CORAL SHOWDOWN.

L-R: Wet n Wild Blazed, Sinful Colors Island Coral, Butter London Trout Pout, Sally Hansen Coral Fever

I have a coral problem. They speak to my heart and are the perfect shade for my skin tone regardless of the season. I was going through my collection and noticed these four shades look super similar, so I swatched them on a nail wheel to see how they all compare to Trout Pout..and ... here we are!



WnW Blazed is more peach toned and darker than Trout Pout. Sally Hansen Coral Fever is also darker, but more pink toned.

Now, Sinful Colors Island Coral is a bit thin. That's three coats. I obviously didn't wait for any of these layers to dry so it looks like my nail wheel is melting. ANYWAY! Sinful Colors Island Coral, in my opinion, is a dupe for Butter London Trout Pout. Trout Pout has a much better formula. It's a bit thicker. That's two coats in the photo. But, ignoring the bald spots in Island Coral and the colors aren't that discernible!

If you want Trout Pout but don't to shell out $14 for it, go buy Sinful Colors Island Coral for .99 cents this week (regularly 1.99 at Walgreen's). The formula is different but the color is the same! I'm sitting here with my nail wheel right up to my face and I cannot see a difference.

Thoughts?

Intergalactic planetary, planetary intergalactic

I tried my hand at galaxy nails last night and can't say I was terribly successful...but it wasn't a huge fail, either. The pointer finger is the only one that really turned out so I took a separate photo of that one. I'm definitely going to be putting these back on the "try again" list. I didn't have a toothpick for my stars so they came out more like angry comets.

I used Sally Hansen Black Diamonds for my base and sponged on Zoya Creamy and Gia, Sinful Colors Snow me White, Nail Junkie, and Hottie, and Sally Hansen Loves me Not from the new 2012 Spring Runway Collection (WHICH IS AMAZING and I will be showing you this color alone later this week)

MEH. I did both hands but I can't really photograph both hands that well.

Zoya Julieannie - take II

Zoya Julieanne was one of the first few posts I did. The photo was really lacking though considering I took the photo in my kitchen, so I decided to try again. This photo isn't so hot, either. I took about 50 of them and only one came out.

Julieanne is from the 2010 Wicked collection. It's a very deep, blackened, jewel-toned blue-based purple with lavender flakes of glitter. It's STUNNING. Come on, I used four adjectives just to describe what shade of purple it is! In the bottle it shows this beautiful gold-glitter but that doesn't resonate on the nail at all, which is a huge bummer. Imagine how much more awesome this polish would be if the gold showed up? It's even described on the website as being a peachy-gold duochrome but...it's not. It's just a gorgeous deep purple glitter.

This is two coats of Julieanne, you really don't need more than two!

If you like Julieanne, you can buy her here.

Models Own

Quick post before bed, it is midnight after all!

Models Own Juicy Jules. A rather thick scattered holo-glitter in a clear base.

This is REALLLLLLY scattered. It barely shows up on camera but does look pretty in person. This is 2 coats. Maybe more coats = more fun holo?

baaack.

Back from my...mini road trip vacation. It DID NOT turn out at all how I wanted and I'm incredibly bummed about it. A bad hangover, torn cuticles, and three broken nails later I should've just stayed home. Oh well. I'll try to get some content to post for you guys shortly.

Until then, have you entered the Rated Holographic giveaway yet? Click the link on the right of the page and good luck.

Zoya Kimber vs China Glaze Strawberry Fields

This is a quick nail wheel comparrison of Zoya Kimber, from the 2012 Beach & Surf collection, and China Glaze Strawberry Fields from the 2009 Summer Days collection.

As you can see, they're really close. Dangerously close. The left is China Glaze Strawberry Fields and the right is Zoya Kimber. Kimber is much deeper and the gold is more prominent. Strawberry Fields is a lighter, more fruity pink and the gold is just the tiniest bit more sparse.

This is taken indoors, with flash, because someone asked for a comparison at 1030 at night.




I want to say I love Kimber more - I love how much deeper she is...but in all honesty, choosing would be like choosing a favorite child or picking only one dessert at Golden Corral. It is not going to happen.

BRB REAL QUICK

Helloooo, all. I'm going on a little mini-break-from-reality vacation until next monday. I'll see what I can do about updating and getting some posts together to just automatically post while I'm gone.

I'll miss you all. Try not to let everything go to hell, okay?

Tumblr

I love tumblr and I love tumblrs where readers can submit their own photos. I've made one today...it's called Nail Polish and F---ing Cupcakes.

Submit your mani's with cupcakes here. I want to see them. I want to drool over your cupcakes and nail art.

Enjoy. I know I'm going to.

Floral Newsprint Nails

I love the look of floral nails and I've always wanted to try but never really got the gusto to do them until last night. I decided to try them over newsprint nails. My newsprint didn't show up very strong but I still like the look a lot. The flowers are relatively abstract, but hey..nail art is..art, it doesn't have to be perfect, just color in the lines (harharhar). I really do love these, and next time will be using maybe one or two more colors  for the flowers.

The clean up on this was...annoying. I always forget it's easier to clean up BEFORE adding seche vite on top.

I used Essie Sand Tropez for the base, Zoya Lara and Shelby for the flowers, and this mint green Color Club for the leaves. I used my dotting tools for all this. Unfortunately, after doing a sink full of dishes, this mani didn't make it past the 24 hour mark. Oh well, I have other plans for my nails anyway. )

Sinful Colors: .99 Cents at Walgreen's this week! + free revlon at target?

With Sinful Colors going on sale for .99 cents at Walgreen's this week, I thought I would make a list of my favorite/must haves from what I currently own. I'll try to get some better swatches in/swatches in general of this list so you guys have a clearer idea of what they look like!


1. Hottie - light cornflower blue base with pink, white, and blue iridescent glitter :
http://sun-driedlacquer.blogspot.com/2012/02/color-clubsinful-colors.html
2. Cinderella - light baby blue creme with gold glitter
3. Nail Junkie - navy jelly base with green, white, gold glitter:
http://sun-driedlacquer.blogspot.com/2012/02/sinful-colors-nail-junkie.html
4. Amethyst - gorgeous dusty purple creme:
http://sun-driedlacquer.blogspot.com/2012/02/sinful-colors-amethyst.html
5. Snow Me White - best white creme for nail art:
http://sun-driedlacquer.blogspot.com/2012/02/sinful-colors-snow-me-white.htmlhttp://sun-driedlacquer.blogspot.com/2012/02/nail-art-saturday.html


Man, I really need to redo those swatches. POLISH DOES NOT GO ON THE SKIN. blargh. :)

ALSO!

Check your Sunday newspapers. There should be a coupon in there for $3 off a revlon nail polish with the purchase of a revlon beauty tool. You can stack this coupon with a store coupon to make for one sweet beauty deal!

I know that www.target.com has a coupon on their website for $2 off any revlon colorstay longwear nail color. Find yourself a cheap revlon beauty tool (check your clearance!!), pick your colorstay nail polish (I recommend rain forest), grab your coupons and it should make for a free revlon nail polish. These retail for 4.99, if you stack the newspaper coupon with the internet printable, that's $5 off - FREE POLISH! :) Just pay for your beauty tool!

Zoya Tanzy

Zoya Tanzy. Another gem I swapped for and put away in the depths of my polish drawer - never to see the light of day until I feel like swatching. Tanzy reminds me a lot of OC Cooler, but OC Cooler is a bit darker.

This is three coats of Tanzy. It's a great, light orange color with tons of gold glitter. TONS. My camera had no idea what to do with itself so it ran away and pouted in the corner until I decided to manually focus on my nails.

IT'S SO PURDY, and summery! I think I might put this on my toes once I take Rory off. I haven't decided yet.

Zoya Rica

I received Zoya Rica in a swap and just pulled her out today. I don't know what took me so long. I love these modern rose gold colors. Rica is a light, coral-pink with lots and LOTS of gold glitter throughout. It looks amazing against fair skin and just flickers in the sunlight. I took so many photos where my camera just didn't know what to do.

These photos are two coats, no top coat. I will definitely be pulling this color out more. It's such a stunner!

Models Own Nail Mail

I love the nail polish community. Everyone is so helpful, caring, and generous. One big lacquer lovefest, you all tug at my heart strings! There is a very lovely woman in England who helped me nab Fantasy Fire awhile back. This time, she wanted a Julep mystery box but they don't ship to England soooo, I bought her mystery box and she bought me an equal amount in Models Own. Including a mini beetlejuice set!

From left to right we have: Fuzzy Peach, Garnet, Juicy Jules, and the mini beetlejuice set.

I am so excited. I've wanted to get my hands on some Models Own for awhile but it's like $30 in shipping alone! I'm so happy I was able to help out a friend get a (rather heavy!) mystery box, and in return have some models own in my collection. Finally. :)

Now, Models Own is NOT 3 free! Toluene, Formaldehyde Resin AND Camphor are in these polishes. But if you could see my face right now, you'd realize honey badger don't care. I won't be using these on my daughter, but I have no qualms about sitting in an unventilated basement painting my nails with my new pretties. 

I'll take better photos of these later today, and swatches of them all of course. I'll probably do it all in one beautiful, spammy post.

Julep May Colors

The Julep May colors for the maven box are up and it looks like Julep is trying their hand (harhahar) at magnetic polish!

IT GIRL




Ashley: Sunset orange with a metallic micro-shimmer.
Nessa: Bright lemon sorbet shimmer.
Kylie + Polish Magnet: Sultry violet magnetic polish. It’s gorgeous without the magnetic effect, or use the included magnet to create dark accent stripes in whatever direction you choose.


AMERICAN BEAUTY



Ellie: Opalescent seashell pink with holographic shimmer.
Kylie + Polish Magnet: Sultry violet magnetic polish. It’s gorgeous without the magnetic effect, or use the included magnet to create dark accent stripes in whatever direction you choose.


BOHO GLAM




Sheryl: Sheer butterscotch shimmer with a hint of golden bronze.
Kylie + Polish Magnet: Sultry violet magnetic polish. It’s gorgeous without the magnetic effect, or use the included magnet to create dark accent stripes in whatever direction you choose.


BOMBSHELL



Fina: Sky blue metallic with a mod chrome finish.
Sarah: Sheer pink coral with iridescent and glitter.


What do you guys think?

OPI DS Reserve

Another fairly old swatch - OPI DS Reserve. I took this the same day as yesterday's Radiance. Reserve is a light pink shade with really pretty holo glitter throughout. It's subtle but very stunning. This is two coats.

Bang, bang.

Thanks to a lovely woman in the Zoya Exchange on facebook, I am now the proud owner of Dior Waterlily. Come to mama. You look cold.

OPI Ds Radiance

OPI DS Radiance looks like liquid silver. It's awesome and applies easily in one coat, it looks amazing in two. It's actually fairly easy to remove, as well. It's one of those shades that seems to show every flaw in my nail, though. This is a really old swatch but I have nothing else to post today! Eek.

Covergirl: Spellbound

Today I have Covergirl Spellbound from the Lip Perfection lipstick line. These lipsticks retail for around 5.99 and can be found at any drugstore or "super center" store. 

Spell bound is a bright, creamy fuchsia. It applies like a dream and is matte in its formula. It's quite moisturizing, my lips felt very smooth when I was wearing this lipstick. I get about 4 1/2 hours of straight wear out of it before it starts to completely fade. It lasted through lunch, drinks, and a few snacks in between without me having to reapply it. When it fades it leaves a fuchsia tint to the lips. In my opinion, it looks good even at that fade point.

This color is beautiful, it's one of my favorites. You can probably tell that from the amount of wear my lipstick container has...you can't even read "spellbound" at the bottom anymore so I didn't bother to take a photo of it.

If you're new to bright lipstick this is a great stepping stone. You can press it onto your lips and use it as a stain or use it as a lipstick. It brings a gorgeous, fresh pop of color to the face. It is definitely more blue based than red based. I highly recommend you go pick up this color if you don't have it already.

My natural lip:



With one light application of Spellbound:






This is my first lipstick review and I'm still getting used to taking shots of my lips, so bear with me like you all did at the beginning of the blog and my swatches/application were just atrocious. :)

Giveaway

I've decided I'm going to giveaway China Glaze Rated Holographic anyway! BECAUSE I FREAKING CAN.  So good luck!

Essence

About Essence:

• Affordable cosmetics with a range of colors
• No animal testing!

Essence is a brand that I often see a lot of swatches of and wish I could try, but don't have access to without annoying shipping costs. My first experience with Essence was great, and I still need to post about it. I took part in an Australian beauty swap and the lovely lady whom I was paired with sent me this stay with me lip gloss called "me & my ice cream". It's this beautiful baby pink. I'll do a review of it tomorrow.

Anyway - the company generously mailed me an adorable notebook (that I do not have a photo of, bad blogger!) and two nail polishes.



(left) Wanna be your Sunshine and (right) walk on air.

On the Bottle:

Nail polish with flat brush-quick dry: trendy nailstyle within seconds!

I'm currently hanging out at my mom's for the next few days so I do not have my nifty editing program to crop and brighten the photos up a bit. No big deal, the swatches aren't atrocious by any means but they haven't really been cleaned up. Oh well..I do suppose it's a testament to my photography skills and what needs to improve. I also left my macro attachment so this is as close as I could get to these gorgeous colors. Could I BE anymore unprepared? With that being said, I'll have...more than one photo of each color.

First up? Blue me Away. In the bottle it looks a smidge darker. On the nail it's a fantastic cobalt blue, something I do not own! It goes on great in two coats and dries in about 5 minutes. These are "colour & go" polishes so they're supposed to dry..quickly. This color did. I love it, it's so...hanging-out-in-my-polka-dot bikini-while-my-boyfriend-surfs.





Next? Wanna be your Sunshine.

First, I love the name. It's adorable. Yes, I DO want to be your sunshine! In the bottle the color is a banana yellow, with a slight golden shimmer to it. On the nail the shimmer becomes much more prominent. Application is that of a typical yellow. A huge pain. Use three thin coats and you'll have an easier time. This color didn't dry as fast as "Walk on Air" did. The combination of a difficult color in general and more coats left me with wet nails after about 10 minutes. It's not a huge deal, and I'm guessing with a different top coat (I used julep's fast dry..never again) you might get a quicker dry time. The color is beautiful and cheery - perfect for summer. The golden shimmer really adds another dimension that helps this color come alive. You'll want to enlarge the photos to get a better grasp on the color and see the shimmer.





Final Verdict:

Great colors, decent formula, and they're very affordable, too. The brush is fantastic. Stiff but flexible, no spare hairs and just the right size for my nail. I will be buying more colors and letting you guys know how that goes! According to the essence website you can buy these at Fred Meyer, Ulta, and H-E-B in the states. In Canada you can buy them at Shopper's Drug Mart and Pharmaprix.

Here is the link to the ulta page with Essence nail polish! .49-.99 cents! I plan on buying No More Drama, You Belong to Me, Choose Me, Let's Get Lost (um, one of my favorite songs ever, by Elliott Smith!) and High Spirits. And A Lovely Secret..and Gleam in Blue..and Wake up..

These colors were provided to me by Essence. My opinions are only influenced by how hungry I am..and currently I have WAY too much sugar pumping through my system I feel like my teeth are going to pop out of my mouth at any moment. ;)

glitter sandwich

Here is my first attempt at a glitter sandwich. I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Barracuda and then added two coats of Rainbow in the S-kylie. After that dried I added one more tin coat of Barracuda and then added seche vite on top! I am in LOVE with this manicure so much. I feel like eating my nails because they look like candy. I look at my nails and feel like I'm at a carnival with cotton candy in one hand and powdered sugar on my face.

Unfortunately, we've had quite the bout of clouds and rain here lately. It's great for the Earth, but not so great for taking photos. All these photos are overcast and drab looking. I'll see what I can do about getting better photos when the sun is out. :)

Hair of the Day

I've decided to try something a bit new and start a "Hair style of the day" post once a week. I had a lot of fun with the sockbun curls post. :)

I bought this cheetah print headband and Claire's and I love it! It makes my hair look effortless and has this rockabilly/retro look to it that I love.

I actually haven't washed may hair for about 3 days in this photo, which is why I went for a messy bun+headband look. That was definitely helped with some Suave dry shampoo. I should add I do SHOWER every day (lol), but I wash my hair only twice a week. I've found it gets less greasy that way.

Here's a close up of the head band. I love it so much.



And a side view (the best view I could manage) of the hairstyle today: