Dose of Lola: December 2010

2 coats

Mariner is a very interesting color. I don't own anything quite like it. It's almost black, but there's a blue-green tint to it that adds some intrigue. The finish is also ultra shiny. If you're a fan of nearly black shades, this is a great one to have.

Sadly, this is the last swatch of Butter London week. I planned to swatch one more (Henley Regatta), but I have a pretty bad cut on my finger and it makes polish removal very painful and difficult. Instead, I will be posting a couple swatches I've been too lazy to edit for a while now. As soon as my finger gets better, I will start swatching my American Apparels.

31 December 8 comments

2 coats

This is my absolute favorite Butter London, so of course I had to include it in my swatch week. Marrow is a reddish purple with a fine silver shimmer. The application and pigmentation are flawless! The wear on this is great as well. I wore it for 3 days with no tip wear (wrapped tips) or chipping.

30 December 8 comments

2 coats

The Fully Monty is a gorgeous pale gold foil with extra, larger shimmer pieces to make it even more dazzling. It's a gold that will flatter most people because it isn't that icky, yellow gold that looks great on a total of...two people. The application was great! It was pretty much opaque with one coat, but I add a second coat to cover some mistakes I made during the first coat. Also, the finish is very smooth, contrary to my swatch of it. It was still wet, but it dries with absolutely no brush strokes. Love it!

29 December 6 comments

3 coats

Minger is a pumpkin orange, and I don't totally hate it. Orange, like pale blues, and I don't often see eye to eye. Minger is not as ostentatious as some oranges, so I guess that's why it seems more wearable to me. The application was kind of a nightmare. Like Primrose Hill Picnic, it was runny and goopy. It was literally dripping off my nail (as you can see on my middle nail)! Total fail!

Don't write off this brand just yet. The rest of the BLs I have to show you have a MUCH better formula. Again, if there are any shades you would like to see, feel free to ask. If I own it, I'll swatch it.

28 December 5 comments

2 coats

Primrose Hill Picnic is the perfect shade of pink for me. It's bright and happy without being obnoxiously so. Unfortunately, the formula makes me a sad panda. It was a little goopy and runny, and I got a couple bald patches with the second coat. It was just a quick swatch, so I didn't bother doing a third coat, but I'm sure that would have evened everything out. I will save my full judgement for when I do a proper mani with this.

27 December 13 comments

Everyday this week I will be featuring a Butter London polish from my stash. First up is Chuffed:

3 coats

Chuffed is a sheer tangerine packed with silver shimmer. I layered it over Butter London Minger to show its true talent: layering. All of the jellies from this collection are awesome, but I especially like Chuffed over just about anything. It added the perfect amount of depth and shimmer.

If there are any BL polishes you'd like swatched, feel free to leave a request in the comments. If I have it, I'll post it this week. Also, request brands you'd like to see more of for future swatch weeks.

26 December 7 comments

2 coats

Such a pretty neutral! I love the way it looks with my skin tone. I think it has some secret shimmer, but I don't quit remember. The formula was surprisingly awesome, too! This is one of my go-to palette cleansers.

22 December 8 comments

Sag Harbor is one of the few pale blues that looks good on me. I think it's because of the grey tones in it. Plus, adding Today Was a Fairytale over it deepened the color a tiny bit and made it even more flattering. I really wish I would've taken a better picture of this because it was so wintery and pretty in person. This picture was taken after a whole week of wear, and I only had some tipwear.

21 December 7 comments

My NYE giveaway is extended until the end of the month (12/31 at midnight). I just won't have any time to sift through all the entries until after the holidays, so I figured I would just give people more time to enter. Once the giveaway has ended, I'll use Random.org and the spreadsheet with the entries to pick a winner. The winner will be announced on or before January 10th.

20 December No comments

2 coats

This is one of the only bright corals I like on me. It's not too orange and it's not too red. Yay!

17 December 5 comments

My camera is being repaired, so the next few posts will feature some of my older manis. That means pre-cleanup pictures. I've pretty much broken the habit of taking pictures before cleanup...mostly.

2 coats

Oh jeez, when the Shrek collection came out, I was so flippin' excited. I love the whole Shrek franchise, and I loved that it was a collection of interesting colors. No pink or red! Unfortunately, I was not so happy with this one. I don't know what it is, but most blue lighter than midtone just look terrible on me! Ho hum. Anyway, I can't really comment on the formula because I don't remember.

Oh, and the cherry blossom accent is OPI Alpine Snow, Miami Beet, and Black Onyx

16 December 13 comments

1 coat over 1 coat of SH Midnight In NY

Fireberry Red is a polish everyone should own. It's $2, it's awesome, and it's OPI Smitten With Mittens deeper sister. I flippin love it! It literally glows. I had no problems with application, but maybe I should save my judgment for when I use more than one coat of this. Also, Midnight In NY? Gorgeous black with a subtle multicolored shimmer. It looks like the night sky.

14 December 6 comments

This is the look I wore to see HPDHP1. Once again, super late. :] I thought it looked a little Mcdonald's-esque, so I added MAC Reflects Blackened Red to add a little magic. I had no time to take more photos though. Anyway, here's the look:

I can't remember everything I used, but I know the gold is TMM Sunflower.

13 December 8 comments

1 coat over AA Mount Royal

Galaxy Girl is amazing! I love this so much more than Space Cadet, which does not look good on me at all. I especially love the pink flash in this. It's just so pretty! I think I needed 3 coats for opacity when I wore this alone, but one coat over underwear works just as well. Save that polish, guys and gals. The entire Cosmix collection was amazing. Great job, Orly!

13 December 10 comments

1 coat

Imagine this is a touch more purple and slightly deeper. Such a gorgeous color and it has a great formula too! This is my first time trying AA polish, and I'm glad I have tons more to try:

Now I just have to figure out which to try next. :]

12 December 10 comments

2 coats

Golds and I don't often get along, but Looks Like Rain, Dear is actually a shade I would wear out of the house. I think it's because it's not that icky orange shade of gold. Plus, the holo glitter really makes it special. The finish is a little textured, but a top coat will fix that easily. So far, SOPI's holiday polishes have not disappointed me.

11 December 6 comments

It's been a while since I've frankened anything, and it's been even longer since I've frankened anything I like. Well, I guess this is special because I want to put it over every polish I own! Of course, you may not love it if you're not a glitter hoor like I am.

The recipe is ridiculous and all over the place, but I did write it down. If you'd like the recipe, let me know. It's basically every blue or holo glitter I own with a couple drops of WnW Nocturnal to tint it. In the pictures, it's layered over DL Bad Romance, but it is now mixed into the franken. It looks even cooler, in my humble opinion. :D

And now, a bunch of pictures in different lighting:

Indoors, natural light

Indoors, sun/shade

Indoors, daylight bulb

Indoors, flash

Outdoors, sun, flash, blurred to show the bling!

10 December 12 comments

Today only, get 6 free (the spoons are free; the shipping's free) spoons of your choice and a $3 credit toward a future purchase. If there's any shades you've been wanting to try out, this is your chance!

Code: SP6

Zoya.com

10 December No comments

3 coats

Not gonna lie, I'm not a huge fan of this on me. It kind of makes my hands look icky. This looks great on so many people! I'm jealous. Anyway, this is a beige with holo shimmer. The application was great, and I think I could have stopped at two coats. I really should start writing these details down... :]

FYI: Butter London renamed this to All Hail The Queen. Probably for legal reasons. Either way, don't fret. It's the same shade.

Oi, if only it looked like this all the time.

08 December 7 comments

To celebrate my return to square nails, I decided to do a funky french mani. I tried squoval and round, but I think square fits my nails best.

I used Butter London Marrow and a Color Club striper in Black Hologram for the tips. My top coat is Orly Love Each Other. If you enlarge the picture, you should be able to see the pretty purple shimmer.

07 December 4 comments

I have put together a set of items that would make the perfect New Year's Eve look:

Benefit Bad Gal Lash

China Glaze Cheers To You set

NARS Deep Throat

Rock & Republic Tyrant

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Vapor & Oil Slick

Ends 12/31. This contest is open internationally.

06 December 93 comments

2 coats, Sinful Pearl Harbor accent

May I just say how much I love Gelous?? It makes my polishes wear like iron, no lie! This picture was taken after 4 days of wear. I normally don't keep my polish on that long, but I was feeling lazy. Anyway, about Going Incognito. It's a gorgeous deep emerald with a dusty quality to it. The formula is grrrrrreat! Almost a one coater and so shiny and smooth. Essie Winter as a whole was just a total surprise love for me.

06 December 8 comments

I love OPI Ulta exclusives. Usually, they're super pretty and easy to find since I have a ton of Ultas nearby. Last year's holiday Ulta exclusives were absolutely gorgeous. OPI went with the same color scheme for this year.

2 coats

All The Berry Best is a berry red with gold pearl. The gold doesn't really translate to the nail, but it adds a nice depth to the polish. I like it better than last year's Dreaming of Red. Come to think of it, that's still untried...oops!

2 coats

Gift Of Gold is a super dense gold and copper glitter in a clear base. It's thiiiick! Maybe a couple drops of thinner may help? Maybe. Anyway, I was hoping for something as good as/better than Dazzled By Gold, but no dice. It's still pretty, though. This is similar to the Burlesque glitter.

2 coats

Plum Full Of Cheer is a deep plum with gold pearl. Again, the gold doesn't translate, but adds depth. This totally reminds me of Zoya Valerie with a different finish. That's probably why I love it so much. I love purples, so it's not surprise this is my favorite. Visions of Sugarplum was my favorite of the three last year, too!

Overall, I'm pleased with this set. They're worth having if you don't have anything similar yet.

OPI's are buy 2 get 1 free right now, so you could get all three of these for a great price. If you don't have an Ulta near you, these are definitely not worth taking a road trip! Ask a friend or swap for them.

05 December 9 comments

I'm going to a holiday party tonight, so I figured now would be the perfect time to break out my holiday glitters. This is 2 coats of Essie Marshmallow, 2 coats of China Glaze Party Hearty, and 2 coats of $OPI Flurry Up. I did my base coat (Barielle hydrating Ridge Filler + Gelous) and coats of Marshmallow yesterday so that I wouldn't have to wait forever for all the coats to dry.

It's so fun! I tried to capture how blingy it is, but I got super blurry instead. I think I confused my camera with this one.

Yay!

04 December 5 comments

Congratulations to Joann, who is the randomly selected winner of Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe! Thanks to everyone that entered. Stay tuned for my giveaway, which will be posted in just a few days.

03 December 5 comments

3 coats

I know it's December, but I really needed a bright, pretty pink polish to rekindle my love of pinks. Lady Marmalade totally kicked my distaste for pinks! It's a bright pink with orange and coral shimmer flecks. It's absolutely stunning in the sun.

02 December 7 comments

I topped my mani with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. It needed a little magic.

01 December 4 comments

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