Spring Nail: Cherry Blossom

Spring is here! Well, kind of in Toronto but more so in other countries.

Well I've seen so many cherry blossom viewing pictures in Tokyo from my friends, that I felt like I needed to do this. At the same time I feel like it's premature since we don't have any budding flowers in Toronto yet.  Usually our cherry blossoms bloom late April? Last year was late March because we had a warm winter, but this year could be around late April.

Breakdown:
Base coat: Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Colour coat: Zoya Gie Gie (2 coats)
Stamp: Bundle Monster BM-224 using Konad white stamping polish
Glitter coat: Sonnetarium Lenten Rose (1 coat)
Top coat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

I was swatching this weekend, so I have another post for Zoya Gie Gie and Sonnetarium Lenten Rose.  From the first time I swatched Sonnetarium's Lenten Rose, I just loved it.  It's very delicate and pretty.

Some pictures

I realized I prefer my right hand since the flower isn't cut off somewhere.

Have a nice weekend!

OPI: Gouda Gouda Two Shoes

Today I have another Spring polish from the OPI 2012 Holland collection.  I went to Amsterdam in the fall of 2011.  I absolutely loved Amsterdam!  Amsterdam was part of my two week Europe trip, and I was only there for two days.  I'm not a big alcohol drinker, and I don't smoke, so many people were asking me why I would choose to go to Amsterdam.  I honestly choose it because it was something I could add to my trip and I always wanted to go to the Anne Frank House.  

I learned about Anne Frank when I was in gr 8, and I always thought if I ever went to Europe, I would want to go to the Anne Frank House.  Although that was a goal of mine, I guess I never thought that it would actually happen.  As a kid, my family couldn't afford to travel, so we usually took small road trips.  So being in Amsterdam meant a lot to me, a lot more than I thought it would.

Here's a picture of the scene when I left the Van Gogh Museum.  The clouds were amazing, it was as if I stepped into a painting myself.

Now to the Gouda Gouda Two Shoes.  I bought this last year since I wanted a dusty rose and there's a golden shimmer.  I love polishes that have shimmer colours to it, so I knew this would be the type of polish I like.  The application was great but you can only see the shimmer in bright light or sunlight.

Breakdown:

Base coat: Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Colour coat: OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes 2 coats
Top coat: Nicole by OPI Top Coat Plus

Bottle size: 15mL

Pictures were taken at night after I painted it so the lighting is different

 

Office lighting just because I didn't think the other pictures did this polish any justice

Maybelline Color Tattoo - Bad to the Bronze

I might have mentioned this in the past few posts but I'm in my busy season at the moment.  Usually I like to wear powder shadows and try to add some dimension to my monolids  but right now I don't have a lot of time in the morning since I'm so tired.  So recently I started to use Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze.  I use this on my lid with some brown eyeliner and I'm good to go!  

What I like about this is that it really adds dimension to my eye and it's not flat.  Depending on how the light hits, it can look dark and light.  I think it gives my eyes some dimension, which really helps since I'm so tired. It just makes me look a bit more awake.  I bought this when the Color Tattoos first came out and this was on sale.  I rarely wore this because I thought it was more of a summer colour, like bronze skin.  My mind has  changed and I think it actually is a pretty natural colour for everyday wear.

What I absolutely love about this is the staying power.  In addition to monolids, I have very oily eyelids.  Before discovering eye shadow primer, my shadow would crease before lunch.  When I apply this, I don't use eye shadow primer, mainly because it's an extra step to my morning, and it lasts for 10-12hrs.  I know this because I'm actually in the office for that amount of time and it's still there when I get home.  This is if I don't rub my eyes or something.

I believe I bought it at Shoppers Drug Mart for about $8.99 on sale.  It's available at Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexel's Pharma's Plus, and Wal-mart.  It's a lot cheaper at Wal-mart since they've rolled back on the prices.  I think it might be around $5-6?  

Some pictures:

Cap

Bad to the Bronze

This picture is of my used Bad to the Bronze since I started to use this more often this past month.

Colour swatch

Rescue Beauty Lounge: Faraway

I have another Rescue Beauty Lounge polish to share.  This one is called Faraway from the GOMM Collection.  

I bought this because I was looking for a bright blue and Aqua Lily was sold out, even after the BiB4.  I saw swatches for the Fan Collection last Spring, but I didn't jump on that.  As I mentioned during my swatch of Insouciant, I kind of regret that since there's another polish in the fan collection I would have wanted.  Oh well.

Thoughts: 

This is my second Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polish, and while I've featured this a few times in my Comparison blue swatches, I finally painted them on my nails today.  It was so easy to use the brush and I actually stayed within my nail.  Depending on the brush and how alert I am, I can get to the skin surrounding my nail.  This was really easy to use.  Or, maybe I'm not as generous with the amount I place on the brush since this is quite pricey (lol?).

This polish to me is like an aqua blue with fine turquoise green shimmer.  It reminds me of how I would picture the ocean to be because of the depth the turquoise green shimmer adds to the blue.

The back of the box, which includes directions and ingredients.  I really appreciate this even though for the ingredients I don't really know but at least I can read it.  Other bottles are small in size and font.

The front of my box which has been signed by Ji Baek.  This is since the top has some changes due to the name change.  Originally I thought it was because I ordered three bottles, and it was an added touch (lol).  I still appreciated that it was signed.  Also I really liked the way my boxes were wrapped.  

Close up of the brush

Breakdown
Base coat: Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Colour coat: Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway 2 coats
Top coat: Nicole by OPI Top Coat Plus

I noticed that in my pictures, you can't see the subtle shimmer from the green.  It is very subtle but I thought this colour was so pretty.

Trying to capture how the bottle has green shimmer.

And again!

The bottle is 12mL.

I bought this online at the Rescue Beauty Lounge website for USD$20.00.  There's also shipping costs to be shipped to Canada.  Although this is pretty expensive especially since I don't live in the US, but I'm pretty happy with the colours I bought.

Nicole by OPI: Kissed at Midnight

Today I have another Nicole by OPI swatch. Kissed at Midnight is part of the Selena Gomez collection.  Originally I didn't buy this because I was waiting for OPI When Monkeys Fly.  I didn't end up getting that since the glitter bent up at the edge, becoming a what other bloggers call a taco effect.

Thoughts:

Kissed at Midnight is similar to Inner Sparkle from this collection.  It wasn't too thick, and I found it really easy to apply the golden glitter on.  There are big hexagon glitter as well as dot glitter.  I really like this one since it's one colour, though I also like the multi-colour ones that are coming out.

The brush is a wide brush, but I found it very easy to use this.  Maybe even easier than Inner Sparkle, but this one is just gold glitter, Inner Sparkle had different colours, so it was more noticeable if the bigger glitters weren't at a spot I wanted it to be.  

 Kissed at Midnight over Essie's First Timer.  

I spent the day swatching different colours and it was at First Timer I realized I hadn't swatched Kissed at Midnight.  I actually liked this combination.

 Closer shot of Kissed at Midnight over First Timer

Here is where I got ahead of myself.  I tried to multi-task and it didn't turn out well, but since I took the pictures anyway, I'll share it.  I was rushing through these swatches, and they will probably come up again in the other swatches for the other glitter polishes.

Middle Finger: Kissed at Midnight over OPI's Vant to Bite My Neck? 

 Middle Finger: Kissed at Midnight over OPI's Vant to Bite My Neck? 

Closer shot.  I also really liked Kissed at Midnight over Vant to Bite My Neck?

I bought Nicole by OPI's Kissed at Midnight at Shoppers Drug Mart for CAD$8.99 (usually for $10.99, though right now there's a sale for $5.99!).  Essie's First Timer and OPI's Vant to Bite My Neck? were bought at Trade Secrets, retail for CAD$9.99 each.

Urban Decay: The Glinda Palette

Today I have something different to share.  I bought the OZ Glinda Palette when it first came out online at Sephora.  I really like Urban Decay eye shadows.  When I first got into make up, I was using mainly Japanese make up brands but then I switched to Urban Decay.  I have monolids, and I'm growing out my eyebrows, so there's not going to be any eye look, but I just wanted to share this.

I realized it's hard for me to describe colours, so I've included Sephora's description since their description is most likely taken from the press release.  I really wish I could be more descriptive with colours, but I'm pretty limited in going deep down into the colour.

Packaging of the palette

OPI: Vampsterdam

Spring is here!  Or at least it's supposed to be here.  It's been snowing in Toronto this week, so it doesn't feel like spring.  I wanted to wear a spring colour but nothing too bright since outside is still snowing.  I realized I have never tried Vampsterdam from OPI's 2012 Holland Collection that was in my collection.  Out of the twelve colours of the collection, I have eight.  Originally I bought four, but eventually bought another four since I found a place that sells OPI at a reasonable price.  Vampsterdam was one of my original picks.  I saw swatches on other blogs and I liked the way it looked.  Another reason, and it may sound silly, but I really liked the name, Vampsterdam lol.

My favourite collection last year was the Holland Collection.  I really liked the colours I bought.  I really like polishes with fine shimmer in it, and there were many in this collection.  Vampsterdam was the only polish from this collection that I did not wear last year.

I painted my nails at night because my weekend was so packed that I didn't have a chance to paint my nails until night time.

Thoughts
While I liked the colour, I'm not sure if I like it for spring.  It's different since spring usually has pastel or bright colours, but I think this was too dark for my liking.  Funny thing is, I didn't bust it out during the fall.

I had no problems with the application.  The colour is a deep plum and with silver shimmer to it.  I did like the effect the silver shimmer gave.  I thought it looked kind of old, similar to how the polishes of my childhood looked, but I liked it.  The brush strokes are barely noticeable.  I might have to try this again when the weather isn't so dark so I can see how I would like it during the spring.


Breakdown
Base coat: Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus
Colour coat: OPI Vampsterdam from the 2012 Holland Collection 2 coats
Top coat: Nicole by OPI Top Coat Plus

Size of the bottle: 15mL
I originally bought this on eBay but this is available at Nail Polish Canada and Trade Secrets.  Retails for about C$9.99.

Bottle shot but it's actually darker than this.

Pro brush

True colour of the bottle

What I do like about this polish is that it's thin and the formula good.  It was pretty easy for me to apply.

The silver shimmer does add something to the colour

I didn't use flash but the polish is reflecting the light

I would say this is the most true to how it would look.  It's pretty dark, but you can notice the silver shimmer. 

Zoya: Pixie Dust Godiva

When I started this blog, my goal was actually to not buy as many nail polishes this year.  That was attached to my New Year's Resolution.  Then the Spring Collections hit and let's say I've been very bad.  Originally I thought it's because it's a very stressful time at work, but I realized maybe I just like Spring collections.

Today I have Godiva to share, which is part of Zoya's Spring Pixie Dust Collection.  I wasn't into OPI's liquid sand collection but for some reason when I saw Pixie Dust ads, just the name Pixie Dust got my attention.  I saw pictures, and thought if I did buy it, I would choose Nyx (the blue) and Vespa (the green).  Then I saw a picture of Godiva on Zoya's Instagram, and I decided that's the one I need.  I ended up stalking the Nail Polish Canada site and buying Godiva and Vespa.  Once it was available, I made my purchase and it came pretty quickly.

When I took my bottles out of the box, I was amazed.  The bottles are so sparkly and the cap is matte.  Looking at the polish in the sunlight really shows how much glitter this has.  The reason I decided to try Pixie Dust instead of Liquid Sand is because how fine the glitter is and the colour selection.

Thoughts
When I first painted Godiva on my finger, I could feel the glitter move along the brush on my nail.  Kind of like a scratchy feeling but it didn't bother me.  The application looks very pretty because the wet polish itself is glittery.  I'm at a lost for words at how to describe this, because it was just such a pretty glitter during application.

Godiva was very easy to apply, I didn't feel like I had to paint that fast.  Originally I thought maybe it'd start drying so fast that I would have to paint quickly in order to avoid uneven coats, but it wasn't the case here.  I thought the application was very easy.  The brush is easy to use because I didn't get that much of my surrounding skin.  Watching the polish dry was interesting for me too.  Going from liquid and then the glitter particles coming out.  I find that it dries slightly lighter than the colour of the bottle.

After I painted my nails, it dried pretty quickly.  I went to bed and my nails didn't have fabric marks (it has happened to me once). I did manage to do something to my pointer where some of the polish was scratched off, but due to the texture, it's barely noticeable.  While in bed, I did notice my nails were like sandpaper against my blankets.  It took a while to get used to.

I love that Godiva is so subtle and I can wear it to work without anyone noticing that I have textured nails.  My friend took a look at my nails and found it was interesting.  She didn't like the texture, but thought my nails were nice.  Throughout the day and in different angles, she noticed how my nails just had so much glitter.  She commented on how it looks like the glitter would fall off at any moment but it's not.  We spent dinner googling pictures of other swatches of the Pixie Dust collection.

I think this polish is definitely the type that will wear down, not necessarily chip off.

Breakdown
Base coat: none
Colour coat: Zoya Godiva 3 coats
Top coat: none

Bottle is 15mL

Bottle Shot of the brush which is pretty wide

Glittery bottle 

I used three coats 

 Second day I decided I wanted to see how it would look with a top coat on after one day of wear.  You can tell how the polish seems to have wear off a little

Top coat (2 coats) on my ring finger 

 I think I prefer to have no top coat, but at least it's an option

I think the reason I prefer no top coat is because although it looks just as glittery, if not more with a top coat, with 2 coats of top coat, the feeling isn't as if you had any normal, non-texture polish.  It feels a lot thicker.

I bought Zoya's Godiva on Nail Polish Canada for $9.75.  Also available at Trade Secrets.