Orly Sapphire Silk

I love swapping on MUA! I recently swapped for Orly Sapphire Silk, which is a polish I thought "that's pretty, but I don't really need another teal creme" and didn't buy. But a good swap offer came up and now it's mine anyways ^_^

Orly Sapphire Silk - 2 coats, nice formula. A little squishy, almost! I think this might be my favourite teal...


Here are a bunch of comparisons:

Orly Sapphire Silk vs. Illamasqua Muse - Muse is one of my favourite teals also! It has a beautiful formula - almost 1 coater.


Orly Sapphire Silk vs. OPI Ski Teal We Drop - I really lemmed STWD, but was kind of let down by it. It seems very dark on me. I actually might let this one go now that I have the Orly!


Orly Sapphire Silk vs. CND Urban Oasis - The CND has an AMAZING 1 coat formula. And the brush is awesome.


And here are all four on one hand. I kind of fail, because 3 of these 4 I have labeled as "one of my favourite" teals. -.-


Ayyeeee.

I'm pretty much all caught up on my swatching now! I have a few swaps and blog sale purchases coming in over the next few days, but I think I'm going to switch into "Brand for a Month"-mode to help me de-stash a bit! I'm planning on only keep polishes I absolutely *LOVE*, so I need to give every polish a fair chance :)

I'm not sure whether I should start with OPI, Essie, or Zoya. Have you ever done a "Brand for a [time period]" before? How did it go for you?

MAC Imperial Flower and Ming Blue

I remember liking the swatches of the MAC Jin Soon polishes from last fall, but didn't feel the need to run out immediately and buy them.

I saw Imperial Flower and Ming Blue at the CCO for $10.50 each, which is not a significant savings over retail, but... outlet mentality took over. Sigh.

Luckily, I actually like both these shades very much!

MAC Imperial Flower - I'm really into oranges this season, I'm not sure what's come over me!



Comparison: MAC Imperial Flower and OPI Ecuadorable Coral - I used to think the OPI was retina searing, but in comparison.. wow is it ever tame! XD


Comparison: MAC Imperial Flower and Essie Vermillionaire - Loving both of these!


MAC Ming Blue - I like this a lot more than I thought I would! The shimmer is not so apparent indoors, but it's still quite pretty!



Comparison: MAC Ming Blue and OPI Russian Navy Suede w/ topcoat - I was surprised to find I did not have a dupe for this!


So my long winded story:

Before purchasing, I asked the SAs if I could take a peek at the brushes to make sure they were not wonky. I was told that, no, I could not because air and germs would contaminate the polish. I was told I could look at a tester polish to see that brush. They did not understand how a MAC polish could have a wonky brush at all. I said I had seen wonky brushes on polishes straight from MAC's website, and their response was: "Well, that's the website. The brushes should be fine if they're from here." Because websites are known for selling irregular items, not outlets. Right? Waitaminute...

Anyway, I decided to just buy them, check them right there, and return if necessary. The brushes were fine. I didn't say anything to "educate" the SAs, but it makes me wonder if they thought I was being the weird one.

Silly muggles.

Essie Absolutely Shore

Hey guys! Thanks so much for leaving me your blogs on the last post! I have a lot of reading to do now :)

I love the weekend! We went to Woodbury Commons on Sunday and I picked up two pairs of sandals from the Cole Haan outlet. I also picked up two bottles of MAC polish from the CCO, after waffling for about an hour. I'm not huge on MAC products, but seeing MAC Bad Fairy by its lonesome self in my stash really bothered me for some reason! I'll be posting swatches of the two I purchased soon, along with a long-winded story about the SAs at that CCO.

For now, here's another polish from the Essie Braziliant collection. I was sure it would give me lobster hands, but then I bought it anyways. Turns out, it is not so bad! I love it when that happens!

Essie Absolutely Shore - The formula is rather thin, though, and needed 3 coats to be opaque. While it is very white, it doesn't look nearly as stark on me as something like Borrowed and Blue.


I couldn't think of a comp to do with this one, since it's the "whitest" green I own. Even looking at it some more, I'm not entirely sure it's just green in there!

This week is short for me, and I can't wait for the long weekend! DBF and I are driving back up to Canada to see our folks. I'm deciding what I need to bring back in our trunk. So far I have decided on more Joe Fresh polishes and a big box of Coffee Crisp. Any suggestions, my canuck readers?

China Glaze Fortune Teller and please share your blog with me!

China Glaze Fortune Teller - the sweetest little LizzardVanReptile sent me this beautiful polish I had been lemming! NB makes me feel all warm and fuzzicles! Thanks again, Lizzy!



And, infamously, shown with matte topcoat:



China Glaze makes the best holiday polishes, amirite?!

♥♥♥

Okay so, I've gotten horribly behind on reading my nail blogs lately and keeping up with subbing to your nail blogs :S So, if you do blog, would you please share the link in a comment below? Thanks ^_^

ps. I was going to try and make a pun with the polish name, like, "Please 'teller' me your blog" but then I realized I would sound especially stupid. So there.

pps. Have a great weekend guys! I'm going shopping :D

Essie Jazz and Comparison with Orly Country Club Khaki

I finally picked up Essie Jazz the other week! It has always been out of stock at my Ulta during B2G1 sales, but I found it at a beauty supply store.

Essie Jazz - 3 coats, which is not super awesome, but the formula is easy to work with.


Now, my go-to nude/underwear polish is Orly Country Club Khaki. I love it to bits. Here's a comparison:

Comparison: Essie Jazz and Orly Country Club Khaki - Orly CCK is a bit darker and also more opaque, needing only 2 coats.


I haven't decided if I should purge one of these. I shall defer the decision.

Happy Hump Day!

Essie North Fork Collection

Since I only got into nail polish last year, I missed out on the Essie North Fork collection from summer 2009. After seeing swatches of the three polishes, I was sorely disappointed that I missed out! Luckily, from a combination of swapping, gifting, and shopping, I managed to attain this collection!

Essie Shelter Island - This took 3 coats, which is not my favourite number of coats to do, but the colour is just so pretty *swoon*


I did a couple comparisons with other blues I had (I don't really have anything that close)

Comparison: Essie Shelter Island, Essie Coat Azure, Zoya Robyn


Comparison: Essie Shelter Island and Zoya Yummy - I already sold my bottle of Zoya Yummy, so all I have left is a swatch stick of it. I read that these two were supposed to be dupes, but I didn't believe it. Totally not dupes, imo.


Essie Sag Harbor - Shimmery grey with a bit of blue. This is 3 coats and you can see a few bald spots, but I think it was due to my rushed application. I would normally use a ridge filler and wait a bit longer between coats.



When the ChG Anchors Away collection came out, people said Sea Spray was a very close dupe for Sag Harbor.

Comparison: Essie Sag Harbor and ChG Sea Spray - Those people were right, they are really close, but not exact dupes. The Essie is almost a little aqua next to the ChG, has a bit more shimmer and is sheerer. I was going to purge the ChG, but the (thinned) formula applies in two coats, so I'm a little hesitant. I think I will delay this purge decision for another time.



Essie Greenport - Finally, this sexy beast! It's 3 coats and the colour is just lovely, isn't it?!


Comparison: Essie Greenport and Essie Turquoise & Caicos - They are different. Kay? Misa Dirty Sexy money is also in this colour family, but my comparison picture of that was totally wacky.


Here's a NOTD of Essie Greenport with CND Jade Sparkle. So pretty!


I feel oddly serene to have this collection, haha! I didn't even drive myself crazy; everything just sort of fell into place over a period of 2 weeks!

Anyway, I hope you guys had a great weekend! My crab manicure kept me in good spirits; here's a pic I snapped at Costco using DBF's Android:


P.S. We didn't buy the crab, because the ones at costco are already cooked and frozen = not that yummy.

NOTWeekend, now with extra crabs!

Remember those awesome crab decals I got last weekend?

BAM! :D





Hope you guys have a great weekend :)

Reader Request: Comparison of Essie Smooth Sailing and Zoya Caitlin

Hey guys! It's Friday, woohoo!

One of my readers, Kohl, asked me if these two were close-ish.

Here's a picture using my normal photo settings (i.e., diffused flash)


Here it is without flash, but under a regular indoor lamp (sorry it's not as in-focus! Happens to this lens without extra light!)


Hope that helps! I love both :)

CND Sweet and Sugar Sparkle

*sound of deflating balloon*

Game 7 last night was not good for the Canucks. I am happy for the Boston Bruins, though. I'm disappointed that some "fans" decided to riot in Vancouver... overreact, much?

Anyway, I realized I forgot to show you this CND set! I was lemming it pretty hard and fairly convinced I would never get it, since it is from Spring 2010, but a kind MUAer offered to swap for it!

CND Sweet - Pretty pink, but not as flattering as the other pinks in my stash. I actually sold this in my blog sale last week!


CND Sugar Sparkle over CND Sweet - Sooo gorgeous. I love this effect.



Ahh, now that the Stanley Cup playoffs are over, what am I going to watch on tv at nights?!

OPI Skull & Glossbones

Well, last night's game was a bust, as I expected. I quit watching after Vancouver scored its first goal during 3rd period. I got tired and sad. I heard one of the Sedin's got beat up a little bit, so I'm going to search for a clip of that later after work.

I really want to complain about the commentators on the NBC/Versus broadcast. After the first goal on Luongo went in, they displayed the quote he made about Game 5's goal on Thomas. It was SO OUT OF CONTEXT. It really irritated me, but I cannot find anywhere to send the channel a complaint!!

DBF came home last night and watched part of the game with me. He has only seen Luongo play in Vancouver, so he assumes the Canucks are a terrible team. He didn't believe me that this series has been unbelieveably violent until he watched through period 2... then he said "You're right. This is not normal."

I'm not even a hockey fan, I don't know why this series is so upsetting to me!!! Biased broadcasters are so annoying!

Arghhh anyway. POLISH IS IMPARTIAL:

If you remember my earlier posts about POTC, I whined about missing out on this polish due to some promo mixup at Ulta. I got this in a swap from a lovely NBer (she actually went to buy it for me from her local beauty supply!!) and balance has thus been restored in my polish universe.

OPI Skull & Glossbones - I love it. Greys normally lean very blue on me, so I'm happy this one does not! I think because there is a bit of green in it.


Here are some comparisons!

Comparison: OPI S&G and Zoya Dove - Dove is quite a bit cooler-toned.


Comparison: OPI S&G and Essie Playa del Platinum


Here are all three on one hand, since it seems my two photos above are not very comparable!

Comparison: OPI S&G, Essie PdP, Zoya Dove


I'm thinking about ditching Zoya Dove (and ChG Pelican Gray, which is a bit cooler-toned than the Zoya) in favour of S&G as my primary "light grey" polish. What do you think?

Essie Braziliant and Essie Vermillionaire

I had a terrific weekend. Incidentally, DBF was out of town for the weekend… is it bad that my weekend alone was so awesome? LOL. I met a NBer on Sunday and had a really great time.


Weekend haul / presents: OPI Glitzerland, Glacier Bay Blues (yahoo!), Essie Jazz, Essie In Stitches, Essie Mesmerize, Essie Absolutely Shore, Essie Sag Harbor, Essie Chinchilly

There's a hockey game on tonight, so I will be swatching these babies tonight!

I also got these super cute decals!!! Aren't they fabulous?!


So, last week, aveyou.com had a 2 hour flash sale in celebration of their Facebook page getting 400 followers/friends. The code was shared on NB and I broke my no-buy! I believed it was a sign that the sale was announced right after I had set up my blog sale (LOL, thank you everyone who purchased!! You made me feel less guilty XD).


Aveyou haul: OPI Koala Bear-y, OPI YDKJ Suede, OPI Have a Tempura Tan-trum, Essie Shelter Island, Essie Smooth Sailing, Essie Braziliant, Essie Vermillionaire

Today, I'm going to show you guys the two gorgeous orange shades I bought!

Essie Braziliant – From the recent Essie collection, this shimmery orange actually doesn't dry that shiny! I topcoated it for these pics. Very pretty! 2 coats.



Essie Vermillionaire – This is from last year's summer collection. I always thought it was gorgeous, but too bold for me. Luckily, after this wonderful year of nail polish appreciation, I feel confident enough to sport this on my tips! … on the weekend, at least :) Lovely formula, shown with 2 coats.


Piff mentioned recently that this polish was quite close to DL Lara's Theme. This nugget of info made Vermillionaire an easy buy for me, LOL! Thanks, Piff!

And a quickie comparison between Braziliant and Vermillionaire: They look more similar in the picture than they do in real life. I'm happy to have both shades.


I still have a lot of polish to go through and purge, but all these new pretties make me so happy! I'm so grateful that I am easily amused.

DBF is coming home tonight. My awesome weekend has come to an end (LOL). How was your weekend?!

p.s. I also ordered 2 more holos from fabuloustreet. BOOYAH.

Essie Smooth Sailing

Yay! The Canucks won the game last night, and it was a really exciting game! Monday is the next game, and it'll be back in Boston.

In polish news, I finally managed to get a bottle of Smooth Sailing! I loooove it!

Essie Smooth Sailing - Super gorgeous shade. I love the finish. 2 coats.



Comparison: Essie Smooth Sailing and BB Couture Impact Driver - they have the same finish and I love them both


Comparison: Essie Smooth Sailing and Zoya Jo - Jo is probably the closest polish I have in colour.


Comparison: Essie Smooth Sailing and Essie Coat Azure - I'm not so fond of Coat Azure.