Sephora by OPI 212

          Happy New Year's Eve!! I know I said this already, but I just can't believe that the year is almost over. I made my resolutions and cleaned some stuff, but it's still so crazy to me. I'm a little sad too, because I hate odd-numbered years...terrible, awful things always happen to me in odd-numbered years. Except for that time I was born. But on to more relevant things, like the color I've been wearing for the past couple of days, Sephora by OPI 212. 

I know this is not the best picture...with the snow, it's hard to take pictures outside, and the lighting inside is kind of...iffy. But anyway, 212 is a hazy black creme base with lots of gold microglitter, lots of multi-sized duochrome flakies, and a little small holographic hex glitter. The flakies shift from orangey-gold to green, a la Nubar 2010. 

Sunlight, no flash.

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In this one, you can see a little bit of the holo glitter.

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     Even though 212 leans extremely brown on me, I love it. The base is perfect in color, and instead of swallowing up the elements, it showcases them. In all lights, you really get to see the shimmer and flakies, and because the glitter is so spaced out, it completes the look instead of taking it over the top in a bad way. 
  Additionally, I love it as a representation of Manhattan (which it was named for). Manhattan is a cool place in that it really has split personality disorder. Sometimes it's Ru Paul and sometimes it's Jack the Ripper, if that makes sense. And I think this polish did a good job of displaying both of those sides. So claps and snaps for Sephora by OPI. 
  212's formula was okay. It went on smoothly and dried pretty quickly. I did find it a bit thin and runny, but it wasn't uncontrollable. And it was opaque in only two coats, although I ended up using three to get a bit more depth. Additionally, I only needed two layers of topcoat for a glassy finish, which is better than I expected. 212 did eat the first layer, but the second did the trick. 
  Even though I generally don't mess with $OPI, I would recommend 212, if it's your thing. The color is so utterly unique, and for me, worth the price.


I hope everyone has an amazing and safe New Year's Eve!! :D

Happy Holidays!!

            Happy Christmahanakwanzaa guys!! Unfortunately, I don't have any holiday or snow-themed nails (I know, booo I stink) but I do have pictures of snow! We got like fourteen inches, and the wind was going like 60 mph! So crazy. 

The backyard.

And the street! People had to walk in the center of the road, because the sidewalks were so full of snow. 

This is the little path we managed to shovel. 

My little brother tried to free my parent's car from the backyard, and faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of the snow.

But you know what I always think about when a ton of snow falls? 

I think about how no two snowflakes are the same, and about how many snowflakes are necessary to create such a huge mass. It just like...blows my mind. There are so many flakes, and they're all different! It's so crazy! 

And just to keep things relevant, I grabbed a few shots of my current mani, Color Club Magic Attraction. My hands are ashy and gross here. I blame the hard labor, cold weather, and rock salt. 

   And that's all I've got for today! I hope everyone had/is having a great holiday and are gearing up for the new year! I can't believe 2010 is thisclose to being a thing of the past. Where does the time go? x_x

L.A. Girl Rock Star Punk

           I feel like I haven't shown a blue polish here in kind of a long time, so for today, I have a blue polish! It's Punk, from L.A. Girl's Rock Star line. 

Punk is small blue shimmer in a navy blue jelly base. The shimmer is faintly duochrome and flashes purple, which you can see at the bottom of the nail if you look reallll close. :D

Sunlight, no flash.

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    I think the Rock Star line is a little hit or miss, but Punk definitely ranks as a hit. The jelly base is dark enough to provide adequate contrast for the shimmer, while being thin enough to let the shimmer catch the light and sparkle. In lower lighting situations, the shimmer is much less noticeable, but when I move my hand, it glitters and gives this cool night sky effect. My only complaint is that I would have liked more duochrome. In the bottle, the shimmer is wildly duochrome-y, but not so much on the nail. 

   Punk's formula was okay...it was thin, so I needed four thin coats to get the opacity and depth that I was looking for. However, applying the polish itself was easy. There was no dragging or bubbling, and it dried pretty quick. Actually, it was a little like applying liquid gelatin.

  All in all, not bad for $2. ^_^

But that's all I've got for today! Have a beautiful day, guys!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine

           Today, I'm gonna keep the Rescue Beauty Lounge party going (it's been going for a long time, huh?) with Catherine, from The Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty Collection. 

Catherine is a smoky, greyish grape purple creme base with a ton of fine, gold iridescent shimmer. Interspersed among that stuff is small bits of turquoise and fuchsia shimmer. I think the pictures will have to be enlarged to see the detail. Or what little my camera could catch anyway.

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       Catherine was based off Henry's first (and my absolutely favorite) wife, Catherine of Aragon. She always seemed to me to be such a classy and good-hearted person, even when Henry was treating her like poop. I would have ripped both his and Anne's faces off and damn the consequences, but she didn't do that, and I admire her for it. Which is why it pains me to say that I don't think Catherine is that...great. I actually like Anne better. *hangs head* I mean...Catherine's not ugly. The base color is attractive and complex, shifting from pure purple to more grey and even a bit brown-y, depending on the light. And in bright sunlight, you get to enjoy the shimmer. But when not in bright sunlight, Catherine appears rather flat. It still has this richness to it, but somehow lacks the depth of Anne. Maybe because the shimmer isn't as apparent or contrasting? I don't know. But it breaks my heart. :(

   Formula-wise, Catherine is right on par with Anne. It was smooth, lovely, and richly pigmented. In the pictures, I used two coats and one layer of topcoat, but a careful person could easily get away with one thick coat. And dry time was excellent. I was messing with my hair like twenty minutes after application, and there are no dings or anything. 

   I bought this during the RBL sale, which took some of the edge off the price. But if I could go back in time, I'd tell myself maybe not to buy Catherine. I don't think I really regret buying it because I do like it and it is pretty. But it just isn't giving me everything I wanted...like it's giving me this delicious plate of lasagna, but there's no garlic bread on the side. :(

But anyway, that's all all I've got for today! If you all will excuse me, I'm about to go luxuriate all over my bed, because I just had my last final and for the first time in forever, I have NO homework to do. ^______^

Zoya Edyta

           LOL, I know that everyone has seen this color a million times just this week alone, so sorry in advance. But it's kind of all I got,  so I gotta show it to ya. This is Edyta, from the Wicked half of Zoya's Wicked and Wonderful Collections. 

Edyta is a deep, murky green shade with old gold speckles. It has that glittery-metallic finish that has been everywhere this year, although Edyta is more metallic than sparkly. I mean, you get some sparkle, but not that much compared to others in the collection.

And sorry for the tipwear...I washed my hair and my nails did that irritating thing where they swell and shrink.

Sunlight, no flash.

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       I really like Edyta. Its shade of green is both unusual and flattering, and I love how the gold shimmer looks on the nail. It makes me think of the hide of an old dragon. Like one of the dragons that used to be a good pillager and stuff, but now it's mad old, so it hangs out in the cave and naps. I also think that Zoya did a good job naming this one. According to google, Edyta means victorious in war, and I do get that...warrior vibe from this polish. If Xena wore nail polish, she'd probably have Edyta in the stash.

    Formula-wise, Edyta was wonderful. It applied smoothly and easily with no brushtrokes, and wasn't too thick or thin. It was opaque in two coats, which is what is in the pictures, along with one layer of topcoat. There was need to wait between coats, because if not, there was drag. But the dry time was excellent, so it wasn't like I had to wait eons. Maybe like two minutes. 

And that is all I've got for today! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Deborah Lippmann Ruby Red Slippers

            Ahh I'm sorry about the lack of posts lately! Finals are in full swing, and there has been no time to paint my nails and barely any time to read or comment on all the lovely blogs that I follow. But I did get to have lunch with Savvy from Addicted to Polish on Sunday, and it was almost as exciting as it was fun. Deborah Lippman's Ruby Red Slippers came up during the conversation, and she said it was pretty, so I decided to blow off studying for geology and paint my nails with it instead. 

Ruby Red Slippers is small and large jewel-toned, ruby red hex glitter in a black jelly base. 

And I apologize for all the damn bubbles. I repainted my nails twice with different base coats and topcoats before finally giving up. If I can ever manage to not get bubbles on this, I'll retake these.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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     I love Ruby Red Slippers. It really is gorgeous, and all day, I have not been able to stop staring at my hands. Because the glitter floats in the black base instead of being swallowed up by it, the polish has this incredible depth and sparkle. And in lower lighting conditions, it reminds me of dying embers in a campfire.  I'm a little ashamed to love it, because I cannot stand Deborah Lippmann (the brand, I don't know the person) and I think the whole ruby slippers thing is overdone. But despite my personal feelings, I cannot deny this polish. It's the perfect vampy glitter. 

  Formula-wise, Ruby Red Slippers is pretty good. Besides the damn bubbles, I don't have any complaints.It was fairly easy to apply and although the first coat was fairly sheer, it built nicely, becoming opaque in three coats. It needed a few minutes between coats to avoid messing with the glitter, but at least the glitter didn't need to be fished or placed. Ruby Red Slipper will eat your topcoat though...I had to use three coats of topcoat for a glassy smooth surface. 

  However, I do have a big problem with the cost of Ruby Red Slippers, especially because it's not that hard to recreate. I ordered through Beauty.com and got four dollars off and free shipping and ebate cashback, which took some of the sting out of it, but it still cost mad money. Steph from Imperfectly Painted combined Wet n Wild Prancer and Black Creme to get something that looks really similar, and those polishes cost like two dollars together. You may even be able to mix them with some clear polish and get a perfect dupe. But I don't regret buying Ruby Red Slippers...I'm too lazy to hunt down Prancer or something similar and then mess with it and blah. For a lazy like me, it's easier to have it all in one (gorgeous and classy-looking) bottle for my using pleasure. ^_^

And that's all I've got for today! Have a great night!