Fall Giveaway Winner!

Hi ladies,

Fall Giveaway is over. Thank you everyone who participated. Stay tuned for more giveaways. I will be holding another one very soon.

The lucky winner of Lynderella and Hare Polish is….

Christine Ryca Briant

Congratulations!!! I e-mailed you with the details.

OPI German-icure

German-icure is a blackened red shimmer with brown undertones. It’s quite a vampy shade. It’s is also probably more appropriate for fall or winter. I used 2 coats. The application is very smooth. 

I swatched Every Month is Oktoberfest here. Germani-cure is very similar in texture and overall look. The only difference is that Oktoberfest is purple and German-icure is red/brown. 

Caution: Both polishes do not go well with Seche Vite top coat. Top coat starts chipping of immediately leaving the nail polish intact though.

Chanel Délicatesse

Hello Beauties,

Chanel Delicatesse is the second nail polish I purchased from Les Twin-Sets Fashion Night Out Collection. You can see my review of Provocation here.

I actually bought the entire set with matching lipstick. I love mauve/nude shades; you can wear these types of colors on any occasion.

Chanel Delicatesse is a perfect opaque peach-rose- beige nail polish. It is really hard to describe the color. I was looking for this type of shade for a long time. It has a hint of brown, but it is not overpowering. Instead, the nail polish has some rose undertones. You can find a lot of substitutes of this shade; In short, it is neutral beige. On the other hand, I wasn’t able to find exact dupes with the same opacity and color.

Hare Polish Cosmo Blossoms

As most of you know by now, I’m holding a small Giveaway. You can check it here. One of the prizes is Hare Polish Cosmo Blossoms.Today I’m going to show you how Cosmo Blossoms will look on your nails.

Cosmo Blossoms is a lavender jelly polish with bright green glitter of various sizes. I love it; it is subtle, yet very unique. The only problem is that lavender base looks baby pink when you apply 1 or 2 coats. So I had to apply 3 coats to get the color I wanted. The polish is not thick at all, although there is a lot of glitter in the bottle. It applies easily with glitter evenly distributed on the nail. I had no problems with the application. It dries relatively fast and stays on the nails without chipping for 3-4 days.

Hare Polish is available at Llarowe shop. You can also check it out at Hare Polish Etsy store.

Chanel Provocation Swatches and Review

Hi Ladies,

Today I’m showing you vampy Chanel Provocation from Fashion’s Night Out Limited Collection. It is sold with the matching lipstick, but it is too dark for my skin tone, so I skipped this one. 

Chanel Provocation is a deep wine shade with hints of cherry and burgundy. I can’t say that this color is unique, but I don’t have similar polishes; besides it is timeless and classy. If you are looking for the dupe, I think Zoya Toni looks close in the direct sunlight.

The application is great. I don’t always love Chanel’s brushes, but this one is perfect. On the other hand, people with bigger nails might find it too narrow. Polish dries fast and quite durable. I applied 2 coats for the full opacity, because the finish is somewhat between jelly and cream.

HITS No Olimpo Apolo Swatches

Apolo is a part of HITS NO Olimpo collection. It’s a stunning deep blue holographic nail polish. It seems to be very pigmented in the bottle, but it I can’t say it is as opaque as some other holos own (for example , A-England). Thus you will need 3 coats to reach max opacity. The texture is closer to jelly, but the polish is not thick and easy to apply.

OPI Germany Collection 2012 – Every Month is Oktoberfest

I was anticipating OPI Germany Collection to be absolutely stunning. Well, nothing is new in terms of finishes, but collection is definitely lovely and very well composed. Maybe because I own so many polishes, I can’t be fascinated with entire collection and buy all of the polishes as I used to anymore:). Overall, there are definitely some timeless and classic pieces like Don't Pretzel my Buttons and Schnapps Out of It.

I got only 2 of the polishes from this collection so far: Every Month is Oktoberfest and German-icure.

Every Month is Oktoberfest is blackened base with mix of dark purple metallic shimmer. The shade is very complex and definitely looks “rich”. It’s almost black under the indoor artificial light. In sunlight it reminded me of Max Factor Fantasy Fire. Great polish to have in your collection. Every Month is Oktoberfest definitely more on the classics side.

The application is flawless; only 2 thin coats are needed for the full opacity. It also dries fast and durable as most of the OPI polishes.
The only strange thing I noticed is that it doesn’t go well with Seche Vite top coat. After one day of wear clear top coat started chipping off. At the same time, the nail polish itself didn’t chip at all and stayed for 5 days.

Lynderella and Hare Polish Giveaway

Hi Ladies,
It’s time for the new small giveaway!!! This time I’m giving out Lynnderella Cauldron Drippings and Hare Polish.

I accidentally ordered 2 similar Hare polishes from Etsy and Llarowe, so you will get 1 absolutely new
“Cosmo Blossoms” Hare polish.

I also mentioned a while back that I’m planning to start giving out Lynnderella polishes from my collection. I decided to start with Cauldron Drippings, it’s very appropriate for fall season. I used it only once for swatching and the nail polish hasn’t been opened ever since. 

 
The lucky winner will receive both of the nail polishes. The giveaway is international. The winner will be announced after October 6th.
Good Luck Everyone!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Indie Polish Alert: A Rhyming Dictionary

Hi everyone,
Today I’m going to show you one of the great Indie Brands on Etsy: A Rhyming Dictionary. Morgan, the owner of the store and the creator of the polishes takes her inspiration from the Oz books. She has more than 25 quite diverse polishes, mostly glitters of all kinds (you know I have a soft spot for glitters:)).
You can check her entire collection on Etsy here or on A Rhyming Dictionary Facebook Page. Polishes cost 7.50$. You can also order any polish in mini size for $3.50.

So, today's spotlight polishes are: White Pearl, Kaliko and Kaliko II.

White Pearl is not exactly white. It’s a light blue cream base with grey undertones and slight pearl shimmer. I really like the shimmer idea as I mentioned in some previous reviews; it really evens out the tone of the nail polish and makes the application  process (in terms of color and streaks) easier. Polish also contains blue, green, red, yellow and silver glitter of various sizes. It reminds me of P&P Jawbreaker mixed with Lynnderella’s Gotta Love Brains. The application is easy; the texture is on the thinner side;I used 3 coats for the full opacity.

Kaliko is a silver, black and rich purple shard glitter. It is a top coat and should be used with the colored base. I used A-England Galahad as a base. This is my first shard glitter; I know it’s quite popular now, but somehow I never had an urge to buy it, because I thought it will look unattractive on small and short nails. Well, I had to change my opinion. It looks great and created a quite unique effect on the nails. My favorite part about this polish is the purple glitter; it really stands out on the nails and adds the “surprise” factor. The application is easy – 2 coats are enough. This polish dries very fast.

Kaliko II is also a shard glitter, but it has a red jelly base. The glitter is bloody red and bright turquoise. I love the turquoise part. As you can see from the picture it’s almost neon. Got a lot of compliments about my nails wearing Kaliko II.

Nails Inc. Sweets Way Sprinkles

Hi Girls,

I hope everyone’s summer is going well J

Today I’m showing you one of the polishes from Nails Inc. Sprinkles collection. Although I prefer to buy glitters from the indie brands, I couldn’t resist. Nails Inc. surprised me with the simplicity and originality at the same time. All the polishes are just “yummy” and color combination is great.

Sweets Way Sprinkles is a beige cream base with light blue, pink and silver glitter. Glitter particles are not as sparkly as in other polishes, so it creates a subtle, but colorful pastel statement. Color combination makes the polish wearable almost for all occasions.

I used 2 coats for the full opacity. The polish is a bit thick due to the abundance of glitter, but it applies evenly and dries fast.

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

Happy Monday Lovely Ladies,

Today I have a gorgeous Sally Hansen polish to show you. Pacific Blue is a bright, almost neon blue crème. The color is adorable. I like to use it for both mani and pedi, especially during summer time.

The application is easy, although the formula is on the thicker side. I think it will get even thicker with time (common for many SH polishes). 2 coats are enough for the full opacity. Durability is great (no chipping for 5 days).

If you don’t have Sally Hansen polishes where you live, you can find some dupes from other brands. Pacific Blue is a close dupe for Nails Inc. “Baker Street” and Sephora “Myrtille” ( you can check the swatches here).

Revlon Naughty

Hi Girls,
Sorry for my absence lately. It’s been a rough summer…working as a bee.
Today I have more mainstream nail polish to show you. 
Revlon Naughty is a purple shimmer with grey undertones. It is a well-known dupe for Chanel Paradoxal. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money for Chanel nail polish Naughty is a cheaper alternative. The quality of Revlon polish is great. It is opaque, but not thick. 2 coats are enough. It dries fast and quite long-lasting (3-4 days without chipping).

Seuss by Whimsical Ideas by Pam

Seuss is a bright blue jelly with silver and red glitter of various sizes. Pam was inspired by Dr. Seuss and 100% transformed the image into the nail polish.

Overall, the formula is great. I used 3 coats, because the base is on a sheer side. The polish base is on the runny side, so big glitter tends to move towards the tips. However, this problem can be easily resolved with the slower and more careful application. Maybe because of the formula, this particular nail polish doesn't have durability of other Pam's polishes. It chipped after 2 days of wear. On the other hand, I generally do not wear nail polish for more than 2 days, so it's not a big problem for me personally.

Tuesday Taurus by Pretty & Polished Swatches

Hello Lovely Ladies,

I hope you all had a great weekend. Today I have Tuesday Taurus by Pretty & Polishes to show you. It was a limited edition nail polish released by Pretty & Polished for her birthday. I absolutely had to get it since I’m a Taurus too J

Tuesday Taurus is a sheer sky blue base with golden shimmer. It contains a lot of tiny pink glitter as well as medium purple, large pink, silver, blue and green glitter. I would recommend layering this polish over the base of the similar color. I used OPI I Don’t Give a Rotterdam.

Spica by Windestine

Hey Ladies,

Sorry for being out of touch. This week is a hectic mess for me. Today I’m showing you Spica by Windestine.

Spica is a blue jelly base with silver glitter of different shapes and sizes. I really love half-moon glitter accents.

Lynnderella Scandal - Opinion of the Marketer

Hi Ladies,


Initially I wasn’t going to write a blog post about the entire Lynderella scandal. But I stumbled upon her eBay store over the weekend and saw that she sells her polishes as an auction. Moreover, people are bidding and willing to pay more than $50 for the bottle. I wasn’t surprised….I was shocked!!!

I’m not going to go into the details of Lynnderella’s “gift” policy to her brother or other people. It’s not my right to judge and I don’t know her brother’s situation.

My post is more about her being a brand, an artist and a designer.
Most of my career I’ve been studying and working in marketing. And for me things she could have done to ruin her brand she did. Usually, people pay extra money or buy products for several reasons:
1. Exclusivity
2. Quality
3. Customer relations
4. Creativity

Lynnderella polishes were exclusive from the start. Limited labor gives limited supply and creates an opportunity to raise the price. And let’s all agree…we would pay anything to get any of her polishes. But what we see now is not a right way to reach prosperity. It’s called supply deficit or, simply saying, manipulation of the number of produced polishes to sell it for the higher price. Let’s all wake up…people are thinking whether to buy Unicorn Pee for $50, but are blindly bidding and paying much more to get Lynnderella’s polishes. Ask yourself…Are these polishes so unique? Ask yourself…. Is her new collection one of a kind? Haven’t you seen this from other indie brands that released almost similar polishes before she did? Nobody told her that she is copying them.

Quality is another issue. If you read my blog you know that I’m an indie junkie. I’ve tried a lot of Etsy and Facebook brands. Their quality surpasses the quality of the Lynnderella polishes. Why? They care what they put into their polish. I’m not even talking about the “Bleeding Glitter”. I’m talking about overall proportions of the glitter to the base. Lynnderella polishes are chunky and hard to settle. They have always been like that. For the person that states: “it took decades of self-work, research, training, study and paying attention to processing visual information to be able to create Lynnderella's lacquers", it is a sloppy work. She thinks that she is still the Queen of the indie nail polish market, but there are much more humble and talented people that started their brands.

The thing that was a turning point for me is more about the attitude. Although everybody understands that small indie brands sell nail polishes for profit, we still get the feeling of the community while purchasing from them. We know that if we ask, they will answer. If they have a problem with supplies, they will tell us. It’s a two-sided communication that makes brand more personal. Lynnderella’s attitude towards her customer…hmmm….what can I say, we all feel the ignorance I guess.

It is sad to see that a great brand has fallen. She started the new era of the nail polish, almost disrupted the entire industry….almost. I don’t think most of the people who are disappointed in her behavior will buy again. Lynnderella should really think about putting her Shiny Golden Crown in the closet and appreciating her customer. Without doing so, her so-wanted prosperity will be very short-term.

P.S. I don’t feel I will ever want to wear my Lynnderella polishes again. I’m not planning to sell them either. I’m thinking of giving them away, for people who do not have such strong feeling about the entire story. I’ll keep you updated.

Etude House Missing U Panda Hand Cream Review

Have you girls seen Missing U hand creams by Etude House yet? I was browsing eBay to try some make up or skincare from Korean brands and came across these hand creams in adorable animal packaging. I love pandas, so I got myself a “Panda” Cream.

I like the fact that the percentage of profits generated by sales of these creams goes to save endangered species.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with the purchase. The texture of the cream is non-greasy, but creamy. It absorbs very quickly without leaving residue on the hands. I would say that it’s light, but still nourishing.
Each cream has its own scent. Panda cream is supposed to have the peach one. I didn’t like the smell. To me it doesn’t smell like peaches, but it is not bad and vanishes seconds after application.

There are 4 creams in Missing U series. You can see them all in the photo below. Aren’t they adorable?
I love the way the story of each animal is told in a cute, yet heart-breaking way.

I got my Missing U Panda hand cream on eBay for around 9$ with free delivery.