Quick Swatch - OPI Quarter of a Cent-Cherry

It's fitting that in about 13 days, I will no longer be a quarter of a century. In fact, I'll be 26! I'm excited for my birthday but not too thrilled about growing up. I remember the days when me and my friend were 16 and thinking of how cool it would be to be 18! Now, I'd rather stay 25 forever, and maybe let my hair go back to a time when I didn't have greys. Haha, growing old is weird.

OPI's Quarter of a Cent-Cherry, other than making me think about my age, is a gorgeous deep red. It has quite a brown undertone which is perfect for fall. It's similar to OPI's Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ (one of my OPI faves), but Mrs. O'Leary has more of a purple undertone while Quarter of a Cent-Cherry is more of a true deep red.

It's strange, but I don't think I have anything quite like it in my collection! I guess I haven't been buying too many deep reds in the past, but I'm definitely all about for this fall.

What's your favorite dark red polish? I could use some suggestions to add to my collection!

Best of: 5 Pinks Great Pink Nail Polishes You Need

I'm not too big on pink polishes. Don't get me wrong, I like pink polishes, but unless they are absolutely amazing, I usually forget about them, give them away, or they wither in the back of my stash. These 5 polishes however truly some of my favorites. All of these were worn several times (hands & feet alike) and have truly stood the test of time since I've had them all for over a year and are still amazing polishes in my eyes.

From left to right: China Glaze Pink Plumeria (reviewed here), OPI Japanese Rose Garden (reviewed here - apologies for my poor photography skills at the time), Butter London Snog (reviewed here), Essie Eternal Optimist (reviewed here - wow, I guess I didn't understand the concept of "natural light" back then) , Deborah Lippmann Pop Life (reviewed here)

Left to right again: China Glaze Pink Plumeria, OPI Japanese Rose Garden, Butter London Snog, Essie Eternal Optimist, Deborah Lippmann Pop Life

Pink Plumeria is one of those colors I had to have as soon as I saw swatches of it online last summer. It's bright, summery, and quite unique in color. I wore this color a lot last summer and plan on wearing it plenty this summer again. OPI's Japanese Rose Garden is one of those muted pinks for when you want to wear something feminine but subtle. Its formula is excellent and the color is so easy to wear. It's especially great for those of you who don't like bright polish. Butter London's Snog is hands down my favorite pink polish ever. It's bright, cheerful, and wearing it just makes me happy. The brush in my bottle of Snog is wonky, but that doesn't stop me from wearing it over and over (especially on my toes!).  It is very similar to Essie's Watermelon in case you are looking for a slightly a cheaper option. Essie's Eternal Optimist was one of those colors I kept seeing at my local Shoppers Drug Mart, unsure of whether I'd like it or not. When I finally took the plunge, I was really happy I did. Eternal Optimist is a great neutral and is a great option for when you're looking for something a little bit more interesting than a nude nail. I've owned Deborah Lippmann's Pop Life for many years now, and when I think of the most classic pink in my collection, Pop Life is definitely it. Pop Life's pink color is clean and vibrant without being neon. I love it and plan to apply it to my toes in the next couple hours!

Of these, my favorites are Pink Plumeria, Snog and Pop Life - perhaps I'm partial to brights even if I'm not a "pink" girl?

I'd love to know what YOUR favorite pink polishes are? List them below!

Cajun Shrimp, you brighten up my winter!

Damn these winter blues! OPI's Cajun Shrimp is the perfect color to break up this spell that is called Canadian winter. It's the most perfect coral/pink color. In some lights it looks almost red!

Cajun Shrimp's formula was excellent. These pictures were taken with two coats, and a Seche Vite topcoat. This will definitely be a staple on my toes when summer comes around!

What's your go-to bright nail polish color?

Have you guys watched the Oscars? The boy and I watch all the Best Picture nominees each year, then place our own ballots. It's so fun! He scored 17/24 categories, and I did a meager 10/24. I'm usually so good! My bets were mostly on Amour and Silver Linings Playbook, hence why I did so bad on my scoring! Did any dress catch your eye? I loved Jennifer Lawrence's gown, but other than that, things were a bit meh this year. What did you think?

OPI's Skyfall and Conquering James Bond

For his birthday, my boyfriend received from yours truly, something that his little movie-buff heart desired: the 50 Year James Bond Box Set. I jumped on the chance of getting him something he actually expressed (out loud!) that he wanted since he is generally quite difficult to buy for. It didn't occur to me that this meant I'd be watching every single Bond movie with him over the next few months. That's right, I'm now James Bond literate. Well almost  - next one on our list is GoldenEye. So far, my favorite movie is either The Spy Who Loved Me or The Living Daylights. The worst was definitely You Only Live Twice and I didn't particularly like Diamonds are Forever, specifically because the Bond girl suuuuuucked. I think they make or break a Bond movie most of the time. My favorite Bond so far is definitely Timothy Dalton, but I'm pretty sure Daniel Craig wins overall, at everything.

After a lengthy intro (because I can't help myself and I'm now a little James Bond fanatic) I shall now get to the point. OPI has recently released a collection called James Bond/Skyfall and today, I have for you... Skyfall! It gets confusing when you name your polishes the same thing as the collection. But yeah, this one is called Skyfall.



I actually quite like this polish. Skyfall is a deep, almost brown in some light, red. I thought I had something similar in my collection by OPI called Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ, but it is much more plum toned. The formula was good (my application questionable) and it lasted well on my nails with no chips for about 4 days. I've also worn the Golden Eye polish from this collection and it was awesome. I didn't take any pictures because my nails were in horrid condition, oops.

Have you watched any James Bond movies you've liked? Who's your favorite Bond? 

Are you ready for a stunner? OPI Designer Series in Opulence

Over the holidays, one of my best friends was kind enough to gift me with OPI's Designer Series in Opulence. She said the color looked like something I would enjoy, and she was right! I didn't realize how stunning this polish was until I had it on my nails! It is seriously stunning.

I absolutely loved wearing this polish. It was stylish, but still conservative enough to not be too flashy for a glitter polish. The glitter in this polish is super smooth - much like a holographic polish. I wouldn't say this polish was holographic though - it simply has very very fine glitter, and loads of it. It wore very very well on me without any chips for three days. My nails are in rough shape lately though, and the polish peeled off my thumb nail on the third day. Damn this cold weather!

If you see this in your area, grab it before it's too late! I already regret not picking up the shade Reserve (a gorgeous nude, with the same glitter as Opulence).

My Very First Knockwurst - OPI's Germany Collection

Anyone else as excited as me about the OPI Germany collection? I very much restrained myself picking out colors because I only got two color and wanted every single one from the collection.

My first pick is My Very First Knockwurst (my second being Every Month is Oktoberfest). It's a gorgeous nude/pink. It applied flawlessly in two coats!

I though it was a great option for a neutral pink - most of the time, I find these types of polishes too pink. Plus, it was quite long wearing lasting a good three days without chips or tip wear! 

Sneak peek at what's coming on the blog! My Vika Alex is settled and full! As you can see, it's comfortably nesting between two dressers.

Movie of the week: Hugo. Hugo is a gorgeous film about a young boy who lives alone in a Paris train station. The cinematography of this film is absolutely and completely breathtaking. If you're watching the movie, take a moment to observe how busy the background is, and how imaginative the set design is. Oh and it's a Martin Scorsese movie and well, whatever he does is genius. Except maybe for Shutter Island, which I didn't love. But yes, Hugo is a must see. DO IT.

Hope you're all having a good week! Pay day is today and I might have done some damage, courtesy of miss Chelsea of chelsea wears! Enabler alert!!

Because I'm a rebel... You Don't Know Jacques Suede!!

Yes, I'm completely aware that suede nail polishes are not meant for summer, but I was so excited to find this bottle of polish at my local Winners, I knew I had to give it a try. Plus it's pretty! Plus the boy picked it for my next swatch and I had to oblige. And don't you think breaking up summer neons and brights with a suede is a bit shocking?! I like it! 

My cuticles are horrible. Cleaning, moving and stress have taken a serious toll on my body. My apologies!

I wore this  for a couple days and it chipped like mad. I had to put another coat on for the pictures but you can still see some tip wear! But, the shimmer is so gorgeous - I received a lot of compliments on this! The polish dried crazy fast - like, I'm not done painting fast. So that was good. But I think that without a top coat, this polish has a very short life. Oh well. It's a bit disappointing because it's so gorgeous but perhaps next time I'll try it with a top coat. I'm not a massive fan of the suede look, but it's fun to wear once in a while, nonetheless. 

It's dark, windy and rainy here today. I wonder if that's the reason my headache has not stopped all morning. How's the weather were you are? Seems like a month of summer is almost over and we've gotten no beach weather! Not on the weekends anyway - but isn't that the way it goes in Canada?

I've been so Gouda

Actually, my beauty spending has been nothing Gouda, it's been very very bad. Plus, tax refunds are so tempting to be spent right away. It's been a struggle! Oh well! As my hunny says, you got to live a little!

On with the review of Gouda Gouda Two Shoes by OPI!

I absolutely love this polish. I loved wearing it, how it looked against my skin tone and the "romantic" feel of it. It has a bit of a golden/bronze shimmer to it that it beautiful when it hits the sunlight. It's not very visible when you don't look for it however, which makes this polish quite office appropriate.  I say this, but I could wear any color nail polish at my work and nobody would care. However, at my last job, I wouldn't have even tried.

You can see the shimmer at the top of the bottle in this picture. Basically, that's the jist of it. It's very subtle.

 

Even though it's subtle, I love the shimmer in this polish BECAUSE it is subtle. I feel like the polish would take on a whole other personality if the shimmer was full blown. 

Anyway, I love this polish. If there was a blush made of this color, I'd sleep with it. If you're into these types of colors, I highly recommend it. This was the polish from the OPI Holland collection I was least excited about, partially because in swatches it looked like a total "mum" color, but it's the one I like most so far. 

I will be rewearing you Gouda Gouda Two Shoes! 

Pedal Faster Suzi!

Does anyone even know who this Suzi is in all those OPI nail polish names? She's pretty popular isn't she!

Pedal Faster Suzi is a pink/mauve shimmery polish, coming from the new OPI Holland Collection for spring. It is quite stunning. However, I don't think I love it on my skintone.

This is two coats. I could have put three on but I was cooking potato wedges and I was in a rush. So two coats it was. The polish itself was a tad thick and gloopy. The best thing to do with this polish is probably to thinly apply it with quick motion. I'd tell you to pass on it but I don't think I've seen anything similar to it lately. The closest I can think of is perhaps OPI's Princesses' Rule. And even this, Pedal Faster Suzi is much more lavender than Princesses' Rule. And less shimmery. It's quite nice really!

Sorry this took a while to post. I meant to do this ahead of the crowd but my parcel got mistakenly sent to India. So now I'm behind. But I'll be posting a few more of the collection soon.

Hope Daylight Savings Time isn't screwing you over too much. I can already feel it working it's magic on my regular bed time AKA, it's bedtime and I'm not tired. Crap. 

Are We There Yet?

What a classic thing to say on a road trip - and you can ask my boyfriend, I do still say it.

I feel a bit unloaded today as I completely cleaned out my closet and drawers of clothes I no longer wear. Now I have room for more! Well, only a little bit more. Specifically, work shirts. NO MORE JEANS.

This OPI is from the Touring America 2011 collection. I picked it up at my local Winners wanting a different polish - different for me, that is.

I really like this polish. And I think I'll like it even more when warmer weather approaches. In my pictures, it looks orange. To my boyfriend's eyes, it looks orange. But to me, it looks like a pink that pulls towards orange. I still see pink in it even though my boyfriend and camera don't seem to think so. Weird huh?

Billie didn't want anything to do with my nails.

I'll definitely be wearing this in the spring/summer. I'm willing to bet that there will be tons of this type of color coming out in the next few months.

Glam glam?

It's All About the Glam is part of the Kardashian for Nicole by OPI collection. Looking at the swatches online, this was the only polish that really inspired me. Which is weird because white + Annick's cuticles = mangled hands.

This polish is honestly beautiful. It has really small shimmer particles it it that make me think of a brand new blanket of snow. It's so wintry and cheerful. I very much recommend this polish for those of you who are bored with the green/red/gold holiday nail pattern. The formula was running a bit thin so it did take 3 coats to get a decent finish.

I can't comment too much on the wear of this polish because I took it off after a day - I had gotten my UV lamp in the mail and NEEDED to try my Gelish stuff RIGHT AWAY. It was a success that will be documented in a future post.

Work/life has kept me quite busy lately which explain the sporadic post schedule. Hopefully, after the new year, I'll be able to post more and have diversified subjects on this blog. 

I've been trying Avene's Diacneal as a treatment for my bumpy skin. A review will be up for this in a couple months for anyone interested.

I must go back to work! I have a different job now that is much most stimulating than the last. Unfortunately/fortunately, that also means a jam-packed schedule and no slacking off! 

Halloween nails for my hundreth post

The girls at work and I had a bit of fun on Friday and gave ourselves some Halloween manicures.

Here's mine!

The candy corn nail was made with Sinful Colors nail polish in neon colors I can't recall the name of. The white is OPI Alpine Snow, the blood is OPI Malaga Wine and the black/navy is CND Inkwell (which I LOVE). Oh and the crackle is OPI's Black crackle polish which my friend from work bought for this occasion.

I'm lucky to have a workplace that allows activities like this once in a while. It was a blast to order take out and chill out with the girls at work. This will definitely be a remake next year!

On a nude streak...

I'm loving the nude look on my nails right now. My hands are so freaking dry that nude nails is the only thing that looks decent on me.

OPI's Canberra't Without You is the perfect combination of nude and sparkle. It has tiny little flecks of glitter, just enough to be seen but conservative enough to call the polish a nude color. Also, the nude color is very flattering on. I quite like this polish and didn't really expect it to be anything exciting.

I believe this is two coats and it could have used a third one. But I'm lazy. I like this color against my skintone. It's got some pink tones which I like - it's not quite the mannequin hand look. The sparkle is silver and subtle, and frankly, the polish would've been just as nice without it.

Now you're probably just going to think I'm a crazy cat lady because of the abundance of Billie pictures in this blog... But loooook how cute she is!

She was at her least cute tonight when she pooed a really stinky one. Light some candles stinky. And as usual, when there was company over. Oh Billie, it's alright to be socially awkward, but you don't have to poop about it every time!

I'll try to post a few non-nudes soon. I'm getting tired of them. Maybe.

I'm Fondue of You

My apologies (dear 10 or so readers) for my lack of posts.

I haven't been painting my nails much lately because of lack or time and renovations/construction at work. The dust is leaving my nails/hands so dry that it would be completely unacceptable to post pictures of them.  Work has been a pain in the ass - who loves sitting in dust and pink insulation shit? Not this girl. I'm pretty sure I have a phobia of that pink stuff anyway. It has freaked me out ever since I learned it's made of fiberglass. Ew!

Anyway, today's post is featuring OPI's I'm Fondue of You, which, in my humble opinion, would make a fabulous fall polish. I'd describe it as a brownish red with copper/red shimmer. This was two coats and had an excellent formula. The index finger in the pictures shows the color most accurately.

I MAY be purchasing a Malm bed from Ikea. All my life adult life, I've slept on shit mattresses and flimsy metal bed frames. I only recently purchased a new mattress (Queen baby!) and have been waiting patiently for a nice bed to go with it! Should I go with the Malm?

Or the Hopen? I'm not sure. And when I'm not sure, it takes me a looooong time to decide. It's a big purchase!

 

So yeah. Complicated stuff. I may go with the Hopen since it's a tad cheaper. But even then, this is a hardcore big decision. Not unlike picking out a sandwich for me. I'm bad at decisions.

Hawaiian Orchid by OPI plus random spamfest of pictures!

I'm assuming the makers of OPI were thinking of this when they made this polish:

Because basically, all the orchids that came up in my Google search were fuchsia colored.

I actually quite like this polish. I love the pink - it has a blue/purple flash in it that I couldn't capture because apparently, there is no more daylight when I wake up in the mornings. This is three thin coats of the polish. It dried reasonably fast and lasted 3 days without chips on me. For you soft pink lovers, this is for you.

The other day, I was in such a crabby mood that my boyfriend basically ordered me to take a walk and bring the camera. The result was a better mood and pictures!

Yup, these are pretty lame. But it's okay because it was just for the fun of it. But I also haven't used Photoshop or edited them in any way. That probably would've helped.

Also, I'm painting now. I used to be decent as a teen but totally stopped painting when I moved out because I didn't want to bring all my supplies with me to school. I'm still not happy with the colorful one, at all. Hopefully, the painting falls into place.

The other one is finished (not like in the picture), and is now hanging in my bedroom. And I'm quite happy with it! Oops, my slipper is in the picture. Sorry!

I'm off for a little day of adventure. Some traveling, some chimney sweeping and horse races! Should be pretty exciting!

Bullish, OPI?

Doesn't the name make you think of bullshit? It's totally a pun on that, I'm sure. Either way, this polish isn't bullshit OPI, it's very seriously pretty. It's a classic red with a hint of orange. It's very flattering on my skintone and I would think it would be just as beautiful on a tanned skin.

The formula was great, as is usual with OPI. However, I'm not sure I could say I'm a fan of their brushes. I find wide brushes always make it harder to flub up the side of your nail. But then again, this isn't anything a Q-Tip and a little remover can't fix. The colors is the most color accurate in the last picture.

I'm heading off for a great adventure this weekend! Lots of beer, friends, beach and laughter - hopefully. And LOBSTER! Fresh off the dock. Things like this make me realize how lucky I am to have the life I have. Even if I'm jeal of all my friends' money making abilities - life is still good. Especially with lobster somewhere in there. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Comparison of the day

My collection has grown so much in the past few months, I finally feel comfortable posting some comparison pics!

Here's the comparison of the day: OPI's Strawberry Margarita, Deborah Lippmann's Pop Life and Essie's Guilty Pleasures.

From the bottle, they don't look that similar. On the nail though:

These are all two coats. Strawberry Margarita is clearly darker than the other two. And Guilty Pleasures is peachier than Pop Life. Regardless, these are two cheaper options than Pop Life. I much prefer the formula of Pop Life BUT the other two have stellar formulas as well.

Hope this was useful! I am now off to a wedding where my boyfriend is the officiant. It shall be fun!

OPI's Party in My Cabana - Summer Perfection

I'm kind of sick of pink. Even though this is a very pretty color. The formula was excellent, the drying time was excellent, the wear time was excellent. See? Boooooring. I think I need a nail polish challenge. Doesn't stop me from highly recommending this polish for you pink lovers. It's a very summery shade and would look really good as a toenail color.

I may be posting a tutorial for splatter nails. We'll see if it even looks decent. Half of the time, I don't know what the eff I'm doing - including stuff to do with nails. So don't expect anything even half decent.

On the other hand, I made excellent muffins this weekend!