Swatch & Review Manicure

And says her prayers
In awe of what she sees
I could never see the things she sees

And she's always far away
In some other place
She likes to make believe
I can't stand to see her in such pain

Even when the world is pushing down
She stands so tall she can almost touch the clouds

   Serafina by A Covenant of Thorns is one of my most-loved songs.  Ever.  Of all time!  I can't believe that it is 10 years old now!  I daresay this is a little-known song, so here: you must let your ears be caressed by the soothing happy/tragic melody.

   Now you are properly prepared for my thoughts on these nails!  When Zoya announced their Seraphina polish last year I knew I had to have it.  One for the name, two for it being a gorgeously irresistible silver shade.  In fact it is the brightest silver polish I own!  The formula is a sheer jelly filled with fine silver shimmer, and it took 3 coats which dried fast.  If you click the picture below you can see the unique metallic finish of this polish.


   Seraphina isn't quite a foil, definitely not a frost, and far more metallic than an ordinary shimmer.  It is also very wearable for being such a bright-white silver.  I wanted to pair it with a darker accent, however...


   So I picked Hidden Gems from L'oreal - a recent purchase from a discount bin!  Funny thing is, I completely forgot that this line of polishes from L'oreal were textured-finish glitterbombs!  I applied 1 coat over VIP Status from L'oreal's 2012 spring line, and while I noticed it was drying to a shine-free finish, I had it topcoated before I even stopped to wonder about it!  1 coat of Hidden Gems is completely smooth under topcoat (I'm guessing having it layered on a base color also helps smooth it out more, too).


   Hidden Gems is a very pretty polish, the darkened base containing color-shifting micro flakes and small silver glitter.  The color shift isn't super strong, but it shows a range of blues, aquas and greens along with the occasional dark purple depending on the lighting.  It's far prettier in person, and worn with topcoat makes quick one-coat galaxy nails!  Which was exactly what I wanted...  Being paired with Seraphina makes those silver glitters pop in a major way!  I wish it translated better in photos.  =)


   My thumbs rocked VIP Status by itself, 3 coats because that gave better depth than 2!  The formula on this polish seemed a bit odd until I realized I needed more on the brush at once, then it applied wonderfully.  Still, I was a little bit let-down by it.  In the bottle you can see a soft purple flash, but that disappears on the nail.  It's pearly shimmer does shift subtly through aquas but it isn't a stunner.  However it also wins major points for not showing brushstrokes, hmm...  With how much I love black polishes I may have to keep it, who knows!


   Here are Hidden Gems, VIP Status, and Seraphina hanging out with eachother!  Aren't they a lovely bunch?  Not shown is the white polish I used to polish the underside of my tips.  I hope you enjoyed this manicure and the inspiration behind it... let me know what you think in the comments!  =)