The latest trend in nail polishes is the textured polish, which seems to translate into "makes your fingernails feel like they've been covered in sand paper". This might partially explain why OPI decided to make their new finish Liquid Sand. For me, I really like how this type of polish looks but I don't particularly like my nails feeling so gritty and scratchy that I'm afraid to rub my eye for fear of cutting my corneas. Here's some photos of what I've picked up so far:
Stay The Night from the Mariah Carey Collection
Never a fan of the singer's music but at any rate, I still very much like this polish with it's glitter that lacks all the sparkles which usually comes with a glitter polish. If they made a version of this with orange glitter in it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat because it would like the the lava and ash from a volcano.
Jinx from the 007:The Bond Girls Collection
I hadn't planned on buying Jinx but when I saw it in the store, I couldn't resist it. Its coral/orange/gold tones are a perfect summer shade and I'm going to be keeping this one on my toes for a while. Mainly because Liquid Sand polishes take more time to remove than the more traditional polishes and I've found that using pure acetone is the best way to remove them.
Vesper from the 007:The Bond Girls Collection
This one was the shade I had originally stepped into the store for. It almost looks like mud in the bottle and lacks reflective properties but I'm still found of it. I love a deep dark purple.
What Wizardry Is This? from the Oz: the Great & Powerful Collection
You know what other colour I like? That's right...Green! What Wizardry is This? is more of a khaki and despite being a dark colour, it has lots of sparkle to it. I took a purposely blurred photo to emphasis that fact.
What Wizardry Is This? from the Oz: the Great & Powerful, Out of Focus
I've noticed a few nail bloggers have found the dry time on Liquid Sand polishes are very long but I've found my experience to be different. These polishes dry to a matte like finish which usually dry quicker than a more traditional polish does and that made these my "go to" polishes during tax season when I worked a lot of overtime and did have much "me" time. I also like that they stick to your nails like glue and can wear them for up to a week at a time and not see a single chip. Tip wear, yes but no chips!
So I'm not sure how long this trend will last. It wasn't long ago every polish company was rushing out "crackle" polishes that are now heavily populating clearance bins or magnetic polishes that are collecting dust on store shelves. I guess I'll enjoy it while it lasts....
Thought I would take a break from feeling bad about myself to post some polish photos. Seems like to took me a while to get up to 200 posts but somehow I got there!
Run don't walk to your local Sephora and buy the Chaotic top coat from their Sephora X polish line. It's now my favourite top coat of all time. Chaotic is a glitter polish except for the particles are not super shiny and that makes the top coat look like Jackson Pollock rose from the grave just to splatter paint all over your nails. It's layered over Hampstead Gardens by Nails Inc. and I love it!!!
Jamaica Me Crazy is your typical summertime pink polish but I am always found of a pink that's heavy on the blue. I remember the formula as being a little bit more durable than Essie usually is.
It's been a while since I've set foot in a Joe Fresh and I still have a
few photos from their polish line that I hadn't posted yet, so here they
are:
Mallard is a dark green creme that is actually as glossy as it appears in this photo. I'm not sure if they still make it but if they do, it's a classic fall colour and not a waste at $4.
I'm not as enthusiastic about Mist. It's a light frosty green tone and it's nice enough but it's nothing to shout about either. It dries quickly though, so if you are looking for something to quickly do your nails with, this one's a safe bet.
This one has me stumped. When I found it in the store, none of the bottles had a label that indicated its name. It's a nice Blurple but it has a few issues with streaking, which you can see in the photo.
Rusty from Gosh is definitely going to be going back on my nails this summer as it's a great bronze shimmer with good wear time.
I think I might have had Essie's Sag Harbour before I started writing this blog, so I guess it was time to post it. Again, this is a colour that says summer and is exactly the type of colour I like to sport while swimming in the ocean! God, I want to go back and see my family in Barbados...:(
She's Picture Perfect from Essie is a lilac colour I liked much, much more in the bottle than I like on my nails. It didn't quite go with my skin tone and you can notice some patchy bald spots that made the application less than stellar.
Anyone one who has checked out this blog knows about my goofy/sad/manic/self-deprecating obsession with actor Tom Hiddleston. Well, this Wednesday, it got even worse! I guess I'm going through a mid-life crisis and so while some people buy expensive sports cars or cheat on their spouses, I decided to do something else. After waiting almost a entire year, and paying for it on installments (because it is that expensive) my Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece 1/6th LOKI finally arrived at my doorstep and man! Is it something to be seen:
No, I Did Not Happen to Bump Into Tom Hiddleston on the Street While He Happened to be Wearing Full Loki Regalia! This is s DOLL!!!
If you're not familiar with deluxe figure manufacturers Hot Toys, then you should know that they are arguably the very best at facial reproduction of the a film's original character. He has wrinkles on his forehead and tiny freckles on his face and neck with what I assume is a brush made with one single hair plucked from the eyelash of an angel. I have not even begun to take pictures of my 1/6th sized imaginary boyfriend but would like to do a full length review because this thing is so damn awesome!!!
Hey Y’all!!What’s up my B!tches???Hey it’s my birthday, it’s my birthday, gonna
party like it’s my birthday!Drink
Bacardi like it’s my birthday!Yeah,
about that, I’m not gonna party but I am not working today and will be eating steak
tartar and drinking X.O. beer (cognac infused!!!) at Le Select today instead of
not telling anyone one that I work with that it’s my birthday and choking back
crybaby tears at my desk all day!That’s
just how I roll!!!
So me and my twin sis will be turning
45 years old today and even though I can pretty much say that my life
completely blows, I can at least say “At least I look good for 45!”
Really, Really Good!
So today, I’m just going to bleat
about nail polish and nonsense because what is life about if not nail polish
and nonsense, which is totally going to be my new band’s name...
Gareth Pugh for Mac
I know, I know.This post is long overdue to the point that
it’s not even worth mentioning now but I’m going to anyways.I like this guy’s work because the stuff he
makes and what he wears is almost exactly like what me and my friends wore back
in high school. I dig the the goth/expressionist/Klaus Nomi vibe he has going
on.I picked up Hyper, a really nice dark
blue shimmer which I liked a lot...
But not as much as I liked Ascension
because it looked almost completely different every time you looked at in a
different light.For example, when using
a flash, it looked like a light purple shimmer.
Photographed in the shade, you
can see it’s a light purple, green gold duo chrome...
But in direct sunlight, it looks
like a mid-toned silver shimmer.
They
should have named it Enigma as far as I’m concerned.It may not be the flashiest of polishes but I
don’t have another quite like it.
Hidden Treasure 2 from Sally Hansen
I bought this polish strictly to
compare it with the firstSally
Hanson Complete Salon Manicure named Hidden Treasure.HD1 certainly lived up to its name by being a
great flaky polish with a strong orange and green reflective tone.HD2 could stay buried.It’s not a bad polish.Its blue based pearl finish is nice enough
and I had no problems with the formula.It just doesn’t look super special.
Petra Haden Goes to the Movies
I’m a huge fan of Petra Haden’s
unique covers using overdubs of her own voice to take the place of musical
instruments.I loved the sh!t out of Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out and
I’m just as excited with her latest release Petra
Haden Goes to the Movies.Her
version of the main theme from Psycho is awesome.Seriously, listen...
Also great on this album is her
version of It Might Be You from the
film Tootsie.I had never liked this song until now.When she sings it, I cry every time.When I hear the original by Stephen Bishop, I
feel nothing!
Essie’s All Tied Up
It’s been so long since I bought
this polish that I can’t even remember which collection this polish came from
but I can tell you that it is a nice and dependable, mid-toned pink with a subtle
gold shimmer in it.My favourite kind of
pink!
Hey Look!Some Nail Art!
I would try nail art more often
if I had the time to wait for all the different layers to dry.I was trying to get the feel of a match
burning in the dark...
I used Maybelline’s Black Onyx as
the base, and then dotted China Glaze’s Cruisin’ at the end of my nail and
multiple coats of Essie’s As Gold as it Gets for some sparkle.I know I’m no Leonardo of nail art but I like
it.
Ski Day
I went on my employers’ annual
ski day trip this February and bizarrely, I had a lousy time!Nobody would talk to me at the house party
the night before so I bailed and went back to my hotel room and drew for the
rest of the night.This was the result:
The Bride of Frankenstein
At least I didn’t waste my time
completely!
OPI’s SkyFall
This is just my opinion but
Skyfallis the best Bond movie with the second worst theme song ever!Yes, I said it!I hate Adele’s Skyfall theme. It’s just so
boring. I don’t care it won an Oscar, so did Crash.If you’re wondering which Bond theme is the
worst, the dishonor goes to Jack White & Alicia Keyes’s Another Way to Die
from Quantum of Solace.I imagine that
the sound they make is identical to the sound of a bag of cats being tossed
into a river and is the only time peanut butter and chocolate did not taste
good together.
OPI’s Skyfall polish just might be
one of my favorite polishes ever.
Yes,
yes it is a burgundy crème polish that leans towards a brownish tone but I just
love it as much as the film’s highrise punch up and that scene is so amazing,
it makes me cry too!
The Tears Are Coming!!!
Tom Hiddleston All the Goddamn Time
Yes I’m still bonkers over
Captain Jazz Hands.
And last but not least, Thanks to
my latest follower Lizelle for giving me a chance!
Due to a huge personal financial downgrade, I am unable to afford to buy even one single bottle of nail polish. Blogging about nail polish requires that one stay up to date and current with all the new collections, colours and innovations the industry has to offer. Now I've found myself in the position of having to choose to between eating, paying for medication and hoping there is enough money to keep the lights on. I hate doing this, even thought my following is small (but I am grateful to you all!) but for now, it's just not possible and it's just too hard on me to think about it. I know some people like to say "Oh, it's not just happening to you. It's happening to other people too!" but that just makes me feel worse. I hate the idea of other people feeling as bad as I do. I had researched what I felt was going to be a fun entry for OPI's James Bond collection but there's no point if I don't have spiffy swatches to show you guys.
I don't know when I'll be back. I guess I just have to cross my fingers and hope for a change and to everyone out there, I wish you the best! And just one more thing....
My shrinking pay cheque has been leading me back into the drugstore makeup sections more than ever. As a result, I've picked up a few more of the budget brand, Essence that has recently popped up at Shoppers Drug Mart. I always appreciate a good, cheap beauty buy and Walk of Fame is definitely one. This taupe creme wasn't as goopy as the previous Essence polishes I've tried and true to its claim, it does dry quickly. It chips just as fast too but I tend not to complain about that so much if the polish is a quick dry. At least it doesn't take long to repair a chip.
If you live in the GTA & spend any time in the Shoppers Drugmart, you'll have noticed that GOSH's Oh My Gosh line is on sale at $1.99 CDN. Damn straight that I never say "No" to a $2 nail polish but one would also hope if you name your polish "Oh My Gosh", one would hope that it's something really worth exclaiming about but these polishes are just OK. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with them: they are perfectly acceptable colours and quality and are worth your money, I just can't get worked up about them...
If you don't hear from me in a while, that means I'm spending way, way, way too much time with my copy of The Avengers. Or as we like to call it in my house: PORN!!!
When I picked up these two choices, my
sister remarked “These are the same colour” and they definitely do look the
same in the bottle but once you apply them.You can really see the difference.Side by side they both look like standard deep wines but Every Month has
a much bluer base to it while German-icure, once I applied it, is straight up
brown with my complexion.I like it better
on my nails than I do looking at it in the bottle.The formula on both colours is strong.They both only needed 2 coats for total
coverage.Despite their initial common
tone, I like both since they are no fail fall colours.
Unfor-greta-bly Blue
I’m a sucker for blue polish.All a polish manufacturer needs to do to get
my to buy something from their collection is to put a blue one in it and
they’ve pretty much made a sale.After
all the light blues and turquoises of the summer, this dark blue shimmer is a
welcome site.I wore this to work and
didn’t get called out on it, so I guess blue polish is now an acceptable for
the workplace or they just accept my quirks in personal style. This stained my nails as well
but it was nothing in comparison to the mess that Danke-Shiny Red left behind.
By the way, I broke my cell phone and can’t retrieve my old
contacts so unfortunately for me, I’ve lost Tom Hiddleston’s personal phone
number.Can someone do me a favour?The next time you run into Tom, please let
him know that yes, I’ll have sex with you so please stop constantly
begging because now you are embarassing yourself!Also remind him to bring
this outfit...
