About Me

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St. Louis, Missouri, United States
I love my two little girls and I love collecting nail polish - combine the two, and you've got Paws to Polish. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Swap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swap. Show all posts

Monday, July 18, 2011

OPI's "At Your Quebec & Call"

Hey, kids! 
Gosh, I'm sorry, but it's so hard to be happy and chipper and put exclamation points after every sentence, when you do this to your expensive coffee table after a mani:




Yep - this coffee table was the victim of spilled acetone in it's purest form. Why did I have a dish of pure acetone on my nice coffee table without protection under it? Yeah, I'm asking myself that same question over and over and over. ARGH! I'm so mad right now. And I have no one to blame but myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Makes me feel like I can't even own nice things without ruining them. I've only had this table a little over 2 years. I bought it brand new, along with 2 matching end tables, a sofa table and a bookshelf. So, trying to find a varnish that matches perfectly might be a challenge. I'm hoping the company that I bought the furniture from will sell me some varnish or have a recommendation for me. I'm waiting on a call back from them...


Before THIS happened, I had just finished up my mani which I'm in LOVE with. I swapped with a friend from one of the groups I belong to on FB (I've become quite the swap-a-holic!!!). She sent me OPI's "At Your Quebec & Call" and I sent her an Essie and a DL that were on her wish list.


This beauty comes from OPI's 2004 Fall Canadian Collection. I can't remember when or where I first saw swatches of this, but I was in love immediately. I knew it would be tricky to find, since it's from 2004 and a Black Label OPI. But sure enough, Destany posted that she bought it while dusty hunting, and I asked if she'd be interested in swapping - and she was!


I've noticed that with the older OPI's, it takes more coats to get full opacity. Honestly, I might've been able to pull off 3 coats, but just to be safe, I went with 4. This polish came out prior to OPI going 3-free, so it was a little stinky. Also, it has the old smaller brush (not a Pro-Wide brush most of us are used to). So it took a lot more dipping, but it was worth it!


I love, love, love this polish. It's so unique, and unlike anything I currently own. I'd describe it as a golden olive shimmer. It's not green, but it's not gold, either. It's just...beautiful. 


And here she is:


Application:
Deborah Lippman 2 Second Nail Primer
Seche Clear Base Coat
4 coats of OPI's "At Your Quebec & Call"
1 coat Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
1 spritz CND SolarSpeed Spray







Do you have any Black Label OPI's?! If so, which ones? Did you find them "dusty hunting" or have you had them since they were released?

Thanks for reading my rant tonight. I already feel a little better, now that I've been able to "vent" about it a little. But I have a feeling tonight's tragic coffee table acetone event will haunt me every time I look at my table. Oh well, too late now, right?!


By the way, if you get anything out of this post, or from my blog in general, let it be this: 
KEEP NAIL POLISH AND ACETONE AWAY FROM THINGS YOU
 DON'T WANT PERMANENTLY RUINED!
Take the extra minute to cover your table or work area first. 
You'll be glad you did!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Color Club - "Revvvolution"

Hi, everyone! It seems that I only blog on the weekends. Not sure why that is, actually. I've been noticing lately that I've had "naked nails" quite a bit during week. Maybe it's because I'm just too pooped from working all day to take the time to do a full mani, snap decent pictures, then write a post about it. Or maybe I'm just lazy..........
I'll work on it, I promise!


Anywhoooo, I wanted to share with you all some pics of my very first Color Club polish, "Revvvolution". Now I know this polish has been out a couple of years and there are tons and tons of pictures on the internet of it. But I figured, since it's a sunny day today and I've already got it on, why not get some pictures of it?!


I received this beauty last week from my friend Kristin (check out her nail polish blog here) who is in one of the groups I belong to on Facebook. She swapped me this, along with China Glaze "Cosmic" aaaaaand one of her handmade nail polish rings! How sweet was that?! Up until recently, I never wanted to get into swapping. But now, I'm addicted! It's so much fun! I *heart* nail mail!
For some reason, Color Club polish is darned near impossible to find here in St. Louis. I really liked the formula of "Revvvolution", so I'll probably be wanting (needing!) more of these. I was shocked to find out that this polish could easily be a one-coater (BONUS!!!!!). I couldn't believe how opaque it was with one brushstroke. I guess to get more usage out of the bottle, you could layer it over a black polish like OPI's "Black Onyx". I've already got a swap going with someone else to get a back-up bottle of this polish, so I think I'll be set for a while!

Application:
Deborah Lippmann 2 Second Nail Primer
1 coat of Seche Clear Base Coat
2 coats of Color Club "Revvvolution"
1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat


Here are a couple of pictures taken indoors, using artificial light:



Drumroll please.....................


Now, the OUTDOOR pictures!!!!!!






This polish is EVERYTHING I've always wanted my "newer version" of OPI's "My Private Jet" to be. Even when I used to layer the Northern Lights Top Coat (by Out The Door) on top of MPJ it still never gave me results like this! And I'm not a huge fan of holos (GASP!), but this made it to my Top 10 List immediately after I put it on. 


So my question for you all: If you have experience with Color Club polish, what is your favorite color? What Color Clubs do you think I should add to my wish list?!


Thanks again, everyone, for taking the time to read my blog post today! I know there are a ton of polish blogs out there, and it means so much to me to know that you took time out of your day to read mine! THANK YOU!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

China Glaze - "Fortune Teller"

This is the moment I've been waiting for since the day I first saw a swatch of China Glaze's "Fortune Teller". I don't know where I was, or what I was doing. I don't even know whose blog it was that I saw it on. All I know is I fell in love immediately with this color and knew I had to have it right away!


Well, after doing a little research on the polish, I soon realized that this little beauty wouldn't be an easy one to find. Apparently, this color was a Sally Beauty exclusive color from 2009. I've been to quite a few Sally's and have NEVER seen it in stores. So I knew I'd either have to buck-up and buy it off of eBay, or find someone online who would want to swap it for something I had or could get.


What I learned quickly is that if you just speak up, and let others know what you're looking for, there's a good chance someone out in cyberspace might be able to help. Sure enough, a friend of mine in one of the Facebook groups I belong to happened to have an extra bottle and was willing to swap with me! Only about a week after I mentioned my love for "Fortune Teller" online, it was in my hands! I can't thank you enough, Neeka! I don't swap very often, but this was probably one of my favorite trades (next to my all-time favorite, "Unripened"!!!!!!).


"Fortune Teller" is a beautiful black creme polish with different sizes of orange/copper hex glitter. For this mani, I used 2 coats of FT and felt that I got full opacity and didn't need a third. I also needed 2 coats of top coat, because this puppy just soaked up the first coat. Even after 2 coats of top coat, it's still a little bit rough. I'm thinking it might be worth investing in a bottle of Gelous. I don't use glitter polishes very often, but when I do, I want high shine and smoothness.


Ok, enough with the babbling. You're probably here to see pictures, right?


Application:
OPI Chip Skip
1 coat of Seche Clear Base Coat
2 coats of China Glaze "Fortune Teller"
2 coats of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
1 spritz CND Solar Speed Spray







Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo, Katie