Essie - Fair Game

Fair Game is a slate blue/gray with a nice shimmer finish (but not too shiny for all you creme fans). The formula is smooth and you get great coverage in two coats. I love this on my toes, though it definitely makes an appearance on my nails from time to time.

Essie Cocktail Bling with Zoya Maisie

I saw this beautiful photo of Zoya's Maisie layered over Kristen and had to try to recreate it immediately. Essie's Cocktail Bling is a muted gray/blue, and while it might not be as light as Kristen it certainly worked out well.

I've learned the thing about flakies is that they never ever look nearly as good in photos as they do in real life. Pictures make them look more odd and speckled whereas in person, flake polishes give off an awesome iridescent glow. They can look speckled in the shade with absolutely no light hitting them, but the tiniest bit of light makes them sparkle and shine and gives whatever color you layer it over a real boost.

I'm definitely a fan of layering flakies over base colors with similar tones. I really enjoyed the contrast of Maisie's blue/green flecks over the muted gray of cocktail bling. It was really hard capturing just how great this was, so you just have to trust me that this looked even better in person:

And here is Cocktail Bling alone. An awesome muted gray/blue that is just as lovely without a sparkly top coat.

China Glaze - Recycle

Recently grabbed this one on a blog sale for $2, score! Recycle is a medium gray JELLY. I was shocked to see this go on semi sheer. I used two coats but could have probably used three. It has slight blue undertones, but is mostly a pretty neutral gray that would probably look good with all skin types. Dries nice and shiny.

Charlotte Russe - Metallic (?)

Not quite sure if this color has a name, the bottle simply says Metallic. It is a really nice gunmetal grey with scattered holo glitter. The glitter is hard to see from a distance, but up close the rainbow effect makes this polish stand out. The formula was nice, dried really fast. It definitely needs a topcoat because the finish is kind of rough.