Alphabet Challenge: NARS Orgasm

Good old NARS Orgasm. If you don’t know, this color is a major cult classic thanks to the blush of the same color/shade. Personally, I love the blush, so I just had to try the nail polish of the same name, right? Well, Orgasm does not disappoint! It is a beautiful peachy pink with gold shimmer.

The polish is very sheer; the above swatches are three coats. I don’t mind that it’s sheer. This kind of shade is one that lends itself to being sheer because it is so soft looking. The formula is good; maybe a little runny, but nothing difficult to control.

What do you think of this shade? Are you a fan of this NARS line?

Butter London Nudes!

I received a dangerous email from Butter London today with these babies: three new, limited edition NUDES!

Shandy: Opaque, light apricot crème

Crumpet: Opaque, warm caramel crème

Tea & Toast: Opaque, rich tan crème

These are currently available from a few retailers, like Beauty.com and Goop.com. They are $15 each, or you can get the full set for $40 on Goop’s website. Unfortunately, shipping is $10 on Goop, so that takes away the small bargain factor. Beauty.com has free shipping on purchases over $25. Of course, they are also available on Butter London’s website.

What do think of these nudes? Love em? Leave em?

Alphabet Challenge: OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!

Ah, say hello to my pitiful middle and index fingers. 😦 I think that when I was a nail biter, I chewed those two nails the most because they are the WEAKEST of all my nails. Anyway, check out this polish from OPI: Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! Ahaha…this polish has the best name. I could seriously say it over and over again and just laugh hysterically. Silly, I know. I get that from my grandpa!

This polish is from the OPI Germany collection, and part of the Ger-minis set (which I have). This color is so pretty and very unique to my collection! It’s a deep blue/gray that sometimes appears green. This is a shape shifter! I had no problems with the formula on this polish; it is opaque in two coats like most of my OPI polishes.

What do you think of this shade? Do you have anything from the Germany collection?

Alphabet Challenge: Revlon Marmalade

Well, we’re about halfway through the alphabet challenge! I had to admit it has been hard sticking to these letters when there are other polishes I want to talk about! Maybe after this one I will deviate a little? Who knows. Anyway, another Revlon Colorstay polish here: Marmalade!

I absolutely love these polishes, but they truly work best when the entire system is used (the base and top coat). Some people have said this is a dupe for Chanel’s Orange Fizz, but I have no idea if that is true or not. In swatches I have seen, Orange Fizz seems like it has a lot more pink to it.

Marmalade is a great color for summer, and it’s a really wearable orange!

Butter London Fiver Comparisons!

It seems like every spring there is some hot new version of mint green on the market that is ever so slightly different from the other mint greens out there, right? This year is no different of course, with Butter London Fiver being one of those greens. So how does this compare to other shades of mint? Let’s take a look!

I thought the most obvious comparison would be Mint Candy Apple, but these two shades are pretty different from each other. Fiver is truly green while MCA leans more turquoise blue. It is hard to tell here, but in real life, the tone of Absolutely Shore seems more on par with Fiver because of the green tones.

Of the polishes shown, none of them are dupes of each other, but the closest match is Spa Ritual’s Delight. Fiver has the better formula of the two as well and is more opaque. Mermaid’s Tears is much darker than all of these, but it is one of the more famous turquoise colors, so I thought I would throw it in there. 🙂

 

Healthy Hoof Hoof Lacquer Top Coat Review!

Finding a good top coat is like finding a good shampoo: I’ll always wonder if something better is out there. I like Seche Vite, but don’t like the shrinkage, and I love Nubar Diamont but don’t have access to it besides online. Out the Door is a great top coat and I don’t have complaints about it, but this Healthy Hoof Hoof Lacquer caught my eye as it was hiding on the very bottom shelf at Meijer, so I decided to give it a try.

DESCRIPTION:

When groomers saw what Healthy Hoof did for their horses, they used it on their own nails! Now you can use this ultra-protective lacquer to strengthen your brittle nails, and help prevent chipping and cracking. Just brush it on-it dries to a clear, high-gloss shine. Works with or without nail color.

Hoof Lacquer comes in a small brown bottle and is only $3 (I actually paid $2.22 because it was marked down). You can use it alone or as a top coat and as a base coat. I found this product intriguing due to the horse connection. I had no idea that horses lacquered their hooves. 😉 😉

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this as a top coat and bought two more bottles! It is high shine, dries quickly and is a great protective layer for polish. I haven’t used it as a base coat yet so I can’t vouch for it with that quite yet, but I love the finish my nails have when using this as a top coat.

The only thing I don’t like about this product is that the cap and brush are a little awkward. Since it’s just that disc attached to the brush, it’s hard to hold compared to a tapered polish bottle Still, that could be remedied with a nail art brush or a clean polish brush with a tapered handle.

I definitely recommend giving this a try if you ever see it! I was pleasantly surprised by it!

Alphabet Challenge: Essie Loophole

Hello there at the end of this crazy Monday! My oldest dog celebrated his rescue birthday today, so it has been quite the evening for him between steak and carrots and a birthday cake. PLUS, my grandma, who inspired this blog nearly a year ago now, turned 91 today and she was not too pleased that they gave her chocolate cake (I guess she hates it)! Anyway, are you ready to see Loophole?

I found this polish hidden in the deep bins of Big Lots during the huge drugstore closeout sale they had months ago. For less than $3, I figured I would give this color a shot. I swear it looks blueish in the bottle, but it mostly appears to be silver in the photos. This color is surprisingly pretty. There’s nothing that unique about it, but at the same time it isn’t really like anything else I have. I love how crisp and bright it is and was pleasantly surprised by this shade!

Alphabet Challenge: NARS Koliary

NARS Koliary is part of the Spring 2012 NARS collaboration with designer Thakoon Panichgul. This is the only polish I have from the Thakoon collab, and I found it on eBay. The polishes from this collection were unfortunately limited edition, but they do have a good reputation for being some of NARS’ best polishes!

Koliary is a vibrant “cyan blue”. The formula of this polish is perfect and I love how bright this shade is! Luckily, there are similar shades out there if you can’t find this. According to Temptalia, Zoya Robyn is a little lighter than Koliary, so that might be a good match (I do not have Robyn so I can’t compare!).

I love this color and can’t wait to wear it on my toes this summer!

Alphabet Challenge: Revlon Jelly

Happy Valentine’s Day! I feel like I’ve had such a lack of posts here lately, but my job is seriously stressing me out right now. I think that people assume everything is rosy all the time just because I work from home, but that is definitely NOT the case. Since I haven’t had a car in nearly a month due to my car accident, that is making me even more cranky. Combine that with NO SUNSHINE and I’m just losing my marbles. Anyway…I’m getting a new car tomorrow (yay!) and I have my six amazing fur babies by my side today so it’s not all bad! OH- My mom also sent us a valentine box full of cookies she made, plus there were some goodies for me, including a sweater, two books, and a pair of sandals!

So, Revlon Top Speed polish in the shade Jelly- it sure pulls red in these shots but it’s more of a red pink. Definitely more pink in person; this is a very pretty color and the shots above are just one coat! I am crazy about the formula of these Top Speed polishes. They are super pigmented, dry quickly, and go on smoothly! This is NOT a jelly polish either. You can tell that from looking at it in the bottle, but with the jelly polish craze I figure it is worth mentioning.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

Alphabet Challenge: OPI The Impossible

Before getting into the polish, I have to thank my dear friend, Holly, for this polish since it was part of her giveaway that I won! The Impossible from the OPI Mariah Carey set of minis, and includes the new liquid sand formula!

This polish is red and contains some larger chunks of glitter; it even has stars in it, which I haven’t encountered in my mini bottle yet, but I’m okay with that. Original swatches of the Mariah Carey collection left me uninterested, but when the collection was released and more swatches popped up, the colors were a lot more appealing so I was really excited to try these new colors! I actually love this shade of red. It’s very “candy” like, which is appropriate for Mariah, don’t you think?

I really do love this liquid sand finish because it’s textured and interesting; I find myself staring at my nails constantly when it’s on! The Impossible definitely glows on the nails too. 🙂 Thank you again, Holly!!