#TBT OPI Thanks a Windmillion

OPI Holland 2012 collection- I picked up a few- this is the darker sibling of Mermaid's Tears. Two coats to opaque, accented with a lemming I recently squashed, Lynnderella ShapeShifter.

New post! Faded Dot Gradient

Poor, poor neglected blog, life has been happening and you've been left alone.  I do have a new post for you! I have raely, if ever, bought cream polishes from indie makers, but Cult Nails had a half price flashsale and I jumped! So glad I did, too. Faded is a perfect gray, opaque in two thicker coats, although I used three thin. I accented with a gradient of OPI Funky Dunkey and a few dots.  Sadly, shrinking Seche over the top.

Untrieds-

OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts and Above the Curve You're Turning Ne-On! FG is a cement gray from the Touring America collection. It went on well, I love the large brush on my big nails, but it took three coats on a couple nails. I placed the glitters in YTN by dabbing the polish on a foam applicator so it would soak up most of the clear base (it took some dunking to get enough glitter out of the bottle), then placed the glitters pretty much where I wanted them. These are really cool matte neon and black and white glitters- RECTANGLES anyone?Dazzle Dry and Poshe over.

Detoxing- with Leighton Denny

I've snapped two nails lately- one is patched with the break far down into the quick- I wanted to wear something that would keep me from focusing on my nails and obsessing with it- so I went with the complex-but-office-friendly golden olive that is Leighton Denny's Doing Time. Leighton Denny is a apparently a higher-end polish sold in the UK in department stores. It took two very easy coats to cover- the brush and formula are terrific. I added a couple coats of OPI What Wizardry Is This? the sand finish from the Wizard of Oz collection just released that I received today in a ROAK (thanks Ms. Gnarly Nails) Dazzle Dry over the LD not the OPI.

Another untried- OPI Rising Star

From the 2010 Burlesque collection- a shimmering, butterscotch-golden foil. I don't have anything like it- it applies very patchy on the first coat, but the second made it opaque with a little fidgeting. I think it almost has a bit of duochrome in it, from a pale orange gold to a deeper rose gold- fascinating. This one is a keeper, and not HTF either- Dazzle Dry over- still not perfectly smooth, but acceptable.

30 Days of Untrieds- OPI Holiday Glow

What I thought was going to be a simple purchase from the generous-to-a-fault Debbie Crumpet turned into a HUGE RAOK for me! Along with a half dozen Kikos, she blessed me with this OPI HTF Holiday Glow. It's from the 2009 Holiday Wishes collection and is pretty much the only one of the set I would really wear. Here's a much better representation of the color than my measly phone can produce LOOK! Holiday Glow is a sheer red brown with micro red and pearl glitters in it- It did take 4 coats but the polish is quite thin and doesn't feel built up on the nail. It's a trifle rough, so I may add another layer of Dazzle Dry in a day. I really love this type of polish- it looks deceptively plain but up close has a shimmer and shine that is quite beautiful.

See the red sparkle??

Holy Cow, Holy Grail!

The wonderful and beyond generous Shannon did a recent swap with me for a polish they can't get in the frozen North :) I wound up on the better end of it, with another Nerd lacquer for my small but precious collection, Holy Grail! I am NOT a writer, clearly, here are Amanda's and ninjapolish's decription:
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Holy Grail is a super-fine-grained satiny linear holo in a dusty blue-green base with silver microglitter, medium blue-green iridescent glitter, and a liberal sprinkling of big square and hexagonal silver holo glitter. Oh, also? Glows in the damn dark.

Glow-in-the-dark linear holo glitter polish. That's about all that needs to be said.

What's extra fun about this one is that indoors or in shade, the linear holo is invisible but the blue/green iridescent glitter is AMAZING. In full sun, the blue/green glitter disappears, and it's WHOA, HOLO CITY. And then of course in the dark, oooooooo! Magic!
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I layered it over two thin coats of OPI Thanks a Windmillion which has the same base color. One coat Poshe to cover- this glitter is very smooth.

Full sun

Shade

Feenix Polish Cammie

I love green. From pale spring greens to the murkiest olives they are all beautiful to me. My favorite green of all is khaki green. Not olive, khaki- the gray side that most people associate with slime, muck, baby poo, all kids of horrible things. Perhaps it's because my eyes are this color! I wanted to feature this gorgeous glitter over something appropriate, so after seeing a discussion of "poo" colors I grabbed my untried OPI Uh-oh Roll Down The Window, in the exact grayed-deep olive khaki I love. It did take three coats on the non-glitter nails for opacity, but the polish applied easily with the big brush and I topped the plain nails with Out the Door. One thick coat of Cammie over a couple accent nails and :::sigh::: love it. Here is what is in Cammie-

 It has a base of shimmering khaki. To that, we've added 14 different glitters in shades of green, gold, brown and gray.

Hopefully more along these lines are coming- here is the site- but leave me a bottle, I need a back up thanks
http://www.etsy.com/listing/107632160/cammie

Frog's Breath-

Sorry for the lack of pics- I could NOT get a decent shot of this-
I was planning on layering Crow's Toes Frog's Breath from the 2012 halloween collection over a dark green Revlon when OPI Jade is the New Black caught my eye- this was my first ever OPI and I used it for at least half a dozen manis last year- I forgot the first coat applies streaky and sheer and almost gave up on it, but went back with a second and, except for my pinkies, two coats did the trick- I think it's the brush: my pinkies are slim so applying in a three stroke (or even two) pulls the polish and leaves gaps- so this is two coats with three on pinkies-

Then the MARVELOUS and ONLY Crow's Toes I own, the gold/green/holo Frog's Breath- the "dripping" was not originally planned, one finger got away from me so I went back and dripped them all! Frog's Breath was a very easy application, almost no placing of the glitter. Gelous and SV overall.
Just found out October is Depression Awareness Month- green manis!

PFC Jade/Aqua/Turquoise Day

The challenge today was a freestyle turquoise, aqua or jade (or all three- you pick) My first attempt (bottom pic) was a valiant effort using some new polishes I acquired in swaps, China Glaze Sunset Sail, a glassfleck pale peach, with NerdLacquer Cyance Friction over it in swaths trimmed with a Jessica purple glitter called Hollywood Life. Fail. Sorry Nerd, even you couldn't pull this one off. I promise a much better swatch and review of this gorgeous teal/glitter/ourplish shimmer beauty.

So I went with a couple other swap newbies, OPI Mermaid's Tears, a sage/jade cream perfect in two coats, sponged with China Glaze Watermelon  Rind and OPI Pros and Bronze. Poshe to top. Now I can wear this one out! 

 

My first try- and massive fail!

 

Warning- NEVER do your nails while watching Dr. Who, understood! Dent on nail, bad patch on pinky, crappy purple lines, odd color pairing but Oh! look! Shiny!!! NL Cyance Friction!!! My aqua offering :) and coming off right now :(

OPI and Sonoma- Match made in Heaven!

My daughter Paula loves glitter- but not just ANY glitter- she manages to pick my most expensive, HTF ones-  yeah, those- so I figured I better start trying the untrieds first- before they disappear! Here is the lovely and presently rare Sonoma Nail Art "Go to Napa for Auto Parts" a clever mix of blue, green and yellow glitters in a clear base. What makes this brilliant is the very fine microshimmer added to the mix. Stunning! I chose an unconventional base for this- OPI's Thanks a Windmillion from the recent Holland Collection. I used one thin coat of Napa over two of the OPI- Poshe over Gelous on the glitter nails only. OPI can be found most anywhere, I got my Sonoma from an etsy ninja (thanks Emma)

EEEK! A right hand!!!

Love Yourself Manicure!

I was so over the pale yellow with sprinkles- decided I needed a very ME color- orange and went with one of my few OPI polishes- A Roll In The Hague from the Holland Collection. Three thin coats topped with a splash of Essence Special Effect Topper in Multi-Sparking and I am loving my nails- CND Stickey base and Poshe topcoat.

OPI Shim Merry Chic

Gosh this polish is gorgeous! I got it in a swap for a red Deborah Lippmann (yeha, like I would EVER wear that, right?) and I think I got the better deal. This is a foily-golden brown with what looks like crushed Unicorn Puke flakies in it- here is a review that shows the flakes http://miranniesnails.blogspot.com/2010/11/opi-shim-merry-chic.html
I wish I had a better camera, but it is fascinating IRL to see the different colors flash. I did a quick accent with Barry M Gold and Nubar Earth.

Needle Drag

Trying some new ideas, saw a pretty mani on pinterest that led to a tutorial, I figured I could do this! My test subject, always a willing participant as long as it does NOT include glitter, even let me pick the colors. Nubar Pink Lily with Revlon Fashionista and OPI Overexposed in South Beach. Seche Vite over.

Orange Glitter (subtitle: With Love to Crumpet)

So my friend (and I must say, after what she did I use the term with reservation....j/k)  and fellow polish addict Debbie Crumpet showed me a beautiful orange holo she had desecrated with PURPLE CRACKLE!! The horror! The unmitigated gall! I had to sooth my splintered soul my getting out my baby oranges and letting them know I would NEVER do such a horrible thing to them! So to wipe the terrible picture from my brain, I did a manicure of OPI Ginger Bells! (yes, there is a ! in the name, ridiculous OPI seems to like exclamations and hyphens an inordinate amount) and after two coats over Orly Bonder dabbed some Lynnderella Cauldron Drippings and Change also on one nail. Gelous and SV topcoat. Enjoy, pretty oranges! Be free!

Inspired by a painting in the ladies room at a bar

I saw this picture in the bathroom at a taproom we were at recently and snapped a pic thinking my surfer/singer/sensitive/inlove daughter might like it for a manicure and, sure enough, she did! I did this over Seche Restore base, THREE coats of OPI Stranger Tides- (streaky but worth it- it's an unusual color) and painted the leaves in acrylic I mixed up- purplish brown. The birds are a random OPI red I think. Out the Door topcoat.

Quick post : My Baby Penguin

Two coats OPI Ginger Bells over Seche Rebuild then one coast Golden Rose Paris #107 (copper holo- weak linear) with my own design baby penguin- he's keeping me honest here at work- I have two days this week then off until 12/27! I have a special mani planned for later this week- blessings.