MAC Wham Bam Glam Swatch and Comparison

Quick swatch for you guys today! I just got this from the MAC Store!! I bought Wham Bam Glam matte polish from the Riveting Collection, which also includes Studded and Black Enough. My intentions were to get Studded, a light silver matte with 'pearls', but since I really wanted to test MAC's matte formula and Studded was sold out, I went with Wham Bam Glam :)

Here it is, over a basecoat (Nubar Nu Nail)! MAC's web-description is very much what this polish is, a cool dark taupe. Application was alright, just like any other matte nail polishes, the formula is a bit on the thicker side, so you have to work with it carefully. Drying time was normal, to as fast as my OPI suedes, but still in a reasonable amount of time.


Pinkie: Sephora by OPI Metro Chic Matte
Ring: OPI You Don't Know Jacques + Essie Matte About You
Middle: OPI Over the Taupe + Essie Matte About You
Index: MAC Wham Bam Glam

I did a quick comparison of WBG with other taupe polishes I had. The closest match - almost a true match - was OPI You Don't Know Jacques topped with Essie Matte About You top coat. The color was so similar, I actually think that if you have YDKJ and MAY, you don't need Wham Bam Glam: you won't need to worry about having ridges as the formulas are much easier to work with.
[Note: I do not own You Don't Know Jacques Matte, so couldn't do comparison!]

All in all, I would say that if you intend to pick up a MAC matte nail polish, get Studded!! It's really the only one that stands out from the three. This retails for $14.50CAD and $12 USD!

2010

Hi!

How has 2010 been treating you?! School has started yesterday and I have to say that I'm pretty excited about this next semester! I am taking Art History classes now, and I'm looking forward to an official transfer from management in Spring. I've always been into all kinds of art so I know I'll have so much fun!

Anyways, I have swatched anything for a while, as my break was mostly full of family reunions. Needless to say, we ate most of the time... However, I managed to capture a few of my NOTD.

The first is China Glaze Cords-nice metallic taupe. It's beautiful and application was easy and smooth.


Next is Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion-creme turquoise. It is very similar to Misa Dirty Sexy Money, only OLP is darker. Unfortunalety, I do not have a comparison shot.


After baking my first batch of cookies, my cousin asked me to bake more (80 cookies!!) for a potluck party she was going to attend. I asked my sister to assist me and we decided to name our bakery Tinix and Arnton's bakery, influenced by Felix and Norton, of course (our family calls us Tina and Annie).

Our second attempt was soooo much better! There looked good and tasted excellent! I followed to recipe and used baking soda and all purpose flour, unlike last time. We're looking to start our cookie business soon ;)

Finally, I got the best gift ever from my cousin!!! A SNUGGIE! It's really the best thing ever! It keeps me warn and is super soft! Plus, a bonus reading light doesn't hurt! I used my Snuggie all the time now! My cousin told me she had wanted to get me the pink or zebra ones, but guess what?! It was SOLD OUT! How crazy is that?! I didn't think people actually liked this... but I'm now a Snuggie convert!
I hope you guys all had a blast celebrating the New Year!
Any New Year's resolution?

Until next time,
Xuan-An

Sephora by OPI Dark Room

Another $OPI!!
Later in the summer, Sephora released a color "exclusive" to Beauty Insiders. "Exclusive" because I saw it in display in stores, so anybody can buy it. Anyways, their website describes Dark Room as a "deep almost black with a hint of midnight green". I think this is a pretty acurate description.

I know many were expecting this to be more green and were deceived. It has a hint of teal in there, very visible in the bottle but not so so much on the nails.

I'm not blown away by this one.. The formula was pretty thin, as it took me 3 coats for it to be opaque.

You can get this in-stores now or from Sephora.com

Sephora by OPI Mattes

Hi guys! Hope you're having a fun weekend!
Last month, I got the Sephora by OPI matte nail polishes. I guess they're following OPI's direction and "reissued" some colors. I believe all three are from $OPI's core line but I might be wrong...


Metro Chich Matte - "matte dark smoke with a hint of purple". The original one was a hit amongst nail polish fanatics. I don't own the original one but I believe matte is lightly (at least from the pictures I've seen)


Domestic Goddess Matte is probably my favorite out of all three. "matte bright grape" as described on Sephora's website. It really pretty. I love purple polishes and this one was no exception.


What's a Tire Jack? Matte is a very matte black. There's no other way to describe it. I also love this one. My 2nd favorite, I guess. It's a true black and true matte.


Application with these were fairly good. They all took 2-3 coats. They didn't dry as fast as the Matte OPIs but still in decent time. The formula was not too thick compared to other matte. I swatched these very quickly but if I had been more careful with my application, there would not have been those bumps and dents on my nails. Please excuse them :)

I really like the matte finish of these $OPI. It's not as chalky as the OPI mattes, which is a good thing. They look... matte. That's all.

Similar to other mattes, they recommend to not use it with base coat, top coat or hand lotion. But you guys can totally ignore that (except the top coat part if you want it to be matte, duh). I used it with base coat and it was fine. As long as the base is dried before you apply color. As for the hand lotion, it'll make the finish more satiny but it won't be glossy.

You can get these three polishes from Sephora's website for $9 US or $12 CAD. They are also sold in stores now. These are limited edition so get them while you can!