of this behavior as well. I hate it when a tried-and-true gets axed. It's not easy to find that perfect whatever it is!
I managed to snag a bottle of this shade - just for the mere fact that there is so much hype surrounding it. I had to see what all the fuss was about, and I bit the bullet and bought a bottle of it. Here's my picture:
I have to say............I'm underwhelmed. It's a dark green jelly-based formula, and it took me 3 shades to reach full opacity. Maybe it's my skintone, but I really don't see all the excitement in this color. As with most things, the hype has overshadowed the item. I don't know, but I just don't see anything special about this dark green color, not to mention that there are a ton of other dark greens on the market right now that are near dupes of this shade. An all-around "meh".
And on another note - here is a pic of my current NOTD (nail of the day):
This is Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in "Lavender Cloud" with OPI for Sephora's "I Found a Pot of Gold!" layered on top. I love the way the two look against each other. I'm really liking this line of Sally H. polishes - they all go on really well, have staying power and come with a great brush that makes even my shaky hands create a near-perfectly finished manicure. All of the creme polishes in this line are pretty pigmented, so I'm not finding myself applying 4-6 coats just to reach opacity. And if it weren't for the diamond-shaped pieces of confetti in I Found a Pot of Gold, this would be a perfect gold glitter. You don't see any on my nails above, because I go out of my way to make sure the brush hasn't picked up any of those tacky little buggers.
xoxo and happy manicures,
Viva
PS - I had to take a shot of these Giuseppes I saw the other day - thoughts? I'd like to see these in a different color combo, perhaps gold + dark purple. But hot nonetheless.
