NOTD: OPI DS Extravagence

Still no luck with finding Zorro, but I'm hoping the craigslist ads will do the trick.

I got this polish from my mega prize pack and I was unsure as to whether I'd like it or not, I am not normally fond of colors this dark and red.

I was so wrong, this is such a fab color.



This was 2 coats over Nubar Foundation base coat and under 1 coat of Seche Vite.
I love it, the formula is so utterly perfect.

The end!

Essence Stampy Set vs Konad

First off, I'd like to thank Laura of Sawan because most, if not all of the things I'm going to be reviewing for the next year or so will have come from her mega giveaway prize to me. I honestly appreciate everything she sent me, especially since I'm going through a hard time with my dog escaping. I suspect she's also a mind reader since I was super interested in trying this Essence set before I won and here it is in the giveaway.

I'll save you a lot of reading time, quite simply, it doesn't compare. It looks the same but really, you're better off buying Konad.

Case in point:

The scraper and its offkilterness
Yeah that's a really awkward picture but basically, the plastic parts surrounding the metal blade does not fully enclose it and the metal part itself is cut at a really weird angle, resulting in these kinds of scrapes-
The one at the far left was done with the plastic Konad scraper, the other 3 with the metal Essence scraper. I attempted to push down harder to get a cleaner scrape but then the metal would scratch and make an awful noise. Note the metal scratching on the center butterfly from my efforts.

The stamper-
The two stampers look similar but the Essence stamper is a bit more rounded in the sides. They don't stamp the same; I felt that I had a bit of difficulty with stamping it as opaque as it did with the Konad stamper.

The plates-

*Refer to the prior picture of the plate*

The plates are the same diameter of the Konad plate and the Essence plate is just missing the paper backing that the Konad plates have. I prefer the paper backing because I like the extra weight and feel of it. The etchings seem to be about the same depth. The Essence plate has the same number of designs.

So in all it's not worth it to me. You can replace the scraper with a credit card to make it easier to use and use Wet n Wild polishes (if you're not willing to get the Konad special polishes which I think are worth it) but I think the stamper makes it a bit difficult to use.

Having used Konad first, the ease of it outweighs the cost benefit of Essence.

Hope this helps!

I really needed this

It's been a bad two days for me since my dog has gone missing, but I'm holding vigil and putting water and food out in case he comes back (my dad says cats have been getting at it though and while I don't really mind feeding hungry cats, I'd like my dog home)

I was greeted by a mega huge package by Laura of Sawan from her 259 followers giveaway and just seeing it made me feel a hell of a lot better.


So what is lurking underneath this?


This was the first giveaway I've ever won and the prize certainly was worth the wait!


All of it together.

It's going to take a while to review it all (and I certainly want to try to) so be on the look out for that!

I miss my doggy.

Off topic post that I wish I didn't need to make.

My dog Zorro, previously mentioned in this post escaped from my house last night. My family has been searching and right now I'm feeling very hopeless and sad about it, even though it's only been one day.

I really hope I find my dog.

Update posttt

Sorry for the quietness lately, I've been practicing/rehearsing for my school's Vietnamese Culture Night which happened to be tonight so wooo done with that.

If I happen to get the video of it, I'll show you the dance scene that I'm in :)

In more positive/less tiring news, I won Sawan's giveaway, yayyy

Once I get it, I'll show you guys it plus eventually review some of the things like the glass file which I'd like to compare to my Essie one

Short post is short, I've got finals coming up in 3ish weeks so when that's done I'll resume a more consistent posting schedule