Five Finger Friday: Warm Reds

Happy Friday, Lab Partners!

It's time for another 5FF, and given that it's the holiday season, I thought it might be a good time to look at some reds. Specifically, warm reds. In today's line-up: Butter London Old Blighty, No Miss Satsumo Salsa, RGB Coral, Zoya Tamsen, and Zoya Carrie Ann. You also get to see my broken nail on my index finger. :(

From L to R: Zoya Carrie Ann (on poor broken nail. Cry with me), Zoya Tamsen, RBG Coral, No Miss Satsumo Salsa

Starting with that broken index fingernail: Zoya Carrie Ann, a gorgeous, metallic one-coater. Yes, that's just one coat! Isn't it gorgeous?! Just on the warm side--not too orangey, for those of you who aren't into orange-reds.

Next, on the middle finger, one of my personal faves, Zoya Tamsen, a cream that applies super-smoothly. You're looking at two coats, but I could've gotten away with one. This warm red has a slightly brown undertone, making it lean toward brick red.

On the ring finger is RGB Coral. There's quite a bit of orange in this one (I love it). It's another super-smooth cream that could be a one-coater. I applied two coats.

On the pink finger is No Miss Satsumo Salsa. A word about No Miss: You can purchase these polishes on the No Miss web site. I buy mine at Whole Foods Market. No Miss is a Florida-based company, so all the polishes are named after cities here in the Sunshine State. I only own a couple of these puppies. My experience with Melbourne Mint (which I featured in another 5FF) was wonderful. It applied like a dream. But would Satsumo Salsa be as impressive? Well, you're looking at one coat. One, gloriously smooth, streak-free, shimmery coat. Actually, this polish is pinker than it appears in the bottle, so once seeing it on, I really wouldn't classify it as a warm red. But it applied so perfectly that I just had to share it with you!

On the thumb, I'm wearing Butter London Old Blightly, a distinctly brown-red. It has that vintage red look that reminds me of Amelia Earhart. Maybe that's a strange association, but there you have it. You're looking at two coats, but I could have gotten away with one. Something interesting about this polish--it applies very smoothly, yet a bit unevenly. It's not that the polish streaks or drags; it's more like the color pools a bit. It's nothing major, though, so don't let me scare you away from this polish. It's still wonderful!

So which is my favorite? Oh, that's a tough decision. I love them all. But I think I'm going to give the slight nod to my old standby, Tamsen. Maybe.

How 'bout you, readers? What are your thoughts on this group of polishes?

Benchwork: Scotch Naturals Troya

Hello Lab Parnters!

Have you missed us? Things are busy this time of year, so please bear with us as with try to balance blogging life with the rest of our lives!

So, it's the holiday season--time for me to bring out my red polish! Okay, I'm not going to lie, I've been in a red polish mood ever since I put on Cult Nails Clairvoyant for a Mystery Mani Monday a couple of weeks ago. Today, I wanted to show you something a little different--it's Scotch Naturals Troya, a warm red. So what's different about it? Well, Scotch Naturals is a water-based polish line. It applies differently from the polishes you're used to--you know how you typically want your nail surface to be as clean as possible before painting (I go over them with Zoya Remove+ before applying polish)? Well, when using a water-based polish, nails need to have plenty of moisture (think oil) in them for this polish to adhere properly, so Scotch recommends buffing oil into the nails first. Do NOT strip them with remover before polishing. Also,  although Scotch Naturals polish dries quickly to the touch, it must cure overnight and the nails must be kept out of water until the polish cures.

I found this polish applied somewhat unevenly, and dried somewhat matte, similar to the look of watercolor paints. For shine, I topped Troya with Scotch Naturals On the Rocks Top Coat. The finished look was a gorgeous tomato-red.

















But how would it wear on my notoriously dry nails? I'd tried a different color of Scotch Naturals on my wretchedly dry toenails before, and the next day, it came off in my yoga class. My yoga mat was so covered in shards of polish, that I had it sticking to my skin and in my hair. Not pretty. So how would Scotch Naturals wear on my fingernails? I'll let you be the judge; here's Troya the next morning--after less than 12 hours of wear. I hadn't even left the house yet!

Water-based polish cannot be removed with regular polish remover. One option is to buy Sotch Naturals Soy Polish Remover. Another is to use rubbing alcohol, which is what I did, after soaking my nails in warm water, which makes the removal of water-based polishes easier.

I've heard of other folks having much better success with Scotch Naturals, and I believe if I kept using these polishes consistently, my nails would become less dry and water-based polish would consequently adhere better. But I don't have the patience for that, so I'll stick with traditional polishes. However, if you're truly looking for the most natural polish possible, you might want to try Scotch Naturals. At $14.99 per bottle, however, you'd have to be truly dedicated to natural alternatives. If so, you can purchase Scotch Naturals by visiting their web site, or you can visit their web site to search for retailers near you.

A final note: Scotch Naturals also has a children's polish line, called Hopscotch.

I hope you've found this post informative! Until next time, sending you lab love!

Allison

The Lab Will be Closed for the Holiday

Hello Lab Partners,

Even a lab closes for the holidays! We're taking some time off to spend with family--and to give our nails and cuticles a much-needed rest. For those of you in the U.S. celebrating Thanksgiving, we hope you have an enjoyable one.

Ace and Allison 

Polish Personals: Comfort Polish

Hello Lab Partners!

It's been a while since we've done a polish personals post, so I thought we'd have one today. This past week got me thinking about how I turn to certain polishes, namely Zoyas, when I'm feeling stressed, upset, or generally icky. I'm not sure why I turn specifically to Zoyas, other than they're the first brand I started seriously collecting. I had polishes from other brands before I ever had my first Zoya, but when I really got into polish, my Zoya collection is what grew fastest. Last weekend, I was having a wear-comfy-clothes-stay-inside-and-burn-gingerbread-candle kind of weekend. Gone was my lust for glitter or funky colors--I just wanted the comfort of Zoya Natalie on my fingers. Forget comfort food; just give me my comfort polish.

Zoya Natalie

So I'm curious--do you have a certain polish you turn to when you're feeling blah? Maybe a certain color family or a certain brand? If so, why do you think you turn to those polishes in particular?



Sending you lab love,

Allison

Bench Work: A-England Elaine

Hello Lab Partners!

Before we get down to business, let me fill you in on the color used in yesterday's Mystery Mani. It was none other than Cult Nails Quench. Each week, we post the answer to the MMM in the comments section of the MMM post and on our FB page.

Now let's settle down to today's "Benchwork," a review of one of my relatively new a-england polishes. Fairly recently, I  purchased three a-englands from Llarowe, and for my first time out with them, I chose Elaine. I've been slightly obsessed with purple polishes lately, and the description of Elaine as "smoky, voilet-amethyst" sold me.

Elaine applies like a dream--totally streak-free and nearly opaque in one coat, completely opaque in two coats. The brush provides great control. I really like the color, but it's far more blue than I anticipated. In fact, in most lighting, it appears more of a very dark blue, with little to no violet. In other lighting, Elaine is a dark plum. It definitely applies slightly darker than it appears in the bottle:

A-England Elaine. Inside with flash. Here you can see that the color often appears very dark blue.

A-England Elaine. Here in natural light, Elaine is more plum, closer to the shade in the bottle.

Conclusions: Although Elaine isn't exactly what I expected, I adore it nevertheless. It's a great vampy, plum polish for fall and winter. If other a-englands apply anything like this one, I'll be thrilled.

What do you think of Elaine?

Sending lab love,

Allison

A Follow-Up to Your Comments on Our Last Giveaway

Hello Dear Readers--

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all your wonderful comments and questions you submitted on the entry form for our last giveaway. We do read the comments carefully and take note of what you say. Here's what we learned:

• You liked the Spinal Tap theme (credit goes to Ace for that one!)
• Many of you are particularly fond of Zoya polishes. Good to know, as we have a lot of Zoyas! I tend to think of Zoya as my "comfort" polish. You know how people have comfort foods they turn to when they're feeling under the weather or have had a rough day? When it comes to nail polish, that's how Zoya is for me. Not that I only wear Zoyas when I'm feeling icky . . . but I do tend to go to them when I just want to curl up in jammies and lounge around my house, burning a gingerbread candle. Hmmm . . . sounds like a topic for a future Polish Personals, no?
• Some readers want to know how to get their polish to dry more quickly. We'll address that in a future post.

Two final points of note:

• There was a question on today's Mystery Mani Monday post about when we post the answer. Each week, shortly after 9pm Pacific (midnight Eastern time) we post the answer to the MMM both in the comments section of the MMM post and on our FB page.
• Would you like us to periodically feature a Q&A post? 

If you ever have questions or comments that you'd like us to address in a future post, please feel free to email us at thepolishlab@gmail.com. We can't promise that all questions will be turned into a post, but there's a good chance!

Thoughts? Please comment below! And as always, thank you for following us!

--Allison

Mystery Mani Monday: A Classic Red

Hello Lab Partners!






It's time to start our week off with another Mystery Mani Monday! Today, we're coming to you with a classic red. I don't wear red polish very often, but lately I've been craving sexy, shiny red. This one satisfied my metaphorical thirst!

 

Do you recognize this color? There's a little hint hidden in this post somewhere! If you have a guess, please submit it by leaving a comment. You're welcome to submit more than one guess, but only your final guess will count as your official answer. Anyone who comments with the correct polish name will receive one additional entry in our next giveaway. We don't have a current giveaway, but rest assured, we diligently keep track of these bonus entries. For your answer to count, it must be received by 9pm Pacific Time (midnight Eastern). Please remember--if your GFC name differs from the name under which you comment, please leave your GFC name in your comment with your answer.

Now, bring on the guesses!