Ruffian Style American Apparel Dance with Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like

I did this ruffian style mani using American Apparel's Dance as a base with Deborah Lippmann's I Know What Boys Like over top. Dance took 4 coats to achieve opacity... 4! That's just too much I think although not unusual for a light shade like this. I Know What Boys Like went on opaque and lovely. I used two coats. I adore this shade. It's a near dupe of American Apparel's Mount Royal and fairly similar to OPI's Dating A Royal, both of which I own, but I'm okay with that because I love the colour. It's slightly lighter than both but not by much. I really like the way it turned out. Dance is very close to the colour of my skin tone so in a way I thought it made my fingers look longer. I had to fight the urge to put a dot of white and black on the end to turn these into blue eyes. Maybe another time :)

Sparkly, Multicoloured, Polka-Dotted Kid & Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers

Well these entries will be short because I’m super tired… I think my little nieces gave me a cold. One good thing about having them around though is there are more nails to paint.

Here are multi coloured polka dots and sparkles on my little niece Meredith. I snapped these pictures as soon as we were done painting them because knowing her she’ll have them all scratched off before you know it! I used lots of lacquers for these: American Apparel’s Neon Yellow & Neon Violet, China Glaze’s Blue Year’s Eve and OPI’s Gone Gonzo, Rainbow Connection and an OPI Top coat. I used toothpicks for dotting.

Here is three layers of Deborah Lippmann’s Ruby Red Slippers over two coats of OPI’s Black Onyx. I did the black undercoat in hopes of reducing tip wear (I found the sheer base contributed to quick tip wear on Lippmann’s Across The Universe, which otherwise wore very well). I think the black made it a little darker then I’d like so next time I wear it I will try it with a red base or none at all just to see how that compares. It is similar to OPI’s Mr. Right Now and Getting Miss. Piggy With It below, but much more sophisticated looking overall.

OPI's BLack Onyx & Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers:

vs. Sephora by OPI Mr.Right Now & Gettin' Miss Piggy With It:

Deborah Lippmann Lady Marmalade Review & American Apparel's Mount Royal with Constellation

So I finally got the top off of my Deborah Lippmann Lady Marmalade, or rather I got my Dad to take it off with some kind of rench or vice grip or something. I honestly don’t know that it was worth the trouble. I wasn’t thrilled with the effect, so much so that I forgot to take a picture. I never forget to take a picture so I think this indicates my level of dissatisfaction. I’ll have to review it again I suppose, because really what good is a post sans pic? Perhaps I’ll put it on someone else. There’s no denying it’s just not my colour. It is a shimmery bright coral. My Mother called it garish, but in the bottle I found it appealing somehow anyway. Not so much on. It’s just not my thing. I did four coats because I need polish to be opaque and this just isn’t. Even then I just couldn't love or even really like it.

That was yesterday. I changed it up tonight and am I ever pleased! It was my first time actually using American Apparel polish and if this is the norm than I’m a loyal customer from here on in. I did a blue (Mount Royal) and then layered some silver tinsel style flakes (Constellation). I love, love, love Mount Royal. I am just nuts for blue polish and as I mentioned am a stickler for opacity. The formula was a bit thick but went on easily and smoothly and super opaque. Honestly I could have done with one coat, but I did two for good measure. This is unheard of for me. I’m never happy with so few coats but it is just such great even colour and coverage.  Considering that it is the least expensive brand I own, (I’m a bit of a polish elitist, I admit, as you can tell from my collection list), I’m just thrilled. Here’s hoping the other colours measure up to Mount Royal!

I then did two coats of Constellation. The silver flakes are kind of awkward, but I guess given their size I couldn’t reasonably expect them to be otherwise. I do like the effect but they were sticking up a bit so I did a super thick top coat (OPI Top Coat). At 3 bottles for $18 as compared to around $10 each for OPI and $20+ for Deborah Lippmann I must say if these are any indication American Apparel is the best bang for your buck, which is a little funny because I find their clothing overpriced.

Well my nails look like the night sky and I'm off to sleep!

Deborah Lippmann's Across The Universe and New Additions

I had a good weekend in the city and slept in Sunday morning on my little brother’s surprisingly comfortable futon. We then had a delicious brunch and I headed off polish shopping. It was quite the haul too. There were half off sales on some OPI and China Glaze at Lawtons and Deborah Lippmann at Mills. I picked up a couple other Deborah Lippmann’s I’ve been lusting after and then nipped around the corner for a splurge at American Apparel… what fun!

I drove home to look through my new goodies, watch my new favorite scary tv show, American Horror Story, and to try out Lippmann’s Across The Universe. I was planning to do up Lady Marmalade, but after putting on hand creme I couldn’t for the life of me get the top off! So I did three coats of Across The Universe, which went on smoothly, dried quickly and is as pretty as can be. In the future I may start with a blue or green solid colour so I needn’t use so much pricey polish. It took three coats to achieve opacity and I was conscious the whole time that this is the priciest polish I own. It’s one of the prettiest also though. It's a sheer blue base, with small blue sparkles and larger blue and green sparkles.

New additions:

Deborah Lippmann:

Icing On The Cake

Pump Up The Jam

Marquee Moon

I Know What Boys Like

Brown Eyed Girl

Dream A Little Dream

Across The Universe

Ruby Red Slippers

Lady Marmalade

OPI:

Divine Swine

Gone Gonzo

Silver Shatter

American Apparel:

Dance

Meteor Shower

Mount Royal

Neon Yellow

Raccoon

Constellation

Smoke Dazzle

Neon Green

Neon Violet

China Glaze:

Icicle

Blue Year’s Eve

Glittering Garland

OPI Black Onyx and Nicole OPI Too Rich For You Ruffian Mani

I did this mani to match a top I'm wearing out tonight which is a shimmery jade green with black detailing and it does co-ordinate perfectly!

I started with two coats of Black Onyx and then added three coats of Nicole OPI Too Rich For You "Ruffian" style, and one coat of OPI Top Coat... and I'm ready for a night out... all I have to do now is drive to the city in the snow and wriggle into that gorgeous outfit!


I'm almost tempted to skip the trip because I hate going out in the cold, but Mills Brothers is holding Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers and I Know What Boys Like for me and I just must go get them. They tell me they have some DL half off so I guess I better get going... I could stand missing a party but not a polish sale!

xo

Mr.Right Now + Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Back from the blackout with some glittery red nails. I’m very happy with this look, the pictures don’t do it justice. But here they are nonetheless. Please excuse the scratches on the windowsill and my hand... I live with cats.

I started with two coats of Sephora Opi’s Mr.Right Now and followed up with three coats of Gettin’ Miss. Piggy With it. The results are gorgeous. It’s a deep red with multiple layers of sparkles. 

It makes me think of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers. Speaking of, I’m planning to try to track down Deborah Lippmann’s Ruby Red Slippers this weekend on a trip to the city and from what I see from online swatches the effect is similar. If I do find it I’ll let you all know how they compare.

xo

No SOPA No PIPA

Say no to sopa and pipa

KISS – Keeping It Simple and Sparkly

I began this mani with two coats of China Glaze’s Holly-Day. I really like this forest green colour and it has great coverage. I’d take OPI's heavy thick brush over China Glaze’s thin one any day. It’s small and it feels odd doing 4 or 5 strokes per nail as compared to the three I was told is proper and which always suffices with OPI’s brush. That said I do like China Glaze. 

Two coats of China Glaze's Holly-Day. Sorry the pictures are not great as it was evening and there was no natural light.

I then added two coats of OPIs Fresh Frog of Bel-Air. One coat looked nice and two was just gorgeous. See below.

 

 

Not that many will care but I won't be here tomorrow. I’m staying offline in general in support of the anti-SOPA blackout, but I'll be back after the blackout with a Sephora OPI Mr. Right-Now and OPI Getting Miss. Piggy With-It combo… sounds hot ;)

Say No to SOPA

Sales and Acquisitions

My local Lawtons has had various OPI polishes on sale since just after Christmas, a fabulous discount of about half off on my favorite brand, which I took advantage of tonight for the third time. I picked up two must haves at full price and another 6, (mostly from the Muppets Collection), on super sale. 

New acquisitions include:

Need Sunglasses

What’s With The Cattitude?

Yule Love This Silver

Eiffel For This Color

Animal-istic

Getting’ Miss. Piggy With It

Fresh Frog of Bel Air

Warm & Fozzie

I also got around to photographing my ever growing polish collection. Now that I plan to make a business of this in the future I can think of adding to it as an investment and almost never experience buyer’s remorse after a polish purchase. Winning :)

Cherries and Bows

Well, Essie, you have let me down again… and I had such high hopes for our future. The Essie base coat I used for my Purple on Purple Floral mani last night began to peel in several places by tonight. I suspect it is just not getting along well with my OPI Nail Envy base, which I am reluctant to forgo but may do so next time I use Essie to see if that affects its staying power. Well that just means I got up to more mani fun tonight. I was going to do something basic but next time perhaps… there are a few of you out there reading and I do want to keep you amused so… tonight was cherries and bows and one lovely shiny red finger. I got the idea for the cherries from Shona over at Mental for Polish, (link at the bottom right), but I believe she got the idea elsewhere and I don’t know where that is. Cherries are pretty basic though. I used to have a fabulous cherry bikini which would have looked amazing with these nails, but I haven’t a clue where that’s gotten to and that’s probably for the best. I digress. 

I used OPI Alpine Snow for the base, OPI Sephora Mr.Right-Now for the cherries and bows, and China Glaze Holly-Day for the stems. I did two coats of the OPI Alpine Snow. I then used a dotting tool, (the back of one of my mini brushes actually), and dotted on OPI Sephora Mr.Right-Now for the cherries and the middle of the bows. I painted the finger I wanted red (also with Mr.Right-Now). Then I used a mini brush to paint on the bows. I then used another mini brush in China Glaze's Holly-Day for the cherry stems. Finishing touches included rhinestones in the middle of the bows and an OPI Top Coat.

Sleep well kittens. Remember love is in the details and nothing that makes you happy is foolish, (but forgoing things that make you happy or suffering fools is very foolish indeed).

Xoxo Emmie

Purple on Purple Flowers

I just finished a purple quadruple threat of flowers with silvery detailing, while drinking Bailey's and half watching The Walking Dead and Boardwalk Empire. All get thumbs up as far as I’m concerned but especially the Bailey's and the zombies. Love me some Bailey's with zombies.

It was my first time using Essie’s bangle jangle which functioned as the base and I was impressed.  I did 2 coats but one probably would have sufficed. It went on smooth and opaque. I’m very fond of the soft mauve colour. Then I painted on half flowers using a mini brush with the other three purple shades. This worked quite well but of the three I think I like the subtle contrast of the Essie marino cool best on the bangle jangle. I then used OPI’s Happy Anniversary, a silvery white colour, to accent, and finished off with one coat of OPI Top Coat for durability and shine. I’ll post pictures tomorrow when I can photog in natural light. 

Oh, and turns out my nail was breaking where I got the chip in the Essie’s turquoise & c­aico’s so perhaps the polish wasn’t exactly to blame. I sadly clipped the offending nail before doing the floral mani.

Base: Essie’s bangle jangle­

Flowers: OPI’s I Brake For Manicures, OPI’s  Pamplona Purple,  Essie’s marino cool

Detail: Happy Anniversary!

Goodnight Kittens

Essie's Turquoise & Caicos

Today I'm wearing Essie's Turquoise & Caicos 

I have on 4 coats over 2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, with 2 coats of OPI Top Coat

This is my first time actually using Essie polish and while I like the effect I must say I expected more. I had to use 4 coats to obtain the colour depth I wanted and then it chipped within 24 hours. It's just a small chip on my left index finger but it's a chip nontheless and means I'll be doing a polish change tonight. Perhaps it's because I do have a lot of coats of polish on after the Nail Envy and the top coats. I do find the more I pile on the polish the quicker it is to chip... anyone else notice that? It is a lovely aqua colour. I'll try just three coats of polish and one top coat next time I use it in hopes it lasts more than a day.

Recent Nail Designs

Recent Nail Designs

Bling Half Moons

Done with OPI Sephora Mr.Right Now, OPI Glizerland and a red rhinestone for each thumb

Butterfly Wings

OPI Sephora Mermaid To Order, OPI Black Onyx and OPI Alpine Snow

 Bows

OPI Alpine Snow, Opi Black Onyx, OPI Japanese Rose Garden and OPI Sephora Enchantress

My Collection

*I've about doubled my collection since writting this. I'll update the list soon and I'm in the process of swatching all my proffessional laquers on sample wheels by colour group. Fun. I'll be posting these soon along with my reviews of my favorite laquers in each colour group.
Laquers:

American Apparel:

Dance

Meteor Shower

Mount Royal

Neon Yellow

Raccoon

Constellation

Smoke Dazzle

Neon Green

Neon Violet

China Glaze:

Holly-Day

Icicle

Blue Year’s Eve

Glittering Garland

Borghese

Borghese Rapido:

Marino

Deborah Lippmann:

Icing On The Cake

Pump Up The Jam

Marquee Moon

I Know What Boys Like

Brown Eyed Girl

Dream A Little Dream

Across The Universe

Ruby Red Slippers

Lady Marmalade

Essie:

merino cool

bangle jangle

aruba blue

turquoise & caicos

Layla Magneffect:

Metallic Sky

OPI:

OPI Red 

Y'All Come Back Y'Hear?

Japanese Rose Garden

Pamplona Purple

Give Me Moor!

I Brake For Manicures

Honk If You Love OPI

Russian Navy

Dating A Royal

Not Like The Movies

I'm A Princess, You're Not

Happy Anniversary!

Funny Bunny

Alpine Snow

No Room For The Blues

Glizerland

Rainbow Connection

Need Sunglasses

What’s With The Cattitude?

Yule Love This Silver

Eiffel For This Color

Animal-istic

Getting’ Miss. Piggy With It

Fresh Frog of Bel Air

Warm & Fozzie

Black Onyx

Divine Swine

Gone Gonzo

Silver Shatter

Black Shatter

Nail Envy

Top Coat

OPI Sephora:

Mr.Right Now

Mermaid To Order

OPI Nicole:

Enchantress

Top Of My World

Respect The World

Too Rich For You

Snow-Man Of My Dreams