OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees & OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede

Ulta is having a Buy 2 get 1 Free sale on all professional nail brands so you know I just had to get on over there. I bought 7 new polishes but I was slightly bummed because I wish they had a better selection of Essie - There are a few I wanted that they didn’t have… oh well.

Anyway, lately everyone I’ve seen has been wearing darker colors, and with all these dreary clouds and the constant rain I figured I could get away with some darkness on my nails as well. I painted all of my nails except my ring fingers with OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, and my ring fingers with OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede. I thought the contrast thing was pretty cool, and I love how perfectly they complement each other because well, they’re essentially the same color.

beautiful dry skin eh?

Base – Orly Bonder
Color – 2 Coats of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees

2 Coats of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede on my ring fingers

Top Coat – Essie Good to Go

They both went on smoothly and not streaky at all. Also as a bonus, I dinged my nail real bad while getting into bed and I was too lazy to fix it, so I just threw some polish on, and it evened out oh so nicely! Yay!



Essie Going Incognito & Nicole by OPI Nicole . . . Spotted!

On a random nail polish run, I picked up two wonderful colors that may be my new obsession. I was originally looking to purchase Essie Pretty Edgy, but I talked myself out of it last minute and instead, bought Going Incognito - I loved how dark and teal it was. After deciding on Going Incognito, I noticed that immediately to my right there was a large display with like 2 bottles of polish on it, but one was the prettiest color ever – Nicole by OPI Nicole … Spotted! These two colors are a match made in heaven!  Nicole … Spotted is the exact color of Going Incognito, just a lighter clear jelly version of it, with holo glitter and micro gold glitter!

* Please excuse my pointer finger . . . it's just yuck, and kind of gloopy looking because I had a little chipping and quickly fixed it for the picture.  :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color – 2 Coats of Essie Going Incognito

2 Coats of Nicole by OPI Nicole … Spotted
Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

They just look so pretty together, I felt like I had mermaid fingers!

My only issue was that the sparkles in Nicole … Spotted sort of sank to the bottom of the bottle, so it helped to give it a quick shake between each nail to make sure your brush is armed with an ample amount of sparkle.

OPI Last Friday Night and OPI Guy Meets Gal-Veston

So after my most recent trip to Ulta, I came home with OPI's Last Friday Night and OPI's Guy Meets Gal-Veston. I have this strange obsession with Texas, and I just couldn’t believe that I didn't own any of the members of the gorgeous Texas collection yet... what was wrong with me?!

Last Friday Night is this gorgeous jelly with TONS of glitter. It’s jam packed! I’ve read that it is quite sheer though, and not the gorgeous bright blue that it is in the bottle, so I knew I had to layer. I wish I had a BRIGHT blue to wear underneath, but the only “brighter” shades I have are OPI’s Dating a Royal (which is too much of a navy bright) and then Essie’s Lapis of Luxury (which isn’t even bright…). Anyway, after showing my husband a variety of blues (mostly pale ones) he chose Lapis of Luxury, so that’s what I went with!

Although my camera hated me and refused to take a nice picture, Last Friday Night is packed with glitter and it looked great on, but it is a little thick, and I did have some pile up at my tips . . . I probably should have waited for the coats to dry a bit, but I always paint my nails so late at night that I try to do it as fast as possible. :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color – 2 Coats of Essie Lapis of Luxury

2 Coats of OPI Last Friday Night

Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

Next up is OPI’s Guy Meets Gal-Veston. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about the new sorbet finish, and I was just too excited to try them. The color in the bottle was a gorgeous coral color, and it looked a juicy as could be. With the first coat, I was surprised by the sheerness. On the bright side it wasn’t streaky, but it was completely see through. As I finished my second coat I noticed that it was still very sheer. After the third coat it was definitely starting to hide the nail line, but it was still way visible. I really should have done 4 coats. I stopped at three, and I regretted it. The nail line drove me crazy all day, and I kept obsessively comparing it to the bottle, wondering why it couldn’t have been the same color. Although there are other colors in the Texas Collection that I would love to have, I just don’t think this collection is for me.

 With Flash

With Artificial Light

Base – Orly Bonder
Color – 3 Coats of OPI Guy Meets Gal-Veston

Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

As you can see from the pictures, it looks like a dipped my nails in juice :) The sorbet finishes are gorgeous and juicy looking, but it’s not something I’m willing to deal with such sheerness for.

Essie Pink Parka & Zoya Caitlin

Hello Hello!


Up first is Pink Parka from Essie’s Fall 2009 Collection.
Now while I own a few “hot pinks” this one is definitely my favorite.
Application wasn’t too bad, not really too streaky. I really don’t have much to say, so let the pictures speak for themselves :)

Inside

Outside

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
Color - 2 Coats Essie Pink Parka

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

Next up is Zoya’s Caitlin. This is my first from this brand and I must say I am impressed. It’s a really gorgeous grayish grape. Application was a breeze, although the brush does take a little getting used to. It’s thinner than OPI’s, somewhat similar to Essie’s but at the same time, totally different . . . Actually, I figured it out - The bristles aren’t as long as Essie’s so this causes the brush to be slightly harder to move, they don’t brush back and forth as easily.

Anyway, for a color so pretty, I can definitely get over a slight brush issue :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color - 2 Coats Zoya Caitlin

Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

Did I mention I purchased a new base and top coat.  I was chipping like crazy so I decided to give Bonder a go, and give up all hopes of ever repairing my peeling nails with Miracle Cure, and for the heck of it, I picked up the top coat because it said no chip!

I’m not 100% sure of how I feel about them, probably because it might be too soon to tell. :)  My color has only been on for a day, and I do think I see some minor chipping, but maybe it’s just some tip wear. . . We’ll see.

Essie Rainbow of Colors!

Ballet Slippers, Topless and Barefoot, Knockout Pout, Guilty Pleasures, Punchy Pink, Pink Parka,

Flirty Fuchsia, Short Shorts, Escapades, Haute as Hello, Bright Tights

Mint Candy Apple, Turquoise and Cacaos, Borrowed and Blue, Lapis of Luxury, Coat Azure,

Lilacism, Splash of Grenadine, Bermuda Shorts, Over the Top

Soo pretty <3 but I really wish I took this with my camera camera, instead of my phone camera.

New Polishes!

My long awaited bi-weekly trip to Ulta happened tonight and I had a 20% Friends and Family coupon, so that was great!
I went to purchase some of OPI’s new Femme de Cirque Collection, but they didn’t have any… :(  So, I bought Essie’s Mint Candy Apple and Essie’s Ballet Slippers. I also picked up OPI’s Nail Envy for Sensitive and Peeling nails . . . for that pesky pointer finger issue. Hopefully this does something for them.

After leaving Ulta happy, but slightly defeated, my husband and I headed to our favorite restaurant, but not before a quick stop at the mall. The Middletown Galleria has this awesome little Hair Salon/Beauty Supply store that has a ton of polish, for great prices.

I picked up. . . (drum roll please)

OPI’s Femme de Cirque in I Juggle… Men and Step Right Up! I was really too excited when I saw them, I practically skipped over to the display!

I also picked up Essie’s Pink Parka and the new and beautiful Borrowed & Blue.

All in all, it was a great polish run, and I can’t wait to try out my new colors!

China Glaze's Lemon Fizz and Sally Hansen's Gentle Blossom

I tried posting China Glaze’s Lemon Fizz before but I just can’t get it to look neat on my nails…

 

As I heard about yellow polishes before, this one was extremely opaque, but terrible streaky. It is an awesome color, a really pretty pastel yellow that reminds me of baby chicks, and it has a nice creamy finish.
 

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

Color - 2 Coats China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

                                                                  ____________________


Next is Sally Hansen’s Apple Blossom is a shimmery mint green. Until tonight (will post more about this later) I did not own Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, but I did have my eye out for it. I saw this while on vacation this week at the drugstore, and I couldn’t resist it.

While it is a pretty color, it was IMPOSSIBLE to work with. This particular polish has this really awkward short, thick brush, and the polish dries pretty quickly, which is great and all, but it’s definitely hard to level out the coats.

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

Color - 2 Coats Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

Oh by the way, please excuse my gimpy pointer finger… I’ve been having a peeling problem (just with my two pointers) and the polish just chips away almost instantly on this finger.