Zoya "Sia", "Ziv", & "Storm" Swatches & Review

Hello, hello my darlings! I'm so sorry for my absence, I realize I haven't posted since March because my life has been super crazy. Between my personal life and preparing to study abroad in South Korea, I haven't been able to properly blog or even really do my nails in sooo long. I really missed it. Currently I am in Korea so my timezone is completely opposite of my timezone in the US so my posts will probably be at random times until I come home in a about 3 1/2 weeks.

Enough about me, I have a kind of random swatch-haul of some Zoya minis I got a while ago (this was supposed to be up long time ago haha). Zoya sent out an email to people who are subscribed to their newsletter saying there was a deal that you can get 3 minis for "free", just pay $6.95 shipping. After seeing that minis alone cost $6, I decided to pick up a couple because that's a really good deal! There was special code in the email that allowed you to get the deal plus there was only a certain number of colors to choose from. That is how Sia, Ziv, and Storm came home to me haha. For my swatches and thoughts, check them out after the jump!

           

Kiko Cupcake Polishes #649 #651 #656 Swatches & Review

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so sad that my spring break is over but I kind of like getting back into my routine you know? Is anyone else like that haha? Also my other exciting announcement: I got into grad school! I'm so happy and relieved because the program I applied into has quite high standards. I look forward to starting some grad classes along with finishing my Bachelor's degree in the fall.

Today I have some more Kiko polishes to share with you guys! I actually got these free when I bought the other three that I reviewed a bit ago. I think they're discontinuing or getting rid of them but I'm not sure. Last time I checked on the Kiko website they were on sale so I apologize if you can't get them anymore (then again you could probably find them somewhere on the internet). Anyway if you want to see my full thoughts and swatches of Kiko Cupcake polishes #649 #651 #656, look for them after the jump!

OPI Hello Kitty Collection Swatches & Review

Hello my lovelies...it's been quite a while right? I normally don't disappear for so long but I was having a lot of problems in my personal life and I was slammed with work because Spring Break was coming up. Things in my personal life have since gotten much better and now that my crazy week before Spring Break is over, I can finally relax for a minute. Other than that, I have exciting news! I'll announce the first now and the second in another post next week~ My first exciting announcement is I'm going to be studying abroad in South Korea this summer! I won't be gone the whole summer, just 6 weeks or so but I'm still very excited to finally go back!!

Now onto my actual post: the OPI X Hello Kitty collab that slayed my life. When I first found out OPI was coming out with this collection, I about died. I realize that this post is "old" because the collection has been out for a while now and OPI is moving on to the New Orleans collection for spring (which I've got my eye on a few of those ;) ) but I figured that I still should post it anyway. I don't get PR or normally have enough money to afford to preordering the whole collection, so I have to wait until it hits the stores. I love OPI and Hello Kitty anyway. I ended up picking up 4 shades, two individually and two came in a set with a little Hello Kitty coin purse. For swatches and my full review on these polishes, check it out after the jump!

St. Patrick's Day 2016 Nail Art

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone !

Long story short, sorry for not posting in awhile. My next post will fully explain why I've been missing, but for now I just wanted to hop on here and share my St. Paddy's Day nail art!

I used a lot of different things haha. For the green on my pointer and ring fingers, I did a base of Essie Vices Versa then sponged Color Club Angel Kiss on the tips and somewhat gradient-ed it upward!

For my middle finger, I did a base with China Glaze Mingle With Kringle then went over it with a layer of Zoya Maria Louisa. This combo reminds me so much of the "Golden Egg" bath bomb from Lush which I totally adore as well. 

Finally for my ring finger, I first laid down a white base with my favorite Nature Republic 01 화이트. After letting my quick dry topcoat dry, I applied straight nail vinyls and then applied China Glaze Mingle With Kringle again. Then after I removed the vinyls, I stamped the clover using the Bundle Monster BM723 plate!

Overall, I'm so happy with the way these turned out! I think they're so cute and perfect for the occasion.  

Dupe/Comparison: Nars "Schiap", OPI "Girls Love Ponies", & Essie "Mod Square"

Hello my lovelies! How was your weekend? Mine was absolutely amazing! The Exo concert was just...I can't even describe how amazing it was! They're one of my favorite bands and I'm so glad they finally came to the US on tour!! I'm currently experiencing post concert depression haha.

Anyway, today I have another dupe/comparison post (if you couldn't tell from the title). Quickly I fell in love with Nars Schiap however I am not in love with the price, so I looked through my collection to see if I could find a dupe that not only matches in color but also in formula. I found OPI Girls Love Ponies and Essie Mod Square.

Here is a bottle shot of all three next to each other:

They all look so similar, right?

Now here is what they looked like all swatched next to each other:

So as we can see, Essie is nowhere near as dark as the other two. Even though Nars and OPI look pretty identical, I would say that OPI is a hint darker. All formulas were wonderful, they all only needed 2 coats. I would say if you wanna splurge, go for the Nars but since this color isn't the most unique in the world, you could probably find it for cheaper! 

China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" Swatch & Review

Happy Thursday guys! This week is going by really fast or is it just me haha? Midterm season is upon me unfortunately but on a good note, they're all spaced out so I'm not jammed pack with like 3 on one day...that would not be good.

On a random side note, is anyone going to the Exo concert this Sunday?? I have floor tickets and I'm literally dying of excitement, I can't wait!

Now onto what this post is actually about: China Glaze Ruby Pumps! This is by no means a new color, it's quite old actually and a part of the core line so why I never picked it up is a mystery to me. I didn't realize how pretty it was until my mom was getting her nails done at the salon and used this color then I was like "Omgg so pretty...I must have it". Thus going to Ulta to pick it up and now having swatches of it on here! So without further ado, let's get into the swatches~

Ruby Pumps is a dark red jelly base packed with red and orange fine glitter. I found that because of the jelly base, the formula tended to be patchy but easy to work with. Despite that fact, it just looks so stunning on the nail. It just glows. However it does dry a bit dull on its own so I'd recommend a good, thick topcoat to smooth it out and make it glossy. This is 3 coats plus topcoat.

Gratuitous macro shot because with my new camera I can haha

Overall, I'm so happy that I finally got this. Even though it's a famous color, I never realized how gorgeous it was until I saw it actually on the nail. I think that happens to a lot of colors unfortunately, especially like Orly Mirrorball. Anyway I hope to continue to discover more gems like this!

Valentine's Day Nail Art

It's February 15th ! You know what that means right...? Well it means 2 things!
Numba 1: yesterday was Valentine's Day to which I hope you either spent the day with your valentine or you gave yourself a little extra lovin' ! (Nothings wrong with that~)
Numba 2: 50% - 75% Valentine's Day candy which for most is much more exciting haha.

Anyway, I know I'm a day late but I have some simple, chic Valentine's Day nail art as the title of this post suggests. This is actually the second time I've worn this combo, I liked it so much that I recreated it again! Here is what I used:

1. China Glaze About Layin' Out
2. Mundo de Unas 01 White
3. BM-620 & BM-619 stamping plates

I hope you all had a good Vday! 

Kiko #360 #488 & #497 Swatch & Review

Happy Wednesday guys! Did you guys celebrate the Lunar New Year? I had a special dinner with my boyfriend and his family for Lunar New Year!

Anyway today I have a super exciting post! About a week or so ago, I finally was able to hit up a Kiko store somewhat near my college and oh-em-gee. It was glorious. I only managed to walk away with 3 polishes, but it was so hard! Everything there is so reasonably priced, each polish (from the line I chose) was only $3.90! I will definitely be stopping by again to check out their eyeshadows and such! Check out my full thoughts on Kiko polishes #360, #488, and #497 after the jump!

Simple NOTD ft. Essie "Pen & Inky" + Color Club "Beyond"

Hello hello everyone! I'm starting to get back into the swing of things! I really like blogging and I hate when I'm not able to ㅠ.ㅠ

Today I have a NOTD or "Nail of the Day" post for a mani that I was wearing last week. I needed something simple yet pretty for the whole week. I'm also limited on what colors I have with me at school, so I came up with this!

The green jelly is Essie Pen & Inky from their watercolor collection and the black holo is Color Club Beyond.

Dupes/Comparisons: Squishy Reds (Part 2)

Happy Monday! You all can officially call me a liar haha. This post was meant to go up last Friday (1/22) but as usual time got away from me and before I realized it, a week had gone by and now it's officially February! I apologize for sounding like a broken record but it really is much more difficult for me to post "normally" when I'm back in school. Even though I only have class 4/5 days of the weekday, my courses this semester are heavily reading/writing based. Also it's still within the first couple weeks of the semester so I'm still trying to find a schedule that will enable me to be able to do everything needed at school while still having time to blog and do my nails! :) That intro was mighty long but I think it was needed. Onto what this post is actually about haha.

(Even though I'm late...by my own time) Today I have part 2 of the squishy reds dupe/comparisons! This time we will be comparing category 1 or "Shimmery/more jelly red". The two I'll be comparing today are:

• Zoya Aphrodite (on my pointer/ring finger; 3 coats, no topcoat)
• Sinful Color Horizon Shine (on my middle/ring finger; 3 coats, no topcoat)

I always include a bottle shot of the colors I'm comparing because sometimes in the bottle they look so close but when you actually swatch them, they're completely different:

And of course, here are the swatches:

There we have it! Definitely not dupes, but they're actually pretty close. I would say the main differences would be that Zoya is a bit more red and has more pronounced flakies while Sinful Colors is more orange, has a "jellier" base and is more just straight shimmer. Both are really pretty but if I had choose one, I'd go with Zoya!

Dupes/Comparisons: Squishy Reds (Part 1)

Happy Thursday all! I'm back in school and two days of classes have already gone by! I like going to school, learning new things and what not I just don't like all the stress and anxiety I get from everything I have to do...but so far, I really enjoy all my classes and I'm looking forward to a good semester...that being said, let's get onto polish!

I hope I didn't lose you from my title but I love squishy, jelly reds. In fact I own more than I thought haha. In this post and another, I'll be comparing two different types of squishy reds:

1. Shimmery/more jelly red
2. Glitter-bomb/super squishy jelly red

I decided to split this into 2 parts because they kind of look similar but they're not really. The color family is similar but the style and such is quite different so you all get 2 days of squishy reds! For this post, I will be comparing style two "glitter-bomb/super squishy jelly red". The two colors are:

• Orly 15 Minutes Of Fame (on my pointer/ring finger; 3 coats plus topcoat)
• SPAritual Intention (on my middle/pinky finger; 3 coats plus topcoat)

Here is a bottle shot of the two next to each other:

Onto the swatches:

Even though they look similar in the bottle, these two are definitely not dupes. Orly is much more sheer than SPAritual and also contains a LOT more holo glitter. SPAritual is a true red with more heavy flakies while on its own, Orly looks more orange. Also Orly's formula was much thicker and base-heavy where SPAritual was more runny (I had to be careful of it not ending up in my cuticules). So there you have it, part 1 all done! Look out for part 2 coming tomorrow! 

Gradient Star Nail Art ft. Holo

Happy Friday all! This is my last friday on winter break...I move back to school on Sunday and start spring semester on Tuesday. My break flew by haha. Anyway I have some long overdue nail art today! For Christmas, I got some nail vinyls from Twinkled T from my boyfriend and I've been dying to try them out. The one I used for today's look looks like a star cyclone (I'll link the exact one at the end of this post). You all will also get a rare sighting of my thumb nail in this post too! The color selection and such was inspired by Simply Nailogical's video (here) by the way~ 

To create the gradient that I sponged over white & the star vinyl, I used:

• Color Club Almost Famous (yellow)
• Essie Mod Square (pink)
• Essie Garden Variety (blue)

On the rest of my fingers, I used Color Club Miss Bliss:

My thumb I think turned out the best and I've been wearing it for about a week now! (Which is a long time for me, I change colors frequently). I do have a full post on the Color Club Halo Hues so watch out for that ;) In addition, if you want the same vinyls I used you can go here!

Comparisons/Dupes: OPI "Give Me Space" & Zoya "Dream"

Hello everyone! It's been a hot minute since I've done any dupes or comparisons so I thought I'd do one that has been in the back of my mind for a while now: OPI Give Me Space and Zoya Dream.

I remember when Dream first was released and it sold out so fast in my Ulta! I was so sad that I couldn't get my hands on it...(long story short I eventually did) and boy it did not disappoint. She is beautiful! However when I got my hands on Give Me Space, the two looked awful similar. Here is a bottle shot of the two side by side:

And of course here is the two swatched side by side:

They are not dupes unfortunately, I would say they're sisters though haha. Both of them are in the same color family. The main difference being Zoya Dream has much larger holo glitters than OPI Give Me Space which has fine micro holo glitters. Both formulas are outstanding: easy to apply, just right thickness, and opaque in just two coats (my photos make my nail line stand out much more but in person you can't see it). So honestly you can't go wrong if you decide to pick one or the other!

Essie Retro Revival 2016 "Starry Starry Night" Swatches & Review

Hello all, how was your weekend? Mine was good. I got to catch up with one of my best friends from high school and I also got to meet his boyfriend so that was a lot of fun! I also realized I'll be going back to school in a about a week...it makes me both sad and happy haha.

Today's post is an interesting one. I originally wasn't going to buy this. I was super excited when Essie announced they were going to be bringing back Starry Starry Night...I wasn't the only one (obviously haha) because everyone in both the nail and beauty world was buzzing about it. But then as it got released into the nail world, everyone knew what was up. This "revival" of sorts is not revival at all: the OG Starry Starry Night is nothing like this rerelease. But after watching jessFACE90 on youtube swatch it, I gave in and picked up it up at my local Ulta when I found a new display of it. Unfortunately I don't own the OG formula, but there are bloggers who do and did comparisons (see Pointless Cafe's post here). Anyway enough rant for now onto the swatches:

Starry Starry Night is a deep blue jelly packed with blue and silver glitters. The first time I swatched this, I only used 2 coats but when I went to take pictures, it was super patchy so I had to take it off and start over again. The formula is kind of weird, it's thick but a good thickness (in my opinion) but also patchy too...this is 3 coats plus topcoat.

Macro shot of the glitters...it was surprisingly difficult to capture them!

Overall, I have mixed feelings. I think revamped Starry Starry Night is a pretty polish, don't get me wrong but I feel jipped and some kind of way that Essie would do that. Why you gotta play me like that Essie?? Worth the hype? From what I've heard compared to the OG one, no not really. Otherwise? Yes, it's a pretty polish that most people would probably like to have in their collection.

Orly Infamous Holiday 2015 Collection Swatches & Review

Happy Friday everyone! Can you believe the first week of 2016 is already here?? Time is just flyin' ! I went to my local Ulta the other day and I saw they had the new OPI Hello Kitty collection...I died on the spot. I'm a HUGE Hello Kitty fan (ask anyone who knows me haha) so I'll definitely be picking up a couple of those ;)

Anyway onto what I have today. I have 2 polishes from Orly's holiday collection. I feel like a lot of times Orly is left in the dust compared to other brands when they release new collections, like I never even heard about this collection until I walked into Sally Beauty to get more acetone! It's a shame because they come up with some really beautiful and unique polishes...anyway my thoughts and swatches on the two I picked up after the jump!

Michael Kors "Thriller" Swatches & Review

Hello guys! January is just moving right along, am I right haha? The other day at the Nordstrom Rack when I got the Nars set, I also picked up a Michael Kors polish as well! It was a great deal (originally $18, got it for $6.95)! It'll be a quick post, but I hope you'll enjoy it the same~

Thriller is a shimmery aqua/teal. In the bottle, there is an ever-so slight purple duochrome but it didn't show up on the nail. The formula was thin, sheer, and a bit patchy but it easily built up to opacity. This is 3 coats, no topcoat.

Overall, I would say if you can get this on sale like I did, I would go for it but otherwise I'd skip it. There are plenty of shimmery aquas that you can get for much less. On a final (kind of random) side note, the bottle itself is really pretty haha.

KBShimmer Pimp My Pride & Mixed Peelings Swatches and Review

Hey guys, how was your weekend? Mine was pretty good, I spent a lot of time messing with my new camera. It's the Nikon Coolpix L840; the original one I used was a Sony Cyber Shot that I got in 9th grade...while I still love it and it still works great for being 6~7 years old, I really wanted to upgrade.

Anyway, today I have more indie polish! Yay! I know I'm late to the indie bandwagon, but better late than never right haha? I actually picked these up during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale KBShimmer had way back in November. I've worn Mixed Peelings a couple times already but I never actually got around to swatch them because school and finals came up. I'm a sucker for white crellys, so these babies are right up my alley! My thoughts and swatches will be after the jump:

Nars "Schiap" Swatches & Review

Happy New Years everyone ! 새해 복 많이 받으세요 !

It's 2016! A whole new year of memories, new nail polish, and lots of other things to happen this year! Did anyone make a resolutions list? I never actually make a list but there is always things I'd like to change haha. I am also using a new camera that I got for Christmas!

To ring in the new year, I thought I'd start off with a high-end brand that's semi-new (to me at least), Nars. I've known about the brand but never really gotten products from Nars because they are on the more expensive side, but I found this set that came with 3 full-size products: lipgloss, lipstick, and nail polish at Nordstrom Rack. All of them are in the shade Schiap. So of course it came home with me and now I have this gorgeous pink Nars polish to share with all of you!

 Schiap is a bright, medium pink creme. The formula is absolutely divine. I've never used a polish so smooth in my life to date. I used 2 coats (no topcoat) for the photos below, but if you have shorter nails, you could easily get away with 1 coat!

Overall, I'm in love with Schiap. While the color isn't the most unique, the formula is so wonderful. (Also how do you pronounce the name of this? Is it shee-ap or she-ya-p haha?) Even though this retails for $20 alone, I think it's totally worth the splurge. The only place that I know of that you can find it at is Sephora (here), other than that I'm not sure unfortunately :( Anyway I hope the rest of your new years is great !