En Couleur @ Cal

Simply Smashing by OPI

I know Pantone said it was all about honeysuckle this year, but chartreuse is one of the hottest colors this season. Many of the major nail polish brands have released a contender in this vibrant yellow-green hue recently. There’s Illasmasqua Radium, China Glaze Electric Pineapple, and Zoya Mitzi. Simply Smashing, a result of OPI’s collaboration with Serena Williams, stands out to me due to its brilliant glittery finish. Though it has the color of split-pea soup in this picture, Simply Smashing is more yellow in real life, so that it resembles a tennis ball. It’s one of those ugly-pretty colors in the vein of OPI Who the Shrek Are You?, so it may evoke strong (and not necessarily positive) feelings in many people. More flattering colors definitely exist, but Simply Smashing exerted a hold over me that’s difficult to explain—you just have to see it in person.

Purple by LA Colors

This plum glass-flecked jelly dazzles because the glass flecks have a blue duochrome, making it another great color from the LA Colors 4-pack. It might be a little intense for many situations, but it’d be great for a night on the town, or a rock concert. It applies a little streakily, but that’s no biggie given the low price.

Roxy by Zoya

At this point, half of our previous 10 posts have featured Zoya polishes. I wish Zoya were somehow compensating us for our reviews, but the truth is that their frequent promos make it too easy to acquire their polishes, and Zoya is steadily occupying a greater and greater proportion of our collections. When you see beauties like Roxy, it’s not hard to understand why. The magnificence of this magenta glitter polish has to be witnessed in person. It’s so glittery that it gave my camera trouble with  focusing, hence this blurry picture. This is two coats, but perhaps three would have been better since the glitter is not packed too densely into the jelly base. If I had to name the perfect color to wear to a club, this would be it. Just be warned: it dries semi-matte, so top coat is absolutely necessary.

Victoriana by Butter London

Somewhat of a niche brand, Butter London first hit my radar (and the public consciousness) with 2009’s highly coveted British Racing Green. Since then, I’ve been intrigued by the brand’s very English sensibility (mostly reflected in the awesome names). This Christmas, my friend and recent nail polish convert JS gifted me with this showstopping teal from the Fall 2010 collection. The teal base is actually quite unusual; sometimes it looks like a muted blue, other times it seems more green. On top of that, the silver glitter is more densely packed than most other polishes. The overall effect is to produce a unique color that applies like, well, butter. My only real complaint would be that the brush is very small, requiring you to go over each nail several times to achieve full coverage.