Dia De (Los) Muertos

Happy October!

You know in this post when I mentioned that I had worn Sinful Colors, Blue La La for over two weeks? Well this is how I dressed it up in to the second week.

Enter Funky Fingers, Dia De Muertos (although I feel like it should be Dia De Los Muertos?).

Funky Fingers polishes have me soooo hooked, especially their glitters. I can't help but purchase some of them based off of the name alone. I can just picture what they are going for with the name and colour/glitter of the polish. In this case, in my head I see a black light lit sugar skull!

Sinful Color's Blue La La matching the translucent base of Dia De (Los) Meurtos was the perfect combo. DDM has a sheer cornflower base with various sizes of shiny blue glitter and matte, hot pink hex and bar glitter. Did I also mention that it glows in the dark?!

DDM applied so well to the nail, glitters were evenly distributed, what you see is one coat! I blobbed a bit on the nail to move the glitters around with surprisingly little effort. The glow of this polish in the dark is AWE-SOME! Considering I only applied one thin (blobby) layer, the glow factor is  bright, especially over a darker colour! I am super impressed with this polish, I can't wait to try the other I purchased with this, Oggie Boogie.

Blue La La!

I picked up this Sinful Colors polish on a whim and have been wearing it for two weeks straight! If you frequent my blog you'll notice that I haven't posted in a few weeks. So much has happened with the start of September and  (think) I am finally getting in the routine of things now. With that being said, I have not been doing my nails as frequently and this polish was perfect to hold me over the last few weeks.

Blue La La is a dusty blue based periwinkle creme. It applied well, and can be opaque in one thick coat, however I preferred two thinner coats. This was a great transition colour for me from summer to fall, especially since September has continued on with the summer temperatures.

As I mentioned this polish lasted me quite a long time ( I am still wearing it now!) Sure, it did chip a bit after a week, but I decided to chop my nails down a but which disguised most of the wear.

As mentioned above, with September I have taken on some new responsibilities and have not been able to do my nails as often. That being said, moving forward I may be posting once to twice a week, should I have anything to post at all! I do not intend on abandoning this blog any time soon, but life sometimes gets in the way.

Revlon/Sinful Colors Haul

Happy Friday and last long weekend of summer! I can't believe it is already SEPTEMBER! I have already noticed the days getting shorter :( I shouldn't complain though, for the most part this summer was great!

A few weeks ago I purchased some new Revlon and Sinful Colors polishes:

From left to right, Sinful Colors Galax-sea, Lively in Lilac and Blue La La.

Galax-Sea is a predominately green glitter (hex and irregular shards) sprinkled with orange iridescent square glitter, which is hard to see in the swatches below. One coat is shown in the swatch below.

Livaly in Lilac looks to be mostly purple glitter, however I have a feeling it is silver or gold glitter which appears to be purple due to the purple jelly base. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Blue La La is a soft blue periwinkle creme. Nothing super special about this share just really pretty. I suspect it may be similar to China Glaze Boho Blues. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Next up are the Revlons, left to right, Revlon Brazilian Beach, Edgy and Apricot Nectar.

Brazilian Beach is a soft copper and gold glitter in a nude base. As with the other polishes from the Haute Rocks collection, it has a "pebbled texture" AKA dries to a matte finish. One impressive coat is shown in the swatch below.

Edgy is made up of varying sizes of hex glitter and fine bar glitter in a deep purple jelly base. I was initially excited about this one, but it was kind of a mess. Two thicker coats are shown in the swatch below, should probably use thinner coats with this one to avoid thick and clumpy glitter on the nail. The base is also so dark you can hardly see the glitter.

Apricot Nectar is a pretty peach creme. Great formula and slightly scented when dry. Two coats are shown below.

While swatching I layered a coat of Brazilian Beach over Apricot Nectar. I really love this combo!

Which polishes are your favorite?

A Few Months in Hauls

Happy Friday the 13th!

This post is LONG overdue. It includes some polishes I received around Christmas and others I picked up in store since then. I'll start with the oldest first, lots of holiday polishes. All sets below were gifts.

OPI, Rollin' In Cashmere Set

Rollin' In Cashmere -  soft gold frost
Snow Globe Trotter - glitter topper comprised of white and pastel iridescent glitter. Very snow globe!
Comet In The Sky - another glitter topper, practically the same as Snow Globe Trotter with black glitter.

Next is an Essie gift set that came with a creme polish, a glitter topper and a mini glass file. The polishes I received included:

A-List - classic red creme
Sparkle On Top - iridescent flakie topper

Bundle Monster CYO # 2 (600 series) plates

OPI Lights of Emerald City - a glitter topper made up of white and iridescent glitter pieces suspended in a clear base

Next up is a big Nails Inc gift set called Be Gelous. I have already worn some of these shades and mentioned them on the blog. Not my favorite for wear time, but formula if good.The set included:

The Boltons - red shimmer
Grosvenor Crescent - deep eggplant creme
Old Bond Street - royal blue creme

 

 

New Oxford Street - muted purple based taupe
Piccadilly Place - densely packed glitter topper consisting of multicoloured hex glitter, holo, silver and white mini glitter.
Uptown - a light dusty rose

 

Lastly I have some cross boarder shopping purchases from Five Below and Wegmans.

The Funky Fingers I picked up at Five Below include:

 

Elsa - a mix of matte white and baby blue glitter pieces sprinkled with snowflake shaped glitter in a clear base.
Fra-Gee-Lay - a mix of red green and white glitter of various sizes in a clear base.
Jarbreaker - multicoloured glitter pieces of various sizes in a milky white base.

The last lonely polish, which I have already wore here, is Sinful Colors, Love Sprinkles. It is a delicate glitter topper made up of pink and white glitter pieces of various shapes and sizes and even a few little heart glitters as well!

So that is it! Until the next haul ;)

Valentines Nails

I kept it simple and sweet this Valentines on my nails. I was feeling like something girly and spring-like, even though it is still FREEZING and snowy out... Spring cannot come soon enough for me!

I decided on a bright pastel pink, China Glaze Spring in my Step. It was a little finicky formula wise, but a good two coats provided me with even enough coverage for a glitter topper. I chose an awesome glitter topper for the occasion, Sinful Colors Love Sprinkles which is a mixture of matte white glitter and pastel pink glitter of various sizes in a clear base. sprinkled throughout are some matte white glitter hearts.

I was hoping that Love Sprinkles would be a dense glitter topper, but it had a thicker clear base that didn't allow for much glitter on the brush. To remedy this I added some thinner to the polish and stored the bottle upside down so the glitter would float to the top of the bottle. This helped a bit, but I had to fish around a little to get those cute heart shaped glitters on the nail.

Although it did not apply as great as other Sinful Color polishes I own, it definitely was no the worst! Overall I am happy with the dainty feminine look of this mani.

Minty Fresh

Sinful Colors Mint Apple had been a lemming of mind for a long time. Another one of those polishes I would pick up at the store and put down again before leaving, not sure it it was something I really, REALLY wanted. I finally picked this up at Big Lots in mid-December and was inspired by the cold (snowy) weather to wear it.

Mint Apple is a light and dusty teal creme with a very interesting microshimmer running throughout. This was a factor in me not purchasing it earlier. In online photos I saw this lovely gold shimmer that caught the light, in the bottle, however, the shimmer appeared to be a faint silver. No gold at all! On my nails I am happy to say that the gold shimmer shines. So pretty! It actually reminds me of another Sinful Colors share, Treasure Chest.

The formula was great, very smooth. The first coat went on a little bit thin, but the second coat evened out the opacity perfectly. I will be layering a frosty glitter on top of this miny shade in my next post.

Mint Blizzard!

I saw Funky Fingers Elsa online late last year and knew I wanted it! Not for the movie reference, I have got to be the only person who has NOT seen Frozen at this point lol. Elsa is a pretty and delicate glitter made up of various shapes and sizes of matte white glitter and baby blue glitter with some white snowflake glitter scattered throughout. My mani was not lucky enough to get some of those snowflake glitters :(

I applied one generous coat to each nail trying my best to get the most glitter on each nail. I love the look but think I would get the specific effect I was going for had I layered it over a pale blue shade. Either way, the white glitter pieces are very blizzard like on nail.

Due to recent snowfalls last week I have been inspired for snowy and frosty nails. I am a little behind (again). I am hoping to have my Valentines themed mani up soon!

December Polish Haul + High End Polish for under $7!

I may have gone crossborder shopping right before the holidays and found some awesome polish... It wasn't just a polish trip, I swear! They usually aren't anyways, but I did score some great polish for some great deals!

I'll start off with the holiday collections, first up OPI 'a latest Gwen Stefani colab. From left to right, First Class Desires and Christmas Gone Plaid.

First Class Desires is a deep plum creme with golden shimmer running throughout. Two coats are shown in my swatches below.

Christmas Gone Plaid is a deep forest creme that stops right on the boarder before black, I love it! Two coats are shown in the swatches below.

I scored both of these polishes for $2.75 each at Cosmoprof along with two bottles of Nail Tek Foundation II (my favourite ridge filling base coat, not shown) for $3.75! Sweet deal! I would have picked up more of the Nail Tek's, but that was all they had left.

Moving on now to some polishes I was hunting down! I just HAD to own Mirrorball! Below left to right I have Orly Mirrorball, Bling and Halo.

Mirrorball is a silver holographic polish made up of fine glitter and speckled with some hex glitter as well. Two coats are shown in the swatches below.

Bling is similar to Mirrorball, only it's a yellow toned gold with larger pieces of glitter and it does not produce a linear holo effect. Two coats are shown in my swatches below, however three are required for full coverage.

Last, but not least, I have a polish from last years collection, Halo. This glitter is made up of various sized silver and light gold glitter. Two coats are shown below. 

I purchased all three at Ulta to take advantage of their buy two get one free promotion. I also used my 20% off coupon, I only shop at Ulta when there is at least one coupon or promotion going on!

Next I hit up Big Lots hoping to score some Sephora by OPI and Sephora X shades. Unfortunately nothing really caught my eye untill I saw a huge Sinful Colors display. I picked up a new to me shade and a long time lemming, from left to right Mint Tropics and Mint Apple.

Although these may look very similar in the photo, they are actually quite different. Mint Tropics is a bright, soft creme. It's a beautiful spearmint shade, you can see more of it in this post. Two coats are shown in the swatch below

Mint Apple has been one of those polishes I have picked up and put back down multiple times. Why exactly, I'm not too sure, but I finally decided it was time to try it out. Its a blue toned green with silver shimmer throughout. In the bottle the shimmer looks silver but in my swatch of two coats below it looks more golden.

Next up, some randoms. Orly, Smoked Out, OPI, Where's My Blanket??? and OPI, There's a Frog in My Throat.

Orly Smoked Out was an impulse sale purchase at Sally's, in hindsight the "sale" price wasn't really a sale lol. It is made up of an inky blue base with blue and green glitter which appears to be jelly in application but dries to a weird matte-ish finish. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Where's My Blanket??? it apart of OPI's 2014 Halloween offering. I was glad to see an full sized halloween collection from them this year, however this is the only polish that captured my interest. It is a matte black based glitter with pastel yellow, orange and white matte glitter in a clear base. Very candy corn!

Frog in My Throat is very familiar. I picked up both these OPI's from Marshalls, and I am 99% confident this is a rebottling of Sephora by OPI 212 which was a hard to find polish that was brought back in to stores which now again is discontinued and probably harder to find again. I own it, but I had to be sure! I may consider selling it or soemthing, no need for two in my stash. for more information on this polish check out my post on 212 here. Check out those long ass square nails!

I totally Saved the best plus a random for last.... check out Deborah Lippmann Lets go Crazy! 

...oh yeah, and Essie Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low.

So, Lets Go Crazy is the star of this haul because I found it accidentally at Marshalls and because it was $6.99.... SIX NINETY-NINE! That is bananas! I originally grabbed 4 or five different ones before calming down and narrowing it down to the one I really wanted. Lets Go Crazy is a deep plum jelly packed with multiple shades of giller in various sizes. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low is a silver based foil with flakes of gold sprinkled in there. Very pretty and shiny! Two coats are shown in my swatch below.

I finally go through this post, it was a long one! If you are still with me I appreciate it :)

Did you find any gems in your shopping before the holidays? Any other awesome Deborah Lippmann sightings at Marshalls?

Carols By Candlelight

Catch, catch up, catch up!

Today I have my festively green and red Christmas nails! I already posted about the base polish of this mani, Sinful Colour, Mint Tropics, and have used two glitters as toppers... can you guess which ones?

The bottle you see in the photos is Oopsie Daisy, Carols By Candlelight. I used one light coat of this as my first layer over Mint Tropics. Next I used my new favourite Christmasy glitter, Sinful Color, Holiday Rebel (bottle not pictured). The difference between the two glitters are shiny verses matte glitter. Carols by Candelight has a mix of matte red, green and white glitters (with a few sneaky holo green glitters) while Holiday Rebel has a mix of shiny red and green glitter with some silver holo glitter as well.

I absolutely love this combination, its so bright and festive and glittery! And I have been all about glitter the last few months! This mani wore fantastically and I did not want to remove it.

Next year I will have to try this same glitter combo over white or as a white jelly sandwich :)

Tropical Christmas

Merry (belated) Christmas!!

I always tend to get sidetracked around this time, my how time flies! I can't believe it has been a week since I have posted. Oh well, time for a little catch up! Below is a green I just could not get enough of, Sinful Colour, Mint Tropics.

This is probably not a shade of green you would typically associate with Christmas time and winter holidays, its light and bright... and it's from a summer collection.. But I just purchased it (haul post to come soon) and loved it. The formula was perfect and if I remember correctly, what you see is two thin coats.

The shade of green was difficult to photograph correctly, however I did digitally edit the colour for as much accuracy as I could. I found that my camera (and other swatches I have seen online) tend to wash the colour out, making it appear as a mint green, which it is not. As you can see from my photos it does have yellow undertones.

Longevity and wear of this polish was fantastic, I loved every bit of wearing it, just ask my boyfriend! lol. The only downside to this polish is it stains, a lot :( My nails have been stain free for a long time so this was really disappointing. 

I will post more on what I am wearing on my ring finger in my next post.