Category: Swatches

Of Life and Lacquer > Swatches

Emerald Konadicure

Posted on by Cynthia

Emerald Fitzgerald. How awesome is that name? I know I’m not the only one who thought of the cover of The Great Gatsby? What an iconic cover, right? I remember the first time I read The Great Gatsby, I was struck by how much Jay Gatsby idealized Daisy despite her being a vacuous specimen. Beautiful, yes, but so empty of real humanity. Anyway….back to nail polish.

Emerald Fitzgerald is part of the Vintage Vixen Collection from Fall 2010. I’ve seen this polish photograph kind of blue, but I don’t really see it in person; it’s actually a deep and shimmery emerald green and maybe the tiniest hint of blue. Really tiny. The formula was perfect and only needed two coats.

And here is the polka dot stamp from Konad plate M79.

If you are a green polish lover, this is a must. Let me know what you think.

China Glaze Mahoganie

Posted on by Cynthia

I don’t even know what to say about this nail polish. It’s glitter. I have issues with glitter. I love THIS glitter.  DOES NOT COMPUTE!

I think this glitter was part of the specialty glitter shades that were released by China Glaze a few years ago. It’s a chocolate pink base with glitter that dries very, very gritty so it will need a thick topcoat. The nice part about this glitter is that it only needs two coats! Hallelujah to baby Jesus on rollerskates! I found this at a beauty supply store that I go to once in a while. They still sell China Glaze for $2.50 but I have to wear a protective mask when I wander in there because the dust in that place is so thick that you can feel it in your lungs. Gross, I know…but they have $2.50 China Glaze!!! Enjoy the swatches!

So what do you think of my new beautiful little baby, Mahoganie?

OPI NYC Ballet Polishes SUCK

Posted on by Cynthia

I should say that I only bought two of the polishes and I have two too many at this point. I knew that these polishes are not meant to be opaque so I steered clear of all the pinks and picked up My Pointe Exactly. It kind of looked like a sheer version of French Quarter For Your Thoughts so I figured it would be ok. Well, it isn’t. This color is disgusting. It basically looks like clear polish on your nails after one coat. I added a second and it looked streaky. I added a third and it started to look a little gray. Fourth coat, fifth coat and it still looked streaky and was not opaque. I took off the gross layers and went for a three coat look and this was the result:

Yuck! What’s the point of wearing nail polish if it’s going to look like this?!?!?!?! I took the glitter of this collection, Pirouette My Whistle, and layered one coat of it.

I still think this is gross. One of my lovely readers from Two Lacquered Girls asked me if Pirouette My Whistle was the same as Servin’ Up Sparkle so I used them side by side. I used Servin’ Up Sparkle on the middle finger and Pirouette My Whistle on the two outer fingers. As you can see, it’s the same exact glitter shape except that Servin’ Up Sparkle is holographic and Pirouette My Whistle is just white and silver. The base colors also differ. Servin’ Up Sparkle has a clear base and Pirouette My Whistle is in a milky gray base. Here are some bottle shots:

There is no way that I am going to buy anymore colors from this collection. I should have stuck with my initial impression when I saw the press release and passed on this collection altogether.  What about you? Do you want any colors from this collection?

P.S. After my previous post about gross nails and stuff, I want to apologize about my super dry skin. I totally forgot to moisturize so I know my skin looks dry like the Sahara. 🙁

Jessica Iridescent Eye

Posted on by Cynthia

All last fall, I kept hearing about Chanel Peridot. Peridot here, Peridot there, Peridot EVERYWHERE! I don’t have any Chanel nail lacquers and I don’t anticipate getting any because at $26 for .4oz, that’s just really a ridiculous price. It would take an outrageously unique color for me to even consider spending that much. I admired the swatches online but wasn’t really that tempted. Then I started to see swatches of the Jessica Peacock Queen Collection online and how similar it was to the Chanel Illusions d’Ombre Collection. I don’t like to buy nail polish online because I prefer to look at them in person before purchasing. When I found the collection at my local beauty supply store, I couldn’t resist.

Here are some swatches of Jessica Iridescent Eye:

If you have Chanel Peridot, how does this compare? The swatches online make it look like a pretty darn close dupe. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like this color THAT much.  It’s interesting enough, but I don’t think it looks particularly flattering on me; definitely not $26 interesting. So what do you think? Is this a color you’re interested in?

I’m In Love…

Posted on by Cynthia

In love with nail polish, that is. I just about crapped my pants when I saw this color. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I got really excited. This is another beauty from the Up & Away Collection that I had forgotten about. I think that these blue/teal/green/turquoise polishes are replacing my obsession for purple polishes. Can that even happen? The formula was dreamy and 2 thin coats was all I needed. If you don’t have Flyin’ High in your collection yet, you are really missing out.

Yes, I cut my nails SUPER short again. They had grown out a little and were driving me nuts. After I finished painting my nails,  I layered this gorgeous glitter called Blue Hawaiian and now I have shiny ball syndrome. I can’t stop looking at it. I don’t care that it’s going to be a pain to remove. I. Cant. Stop. Looking. At. It.

 

I can’t wait to see this in the bright sunlight tomorrow.

 

Color Club Back To Boho Part 2

Posted on by Cynthia

I spaced out and realized I didn’t get around to posting the other half of this collection. I actually much prefer this other half because I find the colors more interesting. This is an older collection from Fall 2011 but it’s still really nice in my opinion. Some of these colors don’t scream Fall to me so I’d still use them any time. Enjoy the swatches!

Nomadic In Nude is just such a weird color. It’s like a putty color that just reminds me of a corpse. Yeah, how’s that for morbid? This color was such a pain in the ass that I don’t know if I am really excited about wearing it again. I mean, it’s not really a color that I would normally gravitate towards and when you add the problematic formula, forget it! I had to apply 4 coats to make it look somewhat smooth and even then it still looked a little bumpy. A coat of Seche Vite helped to even it out a bit.

Earthy Angel is the perfect café au lait color. This is not a color that I would have picked up in my earlier days of nail polish obsession, but I’m definitely starting to like nude colors more and more. It has a decent formula and I thought it was going to be fine with two coats. However, once I looked at my nails more closely, I noticed some bald spots where the polish dragged. It looked pretty good with the third coat. I knew this color would be the perfect matte mannequin manicure polish so I applied a coat of Essie Matte About You.

Not satisfied, I applied a coat of glitter to see what it would look like. Here it is with OPI Servin’ Up Sparkle from the Serena Williams Collection.

And finally I mattified it–glitter and all.

I really like this look!

New Bohemian was unexpected for a Fall collection. It’s definitely a spring color for me. It was a lot more sheer than I expected so it took 3 coats for full opacity. I really love this color but it’s such a common color now that it’s not that exciting. I immediately wondered how close this would be to China Glaze’s For Audrey so I swatched them side by side.

It may be a little difficult to tell from these pictures, but these are not exact dupes. They are definitely close but you can tell that For Audrey is brighter with more blue while New Bohemian has more green in it. Do you need both? Probably not. But you know me…there’s never enough polish.

Shabby Drab kind of reminded me of China Glaze’s Secret Peri-wink-le but it photographs so purple. It was pretty sheer but the color was buildable without any issues. It’s a dusty lavander periwinkle color that I really liked in this collection.

This color is right up my alley. Rad Monad is one of those purple, taupe, gray, beige mixes that are ever present now. Remember when Metro Chic started a frenzy? This was super pigmented and only required two coats.

Lastly here is Red-ical Gypsy. I don’t have much to say about this color. It’s nice. It’s dark with some magenta/berry in it. Very saturated and only needed two coats.

These colors should be readily available in case you’re interested in getting any of them. Ross continues to carry these collection sets for $7.99 so keep an eye out for them if you’re looking for a good deal.

Orange You Glad It’s Almost Friday?

Posted on by Cynthia

After the big fail at my doctor’s office, I decided to change my nail polish to get the stench of disappointment off my fingers. Incidentally, last night one of my lovely readers told me that red is a color that schizophrenics gravitate towards after I posted about red being my color of confidence. It made me laugh because it reminded me of one of my roommates at the psych ward. She was an older lady who snored so loud that it took me a week to finally be able to sleep with her snoring in the bed across the room. I remember that the first night I was admitted, it was past midnight so I had to go to sleep right after they checked me in and strip searched me…yeah….strip search. I guess I can imagine people try to sneak dangerous things in. So anyway, once I got into bed, this lady was snoring so loud and made so many choking sounds that I actually got up to talk to a nurse because I thought she was dying or something. Sorry for the tangent. The reason why I laughed was because my roommate was schizophrenic and she was obsessed with wearing red lipstick. She had no teeth, but she couldn’t live without her red lipstick. Go figure.

The color I chose today is Calligraphic Calico by Finger Paints. Finger Paints can be found exclusively at Sally Beauty Supply. I’ve had this color for a while and I really like it. I think Finger Paints puts out pretty decent polishes, and I do grab some when they have a sale going on.

 

Then I used Essie’s As Gold As It Gets to paint my tips. It’s not that noticeable in these pictures but it looks pretty cool in the sun.

 

Calligraphic Calico is a color that I really like. It’s orangey with a little pink and very subtle gold shimmer. I’m really happy that we’ve been seeing so much orange lately because I love the way it looks. So what do you think?

NARS Lipstick Review

Posted on by Cynthia

NARS was the first higher-end make-up brand that I fell in love with. Once I tried their Orgasm blush, I was hooked. Their lipsticks do not disappoint. They have a wide range of colors and come in three finishes: sheer, satin and semi-matte. I personally don’t notice much of a taste or scent to these lipsticks but I have heard some people say that they have a waxy scent and taste. The only finish that has a decent wear time is semi-matte. The sheer and satin finishes wear off almost immediately.

Many will find the NARS packaging very classy and expensive looking. Indeed it is both those things but it also collects dust, make-up or anything else like crazy so it is very hard to keep them looking clean. I love the rubberized finish of their packaging but after a while, as all longtime NARS owners will attest to, the packaging seems to start breaking down. The finish starts to peel off at the edges and then it just looks gross. I am NOT happy with that considering their prices.

Belle de Jour

Dolce Vita

Fast Ride

Fire Down Below

Funny Face

Hot Voodoo

Little Darling

Petit Monstre

Pigalle

Señorita

Tanganyka

I don’t like all of these colors. Some of them look kinda hideous on me. Yes, I’m looking at you Belle de Jour. No matter how much I wear this one, I am never going to be Catherine Deneuve. That is a good example of a lipstick that I would mix with another lipstick, lip gloss or lip pencil. Funny Face is my favorite bold color of the bunch. Unfortunately, I recently read that Funny Face landed on a list of lipsticks with high levels of lead! Dolce Vita was the first NARS lipstick I ever bought and I still say it is the most versatile lipstick that I own. It’s just gorgeous and looks so natural on anyone. There is also a Dolce Vita lip gloss and blush…but more on those another time. These lipsticks retails for $24 each and can be purchased at many places so you won’t have any problem finding them if you’re interested. I purchase mine at Sephora and Narscosmetics.com

So which color do you like best? Do you own any NARS lipsticks?

Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition Nail Color Review

Posted on by Cynthia

As I previously posted, I bought a few Sally Hansen polishes that I found on sale at Rite-Aid. I was really excited by the beautiful duochrome effect that I saw in the bottles but I know better by now: sometimes you see duochrome in the bottle and none of it shows up on your nails. The duochrome was very hard to photograph but I managed to get some shot of it. I had to use 4 coats of polish in order to get the results below. I’ve mentioned before that anything over 2 coats starts to annoy me so 4 coats is way too much. The only redeeming quality is the quick dry time. I’d also like to mention that I found the brush very awkward to use. It was really long and the handle was not that comfortable.

 

Byte is a hot pink that seems to have some lilac sparkle in it but it is almost completely lost on the nail. It’s a pretty color but not terribly exciting. It seems more juvenile

 

DVD is maybe my favorite from the polishes I purchased. The duochrome effect is so pretty on this one and it actually came out in my pictures.

 

Spectrum is pretty is you like turquoise. As you can see, it’s pretty bright and sparkly.

 

Laser is the darkest of the polishes and the most opaque. I like the brightness of this color even if the duochrome isn’t the strongest in these pictures. In real life, you can definitely see it much better.

 

Overall I liked these polishes. I do not regret purchasing them since I got them dirt cheap, but I would not purchase them at full price. These were really made to layer over colors so I’ll be trying that out later. If you like these colors, I would recommend that you head over to Rite-Aid while they are still 75% off.

China Glaze & Hunger Games: Colours From The Capitol Swatches

Posted on by Cynthia

I think it is abundantly clear how much I was anticipating this collection: I was drooling like Pavlov’s dogs whenever I heard China Glaze and Hunger Games used in the same sentence. When I finally got the whole collection, I was so excited to start playing with all the colors. Without further ado…here are the swatches. Enjoy!

Agro is a dark olive green. It’s shimmery and absolutely gorgeous.  This is the kind of color that I need in my collection because how many purples can a person possibly need? A MILLION!!!!! I can’t wait to do some crazy stuff with this color.

 

 

Dress Me Up is a very soft and demure color. It makes me think of how Cinna dressed up Katniss to be super girlie and pretty. This is a pretty, creamy color that I am sure I will use often. It’s work appropriate for sure.

 

 

Electrify is just a gold and red glitter. There’s not much to say about this. Personally I am not a big fan of glitter. It has to be really unique in order for me to like it so I don’t find this exciting at all. I only applied 2 coats and I’m sure it would take another 2 coats to completely coat my nails. I can see myself layering this on top of another color instead of wearing it on its own. This is kinda like Twinkle Lights minus the green.

 

 

Fast Track is pretty…kind of like Classic Camel. This looks great in direct sunlight. Wearing it would make me feel like I’m age appropriate unlike other glitter explosions. Again, the formula was great.

 

 

I hate Foie Gras…not the polish, but the food. I really find it gross. There really isn’t anything that excites me about this color. It’s slightly purple and brown in the vein of Metro Chic. I like those dusty brown/purple polishes but haven’t we had enough of them already?

 

 

Harvest Moon  is one of the polishes I was excited about when I first saw the promo pictures. It’s a coppery shimmer dream that glides onto the nail. I like it. I like it a lot. I know you were thinking of this when you read that:

Oh, you weren’t? Well, whatever. The color is awesome and I don’t care what you think!

 

 

Hook And Line is what Color Club Boho Mojo could have been. This was definitely not as difficult to apply as Boho Mojo but it’s still frosty…Frosty…FROSTY! I kind of hate frosty colors but sometimes wear them anyway because I’m psycho that way. I can deal with this color and it might even grow on me after a while. It was freaky streaky when I first applied it but it looked better once it started to dry.

 

 

Luxe And Lush is made to be a topcoat. I don’t have anything that looks like this so I’ll definitely be experimenting with it. I kind of like the way it looks on it’s own. It remind me of broken glass…feels just like I’m walking on broken glass. Ah, Annie Lennox you evil bitch. Every time I think of her album Diva I just want to jump off a bridge. That song and Why? just wreck me. Anyway, yeah…me likey the polish.

 

 

I don’t really know how I feel about Mahogany Magic. It’s another one of those colors that I call inspired by baby poop. It’s just kinda gross but it could grow on me. I meant the polish, not the baby turds. The formula was divine on this one as well.

 

 

Riveting! Hello, goygeous! I freaking love this one so hard. First of all, I’m all into oranges this season and this one does not disappoint. I don’t know why I keep thinking of Orange Jell-o when I look at this. It had a perfect formula as well.

 

 

Smoke And Ashes is such a dark color that looks green, blue and black all at once. I had one heck of a time taking a decent picture of this color so it was super annoying. I like how cold this color seems…if that makes sense.

 

 

Stone Cold is a matter dream. I have a few matte polishes and they are always so incredibly hard to work with. You have to work super fast or else it gets goopy and then your nails look like a hot mess. This looked perfect with one coat. I will not defile this polish by adding a coat of Seche Vite.

 

So what do I think about this collection? I like it. I’m not gonna lie and say that my love of  The Hunger Games didn’t make me obsess about getting my hands on this collection. Overall, there are some colors that I would pass on such as: Mahogany Magic, Hook and Line, Foie Gras and Electrify. If you have similar colors, I would also pass on Dress Me up and Luxe and Lush. The other six polishes are right up my alley, and I love them. Why do so many collections have to keep popping ? Damn you, China Glaze! So what do you think? What colors are you going to get, if any? Let me know! It makes my day to hear about what other nail polish freaks want to get. Sad, right?