Chanel Mimosa

It's almost summer so I figured it was a good time for a sunny yellow! My skin tone is pretty neutral so I think I can pull off most nail polish colors, but for some reason I feel like warm yellows look terrible on me. Mimosa isn't a super warm yellow (OPI Need Sunglasses looks strange me on, for example), but I'm still on the fence about it.

It's a warm yellow cream with some hidden orange shimmer. Formula-wise, it was very streaky. This is four thin coats and you can still see streaks. To be fair I do think that you can get better results with slightly thicker coats, but I don't think there should be a learning curve with $25 nail polish. I keep thinking the next Chanel polish I buy will be just as amazing as the Khaki collection, but they haven't been yet. Oh well, at least they last for me. Other than that, it dries fairly quickly for a cream and the viscosity was about average.

Honestly I'm not sure if this color is worth it. Of course I say this as a person on whom this color is not super flattering, but there's nothing about this that is really all that special. The hidden shimmer is fun but the streakiness kills it for me at this price point. Of course if you're a polish hoarder like me you'll probably get it anyway!

Nfu-oh 70

I know everyone goes crazy for Nfu-oh flakies and holos (as well they should), but I also really love their foils! There's only four true foils that I know of, 68-71, but they are lovely! This is one of the colors I was most excited about, number 70:

It's a lime green foil! Pretty unique. It was quite sheer for a foil, this is three coats. They dried rather slowly for a foil as well but about average for most polishes. The formula was about average too, not amazing but not too hard to work with. I really wish more brands made unique colors like this!

Etude House WH004

This is another of my purchases from Korea from one of my favorite stores there, Etude House. All the packaging is just adorable, and this bottle is no exception. Not only that, but I do love this color!

This is WH004 (from their Bling Bling line of polishes), a beautiful black cream with multi-chrome mini-flakes that mostly look teal and violet, but they show all different colors of the rainbow. As you can see, it didn't quite translate on the nail; it pretty much looks teal, turquoise or violet depending on the angle, but I still love it. I was really lemming Rescue Beauty Lounge's Iconoclast, but this color has fulfilled it. I don't mean to imply that they're dupes (they are so not), but it's a similar idea: black with multicolor shimmer/microglitter/whatever.

The formula was pretty easy to work with, a little bit watery but not bad at all. Drying time was average. I am wearing two coats with top coat and base coat in the picture.

You can find this color on ebay, or maybe gmarket.

Nfu-oh 52

I really wish I had purchased more Nfu-oh now that I'm back, but I'm just glad I was able to score the beauties I did. Here's number 52:

It's a sheer blue-based purple jelly with flakes that shine blue or green depending on the angle and lighting. This is four coats with no base or or top coat. There's still a bit of VNL but it's not very visible when my nails are this short. This color is beautiful, I really could not stop staring at my nails. My only complaint is that it did not dry very quickly, took quite a while actually. Still, the color is worth it and it lasted quite a long time.

Here it is with Essie Matte About You on top:

Mattifying it tones down the shimmer/microglitter and brings out the flakes. Very pretty.

Still have quite a few untried Nfu-oh but so far I have not been disappointed!

Liebster Award

Thanks to Pan of Pantastic for awarding me the Leibster Award! Visit her blog, she has lots of great pics and cute nail art tutorials!

The Liebster Award is designed to be awarded to blogs with less than 300 subscribers to spread the blog love and get them out to a wider audience.

The Rules are:
1. Post displaying the award,
linking back to the person who awarded you.
2. Pick 3 blogs and let them know they're awarded.

Here are some of my favorite blogs that have less than 300 posts:
Rolsbak
MillsBes
Polish Wonderland

(To those I didn't mention, don't worry, I still follow and love you!)

Missha HGR001 (Green/Teal Duochrome)

Here's one of the polishes I bought while in Korea, Missha HGR001 (wish the names were a bit more creative...):

Isn't it gorgeous? It's a beautiful duochrome, or maybe multichrome? Depending on the lighting it looks apple green, deep sea blue, teal, and just about everything in between. I also love that it's a metallic! It reminds me of the Chameleon polish I tried. The formula was perfect, super easy to work with and dried pretty quickly. I am wearing two coats with no base or top coat in the pictures (didn't have any with me in Korea).

You can buy Missha products on their US website, www.misshaus.com.

My Visit to Korea Part 2: Super Cute Makeup!

Polish and samples from Missha

The color names seem to be HGR01 (teal/green duochrome) and HKH01 (sparkly bronze with lots of holo glitter)

Heart-shaped bottles!

Etude House WH004 (black with teal/pink duochrome flakes)

Etude house samples, lip gloss in "4 purpley holy beam" (translation), peach lotion in a panda-shaped container

Banila co. Spring Temptation lipstick in Jealousy plus samples

Pucca eyeshadow duo and false lashes plus samples

Nfu-oh lotion in Sweet Peach plus nail buffers and can openers

Adorable bottle (just like the nail polish bottles)

I actually showed quite a bit of restraint, haha. I wonder if I should have bought more...

My Visit to Korea Part 1: Nfu-oh (The Mothership)

So I hate to admit it but one of the things I was most looking forward to doing on our trip was going to Nfu-oh headquarters. I'm sure you fellow nail polish addicts understand, though! It's a pretty big place, it looks like it used to be an actual salon but now it's mostly a warehouse/showroom. As always, click to enlarge the photos.

*drool*

Holos and flakies (among others)

My haul:

GS14, 39, 51, 52, 59, 60, 61, 66

68, 69, 70, 119, 435, 534, 553, 557, Aqua Base

Here are some quick 'n' dirty swatches:

Thumb to pinky: GS14, 39, 51, 52, 59; one coat of each, no top or base coat

Pinky to thumb: 60, 66, 68, 69, 70; two coats of 66 and 70, one coat of the rest, no base or top coat

Better shot of 66

Thumb to pinky: 119, 435, 534, 553, 557; three coats of 119, two coats each of the rest, no base or top coat

And of course, the famed 61. Even in this picture it looks amazing but the picture really does not do it justice! It's truly amazing IRL.

Here are some swatches of their gel polish line, Gelist, but they are not available for export yet. Please enlarge the pictures, some of them have very pretty shimmer and microglitter finishes.

Whew! So much polish, I hope it doesn't get confiscated!