OPI's "Black Shatter" over Essie's "Platinum Perfect"

A few days ago, while I was shopping at TJ Maxx, I found a really cool bottle of Essie nail polish called "Platinum Perfect". I'm fairly new to collecting Essie's, but  I couldn't remember ever seeing this polish before. It's very similar to OPI's "Birthday Babe". It's a gorgeous silver metallic shade. For $3.99, I definitely had to have it!


Once I got home, I tried to do a Google search for the color, to see when it was released, and if it was still part of their collection. I have yet to find out anything about this polish, so if you've heard of it, or if you own it, please let me know!


Here's "Platinum Perfect" (3 coats):

I haven't used OPI's "Black Shatter" much, so I thought "PP" would be a great color to use under it. Here's 1 coat of "Black Shatter" on top of "Platinum Perfect". I also added a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat:

OPI's "Unripened"

Last Halloween, OPI released a collection of mini's called the "Go Goth" collection. This collection included the colors "Obscurity" (a black matte), "Sanguine" (a deep, dark blood red-maroon), "Nevermore" (a blackened purple) and "Unripened" (a dark glittering green). I was fortunate to snatch this set up for 1/2 price the day after Halloween at Beauty First!

It's pretty obvious when looking at "Nevermore" that it's a dupe of "OPI Ink". I mean, if you put the two next to each other, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between the two. The same goes for "Sanguine"; it's almost an exact dupe of "Royal Rajah Ruby" and "Midnight in Moscow". I'm happy about this, because I like the colors, and I have the full-size bottles of their dupes. So when the mini's run out, I'm still good. I don't recall OPI ever making a black matte, so it's nice to have "Obscurity" when I'm wanting a true black matte. 

My absolute favorite from this collection is "Unripened". It was the first color I tried on when I bought the set, and the one I used the most out of all 4 colors. Apparently, OPI made a limited number of full-size bottles of "Unripened" for some distributors, as a promotional item. Although, I read on OPI's Facebook fan page that some people were able to buy them (somehow) from stores that had them. 

I'd describe "Unripened" as having a black base, with teal shimmer. Unfortunately, you can't really see the purple/blue/pink duochrome that shows up in the bottle. When I wear it, it just looks like a black with teal shimmer. Regardless, it's amazing. 

A very dear from of mine (whom I met on the OPI FB fan page), Cathy P-R, is a licensed Hairdresser, Aesthetician and salon owner (check out her FB page called "Ask Cathy!"). She was able to get her hands on a few full-size bottles of "Unripened" and was generous enough to trade them with me for a couple of polishes she was interested in. Score! Not only am I fortunate to own ONE full-size bottle, but I've got a back-up bottle, too!

"Unripened" is just one of those colors, for me, that I will never get tired of. I think it's safe to say that it's in my top 5 favorite polishes, and I don't see it ever leaving that spot. 

Here are some pictures I took of it outside yesterday when the sun was shining (we haven't had a lot of that lately here in St. Louis, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity!). After reviewing my photos, I realized at how awful a paint job I did on my nails. Oh well, my main purpose was to capture "Unripened" awesomeness, and I think I did an okay job doing that!


Application:
OPI Chip Skip
2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula
2 coats of OPI "Unripened"
1 coat of Seche Vite 

Look at that BEAUTIFUL duochrome!!!!

I've seen some "Go Goth" sets at Trade Secret here in St. Louis. They're also being sold on eBay for pretty reasonable prices. You can also purchase full size bottles of "Unripened" on eBay. I've seen them being sold anywhere from $14 to $25.

Zoya's "Shawn"

While browsing other blogs last week, I noticed an advertisement for Zoya polishes - a "Get Your Green On Trio" for $5 which included 3 of their green polishes ("Shawn", "Suvi" and "Ivanka"). I had never tried Zoya before, so I thought for $5, this was a good time to test 'em out. So, I purchased this trio, along with 2 other full-priced ($8 each) polishes, "Caitlin" and "Kelly". Apparently, this deal was such a hit, it sold out within hours of it's announcement! I'm so glad I decided to make my purchase when I did!

Well, my polishes arrived today! 

The first color I decided to try was "Shawn". Zoya describes this color as, "Warm, mossy yellow-toned medium green cream with olive undertones. A chic yet edgy way to wear the green polish trend." Since I'm not the best at describing colors, my first impression of the color was that it looked sort of "army green-ish". Of the three colors in this special promotion, "Shawn" was the only cream color, the other two were shimmers and glitters. I haven't tried the other two out, but just based on the color of the bottle, this one's my favorite, and probably the one I'll be sporting on St. Patty's Day! Although, it sounds like "Ivanka" (the 2nd bottle from the left in the picture above) is one of their best-selling greens, so maybe I'll fall in love with it, too!

Application:

OPI Chip Skip

2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Dry & Brittle Formula

2 coats of Zoya's "Shawn"

1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

From what I've read on other blogs and on the Zoya Facebook fan page, Zoya is big on promotions and specials, so I have a feeling these 5 polishes will be the first of many in my collection! 

I was very pleased with the formula of "Shawn". I probably could've gotten away with 1 coat, but I prefer to always use at least 2.

OPI's "Done Out In Deco"

It seems like I've been wearing a lot of dark, "gothy" (as my mom would say!) colors on my nails lately. Maybe it's because of the cold, dreary weather we've been having here in St. Louis. Or, maybe it's just because I really, really love dark polishes! Regardless of the reason, I decided tonight to go with something a little more "fresh" and Spring-y. Believe it or not, I actually do own quite a few bright polishes, I just have never worn them! 

Tonight I chose "Done Out In Deco" by OPI. I heard about this color on OPI's Facebook fan page many months ago. A woman uploaded pictures of her manicure done with this color, and mentioned that it was a discontinued color and was becoming hard to find. Well, anytime I hear of a HTF polish I like, I make it a mission to find it! Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, I found it in the clearance bin at Regis for 30% off! It was meant to be!

Maybe it was just this particular bottle or batch, or maybe it was just me, but I thought this was one of the easiest polishes to apply. The formula was perfect and didn't require a lot of clean-up. The end result also seemed very true to the bottle, which I appreciate; no surprises!

Application:

OPI Chip Skip

2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula

2 coats of OPI "Done Out In Deco"

1 coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

1 spritz OPI RapiDry Spray

My first non-OPI polish review! Here's Essie's "Dive Bar"!

When I first decided to created this blog, my intent was to make it an OPI-only blog; one where I only reviewed OPI polishes. But after a few months of blogging, I realized that there are other good quality brands of polish out there that I've never tried. Sure, my main love is with OPI, but I recently purchased a couple of bottles of Essie nail polish because I loved the colors, and because I had heard many positive things about Essie polish.


As I was walking down the cosmetics aisle at Walgreens last week, I noticed a brand new display for Essie nail polish. I had never seen the Essie brand at Walgreens before, so I had to stop and check out all of the polish colors. I ended up coming home with "Dive Bar" and "Over the Edge". When I was looking at the mass amounts of colors Essie had, I was looking for colors not only that I liked and would wear, but also ones that didn't closely resemble any OPI colors I currently own. 


My first non-OPI review will be for "Dive Bar". I had read somewhere that this was a Walmart exclusive color, but that must not be the case, since I purchased mine from Walgreens.


I'd describe this color as a purple-teal duochrome (in the bottle). However, since I've had it on my nails, I have yet to find the purple in it. Regardless, it's a gorgeous color, and I'm so glad I picked it up. I was in the hospital last night, and the male nurse who was checking my pulse on my finger stopped and looked at my nails and said, "Is that green?" How sweet of him to even notice!


The application was perfect! I'm so used to OPI - which in my opinion, is perfect. I love the OPI consistency, their Pro-Wide brush, the handle, the bottle shape - everything! Essie's brush is quite different, and took a few nails to get used to. But I love it, and will definitely buy more from them again! In fact, I purchased 2 more bottles ("Merino Cool" and "Smokin' Hot") a few days later. Can't wait to review those for you, too!


Here are my pictures of "Dive Bar". This isn't an easy color to capture in pictures. Or, maybe I just need to invest in a better camera!


The application for this manicure was:
OPI Chip Skip
2 coats of OPI Nail Envy, Original Formula
2 coats of Essie's "Dive Bar"
1 coat of Seche Vite 
1 spritz OPI RapiDry Spray

As close to direct sunlight as I could get

My best attempt at trying to capture the purple in the polish

Take it all off! (The Foil Method Way)

I don't know about you, but I sure love my glitter polishes! Some of them I buy, knowing I'll never use them, but they're just so pretty in the bottle, I can't say no (Absolutely Alice, Bring on the Bling, Glow Up Already)!

When Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" came out, I fell in love with it the moment I laid eyes on it at JCPenny! It takes glitter polish to a whole new level! The only problem with the polish, is that it's a b!+** to get off! At that time, I didn't know about the "Foil Method", so I was just scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing away at my nails until it finally was all off. My hands, fingers and nails actually hurt after all of that scrubbing!

Then, I heard out about the Foil Method on OPI's FB Fan Page. There were no clear-cut directions, so I just experimented on my own (c'mon, just some foil, acetone polish remover and some cotton balls - how hard can that be?!). My first try with foiling was when I wore "Teenage Dream" for the 2nd time. I was absolutely blown away at how perfectly it worked! Amazing!

Here's what you'll need:

Alluminum Foil - I buy the Reynolds Pre-Cut Pop-Up Sheets. They're easier to work with, in my opinion. I fold the sheet in thirds, then cut the folded sheet horizontally so that I get 6 small sheets out of if.

Pure Acetone - At first, I thought you could only find Pure Acetone at beauty supply stores. So I bought a small bottle for a small fortune. Then, when I was at Wal-Mart one day, I saw that Onyx makes a Pure Acetone (they also make a great smelling non-Acetone remover, which I love) and it cost less than $3 for this huge 16 oz. bottle!

Cotton Balls - Some people cut the cotton balls in half. I use one whole cotton ball per fingernail.

First, you'll soak the cotton ball in Pure Acetone. Then, place the wet side of the cotton ball directly on the nail. Do this for all 5 fingers. I prefer to do one hand at a time, but if you're able to do both hands all at once, go for it!

Here's where you'll get your foil sheets out. Basically, just wrap up your finger in the foil. You'll want to "cap" the end of your nail by scrunching the foil tightly. The tighter you scrunch, the closer the cotton ball will be to your nail and the better the polish will come off.

They look like little sausages all wrapped up!

Let your "sausages" sit for about 5 minutes. Then, before sliding them off, rub them back and forth around the nail a few times. This will help ensure you get off any polish on the sides of your nails. After you've done this, slide off the foil (the cotton ball will come off with it), and voila' - no more glittery polish!

Sometimes, I'll have to do a little touch-up with a Q-Tip soaked in remover, just to get any stubborn polish that might've gotten missed. But for the most part, foiling should remove most, if not all, of your polish.

(My apologies that you had to see my ugly naked nails, but I thought it would be best to show the final outcome in this post)

I wouldn't recommend using this method each and every time you take polish off, because it's not really necessary. Plus, it's not good to use Pure Acetone every time you take polish off, either. Pure Acetone can really dry out your hands and cuticles. I recommend using this method when you have stubborn glitter polish that needs to be removed, or if you have layers of polish (more than normal) that you see causing a problem to remove. Otherwise, I'd just stick to non-Acetone remover (like I said, Onyx makes a great Lavender scented bottle. You get about 16 oz. for less than $3!)

My last recommendation when using Pure Acetone - after you've used it, be sure to moisturize your hands and cuticles. I'm a big fan of OPI's Avoplex Nail & Cuticle Replenishing Oil for my cuticles and High Intensity Hand & Nail Cream for my hands.

Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees - more fun with Suede's!

As you can see from the title of this post, I'm going to be showing my swatches of "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees". I purchased the "regular" version quite early in my "collecting". It's such a cool color - it's not black, but it's not gray. Almost a watered-down gray-black (don't you just love my descriptions?!?). If you like dark colors, this should be included in your collection, too.

After I tried "Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow - Suede", I wanted to buy another Suede polish! I heard that OPI was no longer going to be making the Suede polishes, so I wanted to be sure I snagged at least one more up before it was too late! The only other Suede that caught my eye was "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees", so I bought it at Ulta, but haven't worn it until tonight.

Below is a picture of "Suzi Ski's - Suede" without a topcoat:

Application:

OPI Chip Skip

1 coat OPI Nail Envy, Dry & Brittle Formula

2 coats of OPI "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees - Suede"

I'm in love with this Suede!!!!!

Now, here are some pictures of "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees- Suede" with 2 coats of Seche Vite added on top:

Looks kinda similar to OPI's "Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous", don't you think? (IMO, "Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous" is much prettier!)

Well, I just happened to have that, too! 

Left to Right: "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees" (Original version), "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees - Suede", "Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous":

Left to Right: "Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (2 coats), "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees - Suede" (2 coats plus one coat of Seche Vite Top Coat), "Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees" (2 coats, Original version)

If you don't own a suede polish, I definitely recommend picking up at least one before they get hard to find. 

The only downside to the Suede's is that their wear-time is quite short. If you can get the Suede polish to stay on for more than a day, you did good! You also have to be extremely careful with the Suede's - no lotions, oils, etc. as those can ruin the Suede finish.

What I think is really hot is Suede nails with just the tips painted with a topcoat. The next time I use one of my Suede's, I'll definitely give it a try.

Suede's apply so easily, and are easy to clean up, too! Not to mention they dry in an instant! So, if you're looking for a quick manicure before you head out, try a Suede! 

In summary, I really like "Suzi Ski's - Suede" by itself, better than with a topcoat (unlike "Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow" which is the other way around for me).