Maybelline Brocades Ruby Refined

Maybelline Brocades Ruby Refined is a limited edition color I picked up a while back at Rite-Aid.  It's a midtone raspberry pink/red with gold microglitter / shimmer as well as larger hexagonal glitter pieces.  Application was very nice - good formula, nice brush, easy to control (a few larger glitter pieces tried to go astray but I caught them), and was fully opaque at 3 coats.  I wish the sun was out today to appreciate the gold shimmer, as it is intense in the sun, but alas it's snowing instead.  But it looks great in all lighting to be honest, and I'm liking it!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Wonderous Star

OPI Wonderous Star is yet another color from the Holiday 2013 Mariah Carey collection.  It is an interesting champagne gold / silver shimmer / microglitter with black hexagonal glitter that looks like pepper sprinkled on top.  Application was nice - it's a tad sheer, so it took 3 coats to be sufficiently opaque for me, but it went on smoothly and was easy to control.  It isn't quite gold, but it's warmer than silver... reminds me color-wise of Essie Beyond Cozy, although I'm too lazy to go look at the side by side.  :)  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Chanel Rouge Moire

Chanel Rouge Moire is a beautiful soft medium raspberry red subtle shimmer from this winter's collection.  Application was very nice - great formula, flowed nicely and was easy to control, didn't streak, built nicely in opacity, and wear was good - I had no more chipping with this one than with any other polish, as is a common complaint by some people in regards to Chanels.  The brush is a little narrow for my liking, but I use OPI's Pro-Wide so often that I just think I'm used to that.  The color is beautiful, and although the shimmer isn't in your face it is still beautiful - almost like a stain finish as opposed to a true stereotypical shimmer.  I like this one - I don't know if it's "worth" the Chanel price, but then again I don't think I have anything quite like it either.  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Warm Me Up

OPI Warm Me Up is another color from the Holiday 2013 Mariah Carey collection.  It is a warm charcoal shimmer, dark grey but with brown undertones and a multi-colored silver shimmer in the sun.  I have OPI Black Satin as well, and this one is definitely warmer / more brown.  Application was nice - good formula, easy to control, streak free and built nicely in opacity.  It is an interesting take on a vampy, and I enjoyed this one!     >^..^<

OPI In My Santa Suit

OPI In My Santa Suit is another beautiful red from the Holiday 2013 Mariah Carey collection.  It isn't unique, but it is very pretty - it has a lovely glow to it's slightly metallic finish.  Application was very nice, ad wear was good (I wore it for 2 days).  I'm really enjoying my reds for the season, and this one just makes me happy!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Underneath the Mistletoe

OPI Underneath the Mistletoe is from the new Holiday 2013 Mariah Carey collection.  It is a beautiful deep cranberry jelly with red glitter, and it is stunning.  Application was pretty good - nice formula, fairly easy to control, and built nicely in opacity.  Unfortunately, being a jelly / glitter combo, it wants to dry a bit matte and gritty / lumpy, so I used a coat of Gelous, then Poshe, and achieved a nice glossy smooth finish.  It dried in atimely manner, and wear is good so far.  Luckily the sun was out today, so I was able to get a few decent shots.  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Girls Just Want to Play

OPI Girls Just Want to Play is from the 2008 Holiday In Toyland collection.  It is a beautiful bright red crelly, and I just love it.  Application was dreamy, even though it's 5 years old - perfect consistency, easy to control, and not a streak to be had.  I used 3 coats here, and I can still see a bit of VNL, and add that to the slightly squishy appearance, and I hesitate to call it a pure creme.  I absolutely adore colors like this, and I can see myself wearing this one for another day!  Love!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Pure t/c over Essie Little Brown Dress

So on day 2 I added OPI's Pure 18k white gold and silver t/c on top of Essie's Little Brown Dress.  Kind of reminds me of an Oreo cookie for some reason...   :)

Essie Little Brown Dress

Essie Little Brown Dress is a beautiful, deep dark vampy brown creme.  It dries darker than the bottle, and it does look almost black in almost all lighting.  Not that that's a bad thing - I think that's the intention.  Application was very nice - fully opaque and streak free at 2 coats, easy to control, and was creamy and flowed nicely.  The sun isn't out today (again...), so these pics were all taken under cloudy skies; I don't know if it would look more brown (less black) in direct sun or not.  But I'm liking this color right now (after having worn Chanel Ruby Slipper for almost a week)!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Chanel Ruby Slipper

Chanel Ruby Slipper is an oldie but goodie.  It is a mid to deep metallic red shimmer; nothing terribly unique but beautiful none-the-less.  Application was very nice - the formula was great, but the brush is a little thin for me, so I had a little streaking - no fault of the polish itself.

I'm wearing this one in memory of a dear friend who passed away suddenly this week.  I now have a few mementos of hers, including this polish, which she had tucked away with a few other treasures.  This will be my mani for the Thanksgiving holiday, which she was supposed to attend at our house - my way of paying a small tribute to her.  RIP, my dearest Kathleen.    >^..^<

Essie Hot Coco

Essie Hot Coco is a lovely brown taupe crelly/creme.  Application was ok - the formula was a bit runny and streaky, so I had to use 3 coats here for full opacity, yet it maintains a soft squishiness typical of crellies, so I hesitate to call it a pure creme.  The color is nice - a soft brown taupe, and looked ok on my skin tone.  I liked this one, but it's not love, even though it's right on trend in some circles this fall.  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Roman Flame

OPI Roman Flame is an ancient polish, but one with apparently no history!  I've searched extensively, but I can't determine when or with what collection it was originally released (the number on the label is OPI L86, if anyone knows...).  It is a beautiful red-orange shimmer with gold microshimmer mixed in.  The formula is quite thin and a tad sheer (as really old OPI's tend to be), so it took 4 coats to obtain the opacity I wanted.  It has a slightly jelly-ish feel to it, as opposed to modern more metallic looking shimmers in the same color vein (Die Another Day, etc).  I love the gold particles suspended in this one - it adds a lot of dimension and interest, and the base color is soft and perfect for fall!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

ChG Strike Up a Cosmo

ChG Strike Up a Cosmo is from the Fall 2013 Autumn Nights collection.  It is a soft beige-pink with flecks of shimmer in gold and  pink.  Application was good - nice formula, easy to control, flowed nicely without pooling or streaking and built nicely in opacity.  It's an interesting color, and the shimmer really pops in the sun, but even in the shade the polish has a textured appearance if that makes sense.  It's a subtle way of wearing a little bling!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Visions of Love

OPI Visions of Love is from the Holiday 2013 Mariah Carey collection.  It is a very dark brown-toned red creme, and it dries darker than it looks in the bottle.  Application was ok - nice formula, but as is normal with colors like this it is somewhat difficult to get a perfect cuticle line.  I used 3 coats here for full opacity and evenness, as it did streak a tiny bit on some nails.  It is very dark, looking almost black at times, especially on this gloomy overcast day.  But I like shades like this, so that's not all bad.  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Sparitual Improvisation

Sparitual Improvisation is from the new collection for holiday 2013.  It is a beautiful deep salmon / coral red color with blue shimmer - very nice!  Reminds me of OPI's Wing It!, but they are not dupes.  It's not a dark shade, and I hesitate to even refer to it as a red, as it really is more... well... salmony-pink.  The blue shimmer is very pearly in it's appearance, and is visible in all lighting, which is nice.  Application was great, as with most SR's I've tried - wonderful consistency, easy to control, nice brush, and although this color is a bit sheer on the first coat it built nicely in opacity (I used 4 coats here, which I don't mind).  I have had this one on for 2 days, so pardon the tip wear as I didn't get to take pics yesterday.  If you see this one (I found it at Ulta) it's worth picking up!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

ChG Charmed, I'm Sure

ChG Charmed, I'm Sure is a beautiful vampy eggplant creme from the fall 2013 Autumn Nights collection.  Application was very nice - perfect consistency, easy to control, and fully opaque in just 2 coats.  I usually try to wear cremes on cloudy days, leaving the shimmers for the sun, so these pics were all taken on an overcast day, but you get the idea.  It is a very dark color, but never looks black, and I'm loving the look!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

OPI Pure t/c over OPI All I Want For Christmas

I picked up the new OPI Mariah Carey holiday Pure topcoat the other day - oh my gosh $$$!!!.  Should have picked it up on the Bay.  Oh well.  :(   It is described as an 18K white gold and silver topcoat.   It has larger flakes of color mixed with much smaller pieces, giving it a lot of varied texture.  Application was nice - the particles are evenly suspended and it was easy to get a consistent look.  I used a fast dry t/c over it, and dry time was fine.  I'm liking this (more so than the gold from last year) - it reminds me of the really big flakes of snow you sometimes see.   I hope you like it too - enjoy!     >^..^<

OPI All I Want for Christmas (is OPI)

OPI All I Want for Christmas (is OPI) is from the new Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 collection.  It is a beautiful mid-tone to slightly dark neutral red creme.  Application was very nice - good formula that laid down easily and without streaking or dragging, fairly easy to control around the cuticle (fairly easy for a red creme, that is...), and built nicely in opacity.  I used 3 coats here for full opacity and depth of color.  Every time I wear a red creme, I'm reminded of how much I like them.  Boring, I know, compared to all the indie glitter and holo mania out there, but it's me.  This is a classic color!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Now just look at what Blogger did to my pics!  This first pic below is the same as the first picture above directly linked from Photobucket!  Look at how pink and blown out they are!  WTF, blogger?

Lippmann Black Coffee

Lippmann Black Coffee is a very old polish - I'm not sure when it cam out, but it is long discontinued.  This is a perfect fall color - a lovely rusty orange/red/brown with golden shimmer.  Application was dreamy, as with most Lippmann's - nice formula, easy to control, minimal streaking, and built nicely in opacity.  It is a fairly even shimmer, and the gold sparkles look great in the sun.  I'm powering through my fall colors, and I'm glad I picked this one for today.  Enjoy -     >^..^<