Deborah Lippmann: Bad Romance

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance (2 coats)

Deborah Lippmann, you really hit a home run with this Fall Collection. As I've said time and time again, I'm not a huge fan of straight black polishes, but Bad Romance is a black jelly base with large and small hexagonal glitter pieces throughout which really lightens up the polish. When you look at the bottle, it seems much lighter than on the nail, but that's not a bad thing in the case of this one. Instead of having the two different color glitters like Across the Universe, Bad Romance has only the purple (which has lots of pink undertones to it). As much as I loved Across the Universe, I honestly don't know which polish I prefer. They are just so unique! The application was absolutely flawless and I had no problems with the larger glitter pieces applying evenly. I'm still surprised these only need 2 coats! Some may be wondering about removal of these, and I am happy to report it's not a big deal at all. Compared to, say, OPI Mad as a Hatter polish, this is a cake walk. The only thing you may need to do with a couple of the larger glitter pieces is to take an orange stick and pry them off since some really adhere to the nail. Anyway, lovely polish and if you don't have these, definitely pick them up if you can. Again, like Across the Universe, these are a Nordstrom exclusive so you can find these there. 

*disclaimer: These products were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion.*

Deborah Lippmann: Across the Universe

Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe (2 coats)

Deborah Lippmann you are a genius. A GENIUS! From hearing the name of this polish (I love the Beatles and Fiona Apple versions) I was really excited about trying this one. I don't even know where to begin. This polish is just so fashion forward. It has green and blue large hexagonal glitter with loads of small blue glitter pieces. You may remember how I was saying that Zoya's Charla reminds me of a mermaid, well, so does this one. The large glitter rings true to mermaid scales. The base is a dark navy jelly that, despite being a jelly, is very opaque and only needed 2 coats which really surprised me! This was my first Deborah Lippmann polish, so I am quickly going to mention my overall thoughts on the bottle and brush. I am very happy with the bottle since it is square and has some detailed lines on it. I can't think of another brand with a similar bottle (correct me if I'm wrong). The brush is circular, not flat, and I had no problems with the application. If you are interested in this polish, it is a Nordstrom Exclusive and retails for $18. Overall, this is definitely in my top polishes of 2010!

*disclaimer: These products were provided by the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion.*

CND Gold Sparkle

Creative Nail Design (CND) Gold Sparkle (1 coat) over 3 coats Color Club Pardon my French

Guys, I am exhausted. The move was...bad. I mean, nothing really horrible went wrong (no accidents or anything), but several really annoying things happened. I'll spare you the details for now. I feel really bad, but this is going to have to be short and sweet tonight. I hope you can understand. Anyway, up today is CND Gold Sparkle which is a topcoat effect recently released from the company. At first it sort of looks like a flakie, but it really isn't. Even with only one coat it produces a really nice gold shimmer to the polish. I was really stupid the night I tried this one out because I put it over Color Club's Pardon my French which is just too light to really show the golden shimmer. I can't wait to try it out over a darker color (black, darker purple or blue) because I think it will look much more pronounced that way. Anyway, it's not the best usage here, but I can really see how it will lighten up some colors and add a little texture. The only downside that I can really see is that the bottle is only 0.33 oz instead of the normal 0.5 oz so you're getting less bang for your buck. The good thing is that you really only need 1 coat to cover. I bought this one at Transdesign for $5.50.

Zoya: Clara

Zoya Clara (2 coats)

I'm moving to North Carolina today! I think this is going to be short and sweet since time is of the essence. When I was a kid I wanted to have a girl named Laurie or Clara (you know how sometimes you are silly and name your children when you yourself are a kid) so I guess it was appropriate I bought this polish. Clara is a really nice peach/pink shimmer that was more opaque than I thought it'd be. I can see many people liking this one. Sorry this was so short! Until next time, don't forget a good basecoat...

Nail Polish Party/Going Away Party

Last Friday my office had a party for my blog turning 1/I'm leaving for North Carolina. Here are some pictures taken from that day. No names will be be posted for those embarassed ;-)

Good times.

Zoya: Coco

Zoya Coco (2 coats)

I'm not always drawn to polishes like Zoya's Coco, but I decided to pick this one up and I can honestly say I'm not disappointed! It's one of those really nice muted neutral colors that ranges from brown-purple-mauve creme. I think this one would be a really nice work appropriate polish. I've been really lucky with Zoya's polishes and their application. I can usually get away with only 2 coats and get great wear out of them.

Creative Nail Design Fall 2010 Trends

I admit, I don't really follow many trends. This isn't to say that many don't or you shouldn't. It's nice that specific brands such as CND will release what's new on the runway. Here is what CND has to say:

Leaf Through the Hottest Trends This Fall!

CND Introduces Fall’s Limited Edition Colour & Effect

“Texture adds to the strength of the look – and autumn is all about dimensional manicures,” says CND Co-founder Jan Arnold.   Nails take their cue from striking blue-greens, effervescent reds, and offbeat beige, camels and grays this season.

Steely Dan

Extravagant midnight manicures and tonal shades of heathered mushroom and gray nails complement this Fall’s masculine palette of mossy greens, black leather and textured fabrics.  To achieve Ruffian’s “Lunar Eclipse” manicure, pair deep blue Inkwell with Gold Chrome around the cuticle edge for a metropolitan look.  For greige nails like those that complemented Marc Jacobs’ refined menswear-inspired collection, or Rag & Bone’s chic boyish styles, use dark, concrete gray Asphalt.  To get a denim manicure, try CND’s limited edition Urban Oasis Colour, a spruce crème, or layer it with limited edition Teal Sparkle Effect for a greenish-blue glimmer. 

Power Surge

Classic red nails make way for rich, darkly modern reds with a fiery, defiant attitude.  Oxblood red Dark Ruby was topped with Super Shiney™ Top Coat for a provocative, 1930’s liquid finish to accessorize the urban street ensembles seen at L.A.M.B.  Porcelain doll perfection was achieved with Monique Lhuillier’s ultra-shiny, molten manicure in Rouge Red.  To reach ultimate glam status, sweep Crimson Sparkle over Scarlet Letter as seen at The Blonds for an electro-luxe manicure.    

Balanced Beauty

Glazed neutrals balance feminine tailoring and ethereal designs seen on the catwalk.  To get the cashmere manicure from Behnaz Sarafpour, layer opaque, nude Desert Suede topped with Super Matte Top Coat for a touchably soft finish.  For pristine, mattefied, limestone nails as seen at Jason Wu, layer Silver Chrome with Putty and Super Matte Top Coat. 

Barielle Sugar Rush Collection: Cotton Candy

Barielle Cotton Candy (2 coats)

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope your weekend has been great. Mine has mostly been spent packing and shopping for furniture (and no, not furniture for me so that makes it especially boring and lame). This time is officially the last Barielle polish....I think. Either way, I'm starting new polishes tomorrow. Up today we have Cotton Candy which comes from the Sugar Rush Collection. I'm not going to lie, I'm not 100% happy with my swatch because just look at that middle finger. Ugh. And my short nails. Double ugh. Anyway, just bear with me, please! I think the best part of this one is the slight shimmer in the medium pink polish. I think it makes a very nice, feminine pink polish overall. Yup, you're going to hear the exact same thing you've heard the last few days: make sure to add enough thinner to this one because it's thick. Other than that I have no complaints here.

Barielle Wildflower Collection: Blossom

Barielle Blossom (2 coats)

As I've said before, I'm a big liar. For some reason I thought I was done with my Barielle swatches, but I have one more after this. Sorry! Hopefully you are into Barielle! Some of the swatches I have coming up are from Deborah Lippmann and the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection. I am so happy with them so far so I can't wait to show them. And finally, don't forget the giveaway going on now! Please see the side bar to enter. 

Ok, back to Barielle Blossom. It is a really summer appropriate peach/pink creme that would make a great mani or pedi. Unfortunately, like most Barielle polishes, they are so thick. I added tons of thinner to this one to make it workable.

OPI 2009 Coleccion de Espana: Pamplona Purple

OPI Pamplona Purple (2 coats)

Happy Friday! It was my last day at school before I move and we had a party with nail polish involved. I hope to have pictures of those up this weekend. Pamplona Purple comes from the 2009 Coleccion de Espana and is a really nice plum purple creme. Application was very nice (not too thin or not too thick) and was very pigmented. Did I hear right that Transdesign and OPI made up? I just saw that the OPI Swiss Collection is now up on their site. Hmm, I may have to order some of those! Anyone have good plans for the weekend? I am going to be packing up most of the time.

Barielle High Steppin Collection: Electric Boogie

Barielle Electric Boogie (2 coats)

I guess this is the best time to mention that I broke a nail on my swatching hand. I mean, I tore about half of my middle finger nail off. Shall we say it wasn't fun at all? Please bear with me the next few weeks while my nail heals. Actually, it's looking significant better already. I have a few more pictures with my long nails so you may see those in the next couple days. Electric Boogie is the last of the Barielle polishes. I hope you enjoyed these. Electric Boogie is a deep blue color with green glitter interspersed and the glitter isn't too noticeable. I really enjoy this this polish, but again, it was very thick. I would definitely advise adding thinner (never acetone or remover) to thin it out.

Barielle High Steppin Collection: Passion Pirouette

Barielle Passion Pirouette (2 coats)

Guys, I have been really stressed lately. One part of it is that I am moving to North Carolina next week. I've been trying to get ahead so that there is no gap in between my posting. If there happens to be a day that I miss, I hope you can understand. I will make sure to post 2 pictures to make up for it. :-) Since this has nothing to do with nail polish, I'll leave it at that. Moving on with my Barielle haul, I have a couple polishes from their High Steppin collection. I saw this one on Scrangie's blog and I actually loved it. Passion Pirouette is a purple metallic frost polish. Yes, it is frosty and I LOVE it and I don't care who knows it! The application was still a little thick, but probably the best out of all the polishes I ordered. Until next time, I hope you have a calm and relaxing day...

Barielle Wildflower Collection: Myrza's Meadow

Barielle Myrza's Meadow (2 coats)

If you have entered our giveaway, good luck! If you haven't, feel free to do so. I will be having another one next month because MY BLOG TURNS 1! Wow, the time flies! Anyway, I have another color from the Barielle Wildflower Collection. Myrza's Meadow is a light lime green polish with lots of silver holographic glitter. The holographic effect isn't too crazy on this one as you can see from the pictures. The color reminds me a bit of guacamole. The application is, unfortunately, very thick again. I added lots of thinner, but I could have added more. This is two coats, but it was so thick I didn't want to add another.

July Giveaway!

Pure Ice Pussy Cat (left) and Purple Reign (right)

I have over 200 followers! Thanks again, everyone! As promised, I have two polishes to give away, Pussy Cat and Purple Reign by Pure Ice. To enter, please leave a comment to this post with your e-mail address. You must be a follower in order to win. And finally, this is open to all readers!  Internationals rejoice! Please only 1 entry per person. A winner will be chosen by random on July 30, 2010. Good luck everyone!

Please feel free to repost or retweet on your respective blogs, facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, etc. :-D

Barielle Wildflower Collection: Junebug

Barielle Junebug (2 coats)

Oh Junebug, I was so excited about you and you disappointed me. You have no idea how bad I wanted this one. It was finally in my grasp and then the application was just so thick. I tried adding some thinner, but I guess I just didn't add enough because there was no was I could add more than 2 coats to this. Also, it looks so much better in pictures than it did in real life. I love dusty blue shimmers and polishes with strikingly different glitters in it. So what went wrong besides the application? I didn't really have a problem with the polish color, but you could barely see any of the fuchsia glitter found in it. The Macro setting on the camera really brought it out.  I dunno, if given the chance, I wouldn't purchase this one again.

Zoya Reverie Collection: Lana

Zoya Lana (2 coats)

200 followers! Yay! As I promised, a giveaway will start tomorrow that will be open to all followers! Please stay tuned for that. 

Isn't it weird how I keep posting different polishes from the Zoya Reverie Collection and they've been months apart? Instead of just buying all of them, I've been buying 1 or 2 here and there. I do love duochromes, but if you want one that is in your face, Lana isn't one of them. You can see the duochrome awesomeness in the bottle, but not as much in the bottle. It's not to say you can't see it at all, it's just subtle. Lana is a red polish with lots of orange in it with gold/yellow shimmer. It's quite lovely. It was quite pigmented and only needed 2 coats.

Color Club Pardon My French Collection: Take Me To Your Chateau

Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau (2 coats)

I had a really great day today. I went to our weekly Farmer's Market and bought some fresh vegetables and salsa. Mmm. How has your weekend been treating you so far? Anyway, what a saucy name for a polish. Oh-La-La. What a really nice pale/sky blue creme. It doesn't seem extremely unique, but I am a sucker for light blue polishes. It was extremely pigmented and only needed 2 coats. And yes, the application was just wonderful. Until next time, don't forget a good basecoat....

Color Club Pardon My French Collection: Pardon My French

Color Club Pardon My French (3 coats)

I was just thinking, there's a chance I may have another giveaway soon if I get 200 followers *hint hint, nudge nudge.* I think the next one will be for everyone, not just US followers. Anyway, I have Pardon My French from Color Club tonight. It is a very work appropriate light pink creme. It's not extremely exciting, but it's a really nice light pink. It needed 3 coats, but just look at the smooth finish on it! And, as always, I love Color Club's formula. You can find these at Victoria's Nail Supply and Transdesign to name a few. Oh yeah, they are also really cheap.