Green Nail Polish Comparisons

I wasn't a fan of green nail polish until recently.. I never thought that I would end up with six different green shades! See below:


Indoors without the flash:

L to R: Essie- Turquoise and Caicos, Essie- First Timer, Essie- Mojito Madness, Pomegranate- Enchanted Lagoon, Pomegranate- Royal Brat, China Glaze- Kiwi Cool-Ada

Essie- First Timer

I could not wait to purchase this color.  This is really the only Essie color that I have been interested in purchasing since their winter collection.  It definitely didn't disappoint, it was just different than expected.  This color was exactly what I was hoping Mojito Madness would be.  A medium Kelly green.  Not exactly light.  Always remember to take into account that the nail polish will be 2-3 shades darker than it looks in the bottle.  Anyway, the formula was phenomenal! Very smooth and creamy.  Definitely a one coater.  I wish that Essie would make all of their formulas this way.  Anyway.. onto the pictures! All pictures show two coats of First Timer + 1 coat of seche vite.  My cuticles are a mess, you have been warned!

Essie- First Timer, indoors, without the flash.

Pink Nail Polish Comparisons

I've been meaning to do this forever... Posting nail polish comparisons is much harder than it seems! The lighting has to be just perfect to capture the exact shade.  I did my best, and here they are!

1.       Essie-  Ballet Slippers

2.       OPI-  Bubble Bath

3.       NOPI-  Kim-pletely In Love

4.       Essie- Muchi Muchi

5.       Zoya-  Barbie

6.       Essie-  French Affair

7.       OPI- Pedal Faster Suzi!

8.       Essie- Mod Squad

9.       NOPI- All Kendall-ed Up

10.   OPI- Strawberry Margarita

11.   China Glaze- Pool Party

12.   China Glaze- Shocking Pink

13.   Essie-  Peach Daiquiri

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Caprese, 3 ways!

Tomato basil mozzarella caprese!

My Nail Polish Collection, Part 7: Misc.

L to R: Wet N Wild- The Star of the Show, JENsations- Stars in Space, NYX- Precious Jems, Revlon- Radiant, Chanel- Black Satin, Nails Inc.- Baker Street, Sation- Miss Emo Shun All, American Apparel- Neon Yellow, Julep- Meryl, Julep- Hayden, Julep- Barbara, NYC- Mulberry Street, NYC- Lexington Yellow, NYC- Sidewalkers, Sally Hanson- Tenacious Ruby, Sally Hanson- Barracuda

My Nail Polish Collection, Part 6: Nicole by OPI

L to R: Disco Dolls, Follow Me on Glitter, Rainbow in the S-Kylie, Sephora by OPI- I'm So Sari!, Stand by Your Manny, Kim-pletely in Love, All Kendalled Up, My Empire My Rules

Skittles!

I decided to have some fun with my nail polish this week.  I wanted to wear Essie's Van D'Go but accidentally began to apply Essie's A Crewed Interest because they look so similar.  Then I just decided to go all out and apply Essie's Peach Daiquiri on my pinky.  My nails now look very springlike and festive for Easter! All pictures show Essie- A Crewed Interest on index finger , Essie- Van D'Go on ring and middle fingers, Essie- Peach Daiquiri on Pinky

Essie- A Crewed Interest on index finger , Essie- Van D'Go on ring and middle fingers, Essie- Peach Daiquiri on Pinky

Zoya- Robyn

If this isn't the epitome of a hot blue color, I don't know what is.  It's as hot as you can get without being neon.  One coat is good, two coats are better.  The formula was very easy to work with.  Nothing to add to that, onto the pictures! All pictures show 2 coats of polish+ 1 coat of Seche Vite.

Zoya- Robyn, in the sunlight

My Nail Polish Collection Part 4: Zoya

China Glaze- Pool Party

This week I have been on vacation, so I was finally able to wear the extremely work inappropriate, but much anticipated, POOL PARTY!  Do I even need to say anything? This nail polish is pretty much amazing.  As a neon, it was extremely transparent, so I put a coat of white nail polish underneath to really make the color pop.  This color is actually what I was hoping flip flop fantasy would be.. a neon orange-y coral color.  The formula was actually really good for a neon, a two coater for full opacity as long as you have 1 coat of white nail polish underneath.  Like most neons, it dried with a matte finish, nothing that a little bit of Seche Vite couldn't fix.  The only downside was that it chipped on the second day :( Anyway... onto the pictures!  All pictures show 2 coats of Pool Party over 1 coat of China Glaze- White on White, with two coats of seche vite.

It glows!

China Glaze- Pool Party, underwater, in sunlight, without the flash

China Glaze- Immortal

This was another polish that I had been wanting to try out for a while.  I'm a huge fan of gray polishes, and immortal is no exception! Immortal is a darkish gray with the slightest hint of multi colored sparkles. The formula is AMAZING.  Super pigmented and definitely a one coater.  Pictures below show two coats of immortal+ 1 coat of seche vite.  Enjoy!

China Glaze Immortal- Indoors, flash

Essie- Jam n Jelly

I was intrigued by this polish for a while, and finally gave in and bought it off Amazon.  It's a nice color, and I love jellies! It kind of reminds me of patent leather.  The formula was definitely one of Essie's better ones, and this was a one coater.  Pictures below show 2 coats of Jam n Jelly+ 1 coat of seche vite.

Essie- Jam n Jelly, indoors, without the flash

Essie- Where's My Chauffeur

Hello Hello! Here I am enjoying the gorgeous weather in sunny Florida.  Although Where's My Chauffeur came out in Essie's Winter Collection.. it's definitely a tropical color! The formula was good, but I needed 3 coats to even it out.  It dried with a matte finish and needed lots of top coat.  The pictures below show 3 coats of Essie- Where's My Chauffeur+ 2 coats of seche vite.  I also added Zoya- Maisie as an accent nail for a little bit of extra sparkle.

Essie- Where's My Chauffer+ Zoya- Maisie on the ring finger, outdoors

My Nail Polish Collection- Part 3: China Glaze

Here is part 3 of my collection, with China Glaze.

 More polishes after the jump!

My Nail Polish Collection- Part 2: Essie (Part 2)

This blog was giving me a difficult time loading more pictures, so here is the rest of my Essie Collection:

My Nail Polish Collection- Part 2: Essie (Part 1)

Here is part 2 of my nail polish collection: Essie is my favorite brand of nail polish, so I definitely have the most of these.  I will include the bottom row in part 2 of my Essie collection.

Row 1, L to R: Ballet Slippers, Fiji, Muchi Muchi, French Affair, Mod Squad, Jam n Jelly, Plumberry, Big Spender, Peach Daiquiri, Lollipop, Jelly Apple, A Crewed Interest, Van D'go, Haute as Hello, Tart Deco
Row 2, L to R: Borrowed and Blue, Cocktail Bling, Lapiz of Luxury, Smooth Sailing, Baubing for Baubles, Nice is Nice, She's Picture Perfect, Bangle Jangle, Lilacism, No More Film, Absolutely Shore, Mint Candy Apple, Turquoise and Caicos, Where's My Chauffeur, Mojito Madness

Row 3, L to R: Carnival, Beyond Cozy, Set in Stones, A Cut Above, Leading Lady, Good as Gold, Lady Like, Demure Vixen, Island Hopping, Don't Sweater It, Chinchilly, Armed and Ready, Marshmallow, Sand Tropez

My Nail Polish Collection- Part 1: OPI

Hello Hello! Thank god it's Saturday! Did I mention that I am on a strict no buy right now? I gave up buying new nail polish, and Starbucks for Lent.  I usually never give things up for Lent, but I decided that this would be a good opportunity to break some bad habits! So it's actually been almost a month.  The last nail polish that I bought was Polka.com from OPI's Euro Centrale Collection on February 6th.  The no buy isn't as hard as I expected.  I don't find the Spring collections for OPI, Essie, or China Glaze to have anything that I haven't seen before.  But who knows, maybe I will decide to buy the minis for the collections.  Anyway.. today I present to you my nail collection!

My OPI Collection.

More Pictures after the break!

Colors that I never thought I'd like

I'm back after a long haitus! I wish I could say that I was doing something useful/ exciting, but unfortunately, my nail polish collection has grown exponentially and I've just been reading and writing the 92389284 papers that grad school requires.  Anyway, onto something less depressing! Since I've been gone so long, this post has 5 polishes in one entry! If you told me that I would ever be wearing these polishes 6 months ago, I would have laughed at you... But then again, I have total nail polish ADD..

I just discovered this blog called Oflifeandlaquer,  and I love it already! You can enter to win the 4 mini pack Eurocentrale OPI Collection! The collection includes Can't Find My Czechbook, Suzi is Hungary Again!, You're Such A Budapest, and Oy! Another Polish Joke.

To enter to win, click here and follow instructions on how to earn entries:

 http://oflifeandlacquer.com/opi-euro-centrale-collection-giveaway/#comments

Good luck!

-ch

THE BEST chicken pot pies!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

I decided to follow the trend of baking everything in cupcake tins.. and these came out AMAZING! They are perfectly moist.

* Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-pot-pie-ix/

OPI- Russian Navy

OPI- Russian Navy was one of the many nail polishes that I got for Christmas (I know, I'm such a teenager at heart)! It was highly anticipated.  It is definitely sophisticated.  I guess I was just expecting something different.  It was much darker than was shown from swatches online.  I'm starting to learn a major rule of thumb when it comes to nail polish colors: The ACTUAL shade of the polish is almost always 1-2 shades darker than it looks in the bottle!

Anyway.. the formula was good, on the thick side.  When it tried, the texture reminded me of a Jolly Rancher if that makes any sense at all.  A 1 coater for sure.  I planned to use 2 coats, but used 3 due to bubbling issues.  The pictures below show 3 coats+ 1 coat of seche vite.

OPI Russian Navy, in sunlight, without flash

OPI- Do You Lilac It+ Essie- Carnival

Today I present to you one of my favorite nail polish combinations.  OPI- Do You Lilac It?+ Essie- Carnival on top.  I have probably gotten more compliments on these colors than any of the other 25 colors that I have worn since October.  The formula in Do You Lilac It is A+.  A 1 coater, and just thick enough to work with.  Most importantly, no bubbling!  Carnival is one of the few glitter polishes that Essie has.  It is one of my favorite top coats with just enough glitter to add the slightest bit of sparkle.  All pictures show 2 coats of Do You Lilac It? with two coats of Carnival over top.

In natural light, with flash

Honey Boba Green Tea Smoothie

When looking at this title, you probably know and love 3 out of the 4 ingredients listed above.  If you aren't familiar with boba or bubble tea, you haven't lived!

The boba are those black tapioca bubbles at the bottom of the smoothie.. they have a jelly like consistency and are usually drank along with the tea using a bubble tea straw.

Here is a picture of the boba, that can be bought online or in Asian supermarkets:

 And yes, that is Chardonnay that you see in the background.. not an ingredient in this recipe, but always a great thing to have around ;P

Anyway, here are the ingredients that you need to make two sixteen oz smoothies:

-Blender
-Saucepan with a lid
-5 cups water
-1/2 cup dry boba pearls
-16 oz Brewed green tea, chilled. or you can just buy some UNSWEETENED iced green tea from the store.  I used Wegmans brand called simply green tea,
-Honey.  As much as you want.  Honey is the sweetener in this recipe.  I used 1/2 cup, plus more to drizzle on top in a cool starbucks-like design.
-Sweetened condensed milk or 2% milk.  Going below 2% will make the smoothie less creamy and frothy.

Directions:

-If brewing your own tea boil water and put enough tea bags in to make 16 oz.
For boba:

-Bring 5 cups water to a rolling boil
-gently pour 1/2 cup boba into boiling water and stir softly
-Once boba has become plump, reduce heat to medium and cover pan for 5 minutes
-Drain boba and set aside, coat in honey for to give it more of a taste
For tea:
-Place 1 cup ice cups into a blender
-Pour 16 oz green tea over ice cubes
-Add 1 cup milk, or 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, you can always taste and add more
-Add 1/2 cup honey to start, you can always add more to adjust flavor
-Blend ingredients together until well blended, you may have to scrape honey off the sides of the mixer from time to time.
-Add boba pearls to 16 oz glasses, and spoon tea mixture over pearls
-Enjoy with a boba tea straw.

OPI- Dulce de Leche

I think I may have a HUGE nail polish addiction problem.  I'm such a hoarder.  I just bought a bunch of Essie polishes and a few OPIs off of Amazon.com.  For now I leave you with a bit of a palate cleanser, the classic but never boring, Dulce de Leche:

This is definitely as classy as it gets.  The shade changes depending on the lighting.  Sometimes it looks like more of a camel color, and sometimes there is a dusty pink tint.  This polish is definitely a one coater! The downside is that it comes out EXTREMELY thick and goopy, and can be hard to work with.  I used 2 coats of Dulce de Leche+ 1 coat of Seche Vite for the pictures below:

OPI- Dulce de Leche: In shade, with the flash on

More pictures after the jump:

Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits

After searching far and wide, I have finally found the perfect recipe for the coveted Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits!

Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits:

Recipe after the break!

China Glaze- Blonde Bombshell

Happy Sunday! The weather is crazy here and I'm loving every second of it.  It's in the 60s in mid January! I wish that it would stay this way all winter.  I always say that it is only allowed to snow one day per year! ;P Anyway, here I am again to introduce you to one of my all time favorite polishes, the ultimate party polish, China Glaze- Blonde Bombshell.

Believe it or not, this is a one coater! I used two coats for the photos below.  Application was very easy and effortless.  It applies evenly on the first coat.  The polish is very forgiving, especially for being a glitter polish.  Removal is really not bad, and very easy for a glitter polish.  Onto the pictures below.  All pictures show two coats of polish+ 1 topcoat of seche vite.

In natural light, without flash 

More pictures after the break:

Mariah Carey Liquid Sand Swatches

The newest nail polish trend is said to be liquid sand, which is gritty glitter with a matte finish.  Actually, this liquid sand finish is so new, that I'm not sure it has reached "trend" status yet... The polish is meant to be gritty, and should be worn without a top coat.  When I saw that the newest liquid sand polishes from the Mariah Carey collection were available in a package with 4 mini bottles, I knew that I had to have them!

I have only used Can't Let Go, and Get Your Number so far.  The finish is definitely as described.  These polishes dry with a lot of texture.  The formulas in both polishes were amazing and super easy to apply.  You definitely need 3 coats to see the build up of the sunken glitter and other objects.  Drying time was really fast, faster than any of the cremes that I have tried.  As I'm sure you can imagine, getting these polishes off was quite an ordeal.  Can't Let Go was about the same as any other glitter polish.  Get Your Number was a NIGHTMARE.  Definitely soak your fingers in nail polish remover for at least 30 seconds.  Anyway, onto the pictures! I used 3 coats of polish in each picture.

Can't Let Go:

In natural light, with the flash

More pictures after the break:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

The most addicting dip that I've ever tasted... after many recipes and tweaks, this is the best!

Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Dip

And yes, I know that my camera phone does not do it justice!

Cheeto Brittle

Because the BEST kind of brittle... has CHEETOS!!

Whiny willowy skinny people should avert their eyes (Not that I haven't tried to be willowy on many occasions).... go visit hungry-girl.com or something.. I LOVE hungry girl by the way.. but I wanted to eat some food that reminded me of my childhood... so here we go!

Cheeto Brittle!

Pretzel Fried Chicken (Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken)

I have perfected honey mustard pretzel chicken.

Uhhh.. yummmm!

 

This is super easy to make.. and the ingredients will last you forever!

Essie Swatches

I'm back and I have lots to show you all! Below are some swatches of my recent Essie purchases.  I used seche vite as a topcoat on all of the polishes:

Essie- Smooth Sailing.

I had been drooling over this polish forever! The color is a lot darker than it looks in the bottle.  It is a dark periwinkle with a very hidden shimmer.  The formula was AMAZING! It's definitely a one-coater, I used 2 coats in the pictures below+ 1 coat seche vite top coat.
 

In the dark, with flash

See more Essie swatches after the break: