Sephora by OPI in 212-Sephora

I got 212-Sephora (on the left) during the Friends & Family Sale a few weeks ago. It's always been unavailable whenever I checked, so when I finally saw that it wasn't while I was going through my final shopping cart edit, I had to grab it! Here is the description from the Sephora website:

212-Sephora Nail Color

What it is: A chic nail color inspired by New York City's after-dark dazzle.

What it does:
Sephora by OPI 212-Sephora Nail Colour is a limited-edition must-have shade created in celebration of the new Sephora 5 Times Square flagship store. This glamorous variation on black channels the essence of the exclusively fabulous 212 area code. It is only available online and at 5 Times Square! Put the final touch on fingertips and toes with this top-quality formula that continues the OPI legacy of excellence.

What else you need to know:
Sephora by OPI combines the quality and color expertise of OPI, the world leader in professional nail color, with Sephora's reputation for the latest in beauty and sophistication. The long-lasting, chip-resistant polish ensures flawless results with each application, and its green ingredient list excludes DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde.

I happen to like the Sephora by OPI line; they have some really great colors and the formula and brush are easy to work with. I've been looking for an alternative to the plain black nail polish that I see on so many girls (and boys!) at school, and this fulfilled that AND my penchant for glitter :)

It's described as a smoky black with iridescent, gold, and copper glitter. I really like the base color and the copper flakes!

This picture is the closest depiction of what the color looks like in real life. The "smoky black" is a bit olive green, no? Click for a closer look! This is with 3 coats of color and topcoat

With flash. Too bad these pictures don't show the depth of sparkle of this polish. The copper flakes look like they're trapped under the color and the gold and iridescent round glitter add to the shine. Reminds me a bit of dark, sparkly marble counters, if you know what I mean. Overall, I likey! Not my favorite, but definitely a nice little item to collect if you're into polish like I am :)

playing catch up 11/18/09

I need to stop with these sporadic updates! Lots of things to post, but let's start with a very late Halloween entry ;)

This year I went as Snow White! The last time I dressed up for Halloween was...maybe 6th grade? I forgot that costumes could be so expensive! >:(

I opted for a big emphasis on the eyes, and did upper and lower false eyelashes. A touch of blush and some red lipstick, and I was good to go!

Mirror, mirror on the wall....haha

The finished product!

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I spent my Halloween at church for a party that was planned for the kids. It was a lot of fun!

Some cuties in their costumes. Notice the absolutely adorable Tigger!!!

We had apple bobbing for the kids. Baby Tigger only wanted to play with the water! Ignore the guy pretending to kick him haha. Btw my red lipstick is my Shu Uemura in RD 165. Loves!

We had a cupcake decorating booth, too. Among other things, of course.

The boy diligently decorating cupcakes for me :)

He made me Keroppi and Hello Kitty cupcakes!!!! :D

Baby Tigger with a tiger mask <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG22FVe7eZaNUafBCbmaJ_JMKY7GytuQD-ukgNZhdjTQsGhI8z1kchyphenhyphenAmPgyYrYR1O4iBg58iDYksNf7gBXg0HWzFSWsBotfSk3bIn4KS8sWDBd9hEYZt6l3177E7DHfBzXPVlmnRUglU/s1600/Picture+329.jpg">Closer look of the cupcakes

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To me, one of the best things about this time of year is the abundance of all things PUMPKIN! I love the flavor of pumpkin!

The boy and I carved this Hello Kitty pumpking together. It turned out pretty nicely, no?

As you may be able to tell already, I love all things Hello Kitty

Pumpkin whoopie pie with cinnamon cream from The Corner Bakery. This was surprisingly tasty. I really liked the fragrant cinnamon cream

A trio of cupcakes from my favorite cupcake shop in LA, Susiecakes. Red velvet with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with vanilla cream, and PUMPKIN also with cream cheese frosting. The pumpkin cupcake was sooo good!

My faaaavorite pumpkin thing so far, though, is definitely this pumpkin cheesecake that I tried, also from Susiecakes. The cheesecake was super fluffy and perfectly sweet. The sour cream topping contrasted perfectly with the pumpkin flavor. I need to go back and get some more! I ate this one as slow as possible in order to savor it ;)

I'll end this post with a close up of my nails with Sephora by OPI in Queen of Everything. The Sephora site describes this as a "sterling gold" but I found that it was a pretty warm silver. I really liked this color. It gave my nails a really futuristic, mirror-like finish.

A picture of Queen of Everything from far away. There's Gracie resting on my shoulder!! She's so cute <3


Next up, a look at my haul from the Sephora Friends & Family Sale! :)

playing catch up 10/14/09

Things I have been loving lately:

Rimmel 60 Second Vinyl Shine nail polish in 874 Zenith. I've had this baby for YEARS...I can't remember when I got it, but it's been hiding out in my neglected nail polish stash. I have so many new ones to try that sometimes I forget about old favorites...does that ever happen to you?? Anyway I'm glad I rediscovered it!

Two coats on my toes. I really like this purple polish; at some angles you can see a cool blue tinge.

It was ok, but then I decided to up the ante and add a layer of the holographic top coat that I have yet to try. Suddenly my toes were blinged out and dazzling! Too bad this bad photo doesn't do it justice...in the sunlight it sparkles wayyyyy more

Picked up this EOS lip balm sphere from Rite Aid last week. Isn't it adorable?? This one is Honeydew Honeysuckle flavor. Smells so good! It reminds me of those Korean melon bars...mmm.. :)

SIGH....too bad the quality of the cuteness doesn't extend to the product itself. The actual lip balm isn't very moisturizing, rubs off quickly, and isn't emollient enough to spread on the lips easily. So sad! I wanted this balm to work for me. Now, I'm mostly using it because I like it the way I would like a toy: fun to play with but not practical.

BUT I did get some Thrifty ice cream while at Rite Aid! Black Cherry flavor :) I love Rite Aid ice cream, it's so cheap but yummy at the same time! And the shape is kind of cool

One of my roomies brought back this box of chocolates from Switzerland. OMG they were the best truffles I have ever tasted! I wish American chocolate could taste like this :(

And look at this beautiful tin box! A nice departure from those paper See's Candies boxes, eh?

The same roomie also got these bags of colorful little pellets that turn into those tapioca-like spheres when soaked in water for 4 hours. They're supposed to be used for decoration, but I have been tempted so many times to eat them! Don't you wish boba could look these colors??

Random picture. Find Gracie! :)

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Something I have NOT been liking lately:

Sephora by OPI matte nail polish in Domestic Goddess. I bought this in hopes of getting a pretty purple matte. Instead, what I got was chalky ugliness. I was so disappointed! I took this one off first chance I got. It doesn't look too bad in this picture, but in real life, it was bad enough for the boy to ask me what I was wearing on my fingers. And he usually doesn't notice my nail color unless it's super pretty or super ugly. This time it was the latter. I'll be sticking to Zoya for matte polishes from now on. I realized that I don't like OPI's mattes. Just personal preference I guess

Sephora by OPI in Under My Trench Coat

Described as a "light grey khaki with gold shimmer", Under My Trench Coat (one of Sephora's newest colors) satisfied this week's need for a more muted nail color. As always, this color looks so much better in real life. I like how it's so different from the bold, bright colors that I usually sport. Definitely a hit for fall!

I think this picture does the color the most justice...the other pictures make the color look too grey. This picture above captures the khaki

Click for a closer look at the shimmer!

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So it seems I have a bit of a nail obsession as of late....I can't stop eyeing and buying nail polish! I haven't even tried all the colors I currently have and still I continue to add to the collection. Meet my three newest acquisitions:

From left to right: Mod Hatter, Berry Berry Broadway, and Sahara Sapphire

I stopped by a random beauty salon a few days ago and noticed that they were doing a 50% off sale on a bunch of discontinued OPI and Orly colors. I ended up getting these three because they look like very winter-y colors, no?

Also gave in to those rave reviews for Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. For $9.99 it's definitely a very pricey top coat, but after I tried it last night on top of three coats of Under My Trench Coat, I could understand why people love it so much. It made my awkwardly painted right hand nails (sooo hard for me to paint with my left hand since I'm right-handed!) super smooth and perfect. AND it really did dry fast (though not as fast as my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat) and make my nails look incredibly shiny. The formula is a bit thicker than traditional top coat polishes, but that didn't bother me at all. Definitely my new favorite!


Last, but not least, another top coat polish. This one is supposed to make whatever color polish is underneath look holographic. I was intrigued, so I swatched a bit on top of my Ocean Love Potion polish and it looked pretty cool! I can't wait to try this on top of a darker color though :)

Sephora by OPI in Ocean Love Potion

Have a full day ahead of me, but before I go, a quick view of one of my new nail polishes :D

Sephora by OPI in Ocean Love Potion, described by Sephora as a "Mediterranean turquoise". I likey! It's a cool blue-green that's a nice pop of color but isn't too bright. Btw, this is after 5 days of wear, with a base coat, 2 coats of color, and a top coat...pretty good right?

With flash!

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A peek at some of the things I got at Sephora last week, except all the Benefit products, which were given to me. Will be reviewing them shortly!

Also, I've been meaning to try out some drugstore brand mascaras, and this waterproof Cover Girl Lash Blast was first. So far, it's ok, but definitely not up to par with my DiorShow Iconic Extreme Waterproof mascara. The brush's big size makes application a bit messy, and for some reason, I could NOT for the life of me remove it all at the end of the day. Even after waterproof eye makeup wipes and a thorough rinsing in the shower with Cetaphil face wash, there was still some gunk. I guess I have to applaud its staying power, but that's just too much trouble for me! Other than that, it gives pretty good volume and definition, but not as much length as my Dior

Going to the club tonight, so I'll try to make my first FOTD post! :D