Friday, December 30, 2011

Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven


Deborah Lippmann released six new colors in her Holiday collection for 2011.  Stairway to Heaven is one of the six colors, and also a limited edition.  It's a mix of square and hexagonal iridescent glitter suspended in a milky white base.  You can see it in the bottle how it flashes a multitude of soft pretty colors.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

**CLOSED** Plum District Deal: Bloom.com $25 for $50

Plum District currently has a deal for Bloom.com.  $25 for $50 of beauty products, and free shipping.  This where I've been getting my CND fix, but they sell OPI (they have the new Nicki Minaj collection available), Essie, Zoya, and more.

You can also get an additional $2.50 off using promo code "fabulous" (10% discount code).  That brings the total down to $22.50.

If you're not a member of Plum District  already, you can sign-up now and get $5.  The $5 can apply to the above deal, making the final deal even better at $17.50 for $50 at Bloom.com

Also, if you buy the deal, share the special link provided to you with friends; and when 3 of your friends also buy the deal using your link, Plum District will refund your money and you will get this deal for free!

There are only 2 days left on this deal.  If you're interested, click HERE to purchase.  Happy nail polish shopping!

(Disclosure:  For each new member that signs up, I will receive $5 credit from Plum District.  If 3 or more deals are purchased through the above links, I will receive a refund for the deal I purchased.)

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lynnderella Mercury's Rainbow

I'm not too sure about the combination, but I let my 5 year-old daughter pick-out the colors.  Either way you can't really go wrong with beautiful glitter right?   I think I'm having problems getting pass the brightness of the blue base.



The base color is Color Club Cold Metal, a bold and vibrant blue from the Foiled Collection, released this past fall.  The formula was awesome; just one coat will give you full coverage.  It's then topped off with one coat of Lynnderella Mercury's Rainbow.  Mercury's Rainbow is a mix of holographic hexagon glitter and silver glitter.  Gorgeous!  You can see it in the bottle how it flashes a rainbow of colors.  It's hard not to stare and marvel at this one. 

Lynnderella Mercury's Rainbow is a definite winner.  I'm looking forward to play around with different layering combos with her.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

OPI Nicki Minaj Collection: Metallic 4 Life and Save Me

Nicki Minaj teamed up with OPI and created a collection of new colors, very reflective of rap superstar herself.  The six piece collection colors are inspired by songs from Nicki Minaj:

Did It On 'Em - fluorescent lime green
Fly - neon sky blue
Metallic 4 Life - shimmery gunmetal gray
Pink Friday - iridescent Barbie pink
Save Me - rainbow glitter-infused light blue
Super Bass Shatter - deep plum, shatter polish 

The Nicki Minaj collection is due out early January 2012.  I actually came across the display at a local beauty supply store the day after Christmas.  I'll be quit honest and say that when I first saw the promotional pictures for this collection, I wasn't really excited by it.  Colors were nice, but I didn't feel like they were really my style.  I may be young at heart, but I'm not young enough to pull off these colors.  Once I saw the display, I sort of changed my mind.  I'm all shattered & crackled out, so although the new magenta purple Shatter was pretty, I passed.  The bright colors were very fitting for this collection, but they were just that, a little too bright for me.  Plus, they didn't seem totally unique to me, and somewhat dupe-able.  I did end up grabbing two colors that I found to be interesting and more unique from the collection.

Milani Jewel FX Gold over China Glaze Glittering Garland

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.  As for me, I tried to keep things quiet this year.  We decided not to travel and we spent quality family time together.  This past year has been especially hectic and a bit challenging for us.  There were a lot of changes that took place, so we all had to do some adjusting.  I felt we all needed a break and kept thing simple, so I made this year's Christmas, our official pajama day.

My mani for Christmas started out with China Glaze Glittering Garland from this year's 2011 holiday collection called Let It Snow.  Originally I was going to pass on this collection, but that completely changed once I saw the colors being posted all over the blogs, especially Glittering Garland.  I caved and I'm really glad I did.  Glittering Garland is a stunning evergreen jelly base filled with little green glass-like shimmer running through it.  It's got a lot of depth, and I love how the shimmer flashes a bit of gold.  I don't own anything like this.  Then, I wanted to "holiday" it up bit more and added a coat of Milani Jewel FX Gold, a chunky gold glitter with mirror-like finish.  This came out winter 2010, part of the Rockstar Heavy Glitter collection.



The result reminds me of a Christmas tree decorated with gold ornaments.  My pictures are really not doing the mani justice.  Or maybe I should have spent more time taking better picture.  The mani was really spectacular in person.  At first, I was really worried that adding the gold glitter was going to be over-kill, but I think it worked out beautifully.  I actually got a lot of compliments today from strangers while shopping with friends.  My 69 year-old mother even liked it.  Total shocker!  She must have really liked it because she picked-up the gold glitter and applied it to her own nails.  I never expected that to happen.  Oh, I have to say, one coat looked fab on her naked nails too.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

**CLOSED** Giveaway: Lucy's Stash "1,500 Followers Giveaway"


To celebrate her blog reaching 1,500 followers, Lucy's Stash is giving away 5 colors from OPI The Muppets Collection.  The colors are:  Meep Meep Meep, Warm & Fozzie, Designer... Da Better, Excuse Moi!, and Divine Swine.

Please check out Lucy's Stash for giveaway details and rules.  Giveaway closes January 2, 2011, and is open internationally.  Good luck!

My Julep Box of Mystery

Julep recently ran a holiday promotion called 5 Days of Gifting, where each day featured a new Julep deal.  By far, the most popular deal that week was the Box of Mystery.  A surprise box of mystery Julep products valued at $60 and up to $200, all for $19.99 and with free shipping.  I'm already a loyal Julep Maven, I signed on from the very beginning in August, but that didn't stop me from taking advantage of the incredible deal being offered on this day.  Plus the fact I like having a surprise box of beauty goodies delivered to my doorstep, this was a win win.

My mystery box arrived yesterday and I was giddy with excitement to open my surprise.  I had no idea what I was going to get, but what I received made my jaw drop...


Look at all the products!  I think I really hit the jackpot on this one.  I did a quick calculation and my box retails over $200.  I think it's safe to say I got my money's worth on this one.  Never in the world did I expect to get the grand daddy box. I would have been more than happy with a $60 box, so this definitely exceeds my expectation.

So what's in the box?  Here's the list of items:
Amy - smokey turquoise
Gloria - modern, coral rose
Holly - opaque, super pale pink
Jodie - shimmery, burnt copper
Lucy - modern, dark burgundy
Mandy - fresh, bright, deep coral-pink
Salma - bold, fire-engine red
Susan - cheery, rosy pink
Stella - mustard yellow
Vera - luxurioussable brown
Pout Plumping Lip Gloss in Intimacy - nude with 24 karat gold shimmer
Essential Cuticle Oil
Fast Dry Top Coat
Glitter Pot in Silver
Nail Applique in Peacock
Nail Applique in Rivet

Amazing enough, I don't own any of the 10 colors here.  I have to say that there are a few colors I would normally not buy for myself, but now I have the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and give the color a try.  Indeed Christmas came a couple days early for me.  These are quality products.  I am very fond of their nail polish, especially their crème formula.  They apply beautifully on the nails and dries to a glossy shine.  I have to say Julep is incredibly generous to be offering such a wonderful deal to their customers.  I'm definitely a fan!

So what is a Julep Maven?  I'm sure most of you already heard about the program, but in case you didn't, here's it is:  For $19.99 a month (shipping is included), Julep will send out a Sneak Peek Box tailored to your style profile taken from a quick fun style quiz.  The box will include the latest nail color, and/or mani and pedi care products.  For more details on the program, check out the Julep Maven section on the website and the Maven FAQs page.  If you're not a Maven and want to join, I would appreciate if you go through my referral link to sign-up.  (Disclosure:  For each new member that signs up for Julep Maven program through the referral link, I will receive $15 in Julep credit)


Edited 12/27/11 to add:  I didn't post this before because I thought the offer had expired, but it appears that it still may be working.  You can sign-up for the Maven program and get the introductory box for just a penny!  Go to the referral link and use coupon code: SHAREON.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Sally Hansen GEM Crush Cha-Ching! & Featuring "Rudolph"

First off, I have to say that I am not a nail art person.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy looking at them, and I can appreciate all the time and hard work it takes to create them.  But that's just it... Time...  I don't have it, and I have very little patience.  The attention to details I've seen are just amazing... I'm in awe at their talent.  Yes, I'm lazy that way.  But really, just the mere fact that I'm taking care of my  nails and I keep them trimmed and polished is already amazing enough for me.

With that said, I will sometimes dabble a little... on certain occasions.  Themed manis can be fun, so I will challenge myself here and there, and try explore my nail creativity.  Well, it's the holidays; and since I'm helping out at my son's classroom holiday party, why not do something fun?  I got the idea after seeing a very fun mani posted by khuuphoria on Copy That, Copy Cat.  If you haven't seen her nail art, you must.  She's so creative!  I actually discovered her blog pretty recently, but I have been enjoying all her manis.  I also need to mentioned that my nail art only extends to one finger.  That's pretty much all can handle. :)


I started off with doing a full mani (minus ring finger) using Cha-Ching! from Sally Hansen's new Gem Crush collection line.  This is based with bright cherry red fine glitter, mixed with some silver glitter.  It most definitely screams "holiday" to me.  In case you're wondering, it does look very much like a dupe to China Glaze Love Marilyn, from winter 2011 collection called Eye Candy 3D Glitters.

For my "Rudolph", I used:
Sinful Colors Nirvana - top half of the face
OPI San Tan-Tonio - lower portion, snout area
OPI Vodka & Caviar (one of my favorite reds of all times) - nose
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On - eyes
Wet n Wild Wet Shine Black Crème - eyes

I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.  Either way, the second graders loved it!

OPI Divine Swine over Julep Gayle

Divine Swine is a glitter polish from OPI's holiday collection, The Muppets.  It's fuchsia glitter in clear base, and has some larger hexagonal silver glitter.  When I first swatched it, it wasn't as glitter packed as I had expected, so I decided I would use this over a base color rather than slathering coats of glitter.

Enter the beautiful Julep Gayle.  Since I was already wearing it, why not extend my mani another couple of days, so I topped it with Divine Swine...



I only used one coat of Divine Swine, and I think it compliments Gayle very nicely.  If I used 2 coats, I think it would have covered up Gayle too much.  The combination is very pretty, and adds just an extra bit of sparkle to an already beautiful color.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Julep Gayle

Regal, deep aubergine.  Sophisticated yet playful.  That is how Julep describes Gayle, a new release from the Holiday 2011 collection.  Well, I have to agree.  Just look at her... a perfect shade of purple that is not leaning too blue, or have too much red...



Gayle is absolutely stunning, right?  The medium eggplant color is really perfect; and so is the Julep crème formula.  It's so smooth, that the color just glides onto the nail.  It dries to a beautiful glossy finish, so a glossy top coat is completely optional.

So aside from being an amazing color, Gayle is also named after a wonderful woman with a huge heart.  I was lucky enough to have "met" the original Gayle on a nail forum.  Her kindness and generous nature is truly amazing, and very contagious.  She is one beautiful woman.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Chanel Le Vernis Blue Rebel


Since my earlier post of Chanel Blue Boy, I thought I would show the other color I picked up from Les Jeans de Chanel collection.  Although not completely unique, Blue Rebel is my favorite color out of the trio in the collection.   It may be due to my preference for darker colors in general, but I just loved the color in the bottle.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Lynnderella Has Landed

Finally!  My very first Lynnderella glitters have arrived!  It took FOREVER to get here, but one of that was Lynn's fault; it was all UPS.

My package was traveling from coast to coast.  After 7 days from when the package gets shipped, I see on UPS tracking that it has landed at my local UPS hub, loaded into the truck and out for delivery.  So I waited, and waited for the UPS truck to arrive.  Nothing.  I checked the tracking again, and this time it says my package is leaving the hub and heading out...  But out to where?  I'm irritated and I text my UPS insider, and asked him what the heck is going on with my package.    He calls me and tells me that they don't know but think the box was recycled, so there may be an old label on it, which got scanned (This however turned out to be totally untrue because Lynn used brand new boxes).

The dispatch sent out an interception for the package, but it was already too late because the package was on the truck leaving the state.  Three days later, the package gets checked in Kansas, and is routed back in my direction.  Another five days and the package arrived at the local UPS hub, and delivery is scheduled.  But guess what?  Again, it's not delivered; it has been intercepted!  Ugh... I text my UPS insider and asked why are they are holding my package hostage.

The next day, I get my goodies.  Everything was intact; the packaging was perfect.  What was UPS doing with my package?  No idea.  I'm just happy they arrived safe and sound.  I present to you my very first Lynnderalls...


Because they are so beautiful and have had such a journey, I think they deserve a couple more...



Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Chanel Le Vernis Blue Boy

For 2011's Fashion Night Out, Chanel released a trio of blue nail colors in a collection called Les Jeans de Chanel.  A limited edition, and sadly for us, retailed at a higher price point at $29 a bottle.  I had to overcome my sticker shock, which didn't take long really, and submitted my order immediately after it was made available on the Chanel website.  Even with all frenzy and excitement of this release, I was able to show some restraint and picked-up only 2 of the colors from the collection; the other being Blue Rebel.  I couldn't justify putting down another $29 for Coco Blue, a color I know will not look good on me.

Blue Boy is the medium blue crème in the set.  It is slightly faded, muted medium tone blue.  I love the touch of grey in it; the dusty blue color really does resemble a pair of broken-in comfy jeans.




The formula was a little thinner than usual, so the first coat was a bit streaky.  A second was very much need to even the color out.  I actually used a third coat here.  I actually found this pretty quick drying for a creme, and I really didn't need a top coat for added shine, so I skipped it.  I don't own many blues in the medium tone, so I know I don't have any dupes.  I absolutely love the dusty quality of this color, and would be wearing it again come spring.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Chanel Le Vernis Graphite 529

This past weekend, I had a intimate company holiday dinner to attend.  I bypassed the glitter since I didn't want anything too flashy.  Then I realized my bottle of Graphite has been sitting in the drawer for months, and it would be the perfect color to wear for my event.

From the Illusion d’Ombres, fall 2011 collection, Graphite, limited edition color, is a metallic mix of silvery-pewter and gold, very foil-like and glittery shimmers.



The formula was really nice.  I usually find foil-like colors to be very watery and sheer, but Graphite seemed to have a better consistency than most I've tried to date.  As nice as the formula is, it's not a one coat polish.  A second coat is needed to even out the color.  Graphite may look a bit gritty to the eye, but it's not; it dried to an absolute smooth finish.

I found the color to be very pretty, even though it's not the most flattering shade on me.  I think it brings out the warm tones in  my skin, though I tend to be more cool-neutral.  However, I will say this is a very elegant and classy color, perfect for a celebration.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Versatile Blogger Award


Me?  Wow...  Really?  This is my first award and I am so flattered!  Thank you so very much to Adina.J at blue collar red lipstick  for nominating me.  With my blog being so new, there's not much traffic coming through here; so I would say this was such a honor to be nominated.  Hopefully, I will be able to share more, and that people will like what they see and want to follow along.  I guess with this award, I need to start getting more "versatile" in my posts too.  So the pressure is on! LOL

Rules for the award are:
  • Formally thank the award-giver (with link back) in a post.
  • Share 7 things about yourself.
  • Pass on the award to 15 more bloggers that you enjoy reading, and let them know they were nominated.
Thank you again to the sweet Adina.J for nominating me.  Please go visit her over at blue collar red lipstick  when you have a chance.  Aside from being a fellow nail polisher lover, she's also one of the best-dressed stay-at-home moms I know.  She's got great taste in clothes and accessories (love her new handbags), and has totally put me to shame.  This work-at-home mom, is feeling the pressure to back on track again.

So I need to come up with 7 things to share about myself...  Well, I can't promise the will all be interesting, but here goes:
  1. I'm an only child.  I never really wished for a sibling, but if I had to and given the choice, I would have liked an older brother.
  2. I love cats, but I also like dogs.  Currently we have 2 cats, and discussing the possibility of adding a puppy into our family.
  3. I can't swim.  
  4. I can't ride a bike.
  5. English is not my first language, but has become my primary.
  6. I'm a Pisces.
  7. I have 2 wonderful kids that drives me batty... a lot!  But I love them to death, and can't image my life without them. 
Now it's time to pass on the award.  These are the blogs I really enjoy and frequent:

Friday, December 9, 2011

OPI Pepe's Purple Passion

It was so excited to see OPI's 2011 holiday collection, inspired by and named, The Muppets.  I grew-up watching The Muppets on television, so to see them making comeback with a movie release (aslo in form of nail polish nonetheless) was definitely a happy trip down memory lane.  What a fun collection this turned out to be.  I was excited to be sharing this collection my little girl, as well as seeing the movie with my kids.

For my first Muppets mani, I went with Pepe's Purple Passion:


Thursday, December 8, 2011

OPI I Brake for Manicures

This is one of my favorite kind of colors, dusty brown plum, or is it dusty plum brown...  When I saw OPI's preview for the fall 2011 collection, Touring America, I Brake for Manicures was on the top of my list.  Strangely enough, it has taken me this long to finally wear it.  Yes, I have a huge backlog of "untrieds" to go through...



I admit, this may not be a very unique color, but regardless, I still really love it.  This is what I would consider my "comfort" color, a fabulous cozy crème that I will always love wearing.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

L'Oreal Owl's Lust

Overshadowed by it's popular sister, Owl's Night, Owl's Lust is a brick red creme from the same limited edition Colors Take Flight collection, created with Project Runway.  It's a beautiful and perfect red, without being too bright, or too dark.



I really loved wearing this color.  The color was rich and inviting, perfect for the cooler months.  It had a great formula, very easy to apply, and dried to a shiny finish.  I truly believe this color was over-looked by many.  It's too bad, but it's definitely a winner in my book.  Owl's Lust is a very worthy color addition to any nail polish collection.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Butter London The Black Knight


The Black Knight is one of three colors from the Holiday 2011, limited edition collection.  Not sure what happened to my bottle, but looks like all the purple glitter decided to collect itself in area, but it's still pretty, right?  Even with all it's beauty I know there has been some mixed reviews on this one.  Despite of the less favorable reviews, I still had to run out and get it; and I was also very determined to make it work.

I was very prepared when it came time to try it out, making sure I had what I needed to make this color as beautiful as I hoped it would be.  It's a black base packed with multi-colored glitter, a perfect combination.  I used three coats; and as expected, it dried to a gritty finish, looking a little flat on the nail.  That was easily solved with a nice thick coat of Gelous, and finishing it off with two coats of Poshe Top Coat.  I would admit that this was a high maintenance polish, but really, it's totally worth it!




Just look all the beautiful glitter shimmering throughout the nails!  The multi-color glitter really pops against the black base.  Seriously, my picture is not doing this mani any justice whatsoever. 


I loved the way it looked on my nails.  I couldn't stop staring at it.  It was so magical looking and festive.  It totally reminded me of driving around the neighborhood looking at all the Christmas lights at night.  It's so amazingly beautiful, I can't really explain it.  I really do think this is the PERFECT holiday color.  All the extra layers was so worthwhile when the end result is so beautiful.  I will definitely wear this one again.  Next time, I'm going to try layering it over a base of black.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Julep Diane

I received Diane as part of the Julep Maven Box for November 2011.  Actually, this was a shelf pull I requested called Polish Lover Option.  Normally, I am sent the Classic with a Twist box.  Even though the box of goodies I would have received was pretty, I really didn't need a new lipgloss.  Plus, being such a nail polish lover, how could I resist adding three beautiful new colors to my collection?

The Polish Lover Option had 3 colors: Diane, Michelle, and Trina.  Stepping out of my comfort zone, I decided to try Diane first, a dark forest green:



I have such a difficult time finding a nice looking green for me.  Most of the greens I've worn make my hand look terrible.  Despite my many fail attempts to find the perfect green, I continue my search.  When I first put on Diane, I thought it looked nice enough on me.  But looking at my pictures now, I'm not too convinced this is the right green for me.  However, I still can appreciate the beauty of this one.  It's such a lush looking green; any green lover out there would favor this one.

I found the formula on this particular Julep color to be thinner and a bit runny.  Not that it was a terrible thing, but I had to work really fast, or the polish would drip down and pool on the nail.  Aside from the thin formula, the application was nice and smooth.  Just make sure to get as much as the excess polish off the brush, and work fast!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Chanel Le Vernis Impérial 469

I absolutely love this time of the year!  With the cooler temperature and changing colors of leaves, fall is one of my favorite season, along with winter.  This is a time I feel completely justified in reaching for a beautifully dark and vampy color.  Not that I ever stop wearing them in spring and summer, but there's something delicious about wearing dark nail polish in the cooler months.

I wanted something warm and inviting, and Impérial fit the bill perfectly.  I've had Impérial in my collection for close to a year now, I finally reaching for this beautiful color for the first time:




Impérial is a release from the Rouge Allure Laque, winter 2009, collection.  I would call this a decadent color!  It's a gorgeous brown creme with a touch of plum-red undertones.  I say "decadent" because it makes me think of rich milk chocolate, and what girl on this planet does not love chocolates?  I love the creamy one coat formula, but as usual, I'm a two coat gal by habit.  I'm loving this color on my nails; it's perfect with my cozy warm sweater.

Impérial is a discontinued color.  Some counters may still carry a leftover bottle or two; otherwise, eBay is your best bet.

Lancôme Le Gris L'Wren

Last month, while shopping at a outlet mall, I saw a cosmetic outlet store that sold Lancôme.  Hoping to find some discontinued nail polish colors, I walked in scouring for little glass bottles.  They had nothing.  Just as I was about to walk out the store, I see behind the counter on display, L'Wren Scott Pochette Gift Set for Lancôme Holiday Collection 2010.


L'Wren Scott was a former model, now a fashion designer.  The collection she help design was inspired by "the red lip", which she felt was the most iconic symbol of glamour.  Now this collection was totally calling my name.  I love everything about this collection, especially the smokey eyeshadow quad and the beautiful red gloss.  And of course how can I forget about the nail polish?

Le Gris L'Wren is a shimmering metallic grey with blue... or maybe blue with grey?  Either way, I wasn't sure how this would look on me.  At first glance, in the bottle it reminded me a lot of Essie Fair Game, which was absolutely horrendous on me.  Plus the fact that this is a metallic, with an almost frost-like shimmer, the combination of two was like a red flag for me.



This was the color was used on the runway for L'Wren's Fall 2010 fashion show.  I have to say, I was actually pleasantly surprised that I like it on me.  The grey-blue was cool enough to look nice against my skin tone, but still had a bit of warmth to the color without looking strange on me.  This is the first time I've used a Lancôme nail polish, and I have to say the formula was amazing!  It went on the nail like butter, so smooth and easy; also great coverage. With the right application skill, you may only need one coat.  I know this won't be my last bottle of Lancôme nail polish.

There was another nail color released in this collection.  It's called Le Rouge L'Wren, a dark burgundy jelly shimmer with mirco-glitters of gold, red, blue and purple.  I would love to get my hands on a bottle.  I've seen pictures and it's so beautiful, but also because I have a weakness for the vampy reds.


In case you were interested, the L'Wren Scott Pochette Gift Set for Lancôme Holiday Collection 2010 includes the following:

     ~ Ombre Absolue Palette Quad in Les Grid L'Wren
     ~ Hypnose Drama in Black
     ~ L'Absolu Rouge in Le Rouge L'Wren
     ~ L'Abolu Créme De Brilliance in Rouge L'Wren
     ~ Mini Vernis in Le Gris L'Wren
     ~ L'Wren Scott Large Pochette

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Revlon Top Speed Mistletoe & Comparison

A few weeks ago, I came across a new Revlon display at my local CVS.  It's their holiday collection called Spice It Up, and there are 8 colors for the Top Speed line.  Two colors peaked my interest and came home with me.  Mistletoe was definitely the stand out in the bunch, and I couldn't wait to put it on.



It's a deep charcoal base with gold shimmers, the combination makes the polish appear deep olive green.  I think this is beautiful color, and one that I have a difficult time resisting.  I know a lot of people complain about Revlon's formula, but I've never had any problems with it.  This one applied just fine for me, with 2 coats, it covered nicely.

After I put Mistletoe on, I thought it reminded me of another color I own.  I grabbed my Zoya Edyta and did comparison, and I also added L'Oreal Owl's Night when I was asked about it:


Next to Edyta, Mistletoe looks less green.  Owl's Night looks brown based and more golden.  A couple of other similar colors that came to mind, which I don't own, are Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne and Nubar Verde.  I'm glad to see this is not a dupe in my collection, and am very happy to be adding it.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Deborah Lippmann Footloose

To celebrate the remake of the 1980's movie Footloose, Deborah Lippmann created a collection of nail colors inspired by the movie.  The Footloose Collection was made exclusively for HSN, and was launched in conjunction with the movie premier.  There are a total of 4 colors, offered in 2 sets:


Almost Paradise (a playful pistachio hue) & Footloose  (a rebellious red hue); Let's Hear It For the Boy (a baby blue hue) & Dancing in the Sheets (a shimmering midnight purple hue).

As tempted as I was, I did not order any of the sets.  I wanted only wanted two colors, which happens to be only one from each of the sets.  I wasn't willing to buy both set, just for 2 colors.  But then, a lovely lady surprised me with a package and gifted me with the red from the collection.



Footloose is a vibrant red, describe as a "sheer crème".  It's definitely not sheer like a jelly, but more sheer than the average crème.  The polish applied beautifully; this was three coats because I don't really like visible nail lines.  Deborah Lippman the inspiration behind this color were the red cowboy boots Ariel wore in the movie.  I have a thing for red nail polish, so this one will fit right in with my collection.

Now about the movie remake...  Being that I grew up in the 80's, I have mixed feelings about all the recent remakes of the movies I grew up with.  My teenage years were spent watching these "classic" 80's movies, so a lot of my teenage memories are tied to them.  I like to remember my movies as is, so I'm not running out to see the updated version of Footloose.  I will eventually watch it once it's available on DVD.

Hey Hollywood... please, please, please, leave The Breakfast Club alone!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

OPI Road House Blues

OPI Road House Blues is from the fall 2011 Touring America collection.  A dark blue crème, with some indigo in the base.  The indigo really shows up in certain lighting.  I found that to be especially true, when it came to time to photograph this color.  It took several attempts before I found the right lighting, as to capture what looked to me to be the same color I saw before me.



The formula was great, which is what I would expect from OPI.  Smooth application, with full coverage in 2 coats.  I think this is a fantastic color for the fall/winter season.  I don't have a lot of blues in my collection, but definitely more than your average person, or maybe even the average nail salon.  I was not able to find a dupe.  Some people may think this looks similar to OPI Sapphire in the Snow from Holiday Wishes, the winter/holiday 2009 collection.  Sapphire in the Snow is definitely more purple than Road House Blues, enough to say it worth having both colors.  I will do a comparison in the near future for reference.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Orly Fowl Play

Do you know how long I've lusted after OPI Merry Midnight?  A long time.  It came out before I got crazy addicted to nail polish.  Once I saw it in a nail blog, it made it to my wish list pretty quickly.  I would stalk eBay, but never willing to pay the insane prices.  So you bet I was ecstatic to hear Orly was coming out with what looks to be a very similar color in their Birds of a Feather collection for fall 2011.  Of course getting my hands on a bottle wasn't very easy.  Multiple failed trips to the nearest Ulta, but then I got lucky and found the display stocked.  I grabbed both bottles (gifted one) and left the store smiling from ear to ear.




Look at that deep purple jelly base, packed full with micro-glitter and beautiful flakies.  Depending at the angle of the light, the flakies will flash red, purple and blue, which I see the most; and sometimes gold and green, which you can see in along the side edge of the bottle in my pictures.  From reading different nail blogs, it seems that Fowl Play has a tab bit deeper base than Merry Midnight, so they are not exact dupes.  I'm not complaining because I still find her to be perfectly beautiful.

I am very happy with this color, and I happily cross off OPI Merry Midnight off my wish list.  But let's be honest here, if I ever do happen to stumble upon a bottle of it while dusty shopping, I still will not hesitate to bring it home.  After all, that's what a collector does.