OPI Turquoise Shatter over OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston

Both of these polishes are kinda old news by now. After trying crackle/shatter polishes from Cover Girl, IsaDora, China Glaze, La Rosa, etc etc, I think I like OPI's the best. The shimmers are a bit difficult, they need to be thinned and are a bit finicky about how wet/dry the polish underneath needs to be. The creme/jelly ones: Black, Navy, Red, White, all seem to work pretty well. But keep thinner on hand, it really is your friend as these little brats get chunky in a hurry. Similarly, the OPI Texas collection came out quite a while ago, and originally, I bought nothing. And then... a bug bit. I ended up with three of the "sorbets": Guy Meets Gal-veston, Houston We Have a Purple, and Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em. I also bought It's Totally Fort-worth It, but I hate it. So pretty in the bottle, but awful on the nail. The sorbets, however, are wicked nice. Great formula and super shiny.

I wasn't really sure what to pair with Turquoise Shatter, which is a beautiful, glowy, shimmery turquoise. I first thought gold, but then decided to try it with Guy Meets Gal-veston, a juicy coral, underneath. The result is kinda tropical, and I love it. I think a chartreuse would also look cool under it. Neon yellow too.

3 coats of GMG, and Turquoise on top:

I'm basically in love with this, I'm wearing it for the long weekend here (a civic holiday, yay Canada!). Spending time with the in-laws and nephews. Enjoy your weekend!

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black

Just popping in quick to share my update to Essie Smokin' Hot. I added 2 coats of Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black on top, and the effect was pretty awesome. These pictures do something weird. The flash turns it much more purple; in real life, you can't see the base color of Smokin' Hot, it just turned that murky brown-black that is Chunky Holo Black. Also, the duochrome on this glitter is a complete rainbow. It's amazing and gorgeous. None of this, unfortunately, seemed to pick up in my photos.

Here's a couple of crappy pictures. I may try this again over black to capture it better:

It has a lot of depth and is actually very fall-like in tone. So pretty.

Essie Smokin' Hot

This is nothing you haven't seen before, but I actually just got this color. I could never find it at my local beauty supply (despite them having the rest of the collection) back home in NY, and I think the price of it shot up on eBay for a while so I didn't bother wanting it. It's a good color but nothing worth paying out the butt for. Recently, aveyou.com had a flash sale and they had this in stock so I made sure to grab it. Except my package went to my Mom's in NY (for 1 dollar shipping) and she sent it inside a recent care package (along with several other awesome pretties).

The formula is good (if a little thin), opaque in 2 coats and very shiny. It's so grey and drab but still manages to be purple, which makes me really happy. I'm glad I was able to get my hands on this for retail.

I did something weird today, which I only tend to do with China Glaze collections. I suddenly realized that I *needed* China Glaze White Cap & Sea Spray. That collection came out what? At least six months ago? And I've passed on it countless times. Luckily I found 'em.

Thanks for looking in!

OPI Crown Me Already!

Blogger has improved so much since I regularly blogged last. It's awesome. So I tweaked the layout and took one of their backgrounds until I can find something new that I like. Yay! Also, I can make my pictures bigger... I had so many problems uploading images to Blogger before, and now I can just link them and the resizing is so much easier. 

So let's talk polish. OPI released a Miss Universe collection recently, and I hate myself for loving them. I got three of the four: Swimsuit... Nailed It, It's My Year and this one, Crown Me Already! 

It applied like uneven oatmeal but not in a bad way... if that makes sense. It was thick because it is so seriously loaded with glitter I'm not sure the polish can handle it. I especially love the uber large hexes going on here. Like platelets. It's really shiny, almost platinum, not as warm as it's pulling in my pictures.

That's three coats. You could probably layer it over a similar colored silver foil so you don't use so much polish. This polish is super sparkly and distracting, and I sort of love it (my camera, however, does not!). 

Did you grab any polishes from this collection? How about Swimsuit... Nailed It! ? That is some serious blue, it might be my favorite of all time. I didn't grab the berry colored shimmer that came with this collection... Miss Congeniality-something or other? Any opinions on it? 

Thanks for stopping by!

OPI Big Apple Red & Kleancolor Chunky Holo Scarlet

I've been job hunting, which is, needless to say, a demoralizing process. My background is in writing, English, film, with a bit of arts education thrown in. I've worked with non-profit and for-profit theatres, music venues and arts education programs. And honestly, the semi-lame salary that often comes with being an arts person (whose value to society is not quantitative and therefore under-appreciated, in my opinion) is so worth it. My dad is an actor, so I grew up in a theatre (which was state funded until late last year, and was shut down by New York State because, again, the arts have no quantitative benefit to society... can you tell I'm bitter much??) But try finding a job. It's awful. It's starting to look more and more like I'm just going to be a cubicle rat, doing Administrative stuff for "the man." Shoot me. For crap pay (despite my Masters), at least let me do something rewarding, not staring at Excel sheets for 8 hours.

Anyway, anyway! I shouldn't let all this out here. It's supposed to be a happy place. Here's a recent NOTD: OPI Big Apple Red with Kleancolor Chunky Holo Scarlet on top. Pics are OK, but still not quite up to snuff...

Big Apple Red is pretty amazing. It's so vibrant, and my favorite tone of red. Slightly warm, I think. Scarlet compliments it well, and the warm red glitter, which is slightly duochromey, look so pretty on top. BAR had a great formula, but Scarlet was a bit weird. It was pretty thick, and took a bit to dry down... and smelled like chemical awesomeness, as Kleancolor has a reputation for.

These chunky holos are kind of awesome, and I'm not much of a layer-er when it comes to polish (though is pretty much my jam when it comes to fashion, kind of a bag lady chic thing I've got going on here). They're quite pretty, and I can't wait to try out Black! Gorgeous. But... not really black? I digress.

Hope you all are well and thanks for looking in! :0)

It's been a long, long time!

I didn't want to abandon my little blog here, but life has just been crazy for the last six months. I moved at the beginning of May to Canada (my hubby's homeland), after finally celebrating our marriage (9 months after the fact). Moving was nuts. So much paperwork and physical work and waiting, oh, and driving 1700 miles. My nails got trashed, and I kept them short. Also, my lack of work has curbed the polish acquiring (a bit!!). I also, unfortunately, ended up leaving about half my stash (over a Helmer's worth) at home in NY. I went through and just weeded out everything that I didn't feel I *had* to bring, boxed it up and stored it in my closet there. It was a lot of drugstore/dollar store impulse purchases and vintage stuff I'm keeping out of sentimentality. but I also left all my backups. I plan to go through it at a later date. So far I haven't found myself missing too much of anything.

Living in Canada is strange for me. It's so like home and yet so... not! Though my lack of a job has curbed my polish buying, another thing has helped: lack of CVS/Rite Aid/Walgreens! Oh my drugstores, how I miss thee! Drugstore stuff here is just hella expensive and hard to find exclusives (here's hoping Milani knocks off their awesome collections for a while). Anyway, it helps not being tempted. That said, I have an American Apparel a block away (uh oh, amazing polish), and OPI's are not exorbitant (~$8.95-9.95, though lots of places are 2 for $16). I made the mistake of buying one at a random beauty supply without asking, and it was $12.99 (Spark D'Triomphe backup), and uh no, never again. My husband, Chris and I are going to North Dakota this weekend and I CANNOT WAIT to go to CVS! Haha.

Enough rambling, here are a very few select NOTDs from the past few months:

China Glaze Crushed Candy over American Apparel Manila. Loved this combo.

Essie Mochachino. Didn't love the way this taupe looked on my skintone, but it was so pretty.

These are both OPI I Lily Love You over China Glaze Ahoy. I'm unfortunately not able to take outdoor pictures, and my lighting situation isn't ideal. So the first one is no flash, and you can sort of make out the detail. The second one is more color accurate, but the flash washes out the flakes and glitter. Not sure I love this one. It's pretty but...

These Sally Hansen nail strips are basically amazing. So pretty and fun. The only set I had any trouble with was the Frock Star glitter ones. They were a bitch to put on and stayed "tacky" and didn't seem to set. Oh well.

Orly Here Comes Trouble. I couldn't find Bubbly Bombshell, but this one is awesome. Love the different shapes of glitter and the color! Perfect spring green.

Love & Beauty. Stupidly labeled as "Blue." This polish is ridiculously amazing. It's probably got an LA Girls equivalent but I'm lazy and don't feel like looking it up. But seriously. Beautiful. Shimmer. Perfect application.

Super crappy iPhone4 pic! OPI Your Royal Shine-ness. Gorgeous, underrated. A warm, almost pewter silver foil. Seriously blingy. Love love.

Ohmygod. This is Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal over American Apparel Hassid. So, you'll all want to punch me after I tell you this, but I've had Turquoise Opal for years. I bought it and tons of other Prisms in 2 packs at Dollar Tree probably 3 years ago. Maybe longer. And I've never worn a single. one. WTF was I thinking?? Anyway. I got so many compliments on this. A sweet lady at the dollar store actually grabbed my hand. It wasn't creepy... yeah maybe a little. But seriously, I don't blame her.

And finally, a few crapalicious pics of today's nails... (I've seriously gotta figure out a new lighting situation. Basement apartment=not good.)

Kleancolor Holo Chrome with Chunky Holo Bluebelle on top. I'm also holding Bluebelle. Um, yay Kleancolor for amazing polishes. I don't hate the smell. It smells like chemical awesome. And Beautyjoint.com ships to Canada super reasonably. I'm gonna order more. Anyway, Holo Chrome had kind of a bitchy thick formula. Three coats. I shoulda thinned it. It's so beautiful. What you see above is mostly Holo Chrome. The Bluebelle you can't see in my lighting but in certain lights you can also see the effect in the bottle on my nails. The base color also sorta matches Holo Chrome.

More true to color.

Sparkle!

In the last few months, I have also grabbed the Serena Wimbeldon & French duos, hauled KleanColor's like crazy mad, got 2 Dare2Wear collections, all the OPI shatters, a couple Nice Stems, and got 3/4 of the Miss Universe collection. Also some Essies. My only leftover lemmings (until Christmas, fall isn't really doing it for me... maybe a couple China Glazes) are Chanel Graphite and Peridot, but I doubt my budget will be accommodating, at least to both. Maybe though :-)

What have you all been hauling/loving/doing lately? How's summer?

Also!! If any of you are on Pinterest, follow me! I post NOTD's and other things too.

http://pinterest.com/sarahrobo/ I'd love to follow you back :-)