OPI Mariah Carey Holiday Collection 2013

Posted on 12 October, 201312 October, 2013 by Cynthia

Get ready for a picture heavy post! I woke up super early this lovely Saturday morning so I ended up taking advantage of it by swatching the rest of this collection. I was up at 5:00 am, but not by choice. You see, I woke up to the loud noises of my brother throwing up in the bathroom. At this point I am not sure if he was sick or if he was drunk, but I am annoyed that he was vomiting in the bathroom sink. Who does that? If that’s all clogged up, I am going to be beyond pissed at him for being such an idiot. Ok, so after I wrote this, my brother wandered out of his room at 4:30 pm looking like death. He is saying that he got food poisoning. Uhm, yeah…if by food he means a lot of cheap beer. Maybe he does have food poisoning, and I shouldn’t be such a betch.

Anyway, back to the polish! Since I had so much extra time that I would have spent in dream lala land, I was able to finish up my swatches and start working on this post. I probably wouldn’t have gotten it done until sometime next week without today’s inconvenience so yay for not sleeping. Enough blabbering–let’s move on to the swatches for the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday Collection!

If you want a staple red, OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI) will fit the bill. It’s a nice and pigmented red that can be a one-coater if you’re careful with your application. There’s nothing too exciting about this color but it is a nice and shiny creme.

I keep thinking of chestnuts when I see OPI Visions Of Love–probably because I would call this a maroon color and chestnuts in French are marrons. Pretty logical, I guess but I’m just weird. I really like this polish because it has a squishy jelly quality to it. The formula was nice but it’s easy to have seer patches which you can kind of see in my swatches.

OPI Sleigh Ride For Two reminds me a lot of Essie Sable Collar–maybe with just a little more red in it. The shimmer in this one is much more apparent in real life so it’s sad that my pictures don’t show it very well. I applied 2 coats for my swatches above and a generous coat of Seche to make it extra shiny.

OPI calls this a spiced coffee hue, and I can totally see that. OPI Warm Me Up is one of those kind of ugly but kind of pretty colors. The base color is interesting and the shimmer isn’t super visible, but somehow it makes it look a little brushstroke-y. Is that weird? Anyway, this polish is super pigmented so you will only need two thin coats for full opacity.

OPI Cute Little Vixen is a nice magenta shimmer. Formula is nice. Not much else to say about it.

The color that is most typical when it comes to Christmas is this red shimmer. OPI In My Santa Suit is the perfect Santa red. 2 coats and voilà!

I absolutely love the look of OPI Underneath The Mistletoe because it has a jelly base and the red is dark and gorgeous with delicate scattered glitter. It just makes me sad that I wasn’t able to capture how pretty this is in my pictures. The first coat seems a little sheer, but it looks perfect at two coats.

Circle glitter lovers rejoice! OPI I Snow You Love Me is made up of large holographic circle glitter that magically doesn’t curl. No taco time here, thank you very much. Since the glitter is so large, you would get best results by picking the glitter from the clear base and applying them with a dotting tool or toothpick. Otherwise you will get TONS of clear base and not too many glitters. Here I applied OPI I Snow You Love Me over Underneath The Mistletoe.

I know V would go gaga over this as usual. OPI All The Sparkly And Gold is literally ALL THE SPARKLY AND GOLD. hahaha This is a very fine glitter that is super easy to control for painless application. It’s nearly opaque at one coat but it does need two coats for complete coverage.

OPI My Favorite Ornament is more of a champagne color fine glitter. It has the same formula as All The Sparkly And Gold which means that the base is super dense with glitter. The only complaint here would be that it gets EVERRYWHERE when you try to remove it.

And here we have the latest in cracked pepper chic. OPI Wonderous Star is such a strange, but kind of cool polish. I really like the black glitter in this polish but the base is kinda meh. Overall, I think they work really well together.

Last but not least, we have OPI Ski Slope Sweetie. I don’t know what to think about this polish. It’s like a weird iridescent polish that I thought would work for layering over other colors. However, I think it’s too thick for that so I prefer to wear it on its own. You will need two coats to get full coverage.

So what do I think about this collection overall? When I first saw the promo images, I thought it looked totally boring because it was RED OVERLOAD. Now that I have gotten a chance to swatch these, there really are only 3 true reds in this collection which is kind of normal considering this is a holiday collection. While not all of these polishes are very unique, there are some good staple colors and others that are just super different. I’m not like in love with this collection, but I can see its appeal for those who don’t have a million versions of these colors. If I had to pick favorites, they would have to be Visions Of Love, Underneath The Mistletoe and I Snow You Love Me. I have already reviewed the other part of this collection which has all the Liquid Sands so you can check it out here. Let me know what you think of this collection now that you have seen it in its entirety. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you’re having a nice weekend!

OPI Mariah Carey Holiday Collection 2013 – Liquid Sands

Posted on 10 October, 2013 by Cynthia

If you follow me on facebook, you probably saw my post yesterday about receiving the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 Collection. As soon as these babies arrived, I was trying to figure out the best way to tackle this massive 18 bottle collection. Yes, 18 bottles!!! Well, I decided to swatch the 6 Liquid Sands for this collection first which is what I have for you today. I was debating whether I should even swatch these since they will have to be the dreaded three-finger swatches. I guess I should stop being such a turd about it and just deal with it, but it annoys the bejeesus out of me. If I wait the 2-3 weeks for my nail to grow a bit, I will be super behind so I’m just going to put my big girl panties on (literally) and suck it up. I’m not going to talk about each polish individually because they all had the same formula except for the black one which I will discuss at the end. Let’s take a look at the new holiday Liquid Sand offerings.

OPI It’s Frosty Outside

OPI Silent Stars Go By

OPI Make Him Mine

OPI Baby Please Come Home

OPI Kiss Me At Midnight

OPI Emotions

That is a whole lot of sparkly Liquid Sands! I’ve been a huge fan of the Liquid Sand polishes, and I like the quality of these polishes but I am NOT a fan of the colors. I live for vibrant polishes so these left me underwhelmed purely because of the color selection. I would have loved to see a hunter green or a santa red but there are so many neutral type colors here that I just felt sad. I do love Kiss Me At Midnight (big surprise!) and Emotions is just a little strange. Actually, I ended up liking it and I am kind of obsessed with how this looks at one coat: you get a wash of black and lots of black flecks like cracked pepper. So what do you think? Are you a Liquid Sand lover? What about the color selection of these? Let me know what you think! Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Additional Info:

Mariah Carey Holiday nail lacquer shades each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Liquid Sand nail lacquers should always be worn without top coat. Mariah Carey Holiday is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!
ABOUT OPI
As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

Dare To Wear Ready For My Close-Up

Posted on 9 October, 20139 October, 2013 by Cynthia

Yay it’s raining today! I absolutely love this kind of weather, but hate driving in it. I guess it was my lucky day because I didn’t have to work today. I did however totally forget about the street sweeper this morning so I had to run out half asleep to move my car before I got a ticket. Last night, Lesley tweeted me about a polish we had both picked up when we went to PM (Polish Mecca), and I immediately wanted to go swatch it because she said it was amazing. It was 11:00 and I was already in bed, so I decided that I’d rather sleep than swatch a polish. Well, I woke up thinking about that polish (why must I be so obsessive?) so despite my gimpy broken nail, I decided to once again do a three finger swatch for today’s post. So what is this mystery polish, you ask? It is Dare To Wear Ready For My Close-Up.

I had to share that clip. Beejus she was good in that movie.

Dare To Wear Ready For My Close-Up is a gorgeous combination of a blurple jelly-esque base full of blue and magenta glitter as well as holographic goodness which unfortunately wasn’t captured in my pictures. Since it was raining, I didn’t have any sun out to take some decent sunlight pictures but trust me: this baby sparkles. The effect of this polish is breathtaking when you see it in natural light. The formula feels a little thin but it builds up nicely. You can get away with two coats, but I applied three because I had a few bald spots. I applied 2 coats of Seche because it sucks up top coat–not terribly, but it does.

Breathtaking, isn’t it? I bought another polish from this brand that reminds me a bit of Chanel Taboo. Well, I wouldn’t call them dupes at all, but they have a similar feel and look. I can’t wait to try it out. I’ve purchased Dare To Wear polishes in the past, but I don’t think any of them were as interesting as this one. They are definitely on my radar now. GREAT! Another brand to obsess over. Let me know what you think about this polish. Have you tried this brand before?

Talk to you later!

Gwen Stefani By OPI…Or How OPI MADE MY YEAR

Posted on 8 October, 2013 by Cynthia

OPI Partners with Music and Fashion Icon

Gwen Stefani to Launch Limited Edition Nail Lacquers, Featuring Breakthrough Finishes

OPI joins celebrity partner Gwen Stefani in announcing seven new limited edition nail lacquers for 2014, featuring standout color in breakthrough finishes. Highlights from the collection include a bold red lacquer that pays homage to Gwen’s signature lipstick, a new semi-matte satin finish in shades of gold and black, and a mirrored chrome paired with a special base coat.

Inspired by the 2013 Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala that featured the theme “Punk: Chaos to Couture,” OPI Executive VP and Artistic Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann decided to create a collection of lacquer celebrating the role of music as a major influence in fashion. “With her expertise as a singer, songwriter and designer, who better to collaborate with than Gwen Stefani?” asks Weiss-Fischmann. “Known for her trademark red lips, bold eye makeup and nail art, Gwen uses beauty to accessorize her style.”

Gwen’s signature red OPI hue – Over & Over A-Gwen – is available in a boxed set, which includes Swarovski black crystals and silver, gold and pewter studs in bar, square, diamond and circle shapes for creating unique nail designs, as well as nail glue for easy application. Love.Angel.Music.Baby. and 4 in the Morning feature a new, semi-matte satin finish designed to be worn without top coat. Push and Shove, a bold chrome hue, is also worn without top coat but requires a special complimentary base coat – Lay Down that Base. One thin coat of Lay Down that Base topped with two thin coats of Push and Shove yields an intense, mirrored finish. The collection is rounded out with two glossy crème lacquers and one sparkly glitter shade: Hey Baby, I Sing in Color, and In True Stefani Fashion.

“OPI wanted to create a collection as dramatic, diverse and glamorous as its namesake,” adds Weiss-Fischmann. “With crème and glitter hues, new satin matte texture, a mirrored chrome and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, Gwen Stefani by OPI presents the latest in pigments and finishes, while combining elements of haute couture and street fashion.”

Gwen Stefani by OPI includes the following seven limited edition nail lacquers: Hey Baby, I Sing in Color, Love.Angel.Music.Baby., 4 in the Morning, In True Stefani Fashion, Push and Shove* and Over & Over A-Gwen**.

Gwen Stefani by OPI nail lacquers contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. This promotion will be available beginning January 2014 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer. The boxed set including Over & Over A-Gwen and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS will retail for $14.95 ($18.95 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!

*Must be worn with Lay Down that Base, which is complimentary when purchasing Push and Shove **Sold only in a boxed set including SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS

###

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

ABOUT GWEN STEFANI

A singer since childhood, Gwen has fronted the band No Doubt for the past 22 years. During this time she has achieved worldwide success as a performer, songwriter and recording artist selling almost 50 million albums worldwide. No Doubt’s five genre-blending albums have showcased her adept songwriting and poignant lyrics with number one hits like “Don’t Speak”, “Just A Girl”, and “Hey Baby” along with many others.

After the double-platinum retrospective Singles Collection, featuring the hit “It’s My Life,” Gwen released two highly successful solo albums. Love.Angel.Music.Baby was released in 2004 and The Sweet Escape was released in 2006. In 2009, after a nearly five-year hiatus, No Doubt completed a 50-plus city North American tour performing for more than 750,000 fans that summer. The following year they were invited to perform for President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sir Paul McCartney and others as part of the annual Kennedy Center Honors. In 2012, No Doubt released their sixth studio album “Push And Shove” which debuted #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. The band is currently writing and recording new music to be released this year.

In addition to her singer-songwriter career Gwen’s original sense of style and lifelong passion for creating her own clothing designs culminated in the launch of her fashion label L.A.M.B. (Love, Angel, Music, Baby) in 2003. Gwen is widely recognized as a trendsetter and accomplished designer within the fashion industry L.A.M.B is a luxurious collection of clothing, handbags, shoes and fragrance, based on Stefani’s personal style and aesthetic. In 2005, Gwen launched her highly successful second brand Harajuku Lovers. Harajuku Lovers is a playful line of apparel, bags, shoes, fragrance, stationary and electronics that reflects Gwen’s love of Japanese culture and Pop Art. L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers are sold in over 2500 retail doors worldwide. In 2011, Gwen launched Harajuku Mini exclusively for Target in all 1700+ doors. Harajuku Mini is a designer children’s brand that includes shoes, bags, accessories, swimwear, and home.

In 2011, Gwen became actively involved in the relief and recovery effort in Japan. In addition to donating $1,000,000 to Save The Children’s Japan Earthquake-Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund, Gwen created a charity auction and limited edition T-shirt with 100% of proceeds benefiting the relief effort.

Oh my nail Gods, you guys!!!! I got this press release when I was at work and I literally squealed with excitement which my neighbors did not appreciate since I startled them. I absolutely adore Gwen Stefani so I really can’t wait to get my hands on this collection. I’ve loved Gwen and No Doubt foh-eva and still remember those high school days when I would sit in my room and belt out Don’t Speak. Yes, I was a total emo teenager. Is there any other kind? Anyway, what do you think? Are you as excited about this as I am?

Essie Shearling Darling Collection – Winter 2013

Posted on 7 October, 20137 October, 2013 by Cynthia

I had such a bummer day today. There are certain days when I can tolerate my job better than others, and today was one of those days when I was just incredibly sad about being at a job that slowly kills my soul every day. After work, I decided to go get my newest lemming: Tom Ford Black Sugar. When I stopped at Bloomingdales, they didn’t have the Fall collection yet so I went to Saks. They didn’t have it either. I was totally defeated and decided that it wasn’t meant to be. I guess I saved myself the $32 for now, but I can’t guarantee I won’t be back there next week. I am instead consoling myself with some Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.

Anyway, today I have the Essie Shearling Darling Collection for Winter 2013 to show you. Before I get into the swatches, I wanted to remind you that these are three finger swatches due to the breakage of my pointer finger nail.

Oh the humanity! That is a total nubbin, and I pretty much lost the entire free edge. I won’t really get into HOW i broke the nail but let’s just say that a very hard chicharron was involved. Ok, I know that sounds super dumb so let me elaborate: If you don’t know what a chicharron is, it’s basically a pork rind. It was a special chicharron with the meat attached, and I was trying to break off a piece. When it snapped off, it also snapped off my nail. Nice. My gluttony has once again punished me. So now that that I have shared that dumb story, let me show you my swatches of the Shearling Darling Collection.

Haven’t we seen tons of these darkened blues this Fall/Winter? It doesn’t matter to me because Essie Mind Your Mittens is absolutely gorgeous. I can’t get over how glossy this looks–and this is without top coat!!! The formula was nice and opaque so I only needed two coat for full opacity.

Where to start with this color? Essie Parka Perfect is a beautiful greyed dusty blue with hidden shimmer that only becomes apparent at certain angles. The formula was a little streaky so I used three very thin coats which worked out well for me.

I think that Essie Sable Collar is the absolute winner in this collection. It’s so beautiful!!!!! The microshimmer really comes out in sunlight and depending on the angle, you see some brown, grey and burgundy. Seriously gorgeous! The formula was nice and needed two coats.

While being the collection’s namesake, Essie Shearling Darling is nice but not exactly exciting. The reason why I really like this polish is because it is amazingly shiny and smooth and as we all know, I can’t resist a gorgeous creme. It almost has a squishy crelly quality to it. The formula is great and it just SCREAMS Fall.

Essie Toggle To The Top is a unique polish in my collection–I don’t think I have anything similar to this. At first I thought that this polish was pretty close to Essie Leading Lady, but there are some differences. I think Toggle To The Top has a darker jelly base but the glitter is pretty similar. The formula was kind of gritty which is to be expected. I got some dragging when I didn’t let each coat dry. I ended up applying 3 thin coats for even coverage.And lastly, here we have Essie Warm & Toasty Turtleneck which is the token lilac/purple in so many Essie collections. This one, however, is one that I can get on board with because it’s more of a gray purple which makes it look dusty and absolutely gorgeous. The formula was nice, and I needed two coats for my swatches above.

Overall, I am very happy with this collection. After a few disappointing collections, I am glad that Essie is bringing us interesting collections again. Best of all, I feel that the formula on their polishes isn’t so problematic anymore nor so hit and miss. This is a solid collection with beautiful colors that perfectly go with the cooling temperatures. One thing I did want to mention is that there seems to be some confusion about two polishes and that they might be mislabeled. Apparently the labels on Mind Your Mittens and Parka Perfect are switched on some polishes. I have no idea which is the correct labeling so I guess we will just have to wait and hear the official word from Essie.

Let me know what you think about this collection. Do you have any favorites? Thanks for stopping by today!

Orly Satin Hues Satin Luxury

Posted on 6 October, 20136 October, 2013 by Cynthia

Hey, guess what? I had to get up at 5:00 am today so I could be at work at 6:00. I hate my life today. I know I’ve mentioned a few times how much I hate waking up in the morning, and I honestly feel that I will never be a morning person because I wake up absolutely pissed no matter how many hours I sleep. The one good thing about this is that I am in a nice air conditioned building while it is a million degrees outside. Since I had the bad break on my pointer finger, I am going to be showing you some of the swatches that were in my pending folder—thank God for previous swatching fits! Until my nail grows out (which will take about 2-3 weeks), I will be posting swatches I did pre-break. I am expecting a couple of collections in the next week so I may just buckle down and do three finger swatches because I don’t want to get crazy behind on my reviews. Tomorrow I will be posting the Essie Winter Collection so I hope that the three finger swatches don’t bother you too much. I had asked this question on my Facebook page and most people didn’t seem to care too much. Personally, I can’t stand three finger swatches (and I’ve seen two AND one finger swatches!!!) because they just seem lazy. But hey, that’s just how I feel about what I post on my blog so everyone has the right to decide what works for them on their blog.Today I’m going to show you another HTF Orly polish from their discontinued Satin Hues line. I previously reviewed Uniquely Satin and totally loved it so let’s take a look at Orly Satin Hues Satin Luxury.

While this isn’t a color that I would normally gravitate towards, Orly Satin Hues Satin Luxury is just so unique that I can’t help loving it. It wants to look frosty, but I think that the satin finish keeps it from crossing into the abyss of frost city. The application can be a little tricky because it is prone to brushstrokes so I had to try not to go over the same spot twice. Unfortunately, the formula is super thin so I needed 4 coats for full opacity. I know…I know…ain’t nobody got time for that. Well, I had time for that and I will make more time for that when I wear this polish again.

If you’re interested in getting your hands on some of these Satin Hues, you may be able to find them on evilbay for a reasonable price. If you love older polishes and enjoy the pre three free formula fumes (am I the only one?!?!?!), these are definitely worth getting. I am also a big fan of collecting older looking bottles so I do love these .75 oz Orly behemoths. Well, I hope your weekend has been better than mine….and everything starts up all over again tomorrow. Being an adult sucks. And this sums up my sentiments about growing up in general:

Talk to you later!

Marc Jacobs Secret Love

Posted on 5 October, 20135 October, 2013 by Cynthia

I don’t know where you’re located, but I just have to say that today is the absolutely worst day here because of the weather. We are having some pretty strong Santa Ana winds, it’s in the mid-90’s and dry as hell. Basically this means that my allergies are in overdrive, and I have the most horrible tension headache. What a wonderful Saturday! The only good thing is that I didn’t have to work today, and I have been catching up on The Walking Dead now that new episodes are on Netflix. Other than that, I’m super irritated; isn’t this supposed to be Fall? Today I’m sharing another polish I got when Marc Jacobs’ make up line first came out. As you may recall, I previously reviewed Blue Velvet so today I have Marc Jacobs Secret Love.

I didn’t share a bottle shot with you in my previous review so here it is. I definitely think that this bottle is kinda weird looking. Fortunately, the cap comes off so you don’t have to worry about that huge cap when trying to polish your nails. I was told that the curve line is supposed to be a “smile” which I can see, but I still find the bottles very awkward.

Labeled as an “opaque eggplant purple,” Secret Love is a nice polish although not very unique. I am sure we all have dupes of this color in our collections. All I have to say is that I am a sucker for cremes and this really is a lovely creme. It’s so incredibly glossy and smooth!! The formula was nice but I did find it very easy to create bald spots so make sure that you give your first coat a few minutes to set before you apply the second.

So, uhm, yes I like this polish but don’t like the price tag.j I don’t see myself purchasing anymore polishes from this line unless they come out with new colors that are unique and warrant the $18 price. If you’re interested in checking out the Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer line, you can head on over to your local Sephora or sephora.com for details. I hope that you’re having a nice weekend, and I will talk to you soon!

P.S. I added a lot of new stuff to my blog sale so check it out!

OPI Miss Universe Collection 2013

Posted on 3 October, 20133 October, 2013 by Cynthia

I’ve never been one to really be interested in pageants and such, but I give those women props because I do think it takes a lot to go through that whole process. It’s sad that what I tend to remember from pageants is the following:

Poor Miss South Carolina! Anyway, today I have the OPI Miss Universe Collection which is a lovely trio made up of 2 cremes (CREMES!!!!!!!) and one metallic polish. Let me show you the shades and let you know what I think of them.

Love, love, love!!! OPI I’m Feeling Sashy is a gorgeous plum/purple creme with a dusty quality to it that really gives it a unique look. It’s so creamy and glossy that I can barely contain my glee. I do really love this color, and it applied like a dream. I applied 2 coats for the swatches above.

OPI Miss You-niverse is one of those gorgeous dark fall colors that should be a staple. The formula on this one was pretty nice as well and it is almost a one coater. It’s so inky and shiny!

When I first saw OPI This Gown Needs A Crown, I groaned because I thought to myself: not another metallic! You don’t even know how much I hate metallics. Anyway, this is a very unique polish. It’s not really a metallic as it applies like a glitter but dries to a satin finish. It’s a strange polish at first but boy did it grow on me! The formula is a little thin so I used 3 thin coats for full coverage.

I’m really pleased with this fun little trio! What do you think? Are these colors you’re interested in? Thanks so much for the visit today!

MISS UNIVERSE nail lacquers each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. This Gown Needs a Crown features a satin finish and should be worn without top coat for best results. These shades will be available October 2013, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

China Glaze Monsters Ball Collection – Halloween 2013

Posted on 2 October, 20132 October, 2013 by Cynthia

I’m kind of a Halloween nut. It’s not that it brings back memories of eating pounds of candy in one night, well, maybe just a little, but I just love how crazy everyone gets during Halloween. I love the elaborate make up and am always amused by women who think it’s the perfect day to slut up any kind of uniform and call it a costume. I always look forward to the Halloween collections so I was super excited about getting my hands on the China Glaze Monsters Ball Collection. The collection is made up of 5 polishes and a glow in the dark top coat which I wasn’t interested in. Let’s take a look at my swatches, shall we?

Holy Toledo, I love China Glaze Bat My Eyes because it is just so shiny and gorgeous. The formula is great as it is thick and applies easily. I needed two coat for full opacity and the glitter covers very well. I think that this is my favorite polish from the entire collection.

If you like flaky type polishes, then China Glaze Howl You Doin’ is going to be one that you enjoy. The formula was nice but a little thick so I had to apply thin coats unless I wanted a gummy mess on my hands. I started out applying 3 thin coats, but 2 thick coats work just as well. My pictures don’t show just how gorgeous this polish is.

China Glaze Fang-tastic is a glitter topper which could be used on its own, but it would take a lot of patience to try apply the glitter evenly. I applied 1 coat of this glitter over Essie Bobbing for Baubles for my swatches above

China Glaze Boo-gie Down is a fun mix of white, black and bronze glitters. I am not a huge fan of anything with bar glitter, but I think this looks pretty awesome.

I know that this polish is going to be very polarizing, and as far as I’m concerned China Glaze Bump In The Night is a win. I love how it has a leather-y look to it. I think that most people will say that without sparkle, textured polishes are pretty boring. For the most part I tend to agree, but I am really diggin’ this one.

So, what do you think? Personally, I am very happy with this little collection especially after the disappointment I experienced with the HoliGlaze Collection (ick!). A few people have mentioned seeing this collection at Ulta already and I’m sure Sally Beauty will be getting it sometime next year–as usual. Do you have a favorite from this collection? Are you planning something fun for Halloween? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

P.S. Check my blog sale! (ha!)

China Glaze Happy HoliGlaze Collection

Posted on 30 September, 201330 September, 2013 by Cynthia

Are you one of those people who enjoy the holidays and can’t wait for Christmas? I’m not! I actually get annoyed by the craziness of the holidays, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the awesome glitterfests that are presented to us. I was super excited about getting these early-ish so I spent wayyyyy too much time Sunday afternoon swatching the 12 piece China Glaze Happy Holiglaze Collection. This collection can be broken up into three main parts: the metallics/fouls—err…foils (Freudian Slip!), the fine glitters and the chunky glitters (including one textured polish). In each section, the polishes had pretty identical formulas so I won’t be discussing each polish individually but will offer my thoughts at the end of each section. Let the holiday swatchfest begin!

China Glaze All Wrapped Up

China Glaze Put A Bow On It

China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous

Out of the whole collection, these are my three favorites. I just love fine glitter even though it is a pain in the butt to remove without ending up with glitter in your arms, face, ears…etc. These were a little challenging to apply because I felt that if I didn’t stir, shake, roll the polish every time I dipped my brush into the bottle, I got a bunch of clear base with very little glitter. These glitters are just so pretty and sparkly! I applied 3 coats of glitter to make sure that I got complete coverage.

China Glaze So Blue Without You

China Glaze Mingle With Kringle

China Glaze Elfin’ Around

China Glaze Just Be-claws

China Glaze Santa Red My List

It’s no secret that I hate foils and metallic polishes. I don’t know what it is about that finish that makes me want to stab someone. In this case, I just want to stab Santa. This reminds me of a little of something that happened this weekend. My friend Lesley and I were polish shopping and we ended up at Nordstrom after our Sephora trip. I saw these really awesome Estee Lauder Metallic polishes and the following ensued:
Me: “OMG, I want them!” (Imagine me saying this both longingly and very whiney)
Lesley: “But you hate metallics…”
Me: “Oh yeah.”
And I totally walked away at this point. Why did someone have to remind me that I don’t like metallics? Why is the allure of pretty new polishes so strong? I guess that is a true hoarder reaction. Ok, now let’s get back to the foil polishes in this collection. I abhor metallics/foils. This is just my personal preference which is not going to affect what I have to say about the polishes themselves: they are nice. The colors are festive hues but aren’t just Christmas-y so I can see people getting a lot of good use out of them. In addition, the formula on these is pretty great: it’s easy to control, smooth and opaque. If you’re careful with your application, these could be one coaters, but I applied two coats for all of my swatches above. I also wanted to let you know that it is VERY important to let the first coat set and dry a few minutes before you apply a second coats—otherwise you will have a lumpy mess when you drag some of the polish off.

China Glaze Bells Will be Blinging over So Blue Without You

China Glaze Your Present Required over Mingle With Kringle

China Glaze Be Merry, Be Bright over Santa Red My List

I consider these three polishes glitter top coats. I wouldn’t really wear them on their own just because it would be kind of annoying and time consuming to push around the glitter to make sure you had complete coverage and ain’t nobody got time for that! Out of these three, I am seriously loving Your Present Required. They are all pretty, though…even the one with bar glitter (ick!).

China Glaze There’s Snow One Like You

And lastly, this is the polish I knew I would love to hate: There’s Snow One Like You. There aren’t enough words to say how horrid this polish is. Look at it: it’s lumpy and gross. Basically it looks like the Abominable Snowman took a dump on my nails. This is one of those polishes that I had to get just to satisfy my morbid curiosity so call me satisfied and horrified.

So what do I think about this collection overall? If I liked metallic/foil polishes, I think I would like this collection overall. However, being that there isn’t a single crème in this collection (the horror!) and I HATE foils, I can’t say that I like it. The three fine glitters are so pretty and sparkly so I definitely approve of those. Now, for the love of God, do not get There’s Snow One Like you unless you just want to confirm with your own eyes what an abomination this polish is. In fact, I think this is the same exact finish as those horrid Nails Inc. Beaded Polishes—they were horrid when Nails Inc. did them and it is just as horrid now. Just say no. I think this collection will be available sometime in October, but I’m not 100% sure. Unsurprisingly, this collection is up on my blog sale so check it out if you’re interested. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Of Life and Lacquer

Where acetone wishes and lacquer dreams come true…