NOTD: Sephora by OPI New Year's Red-solution

Sephora by OPI New Year's Red-solution

from the Glimmer Wonderland collection

Pretty... the gold veining in the bottle is, of course, not visible on the nail, but it's pretty, nonetheless.

Two coats, and absolutely no shrinkage with SV. Slight tip wear- I shuffle paper for a living you know!

Sephora by OPI Holiday Collection: Bottle Pics

Today I got my Sephora order, and I couldn't rip it open fast enough! I am so excited about this collection- they are GORGEOUS!

L to R

Keep Me on My Mistletoes

Chestnuts About You

Don't Be Eggnog-ious

Sugar Plum Fairies Gone Wild

Stop Stocking Me!

Naughty is the New Nice

New Year's Red-solution

Countdown to the Kiss

Good Tidings We Bling!

Be-Claus I Said So

Can't wait to swatch them!

NOTD: OPI Warm & Fozzie

OPI Warm & Fozzie

My sister in law had this on the other night and texted me a pic. I was so excited to see how good it looked, and also dying because I hadn't gotten my Muppets mini set I'd ordered online. It arrived last night and I was so excited to try it.

And.... I love it! By the way, I never get tired of pics with mini bottles... faux giant hands crack me up!

Warm & Fozzie was named for Fozzie Bear and is a warm bronze. There are red and gold shimmering glitter, and in some light you even catch some green. I did three coats to minimize the visible nail line. I am over the top in love with this color- such a great fall shade!

NOTD: Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl

I have had two really good experiences using Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips. But this round did not go as well...... I can't put my finger on it (pun!) but they just didn't apply as easily and I also had trouble getting the edges to stay down.

It was quite a downer, because the design was adorable!

Vintage Stila Nail Polish

Last week I got an email from Stila that they would be launching a nail polish collection. I've seen quite a few bloggers post about these new polishes.

What people may not know is that this isn't Stila's first foray into nail polish. In my collection, I have two bottles of Stila Nail Shimmer, most likely from the late-90s.

Stila Nail Shimmer in isis (left) and hebe (right)

This is a terrible picture, but here's a NOTD pic I did back in June of 2009 wearing Stila hebe.

Today I have on isis and will get a pic once the sun comes out. Surprisingly, the polish has done well over time and didn't even need any thinner to perform well.

NOTD: Revlon Carbonite

Revlon Carbonite

This was Revlon's answer to Chanel Graphite. I love that Revlon has been doing affordable versions of hip shades.

This was almost identical in formula to OPI's suede polish. It dried crazy-quick and with an almost matte finish. I went ahead and did two coats, although I probably could have gotten away with one the coverage was so good. I topped it with Seche Vite to make it more shiny. I wore this for almost 4 days before I started to get any chips.

Gelish Info

Back in August Polish Insomniac posted about at-home gel nails, something I had been thinking about trying, but just hadn't gotten around to. At that time, Sally's was running a special on the Gelish mini UV light and the Gelish starter kit, so I went for it. I am SO glad I did!



Here's my first try at a full mani- this is two coats of Harmony Gelish Star Burst. I actually purchased Star Burst on Amazon because it seemed to be the cheapest option for full-sized bottles.

Here's what comes in the starter set.

And this is the light. I read all the reviews on this light and it seemed like a great way to go to begin.

A few tips:

1. One thing I read was that even though the light uses batteries, it is better to use a power adapter because the strength of the light goes down as the batteries go down. But if you use a power adapter, the strength of the light is constant and it works much better. So that's what I've been doing- we have tons of power adapters lying around from toys, so I just grabbed one of those and just plug it in each time I use it.

2. It's not really necessary to use the Gelish Cleanse.... once I run out of the starter bottle, I'll use the higher percentage Alcohol and it will work just fine- I think it's 90%. You just don't want to buy the 70% Alcohol because it won't work as well.

3. I use an old t-shirt for my lint-free cloth to wipe the cleanse across my nails- you do it twice- once before you start, and then at the end to remove the sticky residue that remains after curing.

Have you tried at-home gel nails? I am having fun! I do have to say I practiced a bit using it to mend tears before I tried a full mani. I followed Loodie Loodie Loodie's tips for using gel polish to mend a tear.

My first Gelish mani!

Harmony Gelish in Starburst (2 coats)

This is the first full Gelish mani I have done. I'll post details later on the products I got and what I think about DIY gel polish manis- the short version is I really like it!

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann Superstar

Deborah Lippmann Superstar

This is from the 2008 Holiday collection, but I thought it was pretty perfect for the Halloween season too!

The above swatch is two coats, and is still quite bumpy after a thick coat of Seche Vite. Next time I'll probably try a coat of Gelous before I apply SV.

But it's quite a stunner.... don't you think?

Fun With Crackle

Yesterday I played around a bit with the mani I was about to take off- Revlon Craving Coral.

Revlon Craving Coral topped with

China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Lightning Bolt

Revlon Craving Coral topped with

China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Tarnished Gold

(side note: I have never taken swatch pics of my right hand before... it was quite an adventure! Is there another way to do it other than holding the camera upside down and pressing the shutter with your thumb?)

Disclosure: The China Glaze Crackle Glaze shades were sent to me for review purposes. The Revlon shade was purchased by me.

NOTD: Wet n Wild Fast Dry Hannah Pinktana

Wet n Wild Fast Dry Hannah Pinktana

(click pic to enlarge)

I left this pic big and focused on only one nail so you could see the multicolored shimmers better... it's actually a very pretty polish.

Coats 1 and 2 left me with many doubts... I was really not liking this shade at all. But a third coat made it much better and then seeing it in the sun totally changed my mind- I love it!

Do you agree?

NOTD: Milani Spellbinding

Milani Spellbinding

It's October! Halloween time! I remembered this weekend that back in 2009 I purchased several shades from Milani's Black Magic collection. However, going thru my archives, it looks like I only swatched Whimsical.

So last night I chose Spellbinding, a black jelly loaded with red glitter. The above swatch is three coats and it's so pretty.