Sephora by OPI spingtime

Again, I know that it's February, and not technically springtime. But the colors that are coming out now are so gorgeous, I can't stand it. Here are two more that I picked up recently.

First is Leaf Him at the Altar. I am so madly in love with this polish. It is a bright metallic green, with a golden shimmer. It showed no brush strokes, and I again, I went for three coats. Also, please note that I always use Seche Vite top coat. But I've also recently made a switch from CND Stickey base coat to Seche Rebuild. My nails are starting to get all thin & peely, and I can't have this.

I got a billion compliments on this color.




Next, we have the winner for maybe the worst name ever to grace a polish: Iris I was Thinner. You wha? Excuse me? It's bad English, and it's perpetuating bullshit.



But, it's a lovely lavender shade. And since the Lucky Lucky Lavender from the OPI Hong Kong collection turned out to be not so lavender and oh so Pepto-Bismol pink, this was a nice shade for my purple fetish.



three coats color, plus my beloved Seche. This stuff is awesome, and is the tricky to a glossy manicure, every time.

woohoo, Spingtime!

Well, it's technically still wintertime. But, since it's February, and this is Texas, spring is just around the corner. I got some colors I wanted out of China Glaze & OPI's new collections.


left to right-- China Glaze Up & Away collection Heli-yum and Peachy Keen, OPI Hong Kong Jade is the New Black, Suzi Says Feng Shui, and Lucky Lucky Lavender.

two guess which one I used as soon as I got home.


wow, that is a beautiful green. It was opaque in two coats, but I used three just because I wanted the color to pop.

Chanel Particuliere

Mmm...neutral. I didn't immediately hate the formula, which we know is progress since I usually loathe Chanel's polishes. I love their lipsticks and blushes and whatnots. But the nail polishes and I don't get along. But this formula was easy to use, and opaque in two coats. Yay!

outside, with light coming through sunroof


inside


this color is really pretty in person, and I'm not sure that comes across in the photos. It's neutral, for sure, but it's not so neutral that it annoys me since I like really colorful options.

I did manage to snag the last bottle at Northpark's Nordstrom. Because I am cool like that. Not cool enough to have snagged a Chanel Jade, but still...

happy new year

so, yeah, I've been gone. Sorry. I still do my nails, and sometimes, I even take pictures. I've been playing a lot with ombre manicures.

First, I took two polishes, China Glaze Metallic Muse and Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle, and mixed them.



Then, I took a bright color (Sephora by OPI's Blue Grotto - on sale for $5) and added white polish to it gradually. This one came out lovely.



I also find myself experimenting with textures. I played with OPI's suede finish Lincoln Park After Dark, with the regular lacquer on the tips. Eh.



And then, I used a glitter tip, with a lovely purple, which was a much more festive look. Rimmel's Purple Metal with OPI's Mad As A Hatter on the tip.



I snagged a bottle of Chanel's Particuliere on a recent trip to Nordstrom's, so I will post a swatch of that, with some of the other "greige" colors I have.

'Til then, my lovelies, thanks for dropping by.

Lippmann Collection

I went to the mall for brunch with some friends. I wasn't going to buy anything. And then, my companion wanted to go to Neimans and look at the handbags. I have long loved Neimans makeup department. I wasn't even looking for nail polishes. And then, tucked off in a corner, right next to the $400 jeans, I saw them. The Lippmann Collection polishes. I was really only looking to see if they had Happy Birthday, their tenth anniversary (SPECIAL EDITION!) polish.

They did. They also had the three-pack with Superstar, Ruby Red Slippers and Funky Chunky. Oh. Em. Gee.

they came home with me.



I went for Funky Chunky first. I did the pigs first. And I stupidly used a top coat. If you have a polish that is meant to be sequiny and chunky, as its name implies, do not put a super glossy top coat on it. So, I had a better idea of what I was doing by the time I got to my fingernails.

I started with the first coat. I noticed that the sequins were sticking mostly to the bottoms of my nails. I tried spreading them around. I decided to use three coats. I wish it dried faster, since I am addicted to Poshe fast-dry topcoat. The thumbnails just looked smudgy to me.



Removal of the Funky Chunky was quite a challenge. Glitters are pretty hard to remove, but this doesn't have glitter. This lovely black has little black sequins, which turned silver as I used pure acetone for this job. I was finding those little silver sequins all over my hands for about a day.

Next up, I decided I was in the mood for a brown hue. I was looking right at my Superstar. I need some sparkle in my life, and Superstar has it aplenty! I went for three coats, because I wanted the glitter to be deep. It's so pretty.




This is also where I discovered that the camera on my new phone is much stronger than my old one. YAY!

Sinful Colors I Miss You and Lancome Blind Date

All right, I promised my best friend that I'd update. She said to find somewhere to take a picture, and just do it with my cell phone. It'll have to do, until I win the lotto and am able to purchase a decent digital cam. I love love loved the sparkle of the I Miss You, so I went out into the driveway to take this picture.

Hi! I'm still here, and still painting every day. I have been using a lot of Sinful Colors. They're toulene, formaldehyde, dbp annd camphor free, and they're 2 for $3 at Walgreens. I went looking for an affordable glitter, and now somehow I have 12 of their polishes.

I have also been frankening my own polishes. I mix together colors that I am almost out of (and therefore clearly loved deeply), and name the results after my friends.

So, I *will* be getting a digital camera, and I *will* be updating more once every two months. Because my nail polish love isn't abating.