Of Life and Lacquer

Jade Déjà Vu

Posted on 7 February, 2014 by Cynthia

I’m having a good day today. You know those days when everything flows just right, work is fine and you’re just in a lighthearted mood? Yep, that’s me today. I wish I had more of these days because I feel so much better and optimistic about things. Even though I am back to working Saturdays, I hope it’s a nice…at least I get to sleep in until 5 am. LUCKY ME!! Since I’m in such a fantastic mood, I decided to show you a polish that is just as bright and cheery. Just when you thought you were on holo overload, Jade Déjà Vu swoops in to sweep you off your feet. Don’t believe me? Check it out below.

Jade Déjà Vu is a hot pink holo from the Holográfico line. Isn’t it absolutely gorgeous? The holo isn’t as crazy linear as other holos, but it is still rather breathtaking–especially because I love pink polish. This awesome polish was a gift from the awesome Amy who sadly doesn’t blog much anymore and whose posts always cracked me up. The formula on these Jade holographic polishes is awesome because they are super opaque and don’t apply like regular holos. They dry shiny and glossy which I love!

I hope that you stop by tomorrow because we are going to have some awesome manis for Stamping Saturday. I have probably my favorite stamping mani EVER to share with you tomorrow so I hope that you end up liking it as much as I do. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you have awesome weekend plans. 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!

L.A. Girl 3D Effects Teal Dimension

Posted on 4 February, 20144 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Yesterday I went for my follow up with my primary care doctor so we could go over all my medications. Since I’ve basically let my health go to pot ever since I lost my job and health insurance, we had a lot to go over. Since I am not back on track on the job and insurance front, she ordered a bunch of blood tests to see where I am. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but I am a medical mess with my PCOS and diabetes so I was super worried about what she would say. Thankfully she didn’t make me feel even worse by scolding me, but she did stress to me how important it is to monitor my sugars and such. Because of my PCOS and insulin resistance, I always danced a fine line between full blown diabetes and pre-diabetes so it was only a matter of time before I became a diabetic. I was making great strides with my physical health at one point, but sadly my mental health fell by the wayside and that’s when everything went to pot. Now I feel very ready to take on this big challenge which is why I went to see my doctor before I throw myself into an exercise routine. I got a flu shot (for the first time ever!) and she also checked my sugars at the office. It wasn’t as bad as she was expecting since I haven’t been taking metformin, but she said it was a little higher than she would like to see. I guess I won’t know much until the results of my tests come back, but I’m glad to be getting back into a healthier path. I know that if I lose weight, it will help regulate so many things and maybe I won’t have to be on meds anymore!

Anyway, enough of all my health woes because I know you’re here to see the polish, right? hehe The polish I’m featuring today is one that I bought a long time ago but never swatched. Now that I have tried it out, I’m kicking myself for not buying all the other colors in this collection because it is breathtaking. Let’s take a look at L.A. Girl 3D Effects Teal Dimension.

First of all, these pictures make the polish look more blue than it is. It’s definitely teal in person, but my camera loves to make everything look blue. The lighting I used doesn’t let the holographic particles really stand out, but man this looks awesome in sunlight. It’s a strange kind of holographic finish as it is kind of chunky but feels very smooth on the nail. The formula is so amazing as it is a little on the thick side but not goopy. It has great coverage so you only need two coats for full opacity. I approve of this beauty!

Well, I hope you’re having a nice day today. I’m planning on going on a small dusty hunt after work today so maybe I’ll show up with some crazy old polishes on my facebook page. I love how many of you visit me there and keep the discussions fun. Have you checked out my facebook page? You can visit here if you’re interested. Hope to see you there, 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!

Dollish Polish Hip Hop Hippity Hop

Posted on 2 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Oh my GOD can you believe the game today? I was glued to the TV because I couldn’t believe how it was playing out! My favorite part was when…I DIDN’T WATCH THE GAME. Since I had nothing to do today except keeping up with my rest after being sick for the last few days, I just lounged around at home and watched a bunch of movies on Netflix. I watched this amazing movie called Remembrance about Hannah, a Jewish woman in a concentration camp who falls in love with Tomasz, a Polish man, who is working in the camp. He manages to break her out by impersonating a German officer and they flee to his mother’s home. His mother does not approve of Hannah because she is Jewish. Tomasz leaves Hannah at his mother’s home when he has to leave for a few days because he is trying to smuggle out pictures of the atrocities in the concentration camps. When Tomasz doesn’t return, Hannah ends up leaving but leaves a note for him even though he is believed to be dead. The movie is done in flashbacks so we see that Hannah is now married and living in NY when she sees Tomasz on a television interview talking about her and how he fell in love with her in that camp. I won’t spoil the rest of the movie in case you are interested in watching it. I loved how it ended even though I wanted MORE!!!! Anyway, I hope you check out this movie because it’s really great. The polish I’m sharing with you today is Dollish Polish Hip Hop Hippity Hop which was a birthday gift from my good friend Amanda from Mae’s Beauty. Let’s take a look at my swatches below.

I love how beautiful and delicate this polish is. The formula is absolutely perfect as it is very creamy and applies perfectly. I was expecting a difficult formula as it is a light and pastel color, but it only needed two thin coats for complete opacity. So pretty, right?

Well, tomorrow I have to go to work and then after work I’m going to see my doctor. I’m sure this coming week is going to be full of lots of unpleasantness, but that is just step 1 in my year of getting healthy, right? I hope that you’ve had a nice weekend and don’t forget to stop by tomorrow because I will have my review of the OPI Brazil Collection all ready to dazzle you. I can’t wait to hear what you think about the whole collection. Talk to you soon!

Stamping Saturdays #4

Posted on 1 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi everyone. I hope you’re enjoying your Saturday. Unfortunately I’m still sidelined by my cold and horrible cough so I’m just going to lay low this entire weekend. I know it’s superbowl weekend, but since I don’t give a rat’s ass about football, I’m going to ignore all the sports parties and all that. I am happy that I got a few stamping manicures done in advance because I might not have been up to doing a new one for today considering how crappy I’ve been feeling. For today’s stamping mani, I used my manicure from yesterday’s post as the base for my stamping. Let’s take a look at it.

Morgan Taylor Lost In Paradise

Nubar 2010 over Morgan Taylor Lost In Paradise

I used my Konad Black Special polish and an image from Mash plate 39 over my sparkly base. I really like how this turned out because the black stamping shows a great contrast on the lighter base.

Sorry I’m not my usual talkative self. I’m currently watching a Rocky marathon with my mom. We just finished Rocky III and now we’re watching Rocky IV–which is my favorite movie in the series. Don’t judge me for my questionable taste in movies, ok? I hope the link thing works below so you can check out some other awesome stamped manis. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Nubar 2010

Posted on 31 January, 2014 by Cynthia

The one bit of good news that I got at my doctor’s office today is that I have an upper respiratory infection which doesn’t require any meds besides the usual OTC stuff. I am still pretty darn miserable right now and can’t stop sneezing and blowing my nose so I don’t know if I’ll be able to go to work tomorrow again. This morning I slept through my alarm so I didn’t even call in sick on time. I think I might have taken a wee bit too much Nyquil last night so I was knocked out cold. I’ve been so sick lately which is NOT normal for me. I have another appointment with my primary doctor on Monday so we can go over all my meds and see if anything needs to be changed. Since I finally got health insurance through work, I am going to get back on track with all of my meds so now I need to get myself ready for many rounds of bloodwork–my favorite! NOT! Anyway, I’m just glad I can actually go to the doctor again without it costing me an arm and a leg. Isn’t it sad how having health insurance feels like a treat? Everyone should have affordable health insurance…this topic just pisses me off so much so I’ll just drop it.

So the other day I was looking at some of my Nubars, and I realized that I had never really posted about my very first flaky polish ever: Nubar 2010. Oh the travesty! Let’s take a look at this lovely polish, shall we?

Normally, I like to layer Nubar 2010 over a dark base, but today I decided to try it out over Morgan Taylor Lost In Paradise. Have I told you lately how much I love Morgan Taylor Cremes? This one is so incredibly gorgeous!

This is two coats of Nubar 2010 over Lost In Paradise. So pretty, right? This makes me wish that I hadn’t missed out on all of the Finger Paints flaky polishes. I’m still not over that one!!!

Tomorrow I have another stamping mani to share with you so I hope that you stop by to check it out. I’m not feeling too hot right now so I’m going to cut this short. Thanks so much for the visit, and I will talk to you soon.

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! 😉

China Glaze City Flourish Collection Spring 2014 – Peonies & Park Ave

Posted on 29 January, 201428 January, 2014 by Cynthia

It’s that time of the year again! Spring collections are plentiful and I am always ALWAYS excited to see what China Glaze has to offer. When I saw the display for these polishes, I nearly expired because I wasn’t expecting them to be available just yet, especially because I still haven’t been able to find the Sea Goddess Collection…but that’s whole other story! As usual, this collection is a 12 piece collection made up of two sets so I will be swatching each set in a separate post. Since the formula and my application was exactly the same for every polish, I will show you the colors first and then I will share my thoughts. Let’s take a look at the China Glaze City Flourish Collection, shall we?

China Glaze At Vase Value

China Glaze In A Lily Bit

China Glaze Lotus Begin

China Glaze Peonies & Park Ave

China Glaze Petal To The Metal

China Glaze Spring In My Step

Ahhh….where to start with this collection? The colors are absolutely gorgeous and very Spring appropriate, but the formula. There are no words. These are definite application beasts. Like full on Satan urine in a bottle. Do you remember how horrible the formula of the neon collection from last year was? (You can read my review here.) Well, this is like round 2 of that collection. I had hoped that these polishes were straight cremes, but they are more like satin/mattes because the don’t dry shiny and tend to dry really quickly. Because of how quickly they dry, if you overwork them, they will get goopy and stringy. All of these polishes were streaky nightmares so I decided to take the same approach with all of them: 2 thin coats and a third thicker coat to smooth them out. Despite my best efforts, they were still uneven and gross-looking so I applied a thick coat of Seche Vite to try to smooth everything out. While they did even out, do you really want to baby a polish this much? As I recall, some people seemed to not have that many issues with last year’s polishes (uhm, yeah…), so maybe once again it’s just me who can’t get these to work. You may say that my swatches don’t necessarily speak to the problems I had with the formula, but trust me…they are pretty freaking difficult. I just wish they weren’t so damn pretty! Damn you, China Glaze!

I am still waiting for that next China Glaze collection that will blow my socks off like the On Safari Collection. Sadly, I think I will have to keep waiting. If you’re not phased by my review, you can purchase these polishes on my blog sale so check them out. Tomorrow I hope to have the other half of this collection done, and I am really hoping against hope that they are better but I won’t hold my breath. Don’t forget to let me know what you think of these polishes. Will you be picking these up? Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Kiko 383 Oil Blue

Posted on 28 January, 2014 by Cynthia

My allergies are killing me today. My nose is literally dripping like a leaky faucet and now it’s so raw that it hurts to even touch it. I don’t know why I decided to go to old and dusty places after work because this just aggravated my misery. I did manage to find some cool stuff so I guess not all is lost. I wasn’t going to post today but then I realized that I have posted every day this month and I wanted to keep the momentum going. The polish I have for you today is a bit of a chameleon so let’s take a look at Kiko 383 Oil Blue.

You know I love blues, so I love this. The one frustrating thing is that this polish just refuses to photograph accurately. In real life, this is like a dark smoky teal but here it just looks like a vibrant blue. Either way, it’s beautiful and the formula is everything I have come to except from Kiko: super buttery and very pigmented so this is opaque with two coats.

Since I’ve been trying to use striping tape a lot more lately, I decided to use it here to make a simple design. The possibilities are endless when trying out a design like this and any matte top coat will here. Here I used my Nicole by OPI Matte Top Coat (press sample) which I have been using a lot lately.

Tonight I’ve been working on swatching one half of the new China Glaze Spring 2014 Collection so I hope to have that up for you tomorrow. I was so excited when I saw this at my local nail place so I basically grabbed one of each and took off like a lunatic. I still haven’t been able to get my hands on the Sea Goddess Collection which is starting to irritate me, but I know I will get it eventually. Anyway, I hope you’re all doing well, and I will talk to you soon!