ORLY Androgynie

ORLY Androgynie is from the 2011 Holiday Soiree collection. I purchased this when the collection was first released. I fell in love with the pictures of it in the bottle. I thought that this would be a perfect one to wear around New Year's.

Here it is without the flash. You can see the different colors of the bigger pieces of glitter. I was worried that this polish just looked pretty in the bottle, but wouldn't have the same effect actually wearing it. It didn't disappoint me! I love everything about this polish!

Big Haul and Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede

This is OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede. I don't own the original. I just love the suede/matte finishes but I usually only end up wearing them for a day because they chip so quickly. It's a gorgeous charcoal color.

Here it is without the flash.

Here is my haul. It's on my bed haha. I got a new comforter for Christmas, but I still have to put it on. I spent less than $30 at Sally's, and the Funky Fingers and Fresh Paint nail polish I purchased at 5Below. All of the China Glaze, Orly, Finger Paints, and Color Club polishes from the holiday collections were half off the clearance price, so they came to around $1-$2 each! 

It's difficult to see in the picture, but I'll list what I purchased by brand:

Orly: Au Champagne, Oui, Twilight, Shining Star, and Androgynie. I already purchased Androgynie because that was one I just HAD to have and couldn't wait, but at this cheap, I figured it would be a great gift. I also got the plastic candy cane filled with minis of Oui, Androgynie, and Ma Cherie. I also figured this would be a great gift.

China Glaze: Holly Day, Icicle, Glittering Garland, Blue Year's Eve and a mini of Ruby Pumps (I already have the full size, but for 50 cents, it's another great gift!)

Color Club: Santa's Cinnamon and Gingerbread Man- these are the scented ones. These were the only two left but I'm thankful I snagged a couple. I can't wait to try these out. I really wanted Gingerbread Man too!

Finger Paints: Comet's Collar, Drummer Boy, and Winter Sky

My 5Below haul consists of Fresh Paint- Olive You and Funky Fingers: Down to Earth, Tinseltown, Paparazzi, Baby Baby Baby, and Orange Scales.

I've done pretty well this month! I still have many polishes that I've purchased at ULTA that I haven't posted about. Now that I have more time, I am going to keep up with my haul posts. I still want to buy China Glaze Twinkle Lights and Snowglobe. I wasn't able to track those down anywhere.

Manis over the Holiday

With all of the running around for the holidays I've done by visiting my family and the fiance's,  I haven't been able to update. I just arrived home yesterday and I was able to take pictures of the polishes I wore.

This is OPI- Honk if You Love OPI from their Fall 2011 Touring America collection. This is after two days of wear. With the flash, you can see the purple. I am curious as to what this looks like next to OPI Lincoln Park after Dark. Without the flash, and in places with dim lighting, this looks almost black. This is three coats of it. I did three because the first coat was very splotchy and uneven.

This is three coats of OPI-She's Golden topped off with one coat of China Glaze Party Hearty from their holiday collection last year. With the flash, She's Golden almost looks white. This was the first time I used She's Golden and it was more opaque than I thought it would be. I almost added a second coat of Party Hearty, but I was content with the way this looked.

Here it is without the flash. She's Golden is gorgeous! It has a golden shimmer to it. Party Hearty is definitely different than that unnamed snowman glitter from Blue Cross. It has different sizes of red, green, and gold glitter.

This was my mani from Christmas day. This is two coast of China Glaze Cha Cha Cha topped off with OPI Red Shatter. I also cut my nails quite a bit because they felt too long.

I've managed to luck out with clearance items at Sally's so I will update soon with a haul post :) I hope everyone had a great holiday!

A Christmas-Like Mani

Yesterday I had my commencement ceremony, so now I officially have a dual master's degree! I'm nervous about transitioning to the world of working though.

I used OPI- Bullish on OPI (2 coats) as a base color, and then topped it off with OPI Gold Shatter. Very Christmas-y.

Here it is without the flash. The Gold Shatter is amazing! 

Color Club Revvvolution

I recently purchased Color Club Revvvolution on eBay. I don't own many Color Club shades, but I heard that they have recently started carrying them at Sally's, so that may change. I love those dark prismatic colors. I own the new version of OPI's My Private Jet, but unfortunately I can't bring myself to shell out nearly $100 for a bottle of it on Ebay. Color Club Revvvolution fulfills that lemming (plus it didn't cost nearly as much!) This picture is with the flash.

Here it is without the flash. I love this color so much! I wish I could leave it on for longer, but it seems to be chipping fast. I wouldn't consider this color as a black, but almost a charcoal shade. I decided to label it as "almost black", since it isn't quite there yet.

Major Update!

In the past week or so, I managed to wear some pretty sweet manis, finish school, and get engaged! Now that I'm done with school, I'll be able to post more often! :)

This is China Glaze- It's Alive. It is from their 2011 Halloween collection and I guess it's supposed to resemble some type of swamp creature. I didn't get a chance to wear it until December, and it kind of reminds me of a Christmas tree. It's very sparkly!

This is Essence Gagaelectric from their @Holographics.com collection layered over Essie Tomboy No More. This had a pretty interesting effect. It looked blue and purple in different lightings. Although the Essence collection is called @Holographics.com, I believe the polish looks more duochrome.

I was inspired by Christmas cookies so I decided to do this mani. This is the red and green snowman glitter (unnamed but Blue Cross makes it) over OPI Alpine Snow. I loved this! 

This is Zoya Marley on it's own (pre clean up). It is from their Spring 2011 collection. You can see that it has a pearl shine to it with the flash.

Here it is without the flash

I layered one coat of OPI Gone Gonzo on top of it. It chipped a little before I could take a picture of it.

without the flash

This is one coat of OPI Rainbow Connection over three coats of OPI Guy Meets Galveston. I loved this combination. It's festive for the holidays, but can be worn year round. Guy Meets Galveston is a jelly. I got many compliments on this, and somebody even asked me if I got them done somewhere because they looked like gel nails. I was visiting home when I took this and my mom just got her bathroom remodeled and the light in her new shower is so bright! I wish I could take all of my pictures under that light!

And last but not least, here is my engagement ring! I am so pleased with it! 

Weekly Manis

I have had a rather chaotic week. I took my qualifying exams for certification (and passed!). I'm almost done with school! One more week!

This is two coats of OPI Divine Swine from their 2011 Holiday Muppets Collection over two coats of Essie- Hard to Get (the lighter version). This mani definitely reminds me of Miss Piggy!

Here it is without the flash. I love the Muppets polish so much more for layering! I still had some difficulty removing this one though.

This is OPI- Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window (2 coats) from the 2011 Fall Touring America collection with Kleancolor Chunky Copper glitter on top. I really liked how this turned out, but I was curious to see what it would look like mattified.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture right after I added Essie- Matte About You, and this is after about two days of wear. This is still really good, considering that the matte effect doesn't last that long. 

Here it is without the flash. I really enjoyed this combination!

This is Zoya Neeka from the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection. This looks so much lighter than it actually is with the flash. It's a darkened plum color with mini gold flecks. I am holding China Glaze peppermint cuticle oil instead of the Neeka bottle.

You can really see how dark it is without the flash.

Manis over Thanksgiving

Zoya Marina is from their Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection. I love this! In some light it looks gray, but here the blue really stands out.

Here it is without the flash. I love how this looks different depending on the lighting. It is very shimmery too.

This is OPI Keys to my Karma under Funky Fingers Teal Scales. I enjoyed this combination. I really like the crackle. The name doesn't seem to fit though. Teal seems to be lighter than this.

Zoya Holly and China Glaze Haute Metal

First I put two coats of Zoya Holly on. Holly is from Zoya's Gems and Jewels holiday 2011 collection. I then added a coat of China Glaze Haute Metal on the top. Haute Metal is a pink metallic crackle. They came out with this over the summer. As much as I love this combo, I am wishing I left an accent nail without the crackle. Zoya Holly is almost too pretty to cover up!

Here it is without the flash. I definitely don't want to remove this!

This is what Holly looks like on its own. Excuse the mess! I didn't clean up until I put the crackle on top. This is the PERFECT emerald green. I have nothing in my collection like it!

Weekend update plus a haul!

Here I have another one of those heat-activated mood polishes. I purchased this at Forever 21. On the back it says "Love and Beauty", which is  the name of Forever 21's nail polish line. It also has the same packaging as the Blue Cross mood polishes, so they may be the manufacturer of them. It also doesn't have a name, but it changes from magenta to a rose color. Here it is when I'm cold! It looks almost purple.

It turned this color when I ran my hand under hot water.

Just seconds after I took the picture with the hot water, it already began to shift back to magenta. My apartment is cold!

This is OPI- Take the Stage from the 2010 Holiday Burlesque collection. I just recently picked this up. I found it at Giant Eagle surprisingly. I thought it was a nice fall Thanksgiving-like color. It's between orange and bronze.

Here it is without the flash.

Here is my haul from the past week. I went to Five Below, Rite Aid, and ULTA. I found a dotting tool at Five Below for $1.50. From the top I have Funky Fingers: Teal Scales, Zeppelin, Monster Balla!, Sold Out Arena, Sound Check, Power Chord, and Stage Dive. In the bottom row I have China Glaze- It's Alive!, OPI- Russian Navy Suede, two unnamed glitter snowmen polishes, CQ- Golden Green, ORLY- Angrogynie, Jessie's Girl- JulieG, and Sally Hansen- Almond Crunch. 

Almond Crunch didn't look very unique, but I picked it up because it looked like an older one.

A lot of catching up!

OPI- Extra-va-vaganza is from the 2010 holiday Burlesque collection. I LOVE this! It has so many different colors of glitter in it.

Without the flash, this is kind of a blurry picture but you can see how shiny it is.

This is mood nail polish that changes color according to the temperature. Blue Cross makes this polish. The name of the shade is "light purple to light pink". This is the purple after I ran my hand under cold water.

Here is the purple without the flash.

Wow! This polish has a drastic color change. It's a light pink. This is after running my hand under hot water. I have a few other mood polishes from Blue Cross in my stash and I am eager to see if the color change is as evident.

OPI- Come to Poppy is from the 2011 Nice Stems summer collection. The application was actually very smooth, but then I took a really long hot bath and it chipped at the tips. I didn't have enough time to completely redo my mani, so I touched up the tips. It chipped a little bit after that also. I think that usually the wear time on this is pretty good, I just was in the bathtub too long.

This is really a gorgeous shade! It's hot pink with a hint of coral in it.

This is Essie- Damsel in a Dress. It's a dark shimmery plum color. It kind of reminds me of a redder version of OPI's Lincoln Park at Midnight (although I don't own it). Excuse the messy application. I used it as a base with OPI-Pink Shatter and this was before I added the shatter so I didn't clean up. It looks so much darker in person. The flash really brings out the shimmer in it. In darker light, it just looks like a creme.

Here it is with the OPI Pink Shatter. I like how this combo turned out. It's much more subtle, but the flash makes it look more contrasting. I am kind of disappointed with the pink shatter though. It seems to only really show up on a color much lighter than it. I was hoping it would be more opaque. And yes, it's still messy! I believe I was in a rush that day.

OPI- Figi Weejee Fawn. I love this!! This may be my go to job interview color. It's almost my skin tone, yet it has a frosty shimmer to it. I also cut down my nails a lot! I believe this is discontinued but I've seen a few on ebay recently.

Here it is without the flash. I really didn't want to remove this. Now I'm starting to wonder what it would look like with the pink shatter.