Zoya Monica & Nicole by OPI Shoot for the Maroon

Today's post continues to demonstrate my recent habit of combining 2-3 untried polishes into one mani in an effort to reduce the guilt I feel about the polish pretties that haven't had their time in the limelight.  Lol....okay, so that sounded way more dramatic than it needed to be, but if you're reading nail blogs then you'll understand what I mean. 

The base color here is Zoya Monica, a looooovely dark purple with some grey undertones that applied in typical Zoya form -- easily, quickly, no problems.  (oh hey, look at that bare spot on my index...damn macro photography, lol.....that's user-error courtesy of my penchant for speedy application)  I'm a newbie to the blogging world, but my polish habit started about 18+ months ago and I've since come to the realization that my favorite colors to wear are usually greyed out purples, blues, greens and pinks, and Monica fits the bill quite nicely.  It's a little darker on the nail in lower lighting (though it NEVER looks black), but I like dark anything on my nails so I'm okay with that fact.

For my accent nail, I grabbed my dotting tool and applied some dot flowers in Zoya Purity (white) and Nicole by OPI Shoot for the Maroon (shimmery burgundy/maroon).  I quite like the contrast between Monica and SFTM here, and even though my heart belongs to cremes, I can always go for a little shimmer accent.

More pics below the jump, to include a rare photo of my right hand where I did the opposite color combo in order to swatch that NOPI.....

Ulta Femme Fatale + stamping

It's taken a few days for me to put this post together, and I'm not entirely sure why it took so long since I loved the mani (wore it a few weeks ago) and was all kinds of pleased with my stamping efforts.  I mean sure, it's not perfect or anything, but for a novice stamper I thought it turned out pretty well.

I'm thinking that my pics aren't all that great on this one.  Ulta Femme Fatale is the base color and in real life it's a very pretty dark burgundy/maroon that I really liked a lot.  I love deep, dark vampy colors with my pale skin and (relatively) short nails and this was no exception.  Easy formula and application, a bit glowy due to the shimmer that's a few shades lighter than the base....but I have to admit that my photos don't show the polish's true beauty. 

But hey, let's enjoy the mani anyway.  :)  More pics/thoughts after the jump: