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Monday, February 28, 2011

Cult Nails Iconic

  First off I want to say sorry for the lag in posting - things have been a little bit crazy lately as I have been really busy and also sick the past week.  I also plan to get the rest of the giveaway entries sorted out within the next couple of days and will have the winners for you soon!  And now on to Iconic...

Outdoors, shade
 This is two coats of Cult Nails Iconic, a stunning berry shade with flakies and a gold shimmer throughout.  Beautiful both in the bottle and on the nail!  Application was great, nice and smooth with a shiny finish.  I have been very impressed so far with the two polishes I have used from Cult Nails so far - I am excited to try out the other two!

Outdoors, direct sunligh
  This polish has definitely earned a spot among my top favorites!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

OPI Texas Swatches and Review - The Cremes and Shimmers

  Now on to the second half of the OPI Texas Collection for Spring/Summer 2011.  There are three cremes and three shimmers in this half!  All swatches are shown without base coat, with top coat.

San Tan-Tonio
Outdoors, shade, no flash
A tan/caramel colored creme, that goes on really smooth with two coats.  I think this may give the "mannequin hands" look to somebody with darker skin.  Great formula, and overall a very pretty polish!

Suzi Loves Cowboys
Outdoors, partial sun, no flash
This is a dark chocolate brown creme.  Here I used two coats, but this probably could have used a third.  Very nice dark brown, makes me think of fudge.. yummy

Don't Mess With OPI
Outdoors, shade, no flash
Medium green creme, showing two coats, nice application.  This color really strongly reminds me of Jade Is The New Black... expect to see a comparison coming up soon!  This one did stain - I would definitely recommend a base coat!

Austin-tatious Turquoise
Outdoors, shade, no flash
Okay this is probably the polish I was most looking forward to out of this collection and it did not dissapoint!  A gorgeous blue/green shimmer with a slight purple duochrome - how pretty!  This is three coats for full coverage.  The duochrome was tough to get a picture of, but here is an attempt at capture that purple flash.


Love it!

I Vant To Be A Lone Star
Outdoors, shade, no flash
Close-up of shimmer detail
 I was very excited for this polish as well - a pale light blue with subtle shimmer.  I had a bit of problems with the formula on this one... actually, I had so many problems I totally redid the swatch because I had awful pooling and drag.  It is a bit streaky and required three coats to even out.  However, the second time (while being the most careful with polishing that I think I ever have been) I had less problems.  Overall the formula leaves a bit to be desired but I like the color enough that it makes it worth it.

It's Totally Fort Worth It
Outdoors, shade, no flash
Close-up of pink shimmery goodness
This was not one that I was particularly excited about after promo pictures but it is gorgeous.  A sort of irredescent pearly gray color packed with pink shimmer... I just love it!  This is three coats, which I found gave me very decent coverage even if there is still some faint VNL.  I wore this one as a full mani with a little pink flower sticker.  Very nice polish

Overall Review

  The shimmers in this collection are completely gorgeous... I think Fort Worth It is a very unique polish (at least I don't know of anything to compare it to) and while the other two shimmers do seem a bit similar to other polishes I own/know of, they are still really nice and worth having in your collection!  The cremes are nice, although I am not quite as in love with them as the shimmers.  They had a nice formula and apply very well, the colors just don't seem the most original to me.  However still nice polishes!  The shimmers are definitely the winners in this half of the collection though.

 As for the collection as a whole... I give it a big thumbs up!  I love that sorbet finish (even if I thought I was going to hate it), these shimmers are amazing and there a few nice cremes in there as well.  Overall I am really pleased with the Texas Collection!  What do you think?

 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.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

OPI Texas Swatches and Review - The Sorbets

  I am really excited to be able to share OPI's new Spring/Summer 2011 collection with you all, the Texas Collection!  This is a rather large collection (12 polishes in all) so I am going to split this up into two posts.  First up we have the "sorbet-like" finish polishes.  These polishes are all rather sheer (which is the point) and also extremely shiny on their own.  All polishes shown are three coats, with no base or top coat.  Photographs were taken outdoors in the shade, with no flash.

Houston We Have A Purple
A bright berry purple shade

   Do You Think I'm Tex-y?
 Another berry shade, but much more pink-leaning

 Too Hot Pink To Hold 'Em
Just what it says - a nice hot pink

 Guy Meets Gal-veston
A gorgeous coral (probably my favorite!)  A bit lighter coral color in real life than it appears here

Big Hair... Big Nails
A rosy reddish-orange 

Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?
A bright tangerine orange

Review
  If I am being completely honest, I was really not expecting to like these.  I usually hate visible nail line and like my polishes nice and opaque.  However... I am kind of in love with this finish!  There is something so cool and summery about the look... it reminds me of a popsicle.  The formula on these is pretty good - a bit thin but it went on nicely, didn't pool and looked great at two or three coats.  These are also really, really shiny without topcoat (although I still wore a topcoat when I wore Guy Meets Gal-veston as a full mani, just to make it last).  I know some people have been upset because (a) they are so sheer, (b) they are "just more jellies, not something new" and (c) there are several similar colors.  However... I actually kind of like the sheerness now that I have worn them, I personally don't have many nice jellies, and it is nice to have  range of colors for various skin tones.  Again, I went into this kind of expecting not to like them but I have to say, these are really very nice polishes.  Hats off to OPI!

  What do you all think?  Do you like the sorbet-like (or jelly) finish?  Does the VNL really bother you?  Will you/have you already picked any of these up?

   Look for the shimmers and the cremes coming up tomorrow!

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.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Getting Lost in Atlantis - A New Favorite

  I was thrilled to learn a few weeks ago that an old lemming I have had probably since I started blogging was being re-released in an exclusive collection at Sally Beauty.  Of course I had to make a special stop into the store to pick up this beauty!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash
  This is two coat of China Glaze Atlantis, which may just be my new favorite polish.  Okay, I actually am really bad at picking favorites so I won't say that, but it definitely is up there!  This is an aqua jelly polish absolutely packed with the gorgeous holographic glitter.  It is very sparkly - one of those polishes you just keep staring at when it is on!  Great application in three coats with fast dry time.  Like many chunky glitter polishes, I had problems with this one chipping a bit, but it wasn't that bad - and it's totally worth it!

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  While the polish is a bit less sparkly in the shade, it is still very pretty.  I got a lot of compliments on this one!  If you are a glitter fan I highly recommend you get to a nearby Sally Beauty and snag this up from the Treasures collection while you can! :)

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Layering with Nfu-Oh 55

  Ever since I saw my first swatches of Nfu-Oh flakies, I have been kind of obsessing about getting my hands on some.  Becky got me a gorgeous one for Christmas and I got to play with it a couple of weeks ago!

Outdoors, shade
  Since I had seen on a couple of other blogs that this polish was fairly sheer, I decided to play with layering on this one.  I started off with two coats of Orly It's Up To Blue, a shimmery turquoise.  I then added two coats of Nfu-Oh 55, which is a great sheer green full of gold flakies.  I love this combination together!  It reminds me maybe of a mermaid.. or something along those lines.  This was just gorgeous, and I got a lot of compliments on it!

Indoors, artificial light
  After a couple of days of wear, I was ready for something a bit different... but still not done enjoying this combo!  So I tried something new, and randomly slapped little pieces of blue painter's tape on my nails, painting the exposed areas with China Glaze Little Drummer Boy.  Unfortunately all I have is this late night picture in kind of crappy indoor lighting, so it looks almost black instead of pretty dark blue.  I thought the blue looked nice with the combo I already had on, and the random design was kind of fun.  I may try something like this again in the future.

  I am loving my very first Nfu-Oh, I think I am going to have to get me some more of these pretties! :)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Naily News - New Collections

  I am sure most of you have seen this information by now... but just in case you haven't I thought I would post it for you!  A couple of new collections as well as a chance to win some of the Bieber collection!

  Also.. do not forget that TODAY is the last day to enter my Giveaway!  I will hope to have the winners up early next week!
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Discover a Treasure Trove of Color with New BRIGHTS by OPI, Inspired by Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Create Waves with Silver Shatter!


OPI captures the bright colors and breathtaking escapades seen in Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with six limited-edition Nail Lacquers and a new Silver ShatterDisney’s highly-anticipated fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is directed by Rob Marshall and features an all-star cast, including Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.
To celebrate the new film, OPI launches its Spring 2011 BRIGHTS Collection, which features a groundbreaking new color addition in the Shatter coat formula– Silver. Inspired by graffiti art, this shade leaves behind a crackled, two-texture silver finish when painted over any dry OPI hue.
OPI is thrilled to celebrate the latest film in this beloved series,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides lacquers were inspired by a world filled with mythical mermaids, gleaming treasure, and high-seas adventure. With shades ranging from sage and lavender to khaki gray and pastel pink, these colors are evocative of a warm, tropical setting, with a classic nautical influence.”
 
The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection includes:

Skull & Glossbones
Best light gray ever, no bones about it.

Mermaid’s Tears
Few have seen this magical green.

Steady as She Rose
This gorgeous pink is your final destination.

Planks a Lot
Dive into style with this lustworthy purple!

Sparrow Me the Drama
This cool, collected pink means business!

Stranger Tides
Explore this uncharted sea of sage.

Silver Shatter
A shimmering sea of silver with a two-texture finish.

The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-inspired Nail Lacquers by OPI contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide Brush for the ultimate in application. 
This limited-edition Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection will be available beginning May 2011 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for  $8.50 ($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!

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LET’S GET CRACKING

China Glaze Introduces Six New Crackle Colors



Los Angeles, CA – December 2010: Roughed up grunge meets gorgeous glam! China Glaze brings a whole new level to the game with “Crackle” polish! Create endless edgy looks and make a statement with fun, fearless, color. Everyone has asked for it, and now China Glaze is giving it to them! The six different Crackle colors include:

  • Lightning Bolt – White Crackle
  • Black Mesh – Black Crackle
  • Broken Hearted – Pink Crackle
  • Cracked Concrete – Grey Crackle
  • Fault Line – Purple Crackle
  • Crushed Candy – Teal Crackle

An innovative technology allows you to play with a wide array of color combinations and achieve an edgy, new wave look. This unique formula was developed to give your nails a “crackled” design over traditional nail color. Contrasting colors are used one over another to achieve a deconstructed shatter look that takes place right before your eyes. Instant art for your nails!

How do you do it? It’s easy! Apply your favorite China Glaze glitter, shimmer or crème. Depending on the color you are using, apply either one or two coats for full coverage. When the colored enamel is dry, brush on a thin layer of the Crackle color. Allow the Crackle to work its magic during dry time. After approximately 5 minutes when the crackled design has completely formed, apply a top coat to seal the design for prolonged wear.

China Glaze Crackle will be available starting February 2011 at Sally’s Beauty Supply and BSG in 12 piece displays and 3 pack color kits which will include a base color, a crackle glaze (Black Mesh, Broken Hearted or Crushed Candy) and a China Glaze Top Coat.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentine's Day 2011 Nails

  These are the nails I actually wore on Valentine's Day.  This manicure was inspired by the second design on this post by Ashley of Polish and Konad - thanks for the inspiration!

Outdoors, full sun
  For these nails, I started off with three coats of Deborah Lippmann It's Raining Men, a bright cherry red creme.  Application was lovely on this, could have gotten away with two coats except for a smidge of VNL.  For the design I used Konad Special White with Bundle Monster BM11 and Konad Special Black with BM17.  I think I used three coats of top coat on this (one after color, one after the first design and one after the second), using Deborah Lippmann Addicted to Speed.  Let me tell you, I think this would have stayed on forever without any wear - after two days it was flawless and it was really tough to get off!  A great polish and a fun mani for Valentine's day!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

  Hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day today!  This is a mani I wore earlier this week for the holiday (I will have to post today's nails tomorrow).

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This is two coats of OPI Hoodoo Voodoo?!, a great bright berry creme.  Silky smooth application, great coverage and drying!  I used OPI Chapel of Love and Konad m60 to add the faint light pink plaid design in the background, and Konad Special White with Konad plate m59 to add the hearts.  A really fun Valentine design!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Valentine's Day with Ahoy!

  Here is a Valentines' Day manicure the I did with China Glaze Ahoy!, a gorgeous bright magenta polish full of shimmer.

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This is three coats of Ahoy!, all of which I found necessary to cover up VNL.  Smooth application and good dry time on this one.  I love this polish - it is a beautiful pink and that shimmer is pretty much always really sparkly (even if it is hard to tell in the photos)!

Outdoors, full sun
  I used Zoya Trixie with Bundle Monster plate BM11 to add delicate silver lines with hearts over each nail.  A very fun Valentine's mani!  I highly recommend Ahoy! if you haven't picked it up already, it is a stunner!  Of course, if you would like to win Ahoy! you can always enter my giveaway! :)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Zoya Jo

  Today I want to share a manicure I did awhile back with Zoya Jo, one of my 3 Free polishes from Zoya's Facebook offer!

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This is three coats of Jo, a sort of corflower blue with a delicate shimmer.  Could have been two coats if they were slightly thicker.  For stamping I used Bundle Monster plate BM10 and Konad Special White polish.  I am not entirely sure this design was meant to be a tip design, what with the flat edge and all, but I decided to give it a go.  It worked out okay.. sometimes the image didn't fully cover the tip and I had to use the Konad polish to fill it out (which is tough since it is so thick).  Overall an interesting experiment, and it still looked pretty cute in my opinion. :)

Monday, February 7, 2011

New Blog Lovin'

  I have been dealing with The Cold From Hell the last couple of days (yes it must be capitalized).  Unfortuately, it is a cold I get once every 6 weeks or so, winter or summer... how messed up is that?  Anyway, as such I am not in much of a posting mood but wanted to share a new blog that I have been enjoying with you.  The blog is No Naked Nails, run by Annelise (or @LastLash on Twitter). 

  My reasons for sharing are three-fold (from most superficial to most important, haha):

1) She is going to host a giveaway once she reaches 50 followers

2) Maybe if she gets more followers it will convince her she needs to change her nails every 2 or 3 days like most of the rest of us crazies and I can see more pictures

3) Her designs are always really fun and creative.




  So go check out her blog.  And I will go check out my couch - with my nose strip on and tissue box in hand.  Don't deny it, you know nose strips are sexy.  :P

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Grayscale Nails with Dove and Kelly

  I have another gorgeous shade from the Zoya Intimate Spring Collection to share with you today - paired up with her darker cousin from the Fall collection.  These were my "Blizzard Day 2011" nails, that I did on Tuesday while 14 inches of snow was dumped on us and we were trapped in our house.  :)

Indoors, natural lighting, no flash
  Zoya Dove is a light gray creme - it is really "dove" gray, for lack of a better term!  Absoultely stunning on the nail, and very sophisticated and classy.  This took three coats for me, but only because I messed up and put one nail on way too thin, so this easily could have been a two-coater.  Application was deliciously smooth, evened out beautifully, and dried quickly!  Here is a picture of Dove alone:

Indoors, natural light, no flash
  For the pattern, I used Zoya Kelly, Dove's older cousin from the Fall collection, and Konad plate m78.  I really loved the gray-on-gray combination.  I find myself really loving these more neutral colors a lot, which is funny because back before I became obsessed with polish I probably never would have thought to wear them.  Now they seem to be some of my absolute favorites!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

My Kind of Cool Aid from Cult Nails!

  I want to share with you today a new polish brand, created by fellow blogger Maria from R3 Daily - Cult Nails.  I find it really inspirational that she had a dream to create her own nail polish line and then just.. did it!  I was super excited to get the chance to try out the first polish in the launch collection, and it did not disappoint.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash
Indoors, artificial light, no flash
  This is two coats of Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid.  It is a grayed out lavender color with a touch of gorgeous turquoise and fuchsia shimmer.  I just had to show a close-up of this shimmer in-bottle, which you can find below!

Gorgeous shimmer (in bottle)
  The shimmer is more subtle on the nail but still very pretty.  Application was really good - I used two coats to achieve full coverage.  The polish was a but thicker than other polishes but not gloopy in any way, applied smoothly and evened out very nicely on the nail.  I would like to note that if you are looking carefully above (or more obviously below), there is a bubble or two but this is not from the polish, it is from the top coat that I applied and unfortunately did not see before it had tried in.  MKoCA dried quickly, and was fairly shiny on its own without topcoat!

Outdoors, shade, no flash
Outdoors, sunlight
  This polish looks very different in different light sources.  While the first two images show its more purple side, these last two show its gray side!  I was  constantly checking the polish to see what color it looked like in my current lighting, since it always seemed to chance.. haha.  I added a simple Konad tip design, using Konad Special White and plate m73.  I wore these for two days and had basically no wear on them, so they seem to hold up well also!  Overall I was very impressed this polish and can't wait for the next three colors to make their way to me!  For more information, or to purchase polishes, visit Cult Nails!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Zoya Gemma and Stamping Experiments

  I ordered the Zoya Intimate collection as soon as it came out - what gorgeous colors!  I decided to keep four for myself and give two away in the 300 Follower Giveaway - which was a very hard decision to make as to which to keep and which to give, since I loved every single one of those colors.  Here is one of the colors I knew I would need to keep right away.

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  Zoya Gemma is a really gorgeous muted olive color, with this amazing blue shimmer throughout.  It is a color I never would have thought to wear before, but I find it to be really beautiful.  This was three coats, which covered very nicely with great application.  I was sitting there looking at the bottles from the collection, and thought that Dannii and Gemma looked very nice sitting next to each other, and experimented a bit with stamping...

Outdoors, shade, no flash
  This is Zoya Dannii stamped using plate m60 followed by the flowers from plate m37 in Konad Special White.  The purple did not show up quite as well as I had hoped, but I think it compliments the blue tones of the shimmer nicely (which you can see very well in the bottle here).  I was a little unsure how I felt about this Konad job... mostly I like it but I feel like there was maybe something just a bit off with the colors.  I don't know... what do you think? :)