In my area there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of beauty supply stores. Some of them carry newer stuff, and others are like the beauty supply stores that time forgot. I love going to the one that carry all the older collections because I know that sooner or later, I will find some random gems. There is one particular store that is about an hour away that I used to visit from time to time and I always found interesting things there, but you need a lot of time and a lot of patience to go through the racks. I went to a new store a couple of months ago and loaded up on some mainstream goodies and managed to get some Color Club polishes. Lately I have been all about the contrasting shimmer polishes so when I saw Color Club Bell Bottom Babe, I knew it was one that I needed to add to my stash. Let me show you some swatches below. Continue reading “Color Club Bell Bottom Babe”
Tag: Summer 2014
Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Collection
Is it hot in your neck of the woods? I know it’s supposed to be really hot here in Southern California, but to tell you the truth, I think it is unseasonably cool. Maybe I’m just on crack or something because it was in the low 90’s here today, but it did not feel that gross. Since it’s really starting to warm up, the collection I have for you today is perfect. The Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Collection is made up of 12 bright colors to sear your retinas. I have 9 of the 12 polishes to share with you today so let’s take a look at the colors first.
Salon Perfect Flamingo Flair
Salon Perfect Fired Up Fuchsia
Salon Perfect Haute Pink (don’t ask me why this looks so orange…my camera took a dump on me)
Salon Perfect Plum Sorbet
Salon Perfect Tickled Pink
This is Loopy Lime, Bermuda Baby, Yowza Yellow and Traffic Cone sponged over a white base of sugar cube. I wasn’t being very careful about my sponging as you can tell by the extreme sloppiness and the muddled outcome. I wasn’t too concerned about it since I was planning to stamp over it anyway.
This is what my mani ended up looking like after stamping it up with an image from Bundle Monster BM 319. I kind of like the grungy end result!
Now, let’s talk formula. These were typical neons but some had better formulas than others. All of the polishes I swatched on their own were rather opaque, and I did not need to use white undies. They dried to a satin finish so I applied a clear top coat to give them some shine. They dried really quickly so you can’t overwork the polish because you will have a major mess on your hands. Loopy Lime, Bermuda Baby, Yowza Yellow and Traffic Cone were a lot thinner so I recommend using a white base to get the most out of them because otherwise you might be applying 5 million coats and still see VNL. If you don’t have similar color, I can recommend these. My absolute favorites are: Plum Sorbet an Fired Up Fuchsia. If you’re interested in purchasing these, you can find them at Wal-Mart where they retail for $3.98 each. My Wal-Mart still had a great selection of these, but they are limited edition so get them while you can.
How do you feel about neons? Strictly for summer or do you rock them year-round? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!
Stamping Saturdays #29
So this morning I went to see Lucy. I was super excited about watching it because I love Scarlett Johansson and I love Luc Besson (hello The Professional!), but it was kind of a let down. It seemed like it was trying to be a little serious but only came off as being silly. I figured a movie with both Scarlett and Morgan Freeman couldn’t be too bad, but I was wrong. I should have seen Hercules instead because then I could at least stare at The Rock for an hour and a half. Anyway, after the movie I went to my nail places and they literally had NOTHING new which was a big disappointment. I headed to Sephora to buy my favorite concealer (Kat Von D), and then went to Sally’s to buy some acetone. They had a buy 2 get 1 free sale on Finger Paints, and I almost bought some but I refrained. I’m so responsible now! I was working on my Stamping Saturdays mani last night and I had 2 total disasticures. It was so frustrating because everything I did came out looking horrible so I just ended up going with this last mani.
I really loved the color of Salon Perfect Plum Sorbet (press sample), but it dried so much darker than the bottle color. Even though this is a neon from the Neon Pop! Collection, I did not need to use a white base for this polish. Two coats were enough for full opacity, and it dries to a satiny finish so you need a good top coat if you need a shiny finish. Of course I Seche’d it up.
I then used an image from Mash plate Mash 40 and Essie Good As Gold for this swirly design. I ended up applying a matte top coat to finish off the mani. This is totally…MEH. I neither like it nor hate it. I feel like I’ve been off my stamping game lately. I hope that I start feeling inspired again because I feel like a total stamping bore right now.
So what are you up to this weekend? I don’t have much planed yet so I’m sure I’m just going to bum around which is fine by me. Thanks for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!
KBShimmer Summer 2014 Collection – Part 2
Don’t you just love Doctor Who? I spent my evening watching my favorite episodes again (10th Doctor all the way!!!), and I just can’t believe I didn’t even know about Doctor Who a couple of years ago. I still cry like a baby when I watch The Doctor and Rose say goodbye…I’ll never get over that. Besides watching tons of TV, I also did a crapton of swatching so I’ll have a lot of content for the following week. Today I have some swatches from the second part of the KBShimmer Summer 2014 Collection. You all know that I love KBShimmer to pieces, so I’m always excited to bring you these reviews. Let’s take a look at these beauties.
KBShimmer Peak My Interest
KBShimmer Look High And Holo
KBShimmer Sea You Around
KBShimmer Mintal Vacation
KBShimmer Sweet Wave
KBShimmer Happily Ever Aster
I loved every single one of these. These glitters are all so easy to work with and you never have to worry about not picking up enough glitter–if anything you can pick up too much. My favorite here has got to be Sea You Around because of the gorgeous green jelly base and the interesting glitter combination. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these beauties, head on over to the KBShimmer website where they retail from $7.50 to $8.75.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and good luck on Monday. You all know how I feel about Mondays. Thanks for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon.
Jessica In Bloom Collection Summer 2014
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.
Nicole by OPI Seize The Summer Collection Summer 2014
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!
Zoya Magical Pixie Collection Summer 2014
Woo hoo! Sunday funday! So I didn’t go to watch the new X-Men movie yesterday because I basically lounged around in my pj’s all day clear into the evening. I did do a lot of swatching while I watched a bunch of movies on Netflix which included La Bamba and The Buddy Holly story. Then I watched some episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and continued to bum around. I did finally take a shower and combed my hair because I met up with a friend and we just had a lot of catching up to do. So basically my Saturday was spent in lazy bliss and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Today I will be watching X-Men so I’m excited about that…and movie theater popcorn. For your manicure viewing pleasure today, I have the new Zoya Magical Pixie Collection for Summer 2014. This new trio brings us the same super gritty texture as the first Magical Pixies but with a slightly darker base. Let’s take a look at these pretties below…
Zoya Arlo
Zoya Ginni
Zoya Bar
If you did not like the texture of the first Magical Pixies, do not expect to like these.because they are identical when it comes to the finish. These are very chunky glitters and will feel rough to the touch even if you topcoat them. I wouldn’t topcoat them only because I think they look better this way. All of these polishes required two thick coats for full coverage. To he honest, I kind of really liked the way these looked with one coat even if there was major VNL. Out in the sun, these look amazing because they truly sparkle. I would have liked these a lot of if the base colors were more vibrant…these are just too safe for me to truly go gaga over.
What do you think of these polishes? Did you get the first ones? Will you be getting any of these? I hope you’re enjoying your weekend so far because I sure am. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.
Essie Haute In The Heat Collection Summer 2014
Sometimes I feel like I get this weird high when I review Essie collections–and no, I’m not sniffing the polish or acetone. I know I’ve said it before, but I am always excited when I see new Essies. Am I weird for loving the bottle shape? I just find their bottles so incredibly classy and identifiable that I want to have hundreds of them lined up in my melmers just so I can admire the white caps. I know that I have issues but that just works to your advantage if you’re looking for Essie news and swatches, right?! I am normally in the know when it comes to upcoming collections, but I seriously had not heard a peep about the collection I have for you today until last week when I was reading a magazine. Sometimes I just assume that their neon collection is their summer collection but nope—we get a separate summer collection. Hey, in my book that’s great news because I wasn’t too in love with the Too Taboo Collection. So anyway, once I saw the ad in my magazine, I went to harass and chastise my nail guy for not telling me about this new collection. Whenever I go to his store, the first words out of my mouth (after saying hello, of course) are: “What new stuff do you have?” Sometimes I don’t even have to ask him because he will steer me to any new displays. I love my nail guy, but I’m pretty sure he’s a little scared of me. So now that I’ve rambled, are you ready to see the Essie Haute In The Heat Collection for Summer 2014?
OH MY FLIPPING POLISH GOD. Essie Strut Your Stuff is such a freaking gorgeous color. It’s like the darker cousin of In The Cab-ana. The formula on this was pretty nice because it was very opaque and smooth. I applied two coats here and it dries pretty shiny. One thing to note is that it stains a bit–but not enough to ever deter me from wearing it.
What are you doing to me, Essie? Are you trying to make up for past duds with this gorgeous polish? Cause I have to be honest: It’s kind of working. Essie Ruffles & Feathers is another gorgeous polish with an awesome formula. In real life, this color is slightly more green but my camera makes it lean a little bit more blue. Still…hubba, hubba!
I love white creamy polishes so much but we all know that the formula usually sucks balls, so I wasn’t expecting for Essie Urban Jungle to be decent. In fact, the formula is quite nice even though the first coat applied a little streaky and had a kind of chalky look. After the second coat, it was all gravy.
Essie Haute In The Heat is really pretty but i found it a little boring especially since it’s the collection’s namesake. Still, if you don’t have something super similar, it’s worth getting because the formula is superb. If you have a steady hand, this is a one-coater.
Despite the silly name, Essie Roarrrrange is a nice and juicy summer color. Unfortunately, I am still on the “I hate orange” train from last week so I can’t say I am really loving the color. Additionally, this is the only polish that gave me a little trouble because I needed three thin coats to even it out.
I really wanted to love Essie Fierce, No Fear but I think this color just doesn’t do me any favors. I think it look absolutely icky on me, but I’m sure it will work on different skin tones. The formula was nice and SUPER shiny so expect two coats.
Overall, I am very happy with this collection. Coming off my disappointment with their Summer Neons, this is just what I needed to reel me back in. I know that this doesn’t necessarily scream SUMMER, but I think I quite like that. I also always appreciate their 6-piece collections because this allows me to really focus on each polish. I can totally see this collection being very polarizing, so I’m very curious to hear what you think. I think most of the major brands have put out their summer offerings, so now I’m excited to start hearing about Fall collections. Maybe I’m just trying to ignore the fact that we have 100+ degree weather all last week and it’s not even summer yet. Kill me now. On that note, I hope that you had a nice weekend and that you’re nice and rested for this new week. Is it Friday yet? No? Ok. Thanks so much for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon.
GIVEAWAY REMINDER
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!
China Glaze Off Shore Collection Summer 2014 – Stoked To Be Soaked
Hey, how you doin’? I totally just said that in Joey’s voice.
I had the most ridiculous dream last night and I’ve been feeling off because of it. Is that normal? I’ll just blame anything unpleasant on the heat and call it a day. As promised, today I have the second part of the China Glaze Off Shore Collection to show you. I think we can all agree that the polishes I showed you yesterday certainly were not neon. What will be today’s verdict? Let’s take a look at my swatches first.
China Glaze Shore Enuff
China Glaze Be More Pacific
China Glaze Sun Upon My Skin
China Glaze Seas The Day
China Glaze When In Doubt, Surf It Out
China Glaze Stoked To Be Soaked
I can tell you that as far as colors go, I much prefer the other half of the collection. Because I’ve been super obsessed with green lately, my two favorites are Shore Enuff and Be More Pacific. The formula on all of these is nice–not nightmarish like previous summer collections. Sun Upon My Skin and Stoked To Be Soaked are the brightest polishes here but they aren’t true neons. I am happy to report that the formula on all of these polishes is nice. For my swatches, I applied two coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite for shine. I’m a little meh on the colors here, but the two greens are definite must-haves in my opinion. So what are your thoughts on this half of the collection? If you haven’t seen the first part, click here. Anyway, I hope you’re doing well and staying cool. Thanks for the visit today, and I will talk to you soon!
China Glaze Off Shore Collection Summer 2014 – Dune Our Thing
Excuse me, but I’m melting. Melting while I sit on the couch is not something that I enjoy, but I’m sure that those of you without air conditioning can sympathize. It’s going to be a few degrees shy of 100 today so my mood is already sour. It isn’t sour enough to not share with you my review of the China Glaze Off Shore Collection, though! As usual, this collection is divided into two sets and today I have the Dune Our Thing set but don’t fret because the Stoke To Be Soaked set will be on the blog tomorrow. You know I’m always really excited about China Glaze Collections so I try to pick them up as soon as my beauty supply stores get them. I was super excited to get them because their shipment literally arrived as I was entering the store. SCORE! Anyway, let me show you my swatches so we can talk about them afterwards.
China Glaze Wait N’ Sea
China Glaze I Sea The Point
China Glaze X-ta-sea
China Glaze Float On
China Glaze Feel The Breeze
China Glaze Dune Our Thing
So, uhm…these are supposed to be neons? Neons they are not. Why must we keep getting “neon collections” that aren’t really neon? I’m crying neon tears right now. Some of these are definitely bright, but I wouldn’t call them neon. (Can I possibly say “neon” some more? Neon, neon, neon!) Despite this, I think these colors are really pretty and the formula isn’t bad. We all remember past Summer collections, right? I’m still not over last year and the year before. The only polish that gave me some problems is the lightest pink, Feel The Breeze. It was streak-arrific but it did even out after three coats. Most of these will dry to a satin finish so you’ll need a good top coat if you want a glossy finish. I was super scared of Sea The Point because I had read somewhere that it was an application beast. The first coat was all that I feared, but then I decided to give the polish a good rolling/shaking and the second coat applied very nicely. Overall, I think these are really beautiful colors but we’ve seen these colors already. If I had to pick my favorites, I would get Float On, X-ta-Sea and Wait N’ Sea. To be honest, all the colors are beautiful so I’m having a hard time trying to pick favorites. I think that if you don’t have similar colors, these are definitely worth picking up. So what do you think? Will you be able to get past the fact that these aren’t really neons and get some of these? Do you have any favorites? This collection should be at the usual places this June…can you believe it’s almost June? Ghhhhaaaa! Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!
