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Incoco Tribal Beats Collection

Posted on 27 July, 2014 by Cynthia

I could not fall asleep for the life of me last night so of course I slept in today which I hate doing on a Sunday because it throws me off because I need to run a bunch of errands. Now I am still sitting in bed looking at nail stuff instead of doing my laundry. I totally don’t feel like doing anything. Does anyone want to come prepare me some lunch? For today’s post, I have 3 of the 6 designs from the Incoco Tribal Beats Collection. If you haven’t used Incoco nail appliqués, you are really missing out. Let’s take a look at the three fun designs.

Incoco Desert Jewel

Incoco Tribal Beats

Incoco Desert Sunset

These are the three other designs that make up this collection:

I love having a few sets of Incoco appliqués in case I need something fun and fast that will last. I have worn a design for up to two weeks with very minor tip wear. These babies wear like iron so these work really well if you’re going on vacation or don’t have enough time to do your nails often. You can purchase these appliqués here for $8.99 each.

Have you tried Incoco yet?

Stamping Saturdays #29

Posted on 26 July, 2014 by Cynthia

So this morning I went to see Lucy. I was super excited about watching it because I love Scarlett Johansson and I love Luc Besson (hello The Professional!), but it was kind of a let down. It seemed like it was trying to be a little serious but only came off as being silly. I figured a movie with both Scarlett and Morgan Freeman couldn’t be too bad, but I was wrong. I should have seen Hercules instead because then I could at least stare at The Rock for an hour and a half. Anyway, after the movie I went to my nail places and they literally had NOTHING new which was a big disappointment. I headed to Sephora to buy my favorite concealer (Kat Von D), and then went to Sally’s to buy some acetone. They had a buy 2 get 1 free sale on Finger Paints, and I almost bought some but I refrained. I’m so responsible now! I was working on my Stamping Saturdays mani last night and I had 2 total disasticures. It was so frustrating because everything I did came out looking horrible so I just ended up going with this last mani.

I really loved the color of Salon Perfect Plum Sorbet (press sample), but it dried so much darker than the bottle color. Even though this is a neon from the Neon Pop! Collection, I did not need to use a white base for this polish. Two coats were enough for full opacity, and it dries to a satiny finish so you need a good top coat if you need a shiny finish. Of course I Seche’d it up.

I then used an image from Mash plate Mash 40 and Essie Good As Gold for this swirly design. I ended up applying a matte top coat to finish off the mani. This is totally…MEH. I neither like it nor hate it. I feel like I’ve been off my stamping game lately. I hope that I start feeling inspired again because I feel like a total stamping bore right now.

So what are you up to this weekend? I don’t have much planed yet so I’m sure I’m just going to bum around which is fine by me. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Nordic Collection

Posted on 14 July, 201412 August, 2014 by Cynthia

When the press release for the OPI Nordic Collection first came out, was I the only one wondering what was up with all the tan poopy shades? I never made it to he Nordic countries while I was living in Europe which is one thing that I always kick myself for, but hopefully I will make it to that part of the world again in the near future. I have to admit that I’m a bit confused about this collection. Maybe it’s that I don’t have too much knowledge about the countries that are being represented in this collection, but how do these colors fit? I don’t know! I decided to just sit down and swatch this collection instead of dwelling to much on it and let the polishes do the talking!

OPI How Great Is Your Dane?

OPI Ice-bergers & Fries

OPI Going My Way Or Norway?

OPI With A Nice Finn-ish

OPI Can’t Afjord Not To

OPI Suzi Has A Swede Tooth

OPI My Dogsled Is A Hybrid

OPI Do You Have This Color In Stock-holm?

OPI Thank Glogg It’s Friday

OPI Viking In A Vinter Vonderland

OPI Skating On Thin Ice-land

OPI My Voice Is A Little Norse

The formula on all of these was pretty identical across the board: creamy, easy to control and opaque at two coats. One thing I do want to stress is that I felt the polishes took a bit longer to dry so make sure that you leave plenty of time between coats. Now I’m realizing that maybe it’s the crappy weather that slowed down the drying time on the polishes. So what do I think about this collection? I am always delighted with consistency, and all of these polishes are consistently good because they applied flawlessly. I am still not entirely convinced about the actual colors and how they work together because the color palette seems a little random to me. I’d be interested in hearing from ladies from the Nordic countries these polishes are supposed to be inspired by since I’m still wondering if there really is a connection besides the pun-y names.

I really like Going My Way Or Norway? because it works as a great neutral for my skin tone. As you may have guessed, my least favorite is OPI With A Nice Finn-ish because it’s yellow gold and yellow gold is just ICK in my book. This one was a lot better than the gold from the Ford Mustang collection so at least the formula sort of saved it a bit. I was also really looking forward to playing with My Voice Is A Little Norse, and I was definitely not disappointed because it creates a really beautiful effect. As for the rest of the colors, they are very nice but nothing revolutionary. Still, there are some really amazeballs cremes here so if you don’t have similar colors, they are definitely worth picking up. What are your thoughts? Will you be purchasing any of these? The OPI Nordic Collection will be widely available in August so get your list ready! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

This collection has an official release date of August 6, 2014 so go get it now! You can purchase the OPI Nordic Collection at the usual places that carry OPI and each polish retails for $9.50 ($11.50 CAN). For my Canadian readers, you will also be able to purchase this collection at Nail Polish Canada. Fun times! Happy shopping.

KBShimmer Summer 2014 Collection – Part 2

Posted on 13 July, 201412 July, 2014 by Cynthia

Don’t you just love Doctor Who? I spent my evening watching my favorite episodes again (10th Doctor all the way!!!), and I just can’t believe I didn’t even know about Doctor Who a couple of years ago. I still cry like a baby when I watch The Doctor and Rose say goodbye…I’ll never get over that. Besides watching tons of TV, I also did a crapton of swatching so I’ll have a lot of content for the following week. Today I have some swatches from the second part of the KBShimmer Summer 2014 Collection. You all know that I love KBShimmer to pieces, so I’m always excited to bring you these reviews. Let’s take a look at these beauties.

KBShimmer Peak My Interest

KBShimmer Look High And Holo

KBShimmer Sea You Around

KBShimmer Mintal Vacation

KBShimmer Sweet Wave

KBShimmer Happily Ever Aster

I loved every single one of these. These glitters are all so easy to work with and you never have to worry about not picking up enough glitter–if anything you can pick up too much. My favorite here has got to be Sea You Around because of the gorgeous green jelly base and the interesting glitter combination. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these beauties, head on over to the KBShimmer website where they retail from $7.50 to $8.75.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and good luck on Monday. You all know how I feel about Mondays. Thanks for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Ford Mustang Collection 2014

Posted on 11 July, 201410 July, 2014 by Cynthia

You have absolutely no idea how happy I am that it is Friday. I am jumping out of my skin for it to be the end of the workday so I can just relax and swatch my little heart out. I am so excited because of all the new collections that are coming out, especially the Nordic Collection, but I won’t say too much about that since this post is about the new OPI Ford Mustang Collection. I have to admit that I have zero interest in cars and absolutely hate driving, but I love looking at older cars. I think Mustangs are beautiful and I know that to some people, cars are what nail polish is to me so I can imagine them being super excited about this collection. Before I ramble on forever, let me show you my swatches of this small collection…and by small I mean small in OPI terms since some of their collections are just massive.

Let’s get the ugly shade out of the way first. OPI 50 Years of Style is a very frosty and brush-strokey metallic gold. Ick all around. Not only does it show every imperfection, but it also got super bumpy on me. I have seen other swatches where it looks infinitely better, so maybe it was an application issue on my part. Still, it’s not a color I like.

I have a total polish boner for white polishes as of late, so I was excited to try OPI Angel with a Leadfoot. Unfortunately, this is not a super nice white because the formula leave a lot to be desired in comparison to other spectacular whites that have come out lately. I do like how bright and creamy this looks, but be prepared to apply 3 coats to make this look good.

It’s no secret that I love hot pink so of course I like OPI Girls Love Ponies. It’s not really a unique color or anything, but it applies nicely and is a pretty staple color. I applied two coats for my swatches above.

I really don’t know if I really love OPI Queen of the Road or if I really hate it. It’s a strange color. At first I thought it was just a regular kind of coal black, but then it looks like a murky green. I still don’t know what to make of the color–it’s unique, for sure. The formula is a little thin, but it builds up well and only needs two coats which surprised me.

Is it just me, or are you also disappointed that OPI Race Red is super orange? I have a newly found love/hate relationship with orange so I’m not completely digging this color. Still, it’s a nice red-orange with a good formula so there isn’t too much to complain about.

I definitely left the best for last: OPI The Sky’s My Limit. Yep, this is the belle of the ball. I absolutely love how this looks, and it immediately reminded me of the much lusted after OPI Catch Me In Your Net. However, this is much bluer but it creates the same type of effect. The formula is great, but it did stain my nails a tiny bit because I swatched it on my bare nails.

So what do you think about this collection? Overall I like it. While I don’t LOVE every single shade, I think that I love more of them than dislike them. The Sky’s My Limit is my number one pick from this collection so if you only get one polish from this collection, get this one! The OPI Ford Mustang Collection is available now and retails for $9 a bottle. Have you already picked up any of these shades? Let me know what you think of this collection and if you have a favorite. Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

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!

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!

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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!

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.

The Lacquer Ring – Cherry Blossoms

Posted on 22 May, 201421 May, 2014 by Cynthia

After my orange debacle, I was sure that I was going to crash and burn on today’s challenge. Let me tell you that I am not one of those people who can do awesome freehand nail designs–there is a reason why I love stamping so much! I can admire the amazing skills that other ladies have when it comes to nail art, but I just don’t like it on my own nails because I want crisp lines and geometric patterns. I had to suck it up for this post because Nicole chose Cherry Blossoms as her second prompt for the month of May. You want to know what I kept thinking about? Ken Watanabe.

I kind of love him. Not as much as my childhood crushes, but he’s up there. I really like The Last Samurai even though I strongly dislike Tom Cruise. Rather, I strongly dislike Tom Cruise’s public persona and the whole Scientology thing but to each his own. Anyway, I kept thinking about what to do for this manicure so I took out some polishes to get started.

Here you see Nicole by OPI At Least I Pink So, Nicole by OPI Promises After Dark and OPI Minnie Style (all press samples). I also needed a nail art brush to draw the branches.

To start with, I applied 2 smooth coats of Nicole by OPI At Least I Pink So which is a delicate and creamy baby pink.

I then used Nicole by OPI Promises In The Dark and my nail art brush to draw some tree branches. I feel that they look super sloppy. Grrrr!

Finally I used the glitters in OPI Minnie Style to create the cherry blossoms. This was not very time consuming and I think it gives the whole mani a little bling factor. Maybe it’s a little tacky but I can be a little tacky with my manicures sometimes so who cares?

So what do you think? Be honest! I don’t totally hate it, but I’m not super happy with it either. To be honest, this was my second attempt. The first time, I used a base color that just looked awful so I removed everything and started all over again. I almost gave up completely, but I’m glad that I kept going because this is all about challenging myself. So, thanks Nicole for picking a design that I had never attempted before. Make sure that you check out the other Cherry Blossom manis from the other members of The Lacquer Ring. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you have a great Thursday!

GIVEAWAY REMINDER

There is about a week 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!

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