Monthly Archives

December 2010

Essie – Hot Cocoa

Wednesday, 22 December, 2010

I love this color. I suck at application and I am still getting used to my new camera, so please pardon my lack of focusing skills and all around, “Please let me get used to this!” Growing pains and all that.

This color was fabulous!! I loved that it was a lovely mushroomy color; it reminds of that Hot Cocoa brown/purple when it’s all hot and steamy in my mug. I think I’m going to have to make some hot chocolate now.

This was a two coat application and I think it would’ve benefited greatly had I done three. I think it would’ve done it much justice. Despite my craptastic applications skills, this color still shines through.

Femme Couture

Femme Couture – Shimmer Time

Friday, 17 December, 2010

I feel like crap. I have been feeling like this for the past 4 days. The past week of denial has finally caught up. “No, I’m not sick. It’s the sudden change in weather.” (that is true, though – when weather changes on me frequently I find myself feeling under the weather..no pun intended!)

I finally succumbed to the sickness on Monday. I told myself it was because I was exhausted and I needed sleep…and I slept. And slept. I crawled out of bed on Tuesday to get the things I needed to do done, like drive hubby to the train station and feed Rex Rex and kitty. I crawled out of bed on Wednesday to repeat Tuesday’s mistake. Thursday, I couldn’t even budge. I was in pain. Joints are aching.

Today is marginally better…better enough so that I can actually do my Friday Red Post and then crawl back under the covers for more sleep that is interrupted by this terrible cough.

If you see typos, don’t be a hater – keep in mind I’m sick and I’m not even going back to read what I’ve written.

Formula dried quickly and was opaque in 2 coats. A bit disappointed in this because the shimmer that was mega prevalent in the bottle barely showed at all on the nail.

Femme Couture

Femme Couture – Garland

Tuesday, 14 December, 2010

Green, green and more green! It’s a green season.

Sorry no sunlight shots…it was overcast 99.9% of the day so the best I could get was the overcast ones. I shall heave one big dramatic sigh…but hey, I’d rather have overcast than totally rainy days or snow.

This is a very pretty shimmer and it’s a dark green. It vaguely reminded me of China Glaze’s Emerald Sparkle…but this isn’t as vibrant or as striking. Sorry, Femme Couture.

Your formula rocked it, though. Two coats and quick drying. I’ll give ya that!

Just a reminder – to see the biggest version available, click on the image(s) below and then click on the number in the Full Size is 3456 x 1983. Then when the huge image shows up, your cursor will turn into a magnifying glass with a + in it…click on the image with the magnifying glass and then BAM! Full size right there. Talk about larger than life!

Nubar – Stronghold

Monday, 13 December, 2010

Stronghold is a strong grey creme that hints at a blue base. I love grey nail polish, but it doesn’t love me! 🙁

This is part of Nubar’s Fortress Collection – a collection I loved, but could only truly wear 2 of the colors. The formula was great! Dried in record time and was opaque in 2 medium coats.

Essie – Silken Cord

Friday, 10 December, 2010

I have this love/hate relationship with Essie. I either love the color and the formula or I hate the color and the formula.

This was no exception because it fell into the LOVE category. Ok, the color doesn’t rock it on me. But who the heck cares? It’s a freaking gorgeous color and I really wish that it could have looked better with my skin tone.

Twice as great was the formula. It wasn’t thin, it wasn’t runny. It was just right. I also dried in a good time – 5 minutes between each coat. I wanted to give this some leeway. Color was opaque in two medium coats.

OPI – Diva of Geneva

Thursday, 9 December, 2010
OPI Diva of Geneva

OPI Diva of Geneva is part of their Fall 2010 Swiss Collection. I know I’m a bit late in getting this out, but when I had seen the promo pics, I got excited. So excited I was that I kept calling my nail guys here. I was begging, pleading, whining to know when/if they got it and have them call me so I can get there and buy it ASAP.

Well, they did as they promised and called me. However, once I had them in my possession, I was not impressed. I was so unimpressed that I put them in the back of my OPI drawer. Yea. Out of sight, out of mind and all that. However, it sat at the back of my mind for ages and I finally thought…”why not?”

So here it is. OPI Diva of Geneva is a pretty color – don’t get me wrong. It’s got some nice flashes to it and that makes it somewhat redeemable, but it’s not me. Sorry, OPI. Your final solo fall collection didn’t wow me the way your France collection just a few scant years ago.

Formula was ok. Nothing really stood out. I guess that means it dried in a decent amount of time and didn’t annoy me.

OPI Diva of Geneva

Please excuse the big old chip on my middle finger. I had been wearing this color for a few days just to see how it would hold up. It wasn’t too bad. 🙂

OPI Diva of Geneva

Pop Beauty

Pop Beauty – Twinkle

Wednesday, 8 December, 2010

Today was a grey and rainy day. I love days like this. It was beautiful. I had a glitter post all lined up because I wanted to cheer some people up. I ran out the door without even setting the time on the post, but wow…what a craptastic day I had to share. But before I do, let me preface the horrid day post with pretty pictures of glitter.

This is from Pop Beauty. It’s called Twinkle. Pay no attention to Twenty Nine on the picture – it seems that I totally misread it. Oh well.

Anyway, this is a crazy shiny shiny glitter glitter sparkle sparkle thing that I could not even capture. It’s crazy. It’s insane. It took forever and a day to dry…and it was 2 coats.

I bought it from this place where I had some of the rudest customer service next to Comcast…

Macro shot of the glitter.

So today, in an effort to make up for bad post Thanksgiving eating, I ate at a place called Pluto’s on Santana Row.

I was happily munching away on my salad, reading my iPhone and responding to texts and Twitter stuff.

“Do you see that girl at the next table?” *mumble mumble all in Tagalog (Filipino)*

I heard it. I’m Filipina. So I heard the next table totally gossiping. Not to be too obvious, I was about to look around, but then realized…there is no one else near the other table and mine. Were they talking about me?

Took a small glance over and could see/feel someone looking at me. The 3 girls at that table were gossiping and whispering. One girl stopped talking, while the other two moved on to other things – work, lack of boyfriends, etc.

I risked it and looked over at the table, just a quick glance because I pretended to be engrossed in my salad and my iPhone. One of the girls was staring at me. Like really staring at me. If you’re Filipino or are Asian, you know what I’m talking about – that “I don’t blink, I will stare you down until you look away” kind of stare. I thought it was my imagination, but over the course of several minutes I’d randomly look up and she’d be staring at me…it was a weird, dead eyed, “I HAVE NO SOUL” kind of stare. We made eye contact. It was creepy. I thought I was going to turn into stone.

Anyway, after 5 minutes, I had had enough. I looked at her and she was still staring. I went, “What?! What the hell are you staring at me for? What is your problem?”

She turned red and turned away and started talking in Tagalog to her friends…and she said the dreaded word, “tabatchoy” (sp?) while looking at me. Then I knew. For those who are not Filipino, that means fat. I know I’m a husky girl. But for a total stranger to gossip about me in another language as if I am ignorant and won’t understand wasn’t cool. Plus, no hoity toity bee–atch is going to get away with it…and I laid into her.

“What the hell have I done to deserve you talking about me the way you are doing right now? You don’t hear me poking fun of you and your thick ass accent. You don’t see me poking fun at your buckteeth. Most of all, you don’t see me poking fun at your dark ass skin,” gasps from her friends. I swear it was a clutch-the-pearls kind of moment when I called her dark. That elicited even louder gasps from her friends. For my Filipino friends and family, you know being called dark is one of the worst insults you could ever say to one another. I won’t lie, but that girl was hella dark. So I knew at least one of my verbal missiles made a direct hit.

I had committed the cardinal sin – I called her dark. I basically called her a FOB (Fresh off the boat). They scampered off pretty quickly, but come on…that was unprovoked.

Then I felt guilty. Guilt because my mom has an accent. So do my relatives. I just set back their achievements in one fell swoop with a derogatory statement that I made. I made that statement to that vile hag deliberately. I wanted to hurt her as much as she hurt me. I hit out at the only way possible because physical harm would’ve gotten me into heaps of trouble.

Anyway, I left the place soon after. Lunch was spoiled. I kept an eye out as I went to my car because I don’t trust three angry Filipinas. I got into my car, drove around the corner and promptly bawled my eyes out for a good fifteen minutes. Chalked it up to a lesson learned, dusted myself off mentally and went on about the errands I had to get done today. But it kind of put a big pall on what should’ve been a good day.

I’m still smarting from having such an encounter. I talked to my mother about what happened and she said, “Why is it Filipinos do that the moment they come to this country? They put on attitudes and act like they’re better than everyone else. They get so mean and rude!”

Nice to see the holidays are gearing up in full, bitchy swing.

Essie – Going Incognito

Tuesday, 7 December, 2010

This green is…awesome. No other way to describe it. Opaque in two coats, even if you do see visible nail line thanks to my terrible application.

It dried in record time, which is always a good thing.

I like greens like this because it’s partially festive – it is part of Essie’s Holiday 2010 collection, after all! – and it’s also a color I can wear year round whenever I want a little bit of green in my life. I can add a pretty glitter top top coat, too! I’m thinking a certain NFU Oh will have to make an appearance.

Please pardon the rough look to the nails – I had been wearing this color for a few days to see how it would hold up…and it held up through the dish washing, the toilet scrubbing and all around roughery I put my poor hands through. Just minor tip wear!