Light Pinks Swatch Comparison

A reader asked me for a swatch comparison of OPI's Suzi and the Lifeguard (from the 2009 summer south beach collection) and OPI's Italian Love Affair.  I personally like Italian Love Affair better, the formula was much better.  These are both three coats and topcoat.  With Suzi and the Lifeguard, I experienced a bit of cuticle drag, which I hate but I do not know if my bottle was just a dud.  Italian Love Affair has a much more creme finish that Suzi, click on the picture to see the closeup (pardon my awful cuticles!!)  Hoped that this helped!

Shelter Island

Essie Shelter Island is a bright sky blue color with a jelly-like texture.  I personally do not think that pictures do this color justice, in person, it almost glows!  Out of the North Fork collection colors, this is easily the brightest.  What you see now is three coats of color and topcoat. Application was fabulous, plain and simple, as I had no cuticle drag or goopy, thick polish. To be honest, this color really surprised me. Sky blue lacquers can be found almost anywhere, what makes this one unique is the finish: It's not an average creme, if it's a creme at all! After putting it on, I noticed that it takes on a jelly finish. Is this only my bottle??  I don't really mind if it's intentional or not because I love it!!! This little gem will just brighten your day!

Earth Update: Balloons

Today I have a tip so that you can keep your parties safer and "greener".  A very popular party decoration is balloons, they're festive, colorful, and fun! An important thing you need to know, though, is that letting your balloons just float up into the sky may be harder on the environment than you think. Once the balloons float up high enough, they pop and of course, what goes up must come down.  Many of the popped latex remains land in the ocean to later be choked on by dolphins and other sea life. Who knew a party decoration could be so... harsh? Be more aware of you balloons at parties, like not untying them or letting them go.

Thanks a bunch, and have an "earthy" day!

Essie Summer 2009 Preview

I received this picture recently in an email from Essie cosmetics, a picture of their summer collection which is coming soon! I'm actually really excited for this!! Well I think that even though these colors aren't too unique, they're pretty! Namely, Cute as a Button. I can't wait to see it!! Enjoy this picture!

Brights or Not?

This season has been fun in terms of nail polish, of course! There have been tons of neons which scream summer and fun! Luckily, super-neon colors are not your only options if you want your nails be trendy for summer. Bright colors like the new Bright Pair collection by OPI and Kicks by China Glaze are a good way to still get an awesome splash of color without going over the top. But, if you love bringing that funky and daring vibe to your nails, neons are a fun way to go! Try the Neons by Essie limited edition collection to get brightest nails of the summer, plus fabulous eye catching colors.

I want to hear from you, what are your favorites (colors, collections, etc.) from this season?

OPI Italian Love Affair

Light pinks are usually not my favorite but this certain one stands out.  Italian Love Affair by OPI is soft and delicate yet very pigmented and fun. What makes the polish special is the shimmer in it.  You might just think this is a creme but think again!!  There are some tiny particles of white shimmer in it that catch the light just perfectly when on the nail.  In real life, the color is more... pink-y.  The sun was setting so that kind of explains the bad picture. This is three coats of color and topcoat. The formula flowed onto the nail well, no cuticle drag.  Please excuse the tipwear, I've been sporting this color for a few days!  

Earth Update: Nail Polish

Animal testing does not usually cross most people's minds when shopping for nail polish, but get the real scoop here. Some animals spend their entire lives cooped up in the dank, smelly cage of a lab only to know that their life will end as a careless experiment. I'm not telling you to stop buying nail polish altogether (no way!) but be conscious of who you buy it from. Details follow:

Nail polish companies that DO NOT test on animals: China Glaze, E.L.F, Seche, Color Club, Essie, Hard Candy, OPI, Orly, Revlon, MAC, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, NYC, Spa Ritual, Avon, Man Glaze, BB Couture For Nails, Barielle, Butter London, Chanel

Nail Polish Companies that DO test on animals: L'Oreal, Covergirl, Max Factor, Lancome, Maybelline

Well, there are a lot of companies that have given up this cruel practice, so it's a start! I hope that other manufacturers take into account how bad what they are doing truly is. You can definitely help too by buying only from the companies that do not test on animals!!! It will help a lot, thanks!

***The information about many of the companies was found at peta.org. The rest I got by emailing the companies themselves.***

Sag Harbor= The Best Ever!

Okay if you can't tell from the title of my post, I adore this color!!! Its called Sag Harbor and it is currently in the limited edition North Fork Collection by Essie. The color is a cool, silvery, grayish, blue.  Okay I have a tip for you, if you like blues and do not own this color, go to the nearest store and get it... like now.  Back to the polish review, the formula rocked, it just flowed onto the nail.  This is two coats of color and topcoat, but if you are a notorious thin coater, I'd recommend you go with three coats.  The polish was quick drying even without a topcoat. Sag Harbor is awesome and I hope to see more colors like it this season!

Earth Update: Package Stuffing... in Action

Hey everyone! You may remember an earth update that I did in the past, "package stuffing" but here is a picture so you can really see it in action! I said in my older post that you should use ripped up paper to fill boxes that you are going to ship, as opposed to buying packing peanuts.  I recently participated in the Zoya nail polish exchange and got the chance to take some pictures of my earth friendly package stuffing.  Check it out:

There are my polishes sitting in a nest of shredded paper that I took out of my recycling bin. There are two egg cartons lined up side by side and each space where the egg should go, there is a polish! The box is also reused from a past online order.  Hope you get some ideas from this post!

Enjoy and have an "earthy" day!!

Fabulous Gunmetal

WOW! I guess black is the new pink for Essie....for now! Essie Over the Top is a complimentary color to any skin tone. I am a HUGE fan of this one because of it's dazzling shimmer and it's captivating hue. Due to the brush's perfect shape, the polish went on "nice and easy". It took only two coats (and top coat) to reach perfection! Hence, on one of thoes days when you feel "over the top" and can't decide which polish to wear, keep Essie's Over the Top in mind!

Awesome Metallic

Okay, so today I saw my friend and she had on this awesome, funky, pretty, bright pink, metallic nail polish on... or so I thought. After I complemented her on it I was surprised to her reaction. She said, "This isn't nail polish, it's a gum wrapper!" I guess she had ripped up the gum wrapper and stuck it to her nails!! It was from that pack of the fruity 5 gum flavor, elixir and shockingly, she managed to stick it to her nails without an adhesive! I was amazed, how cool!!!!! Heres a picture I took with my non-accurate camera phone.

It looks wayyyy (etc.) more realistic in person, and much more pretty and bright. Hope you all enjoyed my special post for today!!