My long nail polish hiatus has finally come to an end with OPI's new Brazil Collection for Spring/Summer 2014! It features the colors of tropical rainforests and warm sandy beaches to our nails and toes this season. The palette ranges from bright hues of red, pink, coral, orange, and yellow to earthy tones of taupe, sienna, mocha and jungle green.

In addition to the singles, OPI also has this limited edition mini-set called the Beach Sandies Liquid Sand Lacquers (P745) so you could try out some of the latest colors without going for a full bottle.

The bottles may be small, but the 3.75ml of lacquer inside should be good for about two to three uses. The brush is full-sized so application isn't affected. It's a great deal if you want to play with all the colors, but if you like only one or two, it's better to pony up for the full bottle which is P645 at Rustan's. It's really all up to you!

Here are my swatches of each color!

Yesterday I went to the Art Fair in Makati with friends. I'm working on a new project which I find exciting and meaningful. The concept isn't original, but it's inspiring enough for me and my friends to try to replicate here in Manila. :) I'll definitely announce it here once I have everything in place!

Anyway, it's been ages since I put on nail polish. I've been busy with my ukulele (gosh how hipster does than sound) and sketching, so I have little time for the upkeep. But the problem is I'm a compulsive nail biter. It's something I find hard to control unless I'm wearing nail polish! Yes, so unglamorous and yuck, but it is what it is. First thing today I decided to paint on some polish!

I chose a color from Bobbi Brown's Spring 2014 Nude Glow collection. It's all about the luminosity when it comes to the spring face - Bobbi offers colors and textures that enhance the skin without being obvious about it. Check out these new releases! (You can open the image in a new tab to view a bigger version).

I have the Bobbi Brown Nail Polish in Bronze Shimmer (P900) which is not only perfect for spring, but an excellent color for the summer as well. It's like molten bronze with uber fine shimmers that give it depth. Such a gorgeous shade for the nails as it brightens the skin and really works with my warm undertone.

Happy Monday to you! I'm going to El Nido tomorrow and I have a hundred things to do before I can finally chill out. But maybe not. I will most likely bring my laptop to work in the evenings/early morning - I might not be able to finish everything in time. Best of luck to me!

Anyway, thought I'd do Manicure Mondays today. Buuut I have to apologize first. This nail polish came out last year and is limited edition; it is no longer for sale. I wasn't sure if I should still post it but what the heck! This color is easily in one of my top five favorite nail polishes EVER. I think it deserves the space, albeit posthumously. 

The NARS x Pierre Hardy Collection came out last summer, featuring two blushes and six nail polish duos. I got Sharplines, two colors individually called "Left" and "Right". Haha. Simple enough. The polish I'm wearing here is Sharplines Right. I can not, for the life of me, find the Left but I will post it on Instagram (@lizlanuzo) when I do since it's also a lovely color.

Sharplines Right is a beautiful deep burgundy, slightly wine-y color that looks like duhat. Remember duhat, that grape-slash-cherry-like fruit with a pit inside? My grandparents had a tree in their backyard when I was younger. During the summer, when the fruit is ripe, I'd climb the roof with my cousins and fill our pockets with it. Fun times. I had a really awesome childhood.

I spent the last couple of days reading a book called Beauty by Sherri S. Tepper. Beauty is a book about a girl meant to be Sleeping Beauty, as she travels back and forth in time, protecting a special gift to humanity. She sires fairytale characters like Cinderella, Snow White, and the Frog Prince, but they're nowhere near anything Perrault or the Grimm Brothers led us to believe. 

This book is dark, intense, and in many parts, horrifying. It was written by a pro-abortion, eco-activist feminist. Prepare to be lectured. I didn't mind, since I'm always open to new ideas. :) I like the book and would recommend it those who like fairytales for adults.

So! It's Manicure Mondays once again. Here's dignified mauve polish: the INGLOT Nail Enamel in #368 (P450). It looks muddy in the bottle but it has the subtlest shimmer that makes it look more dimensional, somehow. It doesn't look flimsy or flat as colors like this tend to do. 

#368 is a mauve shade with a sepia undertone. The texture is creamy and smooth, and it's pigmented enough that I needn't apply more than two layers.

Talent is cheap. There's tons of people out there with a natural talent for certain things, but the fact is that unless they spend hours and hours honing that talent, it's just potential. It's like oil under the ground. We have to dig for it, pump it to the surface, and refine it until it's ready to sell and use. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's way too easy to be mediocre. Good, but never good enough. That's how I feel about the things I do, most days.

But on to lighter things! Specifically, a shiny gold glitter polish from Deborah Lippmann called Glitter And Be Gay (P825). This is part of the fall collection but I think it's a perfect holiday nail polish as well!

Glitter And Be Gay has gold, holo, and blue glitters of several sizes suspended in a warm yellow gel base. This is meant to be used as a topper, specifically for its sister, Fake It Till You Make It which I am also wearing here. I love the dimension of this glitter polish, and how it changes color in the light due to the holo glitter. I received a lot of compliments when I had this on!

Welcome to a new series here at Project Vanity - Manicure Mondays! I've been meaning to post weekly nail polish swatches but can't find the right way to do it, so I took inspiration from Jen of Frmheadtotoe.com. I'll be posting NOTDs every Monday if I have something interesting on!

Today I'd like to feature a Holiday 2013 set from OPI called Fit To Be Tied. This set contains two complementing nail polishes plus a bracelet and two hair ties. Cute! It's a great gift for your manicure-loving friends. ^_^ Or, you know, you can keep them to yourself because you're MFEO.

The gift sets come in two other variants (more on that later). What I have here is the Russian Navy & Polka.com. Check out the swatches!

Russian Navy

Beige nail polishes can make our warm-toned fingers look gray and dark. However, like everything else in the makeup world, beige is never really just beige. It comes in lots of variations to suit every skintone! That's what Clinique has set out to show us with its latest collection called 16 Shades of Beige.

This lovely selection is all about the neutral nude 'tude. Clinique introduces 8 limited edition A Different Nail Enamel (P820) polishes that serve as "foundation" for your nails. Choose a shade that's close to the color of your skin for a nude, elongated effect on your manicured tips, or pick a contrasting shade for a pretty, neutral statement. 

The brand also came up with a new All About Shadow Palette in Neutral Territory 2 with eight soft-to-smoldering eyeshadow shades. The palette and nail polishes will be available in Clinique counters by January 2014, so this is an exclusive first look for you guys! ;)

Today, I want to show you one of the nail polishes. It's a dainty, lacey beige called Peek a boo, I see you.

New nail polish from Revlon rained down on my doorstep the other day, so I just had to wear one immediately! I'm a huge fan of Revlon polishes because of the sophisticated color selection, fast-drying time, and nice pigmentation. They chip in a day or two without a top coat, sure, but that's acceptable to me. I would much rather have something that dries in like 20 minutes and looks good in two coats.

The Revlon Brilliant Strength Nail Enamel in Impress (P300+) was the one that immediately called out to me. I am seriously feeling the fall mood right now, with our colder, gloomier weather as it is. Deep red, sepia brown, berry, brilliant gold and cranberry are shades I am currently gravitating towards. ^_^ Hence, this particular nail color!

Hey guys! Hope your long weekend has been great. Thought I'd pop in quickly to show you a gorgeous nail polish from Deborah Lippman's autumn collection - Jewel Heist! Jewel Heist has six new nail polishes, three bases and three glitter top coats. The colors are rich and packed with jewel-like glitter, so much so that your nails would feel a million bucks wearing them!

I have here the Fake It Till You Make It polish (love the name), a textured sandy gold speckled with red, green, and gold glitter. It doesn't look photogenic due to the chunky texture, but it is absolutely beautiful in person. It reminds me of paved jewelry, where dozens or even hundreds of mico jewels are set in the precious metal. The photo above shows a good example!

People cope with disaster in different ways. Some eat, some drink, some withdraw under the cool light of the television screen. Some turn to the Internet for the sentiments and a sense of solidarity. Some people can turn nasty when they feel that others aren't as sympathetic as they should be. However, coping isn't something someone else can define for you. If it feels right and if you're not hurting other people with malicious intent, then post that motherduckling selfie.

(I wouldn't recommend it though, if you can help it.)

I wasn't sure if I should blog today, but in the end I just decided that I want to see something bright and pink on my website. Pink makes me happy. The brighter it is, the bigger the smile I have inside. :) Let's not overanalyze that!

I just want to show you a quick swatch of the Picture Polish in Shocked! Picture Polish is an Australian indie nail polish brand. I found out that this color is designed by the blogger behind Shatter Me Claire! How cool an opportunity is that? I would love to have my own personally-designed bottle of nail polish someday. 

The most useful advice that I've ever received in my life is Don't Panic. It is so difficult to remember that, you know, when everything is converging towards you in a massive wave and it is impossible to turn anywhere without being swallowed up like a piece of melting chocolate. Well. Grace under pressure is a skill. We can't learn it if we do not truly feel the heat.

The best way to deal with pressure is to take things one at a time. Sounds simple enough. So I'll do that. :)

Today I want to finally talk about the Etude House Color Pop Collection! This collection is all about bright, show-stopping colors in hues of orange, pink, blue, and green. Now it doesn't seem to be available in the Philippines just yet, but I will definitely update this space when it is! For the meantime here are some swatches and quick thoughts about each of the products I received from Korea.

I'll start with the Etude House Color Pop Shine Tint in Sunny Pop. First swatch and I thought I wouldn't like this, for it is such a fiery orange! I tried using a generous amount on my lips and it looked so patchy that I removed it immediately. However, the trick is to use only a couple of dots to get a sheer wash of reddy peach color on the cheeks and lips. It's one of those tints that you can't layer over, as it is meant to be sheer.

Second post for Drugstore Week! Nothing really ever beats the high of finding a good beauty product at the drugstore, agree? ^_^ Today I will be featuring a recent release from one of the hottest affordable brands in the country.

I have to say this, before anything else: 3D glitter nails are extremely impractical. They don't last long, and the glitter gets everywhere if you don't clean it up properly. But boy are they ridiculously fun to wear! I enjoyed gazing at my emerald nails at random times during the day. As shallow as it sounds, I felt cheered up by the bright color and the glimmer as the sun hits it juuuuust right.

The BYS Glitter Dust in Luck of the Leprechaun (P499) is a kit that includes a nail polish, brush, and a pot of fine glitter. It's quite easy and quick to use, surprisingly. I was able to do my nails in 15 minutes since I didn't have to focus so hard on perfecting the base. A single layer will do, in fact. Here's the step-by-step!

The process is straightforward, as you can see. Paint your nails with the base, carefully avoiding the skin. It doesn't matter if the color is patchy just as long as the polish doesn't go beyond your nails.

What do you plan to do on Christmas? Me, I just want to eat all my favorite things, and maybe go out to watch a movie with my family. ^_^ All very straightforward. I want to finish reading the books on my list and just relax during the holidays.

Of course, Christmas is not complete without the requisite red and glitter upon our persons. I'm celebrating this whole weekend with my Etude House nail set in Christmas Miracle!

Christmas Tree is a set of three polishes that is designed to give a gradient glitter nail effect. The red base has some fine gold shimmer - absolutely gorgeous - and is opaque in only one coat.

What's your favorite holiday collection so far? There are so many, but it's good to have choices! There's something for everyone whether they're on a budget or cost is no object. :) I did observe a general theme though. Shine, glitter, and bright pops of red are du jour, but I've also been seeing a lot of twinkly purples and violets. This is good news - for me at least! - because I find that color group rather flattering on the Pinay complexion.

This time I want to talk about the Etude House Christmas Miracle Collection. I have photos, swatches, and quick thoughts on each product!

Let's start with the Etude House Mix & Mix Eyes PK001. This is a sleek palette of six sparkly shades in the lilac/ purple color group. There's also one in BR401 Holiday Dream that is on the neutral end of the spectrum. Go for PK001 if you're out for an evening party, while BR401 is better for more reserved occasions.

I've been doing this for four years but I still get giddy whenever I receive a product that everyone seems to love. I want to know if I will get the same experience, I want to know if it's something that I can proudly add to my kit. More importantly, I love the act of running to you and saying "Hey you should try it, it's absolutely amazing!" That's why I find beauty blogging so fun! It never gets old. 

The said, the Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation arrived on my doorstep a couple of hours ago. It's one of most requested products for me to review, so I hope I do it justice! I'll let you know what I think of it soon.

For now I will be reviewing the Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel (P325). This comes in 30 drool-worthy colors and is supposed to last for 11 days when used with the accompanying base and top coat. Well, I'll tell you now that 11 days is simply unrealistic, but it does stay fresh for four to five days on me. That's not bad considering most nail polishes would disintegrate in three days tops.

I haven't heard of NCLA until Monica of Polish Please, an online shop dealing in popular and hard-to-find nail polishes, contacted me and asked if I wanted a bottle. There can only be one answer to that. ;)

NCLA is a fairly new brand off Los Angeles that first became famous for their no-heat DIY nail wraps (or stickers). They decided to expand to nail polishes, and right now they have 24 drool-worthy colors like Santa Monica Shore Thing.

Santa Monica Shore Thing is a tiffany green shade that's ultra posh. It has a lovely, opaque creme finish with a smooth texture. It dries pretty quickly - 20 minutes - and stayed on for three days without chipping. That may be due to the new topcoat I'm using though! See these swatches? I have actually been wearing this color for three days already. It still looks fresh no?

In 1895, an enterprising man called Dr. George F. Smith set up the Rosebud Perfume Co. to sell a homegrown balm that fast became a hit among his neighbors. He was able to grow the business by setting up a mail order and door to door sales system that not only sold the trademark Rosebud Salve but also perfumes and aftershaves. At one time, he had 70,000 salespeople going door to door to sell this popular product!

More than 100 years later, the Rosebud Salve (P420) is now a favorite among bloggers and celebrities like Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, and Beyonce to name a few. This petroleum-based product is infused with oils, smells of roses, and is housed in a vintage-looking tin. It can be used as a lip balm, but it's really for any patch of our body that needs some TLC!

The Rosebud Salve is just okay as a lip balm (thin and moisturizing vs its greasiness and slight waxy texture). But you aren't really maximizing this if you just use this on the lips! It can be utilized several ways, but IMHO it is the best at reviving dry nails and cuticles.