Barielle Slate of Affairs

Hey everybody!  Today I have a gorgeous little number by my favorite under-appreciated brand, Barielle.  If you get Barielle's email of the day, you know that sometimes they will offer a really great deal for that day.  Today's polish was part of one of those deals in honor of Wife Appreciation Day.  Hey, I'm a wife!  How convenient for me. :) 

Let's take a look at one of the three polishes I got (in my self-appreciative package), Slate of Affairs.

Barielle describes Slate of Affairs merely as "a worn denim", but there is more to it than that.  It's a gorgeous grey-toned blue with a strong bright blue shimmer.  It's practically an antique too, having been released back in 2009 in the All Lacquered Up collection.  I used two coats, and the formula was typical Barielle creamy perfection.

I didn't mention that I got Slate of Affairs and two other shades for $7.95 plus free shipping.  It's really great being a wife! :D  Be sure to sign up for Barielle's daily deal emails, and you'll get great offers like this one.

As always, thank you for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

Julie G Candy Shoppe Colors

Hey everybody!  Today I'm showing the Candy Shoppe Colors from the fabulous drugstore brand Julie G.  I purchased these during a Polish Shopping Weekend back in the spring.  And yeah, yeah, I'm just now posting about them.  But I promise you'll love them. :D

The Candy Shoppe Colors collection consists of 9 colors, and I've got 6 of them here.  These polishes have a "jelly bean finish", and this description is dead-on.  They look/feel like a jellybean, a matte jelly.  I can't vouch for the taste, however.  And being jellies, they are sheer but build up pretty nicely in 3 coats.  Mr. VaNeLi kept me lots of company for these pics, but I didn't mind in this case.

Pixi Stick is a really pretty medium pink.  I adore this one!

Sour Apple is a medium green that's a touch grassy and quite flattering.

Lemon Drop is a bright yellow that's as yellow as a lemon meringue pie.  Mmmm.  My Mom makes really good lemon meringue pie, but I digress...  I didn't find Lemon Drop to be overly streaky, given its Quite Yellow Status, but I did use 4 coats for this one.

Sour Grape is a medium-toned purple with a blue undertone.  Of course I liked this one quite a bit.  I mean, it's purple.  And there's Angelo's hair.

Sweet Tooth, or as I could call it, "my personal affliction", is a bright medium blue.  The combination of this fun color with the jelly bean finish is so darn cute.  But *caution* - this one stains.  But oh, isn't it worth it? :)

 

Wild Cherry is a ripe, juicy red that looks simply yum.  I used 4 coats on this one, because for some insane reason, Mr. VaNeLi rears his ugly head most often whilst I sport a red polish.  Go figure.

The remaining colors I didn't pick up from the collection are Licorice (black), Lollipop (red-toned purple), and Candy Shop (orange).  I'm kinda wishing now I'd picked them up...I thought that Licorice may cause me application woes, but these formulas are so good that I don't think it would.  My personal favorites from my purchases are Sweet Tooth and Pixi Stick.

Julie G polishes are sold at Rite Aid and online at Jesse's Girl.  They retail for $3.99 each.  As I've said for a long time, Julie G is a good drugstore polish.  They're an addict's best friend!  Or worst nightmare? 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

OPI Designer Series Radiance and Magic

Hey everybody!  I hope your weekend has been fantastic.  Hurricane Joaquin is skirting by us, so we're nice and cloudy and gloomy.  And that makes me happy. :)

I am wrapping up my posts of the OPI Designer Series polishes that I got from the Ulta clearance rack.  I spent between $2 and $6 on these, which was pretty exciting.  Exciting to me, anyway. :D

First up is DS Radiance, arguably the Queen of All Silver Polishes.  This metallic polish applies like butter and is probably a one-coater, but I used two because I'm me.  If you're in the market for a silver lame for your nails, this gal's for you.  It's a white silver with no pewter undertones.

Oww!  My eyes!!  And I'm kinda digging this with my skin tone.

The last Designer Series polish I was able to snatch up for cheap is Magic.  This polish has a lot going on, but it's all good stuff.  Magic is a violet-tinged royal blue glass fleck shimmer with color-shifting flakes.  Not recommended for girls who don't want to be noticed!

You can see the heavy purple shift in the bottle.  This is less pronounced on the nail, but it's still there.  Wow, I just love the non-color I turn whilst sporting blue polish! 

I totally did not see that bald patch on my middle finger...?  Oh well...SHIMMER!

I used two coats of Magic, but as I'm spotting a bald patch, I'm thinking I could have used three.  My bottle's formula was a bit thin.  Magic wasn't too bad of a stainer either. 

I'm quite happy with my OPI Designer Series selections I was able to get for way cheap.  I would love to find a stray bottle of DS Sapphire that wasn't a bazillion dollars.  Do you have any Designer Series favorites?  Do you think they're as special as they used to be before the plethora of indie choices that we have today?

On a side note,  in case any of you are perplexed at times with my blog terminologies, I have added a tab called "Lacquer Reverie Glossy of Terms" to clear up any confusion. :) 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

Pretty Jelly Which Way? and Curiouser and Curiouser

Hey everybody!  Last week when I was blogging about the new Back to School Brights collection by Pretty Jelly, I remembered that I had also purchased a couple of polishes several months ago from the Alice in Wonderland-themed Spring Curiouser and Curiouser collection.  While I've worn the polishes, I didn't get the chance to post about them yet due to "life happening."  So here they are, languishing no more!

I love Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and all things Alice-inspired.  The original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel have without a doubt produced style icons unlike any others in Alice and her Wonderland friends (and foes).  

First up I have the namesake polish from the collection, Curiouser and Curiouser.

"'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)." - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Curiouser and Curiouser is a gorgeous bright blue metallic linear holo.  It's somewhere between light and medium blue.  Just imagine the color of Alice's dress.  Then plug it into a magical electric socket!  The photos show two coats with topcoat.

I'm LATE!

Next I have Which Way?, a lilac scattered/linear hybrid that looks very faintly grey-tinged in indirect lighting.

"Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words `EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants...She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, `Which way? Which way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing..." - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Which Way? is a soft and different sort of neutral.  I always say that my personal neutral polish is purple, and Which Way? is an especially good option if you're in the mood for a paler hue.  The tiny smattering of grey gives it an elegant feel.  This is also two coats with topcoat.

Well...if you insist...

Aren't these colors delightful? :)  You can find the Curiouser and Curiouser collection and many other fabulous offerings by Liz and Pretty Jelly on Etsy.

As always, thank you for reading, and have a lovely day. <3

Hard Candy A Mermaid's Tale and Wild Child

Hey everybody!  How is your week going so far?  

I may not have spent the past few months blogging about my polish purchases, but I did in fact *make* polish purchases. :)  On one of my more recent polish shopping jaunts with Mr. Sweets,  I picked up two of the new 2015 releases by Hard Candy:  Wild Child and A Mermaid's Tale.  I was drawn to the former due to its combination of duochrome and glitter.  I purchased the latter because I always buy polish with mermaid names...I think there must be 72 out there named Mermaid's Tale. 

So this particular A Mermaid's Tale is a medium electric blue shimmer that has a slight green undertone.

The formula is good, with an easy and non-messy application.  It's a little sheer so you may want to use 3 coats.  And what is up with my fingers in these pics?  They look absolutely cadaverous.  Oh well..early Halloween! :/

Wild Child is the more complex of the two.  It's a medium purple shimmer with a slight green duochrome that doesn't really translate on the nail.  But in my opinion, Wild Child's best feature is its blue microglitter.  Yay sparkle!

Mmmmm...shimmer.  And tiny blue glitter.  Niiiice.  Wild Child is also a sheer little number...I'm wearing three coats in the pics, which covered up Mr. VaNeLi quite nicely.

So has Hard Candy been releasing anything lately that has gotten your attention?  I'm always on the lookout for interesting drugstore/big box store polishes.  Hard Candy polishes are sold at Wal-Mart (which I avoid like the plague...but you know) for $4 each.  

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day! :)

Nail of the Day: Zoya Seraphina and Zoya Vega

Hey everybody!  How has your Saturday been?  I've been quite busy with housework and the like, and I've finally broken down and started wrapping presents.  As a side note, Marshalls/Home Goods/TJ Maxx have the best wrapping paper, period.  Their Christmas paper always appeals to my fancy side...which is really both sides. :D

I've got a very pretty duo on today, Zoya Seraphina with Zoya Vega accents.  I purchased these two bottles about six weeks ago at Ulta, where they were $2.50 each.  Yep.

Seraphina is a silvery-white shade with silver shimmer from the 2013 Zenith Collection.  I liked Seraphina from the very beginning, even though shades like this don't really look all that swell on me.  Seraphina was a naughty girl on me...very, very sheer.  What you're looking at is FOUR coats, and opacity may as well be a fairy tale.  The good thing is the coats dried very quickly.

Vega is a light blue/aqua textured holo Magical Pixie Dust that was released in their first collection of Magical Pixie Dusts, which according to many people, seem to be constantly morphing in terms of formula and finish. :)  I confess, I was kinda on the fence about Magical Pixie Dusts.  I thought a couple of them were a total crusty-looking mess.  But I picked Vega and Cosmo up (at $2.50 I pretty much HAD to try them, right?), and whoa!  Changed my mind!  Vega is like OPI Tiffany Case-does-Vegas.  

Oh, and I'm currently in the process of decorating the house.  Did I give myself away?

I really love this duo.  It's an icy-snowy-frosty-just plain cold look to which I'm always attracted.  Living in the tropics during perimenopause will do that to you.

Don't forget to enter my Pretty Jelly giveaway!  The prize is the entire A Novel Christmas collection, which I personally guarantee you will love. :)

So, my question for you is...where do you like to buy your Christmas gift wrap??  :P  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!

Pretty Jelly A Novel Christmas Collection... and a Giveaway!

Hey everybody!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week.  Anytime I get 4 days off in a row AND get to hang out with Mr. Sweets is a wonderful time for me. Not to mention, Thanksgiving is just a special time, period. :)

I have been out of commission for a couple of weeks due to some rather inconvenient breakage, but I'm back tonight with the new Christmas collection from the incomparable Pretty Jelly.  The collection, entitled A Novel Christmas, is comprised of six beautiful holo shades all named after well-known Christmas stories.

I will begin by saying that all six of these had great formulas with little or no cleanup.  And you know how much I love creator Liz's fabulously classy polish names. ;)

The Night Before is an indigo blue scattered/linear hybrid holo.  I probably don't need to tell you that my love of all things indigo was further deepened with this beauty.  This is the color of the velvety night sky that saw the arrival of St. Nicholas during the Clement Moore family's long winter's nap.

Christmas Carol is a raspberry red linear holo.  This gorgeous polish has enough gold shimmer to impress even Ebenezer Scrooge...AND all the Spirits.  Well, maybe not Christmas Future...that guy was incorrigible! :P

He may be a mean one, but The Grinch's namesake polish is totally wonderful.  The color is a slightly darker emerald with a blue and pink shimmer.  It is quite the chameleon in different lighting...Christmas fir one minute, seasick crocodile the next!  Cindy Lou (and Whoville) - approved!

Poor Jim and Della.  They just got all crossed up.  Oh well, at least Della's new short 'do won't affect her nails. :P  Gift of Magi is a navy blue linear holo with gold flecks.  It's a true navy and doesn't have the violet tone of The Night Before.

I love Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, but I confess, the opening notes of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy always give me a mental picture of giggly, rotten little kids tiptoeing around at night to peak inside their Christmas presents. :P  But hey, there's nothing naughty about this Sugar Plum Fairy!  It's a medium-deep orchid purple with a lovely linear holo.  Yikes, this is yummy.

 

Polar Express is the most complex polish of the collection.  It's loaded in tiny blue and pink shimmer, which gives it a charcoal foil appearance indoors.  In the sun, it's a multicolored light show in a nearly black base.  It looks as wintry and magical as the ride aboard the famous Christmas train. 

Pretty Jelly's stunning A Novel Christmas collection is available on Etsy.  But, hey!  How would you like to win it? :)  Liz of Pretty Jelly is very graciously sponsoring my giveaway - one prize of the entire A Novel Christmas collection!  This giveaway is for US only and will run through midnight, 12/12/14.  Good luck on winning this beautiful set from Pretty Jelly!

As always, thank you for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3


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Financial Responsibility, Pt. 2: Essie Parka Perfect

Hey everybody!  How has your weekend been?  Mine has been nice, especially because yesterday was cloudy and windy and 50-something.  That's like a vacation for me! :)

Today I am continuing my post series on never-worns, and today's star of my irresponsibility is Essie.  Parka Perfect was released for Winter 2013, and that was a collection that I really liked a lot.  As an added bonus, imagine my surprise when Parka Perfect turned out to be not typically Essie-tastically runny! 

Parka Perfect is a dusty blue-grey-green color that has a slight shimmer in the bottle.  Unfortunately, I never could see any shimmer on my nails.  However, that didn't stop me from loving this polish.  The formula is pretty great.  I used two coats for opacity.  Oh, and never mind the tip wear in the pics.  I took these a whole DAY after application, and frankly, I'm surprised there wasn't MORE tip wear. *sigh*

Did you pick up Parka Perfect last year?   I love shades like this one...you know, when you don't really know what to call it, but it seems to look good with about anything. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

I Wished Upon a Barielle Falling Star...

Hey everybody!  It's true.  I wished upon a star.  Or, maybe I should say that Barielle Falling Star was on my WISH LIST.  Yeah, that was it. :)  It has recently been crossed out and is officially mine, thanks to my blogger bud Liz of Lacquer Slacker Liz.

So the story goes that about a year ago, I saw lots of those super value-tastic Barielle 5-packs in Marshalls.  I examined one set that contained Falling Star, but I decided not to pick it up because it also contained a couple of polishes that I already had.  Well, that was a Stupid Beauty Decision.  Good grief, the whole pack of 5 polishes was only $5.99.  Needless to say, I have regretted setting down that pack ever since then.  So when Liz asked me if I'd like for her to send me her extra Falling Star, I was thrilled!

First off, let me say that I love Barielle.  I haven't met a stinker Barielle polish yet.  Falling Star is all the beautiful-ness I thought it would be. :)  It's a medium blue, slightly dusty-looking creme with copper microglitter.  My 2-coat application was fabulous, so if you see mistakes or anything in the pics, it was because I was sleepy when I was painting. :P

AAHHHH, it's so pretty...and unusual.  I love it so.  And now, rather than declaring that "I slayed a lemming" (shudder), I shall now declare that my wish has been granted.  Thank you again, Liz, for playing fairy godmother! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

Drugstore Halloween Pt. 2: More Bonita Witches Ball!

Hey everybody!  I hope your weekend has been wonderful. :)  Today I have three more polishes from the Bonita Witches Ball collection to show you.  I had already picked up Eat, Drink & Be Scary and was so impressed with the formula that I picked up more whilst polish shopping with Mr. Sweets.

First up is one I just really like, and I can't quite figure out why.  Oh well.  It's called Dying to Party.  It's a grey-tinged white creme with silver shimmer, a ghostly look, if you will.  I love polishes like this but keep forgetting that they don't look good on me.  I did have some streaking issues with this one and used three coats.

Next is one I purchased for this fall's campaign of "I'm Determined to Get Over My Hatred of Orange." :)  This is Cocktails and Carving, a pumpkin orange that's absolutely loaded with silver shimmer.  This polish is almost a one coater, but of course I am me and therefore did two.  Cocktails and Carving is dustier than the photos show, sort of like a pumpkin PIE orange.  It's very pretty.  It made me rather tempted to squirt Reddi-wip on my fingers.  Mmmmmm...Reddi-wip...

Another super-gorgeous-and-nearly-one-coat polish in the collection is Too Cute to Spook, a berry/fuchsia with a heavy silver shimmer.  I know you all are extremely shocked to read that this one had Lacquer Reverie written ALL over it. :P

And here is Eat, Drink & Scary that I've already shown you, complete with swollen fingers. :D  You can read the full review here.

I apologize for the lack of angle variety in tonight's post, but I have lately been suffering from crustacean cuticles and can't seem to hide it in pics!  UGH!!  :/  The Witches Ball collection is available at Rite Aid for $2.49 each.  These polishes wear very well, and I highly recommend them if you're looking for an inexpensive polish fix! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3