Random Spamdom: Orly, OPI Burlesque Glitters, Bourjois and RBL

I might already have a post with that title.  Oh well.

Hello everyone :)  It's the weekend!  How are you all?  As for me, I got sick last night - again.  Not three hours after I wrote that post  :(  Man, it sucked, but now I'm feeling better, albeit once again heavily medicated.  So don't mind me sounding like an idiot again.  I appreciate you guys claiming you're not judging me, btw  :)  It makes me feel slightly better about these idiot posts... or at least like I still have any business  posting at all anymore, lol.

Anyway, I need to catch up on all these NOTD pics I have floating around.... Cuz , see, even though I seem like I'm not posting, I'm still planning on posting....  which involves taking pics usually every day.  I really am.  I swear.  Okay, sometimes I forget.   Most days I don't have time when it's light out, so they're crappy indoor pics...  How do you guys take your NOTD pics indoor?  Do you have an Ott light or any sort of super-bright light that you use?  I can always use photography tips, as you can see  :s

So here we go...

First off, we have RBL Under The Stars.  I got this in a swap during the summer, and while I do like it and think it's pretty, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed by it.  I wish the subtle blue glitter showed up better against the base.  Or I expected it to have more of a shimmer as well, or.... agh, I don't know.  I'm hard to please.  RBLs apply beautifully, and for that reason I liked wearing it, but it's not my favorite night sky polish...

This is Bourjois So Laque! in Bleu Violet.  Okay, I LOVED this - I had heard bad things about these polishes, that they were streaky and thick, yet runny, and a pain in the ass to apply.  So I was kind of peeved that I'd spent $10 on it... but WOW!  SO shiny, so smooth, such a pretty cobalt blue colour.... I was thinking the "Violet" part would show up under different light but it stayed cobalt blue under all lights.  And it wasn't hard to apply at all.  I don't really care for the stubby, rounded little brush though.  And this was really the only colour that stood out to me - the rest were all pinks, reds, nude or black  :p  Boo!  Oh yeah, and the art on my ring finger was for the Cauncks vs. Leafs game I was watching :)  The green is CND Green Scene, I believe, which is a gorgeous, opaque green similar to Essie Pretty Edgy.

Now, a couple more Burlesque glitters for you:

This is OPI Simmer & Shimmer.  Sorry about the chips - I used the aforementioned Guaranteed Flake-Off Combo with this mani - partially on purpose so I wouldn't have to go through any sort of removal process :)  I love this one too.  Not that there's a single Burlesque glitter that I didn't love... but this one's blue.  Blue is mah favorite :)  I got lots of compliments on this polish.  Everyone seemed to love it....

Everyone bows to its beauty :)

And this one is Sparkle-icious, my fave of the glitters, and maybe of the whole collection.  I'm such a sucker for interesting, multi-coloured glitters.  I felt like AA and MAAH and Lippmann's new glitters were made just for me.  And this one is by far the most interesting of the six OPI Burlesque glitters - it's the only one that has a pretty even mix of all three colours, rather than one dominant colour with other accents.  You can see a pretty even mix of fuschia, gold and blue in there.  A lot of people wonder what would be a good base colour for this polish.  Personally, I like it on its own - I used three coats here, and it was more than enough to be opaque.  I suppose you could layer it over a burgundy, a dark fuschia, a blue, a gold, a black, a white...  But I like it on its own :)

This is a gorgeous no-name polish I got at an asian dollar store :)  The band is Winmax New York - anyone ever heard of them?  Didn't think so.  Anway, it's a gorgeous shimmery blurple, or rather its a dark purple base with lots of blue and a tad bit of red microglitter.  Very complex and very pretty.  In the bottle it looked like a dark shimmery purple, but on the nail it turned into a lapiz-lazuli coloured blue shimmer.  Which was fine by me - I prefer blues to purples :)

Side indoor shot.

Outdoor shot.  Ignore the hideous tips I tried to sponge on with Hard Candy Frigid (and my poor pinkie cuticle) - my sponging technique obviously needs some vast improvement.  You can see the true colour here.

And this is the much-more-gorgeous-than-I-expected Orly Glitz & Glamour, from the holiday collection.  This lonely little gold wasn't getting any attention, but I've always had a soft spot for gold polishes, so I thought I'd try it out and see if it deserved any.  A warrm, buttery, caramel-gold foil - I thinks it's so glowy and pretty.  I have no idea how it compares to some other warmer golds that I own - that Milani one, Zoya Goldie, the OPI Burlesque one, Misa Ghetto Fabulous.... and a couple of others.  It looks most similar to the Milani and the OPI, in my opinion, rather than some of the smoother golds because of the tiny glitter flake particles that make up the foil finish... but I'll have to do a nail wheel comparison soon to prove it to myself.

Alright, that's it for now.  My Cherry Culture order came in today :D  so expect a post about that soon!

P.S: I'm having a reeeeeally hard time deciding what to wear on my nails lately  :p

Haul From August, Long Overdue

Morning.  Afternoon.  Whatever.

So all I have to show you today is a bunch of stuff I've gotten in August.  I got this stuff over the course of this month from TD, swaps or stores.  And I'm just gonna jump right into it this time  :p

Most of this stuff you will have already seen before and will be totally boring.  Sorry :(

First of all, my China Glaze Vintage Vixen set.  I got Goin' My Way, Riveter Rouge, Classic Camel, Emerald Fitzgerald, Midnight Mission and First-Class Ticket, and then I also ordered Ingrid.  I'm liking most of them, but to tell the truth I wasn't horribly impressed with this collection.  The colours just don't seem that unique.  I don't really like Goin' My Way (brown is probably the one polish colour I'm really not a fan of - I probably only have like three "actual" browns :p), and Classic Camel is guaranteed to look like puke on me.  And I'm kind of blah about First-Class Ticket as well.  Another blue-purple shimmer?  :-/  The rest look good, though.

Next, OPI's fall Swiss collection.  My selection from the collection, anyway.  I got Glitzerland, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, The Color To Watch, Yodel Me On My Cell, Ski Teal We Drop, Cuckoo For This Color and Color So Hot It Berns.  CSHIB was a last minute addition.  I found these all at the same B&M salon I got the Shreks at a few months ago - they seem to get OPI collections faster than anyone else, and it's awesome. 

May as well continue on the OPI tangent... This is what I've amassed so far of the Holiday On Broadway collection.  L-R: Movin' Out, Rent, Mamma Mia, Man Of La Mancha and Thoroughly Modern Millie.  I got some of these from swapping, and some from TD (they're out of MOLM, though).  Notice anyone missing, anyone very important?  Yeah.  But I'm not paying $40 for it on ebay.  I really can't justify that :(  Maybe for Christmas.

More OPIs :)  L-R: Call My Cell-ery, Sit Under The Apple Tree, Rainforest (!), Glacier Bay Blues (!) and Sand-erella (!!)  The first two came from TD, the rest are all from awesome swappers :)  Soaper1 gave me Rainforest, and yelly21 is beyond awesome - I swapped with her for Sand-erella, which I'd been lemming forever, and she inlcuded another one of my all-time biggest lemmings - Glacier Bay Blues!! :D  I've never received something that's on my top ten biggest lemming list as an extra!  I was touched.  The NB is so awesome :)  I can't wait to wear GBB and Rainforest, but I'm trying to save them for fall...

Some Orlys.  L-R: Bailamos, Mirror Mirror, Royal Navy and La Playa.  I found Bailamos and La Playa at Shopper's Drug Mart, of all places!  I guess some SDM's have Orlys. now?  And free top/base coats!  Royal Navy was on my want list for a long time now - finally caved :)

Behold this beautiful sight...

Ahhh, my eyes!  OPI Need Sunglasses!!  Haaaaaaa......... I'm not funny. 
Srsly though, these are the coveted Lippmann Nordstrom exclusives.  L-R: Razzle Dazzle, Lady Sings The Blues, Some Enchanted Evening, Bad Romance and Across the Universe.  I love AtU, and I'm wearing Razzle Dazzle right now and I really really like it too.  I'll probably post a NOTD pic later on, so I won't go into too much detail now...  I've heard that LStB and SEE are both kind of disappointing... SEE kind of looks like a 99 cent Sally Girl polish.... but I'll try them anyway.  Since I can't return them :(  Hey, could Some Enchanted Evening be called Salmon-Chanted Evening?  Cuz...y'know.... it's pink?  OMG why am I actually making an attempt at jokes.  I should just hang myself for that one.  Or go work for OPI  :p

Wanna see another beautiful sight?

Okay, so these are not new, really, but I just noticed the other day that I've collected quite a few RBLs just from swapping.  Which is awesome.  Cuz these are spendy.  These are the RBLs I own: L-R: Lulu, Om, Starfish Patrick, Coral, Frugalista, Look Rich Be Cheap, Concrete Jungle, Dead Calm and Under The Stars.  I've only worn Starfish Patrick and LRBC.  I can't wait to try these others though.  UTS is one of those "night sky" polishes that I love so much - black with very fine blue and teal glitter.  Love.  Also, why are my bottles different heights?  :-/

Some Billies I got from Dollar Giant.  I like Billie polishes - pretty decent quality for a dollar each :)  They remind me of old WnWs.  The one in the middle is called Purple Haze.  The old man at the checkout at DG that rang them up for me said, "Aren't these three purple ones the same?"  "No.... they're.... actually slightly different...." I said, feeling like a certified lunatic.  That's pretty much the look he gave me, too.  Like, you have problems, lady  :p

And last but not least, I found the new fall Sally Hansen Xtreme Wears :)  In case you can't read the bottles, I picked up Purple Gala, Fireberry Red, Cosmic Blue, Concrete and Mystic Lilac.  These were the ones that appealed to me most.  I will admit, though, that after I bought them, I sat outside the store with my iphone searching the NB for any mention of these, just to see if there were any good ones that I should go back and get - hahaaaaa  <----------- iz dork.  I think my instincts are pretty spot-on, though  :)  I haven't seen any mention of Cosmic Blue, but it's the kind of polish that would probably appeal to me more that it would most people.  It's got bar glitter in it, ppl!  :D

Alriight, I will be back with a quick NOTD, and I know I promised you those stash pics, as well.  Also, expect another GIANT haul post in the next week or two :)  I have a huge, huge swap (huge.  like 100+ polishes huge :O) coming in the next few weeks here with all sorts of awesomeness in it that I can't get in Canada (she should get her end any day now, and should be mailing mine right after :)... and then there's the TD order I pulled the trigger on the other day with all the Halloween and Winter collection goodies coming in it!  :D :D  Good stuff like China Glaze Awakening, Orly Tis The Season, Color Club Untamed Luxury and (oh man) Orly Cosmic FX!  *squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!  So yeah.  Lots of stuff in the next few weeks.  I iz excited  :)  And I plan on picking up Jade Dragon and Bad Fairy from MAC, but other than that, it's a no-buy until those OPI Burlesque glitters come out! 

Till later.....

Spam. Because I'm Sick and Can't Be Bothered.

Ugh.  Hi everyone.  I'm very sick, and I've been sick for the past few days.  It sucks.  I feel very out-of-it and like I have no energy.  Which sucks cuz I've agreed to do a bunch of CPs for people and I haven't been feeling well enough to get out to the beauty supply place to do so.  :(  Boo.

So since I have no energy or imagination right now, I'm just going to show you some random NsOTD from the past week or two.  I know, I said I wasn't going to do this anymore, but I really don't care right now.  Deal with it  :p  Okay, sorry, that was bitchy.... did I mention I've barely been able to eat?  :(

Alright, forward ho! (heh)

First off, this was my "dare" mani from the MUA nail board.  My dare was "heavy metal".  Yes, I know this isn't the most imaginative interpretation, but I thought it looked "heavy metal".  Kind of.  This was OPI Suzi Skis In The Pyranees Suede, with China Glaze Millenium and 2030 for the chains.  I didn't use a topcoat.  Which is why this was starting to chip already by the time I took this pic  :p

Next, this is the beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous OPI Catch Me In Your Net (cough *Zoya Charla* cough).  I have the Zoya coming to me from the polish exchange, but I'm impatient, so when I saw the OPI Summer Flutter polishes at my beauty supply place I got all four, even though I knew this was a Charla dupe.  This polish is freakin' gorgeous.  Shimmery teal with blue and gold and green reflects.  So sparkly.  So mermaid-y.  Begs to be on your toes.  AAahhh!  But of course I'm never satifsied...

So an FKA it is!  I actually don't think this is that bad of a fail.  I actually kind of liked it.  Even though I smudged it a bit, cuz I suck.

This is OPI Fireflies.  Sorry for these pics - this polish bubbled on me and took a billion coats to show up as much as I'd like, so of course I smudged it.  I really wanted to show you a pic of it though, even though I probably shouldn't even be posting these cuz they're so horrible.  I apologize.  I fail at life.  I'm sorry.  This polish really is pretty, though - a pearly white-gold that flashes a very noticeable green.  The first pic is indoor, the second outdoor.  I found this at a dusty - a rare score for me :)  I never have any luck with dusties, until last week it seems...

This is the gorgeous OPI You Don't Know Jacques.  I think this is my favorite work-appropriate polish ever.  So chic and shiny.  But, you know me...

Yup, more konad.  I don't mind the way this one turned out, either - other than the fact that it's not straight and some parts of the pattern didn't transfer properly...  For me though, it's pretty good!  I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue Blast - I think this is a newer Insta-Dri.  It was in a display with a bunch of newer-looking ones that I'll show you in that haul post I've been meaning to put up...  Anyway, these Insta-Dris work AWESOME for konad - that's pretty much why I picked them up, cuz I can always use some pastels that'll work for konad :)

Next, this is Rescue Beauty Lounge Starfish Patrick - I lucked out and received my first three RBLs in a swap!  :)  I got this, Om and Coral.  Everyone always raves about RBL polishes and how well they apply, but to be honest, after I applied this I didn't see what all the fuss was about.  This was three coats.  Sure, it's nice and all, and I know it's a jelly, but even still, it was a bit too sheer. I dunno.  I thought I was in the mood for a nice shiny squishy peach jelly, but I grew bored with it really quickly.

I tried to jazz it up with two coats of China Glaze Golden Enchantment, and then thought I'd try out my China Glaze Solar Flare.  Well, as you can see, I painted one finger and then almost hurled.  Doesn't it look gross?!  ChG Solar Flare is a tricky polish - I think over the right polish it could be really cool, but wtf was I thinking layering it over this....  Golden Enchantment, on the other hand, was quite pretty - a gold holo glitter.  Fairy Dust's gold, less-dense sister.

And last, but not least, this is my first-ever attempt at a gradient mani.  I used NYX Voodoo as the base colour, then two of the Color Club Japanese glitters as the progressive colours - Sakura Glow in the middle and Firelight on the tips.  I didn't sponge or anything fancy like that (mainly because I have no idea how to do a sponge gradient - I've never looked up how :p), just applied the NYX and then brushed the other two on from the tips down, trying to thin out the colour as I got closer to the cuticle. 

Outdoor shot.  Try to ignore my blurry thumb.  I don't think it turned out that bad at all.  But then once again, of course, my eyes turned to my konad plates...

And this is what I ended up with.  Cute?  Ugly?  I'm undecided.  My boyfriend thought it looked stupid, but we all know how much his opinion counts when it comes to polish :p  I didn't end up wearing this for very long, though, so maybe his opinion affected me more than I thought...

I think it would've looked cuter with smaller flowers, but I couldn't find a plate that had them...  This is very girly, very feminine, and I usually don't do girly, feminine looks.  Maybe that's why my bf thought it looked stupid.  I'd like to do girly nails like this more often, though - it's super-cute and pretty.  It would probably look better if I'd done a sheer gradient using jellies or cremes rather than glitter polishes, but whatever, it was my first attempt.

And that's all I'm going to post for now.  I feel like I sound weird cuz I'm so groggy from meds still, and I don't want to read this later and think what a crackhead I sound like, so I'm gonna cut myself off right now  :p  I do have more to post, though - some swap haul (including the RBLs), a small haul I made downtown last week (including my first Del Sol and American Apparel polishes! yay!) and more swatches.  See you soon!