Cynthia, Author at Of Life and Lacquer

Author: Cynthia

Of Life and Lacquer > Articles by: Cynthia

Nicole by OPI Seize The Summer Collection Summer 2014

Posted on 2 June, 20142 June, 2014 by Cynthia

Guess what? I’m about to enter the black hole of Netflix binging again. I just started watching Orange Is The New Black, and I am obsessed. I know it’s not exactly new, but I had hesitated watching it because I get so mad when I have to wait forever to see the next season. Basically, I don’t want a repeat of the whole House Of Cards drama in my life: I binge watch the entire season and then I get so sad that I have to wait and wait and wait and wait… Well, I started watching Orange Is The New Black because I know the second season is coming out on the 6th, so at least I can binge watch 2 seasons! So besides the Netflix binging, I didn’t do much this weekend. I was planning to watch Maleficent but I didn’t really feel like going anywhere so I just veged out all weekend until Sunday evening when I was in a rush doing my laundry and getting my stuff ready for work tomorrow. Yep, pretty typical. One thing I did do was swatch the Nicole by OPI Seize The Summer Collection which is made up of 4 new shades for Summer 2014. Let me show you my swatches first.

Nicole by OPI Lay It On The Lime

Nicole by OPI Leapink For Joy

Nicole by OPI The Coral Of The Story

Nicole by OPI Shaved Ice

When I first got these, I was really excited that it was just a small 4 piece collection: 3 bright and juicy cremes and 1 glitter. It seems that this summer, lime greens are all the rage which is fine by me because I love the color. Our of all 4 polishes, the only problematic one was Lay It On The Lime. It was super streaky and just a pain to work with in general because it needed three coats to look decent. The other 3 polishes were fine so I don’t have anything to point out about them except that they all look a lot like some other recent polishes…………

Shaved Ice vs. Muppets World Tour

Lay It On The Lime vs. Life Gave Me Lemons

Leapink For Joy vs. Kiss Me I’m Brazilian

The Coral Of The Story vs. Live.Love.Carnaval

So are all of these 100% dupes? Two of them are: NOPI Shaved Ice/OPI Muppets World Tour and NOPI The Coral Of The Story/OPI Live.Love.Carnaval are 100% dupes so you can pass on one if you have the other. NOPI Lay It On The Lime and OPI Life Gave Me Lemons are NOT dupes because Life Gave Me Lemons is a traditional neon that dries to a satin finish while Lay It On The Lime is a standard creme. LGML is also way brighter than LIOTL even without the white base. If I had to pick one, I would go with Life Gave Me Lemons. Lastly, NOPI Leapink For Joy and OPI Kiss Me I’m Brazilian are not 100% dupes because LFJ is a tiny bit darker, but not by much. They both have really great formulas so being the polish hoarder that I am, I would recommend both. However, you don’t need both–especially if you’re just starting to build up your collection and you don’t want too many dupes.

So overall, these 4 new polishes from Nicole by OPI are nice but I’m not thrilled about the dupe factor. But hey: at least you can save yourself some moola if you have some of these colors already, right? I hope you have a good Monday because I will sure try to make mine good–try being the operative word. Thanks for stopping by today, and I’ll catch you later!

Winner Announced – OPI Sheer Tints Giveaway

Posted on 1 June, 2014 by Cynthia

I hope you’re all having a great Sunday. Since I decided to be such a lazy bum on Saturday, now I have all my errands piled up for today, so I will keep this post short. I would like to announce the winner of my OPI Sheer Tints Giveaway! The lucky winner is….

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let’s all congratulate Elizabeth! I’d like to have another giveaway in the near future so make sure that you check back for that.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll talk to you soon!

Stamping Saturdays #21

Posted on 31 May, 2014 by Cynthia

It would have been a great idea if I had actually published my post on time, right? I had it all set up and then I started watching some weird alien documentary on Netflix followed by A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 and suddenly it was 4 am and I was falling asleep on the couch. I was planning to be up early today, but that didn’t work out so hot. I am feeling so lazy that I will probably stay in my pj’s most of the day unless I get the polish bug and decided to go buy polish. There is one polish that I’m dying to get my hands on ever since I saw it on Yadi’s blog: Sinful Colors Peppered Amazon. It’s so gorgeous and I hear SC will be 99 cents at Walgreens this week…woot! Anyway, this post is supposed to be about Stamping Saturdays and not my fails and laziness. Let’s get right to it, friends!

For today’s design, I chose a design from the MoYou London Sailor Collection Plate 07 (press sample). In case you haven’t noticed, I am a MoYou London convert and use these plates often!

Hey, look! It’s OPI My Signature is “DC” (press sample) on the blog again! This silver shade is part of the OPI Coca-Cola collection which I reviewed here for your amusement. I don’t normally like silvers, but this very nice and the formula is just perfection in 2 coats.

This is a very simple design, but I just love it. I love the contrast of the black on the silver base and I love that weird swirly feeling I get when I look at this–like I’m getting dizzy.

Now that I started to think about polish, I think I’m going to go jump in the shower and go treat myself to some new polishes. I really should get all of my unpleasant stuff done today so I can relax tomorrow and not feel all rushed as usual. If you did a stamping mani, we’d love for you to join us so make sure that you either link up below or you can grab the code for your blog from the link at the bottom of this post. Anyway, I hope that you’re having a nice weekend so far. Thank so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Loading InLinkz ...

get the InLinkz code

Dollish Polish Zombie Flesh

Posted on 30 May, 201429 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Aren’t you freaking happy that it’s Friday? Hell, I am! Even though this was a short week because I didn’t work on Memorial Day, the week has just lagged! It’s all good, though, because the weekend is here and I’m going to thoroughly enjoy it. I don’t really have any plans except maybe watching Maleficent and doing a bunch of swatching for the coming week. I am trying to only do swatching on the weekend and have all my posts prepared for the upcoming week so that I give my phalanges some rest. The polish I have for you today is one that I wanted forever cause I love zombies: Dollish Polish Zombie Flesh. This polish was a gift from Amanda…I think. Ugh…I’m such a dork. Since a bunch of my best blogging gf’s and I do a birthday polish exchange thing, I got so much awesome stuff last September. I wrote down all the items I received and from whom on a spreadsheet that is now locked in my broken laptop. Sad times. I’m pretty sure it was Amanda who got this for me, but I’ll update it if I find out otherwise.

Isn’t this an amazingly unique polish? I just love that pukey green base and all that gorgeous glitter. It’s a rather sheer polish but it does build up well so I applied 3 thin coats for my swatches.

Oh, and here is a Peanut picture:

He kind of likes Street Fighter right now. He’s been a little Mr. Fussypants lately because he just got some vaccines and his little legs hurt. Other than that, he’s as cute as ever.

I hope you’re having a good Friday and that you have an even better weekend. Don’t forget to join us tomorrow for Stamping Saturdays!!! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

CrowsToes Milquetoast

Posted on 29 May, 201428 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Today I have another beautiful indie to show you courtesy of Lesley. We were all laughing about how she chose this “birdy” brand even though she knows how much I hate birds. I’m glad that she introduced me to CrowsToes because this brand has some seriously gorgeous polishes. She also got me Tiki Torch which is one spicy tamale. It’s so beautiful and just glows from within. Since it’s getting late and I’m scheduling this post in advance (it’s almost midnight), I am playing “Me and My Broken Heart” and have decided to have this post finished by the time the song ends. HURRY UP, HURRY UP!!! Anyway, let me show you my swatches.

CrowsToes Milquetoast is a creamy jelly polish full of coppery glitter in various sizes. Normally, I cringe when I use some of these milky-based polishes because it takes 10,000 coats to get the desired look, but this one was surprisingly opaque. I applied 3 thin coats and that was enough to get good coverage. You have to be sure that each coat is dry before you apply the next if you want to avoid a messy situation.

So what do you think about this beauty? Do you have any recommendation for other CrowsToes beauties? You may notice that most of the indies I do have have been gifts from my awesome friends (since we usually do birthday polish exchanges and stuff), but I do want to feature more indies. If you have recommendations, please share them with me. Just take note that I will not deal with restock drama and all that. Haha…drama about nail polish. Oh, silly rabbit, trix are for kids. Anyway, I hope you have a good day–the weekend is almost here!!! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Oh, hey. Here is Me and My Broken Heart. Enjoy. (Is this a rip off of Lonely No More by Rob Thomas?)

Nail-Venturous Floam

Posted on 28 May, 201427 May, 2014 by Cynthia

The title of this post should actually be: “Why haven’t you used this polish before, you dolt?!” That is exactly how I’ve been feeling since I finally wore Nail-Venturous Floam. When Amy posted about this polish on her blog back in 2012, I was not yet familiar with the world of nail polish blogs. From time to time I would google nail polish, but I never got past seeing the google images results. When I finally started reading blogs later in the year, I was a total glitter hater. Longtime readers can vouch for my crazy hatred of glitter back in the day, but luckily I came to my senses. By the time I had a polish boner for Floam, it was pretty hard to get. Imagine how excited I was when I got this as a birthday gift from Jessica! I wanted it so bad that I didn’t want to waste it by actually using it. Don’t look at me that way: I know some of you are the same way with polishes that you treasure. I’m sure you have seen a million swatches of this polish, but it’s new to me so I’m just as excited about it as when I first got the bottle in the mail.

I triple dog dare you to tell me that this polish isn’t gorgeous! It can be a little thick and difficult to work with, but I love the end result. I know that there are some dupes out there, but I am so glad to have the original. I don’t even know if this is being sold anymore because it’s out of stock on ninjapolish.com

So what do you think? Are there polishes like this that you love but are now impossible to get? I hope you have a nice day today. Thanks for catching up with me today, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Coca-Cola Collection

Posted on 27 May, 201427 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Hello everyone! It is a major feat that I got this post done for today. Last night at 11 pm, I was still trying to get this post together. I had 3 days off so I thought I would be able to work on a bunch of posts, but of course I was just a lazy bum the whole time. I did get swatches done for a whole week’s worth of posts, but the hardest part for me is actually putting the posts together. Well, today’s post is super fun for me because I was so excited when info on this collection first came out. Before we go any further: Coke or Pepsi? If you prefer Pepsi, close the browser and never come back. Just kidding…sorta. I am a hardcore Coke lover so I think the OPI Coca-Cola Collection is super fun. Let’s take a look at my swatches and then we can chit chat about them.

OPI You’re So Vain-illa

OPI Sorry I’m Fizzy Today

OPI Coca-Cola Red

OPI Orange You Fantastic! (1 coat over Coca-Cola Red)

OPI A Grape Affair

OPI Get Cherried Away

OPI Today I Accomplished Zero (1 coat over Get Cherried Away)

OPI My Signature is DC

OPI Green On The Runway

I think this collection is absolutely awesome! All of these polishes applied beautifully and were two coaters except for the glitters. You may find my choice a little boring, but my absolute favorite here is You’re So Vain-illa. I just love this creamy nude and can see it becoming my go-to work nail color. I would also say that Today I Accomplished Zero is my second favorite because it has so much depth. The jelly base is very dark so you can definitely wear it on its own. So what do you think of these polishes? Do you have a favorite? Let me know what you think below.

Thank so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon. Enjoy your day!

GIVEAWAY REMINDER

There are just a few days left! Have you entered my giveaway to win a full size 4 piece set of the OPI Sheer Tints? Click on the image below to go to the giveaway post. Good luck!

OPI DS Sapphire

Posted on 26 May, 2014 by Cynthia

I’m a lucky girl. And by lucky, I mean polish lucky. I have so many amazing dusties in my area that I always get excited when I go because I can feel that I’m going to find something amazing. There are certain stores that I wish I could just take a stool, sit on the floor and just go through everything. I am convinced that they must have some amazing polishes hidden in their ancient stashes. Unfortunately, some of the stores are super cramped and tiny so it’s not like I can spread out and take over the entire store. I’m sure that as soon as they see me coming, the owners must be thinking: “Not this asshole again.” Anyway, today’s polish was found at one of my dusties. In fact, they had like 4 DS Sapphires and 4 DS Signature and I bought them all. Don’t tell me that you wouldn’t do the same. OPI DS Sapphire is one of the old OPI linear holos that are sadly discontinued and will cost you an arm and a leg on evilbay. It’s so lovely! Let me get to the swatches.

This polish is rather sheer so I had to apply 3 coats to get even coverage. This type of lighting definitely does not show off a holo polish so I had to use different lighting for the following pictures.

This beautiful polish is somewhat of a chameleon. It looks silver but it also looks blue depending on the lighting. The holo in this polish isn’t very linear…it’s like somewhat linear but also scattered. I just love it!

I thoroughly enjoyed my day off today especially because I always had to work holidays at my previous job. I guess this is one of the benefits of working for a public agency! If you’re in the US, I hope you had a nice Memorial day and that you took a minute to remember all the brave men and women in the armed forces who have fought and lost their lives. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Zoya Magical Pixie Collection Summer 2014

Posted on 25 May, 201425 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Woo hoo! Sunday funday! So I didn’t go to watch the new X-Men movie yesterday because I basically lounged around in my pj’s all day clear into the evening. I did do a lot of swatching while I watched a bunch of movies on Netflix which included La Bamba and The Buddy Holly story. Then I watched some episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and continued to bum around. I did finally take a shower and combed my hair because I met up with a friend and we just had a lot of catching up to do. So basically my Saturday was spent in lazy bliss and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Today I will be watching X-Men so I’m excited about that…and movie theater popcorn. For your manicure viewing pleasure today, I have the new Zoya Magical Pixie Collection for Summer 2014. This new trio brings us the same super gritty texture as the first Magical Pixies but with a slightly darker base. Let’s take a look at these pretties below…

Zoya Arlo

Zoya Ginni

Zoya Bar

If you did not like the texture of the first Magical Pixies, do not expect to like these.because they are identical when it comes to the finish. These are very chunky glitters and will feel rough to the touch even if you topcoat them. I wouldn’t topcoat them only because I think they look better this way. All of these polishes required two thick coats for full coverage. To he honest, I kind of really liked the way these looked with one coat even if there was major VNL. Out in the sun, these look amazing because they truly sparkle. I would have liked these a lot of if the base colors were more vibrant…these are just too safe for me to truly go gaga over.

What do you think of these polishes? Did you get the first ones? Will you be getting any of these? I hope you’re enjoying your weekend so far because I sure am. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Stamping Saturdays #20

Posted on 24 May, 201424 May, 2014 by Cynthia

I am super proud of myself for not missing a single Saturday since we started Stamping Saturdays and today I am on my 20^th stamped mani for this series. Yay! This is definitely huge for me because I feel like such a quitter sometimes. I stayed up way too late to do this mani because I got wrapped up in watching a PBS documentary where actors discuss some Shakespearean plays. I nearly pissed myself when I watched the episode where David Tennant talks about Hamlet. My favorite Doctor and my favorite play? Ecstasy! Anyway, let me show you what I came up with because I could keep talking forever about the documentary.

For today’s mani, I used the MoYou London Back To The 70’s – 02 plate which I have used a few times before. It has some really groovy designs. Sadly, I think it has been discontinued because I can’t find it on their website.

I started out with 2 delicious coats of OPI A Grape Affair. This lovely polish is part of the new OPI Coca-Cola collection which will be on the blog next week. This polish is absolute crème perfection and it’s very opaque so it only needed two coats. It dried super shiny and gorgeous.

And here is the image I chose from plate MoYou London Back To The 70’s – 03. What kind of design is this? It made me think of computers or something. When I was finishing up my clean up, I posted a picture on Instagram and Rei suggested that I apply a sheer tint on top of this. Hmmm…? I was a little hesitant to try it but look what happened!

I applied 1 coat of OPI Don’t Violet Me Down over my whole mani and it just looks awesome. Rei is a genius for suggesting this.

So what do you think about this stamped mani? Since I like it, I’m sure people are going to think it’s blah. Haha My cherry blossom mani got so much attention, and I seriously thought it was kind of blah. Well, I hope that you like this jelly stamped mani. I know that I am going to try this with other polishes because it creates such a cool effect. Do you have any plans this weekend? I’m dying to go see the new X-Men movie so hopefully I’ll go watch it later today. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Loading InLinkz ...