OPI — You're Such a Budapest & The Lights of Emerald City

OPI is pretty amazing. I can't claim that this is an actual fact... but I'm pretty sure that they release more colors per year than any other nail polish brand. Imagine their color archives! It's gotta be incredible. I picture an endless hallway of bottles placed on shining pillars protected by glass, like in a museum.

OPI recently released their Euro Centrale & OZ collections. I'll cover off on those in depth later, but for now I wanted to show you a pairing I fell in love with. It's perfect for spring!

You're Such a Budapest* stole my heart the moment I saw it. I love a good lavender to begin with — and YSAB is a little richer and deeper than the usual pastel purples. It hovers between purple and lavender and leans on the blue side. It's technically a creme, but has a hint of jelly to it. That element of translucency adds a delicate touch to this color.

I contemplated wearing YSAB solo... but then The Lights of Emerald City* were twinkling at me and I couldn't resist. TLOEC is fantastic. Tiny pieces of square metallic glitter sparkle green, peach, pink and gold, suspended in a clear base. Mixed among them are larger squares of pearl white glitter.

I carefully applied TLOEC so that the white glitter pieces were concentrated toward the middle and tips of my nails, leaving the area near my cuticles clean. I was going for a slightly gradated look.

These nails felt very My Little Pony, Pretty Pretty Princess-y, in the very best way possible. These are two new bottles that I am thrilled to have in my collection. :)

xxo, Francesca

*product provided for honest review

CHANEL Taboo — New from the Révélation Collection

I cover new CHANEL colors for two reasons: 1. These pics are usually the closest I'll come to them because they're just too expensive for me to feel comfortable with. 27 dollars, whaddya think I am, Chanel, madea money? (Shout out to Kevin and Katie for feeding my addiction these past couple of birthdays, <3 you guys...)

2. This is the brand that gives birth to trends. We must maintain constant vigilance.

Here's CHANEL's latest colour: Taboo.

Check out this closeup; looks like we've got some beautiful sapphire & ruby microglitter, all suspended in a navy-copper-purplish base:

Oh, I just love that second shot. It's like a fuchsia-hued galaxy. And may I point you to fellow nail blogger Weekend Ramblings for a set of gorgeous swatches. Check out her post, she was pretty impressed...

If I make it to Nordstrom anytime soon, I'll paint a little Taboo on a crumpled old receipt or something classy like that — then I can judge this polish freely. Until that happens, I can only speculate based on these photos. But Taboo looks lovely. Spellbinding, even.

My one complaint: why is this coming out in Spring/Summer? Just when we're wanting to wear brights and pastels... just seems like an odd choice. But that doesn't mean I'm not drooling for Taboo...

taboohoohoo, Francesca

CHANEL Limited-Edition Collection — Hong Kong de Chanel

Bonjour! Word of a new limited-edition collection from les artistes at CHANEL arrived in my inbox today. This time it's très chinoiserie.

Chinoiserie, a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque,” refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences.

It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, by asymmetry in format and whimsical contrasts of scale, and by the attempts to imitate Chinese porcelain and the use of lacquer-like materials and decoration.

This is a toughie. The creamy white, Eastern Light, is pretty basic. Since these bottles are running for $30 each (quelle horror!) I don't think you guys should feel tempted to drop that kind of cash on something so vanilla. Literally.

But Western Lights shows great promise. It's easy to pass over first; the shot of the complete collection did little to pique my interest. But when I went to the product page to get a closer look at the bottle, I read the description and got a better look at the shade's unique shimmer. I'd love to see this live! That said, a bit of an odd choice for springtime, eh? Could have been a great fall / winter release.

To check out swatches and a fantastic post on this new CHANEL duo, head over to fellow nail blogger Ommorphia Beauty Bar's site. She's got some great dupe suggestions and really beautiful shots.

yearofthesssssnake, Francesca

P.S. Click here to read more about 2013, the Year of the Water Snake, aka Junior Dragon. My Chinese Zodiac sign is a Rat. ;_; Wish I'd been a Tiger or a Dragon. Any other Rats up in here?

An opportunist with an eye for a bargain, Rats tend to collect and hoard, but are unwilling to pay too much for anything.

Hahahahaha. Collecting? Hoarding? You don't say.

Nicole by OPI — Selena Gomez Collection, Part One

Baby cats! I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I wish I could tell you that my life consists only of swatching polishes, hanging with my cats and eating bon bons all day, but sadly that is not the case. Although I do eat a lot of bon bons. I got swamped with my Real Job recently, but I've come up with some good ideas to make sure I don't go dark for as long as I did, ever again!

There are nailz to paint. Collections to ewww and ahhh over. Let us begin!

So, Selena Gomez. You may have heard of her. Bless her heart, she was one of those poor Disney girls and is slowly blossoming into a quite a nice young lady. Her songs are fun, she carries herself well and hasn't gone down La Lohan Lane, so she's a-okay in my book.

In keeping with its younger demographic, Nicole by OPI teamed up with Selena to create 14 shades for her very own collection. Some celebrity nail polish partnerships make me scratch my head (note that I have never covered a Kardashian Kollection — and never will) but this one makes total sense. Selena experiments with nail color for events all the time.

Her collection is, holistically, one of the prettiest ones I've seen; we've got glitter, we've got brights, we've got pastels... shimmers, creams... well done, Gomez, well done.

Check back tomorrow to read my review of Stars at Night and Heavenly Angel!

missedyou, Francesca

WANTED: CHANEL Nail Lacquer iPhone Case

So deep is my fear of dropping (read: destroying) my phone that I don't even entertain the idea of getting a cute case. Sure, there were the days when I had Ye Old Nokia and I jazzed it up with a sparkling rhinestone keypad (for real) and a matte-neon pink case. My mom almost threw it away because she thought it was an old childhood toy I'd unearthed from storage. What I mean is, that's how coooool it looked.

But these days? A phone accident is a critical issue. I can't bring myself to take risks on a case that offers beautiful form without well-padded function. And yet...

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RESIST THESE?

These cases are just... It's genius. Absolutely awesome. Please, one of you, one of my brave, devil-may-care readers who says to hell with safety, pleeeease get a Chanel Nail Lacquer Case. Be gutsy, be glam... and then tell me all about it! I'll live vicariously through your new acquisition.

They're on Etsy for $14.86 from a shop called Casetop. Now if only the shop offered a Chanel Ciel de Nuit case. Now we're talkin'.

Do any of you guys find this as tempting as I do?

xxo, Francesca