Cynthia, Author at Of Life and Lacquer

Author: Cynthia

Of Life and Lacquer > Articles by: Cynthia

ibd Haute Frost Collection

Posted on 2 April, 20141 April, 2014 by Cynthia

Lately I have been feeling like a big pile of poop. I think that part of it is stress related, but I also think that I’m just going through a phase. It seems that I’ve been going through this “phase” for a while now so I’m just getting worn down. Can things just get better already? I’ve been trying to keep myself occupied with polish, but that can only go so far. Last week I went to my nail places, and I ended up buying too much stuff that I’m now regretting. One of my finds included a couple of polishes from a new to me brand: ibd. I’m familiar with ibd because I’ve seen their gel polish line, but I wasn’t aware of their wide range of regular nail polish. The two polishes that I have for you today are part of the ibd Haute Frost Collection which is an 8 piece collection inspired by royal Russian Winters. Let’s take a look at these two polishes.

ibd Midnight Martinis

ibd Imperial Treasure

Aren’t these interesting?! So I just finished watching a couple of episodes of Drop Dead Diva, and I can’t believe that Jane finally came clean to Grayson about her actually being Deb. GHAAAAA! It was heartbreaking when she explained why she didn’t tell him the truth right away. If you haven’t seen this show before, I recommend that you watch seasons 1-5 on Netflix. The show is currently on its 6th and last season so I’m kinda sad about it. Anyway, back to the nail polish: I’m really impressed with the quality of these polishes and will probably be checking out some of their core colors in the near future. Since I’m still working on thinning out my stash, I have put these up on my blog sale in case you’re interested. What do you think of these two? Have you heard of idb? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Essie She Said Yes Wedding Collection 2014

Posted on 1 April, 201430 March, 2014 by Cynthia

It’s that time of the year when nail polish wedding themed collections start to rear their ugly heads. I know, I know…I’m not being a killjoy or anything, but I usually find wedding collections too blah to really interest me. Despite this, I always look forward to the Essie Wedding collections because no matter how many times I get polishes with sub-par formulas, I still want to love Essie. I don’t know if that makes me loyal or kind of dumb. Either way, I never miss out on an Essie collection so it’s no surprise that I have the Essie She Said Yes Wedding Collection for 2014 to share with you today. This collection is the epitome of wedding collections: white, sheer and nudes. Before I rip this collection to shreds, let’s take a look at my swatches below.

Essie She Said Yes

Essie Meet The Parents

Essie Love Every Minute

Essie Got Engaged!

You may be surprised, but I actually do like this collection. WHAAAAAAAAAAT? Yep, you read correctly. Maybe it’s because the colors are so pretty and delicate or because I just finished watching My Best Friend’s Wedding for the millionth time, but I really like the end result. Sadly, I do have gripes with the formula on all of these polishes. I think that if you go into this knowing that they are supposed to be super sheer polishes, you won’t really be disappointed. However, I just don’t like sheers, and I do not like having to apply 4 coats of polish in between my base coat and top coat. Two of the polishes: She Said Yes and Got Engaged! had very subtle sparkles that completely disappeared once on the nail. You can catch some sparkle depending on your lighting and angle, but otherwise you won’t really see it. If you purchase these knowing that they are super sheer and that you’ll need multiple coats to reach opacity, I think that you will quite like these. I didn’t like these enough to want to hold on to them so they went up on my blog sale.

What do you think of this collection? Do you like sheer shades or do they drive you nuts? But more importantly, do you like My Best Friend’s Wedding? hehe Tomorrow I have another wedding inspired duo so make sure that you check in with me. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Nubar Spring In The City Collection

Posted on 31 March, 201430 March, 2014 by Cynthia

I know that in many parts of the country, it really isn’t Spring yet but in others, like Southern California, it feels like Summer already. What is a girl to do besides loading up on Spring polish collections? On Saturday I went to my nail polish places to scope out any new collections so I was super excited when I spotted the Nubar Spring In The City Collection. This collection is made up of 8 shades that are mostly Spring inspired, but I also see some darker shades that make me think more of Fall. The formula on all of these polishes was pretty much identical, so I’ll show you my swatches below and then I’ll give you my thoughts at the end.

Nubar Dreamy Moss

Nubar New Mood

Nubar City Self

Nubar Spring In Her Step

Nubar Sleek In The City

Nubar Fashion Is Forward

Nubar Wildflower Blooming

Nubar Succulent

I am a huge Nubar fan so I was a little confused about these polishes. The formula was just strange in that the polishes seemed like they were all separated. They do mix up once you give them a good shake and roll, but they still seemed a little thin. I found that the best way to work with these polishes was to make sure you give them a good mix and then apply three thin coats. This seemed to work well, but I was still thrown off by the strange formula that is NOT typical of what I have come to expect from the brand. Overall, I think that despite the somewhat awkward formula, the colors are nice. Succulent and Wildflower Blooming are super similar–so much so that I thought they were mislabeled and maybe I got two of the same color. Once I applied them, I did see slight difference. My favorite color of the collection is Spring In Her Step…and New Mood…and maybe Dreamy Moss. hahaha! Ok, I really do like these colors–even the ones that look very Spring appropriate such as Fashion Is Forward and Sleek In The City.

So what do you think about this collection? Do you like Nubar polishes as much as I do? Since these polishes aren’t exactly unique in my ~~hoard~~ collection, I have put them up for sale so please check out my blog sale here if you’re interested in trying these out. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

NUBAR

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Winner Announced – OPI Sheer Tints Minis

Posted on 30 March, 201430 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi everyone! Since things have been so crazy here lately, I forgot to pick a winner for the OPI Sheer Tints Minis. Derp! The giveaway ended a few days ago so I’m not THAT late, but I still like to get everything done that same day. Are you ready to find out who won?
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let’s congratulate Jen for being the winner of my latest giveaway. She has 48 hours to respond or else I will be choosing a new winner. I always love doing these small giveaways to thank all of you for your support.

I also wanted to alert you all to all the new polishes that I have put up on my blog sale. Yes, I know I’m an evil polish temptress, but you know how I roll when it comes to trying to thin out my stash and hoard. (You can check out my blog sale here.) I hope that you’ll check in with me next week because I have a bunch of new stuff to share with you which includes Nubar, Essie, KBShimmer, Anne Kathleen, ibd and many more.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Vapid Lacquer – More Holos

Posted on 30 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Sunday, friends! Of course I slept in today even thought I had planned to wake up at 6 so I could do my laundry, clean and write up my next 5 posts. Yup, didn’t happen. I’ve been struggling to get posts done in advance which I know ensures regular posting. Even though I get home from work so early, I am usually tired and grumpy so the last thing I want to do is try to figure out what to post. Yesterday I ended up going to my nail places and I bought a few things, and then I proceeded to spend most of my day swatching and editing photos. I now have enough material for about two weeks worth of posts which I may need since I chopped off my nails. Yep, the oval/almond shape is gone. I kept that shape for about a week before I got sick of it so I am not back to my traditional square shape. Hey, it was a good experiment but I think I might prefer a square shape on my fingers. For today’s post I have the last two of the Vapid Lacquer holos that Krys sent to me. I had a hard time taking color-accurate photos that showed off the holo because the stupid sun would not come out. I took some pictures in my light box and ended up also swatching the colors on a nail wheel trying to catch the sun. You should have seen me: I would run outside, try to snap a picture in the sunlight and then it would get overcast before I took the shot. Seriously?! I did this about 8 times before I managed to get a picture with good sunlight. Anyway, let’s take a look at my swatches of In The Pink and Twerk-uoise.

Vapid Lacquer Twerk-uoise is a lot more green than my pictures show. I also did not get a very strong holo effect with this polish and I’m wondering if I needed to shake it up more in case the particles were all settling. Still, it’s a very pretty jelly-type polish that was a little sheer, but it did build up nicely at three coats.

I knew that i was going to really like Vapid Lacquer In The Pink because the holo effect was so pretty and strong. The polish was a little sheer, but it did build up easily so I applied three thin coats. While the linear holo effect isn’t super evident in these pictures, this polish comes alive in the sun. One thing I do want to mention is that the pink base color stained my nails a bright pink so make sure that you were a good base coat if you’re using this polish.

These two swatches on the nail wheel show the colors and the holo effect much more accurately than my light box pictures. Aren’t they pretty?!

Well, now I have to get back to cleaning and doing some other errands. Don’t you have that weekends end up being all about doing work instead of just being a lazy bum? Hey, at least I didn’t have to wake up at 3:45 am today so that’s an improvement. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

VAPID LACQUER

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Stamping Saturdays #12

Posted on 29 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Last night we had a 5.1 earthquake in SoCal which is a little scary but exhilarating at the same time. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t like destruction or the idea of people getting hurt, but it’s a scary and exciting feeling to know just what the Earth is capable of. The earthquake wasn’t strong enough to cause any major destruction besides some shattered nerves and some broken items that fell off shelves. Ever since then, we have been having a lot of aftershocks so I know that people are on edge about the whole thing. For as long as I can remember, I have been hearing about “the big one” that supposed to happen here in SoCal so I definitely hope that doesn’t really happen any time soon. So while the whole earthquake thing happened, I was working on my Stamping Saturdays mani, and I was struggling with a few ideas. The only thing that was easy to figure out was what polish I wanted to use as my base.

Bourjois Lavande Esquisse is such a gorgeous color, and it makes me sad that I can’t get this brand here in the states. Pooh!

For my stamping design, I decided to use one of my MoYou London plates (press sample). One thing to note is that this plate is labeled 02 on the website, but the actual physical plate is labeled 03. Kinda weird!

I like this image because it has a Mod feel to it, but I’m not that happy with the color combination. Now that I look at the design, I think a white base with that black stamp would have looked perfect. I don’t hate it, but I’m also not in love with it.

Today I don’t have much going on. I totally overslept and didn’t get up until like 9:30 and now I’m watching bad reality TV. I am going to get ready in a few minutes to go polish shopping (I know!), but I think my nail place may have some new stuff. Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Stamping Saturdays manis below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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China Glaze Who’s Wearing What

Posted on 27 March, 2014 by Cynthia

The weekend can’t get here fast enough for me. I’m currently sitting here just wanting to cry uncontrollably just looking forward to having my weekend to rest. I haven’t been sleeping well this week so of course I’m completely beat down mentally. The fact that work is kicking my ass and the lack of sleep has been a lethal combo so now I just want some mental peace and quiet. Yeah, I know I probably sound all melodramatic, but that’s just how horrid I’m feeling right now. I don’t really know why I’m even posting right now except that certain days it just feels GOOD to post and feel like I’m doing something that I really enjoy. But enough of my pity party of one! After all, tomorrow is Friday which means that I am going to go watch Noah and I’m going to have a yummy dinner. That’s what I have to look forward to tomorrow…that and sleeping in. So the polish I have for you today is China Glaze Who’s Wearing What from the Creme Couture Collection which also spawned the lovely Channelesque. I’ve had this polish for a while now, but hadn’t used it lately and it just called out to me when I was organizing my melmers recently

I think that this polish lightened up a bit on me since the last time I used it because it looked more purple to me previously. Still, I really love this color. The formula is a little bit of a beast because it was streak city. I applied 3 coats and it still looked gross so I decided to try to smooth it out with Seche Vite. Magically, the polish evened out!

And because I fel like I needed a little bling, I applied a coat of OPI Snowflakes In The Air (press sample). Doesn’t it look super gorgeous? I love this combination and how dreamy it looks. I did these swatches before I reshaped my nails so don’t freak out about my magical nails, ok? I’m really missing this old shape but now it’s going to be a long process to grow them square again. The funny thing is that I never hesitate to cut my hair pixie short yet I really have to think about cutting my nails…what a ding dong, right?

What do you have planned for this weekend? I hope you have a nice Friday tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

The Beauty Buffs – Pastels

Posted on 26 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi everyone! Today I am super excited to be sharing my first post as part of The Beauty Buffs!

I have to tell you that my first scheduled post was a big fat fail. I finished up last night before going to bed, and I scheduled it to go live today at 5 am. You know what would have been helpful? if I actually clicked on the “schedule” button. Womp, womp! I didn’t even realize it didn’t publish until a few minutes ago that I got home from work. Hopefully the next time I will actually schedule it correctly. The Beauty Buffs is a group that was organized by the always fantastic Nory from Fierce Make Up And Nails. I’m really happy that she asked me to be a part of this group because I am getting to know some really wonderful ladies in the process. We will be posting bi-monthly on Wednesdays so I hope that you will visit us. For our very first post, we are focusing on pastels so you will be seeing some great posts from my fellow Beauty Buffs. I decided to re-swatch a collection that is the epitome of fun pastels: Jessica Gelato Mio! Don’t even get me started on how much I love every single polish in this collection. In fact, this is my favorite Jessica Collection of all time. Let’s take a look at my swatches below:

Jessica Lime Cooler

Jessica Strawberry Shake

Jessica Tangerine Dreamz

Jessica Banana Peel

Jessica Barely Blueberry

Jessica Surfer Boyz ‘n Berry

Before you even ask, I will tell you that the formula on all of these beauties is really fantastic. I was really surprised because similar colors always require a billion coats to even out and look good, but these applied like buttah. While this collection is from 2012, all the polishes are still readily available online so don’t fret! If you’re not familiar with Jessica, you’re going to want to give them a chance–I promise that you will fall in love!

So, let me know what you think of this collection. I hope that you love it as much as I do and that you will take a moment to check out some other fun pastel posts below. Thank you so much for stopping by today, and I will catch you on the flippity flip.

An InLinkz Link-up

China Glaze Sea Goddess Collection

Posted on 25 March, 201424 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi everyone! Today I’m a little sad because this will be the last Textured Tuesdays post, however, something really fun is in the works with my little group of blogger friends so make sure that you stay tuned for that. I’m hoping that our endeavor will be very representative of the crazy characters that we are so I’m definitely excited to get this started. We’re still working out the details, but I think that we will have something for you next month for sure. For today’s Textured Tuesday, I have 4 of the 6 polishes from the recent China Glaze Sea Goddess Collection. If you follow my China Glaze reviews, you know that I call it like it is and have no problem lampooning sub-par collections from any brand. Lately I feel like China Glaze has really let me down with odd collections and some really troublesome formulas. Well, I’m glad to report that the Sea Goddess Collection is a winner–for the most part. Let’s take a look at my swatches below and then I’ll share my overall thoughts.

China Glaze Seahorsin’ Around

China Glaze Shell We Dance?

China Glaze Tail Me Something

China Glaze Wish On A Starfish

There are two polishes missing because I did not want to spend any money on them–primarily because they are disgusting. They look like lumpy toothpaste. I’m sure you’re seen them elsewhere so I won’t waste your time with more of my interesting descriptions. The 4 polishes that I did buy, were all identical formula-wise: a little thick but very manageable. The applied nicely and ended up being very opaque (with the exception of Wish On A Starfish which required 3 coats instead of 2 like all the others). They are all so sparkly and gorgeous that they made me forget about the 2 errant red headed step children polishes from this collection. If you like fine sparkly textures, these are the polishes for you. I did find that they were a little bit of a pain to remove because the glitter was EVERYWHERE, but that’s a small price to pay for such pretty polishes.

So what do YOU think about these? I’ve put these up on my blog sale (only one is still available), so feel free to check it out. I can’t want to see what China Glaze puts out for Summer so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed. I hope you’re having a great day so far, and I will talk to you soon!

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OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection

Posted on 24 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi guys! After a pretty uneventful day at work today, I am just chilling at home playing with Peanut and catching up on last night’s episode of Resurrection. I am trying to catch up on posting some collections, so I’m finally getting up my review of the OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection. I really love The Muppets so I was very excited to see this collection in person. I swatched this collection when I had just reshaped my nails so they look fairly short. I am really missing my square nails right now, but I’m going to work with them for another month before I decide to go back to my old shape. Let me show you my swatches of the collection and then I’ll let you know what I think overall.

OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number

OPI Muppets World Tour over OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number

OPI I Love Applause

OPI Let’s Do Anything We Want! over OPI I Love Applause

OPI Chillin’ Like A Villain

OPI Gaining Mole-mentum over OPI Chillin’ Like A Villain

OPI Kermit Me To Speak

OPI Int’l Crime Caper

Overall, I find this collection a little bland. When I think of The Muppets, I think of flamboyant and vibrant colors so I don’t really understand why the colors are so incredibly restrained in this Muppet-themed collection. My two favorites from this collection are Muppets World Tour and Miss Piggy’s Big Number. Miss Piggy’s Big Number is so vibrant and gorgeous even if it does apply a little thin. However, it does build up nicely so 2 coats are enough for full opacity. The most interesting glitter in this collection is Muppets World Tour. I don’t think I have anything quite like it, and I love how it has an icy/frosty feel to it. The rest of the polishes in this collection are nice, but I’m just not that interested in them and definitely don’t see the Muppets connection. The two other soft shades in this collection: I Love Applause and Chillin’ Like A Villain apply nicely and have a creamy consistency that I quite liked. Sadly, I’m not completely on board with this collection. I think they are nice on their own, but they fall flat as a Muppets collection. So what do you think? Are these interesting to you or do you feel like me? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Muppets Most Wanted by OPI nail lacquer shades each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Muppets Most Wanted is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!