I will preface this post by saying that Barielle is not my favorite brand of polish. They have a few really nice shades but the 5 or 6 Barielle polishes I have seem to be problematic. Part of it could be my body chemistry, but I know that their formula could use some work as well. So this is not only a review of Aura Angora but it's also partly a review of Barielle polish in general.

Color:
Aura Angora is a delightful shade of Ochre/Bronze. Creme finish.


Application:
Streaky, but pigmented enough that only 2 coats are needed. It's also on the thick side and will probably need thinner added to it sooner than later.


Downside:
Okay, here it comes. I almost never talk about chipping issues because chipping almost never occurs for me. This could be due to the fact that I change polishes every day, but occasionally I do get chips with really cheap polishes like Wet n Wild or the random no name polishes that you can sometimes get in sets at dollar stores. Almost never do I get chips with mediocre-good quality polishes. Barielle is the exception. This chipped within HOURS of wear on my right hand (which is not pictures in the photos) and I used a nice thick coat of Seche Vite as well. Aura Angora is not the only one of their polishes to do this for me.



Bottom Line:
I love the color to death. Anything mustardy is a win in my book. But the formula definitely needs some work. And at $8 a bottle I'm just not sure it's worth it for their other colors. I would still shell out another $8 for Aura Angora if and when it should run out on me, but will likely never buy any of Barielles other colors again (yes, even Elles Spell!).

Remember that meltdown that Charlie Sheen had a few months back? The one where he started saying hilarious and bizarre shit like, "I have tiger's blood" and "WINNING!"? Well, Icing decided that Charlie Sheen and his "epic" meltdown would make for an excellent nail polish collection. And to tell you the truth, I think it's kind of brilliant. Well, it would be brilliant if everything else about it aside from the names didn't suck.

Behold the bottle of shit that they call Tiger's Blood.

Color:
Sheer vermillion jelly full of silver, orange and translucent glitter.



Application:
A complete nightmare. Seriously, the formula is shitty beyond belief. It has the consistency of glue and even with 4 horrible goopy coats, I still have slight VNL. Drying time? Well, I hope you have an extra decade to spare, because this stuff NEVER dries to a hard finish. It's pliable for life. If it ever did dry you can bet your life it'd peel off with the force of a light breeze.



Downside:
See above, but read it in an angry voice.



Bottom line:
Okay, the color is decent. It's not a stunner but it's not hideous either. But considering how pretty much everything else about it sucks ass, it really SHOULD be a stunner. The name of this must be the thing that people love so much about it. I can't think of what else people would like about it.

I am fortunate enough to have a generous boyfriend who fully supports my nail polish addiction. For my birthday he purchased me an insane amount of polishes, including a whole slew of Butter LONDON's. One of my favorite things about Butter LONDON are the names of their shades. They are all named after British cultural icons (ie Pillar Box Red) or British slang terms (ie- Snog). I once went through the entire collection asking my boyfriend what they meant. But one that I was already well acquainted with was Minger- and not because I am one ;)

Color: 
A very warm, rich orange creme that is probably subtle enough to wear at the office. Absolutely perfect for autumn.



Application:
Pretty good. 95% opacity in 2 coats, so I added a third just to be on the safe side. Minimal streakiness. Dried in an average amount of time to a nice glossy finish.


Downside:
It costs $14, which imo is a pricey polish. It's also not super accesible, although it's not exactly hard to find online.



Bottom Line:
Minger means "ugly person", but this polish has nothing particularly ugly about it. Regardless, I think the name is pretty fucking cool anyway. This is an autumn staple and well worth the $14 price tag.

You can purchase Minger and other Butter LONDON shades at beauty.com.

Zoya's Tanzy is gorgeous. Much more gorgeous than I expected it to be. Full of a rusty muted orange micro glitter that applies like a dream and dries in record time (for a micro glitter...). As soon as I put it on, I knew that it needed tiger stripes. It's the perfect color for this nail art. Don't you think?

I'd never done tiger stripes before. It was very quick and easy to do. I still prefer leopard print though ;)

try to ignore the little white baby hairs on my thigh in this one...

I actually swore off gradients a few months ago because I did one that required literally over an hour of clean up. Fuck that! I love the look, but I'm just not patient enough to deal with all that. But then I remembered that I used a totally different technique that time and that my old trusty technique never left me with such a horrible mess to clean up afterwards. So I tried again, with pretty awesome results (if I do say so myself). The only real issue I have with this mani is the fact that I got extreme tip wear and lifting on my middle finger, which is likely due to the massive chip I have in the side of the nail.

I used Funky Fingers' Cayman Island for the yellow base, N.Y.C.'s Times Square Tangerine Creme for the orange overlay and a coat of Sinful Colors' UFO for the glitter. I then topped it off with 2 thick coats of Seche Vite.