Kiko 345 and topped with Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs

I picked up this polish when Kiko debuted state-side earlier this year. I've worn it a few times since then, but only took pictures of it this week so I could update my nail polish spreadsheet!

I love the bottle shape of Kiko polishes. The brush is a bit stiffer than I'm used to, and is a little less wide than OPI. The formula itself is nice and creamy, if not a tad thick. I may thin it a bit next time I go to use it. Opaque in two coats is pretty great, especially for a mint like this.

Kiko 345 (2 coats)



I purchased this (among many other mint green polishes) in hopes of finding a dupe (or better) of American Apparel Office (which takes 3 coats for opacity, and I hate the super long brush stem)

Kiko 345 is not a dead on dupe for the AA, but it is the closest I've found, and I think I actually prefer it to AA Office. AA Office is long gone from my stash now, but I posted this swatchstick comparison picture back in March:



For my second day, I topped it off with Lynnderella for my NOTD:

Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs over Kiko 345 (there are no black flecks in LLL; the flash is just reflecting strangely off the microshimmer)

Belated Lynnderella spam

Since Lynnderella is about to release a new collection, as well as offering her prior collections for purchase, I thought I would dump some Lynn spam on you guys! You can also purchase Lynn's creations from Llarowe, but they are not in stock right now. Keep an eye out, since they sell out super fast!

In the pics below, I used 2-3 coats of Lynn's glitters over a base coat, and then 2-3 coats of topcoat (Barielle ME and SV, usually). I wasn't totally happy with the base colours I chose for these polishes, but I figured I would show them anyways!

Also, sorry for the strange nail shapes in these; I was going through a rounded-nail phase. I now realize the error in my ways XD


Lynnderella Bibbitty Bobbitty Boo Blue over Illamasqua Phallic




Lynnderella Mercurial over Misa Office Polish-tics and CND Gold Sparkle - This is a really cool polish, but I'm not super fond of this gunmetal-ish shade on my skintone.




Lynnderella Love Potion 99 over Illamasqua Baptiste - There are little holographic glitters in this polish that don't show up well in my pics! Really pretty in real life!




Lynnderella Ruby Red Ruby over Illamasqua Throb - This is probably my favourite Lynnderella... boring, I know! These aren't good pics at all... I had a hard time capturing it properly! This is what Deborah Lippmann's "Jessica Rabbit" should have been. So gorgeous. You cannot go wrong with this one! I get sooo many compliments when I wear it.



My preferred base colour for RRR is OPI Smitten with Mittens. I don't have a proper pictures, so here's a shoddy NOTD pic I took around Christmas with my P&S camera:


I know how difficult it is to get a hold of Lynn's creations, but she's trying her best to churn out these little bottles of magic for us! Just try and be patient, it's well worth the wait! :)

Christmas NOTD: ChG Party Hearty over ChG Glittering Garland

Sorry for the sporadic posts lately. Busy at work + busy at home = tired as heck. The four days off I get over the holidays cannot come soon enough. I have a whole bunch of polishes that need to be swatched and compared, and purging to do! I just want to relax with my stash, but instead there's holiday shopping, holiday baking, and last-minute work to do! Arghhh!

Here's a quick pic I took of my holiday NOTD, which I have been wearing for four days now. I have a tiny chip on one thumb and a litte tip wear, but otherwise it has held up pretty well. The surface is getting a bit roughed up, so I may throw on a coat of Barielle Manicure Extender tonight.

ChG Party Hearty (1 coat) over ChG Glittering Garland (2 coats). I love both these polishes! So happy it's Xmas time and I can bust out the Party Hearty... even at work! :)


Back to the craziness! Hope you guys are stayin' sane!!

Lynnderella Very Pretty Vampire

I ordered 8 Lynnderellas during her last sale and have been trying to wait until I have worn them all to show you a huge spam-festival-post, BUT I could not wait to share this combination I tried!!

Lynnderella Very Pretty Vampire over Zoya Valerie - I think this is 2 or 3 coats of Lynnderella over 2 coats of Valerie. My eyes nearly popped when I put this on!!

Lynnderella Very Pretty Vampire over Essie Size Matters - Here's the first combo I did with this polish, in case you were wondering how it looks over a red creme:

I'm so glad I ordered this one! It was a last minute addition ^_^

I'm still having trouble finding perfect layering combinations for All Hallow's Eve; any suggestions?

Illamasqua Raindrops

Hi hi, guys!

About two and a half weeks ago, I pounced on the Illamasqua UK site's sale... because they had Raindrops for 5 GBP! I placed an order for 6 bottles of polish (they had a couple other colours on the 5GBP sale) and it came to about $63 USD, shipped. Shipping was 8.50 GBP (that seems to be the minimum for 1 bottle; I ordered 6 to make it a better deal) and it arrived from the UK in about 2 weeks. Some girls on NB got them in just over a week!

They surprisingly still have Raindrops in stock! Here's the link to the 5GBP sale, if you're interested. They have other makeup ... stuff, but I am a dunce when it comes to makeup, so I can't help you there.

I had always admired this shade, but since it was a UK exclusive, I never really allowed myself to seriously lem after it. I actually almost purchased it last month when Illamasqua UK had a free international shipping code promo for orders over 40 GBP, but Raindrops was still full priced (13.50 GBP, about $20-22 USD depending on the exchange rate these days). That was way too pricey for me, so I reluctantly passed. When I got the 5 GBP sale notice, my heart skipped a beat and I checked the list of polishes and was floored to see Raindrops there. So I ordered. Yay! Patience paid off for once! :)

So long story short, I have this beautiful polish in my possession now! And I'm going to show you pictures of it... now.

Illamasqua Raindrops - 2 coats. I had read that this polish was notoriously sheer (nature of the beast, otherwise the glitter-flakes would not be visible on the nail), so I was pleasantly surprised to find that 2 coats on my little nubs seemed fine! I could have used a third coat on my thumb, but since my thumb is not pictured... you would not know that. Formula was a little thick, but not difficult to work with.



Here's a shoddy comparison with the two closest things I have in my stash. Totally worth having all three, bwahahahaha. I am a slave to light bluish greys.


Before I took it off, I wanted to see how DL Glitter in the Air would pair with it. Here's 2 coats of GitA over Illamasqua Raindrops:



Yay, I'm so happy! :D

Still planning our Japan/Korea trip, and of course, work is getting insanely busy these few weeks. Why is it always feast or famine in consulting? It is hard to keep a work-life balance, yo! So I will be working from home for part of the weekend... booooo.

Anyway, let me ask you, since I am out of the makeup loop these days, are there any Japanese or Korean "wonder" products I should keep an eye out for? Anything from face wash to mascara to lip gloss. Is there something I should keep my eyes peeled for?

Hope you guys have a better weekend than me... :')

Revlon Modern Grace and Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air

I had seen Modern Grace just once in the wild and I didn't pick it up. I had regretted it ever since, and while lamenting on the NB, the lovely Noelie offered to buy me on she had seen at her local Riteaid! Ahhh what a sweetheart! :) Thank you, Noelie!!

I believe this was in a limited edition Top Speed display with some other summery shades. The formula on this polish is amazing It is a 1 coater!

Revlon Modern Grace - 1 coat!


Here are some comparisons to other purpleish-periwinkle polishes in my stash. I had a sneaking suspicion that this may be dupish to Orly Cashmere Cardigan, but I do not own that polish! I asked on NB, and a couple girls posted bottle pic comparisons for me. If they aren't dupes, then they are insanely close.

Revlon Modern Grace vs. Zoya Caitlin


Revlon Modern Grace vs. OPI Done Out in Deco and Planks a Lot


For my NOTD, I wore 1 coat of Revlon Modern Grace and topped it with 2 coats of Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air. The light blue base of GitA lightened up Revlon Modern Grace. I absolutely love the result!! I usually don't wear glitter polishes to work, but screw that :D!! I used Barielle Manicure Extender and SV as my topcoat to give it extra shine. I have a tiny bit of shrinkage, but I hardly ever wrap my tips... out of laziness.





By the way, I've heard that Nordies is having a B2G1 sale on Deborah Lippmanns and Butter London this Saturday and Sunday, in store only. You may want to call your counter to confirm, though! Luckily, there are not 3 DLs or 3 BLs that I am lemming, so I will be saving my pretty pennies. But if you have been waffling on getting anything from these two brands, this weekend would be a good time to take the plunge!

DBF's mom, aunt, and youngest brother are coming to visit this weekend, so this will probably be my last post until the weekend is over. So, enjoy your weekend! :)

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 DS Sapphire

So, the last polish I picked up on Saturday (I think this means I have to go back to posting the rest of my Zoya Exchange polishes! man I got sidetracked!) is OPI DS Sapphire.

OPI DS Sapphire - 3 coats. Nice, smooth formula, but rather sheer. You can see my stained nails, ACK!!!


Layered it over Essie Lapis of Luxury. Loving this combo! I think I might wear it to work :D Coincidently, Fashion Police posted a pic of this same combo yesterday!

Reswatch: RBL 360

Updated swatch of RBL 360! Probably the only RBL I bought that I really adore. The others... I'm still thinking if I want to keep them.





Here it is layered with Colorama Rock Me. I'm trying to find a dupe for this topcoat... I've heard maybe Sally Hansen Diamonds, but I'm not completely convinced.



There won't be a new post tomorrow, since I'm going to be writing a 6 hour exam that day \o/ (sarcastic emoticon? LOL) Hopefully I won't be in the depths of despair and spend my night pigging out and swatching some nps I bought on my no-buy (LOL!)

:)

Reswatch: Essie Marshmallow and St Lucia Lilac

While I'm still wearing Rampage IRL (it chipped yesterday while I was making dinner though! D: I added a layer of Orly MMUtM to cover it up...), I thought I'd show you some re-swatches of some soft, delicate polishes!

These are definitely staples in my collection! :D

Essie Marshmallow - A soft, jelly white. Needs at least 3 coats, though. I believe this is simliar to OPI Funny Bunny.



It looks very nice over glitters. Here is one coat over Milani Gems (which itself is over 3 coats of Marshmallow).



Essie St Lucia Lilac - This is my absolute favourite pale lilac (lavender? geeze I don't know my colours that well :P). There is a tiny hidden shimmer that all but disappears on the nail, but makes the polish seem a little softer. 3 coats.




Comparison: Zoya Marley vs. Essie St Lucia Lilac - Like I was saying before, these are very similar polishes, but I prefer the Essie. The Zoya only needs 2 coats, though.




I've been having super strange dreams lately. Nail polish makes an appearance almost everynight in some capacity... ahhh :S