Help!

Occasionally you stumble on a gorgeous polish but it's either unnamed (ahem, Opera polishes), or they stuck the wrong label on it. It makes for very confusing times.

So, I got this Sinful polish and the label said Coco Diamond, but it's definitely not Coco Diamond...

Sorry it's not a great picture but it's a sort of green-teal (more on the green side) with gorgeous glassy flecks of aqua blue in it. This is a terrible picture but the sun came out only like five days after I wore it, so there's quite a bit of tipwear in the picture. Again, apologies.

I did wear this while I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA because it was a very appropriate nail color...it looks like the ocean! And I know I'm biased because I still think the Monterey Bay Aquarium is like the best thing in the world (mostly because it is!), but the Aquarium of the Pacific satisfied my craving for aquatic life.

Anyway yeah if anyone knows what the name of this color is, please let me know! I've never seen this Sinful color before.

Holographic Polish vs. Holographic Glitter

I know some people get confused whenever polishes get referred to as "holo" or have "holo glitter." These are two different things, and it's important to distinguish between the two because sometimes it can get confusing

First, holo polishes are those that have an overall rainbowy, prismatic effect. In direct sunlight, it will have a base color but then a lot of other colors too. Here's an example of a holographic polish, one of my faves, OPI My Private Jet:

By contrast, polishes that have holographic glitter just simply have multicolored glitter but they don't quite create that special prismatic effect that holo polishes do. Take, for example, this red Opera polish
Yep, it a gorgeous red jelly with holo glitter...


The glitter kind of reminds me of sprinkles, especially in this picture:
I left this picture intentionally blurry because it shows how the glitter is holographic

Also, success! I found a full-size Opera bottle picture for reader Pixie. I didn't fail after all

If you're wondering why these pictures look a lot sharper than normal, it's because I took these with my brand-new Canon camera...before I realized the camera had a dead pixel. I had really bad luck with Canon cameras, I think I mentioned before that I got a brand new shiny Canon for my birthday, but then the button on top was broken. Then I exchanged it but the screen had a dead pixel. So, I'm still chugging along with my Kodak.

Also, I know I've broken my resolution of trying to post every day, but I've been swamped with midterns this past week. Expect a little bit more posting in the next couple of days before I have to study again.

New Link: Vampy Varnish

Ok, this link is way overdue. I actually was going to add this link way back when I was in China, but the Great Firewall blocked it. Anyway, I really enjoy this blog because it's way more meticulous and chic than BAT...I mean there is definitely a lot of work that goes into her posts and I think that's definitely something her readers (myself included) appreciate. It also gives me a little kick in the butt to get my blog on too!

You can also get VampyVarnish Twitter updates here.

(Sorry it took so long Kelly!)

Garg!

I was taking pictures just now and I was trying to find my Opera polishes to try and take a full-bottle picture for reader Pixie in comparison to a regular bottle. Unfortunately, I left it back home. I'll try to search through pictures of the bottle by itself, but I can't do a comparison. I would say that the polish is like half the size of an OPI bottle, but I'm not sure. Sorry Pixie!

Yes, I joined Twitter

Try not to judge me! I know a lot of people find Twitter kind of annoying. In fact, I'm one of them (so yes this does make me a hypocrite). Whenever my friends bring up Twitter I'm just like uh, don't flatter yourself. Which is actually my response to like everything. I'm terrible sometimes.

Also, I'm not a fan of the 140 character limit on Twitter. I naturally talk a lot. And this translates into typing a lot. And sometimes I ramble, which I can't do on Twitter. But maybe that's a good thing for the people that have to listen to me.

Anyway, the reason I made a Twitter is because I'm always running into sales at stores. I mean, I don't go shopping every day (it's environmentally unfriendly...and actually it's more environmentally friendly to do online shopping. True story). But when I do I usually run into good clearanced items or sales related to nail polish and I just forget to post them here. It's sad. Anyway, hopefully with this Twitter I will be able to notify anyone who cares about any makeup sales in general or just random ramblings. I will definitely try and keep my BAT Twitter polish-related because really, my life isn't that interesting.

But, I will have to say, Slumdog Millionaire was FANTASTIC. Some people might be turned off by the R rating but it's absolutely fantastic. It deserves any accolades and awards it gets

Get the Bubbly Ready!

Speaking of awards season, I wonder how many bottles of champagne are opened after all those awards shows?

I can't think of any other clever thing so I hope that was a decent enough segue to this NYX polish, Champagne. I'm not going to lie, I really didn't like this color in the bottle...but then I put it on.



It's a duochrome, but more noticeable in person...it fluctuated from a true gold to kind of a darker bronze. Anyone else disagree? It's what my eyes told me anyway haha. Here is is with three coats. I really like NYX polishes, so far they seem to be really good (although I have an awkward huge flakey topcoat polish called Peach Ave.). The application is always pretty good, and they have good wear. If you can't find any stores near you that sell NYX, you should try online at Cherry Culture.

The only gripe I do have about NYX polishes though are that the labels on the bottom of the bottle seem to come off really easily. If I don't fix them with tape right away, I tend to forget the name of the polish if I lose the label. Opps!

Titanic 2.0

Kate Winslet is so fierce, I love her. Naturally, she was fantastic in Titanic but also, if you've ever seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...well that movie was just amazing.

Not only is she a great actress, she has a rocking accent to boot. And also at last night's Golden Globes, she was rocking silver polish. It provided a nice contrast to her classy black dress and looked great next to her TWO Golden Globes (for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress).


Cincy over at ALU identified the polish as Lippmann Rhapsody In White. The polish is gorgeous! Apparently it's from the fall collection...I'm so very tempted now.

I Felt Like a Donut Hole

I was gonna most a more recent NOTD since all I have in my computer are older swatches and stuff. Though actually, I haven't bought a single new nail polish this month. Surprised? Haha so am I. It's not that I'm trying to cut back that much, it's just because with a new apartment and a new school quarter starting, I'm spending my money on more practical stuff like textbooks, food, a new haircut (that I desperately needed), a bed, and a vacuum (sidebar: my favorite chore is vacuuming, and my dream is to own a Dyson).

Alas, my OPI Kangarooby chipped after one day due to laziness on my behalf, I didn't file correctly. That's been fixed but I had a limited amount of time to paint a new color so I chose an old one, Essie Funships

But, check out these hilarious nails on SNL last night. I LOVE Neil Patrick Harris (aka NPH) and Taylor Swift so I had to watch last night's episode! In this skit, called Fran and Freba, NPH and Kristen Wiig (who has grown on me) play chatty air traffic controllers. It's funny....not hilarious....but whoa! Those nails! I love long nails but this was just taking it to the extreme and it was hilarious watching them maneuver around in those. Check it out:

Confessions of a Polishaholic

I have a thing for redheads. It's the combination of the hair color and the fair skin that's so classically beautiful. It's why I love Nicola Roberts, Amy Adams (even though she's a natural blonde, homegirl rocks the red!), and Isla Fisher.

Isla has a new movie coming out, Confessions of a Shopaholic, so she's starting the press stuff. Here she is on the cover of UK's InStyle magazine:

It's a little hard to tell but she's rocking a fab muted pink that actually kind of matches the shade of the pink flowers on the dress (except the polish is a little lighter). It's a simple color, but magazine covers usually don't feature dramatic nails or dramatic colors.

Suggestions: China Glaze IV, Essie Sweetie Pie, OPI Fair Dinkum Pinkum

Also, if you guys are excited about this movie, Facebook has an application for it:
http://apps.facebook.com/shopaholicmagazine/

Hey, if it has more of the stunning Isla, I'm down.

Epitome of Tack

Now, I really despise this so-called "celebrity." Maybe she's really a nice girl in person, but she's kind of famous for doing nothing and seems to be everywhere. Now, sometimes she does make good nail polish choices, I'll give her that- she's only one of the handful of "celebrities" that wears straight white nail polish.

But this....is kind of tacky.

Now, I'm a sucker for logos as much as the next person....there's no denying that they're a strong part of our society. And I have nothing against Chanel. But seriously, what is this??????

It's a little...TOO logo-y (it would be acceptable if it were only on a couple of fingers but it's on EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.). And also looks kinda cheap. And it's a little too desperate to flaunt it. Here's a hideous close-up:

Picture Source: JustJared

I don't know whether to laugh because it's so tacky or cry that someone at the Chanel store actually did this for her. Because Chanel is supposed to be like the epitome of class! And this is....so not.

What do you guys think?

Phantom of the OPERA

This makeup brand is a bit obscure, really. I've tried finding a website for it but I've gotten nowhere. I saw this brand a couple of times around Shanghai (literally only twice), and even though they raised their prices, it's something about their polishes that make me want more. Opera is a cosmetics brand maybe based in Japan that has these really cool colors in chic, but very small, bottles.

Here was my first Opera polish, which was 29 RMB at the time (they have since raised their prices to 39 RMB, or about a bit more than $5 USD):


Despite the fact that I'm not a huge fan of sheers, I am a huge fan of this polish. The brush is really great, kind of short but a little poofy so there's not a lot of streakage. If you also notice, though it's a sheer peachy/orangey color, it also packs a lot of gold shimmer to make this color really pop out.

PS: I just absolutely adore Phantom of the Opera, and it's a dream to see this musical in person!

Special Thanks

These past two days have been super hectic, and in my haste in last night's post I forgot to mention something so I'll just slip it in quick because I'm driving back down (7 hours....) to Southern California tomorrow. OK, so.

MEGA thanks to the active ladies on MUA for a situation that happened earlier last month. Apparently this girl on UK Ebay stole one of my pictures to use for her auction. While it's flattering that someone would go through all the trouble to steal my crappy photos, it's also kind of upsetting. I used to not think it was such a big deal, and I can understand why others don't either. But, when you start to put effort into taking the pictures and editing and posting them up, you can understand why it sucks to have other people take credit for your work.

So, here's my policy on photo theft: It's totally fine to post my pictures elsewhere as long as they are unedited (try not to hotlink though, even though I accidentally still do sometimes and people do get on my case about it). If it's an auction site, please add a link to this blog. But if you crop my pictures and take credit for them, I'll bring on the claws and I have an army of the coolest chicks around backing me. It's just petty and sad...I can't believe the amount of people who go around stealing other people's pictures and passing them off as their own. One of my biggest fears is identity theft and it's kind of a type of identity theft. And I like my identity. Also, it kind of just proves how some people have no lives.

Anyway, I'm always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, maybe they just don't realize what they're doing. So normally, I try not to get too upset in these situations and just ask them to add a link back to here. Still, I'm glad to have my np board girls on my side- they really are fantastic.

Definite additional thanks to ocelot1 and denise2648 for messaging me and letting me know of the situation!

I probably won't post again until Sunday night, depending on when I can get internet. Have a great weekend guys!

Happy 2009!

Hey guys, I know there has been a SEVERE lack of posts lately so if you're still going to stick with me, thank you! I promise to give you guys a good reason for that since one of my resolutions is to post something at least once a day. Studying abroad was one of the greatest experiences of my life, but it was hard finding a balance between school, family, work, and fun (I had a better balance of it here in the States, but I also had faster internet and a bigger collection to work with). I've also had a great deal of heartbreak to deal with while I was in China because of family stuff. But, it is a new year!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve! It's hard to believe that yet another year has passed. I spent the night with my best friend watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve countdown (no alcohol for me since I'm 20) before driving home and watching Chuck on Hulu. I've really missed Hulu, which isn't available outside the U.S.

I'm actually wearing Misa Love Bites, but here's an older mani I did while I was in China that is very appropriate for New Years:



I usually don't buy cheap street polishes, and for good reason....they take forever to dry! And who knows what gross chemicals are in there. I couldn't resist the blue though, and I couldn't resist the sparkly clear topcoat. The tips are a holographic Maybelline polish. As you guys can probably guess, this was my first doing a funky french and I decided to freestyle it. It was hard and as you guys can tell from the pictures, not very symmetrical or even, but I might be getting the hang of it.

Lastly, my other polish-related resolution is to buy less nail polish. I showed a great deal of restraint yesterday while shopping as I walked into Ulta and walked out with NOTHING. OPI's Toyland polishes are on sale though for $4.99. I also cruised by a MAC counter and the latest colors didn't really seem up my alley.

But well, let's face it. That resolution can't last very long =) I love nail polish way. too. much.