NOTD: OPI DS Coronation

OPI DS Coronation

Last week I noticed that I never made it through swatching my OPI DS shades! The horror! I love them all and am going to have to finish up.

This one is the first shade that I haven't been over the moon for. This was 2 coats and there's a visible nail line. That might have been solved with a third coat, but you know I am fundamentally against third coats. :-)

But I do like it and the holo effect is gorgeous in the sun. This might be a good layering polish- I need to try it over a vampy shade and see how that looks.

Lacquer Link Love 2/27/10

Phresh Mentality paints a few PHRESH mani's in an effort to raise funds to help Haiti

Helen's Nice Things has swatched a Ciate Paint Pot color, but you have to click the link to see which one. :)

Naive Nails has a little Lilly on her tips brought to you from Zoya, of course!

Konadomania is felling a little lot spring like and she is showing it off... on her nails!

The Swatchaholic brings out a lusted over discontinued color from her stash and rallies for the maker to bring the color back. Please be sure to take her poll located in her blogs sidebar and maybe our voices will be heard.

Oh how I love a pretty textured mani and Bright Lights Big Color is showing off just that!

Hot & Spicy are the words to describe Polish Freak's mani. Be sure to leave her a comment on how you feel about the color.

Dying to see some swatches of the new Diamond Cosmetics spring 2010 polishes?! Well, Nail'd & Polish'd has just what you need.

Magic made has brought you some beautiful swatches from a well known European brand polish.

Tuli's Nails has on polish that's "as pretty as a picture" thanks to our lovely polish blogger Nicole.

Travels with Euridice also has some Essence swatches. The more the merrier I always say.

Nail-Design is giving us a peek inside her stash and showing us how she stores her polish.

Perfect 10 Beauty has swatched a polish called FABULESS... see if you can guess the brand.

Metallics are deemed to be big for the upcoming season and Manicure Mommas has showed you how to make it look luxe.

polishSWATCHES brings you a closeup of Rihanna's "Pretty Kitty Manicure." What do you think of the design?

Now for the Network Giveaways...

Konadomania is celebrating 300 followers... click her name to see exactly how. It's so worth it!

Travels with Euridice is having a Holla for Holos giveaway to show her followers her appreciation.

Neglelakkmani is having a giveaway that's scheduled to end on Monday, so please enter if you haven't already done so.

NOTD: Orly Foil FX Luxe

Orly Foil FX Luxe

The weather is totally not cooperating here! No outside shots..... This is a bathroom shot so I'm afraid it's not terribly accurate. As with Foil FX Rage, you can see a more accurate shot at All Lacquered Up.

I must say, though, that these are beautiful and bling-y. The gold is almost too bling-y for me, reminiscent of Sephora by OPI Worth My Weight. But application is great and this was almost perfect in one coat but I added another for good measure.

The Foil FX shades wear really well, too. For some reason, tip wear is almost unnoticeable. After 3 days or so, it's there if you look really closely, but so hard to see.

Disclosure: Orly provided this polish to me for review purposes.

Week 8 CotW: OPI Think Merry! Pink Merry!

Welcome to the fourth week in my

pink/red CotWs in honor of February.

Week 8: Feb. 21-Feb. 27

OPI's Think Merry! Pink Merry!

I'm almost 100% sure this polish
was an ULTA 2008 Christmas exclusive.

That's when I bought it anyway, so I'm sticking with that. :)

Lots of glitter and shimmer with this one y'all!

Coming up for March; greens in honor of St. Patrick's Day! :)
I was actually surprised that I had more than 5 greens.
There will be an OPI, 2 China Glazes, and 2 Zoyas.
I'll leave y'all to guess which ones they'll be.

P.S. I found a way to take advantage of the free Zoya from this past weekend. I bought Remover, which qualified for the free polish. I didn't pay for the polish, so I'm still in the game. Mr. Frog actually agreed that I wasn't violating the agreement before I finished the transaction. SCORE! 2 free Zoya polishes are on their way to me!

Diamond Cosmetics Spring 2010 Collection

Diamond Cosmetics have just released their 2010 Spring Collection,
and I have them here to show you!

From L to R: Hot Lips, Gypsy Pink, Serendipity,

Razzmatazz, Orange Blush, and Tranquility

All pictures below are 3 coats.
I used only Diamond Cosmetics products for these swatches.
Swatches are base coat and polish only. All the shine
you see is not from a top coat. That's the polish alone baby! :)
Click to make the pictures larger and see all the detail.

First up, Hot Lips:

Hot Lips is "a bright, almost neon magenta".

Outdoors in the sun:

Hot Lips Matte:

I wasn't too fond of Hot Lips. It was just too bright for me. Plus, even after three coats there was still VNL. For such a bright color, I'd expect to not see VNL.

Second, Gypsy Pink:

Gypsy Pink is "a soft red loaded with white/pink shimmer,
as mysterious as the woman who wears it".

Outdoors in the sun:

Gypsy Pink Matte:

This was another bright color, but I think the shimmer helped me like it a little more than Hot Lips. You've gotta enlarge the pictures to see all the shimmery goodness! I really loved this one matte. Plus, no VNL. Score!


Third, Serendipity:

Serendipity is "a pale blue-grey with shimmer".

Outdoors in the sun:

Serendipity Matte:

I was meh on this color in the bottle, but when I got it on my nails; LOVED IT! This is another you should click to enlarge and see all the shimmery goodness. It's reminiscent of Concrete Jungle, but with a deeper blue base and shimmer. Sprinkles, I bet you'd love it too. :) This one is one of my favorites from this collection.

Fourth, Razzmatazz:

Razzmatazz is "a dainty pink that will blow
you away with its pink and purple toned shimmer".

Outdoors in the sun:

Razzmatazz Matte:

I loved this one in the bottle and on my nails. When I first saw it, I squealed so loud I scared the dog. Poor Clyde; he had no idea what had happened. It's really hard to see the shimmer in the pictures, even if you enlarge them, but it's there and gorgeous. This one matte is absolutely beautiful! Definitely one I'll be wearing again, and soon.

Just two left. Stick with me here. :)

Fifth we have Orange Blush:

Orange Blush is "a soft orange creme, perfect
for a tropical getaway or a Sunday brunch".

Outdoors in the sun:

Orange Blush Matte:

There's that pesky VNL again. The sun pictures make Orange Blush appear brighter than it actually is, but I still wasn't fond of it. It's best when it's matte, as that is when the true softness appears.

Finally we have Tranquility:

Tranquility "looks like the clear blue sky".

Outdoors in the sun:

Tranquility Matte:

This was such a bright blue. Matting helped soften it a little, but even then it was still bright. I'm wondering how it compares to a Tiffany's box, (or to China Glaze's For Audrey) but I haven't the availability to compare either. :)

Some general opinions of the Diamond Cosmetics polish line:

• this collection of polishes were not as thick as the last ones I tried. I liked this series much better.
• application was smooth and streak free. Two coats would have been sufficient for almost all the polishes
  
• all Diamond Cosmetics polishes are free from Toluene, Formaldehyde, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Camphor
• all quotes describing the polish above are from the provided press release

Diamond Cosmetics polishes can be
ordered via their website for $2.25.

Disclaimer: Diamond Cosmetics provided these polishes to me
in exchange for a written review.
No monetary exchange was made between parties.
My opinions are solely mine and are honest and true.
This review is only for Diamond Cosmetics' nail polish/treatment line.
I have no experience with their other products.
Please see our disclaimer policy in
the right sidebar for more information.

Free Zoya Promotion EXTENDED

I'm sure you've all read about this already, but I just got notification the promotion has been extended through Sunday! Take advantage of this one; it's like buy 2 get 2 free!

I'll live vicariously through y'all.

*Grumble, grumble. Stupid no buy bet.*

_____________________________________________________

Extended though Sunday 2/21/2010. In honor of NYFW(New York Fashion Week) Zoya, The New Color of Fashion, wants to give a "Fashion Reward" to all our followers and fans.

Place any Zoya or Qtica order of $10 (on http://www.zoya.com, http://www.qtica.com or http://www.artofbeauty.com/) and get any 2 Zoya Nail Polish shades (0.5oz bottles) as our Free gift to you.

Simply add all the items that you want to purchase online to your shopping cart.
Enter the code NYFW in the "code" field and press the "update" button.
A $14 discount will appear in the shopping cart for the value of the 2 Zoya Nail Polishes.

Offer valid from Wednesday, 2/17/2010 - Sunday, 2/21/2010, at 5PM ET. Standard shipping charges apply.

Offer valid for consumer online orders only. Free ground shipping for orders over $55 in Continental USA only.

Not valid with any other coupon code or offer.

Polish Bloggers Network Link Love Roundup 2-19-10

The first article up I'd like to bring your attention to is nothing nail related, but is definitely worth a read, especially by all the bloggers! Helen's Nice Thing's wrote a wonderful article addressing the question, should bloggers be considered as media or press and I think she expressed her views quite remarkably.

Naive Nails wants to show off a mani she's titled "Love Be Hanged". A very cute and quirky design.

French Mani anyone?! Well, Babbling Brooke has you covered! Check out her Nailene French Mani Blog Giveaway. She's gifting three of readers with these fabulous sets... so you better make sure that you're one of them!

Bye, Bye old man winter, let's bring on the sun and the pool... as The Swatchaholic brings us wonderful swatches of China Glaze's Poolside Collection.

Have you been able to view swatches of almost the whole OPI Hong Kong collection? If not, the Nail-Design bring you 9 out of 12 of them.

Magic Maid has snagged a duochrome drugstore brand polish and nope, I'm not telling you what it is! ;)

This week Tuli's Nails has a broken heart and she letting her mani tell the story as to why. Check it out!

polishSWATCHES gives you a sneak peek at Tracy Reese's Fall 2010 Sally Hansen Shades as well as a glimpse of the nail trends that were sported at her show.

You will NOT want to miss out on what Polishing the Nails is cooking up on her blog! Even I'm in the kitchen for this one!

It's safe to safe everyone loves a good konadicure right?! And even more so when your showing off a gorgeous polish! Cucumpear is donning some very pretty artwork on her tips as well as showing off the gorgeous color p2 Rich.

Looking for a interesting blue nail polish to add to your stash that you might not already have? Then Polish Freak and China Glaze have you covered, but shhh, she said the color is a secret!

Nail foiling and minx like applications are all the rage, but why not try using a nail polish for the same effect? Manicure Mommas swatches Orly Foil FX's and shows how you can turn your nails into precious metal.

Have you ever heard of Piggy Paints Nail Polish or even considered buying it but haven't? Well if so, Laquerholic has just given you the incentive to go ahead and plunge. She's secured a 10% off privilege coupon for all of her readers as well as written a full review

Nail-Design is having a special giveaway to celebrate the fact that she has received over 300, 000 Youtube views on her channel. Wow! Congrats on the great accomplishment!

Lambchop is having a really nice giveaway for readers, but she really needs for you to help her out... by ENTERING!

Today's you last chance to win some Milani Holos, so be sure to enter Naive Nails contest if you're one of the many who can't seem to find them and are lemming.

NOTD: Orly Foil FX Rage

Orly Foil FX Rage

Lookie! How gorgeous is the finish on this polish? It's Orly's answer to the Minx nail trend.

I am going to try to take an outside shot when I get home from work today because my bathroom shot makes the polish look rather gold, when it's actually a rose foil. You can see a more accurate swatch at All Lacquered Up.

The Orly Foil FX collection, which also includes Luxe (gold) and Shine (silver), will be available for sale at the beginning of March.

Disclosure: Orly provided this polish to me for review purposes.

Experiment: OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede topped with Seche Vite

OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede

OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede topped with Seche Vite

Before I took off my suede polish, I decided to top it with SV and see what it looked like. I liked it so much I left it on for another day, even though I had some tipwear. Isn't that pretty?

Where my girls at?

I am hosting a fabulous Girly Giveaway over on my blog ... come take a peek and see the gorgeous polish color that is included! xoxo

China Glaze Up & Away Review

China Glaze's Up & Away collection has hit stores with "optimistic brights and sweet pastels that provide seamless and even coverage in each rich creme formulation".

The collection includes:

• Grape Pop – bright plum
• Sugar High – petal pink
• Something Sweet – cotton candy
• Light As Air – periwinkle
• Heli - Yum – raspberry
• Flyin’ High – teal
• Four Leaf Clover – kelly green
• Re-Fresh Mint – spearmint
• Peachy Keen – nectar
• High Hopes – guava
• Happy Go Lucky – sunshine yellow
• Lemon Fizz – banana

China Glaze sent me the cute little mini
four pack shown above to review.

All pictures show 3 coats. Click to make the pictures larger.

Pardon the lack of sunlight. I took these pictures during a blizzard because I was so excited to try them out that I couldn't wait for sun!
The white background in each picture is snow. Any white flecks in the pictures or wet spots on my nails is due to snow.

First up, Lemon Fizz:

Lemon Fizz shown with Matte Magic:

Lemon Fizz is a soft color, similar to a baby yellow. This was a really hard color to apply. It was very streaky at first, and I honestly don't know if 3 coats was enough. You can still see streaks on some nails. The color was my least favorite of the four.


Next up, Light As Air:

Light As Air with Matte Magic:

Light As Air is a soft lavender color that I absolutely love! The press release calls it periwinkle, but I don't see any blue. I will definitely be wearing this color more in the Spring.


Third we have Peachy Keen:

Peachy Keen with Matte Magic:

Peachy Keen is a peach color that is really pretty. I think this color would look great on both your toes and fingers in the Summer! A tan would make the color pop.


Finally we have Re-Fresh Mint:

Re-Fresh Mint with Matte Magic:

Re-Fresh Mint is that mint color I wish I had before now.
It's perfect and I can't wait to wear it more come Spring.

Just for kicks I painted each finger a different color and then applied Matte Magic to produce a Sweetheart candy type mani. Behold:

I thought it was too cute an idea not to do. :)

When I swatched these colors, I did Light As Air last. I planned to wear it all through the weekend to see how it held up to everyday damage. What you see below is after 5 days of wear:

That is a base coat, 3 coats of polish, and a top coat.

FIVE DAYS! Can you believe it? Not only did it hold up just
fine, but there is like no tip wear at all! How awesome is that?
This is just perfect for those of us busy moms!

Some general opinions of these China Glaze polishes:

• application was smooth and easy, except for Lemon Fizz. The polish wasn't too thick or too thin
  
• all quotes describing the polish above are from the provided press release
• all China Glaze polishes are DBP, Toluene, and Formaldehyde free
• the Up & Away Collection is available now and retails for $6.50 each
• China Glaze polishes are available at are available at Sally Beauty and through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide

Disclaimer: American International Industries provided these polishes to me
in exchange for a written review.
No monetary exchange was made between parties.
My opinions are solely mine and are honest and true.
This review is only for the aformentioned China Glaze nail polish line.
I have no experience with their other products.
Please see our disclaimer policy in
the right sidebar for more information.