OPI Italian Love Affair

Hi dolls!  =)

I have seen so many cute Valentine's Day manicures on the blogs this past week that I decided to add to them myself.  I used OPI's Italian Love Affair, which is a super soft, ultra feminine pink creme.  It did make me think that it was almost more of a Parisian pink because of how soft and romantic it looked.  I mean, I've had ballet tights and leotards and stuff the color of this polish.  It made my inner high school and college age selves very happy.  This would be great as an "interview appropriate polish" by itself.

My only complaint about this polish is that it could have been an easy two coater if it hadn't been for the fact that there were so many bald spots and streaking with just two coats.  It really needed three coats to look proper.  My OCD would not let me have that happen to may nails.  Either way, this polish is highly recommended and will have a permanent place in my collection.

Next I used a Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in black to apply a single line of very small dots and a little bitty heart onto my ring fingers.  I think the idea I was going for was "heart strings," cause that's what it looked like to me.

The lighting in the last picture is very weird.  But at least you can see a close up of the design.  =)

OPI Come to Poppy

Hello hello!  I feel like I haven't made a post in a long time, even though it's my normal post day.  Maybe it's because I worked 9 days in a row...I have today and tomorrow off so I don't really care anymore.

This post is featuring the mani/pedi that I got while on vacation with Sissy.  I shocked myself twice in one day: my hands and feet matched AND I paid for a simple manicure that I could have just as easily done myself.  Another shock was the mani/pedi was sub-par.  All they really did was clean up my cuticles and moisturize then paint my nails.  Didn't even exfoliate my feet.  And I have scary ex-dancer feet so I have a huge build up of calluses.  Not too happy about that.

Anyway, this is OPI Come to Poppy from the Nice Stems collection.  Lovely hot pink creme with silver shimmer.  I own a lot of pink (surprise surprise!) and I think it ended up matching almost every dark or hot pink article of clothing I own.  Also, there is so much silver shimmer in it that it was almost difficult to get all the silver micro sparkles off of my nails after all the pink came off.

This was the best picture I could get since I was on a moving boat.  All the other ones were horribly blurry and you couldn't exactly tell what you were looking at.

However, in the matter of shade excluding the shimmer: exactly the same as Ulta Fuchsiamania.  Now, it's my opinion that Come to Poppy would be a better buy just because it lasted much longer.  I don't know if it's just this certain top coat I was using but I think I'm going to throw it out.  Every manicure I do with it ending up chipping horribly.

Ulta Fuchsiamania!

Hey loves!  =)

Not being on vacation stinks.  Vacation is nice, that's why you look forward to it so much.  Oh well, back to reality.

This is Ulta Fuchsiamania!  Let me begin with that I love pink polishes.  They're girly and make me happy.  This polish, however, did not make me happy.  The formula was decent, full opacity in two coats, but it was a bitch to clean up.  And it chipped so easily, I have no idea what was going on with this manicure.  When my polish chips like that I kind of freak out and obsess over it.  OCD much?

I know Ulta has a regular line and then they have a Professionals line which is like $1.50 more.  When they changed the bottle design of the regular line did they also change the formula?  Does anybody know?  I've only used one of the "new" polishes( Lav-ish) so maybe I just got a bad batch.

The only upside to this sad story is that I ended up getting this bottle in a 5 for $5 deal!

Direct sunlight

Shade

Super shiny and highly pigmented, but it chipped all to hell.  Sad face.

Essie Mademoiselle

Super Sunday Post!!!  Back on schedule.  =)

I am so excited to have a Sunday off.  I only have gotten out of bed to eat, and then got right back into bed where it is warm.  Remember that lovely spring weather I was telling you about the other day?  Well, it's gone.  Since then, it has snow flurried approximately 3 times.  And if you know anything about how GA reacts to snow, you know that most people either get super excited about it or despise it with a firey passion.  I am one of the latter.  I need to move to FL where 75* F is cold.

Onto nail polish.  One day many moons ago while I was waiting at CVS for something I was flipping through a magazine and saw the Essie ad for Mademoiselle (which I can't find a picture of), turned around and marched over to where they had the Essie polishes and snatched one up for myself.  So, Essie, your clever marketing campaign has worked.

Mademoiselle is a sheer polish, although on the Essie  website it isn't categorized as one, and is perfect for French manicures.  It's a delicate pale pink, very pretty and feminine.  Great for any time of the year if you are season-conscious, but more of a spring/summer color to me.  And did I mention it was sheer?

I am not the biggest fan of sheer polishes.  One of my many OCD quirks is that when I put on polishes I would like to be able to see that there is polish on my nails and that it has a distinct shade.  I did two coats at first of Mademoiselle, and couldn't event tell that I had painted them.  I ended up putting four (4) coats on before I was satisfied with the amount of visible pigment on my nails.  Then I didn't touch anything for an hour while I let it cure.

Two nails did decide it would be a good time to break and look like freaks on my hand right before I didn't this manicure too.

Direct sunlight

Shade

This manicure did last me a full week, I have to admit, it has staying power.  I'm not sure if it's because I put 4 coats on or because I didn't end up obsessing over it because it was so light.  Either way, this color is classy.  Also, in person it made my tan look a little darker.

Essie Mademoiselle retails for $8 US.

Sweetheart Pink

Hello all!  I took a little break from blogging to recover from the holidays, but I'm back now.

This is a mani that I wore before the holidays, I think a couple days before Christmas.  During the very busy and hectic retail holiday season I was using my nail polish as a coping tool, sometimes redoing a manicure the next day just because I was stressed.  But this one came at a time when I felt like I needed something pink in my life.  Something to get me centered and feeling like myself again.

Funny how I always turn to pink for those times....

Anyway, this is the Ulta brand of nail polish and it's in the old bottle so I got it for SUPER cheap (I think I might have paid a dollar for this bottle).  I found this one to be almost the perfect consistency formula wise, had a lovely cream finish, and the color just made me happy.  It's Barbie pink.  And what self-respecting girly girl doesn't like Barbie pink?

This manicure would have lasted me much longer without chipping than I let it stay on my nails because I got my lovely Christmas pressie from Herself and Brother (you can find Part 1 here).

I did kind of feel like Barbie while wearing this color, except I don't have 8 different careers and all of Barbie's stuff.

Ulta Sweetheart Pink normally retails for around $6 US.  But I got my bottle in a 5 for $5 deal.  =)

Cocktail Bling

Ok, I totally lied, THIS will be the last of my Essie holiday collection posts.  I completely forgot about Cocktail Bling!

It's the gray in the collection, but it has some very faint blue undertones to it.  Very pretty, almost like light rain clouds type of color.  I have a yellow undertone to my skin, so it would probably look very fetching on someone with a darker skin tone than me.  I loved it either way.

I decided that I wanted to play around with my mani after I did my two coats of Cocktail Bling.  Neutrals with a bright color are fun and it's nice to spice things up every now and then.  I used a dotting tool with Essie Your Hut or Mine.  When I showed the finished product off to people, I got a lot of compliments, but I also got a "It looks like your nails are bleeding," from my mom.  Thanks a lot, Mom. =p

Maybe you will like it.

Both pictures were taken  indoors with flash.

This mani actually lasted me almost a full week.  I only changed it because a couple nails decided to break and look like freaks of nature on my hands.

Full sized bottles of Essie Cocktail Bling and Your Hut or Mine retail for $8 US.  Essie also has cubes available with four colors from each collection (which is where both of those colors came from, except separate cubes) retailing for around $17 US.

Forget Now

Hello!  Welcome to the beginning of the week, unfortunately.  So after the let down I faced with Disco Dolls, and the horrible allergy problems that most people face in late fall and early winter, I needed something pink and sparkly in my life.  It's amazing how something as simple as nail polish can improve your mood.  I was still stopped up and probably not getting enough rest, but my hot pink nails just made everything so much better.  Sleeping for about 12 hours might also have had something to do with it, but pink nails always make me smile.

This is Sinful Colors Professional's Forget Now 814, which isn't in the current collection, I think I got it back in the beginning of summer.  It's a hot pink creme with  what looks like pink and magenta micro shimmer.  I didn't experience any chipping for the first two days, which is great since I'm so hands intense at work, and very little drag.  There were a couple bald spots, but I think it was mainly because I used too much on the first coat when I was trying to go over with the second coat.

I actually really like the bottle design.  It's like OPI and Sally Hansen bottles got together and had a secret love child.  It actually fits perfectly in your hand.  And the price is great.  It's a full sized 15 ml/ 0.5 fl oz bottle for roughly the same price as the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear line.

Now for the pictures.

In direct sunlight.  (I think that shadow is my finger on the lens)

In the shade under natural light

Sinful Color Professional Forget Now retails for $2.50 US at most major retailers like Target, Walgreens, and online at their online site.

Kim-pletely In Love

Bonjour, mes amies!  I saw last night that the Kardashians have released a polish line with Nicole by OPI called Kardashian Kolors.  So naturally I went out and bought some of them this morning on my day off and did some swatches.  I love that entire crazy family, they are so entertaining, and they always look fabulous.  It also makes me happy that they don't look like stick figures and that they're savvy business people.

Today I'm wearing one of Kim's colors called Kim-pletely In Love.  It's a sheer shimmery baby pink that is just to die for.  I did three coats plus a quick dry top coat to get it opaque.  I don't normally like lighter colors, but this is so pretty!  This goes perfectly with your LBD as a nice soft touch and is a perfect "day polish."  If you like to coordinate your polish with your outfit and event, this would be perfect for a baby/bridal shower or (as my gran would probably like) Easter Sunday.  This one isn't exactly a holiday color, in my opinion, but it's still great for any time of year.

In natural light.

In the shade

With the bottle for comparison. 

Nicole by OPI's Kardashian Kolors, including Kim-pletely In Love, are available only at Wal-mart for a limited time.  Kim-pletely In Love retails for $7 US plus sales tax.