Sephora by OPI - Queen of Everything

I bought this polish in during a trip up to Western NY to visit family.  It's the only time I get to stores like Sephora and Ulta.  There are times I don't like living in the boonies so much.
Queen of Everything caught my eye because I'm a sucker for metallic polishes.  Yes, they are brush strokey (love making up my own words), but they just look so cool!  But, as you're going to see in the next picture, such a polish can show ANY flaw...

I had a little fuzz of cotton caught on my nail.  Didn't see it there until AFTER the pictures. 

Fixed up a bit.  The color is more accurate in this image.  Sorry about the cut on my middle finger, by the way.  Every time it's close to healing I catch something else on it!  I would describe the color of this polish as a pewter frost.  I have 3 coats on in these images.  The unfortunate thing is that it chipped rather quickly. 
I wanted to let you wonderful readers know that I'm participating in our county fair next week.  I will have a Scentsy booth ALL. WEEK.  I will try to keep posting semi-regularly, but I can't promise anything.  I'm sure you all understand though.  :-)

Have a great weekend!!!!

Zoya Adina

Hey everyone!  I wanted to post one of the polishes I received in the Zoya Polish exchange this year.  I got 12 polishes this time.  I love that Zoya does this every year.  It forces me to go through and purge polishes that I don't love as much as I thought I would. 
Zoya Adina is part of the Reverie collection released this past spring.  The entire collection consists of duochrome colors.  Zoya describes them as having an "oil slick" effect.  Definitely true.

Here you can see the green flash of duochrome.  I wish it translated into my pictures more because it really is quite fascinating!  Such a cool polish!!!

Did any of you participate in the exchange?  What did you get? 

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Octa Gone Wild vs. Milani Hi-Res

I recently posted the discontinued China Glaze Octa Gone Wild and in the post mentioned that Milani Hi-Res was similar.  I decided to do a side by side comparison of the two for you all.

The colors are similar and both have a holo finish, but the particles are smaller in the China Glaze, and the holo is smoother looking.  I took a picture outside to see the holo better.

It's quite over-exposed, but you can REALLY see the differences in the holo finish.  Plus here Hi-Res seems to be a slightly darker, warmer shade of purple.

For those of you who missed out on Octa Gone Wild, that Hi-Res is a decent alternative.  It's not a dupe by any means, but Milani is great quality, and you can get it just about anywhere.

Hope this helps...have a great day!

Playing with eye make-up

A few months ago I signed up for The bareMinerals Eye Club.  I thought it would be a really good way for me to build my eye makeup "wardrobe" but it would also force me to use some colors that I normally wouldn't buy for myself.  This month, I received the "Clarity" collection.  Bare me with me on the eye closeups.  I've never taken a picture of my own eye before...thought it would be fun to try though!

For this look I used:

Bare Escentuals Prime Time Eyelid Primer

Clarity Eyecolor from lash line to brow

1980's Eyecolor on lid and in crease

Socialite Eyecolor along upper and lower lashes

Maybelline Telescopic mascara (love)

And this picture made me realize that I need to start using eye-cream more regularly:

I'm sorry, but I think my eye looks kind of old in it!  Any rec's?
Happy Friday, and thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Sexy in the City

This is such a pretty blue (leaning toward turquoise) color with a GORGEOUS shimmer.  I picked it up at my local Sally's a little while ago.  It was a *bit* thin and runny, but not impossible.  I'm not sure if this came out with any collection,  per se?  Please someone let me know if I'm wrong, so I can edit that.

I think it's such a pretty spring/summer color, don't you?  Great for pedi's as well.
You need 3 coats for this not to look streaky, which is what I have on in these pictures.  And it does give you smurf fingers when you remove it. 

I really like this color (I'm a sucker for blue), and got quite a few compliments on it when I wore it.  What do you think?  Have a great day everyone!

Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud

I know...it's not out anymore...but I love it so much that I want to post it anyways.  You don't even know what I went through to get this beauty!  I had three people looking in different parts of Virginia, none of us could find it.  I called my sister up in Niagara Falls and asked her to look.  After she laughed because I was asking her to look for nail polish 300 miles away (she just doesn't get it!), she said she'd look.  She couldn't find it.  I then called my MIL and asked her to look...SHE FOUND IT! 
I believe this came out last fall?  Someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

                                            

I'm still looking for optimal lighting conditions to take my pictures in...if I could find the light box I have in the basement I'd be set! 

Anyways...Opulent Cloud *sigh*  It's a pewter/purple color with gold shimmer.  These pictures are 3 coats.

I like this shot because you can really see the gold shimmer.  In case I haven't mentioned it, you can click on my images to see a much larger version.  I try to leave these bigger so that you can see the detail.

Well, happy Monday all....Thanks for visiting!

China Glaze Octa Gone Wild

Oh Friday...Even in the summer I'm excited for Friday because even though I'm not at work, it means I get to see my DH all weekend.  He has a 90 minute commute and usually doesn't get home until like 6pm...so basically he gets home, we eat dinner, put the kids to bed and go to bed ourselves.  I just feel like I don't get to "see" him too much during the work week.

ANYWAYS...Octa Gone Wild came out with the Kaleidoscope collection WAY back in 2006.  It's been discontinued unfortunately...the whole collection is AWESOME.

HOLO!!!!  Anyways.  The particles are bigger then some other HOLO polishes, but they still just look so cool.  I would sit out in the sun and stare at my nails all day if I could.  Even though this is discontinued, I've heard that Milani Hi Res is very similar.

Application was fantastic, dry time was great.  I have on 3 coats in these pictures.  The first coat was a bit streaky, but after the second it looked great.  I did chip in only a few days, which is a rarity for me.  I wore this last week when we left for vacation, so it may have just been all the packing and travel.

Thanks for stopping by...have a great weekend!

Sally Hansen Pedal to the Metal

After spotting the limited edition polishes from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure collection, I actually started looking at their core line.  This one just popped out from the display. 
Pedal to the Metal is a pretty purple/silver frost.  I have to say that I was more impressed with it in the bottle though.  Once I put it on it just didn't look right on me.  It's a frost, and has a tendency to show brush strokes, so you're going to want to be careful about that.

There is a slight shimmer that I only noticed in the bottle.  My camera picked it up in the sunlight, but I didn't really see it.  The brush for the Complete Salon Manicure collection is VERY full and holds a lot of polish.  You have to be very careful when applying that you don't get it all over the place.  I did notice that it was more stiff in Hidden Treasure and therefore easier to use.  I'm not sure of all of the limited edition polishes are like that because I haven't used them yet.

What do you think?  Do any of you have this as well?

Thanks for stopping by...have a great Wednesday!

OPI Lincoln Park At Midnight

Hey everyone!  The fam and I arrived in Virginia last night.  It was a good week home, I wish we could have stayed longer!
I recently purchased Lincoln Park at Midnight...I absolutely LOVE it...I can't believe that I JUST got it. 

It's sooo pretty, and has such a subtle shimmer.  I am definitely a shimmer gal.  I don't purposefully buy cremes.  Sometimes I like a polish collection so much that I get the whole thing and inevitably there are cremes in it.  But sometimes, I like to wear something that isn't terribly flashy, but has a bit of a oomph outside.  This polish definitely fits that bill.

I picked this up the salon where I got my pedi a couple of weeks ago.  They sell OPI's for $7.  Not bad since you can't get them on the etailers anymore.  I was wondering how I was going to afford all of my OPI's now...I'm hoping they get the Swiss collection in the fall because there are a few in that one I'm looking forward to.

Have a great Monday all!

Savvy: Femme Couture - Knightly Armour

I recently spotted this collection at my local Sally's.  At first I didn't pick any up, but this bottle was calling to me.  It's so pretty...It's a pale purple based shimmer.  In certain lights you can even pick a pink shimmer out of it too.

My only problem with this polish is that it's very sheer.  My pictures were with 4 coats and you could still see visible nail line.  I'm not sure if a 5th would have helped...but I hate wearing that many coats.  You could definitely layer it over something.  I'm not a layering fan, but I think over white it still looks like the bottle color.  Layering it over black turns it into something completely different.

So pretty...What do you think? 

Well, happy Friday everyone!

Finger Paints Be a Pal-ette

Hello everyone!  Today, the fam and I are on our way from my parents in Niagara Falls, to DH's parents a couple of hours away.  We try to split our time between the families as much as possible.

So, I have a love/hate relationship with Finger Paints.  I really do think the polish is a great quality.  They have pretty colors, and you can't beat the price.  My problem is that every time I've tried FP, it's rather streaky on me.  I usually have to do 4 coats to get even coverage.  In my pictures I used 3 coats, and you'll notice that it doesn't look even on all of my nails.

Be a Pal-ette is purple with red undertones.  I has a really pretty shimmer with purple and red/pink particle.

All in all...I like Finger Paints...I just have to use more coats that normal.  You can find Finger Paints at your local Sally's.

Have a great day!

OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

How was the holiday weekend?  I'm in Western NY right now visiting with family.  We had a picnic at my parent's house yesterday, so I got to see a bunch of friends and family.  It was fun showing off my kids, because no one has seen them in six months.  It's especially noticeable with my youngest.  He's almost 18 months old now, and he's learned SO much in the past six months.

Onto my swatches and review.  This polish came out with The India Collection in early 2008. I'm not usually a berry or a vampy girl...but my Lord I love this polish!  It's so rich...

I got great coverage in 3 coats...pretty standard for OPI on me.  I, unlike a lot of people that I've run into, LOVE OPI's brush.  There are times I wish I could get a bunch and stick them in all of my polishes.  My nails must be the right size or something...

Look at that hidden shimmer that comes out in the sunlight! 

So, do you all like the comparison pictures between indoor natural light and the sunlight?  I do it because I think some polishes take on a whole different personality in the sun.  Let me know!  Have a great day!

Milani Molten Rock

Happy Friday all!  The family and I are currently on our way up to Western NY to visit our families.  We haven't been there since the holidays, so it's a much needed vacation. 

Last week I found out that I did not get a job I interviewed for.  I'm trying to move to another school district.  We'd like to be closer to my husband's job in DC (his commute is about 90 minutes each way), and I want to be able to teach a certain course.  I was a little bummed, but it wasn't unexpected either.  DH decided to buy me this nail polish to make me feel better...what a well trained hubby!  He picked it out because he liked the color, and it was shimmery, which he knows I tend to prefer.

Indoors, I would describe Molten Rock as a teal color, but outdoors it transforms to a really neat looking blue:

The top is indoors, the bottom is outdoors.

Another angle:

Again, top is indoors, bottom is outdoors

I used three coats of Molten Rock...the wear has been fantastic...this last picture was taken 4 days after I applied it:

See?  Barely any tip wear...

Have a great holiday weekend everyone...what do you have planned?