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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Hello Kitty Night Sparkle and Icing Olive-Gold Magnetic Polish

Hello Kitty Night Sparkle: I got from Sephora for $5; this polish is amazing! 1-coater, adorable bottle, nice brush (though the stem is a bit short)! I will be doing a comparison with SH Sequin Scandal soon!



I decided to use this as a base for my first magnetic polish. A buddy from the nail board sent me two Icing magnetic polishes (*kiss kiss kiss*) and I decided to try the olivey-green-gold one first. Is there an official name for this polish? I couldn't find one on the labels :S

Icing Olive-Gold Magnetic: 1 coat over HK Night Sparkle, no topcoat. Just AMAZING. Pictures will have to do here, because I'm speechless.





I was scared to put topcoat on it, since I had read you can mess up the design, so I waited a really long time before putting on topcoat. It looks even better with a shiny glass finish on top *drool*.

The magnet was quite good and easy to use. I can't wait to try the blue-purple polish now (with the wavy magnet)! These are so awesome!!

I can't wait to get my ChG Magnetix now! :D

Monday, January 30, 2012

Lynnderella Mademoiselle Violette de Bleu

I decided to give Mademoiselle Violette de Bleu another try, but with a different base. I grabbed my trusty NARS Midnight Express (dark blue jelly) and went to town (2 coats polish, 2 coats Lynnderella, 2-3 coats of topcoat). The outcome? I LOVE.

First, pictures the way I normally take them (with a diffused flash). These pics wash out the complexity of the polish, though :(




Here are some more accurate pictures under my desk lamp, but with less of the nails in focus (sorry!)



Finally, I took a picture with my P&S camera in early morning daylight coming through the window:


I also tried this over Nails Inc Belgrave Place, which is like a dark blurple jelly, and it also looks phenomenal.

I'm on my third day of wearing this mani! Pretty rare for me :) This one definitely goes in the "love" Lynnderella pile (which is, at the moment: RRR, VPV, and BGP). I'm working my way through the rest, to make sure I give every one a fair shot at being HG status :)

Friday, January 27, 2012

Current Stash pics!

I recently took pictures of my stash, and thought I would post them here! My stash is around 135 bottles, with about 20 more coming in the mail. I am almost always thinking about purging polishes from my stash, so I just wrote down some thoughts I had as I was taking the pictures XD I'm kind of nuts, right?


Pinks 1

OPI Let Them Eat Rice Cake, Lynnderella Heart Strings, Lynnderella ♥, Lynnderella Matter of the Heart, Essie French Affair, Essie Raise Awareness

Purge thoughts: I want to purge both those Essies, but DBF won't "let" me. I prefer Raise Awareness to French Affair, but DBF prefers the name of French Affair to Raise Awareness. He does know both names of these pinks, and conducts regular searches of my stash now to make sure they are both still there ._.

Pinks 2

Revlon Sublime Strawberry, Essie Your Hut or Mine?, Essie Watermelon, Illamasqua Collide, Zoya Dana, Zoya Alegra, Nfu Oh 63.

Purge thoughts: The first two are really close on the nail. I prefer Essie bottles, but the Revlon is scented and I am addicted to the scent. I wanted to purge one of Essie Watermelon and Zoya Dana, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I almost purged Zoya Alegra, but it is so pretty in the bottle, and on the nail (I just never reach for it). I'm thinkin about ditching the Nfu Oh, because I like my holos to be green/blue, not so much pink, you know? But it's nice. How can I do such a thing?

Reds

OPI Smitten with Mittens, Essie Limited Addiction, Essie Bonded, MAC Bad Fairy, Hello Kitty Red Sparkle, Lynnderella Ruby Red Ruby x2

Purge thoughts: MAC Bad Fairy doesn't look great on me, but it is amazing on the nail (I've only worn it twice, look how low it is in the bottle! what the nards!). I just got the Hello Kitty polish, and I might purge it.

Oranges and Bright Blues

OPI Ecuadorable Coral, MAC Imperial Flower, ESsie Vermillionaire, Zoya Robyn, Illamasqua Fern, OPI Absolutely Alice

Purge thoughts: The Essie is my favourite, hands down, but I also like the OPI and MAC. But if I'm going to wear a bright orange polish, do I really need a choice of 3? To be fair, the OPI is not that bright. Love all three of the blues. I used to own yellows, but they're all gone now (Zoya Pippa, AA Butter, OPI Fiercely Fiona).

Purples 1

Essie St Lucia Lilac, Essie Bangle Jangle, Lynnderella Nosegay, Lynnderella LavenDear, OPI Planks a Lot, Nails Inc St John's Wood

Purge thoughts: Essie SLL used to be an HG of mine, but I havent worn it in so long, I can't remember, so I need to rewear it.

Purples 2

Illamasqua Baptiste, Orly Fowl Play, Orly Plum Noir, Zoya Valerie, Lynnderella Very Pretty Vampire

Purge thoughts: The only one I am waffling on is Orly Plum Noir.

Purples 3

Zoya Neeka, Zoya Lovey Dovey, Nina Ultra Pro Never Glum Plum, Zoya Pinta, Nails Inc Belgrave Place

Purge thoughts: I might need to purge the Nina (which I used to love a lot, but now that I have Neeka, would I ever reach for NGP?).

Blues 1

Zoya Crystal, Nfu Oh 65, Speciallita Hits Poseidon, Illamasqua Raindrops, Essie Sag Harbor, Franken, DL Glitter in the Air, Revlon Whimsical

Purge thoughts: I'm not sure about Essie Sag Harbor, now that I have Raindrops. I should get rid of DL or the Revlon, right? I'm not sure which to keep, so I'm keeping both for now :x the DL has a sheerer base, which is better for layering, but less glitter. I'm a bit worried about the Revlon glitter bleeding, so I don't want to give up the DL yet!

Blues 2

Zoya Caitlin, Essie Cocktail Bling, Essie Lapis of Luxury, Essence Forget Me Not, Essie Smooth Sailing, Lynnderella Forget You Not, ChG 2NITE

Purge thoughts: I need to wear Essie LoL and Essence Forget me Not to figure out if I need both. Essie Smooth Sailing is a little lukewarm... need to rewear it.

Blues 3

Nfu Oh 52, Zoya Charla, Missha JBL01, Joe Fersh Peacock, DL Across the Universe

Purge thoughts: the only one I'm thinking about purging is the Missha, due to its awful rose scent. But I think it actually looks better on the nail than Zoya Charla, which I love! So I don't know what to do there.

Blues 4 (wow I have a lot of blues, huh)

Orly Royal Navy, Orly Stone Cold, Lynnderella Mlle Violette de Bleu, Fingrs Blue Glitter, MAC Ming Blue, Speciallita Hits Apolo

Purge thoughts: I purged Revlon Royal in favour of Orly Royal Navy. I hate that the shimmer sinks and I need to prepare to wear it by tilting it upside down.

Blues 5

AA Mount Royal, RBL Catherine H, OPI Glacier Bay Blues, CND Midnight Sapphire, Essie Bobbing for Baubles, Misa Office Polish-tics, NARS Midnight Express

Purge thoughts: AA Mount Royal because I never reach for it, but it has a nice formula and is not dupey to anything I have. I'm not sure about Essie Bobbing for Baubles because it's somewhere between the Misa and a darker colour... and for darker blues, I really like the formula of the CND. NARS ME is HG status for me. It's halfway down the 'N' D:

Blue-Greens 1

Joe Fresh Teal, RBL 360, Essie School of Hard Rocks, ChG DV8, Speciallita Hits Hera, CND Urban Oasis, Illamasqua Muse, Orly Sapphire Silk

Purge thoughts: JF and RBL are total dupes, but the JF is in a smaller bottle (0.3 oz vs 0.4 oz), but Ji is so irritating. But if I purge this RBL, then my bottle of Catherine H will be lonely! Essie SoHR is nice, but looking at it in the lineup, is it too close to JF/RBL?

Blue-Greens 2

AA Office, Orly Gumdrop, OPI Mermaid's Tears, Essie Greenport, Essie Turquoise & Caicos, Misa Dirty Sexy Money, Nails Inc Warwick Way (wow this is totally green IRL, but photographs blue!)

Purge thoughts: I would like to purge the AA if I can find a dupe for it (hoping one of the Spring Orlys will do it!). Hoping that Zoya Bevin will be a dupe for OPI Mermaid's Tears so I can purge it (I don't like prowide brushes, and Zoya bottles are preferable to OPI's to me). I wish I didn't have all three of Orly Gumdrop, Essie T&C and Essie Greenport. If I had to choose 1 of the 3 to keep, it would be Greenport, but whenever I wear the other two, I think about how nice they are and can't let them go! The Nails Inc photographed way bluer than it is in real life, though.

Greens 1

ChG Emerald Sparkle, Illamasqua Rampage, Essie Going Incognito, Zoya Veruschka, Brucci Black Emerald (decanted), Zoya Ivanka, Nfu Oh 56, ChG Glittering Garland

Purge thoughts: the only one I want to dump is Zoya Ivanka. But it is soooo pretty in the bottle... I stop myself every time.

Greens 2

Illamasqua Milf, Nfu Oh 66, Essie Da Bush, Essie Sew Psyched, Essie Power Clutch, Illamasqua Hectic

Purge thoughts: I'm thinking about the Nfu Oh. I still haven't worn it as a full mani yet. :/

Neutrals/Taupes

OPI Samoan Sand, SH CSM Fedora, Orly Country Club Khaki, ChG Ingrid, Revlon Stormy, Essie Chinchilly

Purge thoughts: love all these. I wish I could find a true dupe for Fedora, though, because I flipping hate the brush and stem on that thing! I know $OPI has a close dupe (UMTC), but I hate that bottle as well -.-

Bronze/Golds

SH CSM Sequin Scandal, Hello Kitty Night Sparkle, Face Shop GR501, OPI At Your Quebec and Call, OPI Spark de Triomphe, Orly Luxe

Purge thoughts: I need to try the first two together and purge one. I wore the HK one recently and it had an amazing formula, though dried quite dark. I can't remember if SS was that dark. I love the Face Shop polish, but if the Jessica-graphite dupe is better, I will probably purge this one.
I don't know if I love OPI AYQaC; I purged BL Wallis in favour of this. I want to try NARS Mash, I think I would like it better.

Glitters

ChG Party Hearty, Lynnderella The Glittering Crowd, Lynnderella Boy-Girl Party, Lynnderella ChocoLotta Love, ChG Fortune Teller

Purge thoughts: My precioussss...


Lynnderella Sweets to the Sweet, Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs, Essie Marshmallow, OPI Skull & Glossbones, Nfu Oh 61, AA Hassid

Purge thoughts: I might purge the Nfu Oh when Jessica Disco Diva comes to live with me. If I purge my other AAs, I want to purge Hassid too. I hate loner bottles. I purged all my other light greys in favour of OPI S&G.

Topcoats 1

CND Effects - basically all of the sparkle topcoats

Purge thoughts: I don't use these too often, so I wonder if I should keep them all... ?

Topcoats 2

Color morphing pigment topcoats from Noelie, Face Shop topcoat 05, Maybelline Colorama Cold as Ice (decanted)

Purge thoughts: If I purge my other Face Shop I will let the topcoat go too. I love Cold as Ice (I think that's the name), and have been looking hard for a dupe. I thought CND Sugar Sparkle would be one (no), then Zoya Sparkle Gloss Topcoat (no), then Essie Pearl Purefection (no), then Confetti -something- (no), and SH Diamond (various, all no). There's just something about it that I can't put my finger on!! Sigh.

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So, what's the last polish you have been thinking of voting off the island?

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Lynnderella Lovely is as Lovely Does Swatch Spam

I briefly debated whether to show these 1 polish per post or breaking it up until 2 parts, but I asked myself what I would want if I didn't have these yet, and the answer was an all-inclusive post. So here we go!

I know most of you are already scrolled down to see the pics from anticipation, but WAIT - just read this basic info first, lol!
  • Basecoat: Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler. I find this helps a lot when I use Essie Marshmallow as a base colour, since it goes on less streaky.
  • Topcoat: Barielle Manicure Extender topped with Seche Vite. I'm wearing BGP as my weekend mani and it has fully dried. It's not completely smooth, so I will add another coat of Barielle ME later on! I tried Glitter Tamer but was too sensitive to the smell.
  • These will be available to the public at Llarowe!
OK you can scroll now! :D

Love, Lace and Lilacs over Essie Marshmallow - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Love, Lace and Lilacs contains a translucent and opaque white multi-sized hexagons, threads (bars) and squares in a shimmering clear base."

Formula: beautiful, way better than Snow Angel, IMO! Medium density for the glitter and sheer base.

Comments: The macro pictures here makes it seem like there's black glitter, but it is just how the light is bouncing off the shimmer. The other pics are better representations of the polish! I don't own Connect the Dots (just not a fan of it, but I will say it is super interesting and unique), but this reminds me of an all-white CtD! An all-black one would be amazing, now that I think about it :D

Comparison to Snow Angel: My bottle of Snow Angel has already been rehomed - that's how much I disliked the formula, so I cannot do a side-by-side compare for you guys. I'm sorry :( There is a good comparison at Body & Soul. I think LLL is what I wanted SA to be and I vastly prefer this, but maybe I just had bad luck with SA the two times I wore it.


Sweets to the Sweet over Essie Marshmallow - 2 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Sweets to the Sweet contains translucent white multi-sized hexagons and squares, with scattered yellow, red, purple, turquoise, lime and emerald squares and hexagons in a shimmering translucent white sparkling base. There are also small iridescent green hexagons to sweeten the mix."

Formula: The glitter in this is more dense than in LLL. I think this polish would require an extra layer of topcoat to smooth out, since there is quite a bit of glitter in here.

Comments: Based on the preview, this wasn't a "first-draft" pick for me, but after trying it, I think it looks really nice and cute. I'm sure a lot of you like this look! I can't put my finger on what this reminds me of.


Nosegay over Essie Bangle Jangle - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Nosegay (defined as a small bunch of flowers, bouquet or posy) is made with lavender and purple multi-sized hexagons and squares, with blue-violet shimmer in a translucent pale violet base. "

Formula: If my pictures don't scream it, there is hidden shimmer in this which was a huge surprise to me. I flipping love this. The formula is thin and easy to control.

Comments: I wasn't really intrigued by the bottle pics of this polish when Lynn first posted the collection on her blog, but I think it is one of my favourites from the collection. The secret shimmer is just so beautiful!


Matter of the Heart over Essie Raise Awareness - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour




Matter of the Heart over Essie Marshmallow - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour




Lynn's Description: "Matter of the Heart has red, fuschia, pink, silver holographic multi-sized hexagons and squares with scattered holographic holo hearts in a sheer milky pink base with subtle pink shimmer."

Formula: The glitter was on the sparse side, but it was not too difficult to maneouver glitter where I wanted. There is some hidden shimmer in here as well :)

Comments: I didn't love my swatch over Essie Raise Awareness, so I tried it over Essie Marshmallow. I really like how the tinted base over white makes such a soft shade of pink - especially one that I think looks good on my skin tone! I'm currently wondering if I can wear this to work on Valentine's Day.

Forget You Not over Essie Smooth Sailing - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Forget You Not is made with multi-sized periwinkle hexagons, pink sparks, blue sparks and cornflower-pink shimmer in a sheer blue base."

Comments: From the preview, this was one of my favourites, but I'm not head over heels in love with it like I thought I would be. I think it's just the colour, though, because I briefly thought about purging Essie Smooth Sailing (but didn't because it is so pretty in the bottle!). I need to try it over a different base, before deciding for sure how I feel about it.


Lovey Dovey over Zoya Neeka - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour




Lovey Dovey over Zoya Caitlin - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Lovey Dovey contains translucent smokey lavender and pale lavender hexagons and squares, with gunmetal squares and scattered pink hexagons in a dove grey base spiked with subtle pink shimmer."

Formula: the glitter is not as dense as some of the others.

Comments: I was apprehensive about ordering this as well (ok, for a split second, then I threw caution to the wind when I decided to buy the whole collection regardless of my initial thoughts -- so glad I did this! haha), but I really like this!

Comparison to Mercurial: I thought the glitter combination was too close to Mercurial, which I didn't love, but the mix must be different since I like it a lot better. Again, I already rehomed Mercurial. Darn this consequence of my new stash policy!!


LavenDear over RBL Catherine H - 1 coat Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "LavenDear is a blend of lavender multi-sized hexagons and squares with a touch of holographic pink in a sheer pink-violet base with a hint of iridescent blue shimmer."

Formula: The glitter in this is super dense, but easy to control.

Comments: This was another polish I wasn't completely sold on; I just couldn't think of a good base. This shade of purple doesn't look great on my skintone (imo!) so I purged everything in my stash that was similar to it. I think this would look rocking over RBL Scrangie. SOMEONE DO THIS AND SHOW ME. On a whim, I threw this over RBL Catherine H and really liked the look. The glitter in this is so shiny! It's so eye-catching!! I was going to just layer this over black, but I'm glad I picked abase colour. I briefly thought about layering it over a grey too... but I also got rid of all my mid-tone greys (oh lordy, this new policy is not great for my blog, is it, LOL)


Boy-Girl Party over black - 2 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Boy-Girl Party is a mixture of red, fuschia, pink, blue, turquoise and royal multi-sized hexagons, squares and diamonds in a transparent pink base. This really surprised me since the combination created an unexpected."

Formula: the glitter is quite dense in this baby! I think I might prefer it just 1 coat over black!

Comments: This was one of my top pics from the preview, and let me say, it is even better than I hoped! I wish I was invited to this party! There is so much going on, yet it still looks so good together! It makes me think of BL The Dark Knight on crack (or whatever drug is "hip" with kids nowadays). The glitter in this is so shiny!! I'm sitting here in the middle of the night typing up my thoughts, and it is glistening in residual street-lamp-light. GORGEOUS.


ChocoLotta Love over Zoya Valerie - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "ChocoLotta Love is a blend of brown multi-sized hexagons and squares, black microglitter, as well as scattered yellow, red, purple, turquoise, lime and emerald "candies" in a sheer chocolate base. Like brownies with M+Ms baked in."

Formula: the glitter is quite dense and the base is quite pigmented. I wish I didn't bother layering this!

Comments: Sorry these are not great swatches; it was getting towards the end of my 6 hour swatch-a-thon and I skipped dinner (worth it. Don't worry, I made buttermilk waffles at midnight), but hopefully I managed to capture some of the complexity. I didn't have anything close to this in base colour. This is so original, I have never seen any polish like it. I'm not completely in love with it (yet!).


Mademoiselle Violette de Bleu over Orly Stone Cold - 3 coats Lynnderella over 2 coats base colour





Lynn's Description: "Mademoiselle Violette de Bleu is a mixture of royal blue, blue violet, navy, holographic royal blue multi-sized hexagons and squares with a touch of purple and iridescent blue hexagons in a sheer blue-violet base. Some people may know this shade as "Throwing Violets into the Ocean"."

Comments: This was impossible for me to photograph. It kept coming out too light and boring looking! The second pic is slightly more accurate, but overall it's much darker and very very glowy IRL. This is the polish I was most looking forward to, and it does not disappoint, though it is not my favourite of the collection.

The bottle pic I took here (without flash) is much more representative of how it looks in real life:


Comparison to Bippity Boppity Boo Blue: Uhhh same story here; already gone from my stash! But let me say, this is what I wanted BBBB to be; BBBB had too much light lavender and blue glitter in it that I didn't love. The glitter also seems to be slightly denser in this one.


Overall

The formula on these were terrific. I'm really impressed with all of them.

The square bottles are also super awesome. I like them way more than the round ones (from a couple sales ago). The brushes are also a lot better (I had a couple wonky ones from my 8-bottle order of round bottled ones). These look so awesome lined up!!

I am so glad I bought the whole set because the bottle shots really do not do these polishes justice. There is secret shimmer or glitter in almost all of them that you can't see from the bottle. I was blown away by each one as I swatched it, because it felt like I was learning an intimate secret :D

My Top 3 picks: Love, Lace and Lilacs, Nosegay, and Boy-Girl Party


My Thoughts on Lynnderella Polishes

Let me say, I used to think glitter polishes were juvenile and tacky. Then I tried OPI Absolutely Alice. GORGEOUS. I modified my opinion to think that chunky glitters were juvenile and tacky. Then I tried DL AtU. When Lynn first started offering her polishes for sale, I thought they were "just" glitter frankens. Yet I got swept up with the NB frenzy and ordered some to try out.

I was so wrong about them. These are more than your average glitter polish from the big brands (from low-end like WnW glitters to high-end glitters like Deborah Lippmann). There is so much going on in each one of Lynn's creation, it really boggles my mind. I'm not a creative person by nature, so I'm just continually amazed at these combinations of glitter, shimmer, and pigment. How does she come up with these? (Also the names are just to adorable. I cannot resist.)

These may seem pricey (esp. if you haul a whole bunch like I did!!) but at ~$15 a pop, I think they are worth it (of course, for the colours that you love). They are easy to swap, so if you are able to get them (and afford them), I think it's definitely worth trying for yourself. It's so hard to convey how intricate these polishes are in just pictures and words.

The most I have spent on nail polish is probably $15 (DL using a coupon or promo code). Illamasqua is one of my favourite brands and is $14 at Sephora, but I think Lynns are way more interesting. Also, I don't think Revlon is going to be duping Lynn's polish, so use that money you save on DL and spend it on Lynnderella XD!!

It's really hard to believe that basically one year ago, I was not a fan of glitter polishes. I am so glad I came around!! :D I don't know if I came to my senses or have been brainwashed by Nail Board (TOTALLY POSSIBLE), but I am so happy with my glittery digits :)

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Phew! This is the longest post EVER. I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and woke up to write this. After a 6 hour swatch-a-thon and this moonlight-writing, I don't know if my weekend will be very productive XD So... what do you think?