Guest NOTD: OPI DS Illuminate

It was too long ago that I posted this color as my NOTD (HERE), but I wanted to post a few pics of it on my Mom. She wanted to wear it after seeing it on me & it is her first holo, even if it is a pretty subtle one =) From the Designer Series, OPI Illuminate:


Thanks for reading.

~Colette

A Couple Quick Comparison Shots

Not full swatches I'm sorry, just bottle shots. Top is under the natural lamp, bottom is with camera flash:


Left to right: Misa Earthward, Barielle Misbehaving Mistress, Essie Huckle Buckle, Urban Decay Graffiti.

So, the story behind the browns is that I saw Misbehaving Mistress over at Polish or Perish and thought it looked very similar to Earthward, which I wore just recently, so I had to come home & pull both out. I haven't worn the Barielle shade yet but I think I will soon because I really enjoyed Earthward (which my mom is wearing right now after seeing it on me LOL) and they are very similar, although I think Misbehaving Mistress look a little darker, I kind of want to say more dark chocolate w/ silver sheen, while Earthward is kind of a slightly pinker brown w/ silver sheen.

The story behind the purples is that I saw Huckle Buckle over at Helen & Sheenie's Nice Things, and it's actually my current mani. At first glance, it immediately reminded me of Graffiti (which I have both an 15+ year old bottle & a new bottle of), but putting them side by side Huckle Buckle is more lavender while Graffiti I think I want to call periwinkle blue.

Anyway, just wanted to put a little something up, full pics of my Huckle Buckle NOTD coming tomorrow. Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: OPI DS Illuminate

Here we go, yay short nubbins! LOL I know, I'm a whiner =)

Sun was in the forecast, so I wanted to wear something that really would benefit from sun pics & thankfully it held until afternoon when I got out of work =) I couldn't quite get the camera to cooperate & capture the green flash of this polish, except in the bottle pic. It's an unexpected contrast to the rich brown base, and this is one of those holos that's more subtle, rather than super-blingy, so I had to do some out of focus stuff to really catch it. From the OPI Designer Series, this is Illuminate:



Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Misa Earthward

I don't know exactly how rare this polish is, but I know it's older, and I know I had to search a bit online to find it after seeing it on another blog. It was totally worth it, it's a gorgeous color, and I ended up wearing it "plain" because of time restraint, but it ended up reminding me how nice a basic manicure - no nail art or Konad or holographic bling or glittergasms - can be. Here is Misa Earthward:


Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Guest NOTD: ChG Golden Spurs

My mom is in love with this manicure! I didn't paint them, she does her own, but she does a good job =) I pass along all the tips I learn to her LOL. This is part of last year's China Glaze Rodeo Diva collection - which I've managed to collect about half of somehow - Golden Spurs:


It's neutral, which I think would be her favorite color, but at the same time there's so much golden shimmer that it's not boring at all.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Tips, Toes & Haul

Today I've got Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Deep Purple as the base, nail art flower done with Hot Topic Pink, with a rhinestone on top:

Toes are China Glaze Unplugged, which the pics do not do justice to the golden shimmer that this has:

For the haul I went to Sallys, to use my monthly 15% off coupon:

Top left to right: China Glaze Tree Hugger, Frostbite, & Lubu Heels. Bottom: Savvy Deja Blue & Electric Blue.

That's all for tonight. Not exactly an exciting weekend but I got a lot done, and I have a few more things to take care of before bed. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Misa NOTD: Flipped

No, the polish is not called Flipped (although I think that sounds like something that could be a cool color - anyone know a polish actually with this name?), I have flipped the colors around from my last mani because I couldn't get the idea out of my head otherwise:

Misa Chocolate Icing Konaded with Misa Ghetto Fabulous & plate m62. Obviously Ghetto Fabulous looses a little bit of it's bling factor going over such a dark color, but I like it. This is one of my favorite Konad tips, it reminds me of fire.

I ran into what I at first thought was application problems using this color for Konad. It can leave kind of a glittery golden residue on the rubber stamper, even after cleaning, and some of my nails pre-top coat looked almost a little dusty, and the gold looked slightly dull. But, the good news, both these issues pretty much disappeared after a coat of Seche Vite. Excuse the little lumps, had some other application issues on my thumb but this was the only finger left when I decided I wanted a pic pre-Seche:



Overall, I think I like this version of this color combo a little better. Maybe it says something about my mood as of late that the other one was just a bit too bright and happy for me at the moment.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Cover Girl Chocolate Mint

Yet another tricksy one that is not playing 100% nice with my camera, although I managed a couple good shots. The name pretty much says it all; Cover Girl Chocolate Mint:


Chocolate brown with mint green shimmery duo-chrome effect is what I'm going to describe it as. Sometimes I have a little debate with myself regarding at what point a secondary color goes from being just a shimmer or an opalescence to a true duo-chrome, especially when it's so hard to capture on film. Either way though, this color was pretty enough I only had a passing temptation to Konad it last night. However, after having it on all day, I must confess to being bored. I'm not even sure if a Konad would have helped, but I'll be changing this tomorrow unless something pops up.

I'm actually kind of sick of my current Konad selection. But I told myself I wouldn't place my order until I did my taxes, and I kind of felt like crap over the weekend so I didn't get around to them. And I'm trying to keep my word to myself because if I allow myself any wiggle room, it won't be long before I wiggle myself right out of my no-buy.

The only upside to the feeling crappy is that I haven't been up to anything but sitting & reading, and so I managed to finish a book in what is more normal time for me which was under 2 days. Usually I read 2-3 books per week, not the 1 per week I've been at lately. I guess I'll see once I'm feeling better if I can keep it up. Thanks for reading.

~Colette