Franken -- Local Lake

Today I'm wearing one of my more recent frankens, Local Lake. I took a TON of pictures of this one trying to capture all the different colors of shimmer in it. The name comes from the Regina Spektor song "Genius Next Door"....I was making this color and for some reason thought of the color of a lake at night.
This is an emerald teal. I like the color of it, but what really steals the show is the shimmer...mostly blue shimmer, but every other color too: pink, gold, lots of silver, a little bit of everything. It was really hard to get it to show up in pictures, but you can sort of see it in some of these pics if you enlarge them.
I used two coats of LL and one of Seche Vite. It was nice and pigmented, not jelly-ish or super streaky like a lot of my frankens turn out. It seems like a lot of my frankens either turn out like that, or really thick and gloopy. This one was neither. I really like how it turned out!

Sincerely, Cat

Sephora by OPI I Don't Bite

This is Sephora by OPI's I Don't Bite...that name is so amusing, haha! This was the only one I picked up from SOPI's summer (or was it spring/summer? Who knows) collection. Actually I really want to get my hands on Once a Cheetah Always a Cheetah, but it's always sold out in store and online...I tried the tester in store and it's soo pretty! Back on topic....this polish.
I'm not crazy for it but I don't dislike it. It's one of those silvery, light purple metallic colors that I always love in the bottle but don't really care for on the nail. It reminds me of a shimmer-filled version of OPI The Color to Watch. Looking at the close-up, the shimmer is so pretty. Maybe they just don't flatter my skin tone or something, but I never like these light purple shimmers on me.
The application was fine, 3 coats here and a coat of Seche Vite. I like SOPI's brushes...not too thick or thin, perfect length.

Aughhhh just looked on Sephora's website and Once a Cheetah isn't even listed anymore. Why do you hate me, Sephora? Why??? I guess my last chance is finding it in-store...pshh like that'd happen!

Sincerely, Cat

Essie Knockout Pout

It's Wednesday...you know what that means!
This week I decided to try Essie Knockout Pout, from the Summer 2010 collection. I have the mini set from that collection but for some reason, they've all sat unused so far...weird! I been going through my couple hundred untrieds (yikes!) and this pink stood out to me today.
The pictures are somewhat accurate...this was difficult to photograph! The first pic is the most true, though. It's a bright, slightly coral, almost neon, bubblegum pink. It dried with a satin, nearly matte finish. I used three coats and one coat of Seche Vite.
I was pleasantly surprised by this one...it looked pretty basic in the bottle but it really pops on the nail. I think I like it!

Sincerely, Cat

Urban Decay Toxin

I wore this yesterday in honor of my good friend B's birthday. Story time: I was looking thru her polish stash a few months back, and it's pretty amazing: black label OPIs, Goldies from Bath and Body Works years ago...but that was nothing when I looked toward the back of her shelf and saw two old-timey Urban Decays. One of them being Toxin. Oh. My. Lawwwd.

I minorly flipped out, much to her amusement. Now fast forward to my birthday two months ago...opening my present from B. There's some cute Sally Hansens, some nail art pens...good stuff. And then I get to the bottom of the bag. And there's the two UDs. Greatest friend ever? Quite possibly.

Application on this was...sketchy. Lol, odd word I know, but I had some issues. I think it was mostly the brush--it doesn't load enough polish for a whole nail and I had to dip it quite a few times per nail, plus it didn't fan out well. Also it was sheer and somewhat streaky--but that's just how the color is: sheer and jelly-ish. I used 3 coats, plus Seche Vite.

The purple is pretty enough as it is, but the amazing red shimmer is what really makes this color. Sooo beautiful. And then when you tilt it or go in different lighting and the shimmer all of a sudden turns golden green....there's no words to describe it. I had a really really hard time trying to take a picture of the shift in the shimmer, and the best I could do was this pic with my phone:

You can't see the actual shimmer, but you can tell that there's that awesome green shift. I tried to capture it in the bottle shots too, but not much luck there...

Still, uber-gorgeous. I'm in love. There's not much more to say.

 PS--quick question for anyone who may have a guess: this is the other UD B gave me...and I'm not sure what the name of it is. I'm thinking it's O...I wish these were labeled! If anyone (all you UD experts out there!) has any idea, I'd much appreciate it :)

(this one is also gorgeous...haven't worn yet, but now I'm dying to!)

Sincerely for the day, Cat

MAC Ocean Dip

My first MAC!! I bought this on vacation and the name is so fitting, since we were at the beach and in the ocean all vacation.
I adore this! It's the perfect turquoise. It's bright and happy, but it's not too bright that it's neon or anything. It's more green than blue, but not too much of either one...it's like a darker version of Essie Turquoise and Caicos, which I loved but was slightly too sheer (that's just how the Essie formula is!). I used 3 coats of this and it turned out perfect...I could've used 2, but for my first few fingers I didn't have enough polish on the brush so it looked too sheer and a bit streaky.
Speaking of the brush, I've heard mixed things about it, especially that there was a lot of pull around the cuticles. I've read advice to use a light hand with it to prevent dragging, so using that tip, I just went about polishing...and I'll just say, this brush is amazing. I think it might beat the OPI ProWide brush (although I love it, it can be too wide for my pinky nails!). Perfect width, bristles were perfect, everything. And it was really good for getting in the corners of my nails where it's sometimes more difficult to polish. The application was killer, formula was super smooth, and the finish is flawless. I'm extremely happy I picked up this color...and needless to say, I'll be back for more MACs!

Sincerely, Cat

China Glaze Sun Worshipper

Love this shade...but COULD NOT get a true picture! I guess that's to be expected with a neon, but it's still frustrating! The first and last pictures show the orange shade, and the middle 2 pics somewhat show how bright it is.

I used 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow and then 2 coats of Sun Worshipper. I've worn this once or twice before but never taken pictures. And let me say, I've never gotten so many comments on my nails before than I did with this! This is prob my favorite neon in my collection. China Glaze Poolside collection = perfection!

Sincerely, Cat

Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want to Have Fun

My first Pink Wednesday! On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

OK, so it's coral...but that still counts, right?? (By the way: the first pic is what the color actually looks like. The other two...not so much. They look completely washed out and orange...wtf?)
This is Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want to Have Fun, a coral that's in between jelly and creme finish. Love the texture of it! Applied beautifully. Except...
You may notice my nails look messy. Well, they always look messy, but even more so in these pictures. Well, I had a little mishap with my Seche Vite. I took out the brush to put on my top coat, and I dropped the top/brush/lid/wand (whatever it's called...you know, the top part!) on my nails. It smudged each of my nails, plus I got polish all over my hands. Not cool!! So I made do with what I had and just put another coat on top...so this is like 3ish coats? Something like that.
Besides that predicament...awesome color. Applies like a dream. Deborah does no wrong!

Sincerely, Cat

Sephora by OPI Midnight Mambo

Can't believe I haven't used this one yet!! This is Sephora by OPI Midnight Mambo, a chunky blue-based glitter (or as I like to call them "oatmeal glitters," since they have a thick texture much like...oatmeal). It's in the same vein as SOPI's Looks Like Rain, Dear (or as my bottle of it's called, Worth My Weight), and that black one they had for Halloween...ugh, can't remember the name. I missed out on it though.

So it's a thick blue base filled with small silver glitter and bigger pieces of holo glitter. Simple enough, right?

Application on this was...really thick. Ugh, I'm using that word to describe everything in this post, haha, but that's the best way to put it. I used two coats and I don't think you could do much more than that or it would be way too thick (that word!...lol). Maybe some people could get it in one coat, but I didn't think one was enough.

And, like many glitters before it, it's terribly bumpy and grainy before top coat. Even after I used a thick coat of Seche Vite, it was completely lumpy and weird looking, but I didn't feel like putting on more top coat so I gave up. Which, actually, it looked fine so whatever.

I kept this on for like 3 or 4 days because I was absolutely DREADING removal. Which I avoided by...peeling all of the polish off. Mwahhaha. Peeling is my downfall. Of course it left my nails kinda gross and dry looking but I find that better than scrubbing at my nails for a million hours. And surprisingly, it didn't start to lift off my nails before I removed it...you know how glitters tend to do that? I had a teeny bit of tipwear but no big chips or anything...how odd.

Before this I hadn't worn a plain glitter in a long long long time. I guess since the OPI Katy Perry ones came out at...what, beginning of February? I just despise removing them and I always peel them which leaves my nails all weak and then they chip and blah blah blah. That's why I used this while my nails were shorter. No nail breakage!

And now I'm getting the glitter fever again and want to wear every glitter I own non-stop. Oh no...

Sincerely, Cat

My (not-so-patriotic) 4th of July

I did two different nails for the 4th this year...one of my newer frankens for the 3rd of July, and an OPI for the 4th.

First was one of my more recent-ish frankens, I'm Not Your Bitch. The name's a little bit random, but I got it partially from one of my friends who always calls her boyfriend her bitch...which is pretty amusing. And then also from the line from Marina and the Diamonds' song "Hermit the Frog", "Did you find your bitch in me?" Anyways, just thought I'd include an explanation.
I was trying to make a red franken for once (for some reason, I always get blues and greens...which is fine with me, but I like to get different colors too), and I obviously succeeded...thing is, I'm not really a red kind of person. To me, all reds pretty much fit one of two categories: bright red, or vampy wine-colored red. And truthfully, while I like to have a few bottles of each, I think it's a little ridiculous how some people buy bottles and bottles of reds that look almost identical. To me, reds are just kind of boring, but to each her own.
In real life, it looked a bit darker than this, almost sort of a vampy color. Kind of a jelly-ish finish, too. It's nice though, it has some different colors of shimmer in it...some teeny flecks of pink, gold, etc. It was interesting because when I went outside, it looked almost like more of a berry color, while inside it looked like a vampy brick red. So I decided to call this a "brick berry" shade. Hey, I made the color...I can call it whatever I want!

For the actual 4th, I went with an untried OPI that I got last fall. I used OPI Yodel Me on My Cell from their Swiss collection last fall (love love loved that collection!) I really can't believe I hadn't used this one yet.

The pictures of this don't do it justice...this blue is gorgeous! I originally didn't pick up this color the first time I saw the Swiss collec, but I'm glad I eventually bought it. It looks darker in real life, almost (as I like to call it) a navy teal. And along with that, the VNL doesn't actually look like that in real life...in fact, looking at my nails now, I can't see any VNL! Darn unforgiving cameras. Although, maybe I should've used three coats...or at least thicker coats. Ah well.

Sincerely, Cat