Fire Kitty and Nails!

So maybe you didn't know this, but I love World of Warcraft. My two mains (nope, I can't pick just one) are a gnome warlock named Whatsit (Chief has a gnome rogue named Whoosit... aren't we cute??) and a feral druid named Zyrah. Last night, Zyrah brought down the 6th boss in Firelands for the third time and Fandral's Flamescythe dropped!

All of my combat is in cat form, and this staff makes my character look like this:

I was so excited that all night I dreamed of ways of putting these flames onto my nails, and here's how it came out. I'm pretty happy with it, though I might do it again with a little more orange next time (less red). I used Zoya Kimmy for the base (2 coats), then lightly brushed Zoya Tanzy over it starting a little farther towards the tips each time, then added just a hint of China Glaze Lighthouse on the very tips.

I'm still so incredibly excited I can't stop squeaking now and then :o)

EDIT:  By the way, all of my Wow characters or on the US Doomhammer server.  Let me know if you have a toon there or would like to try playing and I can send you an invite for a trial account!

Missha HGR01 (with Chanel Peridot comparison)

Remember how much I fell in love with Peridot? It's the only polish in my collection that I've worn three times within a couple months, and I noticed I've already used a noticeable amount. Well, instead of buying a backup bottle (too expensive!) I decided I'd try out this polish that's supposed to be very similar to Peridot: Missha HGR01 (I found it on ebay, and it's not too terribly expensive). I am SO happy I did! Check this out!

Missha HGR01

This has the same duochrome metallic finish that Peridot does - so shiny and pretty! Like Peridot, it shows some brushstrokes while it's wet but they disappear as the polish dries.  The color spectrum on this one seems to "begin" where Peridot "ends." The greenish teal that you see at the extreme angles on Peridot is very similar to how HGR01 looks straight on. Then HGR01 turns to a bright cyan blue and even royal blue at the extremes. If mermaids wore nail polish (I only assume they don't because it'd be hard to paint your nails underwater... heehee), I think they would DEFINITELY wear this color. This feels like a "mermaid in a bottle." Oh, and also it smells like roses (very nice).

Because of it's similarity to Peridot, I wanted to show the two next to each other. I love both of these so much, though the gold in the Peridot really suits my skin tone more.

Missha HGR01 (middle and pinky) and Chanel Peridot (pointer and ring)

See how the green on Peridot (pointer) kinda of matches the green of the Missha (pinky). So cool! Love it!

Sinful Colors Let's Talk and Nfu-Oh 51

Just a quick layering combination that I had in mind when I first got Nfu-Oh 51. I'd seen it over purples and blues and loved it, so I wanted to try it with the most vibrant purple I own: Sinful Colors Let's Talk. This color is crazy I tell you!

I tried to capture the color shift of the Nfu-Oh flakies in the next couple pictures. You can see the bright green at the extreme angles. Soooo neat!

Here's a quick pic of Let's Talk on it's own... isn't it amazing?!

Deborah Lippmann Yellow Brick Road Swatch

After seeing promos for this one I knew I really wanted it, so I included it in my order of Chanel Peridot the other day.  Of course, I was too excited about Peridot, but I finally decided to try this one for a full manicure today:

Deborah Lippmann - Yellow Brick Road

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this polish...  I mean, it's such a beautiful yellow, but somehow I don't think I like the visible nail line that's still there at 4 coats (shown above).  Being a jelly finish, I expected it to take a few coats to even come close to opaque, but it's still not.  I'm really not bothered much by VNL with other colors, but not a fan of it with the yellow.  Ah, well.  I will wear it and take it off tomorrow if it really bugs me.  In the future, I think I'll layer it over Essie Marshmallow (my all-time favorite white) to maintain the jelly look.

What do you think of the visible nail line for Yellow Brick Road?  Do you like the idea of a yellow jelly?  Have you tried this one?

Chanel Peridot Swatches and Review

So I was all ready yesterday to swatch the Zoya Sunshine collection and declare my love for Zoya (and I still will soon).  But that was all before I ran into Scrangie's post about Chanel Peridot.  I had seen promo pics for it and figured "eh, it's not going to be as awesome they make it look."  But whoa, Scrangie's pics proved otherwise.  So I contemplated for awhile about whether I REALLY wanted to spend $25 on a single nail polish, but within the hour I had it ordered on Nordstrom.com with the in-store pickup option.  My other half ("Chief" we will call him) works down by the mall and he was awesome enough to offer to pick it up for me on his way home (awww).

So now I have it!  And it's amazing!  Let me show you...
 

 Chanel - Peridot

First off, I happen to have a puzzle ring with a peridot on it, so I wanted to see how the polish compares with the real thing.  If only the stone had the same color range that the polish does...  Still beautiful together!

(I sell puzzle rings at the Arizona Renaissance Festival, and if you have a faire near you my company may sell them there!  Norman Greene does amazing custom work which you can see at www.renaissancerings.com. Yes, they really do disassemble!)

Now to show you the amazing duochrome!  While it's not a very strong color change, it is a very beautiful one.  With light at a direct angle, it looks very gold (almost amber in places), but as the angle gets higher (with straight on being 0 degrees), the color shifts into leaf green, teal, and blue at the most extreme angle.

Coincidentally, peridot is Chief's birthstone, and he never liked it cause he thought it looked "booger green."  Well, if this is booger green, then I'm head over heels in love with snot.  Like Scrangie stated, when I first put it on I didn't like it, but as it dried, it started to "even out" and the streaks disappeared and the duochrome strengthened.  It DOES look nearly opaque in one coat, but I found that the more coats I did, the deeper it looked.  For these pictures I did three THIN coats.  The key that I found was to do nice thin coats with as few strokes as possible to minimize the streaks.  Don't take too much care on the first couple coats, but make sure to do a nice, thin, quick final coat.

Another note...  I can see why Scrangie was fascinated with it while typing - these are the moments where you see the blue/teal at the extreme angles, and it is quite mesmerizing  :o)

Do you like Chanel Peridot as much as I do?  Do you think it's worth the $25 retail price, or will you pass this one up?

Color Club Electro Candy Swatches

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post.  So much has been going on in my life, and I just haven't felt up to blogging.  Hopefully I can tell you all about it sometime, but for right now I'm unable to post about it.

So let's get on with the swatches!  These were taken way back in February before I stopped blogging, but I can't remember having any application issues with any of them, and I believe most were two coats.  I know this collection is from long ago, but I wanted it so badly and was so excited when I finally got them!

Color Club - Volt of Light

Color Club - Tangerine Scream

Color Club - Electro Candy

Color Club - Ultra Violet

Color Club - Pure Energy

Color Club - What a Shock!

Overall, I loved this collection.  Color Club does neons quite often, but this collection was unique because of the shimmer!

Do you like neons?  Do they go well with your skintone and make your hands look tan, or ghostly?

Some fun Valentine's Day colors from Del Sol

Let me start by saying that I'm a BIG fan of Del Sol polishes, and it's probably because there is SO much sun in Arizona. Since many of the polishes change to a pink, red, or maroon in the sun, they make great Valentine's Day colors.

The first one up is Heartbreaker. It's a pretty red glitter indoors - more cool, berry-toned than China Glaze Ruby Pumps (which I actually do not own... can you believe it?! Probably 500+ polishes and I don't even have this cult favorite). In the sun, the color really deepens to a dark berry maroon or burgundy. I would almost call it a dark red grape, but it's not QUITE that purple. Either way it's stunning!

Del Sol - Heartbreaker (shade)

Del Sol - Heartbreaker (sun)

The next one is called Girls Night Out. It starts out as a rosy bright pink with gold shimmer. In the sun it gets very purple, but keeps the gold shimmer.

Del Sol - Girls Night Out (shade)

Del Sol - Girls Night Out (sun)

Next is Pretty in Pink. Indoors it's a white base with HEAVY pink flash. The pink flash really dominates this one, and makes it appear like a pearly cool-toned baby pink. This is three coats, and there is still VNL, but I don't really mind it. Outside it all turns to a soft mid-toned pink. VERY girly!

Del Sol - Pretty in Pink (shade)

Del Sol - Pretty in Pink (sun)

Last but not least, is Secret Crush. It's not really a traditional Valentine's Day polish, but it's my favorite Del Sol polish, so I had to include it. It's such a pretty soft orange coral with a strong blue pearl to it (yes, up close and in the pictures you can see brushstrokes, but I assure you they are not at all noticeable in person - doing three thin coats instead of two thick coats keeps the brushstrokes at bay). Then outside... WOW. It changes to a dusty purple base with that same electric blue pearl, and it's absolutely amazing. I love how much the color changes in this one, and I just adore both "versions" (inside and outside).

Del Sol - Secret Crush (shade)

Del Sol - Secret Crush (sun)

Like I said, I just LOVE Del Sol polishes, but I do have one thing to say about them...

I've heard rumors of "bottles that didn't change color much." I think that this is actually due to the sun available, not the formulation itself. In Arizona, these are wonderful - they change almost instantly and very drastically. However, if you live in a place that's mostly cloudy, you may see little to no change whatsoever. Another thing to note is that if you use any sort of sunscreen (even putting moisturizer with SPF 15 in it on your face using your fingers), there will be NO color change at all. The polishes rely on the UV rays from the sun to change the color, so be sure to try them on days with a high UV index for maximum change.

Also, what do you think of the new larger picture size?

CoverGirl Midnight Forest - Chanel Black Pearl dupe?

I decided to check out my local Dollar Tree yesterday, and happened to find some cool Cover Girl Nail Slicks duos for $1 each. One of them contained this beauty, which I think looks an AWFUL lot like Chanel Black Pearl.

Cover Girl - Midnight Forest

I don't like spending $25 on polishes (I only made one exception for Paradoxal because I found it unique and beautiful enough to justify the price), so I don't have Black Pearl to compare it to. I was using Michelle's photo here on All Lacquered Up for comparison purposes, and I think they are very close!

Another thing to note is that this is NOT big 3 free. It contains Dibutyl Phthalate.

Most Underrated Polish from Anchors Away: Knotty

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought Knotty might be a suitable match for my skin. In fact, this polish is the most perfect nude polish I've found yet. It's got that glass-fleck sparkle (which is fine by me... the more sparkly the better!) and more yellow/tan tone that most of the nude polishes out there. Just look at how BEAUTIFUL this is!  This is two coats and it's still a tiny bit sheer, but I actually like it that way.

China Glaze - Knotty

In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated polishes from the latest China Glaze collection, Anchors Away. It is my favorite just because it matches my skin so perfectly. Although somehow my camera managed to find a slight color difference, I assure you that in person it's a perfect match.  I know this probably won't work on those with pinker, cooler tones in their skin, but if you have more olive tones, you should give this one a shot!  It's quite sparkly in the sun, but it has a nice clean pearly appearance in lower lighting.

On a side note, how do you like my new blog colors? I thought black and grey were a bit boring (although I liked the neutrality contrasting with the colorful polishes) so I tried green and gold. What do you think? Should I keep it or change it back?

SOPI Metro Chic and Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy

I saw a girl the other day wearing Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, and it made me want to wear it again, so here it is (2 coats):

Sephora by OPI - Metro Chic

I had recently picked up Gray's Anatomy from the new Wet N Wild FastDry line, and tried it quickly over my old Chanel Paradoxal manicure. It looked really cool because Paradoxal resembled the base color in Gray's Anatomy, but because Gray's is a bit sheer, Paradoxal really deepened it.

So I decided I'd try Gray's over Metro Chic, since it matched the base color even more closely. In my opinion, it's not as beautiful as it was with Paradoxal, but it's still very amazing! (And it's a $1.99 dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Wicked Games!)

Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy (over SOPI Metro Chic)

That last couple pictures really show the green side of the polish, which is most visible at extreme angles to the light source, though as you can see both the green and purple can be seen together in many views. It's a more subtle duochrome, but still very striking. I recommend layering it over a darker color like Zoya Kelly or Sally Hansen Gray Area.