Silver & Studs

Today I have a quickie post featuring OPI Crown Me Already from the Miss Universe Collection. This silver glitter has both small round silver glitter as well as large hex glitter all in a clear base. This polish is packed and is easily buildable for full coverage. 

I have 3 coats of Crown Me Already (CMA) on my ringer finger and Essence Black is Back on the rest of my nails. My middle finger has two coats of CMA over the black base. Black and clear rhinestones add a little extra bling which is never a bad thing! 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

OPI AmazON AmazOFF

Hello fellow junkies! Today I have one of OPIs Spring/Summer 2014 Brazil Collection; AmazON...AmazOFF.  This is a deep teal polish with a very subtle shimmer hiding in there. The formula was pretty good giving full coverage with 2 coats.

Since the shimmer is very subtle, I didn't have any issues with streaking. This has a coat of Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat giving a nice shine and smoothed out even the smallest imperfections.

I was wearing this the days leading up to Valentines Day, so I decided to add some little hearts with Layla Mercury Twilight and a small rhinestone. Since me and my better half don't necessarily make a big deal of Valentines Day and I'm not a pink chick I decided this would be my homage to the 'holiday'.

Hopefully you ladies were showered with love...or at least gave yourself something purdy!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Linda

Turquoise Nails

This is my attempt at Turquoise nails based on a method I saw a few other bloggers use. I guess you could also call this a recreation of OPI spotted too...maybe..kinda-sorta. You just have to adjust the size of the holes but you certainly could achieve that look using this technique.

Indoors - Artificial Light

I started with two coats of Julep Mystery Green #4 and then used some scrunched up seran-wrap to dab on Julep Robin (a robin's egg blue creme) and Julep Sienna (a metallic gold). To achieve the black spots I started with a cup of room temp water and 3 drops of OPI Black Onyx in the water. Once the polish spread out, I sprayed Rubbing Alcohol from about 8 inches above the cup between 2 and 4 times to get the black spots the way I liked. I chose a section of the design and dipped in my nail.

Outdoors - Shade

Outdoors - Direct Sunlight

After I got all my nails dipped and cleaned up I added a few dots of Sienna randomly across the nails. I liked the way the gold peaked through slightly from behind the black but also really liked the look of the additional golden dots.

So in the end, there was a bit too much black for me to think this actually looks like turquoise but I am loving the look!  What do you think?

~Linda

OPI Press Release: Couture de Minnie Collection

OPI has introduced a new Couture de Minnie Collection inspired by Minnie Mouse to be released in the Summer of 2013. 

OPI announces the launch of its Couture de Minnie collection, including four limited edition nail lacquers and one new Liquid Sand™ shade. Created in honor of Disney’s beloved character, the Couture de Minnie line explores the fashion-forward side of Minnie Mouse, mixing pink, fuchsia and red shades with textural elements. In addition to three crème lacquers, the Couture de Minnie line features a red and white polka dot glitter shade and the strawberry-hued Liquid Sand nail lacquer in Magazine Cover Mouse to give nails a sparkly, matte finish. 

“Last summer, OPI created a ‘Vintage Minnie Mouse’ line. Women around the world fell in love with the fun and playful shades evocative of Minnie’s traditional look,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “This year, OPI is exploring a different side of Minnie Mouse. The Couture de Minnie collection draws inspiration from Minnie’s iconic style and incorporates trends most recently seen on the runways, from standout shades to fun textural elements.” 

Couture de Minnie nail lacquers each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Liquid Sand lacquers should always be worn without top coat. This limited edition promotion will be available beginning June 2013 at professional salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter@OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan! 

So what do you think of their 2nd Minnie Mouse Collection? Is it too soon since the last one? Personally I think it's a bit soon but this collection does seem to be quite different and the Liquid Sand looks amazing! Will you be picking any of these up?

~Linda

OPI Diva Of Geneva

Hello again my fellow addicts. Today I have a quick post showing off the beauty of an oldie but goodie...OPI Diva of Geneva. I absolutely love this polish! The color spectrum changed drastically for me when in different types of lighting. At work it appeared to have a golden/pink shimmer to it, at home it is more red based and outdoors it's a purple/red color. It's multi dimensional color...and it's fan-freakin-tastic!

I'll just leave you with a few quick shots of the polish. This is two coats with Color Club topcoat.

Diva of Geneva has the standard consistency and brush as any other OPIs. I love their brush because it's not super skinny, and it gives me an amazing application for my wide nails. :)

Hope you enjoyed.

~Linda

March Haul

I've gotten quite a few new polishes over the last few weeks and I figured I'd give you a quick look at some of the new colors you'll see coming your way.

China Glaze "Wait Teal You See!' Ombre - Turned Up Turquoise, Aquadelic, For Audrey, White on White

OPI  Euro Centrale Minis - Can't Find My Czechbook, Suzie's Hungary Again!, You're Such a BudaPest, Oy - Another Polish Joke

Julep - Mystery Green #4, Alfre, Fiona, Cuticle Oil

Ally's Dream Polish - #58 Intense Blurple, #59 Blue Lapis

 China Glaze - Concrete Catwalk, Harmony, Strap On Your Moonboots

NailNation 3000 - Eve #403

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure - Blue My Mind

NOPI - Shoot For The Maroon

I've also got the Rainbow Honey Robots Collection in mini bottles as well as the Zoya 2013 Summer PixieDust collection soon to be mailed my way. I'm super excited to try these out!! 

Any requests for colors that you'd like to see first? 

~Linda

OPI Liquid Sand vs. Zoya Pixie Dust

Today I wanted to give you a comparison of OPI Get Your Number and Zoya Nyx. Both are textured polish that have been described as gritty, sandy or sugary that dry to a matte finish. All pictures have three coats for full coverage and deeper color.

OPI Get Your Number (GYN) is a bright blue with holographic glitter and sparkles within the polish and dries very gritty like rough sand.

Zoya Nyx is a light periwinkle purple and feels much like a fine grit nail file. There are no large 'chunks' in the polish and it's much smoother than OPI.

The texture of these polishes are absolutely 100% different. The OPI is soo coarse that it could pull a sweater while the Zoya definitely would not. Nyx truly feels like a fine grit nail file with a consistently bumpy feel to it. GYN has smaller and larger particles that can be compared to sugar in the raw granules.

If you are not the type of person to like textured nails, you might still like Zoya Pixie Dust if you don't mind glitter, while OPI Liquid Sand is probably just too much for you.

Personally, I loved the OPI Liquid Sand, I couldn't stop touching my nails! GYN is my choice from these two, because of the true gritty texture, the significant sparkle and the bright color. Nyx seemed a bit dull in comparison although there were bits of shimmer and sparkle it was no where near as prominent as GYN.

OPI Liquid Sand is part of the 2013 Mariah Carey Collection and can be picked up for $9 USD. There are four different colors with this Liquid Sand texture however they are all slightly different in style.

The Zoya Pixie Dust Collection can be found on Zoya.com for $9 USD and there are six different choices all with the same look and feel.

~Linda

Valentine's Day Mani Marathon

Happy Valentine's Day! I thought I'd do something a little different today and show you all of the fabulous Valentine's Day Manis my fellow bloggers have pulled together. These are a few of my favorites so you should definitely stop by their blogs and check them out! Some you will no doubt know, but hopefully you will be introduced to a few new blogs as well. All of which are absolutely fantastic and completely creative.

Without further ado...here are my top 5 Valentine's Day manicures in random order.


The Nail Network's Valentine's Day lovely lip mani using Zoya polishes and Born Pretty Store stamping plate and rhinestones.

The Manicurator's love nail art mani uses straight lines and love and heartbreak themes in this fabulous mani.

Sassy Shelly has some peek-a-boo hearts and french tips that look perfect! She too used all Zoya polishes and some fun nail art tools. I love this color combo!

Gnarly Gnails has some Laser Hearts on a non-traditional Valentine's Day color...dark teal. I love it! Plus a little sparkle ☺

Work / Play / Polish is full of love with a Heart Tree mani with OPI polish. I love that all her nail art is hand drawn...soo talented!

These made my top 5 V-Day manis due to their creativity, fantastic nail art abilities or just plain pretty! Do you have a V-Day mani that you love and want to share? Feel free to post the link in the comments!

Have a great V-Day!!

~Linda

OPI DS Magic

I introduce you to.... (drumroll please).....OPI DS Magic! I believe this polish was released back in 2010 but I have never seen it before. How you say? Well I must be living under a rock.

This polish is gorgeous, but a mega pain in the ass to photograph. I cannot even tell you the amount of pictures I took to try and show you the true beauty of this baby. The purple was very shy on camera but superb in real life!

This is three coats for maximum coverage although two decent coats should do the trick, and one thick coat of Seche Vite. The polish applied smoothly and definitely builds in depth with multiple coats. There are gorgeous glass flecks throughout the polish and it shifts from a deep royal blue to purple. 

Sigh...Look at all those lovely glass flecks ☺

I loved the color of this polish, the duo-chrome affect was very strong and it almost has a mettalic type finish in some lights. Consistency was good as usual for OPI and wear time was pretty good thanks to 'the Seche'. I think I wore this for 3 or 4 days before any tip wear or chips.

I picked this up at Ulta for $12 opposed to the normal $8.50 price tag due to it belonging to the Designer Series.  Do you think the DS polishes are worth the premium?

~Linda

OPI Cuticle Oil

So I thought I would start off showing you guys some of my favorite products. I have a major addiction to cuticle oil and although I have not used many brands for comparison, OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil works miracles! I have seriously bad cuticles due to the fact that I used to cut them for a long time. Mix that with tons of hand washing and it's not a pretty picture. Thankfully, I found out about OPI Avoplex which incorporates antioxidants, phospholipids, vitamins A, B1, B2, D, and E, essential fatty acids, and avocado oil. That's a whole lot of stuff that goes right above my head but honestly all I care about is that this stuff is amazing!

 

I keep the Cuticle Replenshing Oil in my purse at all times and use it multiple times per day while at work. It has a subtle sweet smell so it's not a stink bomb and it makes my fingers feel nice. I'm trying to figure out how to explain the way it feels after using it but my brain has come to a screeching halt. Basically, I get that 'aaaahhhh' feeling on my fingers, like you do after you lotion your REALLY dry hands. 

Anywho, I also have the Exfoliating Cuticle Treatment which eliminates dry, rough cuticles while replenishing essential moisture and lipids. They tell you to massage it into your cuticles a few times per week. Generally I find myself using it whenever I change the paint on my nails, so twice per week sounds about right.

I have the cuticle oil in a .5 Fl oz bottle (the same as a full size OPI nailpolish) and the cuticle treatment is 1 oz. I've had these for about a year now and I have used less than a quarter of the product. Love It! 

Cool fact that I learned while looking up the 'technical info' on these Avoplex products. Those little white spots you sometimes get on your nails...I always heard that they indicate a lack of calcium, however a cosmetic chemistry blog I stumbled across calls these microtraumas. Saying that they are caused when you bump your nails on things. Hmmph...who knew?

~Linda