Essie Go Overboard and Armed & Ready Swatches/Review

Today I have two Essie's from the Go Overboard collection to share with you guys. I haven't done Essie reviews in awhile, it feels like I've missed them; in which I do, but I just wasn't impressed with their previous collections. I just didn't feel like splurging my wallet for colors I didn't really like. But! They finally did some colors that caught my attention!


Go Overboard is a gorgeous teal blue creme. 2 coats. It was pretty opaque in one coat, but I did two to even it out.


Armed & Ready is a stunning dark army green with golden shimmers, which makes it quite olive like. It reminded me a little of Estee Lauder's Metallic Sage. They are definitely not dupes, though very similar. Metallic Sage has a more olive green to it, while Armed & Ready has a dirty green look to it. Both with the same golden shimmer!

The formulas were pretty good. They both applied flawlessly with no problems at all. I was able to find these at Macy's for $8.00 a bottle. And I've been seeing them around Duane Reade and Sears for the same price.

Well, that's all for today. What do you guys think of these two?

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HITS Mari Moon Cool

Today I have HITS Mari Moon in Cool to share with you guys. If I remember correctly, I *believe* HITS is a brand from Brazil. I was able to purchase this at llarowe's for $8. The bottle size is about the size of a nail art bottle here in USA. I've always love to try polishes from different countries, and I was pretty happy to be able to purchase them. HITS Mari Moon are collections of multi-chrome polishes. I was only able to get Cool at the time, and I will definitely getting more once I'm able to!

HITS Mari Moon Cool is a multi-chrome of olive green, gold, blue, and slight purple. This polish is amazing and it is a must see in person to appreciate it. It's everything we wished Chanel Peridot is. Peridot is beautiful, but I know we all wished it had that flash of blue like it did in the bottle. Well fear not, because this polish actually does flash blue! I took a variety of pictures in different lighting and angles; hoping to able to show you the chameleon of this polish.

The formula for this was a bit on the thick side, however dry time was amazingly fast. Maybe that's why it's so thick. I didn't have TOO much trouble applying it, but there are visible brush strokes and that's a bit hard to avoid. I had this polish on for four days maxed, and there were no chips; however there were tip wear.

Well aside from the formula being a bit thick, I didn't mind at all because of the gorgeous outcome of this polish. What do you all think about this polish?

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Models Own Beetlejuice Collection

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!



Beetlejuice is one of my favorite films growing up (even though I was petrified of him). I was very excited to hear that Models Own is coming out with a collection called Beetlejuice and have duochromes! I was unfortunate to miss out when it first released, so I waited for the box set to be back in stock before purchasing. This is my first time trying Models Own polishes!


Pinky Brown is a dark pink, orange, and brown multi-chrome with glass fleck finish. 3 coats.


Here is more of the brown color in different angle/lighting.



Golden Green is an olive green with flashes of gold. 2 coats. I don't know if my top coat is to blame for the bubbling of this one because I used the same top coat over the others and it didn't bubble like that!


Aqua Violet is a blue and violet duochrome. 2 coats. This one is my favorite. I caught so much attention with this polish, and a salesperson in Macy's even asked me where she can get it!


Flashes of violet.


The duochrome visible.

It's quite similar to Deborah Lippmann's Money Now Sleep Later but not duplicate of it. I will definitely do a comparison of the two once I have time!


Emerald Black is a blackened green shimmer. 2 coats.


Purple Blue is a purple, blue, and fuchsia multi-chrome with glass fleck finish. 3 coats. This one was quite hard to capture in photos, I tried my best and it's as accurate as I can get.


Here it is in low lighting, which shows the duochrome.

The formula for these were decent. They were a little thick for me, but nothing too hard to work with. My first time trying Models Own polishes and I am not disappointed at all, especially with the colors! These are available at Models Own website. They ship from the UK, so after shipping and everything, the total came out to about $50 USD a little less. Which I think is decent priced for five polishes. It also came with a top coat that I have yet to try.

And I must add my favorite part of the movie:



Well that's all I have for today, what do you guys think of this collection?

More about → Models Own Beetlejuice Collection

Hello Kitty Noir Collection Nail Lacquers

Today I have the nail lacquers from the Hello Kitty Noir Collection to share with you guys. These are available at Sephora, retailing at $10 a bottle. I got these during their Friends and Family discount :)


Red Sparkle is red glitter with flashes of gold. 3 coats


Gold Star is gold micro glitters. 3 coats


Night Sparkle is a blackened olive green shimmer. 2 coats


Silver Star is a dark silver glitter with big round holographic glitters. 3 coats.

The formula for these were pretty good. I couldn't help but love the bottles. I find it absolutely adorable. For glitters they were pretty smooth, only one coat of top coat was required. My favorite is actually Gold Star. Even though it's not unique (I mean how many gold glitters do we have/know) there's something about it that caught my attention.

I'm not super impressed with the nail polishes for this collection, but I absolutely love the palettes and the brush sets. But being the Hello Kitty fanatic I am, I had to have these.

What do you guys think of these?

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5 Swatches from China Glaze Metro Collection

Today I have five swatches to share from China Glaze's Metro Collection. I decided to only buy the five colors that attracted my eyes because the rest was either dupeable or just not pretty to me.


Trendsetter is a olive green with gold shimmers. 2 coats. Ignore the little smudge on my middle finger please!


Westside Warrior is an army green creme. 2 coats. Yes we've seen a lot of this color. But it's still gorgeous to me!


Concrete Catwalk is a dark gray base. 2 coats


Skyscraper is a navy blue base with tons of silver glitter. It has a semi jelly finish, and it took 3 coats to reach opacity.


CG in the City is a clear base mixed with silver and purple glitters. It took 4 coats to reach opacity, but it was worth the time because it is stunning!

I never have issues with China Glaze's formula. They always apply nicely for me with no problems. The five colors I chose are gorgeous too, so I'm glad I got them.

What do you guys think of the Metro collection?

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China Glaze Haunting Collection

We are only a few days away from Halloween, do you know what your Halloween mani is going to be? I'm debating on a few things right now. Don't know if I'm gonna go with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish strips or do some nail art. But in case you don't know what to wear, China Glaze came out with a collection called the Haunting Collection for Halloween!


It's Alive is an olive green glitter with a brownish olive green base. This took 3 coats for full coverage. This color just screams Halloween! It just reminds me of Zombies and anything that's decaying or coming from the graveyard.


Here is Black Crackle over It's Alive. I put Ghoulish Glow over It's Alive before applying the black crackle. I forgot to take a picture of that, but it gives it a milky sort of finish. However, the nails did not glow in the dark like the bottle did, that was a little disappointing. But this combo looks good together.


Haunting is a black creme base packed with silver specks. 2 coats. This is GORGEOUS. Sure we've seen a lot of black base with silver specks, glitters whatsoever. But there's something about this one. Maybe it's the dense glitters that makes it seem like the galaxy, I don't know. This was my favorite from the whole collection.


Near Dark is a dark green creme with a semi-jelly finish. I only did it in two coats, it didn't seem that sheer while applying, but with lighting and taking pictures, I realized it was actually quite sheer! Oops? This color is perfect for fall and great for Halloween!


Crimson is a vampy dark purple creme. 2 coats. I'm usually not a huge fan of the near black colors but some reason I really liked this one. I haven't wore dark colors for such a long time that it felt different and maybe that's why I liked it.

Overall, I like this collection. It's perfect for the Fall, and perfect for Halloween. The formula for these were excellent. I had no problems with it. It all applied smoothly. I only wished that Ghoulish Glow would actually glow in the dark on the nails, because that would've been pretty cool!

These are available at most e-tailers at various prices.

What do you think about this collection?

More about → China Glaze Haunting Collection

Estee Lauder Metallic Sage

Today I have Estee Lauder's Metallic Sage to show. This is my first time ever trying Estee Lauder polishes. And I'm quite impressed with the quality even though the price was a little above my limit. Let's take a look.


Metallic Sage is an olive green packed with golden shimmers. 2 coats.


Here is Metallic Sage with flash.

The formula was pretty good. I thought it was a bit thick at first, but I decided to shake it up a bit and it was perfect afterwards. It is heavily pigmented. It was quite opaque under one coat, but I did two to smooth it out (and out of habit).

The color is gorgeous, I love the olive green and I especially love the golden shimmer to it. I got this from Macy's and I'm not quite sure if it's still available. This retails for $19 a bottle.

What do you guys think of Metallic Sage?

More about → Estee Lauder Metallic Sage

Chanel Peridot and Graphite Nail Lacquers for Fall 2011

Greetings all! It's raining cats and dogs here in New York, having a very lazy, and boring Sunday. Well at least I did quite a few productive things today. Well today I have Chanel's Peridot and Graphite nail lacquers to share for the Illusions d'Ombres de Chanel Fall 2011 collection. This collection came with one more polish in which I didn't buy because I am on a budget right now.





Peridot is a olive green duochrome that will change to a green then golden brown and even blue in certain lightings. I was unable to capture the blue. 2 coats. This was taken under artificial light.





Peridot under direct sunlight shows more of the olive green.





Graphite is a light charcoal foil with tiny gold flakes. 2 coats. This was taken under artificial light. The promo pictures didn't do much justice for this polish. This is gorgeous in person.





Graphite under direct sunlight.



The formula for these were pretty good. However, I do have a slight complaint about chipping issues. Peridot last slightly longer than Graphite. After I put on Graphite, I usually let my nails dry for at least 20 minutes, even with a fast dry top coat. I used a base coat as well. I washed my hands and ate dinner. Two hours later I saw a slight chip at the corners of my nails. It kind of annoys me that I spend $25 on polishes that doesn't even last long. Peridot didn't start chipping until a day later.



The colors are just so gorgeous that I can't help myself but to order them. There's no polish like Peridot, it's so gorgeous that you need to see it in person to love the polish.



Did you guys end up buying Chanel's Peridot or Graphite? What did you think of it?

More about → Chanel Peridot and Graphite Nail Lacquers for Fall 2011

Illamasqua Spam

Greetings all! I finally finished swatching most of my untried Illamasqua brand polishes. And since I haven't updated for awhile, what else is better than an Illamasqua spam post?



Jo'mina is a bright lilac creme. It's a little similar to Color Club's Puccilicious but I feel that Jo'mina is lighter than Puccilicious.


Jo'mina over Prism. Prism came with the collection with Jo'mina and Force. I love how prism gives it a blue iridescent glow


Force is a bright royal blue creme 2 coats


Prism over Force again it gives this glowy look that I like


Hectic is a deep olive green creme. 2 coats


Phallic is a blackened blue with blue flecks of shimmer. 2 coats


Smash is a semi-neon green creme. It's not neon enough to have that neon glow but it sure is bright enough. 2 coats


Jan is a muted gray pink creme. 2 coats


Velocity is a gray rosey mauve. A little hard to describe this color.. 2 coats


Elope is your true mean green creme. 2 coats

I've always loved Illamasqua nail polishes, that's why I bought so many even though they retail for $14 a bottle. Some cost me more because I bought them from illamasqua.com which costs me international shipping. What I love most is how heavily pigmented these polishes are. They were pretty opaque in one coat, but I did all two coats for even coverage.

Every color seen on this post here are available at sephora.com except Velocity, Smash, Hectic, and Elope. Those four are available at illamasqua.com

Well that's all I have for today!

More about → Illamasqua Spam