OPI's James Bond Collection + Nail of the Day ft. Casino Royale

Long time, no post. Life has been extremely busy in the last two months-with work moving offices, navigating a new database, work events, and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines...sadly left no time for blogging. Not to mention taking work home just added more things to my never-ending to-do lists...

BUT....nothing like a movie-inspired nail collection to have me come out of hiding;)

Welcome Bond, James Bond Collection from OPI. There are 12 new shades from OPI to coincide with the release of the new James Bond movie Skyfall, but also to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the franchise.

Of the 12, I chose 4 colors:

James Bond Collection: L-R: The Spy Who Loved Me, Casino Royale, Skyfall, and You Only Live Twice

It's no surprise to me that I gravitated towards the reds and berry tones of the collection- it's my favorite shade. The colors fit right in with the season. I will do a separate nail of the day post with eachof the nail polish above.

My first choice is Casino Royale below. Love the movie, Love the polish. It's a beautiful shade of berry with a hint of purple...Depending on lighting, the color could come out looking very berry or more purple. Either way, it's a gorgeous color!

The flash shows the polish true color!

I might go back for GoldenEye and The World is Not Enough....

I didn't get a chance to see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall this past Friday. But I'll hopefully see one of my BFF next weekend. Girls night in the city: Dinner, Martini and Skyfall...perfect night.

For now, I will catch up on re-runs and polish my nails with Skyfall!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Glitter & Gold Nail of the Day

Can't believe 2011 is almost over! This will be my last nail post of the year. I've been craving anything gold & sparkly lately. So, while I was at Ulta, I was on the hunt for that perfect gold color- nothing that is heavy glitter but sparkly enough. I found the perfect combo with Butter London's West End Wonderland and The Old Bill. 

The Old Bill is a nice satin, rose gold tone nail lacquer. West End Wonderland has a gold, red glitter running through it. The glitter isn't chunky- very fine, the kind of glitter finish that I like. And if you look up close, you can really see the red specks of red glitter. These two together make a great nail combo- perfect for the New Year!

I decided to sneak in a simple eye look I did today while I briefly went to work. I finally used my duo shadow from Hard Candy called Rush Hour. One side has a peach tone and the other side has a dark shimmer brown. When applied to the eye, it isn't actually that shimmery. I added the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette color in Blackout to give more definition on the outer crease/lash line. I skipped the mascara...(would be lazy removing any trace of it later). I finished the look using the Bare Minerals READY SPF 15 Touch Up Veil in Translucent and lips with Revlon Color Burst Lip Balm in Pink Truffle.

Wow 2012 is almost here! I'm excited are you??? I will be doing my last post for 2011 tomorrow...and ending the year the my beauty picks for 2011!!!!

What made your list this year?


Where to buy info:
Nail lacquers can be purchased here: Butter London or Ulta or Nordstrom
Each nail lacquers retail for $18 US each. I almost forgot to mention, I got both the Butter London polish at Nordstrom the day after Christmas because there was a special going on that day- Buy 2 get 1 free:) The third free one that I got was HRH- didn't include on this post because they were out of stock so it's being shipped to me:)

Hard Candy eyeshadow duo can be purchased at Walmart That's where I bought mine, not sure where else it's available.

Bare Minerals READY Touch Up Mineral Veil in Translucent is available at Sephora online & in-store. You can also pick it up at Bare Escentuals on-line or at a boutique near you...

Revlon Color Burst Lip Balm in Pink Truffle can be purchased at your nearest drugstore: CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Target...These are getting harder to find so you may have to check out several stores in your area.

ok....will end it here...I hauled some new drug store beauty stuff earlier today and will post those tomorrow!

Hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year!

xoxo,
Lynn

Face of Australia's Winter Bronze Nail

Today's featured nail polish hails from down under. I was inspired to paint my nails a bronze shade while I was putting up the Christmas tree. There was a ball ornament with shimmery tones to it that made me think of this nail polish. I haven't posted (yet) my beauty haul when I went to Australia- I will do soon!

I got this nail lacquer from Target in Australia and at the time since it was spring (late September), the metallics were coming out for the upcoming summer season. This nail lacquer is from an Australian brand called Face of Australia and the shade Bronze is from their Molten Metallics collection. I forgot how much this retails for - sorry!

I love this bronze shade which has a hint of rosy/peach tone that runs through it. It's a pretty metallic bronze, not the usual dark brown shade that I think of when I hear the color bronze. I used Essie's Fill the Gap as base coat, 2 coats of Bronze nail lacquer and CND Air Dry Top Coat.

Face of Australia in Bronze, with flash

2 coats, natural light

P.S. Please excuse the bad nail job....I was inspired late at night to paint my nails and this is how it turned out.

Has anyone tried Face of Australia nail polishes? Any suggestions?

Till next time,
L

Nail of the Day: Chanel Storm

I realized I haven't posted a nail post in a while. I got this Chanel nail lacquer a while back. While I was going through my nail stash, I found this lodged at the very back of my nail drawer. And what perfect timing. I love to wear dark polish during Fall/Winter season. This is a beautiful color. I really love to wear a variation of purple year round. I didn't want to do this post at first because I'm afraid this nail lacquer is not available online or in-stores. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this is a limited edition shade. 

Nevertheless, this is a beautiful blackened purple shade. There is a hint of deep purple/burgundy shade within the darkness of the black. With flash you can clearly see the purple with pink shimmers. In natural light, it comes off dark but when you look closely, it gives a hint of color. 

Above: with Flash

In natural light

At the time of purchase, this retailed for $23 and I purchased it at Chanel online. Although this shade is no longer available, there are plenty more to choose from on Chanel's website.

Till next time!

xoxo, Lynn

P.S. Next post will be my nail polish picks for Fall/Holiday/Winter. Stay tuned!

Nail of the Day: Rescue Beauty in Piu Mosso

A few days ago, I posted a picture of the Rescue Beauty nail polish in Piu Mosso. I was really curious to try this color on. First I must mention to please excuse the botchy nail job. I did this in a hurry sooo...let's get on with the review

This is my first Rescue Beauty nail polish. In my purchase, I actually bought 2. Of the two polish I ordered, I was actually suprised that I gravitated towards this one instead of the other lighter shade i bought. 

I got this nail polish back in July???...I think??? I had to pre-order the shades which would be sent to me by the end of August. And sure enough, it was right on time! (I actually already posted the 2 I bought ...see my previous post). 

Anyway, the color I'm featuring here is called Piu Mosso. This is very intriguing and unique color. When you first look at it from the bottle, it looks really dark, almost greenish in tone. However, when swiped, it takes on an entirely different shade. The color looks more like a very dark blue/purple with reddish shimmers??? The shimmer that runs through the color is very fine and you can detect it in different light. 

1st pic above: without flash, it's very, very dark and you can see a hint of shimmer

2nd pick above: with flash, it takes on a blue/teal/purple tone with a hint of pink shimmer

The color is very pigmented. I used 2-3 coats and I applied a top coat to make it all nice and shiny:) The texture is very smooth

Overall, this shade, I LOVE!!!! It's so unique. I don't have any color like it. It's perfect for the fall season. I like the fact that it appears dark, almost black but really does take on an actual color of blue/purple with shimmer. I recommend this shade. You can purchase this at the RescueBeauty site. The polish retails for $18. 


What do you all this of this shade? Is it something you would wear? purchase? Let me know your thoughts:)


Thanks for reading and I'll see you in my next post!


xoxo,Lynn

butterLondon: Aston

I wanted to post a quick nail of the day. Purchased this shade from butterLondon this past weekend during Nordstrom's anniversary sale. Nordstrom was having a special where if you buy 2 butter London polishes, you a free gift of the Yummy Mummy polish, their very popular shade. I also bought one more nail polish besides the one I'm showing here called Muggins but it was out of stock and had to be ordered for me.

Anyway, on to the polish. I am wearing Aston. The pictures here certainly don't do it justice. It is a beautiful shade. It's very neutral and can be worn for work or party. On my fingers, it seems to blend into my skin.

If you look closely at the pictures, it is a very faint shade of rosy pink with shimmer. That's what sold me on this. I love polishes that has a subtle hint of shimmer to it. I used about 2 coats and despite it's light shade, Aston is quite pigmented.

Overall, me love it! butterLondon nail lacquer's retail for $14 usd and can be purchased at several places including: Nordstrom or Ulta. Also check out the butterLondon website.

Have you tried butterLondon nail lacquer before? What did you think?

ok...off to work! xo, Lynn

NOTD: Waity Katie No More

In honor of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, I thought it appropriate to wear this particular polish. It is from butter London and the shade is called: No More Waity, Katie...And yes, Miss Kate is waity Katie no more....She is now the future Queen of England. Yes, I was one of those that was actually awake to watch the wedding.

Enough about weddings and back to nail polish. No More Waity, Katie is a nice lavender/purple shade with tons of fine glitter. I wore an Essie nail polish called BBF Best Boyfriend underneath to help set the glitter of the polish. I used about 2 to 3 coats. I then topped it off with Seche Vite top coat. It gave my nails and the nail polish a nice shine. Overall, I love this nail color. I've never been crazy with glitter nail polish but I found a way around it.

I purchased this nail polish here butterlondon and it retails for $14 US. You can now purchase this at your local Ulta as well.

xo,

Lynn