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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Linkin Park Concert!

  One of my friends and I went to the Linkin Park concert last night - it was SO much fun!  I have to admit I am somewhat (aka majorly) naive to the concert scene - it is always bad timing or to expensive or I don't have someone to go with... so this was really awesome.  I have never been to a concert where everybody in the crowd sang at the top of their lungs to every song, haha.  I wanted to do something for the concert, and also for my KSU Wildcats who were playing (and got totally trampled, but I was expecting that) and I came up with...

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash
  Holo purple and silver!  I thought it fit perfectly for both events.  I started off with two coats of Color Club Wild at Heart, which is a gorgeous deep purple holographic.  This was my first Color Club and I love it - this will probably be my new go-to K-State color.  I was very impressed with the formula, covering excellently in two coats and with a very fast dry time.

Close-up of the holographic effect
  For stamping, I used Color Club Worth the Risque, a really great silver holo that is perfect for Konad.  I used plate m64 to add the swirled pattern to all but the ring finger, and then I added the music notes with plate m73 since they were my concert nails!  I topped it with a coat of Deborah Lippmann Addicted to Speed.  I am really enjoying these nails and have gotten several compliments on them.  I think I am going to have Linkin Park songs stuck in my head for quite awhile! :)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Parlez-Vous OPI?

  I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the winners of the retired shades giveaway that OPI did awhile back on Facebook, and tonight I want to share one of those shades with you!

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This is two coats of OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?, a grayed-out purple cream.  Dreamy application, beautiful color! I added the flowers using Bundle Monster plate BM16 and Konad Special White polish, and then added little silver rhinestones to the centers of the large flowers.  After topping with a coat of Seche Vite, this wore fairly flawlessly for about three days with minimal tip wear and no chips!  A very Spring manicure, considering there was still a foot of snow on the ground.  :)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

300 Follower Giveaway!

  I am so excited that Polishology has reached 300 followers!  I didn't really expect this blog to become so popular when I started it, but I am so glad it has grown!  You guys are awesome followers, and because of you I have basically stopped biting my nails (okay I slipped once but in my defensive that nail was already broken and coming off... haha).  Thank you so much!

Giveaway prizes!
  To celebrate reaching 300 followers, I put together a giveaway for you of some of the new stuff coming out by a few of my favorite brands!  I am going to split this up into two separate prizes, to increase your chances of winning.  Here are the two prize packs!

Prize One


Zoya - Marley (Intimate)
OPI - Houston We Have A Purple (Texas)
OPI - Black Shatter (Katy Perry)
China Glaze - Sea Spray (Anchors Away)
China Glaze - Ahoy! (Anchors Away)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri: Lightning/Brisk Blue (French Mani Combos)

Prize Two


Zoya - Jules (Intimate)
OPI - Do You Think I'm Tex-y? (Texas)
OPI - Black Shatter (Katy Perry)
China Glaze - First Mate (Anchors Away)
China Glaze - Below Deck (Anchors Away)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri: Presto Pink/Night Flight (French Mani Combos)

  Now on to the rules!  This giveaway will be open until Friday, February 18th CST and is open internationally.  The winners will be chosen shortly after giveaway close (I will shoot for sometime that weekend but we'll see!).  The first name drawn will get their top choice of prize, and the second name drawn will get the other prize.  Each winner will have 72 hours from first contact to get back to me, or I will draw another name.

  To enter, please fill out the following entry form and post it in the comments below.  Please leave all entries in one comment.

Mandatory:
1. You MUST be a follower.  Please leave your GFC name and an e-mail to contact you at (+1 entry)

2. Please tell me which prize you prefer to win (+1 entry)

Optional Extra Entries
1. Follow @polishology on Twitter!  Include your Twitter name (+1 entry)

2. Tweet about this giveaway including @polishology.  Leave a link (+1 entry)

3. Have Polishology on your blogroll.  Leave a link (+1 entry)

4. Post about this giveaway on your blog.  Sidebar/giveaway page/dedicated post all accepted! Leave a link (+1 entry)

5. Include the first picture in your posting.  Leave a link (+2 entries)

6. What new or upcoming collection are you most excited for? (+2 entries)

  That equals out to 10 possible entries!  I may also throw in some extra entries for those who comment on my blog as well.. ;)  I think that should about cover it... good luck and THANK YOU again for being such awesome followers!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Channelesque and Holo Swirls

  When everybody started talking about how similar China Glaze Below Deck was to a previous polish of theirs, Channelesque, I looked at the pictures and thought to myself "didn't I just win that polish is a giveaway...?" and sure enough I was right!  I of course had to wear it immediately.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash
  This is two coats of China Glaze Channelesque, a purple/taupe color with a deliciously smooth creme finish.  It applied wonderfully, and needed two coats for full coverage.  I really love the kind of muted effect of this color, it is really a pretty one!

Outdoors, natural shade, no flash
  I added holographic swirls using China Glaze OMG and Konad plate m63, topping it off with a coat of Deborah Lippmann Addicted to Speed.  I am so happy to have this color in my collection - thanks to Kris from My Lucid Bubble for this and all of the other awesome polishes in my giveaway prize! :)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Feeling Blue

  A few days ago I was feeling blue - in a good way!  I looked through my stash of blue polishes and was drawn to one I hadn't worn yet, Ulta Blue Streak

Indoors, natural light
   Blue Streak is a medium blue creme.  It applied very smoothly, with two coats giving full coverage.  I love this polish!  It seems like almost all of my other blues are either kind of pastel, very bright or very dark.. this is a really nice "true" medium blue.  A great addition to my collection.  I really liked the formula as well, this is only the second Ulta polish I have worn and they are very nice.  On top of the blue I added a houndstooth pattern using Konad m63 and Konad Special White.  This was a really fun manicure! :)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

OPI Not Like The Movies vs. Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game

  When I first put on OPI Not Like The Movies, I thought that it looked fairly similar to another polish I have, but hadn't gotten the chance to wear yet - Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game.  Both are a silvery purple polish with green duochrome, but just how similar are they?

Bottle Picture
  You can already see a difference in the bottle - Wicked Game is a bit more purple, while Not Like the Movies is a bit more silver in color.

Outdoors, sunlight
Outdoors, sunlight
Outdoors, shade
Outdoors, shade
  One clear difference is that Not Like the Movies has tiny bits of silver glitter throughout.  You can see on the nail, as in the bottles, that the OPI is a bit lighter and more silver, while the Lippmann has a stronger purple coloration to it.  There is also a difference in formula - this is three coats of Wicked Game and four coats of Not Like the Movies.  I also feel like the duochrome effect is just a tad stronger in the Lippmann polish, however the OPI does have a nice duochrome as well.

Indoors, no flash
  Overall, these polishes are similar but I would definitely not call them dupes.  If you have always wanted Wicked Game but have found it to be a bit too pricey, I would definitely look into Not Like the Movies.  However, if you already have one you might want to consider whether you really need the other or not.  Both are really nice polishes though, and I am happy to have them!

Friday, January 21, 2011

New Blog Layout - And Kitty Photoshoot!

  I have been thinking about setting up a new blog layout for awhile now - and I was finally compelled to do so!  This morning while my previous template was temporarily out of service, I went fishing for another one, and came up with this!  I have a few questions for you all about the layout -

  Do you like the new template, or did you prefer the old version?

  Do you like this font/text color?  Would you prefer something more basic?

  Would you rather have the giveaways on the sidebar (as current) or on their own page (as they were over the Holidays)?

  You may also notice that there is a new header!  I wanted to share a few "outtakes" from Luna's Polishology photoshoot!

"Let me just see if I can cram this down in here..."
"Yep, got it!"
Polish snack...
This is when I got concerned for the safety of the polish (and Luna, of course)
Smug.
"Really, I have to keep playing?  This enemy has been defeated"
Luna heard some birds outside...
... and our photoshoot was soon over.
   Hope you enjoyed the kitty photos!  Sorry no pictures of Leo this time, he does not cooperate at all with things like this, haha.  Let me know what you think of the new design!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Caught in a Bad Romance

  Okay every time I see this polish that song gets stuck in my head.  Which is fine with me because (a) the polish is beautiful and (b) I am a big fan of the song.  Although I am not sure how Dan feels about it, since he is the one that has to put up with me walking around the house singing it at the top of my lungs, haha.

Indoors, natural light, no flash
  Deborah Lippman Bad Romance is another of her gorgeous glitters from 2010, with small and large hex purple glitter in a black jelly base.  This polish is seriously amazing, the jelly base gives it a lot of depth and I love the color combo!  I am fairly sure this was three coats (I should really write this down from now on...) and application was very easy; as with most chunky glitters, just give each coat a minute to dry so you do not push the hex glitter around too much.  Wear was very nice, just a bit of tip wear and removal was not nearly as bad as other glitters (most likely because of the jelly base).  Overall I just really loved this one!

  Also, a quick update - all items for the giveaway have been purchased and are on their way, so it should be up sometime in the next week! :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lucky Penny

  While this polish may be from a fall collection, I find it to be a really great color for just about any time of year!

Outdoors, overcast, no flash
  This is three coats of Zoya Penny, which is a really nice warm copper with a metallic finish.  This would have done fine with two coats, but these days I always seem to want to apply one more coat.  Application was great, although as with most metallic finish polishes there was just a hint of brushstrokes visible if you are really looking for it.  Otherwise application was smooth with a fast dry time.  Penny by itself shown below.

Outdoors, overcast, no flash
  I wanted to do a really classy design over this one, and went with Bundle Monster BM21 and Konad m19 with Konad Special Black.  I really enjoyed how this turned out... until I bumped my ring finger into my other hand right after applying topcoat.  I need to be more careful!  However the mani still looks great from a normal viewing distance and I am really loving it!  Another great one from Zoya; I am excited to try out some of the polishes from their Intimate collection, they should be arriving soon!

DISCLOSURE: The polish featured in this post was provided to Polishology by Zoya for review purposes.  This is an honest and independent review and was in no way influenced by the company.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Majolica Majorca Witchcraft

  Another awesome Japanese polish from Becky, this time I have for you Majolica Majorca Witchcraft!  What a fun brand name. :)

Outdoors, sun, no flash
   This is a really gorgeous slightly shimmery lilac color.  I really loved this pastel color, especially with the hint of shimmer!  This polish was a bit on the sheer side, and took four coats to achieve opacity.  Due to my impatience, I had a bit of problem with some tip shrinkage since I allowed like.. no time in between coats here and saw the shrinkage after adding a fast-dry topcoat.  Oops.  Still totally gorgeous though!  I wish I had taken a picture before the Konad, but it was late and I only would have had bad artificial lighting so this is it!  For the design, I used Konad plate m63 and Konad Special White.  I love this patter - it really looks 3D.  However it is a bit narrower than other full-plate Konad patterns, and I wished they had just added another row of the squares on the plate... but it is still a really cool image.  I have another Majolica Majorca polish from Becky as well, can't wait to try it!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Glittering Icicles

  For Christmas, I got a lot of fun international polishes from my sister Becky, and I want to share one of those with you today!

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This is an Japanese brand of polish called Canmake, and the polish is Canmake 29.  It is a gorgeous light sheer blue polish with multicolored, multi-shaped glitter.  This to me looks like sun shimmer through icicles... it is really pretty and eye catching.  While it may look similar to OPI Last Friday Night, 29 is actually much lighter in color (the picture above does make it look darker).  The OPI is much more of a bright electric blue while this is much lighter; here is a picture in full sun:

Outdoors, full sun, no flash
  This shows how light the polish is but also seems to take away some of the sparkle.. it really was more in between these two pictures somewhere.  I found this one hard to photograph accurately.  This was four coats, since it was pretty sheer, to get a more opaque look on its own.  It had very nice application for a sheer glitter as well.  I was really impressed with this polish!  I am excited to use it for layering at some point, I think that will be really nice.  Becky also got me another Canmake glitter that I plan on wearing soon, as well as a few other new international brands I am excited to try!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Exceptionally Gifted!

  I love the name of this polish - I feel that it fits me perfectly, hah hah.  ;)  It is gorgeous, too!

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  For these nails, I started off with three coats of China Glaze Exceptionally Gifted, which is a medium pink, frosty polish with little flecks of sparkly goodness!  I love this color a lot - the little glitter particles really add something to it that other frosty colors like this don't have.  It is also a great pink tone; sometimes it is hard to find that perfect girly, "Barbie" pink but this really fits the bill!  It does have a tendency to show a hint of brushstroke, but careful application really helps that and it only seems to show up in bright direct light, anyway.  Here are a couple of shots of the color by itself.

Outdoors, direct sun - enlarge to see the glitter!
Outdoors, shade - can barely see any brushstrokes
  On top of this, I added the geometric Konad design using plate m65 and Konad Special Black.  Of course, my total inability to let the Konad dry at all before adding topcoat lead to a bit of smudging (boo), but still looks really awesome overall!  I am starting to really enjoy the pink and black combo... you can probably expect to see more of it. :)

DISCLOSURE: The polish featured in this post was provided to Polishology by China Glaze for review purposes.  This is an honest and independent review and was in no way influenced by the company.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Happy Anniversary!

  Dan and I celebrated our second Anniversary last month.  I borrowed one of Becky's new polishes that fit the day perfectly - OPI Happy Anniversary!

Outdoors, full sun
  Happy Anniversary is a hard color to describe - it is a very sheer, silvery-white polish full of pale multicolor and silver glitter.  It has a sort of opalescent sheen to it and it really shines in direct light.  I used four coats to achieve something close to opacity, however this is really pretty with just one coat as well, for something more sheer.  Forgive my slightly terrible pictures, as these were the first I was taking on my new camera and I was still figuring it out! :)

Indoors, artificial light, no flash
  I added the image with Konad plate m64 and Konad Special Black.  I wore this for our Anniversary date to watch Tron in 3D at the AMC Fork and Screen, where we ate some really yummy food while watching the movie.  A very pretty manicure for a very special day!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Zoya Kelly - and 300 Followers!

  First off, I want say - Thank You!!  Polishology reached 300 followers the other day, and I am ecstatic!  I really appreciate all of you taking the time to look at my blog!  I have plans in the works for a multi-prize 300 follower giveaway, as a thank you to all of you, so stay tuned!

Outdoors, sunlight
  Now on to the gorgeous Zoya Kelly.  I was thrilled with this polish - it is a dark slate gray creme, with just enough of a hint of blue to make it really interesting.  It applied very well, two coats and super smooth, no complaints on application.  A fabulous fall and winter color!  Here are some pictures of Kelly on its own.

Outdoors, full sun
Outdoors, shade
  I decided to add a simple design with this one, a double flower stamp from Konad plate m37.  I thought that the white contrasted nicely with the dark gray.  I topped it off with a coat of Deborah Lippmann Addicted To Speed, my new favorite topcoat!  I wore this for three and a half days with only minimal wear.  This is a gorgeous color that I would highly recommend adding to your collection!  I still have yet to meet a Zoya polish I don't like... I can't wait to try my three free from last week, which arrived yesterday!  I plan on making another order soon, when the spring collection comes out (more on this soon).  What is your favorite Zoya polish?

DISCLOSURE: The polish featured in this post was provided to Polishology by Zoya for review purposes.  This is an honest and independent review and was in no way influenced by the company.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Nicole by OPI Liquid Metals Collection - Swatches and Reviews

  One of the new spring 2011 collections from Nicole by OPI, the Liquid Metals collection contains four metallic foil polishes with confidence-inspiring names!

(L-R) Miss Independent, It Starts With Me, The Next CEO, Rich In Spirit
Miss Independent

Outdoors, partial shade, no flash
  This polish is a light pinkish purple with a metallic foil finish.  As the first polish I tried of the collection, I was stunned at how much it truly looked like I was wearing metal on my fingernails!  Application was beautiful - two coats for opacity, not streaky, fast drying.  I love this color too; a very soft, feminine pink.  Very romantic - I might be using this for Valentine's Day next month...

It Starts With Me

Outdoors, partial shade, no flash
   This is a really nice muted copper color with the same metallic foil finish as the rest of the collection.  Again, great application - two coats and no streaks!  Sometimes these foil polishes can be very streaky but I did not really find that to be an issue with this collection.

The Next CEO

Outdoors, partial shade, no flash
  A light gold metallic foil.  While I used two coats on this one as well, this polish may have benefited from a third coat, as I found it a bit more sheer than the others.  However, application was otherwise great.  This is a nice subtle color.

Rich In Spirit

Outdoors, partial shade, no flash
  This is probably my favorite of the collection, but then again blue is my favorite color!  This is a silvery light blue with metallic foil finish.  This is two coats, but like The Next CEO maybe could have used a third coat.  Same smooth application.


Overall Thoughts

  Although this was not one of the new collections I was initially super excited for, I actually love these polishes a lot.  They are soft and kind of romantic.  I love the metallic foil finish, it is gorgeous to look at on the nail, and it is nice to find foils that are not super streaky!  I would highly recommend these polishes if you do not already have something like this, especially with the nice formula.  My favorites are Rich in Spirit and Miss Independent, but the other two are also gorgeous.  Overall a really nice collection!

DISCLOSURE: The polishes featured in this post  were provided to Polishology by OPI for review purposes.  This is an honest and independent review and was in no way influenced by the company.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

OPI Katy Perry Collection - Swatches and Reviews

  Here is a collection that has gotten a lot of talk lately!  OPI teamed up with Katy Perry to create four amazing shades, as well as the crackle polish Black Crackle.  This collection is really great - I think I love pretty much every shade!

(L-R) Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, Black Shatter, The One That Got Away, Not Like the Movies

 OPI Teenage Dream

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This was probably the polish I was most excited about from this collection, and it definitely held up to expectations!  This gorgeous light pink is full of pink microglitter in a sheer base, with medium-sized silver holographic glitter spread throughout.  This is three coats, although two thick coats most likely would have sufficed.  The base is very sheer, but this builds to opacity nicely, and application was great.  This glitter in this was hard to capture on film, but it is very bright and shiny! :)

Outdoors, sun
  This looked really nice under Black Shatter - the combo of the girly pink and the cracked black gave it a kind of chic punk look, in my opinion.  I actually did this last and wore it all day!


OPI Last Friday Night
Outdoors, shade, no flash
  As a huge glitter fan, this is another one I was really excited for.  This polish is full of bright blue microglitter, with medium-sized silver glitter with blue/turquoise multi-colored flash. While I did like it, it was a bit on the sheer side for my personal taste - this is four coats, and there is still visible nail line.  I think it would be impossible to achieve bottle color on this one.  I also found that this one needed a few extra minutes of dry time in between coats, as I got a bit of polish smudging during application.  I will most likely use this as a layering polish in the future.

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  I did, however, love this one with black shatter!  I have always loved blue and black combos and I think this is just gorgeous.  This is black shatter without topcoat (previously with topcoat).  I wanted to show what both might look like, although the topcoat will give you a more smooth feel.  The black has a matte quality to it without topcoat.

OPI The One That Got Away
Indoors, natural light, no flash
   This polish is a deep berry pink, with fine glitter throughout.  While I think this is not the most unique color ever, I love this particular version of it.  The fine glitter really adds to the finish of the polish, and it really seems to glow.  This was three coats, although two probably would have been fine had I not messed up application on one nail... oops.  Other than my own user error, application on this was excellent.  Sorry these last two polishes will have indoor photos - I thought I had a nice sunny day when I started swatching, but freak 2 hour snowstorm kind of got in the way of my plans.  :)

Indoors, natural light, no flash
  I was not quite as big a fan of Black Shatter over this one; although still pretty, I think this is one I like best by itself.  This is shown without topcoat, giving the black a matte appearance.

OPI Not Like The Movies
Indoors, natural light, no flash
   In the original promo pictures for this collection, I thought this polish was going to be a regular foil silver.  Instead, it is a gorgeous light purple/green duochrome polish with small glitter specks throughout - beautiful!  It was a bit on the thin side, but three coats seemed to be enough to achieve full opacity.  It was also a bit thin but still had decent application.

Indoors, natural light, no flash
  This one needed at least one extra picture to show the duochrome awesomeness.  This looks somewhat similar to Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game, which I have but have not gotten a chance to wear yet.  I think I will have to do a comparison of the two sometime soon... ;)

Indoors, natural light, no flash
  I really loved this one under Black Shatter, since you could see the duochrome peeking out.  Very pretty!

Overall Thoughts
  I really loved all of the base polishes in this collection, even if they weren't all the most unique.  I think my favorite is probably Teenage Dream, but they are all really gorgeous!  You will definitely be seeing them all again in full manicures!  However, the clear star of the collection is Black Shatter - I have never used crackle polish before and I thought it was pretty awesome.  I would recommend picking up a bottle if you don't have crackle polish already!  Prepare to see a few comparisons coming up sometime soon!

DISCLOSURE: The polishes featured in this post  were provided to Polishology by OPI for review purposes.  This is an honest and independent review and was in no way influenced by the company.