OPI DS Extravagance

  Here is one of those polishes that I have always looked at and wanted to buy, but for some reason never got around to it.  Now both of my sisters have this one - but not me!  I decided it was high time I tried this on, so I borrowed Becky's, and I was definitely not disappointed!

Outdoors, full sun

  This is two coats of OPI DS Extravagance (perfectly named), a rich magenta full of gorgeous pink and holo glitter.  This polish seems to glow from within, and there is so much depth to it - these pictures cannot quite do it justice!  This one is alive.

Cropped for detail

   While it does lose some of its yummy holo shine outside of direct light, it is still gorgeous in the shade as well.

Outdoors, shade, no flash

  I must admit, I tried to steal Becky's bottle one or two times.  I am rather in love with this polish!  I may have to borrow it often - or finally get around to buying my own bottle!

Zoya Cheryl vs OPI DS Jewel

  When I first received my Zoya Cheryl in the mail, Becky was over here and she was wearing DS Jewel.  Instantly we noticed that the two seemed very similar.  I looked for a comparison between the two and didn't find one, so I decided to go ahead and do one for you all!

  You can see that in the bottle, the colors do seem to look quite similar.  Even here you can tell that DS Jewel looks just a touch more pink, but it is really hard to tell if there is much of a noticeable difference or not.

Outdoors, sun

  On the nail, there is definitely a huge difference.  Cheryl is a much darker color, with Jewel being lighter and again, pinker.  Another huge difference was opacity - Cheryl took only two coats, while Jewel took four coats to achieve full opacity.  However the drying time on Jewel is decent, so the extra coats didn't bother me that much.  Cheryl did have a small amount of bumpiness going on that I wasn't really expecting (which you can see a bit in the close-ups, especially around the shade-to-light zone), while DS Jewel was totally smooth.  However Zoya definitely wins on application between these two with its high pigmentation and two coats.

Zoya Cheryl

OPI DS Jewel

  In the close-up photos above the differences are very apparent.  In addition to having the overall more burgundy-brown look, DS Jewel also has rosy pink microglitter, as well as some gold that is hard to capture.  Cheryl instead has coppery, metallic glitter.

Indoors, artificial lighting

  So as it turns out, these are very different.  Both are fabulous fall (or winter) shades, and I really like them both a lot.  Zoya Cheryl belongs to me, and OPI DS Jewel belongs to my sister Becky, so I will definitely be borrowing DS Jewel again at some point for a full mani using it.  I love both the more bull brown/coppery look of Zoya and the rosy effect of the OPI DS.  Which is your favorite?

OPI DS Magic - Magical It Is!

  I was planning on doing a fun design for my next mani, but I have been really sick lately, and didn't feel up to taking the time to do a design.  So I decided it was time to try out this beauty - OPI DS Magic!

Indoors, natural light, no flash

  OPI DS Magic is a gorgeous dark blue with a purple-pink flash.  It is completely gorgeous, and I am in love.  This was three coats, although two would probably have been enough if I had been a tad more steady in my application.  Dry time was great as was formula.  It is super shimmery, like all of the DS polishes!

Outdoors, natural light, no flash

  It was kind of hard to get a good picture of the purple flash, even though it is very easy to see on the nails.  I tried to pick out a variety of pictures (of the 75 that I took!) that would show you the different looks of this polish, from pure sparkly blue to that duochrome-like flash!

You can see the purple well here, especially in the bottle!

  While I do not own Orly's Lunar Eclipse, I can see how this is very similar.  From what I have read DS Magic is a darker blue in color, and is more opaque.  However, I suppose if you already had Lunar Eclipse this may not be necessary.  If not, I would definitely consider keeping an eye out for this one.

 

  This is another polish that has got me staring at my hands - I love to watch the color shift as I move them ever so slightly!

  Remember that today is the last day to enter my giveaway!  I will be choosing the winner tomorrow, and should have another giveaway coming up sometime soon this month!

Evelyn Rose

I am back!  I had an amazing time visiting my sister and brother-in-law and my sweet baby niece, Evie!  She is just about the most precious little baby I have ever seen.  I am in love!

Evelyn Rose, 17 Days Old

Here I am holding her, and she is in her "My Auntie Love Me" outfit that I just had to get for her, plus I hat that I knit for her.  What a sweetie!

I miss this baby so much already.

I did find time while I was down there to do some nail play as well (in between loving up on my sweet baby and my sister having to feed her often).  I tried my best to give Christy some pampering, since as sweet as Evie is she is a bit of a handful and induces sleep deprivation.. haha.  So I gave her a manicure and a pedicure.  I will share the toes tomorrow; today we have Evelyn Rose inspired nails!

Outdoors, partial shade, no flash

Christy really wanted to use this new rose patterned Konad I had just recently purchased in honor of Evie.  And she loved this DS color - another new purchase that I hadn't used yet!  I have to say, I loved the DS - the application, the color, the dry time.. it was amazing!  I can't wait to use it on myself soon.  This is OPI DS Reserve, and I believe I used two coats (sorry, I can't quite remember, but that sounds right to me).  The Konad is plate m65, using Nicole by OPI Positive Energy, a really great silver for Konad stamping.  By this point, I have also gotten much better at Konad - I had practiced on one more mani on myself the night before (which I will share with you in a couple of days), and practiced just the right scraping pressure to get pretty results.  I think I have it mostly down now!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash

I also tried to be a bit cleaner, staying away from the cuticles as much as possible.  Still a bit messy, but better - I am getting there!  You might also notice a bit of a darker pink on the pinkie finger - we tried stamping over it but it didn't really work out, so that was the only finger that got tried on.  :)  This was a really sweet manicure, and I really liked the combo of the light pink and the silver.  And I LOVE the DS polish - I may have to get me some more of it.  Very pretty.

Thanks to all who are following, reading, and commenting!  I hope you continue to enjoy my posts!