OPI - Gold and Pink Shatters (swatches)

I just picked up the new OPI shatters today (YAY!!!) I was debating whether or not to get the pink since I didnt LOVE it in the bottle. But I ended up buying 2 bottles of both colors...

This is what the bottles looked like (the pic is a little dark)


And here are the swatches =D


The gold shatter is just your basic gold metallic/shiny color... I am SOOO loving the pink shatter. It's kind of pale/light pink, but over black it's BEAUTIFUL!!! The black makes it look like a pinkish purple.

China Glaze - Blue Island Iced Tea and Hello Kitty

China Glaze's Blue Island Iced Tea is a really light baby blue/almost silver shimmer polish. It is sheer, I used 2 coats but probably should have put a third - but I was rushing so I could try my Hello Kitty decal.


I just did my FIRST ever nail art on my own - I don't think it came out too bad... Accent nail is NYC's French White Tip with a Hello Kitty decal and I used Blue Island Iced Tea for the bow/dress and around the edges. I added my top coat before my decal was fully dry and I made the design run - so I TRIED to fix/redo some of the lines and the nose...


Note(s) to self re decal/nail art:
1. Let decal dry BEFORE putting on top coat and ruining the design
2. Bigger nail art design/decal does not mean better (smaller design would probably have looked better)

July Birchbox :(

So I got my first Birchbox last week. I was very excited. The box was so pretty:


It came with a card:


Some of the items were wrapped in pretty blue tissue paper (Nuts!!! ahhh!!! - but the papers pretty...)


Then I saw what was in it.......

1. Korres Showergel - Guava.
It's smells NOTHING like guava! Kinda smells like baby powder mixed with something (idk). Not something I would use.
2. Philosophy - Purity MadeSimple One-Step Facial Cleanser
I have very oily skin - Not sure if this will do anything for me, maybe I'll try it - maybe not
3. Redken - Shine Flash 02
I have very plain/straight hair - I probably won't use this either.
4. ybf Beauty - Automatic Eye Brow Pencil in Universal Taupe
This is an eyebrow pencil with a comb, but I don't do anything with my brows except get them waxed. - Another product that I won't be using.
5. Kind - Almond & Apricot bar
My son has a nut allergy, so i've gotten used to not eating them at all. This bar will stay in the birchbox at the office.



None of these are items I would use or buy for myself... I'll give Birchbox another month or so to see how it goes. I saw that someone else got a bottle of Zoya polish and got excited... If I ever do a giveaway - these items will probably be in it (along with 1 of my 9 bottles of Claire's Evil Queen - lol)

OPI - Let Me Entertain You!

I'm finally wearing a polish that my camera will take a decent pic of. The other day I used CND Sapphire Sparkle over WnW Black Creme and it wouldnt take a nice pic. Yesterday I was wearing Estee Lauder's Ultra Violet... Same thing - BAD pics...

Let Me Entertain You! is a bright fuchsia pink with pink micro glitters. (can you see all the glitter :D) It's an older polish from the 2010 Burlesque/Holiday collection.

Runts - Strawberry

On Wednesday I wore pink... Sorry for the late post

I bought this cute set of Runts polishes the other day. Since I did it on Wednesday I decided to try the pink one. I think I used 3 coats. In the bottle and on the brush is looks like a light baby pink - but when it dries it turns into this nice medium/dark, frosty pink. When I was painting my nails it smelled like strawberry yogurt. After a while the smell reminded me of skittles :) I can't wait to try the other polishes in this set




Note - Please don't mind the cuticles/dry skin - DS2 is allergic/anaphylactic to nuts. I'm trying to find something that works for me but doesn't contain any nuts or mango in it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TY

Claire's - Evil Queen

If you saw my earlier post you'd know that I have 9 (yes, 9) bottles of this polish... I'd better like it lol

Claire's Evil Queen is a really, REALLY dark purple/eggplant polish with a blueish/teal shimmer (depending on how the light hits it.) It was a little thin and streaky so I used 4+ coats of this polish.




Note - Please don't mind the cuticles/dry skin - DS2 is allergic/anaphylactic to nuts. I'm trying to find something that works for me but doesn't contain any nuts or mango in it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TY

Ice Cream Nail Polish Set

Expressions Girl - 5pk Ice Cream Nail Polish Set

These bottles were SO cute that I just had to buy them :)
I swatched them and the colors aren't that bad. Pink, green, purple, orange and magenta. I might have to actually try to use them on my nails.


(I know they're upside down, but I couldn't get them to stand nicely)

Last week/weekend haul pics

This weekend I followed DS1 and 6 of his friends to the movies and mall... Yup, kinda embarrassing to be the only one with your mom following you... LOL I didnt bother them, just wanted to make sure they didnt get in trouble and no one bothered them. After his friends all went home we walked around for a while.

Claire's is still having their 10 for $10 on clearance items - I wanted 2 items (a bottle of polish and a sticky hand toy to bring home for DS2) that would have cost around $6... so for about $4 more I bought 8 more bottles of the same polish (Hi, my name is Kim and I'm an addict)LOL

9 bottles of Claire's Evil Queen (LOL)


Trade Secret had some Essie polishes on sale/clearance - I got these for $1.05 EACH!
Essie Waltz, Limo-Scene, and Adore-A-Ball


Last week my box of supplies FINALLY came in: (bow and all- hehe)

Sally Hansen - Virtual Violet with China Glaze - Electric Lilac (purple nails for Caylee Anthony)

Sally Hansen - Virtual Violet is a nice shimmery violet. It also has a slight blue duochrome going on with the lighting. I found it to be a little sheer, streaky at the tips so I ended up using 4 coats to get this look.



Then I added China Glaze's Electric Lilac to it (just 1 coat, I <3 glitter!)

Today's haul - 7/7/11 - Sally Hansen

CVS/Longs Drugs is having a sale on Sally Hansen products - 30% off and I found a coupons for $2 off an SH nail treatment product when you buy any SH nail color.

With the sale and my coupons I ended up paying $8.86 for these items :)

China Glaze - Sprinkles (Pink Wednesday)

China Glaze - Sprinkles is a light/medium pink with pink micro glitters.
This is from the China Glaze HAUL I received last week.

I tried to jump on the "On Wednesday we Wear Pink" train... but Im just not feeling this color. I love the name SPRINKLES! It looked pretty in the bottle... I saw swatches online - Is my bottle old? Did it somehow lose it's color? The micro glitter is just too subtle for me. I thought it would stand out more. :(

I used 3 coats and it's still a little sheer/see through at the tips


UPDATE:
Since I wasnt happy with Sprinkles alone... I added to it :)
First, I added China Glaze's Nova to it, just 1 coat


Then I decided I wanted to try a jelly so I added OPI's Too Hot Pink to Hold Em (1 coat)


Then 2 coats (maybe I should have stuck with 1 coat)

China Glaze HAUL!!! (Theyre looking at me...)

Last week my China Glaze HAUL came in the mail. Nothing new, mostly older stuff but aside from the crackles I've never owned any China Glaze. Now I have over 100 bottles (including crackles)!!! YAY!!! =D



They're looking at me!!!

OPI - I Lily Love You vs Teenage Dream (swatch comparison)

Someone mentioned that OPI's I Lily Love You looks like Teenage Dream. Here is a swatch comparison of the two. I Lily Love You (left) is more of a soft pink jelly polish with holo flakies and glitter while Teenage Dream (right) has a lot of little/micro shimmery pink glitter and regular glitter. Pic is a little blurry (will try to take a better one next time)

My 4th of July nails

I have no imagination...
I was having fun chatting with people on twitter (is that what you call it on twitter - "chatting"?) looking at everyone elses beautiful manis and I couldn't think of anything special for my 4th of July nails so... Since I've only really used my black and silver OPI shatters I decided to try out some of the other colors. I think I used 3 coats of OPI Alpine Snow with OPI Red Shatter and OPI Blue Shatter over them.



Kinda boring compared to all the beautiful pics I looked at over the weekend... But hey, i'm getting there... =)

OPI - Nice Stems (swatch on color palette)

Here are swatches of OPI's Nice Stems collection (Seems like I'm working backwards - I got the Miss Universe collections before Nice Stems)

Play the Peonies (We’d put our money on this lovely soft-pink) is a frosty soft/pale pink.
Come to Poppy (Surrender to shine with this shimmering coral-pink)is a frosty pinkish/coral color.
Be a Dahlia Won’t You? (Give the gift of fabulous fuchsia—to yourself!) looks like a hot pink shimmer to me. (I guess it could be fuchsia... It looks a little dark in the pic - I will post more later)
I Lily Love You (Fall head over heels with this light pink sparkle) is a light pink jelly base with holo flakies, round glitter and square glitter.

Taking off Swimsuit…Nailed It! was a real PAIN IN THE.....

After I ruined my manicure by adding shatter and OPI Crown Me Already! it was a PAIN to remove Swimsuit…Nailed It! I knew taking off Crown Me Already! would be trouble with all that glitter but I didn't put it on all my nails. I used at least 10 cotton balls (it usually only takes 2 or 3) and a good amount of OPI Expert Touch. My fingers were a little blue (and dry) by the time I finally finished. Even with doing the soak the cotton ball and holding them to my nails method there was still alot of color left.

I wonder if Swimsuit…Nailed It! was mad at me for ruining it...

I ruined my OPI - Swimsuit... Nailed It! manicure with Crown Me Already! =(

DS2 asked me to make "lightning bolts" (shatter) on my nails - So I did. Thought it would be fun to try an "accent" nail... so... I tried OPI - Crown Me Already! It was just TOO much glitter on an already BEAUTIFUL blue. (The shatter actually came out pretty nice.)

It wouldn't have been that bad if I stopped there... But no, I tried playing with Crown Me Already! on my right hand... Maybe it was too thick... Too much glitter on the brush... Not enough hexagons... Since I already ruined my nails... I went and added shatter over Crown Me Already!...

OPI - Swimsuit... Nailed It! in sunlight


OPI - Swimsuit... Nailed It! with shatter and Crown Me Already!



OPI - Swimsuit... Nailed It! + Crown Me Already! + Shatter = BBBBAAAADDDD!!!!


I didn't even bother to try and clean up the sides, etc. It's coming off... =(

OPI - Swimsuit... Nailed It!

I LOVE THIS COLOR!!!!! =D
Swimsuit... Nailed It! is a nice deep (not dark) shimmery blue.

Yesterday, when I was wearing OPI's It's My Year my DS2 told me he wanted me to make my nails blue. So last night I painted them with Swimsuit... Nailed It! While I was showing my nails to DS2... BF said "That's a really nice blue".

***BF actually paid attention too my nails?!?!? OMG! OMG! OMG! Um... We might have a problem if BF keeps looking at them and seeing them change all the time...***

Then DS2 told me "Where's the lightning?" (He means shatter - lol - so cute) So I will be trying to put shatter over this color today. Wish me luck, shatter hasn't been liking me lately =(

OPI - It's My Year vs. Rally Pretty Pink

People have been comparing It's My Year to Rally Pretty Pink so I did a swatch comparison.
They are very similar re duochrome/gold shimmer. BUT It's My Year is a purple/lilac color and Rally Pretty Pink is pink. To some people this might not make that much of a difference BUT to a collector (ADDICT) it makes all the difference in the world LOL
Below are the pics: (It's My Year is on the left and Rally Pretty Pink is on the right)

OPI - It’s MY Year

Here is OPI - It’s MY Year (It’s about time for this champagne-rose to shine!)

I love this color, but... I guess it could be a champagne-rose color... It look like a dark lilac/light purple with a LOT of gold shimmer to me... Maybe I need glasses, leave a comment and let me know what color you guys think it is

3 coats + top - Outside

3 coats + top - Inside

OPI - Congeniality is my Middle Name

Here is OPI - Congeniality is my Middle Name (And berry-wine shimmer is what I do best!) from the Miss Universe collection.

Both pics are 3 coats of polish with a top coat. It has a subtle micro glitter shimmer to it.

OPI Miss Universe Collection (just swatches on color palette) (pic heavy)

OMG! OMG! OMG!

My hair guy and his wife (she's the supplier in my nail polish addiction - LOL hope she never reads this) just came back from the International Beauty Show in Las Vegas and... THEY BROUGHT BACK THE OPI Miss Universe Collection!!!!!

Look at the pretty OPI package she packed it in (I've never had an OPI package before =D)

And here are the bottles!!!
(Swimsuit…Nailed It!, It’s MY Year, Crown Me Already!, and Congeniality is My Middle Name)

Another pic of the bottles

I couldn't wait until I got home to test them, so I painted a nail polish palette. First off, I love this collection!

Congeniality is My Middle Name (And berry-wine shimmer is what I do best!)
This color is a light berry wine/red shade.

Crown Me Already! A sassy silver sparkle that knows what it’s worth.
This is a clear polish with silver GLITTER!!! - It has micro glitters, tiny round glitters, small hexagon glitters and large hexagon glitters. (Did I mention it had GLITTER?!?! =D)

Swimsuit…Nailed It! An itsy bitsy teenie weenie vibrant shiny-blue bikini.
I love this blue! Not to dark, not to light, and its SHINY!

It’s MY Year It’s about time for this champagne-rose to shine!
To me this polish is more lilac than pink with gold shimmer. A LOT of gold shimmer. It was a little sheer with only one coat, but it was still PRETTY!!!

The OPI package with my new polishes is sitting by the door to my office. FAR AWAY FROM MY DESK! (But atleast I have the color palette by me so I can admire my new pretty nail polishes =D)

Below are my pics - enjoy


One coat - with flash

One coat - no flash

Two coats - with flash


Two coats - no flash

Three coats - with flash (Crown Me Already! is only 2 coats, I think 3 would have been too much)


Three coats - no flash (Crown Me Already! is only 2 coats, I think 3 would have been too much)

Bottles and swatches

Another pic - three coats - no flash (Crown Me Already! is only 2 coats, I think 3 would have been too much)