Nubar - Indigo Illusion

Nubar... I wonder why I haven't heard much of this brand. O.M.G... it is gorgeous. The colour, the consistency, the brush, the shape of the bottle top, etc etc.  Where should I start?

As soon as I unscrewed the top and held the handle in my fingers, ready to apply the polish, I knew the little handle was perfect.  It curves out a bit near the bottom, so my fingers rest nicely on there... which gives me so much control.  The application of the polish was so consistent and so easy.  The colour is a duo chrome of a purply-pink and a greenish-blue colour.  Just beautiful!

I bought this Nubar polish for about $10, which is in the same price range as O.P.I.  Now O.P.I has some competition in my collection!!

Have you tried Nubar polishes before?

 

 

Julep - Sienna

Christmas is over, but the holiday mood is still in the air! So, I decided to go for this gold polish. Julep's Sienna applies very consistently and is opaque in 2 coats! The colour is classic, yet trendy at the same time. It is a shimmery gold, perfect for the lingering holiday atmosphere. I received this from a Julep Maven Box a few months ago... in September I think.

The Julep Maven program is perfect for a nail polish addict like myself! It is a $20 monthly subscription service that ships you nail polish and other Julep beauty products worth over $60! What's more is that you can choose your own style and what products/colours you want to receive next month. Also, free shipping is the BEST part!

To join, click here! You won't regret it!

http://julep.com/?r=13878052

 

Candy Cane Manicure

Tomorrow is the last day of work before the Christmas holidays, so I thought I would spice up the day with a festive manicure. I started by applying a nude colour on to all my nails except the ring finger. I then applied a red polish to my ring finger, and red French tips to the rest of my nails. I used a white striper to add stripes on all the tips and the ring finger. Ta da! A festive candy cane manicure! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and stay safe over the holidays!

Here are all the products I used:

O.P.I - Original Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Sally Hansen - Nearly Nude

wet n wild Wild Shine - Red Red

Kiss Brush On Nail Art Paint - White

Sally Hansen - Mega Shine Extended Wear Top Coat

O.P.I - Designer... De Better! + Sephora by O.P.I - Only Gold for Me

Since I bought O.P.I's Designer... De Better! from the Muppets holiday collection, it's been on my to-wear list. On its own, it is beautiful! It's a silver shimmery base with tiny specks of pink sparkles. I wanted to add gold glitter on the tips of my nails to create a sparkly French manicure of the like. However, it did not work out so well. The gold glitter was rather sparse, so I had to put on many layers before it became opaque. This caused a bump of polish at the tip of the nails. From afar, the nails look nice and sparkly, but up close, I'm just not satisfied with it. I guess I did not choose the right combination of colours and design. These polishes are beautiful on their own. I will definitely wear Designer... De Better! again on its own later on!

Essie - Mink Muffs

In the photo below, I applied two coats of polish. This polish turned out to be a slightly darker brown than I'd thought. I like it and I like the consistency and application of it, but I don't love it as much as all the hype about this polish. Perhaps the manicure I just took off was also kind of dark in colour. Either way, this is still a good one. It's pretty neutral in colour, so I'm sure I'll dig it out again to wear another time.

RGB - Black + China Glaze - Tinsel Town

Hi everyone!  Over the weekend, I had a holiday party to attend and my dress was black.  I decided to do this manicure, which pretty much has a black base with a very shiny and opaque silver glitter.  The black is from RGB.  It's actually a lighter black with a tiny bit a shimmer.  I then added China Glaze's Tinsel Town, which I had no idea was so opaque!  My manicure came out to be very shiny/shimmery/glitta-glittery!

This is the first time I've tried RGB polishes.  The application was easy and the consistency was great.  However, the handle of the wand (the cap of the bottle) is way too small and short.  It is a bit difficult to have good control on the polish application.  Anyways, that's my quick little rant about RGB, which supposedly is very long wearing.  We shall see about that! ;)

Essie - Bordeaux

Essie Canada has started posting one of Essie Weingarten's polish picks everyday for the month of December on their Facebook page.  This is to celebrate Essie's 30th anniversary.

Anyway, so the Day 4 pick was Bordeaux.  Here's what Essie Weingarten (creator of Essie) had to say about it: "Like a fine bottle of red wine, with all the mystery and subtlety to match, this intoxicating red was a real head-turner and a total game-changer."

www.facebook.com/EssieCanada

I saw this post and dug it out of my collection to wear.  It's perfect for the holiday season and I couldn't agree with the quote more.  It really is like a fine bottle of red wine!  I'm in love with the colour.  HOWEVER... maybe it's just the way I applied it, but it seems like the tips of my nails have a slightly darker colour than the bottom.  It was really evident after the first coat, but after the second coat, it was less noticeable.  Oh well, no one will really see the difference since I'm the only one who always stares at my nails up close anyway!  Haha.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro - Rags to Riches + NYX Girls - Carnival

This is a satin earthy green colour. I love it, not only for the colour, but also for the consistency of the polish. It applies very smoothly and easy to control. It's also an inexpensive product accessible from drug stores. This one's a good buy!

http://www.rimmellondon.com/ca/en/products/lasting-finish-pro-nail-lacquer/

Of course, a few days later, I like to add something to my manicure to make it a little bit different, so that I can wear it just a tad longer :)  Here, to start on the holiday spirit, I've added NYX Girls' Carnival.  This is extremely similar to all the other multi-coloured glitter polishes out there, whether it's O.P.I's Rainbow Connection, Nicole by O.P.I's Rainbow in the S-Kylie, or even Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday.  To me, they are all the same, except maybe Deborah Lippmann's may be more opaque with fewer coats.  Either way, this NYX Girls one is what I have.  It's got both large and small glitters in the colours red, green, silver, yellow and blue.  This is my first time trying any NYX Girls nail polish.  At first, I didn't have any special comments about it.  It was just a regular glitter polish... nothing special... except the price is much cheaper than the other brands of glitter polishes mentioned above.  However... boy, was I wrong!... it took much longer to dry and when I removed the polish after one day, glitter was flying everywhere.  It just was not what a good polish is like.  So, all in all, I guess there's a reason why O.P.I and Deborah Lippmann kind of brands charge the prices that they do!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Violet VOOM + Nicole by O.P.I - Such a Go-Glitter

I've been so busy this week that I haven't really had time to change up my nails too often or post any detailed entries/pictures.  Here's a quick one.  This photo was taken on Day 3, so please excuse the chipping.  I painted the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Violet VOOM on my nails to match my dress I wore for a party.  It then looked a bit dull the next day, so I added some sparkle to it!  The blue glitter blended in well with the polish and it looked like I only applied one glittery blue polish on my nails instead of layering them.

Hope you like it!

Revlon - Copper Penny

Wow, I think this is actually my very first Revlon nail polish.  I'm not that surprised though because Revlon's colours don't really catch my attention much.  OR I already have most of the same colours from other brands.  This colour, Copper Penny, is however a little bit unique/different.  I first heard about it from both Ingrid (missglamorazzi) and Alison (amarixe).  I just bought this polish recently and added it to my "next polish to put on" list.  (No, I don't actually make a list.  I just have a few polishes that I want to wear in mind for the next time I change out my polish.)

What can I say.  Copper Penny is literally like wearing brand spanking new pennies on my nails!  It's plain and very wearable, but the semi metallic look really adds that something special to it.  Overall, I'm quite pleased with the colour and consistency.  Oh!!  It was opaque in ONE coat.  I can't believe I almost forgot about that!  Yes, I must say I was quite impressed!

Essie - Lady Like

I know I'm just a tad late for getting onto the Lady Like bandwagon, but here I am! I debated for a long time whether to get this polish (because of course I already have tons of polishes!). I think I did end up buying it during a BOGO 50% off sale.

Anyway, the colour is a muted pink / mauve, which is very classy and chic at the same time. It also has a great consistency and I noticed that there was barely any streaking!  However, I like this polish much more in the bottle than on my nails. It looks too subtle and almost pale against my skin tone. Nonetheless, it's still such a pretty colour for the fall season!

http://www.essie.com/shop/lady-like-p-396.html

O.P.I - Planks A Lot + China Glaze - Marry A Millionaire

This combination really works well.  I love the outcome!  Let's talk about O.P.I's Planks A Lot first.  This was from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection earlier this year.  I had been eyeing this polish, but couldn't justify paying another $10 for it.  Recently, I found it on sale, and I wore it right away!  It's such a nice creamy colour with a smooth consistency.  In these photos, I applied three thin coats.

Next is China Glaze's Marry A Millionaire from the new Eye Candy collection.  I am in love... ohh absolutely in love!  This is such an interesting glitter!  It contains tiny round pink and purple glitters with thin long fibre-like strips of purple, green... maybe some gold?  Oh gosh, it's so colourful, I just can't tell anymore!  Hopefully you can see them in the photos below!

O.P.I - Significant Other Color + Movember

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the duo chrome effect of O.P.I's Significant Other Color. It applied a bit sheer, but can be layer to be more opaque. I'm just mesmerized by how clear you can see the light purple and light green in the duo chrome!

A couple days later, I added one coat of pale pink crackle polish on top.  I ordered this one from www.bornprettystore.com.  The brand is Laushine, and the label on the bottom of the bottle is the number 5.  On the website, it's called Pink Color New Instant Cracking Nail Polish Nail Art-L005.  I love it because the bigger brands out there like O.P.I or China Glaze don't have crackle polishes in this colour.  On top of that, this polish cracks and dries almost instantly!  It is quite matte when dried, so if that's the look you're going for, then it's perfect.  If not, you will definitely have to add a top coat.

http://www.bornprettystore.com/pink-color-instant-cracking-nail-polish-nail-l005-p-1302.html

AND... since it's Movember and I can't grow a mustache, I thought I would contribute in my own way! =)

Halloween French Manicure

I've seen so many Halloween nail tutorials on YouTube lately, but I just haven't had the time to try any of them. Tomorrow is Halloween, so I don't have much time left!! I decided to create my own Halloween French tip. It's easy and fun to do, and doesn't take too much time!

I started off with a base coat (O.P.I - Original Nail Envy Nail Strengthener), then applied one thick coat of China Glaze's Cross Iron 360 from their Ski Collection. (This colour alone was perfect for autumn, but of course I was going for a more Halloween inspired look.) I then used a black polish to create the French tip (Anna Sui - 024). Finally, I applied one coat of glow-in-the-dark nail polish (O.P.I - Zom-body To Love) on top of the black tip. Now the tip becomes a dark green to black colour. I finished off with a top coat (Sally Hansen - Mega Shine).

Here's a recap of all the products I used:

O.P.I - Original Nail Envy Nail Strengthener  (http://x.opi.com/trNenvy.asp)

China Glaze - Cross Iron 360  (http://www.chinaglaze.com/try-me/)

Anna Sui - 024

O.P.I - Zom-body To Love

Sally Hansen - Mega Shine Extended Wear Top Coat  (http://sallyhansen.com/products/nails/nail-care/mega-shine)

Nicole by O.P.I - Drying Drops  (http://www.nicolebyopi.com/products/drying-drops)

Essie - Cocktail Bling + O.P.I - Servin' Up Sparkle

This is from Essie's newly released Winter 2011 collection. I'm not sure why this colour was named Cocktail Bling because this does not remind me of cocktails whatsoever... or maybe I've just misunderstood something..? Either way, Cocktail Bling is a cream blue-toned gray colour. Or in other words, it's very toned down grayish blue. I really like the consistency of this polish. Unlike most Essie polishes, this one is much less streaky. It also gives a nice cream finish. The photos below were taken without a top coat. I wouldn't say that this polish reminds me of winter or the holidays, but cheers to Essie for launching a creamy winter collection, unlike other brands' glittery ones.

http://www.essie.com/shop/cocktail-bling-p-402.html

Two days later... with top coat and different lighting...

Another day later... topped my nails up with O.P.I's Servin' Up Sparkle.  NOW this gives me a wintery feel =)