2 coats
Phallic is a gorgeous jewel-toned blue. It's one of those lit-from-within shades that I love dearly. I experienced a ridiculous amount of shrinkage with Seche Vite, though. So weird! I guess I have to try some other top coats with this one in the future.
29 January
5
comments
As a thank you to my followers, I will give away a set of the OPI Katy Perry Collection. The collection includes:
Last Friday Night
Not Like The Movies
The One That Got Away
Teenage Dream
Black Shatter
Please use this form to enter. Entries in the comments will not be included because I will use the data from the form to randomly select the winner.
Ends 19 Feb 2011
29 January
23
comments
I'm all shattered out. All of the manis I've seen lately have involved Black Shatter, and I think it'll be a while before I wear it myself. Instead, I decided on Last Friday Night as my first OPI KP mani.
1 coat over 1 coat Illa Boosh
I love glitters like this over black. I think it's similar to Sinful Hottie, but my mind often makes colors seem a lot closer than they turn out to be. I'll dig it out of my stash and do a comparison to confirm. LFN was a bit thick, so I added a couple drops of thinner. The great thing, though, is that it is jam-packed with glitter! One coat is perfect for layering.
24 January
18
comments
Caitlin is a purple grey creme. This reminds me of something. I'll have to dig it out and do a comp soon.
Danni is a pinky purple shimmer with gold and red flecks.
Dove is a neutral dove grey. This is probably the least unique of the bunch, but it's still really pretty.
Gemma is an olive green with a violet flash. It looks really blue in my pic, but it's more violet, I promise.
Jules is a taupe with gold flecks.
Marley is a pale purple with silver hidden shimmer. The base seems to lean more grey than white, so it's not as garish as most pastels.
What a gorgeous collection! I love every single shade and will probably rotate these shades for the next couple weeks. I can't even pick a favorite. They're calming without being boring. Perfect for Spring.
The formula was great. I didn't experience any dragging or goopiness, and they were all opaque in two coats.
What are you loving/hating from this collection?
19 January
10
comments
2 coats
Lately, I've been on the hunt for the perfect greige polish. Out of the ones I've tried so far, Waking Up In Vegas comes closest. It pops just enough against my skintone, but it's still chic and subtle. Awesome!
The application and pigmentation was divine. I barely needed a second coat, but it glided on so smoothly and perfectly that I couldn't help it. The finish is not as shiny as most of here cremes. It dries to a semi-satin finish that I quite like, so I wore this with no topcoat. The dry time was faster than most. I wore this for 4 days before I experienced a tiny bit of chipping, which you can see on my middle nail. Not bad for no topcoat.
After 4 days, I was bored but didn't have time to do a new mani. Instead, I added Studio M Fast Play
1 coat
Fast Play is a light purple base with tons of gold/green duochrome glitter. It's gorgeous!
With Essie Matte About You
18 January
7
comments
I was tagged for the Stylish Blogger Award by Cathryn and Lucy. Thanks!
The rules to this award:
1 - Thank and link back to the person that awarded you this award
2 - Share 7 things about yourself
3 - Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4 - Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award
1 - Thank and link back to the person that awarded you this award
2 - Share 7 things about yourself
3 - Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4 - Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award
- I'm a musical theatre junkie! I love going to shows, collecting playbills, and I love performing. My favorite show that I've performed in is either Once On This Island or Aida. I had an awesome time working on both of them.
- I love to read. Put a book in front of me, and I'll read it. I love all kinds of books, as long as I don't have to read it for school. There's something about mandatory reading that makes even the best books seem dull.
- I love sushi.
- I play WoW (World of Warcraft). Nope, I'm not ashamed. :]
- I have a habit of starting craft projects and never finishing them. I have a ton of half-finished hats, sweaters, sketches, etc. They're going to be awesome....eventually!
- I really, really, really dislike misinformation and usually have a compulsion to correct it. No, I'm not at all pedantic. I mostly dislike misinformation on a large scale that has the potential to confuse/misdirect several people.
I'm supposed to tag a bunch of people, but I'm sure most have been tagged already. If you haven't, post your blog link, and I will add it to this post.
Thanks again, Cathryn and Lucy!!
14 January
3
comments
When AA promos came out, I thought I wanted two, maybe three. They're so much prettier in person, though! I'm happy I didn't ignore these. All of these swatches are 2 coats with no topcoat.
Ahoy is a gorgeous pink jelly with gold glecks of shimmer. It's like Strawberry Fields' older sister. Looooove!
Below Deck is stunning and is currently my mani of choice. I only took one shot of this one because my camera battery was dying, so I'll try to take a better picture soon. It's so interesting. It's a Mushroomy taupe with a splash of somethin' somethin'.
I don't even want to talk about how awful this looks on me! Knotty is a stunner in the bottle, though.
Pelican Gray is a neutral grey with subtle shimmer. Soft and delicate.
Sea Spray is a pale blue that actually doesn't look disastrous on me. It's like the grey tones and fine silver shimmer that make this less garrish than a lot of pale blues. I want to layer Fairy Dust over this, asap.
Starboard is a grassy green that isn't as bright as my swatch implies. It has an almost dusty quality to it. I really like this one. All the cremes from the collection look so squishy. Love it.
This is one coat of White Cap over Pelican Gray. White Cap is a sheer white with a ton of gold flecks. It reminds me of Ulta Sugar Cookie but with a better formula. This one has some major glow-age.
I also picked up First Mate and Sunset Sail, but they were MIA when I was swatching. I will have pictures of those soon enough, though.
The formula on these was great. They are all super shiny without a topcoat, and I had no issuses with the application.
I'm happy with almost all of my choices. Seeing how great these look makes me want to go back for the two I skipped. This collection is definitely worth checking out!
Ahoy is a gorgeous pink jelly with gold glecks of shimmer. It's like Strawberry Fields' older sister. Looooove!
Below Deck is stunning and is currently my mani of choice. I only took one shot of this one because my camera battery was dying, so I'll try to take a better picture soon. It's so interesting. It's a Mushroomy taupe with a splash of somethin' somethin'.
I don't even want to talk about how awful this looks on me! Knotty is a stunner in the bottle, though.
Pelican Gray is a neutral grey with subtle shimmer. Soft and delicate.
Sea Spray is a pale blue that actually doesn't look disastrous on me. It's like the grey tones and fine silver shimmer that make this less garrish than a lot of pale blues. I want to layer Fairy Dust over this, asap.
Starboard is a grassy green that isn't as bright as my swatch implies. It has an almost dusty quality to it. I really like this one. All the cremes from the collection look so squishy. Love it.
This is one coat of White Cap over Pelican Gray. White Cap is a sheer white with a ton of gold flecks. It reminds me of Ulta Sugar Cookie but with a better formula. This one has some major glow-age.
I also picked up First Mate and Sunset Sail, but they were MIA when I was swatching. I will have pictures of those soon enough, though.
The formula on these was great. They are all super shiny without a topcoat, and I had no issuses with the application.
I'm happy with almost all of my choices. Seeing how great these look makes me want to go back for the two I skipped. This collection is definitely worth checking out!
12 January
15
comments
2 coats
Dive Bar is a gorgeous blackened teal shimmer. In the bottle, it has a really pretty purple flash, which is harder to see on the nail, but with the right light and angle, shows up very well. I loved wearing this and wore it for almost a week! Well, the fact that I was sick influenced my decision to keep this on as well, but it's still beautiful. :]
The formula is a bit runny, but it's manageable. The pigmentation is great, though! Based on the first coat, I thought this might be similar in pigmentation to Zoya Kotori, but the second coat proved me wrong.
This a retail-only shade, so you won't find Dive Bar in salons. The only place that has released the official retail collection so far is Walmart, but I'm sure it will show up in more stores soon.
Aha! I found you, purple!
After 4 days of wear
08 January
3
comments
Sorry I've been away for a few days. I have strep throat, and if you've ever had it, you know the first few days can be torture! I did spend some time working on the giveaway entries, though. Over 300 people entered, and after adding the bonus entries, there were over 700! I've past a couple milestones while this giveaway was active, so I picked a grand prize winner and two others as well.
The winner of my NYE giveaway is:
Lina. Congrats, I hope you achieve your goal this year!
The other two winners are: Kathleen and Silverstragirl. They will each receive a NARS blush and an OPI polish.
Please contact me asap so that I can ship your prizes.
Congratulations, winners! Thanks so much to everyone that entered, I wish I had a prize for every one of my followers! I am only a few followers away from 400, so I sense a giveaway coming up very soon. :]
The winner of my NYE giveaway is:
Lina. Congrats, I hope you achieve your goal this year!
The other two winners are: Kathleen and Silverstragirl. They will each receive a NARS blush and an OPI polish.
Please contact me asap so that I can ship your prizes.
Congratulations, winners! Thanks so much to everyone that entered, I wish I had a prize for every one of my followers! I am only a few followers away from 400, so I sense a giveaway coming up very soon. :]
08 January
9
comments
I did a little hauling at American Apparel. I loved the polishes I got so much, I had to have more. All of the shades I have tried so far have a great formula and apply like a dream.
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| Mannequin, Echo Park, Mouse, Office, Trenchcoat |
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| MacArthur Park, Army Jacket, Cameo Blue, Hunter, Raccoon (needs to be shaken) |
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| Rouge, Downtown LA, Port |
04 January
16
comments
Sally Hansen has created a variety nail strips, similar to Minx, that allow users to easily create salon-quality nail designs at home. The appliques are made of real polish and removed with polish remover. I picked up two sets:
Each set comes with 16 nail strips, a nail file, a wooden cuticle stick, and detail instructions:
Price: $10 at Walgreens. Pretty pricey, considering how many manicures you can get with a bottle of polish. It's cheaper than a professional mani, but don't people pay for the service (shaping, cuticle care, etc) and not the polish? Most people bring their own polish, anyway. I don't think I like this price point.
Application: I had no problem applying these. They are very flexible, so they melded to the curvature of my nails very well and I had no issues with wrinkles or air bubbles. The problem I had was the fit of these. My cuticles are just not round enough for these. Cutting 10 nail strips to fit isn't my idea of fun. Plus, any hope I had of getting two manis out of one package was dashed once I realized how much adjusting I had to do.
Wear: I only wore this for two days, so I can't be the best judge of wear, but I didn't experience any chipping, tip wear, or peeling. I didn't use a top coat. I can't imagine these lasting a full 10 days with out at least some top coat, though. Maybe a week at the most.
TL;DR: Try these if you wear manis for a week+, suck at all things nail art, or need a quick mani for something special. Ignore these if you change your polish as often as I do.
Here are some pics of Frock Star, which looks practically identical to Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday:
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| Frock Star, Kitty Kitty |
Each set comes with 16 nail strips, a nail file, a wooden cuticle stick, and detail instructions:
Application: I had no problem applying these. They are very flexible, so they melded to the curvature of my nails very well and I had no issues with wrinkles or air bubbles. The problem I had was the fit of these. My cuticles are just not round enough for these. Cutting 10 nail strips to fit isn't my idea of fun. Plus, any hope I had of getting two manis out of one package was dashed once I realized how much adjusting I had to do.
Wear: I only wore this for two days, so I can't be the best judge of wear, but I didn't experience any chipping, tip wear, or peeling. I didn't use a top coat. I can't imagine these lasting a full 10 days with out at least some top coat, though. Maybe a week at the most.
TL;DR: Try these if you wear manis for a week+, suck at all things nail art, or need a quick mani for something special. Ignore these if you change your polish as often as I do.
Here are some pics of Frock Star, which looks practically identical to Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday:
03 January
12
comments