Essie Shine of the Times compared to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and Nubar 2010

I love my flakies... so how did these three stack up? 

Essie - Shine of the Times (Luxeffects Collection Holiday 2011)

Really? How freakin' gorgeous! I love this collection! If you'd like to see the press release click here, which also shows the other 4 colours. This is the ever so hyped about Shine of the Times, a FLAKIE!!! Props to Essie for changing it up a bit and they totally came out with a winner in my opinion. I used to over OPI Black Onyx, which is a simple black creme. I used one coat of Shine of the Times, I used the brush to work the flakies around to my liking. Totally stunning. Flakies come in many colours but this seems to be the one used most, they are a orange/green/yellowish colour. I've compared it to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and Nubar 2010, and I'll link that post here when it's up. I think this is a must have. I purchased mine at NailPolishCanada.com for $9.75 CAD. They were the first place I've seen get them in stock. They have great customer service and free shipping on orders over $29 ($50 to the states). I'm not sure when these will be available in stores.

China Glaze - Material Girl (Eye Candy Collection Winter 2011)

Pink is my all time favourite colour... EVER! Material Girl from China Glaze's new Eye Candy Collection is a dream. Pink glitter multi dimensional glitter bomb. It has three sizes of pink glitter. Tiny pink glitter, medium pink hexagon glitter, and larger holographic pink hexagon glitter all in a clear base.  I used three coats and took the picture before I put a top coat on. Application was fairly easy for a glitter. The holographic hexagon glitter seemed rather sparse. I would have liked to see a little more, I love my holographic glitter! To see the other nail polishes in the Eye Candy Collection, including some comparisons, and the press release click here. 

SpaRitual Twinkle 4-Piece Gift Set (Holiday 2011)

This is the Twinkle Gift Set for SpaRitual's Twinkle Collection. It comes with 4 minis, the collection it self has 6 colours. The packaging is to die for! It comes in a gold sparkled covered box with a little ribbon to close it. The set contained Solstice, Illumination, Break of Dawn, and Shooting Star. They are .5 fl oz each and the set was about $20 CAD. I think this would be a very nice Holiday Gift, that isn't expensive plus is just has the most gorgeous packaging already. 

OPI - Gone Gonzo! (Muppet Collection Holiday 2011)

Gone Gonzo! came out with the limited edition OPI Muppets Collection for the Holiday season. I've been loving this whole collection, to read more on the collection click here. Gone Gonzo! is a clear base with sky blue smaller glitter and silver larger hexagonal glitter. Totally pretty. 

I used two coats plus coat of INM Out the Door top coat.  Of course it was a pain to remove, but totally worth it! I've also done a comparison to the similar polish Revlon Blue Mosaic, if you want to see that, click here. OPI retails for $9.50 CAD and up in Canada and a little less in the states. It can be found in select salons, e-tailers, and London Drugs here in Canada.

Oh Toni Toni Toni... Julep - Toni

Julep was a fairly unheard of brand up until a couple months ago when they came out with the Julep Maven program and made a quite a few bloggers mad thats when I heard of them. I myself tried them, and have had the worst experience. Anyways...  Toni. I ordered Toni with my Julep Maven program discount, and free shipping I get from the program. If you use the discount it winds up to be about $11 US. Without the discount they are $14 US each. You get a small 0.2 fl. oz. size bottle. 

I'm crazy about colours like Toni. I buy em all. I have a ton of taupes type colours just like Toni. So it's not so unique. Almost every brand including drug store brands have a colour just like this one. Julep describes it as a grey with a hint of purple. Myself I would say its a plain taupe. I used two coats that the application of the polish was good. One coat of OPI Start to Finish as a base coat, one coat of INM Out the Doors top coat. 

Here is where I slap myself for buying Toni. It was the worst chipping polish that I've ever used. I put it on at night and the next morning on my way to work I noticed two chips. By the end of the day my nails looked horrific. Some chips went down half my nail. I'm not even sure how all the chips happened. I'm fairly easy on my nails. I could have tried CND Sticky/China Glaze Strong Adhesion type base coat, but I don't think base coats like thoughs should be necessary to get through one day. I bought 4 polishes from Julep, so far I've only tried Toni and it was a not-so-hot mess. In my opinion Toni is one to skip. At $14, it is 100% not with it. 

Favourites of 2011: L'oreal Owl's Night (Project Runway Collection Fall 2011)

The illusive L'oreal Owl's Night! I've wanted this for over a month now and it hasn't yet shown up here in Canada. My hopes diminished last weekend when I saw some of the less popular colours from the Project Runway Collection, on a "Fall Collection" dispay. Really? We want the same displays as everyone else! Anyways... two weekends ago I went across the boarder on a nail polish adventure. My main mission was to find Owl's Night. I went to four (yes four!) Rite-Aids to try to find it. It was really a long shot but I was obsessed! Finally my iPhone took me to a little Rite-Aid in the middle of a small town and I found it!!! Mission accomplished. 

So Owl's Night came out late September and has been very hard to find. Each display has 2 spots for it! But if I found it, maybe you sill can too. And who knows... maybe it'll show up in Canada (fingers crossed). I used two coats and one coat of IMN Out the Door Top coat. Perfection. Absolutely love this colour. It's a very dark olive colour with the most amazing gleaming shimmer to it. Stunning! This was $4.99 US. Some have said it's a dupe to Sally Hansen's limited edition Sequin Scandal colour, but I would say they have similarities but aren't dupes. See comparison below.

The (snow)men in my life...

OK how adorable are these? I always fall victim to cute packaging when it comes to nail polish. And at $1.99 US I couldn't help but get a few. Actually a few was all I could find! Two weekends ago I was on a major hunt for Loreal's Owl's Night nail polish. I think I tried four Rite-Aids (while I was in the states) before I found Owl's Night, during my adventure I only found these two snowmen. All the displays were empty! I really wanted the red and green sparkle one, but no luck, oh well. So these don't have names, the do say they are from Red Cross Beauty. 

Winter 2011 Trend: Dark Olived Toned Lacquers

I'm so into these!!! These olive toned polishes seem to be everywhere right now. I have to say I was a little weary of them at first but the moment I tried one, I was in love! These to me are winters neutral, I can't see these clashing with a lot in your wardrobe. They are also interesting colours without being to flashy or blingy, perfect for the office. I included YSL Black Bronze in the olive category cause it really leans to the green side when it't on the nail. All of these I've picked up in the last month or so, so they still might be available where you live. I think everyone should at least try one of these this winter!

Sky Blue Glitters: Revon Blue Mosaic compared to OPI Gone Gonzo!

About two months ago Revlon release the The Expressionist Collection, click here to see the full collection. It included a pretty sky blue sparkle nail polish called Blue Mosaic. I believe this collection will be entering into Revlon's permanent line. More recently OPI released it's limited edition collection for the holidays, The Muppets Collection. Click here to see all post related to The Muppets Collection. The Muppets collection also has a sky blue sparkle polish, its name is Gone Gonzo! While they aren't exact dupes as Blue Mosaic has some green hexagon glitter thrown in, the are very close!

Coat Nail Polish by Coastal Scents - Universe Collection

A new nail polish brand to show you! Last month Coastal Scents came out with Coat nail polishes. I had done a post about ordering them before here. These three polishes are from the Universe Collection, which includes 6 other polishes. The three that I have for you today are Cosmic, Comet, and Meteorite. These were $3.95 US each / 0.2 fl. oz. 

COAT COSMIC SWATCHES

By far my favourite of the three. Anyone who missed out of the illusive Limited Edition Joe Fresh Twilight polish last Winter, will sure be happy to see Cosmic. I used a coat of OPI Black Onyx (plain black creme), and two coats of Cosmic. I think polishes like these are meant to be layered, on its own its very thin. Just like Twilight, its a black (that leans green) jelly base with beautiful green/yellow/orange/blueish flakies depending on how the light hits it. You can also check out my post of Joe Fresh Twilight here.

Barbie Loves Joe Fresh is back!

Last year Joe Fresh came out with a Barbie Loves Joe Fresh limited edition collection. It included women PJs, girls PJs, and underwear. Totally adorable stuff. Because I'm a sucker for Barbie and a lover of Joe Fresh I bought everything! But I don't remember if they had nail polish or lipgloss last year, I think I would have boughten them if they did. But anyways this year they have the PJs again and have also some cute cosmetics.  

Above is a nail polish trio. Even though the moment I saw them I wanted them, really the packaging and the price made me turn it down. The packaging seemed cheap, it was a sticker slapped on the bottle. Then below are the nail files, train case, and the much coveted pyjama pants. They also had lipgloss sets. I'm excited, I really hope this turns into a yearly thing.  I passed on all the cosmetic type things, I think these were more for the younger girls. But of course I got the pyjama pants, Barbie Loves Joe Fresh pyjama pants are absolutely a staple in my life. I think they are the perfect way to keep a bit of playfulness in your closet.

SNEAK PEAK: OPI Best of the Best Limited Edition Minis Set (Holiday 2011)

Ahhh I love this. This girl is always a sucker for minis. I'm going to pass on this one cause I have most of them.. where was this a few years ago?! The girl at the beauty supply store let me take a look at these, I don't know when they will actually be on sale. It has 10 minis (1/8 fl/oz each), all of their classic (must have in my mind) colours. This will make an excellent Christmas present! 

Lise Watier Festive Collection - The Nail Lacquers (Holiday 2011)

A seriously gorgeous press release landed in my inbox a few days ago. I can't even tell you how pretty this entire collection is, you can see pictures of the display here. I also showed you the actual bottle pictures of the two polishes from the collection in that post too. I picked up Festive Chic, and can't wait to try it. Click the picture below to read more about the two new polishes from Lise Watier Festive Collection. I believe the model is the above picture is wearing Festive Chic. These are available now at London Drugs, Sears, and The Bay. 

American Apparel Warehouse Sale in Vancouver

Starting today and ending November 14th American Apparel is having a Warehouse sale in Canada Place Convention Centre (Vancouver). The hours are 9AM - 9PM throughout the weekend. I kinda hoped to find some good basics, but really didn't find any good clothes... but I found a few good nail polishes! They are $3 each! I remember when their nail polish was 3/$15, then up to 3/$18, not apparently $9 each! (when did that happen?). So $3 is a pretty good steel, I bought four colours that I didn't have. They didn't in my opinion have a good selection. Maybe 6 or 7 colours, and all had been sitting (and separating) for quite sometime. Shaking barely helped. But I manages to find 4 decent bottles.

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe Collection (Holiday 2011)

Color Club has a new Holiday collection, it's called Beyond The Mistletoe. It's six new colours, all beautiful sparkles with scattered holographic glitter. I bought this collection as a pack, if you can buy Color Club this way, I highly suggest it. It works out to be a lot cheaper, rather then buying them individually. Another great thing is, you discover colours you might have otherwise skipped. I did plan on just buying two of these and they actually turned out to be my least favourite of the pack! The pack actually came with a Club Clear Topcoat too. 

The polishes are full .5 oz size. On the wheel I used two coats of each colour plus two coats of Club Clear Topcoat. I found one still left it a little bumpy. My favourite of the six was Beyond The Mistletoe, which had the most holographic glitter. I thought my favourite would be Candy Cane, but it was a little less then stellar. My pack was $7.99 US (how awesome is that?!) at Ross in Bellingham. These are also available at Winners here in Canada. Winners can be a little hit and miss with what each store gets, but they are $13.99 CAD each.

The drawbacks of buying the Color Club packs are: the caps don't feel as nice (not a deal breaker) and the bottles aren't labeled. I suggest keeping the pack and beside each name on the pack dab a little polish, that way you can reference back to the pack for the name even if the bottles get mixed up.

Check the swatches out below and click on the pictures to see the swatches up close, believe me they look so much better up close!

Have you checked out Nordstroms lately!?

Nordstroms website has some great new stuff up! I love that they ship to Canada. But this also mean Holts will hopefully get most of this stuff very soon too! Newest nail stuff: 

Butter London - Nail Skins 

Three deisigns, above is 'Black Wallpaper' $10 each

The New Black - Ombre 5 Piece Set

Very cool, I've always wanted to do ombre nails but never have the right shades. There are three different set colours, above is 'Graffiti' $22 each

Deborah Lippmann - 'Dance Music' Holiday Mini Tro

Nordstrom exclusive. How cute! This girl is a sucker for minis. 

$29 pack

LEFT: YSL - 'No. 6 Terriblement Noir'

God I love YSL bottles, these are gorgeous. $30 set

RIGHT: The New Black - Glimmer Twins $10 set

VERY TOP: MAC Dazzlepheres including Mini Nail Kit. $25.50 set

So much great stuff! Can't wait to see everything in person. My must haves are the Deborah Lippmann Dance Music Set and the YSL No. 6 Terriblement Noir set, really can't wait to swatch some of these. You have to check the site out cause there is so much more then the pictured. www.nordstroms.com

Nordstroms.com does not ship nail polish if you live in Canada. But most of these things can be found at The Bay or Holts. 

OPI - Warm & Fozzie (Muppet Collection Holiday 2011)

I love this collection so so much. Warm & Fozzie was literally the first polish I grabbed off the display. I didn't know what it was but I had to have it. I wish my nails where a little bit longer!!! I feel like they have been break a lot lately. Anyways...

Warm & Fozzie is from OPI Muppets Collection for the Holidays, click here to see other polishes from this collection. It's a foil type finish bronze and I think it has some olive tones in it. It's totally gorgeous, especially for Fall! I used two coats and in the picture I'm not wearing a top coat. I eventually put a coat of Seche Vite on top and it really made it shine so pretty. This is such a perfect colour for Fozzie!

This collection is just starting to pop up in salons right now, London Drugs has them in stock, and of course you can buy through e-tailers. They retail for $9 CAD, a little less in the states. These are limited edition colours, so if you see something from the collection you like, buy while you can!

Cult Nails Super Powers Collection Pre-sale!

If you haven't heard yet, until Nov. 11 you can pick up Cult Nails Super Powers Collection for 25% off (basically a free polish!) It's $30 US and you get the four colours above (Power Thief, Time Traveller, Mind Control, Chairvoyant). The polishes sell for $10 each normally. Shipping was reasonable to Canada, I think I payed $8 to Vancouver, BC. The collection I believe doesn't ship until December. The owner of Cult Nails has said this will be the lowest price that this collection will be, don't you hate buying something and the next week its cheaper? This is my first time trying Cult Nails, I've been wanting to try them for a while now. I really wanted Unicorn Puke (Chairvoyant's liminted edition packaging), but missed out, so of course this is the perfect opportunity to try them. Lately I've been loving indie nail polish brands, they come out with very unique cool polishes. I suggest checking Cult Nails out if your interested in trying something new out. Here is the link to the above sale information. Or you can do directly to www.cultnails.com. You don't need any coupon code. I'll have some swatches up for sure as soon as I get these, I'm excited to see them!

Side note - I love how she (by she, I mean the owner Maria) has some amazing swatches of the polishes and I've heard nothing but amazing things about her customer service. 

SPOTTED: In Bellingham & Lynnwood WA, November 2011 Part 3

WET N WILD WALGREENS EXCLUSIVE ICE BABY COLLECTION

Only four left :( I bought Diamond In The Rough and It's All In The Cut.

These are the latest displays I seen while in the states last weekend. There we seriously sooo many new displays! You can see part 1 and part 2 of the displays by clicking here. These are the Walgreens, Ulta, and Walmart displays.  I loove seeing post like these! It's almost like shopping. 

SINFUL COLORS WISH HOLIDAY COLLECTION 

(WALGREENS)

Color Club Platinum Record compared to Oran-Minted

So I'm kicking my self for buying Orna-Minted this weekend, really the scent part sold me. I knew it looked familiar to Platinum Record but I kinda figured maybe it was a little different. Platinum Record is from the Backstage Pass Collection from this fall (click here to see that collection). Orna-Minted is a new colour from Sally's Color Club Scent-Suous Holiday Collection (click here to see that collection), it has a very overwhelming mint scent. Like I said in my original post, it smells like Vicks Vapour Rub as soon as you open the bottle, a little too strong for my liking! But today I was reading the Globe and Mail had an article that said taking a sniff of mint actually curbs your appetite. So a nail polish that makes you loose weight! I think we're on to something! LOL

So on to the swatches... they are exactly the same. Surprise surprise. Besides Orna-Minted having the scent they are the same polish, large silver hexagon glitter and regular size silver  glitter. Orna-Minted was $4.99 US at Sally's when I bought it in the states. Platinum Record I bought from eBay, but will retail for about $7 CAD each. I think they are pretty. I suggest going to Platinum Record if your not into heavy scents on your nails. 

THANKS FOR DROPPING IN!

Color Club Scent-Suous Scented Collection (Holiday 2011)

COLOR CLUB SCENT-SUOUS COLLECTION

Sally's Beauty Supply recently got these Color Club Scent-Suous Collection displays (link to picture of the displays)! Are they going to start carrying the full range of Color Club now? I sure hope so! I might be wrong but I think another blog had said that these were Sally's Beauty Supply exclusive colours. The collection had 6 colours I opted out of non-chunky sparkle ones. The names of the other colours that I skipped were Santa's Cinnamon (red sparkle, think China Glaze Ruby Pumps, cinnamon scented), Kiss Me Mistletoe (foiled light green, pine tree scented), and Gingerbread Man (light gold foil, gingerbread scented). I would have bought all of them but I seriously have a thing against all of thoughs scents. I bought mine in the states at a Sally's and they were $4.99 US each /.5 oz. 

SPOTTED: In Bellingham & Lynnwood WA, November 2011 Part 2

SALLY HANSEN CHRISTMAS SALON EFFECTS (RITE-AID)

More from my little adventure, part one was all of Sally's Beauty Supply's new displays and this post is mostly Rite-Aid. I'm a huge fan of Rite-Aid right now, they always have tons of room for stand alone displays and they always have the latest out. This particular Rite Aid was in Bellingham, I did go to a few different Rite Aids cause I was on a mission to find Loreal Owl's Night, and I did finally find it!!! I was so excited, I'll post some swatches very soon cause can't wait to wear it.

SALLY HANSEN LIMITED EDITION DESIGNER COLLECTION 2011

(RITE-AID) 

SPOTTED: In Bellingham & Lynnwood WA, November 2011 Part 1

FINGER PAINTS MERRY AND BRIGHT COLLECTION (SALLY'S)

OMG I must say there are so many new Holiday displays out now! I took a little 'nail polish' adventure into Washington and heres what I found! This is from the Sally's Beauty Supply in Bellingham which is about 15 minutes from the boarder crossing. It's right by Bellis Fair mall. 

CHINA GLAZE - LET IT SNOW COLLECTION

(SALLY'S)

I was surprised to see some Twinkle Lights! Thats my favourite from this collection.

OPI Holland Preview (Press Release)

Color with a Touch of Dutch

OPI Launches Holland Collection for Spring/Summer 2012

OPI celebrates color with the Holland Collection for Spring/Summer 2012. Inspired by the country’s range of stunning shades – as seen in vivid tulips, windmill-dotted hillsides and bustling canals – the collection’s twelve shades offer a mixture of sophisticated neutrals and highly-pigmented brights. 

“Holland has a very unique, vibrant beauty to match its open-minded nature,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “Spring is the season of color, and the Holland Collection provides an array of pink, coral and orange hues that capture this energy. The bright lacquers are married with neutrals in new variations like red clay and sea green.”

            A sequence of electric brights, including a sun-lit orange (A Roll in The Hague), a hot coral-red (Red Lights Ahead…Where?) and two perfectly pretty pinks (Kiss Me on My Tulips and a light-catching Pedal Faster Suzi!) complement their cooler counterparts in hues of glistening purple (Dutch ’Ya Just Love OPI? andVampsterdam), while elegant neutrals (Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, Did You ’ear About Van Gogh? and Wooden Shoe Like to Know?) meet two shimmer-laced blues (I Have a Herring Problem and I Don’t Give a Rotterdam!) and a creamy sea green (Thanks a WindMillion).

“Wearing these colors on fingers and toes will accessorize the season’s hottest trends,” remarks Suzi. “The varied palette of colors accentuates the looks that walked the runway, from colored pants and ladylike frocks to long, blousy-sleeved tops and dramatic patterns.”

            Holland by OPI includes the following shades:

Siren Reds: OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It compared to China Glaze Love Marilyn

Within the last month both OPI and China Glaze put out collections with awesome red glitter polishes. I wanted to see how close these two compare. As you can see they aren't dupes but they are similar. OPI's Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is from the Muppets Collection (to see any post about this collection, including a comparison between Rainbow Connection and Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday click here). China Glaze's Love Marilyn is from the Eye Candy Collection (to see other swatches of polishes in this collection, click here).

Hello Gorgeous! OPI Designer Series Bold (For Fall 2011)

I was so bummed to see this years additions to the OPI Designer Series line. I actually passed this one up and just bought the other polish released - Temptation, when I first saw them. I did however change my mind and decide to order this one too. This is OPI DS Bold. If you aren't too familiar with the Designer Series, it's an OPI line that gets two new polishes added to it each Fall. They have a "diamond dust" formula, silver cap, and cost $15.99 CAD, a little less in the US.

DS Bold was described as a red glitter but I would say it leans towards pink. It has a jelly base and the glitter is lighter colour than the base. It's totally stunning and my pictures just can't do it justice. It's a close match to last year China Glaze Mrs. Clause, which was limited edition in their Holiday Collection ('Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice) last year. So if you picked up Mrs. Clause you can probably skip DS Bold and it's price tag. 

I used three coats of Bold and one coat of Seche Vite. It was had "glitter bumps" after the top coat so two coats of top coat might be best. I think its beautiful, but I still wish we seen more of OPI DS holographic lacquers like previous years. I purchased mine from eBay. I know Chatters carries the DS line but I haven't seen them get any of the new ones in. 

***I've had two people say that they have had problems leaving comments on here for the last few days, I apologize and hopefully I'll get it call figured out soon!

China Glaze - Marry A Millionaire (Eye Candy Collection Winter 2011)

I'm really enjoying China Glaze's newest Eye Candy Collection. This is Marry A Millionaire a unique purple sparkle polish. You can see the press release and swatches of the first polish that I swatched from this collection Some Like It Haute here. This is just coming out in stores. 

It's a clear base with purple sparkles but added in is tiny tiny iridescent yellow/greenish bar glitter. I used two coats and like all glitter it defiantly needed a good top coat. I used Seche Vite top coat.  I find thicker top coats like Seche Vite work the best over glitter, especially a bottle of Seche Vite that has thickened a little. China Glaze can be found at Chatters, select salons, and nailpolishcanada.com has just put these up too. China Glaze is $7 - $9 CAD, and a bit less in the US. 

SpaRitual - Sacred Ground (Wilde Collection Fall 2011)

I love my dark greys! This is beautiful. It's Sacred Ground from SpaRituals Wild Collection for Fall 2011. It's been available for a while now. I haven't yet found a place locally that carries SpaRitual, if anyone knows a good place to get SpaRitual let me know! I think I bought this on eBay, it was about $7 but typically SpaRitual retails for a bit more. 

It's a medium to dark grey with purple and gold glitter. It says on the bottle its a glitter polish but really it's a charcoal creme base with glitter. I used two coats plus a coat of Seche Vite top coat. Application was amazing. I have to say I'm not a fan at all of the SpaRitual bottles. I have a bunch of polishes from them and they seem to take up more room then regular size bottles. They do have most of there colours available in cute minis too.  This is the only polish I bought from the Wilde Collection, nothing else really wowed me, the collection did have 6 new polishes: Instinct, Running with Wolves, Rhythms of Life, Howl, Spirit Child.