NAILS: American Apparel

 American Apparels nail polishes are just amazing

You can purchase them here- LINK!

- They are opaque in one coat
- A lot of colours to choose from
- They have sheer, mattes, metallics and glow in the darks!
- They are not expensive too, OPI and Essie nail polishes are expensive here in Canada

I bought Hunter and Berry which are perfect for the fall season :)

Have you tried these nail polishes from American Apparel? How do you like them?

x Kim

USA Haul Part 3- Nail Polishes and BBW

Yes, I know, I know another haul. Bare with me please.

I got a body lotion from Bath and Body Works. They are actually having a buy 3 for $10 for their little lotion bottles, but I just got one(Don't ask me why I only got 1 haha). I bought the famous Japanese Cherry Blossom- I love the smell of this lotion and I'm pretty sure I will purchase the full size one as soon as I finish this one.

A lot of you might already know how cute the little Bath and Body Works' hand sanitizers are and I just can't get enough of them. They are having a buy 5 for $5, so I bought 5 obviously!

I always NEED a hand sanitizer inside my purse, so these little babies will do just fine.

and then here goes the nail polishes..

Yes, I'm still on a nail polish out 2011 and I bought two nail polishes from Sally's Beauty Supply. I'm limiting myself with ONLY 5 this year, so 3 more to go and I have to choose wisely and control myself.

I got OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender- A lot of people raved about this polish, so I got sucked in, of course! The perfect pinky lilac polish for summer. It appears a little too light on my skin tone right now because I'am ultra pale at the moment for your information.

I also got a clear glitter top coat from China Glaze which is called Fairy Dust- I got this because I need a cheap glitter polish for that accent nail or if I want an all over glittery nails. The glitters are so fine, so it isn't a mother to remove(excuse my language right there).

I know I need to stop spending some moola, but how can I say NO to these? Hmm..I should probably see a "shopping consultant"- who will convince me that shopping is...uhm..Not good for my bank account? Yea right?! As if that's gonna happen. I should ban myself from shopping for the rest of the month. Should I?

How about you? Any new purchase?

anyways...my next post will be on hair products. Watch out for that :)

Thanks for reading and have a beautiful Thursday!

-Kim

Review: Life Essentials Nail Polish Remover Dip

I was skeptical at first because I've never used a nail polish remover dip ever before, but everytime I go and purchase a bottle of Sally Hansen's nail polish remover I spot these guys sitting there staring at me and saying that I should try them out.


and of course, I gave in and I will review it for you.


Introducing Life Essentials Nail Polish Remover Dip


If anyone isn't familiar with what this is, it is basically a giant sponge dipped and soaked with nail polish remover.


They also have scented nail polish dips, but I chose the one without, but I heard the scented ones are better.

Let me say this first...

I change my nail polish every 2-3 days, so that means I constantly use nail polish remover and which results to... DRY and BRITTLE nails and hands. I spend about 10 minutes to remove my polish, as in nothing left. I'm sick and tired of spending so much time removing my nail polish, so I went to Shoppers Drugmart(Canada only) and found this. I saw some makeup gurus rave/rant about nail polish remover dips. There were mixed reviews, so I went ahead and purchase this so I can try it myself.

What I think about this Life nail polish remover dip:

PROs:
> Available everywhere- I'm not pretty sure if this specific brand is available in the U.S and UK, but I'm pretty sure Sally hansen makes one too.

> Removes nail polish QUICKER!- Directions: Dip fingers and twist it inside for about 10 seconds, remove, then dip it again for another 10 seconds and the polish should be gone. Don't forget to WASH YOUR HANDS afterwards.

> Not expensive at all- $4.99

> You will save cotton balls- I use about 5-8 cotton balls everytime I remove my nail polish. What a waste!

> Acetone-free- means more gentle and less drying

CONs:

> The smell is too strong- more concentrated smell compared to a bottle of nail polish remover

> The sponge will get dirty(*obviously) after about 5 uses, but don't worry it still works great!

I took some photos of the sponge after about 4-5 uses

Well..will you look at that.

Conclusion: Im converted! I recommend trying this dippies out if you are interested. I will be purchasing this again, but I think I will go with the scented ones this time.

Will you guys try this? or will you stick with a bottle of nail polish remover?

How's the first day of March? I hope you guys are well and have a happy day!

-Kim

Skin.

Going on with the nude trend...I titled this post as skin because well..you'll see.

I'm a Nude Nails Newbie- Now there's the TRIPLE N's

I'm having two minds whether or not I like this shade on me or not.

I do not wear nude/office appropriate shades often, so this is new to me.

It's one or two shades darker than my skin(NW 25). It's probably the most professional looking polish I worn in a long time and yet I'm having two minds about this nude polish that I'm wearing at the moment.

The said polishes are OPI Dulce de Leche and Anna Sui 700

OPI Dulce De Leche- subtle nude shade that does not scream "Hey there, look at my nails!". Very office appropriate.

Anna Sui 700- sheer neutral color with a hint of pink and it has gold/silver/baby pink shimmer

I applied OPI Dulce the Leche first and thought "There is no way I will wear this polish alone because it looks like I don't have any nails" so I grabbed Anna Sui 700 and applied it on top to give it a nice shimmery finish.

The result:

You judge...

Lady Like- Check!

Chic - Check!

Nude trend polish- Check!

Comfortable wearing it?- NOT SO SURE!

So what do you guys think?

NAILESS! is there even such word as NAILESS? haha

-Kim

Haul: Essie French Affair Collection(swatches & comparisons)

Hi there!

Long time no blog. I'm back with a tiny teeny nail polish haul to share with you.

I first saw the Essie collection from Sandra- she has a Youtube channel so GO AND SUBSCRIBE TO HER PLEASE!. I've been following her ever since day one. She is a fellow Canadian and I absolutely love hair and cheek combinations.

Anyways, I'm on a Nailpolish Out 2011 and that means that I can only buy 5 nail polishes for the entire year. I ordered the Essie 4-pack mini bottles from Transdesign, but the day after I ordered it my friend gave me 3 bottles of Essie polishes from the French Affair collection because she didn't like it. Now if you read my giveaway post, you know that I added the Essie 4-pack mini bottles as a prize. So Don't forget to join!!! :)

The Essie polishes that I have are as follows:

> Nice is Nice(cream no shimmer)- Pastel pale lavender with a touch of pink (Think OPI Rumples Wiggin' or Lucky Lucky Lavender. but a little bit brighter)

Essie Nice is Nice and OPI Rumple's Wiggin'- I don't have Lucky Lucky Lavender, but I saw swatches and it's a very close dupe
> French Affair(cream no shimmer)-Light pastel pink (think OPI Mod About You, but a tad pinker)

Essie French Affair and OPI Mod About You.
First 2 fingers- OPI Mod About You
Last 2 fingers- Essie French Affair
> Coat Azure- Bright blue with blue and silver shimmers(Reminds me of Essie Lapis of Luxury and OPI No Room for the Blue, but with shimmers ).

Essie Coat Azure and OPI No Room for the Blue

First 2 fingers- OPI No Room for the Blue

Last 2 fingers- Essie Coat Azure

Conclusion: Amongst the 3, Coat Azure is my favorite because the formula is amazing and it is not streaky- needs only 2 coat for the perfect look. Both Nice is Nice and French Affair are perfect for spring and the finish result is pretty,but application for these are a little bit tricky and they need at least 3 coats.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post.

Did you purchase any Essie French Affair collection polishes? If so, how do you like them?

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but I have lots of hauls to come and that means that my bank account is going down the drain. Yikes!

Don't forget my giveaway :)

-Kim

NOTD: That's Berry Daring

This will be a quick post because I'm about to head out, but I want to show you guys what nail polish I used today.

Recently, I'm all about bright hues because I'm really excited for spring. I opted for a bright-ish pink called That's Berry Daring. This is from the OPI's Brights collection and I love it.

One thing I like about OPI That's Berry Daring is that it is a nail polish color that is true to the way it looks in the bottle even after application. I would describe it as a very creamy, glossy fuchsia pink berry color that has a slight pearlized purple undertones that is opaque in a swoosh(I always apply two coats tho). This shade is perfect for both manicure and pedicure, but I bet most of you would like it on your tippy toes.


So..enough blabbering. Here are some pictures of the polish I'm talking about- People of the world, meet That's Berry Daring

NOTE: SLOPPY APPLICATION :D Sorry
I tried to capture the purple undertones. I TRIED, but its nada.. :(

I think you can see it better on the nails.

What shade is on your nails right now?

Have a happy weekend :)

xo, Kim

Products I Regret Buying 3.0

I said this before and I will say it again.


I do not like E.L.F nail polishes and I will not purchase them ever again.


I bought loads of products from E.l.f such as their bronzer, blushes, glosses and lipsticks. I was really impressed with all of them, but definitely not the polishes.

I'll give you SIX reasons why I hate their polishes:


> bad quality nail polish brush (it sheds and it's too thin)
can u spot the ugly brush hair sticking out of the pink nail polish brush?

> too watery or too goopy consistency(what I mean is that I bought3 polishes from them and when I tried them on, the pink and lilac are too watery and the blue one..well..too goopy!)

> the lids/caps won't close properly(I have a photo below to show you what I mean)

> streaky when applied

> needs at least 3-4 coats or sometimes even 5(yikes!)

> and the worst part is that they will have this white base if you do not use them. I tried shaking the bottle several times, but nothing happens. I have couple of Revlon polishes that I haven't used for a year now, but they don't accumulate white stuffs underneath. Can someone explain this to me?

NOTE: all three of them have white stuffs accumulating underneath

The only good thing about these ELF polishes is that it is only a DOLLAR.

So, my conclusion? No more ELF polishes for me.

Do you have ELF nail polishes? What do you think?

Have a good week :)

Kim

Is That A Snake?

I'm back for a second post for the day and tonight, I had the chance to play around with OPI Black Shatter nail polish from the recent Katy Perry and Serena Williams collection.

I tried putting Black Shatter on top of a silver, pink, nude, taupe polish, but I ended up with this beautiful blue-ish green called Cuckoo for this Color from the OPI Swiss Collection.

If you are not familiar with Black Shatter, it is a matte top coat that has a "shatter" finish. I would recommend putting another top coat like Seche Vite, or any top coat you guys have to bring out the shatter effect more. I wish OPI would make more Black Shatter in different colours in the future, which I know it won't be called "Black Shatter" anymore.

Before I show you my nails, I just wanted to share with you a recent jewelry purchase. I bought a vintage ring two days ago. I love how this looks- simple, chic, black and vintage. It goes with every outfit.

Here is the ring that I'm talking about.

It's adjustable which I love because I have slim fingers. I'm a size 5-6. How do you like the ring?
and here are the polishes I used for this nail look.

OPI Cuckoo for This Color, OPI Black Shatter


My Snake-ish nail

If you look it from far away it looks black, but it looks stunning when the lights hits it

Are you going to purchase Black Shatter? Ir did you already purchase it?

So, I did 16 blog posts for the month ot January! not bad at all.

Let's welcome February with a smile. :)

Thanks for reading,

xo, Kim

Haul: OPI Polishes Oh Yea!

So, guess what!?

I went to purchase the new Katy Perry and Serena Williams OPI collection and I will be showing them to you.

So, I tried to stay away from videos and blog posts about the new OPI nail polish collection, but obviously I FAILED. I thought that I can resist such pretty glitter polishes and that Black Shatter polish that everyone was talking about. Two days ago, I was browsing some beauty blogs and came across a pretty swatch of the Black Shatter polish and I watched Michele1218's(I think you guys all know her) video and she said that the new Katy Perry Teenage Dream polish knocked Mad as A Hatter(from Alice in Wonderland collection) away. That made me really curious and I just gave up and went to the mall this morning to purchase Teenage Dream, but came out from the store with three.


At first, I thought my salon ran out of Black Shatter because it wasn't there with the Katy Perry collection, but there it was sitting inside a box with Simply Smashing from the Serena Williams collection. I fell in love with the shade and bought the pack for only CAD$15.00(not bad, hey?) So, I can say that I'm a very happy camper now.


Here are some photos and swatches of the three polishes.

The OPI Serena Williams collection
- Black Shatter
- Simply Smash-ing

OPI Katy Perry Teenage Dream, Simply Smash-ing, and Black Shatter

Glitter polishes are LOVE :)

Teenage Dream(One coat)- so you guys can see that you can see the yellowness of my nails which is gross, I KNOW!

Teenage Dream with a nude base

Teenage Dream with two coats

Teenage Dream with Pink base

Serena Williams Simply Smashing- one coat
two coats

Black Shatter with Simply Smash-ing- I actually didn't like Black Shatter at first when I tried it on my nails, but I gave it another chance and I like it now.

Black Shatter dries out matte

with top coat- Seche Vite

So, you guys saw my OPI nail polish haul. I would recommend all three polishes just because I think they are all unique(especially Black Shatter and Simply Smash-ing).

Did you guys buy any polishes from Katy Perry and Serena Williams collection? Share them with us.

Have a good Friday

Kim