BLOG SALE!

Hey everyone!

I am doing a massive clean out of my stash. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of polish you have? Well.. that is me at this moment- so I decided to jump on that feeling- and decided that it was time to do a blog sale.  :)

You can find my blog sale HERE! Go check it out!!!

xoxo,
Lynnie

Orly - Au Champagne

Hey people!

Today I am showing you a polish from the Orly Holiday Soiree Collection, I know, it's waaaay past holiday season, but I just got my hands on this baby, so you will just have to deal :-P This is Au Champagne, a shimmer (wearable) white. This polish dries to a somewhat matte finish, which I will show you. But I'm not a huge fan of the matte finish, so I added top coat to bring it to a high shine, which I will also show you below!

No flash, before top coat

No flash, after top coat

Macro

Look at that shimmer! Formula on this was really nice too, only needing two coats for full opacity. The polish was a wee bit think when applying, but really not too bad.

Let it be known that I am someone who hardly ever wears white nail polish, on my skin tone it is just too stark, but this is SO wearable! I said it once and I'll say it again, it really is. The shimmer sets this one apart, and I just think it is so princess-y!

What do you guys think about Au Champagne? Does it make you think of princesses like it does me? LOL! I'd love to know :D

Ulta - Smoke Screen

Howdy!

I hope everyone is having an excellent weekend! Today I am showing you Ulta - Smoke Screen. I picked this up last winter (before they changed the bottle shape) so this is in the old bottle, but the formula/color is still AMAZING. Check out Smoke Screen below!

Smoke Screen is a gorgeous dark grey that leans blue. It was said to be a dupe of Zoya Kelly, I do not have that to compare to, but I do know that this is just stunning. There is something so unique and universally flattering about this color, and it keeps drawing me back in.

What you see in the photo above is two easy coats of Smoke Screen, it was nearly opaque in one coat, but I had some patchiness so I added a second. The formula was a bit thick, but I think that is what worked in its favor for opacity, and it wasn't unmanageable.

Are you liking Smoke Screen? BTW I did not use a top coat in my pic, but it sure looks like I did- so shiny!!

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

Zoya - Edyta

Hi people!

Today I am showing you Zoya Edyta. This is a very pretty dark hunter green with the prettiest gold shimmer. Edyta came out in the Winter 2010 Flame collection, this was one of the first collection where I found myself *needing* all of them. So here is one of my favorites from that collection- Edyta.

Macro

See what I mean about that gorgeous gold shimmer? SO pretty! Formula was also great, what you see above is just two coats for full opacity.

What do you think about Edyta? Did you pick this up way back in 2010 like I did? If not- it is still available for $8 on Zoya's website here! And be sure to like Zoya on Facebook to be kept in the loop on their latest news! :)

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

Zoya - Megan

Hey there, readers!

Today I am showing you a polish that I got recently from one of Zoya's amazing promos that I showed you the other day, this is Zoya Megan from the Winter 2011 Feel Collection. Megan is described as 'a taupe-gray creme' on Zoya's website. I would classify this as more of a lilac gray, but either way, this is a really pretty neutral.

Lightbox w/ flash

Lightbox no flash

I love me a good neutral. Neutrals can just be so refreshing after wearing so many dark colors. I also love that Zoya did a neutral collection for winter, so unlike all other holiday/winter collections that are filled with dark vampy colors.

Formula was excellent on this. Two coats for full opacity, and dry time was really fast too! Thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by!
Lynnie

OPI - Pros & Bronze

Hi there!

Today is the second installment from the OPI Grand Slam US duo, the first being Love is a Racket. This is Pros & Bronze. Love the polish, confused about the name? Is it some sort of tennis pun? I used to play tennis in high school, and the name is not ringing a bell, oh OPI and your names.

Anyway, this is a g-o-r-geous duochrome glass flecked bronze-y polish PACKED with glam and sparkle. Check out the photos below :)

Natural Light

Lightbox no flash

Lightbox, flash

Macro

I can't get over how unique this polish is. In a world full of dupes, this stands among one of the most unique polishes in my collection. I own nothing like it, which is hard to do these days.

Formula wasn't the greatest in the world. I used 3.5 coats to get this baby opaque, and when it was finally opaque, it took awhile to dry. I even waited between coats, I promise! But clearly this polish is well worth the dry time/opacity issue. Just look at it!

What do you think about Pros & Bronze? I'm not sure it is the most flattering on my skin tone, because I am so fair and cool toned, but I don't even care, this polish rocks!

I purchased my set at Ulta about two weeks ago on sale for $7.95, so if you want it- go look at Ulta, and hopefully you will be able to find it on sale like I did!!

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

Mini Zoya Haul

Hello!

Today I am going to show you my mini Zoya haul that came in the mail today. This is from the 2012 promo, where you could pick two polishes for free, and just pay shipping! Talk about a great deal!

Because I was so impressed with Kristen and Kendal from the 'Feel' Collection, I decided to pick up two more, and they are Kennedy and Megan. Check out my mini haul =]

How adorable is this box?! I am loving the new packaging, this little box can fit three Zoya polishes in it. 

I'm really excited to try these! What were your favorites from the Feel Collection?

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

How to get $50 on Bloom.com for $15!!

Hey guys!

I am so excited about this deal, I just had to share! bloomspot.com is having an offer today for $25 for $50 worth of merchandise at BLOOM.com (This is where I purchased the entire Nicki Minaj set two weeks ago, they also have Essie, Zoya, OPI, Priti, Megan Miller, Sally Hansen, CND, and a variety of other beauty products.


If you want to make it $15 for $50 worth of merchandise, just e-mail me at lynnielawless@gmail.com I will send you $10 'bloombucks' to get started through their referral program, making this deal only $15 !!!!


This offer is only valid for one more day- so don't wait!

Lynnie

OPI - Did it on Em - Nicki Minaj

Hey there!

Today I am showing you another polish from the Nicki Minaj for OPI Collection. This is called 'Did it on Em' this is an 'Electric Chartreuse' that phrase was coined by my friend Alden when he saw my nails. And I have to say, he hit the nail on the head for describing this one, it is electric!

Lightbox w/ flash

 Lightbox no flash

Natural Light

HELLO GORGEOUS! Usually I am not one for yellows/lime greens, but this is a whole other ball park people. This is chartreuse, one of my favorite colors! I love wearing chartreuse clothes, the color can be obnoxious, yet when worn the right way, it is so classy! 

There is a fine line when it comes to chartreuse, and Did it on Em walks the line perfectly. It is in your face, without demanding attention like a neon. The formula was also great. As expected the first two coats were a bit streaky, but adding a third leveled everything out. 

Basically, I'm loving it. That is 3 for 3 for the Nicki Minaj colors for me so far, I still have to show you Metallic 4 Life and Save Me (on its own) so they will be coming soon.

Thoughts on Did it on Em / chartreuse in general? Do you love it or hate it? ALSO thoughts on my lightbox pics?! 

Thanks for reading!

Lynnie

I finally made a lightbox!

Hi there!

Yes, you read correctly, I finally made a light box! Yay! I am so excited. The instructions are pretty simple to make your own light box. Are you ready? 1) Get a boyfriend 2) Make him do it. Hahaha just kidding, but that is pretty much how it ended up. The BF kind of took the reigns, which I am perfectly fine about!

We used a medium sized cardboard box, cut out the top and sides using an x-acto knife. then covered the sides with white tissue paper, put white poster board curving in the back, and used a Full Spectrum lightbulb for color accurate photos!

Check out the process below..

Joel cutting off the sides

Starting to cut out the top and sides, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border

Top

Sides cut out

Poster board in the back curving up to the front / bottom

 YAY! It's Done! 

*I forgot to photograph the step before this- I used white tissue paper to cover the top and sides where we cut out cardboard and left a border. I used hot glue to put the tissue paper on the outside of the box.

The lightbulb I am using is a 60 Watt Full Spectrum lightbulb, its SO bright!!

I know it's not the most aesthetically pleasing lightbox in the world, but I am so proud of it! And it was a fun project for Joel and I to do together. So now I will be able to take color accurate photos without depending on the sunlight! I already tested my lightbox out (will post pics tomorrow) and the difference is AMAZING!

Do you guys have a lightbox? Did you make your own or did you purchase one? If you don't have one yet.. are you considering making one? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Lynnie

Orly - Androgynie

Hola!

Today's post is about a lemming that I finally squashed via swap! That's right- today I am showing you Orly Androgynie. For some reason my Ulta never got this collection, bummer! But good thing for MUA, because I now have this pretty polish!

I read on another blog that the only way to make this look good, was to layer it over black, and invert the bottle for at least 30 minutes before polishing so the glitter can move around a bit. I think that really worked, because I love the way this looks!

Natural Light

This is very different, but so cool! Orly has really been impressing me lately with their unique colors.  Androgynie is gold micro glitter and large blue, green, turquoise, gold, red, brown (maybe othes?) suspended in a black jelly base (hence; it looks better layered). 

What you see above is only one coat of Androgynie over black. I love the result! The larger glitter wasn't too hard to work with either, I didn't have to 'place' glitter anywhere, which is always nice.

Thoughts on Androgynie? How do you wear it if you own it? Over black or just multiple coats to get opaque?  Or do you wear it semi-sheer? Let me know, I want to experiment!

Thanks for reading!

Lynnie

Orly - Rage

Hello!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far! Today I am showing you Orly Rage, a rose gold foil. For those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with anything rose gold, especially watches, and watches in general. So when I heard about Orly Rage being a rose gold foil, it had to be mine.

You may ask yourself why I have never heard of Rage or the Orly Foil FX collection from which is belongs, but I will remind you that I am still relatively new to the wide world of nail polish, and that collection was released before the addiction passion began. I now present to you, RAGE!

Ummm, yeah. Obsessed would be an understatement. BTW my second photo is in natural light. I have been trying to take my photos as soon as I get home from work so I can get whatever natural light is left out, because I feel that they are way more color accurate. But they are dark, because frankly it is not too sunny out at 4:00 PM in Central PA in January! :-P

Back to 'Rage', this polish is stunning. I can easily say that it is one of the polishes that I would take with me to a deserted island, if I had to choose. It's just so...shiny!

What do you think about Rage? What polishes would you take with you to a deserted island? I'd love to hear!

Thanks for reading, peeps!
Lynnie

OPI - Love is a Racket

Hey there!

Today's post is about an OPI polish that was released over the summer in the Serena Williams series, this is one from the Glam Slam US duo set, and I now present to you, Love is a Racket. This is a gorgeous BRIGHT pink/red polish with some serious glass flecks packed into it. Check it out!

Sunlight

Flash

SO bright! Almost like a neon, but not! I am loving everything about this polish, the formula was awesome and opaque in two coats, and drying time was fantastic. 

I picked this set up at Ulta last weekend on sale for $7.95, and it comes with Pros & Bronze, which is the real reason for my purchase of this set, but when I got it home, I realized what a gem Love is a Racket was, and had to try it first! 

Did you pick up the Glam Slam US duo set when it was first released? Are you planning on picking it up on sale? Keep your eye out for my swatches of Pros & Bronze, the second polish in this set, coming soon! :)

Lynnie

Revlon Color Stay - Spanish Moss

Hello!

Today I am showing you a polish that I recently picked up from the new Revlon Color Stay line. This is Spanish Moss, and I can't really think of the words to describe it, mossy, but pretty? I'm not too good at this.. so let the pictures just show you this pretty polish!

Enlarge the second picture to see the subtle shimmer.

I know this isn't the most groundbreaking shade we have come across, but I think the shimmer really makes it unique. I have passed up all of the colors that look similar to this, so it is a unique bird in my collection, and the formula was AWESOME!

Revlon deserves a round of applause for the amazing things they have been launching lately. What you see above is barely, and I mean BARELY two coats. I could have gotten away with one but I was in a hurry!

What do you think about Spanish Moss? Have you picked up any of the new Color Stay polishes yet?

Thanks for stopping by!
Lynnie

OPI - Pink Friday

Hey there!

Today I am showing you another polish from the Nicki Minaj for OPI collection, this is Pink Friday. This is such a fun, bright bubblegum pink. It totally emanates Nicki Minaj by being 'in your face' this is not your average every day pink, that's for sure! 

Flash

I love this. I am weirdly in a pink mood lately, and this is just what the doctor ordered. The formula was nice on this too, opaque in two coats! Usually with bright pastels like this, application is a streaky mess, but not here!

What does everyone think about Pink Friday? Do you have plans to pick this up or any of the other Nicki Minaj polishes up? If so.. which ones?

Thanks for reading!

Lynnie

Essie - Size Matters

Hi all!

Today I am showing you Essie - Size Matters. This is a gorgeous cool toned red that leans more pink than red, almost like a raspberry.

This caught my eye when I first saw swatches of the Holiday 2011 Cocktail Bling collection by Essie, mostly because I am so fair and have cool toned skin, most reds look kind of weird on me, but when I saw that this was cool toned, I had to have it. And let me just say, this is my perfect red, holy grail if you will..

 Sunlight

Flash

Can't. Get. Enough. The formula on this baby is spectacular, what you see above is two coats (and sorry about the little ding in my pointer finger, I was doing some hardcore filing today at work). 

Seriously though how great is this polish? And the name.. Size Matters.. hehehe.. doesn't it though? ANYWAY, I am so impressed by this, I am sure you would be able to find a dupe out there somewhere, but since I don't own too many reds, not in my collection! 

What do we think about Size Matters?

Lynnie

RBL - 360

Hi!

Today's post is about Rescue Beauty Lounge 360. I have been meaning to try this for awhile, and finally got around to it yesterday, so here is the lovely 360!

Flash

Sunlight

Sorry the second picture isn't that clear, I took it before I left for work this morning so I was kind of rushing around! 

Anyway, 360 is a very pretty blue/green with hidden shimmer that you can see in the first picture. Formula on this was excellent, what you see above is two coats of perfection! 

What do we think about 360?

Thanks for reading!

Lynnie

OPI - Fly & Save Me (Nicki Minaj)

Hey there!

Today I am showing you OPI -Fly from the Nicki Minaj collection, and an accent nail of Save Me, from the same collection. I got the entire collection (except the Superbass shatter, because I am over the shatter trend) from Bloom. I was so excited to try these, 1) because I'm a Nicki fan 2) these colors are awesome! So check out the first one I tried, Fly.

This is so perfect. If you know me at all you know that I love blue/teal, well this color is no exception. I seriously do not own anything like it. The formula was great, almost kind of jelly like? The first coat went on very sheer, and then it built up with another coat, with some bald patches here and there, but the ending result is so squishy and juicy, without VNL!

Save Me is also awesome, you can't really tell in this picture, but the bar glitter is actually holo in a fine silver glitter and clear base.

Overall, this mani is one of my favorites that I have done in awhile, I just can't stop staring at the combo of Fly and Save Me. What do you guys think? Did you pick up any polishes from this collection? What would you like to see next?! Metallic 4 Life looks amazeballs in the bottle!

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

Misa - Genie In This Bottle *re-swatch*

Hey!

So today's post  is about a polish that I have shown you before, but it is my NOTD today, and it's too gorgeous not to show you again! This is Misa - Genie in this Bottle, and it is one of my favorite polishes that I own, and I regretfully forgot to add it to my Top 5 favorite polishes from 2011 AND honorable mentions, but I promise, I really do love it!

I just love that shimmer. So gorgeous! This is the only polish that I picked up from the Spring 2011 Wishes collection, but I still want the rest of them, someday! This dries slightly satin-y, but for the high gloss shine I added my favorite top coat, INM - Out the Door.

What do you think of Genie In This Bottle? Do you own this or any of the other polishes from the Wishes collection? I know these are available on TransDesign for $3.75, so I should just bite the bullet and order the rest of them.. right? ;-)

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

Nicole by OPI - Kim-pletely in Love

Hi there!

Today I am going to show you a polish that I was excited about before trying it.. and now I'm kind of 'meh'. This is Nicole by OPI - Kim-pletely in Love (I can't help but laugh at the name.. and Kim K's 72 day marriage.. even though I am a Kardashian fan! It's still funny) So I found a huge display of the Kardashian Kollection polishes at Wal-Mart last week, and picked up this, because I have seen reviews on other blogs and thought it looked pretty. See below

Yes, I agree that this polish is pretty and dainty. But no matter how much I try to love sheers, I just can't. What you see above is four coats, and it took FOR-EVER to dry, even with Seche Vite, because there were so many layers and I lack patience when painting my nails to wait between coats, I couldn't wear this for longer than 20 minutes.

I wanted to like this, I really did. But I am going to begin my search for the perfect 'underwear' for this polish, so it can be opaque without using 100 coats. Have any suggestions?

Thanks for reading peeps!
Lynnie

Zoya - Marina

Hey!

Today's post is about Zoya Marina from the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection. This has been sitting in my untrieds since.. this is embarrassing.. August! I don't know what took me so long to try it. Maybe because it's the same finish as Zoya Nimue which I wasn't crazy about. But either way, I finally got around to using it, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! Check it out..

I think the finish works better on this than it does on Nimue, I really like the dusty greyed out blue and slightly frosty finish. What you see above is two coats and Out the Door top coat (which I have recently decided is my *holy grail* top coat. I love it!)

So what do you think about Marina? I am glad I finally tried it!

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

RBL - Bruised

Hello there!

Today I am showing you Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised. I have three more RBLs to show you and that will be it from my latest haul. Those are Poco a Poco, Catherine and 360- which would you like to see next? Back on subject- this is Bruised, a lovely dusty cross between plum and raisin, hard to describe, but a gorgeous creme. Please see for yourself;

 Flash

Natural Light (4:00 PM in Central PA.. haha)

What you see above is two coats of Bruised, no top coat. I know people have said before that the name 'Bruised' kind of turns them off to this color, but I think it makes the polish even cooler. 

Though this doesn't resemble any bruises I've ever gotten, it is still one great color and the formula, as I said, was fantastic. This is a polish I really see myself reaching for in the future, because it is incredibly work appropriate, without being boring. 

What do you think of Bruised? 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lynnie

RBL - No More War

Hey hey!

Today I am showing you RBL - No More War. A 'pretty-ugly' army green color that reminds most people of split pea soup! When I first saw this color I thought to myself 'why would I ever wear something that...ugly' but now that I have more appreciation for nail polish and especially the brand RBL, I realized that this is a truly unique polish, which meant I had to have it!

Just look at it! It's so different! Definitely the definition of pretty-ugly! Formula was fantastic, like always with RBLs. And I actually got so many compliments when I was wearing this! Most were along the lines of 'wow that's so different!' which.. it totally is!

There you have it, ladies and gents. RBL No More War.

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie

OPI - Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Hey readers!

Quick post today about OPI - Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous. This is a gorgeous charcoal gray foil that absolutely SHINES. I love everything about this polish. It came out in the Fall 2010 Swiss collection, and this was my very first OPI, so it will always hold a special place in my heart, hehe. Check it out!

What do you think about this polish? Are you a fan of foil shimmers? I think they are one of my favorite finishes on a polish, I just love how they are always shining no matter the lighting!

Thanks for reading!
Lynnie