Swatch and Review - OPI A Butterfly Moment

Hello! I'm so sorry about the lack of posts recently. I really don't have an excuse other than I've been getting really bad nail polish pictures from my camera and the sun is just not cooperating..... Well, here's another OPI polish from the Mariah Carey Spring 2013 Collection, A Butterfly Moment. A Butterfly Moment is a soft, nude beige-pink with golden shimmer. As I have said before, I'm really pale but I have a warm skin tone. This polish worked as a perfect nude polish for me. The golden shimmer really complimented the warmness of my skin. It is slightly frosty because of the shimmer.....

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of OPI A Butterfly Moment
Top Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Long Wearing UV Top Coat

If you are looking for more cat pictures, I will no longer be adding them at the end of my posts, please check the link on my navigation bar....

Thank you so much for reading!

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Swatch and Review - Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Good To Grape

Hello! Happy Sunday! I am really trying to catch up in posts, I have so many polishes I want to swatch, review and show you! Today I'll be showing you Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Good To Grape, a very creamy medium blue-toned purple. It is unique and different that other purple polishes I own. It is neither lilac or magenta, it's special. I think this may be the only purple that looks good on me.

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Good to Grape
Top Coat: 1 coat of INM Out The Door Dry Fast Top Coat

The formula of this polish was very nice. The polish was thin but not streaky at all. The first coat seemed a little shear and patchy, but the second coat filled any bare spots that the first coat did not reach and made everything completely opaque. I really liked this polish, the highly shiny topcoat made my nails look like gel nails. LOVE.

Thanks again for reading! I appreciate the love.

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Swatch and Review - OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? + OPI Which is Witch

Hello! It's Friday! I feel like this week has literally flown past. It seems like just yesterday it was Monday..... Today I'll be showing my favourite sheer+glitter combination, a more recent find of mine, OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre with OPI Which is Witch on top. I honestly love it so much, I was staring at my nails last night. With the white light from my nightlight, it just made this polish look like it was glowing. It really reminds me of pink fairy dust. I've actually worn this now for the fourth day. I just cannot bear to take it off. LOVE! OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre is a sheer, milky pink from last year's New York City Ballet Collection. I used two coats of this. Then, after the polish fully dried, I added one coat of OPI Which is Witch from the Oz The Great and Powerful Collection. It is a holographic glitter combination with micro, hexagonal, and tiny bar glitters suspended in a thick, clear base. The thicker base makes application of this polish even and effortless. Judging from the bottle, I expected this polish to be extremely dense and sparkly, but actually, it ended up being a very soft and dainty glitter that was both sparkly while being elegant. So pretty. 

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: Two coats of OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre with 1 coat of OPI Which is Witch
Top Coat: 1 coat of INM Out The Door Dry Fast Top Coat

I also wanted to show you a bottle shot of OPI Which is Witch. This picture really shows the holographic glitters in the polish. It truly is magnificent. Amazing!

Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoy your day! Smile!

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Swatch and Review - Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Terracotta

Hi! It's Saturday! Yay! Today I'l be showing you a polish from the 2011 Designer Collection for Rachel Roy, named Terracotta. Terracotta is a lovely caramel nude creme polish, so pretty. It applies wonderfully smooth and creamy, perfectly opaque in 2 coats. Although the Complete Salon Manicure polishes claim to have "7 Benefits of a salon Manicure in 1 Bottle: base coat, strengthener, growth treatment, colour, top coat, while also being chip resistant and have a gel shine finish", I do not feel it lives up to all of them. I still applied a base and top coat, mainly because I didn't know of these "7 Benefits" until after I saw an advertisement of their new collection for spring and summer of 2013 on the back cover of the Hello! magazine, but also because I felt the polish wasn't shiny enough for my standards. I mean, this polish may seem AMAZING to those who are not obsessed with nail polish, but I demand for PERFECT, shiny, chip-free nails, and without applying my own base/top coat, it just doesn't meet my standards. 

I also have to note that this polish normally sells from $5.99-$7.99 at most Canadian drugstores, which, for a drugstore polish is A LOT. OPI and Essie runs for $7.99-$10.99 where I purchase them. That being said though, I only buy them when they are on sale, at about $4-5 dollars, or in multi packs of 5 polishes for $15.99. Everything said, this swatch was done on my own nails this time, and the wear time was incredibly well. The pictures below were taken today, which is the 4 day now. Normal/most polishes only last max 4 days without chipping. I did file my nails yesterday though, so that may have filed off any tip wear. Enough with me rambling on and on about this polish, and the collection, price........ pictures!!

What I used:

Base Coat:  1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Terracotta
Top Coat: 1 coat of INM Out the Door Dry Fast Top Coat

I also want to say that I love the wide brush in these polishes. I know some people hate these kinds of paddle brushes, but in my opinion, the brush makes or breaks my overall application quality of a polish. A polish could have the best consistency and formula with perfect pigmentation, but with a bad brush, application of the polish is almost guaranteed to be difficult. My favourite brush type is a wide paddle brush, which is why I also love OPI polishes, and not-so-love Essie polishes. 

What kind of brushes do you prefer?

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Swatch and Review - OPI Smok'n In Havana

Happy Sunday! Today I'll be showing you an older OPI polish in my collection, Smok'n In Havana. After reading other blogs about this polish (credit to "The Daily Varnish), it originally came out in the 1996 Caribbean Collection. I don't think the polish I have is from 1996 because considering the bottle I have has a green label, which only newer bottles have, I think my bottle of Smok'n in Havana is a re-release of the discontinued polish. Smok'n in Havana is a medium-dark red polish with a strong gold shimmer. It's very pretty, kind of reminds me of red velvet when it's dry. This is also going to be my first post showing my nails, the previous posts have been my mom's nails, so, enjoy!

Natural sunlight

Indoors with a artificial lighting

Indoors with artificial lighting

Natural sunlight

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro-FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat (review coming soon)
Polish: 2 coats of OPI Smok'n In Havana
Top Coat: 1 coat of OPI RapiDry Top Coat

This polish is very pretty, but I do have to comment on the wear time. I'm not sure if it was the polish itself, or something that I did during application, but it chipped within 24 hours of application. Usually, polish will last anywhere from 3 days (72 hours) to 6 days, without chipping and little tipwear. Some polishes may last even longer than that, but I usually change my polish anyways because of new nail growth. This polish chipped and showed tipwear soon after application. That's just something to keep in mind if you are looking for a long-wearing red polish.

He's back! For your information, he is under his favourite blanket, for some reason, he really likes to sleep under the covers! Smile! More eye candy coming soon!

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Swatch and Review - OPI Jinx & OPI Tiffany Case

Hello! Today I'll be showing two polishes from OPI's new Liquid Sand summer collection, Jinx and Tiffany Case. The Liquid Sand polishes are textured polishes that dry matte and clumpy, and they feel sandy and rough. Jinx is a lovely, shimmering coral red. Tiffany Case is a medium sky blue, with blue hexagon glitters a similar, if not identical colour to the polish. Both polishes applied very smoothly, better than I expected, not one bit chunky or gritty. Removal was also easier than I expected, a bit longer than a cream polish but much simpler than a glitter polish, no foil method needed! On with the photos!

What I used: 

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of OPI Jinx and 2 coats of OPI Tiffany Case (accent nail)
Top Coat: None, it's a Liquid Sand!

I will post more swatches of the remaining polishes in this collection soon, they're all so pretty! Enjoy!

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Swatch and Review - OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

Hi! Happy Tuesday! Today I'll be doing a swatch and review of Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? from the 2011 Texas Collection of OPI. Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? is a sheer medium orange, or as OPI calls them, a jelly polish. "Jellies" are sheer polishes that build up opacity nicely, though they will never be fully opaque no matter how many coats are used. In the following photos, I used 3 coats, and you can still see a visible nail line (VNL). YCBYH was sheer, almost clear on the first coat, was pretty nice on the second coat, and a perfect jelly on the third. I must applaud OPI for the smooth application though, some sheers, (most of them), can be incredibly streaky and patchy to the point of utter frustration, but the sheers I've tried from OPI have been perfect! Let's get on with the photos!

What I used: 

Base Coat:  1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 3 coats of OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?
Top Coat: 1 coat of OPI RapiDry Top Coat

I enjoyed Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? a lot, it's perfect for spring and summer. For some reason, tis polish reminds me of orange popsicles, or carrot juice..... Ha! Enjoy!

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Swatch and Review - Don't Mess With OPI

Today, I will be showing you an OPI polish from the 2011 Texas Collection, Don't Mess With OPI. Don't Mess with OPI is a medium toned green creme with a grey tint. The formula was pretty nice, perfectly opaque in 2 coats. The first coat was a bit streaky, but the second coat evened everything out. It's just creamy green perfection. I like how it has more of a grey tint and not just straight up green.
 Just as a side note, the nails in the pictures below are not my nails, they are my mom's. I have a warm skin tone and blues/greens just don't look good on me. Let's get on to the pictures!

What I used:

Base Coat: 1 coat of Pro FX Epoxy Bond Base Coat
Polish: 2 coats of OPI Don't Mess with OPI and 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City (accent nail)
Top Coat: 1 coat of OPI RapiDry Top Coat

I also decided to go for an accent nail on my ring finger. For that, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City. It's a lovely, metallic silver with full coverage in 2 coats. I was surprised to find such a quality polish at such a low price. I do have to say though, not all polishes from this series (?) are as good as this. I think it was only 2 or 3 dollars....

I would also like to introduce someone who's very important in my life, you should expect to see him every few posts.......

He's my favourite kitty, Oreo! His fur is just addicting to pet, I cannot explain it. Once your hand touches him, you find your hand is drawn to his fur! He'll be the occasional guest on this blog!

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