Christmas Haul!

Just a few things I got for Christmas that I'm pretty excited about...I'll get right into it! Warning: lots of pics today.

My Naked 2 Palette...which I did already post about, lol. All I can say is...I adore it. The double ended brush is my new best friend. I just...wow. They hit it out of the park with this palette.

Urban Decay Travel Size liners in Naked. I already bought the Electric set a couple months ago, and I freakin love it...love this set too, maybe not quite as much, but still. From left to right, in all the pics, it's Zero, Demolition, Bourbon, Underground, and Stray Dog. Demolition is the only brand new one in the set, but Stray Dog is also an exclusive I guess, since it's only been in the 15th Anniversary set. I had previously had all the others in this set except Underground (but that's not an exclusive...I'd just never tried it haha). Stray Dog was one of my favorites when I first got it in my 15th Anniversary liner set last year. Glad to have another of it, cuz my first one is starting to wear down. Anyways, really like this set.

Philosophy Sugar Plum Frost set. Comes with an 8 oz 3-in-1 Shower Gel, Shampoo, Bubble Bath, and a regular sized lip gloss. This was a surprise to me...I didn't put it on my list, lol. But I really like it...the scent is really nice. Light and sugary and fruity. I've never actually known what a sugar plum smelled like, haha...I guess I do now. My favorite part of this set is that the 3-in-1 has the little shimmery glitter particles in it...so when I use it as a shower gel my skin ends up just a little bit shimmery. Love it! I have to admit though...I don't like this scent as much as Twinkle Berry. I must say that that's one of my new very favorite scents.

China Glaze Holiday Spirits set.

Dorothy Who?

Ruby Pumps.

Frostbite.

Really like this set...not much else to say about it, lol! I love me some glitter, so it should be good for me. I'll try to get around to using these soon. My unused stash just keeps growing and growing :P

Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush lip gloss set...not that exciting, lol, but these glosses are sooo pretty! I don't think the pic actually shows it, but these have the prettiest shimmer in them, especially the one in the middle. These scents are, from left to right, I Want Candy, Cherry Bomb, and Strawberry...something or other, haha. But yeah. Super pretty. And they taste good!

OPI Best of the Best set. I have a couple of these already...so they'll be great for using as franken bottles! The polishes in this set are (left to right, top row then bottom row) Alpine Snow, Bubble Bath, Tickle My France-y, Strawberry Margarita, Cajun Shrimp, Big Apple Red, I'm Not Really a Waitress, You Don't Know Jacques!, Russian Navy, and Lincoln Park After Dark. The variety in this set isn't bad; there's navy and taupe and dark purple...but it's not that great either. Lots of red, pink, etc. Still, not bad!

OPI Avojuice Sweet Sensations set. I just LOVE Avojuices! These minis are awesome: I just throw 'em in my purse, keep one in my kitchen drawer, keep a few on my nightstand...they're great. They smell amazing. The scents in this set are great, as always: Mango, Jasmine, Coconut Melon, Cran and Berry, Vanilla Snowflake, and Winter Huckleberry. I'm a little disappointed that Caramel Cream wasn't included in this set because it's my favorite, but that's okay...I already have a full size bottle of that one, lol. Vanilla Snowflake was the only one in this set I didn't have before, and I love it. I look forward to these Avojuice sets every Christmas. They're great.

Lastly...the Orly Birds of a Feather set. Comes with (from top) Sweet Peacock, Lucky Duck, and Fowl Play. Really like these...again, I have soo many untrieds right now, but I'll try and get around to wearing these soon. Also, in person I just can't get over how much Fowl Play looks EXACTLY like OPI Merry Midnight...it's crazy. But at least I won't have to guard my half-empty bottle of Merry Midnight as closely now, lol.

Wow...that was a long post! Haha. But anyways...

Sincerely, Cat

Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

More holiday nails! Yay!!! And it's another beeeautiful green. Love!
This is Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, from last year's holiday collection. 2010 had some good holiday collections, I must admit. And 2009 did, too. OPI's holiday 2009 was one of my favorite holiday collections ever. Anyways.
Two coats here, and one of Seche Vite...the first coat was pretty thin and really streaky, so to avoid needing a third coat I did a fairly thick second coat. It worked...in the pics with flash, it looks a teeny bit streaky by my cuticles but in real life it was not streaky at all.
So, this is seriously gorgeous and I've been pretty much staring at my nails all day...this is such a pretty green, and it's packed with gold glitter and it's just stunning. In certain lights it even has like a blue flash. Can't believe I haven't worn this before. I did wear it as a pedi last year, but it looked kinda streaky and meh...better as a mani, I think.

So, all in all, I love this. Still in shock that Christmas is like less than 3 days away...seriously?! It was just last Christmas! And I don't even know where fall went. Or summer...or spring. Geez.

I'm so out of it.

Sincerely, Cat

Orly Butterflies

Sorry about the rather odd pics today, lol...this was a really hard-to-capture color! This is Orly Butterflies.

It's a bubblegum pink jelly...not much more to describe the color, lol! The first picture's most color-accurate. Sorry about the bright orange background, haha, that's the walls of my room...lol.

I used 2 coats here, and one of Seche Vite, and there's still nail visible...I considered using 3 coats but I didn't want to wait for that to dry, haha. Application wasn't too bad. Streaky at first, but it's a jelly, so I expected it. This is only like the 2nd Orly I've ever used, and the brushes are kinda skinny for my taste, but I can manage. Love the rubber cap, though.

All in all...not a huge fan of the color (pink...meh!) but it's still cute and all. So, if you like pink, you'll probably like it. If not, then you're like me...haha. Anyways...

Sincerely, Cat

Orly Emberstone

with flash

without flash

This is Orly Emberstone...my first time trying an Orly! This is from the new(er) Mineral FX collection.

I used 2 coats of this and one of Seche Vite. This is really pretty! I don't think the pics are really accurate though. The first 2 look more blue-based, cherry red than it really is. The last 2 are too orange. In real life, it's a bright red with lots of gold shimmer, but it can look orange.

The application on this was good, I didn't have any problems. The brush seemed average. Not bad by any means, but nothing spectacular. I know this looks really beat up in pics...but I wore this for 3 or 4 days, so I obviously did get a lot of tipwear!

I really like this, but the problem is, like I said in my last post...this is similar to OPI Animal-istic, and I have to admit, I think I like that one a little better. The difference is that this is more glittery, with the gold in it, but really, the base colors are super close. Ah well, still love both of them!!

Sincerely, Cat