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Of Life and Lacquer > OPI

The Beauty Buffs – Gold vs. Silver

Posted on 17 December, 201416 December, 2014 by Cynthia

I’ve got to admit that today’s The Beauty Buffs prompt was really hard for me because I hate anything metallic looking. I almost never wear jewelry, but when I do, I make sure that it’s either silver or white gold. I hate yellow gold with a passion and this extends to nails as well so I had to seriously ponder what I wanted to do today. Well, I decided to go with something a little boring, but I did use two great polishes that I never thought I would like until I got my hands on them. Let me show you what I did.

OPI This Gown Needs a Crown (press sample) and OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby (press sample) are two of my favorite polishes of the year. I think that the beautiful satin finish is what totally made these polishes stand out. I alternated the two polishes on my nails for that added contrast.

I did some dots just to create further contrast, and I did end up liking the end result. A few people actually commented on my nails when I was out and about. Either they were confused as to why I only had one hand done or they really liked them…let’s just pretend they loved them, ok?

Don’t forget to check out the posts of my fellow Beauty Buffs below. What are some colors that you don’t like for your nails? Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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OPI 50 Shades of Grey Collection

Posted on 15 December, 201414 December, 2014 by Cynthia

Hello and I hope you’re doing well on this Monday morning. Nothing to report here except for the usual case of the Mondays, so I’m just going to move right along. How are things going with your holiday shopping? I haven’t started buying presents yet so I’m sure that I’m going to wait until the last second and then it will be pure madness. I am a procrastinator so I’ve resigned myself to the inevitable. Today I have something that I think might be a little polarizing: the OPI 50 Shades of Grey Collection. I’ve already come across quite a few people bemoaning the fact that OPI decided to make a collection about “that book/that movie.” To be honest, I have read the books and they are mildly smutty, poorly written and uber predictable. Basically I equate them to the literary equivalent of bad reality TV. I can give you a quick synopsis of the books if you haven’t read them: Beautiful, virginal and brainy girl who doesn’t realize how gorgeous she is despite every man around her being in love with her meets a mega rich bad boy who is scarred and broken by his past. He falls in love with her, she falls in love with him. They have problems because she wants to change him and he doesn’t want to change. They have a lot of sex. He changes for her and they live happily ever after in their mansion. The end. It’s basically a smutty fairy tale which apparently tons of women loved. I wasn’t offended by the sex in the book–I was more offended by the horrible writing. Anyway, I don’t care that the collection was inspired by the books and I can almost guarantee that I will watch the movie cause it’s Jamie Dornan and all. That’s all they needed to say. Now that I blabbed away, let me show you the actual polishes and you can be the judge of whether you’ll want these or not.

OPI Cement the Deal

OPI Embrace the Gray

OPI Shine For Me

OPI My Silk Tie

OPI Dark Side of the Mood

OPI Romantically Involved

So what do you think about these? To be honest with you, I ended up liking this small collection a lot more than I had anticipated. I am a fan of grey polish overall so I quite enjoyed the two lighter greys. The red, Romantically Involved, was a nice welcome pop of color in an otherwise very one tone collection of colors. Formula-wise, all of the polishes were great except for Dark Side of the Mood which required 3 coats for full opacity. Can we all agree that we just don’t nee anymore silver polishes like My Silk Tie? I am so tired of seeing this type of polish in every collection in the last few months especially because it’s not a color I really like. I don’t think it’s as prone to brush strokes as some of the other silver foil/chromes, but it’s best to work fast and not overwork the polish. So what do you think about this collection? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

All items featured in this post were purchased by me.

Stamping Saturdays #47

Posted on 13 December, 201413 December, 2014 by Cynthia

It’s pretty freaking cold here–for California that is. We had a pretty rainy day yesterday which we really need because of the drought, but it’s mayhem when it rains. We actually had a tornado briefly touch down in LA which is pretty crazy for us. It’s supposed to rain later in the week so I hope we don’t have any serious disasters. I’ve been waiting to show you the amazeball polish that I got recently so excuse me if I start to sound slightly spastic. Last weekend, I decided to break my two month no-buy for one of the flaky polishes that was put out by KBShimmer. Oooohhh it’s a beauty for sure! Let me show you what I did with it for today’s Stamping Saturdays.

I started with two coat of OPI Miss You-niverse (press sample.) This color photographed darker than it is in real life, but you can still appreciate how rich this polish is.

Here is the star of the show: KBShimmer Rainbow Shield. This is one thick coat of the polish over OPI Miss You-niverse.

And here it is mattified. Holy shitballs. There are no words. Seriously, just look at the beauty of the flakes.

Since it is Stamping Saturdays, of course I had to stamp this up! I used Pure Ice Silver Mercedes and an image from Born Pretty plate BP-13 for this design. There is something about the flakes peeking from behind this pattern and I’m really digging!

If your interested in purchasing KBShimmer Rainbow Shield, you can find it exclusively at KBShimmer’s Etsy shop. It’s a super duper limited edition polish along with 5 other flakies that were released recently. They are priced at $9.75 each or $58 for the set of 6. I’m thinking about picking up Flame Queen and Lighting Ridge as well, but I’m trying so hard to be good about my polish spending. WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME, KBSHIMMER?!?!?! Anyway, let me know what you think about this mani. If you love stamping as much as I do, join me every Saturday for Stamping Saturdays. You can use the hashtag #stampingsaturdays on Instagram to link up with us–we’d love to see your creations. Thank you for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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The Beauty Buffs – Holiday Inspired

Posted on 3 December, 20142 December, 2014 by Cynthia

How many of you have put up your holiday decorations at home? To be honest, I don’t think I’m even going to get a Christmas tree this year because I am just not in the mood to go through the process of unpacking everything. Am I a killjoy? Meh. Instead, I will wear extra festive nails which is why I was happy with our prompt for today. The Beauty Buffs are bringing you holiday inspired posts today so let me show you what I decided to do.

For my mani base, I needed a clean white color so I went with OPI Angel With A Leadfoot (press sample.) This crisp and clean white comes from the OPI Mustang Collection from earlier this year. It’s a nice white but the formula is pretty typical: super streaky on the first coat but buildable. I applied 3 coats for my mani to get full opacity.

I am super new to use decals, but I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try them. I decided to use the lights strand decals for my mani. I love that they are red because they look awesome against the white background. You can use these vinyls as decals or as stencils–let your creative juices flow. These particular nail vinyls are from KBShimmer (press sample) and can be purchased here for $5. What a steal for all the awesome designs you get!

The vinyls were super easy to use and I just cut them and applied them where I wanted the design to be. Because I wanted a little more bling, I decided to place some glitter on the bulbs.

I used Shimmer Alice (press sample) for the sparkle in the bulbs and I think it was a perfect choice. I really like how this turned out!

So are you into the holiday season yet or are you grouchy like me and don’t want to make the effort? Well, I hope you liked my holiday mani, and don’t forget to check out the other festive posts from my fellow Beauty Buffs. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talking to you soon.

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OPI Gwen Stefani Holiday Collection 2014

Posted on 28 October, 201427 October, 2014 by Cynthia

I was catching up on episodes of The Voice, and I was getting in the move to write up my review for this collection since I was watching Gwen on the show. Does anyone else think she looks more amazing than ever? How does she not age? I remember being in high school and freaking the fuck out when their Tragic Kingdom album came out. I still listen to that album often–ahh, simpler times. Every time I start talking about holiday collections, it surprises the heck out of me that in a few days it’s going to be November. Where did the year go? My little nephew is going to be 1 year old in a couple of weeks–when did that happen??? Soooo….where to start with this massive collection? Before I even saw bottle shots, I knew that Gwen + holiday would mean a whole lotta red and I was not wrong. Before I start rambling, let me show you the 18 polishes that make up the OPI Gwen Stefani Holiday Collection.

OPI Fashion A Bow

OPI Cinnamon Sweet

OPI What’s Your Point-settia?

OPI Red Fingers And Mistletoes

OPI First Class Desires

OPI Sleigh Parking Only

OPI Just Be-claus

OPI Kiss Me-Or Elf!

OPI I Carol About You

OPI Christmas Gone Plaid

OPI In A Holidaze

OPI Love Is Hot And Coal

OPI Rollin’ In Cashmere

OPI Unfrost My Heart

OPI I’ll Tinsel You In

OPI Snow Globetrotter

OPI Comet In The Sky

OPI So Elegant

Swatching a collection this large can seem like a huge chore, but I actually got through it rather quickly because the formula on all of these polishes was superb. They all applied easily and of course the OPI brush is perfect for my nails–I just can’t rave enough about it. I am feeling conflicted here: while I love the formula and the colors are really nice, I am just left feeling flat. Is it too much red? I don’t know. I just keep thinking of how majestic the Skyfall collection was a couple of years ago and how this doesn’t even compare. There are a few shades like Red Fingers and Mistletoes, First Class Desires, Snow Globetrotter and Christmas Gone Plaid that I LOVE SO HARD, but the rest I can live without. I kept going back and forth between liking and HATING Rollin’ In Cashmere and I think I have settled with disliking it. The color just looks horrible on me, but I can see it working on other different skin tones. You already know that I hate I’ll Tinsel You In because it’s silver and a foil. Barf. I guess the good news here is that your wallet will thank you for passing on a lot of these shades. If you have plenty of reds, then you don’t necessarily need to pick them up from this collection. Now I want to hear from you: what do you think about this collection? Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

The Lacquer Ring – Inspired By Frosso

Posted on 23 October, 201422 October, 2014 by Cynthia

I had totally forgotten about today’s The Lacquer Ring post. I am such a spaz that I didn’t even realize that we are almost at the end of the month, so when Amy mentioned it last night, I had to scramble. At first I was going to pass on the post, but today we are posting manis inspired by Frosso. In case you don’t know her (duh!), she is the hands behind the now retired Lacquer Me Silly. Now, I am still refusing to acknowledge that she officially retired from blogging because she is one of the first bloggers I became friends with. It’s like the end of an era! She will still be around on IG so it’s not like she stopped liking nail polish, blogging just wasn’t a priority in her life anymore and I totally get that. There are days when I want to shut it all down because I think there are a million blogs out there that are better or have more followers or blah blah blah. But you know what? I am unique…uniquely crazy. There is no one out there like me so I will continue to hoard my polishes and hopefully entertain anyone who stops by. Since Frosso is the queen of gunmetal, I took out Zoya Marina. Is this considered gunmetal? Maybe. Kinda. It didn’t matter because I wanted to use it since it’s my mom’s namesake polish and I was thinking of calling her today to bug her for a recipe. Anyway, let me show you what I did for my mani.

This is three coats of Zoya Marina. It was a little thinner than I am used to with Zoya polishes, so I ended up applying three coats to cover up bald spots. This is almost frosty, but I think they color saves it for me. I was going to stop there because I was just going to keep it simple and classy, but I had to bling it up.

As an accent, I used OPI Muppets World Tour. I lurve this. Seriously. LOVE. I think it’s such a pretty glitter and it goes great with this color.

So what do you think about today’s mani? I know it’s simple, but I just really like it. Don’t forget to check the other manis linked below. Thanks for the visit, and I will talk to you soon!

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Stamping Saturdays #41

Posted on 18 October, 2014 by Cynthia

Well hello there and welcome to another Stamping Saturdays! I haven’t posted much in the last week, but I won’t get into it here because I have a lot to share and I’ll never get through this post. Ha! I am super happy with the weather lately because it’s finally starting to feel like fall. I’m going to do a ton of stuff around the house today so I’m kinda looking forward to everything being spic and span. For today’s mani, I used one of my new pretties: OPI Christmas Gone Plaid.

I really hate that my pictures make this polish look darker than it is. It’s actually a lot more green in real life and it’s gorgeous! The good news is that OPI Christmas Gone Plaid (press sample) is super amazing, smooth, opaque and incredibly shiny on its own.

I just wanted to jazz everything up so I applied a coat of Nubar 2010 which is one of my favorite flaky polishes.

This large houndstooth design is from plate MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample). I just love houndstooth everything!

Well, what do you think about this mani? I hope you’re doing well today and that you are enjoying your weekend. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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The Lacquer Ring – Vampy

Posted on 9 October, 20149 October, 2014 by Cynthia

I know I’m super late for The Lacquer Ring post today, but I wasn’t in the mood to do my nails last night and then tonight I was having issues with my camera so it took me a long time to get it to work. The camera did not want to turn on and then it would shut off by itself. I think that it is finally time to get a new one. I’ve bought 2 cameras lately and returned both because they just didn’t work out for me. I use a point and shoot camera that was under $150 a couple of years ago so I’m not looking for anything crazy fancy or expensive. I have my eye on a Nikon that is $100 so I’m going to go check it out at Best Buy this weekend. I’m excited about going camera shopping! Today’s prompt is vampy, and I received the perfect polish today.

OPI Sleigh Parking Only is a new polish from the Gwen Stefani Holiday Collection. I am a little surprised by how much darker this polish looks on the nail. It’s a beautiful dark raisin polish with a great formula. I applied two coats for my swatches above and it covered perfectly. It dries incredibly shiny which you know I love when it comes to cremes.

I could not leave my mani nice and simple so I applied one coat of OPI Snowflakes In The Air. I adore this glitter and love how it pops against the dark base.

I am watching Grey’s Anatomy right now and am patiently waiting for Scandal. I love that show! I have a crapton of polishes to swatch this weekend, and I have no idea how I’m going to get through them all, but I’m going to give it my best shot. Aren’t you happy that tomorrow is Friday? I’m looking forward to the weekend laziness for sure. Don’t forget to check out the other manicures for today’s The Lacquer Ring posts. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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OPI Pink Of Hearts BCA 2014

Posted on 9 September, 20148 September, 2014 by Cynthia

Oh man, today was so crazy busy at work that I barely had a minute to breathe. To top it all off, it was super hot today–hot and humid. In fact, on my drive home it started to sprinkle a little bit and it was like everyone on the freeway forgot how to drive. Why is it that any time that it rains it’s like we forget how to drive? Is this a SoCal thing? What would we do if we had real weather nightmares like ice/snow? We’d probably all die instantly…spontaneous combustion. It’s supposed to remain hot and muggy for the rest of the week, and I am definitely not happy about that. From crappy weather to pretty polish, today I have the OPI Pink of Hearts Breast Cancer Awareness set for 2014.This is a totally adorable set, right?

As a lover of pink polish, I cannot believe that I had never tried OPI Mod About You. I was blown away by the rich creaminess of this pale pink and absolutely adore it. I used two thin coats for my swatches.

OPI The Power Of Pink is a milky based glitter that works better layered over the pink. I tried it on its own but it needed way too many coats for on opaque finish.

Overall, I think this is a great set and if it serves the purpose to raise awareness, then that’s an added bonus in my book. I know that this time of the year, we are flooded with PINK which can make people cynical, but I’m reserving my judgement on that one since I’m just talking about the quality of the polish here. What do you think about these polishes? Are they something you would wear? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Designer Series Polished Quartz Fall 2014

Posted on 31 August, 2014 by Cynthia

I was expecting it to be much hotter than it is today, so I’m kind of happy about that. Since I don’t have AC, whenever it gets crazy hot it gets hard to swatch. You may have seen the crazy pile of polishes that I had to swatch, but I’m glad to share that I have swatched about 35 of them so far. All of them have been so ridiculously gorgeous that I barely even noticed the crazy amount of polishes I went through. I think I may be the only one who is super happy about summer being almost over. I am pretty happy that this summer hasn’t been completely unbearable, but I know that suddenly the weather will take a huge dump on my head and get insanely hot. For today’s post, I have two insanely sparkly polishes that don’t exactly scream fall, but they are ridiculously flashy and bright. I always look forward to the DS releases, so let’s take a look at the OPI Designer Series Polished Quartz duo for fall 2014.

OPI DS Titanium

OPI DS Tourmaline

Was I lying about how gorgeous these two are? Since the polishes are in a jelly-type base, they are pretty sheer so I applied 3 coats for my swatches. I played around with them a bit since swatching them and they look amazing layered over other colors so the possibilities are endless. I have an extra set of these babies so make sure to check back for my next awesome giveaway. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend and if you’re in the US, I hope you are enjoying your long weekend. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

P.S. I have added a lot of items to my blog sale so make sure you check it out.