NAILS | Deborah Lippmann "Do the Mermaid" Swatch and Chat

I honestly don't know how I got here to the end of this week/end of the month. It has been an odd week at work with it being both busy and not. It has all been a bit of a blur as there has been a ton of construction and visits from various people. Mentally, I have been feeling really ugly on the outside and bored with my workwear so this past week I have made an effort to dress up more and wear designer pumps and actual blazers to feel more "boss woman"! The past two years, the work dress code has relaxed a little bit and now we are allowed to wear cardigans instead of blazers (yay!) which was something I took FULL advantage of as sometimes I feel very restrained or hot in a blazer especially in the summer. The thing is, there definitely is something much more professional looking about wearing a blazer so I've been wearing all of my blazers again this past week with heels and it actually has made me feel better. I plan on going through my clothing this weekend and organizing it for Big Brother to pick up so I'm hoping I keep up the momentum!

 

Purchased by me

NAILS | Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Eyes Swatch #CBBxManiMonday

When I first started blogging years ago, DL polishes were all the rage and very sought after especially in Topboxes! I still think her polishes are beautiful and I have to hand it to the brand for coming out with some iconic shades like "Mermaid's Dream" and "Birthday Cake" which had plenty of dupes at a lower price point. Even Revlon duped "Mermaid's Dream" in a scented form! As I mentioned in last week's ManiMonday post, I lost most of my nails and even now they are still fairly short which may a good thing in light of keeping things hygienic. 

 Purchased EONS ago by me

Topbox | Flare Beauty How-To Edition

So, yes this is a box that went on sale Black Friday of last year, but it was just such a great deal that I had to share! I haven’t pictured it here, but the original price of this Flare Topbox was $39.99, but on Black Friday this Topbox PLUS a limited edition men’s Topbox were collectively $50! Based on the contents of the Flare Topbox and how much I love Benefit’s Gimme Brow ($26.00 CDN) and the Stila Waterproof Eyeliner ($26.00 CDN), this was too good of a deal to pass up!

February 2013 “Regular” Topbox

At first I was pretty bummed that I didn’t get the Benefit Prive Topbox, but then I realized that the items that were offered I already had in full sizes or had tried before so it only seemed fair to let another lucky girl “benefit” from having that special Prive box. Like what I did there? Hehe. Instead, I received the regular Topbox which I absolutely loved! The goodies inside were right up my alley so I am nothing but smiles for the regular Joe February Topbox.

Swatch It Up: Deborah Lippmann-Mermaid’s Dream

Ideas for nail art have been eluding me as of late and I have had to cut my nails down to what I feel are nubbins, but are so much more manageable! I have even manage to scratch off the letter “N” on my keyboard from typing the word “nail” so much!

Today I thought I’d wear a polish that I picked up when I got promoted and that was Deborah Lippmann’s Mermaid’s Dream. What I have on is three coats with OTD as my top coat. I love how this colour just glows! I have yet to see another polish like this with the same colour combination and look of texture.

Swatch It Up: Deborah Lippmann–Sweet Dreams

In my last nail mail post I had mentioned that I would never purchase another Deborah Lippmann polish and I should clarify that I only meant because of price. They seem like such an extravagance that only if a colour was truly unique or possibly on sale would I ever splurge again. Over the holidays, Nail Polish Canada had all Deborah Lippmann polishes for 30% off and since they never go on sale I was all over it!

This is Deborah Lippmann-Sweet Dreams which is described on the Deborah Lippmann site as a “candied pink 3D holographic” polish. Now, for those of us who are absolute nail polish whores, I would not consider this polish to be holographic at all! This is the perfect example of a FLAKIE! What I have on is three coats as this polish can be a bit sheer. Even with three coats there is still some VNL.

Eeek! You can totally see fingerprints with flash!

To be honest, I haven’t decided how I feel about this polish…I feel like it doesn’t really suit my skin tone. This is certainly a unique polish, but I feel like I fell in love with the bottle more than the colour itself. Have you ever had “bottle-love”?