June's Haul

Welcome everyone to my monthly haul segment! I know I shouldn't be proud that I bombed so much on polish (and other related items) again and trust me, I'm not. Actually, this month, it really hit me how much I'm spending on polish so I'll be trying to cut the habit once OPI and China Glaze (fine, and maybe Zoya too) release their fall collections. Then it's cold turkey for me until the Winter collections come out. No more buying old colours. (Oh, and as I'm typing this, I've already bought a few polishes in July but they don't count as they're already a sunk cost.)

Moving on to the lighter side of things, peeeektures! Here's a group shot before I break it down for you!



First up, the polish related items:



Finally received my Bundle Monster plated from Cherub's Lips! Gonna try it out once my internship is over! I have one week between the end of my internship and the reopening of school and I'm jamming that week with mani sessions, nail swatching, jamming with my friend as well as sleeeeeeeeping! Right, I digress but going back, I also also got OPI's nail lacquer thinner. I chose OPI over Seche Restore because OPI's one is Big 3 free while Seche Restore isn't so I can add it to my Big 3 free polishes without ruining them! I also have a thinner from Sylvie (a cheapo brand) that isn't Big 3 free so I'll use that for my less precious polishes!
Next up, the shatters / crackles!



I got the Navy and Red Shatter from Smoochiezz's Expo Flea and China Glaze's Lightning Bolt from Estella! Just swatched Lightning Bolt on one nail and it seems pretty solid! I was a little apprehensive after I ordered it and worried I'd get post-purchase dissonance (HAHA! I can still remember my Marketing concepts, not bad!) but after trying it out, I must say I'm pleased! It isn't as sheer as I had feared it would be (I tried it over Essie In Stitches, which you will see later on in the post) and it cracks pretty okay for me!
Moving on to the dark blues / greys...



L-R: OPI Light My Sapphire, OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, Zoya Caitlin and Zoya Kelly. I've swatched OPI LMS and SSITP here so I won't elaborate on those two any further. As for the two Zoyas, I have swatched them and they apply like butter. Very smooth, very opaque, very easy to use! Definitely worth their price!

Now for the mauves / red / coral



L-R: Sinful Colors Vacation Time, Essie In Stitches, Milani Fashion Design and OPI Vodka and Caviar
Swatches of Vacation Time and Vodka and Caviar will be coming up soon so keep your eyes peeled for them! As for In Stitches, I just swatched it on one of my nails and it's damn opaque. Nearly a one-coater. It's one of those grandma colours and I love such shade and my mum does too so we share shades like these and she doesn't give me a hard time about buying polishes like these because she uses them! HAHA! I haven't swatched Milani's Fashion Design but I read it's close to Chanel Orange Fizz. I personally don't think it's that close cuz Milani has more pink to it!

And now, presenting the greens...



...we have OPI Stranger Tides (swatched here), Essie Absolutely Shore and Milani Dress Maker (the Chanle Jade dupe!!!)

I love Stranger Tides (and it's Essie sister Da Bush) if you don't already know by now. As for Absolutely Shore, I haven't swatched it yet but from the bottle and other swatches I've seen online, I can;t wait to test it out! Just hope it won't been a streaky mess! Dress Maker, what can I say about it? It's green, it's shimmery, it's damn pretty. Sadly, it does take 4 coats to be opaque but I cheat a little but painting a green polish (try OPI Mermaid Tears or Hey! Get in Lime) and then a layer of Dress Maker on top!

Last but certainly not least, I got myself the OPI Top Coat (also form Smoochiezz's Expo Flea).



I got sick of my Poshe / Seche topcoats chipping in huge chunks so I decided to try out OPI's Top Coat. It does dry rather slowly though. The first time I tried it, I managed to smear the surface of my nail polish despite already having painted my polish on 4 hours earlier. This polish is really not for the chor-lor (clumpsy, rough) people and it does take a little patience to get it to dry fully. Will revisit this top coat again after trying it out to see if it helps keep polish wearing longer!

Yay, I've finally reached the end of this Haul post. Hoepfully I'll be hauling much less in the near future. I think Estella will miss me (I'm such a regular customer she started throwing in freebies for me, like those rubber strips you cut and stick on your nails, OPI pouches and she even gave me an OPI swatch plate today) but she has so much more customers these days anyway! Hopefully you guys have been more succesful at controling your polish lemmings than I have!