Thursday, 18 November 2010

Opening bottles in stores?

 My lame attempt to do a topic related picture, be gentle. xD

Hey guys! I have another nail polish related theme for our chat that got me thinking the other day, when buying things for little somethin somethin to give to you (it's a slow proces, because I'm on a student budget, so I'm buying it piece by piece and thus buying it eeeearly :)): should I or should I not open the bottle to see if it has been opened before. Since I'm not buying it for myself, I shouldn't open it, right, but to give away a nasty neck, claiming it hasn't been opened, because someone else opened in the store, argh, it makes me nervous just thinking about it.

Because, you know, I could yell at this lady next to me opening every piece of make up she put her hands on, smelling the mascaras, wiping the brush and so on and i knew  if she got her hands on those nail polish bottles, they have necks dirty as if I put them through 15 manicures already. Once we went shopping and a friend of mine opened a bottle and wiped the brush on the neck so a drop of polish was on the outer side of the neck. Poor thing got such a nasty look by me, telling him off, I hope he wasn't offended ... he didn't mean anything bad by it, he just thought that's the only way to see the colour of the polish. 

And now I'm asking you - do you open the bottles to see the polish inside, or do you look only at the bottles? For me, it's swatches first (if they exist), then buying the polish without opening it or just buying if i like it in the bottle. It's not like it's any different on the brush as it is in the bottle, it can still look like crap on the nails - or really surprise you with the second coat. :) The only thing I do, and I don't feel bad about it is, that I open it carefully (!!), not touching the neck with the brush, to see if anyone wiped the brush already. Because I'd *freak out* if I got (by chance a very expensive one) polish home, open it and saw that the handle is practicaly glued to the neck because it has been opened so many times. I mean, yeah, maybe it's a bit of overreacting, since nail-polish is someting that lasts for ages, but hey, if I buy it, I want it clean and not used before, unless I know it has been used (like for swatching or something). I don't mind getting used nail-polish, because it's not really a tooth-brush, is it, but if I know that before I buy/get it. You know what I mean? I'm all for swaping and exchanging nail-polish, it's a very changable thing, but I don't really like buying used bottles in a store without anyone letting me know they've been used.

So yeah, basically, I'm just wondering, do you have a habit of opening the bottles in the stores or not? :) And would you mind getting a nail-polish in a swap on a giveaway if it has been used before, maybe only for a nail or two or a manicure or two? Of course, if you knew that before getting it. :) I don't think anyone would be particularly happy if they just got opened bottles, without anyone saying a thing.

I'm posting this as the last post of the week, I really doubt I'll have the time to post anything tomorrow, I'm abroad 'till Sunday. Me and 3 of my friends will have a lil' party weekend to celebrate a project that we  successfully carried out during the summer (yeah, it's been months, we just didn't find the time) and so you'll get a bit of rest from me. ;)

To let you know about my blog plans - I have a couple comparisons planned, Zoya vs. Orly (judging by the bottles, I have a 100% dupe of Out Of This World in Zoya's Julianne), SpaRitual vs. Orly (Optical Illusion - It's Not Rocket Science), I need to find out if I need to buy Halley's Comet due to Essence's brush in Choose me! bottle, and I fear Choose me! is more blue than Halley's Comet, so I'll have to compare them, and finally Orly vs. China Glaze (Glam -Ruby Pumps). Other than that I'm enjoying trying out my Project Latvia polishes, by poll I'll get DS tapestery and Nubar Indigo Illusion next week, yay! After the poll polishes, I still have to decide, whether I'd try the rest of SpaRitual or go through my untired nail-polish, it's around 15 bottles or more by now and I feel bad every time I look at that pile.
If you have any special wishes let me know. :)

Oh, my manicure for the weekend, just a quick shot I did today. The gorgeous Wagon Trail, one of my favourites in my collection.



And chat away! :) Thanks for reading, have a nice weekend!!

Wednesday, 17 November 2010

O.P.I. - Glacier Bay Blues


Hey guys! How are you on this extremely dull day? I'm having headache of the month, which is really not a good thing, because I have an exam on Friday and I really should be studying. I'm feeling a bit better after the lunch now, so I hope I'll hit the notes later on. But first I have to show you this O.P.I., from the poll, as you know, one of the most beautiful O.P.I.s I've ever tried on, and one of the hardest manicures to photograph. I don't think I've ever had such trouble with catching the colour and finish, and even after around hundred photos I'm still not satisfied with the results. So, a few pictures more than usual, last two being the best, I think, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

 Here it looks basically blue, with almost frosty finish (but it's not).

 You can already see the play of finish here, purple coming out.



 This two, upper and below are the best I could do. As you can see, it's not only purple that comes out in the play of colour, but also green at the edges, making this nail polish too stunning for words.


 I hope you don't mind more pictures, Glacier Bay Blues is too beautiful I can't resist not showing you more pictures than usual. Especially since this O.P.I. is really hard to photograph, and it's a shame. The only thing I can tell you is: take these pictures and say: yes, but it's 15230 times better in real life. If you own it or saw it IRL, you know what I'm talking about. 

Glacier Bay Blues is an oldie, it was released in 2004 Canadian Collection (awesome collection, from what I saw I want half of it, dude!) and it's not Big 3 Free which shows in the structure of the polish and thinner brush. I'm one of those that don't mind one bit the old structure (with the exception of health hazard, of course), I like the fact that it's runnier a bit, I find the application easier that way. I don't have any problem with thinner brush, it worked like a charm. It needs more coats to be completely opaque though, this was 3 coats, and I'm thinking fourth wouldn't be so bad.

I'm absolutely in love with this one. It's soooo gorgeous, I can't stop looking at it. You see the bottle, well, the play of colours of Glacier Bay Blues it's like that on the nails. Dark green on the edges, blue base, purplish glow where the lighting hits the nail. Absolutely stunning (I bet you're getting tired of hearing this from me). No doubt one of the best polishes made by O.P.I. It's not terribly hard to find, from what I read, but I wouldn't mind one bit if they rereleased a couple of Canada Collection polishes, like At Your Quebec And Call,  that's already a rarity. I'm not very happy with O.P.I.'s choice of their rerealising polish, have you seen them? I mean, most of them are still available at stores! And from what I've read, that's not at all what fans voted for. Why ask for their opinion then? I tried to find the names that will get released again, but can't find the news anymore on FB. o.O Did they erase it? I don't know. But no sign of La Boheme or Rainforest or beauties like that. Too bad. Maybe they'll change their mind and that's why they removed the news. I hope so.


Anyway, do you like Glacier Bay Blues? :)

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

China Glaze - Kaleidoscope Him Out

Hey guys! How are you? I'm glad you're loving my new polish, I appreciate every comment I get about them. :)) And yes, I already have a new one on my nails - I'm insane, I know, but what am I supposed to do while on my 20 minutes study break? ;)  But before I show you one of the most gorgeous O.P.I.s out there, I want to show you this old China Glaze manicure, becuase I have it on the list for ages now. 

It's from an old CG Collection Kaleidoscope, I think this is 2008 collection, and is already discontinued. I only have Kaleidoscope Him Out to show you, and the pictures aren't my best, I'm afraid. 



 I think this is with flash, it would explain how the pale blue base colour turned to white.

These are three coats, it dried superfast and was really easy to work with. I read about this collection being different from OMG collection in finish, but to tell you the truth, it looks the same to me. The particles are bigger though. I expected some difficulties with removing the polish because of that, I thought it will be the same as it is with glitter, but it went very smooth and easy. 

I'm not crazy about this one. Nor about any other from this collection, judging from the swatches. I think OMG collection is tons better. And Kaleidoscope Him Out is this pale blue base colour that just didn't work for me. And i'm a holographic freak! I couldn't wait to get it off. Go figure eh?

Do you like the colour? Kaleidoscope collection or OMG collection or both? :D

Thanks for reading!

Monday, 15 November 2010

NOTD Zoya - Veruschka (+TC)

Hey guys! How are you doing? Today I have another one from the poll and I'm absolutely in love with it. It's Zoya Versuchka, from their Winter 2009 matte collection and I know you've seen it a hundred times, but I just have to show you this beauty again. I think it will be one of my favourite in Project Lativa, it's so stunning, matte or with top coat, I can't imagine taking it off.

 It started as matte, obviously. But I loved the little tiny sparkles so much, I really want to see what happens to them with the top coat ...

 ... and I applied Seche Vite on my ring finger and I knew in a second I was obsessed, so I grabbed SV bottle and applied it on my other fingers as well.

The end result, and I still can't stop looking at my nails.

This is simply gorgeous. I can't decide which look is better, but right now I'm wearing Veruschka with TC and I don't think I'll ever get sick of it. Pure perfection. The application was a bit tricky, as it usually is with matte polish, but it's totally worth the trouble. 

I just love it!! What do you think? Veruschka with or without TC?

Thanks for reading!