Chanel Morning Rose

I received my second Chanel in the mail today and I just love it!  :D  I don't normally like pinks on me, but especially not lighter pinks - they always look funny with my yellow undertones.  However, Morning Rose is a yellow-based pink and I think it looks great!

It's a salmon-y pink with little gold flecks in it - totally unique to my collection, though to be honest, I don't have much in the way of these kinds of colors since they usually look so bad on me.

This one has a little bit less light, so you can see the little flecky shimmers a bit better.  I also have a close-up!

You can click on that for a bit of scariness!  ;)

Formula-wise, this was kinda on the sheer side, but I didn't mind.  What you are seeing is 4 coats.  I didn't have any trouble with bubbling or dry time, I used Posche as my topcoat and it dried pretty fast.  I've only been wearing it 12+ hours, so I can't really comment on wear, but it looks good right now!  ;)

If ya'll can think of similar things, please post them so I can be on the lookout!

Basecoat: Essie Feed Me + Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler

Topcoat: Posche

Number of coats: 4 

Chanel Mimosa Comparison + Easter Mani

Yay I'm on vacation this week!  :D  However, I always get sick when I'm on vacation and this time is no exception.  I stayed at work much later than I should have Friday night trying to get everything done and by the time I left, my throat was the tell-tale gritty that means a cold is imminent.  :(  I felt crappy Saturday and most of yesterday, but I seem to be feeling a bit better today.  A little stuffled, but the grittiness has finally went away!  So I guess I'm not sure I caught a cold... maybe it was just my allergies going crazy?  Or maybe my body is fighting off a cold and it never got farther than gritty throat?  Whatever happened, I'm just glad I'm not going to spend my vacation sick, like I usually do!

So, since hubby and I are off this week, I'll try to stop in with some posts, but they might be random and kinda disorganized - like this one!  ;)

I broke down and bought Chanel Mimosa this past week... my first Chanel.  I was really drawn to this shade, more so than any others they have put out.  It got here super-quick and I was not disappointed.  It's a beautiful yellow with a unique shimmer and the formula is not as bad as I've heard it to be.  I haven't had a chance to wear it as a full mani yet (planning on putting it on tonight or tomorrow!), but I did a little comparison between it, Revlon Top Speed Electric, and NYC Taxi Yellow Creme (which has shimmer, so technically it isn't a creme!).  I noticed a lot of people on the NB are talking about Electric possibly being a dupe, so since I had both, I figured I should swatch.

Mimosa is on my index finger (far right), Electric on middle, Taxi Yellow on my ring (far left).  You can really see Mimosa's shimmer here, and see how the other two's shimmer is much less noticeable.

I know that pic is kinda small, so here is a HUGE one that might help a bit more - please forgive all the dryness and cuticle disaster!!  Click on it for full size!

Edit: this pic makes Mimosa and Electric look closer than they are.  Photobucket has done some kind of compression here that has fuzzed out a bit of the details.  They are not dupes!!  Similar, but different enough to own both - or only one, depending on your tastes/budget.

You can see, Mimosa and Electric are close, the amount of shimmer is really what sets them apart.  If you never wear yellow or you are just not sure, get the Revlon and save yourself $20.  If you LOVE yellow polish (or are a Chanel collector), get Mimosa.  It's beautiful and unique, plus it's LE.  I figured that even if I didn't love it, I could swap it pretty easily once it isn't available anymore.  I love it though, can't wait to wear it!  I liked it so much that I ordered Morning Rose last night, so you'll be seeing that one too.  I don't normally do pinks, but it's a  yellow-based pink, which isn't all that common, and I think I can actually pull it off - it *hopefully* will be the first light pink I can wear!

And since it was Easter yesterday, I couldn't resist wearing Glitter in the Air, by Deborah Lippmann.  I was rather torn on ordering it, since seeing My Lucid Bubble's review, but I finally decided to bite the bullet when I had a 20% off Beauty.com code and some Drugstore.com Dollars, so I ended up getting it for around $12.  The glitter is really sparse and the base color doesn't show up at all, so be warned before you try it.  I tried it over ButterLondon Lady Muck, but didn't really love it that way, so then I tried again over OPI's What's With the Cattitude and it looked fab for Easter!  Next time I'll try it over something a little closer to the base color.

This is 3 coats of WWTC and 2 coats of GITA.  It looks so simple, but it really was a lot of work!  :P  It was fitting for the holiday, though I didn't get any comments on it.  >,<  I thought about mattifying it, so it would look more like an eggshell, but didn't ever do it.  Maybe I will before I switch to Mimosa?

In some other news, I finished my spreadsheet this weekend - woo woo!  I do have a few more polishes than I thought, but I wasn't that far off, plus/minus 50 from what I was estimating.  However, there are a ton of them that I don't love, so I'll have to either put them up for swap or have a blog sale or something to make room for new pretties that I do love!  I'll be posting my spreadsheet sometime soon and ya'll can tell me what you'd like to see next.  I have sooooooo many untrieds, so I'm looking forward to working my way through them.

Also... I'm looking for a few ladies to possibly go in with me on an order at Nailite - they sell some really cheap polishes (and an exact dupe for Essie's Starry Starry Night for only 99 cents!), but they have a $25 minimum.  I don't mind spending $25 somewhere, but I figured it might work out for several people if we made 1 order - then lots of us could have our lemmings fulfilled!  :)  Anyone interested??  Email me at: threnodynx @ gmail . com if so!!  :)

 

Zoya Sunshine Swatches, plus updates

First off, thank you all so much for your kind comments about my dear Sydney. Apparently my mom had a change of heart and decided she couldn't go through with it, and is trying a couple of different things to deal with Syd's issues. Of course, my parents didn't tell me they had changed their minds until after I found her a loving home, so then I had to tell the kind individual "thanks, but no thanks." grrrrrr! I guess the important thing is that she is currently alive and well and I know I have a place for her to go if my parents again decide she isn't worth the trouble. I have lost quite a bit of respect for them over this, even though they didn't do it. The idea of it just sickened me. I have only spoken with them once since this whole thing happened, and it seemed a bit awkward. I'll see them this weekend, so we will see how that goes.

Again, thanks so much for the comments - I truly appreciate them. I am so sorry that I was unable to respond until now - I lost my beloved computer last week! ;_; I was infected with a nasty malware/rootkit and was unable to recover. I have never seen anything like this one - it had installed itself and had taken control of my system before I even realized there was a problem. It's called Windows Fix, in case you see it... very similar to Windows Repair, but more invasive! It blocked my administrator access, hid all my files, and made it impossible to run any executable files, except for Internet Explorer. It also redirected all Google searches to crap pages, ran non-stop IE scripts, and tried to bring up advertisements every couple of minutes. Like I said... I've never seen anything quite like this one! My hubby always says that the antivirus companies are the ones creating this stuff to keep themselves in business and I've always rolled my eyes and told him he was paranoid, but after all the things this one did... I'm a believer! No random person could create this - it was too good!

I was so frustrated at losing my computer... I have had a lot of problems over the years, but I never had come across something I couldn't fix - I've NEVER had to reformat, and I've had a computer since 1987. *sigh* I felt absolutely defeated, especially after consulting with a colleague and coming to the conclusion that it was my only option. It was a rather easy transition - my external hard drive was up and running, so I was able to easily transfer files and save everything that was needed, but still... ugh. I'm still running Windows Vista (yeah yeah yeah I'll upgrade when someone gives me extra $$... well, actually, I'll blow that on polish and stay with Vista!), so it took FOREVER to get from factory condition to the current updates. 100+ updates to SP1, another 40+ to get to SP2 and then a bunch more from there - took all day!! But, everything is up and running now, possibly a bit better than before! My other PC does work, though it is around 10 years old and slower than I would prefer, but Disqus won't load on it. Same with my work PC - Disqus just says it's loading forever, but nothing ever happens. Weird, eh?

Anyhoo... onto the swatches!

Zoya Sunshine totally caught my eye, once I saw Temptalia's swatches, I had to have them all! Fortunately, Zoya ran a BOGO on their summer collections, so I was able to pick up the ones I really wanted for minimal cost.

Apple is a beautiful spring green sparkle polish, like the springy sister of Ivanka. The finish on these is the same as the Sparkle collection, though Summertime is a bit more sheer. This was 3 coats of Apple and it went on very smoothly, dry time was great. I swatched without a basecoat though and this little minx stained me in the 10 minutes I wore her! :P

Tanzy is a medium orange, so blingy and sparkly! Three coats here. Reminded me quite a bit of one of the new Wet 'n Wild FastDry's, 9021Orange.

9021Orange was a bit brighter and more sheer - I think I used 4 coats in this swatch and it still has some VNL. I don't really know why they call it a FastDry... cos it definitely is not! You probably don't need both of these unless you are an orange fiend. The Wet 'n Wild is pretty danged cheap, but if I were choosing, I'd get the Zoya. It has a MUCH better brush, is more opaque, and actually dries!

I think Reva turned out to be my favorite, though I'm not usually a pink person. The formula was TDF, absolutely flawless, and the warm berry color looks great with the gold sparkle. 3 coats, but I think I could have gotten away with 2.

 

Faye was the one I was most looking forward to, and she didn't disappoint. I saw a lot of negative comments on her around the nail community, that the purple base was washed out by the gold sparkle, but I didn't think it was all that bad. The bling is rather blinding on the nail, but it also looks fabulous against that mauvey-purple base! And Faye always makes me think of Faye Valentine... any Cowboy Bebop fans out there? ;)

Rica is a pink-leaning coral that surprisingly, doesn't look as horrid on me as I imagined it would. I did waffle on this one, but finally decided to just get it and complete the collection. I'm glad I did - she'll look great this summer, especially on toes!

Finally, here is Kimmy, a gorgeous orange-based red. She's not quite as flashy as the others in this collection, but that doesn't mean much - she's still really lovely. A stainer though... don't forget your basecoat! 3 coats here, but definitely could have been ok with 2. Kimmy reminded me of Hard Candy's Lava, so I compared the two below.

The base colors are similar, but the finishes are different. Lava is a glitter, though removal is pretty easy compared to most glitters, but Kimmy definitely has that different foily shimmer common to this whole collection.


I really like this collection and can't wait for summer so I can wear them! I could start now, but our lack of sun would make it kinda pointless. :P I love the sparkle finish - it's all the fun of glitter, with none of the painful removal. These come off easily, though they do leave some sparklies on your skin. Application is great on all, and the dry time is good. My only complaint is the staining I got from Apple and Kimmy, but if I had been wearing basecoat like I *should* have been, I doubt it would have happened.


After I took off Tanzy, Reva, and Faye, I looked down at my little cotton round and it was beautiful - check it out!

It's like a sparkly butterfly! :D


As everyone knows by now, the Zoya Exchange has started and will be running for a week. My list is kinda huge... Dovima, Ali, Renee, Loredana, Robyn, Pinta, Jo, Paz, Purity, Irene, Perrie, Dana, Ki, and Yasmeen. It's pretty much my entire wishlist - yay to not lusting after any more Zoyas!

Are you participating in the Zoya Exchange? What are you ordering? What are you sending in?


Basecoat: none
Topcoat: none
Number of coats: 3

Zoya Intimate Swatches & Comparisons... and a plea for help

So... it's been 2 weeks since I've posted.  I don't want to constantly be saying "sorry 'bout that", but umm... sorry 'bout that.  I have been so stressed out with work and life that I really haven't felt like blogging.  I have been painting my nails, but only every 4-5 days or so, and I haven't been taking pictures.  I'm having a bit of trouble with my camera - it is suddenly refusing to capture light correctly, as you will see in these pics.  I almost didn't post them because they are all kinda dark and not what I prefer, but I haven't felt like re-swatching everything either, so I hope they are helpful to you.

Work has been just... terrible lately.  I really need to find another job.  I have been there nearly 10 years, but things have changed so much and it's just not a place I am comfortable working anymore.  :(  It's really sad, but it's the truth.  I had mentioned before that we switched our focus from service to sales, and with that came a daily sales requirement that is... well, I won't say it is unreachable, because it isn't impossible, but it isn't likely to happen.  My department started off very well with the new program and put a lot of effort into it, but then the bank decided to change the rules of the program and did not reward for the hard work like they had promised they would.  As a result, most of the department quit putting in the effort.  Since I am responsible for them, if they don't do it, I lose my job, so everyone is breathing down my neck.  I am basically begging the staff to put some effort into it, with hardly any improvement.  I asked the other day what would motivate them to their original efforts again, and was told nothing was going to do that.  Um... so basically, they have gotten me fired, along with themselves.  *sigh*  I love my staff and I absolutely understand their feelings, but they don't seem to understand that if they don't follow along with the program, we are all getting fired!!

In other life news... anyone in Illinois (or anywhere else that we can get her to!) willing to take in a very sweet and loving cat?  Sydney is my parents' cat, she is around 13 years old, black and tan tiger-striped and will be your very best friend.  She has had a few potty problems lately and my parents have decided to put her to sleep, even though otherwise, she is healthy and happy.  Recent vet visits have proven she has no diseases, but my parents do not want to deal with the inconvenience of these litter box problems and are going to have her put down.  I have begged them to let me have her and they refuse, same with taking her to the local humane society.  They claim they don't want her to be anyone else's problem, but that is not fair - someone else could love her and understand that there are potty issues with age.  I am so angry, hurt, disappointed, and disgusted with them.  I'm also not speaking to them, which does suck because we are normally very close.  I am hoping if I can find her a loving home, my parents would be willing to try that instead of killing her because she is inconveniencing them.  I wish I had a good picture to show you - if you look in her adorable little face, it is impossible to not love her. Sydney is tiny, weighs maybe 3 lbs?, has a tiny short tail that is all wonky and weird at the tip (we believe it was caught in something when she was young - we picked her out at the vet's office when she was a couple of years old, they found her roaming the streets), and is missing a bottom tooth (not sure when that happened, I just noticed the last time I was there that it was gone!).  She is extremely quiet - she actually is unable to make sounds!  When we first got her, she made little creaky sounds instead of meows, but within the last few years, she has lost the ability altogether.  She still tries, but no sound comes out.  She has the biggest green eyes and the sweetest little face.  Sydney wants to be everyone's best friend.  She will do anything for attention, including walking on her hind legs just trying to get you to pet her!  She currently lives with another cat and they get along great - he thinks she is his mother and she treats him as her own.  If anyone has any suggestions for anything else I can do to try to help her... please let me know.  I am heartbroken over this.  Here are a couple of blurry pics of Sydney with my hubby... she adores him and as much as he hates to admit it, the feeling is mutual:

So... moving on now to what you came here to read about - Zoya Intimate Collection.  I've had this for awhile... basically, since Cilucia at Spaz & Squee posted swatches and I HAD to have it!  She has a great post with them and great comparisons - check it out here.  I've done different comparisons than her, so hopefully between the two of us, you'll figure out what you need and what you can skip!

Dove is a light grey creme that leans neither blue, brown, or green - just a true grey.  Not too many of those around!  Similar in color to China Glaze's Pelican Gray, Cilucia compared them - PG has shimmer.  I tried another pale grey I had, Avon's Urban Grey.  Definitely not a match!

Compared to Dove, Urban Grey looks off white!

Marley is a shimmery lavender that is surprisingly opaque in two coats.  I dunno if I would classify it as a shimmer... it's more like a hidden shimmer, but it's not so hidden as, say, Essie Sew Psyched.  I don't have much in the way of lavenders (lemming Rumples Wiggin' bigtime!), but I do have this, Avon's Luxe Lavender.

Umm... again... no match.  Not even close.

Gemma is a dusty army green with a blue shimmer - totally unique, I haven't seen anything else like it!  I decided to try to make it myself with a similar colored polish topped with CND Ice Blue Shimmer.  Here are my results (resluts!):

From left to right: Essie Sew Psyched, American Apparel Army Jacket, and Gemma.  As you can see, Army Jacket topped with Ice Blue Shimmer comes close - if you have both of these, you might be able to skip out on Gemma. 

Caitlin is a beautiful periwinkle cream and honestly, I have nothing even close in my 700 +/- stash.  Others have said it is an exact dupe to Petites Periwinkle, but that polish is not available to me here, so I haven't gotten to see for sure.  All You Desire compared it to Spa Ritual's A World of Compassion and has stated they are dupes as well - check out her post here.  Then don't forget to come back - I know her, blog is AMAZING!

Dannii is a purple umm... I don't know what to classify this finish as!  Any suggestions?  It's kinda foily, but not a foil, and the little particles in it kinda remind me of a glass fleck, or something like Charla... but it's not really any of those things.  This is the one I was most excited for and I really love it.

In the bottle, the color seemed similar to Zoya Zara, but as you can see, totally different!

Finally we have Jules, another weird finish like Dannii, but this time in a gold/silver blend.  I like this one a lot more than I thought I was going to, it's pretty unique.  I heard rumours that it was dupe-ish to Wet 'n Wild's Shield and China Glaze's Swing Baby, but it really isn't... at all!

Left to right: Swing Baby, Shield, Jules.  The other two, besides being different colors, are way different in finish to the Zoya.

Overall, I was very pleased with this collection.  Nice range of colors, nothing is a total dupe to something in my stash, and application was great.  I think I did 2-3 coats on each (depending on color), which is pretty standard, especially for Zoya.

I've got to wrap this one up for tonight, as lots of other things are waiting on me (like hubby, who needs me to pick him up from work!), but please leave your thoughts in the comments.  I have switched over to Disqus because it is SO much better for replying to comments and keeping track of conversations, so please, comment away!

And any suggestions on the Sydney situation would be much appreciated.  *sniffles*

Basecoat: none

Topcoat: none

Number of coats: 2-3