Finally!

Well the day has finally come, I own a Chanel polish. And the best part it was a gift!

Horrible picture I know, but this polish is a nightmare to photograph! Here is a better picture of it:

I think its time to invest in a new camera!

Now I still want to own Peridot, that hasn't changed at all, but knowing that I own a Chanel makes me feel so ooolala! Okay, corniness aside, I love this color!

PS- Don't forget about our giveaway!

and All glitzed up!

I think I did it! Dupe alert!

I have been jonesing for Chanel Peridot nail polish (credit goes to Vampy Varnish for link pic) ever since it came out, but I couldn't justify the high price of it. I saw this post on Nouveau Cheap where they took Sally Hansen's Bronze ablaze and Sinful Colors All about you and you would get a good dupe of Butter London Wallis.

As much as I love the look of Wallis, I wondered if I could dupe Peridot. I took bronze ablaze and topped it off with Wet "n" Wild's "The Gold and the Beautiful"

Bronze Ablaze

The Gold and the Beautiful

And here is the result:

I think I have a good dupe here! I know it's not 100% on the dot, but its good enough for me! And cost about $6 all together. One day I will have my Chanel, one day;) But for now, who ever wants the looks of Peridot for a fraction of the cost, buy these two nail polishes, you will not regret it!
Tata for now!

Jaci's Xmas present mani

So, I do have a Xmas manicure all ready to snap for you (and my first 3D mani at that!) but first, a teaser :)

My friend Jaci texted me today with this picture. She said this is the first time she did a detailed manicure, and I have to say I think she did a pretty damn good job!

Jaci's Xmas mani, a photo by KitaRei on Flickr.
I don't know all of the color details yet (c'mon grrlfriend, follow us and give us the deets!) but I do know the red is Chanel Fire, and I think the red glitter is Homei Quick Dry Your Person of Destiny.

What do you think of her manicure?

Revlon, you crafty minx you!

Revlon, you are very crafty.. because you made me buy another one of your polishes. Even after many times I said I wouldn't...I have. This time in the form of the Chanel Graphite dupe called Carbonite.

Mind the obvious"I didn't get all the nail polish of my nails thumb look"

Now I don't own the Chanel version, for obvious reasons. (I am po') But when I saw this polish in CVS last week, I decided to throw caution to the wind(as I always do when it comes to the nail polish gods) and buy it.

Last night, looking at my crazy chipped nails from this past weekends manicure, I gave it a go.

The formula, is.. (is Revlon reading this right now because someone is) so much better! I glided on with ease, no bubbles, fast drying time! I am so glad I bought this because it is so much prettier on the nail then in the bottle. On the nail, when you move it around you can see hints of an olive green and black shimmer.  Definitely almost a dupe for the Chanel version at almost 20$ cheaper! I paid 3.29$ for my bottle.

I think I'm starting to warm up back to Revlon, and I have to say their offerings in the past year have been amazing. I hope they release more dupes for this girl on a budget with a slight(MAJOR) nail polish addiction.

PS. Bubblewrapper brought up a good point, this color sucks up shine, so if you really love a shiny nail polish, this one might disappoint. Even with Seche Vite, it still had a muted finish. 
Ta-ta for now!

Facets of Fuchsia by Revlon

You know Revlon, as much as your formula bites the big one, you are geniuses for "replicating" expensive nail polish colors, like Graphite and Paradoxol from Chanel. And now, Bad Romance from Deborah Lippman. Facets of Fuchsia is a color you have to see in real life, because it a bitch to photograph! I had to go into the twins I nanny for playroom, to get a decent shot (hence the toys in the background). I definitely think they have a hit on their hands, I obviously do not have Bad Romance to compare (Julie!) but if you go online, there are a million pictures comparing the two.

The formula is a bit better since it's jelly, but you will need three coats because with two you will see the nail bed underneath. I love how it is dense with glitter, seriously the first coat was packed with glitter. That is one thing that I loathe with glitter nail polishes, you get no glitter pay off until the 57th coat. But not this one! It is packed with glitter (it's going to be fun getting it off though, thank you foil for making the process a lot less painful!)

Stock photo from Revlon, no justice whatsoever...

So overall, this polish is amazing! If you can't get the real deal from Deborah, then definitely locate your nearest Target and look for the make-up collection from Gucci Westman (an amazing make-up artist with Revlon). But ta-ta for now!

Chanel Black Pearl

Hi everyone!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to wear the Japanese 3D nails last time..
I was going to wear them to my friend Yapa's going away party/Akiko and Jaci's birthday party, but there was a LOT going on that day, and I accidentally forgot them at home. Next party, I promise!

This time, I'm going to post something special, my first high end polish!. It was a little treat to myself at the duty-free. A beautiful slightly shimmery pearly dark turquoise. I must have good taste, because a few weeks after I bought this, Erika told me (and showed me) that it was featured in an article as being the "it" color of the season in NY. ::awesome:: taste- I haz it hehe

Chanel Black Pearl, a photo by KitaRei on Flickr.
Thanks for reading :)

Catching up: Bling Up Your Ring Fingers, My New Favorite Zoya, and Katy Perry OPI (Julie)

Took a bit of a break as I was just vacationing in Lake Placid, and my week was rather busy when I got home and picked up a stray dog on the street! I've devoted this whole week to getting her a new home, and it worked out wonderfully. She has gone home with a great new owner.

SO onto the polish - Blinging up the ring finger! This just about tops any cream swatch manicure and makes it look so much prettier!

This is Barry M's Paradoxal Dupe, called Dusky Mauve. And ring finger is sporting Deborah Lippmann's Today Was A Fairytale.

(please mind my dry fingers, it is a pretty damn cold winter in NY this year and my hands are suffering!)

I had also tried Today was a Fairytale over Zoya's Brenna and uhh....is it just me, or did it end up looking like bugs or speckles of pepper something? I want to like it, but I just don't! I would suggest using this swatch over a darker one. Maybe over a navy. I will try that out next.

And here is my new favorite swatch of all time. Zoya's Zara. It is so feminine and beautiful! Subtle gold sparkles inside a pale lavender base. This swatch just screams "I am feminine!" and I love it!! Zoya, you kinda rock my world.

How about one last disastrous combo before I hit the sack? I did say bling up, not bling down. So my friends, I do NOT recommend the following manicure idea, because instead of this looking unique and awesome like I had hoped, it just looks like I jammed my ring finger in the door or something equally as painful...and my nail is bruised and ready to fall off. Whoops. You win some, you lose some I suppose.

This is from the new OPI Katy Perry line - the sparkly pink beauty of a swatch is called Teenage Dream, and the ring finger disaster is of course the elusive Shatter polish by OPI. Both from the same collection.

To shed some positive light on this mistake, I think Teenage Dream is well, a dream! It's so beyond pretty and sparkly. I laid it on thick with 3 layers. It needed 2 layers of Seche to smooth it out because there's nothing I can't stand more than bumpy nails.

Good night!!

Wants! (Erika)

As I stated in my last blog, Here are my current wants of the nail polish world ( or more like needs!)

Nouvelle Vague

This polish came out for the spring 2010 Chanel line, from the moment that I saw it.. I was majorly lemming for it. Some says its Tiffany blue, but I think its more of a cross between a baby blue and a smidgen of sleeping beauty turquoise. This color has been retailing for over 50-100$ on the evil bay and other e-tail sites. I adore this color, but I do not adore that amount of money..le sigh.

Sea By RGB Nail polish

I've never heard of RGB before.. I probably have, but my nail polish memory is a bit foggy;) I found this color on about.com one day, and I was struck by how vivid and striking it was. The swirls of blue and green.. it really does remind me of a night time sea. Now I own "Teal we meet again" by OPI for Sephora.. and it could be a pretty decent dupe. But I don't think it comes near to how amazing and beautiful this color is (and you all know how I feel about my OPI for Sephora nail polishes!)

Starry Starry Night by Essie

Now I am pretty sure this was Essie's version of the very coveted Night Sky by Chanel( does anyone remember that one? It was a nail polish contest by Seventeen magazine, that if you sent in an original nail polish creation, Chanel would sell the color. I remember the ads for it, the color in French was called Ciel de Nuit) Now I know I have a better chance of getting hit by lightening then owning that color, but I think the Essie version is a great replica. Alas, this too is a very HTF color and when it does come on eBay.. it too is very $$$. One day Erika, one day.

230 by Clarins

I discovered this color about two years ago on a few NP Blogs. I love the name it was dubbed "Unicorn Pee" and I can understand why! This color is super rare and super gorgeous! If you go to the blog I linked, it shows more pictures of this amazing color in different lights. I have not seen a dupe for this color, maybe the Sally Hanson prisms but that is about it. Curse Clarins for discontinuing this amazing color, curse them straight to fiery hell! Ok, maybe not.. but curse the eBay sellers that sell this color for over 100$ The last time I saw this color on eBay, it fetched 172$ Yep.. Insanity defined.

Next blog, my trip to the city haul!