Saturday, July 23, 2011

Garden of Good & Evil: rest of the bottle pics

First, I was asked to do a comparision of What's Your Poison? (left) to Merry Me (right). They look amazingly similar, but I'd say WYP has a bit more silver glitter. Don't know that you'd need both though.....


On the left is the new Spark-tacular! Top Coat, which is not part of GOG&E

Then Sin-cerely Violet and My Personal Serpent from GOG&E



Mini Set: Completely Fern-ished, Eve-y On the Eyes, Temped by Teal, Frankly I Don't Give A-dam


Blonde moment: it took me a while to get the name of the grey polish... I hate to admit it, but it did. Anyone else?

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NOTD: Sephora by OPI Designer Fig Leaf

Sephora by OPI Designer Fig Leaf



I ordered the Garden of Good and Evil collection from Sephora by OPI, and this was the second shade I wanted to try out.

It's described as "opaque metallic olive green".


I did need to do three coats to make it completely opaque- at two, there were still some sheer spots.

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Friday, July 22, 2011

NOTD: Sephora by OPI What's Your Poison?




Sephora by OPI What's Your Poison?




I ordered the Garden of Good and Evil collection from Sephora by OPI, and this was the first shade I wanted to try out.

It's described as "opaque cranberry red with chunky glitter".






Actually, it's a pretty sheer cranberry jelly packed with enough silver and cranberry glitter to make it opaque in two coats.

It's quite pretty and eye-catching, but it's definitely a topcoat eater. Although my coat of Seche Vite dried the polish just fine, it was still very bumpy. Looking back, I should have applied a coat of Gelous before I did my topcoat.


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Thursday, July 21, 2011

China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Tarnished Gold and Cracked Medallion

China Glaze Crackle Glaze over Revlon Perplex

left to right: (alternating)

Cracked Medallion and Tarnished Gold

I continue to be impressed by the Metallic Crackle Glazes. They are just so much easier to work with versus the cream crackles.


I think both these shades are gorgeous, but are pretty similar. I don't know if I think you need both.


Disclosure: The China Glaze crackles were sent to me for review purposes. I purchased Revlon Perplex.

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Swatch: Lippmann I Know What Boys Want



Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Want


I been sitting on this swatch for a few weeks... not posting it because I'm a bit ashamed. I LOVE the color, but I am so sad about my polishing job for this swatch! I'm afraid I didn't wrap the tips, and then I did quite a bit of paper-shuffling the next day, so by the time I got around to taking my pic after work, there was terrible tip wear. Such a shame- this is just a gorgeous color.

I ordered this Lippmann from Apothica, and I still am absolutely loving this brand, despite the quality of this swatch.

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

NOTD: Revlon Perplex

Last summer I picked up my very first (and most likely last) Chanel, Paradoxal, a deep smoky amethyst with a royal purple shimmer. The hype surrounding this shade was immense.... and I just HAD to have it! $23 for a polish was a bit crazy looking back.



Chanel Paradoxal


Above is the pic I took last summer. I had a really hard time capturing the purple shimmer, so I was disappointed with my pic.

If you are a regular nail blog reader, you have probably read that the budget-friendly brand Revlon has been releasing shades that closely dupe some Chanel shades. So of course when I read that Revlon had a dupe for Paradoxal, I picked it up as soon as I found it. It got mixed in with my un-trieds and I almost forgot about it. I am so glad I ran across it this week.

The Revlon shade is Perplex and it certainly fits the hype- and I had even better luck photographing it than I did Paradoxal!






Recent releases by Revlon have included Black With Envy (a version of Chanel Black Pearl) and Carbonite (a version of Graphite). I found Black With Envy, but haven't seen Carbonite yet, but am on the lookout- I don't think I'll need to buy any more Chanel polish!

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Monday, July 18, 2011

NOTD: OPI DS Ruby

OPI DS Ruby

Last week when I was gathering up all my OPI DS pics, I noticed my DS Ruby pic was pretty sad. I was testing out Poshe top coat, and it just didn't work and the pic had terrible tip wear. So I decided another pic was needed!

I am totally a broken record, but I LOVE the DS shades! This one is holo and absolutely gorgeous.

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Friday, July 15, 2011

NOTD: OPI DS Elegance topped w/ China Glaze Oxidized Aqua



OPI DS Elegance topped w/ China Glaze Oxidized Aqua


I had MUCH better luck with the metallic crackle than I did with the regular- it was very easy to work with. Elegance had been on for a few days, and I needed something to stretch my mani out another day, and this worked perfectly! I really liked the combo!


Disclosure: The OPI shade was purchased by me, and the China Glaze shade was sent to me for review purposes.

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

NOTD: OPI DS Elegance

OPI DS Elegance


I was checking my spreadsheet to see if I had any untried OPI DS shades, and sure enough, I had one left to try.


And it's gorgeous! This is one of the holo shades, and I'm in love. The above swatch is two coats, topped with Seche Vite. As with all DS shades I have tried, it applied like a dream. I can't get enough of the DS line!

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Friday, July 8, 2011

NOTD: Avon Speed Dry in Fusion

Avon Speed Dry in Fusion


I recently ordered this shade from Avon, most likely during a sale of some sort. It looks like it's retailing for $5 currently.


It has quite a pretty almost-hidden red shimmer, although this makes the finish a bit uneven. Even topped with Seche Vite, you can still see some bumpiness.


I have to be honest and say I never notice much of a difference in dry time between Avon's regular and Speed Dry lines, and this was no different. In fact, my thumbnail dented the next day. That's the first time that's happened to me with an Avon polish. Typically the quality is quite high.


So not a fave, but the red shimmer made it nice to wear for a day or two.

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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

New OPI for Sephora collection?

Found some new Sephora by OPI shades at the top of the list today.... as of yesterday, there were four new colors at the top that I hadn't seen much of yet (Seeing Pink Elephants, Natural Environ-mint, Hippo to Be Square, Make the First Mauve) but they have moved down and mixed in with the rest of the list and these new ones are at the top.

Is this an Adam and Eve type collection maybe? I don't get how the grey shade fits in the mix. And maybe the topcoat isn't really part of the collection?

I will never get why Sephora puts shades on there without info about the collection before they are released. Poor marketing if you ask me......

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Friday, July 1, 2011

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann Daytripper

Deborah Lippmann Daytripper



Here's another Lippmann I ordered from Apothica, and my love for this brand continue to grow. This shade applied like a dream! The above swatch is 2 coats topped with Seche Vite.


I'll be swatching I Know What Boys Want soon- next hopefully!

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