Dior - Riviera (Revisited) ♥

Happy Tuesday! I have a polish to show you today that I have shown you before but had a heck of a time capturing the first time. Over the past 9 months or so this has turned into one of my favorite polishes and I wore it on my toes over and over again last summer. Since it's been hot here lately I have been craving corals and oranges and decided to put on my favorite coral. 

The formula is superb, I used 2 coats to achieve opaqueness. I haven't met a Dior yet that didn't have an amazing formula. No topcoat in the photos. These photos are how this polish looks the majority of the time but it can look more orange or even red, depending on the lighting. (Excuse the super short nubs, I had a terrible tear last week and they are just starting to recover.)

Dior Riviera

Dior Riviera

Dior Riviera

And the semi-blurry photo that I shared on Instagram last night since it shows the juiciness so well.

Dior Riviera

What do you think of this one? It is so super yummy and juicy and perfect for the upcoming months!

Dior polishes are available at any store with a Dior Counter, as well as many online e-tailers. Riviera is still available at Dior.com and Sephora.com and retails for $24.

Thanks for reading and happy polishing! ♥

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Favorites of 2012 - Part 3 - Mainstream Brands!

It's time for my final favorites post for 2012 - my favorite mainstream brand polishes! Once again, I had a very hard time narrowing this down so I have a lot of picture spam for you!

*While I have worn all of my favorites, I haven't had time to post all of them here. Because of this, I have borrowed some photos from the lovely Sheila at Pointless Cafe.

Here they are, in no particular order....

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Dior Dune -  Such a perfect, creamy neutral. I wear colors like this a lot - probably more than any other color family. Neutrals (taupes, browns and greys), dirty greens and purples are my most-worn colors.

Dior Dune

Kiko #400 (Grey Holo) - this polish has perfect application, is very holo and is just dark enough in tone that it looks good with my pale skin.

Kiko #400

Kiko #400

Nails Inc. Chalk Farm - the perfect periwinkle creme.

Nails Inc. Chalk Farm

A England Beauty Never Fails - this one has so much depth and the green is so gorgeous.

A England Beauty Never Fails

Nails Inc. Westminster - lovely blue-based medium purple creme. (Shown here with dots in Layla Ultra Violet.)

Nails Inc. Westminster

China Glaze Riveting - this orange reminds me of fire. I actually have several favorites from The Capitol Colors Collection but I narrowed it down to this one. (My runners up would have been Fast Track and Foie Gras.)

China Glaze Riveting

China Glaze Riveting with tiger stripes

Dior Amazonia - I have worn this at least 3 times and my photos never turn out quite right. This is one of my favorite colors out of my whole stash.

Dior Amazonia

Dior Amazonia

Wet 'n Wild Hog-Quartz School - I admit it, one of the main reasons I wanted this polish was because I only just this year discovered the amazingness that is Harry Potter (yes, way behind). But this collection was actually much better than I thought it would be and this was my favorite from that collection.

Wet 'n Wild Hog-Quartz School

Nails Inc. Fenchurch Street - such a perfect caramel creme. Are you noticing that I really love Nails Inc. cremes?

Nails Inc. Fenchurch Street.

Nails Inc. Baker Street - yet another perfect Nails Inc. creme. I probably should have narrowed those down more but I already did narrow them down a lot. I am an addict, afterall. *wink*

Nails Inc. Baker Street

Orly Miss Conduct - berry scattered holographic polish with an amazing formula!

Orly Miss Conduct

Sinful Colors Leap Flog - I love this color and it's unique in my stash!

Sinful Colors Leap Flog

Dior Riviera - I was so surprised at how much I loved this one. I went through a big-time orange/coral phase this year and this was my #1. I actually wore this on my toes for most of the summer (and that is a long time in Arizona!). At one point I changed it (after wearing it for over a month) to a different color only to put it back on a few days later. These photos are not the exact color - it is more coral and less orange in person. If I had narrowed this list to my top 10 this one would have made it.

Dior Riviera

Dior Riviera

La Femme Unica - another top fav - perfect application on this olive green holo.

La Femme Unica

Pure Ice Touch Me Softly - My favorite offering from the Pure Ice Velour Collection. Such a great formula and I love the color and finish.

Pure Ice Touch Me Softly

Pure Ice Touch Me Softly

Zoya Aurora - I think Zoya's Ornate Collection was one of the best of the year and this one was love at first sight.

Zoya Aurora

Chanel Malice - to think I almost completely passed this one up thinking it was "just another metallic red" - boy am I glad I didn't! Sheila's pic (below) is the one that made me fall in love with it - and I was not disappointed when I received it! Definitely one of THE top polishes of the year!

Chanel Malice

 (Link to my Malice post.)

Chanel Malice

So there you have my top picks from 2012! There are so many more that could have been included - it was a FABULOUS year for polish! I can't wait to see what's in store for 2013!

Happy New Year!! ♥

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Dior Riviera - Wear Test and Gold Glitter Gradient

It's getting late so I have a quickie for you tonight. If you saw my post on Dior Riviera you will remember that this color is gorgeous but hard for me to capture. So please keep in mind that the color in these photos in not true to what Riviera actually looks like.

When I took these photos I had been wearing Riviera for a little over 3 days (which is saying something in itself because I very rarely wear a polish that long LOL) and only have minor tip wear, as you will see in the photos. I did not touch-up Riviera before adding the glitter.

I know a lot of people shy away from more expensive polishes (and in some cases I completely agree) but I love all of my Dior polishes and think they are worth every penny. Superb formula, great brush and amazing wear. I couldn't ask for more.

Dior Riviera with gold glitter gradient

Dior Riviera with gold glitter gradient

Dior Riviera with gold glitter gradient

Dior Riviera with gold glitter gradient

I love gradients but I think I preferred this one on its own!

Riviera is from Dior's Extreme Addict Collection for Summer 2012 and is available in department stores, Dior.com and several other online stores.

Dior Riviera - Swatches and Review

I have really been craving coral shades lately and I realized I don't own very many of them. I have apparently been neglecting coral for too long. 

When I started seeing Dior Riviera pop up on blogs it seemed like the perfect coral and I just had to have it. As I suspected, the color is amazing. It is so bright and juicy. I think juicy is the best word to describe it. I will admit I was expecting a straight creme and was surprised to find out that it is a crelly (in between a creme and a jelly). I usually hate jellies because they are so sheer that you can still see VNL (visible nail line) after several coats of polish. I am happy to report that this was not the case with Riviera! Most blog posts I have seen on this color show 2 coats and they are opaque, I used 3 coats on all fingers except on my index finger where I used 4. As you can tell in the photos, there isn't much of a difference and you can't see VNL on any of them.

I had a VERY hard time capturing the true color of this polish. One reason being that is made my camera go crazy and the other reason being that the color changes quite a bit depending on the light. The first 3 photos are the closest to how the polish looks the majority of the time (excuse the blue fingers) but they don't show the amazingly shiny finish and true brilliance of the polish. All of the other photos show the finish much better and the color in various lighting situations.

I do have on a top coat in these pics because I took them the day after I applied it but it is just as shiny on its own. The formula was superb, as I am coming to expect with all Dior polishes. 

Dior Riviera - closest to true color 

Dior Riviera - closest to true color 

Dior Riviera - closest to true color 

Dior Riviera - inside under artificial lighting

Dior Riviera - inside under artificial lighting

Dior Riviera - outside in the shade

Dior Riviera - in the sunlight

Dior Riviera - in the sunlight

I think I caught a little but of the Dior hidden shimmer in the last photo! What do you think of this color? I absolutely love it! It is so fun and summery!!! I think I see a pedi with this color in my near future! I may have to see how it works for a jelly sandwich as well. :)

Riviera is from Dior's Extreme Addict Collection for Summer 2012 and is available in department stores, Dior.com and several other online stores.