POLISHED: OPI Nail Laquer in "We'll Always Have Paris Suede"

sooo continuing from my last post, this is the other nail color i picked up. it is a SUEDE! i had no idea what that meant but it looked like a really awesome color.

"We'll Always Have Paris Suede" (NN F20; 15 mL) is one of six in the Suede Collection of Fall 2009. that sounds like ages ago so i am glad to have had the opportunity to pick this up. i found out that suede pretty much means matte. the Suede Collection consists of colors that have been released before but OPI decided to give them a suede twist. i find that the original "We'll Always Have Paris" looks nothing like the suede version though. 

"We'll Always Have Paris Suede" is a cool pink-purple with plenty of metallic shimmer. it goes on really easily and dries quickly. i used two coats in the following pictures:

artificial light 

natural light

according to OPI, Suedes do not last as long as regular OPIs and this was definitely the case with my nails. i had chipping the very next day. and it was not minor chipping either - i had to have a complete change of nail polish. it is recommended not to use a topcoat (or a base coat, or hand lotion for that matter) since it changes the look, but i think there is no way i can wear this polish longer than one day if i didn't. i am pretty sure it wouldn't look bad with glossy finish either. 

taking off the nail polish wasn't a problem as long as you held the cotton ball/pad over the polish a tad longer so it can remove the remainder of the metallic particles.

thanks for reading! and many thanks for the birthday wishes :) 

POLISHED: OPI Nail Lacquer in "Number One Nemesis"

hellooooo!!
sorry i've been very busy lately but i felt the need to blog on my birthday. so here's a quick post about an OPI polish i picked up last week (yes one of the many birthday gifts for myself).
i bought two (will post the other one shortly) on sale at Chatters for $5 each. these are actually my very first OPI polishes! can you believe it? i have a number of China Glazes and Nicole by OPI (and an OPI topcoat sample) but these are my first actual OPI OPIs.

left to right: "We'll Always Have Paris Suede"; "Number One Nemesis"

"Number One Nemesis" (NL M38; 15 mL) is part of Summer 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man Collection. there are a total of 6 shades and 1 shatter. i saw the movie last weekend and it was ah-mazing. i really like Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (especially together!!) - they're too cute.

i also really like this color!! it's one of those that are tough to describe - let's say it's a greenish gray with multicolored metallic shimmer. i tried to take plenty of pictures to really capture the color because it changes depending on the angle you look at it.
i did 3 coats. the first one was too sheer. the second was almost full opacity and the third was exactly what i was looking for:

artificial light

natural light

the following pics were taken a few days after, but look:
looks grey...

but wait! it's also green!

the wear of this polish is fantastic - i've worn it for almost 4 days without a topcoat and it looks almost like i have just painted my nails. there's no chipping at all - only the bottom edge of my nails has suffered some wear.

so i hope everyone has a fantastic day!! i'm a quarter of a century now! sounds like an age where i am supposed to be a "grown-up" and have my career figured out. oops!

LUXE BOX: March 2012

hi all!

so it is nearing the end of March and i (as well as plenty of others) have not received our Glossyboxes yet. i heard that the Alberta ones were shipped on Monday so hopefully i will get it by this Friday! 

i did receive a box Monday and it was the Luxe Box! finally! as i was walking to my community mailbox, i realized that i usually find them on my doorstep so i ran back. it was not there so i proceeded to the mailbox once again. oddly enough, it was in my mailbox but the Canada Post shipping notification did not state "Do Not Safe Drop". 

it also happens to be Loose Button's first birthday and as a special gift, they used a seeded card that can also be used to grow a plant. you pretty much put the card in some soil and water it. i have no idea what kind of plant it would become. very neat idea!

the March edition contains:

1) Vera Wang Lovestruck - seeing that it was a longer perfume box, i was expecting a rollerball but it is just a bigger vial. i find that this made it even more difficult to use. it was inevitable that while attempting to open it, i will get the perfume all over my fingers. i do like the perfume though - it is a floral scent that is not overpowering.

size: 4 mL

retail value: $54 (50 mL)

2) Cargo Eye Shadow Single in "Sardinia" - actually, it wasn't a single - it was a duo. and there was no color labelled anywhere so i had to Google it (which didn't work) and use Google Images. apparently it is a part of the Spring 2012 collection which may be why it was so difficult to find more information about this product. by the way, does anyone know why Sephora stopped carrying Cargo products on their website? 

anyway, i wore it today without eyeshadow primer and after 13 hours, it still prevails! less so of the pink but still impressive since i have monolids. it goes on silky and is very pigmented. i really like the color - it's definitely something i'd wear everyday. i went digging in my box of eyeshadows since i recall getting a similar color combination from Clinique. the one on the left is my swatch from Cargo's "Sardinia" and the one on the right is Clinique's "104 Strawberry Fudge". 

size: 3 g (full size!)

retail value: $16

3) OPI Top Coat - it seems that the one i got was a tad different from other people's in that mine says "RapiDry". i don't mind! i tend to smudge my nails really quickly so this helps. it's funny how i mentioned the desire for nail polish in these beauty boxes last month and ta da! Topbox, Glymm and now Loose Button all send nail polish. maybe Glossybox too? 

-- update April 2, 2012 - since using this top coat six days ago, my nails still have not chipped! there are some edges visible due to daily wear but this is the longest that a nail color has lasted for me. they still look good but i'm getting a little tired of the color, haha. first time that's happened! -- 
size: 3.75 mL

retail value: $15 (15 mL)

4) CHI Silk Fusion - i wasn't entirely sure how to use this product so i searched online. many people suggested using it when your hair is damp. my hair immediately felt softer with just a tiny amount of this clear liquid. it reminds me of another product i own - Biosilk's Silk Therapy. on the sample it says "for hair & skin" but i do not know how one would use it for the skin... do you just rub it in for silky hands? 

size: 15 mL

retail value: $33 (180 mL)

overall, this month's box is pretty good. the products may seem small, but i really like my eyeshadow - which was reserved through Loose Button's "First in Line" program by the way! we were sent an email notification ahead of time (which is new) and so i was online once the program opened. and of course, the server crashes. i probably was able to get through around 20 minutes later. i guess i wasn't helping the situation by having two different browsers opened and refreshing constantly. :) (i also tried on my iPhone...)

i will also make use of all the other products. i do not have many nail polish top coats so yay. i'm a little tired of receiving perfume samples but at least i haven't gotten this one yet (it is a larger sample AND a contender for an important perfume award). as for the CHI product, i will continue to use it to see the long-term benefits many people have been gushing about.

happy birthday Loose Button!