NOTD: Sparitual Imagination over Peace, Love, and OPI

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all having a great January so far! Today I have a recent NOTD to share with y'all. When I first saw Sparitual Imagination I thought it was duochrome goodness in a bottle. I was hoping it would be opaque, but it was more like duochrome glitter suspended in a clear base. I decided to laŷer it over OPI's Peace, Love, and OPI for a sparkly, duochromey manicure.

My pictures definitely don't do this one justice! It's much more sparkly and duochromey in person.
That's all for today!Thank y'all for reading, and I hope you have a great week!


- Marisa

OPI San Francisco Mini Set Swatches

Disclaimer: The products featured in this post were given to me as a gift from Sisi of Color4Nails. I am under no obligation to promote her polish store and do not gain anything from doing so. Any opinions presented in this post are my own.

Hi Everyone!

*Gasp* - another post! So soon... it's a miracle! Well, I found some time to sit down and write a post (who am I kidding? I'm supposed to be wading my way through academic papers right now). I figure you've all seen polishes from this collection about a million times by now, but I'll just swing some of my own quick swatches for you. I recently received the OPI San Francisco Mini set in the mail as a gift from Sisi at Color4Nails (I gave her permission to use some of my swatch pictures on her Facebook page and she wanted to send me a gift, which was very sweet of her). Thanks to her, I was able to try some polishes that I probably wouldn't have purchased on my own (I wasn't too impressed by the promo images of the collection).

Anyhow, I won't bore you too much with my rambling! Onto the polish!

In the Cable Car-pool Lane: A fairly standard dark plum/burgundy. Not an extremely exciting colour for me - I probably wouldn't be able to convince myself to buy this polish if I had seen it on a shelf somewhere since I'd probably have something very close to this in the 600+ bottles of polish that I own. It does have a very nice jelly-esque squishiness to it though. I used 3 coats.

First Date at the Golden Gate: A kind of reddy-burnt orange shade. Like In the Cable Car-pool Lane, it has the squishy look of a jelly with the more opaque formula of a creme. I used 3 coats for this swatch.

Peace, Love, and OPI: Silvery sage-blue-purple duochrome that reminds me of the northern lights. Undoubtedly one of the most buzzed about polishes from the San Fran collection. Initially I had only planned to pick up this polish from the collection, and I'm not too disappointed. I knew from prior swatches that it was going to be frosty, but the duochrome is actually really strong in this polish and kind of makes up for it. Streaks aside, I was pleasantly surprised that the formula isn't too thin - I used 3 thin coats for my swatch here.

Muir, Muir on the Wall: The dark horse in the collection for me. I would have completely passed this one over if it weren't for this mini set. When I swatched this polish I pretty much fell in love with it then and there, and ran out to buy a full size bottle. I can't even describe this one, but the important thing is that it has this beautiful red-coppery slightly duochrome shimmer that is absolutely gorgeous. I love it.

So, what do y'all think? I'm glad I got to try Muir, Muir on the Wall, since I probably wouldn't have known about how awesome it is if I didn't! It's seriously one of those colors I pass by on the shelf/counter and don't look at more closely. Thank you Sisi for your generosity!

As always, thank you for reading! I hope you all have a great week!

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

China Glaze Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces Collection for Spring 2013

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year! I certainly am! Of course I'm dreading going back to school (and job hunting), but I've been having a blast polish wise! I was stalking my local beauty supply for the OPI Mariah Carey collection and I had the best luck yesterday. Not only did they just get the Mariah Carey collection, but they also got this new China Glaze collection! Needless to say, the hoarder in me jumped out and I had to get all 6 polishes in this collection. In my defense it's glitter, which makes it much more reasonable, right?

Anyhow, there are a LOT of photos in this post, so I'll be putting it under a cut... here's some eye candy to hopefully tempt you into taking the plunge!

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

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

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest with Pam's Girly Bits Shift Happens

Hi everyone! I'm back!

Well, I should be back by now haha. I'm still scheduling this in advance, since I know that I'm probably going to be too pooped to type out a long post. Not sure if I'm going to buy any polish while I'm in the States, so we may or may not have a haul post coming along.

Besides, today's polish is gorgeous and deserves a post, instead of a long time in my archives folder lol.

First up, I have pictures of EMIO on its own...

And to make an awesome mani, I layered a coat of Girly Bits' Shift Happens on top, which really made this mani incredible.

I like EMIO, but with Shift happens overtop... it just makes it so much better!

Thanks for reading! Our (ir)regular live posting will return shortly!

Marisa

NOTD: Shoreline

Hi everyone!

Today I'm going to show you my first attempt at a gradient on my nails! Okay, well not quite. I was fully intending on making this a gradient, but the colour combination (I was out of ideas, but Marta from ChitChat Nails suggested a beige-tealy blue gradient... thanks Marta!) reminded me of the beach, so I ended up just sponging my nails for a more wispy look.

In retrospect, I could have done more to make it look... more realistic-ish (sea foam, etc etc), but I rather like it simple. I decided to add the sea star-like shapes at the last moment as an accent.

For this mani I used:
Base: Orly Nite Owl
Blue sponged bits: OPI I Have a Herring Problem
Sea Stars: China Glaze Sun Worshiper and High Hopes

Thanks for reading! :D

Marisa

NOTD feat. N.Nail B76

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of recent posts, I finally got my camera back yesterday so now I have lots of recent photos to share with you all!

Today's post is what is actually on my nails (on my right hand anyway- my left hand is nude at the moment). I used Gouda Gouda Two Shoes from OPI's Holland collection as the base colour, and then stamped on a pattern from the N.Nail plate B76 using Illamasqua's Load.

Overall, it's a pretty subtle look on my nails. Lately I've been obsessed with neutrals (like the OPI NYC Ballet collection) and cobalt blues (major lemming is RBL's IKB 2012, but I'm unwilling to fork out the cash for that one, and it's sold out now anyway thank goodness). I saw the 8 pack set of China Glaze Neons for sale and... I just couldn't do it. Neons tend to make me looked more tan than I already am, and I haven't been able to get my head around it yet. Maybe when the sun comes out to shine for the summer (it has been rainy and cloudy here since ever) I'll change my mind and go back.

I didn't have any trouble with stamping from this plate at all (yay for me!). I absolutely feel like I've seen this design on another plate from a different brand though, which is kind of odd. Then again, I think the same patterns have been used on plates coming from several different brands so it shouldn't surprise me much. 

Now for a giveaway update... I've been looking for potential giveaway prizes, and I haven't really found any that I think will good enough. I was thinking about looking at the recent releases and trying to choose something from those, but I haven't been feeling any of them. I've looked at OPI, China Glaze, Butter London, Essie and Deborah Lippmann, but nothing has really stood out to me. I'm going to continue looking!

In terms of Fall collection previews I've been seeing, I'm pretty excited about the China Glaze On Safari collection (saw nail wheel swatches of those) but not too amazed by the OPI Germany collection. A lot of the colours look pretty vampy, and vampy is something I don't really wear that often. We'll see.

The N.Nail stamping plate featured in this post can be purchased here. KKCenterHK is an online store that sells various nail products (and lots of other beauty stuff). At the moment they have an anniversary sale (25% off)! you can also get a 10% discount using the coupon code: livelylacquer. I'm not sure if you can combine the two discounts together though.

 Anyhow, I've been rambling on for a while, and I should probably stop! I hope y'all enjoyed the NOTD and thanks 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.

My picks from the OPI Holland collection!

Hi everyone!

OMG. I have been dying to get my paws on this collection ever since I saw the first swatches online! I've been stalking my local polish store for the last month waiting, and I'm pretty sure the girl working there is happy that I can stop calling! :D

I got a total of 7 of the 12 polishes that were released (which is probably a new record for me since I usually get a few that really catch my eye and then go back to buy more!), and I loved all of them except one (but we'll get to that later).

There are a lot of pictures in this post, so I'll put it under a cut! Click the link below to read more!

Left to Right: Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?, Wooden Shoe Like to Know, Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, Red Lights Ahead... Where?, Pedal Faster Suzi, I don't give a Rotterdam, I have a Herring Problem

Top 20 of 2011 - Part 1

Hi everyone! So here is the first half of my Top 20 picks!
I know some of these were released before 2011, but I'm going to choose from polishes that I've acquired over the past year. I think next year I'll stick to the top 10 polishes released in 2012. :D

So these aren't in any particular order at all. Some of these polishes haven't been posted on the blog before, but they may be featured in their own post sometime in the new year!

Chanel Peridot

China Glaze Ahoy! - This is the most awesome raspberry pink glass fleck EVER.

Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe

 A England Tristam - Smooth, beautiful scattered holo goodness.

Zoya Neeka - I love the finish. It's like a bird egg!

Zoya Yara - I love the gold shimmer-glitter in this! it reminds me of a speckled bird egg.

 China Glaze White Cap - One of my favourite layering polishes.

OPI Warm and Fozzie

Glitter Gal Lizard Belly - Eye-catching dark green linear holo!

Cult Nails Let Me Fly - Gorgeous, gorgeous shimmer. UGH. <3

Thanks for reading! I'll be posting part 2 soon! :D

Marisa