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OPI Soft Shades Collection 2016

Posted on 6 July, 20164 July, 2016 by Cynthia

Let me start by saying that I went a little crazy with the cuticle oil when I was swatching this collection. Recently I found a lot of my favorite cuticle oil on ebay, and I have been basically bathing in it. In case you are wondering what my favorite cuticle oil is, I’ll let you know: Nicole by OPI Oil To Go. I don’t know if you have ever used it, but it’s the best cuticle oil out there and the scent is absolutely delicious. I did not realize my fingers were going to come out this darn shiny so I apologize. I am also still fidgeting with my lighting so all the swatches this week are off. I’m really annoyed by this but I was not about to re-swatch three full collections. Anyway, today I’ have the OPI Soft Shades Collection for 2016 to show you. Let’s take a look at my swatches.

OPI It’s in the Clouds

OPI Stop It I’m Blushing!

OPI One Chic Chick

OPI I Am What I Amethyst

OPI It’s A Boy!

OPI This Cost Me A Mint

Ugh, these are so pretty! However, they were a little difficult to deal with formula-wise. When polishes are this light, it can be difficult to get a smooth color application. For these polishes, I found that applying three thin coats yielded better results than two thicker coats. I also found that floating the polish on the nail reduced the possibility of getting streaky results. For all of these polishes I applied three thin coats of polish and a coat of Seche Vite to smooh everything out. All of these shades are extremely delicate so if you like this type of shades, these are well worth picking up–just be advised that you’ll have to do three coats. What do you think of this collection? Are there any shades that you like or that you have picked up? Thanks for visiting today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Infinite Shine Spring Collection 2016

Posted on 5 July, 20164 July, 2016 by Cynthia

Woot! Happy Tuesday all. The first day back to work after a long weekend is always the worst, but I managed to pretty much veg all weekend long except for Saturday. I asked my brother and sil to bring over the kids so it was quite a day. Even though my mom took care of Jonas while Peanut and I went out, they were certainly a handful. Jonas is almost 4 months and is quite an animated little guy while Peanut just keeps getting bigger and smarter. I really can’t pull any Jedi mind tricks on him anymore. He got into my swatch box and kept asking what the bottles of color were. When I explained to him that it was nail polish and that you paint your nails with it, he kept asking: “I try it?” I’m not sure I should be letting him wear any nail polish so I told him it was for big kids. That usually ends the discussion with him since he uses that same line every time he doesn’t want something. Anyway…back to nail polish. Today I have yet another belated collection to show you: the OPI Infinite Shine Spring Collection for 2016. On with the swatches!

OPI It’s Pink P.M.

OPI Half Past Nude

OPI Sunrise to Sunset

OPI Rose Against Time

OPI In Familiar Terra-tory

OPI Reach for the Sky

OPI Olive for Green

Can we all just stop for a moment and admire Olive For Green? This color is legit my favorite green all year. It’s kind of ugly but kind of gorgeous at the same time. I had zero issues with this collection when it came to formula. For all my swatches above I used two coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite. I really like the Infinite Shine formula and always end up using my usual base and top coat with them. I don’t see too much of a difference with longevity when I use the Infinite Shine base/top coats so I think you are safe to use whatever you feel most comfortable with. I also have a soft spot for Reach For The Sky and Rose Against Time. Overall, I’m really please with these shades and can see myself wearing quite a few of these over and over. I really hope that you like these shades as much as I do. Do you have any favorites? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Incoco American Sweetheart Collection

Posted on 4 July, 20164 July, 2016 by Cynthia

Hey guys! Happy 4th of July. I’m currently enjoying my day off from work…cause who doesn’t love a 3 day weekend? If you are off, please enjoy your day safely with you friends and family: be safe if you’re setting off fireworks and for the love of God don’t drink and drive. Ok, now that Mother Cynthia has scolded you enough, let me show you something fun: a selection from the Incoco American Sweetheart Collection

Home Of The Brave

Showtime

American Spirit

I don’t know how familiar you are with Incoco products, but I’m pretty fond of them just because of the ease of use. They last quite well on my nails if I make sure to prep my nails properly which includes removing any overgrown cuticle skin and rubbing down my nails with acetone or alcohol to remove any oils. If you apply a base coat, they will wear like iron, but you have to be extra careful during application because you will not be able to readjust the appliqué once it touches your nail. Currently there is a sale going on at incoco.com for 30% off when you use the code REDWHITEBLUE. The sale is valid through 7/4/16 at midnight EST. I will now leave you with my favorite 4th of July picture of Peanut.

Happy birthday Murica!

Zoya Sunsets Collection Summer 2016

Posted on 27 June, 201626 June, 2016 by Cynthia

Hey there. Happy Monday. It certainly is a happy Monday for me because I’m finally feeling better. I was feeling all kinds of messed up for the last week and a half ever since I started taking a new medication to help with my blood sugar. I’m sorry, but Actos is the devil. If you thought getting used to Metformin was hard, Actos is like it’s psychotic sibling. I couldn’t sleep, I had severe weakness and muscle pain and all-day nausea. I dealt with that for about a week and a half before I decided to stop taking it. Anywho, I’m starting to feel much better now so I’m thankful for that. Now that I feel a little more normal, I can get back to showing you all the pretties I had swatched. I know I’m super behind on stuff so I’m going to try to catch up in the coming weeks. I currently only have the OPI Infinite Shine Summer Collection left to swatch so I’m happy about that. Today I have the Zoya Sunsets Collection which is made up of 6 beautiful cremes. This is the second part of the Summer Collection; the first part is all about PixieDusts and you can check out my review here. Let’s get on with the swatches!

Zoya Brynn

Zoya Cam

Zoya Dixie

Zoya Dory

Zoya Liv

Zoya Ness

This collection is marketed as “one coat cremes,” but I did not find that one coat was enough unless you applied a super thick coat. I have always preferred to apply thin coats even if that means I will have to do 2+ coats. For these polishes, I did two coats of each polish and top coated them with NYC Grand Central Station. By the way, I was really into this polish as a top coat, but it has gotten incredibly stringy and thick after only 3 weeks of use. I’m going to try to thin it out to see if it will continue to work for swatching purposes. Overall, I really love these cremes. I’m not cool with the one coat claims, but there aren’t that many true one coaters out there anyway. Zoya has always put out really great cremes that marble beautifully, so I’m glad to have these in my arsenal. What is your favorite polish finish? Did you get any of these? Let me know below. If you’re interested in purchasing these, check them out on the Zoya site where they retail for $10 each. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Zoya Seashells Collection Summer 2016

Posted on 21 June, 201620 June, 2016 by Cynthia

Lately I have been trying to rework my lighting situation when it comes to swatching. I am not happy at all with the way my pictures have been turning out lately, so I’ve purchased a few new bulbs (that are on the way to me), that I hope will help me get crisper images. I think that I’ve reached a point where I just need to bite the bullet and invest in a decent camera. I have been using a cheap point and shoot for years so maybe upgrading my equipment will give me some motivation. For today’s post, I have the Zoya Seashells Collection which is the Pixie Dust half of their Summer 2016 Collection. I’ve always liked the PixieDust formula so I was glad to see these. Even though there was a period of time where I was on PixieDust overload, I am happy to see this finish return. Let me show you my swatches below.

Zoya Bay

Zoya Cece

Zoya Levi

Zoya Linds

Zoya Tilly

Zoya Zooey

The PixieDust formula remains incredibly easy to work with. For all of my swatches, I applied two coats of the polish. I find that the second coat works well when it is lightly dabbed on which can help you avoid any bald spots if you haven’t waited enough time in between coats. I’m sure you are all intimately familiar with the PixieDust formula so I will leave it at that. Hopefully I will have the creme half of the Summer collection up tomorrow so stay tuned. Anywho, thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection

Posted on 13 June, 201612 June, 2016 by Cynthia

Guys, I’m in a serious nail funk. I have had zero motivation to do nail stuff for my blog. You’re probably getting tired of hearing this, but I just don’t know how to break out of this and get back to consistent blogging. Part of me is wanting to just quit, but the other part of me wants to soldier on. Nothing happened…I have just felt extremely lazy and uninspired as of late. Don’t get me wrong: I am still all over nail polish. In fact, I had to buy another melmer since I painfully ran out of room months ago. Even after doing a mini purge where I got rid of a few hundred bottles, I still needed another melmer. Do I sound crazy? Maybe I am. Anywho, even though I haven’t been doing that much nail stuff, I still found some time to swatch a few collections. I don’t know about you, but OPI is still my gateway polish brand so I am fiercely in love with a lot of the collections they put out. Today I have the OPI Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection to share with you so let’s take a look at the swatches first:

OPI Oh My Majesty!

OPI Mad For Madness Sake

OPI Having a Big Head Day

OPI What’s The Hatter With You?

OPI The I’s Have It

OPI Fearlessly Alice

OPI A Mirror Escape

OPI What Time Isn’t It

So what did I think? Look, any time that OPI puts out a bunch of cremes, I’m going to be very happy. Very happy indeed. While we all love a good glitter, holo, flaky, shimmer, etc…there is nothing more classy than a luscious creme polish. All of the cremes are spot on: great formula and opaque with two easy coats. You may say: “But Cynthia, those colors are nothing new!” Well, maybe you are right but goshdarnit who can say no to amazing cremes? If you don’t have something similar they are are definitely worth picking up. My three favorites are: Mad For Madness Sake, Fearlessly Alice and The I’s Have It. Now, let me move on to the last two: Mirror Escape and What Time Isn’t It. Mirror Escape is just a weird polish. I did not want to even try wearing it by itself so I applied an uneven coat of it over Fearlessly Alice. To tell you the truth, I kind of like the way it looks–but not enough to probably wear it again. It has a rough texture and it’s just a weird glitter combination. Props for “creativity” but NOPE. And lastly we have The I’s Have It. I have been wondering if there is one person who comes out with these interesting polishes. Like is the same person responsible for this and Pineapples Have Peelings Too? Because I’d like to get in that person’s brain. This is the one special edition polish from the collection and I’d like to point out that it’s the least special in my opinion. It’s just weird and I was not a fan when bar glitter was all the rage a few years ago and I like it even less today. I definitely was not impressed with these last two polishes. If you enjoy flawless cremes, you really can’t go wrong with these. I can also see fans of the movie snatching these up which is the whole point of collaboration collections such as this. What do you think of this collection? Let me know below. Also, just for a laugh, I saw this on Instagram and I nearly died laughing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by we are mitú (@wearemitu)

Anywho, I hope you’re having a great Monday and hope the rest of the week flies by…cause Mondays suuuck. Take care and I will talk to you soon!

KBShimmer Summer Collection 2016

Posted on 19 May, 2016 by Cynthia

If you are like me, you wait with bated breath every season when you realize KBShimmer is about to drop a new collection. I’m not going to lie, they are kind of a big deal. People know them. They are very important. They have many leather-bound books and their apartment smells of rich mahogany. Ugh…I think I had a strange moment there. Anyway, I am super duper excited to bring you the glorious KBShimmer Summer Collection for 2016. There is a nice variety of colors and finishes here so I’m sure you will find something you like–or you might just buy all the things because it’s KBShimmer after all. Let me get to the good stuff…swatches below!

KBShimmer How Low Can You Flamingo?

KBShimmer Ready For A Good Lime

KBShimmer Playing With The Buoys

KBShimmer Good Reef!

KBShimmer Suit The Breeze

KBShimmer Mai Tai One On

KBShimmer Neon Me

KBShimmer Don’t Play Koi

KBShimmer Along For The Tide

KBShimmer That’s Nude To Me

KBShimmer One Night Sand

KBShimmer Gull, Get Real!

So what do you think? I really love the creamy neons, but the shimmers are just out of this world. As always, every single polish has an absolute perfect formula so you really can’t go wrong. I appreciate the variety of colors and finishes here, but it’s almost like the collection is not totally cohesive as if it could be split into two collections. Hey, I’m not complaining because all of the polishes are pretty great so I’m sure you are bound to find something that you will like. This collection will be officially released on 6/1/2016 so it’s just around the corner. If you didn’t already know, you can purchase KBShimmer at the following e-tailers:

Are you planning to pick any of these up? Do you have a favorite? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

China Glaze Lite Brites Collection Summer 2016

Posted on 17 May, 201616 May, 2016 by Cynthia

I was totally expecting to have this review up yesterday, but it just didn’t work out. I did get all the swatching done on Saturday, but I was so pooped I had to take a break. Then on Sunday I had too much going on so I just didn’t have enough time to put the post together. I know I’ve been super slow at getting content up lately, but I’m not going to apologize for it anymore. I love nail polish, but I also like having a life. Maybe I’m just a slow swatcher, but swatching a collection this big really takes a lot of time. I ended up swatching 2 12-piece collections on Saturday so between that and editing the pictures, I just did not have enough time to do more. The good news is that I still freaking love doing this but I need to have a little balance and not spend all my free time swatching so that I don’t get burned out. I’m thinking of sticking to posting 3 times a week–what do you think? Well, the awesomeness that I have for you today is the China Glaze Lite Brites Collection for Summer 2016. This collection is the perfect representation of 80’s Summers! Let me show you my swatches below and then I’ll get into the dirty deets.

China Glaze Lip Smackin’ Good

China Glaze Bite Me

China Glaze I’ll Pink To That

China Glaze Whip It Good

China Glaze Lime After Lime

China Glaze What I Like About Blue

China Glaze Let’s Jam

China Glaze I Got A Blue Attitude

China Glaze Hot Flash

China Glaze None Of Your Risky Business

China Glaze Papa Don’t Peach

China Glaze We Got The Beet

Welp, these are awesome. Everything you have read online about how great these are is 10000000000% true. Before I get into it, what do you think about the addition of a third one nail macro? I don’t have a fancy camera or anything so I think the quality could be better, but I kind of like this. My cuticles weren’t in the best shape, but now I know that I need major preparation for future swatch fests. Anyway, I really loved this collection. It has a great variety of colors: some creams, some shimmers and some jelly glitters. All in all, the formula on these was absolutely great. I think that every time I hear “neons” I get a little scared because the formula on a lot of neons can be quite problematic. You will not encounter any issues with these gorgeous and bright shades. I’ll Pink To That is my new favorite hot pink–you cannot understand how bright this color is; my pictures don’t do it justice. If you’re looking for a fun Summer collection, look no further because you will love these all. Do you have any favorite shades from this collection? Let me know what you think below. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

LCN Industrial Innocence Collection

Posted on 15 April, 20169 April, 2016 by Cynthia

How are you doing on this Friday? I’m just happy that the weekend is here so I can relax. This weekend will be kinda busy because I am celebrating three birthdays: my mom, my brother and one of my best friends! Yay to birthdays but poo to tax day. Are you like me and still haven’t filed your taxes? Yes, I know it’s irresponsible but dangit it’s a pain in my butt especially when you owe money to Uncle Sam. Oh well…what can you do about it when the only certainties in life are death and taxes? (According to Ben Franklin, anyway.) Today I have a collection to share with you that I unfortunately forgot about in my draft folders from hell. This is the LCN Industrial Innocence Collection.

LCN White Walls

LCN Wow

LCN Sharp As A Bullet

LCN Shiny Bricks and Steel

LCN Like A Wrecking Ball

LCN I Love Industrial Glam

I don’t know about you, but the LCN Industrial Innocence Collection seems kinda disjointed to me; all of these shades don’t seem to go together. I don’t really have anything negative to say about the formulation of these polishes because LCN has always been pretty on point when it comes to that, but the shades are nothing to get excited over. I particularly liked Like A Wrecking Ball and I Love Industrial Glam, but I have pretty close dupes from many brands already. For whatever reason, my camera was being super difficult the day I did these swatches so I apologize for the weird differences in my skin tone. Anway, I hope you have had a nice week and I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

____________________

Brand: LCN

Price: $7.50 /8ml

Purchase: LCN Boutique

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Ooh La Lacquer – Giveaway

Posted on 30 March, 201629 March, 2016 by Cynthia

Hey all! I hope you’re having a good Wednesday! Since I decided to take Monday off, I feel like my week has been thrown off so my brain isn’t understanding that we are pretty much halfway through the week. Did you do anything fun for Easter? I basically just hung out with the fam so it was nice. I was also kinda busy because I decided to do some Spring cleaning and that snowballed into my typical “THROW EVERYTHING OUT” episodes. I am the anti-hoarder to the point that I want to throw everything out when I start cleaning and organizing. Anyway, I digress. Today I wanted to show you two awesome polishes from Ooh La Lacquer and I also wanted to giveaway a bottle of one of my favorite holos from her line! Let me show you the polishes I recently received and then I will tell you which one is up for grabs.

Ooh La Lacquer Je Ne Sais Quoi (Indoor Lighting)

Ooh La Lacquer Je Ne Sais Quoi (LED Lighting)

Ooh La Lacquer Specktrum (Indoor Lighting)

Ooh La Lacquer Specktrum (LED Lighting)

Aren’t these pretty? I am very partial to Je Ne Sais Quoi because it’s so freaking delicate and almost dainty. Specktrum is also pretty and very versatile because it will look very different depending on what base polish you use. Nastassia sent me a bottle of one of my favorite holos not realizing that I had already purchased it a few months ago, so that turns into a win for one of you because I’ll be giving it away to one lucky reader. This giveaway will only last a few days so make sure to enter right away! This giveaway is only open to US residents. Please enter the giveaway by using the widget below. The polish I will be giving away is: Indigo-go Dancer.

You can read my review for this polish here. Last week I bought a few holos from her shop so I hope to get them in soon so I can show you how awesome they are. See? I don’t just get stuff for review–I also buy!!! That’s when you know the stuff is gooooooood. I should also mention that there are some holos at unreal prices so make sure to check everything out–especially the newest spring collection! Check out the shop here.

Good luck if you decide to enter the giveaway! Thanks for stopping by and I will talk to you soon.

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