NARS Orgasm Nail Polish Review + Swatch

My favourite blusher is the cult favourite NARS Orgasm, so it only made sense that when I thought I'd lost it, I'd immediately re-purchase another.
So, the last time I bought the Orgasm/Laguna duo, I also got the Orgasm nail polish which I was exciiiiiiiited about because, sex on my face AND nails, it couldn't get any better, right? Hmm, that sounded kind of...dirty...

It looks very chic, and it has the NARS signature rubbery top (we all know what a pain that is when you've got a NARS product in your handbag, eh ladies. All the dirt, assemble!). The brush itself is quite standard and the formula itself is runny. The frustrating thing is that it's very light in colour, so it takes at LEAST 3 layers to become opaque. Even then, it's not completely opaque, as you can see in my next photo.

The one thing I was super impressed with was the longevity of the nail polish. I am a lazy potato-bug and I usually can't be bothered with a top coat (tell me I'm not the only one). Sans a top coat, this nail polish stayed chip free for almost 3 days! How amazing is that? Any other nail polish would chip within the first 12 hours, but this one, ho boy, really stayed strong.

I was a bit sceptical about the colour of the nail polish, i.e. it not matching the blusher, but when I swatched the blusher on my hand, it was pretty much a 100% match! In the pan, the blusher looks a lot more pink, but swatched on the hand, you could see the beautiful coral/golden colour.

I think I'm currently too pale to wear this shade, but it would look absolutely lovely on someone with tanned skin. Nevertheless, it won't put me off wearing it, it truly is a gorgeous colour that I doubt is easy to find.

Tell me, friends, what NARS nail polish do you covet? Are they any good, or are their blushes really only worth the moola?

Essie Borrowed & Blue Review + Swatch (I'm In Love!)

Guys, I am so excited about this nail polish, I actually can't believe how much I love it. It was love at first sight when I saw it on the absolutely gorgeous Annabelle from Vivaluxury, and I knew it had to be in my life ASAP. When I finally got my sticky little hands on it, I knew this would be the start of a full blown affair with this polish.

How appropriate that my first ever Essie nail polish is one that I absolutely adore but is a limited edition? It's from the 2011 Wedding Collection and it's just the most gorgeous pale blue colour I've ever come across in a bottle. It reminds me of that really pale blue colour that you see when you're looking at the sky on a clear day, and it's peaking off into almost white. That's the sort of colour this nail polish is; basically a sunny day's sky in a bottle. It tends to look bluer inside and outside it washes out to an almost white, as you can see from Annabelle's photo.

Now, this nail polish can do no wrong by me in regards to colour, but formula-wise...it makes for one very frustrated blogger. I imagine because it's an older polish that's the reason why it's thick and gloopy, and it's just a nightmare to apply. I've read a few reviews by other people who've complained how crapola Essie's formulas are; they tend to chip immediately and not last very long. Unfortunately I've found this is very true with this polish, even with a top coat, it lasts a day max without very obvious chipping. Day two, goodbye nice looking nails.

We're going sky high, baby, you and I.

 I didn't get the chance to take a photo of my nails as soon as I'd painted them, so here they are in their couple of days old glory! Keeping it real for y'all!

...I seriously love this nail polish way too much. I've been reapplying it, that's how much I love it! And I can never be bothered to reapply the same colour so soon after I've taken it off!

I bought mine here but if you're living in the States, I bet there's a seller on eBay who's selling it for less. International beauties, this is the cheapest I've found it on the internets.

What do you think of this colour? Are you dying to have it in your life right now? What polish have you not been able to take off?

Canmake Colorful Nails #10 Lavender Milk Swatch + Review

I've never really been the girl that was into nail polishes. Sometimes a certain colour took my fancy, but very rarely did I buy them. 

Until now.

Of course, living in Japan, it's all about the long eyelashes, big eyes and pretty nails, so there are many different brands of nail polish available to the average Japanese girl. After lusting after many a pastel coloured nail polish featured on various beauty blogs, RosyChicc's post on Essie's Lilacism polish really was the last straw for me. I was going to have a beautiful purple pastel coloured nail polish in my life, if it was the last thing I bought!

I went to Daiwa, a big department store, as I recalled them having some Essie nail polishes, but unfortunately the selection was teeny and Lilacism wasn't there. Before I caught the train back home, I went to browse in a beauty shop in the big mall next to the station when, lo and behold!, a beautiful pastel purple polish twinkled out amongst the other non-pastel polishes! At under 400 yen, it was an easy and quick purchase.

 

I am really not with it when it comes to popular beauty brands in Japan, but I've seen the Canmake Colorful Nails a few times, so I imagine it's a well-known brand. They had an array of other colours, and I may have to go back for the pastel green and yellow that I also spotted.

 

The colour is called 'Lavender Milk' and I believe it to be quite an apt name for the shade; a very light and creamy lavender colour. Not so sure about the description of it:"A gentle, sweet lavender like the Little Mermaid." 

Oh Japan. It sure is like the Little Mermaid...

I am sorry about the light, in the late afternoon light, it looks a lot darker than it actually is. During the day time it is a very light colour. The application wasn't bad, I found that I didn't get enough polish often, and because it dried so quickly, I'd get angry at the obvious horrible layering I'd done. It was still very streaky with 2 coats, so 3 coats it was. Even with 3 coats, I still felt a bit underwhelmed with the formula, but I love the colour.

 

So, I've got myself my first spring nail polish, how about some of that spring temperature, ay, Japan?

What is your spring nail colour this year? Any recommendations? Should I be worried that my nail polish addiction will get worse?

 

Nail polish of the Ice Age: OPI My Private Jet Review

The cold weather persists and even though spring isn't that far away, it feels like I'm going to be stuck in the Ice Age forever. 
To make myself feel better about the cold, I decided to paint my nails with a nail polish my BFF got me a wee while ago. And I thought, seeing as I was being so productive, I might as well do my own review on this beautiful OPI nail polish that is known to be as Kim Kardashian's favourite shade (I've sold it to you already, surely).

Natural Light

My Private Jet is a beautiful, really dark charcoal colour with really fine flecks of silver that give depth to the colour. In the bottle you can see this sheen of amber when you rotate it in the light, it looks absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately this doesn't translate onto your nails, but it does look beautiful if you're just staring at the bottle itself. After reading around a bit, My Private Jet has been reformulated at least a few times; there is the original holo version, one which has a blue sheen to it, and then there's my one, which has the amber hue to it.

Applied, you can leave it on your nails with one coat, streakiness is pretty minimal, but I always apply two coats and find this the perfect amount. I was very smart and didn't put on a top coat on the first day when I wearing this, and no chipping occurred, and I was over the moon, but when I applied the top coat the following day, I found that I had enough chipping by the third day that I had to take it all off, boo. There go my sexy nails.

Natural light, attempting to show the pretty amber tone in the bottle

A bit further away from the glarey sun

Overall, this is an absolutely beautiful polish that even with the chipping, I would still recommend at least having a perve at when you're by your OPI stand next time.

What is your favourite dark coloured nail polish? Are you also sticking to the darker colours because of the weather?