OPI Avojuice Crisp Apple and Raspberry Violet

OPI will be releasing two new scents in the Avojuice lotion line, Crisp Apple and Raspberry Violet. OPI's Avojuice is one of my favorite hand lotions of all time, and I can't wait to smell these.

Not really as exciting as new polish, but still news! OPI La Collection De France is still scheduled for release around the first week of August, so I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I get my well-manicured little hands on them!

Essie Fall 2008??

I'm really curious about Essie's Fall/Winter 2008 collections. I haven't seen any concrete information on them, but the rumor is that there will be six polishes designed to coordinate with the season's jewel-toned clothing. It's also rumored that there will be a PURPLE in this collection.

Hmmm.... Speculation? Anyone?

I can never resist purple polish, so I hope the rumor turns out to be true!

Swedish Days

Today my family and I went to Swedish Days- the Midsommar festival that happens every year where I live. There are a lot of Swedish immigrants and Americans of Swedish heritage where I live, so every year they have a festival where all the Swedish businesses and restaurants and groups set up booths with food and games. It's a lot of fun!

This year I was inspired to do "Swedish" themed makeup, inspired by Sanna of MakeupMyLack.
Mine's not as good as hers, but it was still fun to do in honor of all the wonderful Swedish bloggers I've met through this blog. You guys are great!



(Flash, because it made my eyeball look cool. LOL)

I used:
MAC Painterly Paint Pot
MAC Chrome Yellow
MAC Orange
MAC Crystal Avalanche
Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Radium
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Zero
Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara

How did I do?

Zoya Color Lock System, Day Two (Yasmeen)

Similar results to what I had last time. Day two with minimal to non-existent tipwear. Observe:


Left hand, full sunlight. Sorry about the shadow. As you can see, no tipwear at all, even with all my typing. I always have tipwear the second day.



Right hand, full sun. You can see a bit of tipwear here, and a minuscule chip on the index finger. I'm left-handed, so I have no idea how I got more tipwear on my right hand than on my left.

Will I have chips tomorrow? More tipwear? We'll see how it goes.

China Glaze Sexy Sport and Zoya Chit Chat Collection Bottle Pictures

I really, really, really want to swatch these, but I promised I would leave Yasmeen on until it chips! ARGHHH!!

Anyway, the China Glaze Sexy Sport "collection" is 3 old colors and one new color- Sexy Lady. The re-released colors are Sexy, Sexy in the City and Sex on the Beach.


Sexy Lady, Sexy, Sexy In The City, Sex On The Beach


Here's Sexy Lady. It's a simple hot pink creme.


And this is the Zoya Chit Chat collection:

Gaia, Erika, Bekka, Lianne, Annie, Elke.

Gaia, Bekka and Lianne look extra awesome to me.

I have a lot of swatching to do. When I'm doing it, it seems like a pain in the ass- waiting for the right lighting, uploading, cropping, resizing, watermarking.... But now that I can't swatch because I can't take off my polish, I really want to! I miss it. It really is fun, even if my neighbors all look at me like I'm insane.

I hope this polish chips soon.

Second Try - Zoya Color Lock System Day 1 (Yasmeen)

I really love Zoya's polishes, so I'm willing to give the Color Lock System a second try.

If you recall the first time, I had massive bubbling and had to remove my polish.

Now, normally, I never wear the same color more than two days in a row (usually I change every day), so I don't have a need for a product that makes my color wear longer. However, I am intrigued by Zoya's claim that the system will "dramatically extend polish wear on natural nails."

Here we go. Day one of my second run with the system.

This time I decided to go with a polish that has never let me down- Zoya Yasmeen. Yasmeen is pretty much my favorite purple polish of all time. I wouldn't mind wearing this color for 3 or more days.

I made sure to follow the instructions exactly. There was no moisture or oil of any type on my nails. I prepped my nails with Remove+ and waited for them to be bone dry before I applied one thin coat of Zoya Anchor. I made sure to polish my nails in an area that wasn't too hot or too cold and I was away from any sort of vent, fan or breeze.

I gave Anchor sufficient time to dry and then I applied two thin coats of Zoya Yasmeen, letting each coat partially dry before applying the next. Sometimes thick coats can cause bubbling, and sometimes letting them dry in between can reduce bubbling.

I applied one thin coat of Zoya Armor topcoat. I waited a minute or two before I applied Zoya Hurry Up Speed Dry Drops. I remembered to carefully wrap the tip of my nails with all layers to increase wear.

The polish looked great at first, but within five minutes I began to experience bubbling.

Within ten minutes the bubbling had become extreme. See here:
(Click to enlarge)


Left hand, shade. You can see the bubbling.


Left hand, full sun. The bubbling is hidden due to the shimmer finish of the polish.\


Right hand, shade. Bubbling here, too.


Right hand, full sun. Bubbling is slightly more apparent due to the angle, but the shimmer finish camouflages it quite well.

It's also been a couple hours since I applied it and I can still dent the polish.


There is no way I can be messing it up so bad as to cause it to bubble like this. Honestly, what am I doing wrong? I have never had this problem with any Zoya polish using my regular method- OPI Nail Envy or no base coat and Seche Vite on top. What on earth is going on here?

Since the bubbling isn't as noticeable as it was with Indigo, I think I'll be okay leaving this on for a while. I'm really curious to see how long it takes to chip.

The Polish Addict has had much better results using this system- only minor bubbling. My wear during the first test was excellent- no tipwear until day three (even with all my typing). There's no question that this system improves polish wear, but what's up with all the bubbles?

Kat Von D for Sephora Autograph Liquid Eyeliner

I'll take a little break from babbling about nail polish to introduce you to my new favorite makeup item:

Kat Von D Autograph Eyeliner.

I've recently become fond of liquid liner, and I've pretty much worn it every day for the past 6 months. During that time I've tried tons of different brands- Urban Decay, Sephora Brand, Wet N Wild, MAC, et cetera. Out of all of those, I like Kat's the best.

I'll admit, the first two I bought just for the name- Black Metal Love (KVLT!!!) and Love Metal (seriously, I do.) The other two I had to get because I loved the first ones so much- Turbo Lover and Romantico.

The brush on these is pretty much perfect- long enough to draw a straight line without making a mess, stiff enough not to splay but soft enough not to skip, and holds plenty of liquid so you don't have to dip so much.

The packaging is great- the bottles (jars? what do you call that part?) are the exact color of the liner inside- actually, I'm thinking they're transparent because it's such an exact match. The handles of the brushes are nice and long with a rubberized feel to them and beautiful silver artwork.

They all dry very quickly, which is awesome for me because I hate waiting for my liner to dry before I can curl my lashes. The texture is smooth and even, no chunks, not runny and not too thick. Texture is an important factor in achieving a straight and flawless line. Too runny and it bleeds, to thick and it skips. These are just right. And once they're dry, they don't budge, smudge or flake.

Most importantly, all the colors have character. See below.


Black Metal Love, Love Metal, Turbo Lover, Romantico


Black Metal Love, Love Metal, Turbo Lover, Romantico


Romantico, Turbo Lover, Love Metal, Black Metal Love.
(As always, click the pictures to enlarge)

I apologize for the poor quality of the swatches. I just couldn't keep my hand still for anything! I really need to cut back on the coffee.

Romantico is a deep antique looking gold that dries looking pretty reflective. It has just a hint of sparkle in it, and it's incredibly beautiful when it catches the light.

Turbo Lover is a metallic plum burgundy shade. It doesn't look red on your eyes. It's also metallic and reflective when dry. It really brings out the color of my eyes, and I'm sure it would look awesome with all eye colors.

Love Metal is everything I wanted Urban Decay's Revolver liquid liner to be. It's shiny, sparkly, reflective pure metallic silver goodness. A strange sounding but beautiful way to wear it is with a light gold eyeshadow on the lid. Gold and silver together doesn't sound like it would work, but it looks so interesting and pretty! You could also do it in reverse with a silver eyeshadow and Romantico liner.

Last, but definitely not least, Black Metal Love. A pure, super-dark jet-black matte liner with super-tiny silver microglitter. I think the microglitter really makes it. It doesn't look glittery at all- it looks like dark black matte eyeliner. When the light hits it you see the silver microglitter and it's just so fascinating to look at. I don't know if I can go back to plain black liquid liner.... I like the glitter!

If you're into cat eyes, retro glamour or just love liquid liner, you might want to give these a try!

They're available exclusively at Sephora.