Kiss My Acetone

Hey all! Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive!! YAY What good news that is!! Now I bet you’re all wondering where the hell have I been. Welllll… I’ve been busy and lazy on top of that is what it all boils down to. All of December my long distance bf was in town and so since I never get to see him I was attaching myself to his hip every minute I could so I really didn’t have time to blog. Since he’s been gone… we’ll I’ve just been super busy with work and lazy. I understand many of you and many other bloggers work full time and still fit stuff in but coming from a part time worker who didn’t even put on pants every day, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed and swamped with working 40 hours a week. By the time I get home (and the sun is down and I have no sunlight to swatch with anyways) I’m spent and on my days off (when I do have sunlight to swatch) I basically just want to sleep all day or go out an have fun. So I do apologize for the extreme lack in posts. Hopefully I’ll be posting more often than I have been but I probably will only keep it to once or twice a week now that I’m working full time and no longer have the time or energy to dedicate to this blog running my life. But I do still enjoy it and I hope you all still enjoy it as well…

Now, onto the Selena Gomez collection for Nicole by OPI’s winter collection. Today I’m sharing the first half of the collection and tomorrow I’ll share the second half.

Selena. A pastel peachy-pink with very subtle shimmer. If you look closely you can see the silver and gold shimmer but for all intesive purposes I’d consider this a creme. It’s very pretty and a perfect pink for spring. This is two coats.

Heavenly Angel. Believe it or not, this is two coats of Heavenly Angel over Selena. In the bottle, it’s so pretty and full of iridescent flakies but the flakies are so sparse in the formula, it just looks bad on the nails. Good idea, bad execution in my opinion.

Kissed At Midnight. A clear base filled with large and small light gold and silver hex glitter. It’s pretty but my only word of advice is to apply thine layers and let the polish almost fully dry before applying the next layer. Clearly you can see the goopey spillage on the edges of some of my nails from applying too thick of coats and the polish leaking over. I like it alone but I think it may look even prettier over a light cold chrome polish. This is three coats.

Hit The Lights. A bright yellow creme. Probably my least favorite polish of the collection just because it’s so… yellow. But if you love yellow or are looking for a true yellow creme, this ones for you. And unlike most yellow polishes which are known for a terrible, streaky, runny formula, Hit The Lights has flawless formula and applies perfectly. Good job on perfecting a yellow polish formula, Nicole. This was three coats but I think I could have probably gotten away with just two.

Scarlett. OMG is this a stunner. This polish is so gorgeous, I can’t even get over it. It’s a like a deep pink raspberry with duochrome glass fleck that mostly appears fuchsia and hot pink but at extreme angles it flashes orange. This is seriously so, so pretty. There are a lot of similar glass fleck raspberry pink polishes out there but I think Scarlett trumps them all. No joke, you need this polish. Even if you don;t think you do, you do. Two coats and perfect application.

Stars At Night. A clear base with bigger-thicker and slightly small-thinner silver holo bar glitter. Very pretty alone or worn as a top coat. This is three coats.

Mi Fantasia. Probably the most unique polish in this collection. A clear base filled with tons of small cobalt blue hex glitter and duochrome turquoise-green-yellow bar glitter. This polish has an oceany look to it that’s really pretty and unique. Plus it’s dense enough to wear alone at three coats and the formula isn’t as runny as the other clear based glitter polishes in this collection. I really love this one as well. I think it’s my second favorite in the collection.

Tomorrow I will be posting the second half of the collection so stay tuned

Dori

(These products were sent to me for review.)

Let me just start off by saying that Zoya’s Ornate holiday collection is not only, in my opinion, the best holiday collection of the season but also my favorite collection that’s been released in quite some time. Maybe it’s because they’re so much holo glitter. Maybe it’s because it’s holo glitter inside a jelly! Maybe it’s because there’s holo glitter inside of jelly polishes and it’s Zoya’s first ever release of holo polish and they hit the nail on the head!! Okay, okay, enough rambling and onto the swatches!

Ziv. (not holographic, but just wait…) A light gold foil polish with different sizes and shapes of foil flakes in light gold, silver-gold and darker warm-gold. I am such a huge fan of gold polishes and this one is really, really pretty. The variation in colors and shapes of the flecks is really pretty. Of you’re a fan of gold, you need this polish. I promise. And actually, you need this whole collection. Just saying. ….This is two coats.

Logan. A dark and vibrant evergreen base filled with gold foil flakes that shift from gold to green to even blue (at an extreme angles). This one is really, really, really pretty. It’s going on this list of my favorite greens. It reminds me a lot of Orly Meet Me Under The Mistletoe… but better. This is two coats.

Blaze. A rich red-berry jelly filled with holo glitter. HOLO GLITTER! RED HOLO GLITTER!!! This polish is really pretty. Like, really, really pretty. The red jelly base tints the holo flecks of glitter to make them appear mostly red and iridescent purple. It reminds me of ULTA Bombshell (which is clearly pretty different yet the most similar polish in my collection) but with a deeper base that leans more berry, and smaller flecks of holo glitter compared to Bombshell’s larger pieces of square holo glitter. Out of the two, I prefer Blaze. This is two coats.

Aurora. Let me start off by saying that for these pictures I only applied two coats. It looked fine in real life but according to the pictures, this polish would clearly look better having applied three coats. Don’t hold the slight sheerness and streaky-ness against the polish. It was my fault, not hte polish’s. Aurora is a fuchsia-purple jelly filled with tons of holo flecks of glitter. I think the holo glitter in this is more dense than it is in the other two holo polishes, making for a more intense holo. It’s really very pretty.

Storm. My hands down favorite from the collection. I’ve been wanting a black holo polish for basically forever and for a long time Color Club Revvvolution was the closest I had. Then while I was in London over the summer, I picked up Barry M Black Multi Glitter which is also a black jelly base filled with holo glitter. However, Barry M Black Multi Glitter was a let down. The holo barely showed through the black base. Fortunately, Zoya Storm is everything and more than I hoped Black Mutli Glitter Would be. Storm is a dense black jelly base filled with holo flecks of glitter. Out of the three holo polishes, Storm seems to have the least amount of holo glitter. Honestly, there is still a ton of holo glitter in this baby though so my no means is this polish lacking or on the dull side of holo. This is two coats. If you’re only going to pick up one polish from this collection, my suggestion is, let it be this.

Electra. A clear base densely packed with smaller thinner and bigger thicker silver holo bar glitter. It can be worn alone or used for layering but in my opinion, ever=n with one coat it’s a little too dense for layering for my liking. This here is three coats. And though I don’t have any similar polishes in my collection this this reminds me, the name does remind me of something…

I haven’t posted a music video in a while and since I just posted Electra, I figured it’s a good enough excuse to share my favorite song from Marina and the Diamonds’ album Electra Heart. Ayye, ayyye, see what I did there? ;]

(These products were sent to me for review.)

Dori

OMG I keep meaning to post this and… I just keep not posting it. So here’s the first half of the China Glaze Fall 2012 Safari Collection… the Locals set.

Exotic Encounters. A medium teal creme. Not unique or special by any means but it’s nice for fall. This is three coats.

Purr-fect Plum. A medium-dark berry purple creme. Again, nothing too special, but it’s nice for fall. This is three coats.

Elephant Walk. Probably my favorite polish from this set. It’s a green tinged light steel grey with subtle silver shimmer in it. The color of this polish really depends on the lighting. Indoors and in darker lighting this polish really looks like a grey toned grunge army-ish green but outdoors in the sun, it looks completely grey. Odd. This is three coats.

Man Hunt. Interesting name. My least favorite of this set of polishes. Not cause it’s a bad polish… I’m just not really into royal blue and the fact that it’s a creme just makes it really blah for me. However, if royal blue cremes is your thing, this polish is for you. Two coats.

Prey Tell. Is it brown? Is it purple? I’m not so sure. It’s a mix of the two I suppose… a very dark and vampy cream mix of the two. It’s kinda sheer and looks streaky with the first two coats so it really is a three coater.

Jungle Queen. My second favorite of this set, though it’s really not very unique either. It reminds my of Chanel Paradoxal and all the other look-alike dupes. It’s a smokey-dusty grey-hazy-purple with bright iridescent purple shimmer in it. In darker lightings it’s hard to see the shimmer but it’s definitely noticeable in the sunlight. Two coats.

This polish is available now. Sorry again for posting is so late in the game. Better late than never I always say.

Dori

This fall, Zoya has released a trio collection of sheer, gloss polishes. Each polish is a sheer jelly but builds in color intensity and opaqueness with each coat. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Paloma. Probably my favorite of the three. It’s a bright raspberry jelly that’s very sheer and streaky with one coat but the builds color with each additional coat. This shown here is three coats. As you can tell it’s still pretty sheer but the streakyness have evened out with additional coats. I don’t think I’d ever wear this polish alone like this just because it’s so sheer but the sheer, glossy quality makes it great to use to gradient/syrup manis as well as layering polishes between and making jelly sanwiche manis.

Frida. A dark jelly turquoise that’s still fairly sheer and streaky with three coats. I’m not sure why Frida didn’t even out as well as Paloma with additional coats but I think in order for this polish to look good (ie. not streaky) you’d have to either do a gradient or a jelly sandwich mani with it because alone it just looks so uneven.

Katherine. Thought Frida applied uneven? Well it does, but Katherine is way worse. This here is also three coats and to me it looks like a hot mess. Katherine is a dark plum jelly that unfortunately applies streaky as hell. This, I could never wear alone. It just looks like… I don’t even know.

But not all hope is lost, even though I’m not a huge fan of these polishes worn alone, no matter how many coats you may use, they are amazing to use for jelly sandwich manis. Have a look below.

Three coats of Paloma, one coat of Dare To Wear Techno Beat, topped with one coat o Paloma.

Three coats of Frida, one coat of NYX Girls Aqua Glitter, topped with one coat of Frida.

Three coats of Katherine, one coat on a fuchsia jelly filled with holo glitter no name Snowman polish, topped with one coat of Katherine.

So even though I’m not really digging how these polishes look worn alone, they look bomb when layered to make sandwich manis. I have yet to try using them for a syrup mani but I’ll probably try soon and report back on how that all works out. Bottom line, if you like gradient or jelly sandwich manis, you need these.

The Zoya NYFW Gloss Collection is now available on Zoya.com

(These products were sent to me for review.)

Dori

Once again, this fall OPI has added two brand new shades to their Designer Serious collection. Don’t get your hopes up too high, just like last year’s DS polishes, these two/too (mehhh heeehhh I’m funnayy) are also non-holographic. Bummer. BUT!!!!!… They are super pretty and shimmery, so not all hope is lost. Behold:

Luxurious. Luxurious indeed. Are you seeing this polish?! Maybe not everyone loves orange. But I love orange. Especially these darker oranges that scream autumn. Luxurious is a slightly burned, yet bright orange metallic filled with tons and tons of gold and orange foil-like glitter flecks. Literally, pictures do this polish no justice and can’t even begin to convey how this baby sparkles and shines. Not to mention, the formula and application are flawless. To sum it up, you need three of four bottles of this.

Indulgence. Ohhhhhh myyyyyyy gaaaaaawwwwd. What is this polish?!?! It’s like a deeper, richer, more raspberry toned, sparklier version of China Glaze Strawberry Fields on crack. Once again, pictures don’t do this polish justice. It’s a bright, rich raspberry metallic filled gold and orange foil-like shimmer glitter. And just like with Luxurious, formula and application are flawless. You may need a few backup bottles of this polish as well.

Both polishes are available starting this month (though I’m not sure when this month) and retail for $12.50. I realize that the price tag for DS polishes is a bit hefty compared to the $8.50 per bottle the core line polishes cost buuuutttt… these polishes are worth the cost. Trust me. Go get em while the gettin’s hot.

(These products were sent to me for review.)

Dori

Rory. Seriously, pictures do not do this polish justice. This was the surprise of the collection for me. In the bottle and in indoor lighting it’s just a normal light pink-purple with silver foil-like shimmer. But in the sunlight the color becomes a much more vibrant shade of pink-lavender and the shimmer sparkles so pretty. I really like this one a lot. This was two coats.

Meg. An odd shade of green with the same silver foil shimmer as Rory. It’s somewhere between a faded green apple sort of green and the avocado green shade we saw yesterday in Zoya Tracie from the Beach Collection. This was two coats.

Mytra. What an odd name. Zoya typically names their polishes after female names but are there really any women out there named Mytra?? None that I’ve heard of, that’s for sure. Anyways, Mytra is a bright orange-coral polish that is somewhat dulled by the silver foil shimmer in it. This is two coats.

Carly. A warm, red toned medium purple filled with the same silver foil shimmer as the rest of the collection. However, in the sunlight in addition to the silver shimmer there is also a ton of pink, fuchsia, and some blue shimmer too. For what seems like an ordinary foil polish in indoor lighting, this polish really comes to life in the sunlight. It’s not what I would typically wear during Spring since it’s pretty dark but it’s gorgeous nonetheless. This is two coats.

Zuza. Probably my favorite from the collection. This polish is outstanding. Again, pictures do not do this polish justice. It’s a bit more green-aquamarine in real life than it is in these pictures and it’s filled with silver foil shimmer. It’s also more vibrant in pictures. The top picture is most color accurate. If this polish isn’t the perfect polish for Summer, I don’t know what is. This is two coats.

Kimber. My second favorite of the collection. Kimber is a warm hot pink, slightly berry tinted jelly filled with lots of gold shimmer. I’m glad that this polish doesn’t have small silver foil shimmer like the rest of the collection cause it really would have cooled down this polish and it wouldn’t have been nearly as gorgeous as it is with the gold shimmer. This is so pretty and I really don’t own anything like it. Kimber is perfect for Summer. This is two coats.

Dori

(These products were sent to me for review.)

This Spring Nicole by OPI is releasing four new shades in addition to the three Wal*Mart exclusive polishes I shared with you yesterday. These four polishes will be available at various Nicole by OPI retailers including Target, Wal*Mart, and ULTA. So in case you’ve seen one too many People of Wal*Mart photos and hence refuse to walk in the joint, you can still get your hands on these pretties elsewhere.
Vio-Let’s Talk About Red. A deep red toned pink-berry with pink and violet fleck shimmer. It’s a bot similar to NOPI Best Pink ever but I much prefer this one because the color is deeper, richer and more opaque. This was two coats.

Shoot For The Maroon. A deep plum filled with duochrome micro fleck glitter that shifts from bright fuchsia and purple to antique gold and orange and even a hint of green at the very edges of the nail. This polish is awesome. It’s worth viewing full size. The application was great and I achieved full opaqueness at two coats. And I can’t lie.. I really love the name of the polish. It reminds me of one of my favorite songs called Shooting The Moon by OK:

A Lit-teal But Of Love. A gorgeous royal blue foil with silver and light blue-turquoise shimmer. I really love this polish but I swear that it’s a dupe for Orly Sweet Peacock that came out this past Fall. I guess I’ll have to do a comparison. This was two coats.

A Million Sparkles. Such a fitting name for this polish. It’s a clear base jam packed with medium-small turquoise-blue hex glitter, medium light gold hex glitter, really thin turquoise-blue bar glitter, and thick pink bar glitter. I really love the look of this. It’s so unique and sparkly and I’ve been getting a ton of compliments while wearing this. If there’s one polish you get from these new releases, I would suggest it be this one. There’s seriously nothing out there even comparable to this polish and it’s just so fun and awesome. This was three coats but if you were layering you could use one coat for a sheer layer or two for almost full opaqueness.
These polishes are all available at various Nicole by OPI retailers beginning this month.
~Dori
(these products were sent to me for review.)