Monday, April 30, 2012

OPI The Amazing Spiderman Collection Swatches and Review


Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. Look out! Here comes the Spiderman! 


Can you tell I'm excited? I love Spiderman and no, it's not because I have the biggest crush on James Franco who just happens to be in some of the older Spiderman movies. It's just a HUGE coincidence, guys. I swear.

OPI has launched six limited edition polishes inspired by Sony Pictures' The Amazing Spiderman, a series reboot staring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. The movie opens nationwide in 3D on July 3, 2012. I love Emma Stone so I'll probably go see this even though I'm a little partial to the older Spiderman movies. Plus, Andrew Garfield is pretty damn adorable.

Onto the polish. Now, I only bought two: Number One Nemesis and Just Spotted The Lizard from the amazing Jillian at Glisten & Glow. I kind of put myself on a polish budget this month (crazy talk, I know) and these two stood out the most.


Just Spotted The Lizard is a golden green chrome with teal and pure green duochrome. I've heard this a dupe for Chanel Peridot and Jessica Iridescent Eye. I don't own either but looking through other blogger's photos, it's clear this a dead on dupe for both. 

Three coats did the trick. Surprisingly smooth application if a little streak-prone but there's not much you can do about that. Overall, awesome color! 



Number One Nemesis is a complex weird greenish grey shimmer with even smaller particles of charcoal, olive, some blue and silver. Many have said it's a dupe for Chanel's Graphite but again, I don't own it so I can't make any comparisons.

I liked this one. It kind of looked like a suit-of-armor on my nails. Application was a little rough as you can see near the cuticles, the glitter built up a little heavily, but it could've just been my weird way of applying it. 

Pricing: $8.50
Availability: May 1, 2012

(Spiderman image used from MyFreeWallpapers.net / All polish was bought with my own moola for an honest review!)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Julep's Spring Surprise Box


After the amazing luck I had receiving the big box from Julep's St. Patrick's Day Surprise, I decided to press my luck once more and order Julep's Spring Surprise Box. I am so happy I did!

A mysterious wrapped package ;), Julep Reveal (a nail growth revitalizing serum), Elixir Moroccan oil, Fast Dry Topcoat and DO YOU SEE THAT!? a $120 gift certificate! 

Julep Reveal - I haven't tried this year because honestly my nails are pretty healthy. 
From Julep's website: "The cutting-edge peptides in Julep Nail Growth Revitalizing Serum stimulate keratin genes and cell proliferation to boost the growth of stronger nails".

Elixir Organic Moroccan Argan Oil - Again, I haven't tried this yet but I have tried Moroccan Argan Oil in my hair and got significantly softer hair from it. Oh, and it smells pretty!

Fast Dry Topcoat - I already have one of these from the St. Patty's day surprise box. 

Now what could possibly be in here!?

Blake, Alicia, January, Melissa

TOTAL VALUE: $252.00!

I would DEFINITELY say this is a WIN! What would you buy with a Julep $120 gift certificate?


Sunday, April 08, 2012

Whimsical Ideas by Pam: Nimbus and PB&J - Swatches/Review!


Hi all! Happy Easter and Passover! I hope you all have an absolutely amazing holiday :) I shall be gorging myself with chocolates from the Easter Bunny ;)

But first, I bring you swatches from the Whimsical Ideas by Pam! Let's talk about that name first. How cute is it? I love it. Whimsical ideas. You can just tell whatever you buy  from her will be amazing. Pam does not disappoint, people!

I give you: Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Nimbus and Peanut Butter Jelly! Love those little black bows!

Back shots! Check out the gold in the PB&J and the silver bars in Nimbus. WOW.

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Let's start off with Nimbus (clear base with silver shimmer, silver and copper hexes and silver bars)
FUN FACT: Nimbus means rain so nimbus clouds will be the really darkish ones.

It looks like a sparkly rain storm in there!

I paired two coats of Nimbus over China Glaze Pelican Grey. 

Sigh. So pretty.

I've had three people compliment me already on this!
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CLOSE UP! I love those silver hexes and bars.

"I don't think you're ready for this jelly!"
Peanut Butter & Jelly (raspberry jelly base with different sized gold glitter)

YUMMY!

I used three coats for PB&J. Very smooth application. I love that you can still easily see all the glitters. I hate when the glitter just cakes on top of each other :(

Pam couldn't have picked a better name for this baby!

I think I need back-ups! 

It's Peanut Butttta jelly timeee!

CLOSE UP! 

You can order Whimsical Ideas by Pam at her FB page or you can e-mail her at pea422000@yahoo.com. Each polish is $10 and well worth it.

PS. Have you checked out my FB page yet? I'm giving away FLOAM, No More Waity, Katie and Mermaid's Dream! 



Wednesday, April 04, 2012

NerdLacquer - Argentum & Carbon Allotrope - Review & Swatches!


NerdLacquer, NerdLacquer. NerdLacquer. Why must you make me so broke? NerdLacquer is custom-blended nail polish inspired by sci-fi favorites and other geekery.  Last month, I jumped into the NerdLacquer frenzy and surfaced (a month later) with two drop-dead-gorgeous bottles of Argentum and Carbon Allotrope. Can I put an emphasis on GORGEOUS? Both of these polishes made my jaw drop in different ways.
CARBON ALLOTROPE is a clear base with medium silver hex glitter, small silver glitter, and silver and white micro-glitter. No dyes, no micas, no tints. The silver-sand color comes from two sizes of POWDERED. DIAMOND. This polish is part of the Special Edition Duo. 

Oh, I'm sorry. What was that last part? Did you say POWDERED DIAMOND?! 

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The allotropes of carbon are the different molecular configurations (allotropes) that pure carbon can take. Like, diamonds.

Carbon Allotrope took about four coats for opacity. Very smooth application. I had no problems with it. One coat of Seche Vite made the top coat smooth to the touch. This would probably look brilliant over a solid nude-colored polish. I just didn't have time to do that but I think it looks pretty amazing standing alone, if I do say so myself.

Out of all the pictures, this one is probably the closest in color accuracy. Maybe a little bit darker in person. It's a sand-colored sparkly. Also, for whatever reason, none of the little hexes wanted to come out and play :( I shook and shook and shook the bottle and they all wanted to chill inside. Maybe next time.

Hey. Wait a second. I know what Carbon Allotrope reminds me of:

Britney Spear's 2000 VMA performance outfit!

NOTE: "Since diamond powder is obviously very abrasive, you'll want to use the soak-off method for removal (saturate a cotton pad in remover, hold/ tape/ foil onto nails for 4-5 minutes and it'll slide right off). Occasional use won't do any damage, of course, but using a few times a week and then RUBBING to remove might scratch up your nails." I swear by this foil method!  


ARGENTUM has multiple sizes of square and hexagonal silver glitter in a glistening foil-spiked base.  Sparkles like pure metal in moonlight. [Ag, 47, 107.8682, transition metal]. This polish is part of the Alchemist Collection.

I swear this thing looks like a disco ball in a bottle. 


Three coats for full coverage. VERY smooth application. One coat of Seche Vite again, did the trick and made it extremely smooth to the touch. Although this did mess with my eyes. This polish is so sparkly, after the first coat, I couldn't even tell where I painted and which needed a second coat. It's sheer, but under the light, it looks opaque. Tricky, Argentum, very tricky.

It's almost foil-y like.


Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle! Argentum, in simple terms, is silver! Get it? :)

Slightly blurred shot to see how shimmery this polish really is. Excuse my crooked middle nail. It grows in like that and I was too excited to wait, okay!? :P Don't judge.

Unfortunately, NerdLacquer's Etsy shop is on vacation, although you can sign up to get an e-mail notification when the shop is taken out of vacation mode. Harlow & Co. and NinjaPolish carry NerdLacquer, but they too are sold out. You can also sign up on both sites for e-mail notifications when the polish will be back in stock. Price ranges from $10 (like Argentum) to $16 (like Carbon Allotrope).

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