Deborah Lippmann Today Was A Fairytale Swatch and Review

So here's a funny story: I was out shopping, scrolling through my Facebook feed on my iPhone last night and then I see one of my exes got engaged. I also happened to be in the "Self-Help" section in Chapters. Oh, my life is HILARIOUS! Anyway, with that said, I think I needed to TREAT MYSELF... So, I got The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick, a new Moleskine sketchbook, a cheap polish for Cheap Polish Tuesday, and Frozen on Blu-Ray and DVD to watch with my parents on the weekend. In addition to that, I am wearing some MOTHER FUCKING DIAMONDS ON MY NAILS!

... Well sort of.

This is Deborahh Lipppmann's Today Was a Fairytale, a glitterbomb comprised of cold hued silver glitter and hex glitters. It also contains... VIRGIN DIAMOND POWDER!... Which apparently is an abrasive made of diamonds and used for polishing. Not really sure if it's actually a good thing to have in a nail polish but it's just something cool to say: "Yep, my nails have f*cking diamonds on them. That's RIGHT." Anyway, formula wise this one was great - completely flexible. You could use one coat for a glitter topper, or you can be crazy like me and use three coats to build it up to the bomb of glitter it can be. I used two coats of Seche Vite for this a la Chantal style (that girl is the queen of top coat!):















I love this polish, albeit it's not that special. It was one of my unicorns that I looked at whenever I shopped on Nail Polish Canada and finally after a year or so of waiting, it went on sale. I'm sure any other silver glitter could dupe this but having "the lulz" of saying that you have diamonds on your nails is too good to pass up, especially if you are being silly like me. Another reason why I am wearing this polish is I finally got my Julep 'Party's Over' Glitter Nail Polish Removal Kit, so I'll be trying that out this weekend. Hopefully it lives up to the hype. I'll be posting my review next week.

Anyway, what do you think about this polish? Would you wear DIAMONDS on your nails? What would you do if you saw one of your exes get engaged on Facebook, would you treat yourself? If not, well, tell me what you do to TREAT YO SELF!

Deborah Lippmann Shake Your Money Maker Swatch and Review (Bonus: Birthday Haul!)

So as I mentioned before, my birthday was this week and I spoiled myself by picking up a few things at Sephora. Funny how just a few things can add to so much! Pffft! But it is what it is, and I had my eye on this polish for a while. This is Deborah Lippmann's Shake Your Money Maker, which is from the Jewel Heist collection released in Fall of 2013.

Shake Your Money Maker is glitterbomb polish with multi-sized green glitter and spots of holographic gold glitter all swimming saturated in a darkened blue back jelly, which in my opinion, could have been a touch more opaque. Application was not the best - the formula is SO saturated with glitter, it takes a bit of dabbing and unconventional application. Since it's primarily glitter for coverage, it doesn't matter if it goes on smooth. Definitely one of those polishes that aren't the best to apply, but come with QUITE the pay off! YUM. It dried to a very "meh" finish, but with a thick layer of Seche Vite top coat, IT ALL CAME OUT MAGICAL. Here's my swatch of three dabby coats and Seche Vite:













So aside this wonderful polish I got for my birthday... (Here's the signature clear plastic Deborahh Lippmann box)...



I also ended up picking up some eyeshadow. This is Sephora Colorful Eyeshadow in "Cherry On Top". I find it super difficult to find red eyeshadow - apparently it doesn't have the best pigment for skincare or something? That's what I've heard. But I've always worn red eyeshadow even though it makes me look like a vampire. I would swatch it for you but this is a nail blog. Or should I do it one day anyway? Then you would see my face - yuck! Haha, anyway here it is:



I also got some Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments. I LOVE these! These were actually the Sephora Beauty Insider Birthday Gift for 2011 and I was HOOKED! That's how they get ya. Anyway I got a non-tinted ultra moisturizing one, and a "Petal" tint, which I like because it has more of a prominent pink tone to it. Goes decent with my awkward Asian skin tone:



And lastly, here's the Sephora Beauty Insider gift for 2014. It's from MAKE UP FOREVER, and you get a mascara and a lipstick. I don't wear mascara so I gave it to my mum. I kept the lipstick. Shade looks a little meh - I prefer either really bold vampy shades, or on the flipside, something neutral and pink toned. Here's the packaging:



And le lipstick:



Anyway that's the birthday haul - definitely not doing a splurge like this again until maybe next year - if that! Yeeesh. Ah well, once a year, am I right? And I don't wear make-up every day so I know for certain these will all last quite some time.

That's my last post for the week, thanks for joining my on my first week back on Claw of Cthulhu. Hope I can get back to doing this on a regular basis until I run out of polish, haha! I hope you all have an amazing weekend! In the meantime, I'll be rocking Deborah Lippmann's Shake Your Money Maker all weekend! What are you wearing on the weekend? Any plans? I personally hope to be taking it easy! See you next week.

Deborah Lippmann On the Beach vs. China Glaze Sunday Funday: Comparison Swatch Review

So once in a while I like to change things up here. I mean, swatches are swatches but I figure, hey once in a while - let's do one of these things. Also because I have ADD and I need to get this off my chest, does anyone remember Econoline Crush? I heard Home on the radio the other day on the drive to work and I was so into it. How come they don't make music like they used to? Anyway, carrying on.

Today I'm seeing how Deborah Lippmann On The Beach stacks up against China Glaze Sunday Funday. First thing's first - I purchased On The Beach from the Deborah Lippmann clearance sale on Nail Polish Canada. I believe I picked it up for $11 and it was regularly priced at $22. For China Glaze Sunday Funday, I spotted it at Winners for a whopping $5.99. Caitlin mentioned on her blog that she didn't have a light sky blue creme and I realized I didn't either so obviously I went all copy cat on her. So I got these.



Off the superficial bat, I always love Lippmann bottles. I love the name "Sunday Funday" mostly because it sounded close to Day[9]'s "Funday Monday". I have a massive undeniable crush on Day[9] so there's that. But... Crushes and bottle lust aside, how do these actually apply and stack up against each other?

I found that while the shades are super similar (not exact dupes but probably similar enough to fool most people), the formula was completely different. Deborah Lippmann On The Beach was a very very sheer creme-jelly that needed three coats for full opacity. On the flip side, China Glaze Sunday Funday was a near one coater. It applied super thick and needed one and a half coats for full opacity.

Deborah Lippmann On The Beach is on the index and ring finger. China Glaze Sunday Funday is on the middle and pinky finger:







Both colours definitely give me the feel of that blue water you'd see on vacation some place nice and sunny. I would say that China Glaze Sunday Funday is a little more vibrant. I suppose it depends what you like. I could see that Deborah Lippmann On The Beach could even be used for a glitter sandwich, but if you are aiming for a quick application, China Glaze Sunday Funday might be the winner for you.

Well, I hope that was useful. Sorry I'm verbose and talk too much. I am trying to stop (not really). Do you own a sky blue creme like this? How do you like wearing it?

Galaxy Nail Art (Inspired by Rainbow Honey)

I am running on zero sleep because I recently found out that Bandai re-released the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers morpher that I wanted as a kid. Not only that - it's freaking DIECAST and has coins for all the rangers. I am totally dying and I couldn't sleep because I kept trying to hunt it down. Sigh. Being a toy collector is weird and awkward... Anyway, welcome to Shitty Nail Art Monday! This is my most adventurous yet!

Today's Shitty Nail Art is brought to you by Rainbow Honey, who was nice enough to post her tutorial on how to do Galaxy Nails. (Check out Dee's tutorial here.) Mine aren't as good as hers but I sure damn tried!



I used the following polishes to make this happen: OPI Alpine Snow, Nicole by OPI Loyalty to Royal-Ty, Rainbow Honey God of Destiny, OPI The One That Got Away, Deborah Lippmann Edge of Glory base, Essence Space Queen. I cut a small piece from a regular cheap dish sponge and I was able to use it for all the colours. I also did detailing with a dotting tool (my first time ever!) but the first details I did were too large unfortunately.



Originally I wasn't planning on using glitter polishes for my first galaxy nail art but it might be good for beginners to use as it adds "instant dimension".





Beginner's mistake: The detailing I did with the dotting tool was just far too big. It overwhelmed the design and I was pretty sad but it is what it is, and thus Shitty Nail Art Mondays have arrived!



And for a rare right hand appearance, here we go! You'd think I would have learned my lesson with the left hand but unfortunately I did go a little too big with the dotting tool. I suppose it all takes time.



I've been wanting to try these for a while and I think overall they're.... mediocre... I think they could have been worse because I thought they would be so messy. Take the tip from Dee's tutorial - dab the excess polish from the sponge onto a piece of paper first and it won't be sloppy. You'll be able to build your shapes with more control this way.

As a science fiction fangirl, this is a must try!