Happy Halloween!

OPI Holiday 2011 Muppet Collection Swatches

More Muppet-y madness... I spent the better part of today fighting with the glittery goodness that makes up the majority of this collection. Ugh, glitters can be such a pain to remove... a reader asked if I could email them tips on glitter removal, but I'm planning one better. In an upcoming post I'll share my "secrets" to the fastest ways to get the glitter off. I was going to add it to this post, but I think it would be overkill, so stay tuned for that.

I must add that I did not buy the full collection, so if you are looking for swatches of Animal-istic, Pepe's Purple Passion, Meep Meep Meep, or Wocka Wocka you'll have to look elsewhere. That said my swatch of Designer...De Better! can be found here.

Onto the glitters!

OPI Excuse Moi!

OPI Excuse Moi! macro

Excuse Moi! is the easiest of all the glitters to apply (and remove) thanks to the fact that it is made up of micro and mini glitter suspended in a fuschia-red base. I didn't think that this would be one of my favourite out of the bunch, but I think it's my top pick of the glitters. This was two coats.

OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It macro

First off, I should note that the "chunky" glitter looks a lot better in person, and would be better suited with a colour matched base under them. For swatching purposes, I just layered them up on their own.

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is unique from the other "chunky" glitters as it consists of both red micro glitter, larger silver hexagonal glitter and larger red hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base. The difference is the larger red hexagonal pieces. The rest of the bunch only have larger silver. Just an observation. This wasn't as hard to apply as I thought it would be, I just kind of dabbed in on in thick-ish layers. The above photos is two layers.

OPI Divine Swine

OPI Divine Swine macro

Divine Swine is purple micro glitter with silver hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base. And applied just as Gettin' Miss Piggy With It did. Actually all the "chunky" glitters applied accordingly.

OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air

OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air macro

Fresh Frog of Bel Air is green micro glitter with larger silver hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base.

OPI Gone Gonzo!

OPI Gone Gonzo! macro

Gone Gonzo is blue micro glitter with larger silver hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base. Out of the solid "chunky" polishes I would peg this one as my favourite. I think that this one might even look good on a deep blue base for a bit of contrast.

OPI Rainbow Connection

OPI Rainbow Connection

Rainbow Connection is a glitter bomb of multi sized hexagonal glitter and smaller round glitter in a clear base. It is much the same as a handful of others. I have NYX Girls Carnival polish, which is much the same. The only real difference I can see is that OPI's blend does not have any red glitter while NYX does. If anyone is interested in a comparison just shout. In the photos, it does not look all that fabulous, but in person it looked pretty amazing and would be super fun for a night out.

OPI Warm & Fozzie

OPI Warm & Fozzie macro

Warm & Fozzie is a coppery shade on the surface, but has some colour play thanks to it's semi foiled finish. It has a flash of rusty pink and gold depending on the lighting. I'm just starting to really appreciate brown based polishes, but I have to say that I love this one.

Overall, I would say that Warm & Fozzie, Excuse Moi!, and Designer... De Better are my favourite out of the bunch and will see the most wear with me. That said, the glitters are fun, but I can't see me reaching for them all that regularly.

Did you pick up any polishes from this collection?

OPI Muppet Collection Haul

It’s time to play the music
It’s time to light the lights
It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight!

They finally arrived! I've been so excited about these. I was a huge Muppet fan as a kid. I still have my beloved tape (cassette tape that is) of Muppet and Sesame Street songs. I pre-ordered these a while ago and was getting kind of anxious when I started seeing swatches pop up everywhere. I didn't splurge on the entire collection, but I did pick up the six glitters and two of the remainders.

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, Excuse Moi!, Divine Swine

Gone Gonzo!, Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Rainbow Connection

Designer... De Better!, Warm & Fozzie

Designer...De Better!

I haven't had a chance to swatch every polish just yet, but the first one I tired was Designer... De Better! a light champagne coloured foil but on close inspection you can see micro flecks of red and gold. I loved that this is such a flashy foil but it applied with no streaks! The photo above is three thin coats. It is easy to forget that this is a Holiday collection, but this shade does have the makings to be perfect for the festive season, especially New Years.

What Muppet post could be complete without an appearance by actual Muppets? This is a much newer video, but still a favourite of mine ( I used to have a massive girl crush on Rivers Cuomo...)

Lush Haul

Last week I got a really nice email from a reader (hi Nina!) who asked if I could possibly review Lush's massage bars. After browsing the selection, I decided it might be fun to try them out. Of course, I had to get a few other items as well.

Heavanilli

Each Peach (and Two's a Pair)

Strawberry Feels Forever

Snow Fairy

And, since it is that time of year, I had to get a bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel. I must say I feel just a smidge taken though. I just got a few Philosophy 3 in 1s so I am pretty much set in the shower gel department, but I really wanted to try this. Logic says get the small bottle. It is very small. For $9.99 you get 100ml. I most likely saw that when I ordered, but I didn't realize how incredibly small it would be. I have free gift bottles that are bigger than this. Oh, well.

I also got a tub of Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly. I was intrigues by a jello like shower gel and the guise of it smelling like cherry soda totally lured me in. It has a cherry scent, but it is also quite peppery smelling... hopefully after it sits in the fridge for a while it will smell a bit more normal.

And, lastly, a couple of soap samples in Mud Flats Addictive and Red Rooster. What are your fave Lush products?

China Glaze Holiday 2011: Holly-Day and Snow Globe

Can you believe holiday items are out already? It seems like they start creeping up earlier and earlier every year. I haven't even gotten around to swatching/using the one Halloween polish I picked up (OPI Zom-Body-to-Love)... Anyhow, I decided to snag the two out of twelve that caught my eye before they were gone.

China Glaze Holly-Day

For a holiday collection this is a pretty uninspired deep green cream, but for a green lover with a gap in their collection it is perfect. I realized a few weeks ago while shopping my stash, that I didn't have a good deep green. Holly-Day fits the bill. The shade is a deep, almost hunter green and is so gorgeous. Even without top coat it was super shiny and glossy. The photos shown are two thin coats.

China Glaze Snow Globe

When I first saw the glitters in this collection I wasn't too interested in any of them until I saw Snow Globe swatched. OMG. I love how the glitter in it reflects in pastel shades and really will look snowy on a light base. I swatched it on Holly-Day since that is what I had on my nails, but I am very excited to try it on Revlon Matte Suede Powder Puff. As I mentioned, Snow Globe is a clear base packed with iridescent, pastel hued glitter. It was a total breeze to apply as well, no fighting required! The photos above are one coat.

China Glaze Let it Snow Collection

The photo above shows the entirety of the collection, just in case you've been living under a rock with limited bandwidth connection :D

Have you picked up any holiday polishes yet?

October Maven Box

Yes, another monthly subscription service I belong to. I really like them. This month's Maven Box from Julep was pretty great selection wise, and even greater because it was free. Due to all of the referral link issues they had they sent subscribers a free month. Not too shabby.

This month I received the It Girl selection consisting of two polishes: Leighton (metallic silver) and Jamie (blue cream) and a tube of Julep Age Defying Hand Brightener.

Julep Leighton

I'm really fond of silver polishes, but this one is pretty standard. It, unfortunately, streaks like no tomorrow and even a few thin coats does little to remedy it. I have two coats on and while it went opaque no problem, it is still pretty streaky. The colour is nice though as it is a touch darker than your average silver.

Julep Jamie

Jamie is described as an ultra saturated dark turquoise, but I would say that it leans closer to blue. In the bottle this just looks like another mid tone blue cream (been there, have 12 polishes just like that) but, it is just that much different. I LOVE this shade and now that I've swatched it and had a good look at it it is more unique than I gave it credit for. I don't think I have any shade that could dupe this.... OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui might be close, but I'm lazy and didn't do a comparison, and I think Jamie is brighter any way, so there.

Do you have a favourite Julep polish shade?

October Glymm Box

I've been such a lackadaisical blogger lately, and there is really no great reason other than a lack of focus. I have some great products just waiting for their moment in the spotlight, and I got a few more over the weekend. I didn't particularly need them, but they were on sale, and I totally wanted them. A great combo, in my opinion.

I missed a day of checking my mail, so I was excited to see that another of my subscription boxes had arrived when I checked it this afternoon. I also found my Julep items and some Skin Food goodies I ordered, but you'll see that stuff a bit later. This month's Glymm Box provided a pretty stellar line up, including not one, but two full size items.

Lise Watier Lip Kiss Crayon in Rouge Flamenco- full size
I haven't used any Lise Watier products, but I am looking forward to trying this lip crayon out. Unfortunately, reds aren't something I usually wear. I love them on other people, but I think they look weird on me. This pencil is super smooth and really pigmented. It retails for $18 and is apparently one of the brand's best sellers.

Princepessa Bacio Lip Balm- full size
The second full size item in this month's selection, is a sweetly scented lip balm. It wears more like a gloss, as it is very shiny and light, but it does moisturize as well. I couldn't find a specific source to find out just what it was supposed to smell like, but to me it is almost like an almond cookie. It smells great, but has no taste and wears off rather quickly. Retail price is $11.

Caudalie Premier Cru Cream
I have been getting a ton of Caudalie samples lately, I just gave my mom a bunch of them and now this. The little description on the Glymm menu stats that this is a is a daily moisturizer that provides radiance, anti aging properties, firming and nourishment, but at the retail price of $150 for the full size 3.2g I can't see myself purchasing it.

Blinc Mascara
I was excited to see this when I opened the box! I've wanted to try it ever since I passed my last sample on to a friend and she raved about how great it was. This mascara is interesting as it creates tubes around your lashes instead of just "painting" them.

And of course, the treat- a little bottle of Jelly Belly jelly beans in festive orange and black. The black ones (licorice) aren't a fave of mine, but the orange ones were tasty. I have been saving all of the little bottles and I think I'm going to fill them with glitter and line them up on my desk for a touch of... well glitter!

Anyone subscribe to Glymm Box? What did you get in your selection?