Is it Haul time again?!

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Yes! My trans design package arrived today - thank god for Priority Shipment; only 2 weeks of waiting. And a Milani Holo showed up from ebay as well hooray!

Here are the goodies:

Essie Carry On Collection for Fall 2011 Mini Cube L-R: Power Clutch, Very Structured, Carry On, Lady Like

L-R: CND Perfectly Bare Duo (Colour & Effect), Essie Your Hut or Mine, Milani 3D Holographic Hi-Res

Misa Hip To My Jive Fall Collection 2011 L-R: Pop the Clutch, Bop til you Drop, Catch a Flick

The pics were taken in a poorly lit room & were more colour accurate without the flash (except for the Milani shot) so sorry if they aren't tip top clarity wise. I'm pretty excited to swatch these guys and do some comparisons because I have a feeling there is a dead on dupe or two in this bunch. I'm praying that when my OPI Touring America polishes turn up that Bop til you Drop isn't the same as I Eat Mainely Lobster - that would make me very sad!!!! BTYD has a gorgeous subtle coral/gold sparkly shimmer in it that you can't really see in these photos. I'm such a sucker for corals!!!!
My only regret is how little product you get in the Essie minis. Seriously, an eighth of an ounce?! I'm sure they'd still make a killing if they put .25 oz in them :( Still, the brush seems to be the same (or very close to) as a full size bottle so application is better than Orly minis (which I kind of loathe - then again the only minis I have are the pastels Lemonade & Go-go; so perhaps it's the formula not the brush).

I needed a palate cleansing nude/sheer manicure after the bright/dark colours I've been wearing lately - and a mani I left on for at least 2 days! This was exacerbated by the fact that my right index finger nail broke leaving a lonely & tres tres ugly stub in its place. I decided that camouflage was my only option. What colour would draw the least amount of attention to my sad, oddly shaped nubbin? Enter OPI Hawaiian Orchid... A perfectly nice colour & therefore it is on the end of my POLISH OR PERISH list (FYI POP is actually the name of a nail blog if you want to check it out - think it's in my blog roll :) ) So here's what's on my nails right now... (not for long ahahahaha, witch cackle, witch cackle :) ) - Oooohhh that made me think of Roald Dahl's The Witches. That movie adaptation was the most terrifying film I ever saw... until I watched The Shining as an 11 year old. I never will forgive Victoria Taylor for convincing me I'd like it. NEVER. I had nightmares for months & I didn't even watch the whole thing, I freaked out way before the "Here's Johnny" part. I might have only made it to the twins scene. Woops getting on with it...

OPI Hawaiian Orchid + White SP BM 222 - artificial light, no flash

OPI Hawaiian Orchid + White SP BM 222 - with flash (and my poor NUBBIN nail!!!)

 This is actually the nail polish my mum bought to match her MOB dress for my sister's wedding in January. But she lets it live with my stash!!! Isn't she lovely? Plus, I'm convinced "she'll" get lonely away from her polish family :) It is a sheer pink with a kind of purple-pink flash in it. I think it's meant to be a 2 coater but it was too uneven looking for my liking so I added 1 more for vanity's sake! Next time I'll just use ridge filler first. It kind of has a dirty leaning to it (which is most obvious under standard indoor lighting - ie yellow light) which you can see in the first photo. But most of the time it leans cool. Really wearable. I added the stamping because I felt too conservative/ just couldn't leave my nails alone for more than 24 hours. I wanted to stamp the whole lot with a french tip design from my monster plates but they're really thick & my nails just aren't long enough - especially the nubbin!!!! So I settled for accent nails with a full design. Cute pattern but I really need to practise the stamping technique - so much doesn't transfer from the stamp to the nail!!!!! I don't think I'm rolling it properly. Ho hum pig's bum, she'll be right.

Look out for swatches of my haul over the next week or so. I'll try to do the new collection polishes ASAP.

xxxx NPA