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

Coming Around...

Hey everybody!!  Wow, I've missed you all! 

I am slowly getting back into the swing of things after my 3 month long hiatus.  So much has changed for me personally since my last blog post...I'm still trying to get over it. :/  I thought I would show you some of the things I've been wearing since June.

butter LONDON Shag - metallic and shimmery and gorgeous and chipped all over the place...

Orly Star Trooper - coffee-colored jelly and white glitter!  Yikes, it's pretty!! Oh, and this...

Zoya Payton - imagine blackberry jam where the seeds are holo.  Yep.

China Glaze Optical Illusion - my absolute favorite microglitter!

Zoya Aurora (complete with tip wear!)

I hope you all have enjoyed your summer and are ready to listen to me whine about the slow-poke arrival of our Southern autumn. :)

And a special thank you to my co-bloggers and friends Liesl, Yadi, Christine, and Emily for checking on me over the past weeks.  It means more than you know. <3

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day. 

Vintage Beautiful: butter LONDON Wallis

Hey everybody!  I hope you all have been doing well. :)  

Well, as you know it's prom season.  I have...uh...definite opinions about what girls wear to prom these days. It's like they're trying to see who can get more naked. :/  However, my lovely stepdaughter Hannah *really* outdid herself this year at her senior prom, and I wanted to show you what polish she wore...butter LONDON Wallis!  

butter LONDON Wallis???!!!!

You read that right, folks.  Hannah chose the famous (or infamous) butter LONDON Wallis for her senior prom.  Why, you might inquire, would an 18-year-old girl be wearing this color to her PROM?  Well...Hannah, being the awesome young lady she is, chose as her prom dress a vintage 1950's debutante gown.  And it happened to be the same color as Wallis. :)

Once you get over the shock of Wallis' being...well...so very Wallis...you realize it's supremely elegant.  It really is.  It's the perfect metallic mesh of olive green and gold.  (We had some curtains in the 70's this color!  They were fancy too!)  If you think about the woman for whom Wallis is named, the polarizing Wallis Simpson, you may remember all of the elegant images of her from the 1930's.  So vintage is quite the appropriate adjective here.  And I'm not kidding...you simply CANNOT get a more photogenic polish.

Hannah wore Wallis in a funky French tip, and she looked BEAUTIFUL!  I've known Hannah since she was 8, and she has always had a kind of "antique" look about her heart-shaped face...just something about her.  And she's an old soul, too.  So, this vintage ensemble was so perfect for her that she could have walked right out of 1952.  She truly had a showstopping look on prom night. :)

I'm so proud of Miss Hannah and the exemplary young lady she has become. <3

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Emerald Greens: OPI, Ulta, and Zoya

Hey everybody!  Sorry for my absence during the past week...I've had a lot going on and not very much time to devote to the blog. :/  BUT I am back tonight with another green family post.  This time, it's those luxurious emeralds.  Emeralds were always my favorite gemstone...I got my very first gemstone ring, an emerald, the Christmas right before I turned 14.  It was pretty microscopic, but I still have it. :)

First up is a polish by OPI that I believe was created for Ulta as a freebie with purchase during the Christmas 2012 season.  It's called Skip the Gift Wrap, and it's a shimmery metallic emerald that's very nice even without a bow on top, thank you. :)

Skip the Gift Wrap is, in my opinion, a true emerald green.  It's not kelly, or hunter, or pine.  It's got an easy formula but is rather on the sheer side...I used 3 coats.  It's a touch frosty, but it's the good kind of frosty...no, not the one from Wendy's, but you know what I mean. :P

Next up is an Ulta polish that I am *cough* just getting around to trying out. :/  It's called Envy.  Ooooh.

Envy is a little more hunter green than Skip the Gift Wrap.  It's also a metallic shimmer, but it doesn't have as much shimmer as Skip the Gift Wrap.  It also doesn't have that frosty look.  I liked the application on this a lot.  It may have to do with the tiny Ulta brush that is more suited to my toddler-sized nails.  Sometimes, those wide OPI brushes make me feel like I'm using a spatula. :P

Last on our emerald tour is last year's Zoya Giovanna...loved my some, disliked heartily by others.

I was one of the ones who loved Giovanna.  It's got all that lovely blue in it!  It's not what I would call a true emerald green.  Maybe a created emerald.  No.  Make that a blue indicolite tourmaline.  Trust me on this one.  But YIKES...I look at my pics, and I should have used 3 coats instead of 2!  That is some bald-looking mess going on there.  Okay, if you're going to be out meeting people in macro, use 3 coats. :D  Giovanna has that pleasant frostiness about it too.

Are you an emerald green fan?  How about emeralds in general? :)  What was your first gemstone jewelry?

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

Sally Hansen Triple Shine, Chapter 2

Hey everybody!  I hope this week is going well for you. :)  My sister Melanie and I recently won a fantastic prize of 16 Sally Hansen Triple Shines in a photography contest, and I have some to show you today.  I've already posted about Red Snapper and Wavy Blue, so today's post is a continuation.  And now that I have so many, I'll probably continue even more. :P

Let's dive right into it, shall we?  What an awesome segue...first off I have Dive In! 

Ahhhhh, isn't it lovely??  Dive In is a turquoise blue cream that is probably my favorite of all the Triple Shines.  It's just so happy.  And for all you girls who just LOVE the arrival of spring, this is definitely a springy polish.  I am still a bit surprised that I don't have this color already, but I don't.  I used two coats of Dive In.

Next I have Kelp Out, which is a medium green crelly.  This is a really nice color that I could have posted about in my grassy green comparison if I hadn't wanted to keep my Triple Shines separate.  The formula was easy to work with but a little thin for my desire to avoid Mr. VaNeLi, so I used three coats.

And in case you were wondering, Kelp Out is quite the shiny little number.  And I know my coloring looks a little strange(r) in these pics, but I wanted to capture Kelp Out correctly. :)

There are several glitter toppers in the Triple Shine line.  I layered Sparks Fly, a silver/blue glitter combo, over Kelp Out...and I'm kinda loving this look.  It's like Swamp Thing goes to Vegas.  This is one coat of Sparks Fly, and the formula was very good on this one.

And if Dive In is my favorite Triple Shine, Flame On has got to be a *very* close second. 

Flame On is a BEAUTEOUS hot pink metallic with a subtle shimmer.  And it looks just like shiny vinyl on the nail!  Seriously...you see a teensy weensy bit of brushtroke stuff in the pics, but you cannot see any in real life.  It's just like you wrapped your nails in plastic.  LOVE!!  I used three coats of Flame On for opacity.

I love the application and colors of Triple Shines, but I have the same problem will all of them:  inordinate tip wear.  I don't get it.  Have you all tried any, and what has your experience been with them?  Is it just me having these issues??

Stay tuned for more Triple Shines in all their glory!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Sally Hansen Lustre Shines: Scarab and Lava

 
Hey everybody!  I don't know anybody who doesn't just plain love Sally Hansen Lustre Shines.  They have been around since 2012 but have apparently been a popular part of Sally Hansen's line.  And it's easy to see why...Lustre Shines are shimmeringly fantastic!  I picked up Lava when the line was first introduced.

Lava is a *very* shimmery, pink-to-bronze duochrome glass fleck.  And yes, I couldn't seem to capture the true amount of pink in this polish because the shimmer was blowing it all to smithereens.  It's there though, and in large quantities too.  These seriously must be the worst ever pics of Lava.  My camera was just not having any of it. Apparently, it's sick of taking pics of all these pinks. :)

I used 3 coats of Lava for the pics because Mr. You-Know-Who forced me to.  I love, love, LOVE the interesting color and overall look of Lava, but I always seem to have one problem with it:  it ends up looking almost grainy on me and wears off my tips within no time.  BUT, trouper that I am, I always find the fortitude to soldier on in the midst of imperfection and wear it anyway. :D

I had been threatening to get Scarab for a long time, and I finally picked it up one day whilst polish shopping with Mr. Sweets.  Nope, he didn't choose it for me.  It's not red, silly! :P

No, it's not red...but a teal most FABULOUSSSSHHHHH!  And don't even get me started on that shimmer.  Oh, okay.  The shimmer is blinding!!  This mess is super reflective too, *almost* mirror-like.  I know that's hard to imagine.  Remember my post about OPI Into the Night being so shimmery it stung your eyes in the sunlight?  Scarab is the same way.

I used 3 coats of Scarab for full coverage.  It doesn't have the grainy look that Lava has at all.  Scarab is an absolutely beautiful metallic, but there's one problem with it:  I sent in a search party to find the duochrome, and they haven't returned yet.  Oh well.  I would be bummed if I was one of the duochrome girls.  But as fortune would have it, I happen to be a shimmer girl!  YAY!!  So it doesn't bug me that there is no duochrome (okay, maybe a tiny bit of gold going on) because Scarab is too pretty to hold a non-duochrome grudge against it. 

Do you own any Lustre Shines?  My advice is to not buy Scarab for the color shift, but for the color period.  And my other advice is to just ignore my extremely non-pink photos of Lava and buy it. :)

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

Saturday Night Smackdown: Indigo!! OPI vs. L'Oreal

Hey everybody!  In the mood for some more brutal battles for the fabulous title of...uh...favorite nail polish color? :)  I don't know about you, but I love me some indigo shades.  I'm not talking about blurples; while I love blurples, they are mostly purple with a tinge of blue.  Today I'm talking about blues with a tinge of purple.  I hope that clears it up.  BUT, in case it doesn't, here are today's contenders!!

In the OPI corner, representing The Amazing Spider-Man collection 2012, is a shimmery goodie that's SO shimmery, my camera lens went nuts:  Into the Night!  *rahhhhhhhh*

When I picked up Into the Night from the Ulta clearance rack, I had forgotten the reviews I'd read about how sheer it is.  I used FOUR coats to banish Mr. VaNeLi..  I'm not gonna lie...this is a weird polish.  It's like a frost, but it isn't like a frost.  It's not brushstroke-prone, but there is so much silver shimmer that you simply have to call it a frost.  I could not get a pic of this polish that did not convey anything less than a glowing nimbus.  But even with its strange qualities, this is one beautiful polish!  It's a denim blue color with a slight indigo undertone.  AND I put this on last night, got up this morning and groomed both my puppies and shampooed my hair, and I had ZERO tip wear.  Yes, reader, you read that right.  Well done, OPI.

Aaaaaaand next we have in the L'Oreal corner, representing Electric Fantasie Project Runway 2012, is The Mystic's Fortune! *rahhhhhhhh*

I have to say that I don't know WHY these two polishes were so hard to photograph.  Ugh.  Anyway, The Mystic's Fortune is a true indigo metallic with a lot of blue shimmer, but not so much that it morphs into a frost (a la Into the Night).  I used two coats, and the application was very good.  I really love the color of this polish.  It leans a bit bluer than the photos...about *this* close to navy, but with enough violet in it to not actually BE navy.  I think this makes a nice alternative to wearing black IF you feel funny about wearing black. :)

So...what do you think?  Which one has your vote?  I'm torn on this one...I think I'm going for L'Oreal for the color.  And OPI for that fantastic wear time! :P

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

Deadly Shimmer: Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer Candy Coated Poison

Hey everybody!  *cough cough* Please pardon my dust...I am in the process of redesigning my blog and can't seem to do it all at once. :) 

Today I have for you my very favorite kind of polish:  a beautiful one!  It's another completely mesmerizing design by Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer called Candy Coated Poison.

Wow.  This poison could trick anybody into drinking up! :P  Candy Coated Poison is a fascinating little number...it's a silvery blue metallic with the most beautiful green-gold color-shifting shimmer you ever saw.  Try saying THAT 3 times.  This polish is as much a chameleon as the craziest duochromes out there.

***INTENSE GOLD SHIFT ALERT***

Candy Coated Poison has a wonderfully worry-free formula and superb application.  I used 3 coats so as to minimize my pesky faux friend, Mr. VaNeLi. :)  It twinkles and gleams and just generally makes me happy.

Poison never looked so sweet...

 

I got my Candy Coated Poison from the Shirley Ann Nail Lacquer Etsy shop.  And this polish is selling right now for $4...for a FULL-sized bottle.  Go get it.  And while you're there, be sure to check out all of the beautiful polishes because...YOU JUST MIGHT WIN SOME!!

That's right!  It's a giveaway! :)  I am proud to be a sponsor in Cherish's giveaway to celebrate her 1000 Facebook likes and her one year anniversary.  So be sure to enter HERE for some really fabulous prizes!  And remember:  Cranberry Sauce. :P

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Zoyas I Love: Crystal, Perrie, and Edyta

Hey everybody!  Have you heard about the serious epidemic going around this week?  It's called Zoya Fever! :)  Zoya is running their buy 3 for $12 promo, and I'm telling you...it's really hard to decide what you want...isn't it??  I love Zoya to bits, and when I look at their colors, it's a bit overwhelming when you know you get 3 and they have about 867 that you love. :P

So...here am I...donning my public servant cap to *maybe* help you arrive at a decision!  Isn't that nice of me? :)  First up is, without a doubt, one of Zoya's loveliest polishes, Crystal.

I LOVE Crystal.  It's a beautiful ice blue metallic foil with a very heavy gold shimmer.  The gold is so highly visible in Crystal that on the nail, this polish looks mottled...almost like a Saran wrap mani.  Just gorgeous!!

I think I am one of the 6 people on the planet who doesn't own Zoya Charla. :)  For me, Crystal has that magical feel that everybody ascribes to Charla...it's ethereal and flawless.  And of course, just the fact that it's a Zoya foil should tell you how fantastic it is!  The application is wonderful and the formula perfect.

Another of my Zoya faves is a polish that I don't think has gotten much airtime...Perrie.  Perrie is sort of like the creme version of the my shimmery love Dannii. 

Perrie is a cool-toned medium orchid purple....YES there's that very popular word again!  Zoya describes this color as lavender, but it just doesn't look very lavender on me.  Don't get me wrong, it looks FABULOUS...just a bit deeper than lavender. :D

Perrie's formula is a little thin, but it's easy to work with and levels out pretty well.  I didn't have any flooding with it.  I like this color better and better each time I wear it...and I predict a lot of gals will pick this one up this week. :)

Last up, I have a Zoya that's textbook me:  strange!!  Meet the complex and incomparable Edyta.

Oh myyyyy.  My own photos are renewing my amour for Edyta.  This is the perfect non-shade to confuse and delight all your friends!  Is it brown?  Maybe.  Is it green?  Possibly.  Is it AWESOME??  Oh yes.  It's a delicious metallic shimmer multiple personality in a bottle! :)

Look at that sparkle!  And what color IS said sparkle?  Who knows??  Yes, Edyta is that confusing.  And how I LOVE it!!  Let's see what Zoya has to say about this color:  "A complex mixture of gold, olive, blue-green and smoky grey with a sparkling metallic finish."  Clear as mud!  Hey!  It kinda does look like mud!  An oh-so-glamorous mud. :)

You love this one, don't you? :)  If you love crazy shimmery, and if you love weird, Edyta is your girl.  You will be in love with the bizarre elegance and cock your head to the side more than once as you try to figure her out...

Have I assisted you with any choices?  I doubt it, but I flatter myself to think I could *possibly* sway somebody to choose my recommendations... :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!