August 2013 - Page 2 of 2 - Of Life and Lacquer

Month: August 2013

Of Life and Lacquer > 2013 > August

KBShimmer Summer 2013 Collection

Posted on 13 August, 2013 by Cynthia

Happy Tuesday everyone! Well, not that happy because I’ve had a rough day today, but it is what it is. Last night I decided to use some of my Orly Nail Rescue to fix my one broken nail so it just feels strange because it seems thick like when I used to wear acrylic nails. Ghhaaa! I wore acrylic nails for years, and that helped me kick the habit of biting my nails and cuticles so I will forever be grateful to them. I can’t even imagine wearing acrylic nails now!!! Anyway, let’s move on before I ramble too much. Today I have 3 polishes from the KBShimmer Summer Collection for 2013 to share with you. I am glad to be sharing these with you today because this month, KBShimmer is celebrating their 5th anniversary! This is my very first time trying out KBShimmer so I am super duper excited to share my thoughts with you. Let’s take a look at these beauties, shall we?

KBShimmer Blinded By The Bright is what I wished my nails looked like when I would use my yellow hi-lighter over white-out during a particularly boring class. I am sure I was not the only one to do this…right??? Anyway, when I first saw Blinded By The Bright, I groaned a little because I figured that the base color is so bright that I would need a billion coats for full opacity. Well, I got pretty good results after the second coat! I didn’t really need the third coat, but I applied it anyway to smooth out the color.

Be still my beating hear! For a blue/teal lover such as myself, I gasped when I first saw KBShimmer Totally Tubular. Not only is the color amazeballs, but the formula is pretty darn fantastic. It was very easy to apply and I had no problems getting good even glitter coverage! As much as I like glitter, I always dread having to fish for glitter so I was happy that I didn’t have this issue with Totally Tubular.

Lastly, I have KBShimmer The Dancing Green. Freaking A I love this one too! I love the gorgeous green base even if it was a little thinner compared to Totally Tubular. Once again, the formula was super easy to work with and it had fantastic and even glitter distribution…and no fishing!

Well, ladies and gents, I can tell you that my first experience with KBShimmer has been pretty darn great and I can’t wait to show you some offerings from their upcoming Fall collection…you are going to DIE. And in order to properly enable you, KBShimmer is having a 20% off SALE from August 8th to August 14th. Shipping deals begin on August 15th. What are you waiting for? Also, don’t forget to follow KBShimmer on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and their website for all their latest news. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I will talk to you soon!

Jessica A Night At The Opera Collection – Fall 2013

Posted on 12 August, 201314 August, 2013 by Cynthia

When I was a kid, I used to live for Saturday morning cartoons. The ABC lineup used to be my favorite, and I would be so upset on those Saturdays when I had to go to Catholic school and miss out on my favorite ritual. Another reason why I loved Saturday mornings was because it was really the only day when I was able to spend time with my dad. Since he worked so much, I never really saw him during the week but on Saturday mornings, he would watch cartoons with my brother and I. I loved that time with my dad even though I was such a little turd when I was a kid and would never tell him how much I missed him. One of our favorite shows was Looney Toons because they were so old school and were actually FUNNY and not bloody and violent like the cartoons nowadays. Well…I guess they were violent but it was more for comedic effect and not to actually show gore and blood. I loved the musical numbers, and I remember that’s where I first encountered Opera.

Do you remember this? I thought it was hilarious but was also intrigued by this strange music. It wasn’t until years later that I started listening to opera as a teenager that I fully understood what it was about. One of the very first operas I listened to was a recording of Maria Callas’ La Traviata, and I just became enamored. From there, I devoured opera. One of the things on my bucket list is to see a performance at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. While I was in Milan, I did stop by but didn’t have the time to actually see if it would even be possible to see a performance.

Now that I have bored you with my childhood memories of opera, let me tell you about the Jessica A Night At The Opera Collection for Fall 2013. Isn’t it funny how something like a nail polish collection can evoke such fond memories in your mind? It’s almost like when you hear a song and you are transported back in time and you experience those fond (or not so fond) memories from your past. This Fall collection is full of bold colors, and I was very excited to give them a whirl. Let’s take a look at the polishes…

While I wasn’t too excited when I saw Jessica Velvet & Pearls because how exciting can a black crème be? Well, let me tell you that it’s pretty fantastic. Not only is the formula outstanding, but the color is not really a true black…it has this smoky gray quality to it that really makes it unique in my stash. I know that black nails were all the rage a couple of years ago, but I still sport them because they just look edgy on short nails.

When I first saw Jessica Standing Ovation, I kind of heard angels sing. Yes, the way this polish looks in the bottle is rather majestic. From experience, I know that bottle shots can be super deceiving and I hate that bitter disappointment especially when it comes to duo or multi-chrome polishes. Well, this polish did live up to the hype I had created for it in my head. I loved it!! Not only is this shimmery green gorgeous, but you can definitely see the different colors flash depending on the angle of your nails. Just to show you how gorgeous it is, here is a bottle shot:

Jessica Standing Ovation 3

Seriously…how can you resist this polish. Just looking at those colors in the bottle…ghaaa!

For the purple lovers out there, I can see you going totally gaga over Jessica Prima Donna. This purple is just so shimmery and glowy that it pained me to remove it while I was swatching this collection. It’s such a rich and luxurious purple with a highly pigmented and easy to control formula.

Jessica Overture reminds me of some of the amazeballs polishes from last year’s Spicy Dream Collection. This is as close as I ever want to get to having my nails look like they are on fire. I am a big fan of orange so this fiery copper won me over.

The only color that left me feeling kind of meh is Jessica Opening Night. It’s not that the color isn’t pretty or that the formula is subpar—because it isn’t—it’s just that it wasn’t that exciting to me. The formula on this is great: smooth, rich, great consistency and very pigmented. It’s a nice fuchsia shimmer, but it didn’t make me get weak in the knees a la SWV:

Woot! Let’s hear it for the 90’s kids!

Are we tired of seeing these dark and smoky blues? Not me! Jessica Blue Aria is kind of “the brainchild of my brainchild.” Jessica calls this a dark cobalt…cobalt?? This is a darkened blue with a rich formula that could almost be a one-coater if you’re careful with your application. My nails definitely approve of this polish.

Jessica is one of my favorite brands and this collection continues to cement that opinion. Not only are the colors absolutely gorgeous, but the formula on all of them is superb. I applied two coats of each color for all my swatches and a couple of them could get away with one coat if you’re careful with your application. My biggest peeve about Jessica Cosmetics is that they are not as widely available as other brands so I always get questions about where to find these polishes locally after I review their collections. Please make these available everywhere!! For now, you can purchase Jessica polishes on ninjapolish.com or through their website at jessicacosmetics.com A few people have told me that they can be found at other sites, but these are the only two reliable and trustworthy sites that I know of short of getting them at independent beauty supply stores. I don’t have an exact date of when this collection will be available but it should be available sometime soon. Make sure that you follow Jessica on Facebook and Twitter for all their latest news.

So now that you have seen this collection, let me know what you think. Any favorites? Are you a Jessica fan? Let me know! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

About Jessica:

A global powerhouse, the Jessica brand of nail care from Jessica Cosmetics International is available in more than 35 countries at the finest salons, spas and retailers and at www.jessicacosmetics.com. Jessica Vartoughian–founder and creator of Jessica Cosmetics–”The First Lady of Nails” by the New York Times and “Manicurist to the Stars” by Vogue. Her complete colour and treatment line has been designed to promote healthy, beautiful nails.

Morgan Taylor Nail Lacquer Under The Stars

Posted on 10 August, 2013 by Cynthia

Have you ever had such a great dream that you are super disappointed when you wake up and realize that it wasn’t real? Well, that happened to me this morning. In fact, I was sad and depressed when I woke up. To top it all off, I went to work at the wrong time this morning because I didn’t realize that my schedule change only applies to my weekday shifts so I ended up getting to work at 7:00 instead of 6:00 am. Great! I felt like such a turd, but it was an honest mistake. Work was fairly slow so I ended up catching up on all my blog comments, and I was able to start reading all of the blogposts I have missed this past week.

Today I have a pretty gorgeous polish to share with you: Morgan Taylor Nail Lacquer Under The Stars. I’m sure that by now, you know what a huge Morgan Taylor fan I am, so let me show you my first glitter polish from this brand.

Oh my GAH! Can you believe how beautiful this polish is? The last picture is out of focus to show you the gorgeous holo glitter bits. This polish really glows in the sun when you get to see it really sparkle. You would think that the dark blue jelly base would completely cover up the beautiful glitter, but it really doesn’t. Even though the first coat looks a little sheer, the second coat made it completely opaque.

I don’t know what’s up with me lately. I’ve been feeling so blah but can’t really figure out why. I’m drowning in apathy here! I’m trying to keep myself motivated but so far it’s not working but I need to get out of this funk right away because I can totally see myself wallowing in self-pity. Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow since I don’t have to work…if only I never had to go back again. haha! A girl can dream, right? Anyway, I hope you’re having a nice weekend and don’t forget to check in next week because I have TONS of new stuff to show you. Talk to you later!

China Glaze Autumn Nights – Shimmers

Posted on 9 August, 201310 September, 2013 by Cynthia

I am so very glad that I finally got done swatching the third and final part of the China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection. At this point, my nails kind of hurt yet I still have a bagillion polishes to get through today. Hey, I’m not complaining because I have a lot of pretty polishes to swatch and a few are giving me some serious polish sweats. In case you don’t know what I mean by polish sweats, it’s when you see a polish so pretty that you get the sweats just thinking of how pretty it will look. Maybe it’s just me…? Anyway, as I had predicted, I do like the shimmer polishes from this collection. In fact, I actually love 4 of the 6 which was definitely a surprise. Let me show you the swatches.

China Glaze Kiss My Glass

China Glaze Public Relations

China Glaze Don’t Make Me Wine

China Glaze Red-y & Willing

China Glaze Scandalous Shenanigans

China Glaze Tongue & Chic

The formula on all these polishes was very similar so I didn’t feel the need to discuss each one individually. I applied two coats of each polish and that’s really all they needed for full opacity. The formula was not too thick and not too thin and it was extremely easy to control. I did find that it was very easy to create bald spots when I didn’t wait enough time in between coats. The worst offenders in the bald spot and streakiness departments were Kiss My Glass and Public Relations. In fact, those are the only two polishes that I didn’t like from this half of the collection. The remaining four are just beautiful and if I had to pick just one, I would pick…Tongue & Chic just because I have a current obsession with teal. I picked up this whole collection during last week’s major binge shopping escapade with my friend Lesley. If you had seen what ensued when we were informed that this collection was available, you might have laughed. We literally grabbed everything we could get our hands on. I don’t even want to think about what kind of look I had in my eyes but it was probably something like this:

Whenever I go polish shopping, I kind of go into a trance and literally grab EVERYTHING in sight and think about consequences later–and yes, that always backfires but the high I get is totally worth it. Yes, I am still talking about nail polish.

So there you have it. What do you think of the China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection as a whole? Are you excited about these colors and finishes or do you find them very been there done that? As you know, the chromes were horrible in my opinion, but the cremes and most of the shimmers were total winners in my book. I guess 6 out of 12 isn’t too bad, but I wish this collection had more cremes…ahhh my lovely cremes. Well, that’s all I have for you today. Thanks for stopping by, and I will talk to you soon!

Butter London Sprog

Posted on 8 August, 2013 by Cynthia

As I near the end of my first workweek with my new schedule, I can say that it has made a huge difference. Waking up at 6 is infinitely more manageable than waking up at 3:45 even if I still want to murder someone when my alarm rings. Things have been pretty hectic at work lately so I have been feeling kind of stressed, but I’m trying to put it all behind me as soon as I walk out of the office. I think we all deserve a break from work stress but if you’re like me, it’s hard to make a clean break and not let work stuff affect your outside life. I am reaching the point where I just need to stop thinking about work altogether and just enjoy my new schedule.

Today I have Butter London Sprog to share with you. While I was not initially wowed by the color since I feel I have quite a few similar colors, the formula really was out of this world.

When I see colors like Butter London Sprog, I always assume that the formula is going to be problematic because pastels-type colors can be difficult to work with–especially if they get chalky. Well, the formula on Sprog is fantastic: it is buttery, smooth, highly pigmented and incredibly self leveling. I only needed to apply two coats for full opacity and it dried super glossy. Ahhh…I love it!

Do you have any favorite Butter London shades? How do you like Sprog? For more information on Butter London, make sure you follow them on Facebook, Twitter and check out their website. Well, friends…I am getting ready for some major swatchathons…and by major I mean I have like 30-some polishes to swatch. While this may sound fun to some of you, I’m thinking my fingers may fall off. hahaha I am definitely excited about showing you guys tons of new stuff especially because I have some great Fall polishes! Ahhh…my life is polish! Anyway, thank you so much for all your continued support. I am reaching a lot of milestones in my blogging adventure, and it’s all because of people like you who continue to visit despite my craziness. I hope that you all enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Pure Ice Citrus Collection – Summer 2013

Posted on 7 August, 2013 by Cynthia

I don’t know where you are in the world, but I feel like we really haven’t seen a normal summer here in Southern California which leads me to think that we are going to be having a really horrid long summer where we will be sweltering in November. Don’t you hate it when it’s Thanksgiving and it’s hot as hell and you’re sweating your ass off while you prepare for the crazy dinner feast? I really hate that. I don’t, however, hate all the awesome polish colors that come out during the Summer. Today I’m going to show you two polishes from the Pure Ice Citrus Collection.

The Pure Ice Citrus collection includes four luminous shades:

Showstopper – Crème primary yellow
Drive Me Crazy – Crème flame orange
Can’t Stop – Crème rustic orange
Excuse Me- Sunshine Yellow Shimmer

The two I have for you today are Drive Me Crazy and Excuse Me.

I don’t know too many people who love yellow polishes the way I do, so I was kind of excited when I saw this yellow in promo pics. I think that because of my skintone, I can get away with wearing a lot of different colors. However, once I applied Pure Ice Excuse Me, it was barf city. This is a frosty/shimmer mess that makes me want to curse frosty polishes to the seventh circle of hell. The formula wasn’t THAT bad, but it was very easy to create bald spots so it is important to allow each coat dry before you apply a second…and third.

Well, hello there beautiful! Pure Ice Drive Me Crazy is my kind of color: super bright, pigmented, smooth and glossy. This is almost like a crelly type polish so I noticed that although I got pretty good and even coverage with 2 coats, I still had VNL so I applied a third coat to make it more opaque. This polish had a pretty great formula so I have no complaints about it.

Are you ready to move on from all these hot Summer colors and ready for the darker side of Fall? Personally, I wear bright colors year-round so gimme more brights!!! What are some of your favorite Summer colors? How do you feel about yellow polishes in general? Anyway, thanks so much for catching up with me today, and I’ll talk to you soon!

All Pure Ice nail enamels are free of formaldehyde, toluene and DBP and retail at only $1.99, Pure Ice nail enamels are available at Walmart.com & Walmart stores nationwide.For more information, please visit www.pureicecosmetics.com/ or follow OfficialPureIce on Facebook

Twitter (@OfficialPureIce) and Instagram.

China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection – Foils

Posted on 6 August, 20136 August, 2013 by Cynthia

You know how I said I was going to try to keep an open mind regarding the foils in the China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection? Aww! That’s so cute that you believed me. I actually did try to keep an open mind, but any time that I see metallic or foil-like polishes, I can’t deal with how disgusting they look on me. I don’t know if the metallic finish clashes with my dark skin…I have no idea, but I just want to barf all over my nails because even barf covering up the polish will be better. Anyway, since you already know that I am not a fan of the foil finish, it will come as no surprise that I am not a fan of the following four polishes. The formula on all four polishes was identical so I will talk about it after I show you my swatches.

China Glaze Goldie But Goodie

China Glaze Gossip Over Gimlets

China Glaze Rendezvous With You

China Glaze Strike Up A Cosmo

If I had to chose one polish from this collection that doesn’t make me want to rip out my nails with pliers, it would be Rendezvous With You mainly because it’s not as metallic-y as the other three. One thing that these polishes have going for them is that the formula is pretty great: it’s kind of thick, but it applies easily and the coverage is great. You do have to make sure that you work fast and that you don’t overwork the polish because they do tend to set quickly so you can definitely make them look gummy and lumpy if you go over the same spot too much.

To be perfectly honest, I think that a lot of people are going to like these because the colors are nice and the formula is pretty good…but I just can’t like them. This is completely about my personal preference so don’t let me taint you with my hate. So what do you think about foil polishes in general? Will you be getting any of these? I know Siobhan will be all over Goldie But Goodie since she is such a gold freak! Did you see my post of the two creme polishes from this collection? No? What?! Well click here to check them out!

I’m super curious to hear what you think of these and what you think of the collection so far. The last part of the collection is going to include the 6 shimmers which I hope I like better. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection – Cremes

Posted on 5 August, 20136 August, 2013 by Cynthia

So how was my first day on my new schedule you ask? Well, it was glorious in the sense that I didn’t want to cry when my alarm rang. However, I am now thoroughly aware–with every fiber in my being–that I am NOT a morning person. I hate waking up no matter how many hours I have slept. Last night I went to bed around 8:30 and I woke up at 6:00, but I was still kind of miserable. Clearly I have issues? Or do people really hate waking up as much as I do regardless of how much rest they have had? Anywho, I am still really happy about my new schedule, but I have realized that the fact that I don’t have to go to sleep super early means that I am now being exposed to a bunch of putrid primetime shows–namely The Bachelorette. Why am I watching this mindless drivel? It’s horrid and I want to stab my eyes out with dotting tools…yet I can’t turn it off. This is ridiculous!

Last night I mentioned that I would be swatching the Chine Glaze Autumn Nights Collection this week, and I already started. Since it is a 12 piece collection, I decided to break it up into 3 posts which are: the cremes, the shimmers and the foils. Unfortunately, this collection only has two cremes…two! I guess I can’t always have my way, but I wish they had more cremes in this collection because 2 lonely little cremes just made me sad. Before I bitch too much, let me show you the two polishes in question.

China Glaze Queen B is a gorgeous indigo creme that totally brings thoughts of fall to my mind. Me likey…me likey a lot. I was a little scared that this color would be a major stainer, but it really wasn’t. The formula was pretty nice on this one and I only needed two coats for these swatches.

And here is another entry in the lovely dark greyed purple creme to lust over. China Glaze Charmed, I’m Sure was the one polish that I was immediately drawn to when I first lay eyes on this collection, and I’m definitely still loving it. The formula on this one was good as well: super glossy, smooth and very pigmented. Another win for the cremes!

I know this is just a tiny glimpse into this collection, but so far so good! I will be swatching the foils next and I have to admit that I kind of HATE foils and chromes–like absolutely hate them. However, I am going to try to keep an open mind and not be a total killjoy because I know a lot of people LOVE fall collections (me being one of those Fall lovers!). So let me know what you think of these two cremes: yay or nay? How do you feel about chrome/foil polishes? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Butter London Tart With A Heart

Posted on 4 August, 2013 by Cynthia

Hey there! I hope you have had a good weekend and that you are ready to start yet another workweek. On my end, I can admit I have been super lazy about my blog this past week. I am sorry for not getting around to answering comments until now, but I swear I have a good reason: I’m super lazy. Ok, that’s not really an excuse, but I have been pretty busy all week. I’ll start with the best news: I was able to get my work schedule changed so I no longer have to get up at the buttcrack of dawn in order to be at work at 5:00 am. Holy crap that feels amazing to share because now I will be starting at 7:00 am which means I won’t have to go to bed while the sun is still up! I can’t even tell you what a huge difference this is going to make in my personal life. Secondly, I had a friend visit this weekend and we seriously destroyed all my nail polish haunts. I’ve never gone polish shopping with someone who is just as polish crazy as I am so this was awesome because we egged each other on to new heights of frenzy induced polish purchases. Fun times!

Today I’m going to share with you a polish that had flown under my radar: Butter London Tart With A Heart. If you remember the early days of this blog, I was a major glitter hater until I came to my senses and realized that glitter is…life! haha! Anyway, I was super happy to finally get my hands on this gorgeous polish.

Butter London Tart With A Heart is a glitter explosion in a clear base so it’s perfect for layering. This polish will look different depending on what you use as a base color. For this mani, I decided to use Morgan Taylor So-fari So Good which seemed like a strange choice because I have seen tons of people swatching Tart With A Heart on top of a black base. The glitter was super easy to apply, and I didn’t have any issues at all with getting even coverage with just one coat.

What do you think about this oldie but goodie? I am pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this glitter polish because I wasn’t that excited when I first saw it in the bottle. I can see myself sprucing up many manicures with this gorgeous glitter.

For more information on Butter London, make sure you follow them on Facebook, Twitter and check out their website. Thanks so much for stopping by today despite my random posting this week. I have tons of fun stuff coming up such as my swatches for the China Glaze Autumn Nights Collection and a new Jessica Summer Collection for which I have NO information yet, but the colors are freaking amazeballs. I picked up A LOT of stuff this weekend so I have a lot of swatching ahead of me. Also, don’t forget to check out my blog sale. I am extending the 10% off sale for a few more day so take advantage of it now. I will catch up with you later!

P.S. YOU BROKE THE SHOWER!!!