Comparison: OPI My Favorite Ornament vs Zoya Tomoko

Hi guys!!

Just a quick post to end this sweet November. A comparison! I have been wanting to do this since I posted my OPI Mariah Carey 2013 Holiday collection. So here it is..

Both are with 2 coats, no top coat.

Also 2 coats, but with top coat.

Well, what do you think? To me they are very similar in color. Here are the differences I found:

• The glitter in Zoya Tomoko is more dense and gives better coverage in 2 coats.
•  Without top coat, Zoya Tomoko has smoother surface, not too much different, but you can tell when you rub on it. 
• OPI My Favorite Ornament dry a little bit faster. 

So, do you think you need both? ;)

XO

Novi

Icy Snowflakes

Hi guys!

Entering the holiday season, I'm starting to have ideas for some nail art to match the occasion. So hopefully I will be able to translate my thoughts onto my nails, although sometimes they don't always turn out like what I hope for. This one is unfortunately one of those, lol. Strangely, I still really like it. 

This will also be my entry for Nail Polish Canada 2013 Holiday Nail Art Challenge Week 1, which I just found out like 2 days ago! (Where have I been?!)

The idea was to do a subtle but sparkly snowflakes, with pond manicure style. But I think it's a little too subtle :p. My base is 2 thin coats of OPI Don't Burst My Bubble and a thin layer of OPI Which is Witch? I free-handed a big snowflake using OPI This Gown Needs a Crown, and the added another layer of Don't Burst My Bubble. On top of that, I free-handed another silver snowflake and a blue small snowflake with CbL Zipper. I finish the mani with one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl top coat.

This is probably the first time that I really like a nude subtle mani like this. It makes me think of a snowflake princess, or something like that hahah! What do you think? :)

XO

Novi

Colors by Llarowe Thirty Something ~ For Me and (one of) You!

Hi guys!!

This is THE post that I've been dying to share with you! I was suppose to do this yesterday, but I was out almost the whole day, so here it is! My custom CbL that I've been waiting for over a month. Now, I don't have any story behind my custom made polish. I told Leah Ann what I wanted, and she made it happen. If you haven't looked at any of the pics, you'd probably think it's a holo polish (am I right?) But no, as much as I like holo, glitter has always been my thing. I like something that look pretty anytime, anywhere, and I think glitter is just that.

I named my polish "Thirty Something", since it's a birthday gift for myself, lol. It's a violet purple glitter in a jelly base with pink, blue, and dark purple holographic sparkles. The purple is just spot on, the kind of purple that I love. And as usual, me, purple, and camera.. we don't work well together. The second bottle shot would be the closest to what I see it in person, but of course it also depends on your monitor setting. 

In a light box, the bright lightning takes away the purple and makes it more blue, but can you see those sparkles?! Gah!!

Indoor natural lightning, I was lucky today is bright enough for me to be able to take these pics, cause these are the same as the bottle shot above, they look more accurate than the light box pics. I really love how the sparkles are twinkling even in a dim restaurant lightning, distracting me from the meal and conversation, lol!

Now for the fun part! I asked Leah Ann to make an extra bottle of Thirty Something so I can share it with one of my readers! This will be a two of a kind polish owned by just me and whoever wins the other bottle :). I only ask for 2 things in return, 1. Please post your mani on my fb page when you receive it, I would LOVE to see it on you! 2. Please do not enter if you plan to resell or auction it. I realize I can't make you do anything, but if I see this end up on ebay or any fb sales group (and I'm on a lot of them), you will be banned from all my future giveaway.

Before you enter, please read the terms and condition of the giveaway

*Giveaway is open for anyone age of 18+
*The giveaway starts at Nov 29, 2013  (00:00) and ends at Dec 15, 2012 (00:00) PST

*This giveaway opens internationally (with some restrictions). Please check here if your country is listed there, if not, I cannot ship to you.

*The prize is purchase and will be shipped by me.

*Please allow up to 1 week after the giveaway ended for me to ship the prize. I will ship asap, but life happens and it is a priority.

*Prize will be shipped using a standard shipping by Canada Post, which means it can take up to 8-12 weeks to get to you, and there is no tracking. (I can opt for tracking if you're willing to cover the difference)

*I am not responsible for broken/missing/confiscated package. But I will pack it with care.

Now that you have read all the terms and conditions, go ahead and enter the giveaway! Good luck!! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Picks of OPI Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 Collection

Hi guys!!

I'm a little late to the party with this collection. Just got six of them as my birthday present (yay!) I got six out of the 18 shades they released, there are 2 or 3 more that I wanted but they weren't in stock. Almost all of my picks are very sparkly, I think I'm seeing little stars when I looked away from my nails while I was swatching them. Lol!

Here's a little preview, more pics after the jump. There are lots of them!

Swatches: Girly Bits Well Isn't That Special (Well Yes, It Is!)

Hi guys!!

I'm getting ready for Enchanted restock in about an hour, and while I'm waiting, thought I'd just share this mani with you guys! I did this mani yesterday,and still wearing it now. This is officially my birthday mani :) I've been into purple so much lately, especially light purples. Well Isn't That Special seems to be a perfect choice to wear for the occasion.

It's a medium purple with tightly scattered holo and some white flakies. I normally prefer linear than scattered holo, so I had doubt when I ordered this one. But all the doubt vanished once I put this on! This is probably one of the prettiest scattered holo polish I've seen! My pics here don't do it justice! I can even see some sparkles in my low bedroom light, and even better under a bright light.

All the pics here are with 3 thin coats (you can get away with just 2) and HK Girl top coat. taken in a light box.

Well Isn't That Special

Well Isn't That Special

Well Isn't That Special

Well Isn't That Special is available to purchase from Girly Bits or their authorized distributors all over the world, and you can find the list here. Mine was purchased from Harlow & Co.

XO

Novi

Canucks Themed Mani

Hi guys!

So I went to a hockey game last night. My first game ever! Canucks vs Blue Jacket. I've only watched the game on tv, it wasa bit weird watching the game without hearing the commentary, lol. It was SO exciting! I left the game feeling exhausted from all the excitement. I must say it's almost as good as going to amusement park. 

So, since I'm all about nails, of course I *have* to match my nails to support Vancouver Canucks :D They won the game 6-2 btw, totally killed the game!

I did a nail art to match their jersey. I painted all but the ring nail with white, using a striping tape, I taped two lines in the middle and near tip of each nails, and carefully filled out the untaped part with blue and green and remove the tape right away. I did 2 accent nails, a gradient on middle nail, and free handed the jersey logo on my ring nail. Products used:

Butter London Cotton Buds

Nails Inc. Baker Street

OPI Jade Is The New Black

OPI This Gown Needs A Crown

HK Girl top coat

Hope everybody is having a fantastic weekend! :)

XO

Novi

Swatches: Enchanted Polish Vampires Suck

Hi guys!

Today I have one of my new Enchanteds pretty to show you. I got this one from a swap, and I wasn't sure if I'm gonna like it when I decided to swap for it. Now that I have it and tried it, I think it's a brown shade that could work for my skin tone. Plus, the holo is pretty amazing, even in a light box like what you will see here. I won't be able to take sunlight pictures for the next few months, so this will have to do. My photos here are with two coats, no top coat.

Enchanted Polish Vampires Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampires Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampires Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampires Suck

Do you have this one in your collection? :)

XO

Novi

Watermarble Wednesday!

Hi guys!

Just a quick post for Water marble Wednesday! I need to find a way to make water marble mani look more.. interesting. Lol. But in the mean time, here's what I did..

Products used:

Butter London Cotton Buds (base)

OPI Miss You-niverse

Zoya Josie

Lime Crime Milky Ways

HK Girl top coat

What do you think? Do you think you'll ever get bored with water marble mani? :)

XO
Novi

Purple Ombre & Holo Stamping

Hi guys!!

Today I have a simple all purple mani to share with you, a purple ombre mani with purple holo stamping. 

Unfortunately, the purples I chose for my middle and ring nails are too close for the camera to pick the difference. Here's the list of all the shades I use:

Thumb: piCture pOlish Violet Femme

Index: OPI Funky Dunkey

Middle: piCture pOlish Wisteria

Ring: OPI Do You Lilac It?

Pinky: Dior Lilac Colorvision

Stamping polish: Color Club Eternal Beauty

Stamping plate: Pueen 46

I sealed off the mani with my new favorite top coat, HK Girl by Glisten&Glow.

XO
Novi

NOTD: ILNP Birefringence

Hi guys!!

Soo.. How was your weekend? Did you go out and do something fun or just stayed in (and stalked the EP restock? lol) I did both. I went to see Thor and stalked the restock. Got one of my lemming, Water For Unicorns, hope it's as pretty as some of the swatches I've seen.

Anywho.. I finally wear the last ILNP ultra chromes in my untried stash, Birefringence. I must be mad not trying this one first, I think it's the best one out of all the three I got! It's opaque in 2 coats for me, while others needed 3. The color shifting is insane and very easy to photograph. All my pics here were taken in a light box with my standard setup, and I say they look frickin' fantastic! I think I went a little overboard with the pics here... but can you blame me?? :p

ILNP Birefringence

ILNP Birefringence

ILNP Birefringence

ILNP Birefringence

ILNP Birefringence

This beauty is still available to purchase from ilnp.com, and the holo version will be available on November 22nd 2013. The ultra chromes retail for USD 12.50/12 ml bottle.

XO

Novi

Swatches: KB Shimmer Snow Flaking Way

Happy Friday!

Today I'm have one of the new KB Shimmer to share with you, which also happen to be my first (of many to come) KB Shimmer! I only got one of the top two that I wanted during the launch, and I have more than two on my want list, oh boy.. This looks so pretty in the bottle I had to put it on right away!

Snow Flaking Way is a deep indigo purple jelly base with silver holographic snowflakes, violet and sky blue holographic glitters that add depth to this polish when layered. 

I used 3 coats for my mani. I find that I had to press the brush a little more to transfer the smaller glitter on the nail. Some fishing required to get the snowflakes out. I didn't put the bottle upside down, since I put it on right after I got it from the mail. I just tilted the bottle and swirl the brush inside the bottle to catch the snowflakes. I sealed my mani with 2 coats of HK Girl top coat, the snowflakes are pretty chunky, so you definitely need a good top coat to get a smooth finish.

KB Shimmer Snow Flaking Way

KB Shimmer Snow Flaking Way

KB Shimmer Snow Flaking Way

KB Shimmer Snow Flaking Way

Make sure you seal your tips when applying this. I'm seeing some tip wear the next day because I didn't do that. Some jelly polish has tendency to do that quicker than other finish. 

KB Shimmer polishes can be purchased from here for US customer. For nail polish lover all around the world, head over to Harlow & Co. to get your hands on this pretty. Don't forget to like KB Shimmer and Harlow & Co on facebook to learn about other collections and restock date.

XO

Novi

Diabetes Day Watermarble With Girly Bits Off The Scale

Hi guys!

Today is world's diabetes day, and it's something I can relate to. My beloved dad had diabetes, so this mani is for him. 

The blue polish I chose to use is from Girly Bits, Off The Scale. It's a glitter layering polish that can also be opaque on its own in 3 coats. It has blue glitter as the main color with some purple and green color shifting glitter. Here I'm layering it over OPI Incognito in Sausalito. 

I also did a watermarble design over it with OPI Alpine Snow and Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blue base coat for the clear polish. It's the first clear polish that spread like a boss for me to use, but it's a little hard to drag to make the design, but I suspect it's the same with most of clear polish (?)

Girly Bits Off The Scale

Girly Bits Off The Scale

Girly Bits Off The Scale

Girly Bits Off The Scale

Girly Bits Off The Scale

Off The Scale is currently available to purchase from Harlow&Co. and Girly Bits website (when they're back open, soon!)

XO

Novi

Swatches: Takko Lacquer To Infinity And Beyond

Hi guys!

Today I have this gorgeous polish by Takko Lacquer to share with all of you.

To Infinity and Beyond has a grey-ed purple base that shift to green in low lightning, I also see some blue flashes is some angle. It has scattered holographic shimmer that makes it look SO pretty under the light. The formula is on a thick side, but still easy to work with. my swatches are using two coats with one coat of HK Girl top coat.

Takko Lacquer To Infinity and Beyond

Takko Lacquer To Infinity and Beyond

Takko Lacquer To Infinity and Beyond

Takko Lacquer To Infinity and Beyond

Takko Lacquer can be purchased directly from takkolacquer.com during their restock, but this is for US ladies only. For everyone else, such as myself, you can try to get your hands on it from Llarowe and Mei Mei's Signatures during their restock. I got mine from Llarowe. Some of the popular shades usually sell out pretty quick, and I'm not surprised, they have some seriously gorgeous polishes! :)

XO

Novi

NOTD: Radium ~ Seven Nation Army

Hi guys!!

Just a quick post to share the mani I just did. I used two polishes from my untried stash, and I love LOVE love the combo! I'm using Enchanted Polish Seven Nation Army and Illamasqua Radium as the undies.

And here's a pic of Illamasqua Radium, 2 coats no top coat.

Illamasqua Radium

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! <3

XO

Novi