OPI - Have You Seen My Limo? (01/06/2012)

So gorgeous in the bottle and out this, somewhat vintage, nail polish was released in 2007 in the limited edition Holiday in Hollywood collection.  This is a very mysteriously beautiful lacquer and I must say that I am not, at all, disappointed.


Color Description:  Have You Seen My Limo? is a subtle duochrome that flashes dark green but is predominantly a deep eggplant purple; one reviewer said it reminded her of a bowl purple of olives - very nice description!  It has very find silver shimmer (just enough not to be frosty) and is one of those colors that have someone grab your hand and say, "What color is that?"  Again, mysterious.


Similar To:  This puts me in the mind of Orly's Royal Velvet (see my post here) but at the same time is totally different. However, this is a nice addition to my Bruised Beauties collection (right click to view post here).  It has also been compared to Sally Hansen's Black Tie.

This Look:  Two coats of Starting Over After Artificials (needed some extra strength because I've been washing dishes with no gloves - FOR SHAME!), three coats of have you seen my limo (for added umph-factor), and one coat of Shine & Hold.


Price Point/Availability:  I found this at an old dusty beauty supply and only found one for sale online for $15.99. So if you see this lacquer and you like the color, definitely pick it up because it has now become a collector's item.

As always, I love sharing my beautiful colors and rare finds with you all and hope you like listening to my thoughts.  Also, if you have any good suggestions for dish gloves let me know.  I use these: Water Stop Gloves and they're pretty and water does not seep through the top but I've gone through at least three pair because they are thin and finger tips wear easily and they get discolored (not long-lasting, at all).  So let me know what you use!

Pink Wednesday: OPI - Come To Poppy

Come To Poppy is from OPI's Spring 2011 Nice Stems Collection.  The only thing I can say is that this is not what I imagine the color Poppy to be; to me Poppy is a bright orange-red.  It's still nice though.


Color Description: A pearlized shimmering hot pink frost with lavender duo-chrome, Come To Poppy is bright and cheery.


Similar To: Unique finish but similar in color to many hot pinks on the market.


This Look: One coat of Growing Nails Garlic base coat, with one coat of Instant Artificials, two coats of Come To Poppy with one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.


Price Point/Availability: OPI retails for $8.50/ea, however, this may not be readily available as it was limited edition.  I'm sure you can get this online and it may still be at select salon locations.

Chanel - Peridot

Chanel Peridot is the color I chose to wear for my one year blog anniversary and it's has been a week of wonderfulness!  I have been wearing this lacquer since Tuesday (8/23/2011) and can't seem to take it off...  


It's lasted through Disneyland and a host of other activities and is well worth the money.  These pics were taken today after close to four days of wear.


Besides a little dent on my index finger tip, Chanel Peridot has held up extremely well - for a Chanel.  Sad to say my Paradoxal did not hold up half as well, chippity chip chip chip was its theme song.


I love the venetian glass effect that Peridot has and that's why I had to save up a few ducats to make this purchase.  I know whenever I try to layer and franken to create a dupe the next thing is just to break down and buy it.


As you can see in certain lighting it looks like a foil and other lighting it has a duochrome pearlized finish, either way I'm in love.  See you soon!

Silhouette - Orchis (My Take on Chanel Peridot)

This is my take on Peridot...  I stumbled upon Silhouette Orchis with my friend at a beauty supply/wig shop yesterday and thought it reminded me a bit of Chanel Peridot. So today I tried a layering experiment:


This Look: One coat of Orly Golden Coral, on coat of Silhouette Orchis, one coat of Maybelline Colorama Give Me The Chills, one coat of Best Sence #89 and one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.  If you have Revlon's Glimmer Gloss in Banana Blaze this could replace the #89 and if you have Maybelline's Khaki Fringe this could replace Orchis.  I had fun layering - thanks for looking!

I went to Macy's to test Peridot and this is a side by side comparison of Orchis/Peridot.  In certain lighting, Peridot turns into a beautiful light green duochrome reminiscent of venetian glass and Orchis does not.

Below is Chanel Peridot in all of its glory... :)

Chanel Peridot from Retail Therapy
http://retailtherapy.onsugar.com/category/Peridot

Pink Wednesday: OPI - DS Passion

OTT Light w/ Lightbox

I didn't know DS Passion existed until a few weeks ago, but I'm glad I found it.  If there's one thing I love to collect, it's DS lacquers and this one fills out my stash nicely.


Color Description:  Passion is a golden rose duochrome with flashes of green (especially in the bottle).  It also contains micro holographic shimmer which is not as prismatic as other holos but is holo, nonetheless.

Window Light w/ Flash (duochrome in bottle)

Similar To:  Nothing really compares to OPI's Designer Series but Passion does remind me of the pink version of DS Illuminate.  I have nothing else in my collection that is exactly like this.


This Look:  One coat of Starting Over After Artificials, two coats of Passion and one coat of Shine & Hold.


Price Point/Availability:  OPI has discontinued DS Passion but it can still be found online.


That's all folks!  Talk to you soon...

OPI - Not Like The Movies (4/23/2011)

Hello there my pretties!  Today I'm going to a baby shower at a country club (nice!), so I wanted to wear something exceptionally pretty for the occasion.  Well, Katy Perry's Not Like The Movies was just screaming, "wear me, wear me!". 


Color Description:  
While my version has virtually no violet/pink undertones, it definitely is a duochrome that changes from a beautiful silver to a lovely shimmering green.  Oh, and I can't forget the silver micro-shimmers that take this color over the top.  


Similar To:  The original version has been compared to Wet N Wild's Gray's Anatomy and this one puts me in the mind of OPI Brand New Skates in certain lighting (so pretty)!  


This Look:   One coat of Starting Over After Artificials, three coats of Not Like The Movies, and one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine. 


Price Point/Availability:  I found mine in the JC Penney Salon where it retails for $8.00.  Although this is a Limited Edition color, you can still find this online and at other Salon locations.   


I believe this is the second batch to be released but I can't be too sure.  What I have been noticing, however, is that if your batch number on the bottom starts with a 10 then you have the first batch and if it starts with an 11 then more than likely you have the second batch.   

Last Thought:
Even though Not Like The Movies will, more than likely, go down in history as OPI's biggest debacle of 2011, I'm glad to own this version. 


What do you think of this color and which version do you have?  Better yet, what number is on the bottom of your bottle?  Do tell...

Zoya - Faye (Summer Sunshine Collection 2011)

I thought for sure I had a dupe on my hands when I started polishing my nails, but alas, no dupe here.  We'll get to that a bit later.  On to the review...


Color Description:  Who better to describe this lacquer than Zoya!  Faye is said to be, "A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle.  A unique gilded shade that will work in any season."  These undertones give Faye a duochrome effect that is very, very fancy.

Faye/Wild And Willing

Similar To:  Okay, so I was a bit bummed when I did this mani because I thought it was exactly the same as Color Club's Wild And Willing.  It is similar in every way, as if it were made from the same formula but WAW has no purple *whew!*.  So if you like the finish of WAW you will love Faye with its purple flash.


This Look: Base coat of Starting Over After Artificials, three coats of Faye and one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.  You won't have to look too closely to see that I have the dreaded shrinkage.  Faye is extremely slow drying and dentable for hours and with a fast dry topcoat shrinkage is inevitable, oh well...  It's not awful, though.

Faye/WAW: 3 coats/2 coats/1 coat

Price Point/Availability:  Zoya is availabe at most Salon/Beauty Suppliers and online at Zoya.com for $8.  I try to purchase these when they're having new collection promotions (seasonal).

I can't thank you enough for your feedback and well-polished thoughts!  Have you picked up any new Zoyas lately?  New or old this is a great brand to have in your collection.

Orly - Royal Velvet (Spring 2011 Collection)

Royal Velvet (RV) has just gone to the top of my favorite nail polish list and is so much more stunning in person than in these pics.  And more beautiful on the nail than in the bottle.  Onwards with the review!


Color Description:  I am personally describing Royal Velvet as the quintessential blurple - hands down!  How many facets of color can one lacquer have?  Well, with flashes of blue, purple and deep magenta, RV is a duo-chrome that must be purchased, owned and worn to truly appreciate.  I've included four pics and took many more to capture its essence and this is the best I could do ladies. :)


Similar To:  I've been told that Royal Velvet is very reminiscent of SpaRitual's Health Wealth and Happiness, as well as, China Glaze's Tempest.  If you own either of these, please let me know if they're dupes to RV.


This Look:  I'm wearing one coat of Barielle's Camouflage underneath becuase it was a bit sheer; two coats of RV and one coat of Shine and Hold.


Price Point/Availability:  Royal Velvet is from Orly's Precious Collection for Spring and will be available starting March 2011 for $7.50 each.  Looks like a few smaller beauty supply chains are putting them out a little early - yay for me!


Thanks for checking in and please have a wonderfully well-polished week!

The Many Faces of MAC Bad Fairy (10/26/2010)

BF at window with much maneuvering.

I now reveal the many faces of Bad Fairy, as I see it.  I promised myself I would try MAC's BF with a full mani before returning it to Nordstrom. 

When I first swatched it the duochrome was not easily identifiable or in your face, like I thought it would be.  But that was only on one finger...

This is the way BF looks 90% of the ti

This Look: 1 coat: SH Hard As Wraps base coat; 3 coats: MAC Bad Fairy; and 1 coat: SH Mega Shine topcoat.

What's the verdict? Indoors (90% of the time) this color looks like a dark rose foil; that's it and that's all!  So, with that, I'm still not 100% in love.  Once I get outside in the sunlight I will make my final decision to return or not to return.  

Here is one more window shot for your viewing pleasure.  I am almost certain that to get the most enjoyment from BF you will need to be outdoors (a lot).  


Alrighty, then!  Off to see the duochrome - or not.  Will update post with my ♥ or not to ♥.  Have a well-polished day:)

Orly Space Cadet - Blingtastic!

Well, here it is, my rendition of Orly Space Cadet a crazy-blingy lacquer, thus, BLINGTASTIC!  This nail polish will satisfy the purple lovers, pink lovers, green lovers, as well as, the gold lovers.  

I just asked my DH what color comes to his mind when he sees this polish then I proceeded to move my hand around so that he could appreciated the duocrominess, of it all. Can you guess which color he saw?  Are you ready for this?  Brown.  

He's such a boy; to his credit, however, if you mix any the above mentions colors together, I'm almost certain you will get some type of brownish hue.  

Do I see a challenge brewing for all you franken-ladies?  Alrighty then, pick this up at your local beauty supply or drug store and you are certain to be well-polished!

COMPS: Bruised Beauties - Orly Galaxy Girl Q&D's

Over the past week I've collected a few "Bruised Beauties", all of which, were inspired by Orly Galaxy Girl,  however, the first of the bunch was purchased months ago - Misa Embroidered Emerald. Recently, alizarine claws requested a comp so here goes it.  Below, I have "quick & dirty" comparison pics for your perusal:

           Orly Galaxy Girl (index), Misa Embroidered Emerald (middle),           Zoya Ki (ring) , and Borghese Stellare Notte (pinky)

                          L-R: Zoya Ki, Borghese Stellare Notte,                                                 Misa Embroidered Emerald and Orly Galaxy Girl

          

My favorite has got to be the Orly Galaxy Girl, and coming in quick second is the Misa Embroidered Emerald, third would be Borghese Stellare Notte with Zoya Ki coming in fourth place - all are beautiful.  Though these are in the same color family they are different and if you're a lover of "bruised beauties" then you should own all of these.  

I do not own the namesake of this post, you guessed it, Urban Decay Bruised, which is identical to Misa Embroidered Emerald per this comparison by j e l l y n a t.  So if you own Bruised you do not need Embroidered Emerald .  Here is another comp of Bruised and Galaxy girl by AllYouDesire (beautiful pics, yes?).  

As you can see GG has the beautiful glass flecks, whereas, Bruise/Embroidered Emerald has a beautiful micro-shimmer - they are different. Oh, and as we know, if you own Orly Galaxy Girl you definitely don't need to plop down $13 buck-a-roos for MAC Formidable! as temptalia.com describes in this recent article.

Hopefully you enjoyed this post as much as I had making it!  Take care and have a well-polished tomorrow...