Category: Swatches

Of Life and Lacquer > Swatches

Flaky Love

Posted on by Cynthia

Last week I purchased a Nails Inc. set at Sephora, and I finally got around to trying it out. I really like Nails Inc. as a brand but find  them a little too pricey at at $9.50 for .33oz. When I saw that the Special Effects set was on sale for $10 AND I had my 15% off coupon, I jumped right on it. The set comes with two polishes: Kensington, a black teal, and a Special Effects Overglaze Flaky Top Coat named The Wyndham. I generally like dark colors and this was no exception. It really is a saturated and glossy color that almost looks black until you see it in the sunlight and you catch the teal base. Oooohhh so pretty! The formula was great like all of the Nails Inc. polishes that I own. I was especially impressed with this one because it’s a one coater if you apply carefully.

 

The flaky top coat makes this look almost electric. The green flakes look so much more vibrant in person!

So what do you think? This is still on sale at Sephora and Sephora.com so pick one up if you’re interested in trying out Nails Inc.

I’m Blue!

Posted on by Cynthia

How many of you remember Blue? This is the first song that pops into my mind when I think of Euro dance tracks. I was reminded of this song when I decided to do a blue comparison after Vienna from Nail Polish Required asked me how Sephora by OPI Blue Grotto compared to OPI Dating A Royal. If you’re a glitter lover, you have to check out her blog!

I decided to compare three colors: Essie Mesmerize, OPI Dating A Royal and Sephora by OPI Blue Grotto.

As you can see, there are very slight differences between these polishes. Essie Mesmerize is the lightest one of the three and also has the best formula since you can get away with one coat. OPI Dating A Royal is a tiny bit darker than Mesmerize and it also has the sheerest formula out of the three. It needs 3 coats and it can be kind of watery. Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto is the darkest and smokiest color of the three. It has a pretty good formula but I still find it kind of streaky like most SOPI polishes. I won’t even say how annoying I find the brush. Do you really need all three? Probably not but will you want all three if you are blue lover like me? Duh!

Essie Sure Shot Resort Collection 2012

Posted on by Cynthia

I had Essie on the brain when I woke up today so I went to look the Resort Collection. Since my usual nail place hiked up their prices on Essie products, I ventured out to a couple of new stores. It paid off because I got these for $3.50 each. Score! I don’t know if it’s just me, but these colors don’t look like a cohesive collection. The colors seem to be all over the place, but I still like them individually.

Pink-a-boo is the one color I was not that excited about. However, I really like it! Essie is known for all their soft pastel shades so they really know how to do them right. I had read that this was a nightmare to apply, but I did not have any major problems with it. It’s soft and milky pink with some iridescent glitter. You can see the pink and lavender tinge of the glitter in the bottle, but it doesn’t show up much on the nail. Because it is so light and sheer, I needed 3 coats.  This color just seems classy to me.

Sure Shot is such a juicy color, j-j-j-juicy!

How awesome would it be if this song played whenever you entered a room wearing Sure Shot on your nails? Hahaha! Am I a weirdo? This hot like magma fuschia is absolutely gorgeous. It has fine shimmer throughout which makes it look even…juicier! I didn’t have any problems with application and 2 coats were all I needed.

She’s Picture Perfect was such a weird looking color when I first saw the bottle. It’s grayish lavender/lilac and kinda blue all at once. Then it has that hot pink shimmer that doesn’t seem to fit. This one was an absolute nightmare to apply. I don’t know if it was just my bottle but it was just so difficult to work with.  I actually applied it and removed it twice before I took pictures of it. It was so streaky and gross. Ugh! I hate it when I get a dud like this. I still think it’s a unique color so I am not giving up on it. I will just have to mentally prepare myself for frustration when I decide to wear it.

No More Film is a creme. I love cremes. I don’t know if I love this one. It has some purple in it so I should love it, but I just don’t know. I definitely love how saturated the formula is. I could have applied just one coat–that’s how thick and pigmented it is–but I applied 2 thin coats out of habit. I had to work super carefully with this because I did not want to get any on my cuticles. Can you imagine what the clean up would be like for a formula this dark and pigmented? AAAARRGGHHHH! I am not sure of how many similar colors I may have so I’m glad I picked it up. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I really have something close to this indigo creme.

Overall, it’s an interesting collection but nothing I am totally in love with. What do you think about these colors? Do you have a favorite?

Blue’s After My Heart

Posted on by Cynthia

There can never be enough blue nail polishes. How much better can it get than a creamy, vibrant and glossy blue?

OPI Dating A Royal is one of those colors that instantly grabs my attention. Who am I kidding? Most nail polishes call to me like vodka to an alcoholic. It’s pretty, right? This color is very similar to Essie Mesmerize but they are not exact dupes. The main difference is that Dating A Royal is so sheer; it needed three coats while Mesmerize is perfect in one coat. Since I am a Konad freak, you know what’s coming….

This is the first time I’ve used this stamp and I absolutely love it. What do you think?

 

TOMS & Essie

Posted on by Cynthia

A few weeks ago, I heard about a promotion on TOMS’ Facebook page. I don’t really recall entering it, but apparently I was entered to win a free Essie polish. Lo and behold, I received it yesterday!!! Wow! And I had just complained that I never with anything. If you don’t know anything about TOMS, here is the “About” info on their Facebook page:

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One.

Five years later, TOMS realized this movement could serve other basic needs and launched TOMS Eyewear. With every pair purchased, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need. One for One. As more everyday choices have the power to impact the lives of those around the world, the TOMS movement will continue to grow and evolve.

The polish I received is a limited edition color named Barefoot in Blue. It is a sheer color but very buildable. I love it!

And here it is with a design from plate M73.

So thank you TOMS and Essie for the beautiful nail polish. Don’t forget to check out the details for the One Day Without Shoes Event on April 10, 2012.

Sephora Drama Velvet Pearl Lacquer

Posted on by Cynthia

Sephora’s collaboration with Pantone resulted in them creating a collection based on their color of the year: Tangerine Tango.  I have to agree; I absolutely love all the Tangerine hues that have become so popular this year. I purchased Drama Velvet Pearl nail polish today because I was curious about the formula and I loved the color, of course.

I was not impressed with brush and cap. It is way too small and feels awkward in my hand. The brush also seems to small but with a little practice, I was able to use it just fine. The formula was very saturated and rich. I found that it is important to let the first coat dry before you apply a second because you will cause some dragging and create bald spots. I ended up applying 3 coats to even out the polish but you can definitely get away with 2 coats if you allow enough time between coats. I like the color but at $7 for .23oz, I think it’s too pricey. There are other brands that are of comparable or better quality with a better price point.

 

What do you think? Do you like this color?

Starry Night

Posted on by Cynthia

I’ve worn this color at least 4 times recently so I can definitely say that it’s one of my favorites. It’s just such a beautiful blue/green/teal with gold microshimmer. I am loving it.

 

This is the only picture that sorta came out of the star Konad pattern that I stamped over Custom Kicks. After I took pictures of the base color, the sun completely disappeared. So annoying. This is actually two different designs from plate M3 that I combined. (Get this plate Vienna!)

I’m not too wordy right now. I think I’m hungry but don’t know what I want to eat for dinner. I think I’ll make myself a tuna melt…that sounds yummy.

 

Ho-hum

Posted on by Cynthia

I’ve been feeling kinda blah lately. Nothing is really wrong, I’ve just been dealing with the vivid dreams side-effect of my meds. It’s really hard to get a good night’s sleep because I wake up so many dang times during the night freaking out about my stupid dreams.The last time I talked to my doctors about this, they suggested that I try to “take control of my dreams.” WTF. If I could do that, of course I would do it. Anyway…I hope this goes away soon because my dreams are centered around all my insecurities which really sucks.

Today I went to my nail supply place and picked up a couple of China Glaze glitters which I am loving because one is super bright orange and the other is super bright green. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! I also bought some fake eyelashes because I want to try wearing them. My lashes are so yucky and I hate wearing mascara. Let’s see how long this fake lash thing lasts. I also found out that my nail place carries Konad stuff. Great…more crap to waste money on. I ended up getting two new plates for $5.00 each. I usually buy my plates on amazon.com, but I noticed that the prices have gone up about $1-$1.50 per plate!!!! I used to be able to get them for $2.50-$3 (plus s&h) so now they are a better deal at $5. I’ve done my nails a couple of times since my last post but I wasn’t feeling like posting much.

Today I did my nails with OPI’s Romeo and Joliet. I like it but it’s not one of my favorites.

I used one of my new plates for this cute star pattern. Overall, I like the contrast.

She Wore Blue Velvet

Posted on by Cynthia

 

Ok, so I know that this color isn’t really blue but more of a purple with some blue in it. However, I kept thinking of the song “Blue Velvet” while I was doing my nails. I also thought of Isabella Rossellini in all her masochistic glory in the movie of the same name. Like tangents much?

First Class Ticket is a purple shimmer dream. It doesn’t look very blue in real life and is definitely one of those dark vampy colors. In the sun, it really shines. There is some pink and blue shimmer hidden in that dark purple base. Oooohhhh so pretty!

 

And with a stamp. Tada!

 

Now I have to go buy a present for the baby shower I’m going to tomorrow. I don’t think my nails are baby shower appropriate so I’ll probably change them tomorrow. 🙁

Suzi Says Whaaaaaaat?

Posted on by Cynthia

I know I’m not the only one who thinks the whole Suzi thing in OPI polish names is kinda lame. Maybe if I was Artistic Director of a nail polish company, I’d name polishes after myself too! But in all honesty, how awesome does her job sound?

Today I was messing around with a bunch of colors. I have all of my polishes on an excel spreadsheet and wanted to start marking those that I have already swatched. I should have done this from the beginning, but I didn’t think I was going to really keep blogging about nails for long. I am the queen of starting stuff and then just giving up. That is one of the things I really hate about myself so I am glad that I’m still totally excited about doing it. I’d have to say that I am really loving the interactions with other bloggers so thanks to all the wonderful ladies who constantly visit my blog and most importantly, comment! Sometimes I look at my stats and see that a couple hundred people have visited my blog but not many comment. I wonder if I’m not engaging enough or if maybe they just didn’t like my swatches. Now I am just coming to the realization that a very small minority comment and that’s fine with me. I’m not doing this because I want validation; I just think it’s fun and as long as it continues to be fun, I will keep doing it.

I ended up painting my nails with Suzi Says Feng Shui from the Spring 2010 Hong Kong Collection. Why?! Why?????!!!!!!!!!! Why are there so many gorgeous colors out there? It’s blue, smokey and a creme. What else could I ask for?

 

Here is the color with a houndstooth pattern stamp from Konad plate M63. I hate it when my stamping looks sloppy, but I was in a rush because I was cooking dinner! Who said doing your nails and cooking at the same time would be a good idea?

 

I kinda really love the way this looks. Now I’m starting to plan my manicure for Saturday. I have to go to a baby shower on Saturday, but I will also be going to see The Hunger Games afterwards with my best friend. FUDGE! I can’t go to a baby shower with crazy dark nails and I can’t go to see The Hunger Games with pastel baby shower nails. What to do…what to do!? Any ideas will be happily welcomed.