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Of Life and Lacquer > Swatches

Jessica In Bloom Collection Summer 2014

Posted on 9 June, 201410 June, 2014 by Cynthia

Yay it’s Monday! Said no one. Ever. I’m going to drag my feet all day because I’m feeling cruddy so I’m just looking forward to the evening so I can pass out again. Wow, that sounds really pathetic but whatever. So this weekend I went looking for the Morgan Taylor Neon Collection but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Luckily I didn’t leave empty-handed because I found the Jessica In Bloom Collection which is their Summer 2014 offering. I feel like I can always count on Jessica for top-notch cremes because most of their polishes seem to be cremes. I’m not complaining because there’s nothing more delicious than a perfect creme. Let’s take a look at my swatches, and I’ll let you know what I think below.

Jessica Whispering

Jessica Enchanting

Jessica Longing

Jessica Awakening

Jessica Loving

Jessica Blazing

So these colors aren’t really what I was expecting for a Summer collection. It feels like this year, a lot of the Summer collections are very muted and could work as Spring colors. I kind of miss super juicy bright collections this year. With that being said, this is a nice collection. The colors are pretty and they look nice together. However, the formula was not as great as I am used to when it comes to Jessica. Don’t get me wrong: the formula isn’t horrible, but it’s not the usual creme perfection I’m used to. All of them were a tad bit streaky so they needed a little patience with application. I applied a thicker second coat for these polishes and then smoothed everything out with Seche. I’m a little on the fence with this collection because I like it but the colors aren’t that unique, and I feel like I probably have many dupes. Then I look at that mint color and those blues and I kind of want to love them hard. I have no hope.

If you want to try these polishes out, I’m selling my set for $26 shipped in a box with tracking. (SOLD) These retail for $8 each so that’s a good deal for the set of 6 polishes. I’m just trying to be good and not get overrun with polish again. Anyway, let me know what you think of this collection. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Stamping Saturdays #22

Posted on 7 June, 20147 June, 2014 by Cynthia

I feel like such a slacker. I’ve been pretty much neglecting my blog and responding to comments which is so unlike me. Sadly I feel like it’s a trend lately only because I have other stuff going on that is sapping the creativity and motivation out of me. I think I just need a swift kick in the ass to get back on track–or a really awesome Stamping Saturdays mani! I hope you’re not tired of me using my MoYou London plates so much because I’m not going to stop any time soon–they’re awesome.

Today’s plate du jour (see what I did there? I’m sho shmart) is MoYou London Pro Collection 18 (press sample.) You can click on the image to be taken to this plate on MoYou London’s website. Buy it. You know you want it.

So I started with 2 delicious coats of OPI Incognito In Sausalito (press sample.) This polish is so amazing and buttery that it can be a one coater, but I’m a creature of habit so two coats is my preference. The polish may look a little off here because my bottle of Seche Vite was acting up. I don’t know what the dealio was, but it made my polish wrinkle a little bit. I added a shit ton of Restore to it and then it was acting normal again so maybe it was just too thick…that’s what she said.

I don’t know why I forget that Essie Shine Of The Times is so freaking awesome. Seriously. Look at it.

And here is the final mani. I am a little on the fence about it because part of me loves it but then it looks a little off. I’m just going to go with it. I’m a little annoyed that I stamped the image all crooked on my ring finger but at least I got it straight on my other fingers.

Do you have a Stamping Saturdays mani to share with us? You can link up your mani below or you can grab the code for your blog. I get super excited when I see more people joining in so I hope you will too. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon. Enjoy your Saturday!

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The Beauty Buffs – Neon Everything

Posted on 4 June, 20145 June, 2014 by Cynthia

Hello everyone! We’re *almost* halfway through the week, and I’m already dreaming about the weekend. Today I am posting with my fellow bloggers who make up The Beauty Buffs and we are excited to bring you NEON EVERYTHING! I don’t know if you like neons as much as I do, but I just find that neons really scream summer and just make everything more fun. That’s not to say that I’ll go neon overboard, but neon nails are always a nice pop. I do have tons of neon polishes, but when I saw these pretty polishes the last time I was doing a quick polish run, I couldn’t resist picking them up.

Jade Hot Pink - Jade Mysterious Pleasure - Jade No Non-sense

To be honest, I had seen Jade Nail Lacquer many times, but I never paid much attention to them because they are super cheap–like $1 each. I should know better than to judge polish solely on price since I have some amazeballs Sinful Colors that perform better than $30 polishes. Anyway, these colors are, from left to right: Jade Hot Pink – Jade Mysterious Pleasure – Jade No Non-sense.

I wish my pictures showed how electric these colors are in real life. Most of the time my camera does a decent job with neons, but it just would not cooperate with these colors. This mani is just a little funky and I liked wearing it. The formula on these polishes was pretty nice. They did need 3 coats to be completely opaque but that’s not a big shocker considering they are full on neons. For $1 each, they are a steal.

Then I decided to pull out my two super favorite bright pink cosmetics…

Nars Desire is like bright cotton candy. You can’t imagine how easy it is to end up looking clownish if you go a little too heavy with this blush–but it’s gorgeous!!

And my favorite lipstick of the moment: Illamasqua Eurydice. It’s electric so I always wear very neutral make up except for the lips because otherwise I’ll look like a drag queen–not that there’s anything wrong with that, but that’s not the best work look. Actually, this is NOT a work lipstick. hahaha

And here are some swatches of those two products. I told you they were super bright!

Well, I hope that you take a moment to check out the other neon offerings below. Have a great day today, and I will talk to you later.

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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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Dollish Polish Zombie Flesh

Posted on 30 May, 201429 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Aren’t you freaking happy that it’s Friday? Hell, I am! Even though this was a short week because I didn’t work on Memorial Day, the week has just lagged! It’s all good, though, because the weekend is here and I’m going to thoroughly enjoy it. I don’t really have any plans except maybe watching Maleficent and doing a bunch of swatching for the coming week. I am trying to only do swatching on the weekend and have all my posts prepared for the upcoming week so that I give my phalanges some rest. The polish I have for you today is one that I wanted forever cause I love zombies: Dollish Polish Zombie Flesh. This polish was a gift from Amanda…I think. Ugh…I’m such a dork. Since a bunch of my best blogging gf’s and I do a birthday polish exchange thing, I got so much awesome stuff last September. I wrote down all the items I received and from whom on a spreadsheet that is now locked in my broken laptop. Sad times. I’m pretty sure it was Amanda who got this for me, but I’ll update it if I find out otherwise.

Isn’t this an amazingly unique polish? I just love that pukey green base and all that gorgeous glitter. It’s a rather sheer polish but it does build up well so I applied 3 thin coats for my swatches.

Oh, and here is a Peanut picture:

He kind of likes Street Fighter right now. He’s been a little Mr. Fussypants lately because he just got some vaccines and his little legs hurt. Other than that, he’s as cute as ever.

I hope you’re having a good Friday and that you have an even better weekend. Don’t forget to join us tomorrow for Stamping Saturdays!!! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

CrowsToes Milquetoast

Posted on 29 May, 201428 May, 2014 by Cynthia

Today I have another beautiful indie to show you courtesy of Lesley. We were all laughing about how she chose this “birdy” brand even though she knows how much I hate birds. I’m glad that she introduced me to CrowsToes because this brand has some seriously gorgeous polishes. She also got me Tiki Torch which is one spicy tamale. It’s so beautiful and just glows from within. Since it’s getting late and I’m scheduling this post in advance (it’s almost midnight), I am playing “Me and My Broken Heart” and have decided to have this post finished by the time the song ends. HURRY UP, HURRY UP!!! Anyway, let me show you my swatches.

CrowsToes Milquetoast is a creamy jelly polish full of coppery glitter in various sizes. Normally, I cringe when I use some of these milky-based polishes because it takes 10,000 coats to get the desired look, but this one was surprisingly opaque. I applied 3 thin coats and that was enough to get good coverage. You have to be sure that each coat is dry before you apply the next if you want to avoid a messy situation.

So what do you think about this beauty? Do you have any recommendation for other CrowsToes beauties? You may notice that most of the indies I do have have been gifts from my awesome friends (since we usually do birthday polish exchanges and stuff), but I do want to feature more indies. If you have recommendations, please share them with me. Just take note that I will not deal with restock drama and all that. Haha…drama about nail polish. Oh, silly rabbit, trix are for kids. Anyway, I hope you have a good day–the weekend is almost here!!! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Oh, hey. Here is Me and My Broken Heart. Enjoy. (Is this a rip off of Lonely No More by Rob Thomas?)

Nail-Venturous Floam

Posted on 28 May, 201427 May, 2014 by Cynthia

The title of this post should actually be: “Why haven’t you used this polish before, you dolt?!” That is exactly how I’ve been feeling since I finally wore Nail-Venturous Floam. When Amy posted about this polish on her blog back in 2012, I was not yet familiar with the world of nail polish blogs. From time to time I would google nail polish, but I never got past seeing the google images results. When I finally started reading blogs later in the year, I was a total glitter hater. Longtime readers can vouch for my crazy hatred of glitter back in the day, but luckily I came to my senses. By the time I had a polish boner for Floam, it was pretty hard to get. Imagine how excited I was when I got this as a birthday gift from Jessica! I wanted it so bad that I didn’t want to waste it by actually using it. Don’t look at me that way: I know some of you are the same way with polishes that you treasure. I’m sure you have seen a million swatches of this polish, but it’s new to me so I’m just as excited about it as when I first got the bottle in the mail.

I triple dog dare you to tell me that this polish isn’t gorgeous! It can be a little thick and difficult to work with, but I love the end result. I know that there are some dupes out there, but I am so glad to have the original. I don’t even know if this is being sold anymore because it’s out of stock on ninjapolish.com

So what do you think? Are there polishes like this that you love but are now impossible to get? I hope you have a nice day today. Thanks for catching up with me today, and I will talk to you soon!

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!

OPI DS Sapphire

Posted on 26 May, 2014 by Cynthia

I’m a lucky girl. And by lucky, I mean polish lucky. I have so many amazing dusties in my area that I always get excited when I go because I can feel that I’m going to find something amazing. There are certain stores that I wish I could just take a stool, sit on the floor and just go through everything. I am convinced that they must have some amazing polishes hidden in their ancient stashes. Unfortunately, some of the stores are super cramped and tiny so it’s not like I can spread out and take over the entire store. I’m sure that as soon as they see me coming, the owners must be thinking: “Not this asshole again.” Anyway, today’s polish was found at one of my dusties. In fact, they had like 4 DS Sapphires and 4 DS Signature and I bought them all. Don’t tell me that you wouldn’t do the same. OPI DS Sapphire is one of the old OPI linear holos that are sadly discontinued and will cost you an arm and a leg on evilbay. It’s so lovely! Let me get to the swatches.

This polish is rather sheer so I had to apply 3 coats to get even coverage. This type of lighting definitely does not show off a holo polish so I had to use different lighting for the following pictures.

This beautiful polish is somewhat of a chameleon. It looks silver but it also looks blue depending on the lighting. The holo in this polish isn’t very linear…it’s like somewhat linear but also scattered. I just love it!

I thoroughly enjoyed my day off today especially because I always had to work holidays at my previous job. I guess this is one of the benefits of working for a public agency! If you’re in the US, I hope you had a nice Memorial day and that you took a minute to remember all the brave men and women in the armed forces who have fought and lost their lives. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.