Back in the saddle: OPI bronzed to perfection

I've not been very enthusiastic about manicuring lately - coming to the end of my secondment, things have been crazy busy, and I've been focussed on trying to deliver the final paper I owe above anything else. My colleagues are throwing me a leaving party next week, and then it's back to the PhD. It will be so strange to return to solo working...

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Dior Aloha (Electric Tropics, Summer 2011)

Dior AlohaAhh. A neon orange creme I can get behind. Neons always screw with my camera so just imagine this photo as being less red and more screamingly neon. Applied gorgeously: it could've been fine in two coats but I did three. As usual for Diors, it dried quickly. I didn't use the topcoat that came in the Electric Tropics set (and honestly,...

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My Top 5 Summer Pedicures (2011 edition)

I started a tradition last year of sharing with you my favourite pedicure colours of the summer...without showing you my feet of course! (See Piff's picks from last summer here as well!) In observation of this tradition, here are the top 5 pedicure colours that I've been loving and wearing this summer!Thumb to pinky:OPI Gift of GoldLast winter,...

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Illamasqua Radium

I love this polish. Love love love. Love love love love. Illamasqua RadiumI wore this for four or so days? I believe this was taken on Day 3: just a bit of tipwear in evidence. It's such a great green polish: it's between lime and grass and is full of yellow and light green shimmer. This was three coats. Closeup of Radium So bright, so green!...

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OPI y'all come back, ya hear

This was my only purchase from OPI texas. I was swayed by k2k's swatches of houston, we have a purple, into trying the sorbet formula. It does definitely remind me of sorbet - it's juicy and fresh and just sheer without being see-through. A real tangerine dream of a polish.That said, I just didn't quite fall for it. I guess it's such a summery...

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More polishes for sale!

Now that the mystery boxes are all sold -- much quicker than anticipated, yikes y'all are fast! -- I'm now putting up my higher-end and harder-to-find polishes up for sale.Shipping is $2.50 for the first polish, $0.50 for each additional polish. If you get 6 or more polishes, shipping is a flat rate of $5 (and this will automatically receive...

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Color Club Wink Wink Twinkle (Starry Temptress, Spring 2011)

I remember reading somewhere that they had a great experience with these polishes and that they were smooth and easy to apply... and it's entirely possible that they are just better at nail polish than I am but... umm... this wasn't cool. (I mean, neither are my cuticles here but my cuticles didn't make application hard nor made it dry extremely...

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Essie Fall 2011 - Retail Release

I always eagerly await fall collections, and Essie collections more than is normal! (Gahhh I am such an Essie fangirl!) I stalked my drugstores for the early release of the fall collection, Carry On. Drugstores only get 4 out of the 6 polishes of particular collections (however, they seemed to get all of Brazilliant...) , and they seem to...

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China Glaze Fault Lines Crackle over Huemorista Hidden Rainbow

I wasn't ready to take off my Hidden Rainbow mani so I put ChG Fault Lines over it. China Glaze Fault Lines over Huemorista Hidden RainbowErrr. This was not pretty. Is there a reason this dried so dull and cracked so sadly? C'mon, it was a purple shimmer crackle! That's practically a formula for gorgeous, no? :( This is one thick coat of...

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Polishes, get your polishes! So many polishes for sale...

POTENTIALLY SOLD OUT! I'm awaiting payment from people for all the boxes but if you want to put yourself on a waitlist (it's much longer for the small boxes than for the big ones), please feel free to email me using the link to the form above! :)...but today, all of them are in mystery grab-boxes! (I will have a sale for the ones that I want...

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Huemorista Hidden Rainbow

Some enterprising nail polish aficionado is selling her own homemade nail polish on etsy! Check out her store, Huemorista. I bought six of her nail polishes (which come in those cute mini bottles) awhile back and have only had a chance to wear one of them so far. Huemorista Hidden RainbowIf it were slightly more blue, it would be what I wanted...

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Lippmann's Glitter in the Air

(4 coats)I thought this would be totally up my alley. Glitter in soft colors suspended in a milky-sheer base?? YUS.But it's total meh. There are the usual problems that come with a polish that requires 4 coats (bubbles, drying etc) and there's really not much of a glitter pay-off. Why isn't this dense like most of Lippmann's other hex glitters?...

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Serena Glam Slam! - Wimbledon

I grew up in a "tennis family". I've watched tennis on TV since I was in utero, and one of my earlier memories is of jumping up and down on my bed yelling "Go, Agassi, GO!!". ( This was way back when he had long hair and was the new kid on the tennis block...I feel ancient.) I've also spent years of my life watching my little brother - who...

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OCC Beta (or "how not to make a polish")

Why "Beta"? Like beta carotene, like in carrots? Yes, it's carrot-colored... if carrots were made of neon and were radioactive. OCC BetaI love OCC nail polish. I think they do some of the most beautiful dark cremes: they apply "like buttah" and are long-lasting with a good bc/tc combo. So what on EARTH were they smoking over there when they...

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Two poorly applied pinks

1. Illamasqua LamentExcuse the shocking iNOTD phone picture. Bought this thinking it was coral, but on me it reads very pink. This turned into a horrible mani because a) I mixed up the lumos base and top coat (WHY are the bottles the same?!), so this chipped within twelve hours, and b) I gave in to my mothers demands to help me apply it....

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Dior Beige Lotus

Total impulse buy from a Duty Free shop at the Taipei airport. Twas my conference mani. Dior Beige LotusI actually really like it. It's a good neutral with a bit of sparkle. Two coats, a typically great Dior experience. (Why are they sooo expensive though??)Conference went well though it was absolutely exhausting. I almost forgot my poster...

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From Blank Canvas to Birthday Cake - $OPI Spark-tacular! Top Coat

I was really enjoying my OPI Alpine Snow blank canvas mani! But I decided that I would add a new polish I bought just for funsies (my brother's favourite word, btw!) - and because I probably can't wear crazy polish for that much longer.I went to Sephora earlier this week to return something and saw something new in the rack - Sephora by OPI...

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Thumb accent mani: OP JITNB and CG Atlantis

Inspired by kitty2karen I decided to give a thumb accent mani a go. This is OPI Jade is the new black plus China Glaze Atlantis for the thumb accent. I like it, but I don't love it. I was kind of hoping more of the sea green jelly in Atlantis would come through, because this mostly just looks like silver holo glitter on green, and pretty...

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Color Club Fast Woman

(2 coats)Welp. I found my perfect red jelly. Applies like a dream. Is undeniably red. This was one of the polishes I bought when I started blogging here. I'm always looking for flattering reds and here was a gorgeous one just hanging out.For those that are wondering, Fast Woman is several of shades lighter than another great red, Essie Clutch...

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Blank Canvas - OPI Alpine Snow

I just went through a lot of upheaval in my life. I did something I've done more times than I can count, but somehow I forgot how painful it was - I MOVED. My body is covered in bruises from building things. My nails are *extremely* battered, and I haven't worn make-up properly in 2 weeks. So now, on my first day back in the "real world"...

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Illamasqua Elope

Illamasqua Elope, one of my favourite greens. I did four coats but three would have been absolutely fine to eliminate VNL if I hadn't been trying to do other things (like make tea) while polishing...needless to say coat four was mostly to cover up the mess that I made of coat three. Like most of these bright polishes it dries to a satin finish...

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OPI La Paz-itively Hot Matte and au revoir for the week! :)

I'm off to France today. Love conferences in cool places. I also love that the NSF came through with $1500 funding to cover travel and lodging (which is JUST enough, given the really high prices of plane tickets to Europe from the US lately). Let's hope that they'll allow me to carry on my poster tube because I do NOT want to lose this thing....

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