3 weeks of hauling

I've been working, working, working, shopping, working, sleeping, eating, sleeping, shopping, and working :)  You see a pattern there? Well this is my haul for the last few days, and also a reveal of a wonderful package from a lovely chic.

So without further ado, here are my new goodies.

First up are a few topshop and charity shop bargains that I picked up.  It's so easy to buy accessories.

 

Then I was bitching about how I didn't have any clothes, so in the midst of my self pity I went to H&M and picked up some items.

 

I especially love my cape coat.  I like the material and colour, because it brings a casual feel to this garment.  There was only one left and it was slightly too small for me, but a little tailoring at home allowed me to open it up, and now it fits like a glove.

So that's what I treated myself with, but the special treat actually came from across the pond.  An awesome chic sent me these nail polish goodies.  I have been having a hard time with my nail polish ban and it was such an awesome treat to get these stunning pieces in.

The first set is one that I have wanted forever, but just couldn't justify the cost.  Having said that, once I actually had it in my hands, I think it is worth every penny.  I just love Barney's and all their creative collaborations.  Sure, I'm not a Lady gaga fan, but I think her fashion sense is edgy and this polish set captures that.  I can't express how much I love this!

Deborah Lippmann Edge of Glory Set

Behold the flakey goodness ....oh DL, you always do us proud.

What could be in this???????

 

A sea of sparkle and colour.

NerdLacquer mini collection set

Sadly, I'm in a no glitter phase in my life, but it doesn't mean it's not gorgeous to look at, and this is a stunning set to have when I get back into glitter.

Sorry again that I haven't blogged in forever, but I'm hoping that you guys enjoyed the haul and I'll talk to you guys & gals again soon :)

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Today's tune of the day

Lana Del Ray - Born to Die

Absolutely rinsing this on repeat for the last week.  It captures my mood to a tee

Deborah Lippmann's The Stripper to Go Nail Lacquer Finger Mitts

What in the world is a finger mitt, right?

I ran out of acetone so I went rummaging through my drawers and found a sample of this.  I was expecting just some square piece of cotton soaked in acetone, but instead I got a mini finger mitt. 

I have mixed feelings about this product and here's why...

PROS:

* The mitts are sturdy and they will not rip on you.  You could add acetone and try to reuse these if you want.  I almost didn't want to throw it away afterwards, but then again I refuse to be that cheap :)  

* The mitt is soaked in acetone, so they aren't "cheaping" out with that

* These also will not leave behind cotton pieces like cotton balls do

CONS:

* Pretty expensive at £8 for a box of 6 mitts

* They are just odd, and I just don't know if they are really worth that kind of money.

This product claims that one mitt will clean all 10 nails, but  I was only able to get one hand done with one mitt.  In all fairness it was glitter polish.  If you have one glitter polish, you will probably need 2 mitts, otherwise one will take care of the removal. 

 

If each packet came with 10 mitts, so that I could cover all my fingers at one time, then I would be more inclined to say that £8 for a box of 6 packets is fair.

So for that reason, I'll probably not purchase this, but if you have the money to spend then these are much better than most of the nail polish remover packets that I've used before.

Issues with Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up In Vegas

It's times like this when I feel really stupid and regret spending so much money on premium nail polishes.  I'm a grey polish lover, so as a grey polish lover, buying DL's Waking Up In Vegas was a no brainer.  I've had this issue with this particular polish for months now, and I'm just fed up and must vent about it.

I purchased this at Zappos.com when I was in the states for $16 (thank god I didn't buy it here for £18), and it was $16 too much.

If it was just a matter of me shaking the bottle, then no problem, but I shook the bottle vigoriously and I still have a mustard yellow separation still floating at the top.

 

These pictures are night time pictures too, so you can just imagine how noticable the yellow substance is floating at the top of my bottle.

I have only had one other polish separate like this and that was my Chanel Khaki Vert, but at least with the Chanel, the colour that floats on the top of the bottle is a blue, not this ugly mustard/muddy yellow...yuck.

There's not much I can do about it, but honestly if I knew this beforehand, I wouldn't have spent the money to purchase this polish.  So if you are thinking about buying this, you have been warned. 

Has anyone else had this issue?

Deborah Lippmann's Glitter Polishes

If you asked me a year ago.."what is your favourite types of nail polish?", I would have answered chunky glitters like Deborah Lippmann.  Within the last year, I really stayed away from glitter, and have fallen in love with the nail polish rejects that I call 'ugly colors".  We're talking muddy greens, khaki army colours, greyed out versions of the rainbow, anything where most people would say it looked "ugly".  So today after I swatched the China Glaze, I noticed something sparkling in my nail polish drawer and pulled out a Deborah Lippmann polish.  I'm such a child! I started to skittle my nails just for the hell of it, and I have to give credit where credit is due.  Deborah Lippmann truly makes some of the most fun glitters out there.

Here is my skittling just for the heck of it...

 

You guys know my camera hates glitter, but even with my sh**ty pic, you can just see the fun on my nails.  Starting from the thumb, you have:

Today was a Fairytale

Boom Boom Pow

Razzle Dazzle

Superstar

Lady that Sings the Blues

(all swatched over China Glaze's rodeo fanatic)

Her formula is gloopy, and does separate, so you have to be patient with them, but the pay off is like no other.   I can see why I was so into glitter a year ago.

I'm not really a fan of her music, nor her constant reference to pop culture, BUT

the nail polish is great.  If you are in the states, you lucky devils pay only $18-$20.  We here in the UK have to shell out £18 at House of Fraser.

If you love glitter, treat yourself...it's almost Christmas :)

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann Lady That Sings The Blues

After Billie Holiday, this is my 2nd favourite "lady that sings the blues".  The best way that I can describe this is a deep dark blue with silver and blue microglitters with large hexagon glitter chunks suspended in it.  I don't know about Deborah Lippmann's singing career, but I sure know this lady knows how to make glitter polishes. 


This was difficult to apply due to the thick formula and large glitter chunks, but the struggle is well worth it.  It is beautiful.  It adds a very feminine touch to a masculine polish, and I love it.  Love the polish, love the name! But I don't love the price.  Coming in at a whopping £16 from House of Fraiser, it is the same pricing points as Dior, and for only £2 more you can get a Chanel nail polish, but it is worth it.

Nails look horrible, but I put this pic up because look at that sparkle in the bottle!

Thank you to my friend who sent this to me :)

What is your favourite Deborah Lippmann Polish?

Deborah Lippmann's It's Raining Men vs. Essie's Lolipop

Who would have funked it, a red polish that looks like another red polish lol

Well in my collection, I found these two to be an exact dupe.

First, the Deborah Lippmann's It's Raining Men

(Sally Hansen's nail strips in Check it out as accent)

 

Left Thumb is Deborah Lippmann and the right thumb is Essie,

see you can't tell the difference

I usually have some issue with Essie's application, but Lolipop did not give me any problems.

So if money is a bit tight, opt for the Essie if you're really loving the Deborah Lippmann.

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow

It is HOT HOT HOT and lovely here in England - quite rare LOL
And hot usually means allergies (lol!) so bare with me and apologies for the short post today, but the NOTD will make up for it.

I would love to be on the beach right now, listening to calm blue sea and soaking in the rays, so instead I put all that on my nails.

I kept the Chanel Nouvelle Vague as the base and on top I layered Deborah Lippmann's Boom Boom Pow. The base of this polish is a sheer gold, so that turned my blue polish into a slightly more minty green. I look at my nails and it does remind me of what a beautiful tropical ocean looks like on a clear day.

Here you go ladies & gents...

Made with 24k gold flakes, this has massive chunky hexagon glitters along with micro glitters. Lippmann does make my favourite chunky glitters, there is none like it out there in the market.

This ranges from $16-18 in the US and £18 in the UK at House of Fraser.

Well worth the price if you are a glitter lover.

OH and don't forget to enter my giveaway

http://tokkiandoliver.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-first-ever-giveaway.html

Nail Polish Exchange Gift #2 - Deborah Lippmann, China Glaze and Nicole by OPI

What a nightmare it's been to be able to get this box out of customs, but it was so worth it! This is my last box that I will be receiving from the forum's nail polish exchange.  It came all the way from Texas :)

Before I begin with the reveal, I was very fortunate to get someone as lovely as the person who sent it to me.  She spent so much money, not only on the polishes, but just to ship it to me, and she was kind enough to offer to cover the ridiculous customs charges as well.  Now that is someone who really cared enough to make me happy.

So this package is special to me.  Don't get me wrong, they all are, but this one had some difficulties getting to me, so I'm so thrilled it's here.

In real life, this leans a bit more purple

All the polishes that I got :)

The package I got contained the gorgeous:

* Deborah Lippmann - Lady That Sings the Blues (a much wanted back up)
* Nicole by OPI - Top Coat (already stolen from me lol)
* Nicole by OPI - The Right Thing
* China Glaze - Pelican Grey (yaya a back up!!)
* China Glaze - Sea Spray (yaya another back up!!) AND
* Deborah Lippmann - I know what Boys like

I also got some really cool extras by Deborah Lippmann too.

Deborah Lippmann's: Hand & Cuticle Cream, Nail Polish Remover Pad, and Eco-file

The Nail File is recycled and works very very well! I think it's my favourite nail file now.

I'm going back and forth this morning about whether to wear Lady that sings the blues or I know what boys like...hmmm......Stay tuned for a NOTD :)

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann Waking Up In Vegas & Chanel Black Velvet

Here is my nail of the day. It goes perfectly with the gloomy weather the last 2 days. Bring back my Spring!!
On the bottom is the famous Deborah Lipmmann Waking Up in Vegas, which as made famous by Lady GAGA who wore this and only this on a cover of Rolling Stones (I could be wrong). On top I wore Chanel Black Velvet which is your standard black polish but with a unique finish. It dries completely different than my Chanel Black Satin which is glossy at the end.

I love Chanel Black Velvet and in efforts to save my money, I found a kind soul on my forum (shout outs Novella!) who swapped Chanel Illusions D'or with this. I know Illusions D'or is on many people's wishlist, it just didn't do it for me and Black Velvet is so much more my cup of tea.

So here is my non traditional french manicure.

Excuse the pre cleanup look, I was in a rush rush state.

Black Velvet went on like silk, but took a long time to dry. It must be the formula that makes it this hard to dry and my biggest issue this time was Waking Up In Vegas. It is a gorgeous grey, don't get me wrong, but I hate how the formula splits in the bottle. There is a line of yellow floating on top of the polish. For $18, I don't think it should do this. None of my other polishes do, so that is my biggest disappointment. If I knew this prior to purchasing it, I would have opted for another grey.
But what's done is done and I am going to try to use up my bottle, before I invest in another one.