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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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OPI Sheer Tints – Review & Giveaway

Posted on 10 March, 20149 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Monday? Uhm, yeah…not so much. I’m kind of hating life right now because of daylight saving time and the whole missing an hour of sleep thing. Yeah, 1 hour is a big deal especially when you have to be at work at 5 am. It’s going to take me at least a week to get used to this so I’m probably going to be a grouchster until then. In the meantime, I have a new product to share with you: the OPI Sheer Tints. When I first saw the press release, I had no idea what these were. I googled some similar products and I sort of got an idea of what you might be able to do with a sheer tinted top coat such as these, but I still wanted to try them out on their own to start with.

I am not too impressed with these when worn on their own. They are very sheer so I applied 3 coats to achieve the above results. The consistency of these top coats is also a little difficult to work with–they feel very jelly-esque and tend to dry really quickly so they were very easy to overwork. I started out applying thick coats but thin coats worked a lot better.

This isn’t the most creative use of the OPI Sheer Tints, but I like how this looks. I applied one coat of these tinted top coats over a white base and also used them to do a dot design. If you want to see some cool ideas, check out what Nory from Fierce Makeup and Nails did with them so go check out her post here. The gradient that she did is really fun!

Now for the fun part! I purchased a set of minis so one of you will be getting this set to try out! In order to enter, use the rafflecopter widget below. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide to those 18 years or older. Please don’t enter if your country has strict customs regulations as I will not be responsible for confiscated prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Overall, I think that I need to play around with these some more to see what other ways they can be used. What do you think? Have you used a similar product? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and good luck if you decide to enter the giveaway!

MoYou London Pro Collection Plate 02

Posted on 6 March, 201415 March, 2014 by Cynthia

You guys know I love stamping, right? I hope that you have been following my Stamping Saturdays posts and that you’re also checking out my friend’s posts because we’re all doing this stamping thing together which has been really fun. I think that it pushes us to be more creative and come up with fun combinations of polishes and designs. Personally, I’ve done some of my favorite stamping ever during Stamping Saturdays so I hope that you’re liking it as well. MoYou London plates have been all the rage lately, and I’m excited to bring you a review of one of the MoYou London Pro Collection plates. I have a few others to share with you, but I wanted to start of with this one.

Isn’t this an awesome plate? The designs are really large so if you have wide nail beds like me, you won’t have to worry about the design being too narrow. I tried eight of the images from this plate below so you can see what they look like on the nail.

I think the stamping came out fairly decent in both of these attempts. Normally my stamping is a little more crisp, but I was using a different stamper which threw me off a bit. I ALWAYS use my Konad stampers, but this time I tried out the small stamper that came with these MoYou plates, and I had a hard time because the stamper was really slick and super squishy. I think that maybe if I roughen the stamper a bit, I won’t have so much trouble with it. Either way, I think the stamper is just a minor thing and maybe it’s just a matter of practice. The designs transferred really well onto the stamper and onto the nail so I have no complaints. The images are VERY large so this will work for a lot of different nail shapes and lengths.

Overall, I am very pleased with my first MoYou London plate! I can definitely see why so many people love these. I have a few more plates to show you in the coming weeks so stay tuned! I also wanted to mention that shipping was lightning fast–I got my plates in less than a week (from the UK to California) so that’s always a plus for us who hate to wait for long ship times. Have you tried any MoYou London stamping plates? Thank so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Vapid Lacquer Purp-etrator

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Don’t you love the rain? It was raining so hard this morning and now it’s nice and sunny but a bit chilly. I wish I would rain all day since we’re in the midst of a terrible drought, but I guess a little rain is better than no rain. I took the day off today since I’m still nursing my broken toe back to health. It’s feeling better but my foot just feels all hard and swollen so I’m just going to keep trying to keep it elevated and all that. Today’s polish is a gorgeous creme that I wore last week. If you know me, you know that cremes are my absolute favorites so I loved wearing Vapid Lacquer Purp-etrator. Let’s take a look at my swatches below.

Vapid Lacquer Purp-etrator is a gorgeous creme with insane shine. It least more purple than what my pictures show, but I would still call it blurple. The consistency is nice but slightly thicket than I’m used to. The pigmentation is great so I only needed two coats for full opacity.

I then used Dior Perlé to do some dots. I fail at dots–they look all random but I still liked the end result. My nephew, who loves dark colors, kept staring at my nails so I think that he approved.

I hope that you’re having a good day and that you are ready for the weekend. I’m glad I got two days off to rest but I do work Friday and Saturday so womp, womp. If you’re interested in Purp-etrator or any other Vapid Lacquer pretties, I suggest that you check out their big cartel site here. Purp-etrator can be purchased for $8 for a full size bottle and $4 for a mini. Speaking about buying polish, yesterday I updated my blog sale with a bunch of new stuff. I even added the grab bag option that I had first brought up on Facebook. Help me destash and regain some of my sanity and space!!! Check out my blog sale here to see if there’s anything that you’re interested in. Well, enjoy the rest of your day, and I will talk to you soon!

Nicole by OPI Roughles Collection

Posted on 26 February, 2014 by Cynthia

If you follow me on Facebook, you probably read about how I broke my toe because of these polishes. Yep, these polishes made me break my toe…let me explain. When I got home from work, the box of polishes was waiting for me so I teared into it like a lunatic, and I was admiring their speckled pastel gorgeousness. I immediately put one on, and I jumped up from the couch so I could go to my light box to photograph them. In my excitement, I stubbed my toe on the coffee table and I heard/felt it snap. It hurt like hell, but I proceeded to take pictures of my freshly polished nails. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that I noticed the swelling and the tenderness and now it’s just a bruised mess. There’s not much that I can do about it except keep it bandaged and not hit it again which will be hard since I’m so clumsy. Despite the broken toe, I am feeling pretty hopeful about a few things, so not everything is bad. And of course, I am so excited to be sharing the Nicole by OPI Roughles Collection with you. When I first saw the press release, I read it as roofies or ruffies which prompted Jessica to call them puppy drugs…I know…I know….haha! Let’s take a look at my swatches below, and I will share my thoughts with you at the end.

Nicole by OPI I’m Stucco on You

Nicole by OPI On What Grounds?

Nicole by OPI Rock the Look

Nicole by OPI Sand in My Shoe

I don’t know how you feel about pastels, but I have to say that I am in love with these. The beautiful pastel shades are perfect for this time of year, and the speckled effect gives them a little extra kick. The formula was a breeze to work with because it applies so smoothly and easily. I do recommend that you apply 2 thin coats and that you let the first coat dry for a few minutes before applying the second because otherwise you might create some bald spots. Luckily, these dry super fast so you won’t have to wait too long. I also wanted to mention that On What Grounds? leans very blue in my pictures, but in real life it is more of a turquoise color–my stupid camera strikes again! I really hope that polishes with a similar effect are release in the future because I’d love to have these in a bunch of different colors. What do you think of these? Do you have a favorite or are you over textured polishes? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

From Nicole by OPI

Nicole by OPI formulas are long-lasting, fast-drying, and salon-quality. The 4 new nail lacquers will be available in stores beginning March 2014 for $7.99 each at retailers including select Duane Reade, Kroger, Kmart, Fred Meyer, CVS locations. In Canada, these shades will be available for $10.99 each at Shoppers Drug Mart, Jean Coutu, Rexall, Walmart Canada, Loblaw, and London Drug. For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!

LeChat Belle La Vie Collection

Posted on 25 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Oh man you guys, I broke my pinky toe yesterday so I’m kinda pissed about it. I stubbed my toe so hard on the coffee table that I heard it snap and now it’s swollen and bruised. It sure was fun going to work today without being able to wear a shoe. To top it all off, I had my interview today for the position I applied for. I actually think that it went well, and now it’s just a waiting game. Since I had this interview today, I thought it would be fitting to share with you a trio of beautiful work appropriate polishes from the LeChat Belle La Vie Collection. If you’re not familiar with LeChat and their Dare To Wear line, you are missing out. Their line was recently relaunched with a new bottle design and new polishes, so I definitely recommend checking them out. The Belle La Vie Collection is comprised of 6 neutral polishes and today I have the three that caught my attention to share with you.

LeChat Dare To Wear Mi Amour is a gorgeous light putty color. I absolutely love how this looks on me and the formula was pretty nice. I applied three thin coats, and it covered beautifully. It’s such a shiny and creamy nude color!

When I first saw LeChat Dare To Wear Heart & Soul, I thought it would be my favorite of the three, but I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would. The shimmer is really pretty, but it almost borders on frosty which is a finish I definitely don’t like.

And in the book of greyed taupes, LeChat Dare To Wear Utaupia is a star…a two coat creamy and glossy star.

You may think that these colors are a little boring, but they really are not–at least not in my book. What do you think of these three neutrals? Are they something that you would wear or are they too safe? Well, I’m going to cut it short here since I’m going to go catch up on two of my favorite shows: The Following and The Black List. Talk to you soon!

Essie Hide & Go Chic Collection Spring 2014

Posted on 17 February, 201416 February, 2014 by Cynthia

I’ve got to warn you before I get started: I’m feeling off. Basically, I am feeling a little stressed out about a variety of things and that stress is carrying over to every area of my life. Last night I went on a binge trying to get rid of tons of polishes I never use so I added A LOT of stuff to my blog sale. Thank you to all the ladies who have purchased from me already–I was surprised by how much I sold in the first few hours. I’m going to try to not be such a weirdo at least while I write up this post. Deep breath…you can do it! On Saturday, I told myself that I needed to get up really early on Sunday in order to do some swatching so of course I went to bed at like 2 am which made it really hard to be up by 7:00 but I did it. Yay me! The first collection I wanted to tackle is the one I am sharing with you today. The Essie Hide & Go Chic Collection for Spring 2014 looked really promising in the promo shots so I was super excited to get my hands on it so early. Is it worth all my initial excitement? Let’s take a look.

I really, really love colors like Essie Spin The Bottle. Unfortunately, they don’t really love me. I think this looks a little gross on me and makes my skin look uber-yellow. I do have a lot of yellow undertones, but this is just too much for me. It is a rather sheer nude color, so expect multiple coats if you want a more opaque look like my swatches above. This was 4 thin coats. Nope. Not liking it.

I don’t find Essie Romper Room too original as it is just a very pale pink, but I do like how it turned out on me. Again, the formula is pretty thin and streaky which I was expecting considering the shade, but it’s always a bit disappointing, you know?

When I first saw the promo pics, I was so excited about Essie Fashion Playground because it appeared to be super fun an shimmery. Hello shimmer? Where are you? Oh, you’re one of those disappearing on the nail shimmers that we all love–said no one, ever. Despite the fact that the shimmer doesn’t show up at all, who doesn’t love this type of greens? Besides, it’s perfect for Spring. Again, I found the formula very streaky and disappointing.

The curse of my blue hating camera strikes again. I think I have mentioned that my camera has serious issues photographing blues accurately, so Essie Truth Or Flare is a little more dusty than what it looks like here. I thought this was going to be very opaque but it ended up being not very pigmented. It felt like a jelly polish in that it applied smoothly but looked kind of glossy and squishy. Personally, I like it even though it wasn’t as pigmented as I had hoped.

And here we have the collection’s namesake: Essie Hide & Go Chic.What a pretty blue. Out of all the shades in this collection, this one had the best formula. I was afraid that it would stain, but luckily I had no staining issues with it. Again, the color is a little off in my pictures because it has the slightest bit of green in it that makes it look somewhat teal. I applied 2 coats for my swatches above.

And lastly we have Essie Style Hunter which also had a pretty nice formula. This polish made me think of a juicy ripe watermelon and reminded me of traditional Summer colors. I think that Style Hunter and Hide & Go Chic seemed a little too pigmented for a traditional Spring collection, but I rather enjoyed seeing them here. Maybe the contrast of these bolder colors against the other pastels in the collection made them stand out even more because they ended up being my two favorite shades.

Well, once again I’m going to be a party pooper and say that I am not that impressed by this collection. The colors are ok…some traditional and some not so traditional Spring colors. The lighter shades had streaky formulas which I was already expecting while the 2 dark shades were super pigmented and easy to work with. Overall, I can’t say that this is a “must-have” for me so I’ll be placing these in my blog sale in case you’re interested in them. For me, the Resort Fling Collection was a dud and now this one didn’t even manage to get me mildly excited. Oh well. Summer is just around the corner, right? That’s when all the super juicy colors come out and I get all obsessed with them all. So tell me what you think: Am I being too hard? Am I too hard to please? Please chime in as I would love to hear what you think of this collection. Thank so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Incoco Sweet Surprise Collection – Valentine’s Day 2014

Posted on 6 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi guys! It’s raining!!!! I love it when it rains especially since we’re having a horrible drought. I don’t think it’s supposed to rain tomorrow so that’s a bummer, but hey…at least we got one day even if it was a light rain. I’ve been kind of lazy these last couple of days so I haven’t been writing up posts or answering comments, but I do have a couple of excuses: we’ve been babysitting my nephew (which is why my mom has bee staying with me for an extended period of time) and work has been unusually busy. I’ve actually applied for a different position in the same department that would technically be a promotion. I don’t know if it is the right thing to do because I really like my co-workers and how much fun we can have together. While I would still see them, I wouldn’t be in the midst of the action anymore so I just don’t know what to do. I do think the new position would be a nice challenge, so I’m torn. So far I have done a sort of test before the actual interview. I am also doing some training for new employees so that has been interesting. Well, I guess I’ll just see where this goes, and I’ll make a decision when the time comes. After some massive swatch-a-thons (OPI Bazil, China Glaze City Flourish, Jessica Coral Symphony and NOPI New Core Colors), I am seriously pooped so I thought that today I’d switch it up a little bit and share with you the Incoco Sweet Surprise Collection which is their Valentine’s Day offering. It’s no secret that I love Incoco nail appliques because of their great designs and long wear so let’s take a look at this fun collection.

Incoco Made With Love

Incoco Sweet Surprise

Incoco Yours Truly

Incoco Love Spell

Incoco Double Date

Aren’t these super cute? If you haven’t tried Incoco nail appliques, you are seriously missing out. They are so easy to use and they really last! The longest I have ever worn a design was almost 2 weeks and I had very minor tip wear. If you’re interested in these, you can visit their website or check out their Facebook for all their latest news. So what do you think of this collection? Thanks so much for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Brazil Collection Spring/Summer 2014

Posted on 3 February, 201426 February, 2019 by Cynthia

******** COME CHECK OUT MY BLOG SALE********

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been patiently waiting to get my hands on the OPI Brazil Collection ever since I started seeing promo pictures and random swatches online. When the box of polish joy showed up, I was bursting with excitement when I realized this collection is mostly cremes. Don’t gorgeous cremes make you ridiculously happy? Am I the only one whose mouth waters just looking a beautiful and buttery cremes? Ok, I guess I’m just weird, but it’s the truth.This 12 piece collection also includes a collection of mini Liquid Sands, Beach Sandies, that really are like the cherry on top of this luscious grouping. Let’s start by taking a look at the 4 Beach Sandies.

OPI What’s A Little Rain Forest?OPI You’re So Flippy Floppy

OPI Samba-dy Loves Purple

OPI I’m Brazil Nuts Over You

These 4 textured polishes all apply beautifully. They all need two coats for full opacity and dry lightning fast. If you are not a lover of textured polishes because of the rough feeling, these are surprisingly smooth. Obviously they still have a textured feeling, but they feel very fine and definitely not chunky at all. These are super shimmery and just look fantastic out in sunlight. You know what my beef with these is? They only come in mini-size!!! WHAAAAAAAAATTTT???? I would kill for a full size of these–especially that blue–so I’m feeling kinda sad about that. Now let’s move on to the main collection so get ready for some awesomeness.

OPI Where Did Suzi’s Man-go?

OPI Toucan Do It If You Try

OPI Live. Love. Carnaval

OPI Kiss Me I’m Brazilian

OPI Red Hot Rio

OPI Scores A Goal

OPI Next Stop…The Bikini Zone

OPI Don’t Bossa Nova Me Around

OPI Taupe-less Beach

OPI I Sao Paulo Over There

OPI Amazon…Amazoff

OPI I Just Can’t Cope-acabana

I didn’t get into describing each polish individually because the formula on all of them is nearly identical: they are luscious cremes, highly pigmented, smooth, buttery and glossy. Application on all of them was flawless. and they were all perfect with two coats. In fact, many of these could be one coaters if you’re careful with your application. The most surprising polish was the yellow as this too, is almost a one-coater!!! I found the variety of brights and neutrals in one collection pretty refreshing. I am so happy with this collection and loved every single polish. What do you think of this collection? Is it what you were expecting?

Brazil by OPI will be available in both nail lacquer and GelColor formulas beginning February 5, 2014. Nail lacquers will retail for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) each at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com. Beach Sandies Liquid Sand mini pack will retail for $12.95 ($14.95 CAN). For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

China Glaze City Flourish Collection Spring 2014 – Pollen In Love

Posted on 30 January, 20145 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Pollen in Love? I find this second half of the collection pretty ironic right now because I’m basically dying over allergies right now. It could be a combination of allergies and a cold because they seem to be overlapping somehow. I am grateful that I don’t have a cough because once that happens, I know I’m a goner. So yesterday I showed you the first half of the China Glaze City Flourish Collection which you can check out here. Are these just as disappointing? I know you’re on pins and needles, so let’s take a look at the swatches, and I will discuss them at the end.

China Glaze What A Pansy

China Glaze Thistle Do Nicely

China Glaze Strike A Rose

China Glaze Metro Pollen-Tin

China Glaze Grass Is Lime Greener

China Glaze Don’t Honk Your Thorn

Well, sadly these are pretty disappointing as well…3 of them, at least. Strike A Rose, What A Pansy and Don’t Honk Your Thorn are not weird creme mattes–they are more like traditional cremes and apply infinitely more easily. I only needed 2 coats for these three and I found them very nice, actually. I love the purple color of What A Pansy but strangely, my favorite one is Don’t Honk Your Thorn. You may think it’s a boring choice, but it’s actually really stunning in real life. It has a gorgeous silver shimmer that gives it a glowy quality. It looks very classy and work appropriate but not boring. My favorite combination! The other three polishes: Thistle Do Nicely, Grass Is Lime Greener and Metro Pollen-tin had the same thin, streaky and goopy formula that I hated so much in yesterday’s polishes. It’s really quite a shame because Grass Is Lime Greener is my favorite color from this whole collection, but the formula just made it a pain to use. From this 12 piece collection, Metro Pollen-Tin had the absolute worst formula. It was the streakiest thing ever! Now, let’s get into my overall thoughts: I don’t have time for streaky ass polishes. A lot of people recommend applying a coat of white polish underneath these. While I understand this and know of the technique, I am not going to baby a polish that much. These are not traditional jelly neons where they are going to really pop over a white base: these are creme brights that should not require a white base. Also, it’s not that they aren’t heavily pigmented…the formula is just impossible to work with. The polish doesn’t self-level at all so even when you think it looks good, you can clearly see the uneveness of the polish all over your nails. Even after I applied a thick coat of Seche Vite which helped a lot, you can still see how uneven the polish is. I give up! I know that there are people out there who don’t mind difficult formulas if the polishes are pretty enough, but these aren’t super original. As someone who does a lot of swatching, this collection took 3 times the normal time to swatch because I had to fiddle with my application so much…nope, not worth it for me. Let this collection be banished from my presence along with most of the 2013 Summer Neons, The Tranzitions and the Chrinkled Chromes. I have so much love for China Glaze because when my polish obsession first began, I turned to China Glaze for beautiful and affordable polishes so it really pains me to write a crappy review. However, I owe it to all of you to be honest and I hope that it is appreciated. Please, China Glaze–come back to me! Make me happy and giddy again with your superb collections. I am always willing to forgive and forget so I’ll be here just waiting for you to remind me why I fell in love with you to begin with.

This doesn’t have to be said, but I’ve also put up these polishes up on my blog sale in case you’re interested in trying them out. Thanks so much for taking the time to visit today, and I hope that you let me know what you think. If you’ve tried any of these, what are your thoughts? Do you let bloggers influence your shopping or would you rather try things out for yourself? Have a wonderful day, and I will talk to you soon!

P.S. Have you entered my current giveaway for a bottle of China Glaze BFF? No?! Go enter here! 😉