These are some pictures of last weekend’s mani-something I could never wear to work! I have a few of the Nfu Oh flakie glitter polishes, but I hadn’t yet used 051, the dark, rainbow-purple one. I decided to try it over CND Urban Oasis to see if I could accentuate the greenish-blue flash that it has. Keep reading for swatches.
I know these polishes have been out for a while. I bought them back in October when I was doing some business travel, but I just saw them again at the WalGreen’s down the street from our house, so I thought I would swatch them while they’re still available.
I started with Mystic Lilac, and only after I painted it on did I remember the problem with this one: it’s pretty sheer. Continue reading Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mystic Lilac and Concrete: Best Together
On the Nordstrom website, Butter London All Hail McQueen is now just called All Hail the Queen. I had seen swatches and read reviews of this polish back in the fall and thought I might pick it up someday, but this made me suddenly intrigued. The polish was, of course, originally named to pay homage to the late Alexander McQueen. This polish is now renamed on both Nordstrom.com and on the Butter London website. (“Bumster” is also renamed, but I’m not really into yellow.) I did a little searching, and some people are reporting that when you buy a bottle called “All Hail the Queen”, you can peel that label off and the “All Hail McQueen” label is still underneath. But I didn’t want to spend $14 and then find out that’s not true.
This happens to me every year, but when I started shopping for Christmas presents it was like my shopping switch was flipped and I just continued on to shopping for presents for myself. This combined with several new posts by other bloggers about Sapphire In The Snow from OPI’s 2009 holiday collection resulted in me stalking eBay for this polish. I say it was bought for “too much”, but it wasn’t up to Chanel prices or anything. Or even Mad As A Hatter prices. I think it was $16 including shipping. Still more than it really should have been, but I’m happy with it.
Continue reading Bought for too much on eBay: OPI Sapphire In The Snow
Today I have swatches and a review of CND’s Chocolate Milk, which was used in the Carolina Herrera Fall 2010 runway show. I saw some pictures of it online and then threw it in with other CNDs in a TransDesign order a while ago, but hadn’t yet tried it. In the bottle it’s a light creamy brown that has a more orange look than I expected. When swatch pictures of the China Glaze Anchors Away Collection started popping up, I surprised myself by wanting Life Preserver, the deep orange. Since Anchors Away wasn’t yet available, I pulled out Chocolate Milk.
Dior’s Spring 2011 collection is heavy on grey, and there are two new nail polishes in grey and pink. They’re already available on Nordstrom.com, and they say that they’re Nordstrom exclusives. I’ve been happy with the recent Dior nail polishes, including the big wide brush, so I’ve been looking forward to trying out these new colors. I have swatches and a few comparisons coming up.
Continue reading Dior Spring 2011 – Gris Montaigne and Pink Boa Swatches and Review
Before we get too far into 2011, I wanted to post my New Year’s Eve nails. We had a party at our house on New Year’s Eve, and some of our really good friends came to visit and stay over, so on New Year’s Eve I was running around and vacuuming and washing sheets and making vegetarian pig-in-a-blankets all day long. It was so nice to see our friends! I ran out of time, though, and hadn’t painted my nails, so I reached for China Glaze Cheers to You in a brief slow moment when everyone else had gone out to pick up some take-out food for dinner. And whoa it’s shiny!
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Dior Aztec ChocolArrayte sArrayys it’s Arrayn online exclusive on ArraySephorArray.com, Arraynd it does seem to be Array SephorArray exclusive – I hArrayven’t seen it Arraynywhere else. A lot of people hArrayve tArraylked Arraybout how it’s similArrayr to Dior’s Lemon BArraylm, which wArrays Array limited edition color Arraynd only ArrayvArrayilArrayble Arrayt Nordstrom lArrayst yeArrayr. Both of these colors Arrayre very complex blends of purple Arraynd brown with tiny shimmer in gold, green Arraynd red. They’re both reArraylly pretty, Arraynd I hArrayve swArraytches Arraynd Array compArrayrison.
Continue reading Dior Aztec Chocolate and Lemon Balm – Swatch and Comparison
I just found a new Sally Hansen display when I was in WalGreen’s, for the Nailgrowth Miracle line. A lot of the colors seemed to be … brownish. Seriously, it seemed like there was a lot of taupe-y going on. Gentle Blossom definitely stood out as the most spring-like and vibrant, although I think there was also a kind of lavender color, too. At first I hesitated and put this one down, but it has an interesting shimmer that made me come back for it. Keep reading for swatches!
I have a few more pictures of dark reds from right around Christmas. I just kept reaching for these kind of colors! Lancome Le Rouge L’Wren is such a dark red that my prior pictures of it didn’t come out very well, and these give a better idea of how it’s both dark and plummy-purpleish. I wore this manicure to my office Christmas party, since it looks kind of dressy/holiday appropriate but isn’t too crazy or glittery. I also picked up Essie’s Masquerade Belle from the Winter 2010 collection, and it’s really pretty too.
Continue reading Lancome Le Rouge L’Wren vs. Essie Masquerade Belle
There have been so many great holiday nail polishes released this year, but it’s finally time to choose just one to wear on Christmas! Or, two-because China Glaze Party Hearty is so sheer and good for layering. Party Hearty seems like the standout for me, just because it’s so recognizably a Christmas nail polish, and so festive and glittery. I’m going with Party Hearty layered over Peace on Earth for my Christmas nails.
Continue reading Christmas Nails – China Glaze Party Hearty with Peace on Earth
It snowed in Kentucky last weekend, so I decided to try out Color Club Snowflake from the Enchanted Holiday mini set. I bought this set only because of Magic Elf, which is a bright, goldish green color that seemed unique among all of the holiday greens. But I also really like Snowflake, a sheer white with lots of blue and holographic glitter pieces. Over a light blue, it looks cold and wintery.
Continue reading Snowy Day Manicure: Avon Vintage Blue and Color Club Snowflake
I was so excited to receive my package of the three Les Perles de Chanel nail polishes , Black Pearl, Pearl Drop and Peche Nacree. These polishes are part of Chanel’s Spring 2011 collection, and they are already available on the Chanel website. The color that has garnered the most interest is Black Pearl–it was featured on the Chanel runway, and it’s a dark charcoal grey with a pearly green shimmer. It’s not a typical spring color, which I think makes it even more interesting. Keep reading for swatches and comparisons!
I recently picked up Dior Timeless Gold in an order from Sephora, where it’s called Gold Revolution. When you actually get it unpacked, though, the box says Timeless Gold, just like everywhere else. It’s a beautiful metallic silverish gold, with heavy grey undertones. I decided to see how it compares to some other recent foil-y metallics.
I stopped by Ulta a couple of weeks ago and picked up two polishes from the Barielle Holiday Hustle Collection. I wasn’t really planning to look for these, but I don’t get to Ulta very often, and when I saw the display they looked so pretty and shimmery that I wanted to try them. Keep reading for swatches and a review!
I’ve really liked the colors that I tried from the Essie Winter 2010 collection so far. They’re dark but still vivid, and perfect for this time of the year. I have swatches of Going Incognito, Smokin’ Hot and Hot Coco below, but I’m sort of thinking of picking up Masquerade Belle as well!
Continue reading Essie Winter 2010 Swatches – Going Incognito, Smokin’ Hot and Hot Coco