July 11, 2013

Gouda Gouda Two Shoes

Cheese. Cheese makes everything better.


The last week or so I've become a bit...cheese obsessed. How have I lived 22 years without knowing the beauty of swiss cheese?

So, to coincide with my cheese obsession, I give you OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes:


Gouda Gouda Two Shoes is from the Fall 2012 Germany Collection by OPI. It's a warm-toned pink with a golden shimmer running throughout. The shimmer is pretty subtle, showing up more in the bottle than it does on the nail. This was 2 coats with a topcoat. 

The Germany collection was a great mix of colours, and this one was no exception. Gouda Gouda Two Shoes has found its place in my usual work-appropriate rotation. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have some more cheese.

July 10, 2013

Joe Fresh Sea Blue

I love Joe Fresh.

Seriously. When it first made an appearance in my life, I thought it was mighty strange that they would try to sell clothes in the middle of the grocery store. Pretty soon, my wardrobe was packed with Joe Fresh clothes. I bashfully admitted to my fashion forward friend that I secretly kind of loved them. When she approved, I was actually kind of shocked. It was cool to like the clothes from the grocery store.

So, it's absolutely no secret that I am in love with their nail polish line as well. Trendy, wide range of colours...and affordable at $3-4 a bottle! This is Sea Blue.


Sea Blue is not a shade that I would necessarily associate with the sea. Usually when I think of the sea, I think of a more greenish, light blue. This shade is a blurple creme. The above picture shows 2 coats + topcoat. 

Joe Fresh polishes are 3 for $10, so more often than not buy three at a time. Their colour selection is pretty impressive, and I am particularly partial to their blues. I could probably create a gradient with my Joe Fresh polishes only (lightbulb!). The bottles are smaller than the average nail polish bottle (6mL vs. the usual 14-15mL, which I guess makes them on par for price with some other brands), but they are definitely worth a try if you ever have the chance. 

July 09, 2013

Essie Yogaga

Good morning!

It's pretty gloomy and wet outside right now. Luckily, we were spared of the flooding and power outages that happened all over the city, but still...not a pretty site outside.

Today I have for you Essie's Yogaga. With the weather, I wasn't feeling in the mood to do something brightly coloured, so I did a neutral instead.


The picture is blurry, but it's the only one that came out colour accurate, unfortunately. Yogaga is a pale taupe colour from one of Essie's Yogaga collection (Fall 2012). The formula is very good for a shade this pale. The photo above is 2 coats. Essie's actually been improving formula and colour-wise the last few years or so. I used to avoid buying them simply because their formulas left something to be desired.

Yogaga has become a go-to interview colour for me, and I assume it's a colour that will be getting a lot of wear in the next year or so as it is very work-appropriate. (Which is unlike so many other colours in my collection!)

Meanwhile, I'll be sticking to glitters and neons until the summer ends. Let's hope that we get some sunshine in here soon!

July 08, 2013

A Happy Colour for a VERY HAPPY DAY

Hello! I am in a very good mood today because...



You saw that right. (And to be honest, I'm still hoping that I saw that right too after checking a million times to be sure). I was actually paralyzed with anxiety over getting my licensing exam results, mainly because I was worried that if I didn't pass, the offer for my job would be off the table and I would have signed the lease on my apartment for nothing. Needless to say, I breathed a mega sigh of relief when I found out.

Since I'm so happy, I decided I would post about a colour that matched my mood.


Turned Up Turquoise from China Glaze is a neon turquoise with some awesome shimmer running throughout. The formula on this one was a beauty, considering that it's a bit of a neon. This was 2 coats.


This colour just makes me so happy. First off, I love anything that is teal or turquoise. Second, this is so bright, especially in the sun! I almost didn't get this polish because I thought it might be too similar to Four Leaf Clover, but of course I was wrong. It sort of reminds me a bit of a turquoise version of Frostbite, except not quite as...frosty. Sounds weird, but I think it's the brightness and the shimmer that makes me lump those two colours together in my mind.

Because this is a neon, it will dry matte. I used a coat of Revlon Fastdry over this, since I wasn't really feeling the matte finish -- but either way, it's such a beauty.

It's bedtime for me now, and I know I'll be sleeping well tonight. It seems like the last 4 years of my life have truly culminated into this one day. I feel marvelous, and I hope to keep feeling this way for a long time!

July 04, 2013

Beyond The Sea (A.K.A. Orly Royal Navy)

I had originally scheduled Tuesday's post (a red, white, and blue manicure) for today, seeing as it is the 4th of July and all. Thinking back, it even had a polish called Stars and Stripes in it, lol.

Instead, I'm going to show you a polish from Quo. The Canadian ladies will know that Quo is basically the store brand cosmetic line from Shoppers Drug Mart, and their nail polish is actually manufactured by Orly. When Quo started putting out their polishes, I didn't really have too much interest in them -- the colours were nice, but they were $10 each, and frankly, the colours were not that nice. I only ever bought them if they were on sale, or if I had a friend who worked at Shoppers with me (the perks of Pharmacy School!). 

However, last February, during my first experience working at a Shoppers, this happened:


Two dollars. And best of all, Quo was now carrying some of the more popular Orly shades (which run $6.99 at Sally Beauty Supply), including those from their Spring and Summer 2013 collections. (The Shoppers down the street, mind you, still had all these things full price). I must've swiped up a dozen of these babies, starting with Beyond The Sea, a "dupe" of Orly Royal Navy.



Beyond The Sea is an electric blue jelly with blue glitter/shimmer running throughout. I was expecting it to be sheer, but it covered nicely in 3 coats. You can see a bit of nail line in the sunlight picture, but nothing that can be seen from afar. 

It seems to be a close, brighter cousin to Revlon Royal, with shimmer. I've read from other bloggers that if you don't care too much for the glitter, you can let the bottle sit for awhile and the shimmer will settle to the bottom. So I've heard.

Beyond The Sea usually retails for $10, but I got this one on mega clearance for $2. It doesn't seem to be a part of the core Quo by Orly line, as I haven't seen it on the regular racks since then. If you're going to grab yourself a bottle of this, you might as well get Royal Navy. It's much easier to track down, and it will probably be cheaper, too.

K

July 03, 2013

Minions Assemble!

IT'S TODAY, IT'S TODAY!

Ladies and germs, today is the day that Despicable Me 2 hits theaters. And what better way to celebrate than with:


MINIONS!


Minions! Minions! Minions!

I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Yellow Kitty for the base colour. As with most yellows, streakiness is an issue. However, this particular one leveled out reasonably well after the 3rd coat. For the minions' clothes, I used Maybelline Color Show Denim Dash, applied like a French tip. The details were put on using a black striping polish and dotting tools with China Glaze Immortal (gray), Sally Hansen White On, and Sally Hansen Coral Crush. (I would show you my thumbs, but they are far less minion-shaped than my other fingernails, and thus are not as cute).

I had a bit of a dilemma with trying to figure out if I wanted to give them hair or not. They were just so cute after I finished all the face details, I was unsure if I would be ruining it with the hair. I figure I'll wear it like this for a few days and then try putting the hairs on. This way, if it doesn't turn out right, at least I've had a few good days with cute, hairless minions. :)

My life goal is to finally get my hands on a giant minion plushie. True story. In the meantime, I'll have to settle for 10 minion fingernail friends.


July 02, 2013

Indecision in Red and Blue

Can you tell I'm just trying to get all my school-related manicures out of the way? I'm trying to sever the ties, I promise I am.

Remember last year's school spirit manicure? Well, for this year's game (back in April), I decided that I was going to top it no matter what. The only problem was, I didn't know how I was supposed to go about doing that. And as was the case for most of my during-the-school-year manis, laziness was a major factor.

My friends always make fun of me for my indecisive tendencies. It's why I can't eat at the Pickle Barrel without getting an anxiety attack. And it's probably also why I now own 200+ bottles of nail polish. In the end, my indecision led me to do this:


Fun fact: apparently U of T Pharmacy is pretty indecisive about what their colour is as well. This was going to be an all blue number, but I remembered that somewhere in between 2nd and 3rd year the colour had switched from red to blue, and I was unsure if it had switched back since I'd left school in December. So I threw a red nail in there for good measure. 

Thumb: 2 coats of Joe Fresh Indigo, "U of T" drawn on using a fine-tipped dotting tool with Sally Hansen White On

Index: 2 coats of China Glaze Frostbite -- love this colour. I honestly just wanted an excuse to wear this electric blue beauty again.

Middle: 2 coats of Sally Hansen White On as a base, with dots in Joe Fresh Indigo (darkest), Joe Fresh Cobalt (medium blue), Sally Hansen Blue Me Away! (lightest), and Essence Let's Get Lost (aqua).

Ring: 2 coats of Joe Fresh Apple, a deliciously bright red. Dots in a combination of Joe Fresh Indigo, Sally Hansen White On, China Glaze Frostbite, and more Apple. Can you tell I went a little bit dotty with this manicure?

Pinky: we have Nina Ultra Pro in Cobalt, with a coat of Wet 'n' Wild Stars & Stripes. Cobalt is a jelly, so you can still make out my nail line despite the 3 coats that I used. The formula on the glitter polish was a bit thick, and I used an orange stick to place the stars onto the nail because it just wouldn't come off the brush on its own.

In the end, I kind of wished I'd just stuck to alternating red and blue or something, because this mani was hella confusing. And we didn't even win! :(

July 01, 2013

Red Skittles for Canada Day

Today is CANADA DAY, and today I have my Canada Day mani here for you.



Again, my indecision seems to have won in this manicure, but with far less disastrous results.

I'm not really big on red nail polish. In fact, as my collection grew in size, there was a point when I think I had 2 bottles of red polish in a total of about 50. There were a few reasons why I wasn't feeling the reds. Reds are boring. Reds are for old people. Reds stain.

Then, something clicked within. I got my hands on Danke Shiny Red from the OPI Germany Collection in Fall 2012 and I fell in love. Before the winter was out, I'd doubled my red collection. I'd also become enamored with bright red lipsticks. When the OPI Couture de Minnie collection came out earlier this summer, I jumped on it. I decided I would go with the mini set since I'd decided that I couldn't live without the colours in this collection -- my wallet still disagreed, though, so minis it would be.

On my fingers we have Magazine Cover Mouse (index), a liquid sand polish from the Couture de Minnie collection, Nabi Hologram Nail Lacquer in Red (middle), and Innie Minnie Mighty Bow (pinky) also from the Minnie collection. The formulas of the OPIs were impeccable. The Nabi, not so much. The polish dragged in between coats, so it needs to be applied carefully and with a few minutes of drying time in between coats.

On my ring finger, I used a temporary maple leaf tattoo. The tattoo thing has really become one of my favourite techniques. It requires absolutely no skill whatsoever, and it looks amazing. All you have to do is wait for your nail polish to dry completely, and then apply a temporary tattoo as you would to your skin with water and a cosmetic cotton pad. I tried free-handing the maple leaf, but it looked terrible! :P

Anyway, that's all for my Canada Day manicure. I'm proud to be Canadian, and happy to show it all over my nails!