2015 - Of Life and Lacquer

Year: 2015

Of Life and Lacquer > 2015

OPI Starlight Collection Holiday 2015

Posted on 11 December, 201510 December, 2015 by Cynthia

Happy Friday everyone! I am so looking forward to the weekend because I am going to try to get all my Christmas shopping done (hopefully online), and I want to do a major cleaning session. It’s probably not the best time of the year to do this, but I’ve been wanting to paint my bedroom forever. I want to do a light blue or light green with white accents–it’s going to look awesome. Anyway, today I have the OPI Starlight Collection for Holiday 2015 to share with you. This is a pretty typical holiday collection so let me show you my swatches before I give you the rundown.

OPI Guys & Galaxies

OPI Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Meteorite

OPI Love Is In My Cards

OPI Infrared-y To Glow

OPI I’m In The Moon For Love

OPI Let Your Love Shine

OPI Give Me Space

OPI Cosmo With A Twist

OPI Center of the You-niverse

OPI No More Mr. Night Sky

OPI Press * For Silver

OPI I Drive A Supernova

OPI Is This Star Taken?

OPI Comet Closer

OPI By The Light Of The Moon

OPI Ce-less-tial Is More

OPI Super Star Status

Well, this is a huge collection! There are some really great shades here, but I can honestly tell you that I can live without all the metallic shades. Some of them are downright ugly, but then you see others like Give Me Space and Cosmo With A Twist and you just fall in love. Despite all the misses with the metallic shades, the cremes, shimmers and jelly glitters are just gorgeous and definitely worth picking up. What are some of your favorites? Let me know what you think. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a fantastic weekend!

Essie Virgin Snow Collection Winter 2015

Posted on 7 December, 20156 December, 2015 by Cynthia

Can you believe that in less than 4 weeks, 2015 will be behind us? It’s such a weird feeling to realize how quickly this year has blow by. I was thinking today, that if you have followed my blog for a while now, I feel like I’m in such a different mindset now than I was a couple of years ago and I hope you have noticed it and that you also think it’s something positive. I think that the biggest change in my life is that I now have a job that I actually like. If you guys can remember how much I used to complain about the job I had 2 years ago, I’m sure you can agree that it’s night and day. Anyway, I am just grateful for the positive changes in my life. Even though I still have my struggles, I just feel fortunate to be where I am now. Moving on to more important things like, ahem, POLISH! I’ve been totally lazy about my blogging lately only because…well, I’ll say the holidays is my excuse. I’ve had these swatches done for a few weeks, but I just haven’t had the energy to even put this post together. As you may know, I have this weird obsessions with purchasing all Essie collections hoping that they are awesome. I won’t tell you know many times I end up being disappointed, but let’s just say it’s a lot. Despite this, I just keep coming back for more. Currently I’m waiting with bated breath to see what the 6th polish for their anniversary collection will be. Rumor on the streets is that it’s Starry Starry Night but I’m just going to wait and not spaz out just yet. I think I am forgetting why we are here today. Oh yeah! I have swatches of the Essie Virgin Snow Collection for Winter 2015! Let me show you my swatches before I give you the rundown.

Essie Peak Show

Essie Virgin Snow

Essie Shall We Chalet?

Essie Altitude Attitude

Essie Haute Tub

Essie Apres-Chic

Let me get this out of the way and just say that this collection gets a big fat MEH from me. Ok, so there is nothing really wrong with this collection, but it’s so boring. I was super deluxe looking forward to Haute Tub, but it ended up disappointing once on the nail–it’s like an Essie trademark: gorgeous in the bottle, fail on the nail. (Hey, I should coin that phrase!) Both of the reds have a great formula and the two lightest shades are kind of a PITA but they are so glacial and perfect–like Catherine Deneuve in a bottle. I won’t even bother to mention the silver because we all know how much I dislike the 5 million silvers that have come out this year. So all in all I can say it’s a very boring collection made up of nice polishes. Since I’m not in love with this collection, it’s going up on my blog sale. If you want a good price, you can buy this collection and the Luxeffects collection for a decent price. Anywho, check out my blog sale here if you’re interested. I’m interested to hear what you think of this collection so let me know in the comments below. Thanks so much for the visit, and I will talk to you soon.

Cyber Monday Shopping

Posted on 29 November, 2015 by Cynthia

Hey guys! I know a lot of you do a lot of shopping during Black Friday but not me. I tend to do most of my shopping during Cyber Monday just because I do not like to deal with crowds and prefer to shop at my leisure. Whenever I am shopping online, I always use Ebates to check to see how much cash back I can get. I normally don’t write posts like this, but I know that a lot of people don’t know about Ebates and you can definitely earn some serious cash back throughout the year. I would only really share something like this if I know it works. Now, I do have a referral link. You can use it if you want to, or you can sign up directly through their website. If you use my referral link, it supports this site and me, but of course I just want you to save money so it’s completely up to you. If you don’t know how Ebates works, here is a little crash course:

So basically you just go to the Ebates website, look for the store you want to shop at and you will find out if the store is offering cash back and what percentage. You click through to the stores website and once you make a purchase, you will start earning cash back! It’s so simple. If you want to sign up through my referral link, click here.

I think that I’m biting the bullet and might possibly be purchasing a TV or a fridge tomorrow so I hope that I can find some awesome deals. Are you on the market for some big ticket items? What are you hoping to snag during these holiday sales?

Essie Luxeffects Collection 2015

Posted on 25 November, 201524 November, 2015 by Cynthia

Do you remember when Essie put out Shine of the Times and everyone lost their shit over it? I think that it might have been my first flaky polish back in 2011 when I was still a nuggle. That was the first time that I even heard of an Essie Luxeffects Collection, but they have steadily put out this collection every year since then. I don’t know about you, but when I saw the Luxeffects Collection for 2015, I thought I had suddenly entered a time vortex and had been transported back to 2012/2013 when bar glitter was all the rage. I hated it back then and I still hate it now, but you know me: MUST BUY EVERY COLLECTION, EVERY TIME. I wore each glitter over a shade from the Essie Winter Collection (swatches coming soon) and only applied 1 coat using a dabbing motion to distribute the glitter to my liking. Let me show you what they look like before I share my thoughts.

Essie Fashion Flares

Essie Frilling Me Softly

Essie Fringe Factor

Essie Tassel Shaker

I’m feeling a little weird saying this…I actually like some of these! I actually only like the first two: Fashion Flares and Frilling Me Softly because they are an interesting combination of bar and small dots which kind of reminds me of cracked pepper. Every time I see bar glitter I think of how irate I get when I see the sink covered in hairs after my brother shaves, so I guess I’m never going to love bar glitter. Overall, I don’t think these are worth the Essie price tag, but a couple of them are nice. I have put these babied up in my blog sale so check it out if you’re interested. What do you think about bar glitter? Yay or nay? I’m curious to hear what you think! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Designer Series Collection 2015

Posted on 23 November, 201522 November, 2015 by Cynthia

This might be the only time you will truly see me excited on a Monday, and it’s all due to the fact that we have a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I am looking forward to a long weekend and to all the delicious foods that come with Thanksgiving dinner. I was pretty lazy this past weekend which gave me some much needed time to swatch. I got through 3 collections which I should have up this week–unless I get super deluxe lazy and don’t post them until the following week. Anywho, today I wanted to show you the two polishes from this year’s OPI Designer Series Collection. I know we all dream of the past when DS polishes were delicious holos, but those times are long gone. Despite this, OPI manages to put out some interesting DS polishes and this year is no exception. Let me show you the two new polishes that have been added to the Designer Series line.

This is OPI DS Charcoal. Oh, now I wish I could have gotten better pictures of this polish. It’s so freaking pretty in real life. It flashes from green, to pink, to purple, to charcoal, to my polish loving heart. I think that what makes this polish stand out is that it dries to a satin finish so it just looks different from similar polishes. Of course I immediately thought of OPI Peace & Love & OPI, but they are not the same. They are similar, but they are NOT the same. It was incredibly difficult to capture the true essence of this polish, so you will have to trust me when I tell you that it’s kind of amazing.

OPI DS Imperial did not wow me in the bottle. In fact, I thought it was kind of boring when I first saw it. But I take it all back because this shade looks pretty phenomenal on the nail. It also has that satin finish that I love and it is super pigmented.

Overall, call me pleased. I think that both of these polishes are beautiful, but Charcoal is my fave. I just find it unique which is not something I get to say very often. These polishes are out now so pick em up while the are available. Let me know what you think of these. Will you be picking one (or both) up? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

P.S. I put up tons of stuff up on my blog sale. Polish is taking over my entire apartment–they need a new home. Check out the new stuff here.

China Glaze Cheers! Collection Holiday 2015

Posted on 16 November, 201515 November, 2015 by Cynthia

Hey there! Nice to see you here on this lovely Monday morning! I had a pretty busy weekend so I feel like I barely even got some time to rest. My nephew had his birthday party which was a lot of fun. He turned 2 last week, and it’s like he’s a mini-adult now. I love hearing him talk–even if he still can’t pronounce a lot of sounds. He’s such a cutie pie! On Sunday, I spent most of the day doing laundry, running errands and just cleaning my place. I hate it when things are all messy and out of place so I got lot of stuff done. I guess I should feel rested since it’s barely the start of the work week, but I feel exhausted! You know what I am excited about? The Thanksgiving holiday!!! After Thanksgiving, it’s a hop, skip and a jump over to Christmas and then the new year. Can you believe 2015 is almost over? And with all the holidays, we can expect all the holiday collections to land in stores near you. Today I have for you the China Glaze Cheers! Collection which is the holiday offering for 2015. I was really looking forward to trying out all the glitters because they all looked so pretty. Check out my swatches below before I tell you what I thought about the collection overall.

China Glaze Mix and Mingle

China Glaze Wine Down for What?

China Glaze Son of a Nutcracker

China Glaze Peppermint To Be

China Glaze Better Not Pout

China Glaze Don’t Get Elfed Up

China Glaze I Soiree I Didn’t Do It

China Glaze Ugly Sweater Party

China Glaze Brand Sparkin’ New Year

China Glaze Coal Hands, Warm Heart

China Glaze Bring on the Bubbly

China Glaze Break The Ice

I want to mention a few things. To start with, I’m sorry about my wonky nail in my swatches for Mix and Mingle. I had a nail file mishap and didn’t notice how jagged and frayed my nail edge looked until I uploaded the pictures. I also wanted to mention that I used all of the glitters on their own. For all my swatches I used 2 coats of polish–some thicker than others. While the glitters would be infinitely more manageable if you used them over a similarly colored base, I just felt like swatching them on their own. As you know, glitters can be difficult to work with and it’s usually best to use the dabbing method when using glitterbombs. I did use more of a dabbing method when I worked with the glitters and that seemed to work fine and they glitters weren’t too much of a pain. While most of the polishes here are lovely, I am not SUPER excited about them with the exception of Mix and Mingle, Don’t Get Elfed Up and I Soiree I Didn’t Do It. These three are definitely my absolute favorites. Don’t get me wrong–some of these are nice staples, but I probably have something similar in my stash. Don’t I always have something similar in my stash? So what do you think about this collection? I know it has been out for a couple of weeks already, so maybe you’ve already picked up some of these shades. Let me know what you think and if you have any favorites. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

China Glaze Ghouls Night Out Collection Halloween 2015

Posted on 9 November, 201510 November, 2015 by Cynthia

Hey, happy Monday everyone. Today I feel like I am definitely tardy to the party with my swatches of this collection. I purchased them like over a month ago and then I went on a blog break, and I just got behind on everything. Halloween was a week ago, so excuse me for missing the boat on posting my review so late. The China Glaze Ghouls Night Out Collection for Halloween 2015 is pretty typical of what I have come to expect from Halloween collections. There is nothing groundbreaking here, but I ended up liking a couple of these shades A LOT! Let me show you my swatches:

China Glaze Looking Bootiful

China Glaze Cackle If You Want To

China Glaze Lady And The Vamp

China Glaze Ghostess With The Mostess

China Glaze Drink up Witches

China Glaze Something’s Brewing

The purple! The purple! Ahhh! I love Looking Bootiful because it’s the perfect purple for my skin tone. It is a jelly polish so you will need a few coats to get it opaque, but it’s just so squishy looking that it’s worth it. My other favorite is the green Drink Up Witches–which I keep reading as Drink Up Bitches. The glitters are ok–they aren’t anything we haven’t seen variations of before. I am actually really happy with this little collection and this colors can be used at any time–they aren’t just for Halloween! What are your thoughts on this mini collection? Since my melmers are overflowing, I decided to put this set up for sale. If you’re interested, I’m selling the 6-pice collection for $22 shipped so send me an email if you want to purchase these. Well, I hope you’re doing well and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Zoya Matte Velvet Collection Winter/Holiday 2015

Posted on 4 November, 2015 by Cynthia

It’s Wednesday which means that we are halfway through the workweek…yasss! I am really looking forward to having some time this weekend to do some major swatching because I need to catch up with a lot of gorgeous stuff. I also have to do some shopping for my nephew’s birthday. I can barely believe that he will be 2 years old next week, and of course Auntie wants to buy him errrrrything. Today I’m excited to share with you my thoughts on the Zoya Matte Velvet Collection for Winter/Holiday 2015. This 6 piece collection is the perfect representation of what a Winter/Holiday collection should be: you get some icy shades and some gorgeous jewel toned polishes. Let me show you my swatches, and then I’ll let you know what I think below.

Zoya Aspen

Zoya Sue

Zoya Amal

Zoya Iris

Zoya Honor

Zoya Yves

I am a huge fan of the MatteVelvet line that Zoya has gotten so good at, so I was definitely excited to get my hands on these. I can tell you that the only two I had any issues with were Aspen and Sue because they can get patchy and apply unevenly. I think that the best way to approach these is to apply thin coats and let the coats dry thoroughly before applying another. The rest of the shades are gorgeous jewel tones that are perfect for the holidays. The standout shade for me is Yves because who doesn’t love a gorgeous blue? Someone had warned me that Yves was a stainer, but I didn’t get any significant staining. So what do you think about these beauties? You can purchase this collection now on zoya.com where they retail for $10 each. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

KBShimmer Winter Collection 2015

Posted on 2 November, 2015 by Cynthia

‘Ello gov’na! How was your Monday? Work was pretty busy today so it was one of those days where time just flew by. Now that daylight savings time started up, it feels weird leaving the office at 5 pm and it’s pitch dark outside. In fact, it started raining on my way home! The weather is weird, but I’m loving that it’s really cool now after this horrible summer. Well, I am pretty sure that you know that the KBShimmer Winter Collection was released today…unless you’ve been living under a rock. I always look forward to KBShimmer collections, and I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed!!! Let me show you a few of my picks below:

KBShimmer Coal In One

KBShimmer Claws and Effect

KBShimmer Fleece Navidad

KBShimmer Brrr-tiful Dreamer

KBShimmer Kind Of A Big Dill

KBShimmer Yule Worthy

I am missing one of the polishes that I wanted to share with you: For Fox Sake. Isn’t that the most kick ass polish name ever? I’m not going to lie…I want it just for the name. I’m here to tell you that you want all of these. Yep, I know you do. They are all gorgeous and apply like a dream, which is exactly what you would expect since we are talking about KBShimmer, after all. For the holo polishes, I took two pictures in normal light and the third pic is under LED light which is similar to what you will see in direct bright sunlight. So what do you think? Do you love these as much as I do? Do you have a favorite or favorites? Will you be picking up any of these shades? Check out the entire Winter Collection here. Hurry and pick them ALL up! Well, now that I have properly enabled you, I want to wish you a good rest of the week! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Winner Announced – OPI Infinite Shine Soft Shades

Posted on 1 November, 2015 by Cynthia

Hey guys! Long time no blog! I know I haven’t been posting consistently for a few months now and I did take a month-long hiatus, but I hope that things will get more consistent soon. I’m nearing my 4 year blog anniversary, and I think this brought some renewed commitment to this little blog of mine. Today I am just doing a quick post to announce the winner of my OPI Infinite Shine Soft Shades giveaway. Yeah, I know the giveaway was over like…5 million years ago. Sorry for the looooong delay. Hey, at least I didn’t forget about it!

The winner is…
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations, Jennifer! I have emailed the winner and she was 48 hours to respond or else I will be picking a new winner.

I hope you are all doing well and thank you for continuing to stop by during these slow months. I am getting back into the swing of things so look for new content very soon.

Talk to you soon!