Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Nail Fail! Sephora by OPI: Blasted Opalescent

Good morning! It feels a little odd getting a post out before noon. Usually I'm on in the wee hours of the morning, like 1 or 2 am! Had to take Juneau to the vet for another round of kitten shots. She's a trooper!

Anyway, last night I decided to try a random combo. One of the crackle polishes I REALLY like is Blasted Opalescent from Sephora by OPI. It's a shimmery white with purple/blue/pink sparks in it and I like the way it changes personality depending on what you layer it on. I realized I had never used my bottle of Stone Cold from the Colors of the Capitol collection by China Glaze, so I decided to use that as my base. The end result was pretty neat, although because of the matte finish it liked to eat my topcoat. Odd for a non-glitter polish! I added two coats of topcoat and figured I would add a final coat in the morning before work.

BUUUUUUT (you saw that coming, right?) when I woke up this morning, this is what my pretty mani looked like!

Bad picture, courtesy of my phone! 

T_T  The color came off!! My ring finger is what it looked like when I went to bed. My pinkie is what it looked like when I got up, and the rest of my nails are in some stage of colorlessness. :( I was a little bummed because I got the polish on sale! I don't have any other Sephora brand polishes because none of the colors speak to me so I can't justify paying $9.50 for a bottle. I got this for $5. Odd thing is, it didn't do that the first few times I wore it. Just this time! Major bummer.

Does anyone else have this polish? Has anything like this happened with your crackles at all? I'll probably try it again just to see if maybe this was a fluke with the polish. I sure hope it is.

***Update/edit*** I'll have to test this, but I realized that my first layer of "topcoat" was my Nail Magic nail treatment. I didn't have that the first few times I wore the polish, so maybe that's what caused the shimmer to fade. Judging by the smell of the nail treatment, I'd say it's a definite possibility! (But it hasn't had any effect on my other polishes, and I've been using it for over a month. huh.)

Saturday, October 27, 2012

OPI: Barre My Soul

You know, if someone had told me when this collection came out that it would be one of my favorites I would have told them they were delusional. Really, what could be so awesome about a bunch of delicate nail polish colors, other than the fact that they're jelly finish polishes??

Of course, the entire Soft Shades Ballet collection is AMAZING! I can't explain why I like them so much, but I do, and I have them all. Today I've got some swatches of Barre My Soul. This polish is a pinkish-beige color. It's not PINK exactly, but there is a pink tinge to it that doesn't make it a solid beige/tan. It looks pinker in my pictures but if you compare it to the actual pink in the collection, You Callin Me a Lyre?, the difference is obvious.




All the polishes in this collection are very sheer. This is 4 coats and you can still see visible nail line. Fortunately the dry time on this is very quick. I think if you REALLY wanted it to be opaque you could add one or two more coats, but I have also seen some swatches where it looks opaque in as little as 3.


Last one just because of the different tone. It makes the polish a little more pink, as mentioned above. 

I really, REALLY like this polish! No clue why! I should hate it just because it seems so... girly? I've never been one for pinks or dainty/delicate things but I just love this polish. If I had to rank the top 5 polishes in my collection by number of times worn this is probably #2. 

This polish is part of OPI's Ballet Soft Shades Collection seems to be pretty standard at any beauty supply store that stocks OPI polish. 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Lime Crime: Les Desserts d'Antoinette Nail Polish Collection

Whew! That's a mouthful. Today I have for you four of the seven shades from the Les Desserts d'Antoinette Nail Polish collection by Lime Crimee. These polishes are all pastel colors. I'll admit, my sole reason for purchasing these initially was the Lime Crime logo. I love unicorns! Turns out, though, that these polishes are fantastic!

The four I have for your today are Milky Ways, a lovely dirty-white color; Pastelchio, a pastel yet very bright limey-green; Lavendairy, a wonderful violet; and Peaches and Cream, a bright, pastel orange. The collection also has a blue, a yellow, and a pink. 

First, Milky Ways, as mentioned, is a dirty, off-white. I don't like straight white much so this color is a nice changes. It's white but with a slightly beige tinge to it. 




For this last picture, I added a coat of White on White by China Glaze so you could see the color difference of Milky Ways when compared to a stark white. I really does remind me of like the nuggat filling of a candy bar, don't you think?


Next I have Pastelchio. LOVE the name on this one! Pastelchio is one of the reasons I fell in love with this collection. It's a pastel, there is no question, but it's not chalky and somehow it still manages to be amazingly bright without being a neon. Amazing! 




Very much like Pastelcho, Peaches and Cream manages to be both pastel yet very, very bright. This is my favorite orange polish out of my entire collection. The label actually has a little heart symbol instead of "and" but I can't type it here. My blogger goes all nuts with the text coding. :( 




Finally, I have Lavendairy. Again, I love the name! This polish I definitely had to debate on. I don't like pink and all the swatches I'd seen had this one leaning a little more pink and a little less lavender, regardless of the name. I finally decided to buy it when I decided I was just getting the entire collection anyway, and fortunately  this polish is indeed purple! I think my picture is really REALLY trying to lean blue, but isn't quite making it. While this might tread the line between purple and pink (much like I imagine most pastel purples would) the color is gorgeous enough that it doesn't matter and the application was flawless.



The coverage on these were all fantastic! Each swatch is three coats although I think if one was more careful than I was, two would be okay. I got these in two different sets at two different times. Pastelchio and Peaches and Cream were a little thick and tended to leave polish ridges if I wasn't careful in my application. I added polish thinner to both to make them easier to work with. Lavendairy and Milky Ways, on the other hand, had no issues at all! The polish was smooth and easy to work with. In the end though, the formula definitely doesn't make me change my mind about these polishes!

I would recommend these to anyone who likes pastel polish or bright colors. I can't wait to get my hand on the yellow in the collection! I love yellows (even though my skin tone doesn't) but sometimes putting on yellow polish is more hassle than it's worth. If that polish is anything like these though, then that won't be an issue at all! 

Finally, as a sidenote, I just got a new addition to my family! This is Juneau and she is an absolute sweetheart! She is 4 months old and only has two modes right now: sleep and play. (On or off. haha)




****Disclaimer: all polish in this post was purchased by me.