Nail Pattern Boldness Bigger On the Inside

Afternoon All,

Quick post because I need to be studying (fail), but I really wanted to post this even during my posting funk.  I have been wearing blues all month for autism awareness, which is great.  I love the idea of spreading awareness, blue is my favorite color besides purple, and it's the color of my birthstone, so easy peasy for me to go through my serious untrieds section of blues.  Today's NOTD is Nail Pattern Boldness's Bigger on the Inside from the Time Traveler Collection.  It's a royal blue jelly with silver sparkles throughout.  It's actually not this bright, think Revlon Royal, but it's a stunner nonetheless.  This is two coats with topcoat.  It's got the Starry Starry night quality all those lemming a certain Essie shade from the antebellum (lol) will enjoy. 

Enjoy the day! Back to studying...

Pretty & Polished: How do you spell Chanukkah?

Hello All,

I know, its been forever. However a lot has happened since my last post.  I have been wearing nail polish, I've just been a in posting funk.  I got in a car accident and my car was totaled- don't worry, the Lovebug and I are safe and sound and up and driving again, but school has been a whirlwind, and I'm swamped.  Plus I'm pretty sure not many read these post anyways, but just for old time's sake here goes.

This is three coats of Pretty&Polished How do you spell Chanukkah? from her limited edition winter collection of 2012.  It's a light blue creme with various blue, white, and yellow glitters, along with pearlescent white hexagon glitter.  I inverted my bottle to get more of the large hexes out- more made it on my non-swatching hand.  You also have to be careful to allow the coats to dry or risk dragging the large glitter around the nail.  I topped it with Color Club's 60 second top coat and was out the door.  

Well, that's all I have for now, I don't know if I'll have any time soon to do more collections or swatch appropriately, but I hope you enjoy for now.  Goodnight :)

PS: for those of you interested in this shade, go to www.prettynpolished.com, there may still be some left!

Lime Crime Desserts D'Antoinette Swatches and Review

Hello Everyone,

Well unfortunately this will be my last post for a few days- my nails decided to go on a break-fest and ruined my plans for swatching this weekend- I envy you people with strong amazing nails... Anyway, here is the last collection I swatched, pretty pastels from Lime Crime I purchased last summer.  This collection is Desserts D'Antoinette, and are every bit as rich as their names.

Crema De Limon is a pastel yellow.  It actually is brighter than the picture shows, think more like China Glaze Happy Go Lucky.  This is three coats.

 Pastelchio.  I love this green. This too photographed less vibrant than it is in real life- it has almost a neon quality to it in person.  This was two coats. 

Peaches N Creme was a bright peach pastel nightmare.  Pretty color but sheer and streaky.  This was four coats.

Once in a Blue Mousse is a perfect light blue pastel creme. I really enjoyed this color on me, and plan to wear it again soon.  This was three coats.

Parfait Day- This is the epitome of pastel Barbie Pink.  I was wearing in Panera and the girl at the register exclaimed that she loved it and asked what color it was.  I was more than happy to oblige :)  This is three coats.

 Lavendairy is a pastel, obviously Lavender, with more pinkish red tones than blue tones in it.  I really like it, however I am more partial to lavenders that have a bit more blue in them.  Two coats.

Milky Ways is an off white creme, and instead of just swatching it alone, I decided to make a dotticure with all the other colors from an idea originally posted by Jen of The Nail Polish Project.  I was pretty happy with the result.  Milky Ways reached opacity with two coats.

Well, that's all I have for now.  I am going to begin using Duri Rejuvacote as a base in my never-ending quest for the best nail strengthener for my nails and will be back soon!

OPI Mariah Carey Studio Shades Swatches and Review

Good Morning,

Today I have for you the first installment of swatches from the Mariah Carey Collection released in January by OPI.  I know, late me, but it's still pretty.  I will post the Stage shades hopefully tomorrow.

First up is Sprung, a pretty copper-esque shimmer foil with pink and green and gold shimmer sparkles.  It's the more copper sister of this spring's OPI Woman's Prague-ative.  I love these shades, it makes it ok I missed out on the amazing Jessica shades from last fall.  This was three coats.

A Butterfly Moment.  I really was excited about this- I felt like it will be appropriate on the wards for me in a few months, but still be pretty.  I was a little worried about it with my skin tone, but after seeing the pictures, I remain sold by it's pale peachy beige base with golden shimmer.  Lovely, at two coats.

Anti-Bleak.  I wasn't excited about this one, it looked very similar to my OPI Casino Royale from the Skyfall collection of winter 2012 which I have yet to swatch (shame), but I like it!  I like the pluminess of it- I feel like I'll wear it to death like I did OPI Miami Beet when that first came out (throwback shoutout!).

Pink Yet Lavender is a glitter topper with pale pink hexagons, with holographic glitter bits.  I like it, it's in the same realm as OPI Polka Dot Com, but not as cool.  I think I would like it more over a black.  I appreciate the mainstream companies trying to keep up with indies.

Well there are you are, the Studio Shades.  Any favorites!  I'll be back with the Stage shades Soon!

Pahlish Eleven Pipers Piping

Hello Everyone,

Today I have for you Pahlish's Eleven Piper's Piping, a limited edition shade from her twelve days of Christmas collection of 2012.  I wanted to love this one, as I love most of her creations, but it was a thick disaster.  I used some thinner to try and better the formula.  I think the concept was cool, raspberry microglitter, with black and lighter magenta glitter interspersed throughout.  I think that maybe the base was just too sticky.  This was three painstaking coats.  I have some others from this collection, and I love her polishes, so I'm hoping this was just a miss :)

You can purchase Pahlish polishes at her Etsy store.  Have a great day!

OPI Euro Centrale Swatches and Review

Hello Everyone,

Today I have the OPI Euro Centrale Collection picks from me that I swatched and reviewed.  I actually swatched these a few weeks ago, but it takes me forever to edit pictures, probably because I take too many trying to get a good shot!  Anyways, I'll try to keep up :)

A Woman's Prague-ative.  One of my favorites, a beautiful golden brown orange shimmer.  This could easily be mistaken as an autumn shade, or it could be reminiscent of those flashes of good weather interspersed with cold when spring is trying to push on through.  Easy two coats with topcoat.

My Vampire is Buff.  Off white creme, leaning ivory.  I chose to pick this up over Zoya Jacqueline because my friend Lisa was in love.  I like the color, it's very Olivia Pope-ish to me (for all you Scandal lovers :) ) Application was a little streaky though for me, this is three coats.

Polka Dot Com over You're Such a Budapest.  I got this on a whim, and I really like it!  It's a glitter topper with small blue glitter, and turquoise, magenta, and blurple glitter throughout. It's got great coverage, this is one coat.  I think it would be cute in a OPI Funny Bunny Sandwhich....

Where's My Czech Book?  Another fave.  This is actually a little more dusty than the picture shows, but it's a really great calm turquoise, not really amped up neon, which is nice.  This is two easy coats with topcoat.

You're Such a Budapest.  I'm a sucker for any purples, so this is of course a like for me.  It's a lavender shade with a hint more blue than white to it, and it has a really subtle silver shimmer. Very feminine and pretty. This was three coats, and another favorite for me.

My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours!  Ok, I like this shade, but it was a B*^&! to photograph, and I never captured it's intensity well.  Think OPI Hot and Spicy with more red neon tone.  It photographed poorly for me in my normal setup and when I tried to do it in natural light it looked way too red.  Saturated red orange- it's beautiful in person, take my word for it, but for me more of a summer shade. It also has a little subtle shimmer like You're Such a Budapest.  This is 3 coats.

OPI... Eurso Euro.  I love this.  This is what I wanted RBL IKB: 2012 to be like in formula.  Great super rich, bright crayola blue, with great formula.  My nails suffered a break during swatching, I'll probably redo this one, because the color is so freaking awesome.  





I Saw....You Saw... We Saw... Warsaw.  Love the concept and love it on others, but on me, not so much.  Navy blue creme, great formula. Two coats, and be careful, this bad boy stains.  I think I may have to pair it with something else to enjoy it more.  





So that's my OPI Euro Centrale pics.  They are 9$ apiece and now a prestige item at Ulta (ouch!)  Which ones have you picked up? Any favorites?  Have a great day!

Estessimo TINS The Diamond

Hello Again Today,

Just wanted to get through a backlog of some pictures.  My husband during his deployment to Japan and countries of Southeast Asia was kind enough to bring me back some of the local polishes- He was mortified shopping for them, but I feel loved because he did quite a good job!  Anyways, one of the TINS he brought back was this lovely, The Diamond.  The Diamond is a silver holographic glitter, way too dense to be a glitter topper.  I used three coats to achieve opacity.  It was sunny the day I wore this, so I got to feel quite blingy.

Have a Good Evening!