CND Raisin In The Sun & Jade Sparkle

It's no secret at this point that I love CND. Their polishes are amazing and opaque. Their effects can change the look of a polish. And their top coats, base coats, and cuticle products work fabulously.

When I saw these on sale at a local beauty supply, I snatched them up.

Raisin In The Sun and Jade Sparkle.

This is 2 coats of Raisin In The Sun.

Raisin In The Sun is an opaque, shiny, red based brown creme.

It does seem a shade darker on the nail than it is in the bottle.

It's incredibly opaque.

This is 1 coat of Jade Sparkle over Raisin In The Sun. Isn't that amazing?

Jade Sparkle is a green shimmer polish that changed the look of Raisin In The Sun.

I'm a huge fan of the effect. I love that you can change the way a polish looks with just one coat.

I think this polish pulls more green on other colors. Here, it looks a bit more yellow.

As always, the CND brush rocks and the wear on this was great!

Don't forget my Franken FAQ is tomorrow!

More OPI DS Polishes

I hope everyone is having a fabulous morning or whatever time it is where you are. :) I'm rushing today to put together my Franken FAQ for Franken Friday. I tried to get in as many questions as possible so I think it's longer than I expected..

Today I want to show you some more DS polishes I recently acquired.

DS Passion, DS Diamond, and DS Amethyst.

This is 3 coats of OPI DS Passion.

DS Passion is a mauve polish with a holographic and duochrome effect. It's similar to DS Illuminate.

The holographic effect on this is definitely less than other DS polishes. Here you can see the light catching the duochrome effect.

In the close up you can see the holographic effect more.

This is 2 coats of OPI DS Diamond.

Diamond is a pale purple polish with a soft holographic effect. My bottle of DS Diamond has this weird brown spot at the bottle. It's very noticeable in pictures but only faint in real life.

The holographic effect of DS Diamond is stronger than DS Passion.

DS Diamond almost has a grey tone to it. It's very pretty.

This is 3 coats of DS Amethyst.

DS Amethyst is a light purple based holographic. This one had the strongest holographic effect of the three.

I love the holographic effect in the DS polishes. It seems different from other holos I have.

YUM.

So far, I've had really good experience with the OPI DS Top Coat on these. No dulling the holo what so ever. I'm not sure if top coat doesn't dull these since I haven't tried other brands with it yet.

My Old OPI Polishes And Recent Swaps

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my Veggie nail art from yesterday. I'm trying to make time for more nail art this week.

Today I want to show you some more nail polish I had in my possession before I became a nail polish fanatic.

Bubble Bath, Moroccan Melon, and Lincoln Park At Midnight.

This is 3 coats of OPI Bubble Bath.

OPI Bubble Bath is a sheer baby pink. You can see here there is a lot of visible nail line. BB is a good palate cleanser.

There are a couple different formulas for Bubble Bath. I have the pink based one but there is also a creamy off white version as well.

You can see how short the actual tip of my nail is. A woman I work with told me the other day that I had "long nails". In all actuality, it's just the size of my nail bed.

This is 3 coats of Moroccan Melon.

Moroccan Melon is an orangey pink coral creme. This is probably the oldest polish I have. It used to be my moms.

I can't say that I'm a big fan of coral polish so this one doesn't come out to play very often.

It's very shiny as well.

This is 2 coats of Lincoln Park At Midnight.

Lincoln Park At Midnight (which I always want to call Lincoln Park After Dark) is  a blackened purple shimmer polish. It could have been a one coater if I had been more careful.

This is the polish that sparked my love for dark purples. :)

Argh! Ignore that tiny hair that somehow worked its way into my swatch.

I also owned these polishes, courtesy of my granny who was convinced that young Rachel only wanted to do French Mani's... Right...

Now onto my swap packages..

My first swap was with Swaafie! If you haven't checked out her blog- hop to it! She's incredibly creative and her posts always make me laugh.

Look at all the fun stuff she sent me! She sent me a ton of awesome candy and nail glitter/decals.

The polishes she sent me were:

BR 09, GOSH Rainbow, GOSH Holographic, Pieces Starry Sky, and La Femme Beauty Odyssey.

My second swap with a reader of the blog, Naomi! 

She wanted to get a hold of some polish brands that are available in Michigan. I ended up swapping for non-nail polish related make up, so instead I'll show you how cute her package was!

Seriously, how freaking cute! I about died when I opened my package. 

She also included these in her package. I'm in awe.

Finally, I swapped with Sara. She also has a great blog with some awesome nail art.

Here are the goodies she sent me:

Barry M Nail Effects, Barry M Dusky Mauve, Marry M Vivid Purple, Technic Shade 16, Technic Shade 27, Model's Own True Blue, and GOSH Holographic.

Me Me Me Pewter, two unnamed Red Herring polishes, Accessories Aztec, and Accessories Pink Spice.

I love swapping. :) 

Veggie Nail Art And Cover Girl Nail Slicks

I've been wanting to do nail art for while but I've been robbed of time and inspiration. Finally, I had an idea. I attended Veg Fest 2011 yesterday and wanted to do veggie nails to match. I'm not much of a Vegan/Vegetarian/Animal Rights Activist but I loving going every year to hear the speakers talk about living healthy. It's very inspiring.

Veggie nails! It goes: Eggplant, tomato, broccoli, carrot, and mushroom.

It turned out pretty fun and I got a lot of compliments on it. :)

The background color is Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud.

This is what I used for the nail art:

Jesse's Girl Crush, China Glaze Below Deck, China Glaze Channelesque, China Glaze Phat Santa, China Glaze Jolly Holly, China Glaze Grape Pop, and Zoya Shawn.

Now on to the larger swatching project I have ever attempted...

Cover Girl Nail Slicks.

Silver Belle, Sun Kissed, Galactic Green, Let's Go Green, Mystic Peacock, and Midnight Forest.

This is 4 coats of Silver Belle. Silver Belle is a sheer frosty silver.

This is 3 coats of Sun Kissed. Sun Kissed is a sheer, soft yellow shimmer.

This is 3 coats of Galactic Green. Galactic Green is a sheer lime green shimmer.

This is 3 coats of Let's Go Green. Let's Go Green is a watery light emerald frost.

This is 3 coats of Mystic Peacock. Mystic Peacock is a a deep blue shimmer. It's very pretty but super watery.

This is 2 coats of Midnight Forest. Midnight Forest is a deep olive shimmer. 

Pink Bliss, Raspberry Ice, and Plum Fairy.

Orange Slush, Midnight Rose, and Gold Front.

This is 3 coats of Pink Bliss. Pink Bliss is a very bright hot pink jelly.

This is 3 coats of Raspberry Ice. Raspberry Ice is a magenta purple with blue shimmer.

This is 2 coats of Plum Fairy. Plum Fairy is a blackened purple with purple and gold shimmer.

This is 2 coats of Orange Slush over Plum Fairy. Orange Slush is a glitter polish that shines orange and pink.

This is 2 coats of Midnight Rose. Midnight Rose is a brown-purple polish with silver shimmer.

This is 2 coats of Gold Front over Midnight Rose. Gold Front is a holographic glitter polish in a yellow base.

Moonglow, Pink Snow, and Gingersnap.

Spice It Up, Sand Castle, and Smoky Topaz.

This is 4 coats of Moonglow. Moonglow is a frost golden brown.

This is 2 coats of Pink Snow over Moonglow. Pink Snow is a sheery brown with a pink iridescent finish.

This is 4 coats of Gingersnap. Gingersnap is a yellowish gold shimmer.

This is 2 coats of Spice It Up. Spice It Up is a goldish brown polish with gold and blue shimmer.

This is 3 coats of Sand Castle. Sand Castle is a mauve shimmer.

This is 3 coats of Smoky Topaz. Smoky Topaz is a brown shimmer polish.