First Summer Polish Combo of the ‘Summer!’

…I know it’s not officially summer yet, but the weather we’ve had the past couple days sure feel like it’s arrived! Of course, we’re supposed to have rain tomorrow ~sigh~ but then it’s gonna be another beauty of a day Wednesday (followed by MORE rain!) so…yea. We take the sunny days when we can get ’em!

Anyway, yesterday I spend a leisurely, glorious day outside doing a bunch of polish swatches, finishing off with a full pedicure in butter London’s Poole, and full mani in my new Chanel 🙂  I think this is one of the best pairings I’ve done this season – I’ve been doing mani/pedi’s for about a month now, ever since Florida, but I wasn’t totally satisfied with the combinations, hence why you haven’t seen any photos yet. This one is a good’un, though! It’s very feminine and delicate and has a super-chill vibe to it. I think the aqua looks particularly good against my camel & gold thong sandals!

Sp pretty 🙂 The other upside to wearing somewhat softer shades rather than bold brights is that they go with more of your wardrobe choices – I often find I have to choose my outfits based on my polish (or my makeup…I’m serious lol), and it can be a bit limiting. You can TELL I’m not a fashionista, eh? ALL ABOUT THE BEAUTY, baby!

What do you think of this polish combo? What colour combo for mani & pedi’s do you wear most often?

Polish Comparison Swatches – The Best Kind of Post When You’re Sick

So yea.  I sneezed funny on Sunday and then the next day I was sick with a cold.  Has that ever happened to anyone else?  I’m being dead serious – it’s like the sneeze dislodged the sickness or something.  Ugh.  Anyway, I was off work today and pretty much was a slug all day; even looking at the computer screen hurts my eyes.  I am weird and don’t take medication when I’m sick (unless it’s that time of the month – then, JACK ME UP BABY) because I feel like it just masks the pain and makes me stay sick for longer.  Or I’m a martyr.  Either or.  At least I know when I get pregnant one day I’ll be totally used to not being able to take meds (but I will not hesitate to get an epidural – eff that).  So there’s that.

Anyway, I have photos of two polishes I had done comparison swatches for but never posted them, so here they are.  First up is Chanel’s Orange Fizz (which I happen to be wearing this week, and seriously – I LOVE IT SO MUCH you guys should all buy a bottle, it’s good times) which I swatched against all my other orangey-coral polishes (spoiler – there are no dupes that I own, so you should just go buy a bottle of the real stuff):

Left to right: China Glaze Flirty Tankini, LA Colors Magnetic Force, Chanel Orange Fizz, China Glaze Surfin’ for Boys, Deborah Lippmann Daytripper

Thumb: China Glaze Flirty Tankini; Index: Chanel Orange Fizz; Middle: LA Colors Magnetic Force; Ring: China Glaze Surfin’ for Boys; Pinky: Deborah Lippmann Daytripper

You can see that aside from the LA Colors shade, the rest of the polishes are all in the same vein, but Flirty Tankini is less saturated and dries with a flat finish (though probably the closest match); Surfin’ for Boys is more pink and with a pearlesence about it; and Daytripper is more pink.  What I love about Orange Fizz is that it’s super-shiny on it’s own, has a squishy quality to it, and is somehow both soft enough for spring but bright enough that it will be awesome in summer too 🙂

The next polish I have to show you is one I recently picked up from American Apparel, called Downtown LA.  I was in the store a couple weeks ago buying Neon Violet for a gal at work, since she loved it so much on me, and decided to take advantage of the buy 3 for $18 deal (I also picked up their matte top coat for fun).  Downtown LA is a bold red that leans ever so slightly orange.  It is exceptionally close to butter London’s Come to Bed Red, though bL’s version really is more of a true red without the orange lean.  I can tell the difference between the two but if I didn’t tell you, I’m sure you wouldn’t guess:

butter London Come to Bed Red; American Apparel Downtown LA

Index & ring: butter London Come to Bed Red; middle & pinky: American Apparel Downtown LA

I have a hard time wearing red polish as I find on my skintone it looks a bit garish; however, I wore Downtown LA last week and actually liked it quite a bit.  The warmer tone of the polish worked better on me than Come to Bed Red has in the past, and I made sure to cut my nails super-short which made the manicure less in-your-face.  I won’t be stocking up on red polishes any time soon but it’s still nice to have a few great ones in your arsenal!  I’ll likely pass along my butter London shade – I always hate to part with more high-end brands but I know I’ll never choose it over the AA color.  I have to say, I really like AA polishes – they are almost one-coaters and apply so well!

So, I hope this keeps you entertained until I get better!  I usually go into repair mode when I’m sick and rarely stay down for long, so I’ll be up and kickin’ by the weekend I’m sure 😀

What do you do with your nail polish dupes?  Do you find red a difficult color to wear?

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?

The Perfect Every-Season Shade – butter London’s Royal Navy

I’m feeling very antsy and at odds today and I’m not entirely sure why.  I think partly it’s because I work tomorrow and Thursday night at Clinique so those two evenings are shot, and I have a late doctor’s appointment Wednesday which means I won’t get home till super-late as well.  So essentially my week is over, good night 😦

Anyway!  The best kind of posts for when you can’t sit still is a nail polish post – you can make ’em quick and dirty (unless you tend to be chatty like I am).  Today I have for you a GORGEOUS polish which I sadly couldn’t capture in it’s full glory (but trust me – its effing AMAZING): butter London’s Royal Navy.

With flash, you can see how seriously blue this polish can be – however, when worn, it’s rather dark and the blue tones are quite elusive.  It looks more like the shot below, like the Atlantic Ocean – super dark blue-black with just a hint of it’s true colors around the edges:

For those of you who don’t live near the Atlantic Ocean, it seriously looks just like this – the Pacific Ocean, alternatively, is like this crazy aquamarine! – totally shocked me when I went to New Zealand.

I tried and I tried and I TRIED to get the polish to photograph as beautifully as it looks when worn, but to no avail.  Sunlight didn’t bring it out; actually, when it looks it’s most stunning is in diffused, indirect, warm lighting – which is a bitch to photograph in.  Needless to say, I’m not happy….but I tried my best!

The second shot is where I captured its beauty most, but the polish is so damn shiny that it kept reflecting off the flash (argh!).  But that is essentially how it looks at it’s most entrancing.

This last shot makes it almost look like a jelly, but it’s not.  Two coats to full opaqueness, although it’s nearly done in one.  Applies easily with a good flow to the formula, though because of it’s darkness you do need to be a bit more careful than usual with application.

I love this polish with all my heart!  These kinds of super-dark shades work best for me, rather than mid-tones or more muted/dusty ones.  I also like ’em dark like this because I feel like it transcends seasons – this would be suitable no matter what the weather or situation, because it’s essentially a neutral…..a BAD-ASS neutral, too 😛

Any polishes you fallen head over heels for lately?

Beat the Winter Blues – Enter to Win Our Winter Edition Beauty Envy Bag!!

We’re back with the Winter Edition of the Beauty Envy Bag! We’ve handpicked several of our beauty
favorites that will help you make it through this winter season with some new goodies. The bag consists
of all full-sized products to help meet your beauty needs. For those of you who may be new to our blogs,
here’s a quick introduction.

Lakeisha is a nail polish blogger from Florida. She is obsessed with polish, fashion, and merging the two together. She is the blogger behind Refined and Polished.

Latoya is a beauty blogger from the East Coast of Canada. While she loves all things girly, she’s also a closet gamer and is a die-hard Walking Dead fan. She is the blogger behind Beauty Obsessed.

Leticia is a beauty blogger from the Pacific Northwest.  She is a dog lover, sci fi nerd, handbag collector, and makeup junkie. She is the blogger behind Cosmetics Aficionado.

Lola is a Midwest blogger with a passion for polish, science, and music. She is the blogger behind Burb Beauty.

The Winter Edition of the Beauty Envy Bag contains:

• L’Occitane Hand Indulgence Hand Cream Set (Reviewed by Lola)
• Benefit’s High Flyin’ Glosses Collection (Reviewed by Latoya)
• Tarina Tarantino Emerald Pretty Eyeshadow Palette (Reviewed by Leticia)
• Butter LONDON Two Fingered Salute & Scallywag (Reviewed by Lakeisha)

Please feel free to click the links above to learn more about each product. Accompanying all of the items
is a purple metallic beauty bag from Sephora and additional samples will be included as well.

Here is what you need to know to enter in the Rafflecopter widget below:

• Must leave a blog comment (just one blog, doesn’t have to be all four) letting us know your
  favorite winter beauty product.
• Additional entries for following each blog on social media networks (Facebook, Twitter,
  Instagram)
• Open internationally
• Must be 18+
• Giveaway closes on Monday, January 28, 2012 at 11:59 EST

Good luck dolls!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Another Quickie: butter London’s Nail Foundation

I picked this up back in July, but am just getting around to reviewing it now – sorry!  I wanted to be sure of its efficacy (or non-efficacy) and I didn’t feel comfortable reviewing it until recently.

There are some definite pros to this formula…and also some cons.  First of all, the good stuff.  This is by far the nicest looking base coat on the nails I have ever used.  I mean, really.  Behold:Now, ignore the yellowness of my nails, of course.  These photos were taken back in July before I buffed the S*^t outta them 😛  And my cuticles are looking better these days too.  Just sayin’!

In any case, I just find that this base coat alone makes the nails look GOOOOD.  It leaves a satin finish, and even with my nails being yellow-ish, it makes them look classy and relatively clean.  Quite spiffy, I might say! Edit: Another benefit to this product is that because its not clear like most base coats, it helps to conceal VNL (visible nail line) – so if that’s a pet peeve of yours, this might just be perfect for you!

However, there is a downside.  Unfortunately, I don’t find that this bonds my polish to the nail as well as I’d like.  I notice a lot more chipping than usual since I’ve been using this, and let’s be real – I change my mani every three days (sometimes even less!  I did my polish yesterday AM and tonight I’m changing it again already) – so there really shouldn’t be any chipping at all in that short a time frame.  But, alas, there is.  Also, I find that even though I’m only through maybe a 5th of the bottle – another pro: it does go a long way! – its getting a tad goopy and collects around the rim of the bottle, which annoys me somewhat.  It occasionally flakes off into my polish, so that’s just not on.   So…yeah.  There’s that.

Overall, I’m just not totally sold on this base coat, unless you wanna spend $22CDN just to make your nails look pretty.  I’m pretty sure you could get a similar effect by just buffing your nails!  I’ll continue to use it because it’s not TERRIBLE, but I definitely wouldn’t repurchase. Even though I only wear my polish for a brief few days, I still want my *underwear* (and *outerwear*!) to work as it should.

Speaking of outerwear, I picked up a new fast drying top coat today by Revlon, just to check it out.  Seche Vite has TOTALLY pissed me off with the insane thickness of it – I tried regular polish thinner to no avail, and I’ll be damned if I pick up Seche Restore, that just makes me crazy!  Buying two products just to get one to work effectively?  HELL to the No.  I’ll find something else that works (though admittedly never as good Seche does in the first 1/4 of the bottle ~grumble~

….So, this post ended up not being so ‘quick’ afterall, eh? LOL

Please, tell me: What’s your favorite base and/or top coat!?  I clearly need some help, guys!

Another Comparison: butter London ‘Come to Bed Red’ and Essie ‘Queen of Hearts’

Again with too much time on my hands!  I’m home again from work today, still feeling pretty under the weather, and I want to make sure I get a ton of rest so I can get over this as fast as possible.  My bf has had it for about two weeks now and I just don’t want that!!  So gotta take care of myself.

I picked up Essie’s ‘Queen of Hearts’ a couple weeks ago when it was on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart for $2.  $2 Essie!?  Count me in!  In the bottle its a pretty red with slight pink leanings, and subtle silver sparkle.  This was part of the ‘Essie Loves Diamonds’ collection by Judith Ripka, which came out a couple years ago.  I’d never heard of it or her, but apparently she is a jewelry designer.  The silver sparkle in the polish is supposedly genuine diamond dust.  Okey dokey!Again, yesterday when I was going through my stash, I realized that it was uncannily close to ‘Come to Bed Red’ by butter London, a beautiful, glossy, true red creme (previously reviewed here).  Paired side by side, they look pretty close, with the Essie being slightly more faded.Once on the nail, you can see the slightly more muted tone of QofH as well.  They’re not complete dupes, but pretty darn close – enough that I definitely don’t feel the need to own both.  Check it out:In all shots you see ‘Queen of Hearts’ on the index and ring finger, and ‘Come to Bed Red’ on the middle and pinkie.  The shots above show the slightly faded quality of QofH as compared to CTBR.  Also, in all shots taken, the fine silver shimmer is absolutely nowhere to be seen.  I couldn’t even see it with the naked eye in outdoor light, once on the nail.In these other two shots, I find that you can barely distinguish between the two – especially the last shot.  Personally, I think that if you didn’t know I had two different polishes on, you’d never ever guess.  And to me, if that’s the case, then these polishes are dupes.  Of course I can say that one is more muted, and I’m sure you can see that slight difference, but if I don’t let on and you can’t tell?   Absolutely NO reason to keep both, in my opinion.  To nitpick over the smallest of differences seems silly to me.  But, that’s just how I feel about it!  Clearly I’m not a true nail polish connoisseur as I’ve got less than 100 bottles, and many bloggers I’ve encountered have upwards of 700!!  So what do I know? 😛

Details: As these polishes were just applied for swatching purposes, it was just two coats of each polish with no base or top coat.

Size, Price & Where to Buy: Essie polishes are 0.5 oz and usually retail for $11 CDN at drugstores (they’re about $2 cheaper at Walmart!).  This particular shade was Limited Edition.  butter London polishes are 0.4 oz and retail for $18 CDN at select locations (in Halifax you can buy them at Spirit Spa on Hollis St.).

In this case, butter London’s wins out over Essie’s version – mainly because I love b.London’s formulation, it is slightly brighter, and it irritates me that you can’t see the shimmer on the nail at all in QofH. Regardless of it being ‘genuine diamond dust‘.  And, I paid full price for CTBR!!  LOL so that’s something to consider, too.

What are your thoughts about dupes?  Do you feel the minute variations make all the difference?  Or are you the opposite, and feel that a red is a red, etc.?  How many nail polish do you own?

Ok, I’ve been sitting up for longer than I’d like, and its nap time (again!).  I hope I wake up tomorrow feeling back to normal and ready for the weekend!  If not, well…I hope everyone else has a fantastic weekend – enjoy it, have fun, drink a glass of wine, and take ‘er easy 🙂

Love at First Swipe: butter London’s ‘Snog’

Let me just put this out there: this is one seriously hot shade of nail polish.

Last week for three days Spirit Spa – which I’m fairly certain is the only carrier of butter London polish in the city – they had 20% off all their beauty products. The very first thing I thought of was to pick up another ‘butter’ polish because they are somewhat pricey (at $18 a pop) and it always seems much more justifiable if you buy high-end products on sale (whether or not you’re really ‘saving’ money). Back in the Fall I picked up the color ‘Come to Bed Red’ – which, come to think of it, I think was on promo then too – and it’s a beautiful shade of bright cherry red. I figure if I’m going to pay more for a polish then it should be (generally) a classic I’ll get a lot of wear out of.

This time around, I passed on Victoriana, which came out with the Fall 2010 collection and captured my heart in online swatches, but left me wanting in person; barely glanced at British Racing Green (which has its fair share of die-hard fans – me, I’m not a green lover AT ALL); and skimmed over the other murky, ‘interesting’ shades that I’m just not feeling right now. With all the rain we’ve had here in Halifax – almost a month straight – I need crave bright, happy colors.

This is where Snog comes in. This is such a fantastic, flirty, gorgeous shade of bright coral-pink (more pink than coral), and just makes me feel awesome while wearing it. It’s got this summer-sexiness about it that I love. My bf agreed that it was one hot color (and you KNOW if the boyfriend notices, its a winner 🙂

These pictures just aren’t doing this shade justice.  The top photo is the most accurate but really the shade is more vivid and a touch more pink in real life.  This is day two of wear.  The application was, of course, a dream. Two coats to full opacity – if you were in a huge rush you could probably do one and no one would be the wiser. Very glossy on it’s own, though I’m showing it with a top coat here (S.Vite just makes life so much easier!). Not much else to say. This is going to get some serious rotation for the rest of the Spring/Summer, especially as a pedi. Love!!

Monday is over! I hope everyone managed to make it through unscathed 😛

*Edit: Here is another shot of ‘Snog’ that I think is more accurate – hope it showcases the fabulousness!

Ahh!  I can’t take how pretty this is 🙂

xo!

Polish Spam

I either need a) a super excellent camera which can capture the right color and depth for polish swatches, or b) to live in a climate that has more sun.  As I don’t plan to move any time soon, I guess it’s gonna have to be pick a).   While our weather here in Halifax has actually been quite exceptional for the past 6 months, I still don’t ever seem to have a chance to take photos of my mani/pedi shades in the right lighting.  They’re never reflected properly!  Which is a shame because there are some GORGEOUS shades out there as of late!

In any case, I have a few swatches today – they’re *fairly* accurate (to my best ability) but please don’t throw me under the bus if you find they don’t look as true to color as they should!

First up, my current shade, Zoya Valerie, from the renamed Winter 2010 Flame collection (previously Fire & Ice):This isn’t in natural light but I do feel that this captures the color closest to reality.  It’s a stunning eggplant shimmer with magenta microglitter.  I’m sure that’s not what Zoya describes it as, but thats the way I see it 🙂  Its pretty opaque in one coat but I always use at least two for depth.  This is day four and very little tip wear to be seen.  It dries quite quickly too.  I have been digging a lot of unusual colors lately but this one is so beautiful!!  Probably in my top 3 faves.

Next, American Apparel’s Peacock:

Unfortunately my camera wouldn’t cooperate so this is a tad blurry, but of all the photos I took this one is the truest to color.  A medium-to-deep teal creme.  Similar to Paradoxal, I didn’t have much love for this when I first bought it back in the summer…but I tried it again two weeks ago and now that I’m paler I find it much more flattering.  I think this kind of color looks best of pale skin in general, but I’m satisfied with it overall now.  Definitely could be a one-coater but again, it’s here with two.  Wear was typical, maybe some tip wear after three days.  I actually like it more without a top coat – the extra glossiness looked cheap.

This is my first butter London polish!!  I picked it up during a tax free event at Spirit Spa, where I get lovely massages from Nathan.  (Quick rant: I work for the Federal Gov’t.  In my last job, we got $1500 a year total for massage therapy, chiropractor treatment, physiotherapy, etc., which was great for me b/c I only got massages – every 6 weeks 🙂  Now, in my new job with a different department, we’re only allotted $300 for massages total!!  Chiropractors etc. being covered separately.  I feel its a waste of time for anything less than 90 mins. so I get about two massages a year now.  So very, very depressing).

Anyway.  I really wanted to try the butter London Fall 2010 shades but alas, like many lesser known lines that arrive in our city, we did not get any of the trend shades, just the core colors.   Oh well.  I’m happy at least we carry it at all!  I had a hard time choosing as I am not quite a NP fanatic yet and haven’t gotten to the point where I am buying shades that are similar to ones I already own (though I fear it’s coming!), but finally settled on this fabulous, classic, neutral red, called ‘Come to Bed Red’.  Note that it’s a bit richer than it looks here.  It leans slightly more blue-toned, but overall it’s wonderful and suits my skintone quite well.  Maybe not HG but it’ll do till I find it!  It’s so glossy and creamy and pigmented.  Two coats easily did the trick.  I did add a top coat so it’s not quite as shiny alone.

So, those are the shades I’ve been rocking recently.  I did leave out OPI’s Bring on the Bling, as I only wore it for a few days and forgot to take a photo.  I’ll be wearing it again this month so I’ll be sure to capture it then!  Tomorrow’s mani will be from last year’s OPI Holiday collection, Holiday Glow.  I’ll post that as well!

Anyone try any of these shades, or have an absolute fave I should check out??

Back at ‘er

I am compulsive about reading blogs and every day I think: “Why aren’t I getting on this action?” since clearly it’s my passion, my bread and water. So lets give this a go yet again!

Today I’m trying to list all of the upcoming Fall launches that I am lemming…and let me tell you, I am going to go HUNGRY for the next couple months! Dang, there is a lot of good stuff coming out this season!! Particularly I find myself more and more obsessed with nail polish – I’m easily buying two per week, which doesn’t sound so bad (yet) but it accumulates pretty quickly!

One of the things I spend time in particular doing is figuring out how to find these items here in Halifax, because we just don’t have access like many of the bigger cities, and especially in Canada vs. the US. So, for those of you living in Hali, here’s what I’ve discovered so far (nail polish only at this point):

1) butter London – this is being sold at Spirit Spa on Hollis Street. I haven’t yet bought one but I’m hoping they’ll get the new Fall line in, as I’m lemming Victoriana – so pretty!

2) Zoya – Originally I saw this first at Be Well Spa that was located on Robie Street – not sure if it’s there anymore, it was an old converted house. They also sell this at Cascades Spa in Bedford and Jay Wells Salon on Barrington Street. I’ve only had one of these polishes to date, a fabulous magenta matte, but plan on scooping up Kelly (part of the Fall 2010 Wonderful collection) when I’m in for my wax next week 🙂

3) OPI – Obviously OPI if found all over Halifax as it’s probably the most well-known ‘salon’ brand, but sometimes it’s only in limited shades/collections. Chatters Salon in Dartmouth Crossing and Bayers Lake have the largest stash I’ve seen of OPI anywhere around, and you get points for ever purchase!

4) China Glaze – Newcomer to Halifax – finally! I spotted a couple bottles of this affordable line (they retail for $6.49) at the Halifax Shopping Center nail salon back in June, but then when I went to Chatters, I discovered they also carry this line is spades! So exciting. I’ve bought several shades now – I can’t wait to sport Ingrid from the Vintage Vixen’s Fall 2010 line as soon as September hits.

5) Orly – I didn’t think we had this anywhere around until I finally made the trek out to Sally Beauty Supply on a day off last week. They carry a decent range – I’m hoping they’ll get the new Cosmic FX Fall lineup really soon because I’m dying to try the color Space Cadet – a fabulous duochrome 🙂

Some other cool lines that I’ve seen around are Borghese and Essie (both located at most Shoppers Drug Mart locations) and Milani and Sinful polishes, which are at Lawtons drugstores. They make some awesome shades, though I haven’t tried any Borghese yet. Milani and Sinful are really affordable too.

Happy Monday!!