OPI Infinite Shine Summer 2015 Collection: Part II {swatches & review}

[This post features press samples]

Ha. Ha ha ha. This post is like, a month after Part I but ya know…life happens. And, in truth, the biggest reason I delayed this post is because I only liked two of these shades (and one of these I liked A LOT, but not enough to make up for the rest). Anyway, let’s just get this over and done with, shall we?

Enter the Golden Era

While not the worst shade of gold on my skintone, Enter the Golden Era is a bit brushstroke-y, has a less-than-stellar formula application wise and is just not really my bag. I think you can find better gold options out there.

Left to right: OPI Enter the Golden Era, OPI Dazzled by Gold

As I rarely wear gold polish, I only really had one shade to compare it to (OPI Dazzled by Gold, sadly LE) and Golden Era pales SO much in comparison to the fabulousness of that shade. On my skintone I NEED that richness of color and depth for gold to be interesting.

Bee Mine Forever

Although I like yellow polish in theory, I’ve only ever found one that really DID it for me (and MAN I do love that shade!). Though this is a nice yellow as they go, the formula was

Left to right: OPI Bee Mine Forever, butter London Jasper, OPI Life Gave Me Lemons

Bee Mine Forever is quite similar in color to butter London’s Jasper, but the latter is a bit more buttery (both apply like crap though). Life Gave Me Lemons is way more saturated.

S-ageless Beauty

Sorry the color is so intense on this, it was super-sunny when I took it and I couldn’t seem to color adjust enough to fix it. In person, S-ageless Beauty is a bit more muted and a hint more green. As a non-green lover I actually didn’t hate this…but I didn’t love it enough to keep it either. And the formula was quite thick; you can see on my index finger it smudged because it took a while to dry.

Left to right: OPI S-ageless Beauty, butter London Bossy Boots, OPI That’s Hula-rious!, China Glaze Re-fresh Mint

Here is a better representation of the color. It’s more yellow-leaning like butter London Bossy Boots but not as dusty, which works in it’s favour (on my skintone anyway). The other two, OPI That’s Hula-rious! and China Glaze Re-fresh Mint are more blue-leaning.

Silver on Ice

BLERGH. Brushstroke DISASTER of a formula. DISLIKE! The actual tone of Silver on Ice isn’t bad on my skin, but it’s nowhere near good enough to bother trying to smooth out the application. ICK.

Left to right: OPI Silver on Ice, Revlon Sterling, OPI Centennial Celebration, OPI This Silver’s Mine!

I can’t get over how much more I like OPI Centennial Celebration than any other silver I’ve encountered – it’s the sparkliness, I think. Silver on Ice is very similar in tone to Revlon Sterling, but even the cheapy drugstore option applies miles better. OPI This Silver’s Mine! has that pinkish hue that sets it apart from them all.

…To Be Continued

I live for periwinkle shades like this! I kind of want to own ever one I come across, but I resist (which I think it’s pretty damn amazing, considering). …To Be Continued has a good formula that’s fairly easy to apply but does require 3 coats to ensure everything is perfect. And with a shade like this, you want it to look perfect, yes? *As a side note, this length of nail is my absolute favourite on me, just hitting the tips of my fingers. I find it makes every polish look so much nicer!

Left to right: OPI …To Be Continued, Essie Bikini So Teeny

I thought this was going to be exactly the same as Essie Bikini So Teeny, and it IS quite close, but it’s a bit lighter and less blue leaning than the former. I was SO tempted to keep both, but I decided that I had to choose a favourite *pale periwinkle* since owning two to similar goes against my attempts at streamlining my collection. I kept the Essie, only because I’d rather give away a full bottle of polish rather than a 3/4 full one. They’re both awesome.

Wild Blue Yonder

I also quite like blue shades like Wild Blue Yonder – they’re so punchy and fun! This has a great formula, 2 quick coats, no issues at all. I don’t find these as pretty as periwinkle’s like …To Be Continued, but I still like these for spring/summer.

I paired this with Bee Min Forever, and while it was nice enough, it wasn’t my favourite pairing – probably would have looked softer and more complimentary with …To Be Continued (clearly I have a major bias for that shade, huh?).

Left to right: OPI Wild Blue Yonder, Zoya Robyn, YSL Bleu Majorelle

When I first saw Wild Blue Yonder, I thought it’d be identical to Zoya Robyn, but once again I was foiled! Robyn is lighter and has a touch of green in it. Bleu Majorelle really isn’t a contender either but I wanted to show it for comparison purposes. Again, I felt like I had to choose between Wild Blue and Robyn to fulfill my bright mid-tone blue quota…I haven’t ben able to choose just yet. I will though, I promise!

And that, as they say, is that! I debated even bothering to post these at all as the weeks past and it seemed like posting about a summer collection was silly at this point, but I feel better about doing so now regardless. I think these are all still available so if you’re keen to pick any up you still have the chance (though really only …To Be Continued and Wild Blue Yonder are worth it in my opinion).

You’ll be happy to hear though that I have all my swatches done for the OPI Fall/Winter Venice collection (which is mostly excellent), so I hope to have those up this week! I’m determined to do so, as we’re moving this weekend and I don’t know how much posting I’ll be able to get done for a few weeks after that. But THEN….once we’re settled in the new place I’m going to be able to do SO much more! A real house, guys!!!!! I can’t freakin’ WAIT 😀 😀 😀 😀

OPI Two to Celebrate Coca-Cola Polish Set {Review & Swatches}

Good day everyone! How’s life been treating you lately? Our summer weather-wise has been quite lovely here, with just enough rain to keep things lush. Elena has been keeping me très busy these days; she’s going through a sort of sleep regression and is napping for 30 minutes at most – and getting those naps has been hard work! I have a few review posts that have been waiting to be written though, so I’m just going to have to sneak in a bit of blog business here and there when I can. Today’s post should be relatively short and sweet as it’s only covering two nail polishes – the OPI Two to Celebrate polish set commemorating Coca Cola’s 100th year anniversary. I don’t know what’s up with OPI doing so many Coke collections – as a non-pop lover it really doesn’t grab me, but ~shrugs~ There must be a target audience out there somewhere!

Left: OPI Centennial Celebration; Right: OPI Visions of Georgia Green

The two shades in the set are Visions of Georgia Green (a pearlescent green with subtle pink duo chrome and a hint of glitter) and Centennial Celebration (a rich shimmering pewter).

Visions of Georgia Green is not my kind of polish shade – at all. It was quite sheer (this is 3 coats and it could have used a 4th, IMO) and it just looks ghastly on my hands. It just seemed to have too much going on, with the sort of golden microglitter, duochrome (though barely visible) and pearl finish. Plus, it’s green, which I’m just not a fan of as a whole as far as polish goes. I layered it over black on my index finger to see if it would look better, but – no. It’s still awful. LOL!

As always, comparison swatches were had. Since I’m not a green fan I didn’t have much to compare it to, only the recently released My Gecko Does Tricks from the OPI Hawaiian collection. They’re not even close.

Left: OPI My Gecko Does Tricks; Right: Visions of Georgia Green

Thankfully, this is not a complete disaster of a set (and to be fair, there are people who will probably LOVE Georgia Green) – though it easily could have been for me, as a person who isn’t fond of silver either. Happily, Centennial Celebration is FABULOUS.

Though it’s described as a pewter shade, I find it is more silver in tone – probably because it just GLEAMS. The shade is crisp and clean (not what I think of when I think of pewter, which to my mind is like a dirtied silver), and the perfect mix of metallic and shimmer – not too much of either, so it’s got zero brushstrokiness that you can get with a full-on metallic, and it’s not too shimmery for this confessed creme lover. It’s replaced my previous silver polish love, Revlon Sterling, which I merely didn’t hate; Centennial Celebration on the other hand, is pure LOVE.

I have a handful of silver & silver-ish swatches in which to compare Centennial Celebration:

Left to right: Chanel Graphite, OPI Centennial Celebration, OPI This Silver’s Mine!, Revlon Sterling, Nicole by OPI DC Lover

The pewter quality of CC is more apparent here; next to decidedly pewter Chanel Graphite, you can see its very much in the same vein only much lighter. It’s clearly more pewter than OPI This Silver’s Mine, and next to Revlon Sterling, it looks positively yellowed (aka dirtied) in comparison to Sterling’s cool tone. It’s not at all similar (red micro glitter aside) to the base color of Nicole by OPI’s DC Lover, which almost has a pinkish hue to it – and I’m glad because I actually love that shade too (two silvers I love, what is the world coming to? Maybe one day I’ll find a green I like as well??).

So, another Coca Cola collection down. I don’t really care how many they do if the polishes are nice, but it seems a bit overkill eh?

Are you a Coke fan? And do you like green and/or silver polish? What do you think of this duo?

Swatching ain’t what it used to be: OPI Hawaii Spring 2015 Collection

A day after returning from the hospital with my beautiful baby girl in tow, the new Hawaii-themed spring collection from OPI landed on my doorstep. Equal parts excitement and anxiety flooded me – I mean, HOORAY! for new, fun nail polish to play with; but OHMAGERD how in the EFF am I going to swatch all these with a new babe to look after 24/7?

Basically, you swatch one shade a day until you get through ’em all.

I must say, once I finished I felt inordinately pleased with myself. NEW MOM, WHAT!?! However, its not perfection – my cuticles and hands are sort of a wreck, leftover from washing my hands 20 times a day in the NICU and then having no time to do damage control once we got home. Meh. Guess I can’t do everything.

Ok, less talky, more showy (time is a luxury, after all!).

Starting with my favorite from the collection, Do You Take Lei Away? is a ‘creamy nude’ that applies very well for this kind of shade, smooth and even in 2 coats, and is neutral enough (not too warm or cool) that I think it will flatter most skintones.

Left to right: Tom Ford Toasted Sugar, OPI Do You Take Lei Away?, OPI Maintaining My Sand-ity, Essie Jazz

I was unsurprised when I started pulling similar shades to compare against ‘Lei Away’ and discovered the closest match was a much-loved favorite, Essie Jazz. The OPI shade is just a hint more pink and less grey than Jazz and as such it looks a bit better against my skintone. My bottle of Jazz is halfway done (which means its almost finished, in polish terms), so I’m pleased to have a  sort of newer, better version to take it’s place.

‘Pastel mint green’ That’s Hula-rious! is the kind of shade that I love in theory but which doesn’t always compliment my skintone. As is common with pastels, the formula is a bit streaky and needed 3 coats. The swatch above portrays it more vividly than it is – this shade was swatched during a snowstorm (one of many!!) so the natural light is much more dim and I had to overcompensate when taking the photo. The comparison photo below gives a more accurate indication of the shade.

Left to right: China Glaze Re-fresh Mint, OPI That’s Hula-rious!, butter London Bossy Boots

China Glaze Re-fresh Mint is very similar, but is a smidgen lighter and less green, and the formula for it was atrocious. I far prefer this version.

A ‘reef-inspired purple’, Lost My Bikini in Molokini feels like the perfect shade for spring – its vibrant and playful but not too bright. 2 coats were required to achieve opacity; the formula is good but not perfect and needs a tiny bit of attention to avoid streaking. This polish stained my nails a tad when I removed it, so keep that in mind.

Left: OPI Lost My Bikini in Molokini; Right: Rescue Beauty Lounge Mismas

I thought that RBL’s Mismas would be a close dupe to this color, but in fact it’s a few shades darker. I think I like the lighter tones of the OPI shade actually – I really like wearing colors according to seasons (so sue me) and Mismas doesn’t seem to fit into any of them, in my view.

Described as a dark, creamy mauve, Just Lanai-ing Around is one of those midtone shades that I’m not a fan of – I prefer a strong contrast against my skintone. Personal preferences aside, the formula on this color is excellent and only required 2 easy coats to reach opacity.

Left to right: OPI No Spain, No Gain, OPI Just Lanai-ing Around, OPI Diva of Geneva

In my mind, ‘Lanai-ing‘ was very similar to OPI No Spain, No Gain (another midtone shade I dislike), but it’s much lighter. OPI Diva of Geneva is a shimmer, of course, and in any case it’s also much darker and richer in tone.

Go With the Lava Flow is a ‘golden red’ that leans coral and has a slight orange flash, which you can see only at the right angle. Normally this type of color isn’t my bag, but looking at these swatches makes me want to give it another go – it’s kind of intriguing, no? It took 3 coats to get the opacity I desired, but the polish applied well with no issues. I don’t have any shades comparable to this.

Aloha From OPI is a ‘bright creamy coral’ that has just enough pink to keep it from being a true red. It’s been so long since I’ve worn a bright like this, it gets me in the mood for warmer weather! Though its a cream, it applied a touch streaky and I needed 3 coats to even it out to my liking. I don’t find this shade particularly unique, but it’s pretty nonetheless.

Left: OPI Aloha From OPI; Right: Essie Come Here

A very close dupe for this shade is Essie’s Come Here, a favourite of mine. Essie’s version is ever so slightly more pink, but to me they’re essentially the same. Come Here has it’s own application issues, but I think I’d keep it over Aloha From OPI simply because I like square bottles better 😉

Halfway through, guys. At this point I was on day 7 and getting better at painting my nails between one feed, and then stealthily putting Elena down long enough to take photos between another. Swatches over showers, oh YEA.

Pineapples Have Peelings Too is…well, it’s just bizarre, what can I say? A ‘gold shimmer with colorful sparkle,’ when I pulled this shade out for the first time I was like ‘What the…?’  It is NOT pretty, you guys. Whoever thought up this shade was reaching, big time (though the name is perfect, I think). As the gold base is quite sheer, it required 3 coats to build up opacity. Interestingly enough, I actually quite like the base color, and I’m very picky about my golds (if you recall…). But the glitter bits are garish and the base covers over their sparkle to make it all look dull and blah. ME NO LIKEY (does anyone?). Obviously, this is a one-of-a-kind shade.

Is Mai Tai Crooked?, an ‘orange crème’, is one of those polarizing shades I think. Though it’s base isn’t too yellow, which can go terribly wrong on some people (like myself), it’s still not a flattering color on me. I do love the name though 😉 3 coats are needed to help even out patchiness, though if you were really careful you could probably get away with 2. Patchiness seems to plague most of the cream shades in this collection I find.

Left: OPI Is Mai Tai Crooked?; Right: Essie Resort Fling

The comparison above is a perfect example of the small nuances that can make or break a shade on my skintone. Essie Resort Fling is more peach than orange, of course, but the pink-leaning base versus the yellow-leaning one makes all the difference for me.

Suzy Shops & Island Hops…oh how I love the look of this shade! Described as a ‘light and happy pink,’ I find this color super-flattering on my skintone. But of course, pastel shades often come with issues, and this shade needed 3 coats to even out the patchiness. But I don’t mind TOO much, because PRETTY.

I must be having a pink moment, because I also love RBL’s Oh Slap!, which is close to ‘Suzy Shops’ though without as much white in the base. I’m tempted to only keep the RBL, but I really love the way the OPI looks so despite it being kind of a PITA to apply, I’ll hang on to it for a while, anyway.

Hello Hawaii Ya? is a ‘dusky purple’ and the type of color that used to appeal to me, for whatever reason. But though it works with my skintone, it’s kind of drab, and I prefer bright and punchy for spring shades. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, for this collection), the formula wasn’t great and I needed 3 coats to smooth out patchiness, which still didn’t fully even things out. I think this color would be lovely on a lighter or darker skintone than mine, but it veers into that ‘midtone’ territory and I have too many other polishes in which to devote my time.

Left: OPI Hello Hawaii Ya? Right: OPI Parlez Vous OPI?

I think the reason I thought I’d like this shade is because when I first got my hands on OPI Parlez Vous OPI?, I adored the way it looked on me. But my tastes have changed over the years, and now I find it looks dull and muddy. These are clearly not dupes but they’re definitely distant relatives.

This Color’s Making Waves should look familiar… This ‘shimmery, lagoon blue’ is a pretty marine shade makes me long for summer in a big way! It’s kind of a pain though, as it needed 4 coats to reach this opacity. It’s quite thin and watery, and as it’s not terribly unique I am less than enamoured by it. I have a very close dupe in…

…Chanel’s Azure. Obviously. For the nitpicky among you, they aren’t exactly the same – Azure has more green in it, and OPI’s version has tiny silver flecks of shimmer running through it to set it apart. Both have a duo chrome flash, but Azure’s is more teal-blue-green, whereas ‘Making Waves’ is more teal-blue-purple. Meh. To me they’re damn near identical, and Azure only requires 2 coats (and, um, it’s Chanel), so it’s the winner in my books!

Finalement. My Gecko Does Tricks. A ‘bright and pearly green’ that has a sort-of orange flash in the right light (as seen in the second photo, which I took with my phone and I previewed on Instagram). I’m not a fan of green polishes generally, which I’ve mentioned on several occasions. Though I probably won’t wear this much if at all (except St. Patty’s Day and maybe Christmas), it kind of grew on me a bit – it isn’t too yellowed (blech)/saturated (due to the shimmer)/dark (and therefore murky) to turn me off, I guess. It’s almost…flattering, if you like greens. It did need 3 coats however, so there’s that.

Overall, the collection was a mixed bag in terms of formula and shades. Many of the polishes were somewhat subpar in terms of performance and some of the shades weren’t to my taste (that’s just my opinion though!). I did have some favorites though, namely Do You Take Lei Away?, Lost My Bikini in Molokini, Go With the Lava Flow, and Suzi Shops & Island Hops (despite the crappy formula).

The Hawaii Collection by OPI is available now in both nail lacquer and GelColor formulas, at professional salons nationwide as well as ULTA and Nail Polish Canada.

*Product samples were provided for my unbiased consideration.

Summer Polish Combo: Light and Dark

I’ve been methodically going through my polishes over the summer and trying to pare down my collection to shades I truly love – my aim is to get below 100 bottles.  I’m 6 bottles away from my goal so I’m making serious progress! One of the two polishes on the chopping block was China Glaze’s Re-Fresh Mint – if you recall, in my review I found it none to flattering on my skin tone, and the formula left much to be desired. Nevertheless, as I discovered with Zoya’s Cho, which I hated on my fingernails but actually love on my toes, I gave the polish a second chance by wearing it as a pedicure, which sometimes does the trick. As we’re moving into late summer, I’m slowly incorporating darker shades into my repertoire, and I paired it with another chopping block contender, Essie’s No More Film, a polish I picked up well over a year ago in a swap but haven’t gotten around to swatching. Here we go!

No More Film is a deep, slightly dusty ‘blurple’ – it’s almost like a super-dark periwinkle shade. The first time I tried it, I thought it was one of those ‘almost black’ shades which I dislike, but this time around for whatever reason, it just worked! It never appeared black, even in dim light, and it looked great on. It’s extremely pigmented and I actually only wore it with one coat (but added an additional coat for swatches). It’s quite glossy on it’s own and applied extremely easily. This shade is staying!

I felt like NMF would go well with RFM as the light and dark tones, while opposites, still somehow seem complimentary. I find as summer rolls along I really like to bring out my tan which pale shades, and emphasize the deepening light with dark shades to contrast. Check out the pairing below. *As an aside, I bought these sandals to wear to an all-day concert I went to a couple weeks back, and they are the COMFIEST EVER! They’re totally like orthopaedic shoes but I figured in an edgy metallic I could pull ’em off. I don’t even care because they are like HEAVEN to wear.

I really liked the pairing of No More Film with Re-Fresh Mint, but I’m not sure it’s enough for me to keep the latter – though I’ve done the same with Cho and ONLY wear that shade on my toes now, I still find the formula on ‘Re-Fresh’ irritating and I’d always opt to wear a more blue-leaning mint shade (like MAC Mischievous Mint) than this, so to the giveaway pile it goes.

What do you think of this pairing?  Do you switch it up from juicy brights to something else as the summer passes? 

Hurry up, spring! My nail polish picks for spring 2014 (plus a dud)

It never fails: as soon as March hits, regardless of the fact that spring doesn’t actually start till the 20th of the month, I move headfirst into ~spring~ mode.  Last night I switched over all my makeup to spring-like colours, and over are the days of dark & moody / icy & cool nail polish colors – bring on the pops of colour and pastels!

I went through my nail polish collection this week (which, despite my *efforts* is still increasing in size, rather than hovering around 100 which is my goal :S) and rounded up the shades that most say ‘SPRING!’ to me.  Many of these shades are new acquisitions to my stash, so of course I’m totally enamoured with them.  I think I’m quite covered when it comes to a good array of shades…though I may need a few more metallics, now that I think about it ~always enabling~  I only really own two – the perfect gold, and a striking silver.  I wouldn’t mind throwing a nice rose-gold in the mix somewhere.  Suggestions??

(Left to right): Dior Bloom, butter London Poole, Essie Splash of Grenadine, Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like, China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, Chanel Orange Fizz, Zoya Robyn

I’ve noticed a trend over the past couple years, and it’s that spring isn’t just for pastels anymore.  Though I do love all the Easter egg shades that crop up this time of year, I’m enjoying seeing random pops of colour in the spring collections more and more.

Having said that, I am a sucker for any pale aqua or minty green shades that come my way.  Last week at Winners I snagged butter London’s Poole for $12CAD; I had drooled over it last summer but felt that I had several shades similar.  Turns out, indeed I do – but it’s different enough to justify owning it and I love it all the same 🙂

butter London Poole, under artificial light

Left to right: China Glaze For Audrey, Zoya Wednesday, butter London Poole, MAC Mischievous Mint

I also grabbed China Glaze’s Re-Fresh Mint at Winners at the same time (on for $5CAD). Green is NOT my polish colour of choice – unless it’s pale/pastel. I had bought butter London’s Bossy Boots last year for that reason, but I find it’s yellow-leanings don’t do my hands any favours. I’d hoped Re-Fresh Mint with it’s cooler tones might make up for that error….sadly, I dislike it even more than Bossy Boots! UGH this looks terrible on me – it’s like white-out with a drop of green food colouring mixed in (got St Paddy’s Day and green beer on my mind, I guess lol) and aside from it looking awful on my skin tone, the formula leaves much to be desired.  Two thick, gloopy coats are required (actually, it’s the only option – thin coats are impossible as it streaks and balls up on itself in seconds) so if I’d actually wore this as a mani (I only put it on for this swatch) then dry time would be atrocious.  NO THANK YOU 😦

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, under artificial light

butter London Bossy Boots (left), China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint (right)

In the spirit of Radiant Orchid Madness 2014, I ordered Essie’s Splash of Grenadine from NPC last month, and guys – I cannot tell you HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS COLOR!!!!!  I think it’s the prettiest nail polish colour I own, seriously.  It required three thin coats to reach opacity, but the little bit of extra time is totally worth it!

Essie Splash of Grenadine, artificial light

My photos don’t capture the gloriousness, but trust: this polish is LOVELY.

You may have noticed that I failed to mentioned the beautiful bright pink polish to the far left, Dior Bloom.  Fear not, my dear friends – THAT baby is going to have a separate post all to it’s own 😉

What shades do you like to wear in spring?  Are you more of a pastel girl, or do you prefer brights? Do you like / can you wear green nail polish? ~shudders~

Celebrating the Arrival of Spring With New(ish) Nail Polish Pretties!

Though I’ve been in somewhat of a nail polish slump, similarly to filling in gaps in my makeup collection, I’ve been picking up polish shades here and there that fit in nicely with the array of colors I already have.  For the most part, I’ve been beefing up my existing collection with shades that are generally thought of when we think ‘spring’ – pale, pastel-like shades that have a fresh, soft, feminine quality to them.  I know that there’s no need to stick to ‘seasonal’ colors any more, but I personally like to change the tones I wear (for both makeup and nails) each season, and typical spring shades are no exception.

I actually don’t own a large array of pale nail polishes, as I normally gravitate toward broodier, richer tones, but this season I’ve accrued five new shades that I’m totally digging, which means I now have a good handful or two of polishes that are just perfect for the spring season.  My two favorites from past years have been Zoya’s Marley and MAC’s Mischievous Mint, and now joining those two are: Sally Hansen Barracuda, a pale yet bright blue; China Glaze Dandy Lyin’ Around (new from this season’s Avant Garden collection), a shimmering white; butter London’s Bossy Boots, a pale pistachio green, and Jasper (new from the Sweetie Shop Spring 2013 collection), a pale lemon yellow; and Chanel Orange Fizz, a slightly muted coral orange.

Sally Hansen Barracuda is a Complete Salon formula, which is supposed to mean that its the full meal deal, with base & top coat qualities rolled into the one polish.  I actually do find these polishes to wear better without base coat, and the swatches below with sans top coat – as you can see, this baby is SHINY.  There really is no need for top coat unless you need a quick drying one to get it on and get out the door.  I found it did require three coats to achieve full opacity and to look it’s best, so if you’re in a hurry you may need a fast-drying top coat anyway.  However, I found that it dries relatively quickly on it’s own, so its not an absolutely necessary step.  Also, I have to mention that I adore the brush on these polishes – it’s wide and thin and covers almost my whole nail bed in one go.  Application is a breeze!

China Glaze Dandy Lyin’ Around was a recent lemming of mine, having only first seen it on All Lacquered Up (a blog, by the way, I’m pleased to see back in action!) this past week.  A couple weeks ago, Taylor of My Lucite Dreams posted about a white polish, and it looked SO lovely on her but I knew the white polish trend was NOT going to be my friend.  However, when I saw Dandy Lyin’, I had a feeling that it’s softer, sparkling quality might be a way for me to try the trend, and I was right!!  I really like this polish a lot, even despite the fact that it’s sheerness and slightly streaky quality requires three coats – just be careful in your application.  It’s worth the effort for me as I’m loving the look on my hands!  I can’t wait to try it on summer toes 🙂  Note that no top coat was used, and I don’t feel it needs one, unless you want to get that smooth, uber-glossy look.

butter London Bossy Boots has NOT been a recent lemming; in fact, I wanted this bad boy last year but held out until a couple months ago when I got it on discount.  As a general rule, I do not like green nail polish – not on others (typically) and definitely not on me.  However, light greens are totally exempt and I love the way they look.  I’m not 100% sold on the yellowish undertones in Bossy Boots as being the best for me, but I still enjoy this shade and am glad I finally picked it up.  The application was good with no real troubles – shown is with two coats – although it would benefit from a top coat to give it a bit more gloss and shine (no top coat used in photos).

butter London Jasper was another longer-term lemming of mine since the launch of the Sweetie Shop collection earlier this year.  I could have easily bought every shade from the release, but held myself back to just this one.  I don’t own a single yellow, and dislike most versions of the shade, but this pale shade hooked me from the get-go.  I love it on and it just screams spring to me.  I’ve read conflicting reviews on this color’s formula – I don’t have a lot of experience with pale yellows, but I think that this formula is pretty darn good.  It does require a bit more attention to application, but as far as it goes this is a good formula with minimal issue, for me at least!  I did go with three coats just to get the best opacity, but it wasn’t that much of a pain.  Like Bossy Boots, it would benefit from a shiny top coat, which I did not use in these photos.

Chanel Orange Fizz was sort of a random buy, which happens very rarely these days.  When I picked up a few things from Chanel earlier this year, I was disappointed with the spring shades released but wanted a new polish.  This one grabbed my attention and I’m super-happy that I bought it, it’s a stunner!  This shade is obviously more pigmented/intense than the other shades I’ve shown above, but it still has a soft quality to it that feels spring-like to me (though this will also be kick-ass in summer!)  The formula is thicker (typical of many Chanel polishes, I’ve found), but flows well and is self-leveling – again, just take care in your application and you should have no problems.  I love the glossiness of this polish on it’s own – no top coat needed!  I used three coats in these swatches, and you can still see slight VNL, but in person it’s hardly noticeable, and you could probably opt for two coats – I’m just fussy 😛

So there you have it!  A handful of pretty polishes – a perfect way to shove usher in spring 🙂

So!  What spring shades are you lemming/have you picked up?  Do you go with softer shades or stick to whatever floats your boat at the time?

Holiday Color Pairings

When I start to think about it, it’s not really a surprise to me that I love makeup.  When I was a kid, I use to spend hours pairing my crayons together in color combinations I thought looked good together (which was also a great indication of my obsessive tendencies toward organization, but that’s a whole OTHER topic in itself!).  While I don’t feel societal pressures to follow trends in shades (woohoo, Emerald for 2013!), nor feel like I ‘should’ wear darker colors in winter and brighter colors in summer, I choose to follow these paths often because it just makes sense to me.  I love the idea of changing the shades I wear according to seasons – heck, I even do it with the change in weather!  Rain means somber shades of grey or blue; sun means warm tones of gold, or brights like aqua and orange; and snow equals icy silvers and cool pinks and purples.  Its just how I roll, ya’ll!

As it’s the holidays, of course I imagined an array of festive shades to represent the season, and since the work was already done, I thought I’d share them with you!  On the weekend for the first time I matched my lips to my tips, and it was a lot of fun.  I’m not entirely sure I’d do the same with eyeshadow, but the colors below all complimented a polish I own so well I figured what the heck.  I hope you enjoy!

Bobbi Brown Chrome Eye Shadow in Pewter; Chanel Le Vernis in 529 Graphite

Chanel Graphite; Bobbi Brown Pewter

Both of these silvers are so much more than plain ol’ silver.  They both veer into a warmer tone rather than stark icy shades, which means they’re quite wearable for all skin tones.  Pewter is currently unavailable as this was an LE shade, but at times Bobbi Brown brings it back in palettes and such, so keep your eyes peeled!  Graphite has had a ton of reincarnations over the past year since it was released (though I don’t believe it’s LE anyway) – the best being Sally Hansen’s Shoot the Moon which was just featured on All Lacquered Up.

Essie Limited Addiction; Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural in #46

Essie Limited Addiction; MUFE #46

MUFE’s #46 Rouge Artist lippie was the red shade I wore on the weekend to compliment my red manicure (done with China Glaze Ruby Pumps).  I ADORE this lipstick; it is by far my favorite red that I own.  It’s more of a true red I think, and looks so darn good on!  The moistness of the lipstick keeps it looking so juicy and festive without being overwhelming in the least.  It feels amazing on and I just can’t get enough!  The only downside is that it’s only available at MUFE Pro stores and kiosks, but well worth the effort.

Essie Limited Addiction was, unfortunately, limited edition, but there are a billion reds out there I’m sure that are similar – just a bit deeper than your typical shade and neither warm nor cool.

MAC Jealousy Wakes; a-England Saint George

a-England Saint George; MAC Jealousy Wakes

Hot DAMN Saint George is beautiful!  I don’t wear this polish nearly as much as I should, mainly because when I bought it last year, I wore it about three times in a few weeks – obsessed, I was!  I’m wearing this to my work Christmas party this week and I’m super excited!  Its one of the few greenish hues I own, and one of the few of that color palette I like.  In truth it’s more teal than green but whatever – evergreen, shall we say?  I LOVE IT and all it’s prismatic shimmer.

Jealousy Wakes is also another shade I rarely wear, probably because I don’t wear color in my shadows nearly as much as I used to, but I still enjoy it from time to time when I do pull it out.  I dislike the texture of the shadow immensely – it’s so stiff and rough! – but it IS a lovely shade.

Sephora Brand She Sparkles; SpaRitual Aurum

SpaRitual Aurum; Sephora Brand She Sparkles

Oooh, sparkly indeed!  Though Aurum is sort of a crap color on me – probably on most people, it’s so damn blingy I’m going to HAVE to pull it out for the holidays!  Look at that sparkle!  It’s a bit more greenish-gold than the orange-y gold of She Sparkles, but they both shimmer prettily together, don’t you think?  I wore She Sparkles like crazy the last holiday season (when I purchased it), but haven’t given it much love since.  I’ll surely be pulling it out again this month!

MAC Dark Soul Pigment; Illamasqua Creator

Illamasqua Creator; MAC Dark Soul

Though I’m not a huge lover of black nail polish, Creator has won me over with its glittery goodness, and looks both elegant and edgy at the same time.  It compliments Dark Soul so perfectly!  I could totally see rocking these two shades together, it’s like they were made for each other.  I rarely wear Dark Soul for sort of obvious reasons (its a shimmery charcoal shadow – the rockstar look doesn’t exactly work at the office), but I’m trying to find ways to implement it more when I can.  It’s definitely a perfect shadow for the holidays!

It was fun making these pairings and a huge throwback to my formative years 😛  It’s also scary to see that I happen to have enough polish and makeup that I can actually make pairings that coordinate so well… ~shrugs~ I’m a collector, what can I say?

Have you gotten into the matching trend?  Would you be willing to try it, or do you avoid it at all costs?  What colors say ‘holiday’ to you?

China Glaze Summer Neons Collection: Part II (Swatches and Review)

You remember how yesterday I talked about my admiration of those fabulous bloggers who were in the business of swatching full collections of nail polish on the regular?  Well today I’m in admiration of anyone who buys a home!!  Holy moley, let me tell you – it is SUPREMELY exciting to buy your first home (I guess, any home really!) – but there is so much to learn and info to absorb, wowza!!!  It’s a lot for a brain to handle.  Thankfully we’ve had absolutely stellar people working with us to find the condo and get our financing in order, but its been a relatively consuming pastime for the last few weeks. Well worth it, but mindblowing all the same!!

Anyway, we spent some time at the bank tonight wrapping things up, then come home to make dinner, then talked numbers some more…suddenly my evening has gone *poof* and I’ve hardly even done anything!  I really wanted to get the second part out for the Summer Neons collection from China Glaze though, so here I am!  The second half is just as eye-popping as the first, so get ready!

I’m With the Lifeguard is a ‘glimmering lime green,’ and while I love this shade in theory – makes me think of lime koolaid! – I’m not liking it on my skintone at all, though it is lovely to look at.  The last picture is the most accurate for how bright this is.  I found 3 coats was best to even out a bit of streakiness, and it had a similar formula as most other shades – thicker but fairly easy to work with. This dried semi-matte.

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight (different setting)

The description of Ride the Waves – a ‘dark ocean blue’ – is so terribly enticing to me.  Due to the sheer, thin, jellyish formula, it really made me think of the deeper waters of the Caribbean!  To avoid any VNL, 3 coats is absolutely necessary.  I really like this shade – it reminds me of Nails Inc. Baker St. (which Beyonce was apparently wearing shortly after she had Ivy Blue, hence everyone wanted it) but it’s not quite as electric, though it’s still really very eye-catching. It’s darker and not as cool-toned in real life, and the squishy nature looks like you could just drink it up.  As I was wearing it as my mani this week, I realized it would be perfect as a base for Lippmann’s Across the Universe!

Indoor lighting

With flash

Natural light

Sunlight

Just as juicy and ripe-looking as the fruit to describe it, Under the Boardwalk, a ‘fluorescent raspberry’, has almost the same formula as ‘Ride the Waves’, but not quite as jellyish.  Again, 3 coats best, though 2 is workable here, and it’s deeper in tone than it looks in photos.  I feel pretty ‘meh’ about this shade – it’s quite nice but nothing stand-out to me in any way.

With flash

Sunlight

Sunlight

Love’s A Beach, a ‘sizzling hot pink’, is slightly warmer than ‘Hang-Ten Toes’, but the differences are slight and I personally wouldn’t feel it necessary to own both.  If I had to chose, I think I’d pick this shade, as the blue-leanings are less pronounced.  Formula was good; it applied easily without fuss.  3 coats were used here for good measure.

With flash

Natural light

Sunlight

In theory, Surfin’ For Boys would be the ultimate shade: a ‘glistening bright coral’? Sign me up! However, there’s something off about this color for me; I think it’s the shimmer which looks almost purplish in certain light, and just feels a bit gaudy to me.  It’s actually remarkably similar to another shade I own, LA Colors in Magnetic Force, except I think I like that polish better (well, at least the color).  However, I think this is still a great shade for summer, and definitely a perfect pedi shade.  It went on very easily in 2 coats, and dried semi-matte.

With flash

Sunlight

Sunlight – different setting

Last but not least, we have Flirty Tankini, a ‘shimmery strawberry smoothie pink’ with a particularly good formula.  I could have done 2 coats with no problem but I did 3 to be nitpicky.  I really liked the sweetness of this shade and though it went particularly well with my skintone.  The shimmer was understated (as it didnt’ contrast with the base color) and I’m looking forward to wearing this as a full mani very soon!!   

With flash

With flash

Sunlight

That wraps it up for the China Glaze Summer Neons collection!  I liked this half equally as well as the first, and I have my faves – Ride the Waves, which grew on me, and Flirty Tankini, which is just too darn pretty!  Though I enjoyed the formula of most shades as a whole, it was a bummer to apply 3 coats for almost all of the polishes here.  A suggestion was made that I could layer these shades over a white polish to let the neon qualities really pop, and I think I’ll take that recommendation to heart.  Every single shade was majorly bright, and to enhance that aspect would only serve to make this collection that much more special (and allow less coats of color overall!).

As a whole, I found a few of the shades in the collection not as unique as I’d like – some seemed to replicate shades I already have in my stash.  However, I chose those shades for a reason, so what’s not to like? lol  One complaint I have about the collection as a whole is that there are a fair amount of shades that are quite similar to each other – there are no dupes, but they’re close enough that I personally wouldn’t feel like I needed to own both/all.  However, in person the differences between them are more obvious, so you may refute me there and I would be OK with that 🙂  Really, this collection is the epitome of fun, splashy shades for Summer, and if you want them all, who am I to argue?

What is your idea of the perfect Summer polish shade(s)?  Would you try out a neon polish?

*Product samples were provided to me by the PR company/brand for my unbiased consideration.

All That Glitters is Not Gold: a-England’s Princess Sabra (Tristam Eyes)

Now, let me clarify my title before you go thinking that a-England‘s Princess Sabra, from The Legends collection, isn’t all that and a bag of chips.

<Oh yea, I just used that lame old saying!>

What I mean about Princess Sabra not being gold, is that it’s not – it’s a golden olive shimmer, and there’s a difference.See, the reason why it matters is because, when I put in my initial order for a handful of polishes from The Legends collection (Princess Tears, Ascalon, and Saint George), I skipped out on Princess Sabra because it looked like a gold holo prismatic polish, of which I already own one.  However, I was sorely mistaken.Princess Sabra, or Tristam Eyes – as it is said to be the same shade as a-England creator Adina’s cat’s eyes, Tristam – is a beautiful shimmering soft olive green shade with a hint of bronze and a myriad of rainbow hues infused throughout.  It does have strong gold leanings, but is definitely not straight-up gold.  The polish is completely unique and absolutely stunning, and once I realized the error of my ways, I ordered it IMMEDIATELY.As usual, the formulation is lovely, flowing easily on the nail with just the right amount of thickness.  The finish is glossy though not overly so.  I did use three coats in the swatches here, as I found this particular shade a touch sheer.  But three coats to gloriousness is really not a problem when you then get to gaze at nails like this!There’s really not much else to say.  I’m SO pleased I picked this up, and I love that due to the gentle color it’s pretty much wearable in all seasons, and across plenty of skintones.  I suggest if you don’t own this shade…just go buy it.  Seriously.  There’s no reason to wait – and a-England boasts free shipping everywhere, so you’ve got no excuse!

Are you as enthralled by Princess Sabra as I am??

China Glaze Capitol Colours: Agro and Stone Cold

I can’t even handle all the excitement I came home to today!!  Aside from the absolutely amazing hoard of fragrance samples the Jo Malone counter at the Bloor Street Holt Renfew sent me (I’m sure I got samples of every single scent they have), I also received an exceptionally excellent treat – two shades from the highly anticipated Hunger Games-themed China Glaze collection, Capitol Colours!  They arrived not a moment too soon, as the collection is slated to launch March 1st. The shades I’ve been sent are ‘Agro’ – moss green with gold shimmer, and ‘Stone Cold’ – a matte slate grey with shimmer.  Two pretty edgy-looking polishes in the bottle, I must say!  I have unfortunately still not read the series yet – though I have picked up the first book – so I can’t comment on how these reflect the story or the districts of Panem (the fictional nation’s capital).  Nonetheless, I am entirely capable of showing you swatches and reviewing the formula, so let’s hop to it!  First up is ‘Agro’:My instant thought when I saw ‘Agro’ was that it was a dupe for ‘Peace on Earth’, a China Glaze polish which came out in their Holiday 2010 collection.  In the bottle, they look pretty close but not exact – see for yourself:The differences between the two are also visible on the nail – ‘Agro’ is darker and has a more smoky tone, while ‘Peace on Earth’ has got a golden glow that radiates from within, giving it a brighter feel.  As well,  ‘Agro’s thin, easy flowing formula is better than ‘Peace on Earth’, which tends to be a tad thick, though it still applies relatively well.  I also find that ‘Peace on Earth’ has a bit of trouble with brushstrokes, of which ‘Agro’ has next to none.  Below, ‘Peace on Earth’ on index and ring fingers; ‘Agro’ on  middle and pinky fingers.Overall, I really like the tone of ‘Agro’ – likely in part due to it’s similarities to ‘Peace on Earth‘, as I’ve noted before I’m quite a fan of that shade.  ‘Agro’ is like it’s more badass cousin, and as its less golden, will look great on most skintones, warm and cool.

‘Stone Cold’ is a polish I likely would have never picked up myself, but upon learning that it was matte, I eagerly tried it on, as I’ve never owned a matte-finish polish – and also have no similar shades in my collection.  Let me just say that I am a total convert – the matte effect is absolutely awesome and I can’t stop looking at it!  Not at ALL what I expected.  It looks really tough and chic, and I totally adore it.  The formula of ‘Stone Cold’ was also really wonderful, and applied very easily – another lovely flowing polish that left you enough time to make sure each stroke was perfect, but nonetheless drying relatively quickly.  It’s also quite opaque – in the first shot above, I only have one coat on (the rest are two).  Just for you fans of the shiny finish, here is ‘Stone Cold’ with a top coat:I’m not nearly a big of a fan of this as I am the matte version – this to me just looks like your regular old sparkly charcoal polish.  Granted, the shimmer is comes alive a bit more and is quite pretty, but it loses it’s unique quality with the top coat applied – and I’m all about originality 😉

So, there you have it my friends – two offerings from the twelve shade Capitol Color collection; one like revisiting an old friend who got a great makeover, and the other like the guy you’d thought you’d never go for but ended up falling in love with and getting married and popping out a few babies…..errr, yeah (just found out that another one of my friends is preggers [again!], which brings the tally of Summer babies-to-be up to something like 5 – THIS is what happens when you start nearing 30 my friends!! :D).  I’m definitely going to pick up a few more of these shades once they’re released – I’m thinkin’ ‘Riveting’ (a bright orange shimmer) and possibly ‘Fast Track’ (soft sandy brown with golden metallic shimmer).

What shades are you lemming (if any) from the upcoming Hunger Games-themed collection?  What polish shades for Spring are on your radar?

*Products were provided for unbiased consideration by the PR company/brand.