China Glaze Dash of Dazzle Christmas 2013 Set - Swatches and Review

Disclaimer: The products featured in this post were sent to me from the lovely people from Nail Polish Canada for review. Any opinions presented in this post are my own, and are not affected by any outside party.

Holy guacamole! A new post!

Sorry I've been away, I've gotten a new hobby it seems... work! It has been positively hectic at work since my last post. I'm not going to go into details since it'd be a long and confusing ramble (moreso than usual), so we'll skip that little bit and get straight into the good stuff, shall we?

I also apologize in advance if this post seems a bit disjointed at times... I have the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who playing in the background (for the second time) and it may distract me at some point...

Today's featured polishes were sent to me from the lovely people at Nail Polish Canada! I'm not paid to say this or anything like that, but I'd like to mention that Nail Polish Canada is one of my primary resources for purchasing polish. I think they have different shipping centres in Canada, but my parcels primarily get sent to me from within Vancouver, so they usually the day after they're processed. They're really lovely people - the boxes are stuffed to the brim with packing peanuts and the occasional sweet treat. I can only imagine how magical it would be with all of that beautiful nail polish in one place.. *wipes up drool*. Okay, okay, I'll stop gushing now and get on to the polish!

I now present to you the three piece Dash of Dazzle set from the China Glaze Holiday 2013 collection! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the polishes together in the boxed set as it got a bit smashed up when I accidentally dropped the parcel after finding it on my doorstep! D'oh!

The Dash of Dazzle set consists of three polishes: So Blue without You, Mingle with Kringle, and Bells will be Blinging.

First up: Mingle with Kringle

Mingle with Kringle is a gold foil. It is so much better in person than my photo can show. the foil particles are actually two toned (that is, not all the same colour), and that really gives this polish depth. It also shines like mad - almost reflective! I've been loving the gold foils that have been released this past year - they give a metallic look without the streakiness that the "mirror" metallics give (that seems like such a long time ago now!). Formula wise, this polish was a tad on the thick side, but the application was still good and I didn't have any major issues with it. I used 2 medium coats for complete coverage.

Bells with be Blinging is a pretty glitter mix that includes small blue glitters, silver hex glitter, and silver bar glitter. You know that I'd not really fond of bar glitter (and actually most glitter polishes), but I find that it actually works pretty well in this polish. The glitter isn't too dense, and isn't hard to apply at all. I have one coat of Bells will be Blinging in the photo above over Color Club Evolution (from the Kaleidoscope collection). It's a nice subtle bling, which suits my style.

And finally, last but not least: Blue without You.

*Swoon* Be still my heart! Blue without You is a GORGEOUS blue foil-y metallic polish. It's so.. glowy and bright and beautiful. It's a sky blue with a tiny hint of teal in it, and did I mention that it's gorgeous? It looks a bit streaky in my photos, but you can't really see that in person at all. It glows! It's beautiful! I love it! Formula was great too! It's not as thick as Mingle with Kringle, so I used 2 thin coats (I prefer thin over medium coats - I have better control that way). My ONLY complaint is that it stained my nails after I swatched this with no base coat. The next time I wear this (the very near future), I'm going to make sure to use a liberal amount of base coat to try to prevent the staining from happening again. This polish is too pretty to not wear again! This is definitely in my "Best of 2013" list!

And there you have it! What do you think? I must confess, when I first saw this in store, I passed by all of the colours thinking that they weren't anything special, but I sure am glad to have the opportunity to change my mind! I can't believe I passed on Blue without You!

That's all for today, but I'm hoping to be able to post more frequently from now on (I can't make any promises since I'm still working full time before I go back to school in January). I have a MASSIVE Rescue Beauty Lounge order that'll be making its way to me sometime in the near future... I know I usually avoid buying RBLs because I feel that they're a tad expensive, but I just HAD to take advantage of their 50% sale and ended up getting a bunch of the polishes I've wanted for a while now. Hopefully that'll be my last order until next time they have this sale (I can't justify buying their polishes at normal price!).

Annnnnnnyway! As always, thank you for reading! and I hope you all have a FANTASTIC (fantastic in all caps!) week!

The polishes in this post can be purchased online at Nail Polish Canada, along with several other polishes and brands. At the moment NPC is offering free shipping to Canadians with no minimum purchase, which is, I'd like to remark, perfect for the holidays!

Marisa

OPI Honey Ryder

Hi everyone!

A quickie post for today, I'm going through a bunch of the photos I haven't posted yet as my nails are undergoing a major TLC session. Having to wear gloves and working with my hands everyday is really taking a took on my nails! Hopefully I'll be able to get them back into shape soon!

For the time being, here's a great polish that I wasn't too sure about at first. I really like it now though!

Very pretty. I think this one would look great with some top coat too! When my nails are back in shape again I'll definitely be trying that! The only problem I had was that after I wore this for a few days I started to get tired of the rough gritty texture this polish has. I'm most likely going to end up alternating textured polishes with normal ones. I have a slight texture phobia (it's the subject of my only re-occuring nightmare), so I think I'll avoid wearing similar liquid sand and textured polishes for extended periods of time.

That's all for today. Sorry for the incoherent post! Today was the first day I've gotten off work on time (instead of working an extra unpaid hour or two), but my brain feels like mush. Hopefully It'll just keep getting better, and I can start mustering more energy after work... a little bit at a time!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all have a great Thursday! :D

Marisa

My New Years Manicure

*Sneaks in*

Hi everyone! Sorry for the CRAZY late post! I've gotten sucked into school... I'm having a hard time adjusting to cramming things into my brain again - I don't think my brain really wants to cooperate this time around!

The good news is that after my long lab today I finally feel up to post something! I'll be posting the Mariah Carey Liquid Sand polishes sometime in the near future (planning on re-swatching some of them first!).

Anyhow, today I have my New Year Manicure to show y'all. Please excuse the excess glitter/sad cuticles, but I'm really happy with how this turned out.

  

I started out with a coat of base coat, China Glaze's Purr-fect Plum with OPI's Goldeneye sponged at the tips, and finished it all off with my favourite top coat ever, Cult Nails' Wicked Fast. 

All things considering, this is pretty on trend for this winter. I was going to do something different for the pinky and ring nails, but it didn't really work out in my opinion so I redid them to match the other fingers.

Anyhow, that's all for today! I really need to get updating some of the other pages (so many new lemmings!), so I'm off for now!

Thank you for reading! :D

Marisa

My Picks: Top 10 of 2012

Hi everyone! Happy New Year's Eve!

I hope you're all having a great day with lots of plans later! I'm working today, so I won't be able to relax as much, but it is my last day before I head back to school for the next semester!

Today's post will be a bit of a picture spam of my top 10 polishes from this past year. I'm already excited to start making a list for next year... I have my eye on some of the polishes from the spring Zoya collection!

Anyhow, let us begin! Here are my favourite polishes that were released this year, in no particular order! I also think that there were a few greens that are honorable mentions since I didn't want my list to be too overwhelmingly green. ;)

China Glaze - Riveting

I absolutely loved this polish when it came out, and I still do. I never thought an orange polish could steal my heart like this one did, but maybe it's the fact that it's gorgeous shiny and also great matte. I find the gold shimmer in this polish addicting.

Zoya - Zuza

I thought this polish was okay in the bottle, but when I put it on... it was just amazing! I love the finish on this and the colour... now only if they made this finish in different colours... It's like a silver-y but not quite foil-y metallic. Love.

Cult Nails - Coveted

You guys have heard me yapping on about this one before. It's a green version of Iconic and since I love both, of course this is going to be on my list. I'm that predictable haha. :P

A England - Dragon

Dragon! It's so aptly named... it's really the colour I can see dragons as being! and holographic! Oh man, I can't believe I don't even have St. George yet... obviously I feel behind in my polish buying! :P  To sum it up, green + holo = win.

Cult Nails - Evil Queen

I don't know what to say about this one. I love the look of red polish but it was really hard for me to find a red that would match my skintone. Of course then I got this polish and it was amazing, the colour is great and the formula is fantastic. This is now my go-to red!

Cult Nails - Feeling Froggy

This one is on my list being it's green and amazing. I was at IKEA one day and saw a sofa in this really pretty dusty sage green and I knew I HAD to have a polish in that colour. Fast forward a week later when I get my Cult Nails Fairy Tale collection pre-order and this polish is there staring up at me! It's almost perfect I think. The only test left is to wear it on my nails and go to IKEA again to compare. 

Cult Nails - Flushed

This is amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. I love the shade, I love the shimmer... no more words necessary. I fell in love with Flushed as soon as I unwrapped the bottle.

Sephora + Pantone Universe - Purple Parachute

I originally purchased this one thinking that it'd be my go-to bottle so I could conserve my precious Scrangie. In the bottle it looks almost exactly the same as that famous Rescue Beauty Lounge polish... and it doesn't break the bank. I almost danced in the store. Of course then I went home and did the comparison and found that it's just a bit different... the shimmer isn't as blatantly obvious on the nail as it is in Scrangie. I was a bit disappointed at first, but after I put it on for the first time I fell in love. Now I think I love it even more than Scrangie. Scrangie has a little problem with being a bit sheer, but this baby has all the opacity, and I think I might even prefer the more subtle shimmer. 

Cult Nails - Charlatan

I love how versatile this polish is. It's a topcoat, so you can wear it over whatever base colour you fancy and it'll give this stunning pink-blue duochrome. It's amazing. I've worn it over so many polishes and I'm constantly in awe of how amazing it is. I haven't done a formal post about this polish yet since whenever I wear it I have the misfortune of not having enough time to take proper pictures, but here are some pictures from my phone that I've posted on twitter at one time or another.  Pictured below are Charlatan over Devious Nature (pink) and Vicious (purple).

OPI - Goldeneye (or Sally Hansen Gilded Lily)

I think I've gushed about this polish in the post I did, but here's a summary of how gorgeous it is: it's like having solid gold on your nails. It's fantastic. I did a comparison a few posts ago to SH's Gilded Lily and they're dupes (hence the or... part in the polish title). I still love it though. My only complaint would be that it takes a few layers of polish to get it to opacity, but that allows you to also wear it layered over another polish. 

 

Whew. That was a lot of typing lol. That's all from me on this last day of the year! See y'all in 2013 and I hope you have a great New Year! 

Lots of love, and thank y'all so much for supporting my wee blog! I really really appreciate it even though my posting is so sporadic! 

Marisa

HARE Polish King of Carat Flowers

Hi everyone, hope y'all had a great weekend! Personally, I wouldn't mind having a few more days off... who wouldn't? :D

Today I have another quick-ish post... I've decided not to ramble too  much. I've also just had a look at my credit card statement so far for this month and it's not good. It wouldn't be too bad I guess if I hadn't taken my kitteh to the vet ($234 right there), but it's okay because I love my furbaby.

ANYHOW. Today's polish is the second HARE polish I snagged from the Fall 2012 collection! King of Carat Flowers is a gorgeous light grey creme-jelly with lots of really pretty gold glitter in different sizes and shapes, light purple square glitters and a spattering of bright blue iridescent glitters. In the pictures below I layered 2 coats of King of Carat Flowers over China Glaze's Elephant Walk. 

 

 

So, what do y'all think? Personally, I am loving this polish! I've been sucked pretty deep into glitters lately ever since I figured out the DIY peel off basecoat - I absolutely detested removing glitter in the traditional way before and it was one of the main reasons I didn't buy more indie polishes earlier.


That's all for now! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a great Monday!

Marisa

Quick Comparison: Sally Hansen Gilded Lily vs. OPI Goldeneye

Hi everyone! TGIF!

Today I have a very brief post for y'all. Erin commented on my previous post on OPI's Goldeneye from the Skyfall collection mentioning that it looked very similar to Sally Hansen's Gilded Lily. I ususally don't really pay much attention to Sally Hansen polishes here since the price tends to be a bit steep (for my cheap self ;) ), but I was already thinking of getting another bottle of Goldeneye and since they did seem rather similar... you get my drift!

I don't think I really need to explain what I think the differences are since I think my quick comparison picture says it all (or most of it!). In the photo below, Gilded Lily is on the index and ring fingers, and Goldeneye is on the middle and pinky fingers.

See any difference? I'd definitely get confused as to which finger is which if I didn't make a note of it earlier. Formula wise these are both pretty much the same - Goldeneye may be a smidgen more opaque, but to know that for sure I'd probably have to use a magnifying glass or something (it's THAT small of a difference!).

IMO, if you already have Gilded Lily, you don't need Goldeneye (or vice versa). Me? You already know I'm a crazy hoarder, so I'm happy to own both (as back ups of each other).

That's all for now! Thanks for reading! :D

Marisa

OPI Goldeneye from the Skyfall Collection

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday!

Today I have a GORGEOUS polish from the new holiday collection from OPI that is based off of the upcoming James Bond movie of the same name! I don't know about you, but I've seen pretty much all of the Bond flicks out there! Or a short side note, I wonder why none of the gold polishes are named Goldfinger... that seems like a pretty apt name for a Bond inspired polish, no? :P

But back onto the polish... I really love Goldeneye. Take a peek!

Goldeneye is a gorgeous pure gold foil polish. It is amazing. The best way I can describe the colour of this polish... it's like a gold bar on my nails. Pictured above is 4 thin coats of Goldeneye. This polish is pretty sheer, so I can see this as a great gold top coat as well.

The onyl thing I wish I could have now is a polish like this but with a completely smooth surface. In low light/indoor this polish looks pretty close to being an unbroken smooth surface, but it isn't really 100% smooth. If someone came out with a metallic like this and was this reflective... I'd own it for sure!

Hmm, that's all for now! Couldn't wait to share this one with y'all!

Thanks for reading!

Marisa

Glitter Gal Bronze 3D Sparkle

Hi everyone!

Ah, it feels like forever since I had the time to actually write out a post. It feels good to be back. I feel free, but I made myself a list of chores and things to do so I still feel like I have lots to do. :P

An update on the 1 year celebrations, all I really know right now is that I want to have a giveaway (but I still don't know what the prize will be). I want it to be themed, but I also want that theme to represent me (at least a little bit!). I'm still thinking about it!

Anyhow, today's polish post has been long in the making. I received a bunch of polishes in the mail a while ago from Llarowe to review, but the posts on each polish have been churning out pretty slowly. I was at first a bit hesitant about the Glitter Gal 3D Sparkle polishes, especially since I'm pretty much crazy about their holographic polishes - I just didn't really think that the 3D Sparkle polishes could compare to the gloriousness of the 3D Holographic line.

At some length, I picked up Bronze 3D Sparkle and tried it on. It's actually really amazing. Check it out!

Look at that sparkle? Isn't it fabulous? I would describe it as a clear-ish base with a lot of copper-y foil and holographic particles. It is a bit sheer, but I find that it reaches opacity in 3-4 coats without much fuss. If the rest of the 3D Sparkle polishes are like this, I think I'm going to need to add them to my wishlist. It's fantastic. I'm glad I picked it up this time around. :D

What do y'all think? Have you ever had those moments when you were SURE you wouldn't like a polish, only to try it and be smitten?


Glitter Gal polishes (and many other brands!) can be purchased from the Llarowe website. There are TONS of different gorgeous polishes there, so I definitely suggest you check it out!

Thank you for reading!

Marisa

**The product(s) featured in this post were provided to me for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are purely my own. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.

Models Own - Gold Green

Hi everyone!

As promised, here is another polish from the Beetlejuice collection!
I just got my marks back for this semester, and I'm a bit bummed by the mediocre semester I had. It really sucks to feel like you did well in one class only to get the grade back and be surprised by how.. average you did. Sigh.

Anyway, I'm not really in the mood for rambling too much, and I really need to schedule some posts (we leave on the 22nd) so the next few posts won't have as much talking (which can be a good or bad thing :P)

Here's Gold Green layered over a generic black polish. I thought that layering it over black would help make the colours show stronger, so here it is!

*swoon* Such a pretty, pretty polish.

Thanks for reading everyone! <3


Marisa

Guest Post - Chanel Peridot by Jennifer

Hi everyone! 


My final exams are finally over! Hurrah!


After my exam today I decided to pop by the Sephora on my way home to see if they had any of the Peridot dupe, Diving in Malaysia. Unfortunately they didn't have any.. but I went to the nearest Chanel counter to see if they had any Morning Rose (was thinking about getting that as a gift) or Peridot.. just to oogle. Anyway, something must have happened, becuase if it didn't this post wouldn't be here. ;)


Jennifer wanted to guest blog this one, so (me being the nice sister I am) I'm letting her do this one. I hope y'all enjoy!

Hi everyone, it's Jennifer again. Marisa came home today and begged me not to be angry at her for spending a pretty penny on Chanel's Peridot. Well... it's a nice polish, so I can't say that I was very angry. I had a lot of fun putting it on because it's a very pretty gold duochrome with a blue- green tint.

I'll start with the usual swatch of Peridot. It's not sheer, but it isn't thick, either. It took me around 2-3 coats (the usual) to have it look completely opaque. The only thing I can really complain about this polish is that it's a bit streaky, which reminds me of Mermaid to Order by Sephora by OPI. I think the colour and duochrome is nice enough to make up for it, though.

This is Peridot in the sun. I didn't really go outside for this, but I found a patch of sun in the hallway from the skylight, so... yes. It turns into a bright gold in the sun, which is nice, and you can still see the blue-green tint along the edges of my nails. 

This picture is just to showcase the blue-green/ gold duochrome of this polish. If you hold the bottle at certain angles I find that it's easy to mistake Peridot for a teal-green colour... or perhaps that's just me. The colour in the bottle in this picture actually kind of reminds me of oil in water... like an oil slick. Uhm, with that potentially unpleasant thought put to the side, Peridot by Chanel is a very nice colour and worth the pretty penny.

That's all for now, so Marisa will hopefully now be posting regularly. 

- Jennifer