Octopus Party Nail Lacquer What's the 411 Collection Swatches & Review

*Collection purchased with blogger discount*

I'm a little late with this post, but better late than never. I have the 90's inspired Octopus Party What's the 411? Collection for you today! This is the perfect group of pastel neon cremes for summer. They are all completely opaque in 2-3 coats, require no white base and apply evenly with no streaks! As a lover of all neon polish, this collection is my dream come true. 

Let's start off with the best neon yellow I have ever encountered- Octopus Party Fierce. This is a true highlighter yellow, bright and sunny. Like most neons, it was hard to photograph but I think the picture below is the most color accurate. More yellow and less green tones than the two photos above. There is a slight green tone, but to the eye it's predominantly yellow.

                   

Fierce was easy to apply and streak-free. This is three thin coats, but if you do thicker coats it would be fairly opaque in two. Like all of the colors in this collection, no white base was needed! Yellows and neons are both notoriously fussy and this was a dream to apply! It also looks amazing with one layer of matte top coat, as pictured below.                             

Octopus Party Money is a pastel neon lime green creme. Money is an amazing shade, I have definitely been needing this in my collection without realizing it. It's very saturated and I can't think of a similar color. It almost has a touch of a minty tone to it, like neon spearmint maybe. I love these pastel neons because they're super bright, but they also have a bit of a soft look to them, not harsh at all.

This was two easy coats. Money is nicely opaque and great to work with. I absolutely love it matte, as you can see in the picture below. For all of the matte swatches in this post, I used one layer of OPI Matte Top Coat.

Alright I think this might be my absolute favorite of the collection! Octopus Party Phat is a pastel neon coral. If you've ever read this blog before, you know that I am obsessed with coral polish in the summer. This is the perfect coral, a nice balance of pink and orange tones. It's bright, but soft feeling too. It will be flattering on a huge variety of skin tones. Depending on the lighting, it can lean more orange or more pink. I can't wait to wear this on my toes too. I'll definitely be rocking it many times this spring and summer!

This is two coats of Phat and it was a dream to apply. The consistency of these polishes is near perfect. Not too thick, not to thin and self-leveling to the max. Look at Phat with the matte top coat!!! So so amazing! This collection has reminded me to break out that matte top coat more often.

Next up is Octopus Party Rad, a rain cloud blue creme. Rad is a powdery blue with a hint of gray undertones. It makes me think of a rainy spring day that still has some hints of sunlight peeking through. This one is more pastel than neon, but still has a pop of brightness. 

Two coats of Rad is nicely opaque. I love this one matte! Looks so good and powdery!

Second favorite alert! Octopus Party Down is a bright near neon turquoise creme. Sign me up to swim in these waters, I'm in love. Like a few of the others, this isn't all the way to neon. It's bright but still has a soft quality to it that makes it so pretty! Just a gorgeous shade for spring and summer!

Down is pretty opaque in two coats. I did a third thin coat on this one just for the extra punch of color. The formula is near perfection, like the others in this collection. It also looks amazing matte! 

Octopus Party Bomb is the perfect Barbie pink creme. I don't even like or wear pink polish normally, but I love this and I've already worn it once on my nails and once on my toes! It looks like cotton candy or saltwater taffy, just all of those summer treats right on your nails. Look no further for your perfect pink creme!

Two coats and easy to apply!  Gotta love a collection with a consistently amazing formula.

Octopus Party Fly is a clear sky blue creme. Picture the sky on the brightest most beautiful summer day and this is the polish to match. On a personal note, this color matches the color of my stand up paddle board paddle and I can't wait to wear it while paddling this summer!

This is two coats. Check it out matte, so cool!!

Octopus Party Dope is just the prettiest purple polish I own. This is such a dreamy creamy lilac that is the perfect combination of neon and pastel. It's quite bright, but soft and flattering too! I wore this on my nails for about a week and it's also been on my toes for almost two weeks now! I just don't want to take it off. Two easy coats for this one.

This is how I wore Dope on my nails, with one coat of Octopus Party Plucky Charms, a recently released flakie polish with pretty rainbow flakies. Such a perfect spring look! Dope also looks beautiful with a matte top coat. 

Here's the full collection info. Pre-order ends Saturday, so make sure you get those orders in now! Join the OctoSquad fan group on Facebook to order.

Pre-order 4.22.2022 - 5.7.2022

☀️ SALE ☀️

Pre-order the entire collection for $100

Bomb 👛 ($13.50): taffy pink cream. Opaque in 2 coats.

Phat 🍑 ($13.50): salmon cream. Opaque in 2-3 coats.

Fierce ⚠️ ($13.50): lemon cream. Opaque in 2-3 coats. 

Money 🎾 ($13.50): chartreuse cream. Opaque in 2-3 coats.

Down 👗 ($13.50): turquoise cream. Opaque in 2 coats. 

Fly 🦋 ($13.50): sky blue cream. Opaque in 2 coats.

Rad 🥏 ($13.50): ultramarine cream. Opaque in 2 coats. 

Dope ☂️ ($13.50): lilac cream. Opaque in 2 coats.

Shipping:

$10 Domestic for the entire collection

$24 Canadian for the entire collection

$4 Domestic for 1 bottle

$0.50 for each additional bottle

$14 Canadian

$1 for each additional bottle

Zoya Darling Spring 2021 Preview!

 

ZOYA SPRING 2021 - DARLING 

  

Spring 2021 – Darling

  

Introducing the Darling Collection for Spring 2021 featuring an array of effortless and fun shades that make painting your nails an easy and sweet experience – perfect to start a New Year with. This assortment offers half subdued tones, and half bright pops of color, all in our wearable cream formula. 

  

ZP1076 Val –  Zoya in Val can best be described as a relaxing mid-tone sky blue cream. 

  

ZP1077 Kayleigh – Zoya in Kayleigh can best be described as a calming light lilac purple cream. 

  

ZP1081 Mara – Zoya in Mara can best be described as a soft, muted rose-toned mauve cream. 

  

ZP1078 Tweedy – Zoya in Tweedy can best be described as a bright and uplifting bubble-gum pink cream. 

  

ZP1079 Ella – Zoya in Ella can best be described as a refreshing coral cream with a kiss of pink undertones. 

  

ZP1080 Joyce – Zoya in Joyce can best be described as a juicy hot pink cream.

My Picks from Essie Spring 2020!

*All products in this post purchased by me*

Hi everyone! Hope you are all surviving whatever level of Jumanji we're on these days 😂. Today I have my picks from the Essie Spring 2020 collection. I haven't been buying a lot of Essie polishes for a long time now, but the last few of their collections have been really beautiful so that had to change! I also picked up a few from the Summer 2020 collection and have plans to grab some from the newest collections- Sunset Soiree and Sunny Business. First up today is Essie Spring in Your Step, a gorgeous pinky-purple with a reddish pink shimmer. The shimmer is the real key to this polish, it's so smooth and really stands out in the light. Essie Playdate has been a favorite of mine for years, and this is it's shimmering cousin. This kind of purple has well balanced undertones and will look great on a wide variety of skin tones.

OK so remember I said I haven't purchased any new Essies in a long time? Well I completely forgot that they got a new wide brush awhile ago! I was SOOOOOO pleasantly surprised when I uncapped the bottle and saw the perfectly shaped wider brush. I used to hate the skinny little brushes! The new wider brush made application an absolute breeze. This was two easy coats, no need for clean-up. This will definitely be one of my go-to polishes for fast, no fuss application.

Essie Feeling Wellies is the polish that really inspired me to buy these polishes! As soon as I saw pictures of this unique pale mango creme, I knew I needed it! I love yellow and orange polishes, and this is a great pastel mix of both. It reminds me of summery things, like creamsicles and fruity frozen drinks. It will look amazing with a tan (not that I ever get one 😆). I can't think of anything resembling this in my sizable collection of pastel oranges and yellows!

Best part about this? It's opaque in 2-3 coats and has no streaks like some pale colors! I did 3 thin coats, but I tend to apply everything in very thin layers and need 3 coats almost all the time. It was pretty opaque in 2, even for me. Again, no clean-up needed, thanks to the perfectly shaped brush!

Essie Can Dew Attitude is a soft sage green creme. I am always interested in greens of all varieties, so I had to grab this one. I have other pale sage greens, but I think this one is more white based and less dusty than the others I can think of. It almost has that "mod" feel like some light pastels. A great pop of fresh green!

This was two easy coats. It was very opaque and had the same effortless application as the other two, and, as you can see, no streaks in sight. I'm really feeling this new brush, I may have to buy a lot more Essies in the future!

Are any new Essies catching your eye? I'll have my picks from Summer 2020 up for you soon too. 

I ordered these three beauties from 8ty8beauty.com. If you've never ordered from 8ty8Beauty, they are great. I have ordered from them for years. Fast shipping and everything is well packaged so they arrive safely. These are sold out a lot of other places, so if you're looking for them, I see they are still in stock!

Zoya Thrive Spring 2018 Swatches and Review!

*Sent for review*

Even though the weather is not feeling very spring-y here in CT, I am ready for spring nail colors and make-up. Seems like this has been a never-ending winter and it is actually really cold out right now as I type this 🙄. Zoya's spring 2018 Thrive collection is a great set of colors for spring and I like that they are a bit different from the typical pastel creme spring collections. First up is my favorite of the six, Zoya Haruko. Haruko is a soft violet with lots of metallic shimmer. The shimmer is very noticeable, even more so in person than in these pictures. The shimmer is like a darker violet to almost blue color, so the contrast is nice against the soft purple base. This polish just glows beautifully.

This is two coats of Haruko. I thought I'd have to do a third coat with the pale color, but it was nicely opaque. Application was great, perfectly smooth and easy!

Zoya Darby is a moody blue-gray with the same kind of metallic shimmer as Haruko. The base is sort of a steel gray and the shimmer is very blue, so it gives the polish an overall blue tone. I don't think I have any other grays with such prominent pretty blue shimmer, I like it a lot!!

This is two coats again. The formula was a little thicker than Haruko, but not hard to apply. It was very opaque, maybe even a one-coater for some of you.

Zoya Trudith is described as a "muted, wisteria purple creme". It's sort of a mauve-y purple, with some dustiness. It's a nice, almost neutral feeling color.

Two coats. A little thicker again, but still easy to apply.

Zoya Brandi is a warm, rosy pink creme. It's an interesting pink, a little dusty, some hints of coral in there. Definitely not your typical pastel pink included in spring collections. Brandi has more depth to it and I think it would be work appropriate for most, without being boring.

Two easy coats, the formula on this one was great.

Zoya Monroe is described as a "glamour pink creme". It's a deep raspberry pink/magenta. This is exactly the kind of color I want on my toes right now, it feels like flowers blooming. Or maybe like flowers might bloom some time in the next month or so.

Two coats. This one was a little on the thin side, so just don't load up your brush too much or it will flood your cuticles.

Zoya Leisel is a sheer sparkly purple pink topper. with a blue-ish sheen. The sparkles are pretty and iridescent and I think this will be a beautiful topper over almost any color.

This is three coats of Leisel alone, so it is a bit buildable. If you don't mind some VNL, this is a pretty look by itself.

This is one layer of Leisel over Haruko, I LOVE this combo!!! Gorgeous!!

Haruko is definitely my favorite of the six, but Darby is a pretty close second. If you're eyeing any of these colors, the formulas are all solid, so go ahead and pick them up! Hope spring is alive and well in your area, because it certainly is not in mine yet.

The Zoya Thrive collection is available now on zoya.com.