OPI Burlesque Holiday 2010 (Glitters)

Burlesque joins the likes of Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Shrek Forever After, partnering up with nail polish brand, OPI, for their annual holiday collection. I've only seen one trailer for Burlesque, and based on that, it is a musical film about a girl trying to become a burlesque entertainer in modern times. Burlesque is an over-the-top form of entertainment, and the polishes released in this collection emulate the essence of that. The collection has two parts, one consisting of 6 glitters, and the other with 6 shimmers. I only have the glitters to show you, as I didn't purchase all of the 6 shimmers. I don't think you guys will mind though, because the glitters are definitely the stars of this collection.

From left to right: Sparkle-icious, Glow Up Already!, Extra-Va-Vaganza!, Show It & Glow It!, Simmer & Shimmer, Bring On The Bling



All of the glitters have multi-colored glitter mixed in with the base glitter color. The only exception is Sparkle-icious, which is all multi-colored. Swatch time!

Bring On The Bling in natural light.
Bring On The Bling with flash.
Bring On The Bling is a gold glitter. It is definitely as flashy as gold. This isn't the most exciting glitter for me... if it was the sole glitter released, I think it would get more attention. Here it is shown in 3 coats with no base or top coat.

Extra-Va-Vaganza! in natural light.
Extra-Va-Vaganza! with flash.
Extra-Va-Vaganza! is an orange glitter. The silver glitter mixed in with the orange sometimes makes it flash gold. If you're planning on buying all the glitters but want to cut back, I think you could go with either cutting Extra-Va-Ganza or Bring On The Bling! because they're in a similar color family. Here it is shown in 3 coats with no base or top coat.

Glow Up Already! in natural light.
Glow Up Already! with flash.
Glow Up Already! is a pale green glitter. It wasn't as intense in green as I thought it would be, but it is a really nice, light glitter. If you want to be bold without drawing too much attention, this is a good choice of polish. Here it is shown in 3 coats with no base or top coat.

Simmer & Shimmer in natural light.
Simmer & Shimmer with flash.
Simmer & Shimmer is a medium ice-blue glitter. When I first saw the official photos by OPI, I thought it was going to be more similar to OPI's Absolutely Alice. The blue is less intense, steering away from royal and electric blue, and more towards slightly turquoise and icy-blue. My favorite color is blue, though... so I don't mind having more than one blue glitter. Here it is shown in 3 coats with no base or top coat.

Show It & Glow It! in natural light.
Show It & Glow It! with flash.
Show It & Glow it! is a purple glitter. I've seen it described as fuchsia, but it looks a little more blue versus red or pink to me. This is really rich in color compared to the other shades, with seem to run lighter than they look. Here it is shown in 3 coats with no base or top coat.

Sparkle-icious in natural light.
Sparkle-icious with flash.
Sparkle-icious is a multi-colored glitter, featuring blue, gold, and purple. The glitters seem pretty evenly distributed to me, but if I had to pick one color to describe this polish, it would be royal purple. I really like this polish. Here it is shown in 3 coats with no base or top coat.

Overall, I really love all these glitters. My favorite from this collection would be Sparkle-icious with Simmer & Shimmer as a runner up. Definitely get Sparkle-icious if you missed out on Mad As A Hatter. They are similar in the sense that they're both multi-glittered, but the colors used are significantly different. Not dupes at all. I'm not a huge fan of orange or gold, so if you aren't either, you could pass on either Extra-Va-Vaganza! or Bring On The Bling. Of course, since these are glitters, the removal is more difficult than usual. You can see on some of my swatches how glittery my fingers started to get. Application was smooth and the glitters are build-able! You can always use them over another base color to get a different look. This collection is not out in stores but you can purchase online right now.

What's your favorite glitter? Least favorite? Love them all? Let me know what you guys think!

Disclaimer: These polishes were purchased on my own.

MAC Venomous Villains Nail Lacquer

At the end of last month, I picked up a few things from MAC's Disney collaboration: Venomous Villains. Today, I have some swatches to show you! I'm sure many of you have already seen swatches, but my philosophy on beauty and cosmetics is that you can never get enough input and opinions! The more the merrier, right? Hopefully.

I bought several products, but I'll only be showing the nail lacquers in this post. Another post will feature swatches of the rest of my haul. The nail lacquers in Venomous Villains were released under Maleficent's color story. There are three lacquers total, all of which are duochrome. Onto the pictures, now!

MAC Venomous Villains Nail Lacquer in packaging.
Left to right: Bad Fairy, Formidable!, Mean & Green

These polishes look amazing in the bottle, but even better on the nail... and in the sunlight! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures in direct sunlight. The weather has been on and off lately in the Bay Area. However, trust me on this one. They look more fabulous with the sun. Let's see some swatches now.

Bad Fairy in natural light.

Bad Fairy with flash.
Bad Fairy was the hot seller of this collection. The base color is a red-pink, with duochrome that flashes magenta and orange/copper. Because the duochrome color matches so closely with the base, the effect is a little hard to capture indoors and in dim lighting, but it is gorgeous, nonetheless. The shimmer is really great, and looks almost foil-like at times. Bad Fairy was the sheerest of the bunch, but that didn't really stop anyone from buying it. Here it is shown in four coats, with no base or top coat.

Formidable! in natural light.

Formidable! with flash.
Formidable! is a polish with a deep berry or wine colored base. The duochrome flashes blue-silver and purple. When testing it out, I found that the purple side of the duochrome is very difficult to see. Most of the time, it will only flash blue-silver. It is still a great color, and I like how this makes dark more wearable with the shimmer. I know a few people who are afraid of vampy colors, but this is a great way to convert. This is a dupe for Orly's Galaxy Girl, is not a readily available brand to me, so I opted for MAC. Here it is shown in three coats, with no base or top coat.

Mean & Green in natural light.
Mean & Green with flash.
Mean & Green has a green base and flashes purple, pink, and some slight gold. In the bottle, Bad Fairy and Mean & Green seemed to look a lot alike. The pink side of the duochrome is similar to the color in Bad Fairy, but looks different against the green base. This polish has the most noticable duochrome effect with the contrasting colors. This is a dupe for Orly's Space Cadet, but Orly is not a readily available brand to me, so I opted for MAC. Here it is shown in three coats, with no base or top coat.

Overall, I am really into these polishes. My favorite of the bunch is Mean & Green. The different flashing color is so mesmerizing to look at! Formidable! is a great vampy color. This was also a best seller at many MAC locations in my area. Bad Fairy is also great, but it didn't live up to my expectations? I was hoping for a more noticeable duochrome effect, like in the bottle; however, the colors of the polish are all in the same family... which means you get little effect unless in bright lighting. I do like it, but it received a lot of hype that I feel it did not meet up to. The dry time on these were pretty quick (although I did apply thin coats). The wear time without a top coat let to tipwear within a few hours, but it did not chip, just tipwear. The flashing is incredibly noticeable without top coat already, but I still recommend you use one. If you somehow are able to get your hands on these, do so! I think they are so great. (:

Disclaimer: These polishes were purchased on my own.

China Glaze Awakening Halloween 2010

China Glaze has released their annual Halloween collection this year, and I'm so glad I picked it up! This year, the collection is called Awakening Halloween. It features two glitters and one duochrome/shimmer. So awesome.


Ick-A-Bod-Y, Mummy May I, Zombie Zest



Aren't they pretty? Not to mention, they're glitters! I feel like you can never get enough of those. Onto some swatches now.


Ick-A-Bod-Y in natural light.

Ick-A-Bod-Y with flash.

Ick-A-Bod-Y is a polish with tons of orange glitter set in a deep green base. When layered, the green appears black. This polish is so thick and opaque. Here it is shown with two coats and no base or top coat. It looks bumpy now, but top coat should fix it right up. I was a bit sad that I couldn't get my hands of last year's Fortune Teller by China Glaze, but this makes up for it! It has so much glitter and sparkles. Definitely the polish to have for Halloween if you don't already own Fortune Teller.


Mummy May I in natural light.

Mummy May I with flash.

Mummy May I is a polish with small, round purple glitter in a deep purple base. When you layer the polish though, the deep purple ends up looking black. This is shown with two coats and no base or top coat. This isn't my favorite polish, but I do like it. It reminds of Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, except not as "showy" and way more affordable. If Bad Romance is out of your budget (which it is for me!), Mummy May I is an excellent alternative.


Zombie Zest in natural light.

Zombie Zest with flash.

Zombie Zest is a murky duochrome green with shimmer. Here you can see it in three coats with no base or top coat. It flashes green and yellow-gold in the light and is pretty awesome. The color reminds me of moss, and I suppose it is 'zombie-like.' I have read that there are two dupes for this polish, one being the recently released It's Not Rocket Science by ORLY. However, China Glaze is the most affordable and accessible of the three dupes, so I would say pick this shade up. This is an odd shade, so I'm assuming there will be many people who don't like it. However, I really like this color though it is more "out-there." I think if you style yourself correctly, this polish could look so chic and fashion forward.

Overall, I really like this collection! Personally, though I love OPI, I think China Glaze's Halloween collection is better. The colors are more interesting and different, and really strikes the spooky mood of the holiday. The formula was pretty good, too. Ick-A-Bod-Y was a little thick, but that is too be expected because it's packed with so much glitter. Mummy May I was okay, I used it for a funky french manicure the other day and it didn't apply as well as when I swatched it. Zombie Zest is a little sheer but builds up nicely. What do you think of this collection? What are your favorites? Are you going to go out and buy it? Let me know! (:

Disclaimer: These polishes were purchased on my own.