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OPI Neons Collection 2014

Posted on 11 May, 201411 May, 2014 by Cynthia

One of the only things–if not the only thing–that I love about Summer is the fact that we see tons of color everywhere and I’m not just talking about nail polish. Every Spring, I get giddy seeing previews of juicy Summer Collections and this year has been no exception. When I first started hearing about an OPI Neons Collection, I was very excited. Excited is not really the right word because I was going apeshit crazy for them. I don’t like to necessarily say that I have obsessive qualities in my personality, but you can definitely qualify my polish idiosyncrasies as such. Now, I do have to tell you that while I love bright neon colors, I definitely do not like neon formulas. I cannot stand the idea of 3+ coats of polish, and I just about lose my shit when I am told to use a white base under a polish. Do you understand my conundrum? For this review, I decided to follow OPI’s inscructions and used their Put a Coat On! white base coat which they state will further enhance color and basically make them pop. Look at me: following directions for once. Let’s take a look at my swatches before I break it down for you.

OPI You’re So Outta Lime!

OPI Life Gave Me Lemons

OPI Hotter Than You Pink

OPI Down To The Core-al

OPI Juice Bar Hopping

OPI Push & Pur-pull

Am I the only one doesn’t really see true neons here? Well, I shouldn’t say that because Life Gave Me Lemons is kind of electric. Other shades are very neon-esqe, but I was expecting something more retina-searing. Let’s get the ugly out of the way first: Push & Pur-pull, you are a beast. This polish was basically unmanageable. When I applied it over the white base, it never looked good. I applied 2 coats of the white base and 4 coats of Push & Pur-pull hoping that would make it look nice. NOPE. You may be thinking that I over-applied it, but I actually went really slowly and let each coat dry before making the decision to add another and another and another. Finally I took it all off and applied it without the white base coat which is what you see above. I am still not happy with it, but I would highly recommend that you skip the white base with this one. As far as the other 5 polishes are concerned, they weren’t horrible but they weren’t that nice either. Out of the collection, Life Gave Me Lemons had the best formula and coverage. For all of my swatches, excet Push & Pur-pull, I applied 2 coats of the white base and 2 coats of polish which I ten top coated with Seche Vite I am not a huge fan of the satin finish that most neons carry which is why I always Seche Vite the crap out all my manis. When did Seche Vite become a verb?

Let’s talk about the Put A Coat On! base coat…

Yep, hated it. It is the strangest white polish I have ever used. It’s chalky and strange and it felt like it never dried. When I applied polish over it, it kind of came off and would get runny. It was just weird. Also, can I tell you how much I hate that no matter how hard I tried, I can see some of the white peeking out around the edges of my mani? It’s a huge pet peeve of mine so it’s driving me nuts that I’m posting what I feel are sloppy swatches. If you are able to apply the white base in one swipe, then you don’t need more than one coat. If you need to make a second pass, then you’re going to get a streaky mess which is why I applied 2 coats of the white base.

Overall, I’m not diggin’ this whole collection. The three that I really like are You’re So Outta Lime, Life Gave Me Lemons and Hotter Than You Pink. Hotter Than You Pink is much brighter in real life than my pictures show and it has some beautiful shimmer to boot. I’m so conflicted because I wanted to love this whole collection so much and now I don’t. The OPI Neons Collection will be available this month and will retail for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, beautybrands.com, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com. What do you think of this collection? Will you be picking up any of these shades for the Summer? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

P.S. Have you entered my giveaway for a set of the OPI Sheer Tints? Come enter here.

OPI Glitter Off Base Coat

Posted on 7 May, 20147 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Yay me! I am done with clearing out my backlog of swatches and reviews that were in my drafts folder. I hadn’t posted my review of the OPI Glitter Off Base Coat because I noticed that I couldn’t find it anywhere!! I was going to pick up a second bottle and also wanted to get one for a friend, but none of my usual places have it. Hrrrrmmphh! Anyway, I know there were a lot of questions about if this was just Elmer’s glue in a fancy bottle so let’s talk a bit about the product, shall we?

The OPI Glitter Off Base Coat is meant to be used a a peelable base coat worn under difficult to remove glitters. When I first started blogging, I HATED glitter. You don’t understand. Glitter would make me angry. I hated what a pain in the ass it was to remove so I basically avoided it. Slowly, I began to see what I was missing out on so I saw the light and started to wear glitter until I was a complete convert. I still hated the removal process, but it was totally worth it. At one point, I did try Elmer’s Glue under my glitter polish, but I hated it because it actually peeled off some of my nail!!! I was a little dubious about how much better (or worse!) the OPI peelable base coat would be, but I’m glad to report that I had better results.

I found this base coat super easy to use. All you need is one coat, and you need to let it dry until it is completely transparent. After that, you can paint your nails with the craziest glitter ever and you won’t have issues with removal. I found that pushing the polish with an orange stick was an easy way to remove it. Initially I thought that the base coat would make my mani really weak, but I wore the same polish for 3 days and didn’t have any chipping or peeling.

When I started experimenting with gradients again, I was lamenting the pain of clean up when a few people recommended using blue on my fingers to make clean up more easy. Well, since I couldn’t find my bottle of Elmer’s glue, I decided to use the Glitter Off Base Coat for this as well. As you can see by my pictures above, it does work well. Would I recommend using it like this on the regular? No! It’s too pricey to be used this way but if you’re in a pinch, it will definitely do.

So what do I think of this product? Uhm, I feel it’s pretty darn similar to the Elmer’s Glue/water mixture that a lot of people have tried out. I don’t think it’s a must-have product, but it definitely did make glitter removal a lot easier for me so I will keep using it and will probably buy it once I’m out–if I ever find it in store, that is. Have you used this product yet? What do you think? Is it something that you’d buy? It is a little pricey at $9 a bottle, but I do like it. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

KBShimmer Spring 2014 Collection – Glitters

Posted on 6 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Did you watch 24 last night??? I was so psyched about it being back that I nearly went nuts with anticipation to be able to see good old Jack Bauer in action. I’m always so disappointed when shows that I love get cancelled…like Dollhouse! I’m still not over that one. Anyway, now that The Following and The Blacklist are on hiatus, I will have something awesome to replace them with. I got a chance to swatch these 3 gorgeous glitter polishes from the KBShimmer Spring 2014 Collection and I can tell you that I am in love. LOVE!

KBShimmer Daisy About You

KBShimmer Belle of The Mall

KBShimmer Make My Gray

Aren’t these beautiful? I think that Belle Of The Mall is my favorite because it has such a gorgeous jelly base that lets the holo glitter shine through. It’s such a juicy polish! Make My Gray and Daisy About You are milky based glitter polishes so you will been multiple coats to get a fully opaque finish. I am always super impressed with KBShimmer polishes and these are no exception. If you want to purchase any of these, they can be found at KBShimmer.com for $8.75 each. How do you like these 3 polishes? If you haven’t seen my review of some gorgeous cremes from this same collection, you can check them out here. Thanks so much for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon.

Zoya Bubbly Collection Summer 2014

Posted on 5 May, 20144 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Hey, look! I have all 6 polishes here because Peanut did NOT break any of them. Yay! I’m still a little sad about the loss of Rocha (and about my table being ruined!), but I’ll just classify this as Peanut’s first polish destruction. I’m sure that there will be many more to follow. Today I have the Zoya Bubbly Collection to share with you, and I can tell you that I am a bit surprised. Surprised good or surprised bad? Keep reading and you’ll find out…

Zoya Harper

Zoya Binx

Zoya Muse

Zoya Staasi

Zoya Jesy

Zoya Alma

When I first saw the promo pictures for this collection, I had no idea what to expect. In fact, the idea of jelly polishes with holo glitter seemed kind of strange considering the images that were released.I wouldn’t really consider these polishes holographic in the sense that we were all expecting and hoping that they would be. These are very thick glitter polishes in a tinted jelly base which means that they are very sheer. I applied 3 thickish coats for all my swatches because I wanted them to be fully opaque without having to layer them over a solid color. The final result is a lovely glitter packed finish that almost makes them look metallic. I certainly was not expecting to like these, but I kind of do. I’m not like dying with excitement, but I do think these are pretty and anticipate that they will be fairly well-received. So what do you think of these? I’ve been hearing mixed feelings about these and I can tell you that if had to pick one or two, I would go with Muse and Harper because I just love how they look. If you want to get your hands on these, they can be found at Zoya.com for $9 each. They should start shipping out May 15 which is right around the corner. Don’t forget to check out my swatches of the Zoya Tickled Collection! Will you be getting any of these?

Zoya Tickled Collection Summer 2014

Posted on 4 May, 20143 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Remember how I had mentioned that my Friday had turned into a comedy of errors? Well, fortunately my Saturday was pretty mellow so I was able to get a lot of swatching done–namely the Zoya Tickled Collection (as well as the Bubbly Collection!). As soon as I saw the press release for this half of the Summer Collection, I knew I was in love because I am a sucker for cremes. Let’s take a look at my swatches, and then I will let you know what I think.

Zoya Wendy

Zoya Kitridge

Zoya Rooney

Zoya Tilda

Zoya Ling

You may notice that I’m missing one polish here. Well, there is a story about that. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this picture of Peanut admiring (trying to grab) all the polishes.

Sometimes I forget that he can actually grab things now and that he can also throw things. It’s always fun and games until someone gets hurt, and this time Zoya Rocha was the victim.

I did see Peanut grab a polish and then throw it back into the pile. I heard the smash, but everything seemed fine. I gathered up the polishes and put them back into the boxes and went back to playing with Peanut. A few minutes later I noticed that the living room was smelling a lot like nail polish which is pretty normal but it was much stronger than usual. I was putting some stuff away when I picked up the box and polish was pouring out of it. It had gotten on the glass tabletop, on the wood and some had dripped onto the carpet and on my shirt/shoes. WHAT IN THE WORLD??? It was one bottle of polish…half an ounce and it felt like a gallon of polish had spilled all over the place. When I tried to clean it up, the finish on the wood came off.

Womp, womp! I’m so irritated, but it was totally my fault. It wasn’t Peanut’s fault since I let him play with the polishes, but I think this is going to put an end to any future Peanut Picks posts. hahaha So that is the unfortunate story about Rocha’s demise.

Now that we have taken a moment to mourn Rocha’s sad fate, let me tell you that I adore all of these cremes. They are just so gorgeous and shiny that I can barely stand it. I want to wear them all at the same time. The formula on all of them was rather similar: opaque but a little streaky. I tend to prefer thin coats to thick coats, so I applied 3 thin coats for all of my swatches. I think 2 thick coats would have been enough, but I like doing thin coats. I am completely in love with these colors even though they may not be that original. To be frank, when you get to be this polish obsessed, original colors is something that you rarely encounter. I just can’t deny my love for cremes, and these don’t disappoint. Stay tuned for the second half of the collection which will be up tomorrow. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these beauties, they can be found at Zoya.com for $9. Let me know what you think of these pretties. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Stamping Saturdays #17

Posted on 3 May, 20143 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Holy shitballs you guys…I had a bad day yesterday. My day was a perfect comedy of errors so it’s not like something horrendous happened to me, it was just that EVERYTHING was going wrong. I ended up going to dinner with a friend and then we ended up drinking (a lot of beer–ha!) and watching the show My Strange Addiction. Do you know how much stranger that show is when you’re wasted? I am miraculously not hung over this morning which is great considering that I needed to put this post together. Thankfully I had completed my manicure yesterday when it was 5,000 degrees–even my fingers were sweating! Anyway, let’s get the polish show on the road!

For my base color, I used OPI In The Cable Car-pool Lane (press sample) which is simply goygeous. It is so shiny and squishy. I’m still loving the whole San Francisco Collection despite popular opinion.

For my stamped design, I use my MoYou London Pro Collection 18 plate (press sample) and Essie Good As Gold.

I really like how this turned out! I know this isn’t a very Spring/Summer manicure, but I don’t care. I will always wear whatever I’m in the mood for and this is what I wanted to wear yesterday.

It’s supposed to be a lot cooler this weekend (not in the 90’s) so I’m looking forward to not sweating while I sit on the couch and just watch TV. I’m also hoping to get some swatching done but there was a Zoya tragedy at the hands of Peanut yesterday. I’ll leave the story for the actual post. Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope that you’ll link up your posts if you are participating in Stamping Saturdays. Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon!

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Nicole by OPI New Core Colors For 2014 – Part 2

Posted on 1 May, 2014 by Cynthia

So I should have posted these swatches of the Nicole by OPI New Core Colors For 2014 like a million years ago, but I just kept forgetting. When I saw this in my draft folders, I got all excited because these colors are fan-freaking-tastic. I wish I was in the mood to chit chat right now but I’m basically sitting here SWEATING. I’m sitting down withe the fans on and I’m sweating. Enough said. So, let me show you just how pretty these colors are!

Nicole by OPI That’s Putting It Mild

Nicole by OPI Yoga-Then-Yogurt

Nicole by OPI Sweet Surrender

Nicole by OPI I’ll Have The Salmon

Nicole by OPI Taupe Of My Class

Nicole by OPI Always A Flirt!

Nicole by OPI Something About Spring

Nicole by OPI Fabulous Is My Middle Name

Nicole by OPI Oh That’s Just Grape!

Nicole by OPI Be Awesome

There is not a single color here that I didn’t like and that’s pretty rare. The formula on all of them was good–two coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche. The two glitters I could do without, but they give a nice look so I’m not going to knock them. You should check out Part 1 of this review which shows my 5 favorite colors from these new additions to the core line. I’m not going to talk your ear off right now because I need to get some stuff done before I can settle down to watch Grey’s Anatomy. Burke is back. Ghhhaaaaaa! Are you as excited about this as me? Anyway, I’ll talk to you soon!!

KBShimmer Spring 2014 Collection – Cremes

Posted on 28 April, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi everyone. Today I have some long overdue swatches. In my haste of organizing my desktop, I accidentally put the folder in the wrong place and forgot about putting this post together. I feel like such a dunce because I was so darn excited about sharing these polishes with you. I’m sure that you know how much I love beautiful cremes so I was in polish heaven when these beauties arrived. Let me show you 4 gorgeous cremes from the KBShimmer Spring 2014 Collection!

KBShimmer Life Rose On

KBShimmer Pansy-monioum

KBShimmer Sky Jinks

KBShimmer A Touch Of Glass

As you can tell by my nail shape, these swatches were done when I was experimenting with my nail shape. I did quite like this nail shape especially when I got some length, but I think I prefer my square shape. It could be that I’m just used to having square nails, but I just feel that the shape suits me better. As far as the polishes are concerned, they are absolutely perfect cremes. They are so smooth, creamy and easy to work with. I will always love gorgeous cremes and I can tell you that these polishes are beautiful staples to have in your stash. You can purchase these lovely cremes for $7.50 each on the KBShimmer website, so go check them out. Make sure that you follow KBShimmer on their various social media accounts to get up to date news on their collections.

Website – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – Instagram

Which of these do you like best? Will you or have you picked any of these up? Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Nicole by OPI Kellogg’s Special K Collection 2014

Posted on 13 April, 2014 by Cynthia

I say this every Sunday, but Sundays really do suck. I’m so incredibly annoyed right now because it was like the weekend was gone in the blink of an eye, and I didn’t get to do most of the stuff I had planned. Do I just have some serious time management issues or is that pretty typical for everyone? I don’t know how long I’ve been saying that I need to get into a routine so I can go to the gym a few times a week. On Saturday I was cleaning out my closet and I noticed that some clothes now fit me again which was kind of a surprise. I’ve made a few changes like forcing myself to eat breakfast (oatmeal or yogurt with granola) every day, and I think that has helped me not feel so ravenous by the time lunch rolls around. If I could stop snacking before dinner, I think that would be another huge change. I want to make a commitment to go to the gym 2-3 times a week just to start out. I know that if I say I want to go every day, I will just burn myself out and won’t follow through. I remember hearing about the Nicole by OPI Kellog’s Special K partnership last year–mainly the free polish part. lol This year, they are once again collaborating to bring us 3 shades. Let’s take a look at my swatches below and then I can tell you how these can be yours.

Nicole by OPI My Sol Shines Brighter

Nicole by OPI Challenge Red-y

Nicole by OPI Live In The Momentum

While these colors aren’t earth shattering, they are really nice basics. They are all super creamy, highly pigmented and deliciously glossy. I did not even have to top coat them for that glass-like shine! Here is some information on how you can get this trio:

Through the “Shine Brighter” campaign, Nicole by OPI and Kellog’s Special K hope to inspire “women to be their best selves–healthy, confident and positive, to look better, feel better, and shine brighter.” The three custom shades include: Challenge Red-y (crème red), Live in the Momentum (crème blue) and My Sol Shines Brighter (crème coral). Shoppers will have the opportunity to receive free full-size bottles of Nicole by OPI nail lacquer by signing up for the Kellogg’s Family Rewards program and entering codes from specially marked boxes of Special K products, while supplies last. With the purchase of three eligible Special K products, consumers will receive the shade Challenge Red-y. After submitting the purchase codes from five eligible Special K products, consumers will receive two lacquers – Live in the Momentum and My Sol Shines Brighter.

Nicole by OPI Signature edition Special K packages designed by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann will be available exclusively at Target. The designer packages are available only for select flavors (Original, Red Berries & Chocolatey Delight). For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!

So what do you think about this collaboration? I’ve got to admit I thought it was a bit random, but I like Special K (the strawberries one–yum!!!) and I love polish. If that means someone gets free polish, I’m all in! Thanks for stopping by today, and I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.

Anne Kathleen Something Special Collection

Posted on 4 April, 20142 April, 2014 by Cynthia

Today I have a new to me brand to share with you: Anne Kathleen. You know that I loooove trying out new brands–because who doesn’t need more polish?! I think that would be me, but I would like to say that I am always willing to take one for the team. Before I get into showing you my swatches, I want to share a little bit about the brand. Anne Kathleen polishes are 5-Free which I know is very important to some people. The polishes are cruelty free, and the majority of them are vegan. The two polishes that I have for you today are from the Anne Kathleen Something Special Collection which is a 4 piece wedding collection. Let’s take a look at Cosette and Portia below.

Anne Kathleen Portia is a delicate baby blue shimmer with a frosty-type finish. The formula was very nice as it was easy to apply and was very opaque. I needed two coats for these swatches.

A white polish is a given in any type of wedding collection and Anne Kathleen Cosette fits the bill. This is a pearlized white shimmer that applies smoothly and is opaque at 3 thin coats.

I am quite happy with the formula of these polishes because they are easy to apply and are nice and smooth. These are not colors what I would normally gravitate towards since I do not like anything that is even close to frosty. While these are shimmers, they do lean a little frosty in my opinion so they are not my cup of tea. However, this does not take away from the good quality of the polishes. If your interested in purchasing these, the Something Special Collection will be available on April 15th and each polish retails for $10. Can you believe it’s almost APRIL?! It feels like this year is just flying by…

You can check out Anne Kathleen polishes at the following social media sites:

ANNE KATHLEEN

Website – Facebook – Twitter – Pinterest – Instagram

I hope you’re doing well today. I know it’s barely Tuesday but I’m already looking forward to the weekend. Is that sad or normal? Anyway, thanks so much for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon!