OPI Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede

My apologies for not blogging over the week. I have felt lazy like the dog that the quick brown fox jumped over.

Classes have been tiring, to say the least. I have a lecturer who looks like E.T. (I kept thinking about what would happen if little Drew Barrymore walked in) and another one who has a really thick Indian accent and sometimes mumbles. Not that I'm not used to accents, but the mumbling really makes it hard to catch what he's saying.

I had 3 hours of lab today. THREE HOURS. And our lab was a total fail. I hope that isn't an indication of the rest of the course. 

I took Boots Poolside Blue off before taking my shower, but I was feeling bloated and a little bit nauseous so I still haven't done anything with my nails. I hope I don't have to go anywhere before getting the chance to do my nails tomorrow. I helped my mom get OPI DS Signature on her nails though. I have got to swatch that sometime. The holo is amazing!

Anyway, I can't type much because I think my body is about to just give up on me soon. Just typing all that up there has made my right wrist feel tired. All that pipette-ing just now really made me feel like I was in CSI :D

My friends gave this to me for my birthday last year, it was a late present, but still, better late than never. Haha. We took AGES trying to decide which one to buy. I knew my wishlist was way too long, and pretty much anything that I didn't have which I liked would've been great. We decided to not get something with a normal finish and went for a suede.

I think I've mentioned the story of the whole lady-giving-me-matte-instead-of-suede thing, but I'm too lazy to dig it up. We FINALLY decided on OPI Ink Suede but they didn't have it so we chose Russian Navy Suede. Happily, I left the shop and went home to just try it on one finger, because it was so damn tempting. I realised it was matte, not suede. I went back to the shop and told them what happened, and they made sure I hadn't opened the bottle yet (ssshh!) and they agreed to change it, only.. they didn't have Russian Navy Suede, so I settled for this one instead.

Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede is.. gunmetal grey? I've never seen a gun, or the metal it's made of. I love the texture of this one. It's so smooth and nice to touch. The lady at Sasa even complimented me on it. She was so in awe, she even called her colleague over to have a look. She thought it was matte. See, this is what happens when Sasa doesn't carry OPI.

I did two coats, and it was a little bit tough for me because I like to paint slowly or I get polish all over the skin on the sides of my nails. But it all worked out, kind of. I did use a base coat even though the little paper thingy that came with it said not to use base coat or top coat. It just didn't feel right without a base coat.

First 4 photos taken under my desk lamp, last 3 in daylight.

I expected the wear to be really bad, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. Below is a picture of the tip wear I had after a day. Barely any. But once it starts chipping, then.. it really chips.

 

I've run out of things to type and I'm seriously about to fall asleep right now. I am so gonna sleep earlier for classes. One day. Eventually. Maybe.

OPI Teenage Dream

Okay, remember a billion years ago (actually about 3 weeks ago) I showed you Teenage Dream on China Glaze White On White? And then after that, I didn't want to show you Teenage Dream by itself because I didn't like the swatches?

I decided to try again, this time using my right hand to paint and with the help of my good friend, the sun. So, forgive my awkward fingers. My left hand doesn't have as much coordination as my right. Extremely imbalanced.

Another thing that you must do, which is probably the most important one, ignore my stained nails. The bottom half of my nails are significantly more stained than the top half, for some reason. This makes the swatches look kinda weird, but I'm sure if you cover it with your finger or something...

If I'm not mistaken, I did 2 coats with top coat. And all of the pictures were taken in day/sunlight. They probably wouldn't have happened if there hadn't been any sun. There's still a little bit of VNL but I'm sure a third coat will fix it.

I wanted to post this while it was still kind of current. It looks like I have some gross gradient going on. The top half of my nail (just below the cuticle) is what it should look like, the bottom half is what it would look like if your nails are really stained like mine.

Really.. If you just use one hand to cover the bottom half of my nails on each pic, it'll look quite alright (: These pictures are much better than my previous ones (which I have deleted), but not that great. Maybe when I can see a decrease in the level of staining, I'll try again. I still think Kellie Gonzo has somehow worked magic with this one, which you can see here.

I didn't wear this as a mani, I only swatched it. I've read that it peeled off after a few days, which actually happened to my mom as well. I did also use this for a gradient mani on my mom but I didn't take any pictures. I'll probably try to re-do it on myself once I get the time.

But anyway, thank you, Katy Perry, for this awesome polish. Now why won't people do more awesome reds instead of pinks?!

I ate a rather rare piece of steak for lunch today, and I think that plus the wild berries tea made me feel sick. I couldn't even bring myself to go for my friend's birthday dinner. I am NEVER eating steak that rare again, EVER! In fact, I might just pass up on steak for the next few centuries or so. And when my aunt came out of her room smelling like berries, I felt a little sick again. Damn classical conditioning. And the Garcia effect. Or.. not? My Psychology is a little rusty already :/

Tomorrow will be my first day of classes at university! Luckily I have an awesome friend who'll be going through the next 4 years with me, but.. sometimes even friends can't save you from the horrors of university.

China Glaze Ruby Pumps & Lubu Heels

I am extremely brain-fogged right now. I have so much sleep debt (this is an actual term), I think I'll have to sleep 'til I'm 80 to get rid of it.

I kind of miss Psychology. All the cool stuff I get to learn about why people turn out the way they are, why people do certain things, etc.. I didn't learn everything there is to learn but what I did was good enough (:

Also, I've been seeing bloggers posting about being pestered just because they haven't been updating at the same frequency as they used to, and it completely pisses me off. You may not have a life, but these bloggers do. They have jobs, family, friends, and they're not getting paid to blog. They still have to work to get bread (and polish) on the table.

It's the blogger's blog and the bloggers can do whatever they want with it. You chose to follow it, and if you're unsatisfied, then don't whine about it to the blogger, just unfollow. You're not the owner of the blog or the blogger. If you're so damn concerned about the frequency of posting, create your own damn blog. You can post every bloody hour if you want to. Just leave the bloggers alone. You may not have known this, but life exists outside the Internet!

Anyway, I can't believe I waited this long to try Ruby Pumps. I actually wanted to pair it with Emerald Sparkle for Christmas but my package arrived late (do NOT wanna go back to that again). So, finally, I paired it with Lubu Heels.

Ruby Pumps is a red base with what looks to me like red glitter. I have to say, I think this could be my new favouritest red polish EVER. It's sparkly, it's red, it's stunning in all types of lighting, and even looks great under a matte topcoat. It definitely has depth, I feel like I could jump into it and swim forever (even though I can't swim). I am just blown away by this one. If China Glaze ever discontinues it, I will march over to the China Glaze HQ and beat everyone to a pulp.

Lubu Heels is also gorgeous, but doesn't outshine Ruby Pumps. It's a black base with red glitter. I wish the glitter would be more apparent, but I love it nonetheless. I think before I even knew about it, that I wanted a black with red glitter and this one came along.

I know that there's a mani (can't remember what it's called) that has Lubu Heels on top of the nail, and Ruby Pumps on the bottom. It's supposed to resemble a Louboutin shoe. Obviously my nails aren't long enough for that.

I did 3 coats of each polish on alternating fingers with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat. You might see some scratches/sheet marks, because I painted this late at night. All photos were taken in daylight unless stated otherwise.

L-R: Lubu Heels, Ruby Pumps, Lubu Heels, Ruby Pumps

I had a little bit of sun! This completely put me in a swatching mood.

Under my desk lamp to see Lubu Heels better. The color of Ruby Pumps is completely inaccurate here. It's not pinkish, it's red.

A close-up look of Ruby Pumps. I just love this one so much (:

Taken under my desk lamp. Ruby Pumps with China Glaze Matte Magic top coat. Obviously I didn't really pay attention while putting on Matte Magic. I'll know to be more careful next time. Again, it's red, not pink.

Taken under my desk lamp. You can really see the red glitter in Lubu Heels here.

Taken under my desk lamp. Lubu Heels with Matte Magic.

 

Taken under my desk lamp. A blurry picture to show you the sparkles.

Edit: This totally reminded me of cards. Like a deck of cards. You know, red and black?

I did some swatching on that sunny-ish day. Which is why I have many posts waiting to be posted. But I won't be pulling them out until I have to. I have two weeks of classes and then a one week break for Chinese New Year, which is when I expect to be unable to post, since I'll be heading out of town for a few days.

My aunt just got back from Norwich and brought me 18 polishes. Unfortunately, she took the wrong luggage home yesterday and had to wait for the other guy who took hers to return it. It's sitting downstairs now. Both the luggage and I are waiting for her to come home and open it. I am beyond excited!

I hope the pesky buggers will leave the bloggers alone, and go out and smell the fresh air.

Etude House swatches

I actually have a bunch of swatches lined up but it's 3am and it took me an hour to sift through and pick the good ones. I had 84 pictures of my Lubu Heels & Ruby Pumps combo mani, just to give you an idea of what I had to do. I think I need to go to photo rehab. None of the pictures have been watermarked and I don't have the time to do it now.

Speaking of rehab, I woke up super early today to go on a field trip to a drug rehab centre in the middle of nowhere. My classes start next week. I have two weeks of classes and then a week of holiday for Chinese New Year and then back to class.

After my university interview last Monday, my friend and I went to the mall and watched The Tourist. Which was one hell of a movie. I loved that they put Johnny Depp in white and blue striped pyjamas, but I was completely taken aback by the ending. I was like.. Mind. Blown. It's just too good.

We went around trying on polishes on her nails. We went into Etude House because.. I wanted to. And since I had Color Club Coastal Creme on, I couldn't try out any of the polishes. Luckily, my friend never does her nails. EVER. They're not in the best shape but if she doesn't care about it, I won't because they're not my nails. She likes her nails as short as they will go.

Before you go on, take note that these are not my hands or nails, I did Photoshop the skin around the nails a little and none of these are in my stash (yet, anyway). I assure you that I do not and have not Photoshopped my own nails.

The sun came out, so we had some good lighting. But two girls sitting outside the mall (still within the mall's compounds) taking pictures of their nails probably was a little funny. All swatches are in daylight, no base coat or top coat and are one coat each.

Etude House actually has some pretty cool polishes. I didn't know the names of any of these, and they probably are just labeled with a code, instead of a name.

This is a black base with blue/purple duochrome flake glitter. This was way too cool. I wish I had a top coat so I could see how it would look. I think it would still be pretty badass. The tester in the store had thickened up so this was one thick coat.

Large and small hexagonal glitter in a clear base with tiny silver flake glitter. This would be great for layering or gradients.

 

Purple holo. This was gorgeous. I didn't expect a brand like Etude House to have a holo, but they do! It's a beautiful scattered holo. Looks like a two-coater too. 

I'm sorry the swatches are messy. I couldn't do clean up. Also, my friend has tiny nails and I think both our hands weren't that steady when I was painting. But thanks, friend, for being my 'model' for the day (:

I would buy these, if only I had more money. And if only I hadn't spent some money buying some flakie polishes from Sasa. I'm contemplating whether or not to buy Orly Space Cadet.. What do you think?

Nature Republic EPP401

Again with the crappy name. At least name it something lame like Purple, rather than leave it as a code.

This was also gifted to me by my aunt for Christmas. This reminds me somewhat of China Glaze Flying Dragon. That's probably why I decided to re-name it Dragon's Breath Beard. I just realised why Dragon's Breath sounds so familiar. It's a BB Couture polish. Fine. Dragons have beards, right?

Anyway, it's right in that alley of polish named after dragons. Purple with pink and blue shimmer. I did 3 coats with top coat. No sun pictures because the sun didn't want to see me. All photos taken under my desk lamp. Excuse the tip wear and the below par photos. They were taken after a couple of days of wear and I don't know why I didn't go all quality control on those pictures.

The wear was good, no chipping, just tip wear. The only chips I got were because my nails were peeling and some parts are thinner than others and chip more easily.

You can see a bit of streakiness here, but it's hardly visible in person.

I'm absolutely exhausted from my lack of sleep and the university orientation I went for was torture. It was so cold, I was shivering like... like something that shivers! I think my brain cells are frozen from this morning. My teeth were chattering and I was shaking all over. It took some effort to not let my legs give way while I was walking down the stairs.

Well, only another 2 days to go of this thing. Plus the next 1.5 years, if I'm lucky.

My aunt will be returning a couple of days earlier than planned from the UK, I can't wait to see what she brought me :D