Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order Swatches and Review!

Sephora Mermaid to Order is not a polish I've ever seen before. I've seen similar colors, but I haven't seen Mermaid to Order swatched. I picked this polish up in a blog sale for $2, and I can't believe how great of a deal this was. :) It's from an old collection, so I'm not sure how easy it is to find (although I just looked and it's available on amazon.com, and there's even one for sale on ebay). 

Mermaid to order is an aqua blue metallic frost with a faint blue/green duochrome. When it came in the mail I immediately painted my toenails (because they were due for a new pedi!) and fell in love with the color. For the last two days I've been looking at my toes wanting to try this as a mani. It's just so bright, vivid and shiny, definitely Mermaid-scale-like. 

The formula wasn't perfect, although two coats made it opaque, I had to be very careful to avoid obvious brushstrokes (a common problem with frosts) and even with all of the care in the world it bubbled. I used good ridge filling base coat under this one since frosts are soo good at showing any little flaw in your nails. The overall finish ended up being nice and smooth although you can see the dent in my index finger where I got a little overzealous with my chef's knife a few days ago. :)

Click read more to see more photos (it was quite the photoshoot)

Elemental Styles Actin-ium My Age Swatch and Review

Have you ever had a nail polish completely and totally shock you in a good way? Now I can say that I have.  Elemental Styles Actin-ium My Age is a rich purple holographic polish with medium holographic glitter and large purple hexagon glitter (which kind of hide, they're invisible in the photos below but they easily made the transition from bottle to nail).

The shocking part? Read my story below to find out:

I ordered Actin-ium My Age from Elemental Styles on Etsy after loving the two mini bottles Iron Man-ia and King Neptunium that I purchased last month. When I saw from the Elemental Styles Blog that there would be a shop opening I just had to wait around to see what I could get. I ended up buying this amazing purple  for $8. Of course, since I was so rushed to catch polish in the opening, I had no idea what I was actually buying!

...So my package came in the mail, and the next day I decided to try it out. When applying the polish I noticed that the formula was a bit odd, it was thick and didn't act like most shimmers that I have used in the past. Regardless of this fact, I went about my business noting (happily) that the polish is opaque in one coat. I dutifully applied a second coat, and top coat (although Actin-ium My Age dries really smooth on its own) and went about my business the rest of the afternoon. Around dinner-time I stopped being absorbed in my work enough to truly admire my nails, and when I looked closely I noticed that this wasn't just a purple shimmer with glitter... there was a hint of holo. Surprised I immediately opened the curtain on my window to stare down at the gorgeous-purple-holographic-glitter-amazingness. I was shocked, but so excited that I now own such a beautiful deep rich purple holo. It's little things like this that totally make my day. :)

Seriously I'm in love with this polish. I understand now why the formula was a little "thick" for a shimmer (because it's a holo Rebecca... duh!). Some days I just have to laugh at my own stupidity.

Blog Giveaway time!!

Click HERE to be taken to my giveaway!


Giveaway Ended. Congrats to the winners!

(Or click the link at the top of the page!)

Dollish Polish I Wanna Do Bad Things To You

Somehow blogging is wonderfully relaxing. I'm glad to be back.

Today I have swatches of Dollish Polish I Wanna Do Bad Things To You. This polish is inspired by the hit HBO TV show True Blood, of which I am a HUGE fan!

I Wanna Do Bad Things To You is an amazing red glitter. With a variety of small red glitter, the red also seems to sparkle a bit orange and pink in bright sunlight. This polish is so pretty! I can't get enough of it! I just kept staring at my nails. It glitters and glows in any lighting.

The formula was nice; it's dense enough to be worn alone (I could have stopped at two coats, but photos below are three coats) but would also look amazing layered over any red. Like most glitters, I Wanna Do Bad Things To You dries rough and is a top-coat eater, and it took me three thin coats of top coat to get a glassy finish.

Although I'm not sure if the polish says "True Blood" to me, it is the most amazing red glitter I've ever seen. I love red, and  I love glitter, and this polish is truly gorgeous. The first time I wore it was during my finals week and it kept me in a good mood all week! Looking at these photos now I want to wear it again! 

and a blurry one to show the glitter a bit better: 

This swatch is a great introduction for my first ever blog giveaway that will start this evening! It's a True Blood themed giveaway and you'll be able to win your own bottle of Dollish Polish I Wanna Do Bad Things To You!!

(Dollish Polish can be purchased from www.dolishpolish.com and full size bottles retail for $8.75)

Finally back with my stash. :)

Back in Charleston! It feels wonderful to have my full polish stash as options. :)

Speaking of my stash, my newly formatted stash/polish collection is now online! CLICK HERE or the tab at the top! It isn't finished, but I don't think it looks too horrible. All of the polish is swatched on color wheels (well except for a few I picked up while on vacation) and I just have to take photos when the light is right, crop the photos and upload. Here in SC we have Tropical Storm/Depression Beryl on it's way, so I won't have any sunlight to photograph new material for a few days (but I have some swatches as backup that I couldn't get to auto-post while I was away!)

I bought a total of 9 polishes while on vacation, and had 21 waiting for me when I got home! That's 30 new polishes in one week. There's still about 10 more on their way so I think I need to take a break from ordering for a while...

My new favorite way to purchase? Blog sales! So many wonderful bloggers are selling some great polish for affordable prices. Check out Fingers Polish Mania, Refined and Polished, Polished Criminails (UK), or Peace, Love & Polish!

Here's a few of my new polishes, as well as an attempt at a lightbox. I was hoping with a lightbox that I could get good quality photos at night, but I don't like how yellow everything looks. I'm going to try it tomorrow (if there's any sunlight) and then scrap it if I can't get the white to look truly white.

So much swatching to do!

Only two new polishes after another day of shopping (I was in a pink mood). I have so many swatches to do when I get home! I'm sure I've gotten plenty of nail mail as well... which is a wonderful thought.

Hopefully my hands will be in decent shape by then. I haven't even changed colors in 4 days (currently in love with China Glaze Ahoy!).

Zoya Vanessa

Whew! Mobile blogging can be pretty interesting! Especially when my smart phone has internet and my ipad (where my photos are currentLy located) does not. I'm usually pretty good with technology, but this was a challenge even for me.

So here it is: Zoya Vanessa. Vanessa is described bt Zoya as: "Soft but saturated dark pink berry creme with red undertones. A delicious berry shade that looks very polished." And this description is perfect for Vanessa! In these photos (indoor artificial lighting) the polish looks more maroon than dark berry red, because it definitely looks more red in sunlight.

I'm really impressed with all of the Zoya cremes that I have tried. The formula is amazing, it applies like butter yet it is pigmented enough to only require two coats (and as I've mentioned before I don't have very much patience for 3 and 4 coat polish). I feel as though some cremes are very thick and want to clump (China Glaze and Orly). Zoya is my new favorite for gorgeous cremes.   OPI and Essie also have fantastic formula for their cremea. Zoya has the best brush out of the three, OPI with the uber wide brush and Essie with the tiny/skinny while Zoya is somewhere in the middle.

Well look at me ramble on... wishing you all a wonderful week!

Polish shopping!

Looks like my post for today somehow went awry and I only have my phone to blog with! But after a long shopping trip today I have some wonderful new polish. :)

Left to right: China Glaze Ahoy!, Frostbite, and Orange Knockout. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Magenta Moves and Blue By!

I also picked up some shea butter and parafin lotion from Bath and Body Works. The pure shea butter is divine!

*Sorry for the poor photo quality, my phone isn't made for blogging! Does anyone know of any better blogging apps for android? "Blogger" isn't allowing me to upload the full sized photographs, which are actually quite nice on my phone...

Blue and Silver Glitter Gradient

Today I am leaving for vacation for one week! I should have posts ready to go while I'm gone, so unless something goes wrong I don't expect a hiatus. I've packed about 10 polishes in my suitcase, most fun neons or subtle pinks. :) nothing new though. Maybe I'll pick up a couple of new ones while I'm here.

Today I have a fun glitter gradient I did a while back with Essie Aruba Blue and OPI Crown Me Already. I love the combination, and its a great way to cover up some tip wear to prolong a mani, or just to spruce up a mani when you don't want to give up on a fun color.

Quick swatch! Spoiled Shrimp On The Barbie

Spoiled Shrimp on the Barbie is a pretty pink with yellow-gold glass flecks. It's still slightly sheer with two coats, but wearable. It's a fun color, and I love that Spoiled polishes are available in so many colors and finishes for just $2. I have such easy access to Spoiled that I often stop and pick up a couple on my way home from work after a bad day. Let's just say I have a large and growing collection of spoiled polish. :)

Fluff Friday: Let's Talk Hummus

Starting this week, Fridays are going to be "Fluff Fridays," in other words no nail polish. I decided this for several reasons:

1. After a long work week, sometimes renewing my nails becomes a low priority
2. I have a lot more interests than just my polish obsession. ;)
3. Sometimes, it's fun to talk about something other than nail polish!

So today what I have for you is simple, delicious, and healthy: hummus.

Quick Swatch! $OPI I Don't Bite

This is a quick swatch of Sephora by OPI I Don't Bite (I really don't understand this name... but then again I picked up this polish out of context, so perhaps it has something to do with the collection...).

I Don't Bite is a metallic pale lilac-toned blue. For some reason the color and finish together really remind me of an old worn pair of denim jeans. The formula was good, application was good, and I really don't have anything to say about it. It was nice, not fantastic or overly unique, but nice.

I often find myself picking up new colors just to buy new polish or try a new brand and not because I have a particular interest in the color, and I think I need to break the habit before I break the bank. This polish was from a blog sale, so it's not a huge waste of money. It's unique in my collection but it will never be on my favorites list. 

Quick Swatch! A'dor Beauty Supplies Hawt Pink

Tonight I just have a quick post, life has turned busy all of the sudden and I don't have much time for blogging. I also had to cut my nails back to less than nubbins (yes, they're so short they aren't even considered nubbins!) because this week is bound to be rough on my hands. Now after a long day out on the research vessel with my hands mostly submerged in salt water, I not only have nubbins but horrid, ragged, dry, ugly cuticles. Needless to say I'll be using some swatches I've been saving for just this sort of "rainy day" :).

This is A'dor Beauty Supplies Hawt Pink. It's a gorgeous hot pink with silvery shimmer. This is that perfect shade of pink that makes a great go-to color. I really like this color and wore it for two days! (Two days is a long time for me!) This is two coats with base coat and top coat, the formula is really nice, it's easy to manipulate without being impossibly sheer. I also want to apologize for the tip wear, I didn't remember to take a picture of this one until right before I removed it, so this is two days with slight wear, but no chipping.

Hawt Pink is available from A'dor Beauty Supplies on Etsy.

Read another review of this polish here.

NVL Sunny Floam Swatches

NVL Floam is one of the most popular new indie polishes I've seen, in fact, so popular that many polish makers are jumping on the matte glitter bandwagon. Although I didn't pick up floam from Nail-Venturous, I did manage to get my hands on Sunny Floam and Pinkerbell (more on that later).

Sunny Floam is very bright and pretty, it has a clear base with neon yellow and dark blue matte glitter. Most of the glitter is yellow, but with the blue it looks neon green from a distance, it's a really fascinating color.

The formula was a little less extraordinary, it was slightly clumpy but still manageable and I used 3 coats for the photos before. Overall it's a very fun color, but for some reason I'm not sure if I like how it looks on me, my skin tone doesn't happen to like anything yellow.

Indoor fluorescent lighting that brings out the neon:

Natural lighting - indirect sunlight.

Closeup! look at the glitter! It's so cool. Even though it's matte there's still a bit of a shimmer to that yellow glitter.

Sunny Floam can be purchased from Nail-Venturous Lacquers on Etsy in a 0.5 oz (15 ml) bottle for $9.00 USD. The shop is currently sold out, so sign up for an email notification or visit Nail-Venturous Lacquers on Facebook for more updates.

Paris Sparkles Swatches

The first nail polish brand I ever discovered on Etsy was Paris Sparkles. For some reason I didn't get around to ordering from Stacy until somewhat recently when I ordered a three pack of Peridot, Midnight in Paris and Raspberry Delight. I'm so glad I did!

Paris Sparkles Midnight in Paris

When my package came, Peridot was broken (the bottles were well packaged so it must be the inconsiderate US Postal Service trying to keep me from my polish.) When I contacted her, Stacy was so nice and she was great about sending me a quick replacement (although she said this was only the second time that's ever happened).

Swatches after the jump!

Sephora by OPI Fabulously Fierce

Oh how I love reds....

Fabulously Fierce is a great color, described as a poppy red creme. It's a red that is bordering on coral, but very pretty. It has a nice soft creamy finish with a lot of shine. This one has absolutely no "crelly" qualities, it's all creme (which also means that while bright, it is more muted that bright in-your-face red). The formula was easy to work with and only needed 2 coats. I almost could have gotten away with just one coat.

Although the mani only lasted for one day I've still got Fabulously Fierce on my toes. It's such a nice feminine bright red. Even in my red-heavy collection it's unique. :)

I grabbed this one off of a blog sale, and I'm glad I did!

Holo Franken Polish!

This is a holo polish I created two bottles of a while ago. (Yep, two bottles... A a college degree and I still can't seem to remember that if you start with a full bottle and add to it you will have an overflowing bottle.) I didn't get around to trying it out until now and I just have to say wow. I amazed myself.

I've named it Kindle because it reminds me of setting a flame (albeit a rainbow flame) to coals or ashes.

Kindle is a blackened blue with a strong linear holo. The holo is strong enough that it's visible indoors, and in the sunlight it just shines! This is two thin coats with no base coat or top coat and it's very opaque and incredibly shiny. The pictures are from day 2 so it wears pretty well, although with my short nails I usually have minimal tip wear.

I'm really glad that I have two bottles now that I've worn Kindle because as per my original plan, I will be giving this away as part of my next giveaway! (I'll be giving away the unused identical bottle.) Now I get to keep one and give one away!

Click Read More for swatches!

Quick Indie review: A'dor Beauty Supplies

Hey y'all. I just have a really quick review for you this afternoon.

I ordered from a new Etsy brand called A'dor Beauty Supplies that carried a bunch of mini nail polishes. The mini bottles retail for $3.50 and there are deals for 3, 4, or 5 bottles. I bought 5 bottles and picked out some Hawt Pink, Greed, Lust, Samhain, and rose. She carries a lot of metallic-y shimmers and they all look so pretty!

**Taken from AdorBeautySupplies.etsy.com**

The swatches she supplies are very color accurate, but I swatched my 5 on one hand as soon as they came in the mail today (and while I'm talking about mail, let me tell you -- those bottles were packed to securely that it took me 10 minutes to get through all the layers of bubble wrap and padding!).

Left to right: Hawt Pink, Rose, Lust, Samhain, and Greed

Click read more for swatches

Nail Art with Zoya Kimber, Zuza, and Trixie

Yesterday evening I swatched Zoya Kimber and was rapidly bored with it. Kimber is a very pretty bright pigmented pink jelly base with yellow-gold shimmer. It's a very similar color to China Glaze Strawberry Fields (for an excellent comparison of the two check out the awesome blog All You Desire). The formula for Kimber was nice, it covered in two coats and was very easy to control.

Sadly I got bored with this color quickly. If it was a normal day and I had work to do or places to be I would have been quite content, but sitting around (pretending) to work on writing a rather long proposal I had a lot of time to look at my hands. I decided to do a quick tape mani for the practice, although I usually don't like how my tape manis turn out.

Man this is gorgeous. I used Zoya Kimber, Zoya Zuza, and Zoya Trixie (remind me to re-do that swatch, my nails were so short!).

I experimented using a different 'tape' for the mani than I've used before. In the past I've used regular clear cellophane tape and have had the unfortunate experience of pulling off half the polish along with the tape, which doesn't make for very good results. Recently I bought some Post-it Label Roll tape at Walgreens  for no real purpose, it just sounded cool. I have to tell you, this stuff is amazing for nail art. I could stick the post-it tape to polish that wasn't completely dry and still pull it off without any marks. It doesn't stick quite as well, but with some patience the results are so nice.

I started out with a base coat of Kimber, then taped the nail in a diagonal line and added Trixie as silver stripe. I free-handed the last half of the nail with Zuza. These polishes are so nice and opaque that I only had to use one coat, so it was a very fun and easy mani.

Instead of doing the same nail art on my right hand I decided to do something a bit different using the same colors so I did a funky french with Zuza as the tip color and added dots of Trixie and Zuza using a small paintbrush. I'm not as happy with this pattern as I was with the first one, but it looks much prettier in person than it does in pictures. The dots break up the line of the french manicure a bit and the results are very aesthetically pleasing.

My right and left hands were coordinating but mis-matched for most of today, but I really don't mind. It's kinda fun sporting something so unique for me.

A-England Saint George Swatch

I know I've posted swatches for A-England's Saint George before, but this is definitely one of my favorite polishes. Saint George is a dark teal with scattered holo.

It's such a pretty color, and amazing in the respect that it only requires one coat. I love one coat polishes becuase some days I spend so long trying to decide what color to wear that I run out of time and have to try to finish my nails quickly. Trying to decide on a color usually involves all preping 10 nails with base coat,painting two coats of color, and finishing with top coat (or several layers of top coat with a glitter). If the weather is nice I'll take a picture of the polish, and within the our decide I don't wan to wear that particular shade, so I pull out the remover and do it all over again. When time is running out I grab a one coat polish and get out the door, sometimes sacrificing base coat along the way (but never top coat because seche vite makes the manicure so much faster). I always make a mental note of "one-coat-wonders" as I call them in my head, maybe one day I'll make a one-coat-wonder list.

Indoor sunlight:

Outdoor direct sunlight:

Outdoor indirect sunlight:

It's just so pretty!

So what about you, do you have go-to polishes for when you're in a hurry?

Nicole by OPI All Kendall-ed Up

Nicole by OPI All Kendall-ed Up is a nice bright pink creme with a blue-tone. It's a very pretty pink creme, nothing spectacular, but it's a color everyone should have in their stash. It's great for spring or summer, and great for pedicures.  I really hate the Kardashians, but I love all of the polishes I've tried in the Kardashian Kolors Collection so far. 

Pinks like this are colors I wear all the time. I don't always photograph them, but my go-to colors are usually pink or red. 

Please excuse the fuzz ball on my middle finger. My top coat was contaminated and I didn't realize until it was too late!

Pretty shiny pink!

Dandy Nails Come Out and Play

I am so obsessed with this polish! If you follow a lot of nail blogs, you've probably seen Dandy Nails Come Out and Play before. Come out and Play is one of the most unique and pretty polishes that I've seen in a long time. It is a violet purple base with white matte glitter. The effect is purple polka-dots. I love it more than I can express. I wore this polish for 4 days! (I usually only wear polishes for a day, maybe two if I'm really busy.

These swatches are two coats plus base and top coat, and were taken on day three! Day 1 and 2 were too cloudy for photos, but I'm amazed it held up so well. It dries a tiny tiny bit bumpy but soothes out with a normal top coat.

These photos, like most I have seen of Come Out and Play really exaggerate the red-hue in this purple. It's really more of a purple-toned-fuchsia, and you can see that in this picture taken in indoor fluorescent lighting:

One thing I love about Dandy Nails is that the ingredient list is on the back of the bottle, it makes the brand very professional and shows that they are truly 3-free.

Dandy Nails polishes are available on Etsy HERE. They are currently sold out but should be re-stocked shortly. Sandy's polishes are becoming popular very quickly, and Come Out and Play is a must-have, I got so many compliments.

Blog Sale!

Hey y'all.

I'm having a mini blog sale. Prices and use is as indicated. All payments must be made through PayPal using the "gift" option.

Email me at lepekam (at) gmail (dot) com if you would like to make a purchase

Shipping is $2.50 for the first item and $0.50 for each item after that. I can only ship within the US unless you are willing to pay the cost of shipping overseas, but it will cost more than US shipping.

Please see what is available by clicking here

Available Polishes:

China Glaze Exceptional Gifted - $3 (New)

China Glaze Fast track - $3 (1x used)

China Glaze For Aubrey - $3 (1x used)

Nicole by OPI A Million Sparkles - $4 (1x used, 90% remaining)

OPI DS Mystery - $5 (1x used)

OPI Navy Shatter - $4 (1x used)

Julep Heather - $5 (swatched only)

Wet n Wild Coloricon Collection - $10 (shipping 3$)

Essie School of Hard Rocks - $4 (swatched only)

Essie Bangle Jangle -  $4 (1 nail only)

Essie Very Structured - $4 (swatched only)

Holo Stamping Adventures

Last night I did some stamping with my holographic polishes and Sunday turns out to be a cloudy dreary day. :(

Well it's still a pretty mani.

This is A-England Saint George as a base coat, and Color Club Worth the Risque stamped with Konad Plate #m73. I'm usually not a huge fan of stamping, but I really like this combination. This also might be my first 100% successful stamped manicure. There's no bare patches or crooked stamps. :)

If you click the pictures you can see a tiny bit of holo, but nothing like it looks with bright sun.

The pattern on this is so fun!

Dollish Polish California Gurl

I was lucky enough to grab a few bottles of nail polish from the fantastic nail polish maker Dollish Polish during her last opening. I believe most of the colors sold out within 2 minutes and I'm shocked that I managed to nab as many minis as I did.

Dollish Polish California Gurl is pink and blue glitter in a clear base. It's definitely a layering polish and you see it here layered over OPI La Paz-itively Hot (a hot-pink with subtle shimmer). California Gurl has fairly dense glitter and I only had to use two coats.

I absolutely love this mix of pink and blue and holographic glitter. It's so pretty!

The glitter, from most prominent to least prominent: tiny circular pink glitter, small circular blue glitter, small pink and blue holographic hexagonal glitter, and large holographic hexagonal blue glitter.

Dollish Polish can be purchased from dollishpolish.com. As I write this the polish is all sold out but if you watch the updates from facebook you should be able to catch a re-stock!