Do you believe in MAGIC

November 26, 2010

So I had a funny yet tiring Black Friday. Here's a mani. from the vault, OPI DS Magic. The mani. is 2 coats and 1 coat of top coat. I absolutely love Magic! It's so beautiful and it's a royal blue holographic! :) Totally awesomeeeeeee<333

hope you enjoyed,

<3katherine

P.S. - I don't know if everyone has OPI Mad as a Hatter but I just found it on Ricky's the website for $9.99 if you don't want to dish out a lot of money. http://www.rickysnyc.com/beauty-makeup-products/nails/opi-nail-polish-collection-13.html

Also before Black Friday ends check out ELF because there's Buy 1 Get 1 50% off SITEWIDE! and free shipping for orders over $30 (after the bogo 50%)!!

Chanel + OPI

November 16, 2010

So these were another part of my birthday present, one from my bf and one from my friend. :)♥ Totally awesome because it now adds to my lonely Nouvelle Vague in my collection :P

These were wrapped with white wrapping paper and then individually had a Chanel bow tied around them, so adorable! I wish I got a picture of them wrapped before I tore it apart LOL!

Chanel Soho Collection Steel

black with silver shimmer. I like that the shimmer isn't too big and overpowering on this and it's simple. The mega brownie points came from the fact that it took me only ONE coat for this swatch! :) The application was good and although the formula was a little on the thick side, it helped making it a one coater. :) LOVEEE it?

Chanel Soho Collection Strong

black with purple shimmer. I like the shimmer but it doesn't show that much, it looks so nice on the bottle, rawr! But on the plus side, it's another one coater! :D I freaking LOOOOVE the flash picture of this♥!

IN OTHER NEWS, I ordered Chanel Riva :D ~ I hope I get it soon!!

And in even better news,

100 winners will be receiving a set 6 retired OPI's from OPI!! Isn't that awesome?

- Kinky in Helsinki

- Smokin In Havana

- Hoodoo Voodoo

- Parlez-Vous OPI

- Sahara Sapphire

- Cheyenne Pepper

The only thing is that this is only for US residents :(

To enter, you must 'Like' OPI's Facebook Page, then fill out the entry form for the giveaway & maybe you can refer me! :) [Katherine Wu]

Hope you enjoyed,

<3katherine

Fight like a Woman

Find Strength in the Power of Pink. China Glaze Nail Lacquer gets gloves ready to join in the Fight Against Breast Cancer.

Join China Glaze Nail Lacquer this October in the battle against breast cancer, one nail at a time! The professional line of nail lacquers brings on the fight with 3 powerful pinks. Inspired by the women who fight everyday and those that support them in their battle, these fabulous shades are sure to help you defeat the toughest opponents with style and cass. China Glaze representative Rachel Schafer voiced that "in an industry dominated by women, for women, it is important that we strive to work together towards finding a cure."

The three colors in "Fight Like A Woman" include:

Encouragement - a baby pink shimmer that brings on the cheer

Endurance - power through the punches with this raspberry shimmer

Empowerment - stand up tall with this cotton-candy crème on your nails

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization dedicated to the science of cancer and promoting international collaboration in cancer research.

The "Fight Like A Woman" collection will be available at professional beauty supply stores and select salons this September. Availability will be very limited internationally.

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* China Glaze and other nail polish companies have continued to create nail polishes in order to show and raise awareness of breast cancer. This never really affected me although I am aware of it. But recently this has affected my life for a few months as my mom found out that she has breast cancer. It was really tough and sad for me to watch my mom go through surgeries and trying to get over the pain. It hit me hard and I hope that my mom will get through it and I think she will. I went to one doctor's visit with her; usually my dad goes with her but he couldn't since he just got back to work from a one week vacation taking care of my mom after she had a surgery to take out remaining lymph nodes, and the doctor said that it's unlikely that she will have to go through chemotherapy. I'm glad to hear that because I know that she won't have to suffer a lot more in the future but I hope that she will get better. This taught me to be more aware about my body and about breast cancer because it isn't curable. But maybe in the future it will be. :)♥

<3katherine

ps. the shades look amazing! I'd probably pick up 2 of each♥

Quest for YELLOW nail polish!

Heart tips on ring finger and french on the other fingers. I couldn't think of another way of describing it, lol. Since I'm a righty, it's easier for me to do the nail art on my left hand rather than the opposite. My nail art isn't as nice on my right hand & the heart isn't as nice looking as my left. The glittler outer part of the heart is thicker than the other side :(. On the bright side, it still looks like a heart.

So after I prepped my nails & applied base coat, I used Essie's Mint Candy Apple. Be careful with this polish because although the color looks nice and the formula is good and thin, the application is tougher than you think because you have to make it equal. Though the first coat might not look equal, be sure to make your second coat equal. I used 2 coats of MCA and then applied a top coat. When it dried, I drew the outline of the heart on the ends of my ring finger, filled in the heart and applied a gold outline over the white heart. Wait until it dries & seal it with top coat again for the finishing touch.

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Walgreen Mini Haul/Purchase

first swatch picture is 4 coats & no top coat

second swatch picture is 5 coats & no top coat

Rimmel London French Rose. Sheer jelly light pink chiffon - I bought this color because I needed a french manicure/pedicure color. I never tried this brand and the brush size really surprised me, lol. The formula is sheer and the application is smooth. Doesn't dry as fast as OPI, Essie or China Glaze but not bad in terms of waiting for my nails to dry.

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine: 2 coats and 1 coat of top coat

Turquoise with shimmer - reminds me of China Glaze's Tuned Up Turquoise, unfortunately I don't have that bottle anymore so I can't do a comparison swatch - maybe in the future if I remember. The formula was good and the application goes smoothly. The only thing I didn't like was that a lot of nail polish gets on the brush and the rod that holds the brush and there's always a ball of nail polish rolling down from the brush. :\ But it dries quick and when it's dry it looks like a matte polish but looks better with top coat. Love the color & if you're looking for something similar to CG Tuned Up Turquoise, this should be your color. :)

Sinful Colors Mint Apple: 2 coats and 1 coat of top coat

Dusty mint jade with small gold shimmer - similar to Sinful Colors Rise and Shine but just a lighter and dustier shade. Not really that close to Mint Candy Apple although the name is has 2 of the 3 words of it, lol. Good formula and smooth application. Dries fast too! I likey :).

Maybelline Banana Bamba: 3 coats and 1 coat of top coat

lemon/banana yellow with slight shimmer. Two coats is good also but I wanted the color to be even. The formula is good but applying it isn't that good. If your coat is uneven then then it shows in the second and third coat that it's been applied unevenly. Not a bad color, I really like it but I don't think it looks nice with my skintone.

My journey to find a nice yellow polish that would match my skintone is still in progress. I've tried China Glaze Golden Opportunity which didn't work out and the Maybelline Banana Bamba hasn't quite captured me when I look at my hand. :\ Does anyone have any suggestions to a nice yellow? I'm planning on getting China Glaze's Lemon Fizz to give it another shot, hopefully I'll get it soon.

I'm thinking about doing a giveaway when I reach a certain amount of followers on my blog. I haven't picked out what I'm going to give away but definitely new polishes! :) Keep tuning in to check when I will have my first give away!

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Thanks to Katrina for posting it in her blog! :)♥ Zoya's is having their nail polish exchange this year! I didn't participate last year but this year I'm definitely going to since I don't own a single bottle of Zoya.

So the deal is, for every bottle you want to exchange is $3.50 and in exchange, you get to pick the Zoya nail polishes you want. :) You could pay by credit card, check or money order.

I picked out 20 bottles of old nail polishes that I'm going to exchange for: Ava, Akyra, Charla, Harley, Indigo, Ivanka, Ki, Kotori, Lexi, Luna, Midori, Pippa, Raven, Rea, Richelle, Shivon, Suvi, Trixie, Veruschuka and Zara

I'm excited to try out Pippa because it's YELLOW! And following this blog post, is to continue my quest for the perfect yellow that will fit my skintone!

Anyways, let me know which Zoya's you like or want or thinking about exchanging for! :)

<3katherine