Monday, April 29, 2013

Catch Up: China Glaze Papaya Punch and Finger Paints Motley with Julep Taylor

Yet another catch up post from me guys, sorry!

Yesterday went faster than I expected and then I had to go to bed early for an appointment today.

As a result, I have two manicure in one post again!

You all don't mind, right?

Of course not!

So let's jump in!

China Glaze Papaya Punch
On my nails yesterday I had the sunny bright beauty that is China Glaze Papaya Punch.  This is a really bright yellow-orange creme, though not a true neon.  The color was beautiful and certainly brightened up the rainy day I had yesterday.  The formula was a bit streaky, even after three coats, but the top coat I put on camouflaged that pretty well I think.  There was a little cuticle staining from clean up I didn't notice until I took the picture, but the polish itself didn't stain when I removed it.

Finger Paints Motley over Julep Taylor
Then today I had a fun manicure with a subtle sparkle.  I started with a base of Julep Taylor, an interesting blue creme that is a unique blend of lapis, periwinkle, and lavender, and it is very bright, almost giving off a neon glow.  Then over that I wanted to add a little dimension to the look so I went to all my sparklies and found my bottle of Finger Paints Motley, from their Special FX flakies.  I added a coat over Taylor and now the manicure has a subtle flash of blue and green flakes in it  (very subtly shown in the picture but more visible in person).

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What do you guys think of my last two manicures?  Sorry for the catch up posts and it probably won't be the last this week, looking to be pretty busy haha.

Leave me a comment and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Zoya Tru

Hi everyone I'm back!!

Sorry for being away, but I was out for surgery on Monday and just got the energy to move enough paint my nails yesterday, but that means I finally have a blog post for you all today!

Yay!

I hope it's a good one haha.

Zoya Tru
This is Zoya Tru, another lovely lady from Zoya (like people expect anyless).  This polish has a grapey, red-toned purple cream base but the surprise is the lovely golden-orange sparkle hidden inside this polish.  I love this one, the formula (as I find with most Zoyas) was smooth and even and came to fully opaque in three coats for me.

The sparkle in this one adds a lot of warmth and brilliance in the light.  Another shining example of Zoya's polishes.

What do you guys think?  Now that I'm back, is there anything you all would like to see on the blog?

I have some great plans coming up for the blog so stay tuned!

Leave me a comment and don't forget to Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Priti NYC London Brocade

Today is another indie day!

I know you're all excited...or is that just me?

Either way, I'm always excited to bring you brands that aren't quite as well known but some great polishes!

Today, I have a polish from Priti NYC.

Priti NYC London Brocade
This is London Brocade, a deep merlot/wine red satin based polish with a sprinkle of holographic glitter through it.  It's a gorgeous color that is opaque in three coats.

This is the first polish I've tried from Priti NYC, though I have another to use eventually, and I look forward to it.  The formula on this polish was great, smooth application, great pigmentation, and odd comment, but I loved the brush, it was a bit more stiff and just wide enough for a nice even coat. 

I'll definitely be purchasing more from Priti NYC after trying this one and I can't wait to try the other one I bought when I got this one!

What do you guys think of this one?

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Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Friday, April 19, 2013

Catch Up Post: Julep Evangeline and OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue

Sorry guys, time for a little bit of catching up!

I've been trying to squeeze in time with friends before my surgery Monday since I probably won't be up to seeing people for a while as I recover.  However, side effect of that is losing time for posting, though I do take my pictures just I can catch up like this!

So I guess you guys technically don't miss out in the end.

I have a unique one to show you from yesterday first!

Julep Evangeline
This is Evangeline, a lovely polish from Julep.  It's a kind of coppery orange holographic (yes I refuse to call it burnt orange...sorry I'm an Aggie).  The holo in it is really subtle, as you might be able to tell from the lack of it in the picture but it is certainly there and really pretty with this color.  You don't often get orange holos, so it's fun to have one and the fact that it's pretty helps.

Now you have no idea how painful it is for me to admit a polish this color is pretty, haha, most of the time I avoid anything in the family, but for this one, since if has fun sparkly rainbows in it, I can make an exception!

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Now, on to what I had on my nails today!!

OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue
Today's I wore OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue, a shimmery blend of navy base and royal blue shine.  This is another one of those polishes that just kind of glows from the inside.  It's such a pretty blue and looks great in sunlight.

I don't know about you, but is anyone getting flashes of the Heart of the Ocean from Titanic?

What do you guys think of my nails from yesterday and today? 

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Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Pink Wednesday: OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

It's Pink Wednesday again!

Now some of you guys may say today's polish isn't pink after looking at the pictures, but believe me it's much more pink in real life!

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster
This is OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster a pink-red-coral polish with a creme base and a subtle red/pink shimmer in it.  Sadly, my far less than professional photography equipment (aka: my digital point and shoot camera) can't capture the shimmer in this one, but it's a lot of fun in the sunlight!

And as I mentioned before, the pink tone in this one didn't show up all that well in pictures either, but it certainly is there!

What do you guys think?  Have any polishes that just look amazing in person but don't show up on film?

Leave me a comment and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Sephora + Pantone Universe Parachute Purple

Who likes purple?

Who like dupes?!

Well I have both to share today!

I know exciting right?!


Sephora + Pantone Universe Parachute Purple
This is Sephora + Pantone Universe Parachute Purple, a purple creme based polish with bright blue flashy shimmer in it.  The formula on this one was on the dry and draggy side (nail polish addicts will get it) so it took some slow application and thicker coats to be even, but it got there in three coats.

Now, this polish I found at Sephora for about $5 but as far as I know it's a pretty close dupe for Rescue Beauty Lounge's Scrangie.  Unfortunately I don't have that one to compare for you all but from pictures I've seen online they look VERY similar.  So if that is one of your lemmings, you may wanna check out your Sephora.  I do know it was a color from last Fall so it might be hard to find now, but never hurts to look right?

What do you guys think?  Find any good inexpensive dupes lately?

Leave me a comment and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Monday, April 15, 2013

Nina Ultra Pro Mermaid

Manicure time!

I have a really pretty and unique polish to show you all tonight!

I managed to find this one digging through the clearance section at one of my local Sally's a while back and was very excited!

It's a gorgeous polish with a really special look to it.

Nina Ultra Pro Mermaid
Mermaid, by Nina Ultra Pro is a pale yellow-green polish with flashes of bright jade and gold shimmer in the light.  Mermaid is fairly sheer, taking four coats to reach the opacity in the picture.  The formula was great, even for the probable age of the bottle.

This particular polish is from the recently discontinued line from Nina Ultra Pro, they have recently changed their look in their bottles and in doing so added some new colors and removing some old ones.  I believe Mermaid was one that fell to the realm of the discontinued, but lucky for me, I was able to get my hands on it!

What do you guys think of this one?  Ever been lucky enough to find a gem in a clearance bin?

Leave me a comment and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Sunday, April 14, 2013

OPI My Vampire Is Buff

I also have today's manicure to share with all of you!

I'm still on my fairly simple (but still gorgeous) colors spree!

I decided a nice creme was in order, and what better place to find a good creme polish than the OPI Euro Centrale Collection!

OPI My Vampire is Buff
This is OPI's My Vampire Is Buff, a kind of ivory, taupe, almond colored creme polish.  The formula on this one was great, though a little thin so I had to go with four coats instead of my usual three, but the final result is great!

I'm really loving the picks I have from this collection, I never imagined I'd find simple cremes so amazing, but they're all just beautiful!

What do you guys think?  Do you have any favorites from the Euro Centrale collection, or other unexpected favorites?

Leave me a comment and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Swatched: American Apparel Sheer Collection

I have more swatches for you guys!

Like I promised, I'd be trying to swatch more, so I have!

I decided I'd swatch a collection that I don't see much online, but that I love having.

American Apparel has some really lovely nail polishes, but from the moment I saw the Sheer collection I knew I wanted them all.

Around last Christmas...or was it Thanksgiving...whatever haha, American Apparel had a great sale and I was able to get the whole Sheer collection for a great deal!

Now, I want to share them with you all.

American Apparel Sheer Summerland Beach
First up is Summerland Beach, a pretty peachy pink sheer jelly-creme polish.  This is three coats with no top coat.  The polish has a gorgeous shine and ends up at the halfway point between opaque and transparent after this many coats.  It goes on fairly evenly if you have an even hand with application, it can get spotty if the coats are too thin though.

American Apparel Sheer Manhattan Beach
Next is Manhattan Beach, a bright, basically neon coral-hot pink sheer jelly.  This is three coats with no top coat.  This one is also very shiny when dry (expected with a jelly) and unfortunately the picture does it no justice, it's much more on the pink side than it shows up here.  This one goes on evenly and smoothly and has great color pay-off.

American Apparel Sheer Zuma Beach
Then we have Zuma Beach, a lime green sheer jelly polish.  This is three coats with no top coat.  This one is another that doesn't look quite right in the picture.  It's not nearly such a sickly looking green in person.  I don't know if I'd wear this one by itself, but I think it'll be gorgeous over the right undies.  Application for this one got a bit spotty, but I think I was using too thin of coats.

American Apparel Sheer Pacific Beach
The next polish is Pacific Beach, a brilliant Caribbean aqua jelly.  This is three coats with no top coat.  This color is beautiful, very bright and pigmented.  This polish went on smoothly and evenly and the pay-off was amazing.

American Apparel Sheer Redondo Beach
Then there is Redondo Beach, a sky blue sheer jelly-creme.  This is three coats with no top coat.  This is probably the most opaque polish in the collection and it went on smoothly and evenly and looked brilliant.

American Apparel Sheer Moonlight Beach
And lastly there is Moonlight Beach, a sheer indigo jelly polish.  This is three coats with no top coat.  This polish is a bit more on the opaque side and has amazing color pay-off!  Just a gorgeous lapis blue shade.

All of these polishes are breathtaking!

I imagine they'll make wonderful glitter sandwiches and just look great on their own, if you don't mind sheer of course.

What do you guys think?

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Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Friday, April 12, 2013

Lime Crime Crema de Limon

Hi all!

Back with another manicure for you all!

I think this one counts as an indie (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong lol) but either way it's really pretty!

Lime Crime Crema de Limon
I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Lime Crime but if you're not, you should be.  They're a boutique cosmetic brand (found here on their website) specializing in delicate but still fun and certainly occasionally avant garde style cosmetics!  Oh an did I mention that their products are Vegan Friendly and Cruelty-Free, for all us furry fans out there!

Their nail polish line is one that I have coveted for quite some time now I know, I know, Thou shalt not... and all that, but it's just so gorgeous!

Luckily I recently was able to purchase one polish of theirs (still pining for the rest) from a friend and I get the priviledge of sharing it with you all!

This is Crema de Limon from their Pastille du Marie Antoinette nail polish/cosmetics collection.  This is a very sunny pastel lemon yellow creme that is just beautiful on the nails.  Now, it is a pastel, so it can get a bit streaky so your coats might need to be a bit thicker than you might be used to to make it even, but it's totally worth it!

What do you guys think?  Tried any Lime Crime?

Leave me a comment and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Pink Wednesday: Zoya Dana Cartoon Nails

Post #2 for the day to play catch up!

This is my Pink Wednesday manicure and I wanted to try a technique I saw from a channel I follow on YouTube called CutePolish.

She posted a video recently for a technique to make animated looking nails.  You can see it here:


This technique looks like a lot of fun, so I decided, what better way to try it than Pink Wednesday, so I did!

Zoya Dana Cartoon
For this manicure I started with a coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism (my go to black one coater).  Then, I carefully painted three coats of Zoya Dana, making sure to leave some black around the base and edges of the nails.  I went back in and cleaned up the black outline with the black striper and added the outline to the free edge of the nails and then used a dotting tool and white striper for the reflection lines.  Then to finish off I added my WarPaint Beauty Matte Top Coat from Hot Topic.

What do you guys think?

I keep wanting to run around my house re-enacting the transformations from Sailor Moon...


I'm not a loser I swear.....

Don't forget to leave me a comment and to Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Essense Breaking Dawn Part 2: Jacob's Protection

Hi all!

Sorry for being a day late, spent the day with friends yesterday so didn't have much time during the day to post and I'm running low on energy with this liquid diet so I went to bed really early (at least for me).

Tomorrow I have plans again so I'm probably not going to get to post or even paint my nails, but I have yesterday and today's nails to post in this entry and the next!

I wanted to play with some of my black base polishes, and remembered that I managed to get my hands on a limited edition collection from Essence late last year that had some lovely black based polishes, so I decided to try one for all of you!

Essence Breaking Dawn Part 2: Jacob's Protection
This is Jacob's Protection from the Essence Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 limited edition collection from 2012.

This polish is a black base with bright blue and violet glass fleck sparkles in it that just flash in the light.

The polish itself was a little thick, but a few drops of thinner, and that problem was resolved and I was able to get completely opaque in two coats (though I may have needed three since there was the tiniest bit of pick up I didn't catch at first).

So what do you guys think?  Do you have any limited edition collections that you're just so proud to have?

Leave me comments and Like and Follow me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Monday, April 8, 2013

China Glaze Branding Iron

Manicure time!

Ready to see what I've had on my nails today?

This week will have a bit less glitter simply because I want to give my cuticles a break haha, but I still have plenty of gorgeous polishes with a lot of personality of their own, without glitter.

To give an example I have today's manicure!

China Glaze Branding Iron
This is China Glaze Branding Iron, from their Cowgirl Up collection of 2008.  This polish is a deep, almost blackened burgundy that has such great warm flashes of dark red in the right light.  This is one of those polishes that just glows from the inside, its gorgeous!

Branding Iron went on completely opaque in two coats and just pops with top coat over it.  It really is a beautiful polish.

What do you guys think?  Do you have any of those polishes that just look like they glow?

Leave me a comment and Like and Favorite me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

P.S.  I wanted to let you all know that I've started a liquid diet to prepare for surgery that I'm having in two weeks, so if my posts don't make any sense, blame it on me being hungry hah!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Swatched: OPI Oz the Great and Powerful Soft Shades Collection 2013

I have swatches for you today!!!

I know it's been way too long before I did a true swatch post, but so many new collections have been released (and found their way into my collection) that I now have a bit more swatch foder to share over the next few weeks!

One such recent collection that I was able to get my hands on by means of a great swap with my good friend Kim, was the OPI Soft Shades for 2013 themed on the new film Oz the Great and Powerful, which is what I have to show you all today!

OPI Don't Burst My Bubble
First up is Don't Burst My Bubble, a sheer, pink-tinted white polish.  I really liked this polish, it has a nice mod look to it but is still delicate.

OPI Which is Witch?
Next is Which is Witch?.  This polish is a glitter coat made up of holo mini bar glitter and hex pieces.  It goes on smoothly and coats well in a single stroke without having to dab the glitter on, and the holo effect is brilliant.

OPI Glints of Glinda
Now we have Glints of Glinda, a sheer warm nude that's a very nice subtle look.  I'll have to wear this in a full manicure for a whole day or two to decide how much I like this polish with my skin tone, though in the picture I quite like it.

OPI When Monkey's Fly
Next is When Monkey's Fly, another glitter coat with holographic silver hexes and large gold hexes.  Now, this particular polish has been the source of much drama in the nail polish community since it's release.  It began with the complaints of the curling or "taco-ing" of the large glitters in the polish, which is technically a flaw in the glitter from a reaction to the chemicals in the polish base, and for many people something that is completely unacceptable in any polish, let alone a salon brand.  But I think most people would have gotten over the issues (myself for example am a big weirdo and like the curling effect) if OPI hadn't first attempted to explain that the curling was intentional and then announced they were trying to find a solution to the problem.  People get a bit touchy with their polish if they're as addicted as most of us are.  I am more annoyed by the lack of grammatical correctness in the name of the polish itself haha.

OPI I Theodora You
Then there is I Theodora You, a sheer, pale pink shade that also has a nice delicate but mod feel to it.  I have to say this one is probably my favorite of the solid shades.  It's a really nice shade of pink and just opaque enough to to not look odd on the nail.

OPI The Lights of Emerald City
The last glitter is The Lights of Emerald City, a polish made up of iridescent small square and larger white matte square glitters.  Now, for me it's kind of a draw for favorite glitter between this one and Which is Witch?.  I like all the glitters but these two are the standouts and I think my favorite will simply depend on the look I'm going for.

OPI What Wizardry is This
And the last polish from the collection is What Wizardry Is This, a new release of OPI's liquid sand textured polishes, first released with the Mariah Carey collection.  This polish a shimmery bronzey-brown that dries with a very pretty sparkly gritty finish like the other liquid sands, though this one seems a bit smoother in texture than the Mariah liquid sands, I think because it doesn't have the large amount of different sized glitters in it like the Mariah polishes did.

Overall, I love this line, I have a few that I need to get used to in full manicure form but I think I'll have some great favorites from this collection, especially for simple work-place manicures.

All pictures are shown without top coat, so as you can tell they're all fairly shiny on their own and dry very smoothly and go on evenly.

What do you guys think of this collection?  Do you have a favorite Soft Shades collection?

Leave me comments and Like and Favorite me!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Friday, April 5, 2013

Blue for Autism Awareness

Hello all!

I have a really special manicure today, one that you've probably seen on a lot of nail blogs over the last few days.

As some of you may know, and some may not, April is Autism Awareness month.

Autism of course touches many people's lives with family members or friends and it is a condition that needs to be addressed so that children and their families can learn to cope with Autism.

My nephew was recently diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum and he is a spectacular little boy with a lot of passions for art and movies and most recent Minecraft (coolest kid ever, right?!)  There are a lot of things my family is still learning about how to make life that much easier for him since he needs that little bit of extra attention to make sure he's comfortable and of course safe in his environment, but he's such a bright, talented little boy.

With Autism so close to me, I certainly had to make sure I participated with some blue nails for Autism of my own!

American Apparel Redondo Beach & China Glaze Water You Waiting For
For my blue manicure I knew I wanted to use one of my American Apparel Sheer shades, and decided to go with Redondo Beach.  This polish is a sheer aqua blue jelly-creme that is just beautiful.

Of course, I can't do much of anything without glitter, so I had to add some doubled up accent nails in China Glaze Water You Waiting For, a royal blue glitter with greenish turquoise bits sprinkled in.

Together these two polishes made a really fun blue manicure, and one I was proud to sport for Autism Awareness.

What do you guys think?  Are you wearing blue nails for Autism Awareness this month?

Leave me comments and Like and Favorite me!

This weekend, I'm going to catch up on some swatching I've been wanting to do. 

If you're interested in seeing more of the American Apparel Sheers in swatches, let me know, I have the whole collection.

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Pink Wednesday: Wonder Beauty Products Let's Play Footsie

It's Pink Wednesday and I actually have an indie to share (I know, I know it's been too long since I featured an indie polish).

This lovely polish was actually one I reviewed a while back for Llarowe, the review you can find HERE.

Wonder Beauty Products Let's Play Footsie
This is Wonder Beauty Products Let's Play Footsie, a polish with a hot pink jelly base with a bit of shimmer and lots of multi-colored and multi-sized glitter in gold, red, white, and pink just scattered through it.

This polish is lovely and a lot of fun!

I promise I'll try and show more indies, haha, I have some more I just got all distracted from them lately, it's very sad.

Anyways, what do you guys think?

Leave me comments and Like and Follow me in all my various places!

Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Zoya Myrta

So as a nail blogger, I clearly have a responsibility to post manicures whether I like them.....or not :/.

Which sadly, I have a polish I absolutely did not like to post today.

Now, it's a nice color, that wasn't the issue....it was just...ugh on me.

Lemme show you.

Zoya Myrta
This is Zoya Myrta, a lovely bright red-orange metallic polish, or at least lovely on anyone but me I'm sure.

I don't know what it was about this polish that just didn't strike my fancy, if it was the texture or the color of the polish or both, but it just didn't look right on me, or so I think.

It makes me sad when I wear a polish that's obviously gorgeous and then it's just kind of WOMP on my nails... :(

But oh well, it happens I suppose.

What do you guys think?  Ever have a polish you think is amazing and then wear it and realize it's just not for you?

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Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat

Monday, April 1, 2013

OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? & Julep Brooke

Another day has come, which means something new on my nails!

I wanted to work with a bit of purple (one of my favorite nail colors) and I had a great dark purple I wanted to try.

Here's what I came up with!

OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? & Julep Brooke
I picked up OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? a few weeks ago from the Euro Centrale Collection, mostly because I find it hard to resist purples haha.  But this one stood out, even as a creme, simply because it looked like a dark purple that wouldn't look black on the nail.

So, when I decided to wear purple, I picked it to test my theory and I was right!  Vant to Bite My Neck? is a gorgeous deep violet, grape purple creme that's rich and luxurious, as all purples should be. 

But me being me, I couldn't leave a simple creme well enough alone and I went to my glitters and top coats and found Julep Brooke, a shimmer top coat with violet to green to gold multichrome shimmer pieces in it, and I added a coat to the top of Vant to Bite My Neck? to give it a bit more pop.  Though the multichrome doesn't photograph well, it's very pretty in person!

What do you guys think?  What's the one nail polish color you can't resist no matter how many dupes you might have?

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Hugs & Kisses & Great Polishes!

~ Cat