OPI Red My Fortune Cookie

I've been so into reds lately, but this one was a disappointment. I was so glad this was an RBL Bangin' dupe, and I'm also really glad I saved myself over 10 bucks because I was not liking this red. It's borderline neon and very in your face, and I didn't get a sexy feel from it, which I expect from my reds. Tossing it into the swap bin!

On a positive note, I wore this for 4 days (that's not the positive part, I was so sick of it lol!) and it still looked great! Check out the minimal wear on this mani!

Vampy Sunday: Off With Her Red!

So it's not really a vampy color, but after seeing last weeks True Blood preview I thought this would be the most appropriate color seeing as how the Queen of Louisiana is making an appearance tonight. Seriously, is there a better Sophie-Anne color? She wears red herself and the name couldn't fit any better. I'm seriously in love with red creams right now, this one is no disappointment. It's slightly tomato-y and a perfect pin-up color. This was 2 coats and a trouble-free application. And look, so shiny!! What's not to like?

OPI What's with the Cattitude?

Okay. I'm not even going to be humble about it. This polish looks friggin' amazing on me. It's like a cashmere sweater for my fingers. Sadly, it's not a very "me" color... one of my friends even grabbed my hand and asked me if I'd fallen and hit my head before doing my nails! Even though What's the with Cattitude doesn't really go with my personality, I love, LOVE the color. It's amazingly cute, and with the buzz about the upcoming Chanel, it's looking like it's going to be a trendy color. This was with 3 coats; 2 thin and 1 thick, and it applied really well for a pastel shade.

Vampy Sunday - Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ

Now I see what all the fuss is about. I've seen OPI Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ on so many 'must have' lists but never thought twice about it. I picked it up just because I don't have anything like it, and it's changed my view on colors like this. Now I'm super excited about the Swiss collection, there are a couple colors in there that are on my 'must' list after seeing how much I love this one!

This color is awesome. It's a deepened berry-ish red with just a hint of a brown undertone to it, a surprise to me that I'm really liking about the color. This was with 2 coats, which dried with a high gloss shine. I think I got an older bottle because it didn't have the Pro-Wide brush, and while it wasn't the worst brush I've ever used it really isn't as nice as the newer ones.

Vampy Sunday is going to be my new thing, in honor of new episodes of True Blood on Sunday nights. It's the best night of the week in the Summer! I only have a few more untried vampies, so this is the perfect excuse to haul some more!

OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue

Seriously, you do! I don't even have words for it. It's bottled blue shimmery perfection!

For only the second time in a year, I cheated on Seche Vite, but this time it was with the notorious Poshe. And wow... I might be a convert. It's less thick than SV so I didn't get any bubbles (though I rarely got them from SV I was still always paranoid), and I'm on day 4 of this mani and it still looks exactly like day 1, not even a bit of tip wear! The only downside to Poshe was that it wasn't as shiny as SV when I first used it, but what really makes it better is that it hasn't lost any shine like SV does and it hasn't scratched up from normal day to day abuse. It still looks exactly like I just put it on. Poshe, I do believe this could be a forever kind of relationship! I need a few more trials runs before I dump SV though.

I also have Russian Navy, and considering how much I love this one was thinking about tracking down Ink. Thoughts? Is it worth it if I already have the other 2?

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

While I like vampies much better in the fall, I've been so absorbed in vampy TV (True Blood sucked me in... haha, get it?... I know, I'm terrible) that I had to switch it up. Sadly Lincoln Park After Dark, a much loved OPI, is a miss for me. Let's face it, it's black. That's all well and good, but I was hoping for a deep rich shade of purple, and while I see it in the bottle it doesn't translate on the nail. I hope to have better luck with my next vampy...

OPI Keys to my Karma

What's more perfect for 4th of July then a bright red? I've had a ban on almost all reds from entering my collection for a long time... such a big ban that I only owned 1 red (Ruby Pumps of course!) for the last 2 years. I refused to buy them thinking they were so cliche. But recently something in my snapped and I've gone red crazy. I ordered 8 reds I was curious about, and I have to say, I'm quite happy about them. OPI Keys to my Karma was the one I was most excited about and it did not disappoint. It's a perfect maraschino cherry red with a yummy squishy jelly finish. I swear, I wanted to dip my finger in a glass of 7-Up to see if it could sweeten the drink a bit, that's how good this polish looks! Application took 3 coats like most jellies do and it applied perfectly.

OPI Ogre the Top Blue

Continuing the theme of brights, I put on Ogre-the-Top Blue yesterday. This one is definitely an eye catcher. It's bold. It's a cute color but I'm not sure how much I'll really wear it. Too bad since the formula was amazing! OPI has really stepped up their game. This one is so pigmented that I nearly got away with one coat, but I ended up doing two to even out some slightly bald spots. It also applied perfectly, of course, since it's OPI. I'm a little disappointed with the lack of shiny-ness; Seche Vite can add a good amount of shine but I like a polish that can contribute to that factor. Though I may be a little biased since my last mani of Pretty Edgy was sooo shiny. As a side note, can't wait to wear that one again. I actually didn't want to take it off, which is rare for me since I love to change things up!

I think I should apply for hazard pay...

So I've had a crazy couple of weeks. I started a new job, finals are going on until Monday, and I have stupid boy problems going on right now. On top of all that, I keep breaking my nails that are still weak from the winter. I filed them all down, which seems to help, but I keep chipping my NP at work. I think I need to apply for hazard pay, lol.

Really though, I love my new job. I'm working as a waitress at a restaurant that just opened, and with the tips I'm making, I just don't feel right complaining... but I'm gonna do it anyways! Chippy nail polish aside, company policy states that nails should be, "Well groomed, short, and no outrageous colors." I do believe that 95% of my collection could be labeled "outrageous" by company standards. I've been playing it safe the last few weeks, and my heart actually broke when I received my new RBL's in the mail. Diddy Mow and 360 are still in their boxes, I can't even pull them out to admire because I really don't know when I'll get a chance to wear and appreciate them.

Back to the hazard pay. Last week I wore OPI You Don't Know Jacques. I tried to take a picture earlier on in the mani but I just couldn't get the light to work. By the time I took the picture, there was damage to my nail. If you look at my middle finger, you can see a crack running through the nail polish. I don't do silk wraps so I took a clipper to it (this is starting to sound like a horror story, lol!) Other than my unfortunate break, I adored this mani., Since I can't wear "outrageous" colors, I need to find a way to by edgy, individualistic and fashionable without being just plain boring with my mani's (more on that later), and this color fits the bill. It's so work appropriate yet unexpected.

The mani I wore this week was OPI Baguette Me Not. This one I absolutely hated. While application was up to OPI standard, the color pulled really orange on me, and not in a good way. Cool toned gals might want to stay away from this one. Sadly I'm still wearing it now, and since I have to work the morning shift I have no time to change it!
This week I hauled from Strangebeautiful and Butter London. Butter London haters do not read any further, because I love them, and you can't bring me down! I adore the little square bottles and I don't think the application or wear time on them sucks. But what I love most is that I can get awesome neutrals that are still edgy and have a fashionable feel to them. The best part of that is the names. How can you not feel awesome wearing a color called Aston? I hauled 4 neutral colors and one bright lemming. Also coming up, whenever I actually get it, is the new Volume 4 from Strangebeautiful. I've been on the fence with ordering from them for so long, just because I would adore 5 shades and be iffy on 3 from a volume, but I loved the look of all 8 from volume 4 so I went for it.

What colors are you looking forward to? Anyone interested in the new Vintage Vixen collection from China Glaze? I'm a little wary since they described so many as frost!

NOTearthD

Happy Earth day! I hope everyone ignored the oil rig that could potentially leak millions of gallons of crude in to the ocean and did something awesome to help Earth yesterday! I celebrated with a green Jade is the New Black mani, but decided it was too boring so I topped it with Chanel Illusion D'or.

I'm really going back and forth on Illusion D'or. In some light I'm amazed by the little blue-y purple-y holo bits in it. But sadly in most light it just looks like I topped my green mani with a gold frost. And I hate frost finishes. They look so dated and unfashionable. And I really don't like associating Chanel with those two words. Since I took the plunge and splurged on it, I'm not going to give up on it after one try. I'm going to try it over a matte black next time, hopefully my opinion will change. If you're on the fence about dropping so much cash on this, IMO it's probably not worth it. Go for ChG Medallion, there's so much sparkle in there and you won't miss the differences between the holo bits!

2 coats Jade is the New Black, 1 coat Illusion D'or, click for super macro:

Catching up on NOTD's

I know I've totally been slacking with posting the NOTD's, but I'm still (mostly) keeping up with them between homework. So here's what I was wearing this past week:

The Summer Days collection continues to impress me! I totally love Raspberry Festival. At first I thought it was too red, but it's a perfect raspberry color so I really can't complain. I loved the shimmer in it! This was with 2 coats though I probably should have done 3.



For my birthday last Wednesday I pulled out Essie Greenport, which I was saving in my untrieds for a special occasion. And it made me feel so awesome on by birthday! The color completely lived up to all the hype that surrounded it and totally lived up to how awesome I had built it up in my head. I'm really glad I was able to get the Essie, but I've heard L'oreal came out with a collection of 3 exact dupes for the North Fork collection. I'm still hunting them down to have back ups! This was with 3 curse-filled coats (how much do you hate that teeny tiny F^%@ing brush?!) to cover the initial streakiness. I didn't like the overall look of 3 coats, it always looks to thick on my nails.



And finally the NOTD that I'm on day #4 of, OPI Lunch at the Delhi. I adore this. On my super pale cool toned skin, depending on the light I see red to sometimes orange, but most of the day in normal light It's a perfect dusty warm toned coral. This was 2 coats but I probably should have done 3 here also. I hate how white my nail line is!


Also don't forget to enter my Great Barrier Reef giveaway! You can come back every day for an extra chance to win :D

$OPI Special Request

This hasn't been in my untrieds very long, but I'm still sorry I waited! I really liked the color in the store, it's a super bright coral. It's actually really close to High Hopes except, to my excitement, applied jelly! Mmm, jelly goodness.... I'm loving it! It took 3 coats to get a nice jelly finish, which I've already massacred with a knife while cutting a bell pepper. Ugh!

Greens #10, 9 & 8

I was trying to save my most anticipated greens for next week, but caved and put on OPI Jade is the New Black today. I was hoping it would live up to the hype, and it totally did! I can tell I'm going to be wearing this one a lot, it's the perfect dusty cream green. It applied flawlessly and was perfect in 2 coats. Also I filed down my nails yesterday, it seems like every 3 weeks my classes all pile up big papers and projects and I do a lot of typing. It's so much easier to do the work with nubbins!

It's raining out today (OMG rain! I've missed you!) so I took pictures under an Ott light. I've never done it before but this picture is completely accurate!


I swatched China Glaze Paper Chasing yesterday. I adore this color, so much so that I wore it for 4 days straight last August. But when I took it off I had terrible stains, so this is another one I'd steer clear of. If that doesn't deter you, it took 3 coats to get this and it chips easily. I was sad about this one, it was one of my most anticipated from the Kicks collection. And green #8 was butter LONDON Thames. I like it, but it's similar to the Essence I wore a few days ago, and I like the Essence much more because it's less blue. I'm swapping it away; I won't miss the color but I will miss the little square bottle... so cute!




Also MAC's Liberty of London collection came out yesterday, YAY! If you're interested in the Blue India NP you can use the code LIBERTY and get free shipping with no minimum amount. My awesome mom placed an order for me last night, along with a bunch of lipsticks I've been lemming. I'm pretty excited!

OPI Hot & Spicy Kung Pao Chicken

When OPI's Hong Kong collection came out I decided to just get 3 of them to start with. Jade and Suzi were a given, but I debated between Dim Sum Plum and Hot & Spicy for hours, days even! Though I new DSP would look good with my cool-toned skin, in the end Hot & Spicy won out for being a bit more original and for the forecast of coral being very in for Spring. And while I like the shrimpy-orangey-coraly color, I really struggled with the application on this. It was streaky and I got some cuticle drag, but with 3 carefully applied coats it became even. If you were on the fence with this one, I'd recommend searching for a different coral, especially since this color looks really bad with warm toned people (my mom swatched it and HATED it).



While my quest for coral will continue, I'll put it aside for tonight to show you the real reason why I tried this polish today. I'm in charge of stir fry night and picked up this seasoning packet at the store. I lol'ed when I put it in the cart. Only you guys would understand why :D

Here Today... Arago(r)n Tomorrow

I know this is the Espana collection, not the Lord of the Rings collection, but I still add the 'r' every time I say the name. A girl can dream, right? I put this on Saturday, took pictures, and took it off just this morning, the entire 48 swearing up and down that it was a green cream. Much to my surprise, my camera, which can't pick up an orange and adds too much blue to purple, found the hidden shimmer! Love!

Application was OPI standard, but I was very disappointed that it took 3 coats to be opaque. I'm one of those habitual 2 coaters and adding the extra 90 seconds it takes to coat all 10 fingers just ticks me off, especially from an OPI cream. And then I got chips the next day. What's the deal, man? I put in all that extra time for CHIPS?! Hellz no.



Don't forget to enter my Who Loves Purple? giveaway!

72 hours with Suzi Says Feng Shui

I don't really ever wear my polish for more than 36 hours, but I went away this weekend, so what I used Friday morning had to last the whole weekend. I picked Suzi Says Feng Shui. It's an awesome blue, and even after 72 hours I wasn't sick of it. Plus I got tons of compliments from my family, which is always nice. I also got a lot of, "(grabbing my hand) OMG are those your REAL nails?!!" And I am now the master of the humble nod and the, "Yes, YES they are real. Nice, right?"

I was super impressed with the lack of wear. There was not a single chip, not even a teeny tiny one, and you can see here the tip wear was minimal. Very nice, OPI! I'm sure I'm late to the game with this realization, but it was my first time wearing OPI for more than a day. Formula was OPI standard, completely buttery and flawlessly creamy.

My New #1

I know there was quite the debate going on about OPI My Private Jet. I heard that OPI did away with the original formula, a holo, and did just a sparkly thing. I've never really been that in to holos, but in the last month I felt like I just needed to have one, so I went all out. I tracked down a holo version on stupid Ebay, where the seller, after realizing she had a HTF polish, upped the price by a lot. But it was the only way to be sure I'd get the holo. I've heard a few people recently ordered MPJ from Trans Design and got lucky by getting a good bottle, but I didn't chance it. Well, it was totally worth it. And I am in LOVE with holos. I'm already plotting getting the entire China Glaze OMG collection, plus some Kaleidoscope's and some OPI DS's.

Application was flawless! I did 2 coats of WnW Black first, so I only needed 1 coat of MPJ, no need to waste the pretty! I think I'll be wearing this until it chips so terribly that I can't stand it anymore.

Mint Comparisons

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Parlez Vous OPI?

After wearing nothing but bright glitters and bold colors for the last week, I decided to switch to something muted, understated, and overall pretty. This OPI is a little older, but new to me, and it's an instant classic. While I applied this I listened to Freezepop's Parlez Vous Freezepop? Just because the name similarities made me smile.

Not sure if it will ever happen but I'm totally waiting for Sprechen Sie OPI?... A German collection from OPI! Come on, OPI, think of the green you could make and call Lederhosen!! I'm sure it would be awesome!


I'm also kind of lemming You Don't Know Jacques from this collection, is it worth tracking down? Most people seem to like it, but I'm so pale that I don't know if I could work it.

The Definition of "Whelmed"

"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?"

Name that movie!

This quote stuck with me while I was applying my nail polish last night. I've been lemming OPI's Dating a Royal for a long while, and when I read reports saying that it was very jelly, I quickly tracked it down and worked out a swap. And the bottle came, and the color was great. Not as great as I was expecting, but still great. Not to be deterred, I started to apply. And the first coat was magic... jelly blue that flowed over the nail, the perfect watery blue. But then the second coat went on, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was sadly buttery and opaque. And that was that. A perfectly opaque lovely shade of blue. Maybe I had put this up on a pedestal for too long, but it's not what I was expecting. Do I like it? Definitely! Do I love it and want to wear it for days on end? Nope. It's already been covered up with Absolutely Alice.


I think my clean up is getting better! I managed to get a clean margin without taking off half my nail polish this time lol!

Is there a bottle of nail polish in your stash that didn't live up to your expectations? I'd love to hear about it, I feel a little bad that I'm putting down Dating a Royal like this...