Category: Swatches

Of Life and Lacquer > Swatches

New Cult Nails Babies

Posted on by Cynthia

Since I’m trying to go through all my untrieds before I allow myself to buy more bottles of nail polish, I pulled out the the last three Cult Nails polishes that I purchased during their last $5 sale. Yeah, I can hear you laughing at the idea of me not buying anything until I go through my untrieds….I’m looking at you Nicole and Lesley. To be honest, I doubt I’m going to stick to it but I resisted the urge to go to my nail places today. I’m going to wait until my crack dealer tells me that he has the new Essie collection in before I drag my butt out there. I think I’m getting better at using my new camera so I hope these pictures at least seem of better quality. You be the judge.

 

Let Me Fly is the color that I was most looking forward to trying out, and it did not disappoint. This color has more green in it so I don’t know why it photographed so blue. The color is amazing and the formula flowed like butter. It only needed two coats which I love.

 

I hadn’t heard anyone complain about the new Iconic so I didn’t go in with any preconceived notions. I love this polish. What is not to like about a smouldering magenta/red/brown/copper/gold polish with awesome flakes? This is another one of those polishes that look like they are on fire–yes, it’s that dramatic.

 

And lastly, I also purchased Hypnotize Me. I am pretty sure this is a polish that is meant for layering because it looks kind of weird on its own. I had to apply 3 coats for these swatches and the formula was so incredibly goopy and hard to control. Despite it being a glitter, it was not difficult to remove and did not dry super gritty. Once I applied a coat of Seche, it was perfectly smooth.

Once again, Cult Nails impresses me with beautiful colors. I’m eyeing their new collection now…ooohhh….so many pretties. Are you also a fan of Cult Nails? Do you have a favorite color to recommend for my next purchase?

Illamasqua Phallic

Posted on by Cynthia

Wouldn’t you like to meet the person who picks the names for Illamasqua nail polishes? I would! This is my latest Illamasqua purchase, and I just got around to trying it today. I’ve got to tell you that I bought a new camera because my old one is about a million years old and it was getting harder and harder to get decent pictures. Some days it cooperated and other days I could take a million pictures and none of them would turn out to my satisfaction. I have to admit that I am a camera dunce so I have not been able to figure out how to take decent pictures with my new camera. The following pictures are the best I could get and I am not that happy with them. I fiddled with my camera and my light box for HOURS while L. and I watched The Bachelorette (puke). There is something about that show that is getting on my last nerve so I’m going to stay away from it from now on. Anyway, back to the nail polish!

I decided to try this one out because there had been talk of lovely blue polishes early today on my blog so naturally I pulled this untried beauty out. As usual, Illamasqua did not disappoint. The formula was heavenly and I only needed two coats. I could not believe how easily it applied and I had almost no clean up. What an awesome polish and even more awesome formula.

I also did L.’s nails using Zoya Mia since she has an interview tomorrow. I’m wishing her luck!

I’m going to jump in the shower and then read and respond to all my pending comments. Oy vey it’s a lot. I love you all for stopping by and commenting on all my rants and ramblings.

Essie Bikini So Teeny Collection for Summer 2012

Posted on by Cynthia

This collection sneaked up on me because I hadn’t been keeping up with nail polish news. I started seeing swatches creep up all of a sudden so I was happy that I finally got a chance to pick these colors up. They scream summer to me even if I have some similar colors already. I thought there were only 5 colors in this collection so I am missing Cascade Cool. I might end up passing on it because I am on pink overload right now.

Honestly, none of these colors are really that unique but the formula is awesome. I didn’t have any issues with any of these polishes, and I liked the color collection as a whole.

Bikini So Teeny

Fear Or Desire

Mojito Madness

Off The Shoulder

All Tied Up

So what do you think? Have you purchased any of these colors or do you plan to?

The Infamous SpaRitual Holiday Set

Posted on by Cynthia

If any bottles of nail polish will have a more interesting story than these two, I will take a shot of acetone. Well, no, not really…cause, well…it probably tastes like evil. After getting two empty sets, I thought I might never get these darn polishes and I wasn’t really expecting for beauty.com to refund my money and send me the set for free. I know some people might think it’s silly to get upset over nail polish, but when you pay for something, you just expect to get it, right?  So let me say that these are my first creme SpaRitual polishes; I bought one at Sephora that is super shimmery/metallic looking. My litmus test for any nail polish brand is how well they do cremes because in my opinion, there is nothing better than creamy, glossy and vibrant nails.

Hot Blooded really does remind me of blood. I’ve been called hot blooded on more than one occasion but all I could think of when I saw the name of this polish is the Foreigner song.

I thought I was going to like this polish more but it’s a little too sheer. It’s more of a jelly in that sense and it also has a very slight shimmer which you can’t really see.

This dark and vampy color is called I Feel The Earth Move. It’s a very pigmented red/brown with some burgundy to boot. I don’t think I have any dark reds with this much brown in my collection so I like it. It’s a very fall appropriate color for sure.

Overall I’m happy with these polishes. I really like the SpaRitual formula because it’s very workable and a breeze to apply. Dry time is also excellent even if you don’t apply a fast dry top coat. The only thing I didn’t like is that both of these darkly pigmented colors stain like a mofo so make sure you wear a good base coat to help protect your nails. This set was worth the wait.

Are you a SpaRitual fan?

China Glaze On Safari First Glimpse

Posted on by Cynthia

When the first promo images of this collection came out, I knew I would love it even if I am constantly disappointed by the disparity between promo images and the real-life polish. I already knew that I was going to pass on the 2 glitters in this collection so that left me with 10 polishes to choose from. I decided to get the first 5 that really caught my attention. I still want a couple more colors which I will most likely eventually purchase later on if become interested enough down the line.

Elephant Walk is a color that I liked a lot more once I got it on my nails. I could see that it was gray with some blue tones and some slight shimmer, but it just looked so much more interesting once I was wearing it. I don’t think I have anything quite like this so I’m loving it (in a un-mcdonald’s kind of way).

Jungle Queen is simply goygeous! It would have been perfect if the shimmer actually showed up on my nails. The only reason you can see a hint of the shimmer is because I had to use flash since it was so overcast today. I am pretty sure that I have seen a few people compare this to Chanel Paradoxal but since I don’t have it, I can’t really say. Dangit…this could have been my perfect color if it had more of that beautiful shimmer. I guess we can’t have it all.

I have been wearing tons of teals lately so Exotic Encounters is right up my alley. Despite having so many teals, I don’t think this one is a dupe for any colors that I currently own; it’s somewhat darker and smokier than most of the teals I usually wear. The formula was super opaque and easy to work with so no complaints from me!

Creamy, dark, shiny creme? Yes, please! Purr-fect Plum is a staple color that I am sure most people already have a dupe for. It’s one of those colors that always attracts me in a way that I forget that I already have similar shades. Oh, the price of being a nail polish hoarder. I did feel that the formula on this was runny city so I had to be super careful and apply thin coats because I did completely flood my cuticles on the first coat. I love you acetone!

SOPI Blue Grotto, I mean Essie Mesmerize, I mean OPI Dating A Royal…err…you know what I mean. This is Man Hunt and yes it is a very pretty blue, but it’s really really overdone. The formula on this one was Raging Waters watery as well so I’m not that impressed.

Have you been able to spot any polishes from this collection yet? Is there a color you’re drying to try? Let me know what you think of these colors. Thanks for stopping by.

OPI Vintage Minnie Mouse

Posted on by Cynthia

I grew up in Orange County, CA and have only been to Disneyland 3 times in 32 years. No joke. When I was a kid, my parents couldn’t really afford to take us to Disneyland (damn you greedy Disney) so I didn’t grow up being in love with that place. Yes, I would watch “The Wonderful World Of Disney” on TV and loved all the classic Disney animated movies, but I was never Disney obsessed. When I saw this new OPI collection at my nail place, I decided to get three of the four polishes; I passed on the glitter which should be no surprised to you if you have followed my blog for a while now.

My friend V asked me to swatch one of the polishes for her so I figured I might as well swatch the other two. To tell you the truth, I’m not super excited with these colors. They looked cute when I saw the bottles and the fact that they are Minnie Mouse inspired was the biggest draw, but now they are are just kind of blah.

If You Moust You Moust is a saccharine sweet color. I don’t find it that interesting but I don’t think I have any dupes for it so it’s a welcome addition to my collection even if it reminds me of Pepto-Bismol.  I remember that one time I faked a stomach ache because I wanted my mom to give me some Pepto. Is that weird? I had a really hard time applying this polish because the brush was wonky. It was thin in the middle so when the brush fanned out, I would get very few bristles in the middle. I think that because of this, I had some weird bald spots. I hope it was just my retarded brush and not the formula.

 

The Color Of Minnie was the least interesting of the colors in my opinion. It has a certain shimmer that makes it look somewhat frosty, and I don’t really like frosts much. I can also see some VNL and I don’t like that at all. At all.

 

I’m All Ears is the color that I was most interested in trying when I saw the promo pics. I actually really do like this color even though I can still see VNL after 3 coats. I wonder how this would look layered over another color…probably pretty cool.

 

Today I got another email from Alfie’s new mom…I’ll call her BB. She wrote that Alfie is doing really well and that he’s a very happy go-lucky dog. They have another Wheaten, Rose, who is now 14 years old. Rose seems to be super grumpy and doesn’t want anything to do with Alfie so of course he follows her around ALL DAY. I can totally picture him trying to get in her face the way he does with everyone and Rose just wanting him to go away. He has been on a few short car rides without throwing up which is great, but he still won’t get in the car on his own. I always had to pick him up and put him in the car if I wanted to take him with me. I hope he gets over it soon so he can learn to love car rides. I know that eventually it won’t hurt as much to talk about Alfie so for now I am taking comfort in hearing how well he is doing.

Illamasqua Velocity

Posted on by Cynthia

Illamasqua:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Ok, I am exagerrating but only by a bit. haha. This is my second Illamasqua purchase and I am falling hard…yes, hard. It’s so difficult to figure out what nail polish to buy when I am perusing sephora.com so this was an impulse buy–and I don’t regret it one bit. Illamasqua calls this polish a dusky grey-purple with a glossy finish and it is very fitting.

 

I am pretty sure that I have something close to this polish already but the formula is really amazing. Sometimes it’s all about the formula. Since I’m still an Illamasqua newbie, what other colors can you suggest? I can see my obsession beginning….

Sation Oh My Oceania

Posted on by Cynthia

Sweet baby Jesus on rollerskates this color is gorgeous. It’s not that often that I am really smitten with a color so I find myself a little giddy right now. Oh My Oceania is like the most perfect teal/turquoise/blue/green/shimmer combo that I currently own. This color reminds me of Rescue Beauty Lounge Aqua Lily but since I don’t own it, I’m not sure if it’s really a dupe. If you do own Aqua Lily, how does this compare? I actually don’t have any RBL polishes yet because I’m still very hesitant to spend that much on one bottle of nail polish. Anyway, on to the swatches!

Don’t tell me this polish isn’t drool-worthy. I thought it was going to be sheer but it’s opaque and full coverage at two coats. The formula was a tad too thick, but it wasn’t problematic. I don’t have much else to say–the pictures speak for themselves. What do you think?

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater

Posted on by Cynthia

When I was in 8th grade, my choir teacher had us perform this song during one of our assemblies. I remember that she had one kid run up and down the aisles of the auditorium pretending to be the monster. It was kind of ridiculous but really fun. I was a choir geek from elementary school through high school so maybe that’s why I love singing so much. Believe it or not, that was the first thing that came to mind when I used Power To The Purple.

This color is in the same vein as OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI, Zoya Tru, Jessica Witchy Wisteria…except that I think this version is way brighter and more re-toned. I am in love with this purple because it has that smoldering quality to it. The formula was perfect and I only needed two coats. Sorry about the cut on my middle finger; apparently I wasn’t careful enough with the cuticle clippers. 🙁

I did a quick design on my nails afterwards. I wasn’t super careful so you can see where the dotting could be cleaner but I still like it. Most people don’t grab your hands and hold them up to inspect your nails–notice that I said most because this has happened to me quite a few times. I like that people are curious and compliment my nails, but get your hands off me, please. kthanks.

This nail polish is a big winner in my book because it’s purple and because it’s so vibrant. Purple is my favorite color and yes I have worn purple shoes, clothes, glasses and make-up…all at once. It was my Barney Chic phase. Are you a purple lover too?

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****

Cool Summer

Posted on by Cynthia

When I was a kid, I thought this song was called cool summer and not cruel summer. I was born in 1979 so I wasn’t fully aware of pop culture in my childhood years during the 80’s so it always makes me laugh when I remember snippets of stuff like this song. Granted I am more into the Ace of Base version…and I’ll move on because then I’ll start talking about my obsession with Ace of Base and ABBA and that ALWAYS ends poorly.

Although it’s technically not summer yet, it’s usually pretty warm here in Southern California in early June. Surprisingly, the weather has been very mild lately. I’m a little shocked but also happy because I hate the summer heat. HATE IT. I am definitely NOT looking forward to this summer. The one thing I do love about summer are all the summer nail polish collections! I haven’t had the time or energy to go to my nail polish mecca lately so I haven’t seen all the pretty new polishes in person–just drooled over them online.

Today I have another three awesome summery colors from Miss Professional Nail’s Sation Line. I had a difficult time getting good pictures of these colors because they are neons and my camera was going crazy. Other than that, I love these colors! I love the shimmer in the first two and love the creaminess of the darker one. I always find that neons/mattes are kind of a pain to work with but these were not too bad! The formula is a tad too thick for my liking but it’s not a huge deal if you apply the polish carefully.

Shock Me Twice Pink is just that: an electric pink. This is a staple neon color for summer so it’s not terribly unique but it sure is gorgeous. It’s such a beautiful glowing color. I just got flashbacks of eating cubes of Bubble Yum or stuffing my mouth full of Big League Chew. Don’t lie…you know you did it too.

Show Off Your Navel Orange seems like more of a cantaloupe color to me. It’s a nice color, but I don’t feel that it really flatters my skin tone. Again, this color is super bright and has that great shimmer that so many neons seem to have lately.

Fan the Flames Fuchsia is my favorite of the three. It’s a creamy color that doesn’t dry satin/matte like a traditional neon but it’s super bright and saturated. This one had the best formula of the three as well.

How do you feel about neons? Are you feeling the trend or do you think it’s just getting annoying like crackle and magnetic polish? I love to wear these bright colors on my nails since I tend to purchase mostly neutral colors for my wardrobe. Let me know what you think!

****These items were sent for review. This in no way influences my review and opinion of the product.****