OPI Germany - Two creams

I already showed you the two vampy shimmers I picked up from the OPI Germany collection, and here are the two creams that I ended up grabbing later. I know just about the last person to blog these, but better late than never! I tried, but I could not resist the siren song of a beautiful taupe and a deep murky green...I am weak.

OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! (Ugh what a name. Seriously, Suzi? Seriously.)


I do love a dark green. And this one is very pretty. Dark with a handful of grey in it, it might be more grey than green. Compared to Essie Power Clutch, it is darker and more green. It's a hair lighter than Essie Stylenomics, which doesn't contain as much grey as this and is a bit bluer. The formula is really lovely and two coats were all that was needed.

OPI Berlin There, Done That (Better name...by a bit.)


Oh taupe...by far the predominant colour in my collection. I can't seem to get rid of them. To be fair, I do wear taupe polishes a lot! This particular incarnation has more grey in it than something like Essie Mink Muffs or Chanel Particuliere, but more brown than Essie Chinchilly, and is a lot lighter than OPI's You Don't Know Jacques. The word that comes to mind when I see this polish is "elegant". So in my stash it stays.

kittytokaren

"Kate Spade" manicure - SpaRitual Driftwood & OPI Glitzerland

I got a new wallet for my birthday - after 10 years! finally! - and I think it's fair to say that I'm a little obsessed with it. (In case you're curious, it's this one by Kate Spade in flo coral.) The lining of it inspired me to do another dot manicure (see my other dot mani here), and since the pattern is classic Kate Spade, I'm anointing this the "Kate Spade manicure" - hope she doesn't mind...

And a peek inside my wallet...

I used SpaRitual Driftwood and OPI Glitzerland for the dots.

Nail art is clearly not my forte, but the dots are easy enough to do with the end of a bobby pin, and I think it turned out pretty cute!

Have you dabbled in any nail art lately?

kittytokaren

Introduction, with stripey nails!

Hi Polish or Perish readers! I'm Lab Muffin, and I'm stoked join the PoP ladies. Some of you might know me already from my beauty science blog, Lab Muffin.

A few things about me:

- I'm currently doing a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry - this means I wear a sexy labcoat covered in dirty chemicals, and desperately avoid getting acetone on my hands. I'm working on ways of making new drugs... hopefully it'll be useful in the future!

- Things I love: most food, anagrams, efficient public transport, holo, TV comedies, bunnies, my boyfriend (also a synthetic organic chemist), candles, green glitter, Stephen Fry, dancing, tea, cheesy kung fu movies, octopuses, cryptic crosswords, stationery, bunnies, cheap IKEA stuff, nerdy webcomics, HTC phones, lists, bunnehs.

- Things I hate: inconsistently formatted references, tipwear, mouth ulcers, science-illiterate politicians, distracting Powerpoint backgrounds, trying to buy just one thing from IKEA, frosts, crappy tweezers, liquorice, hangnails, losing my lab goggles, soggy bread.

- I'm from Australia, so I'll be using some different polishes from the other ladies. I love nail art... I can't wear a polish on its own without stamping or freehanding over it within a day.

I love bold patterns, so for my inaugural mani, I decided on some freehand stripes!

Colours used: ulta3 Sizzling Red (red), NOPI City-Pretty Rose (pink), Sally Hansen Sun Kissed (orange), ulta3 Honolulu (yellow).

I'm really happy with this colour combination - it's so cheerful and summery! It's probably going to be my final summer mani since we're halfway through autumn here, but the sun seems to be holding out, so who knows!

Nicole ...Spotted! over Dior Nirvana

Nicole ...Spotted! over Dior Nirvana

Nicole ...Spotted! (one of the dumber polish names, imo) is multicolored (blue, gold) and multisized glitter (some hex, some micro) suspended in a turquoise jelly. The polish alone is pretty sheer so I layered it over Dior Nirvana, whose color is pretty much a perfect match for the Nicole jelly. It was less sparkly than I expected it to be, leading me to suspect that it might actually be a better layering polish over a contrasting color. Still, it was a nice way to extend my Nirvana manicure for another day before I got bored of it. :)

Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Glitter (...yes, from the Justin Bieber collection)

Yes, yes I did buy this:

What a name, eh?

It is, however, a joy of a nail polish!

Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Glitter

Small and larger hexagonal glitter in amethyst purple suspended in a clear jelly. This was four coats and it's still not perfect coverage, but it's still super sparkly, super pretty and so girly, I could cry.

Close up of One Less Lonely Glitter

I think I have a dress somewhere that is made of a fabric that looks like this...

Nicole by OPI Scandal, Secrets and Sparkle

Nicole by OPI Scandal, Secrets and Sparkle

I didn't think this would be so opaque so I originally layered it over OCC Souse, a warm, pale pink-nude shade. Turns out... it was pretty opaque. Silver shimmer with larger silver glitter. It kind of reminds me of Zoya Luna but I haven't compared the two side-by-side. Reminds me of papier-mache, except shiny and pretty.

A White Comparison

I've recently been loving white polishes.  I think it started with Essie Marshmallow, continued with OPI Time-Less is More and is still going strong with Revlon Powder Puff (which I recently wore and have NOTD pics coming up for you).  Since I love doing comparisons, I thought of doing a white comparison for you guys.

First up, here's the case of characters.

I applied the above polishes in order from pinkie to thumb and took this picture in the sun.

I took this picture in the shade.

And I took this picture with the flash.

Swedish Nude is the yellowest of these polishes.  I would consider it an off-white or maybe a yellow version of Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud.  Most "regular" (read non-nail polish) people would probably look at this polish and declare it white.  I don't know if I like it with my skin tone, though.  I prefer the others on me.  Swedish Nude is a creme and it's old formula so it's got the skinny brush.  I used three coats for this comparison.

I know that the OPI Ridge Filler is technically not a polish, but I like to wear it as one so I included it in this comparison.  It dries to a satin finish so if you want it to be super shiny, a top coat would easily fix that.  I didn't use any top coat here, but it's not fully dry so it looks a bit shiny.  The main reason I enjoy using this as a manicure is because I don't need a separate base coat for it.  I can carefully apply four coats with a top coat and I'm on my way.  Since I always use two coats of base coat when I'm doing a regular manicure, this is like wearing a two-coater in comparison.  Not bad!

Time-Less is More was a huge lemming for me and I finally ordered it online.  It's a jelly-ish sheer white that falls somewhere between the OPI Ridge Filler and Essie Marshmallow.  I had huge problems with bubbling when I wore this for a full manicure and the four coats you see here were thick.  I needed six thin coats when I wore this for a full manicure.  It's most likey designed to be a sheer coat that shows visible nail line.  I was trying to make it opaque.  I still really enjoy this polish, though.  I think it's worth the trouble.

Essie Marshmallow needed four coats.  It's streaky and thin.  Frankly, it's a little hard for me to work with.  The skinny Essie brush doesn't help, either.  I do love this color, but the formula always pisses me off.  It's more of a stark white when compared to Time-Less is More and the OPI Ridge Filler, but it's not as stark as the Sally Hansen.

I threw Sally Hansen White On into this comparison since I wanted to compare these to a stark white creme.  This is definitely the brightest white of the bunch and it's definitely a creme.  I used three coats for this one, but only needed two.  That's my fault since I messed up my thumb when I was painting so I needed a third coat.


I hope you enjoyed my comparison!

Old NOTD: Nicole In Your Hands

I absolutely adored this polish. About a year ago, I bought Lippmann Rehab and was very disappointed that even though the color was magnificent (a dark, slightly dusty blue jelly), it was so sheer. I built it up to four or five coats before I realized that it was never going to be opaque. I ended up swapping that one away and forgot about it... until now. (Or rather, two months ago when I had this NOTD.)

Nicole In Your Hands

This is what I wanted Rehab to be: dark, blue, squishy, lovely. Three coats to get rid of VNL but yet it retains a jelly goodness. I dislike Nicole bottles and so I rarely buy their polishes but I couldn't resist this one when I saw it in the two-pack at Marshall's for $5 (or something like that). It sat in my untrieds for about five months! I kept on looking at it, picking it up to try and then putting it back. Finally, I tried it and it applied beautifully and I wore it for three days (which is a long time for me). With Nail Life Gripper basecoat and Diamont topcoat, all I got was a tiny bit of shrinkage in the beginning but otherwise, it remained nearly perfect until I got bored of it on Day 3. (I do attribute the longevity of the manicure to Nail Life Gripper though. It's held up very well using a variety of polishes. Or rather, it held a variety of polishes to my fingers very well.)

Nail Polish Innuendos and Feminism

I'm so sorry I've been absent for so long. I've had a tough last few weeks, dealing with final papers and a grade that I feel is unjust. :-/ Long story short, I am SO done with school right now - though I have one semester left. This summer will be time for me to go to work in the mornings, hang out at the apartment pool, read, and work on my Master's thesis. I wish I could feel relaxed, but instead I feel extra stressed. I still haven't found a panel for my Master's thesis defense (no one in my department really fits my interests) and I'm struggling with figuring out my future.

But on to nail polish. PoP has received some emails requesting a feminist perspective of cosmetics companies such as Orgasm Cosmetics and Naughty Nailz. I'm sorry to tell you that if you were expecting me to condemn these brands as degrading and offensive to women, you've got the wrong feminist. I am also not against all pornography or all sex work, for example. I happen to think that these issues are more complex than they seem or are portrayed to be. Also, polish names such as Orgasm Cosmetics's "Dripping Wet" may be kind of crass, but it's not necessarily degrading to women. Unless there are any nail polish names that refer to, for example, non consensual sex or women's (or men's) bodies in negative ways, then I don't have a problem with sexual nail polish names. It may be kind of uncomfortable when someone like your boss or mom asks you what nail polish you're wearing, but you can always do what I do and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot the name!" Most people can't even remember the brand of their nail polish, so you're fine. :)

I also tend to enjoy when sexuality is acknowledged, even in such a simple format as these nail polish and cosmetics names. In my opinion, sex should not be a quiet secret that is unable to be discussed in schools or among families or friends. But that's another story...

I do not actually own any products from either of these websites so I cannot vouch for these particular brands. I realize that not everyone will agree with me and some people may be offended. Even so, I do not mean to degrade anyone who disagrees. Everyone is welcome to their own opinions.

On to the pictures....

This is a franken originally created by janimal425 on MUA. The recipe is as follows:

30% OPI Absolutely Alice
30% ChG Dorothy Who?
40% ChG Emerald Sparkle

This is 3 coats.


This is 3 coats of OPI Who the Shrek are You? with 1 coat of Color Club Tru Passion gradiated on top using Orly Smudge Fixer.


This is a bad pic and I apologize. I could not capture this one! It's 2 coats of OPI Mon-sooner or Later with 1 coat of OPI Dress to Empress on top.


Thanks for reading!

A really quick haul post...

Hey guys...

I haven't really been around in a while (though I do try to comment when I can) and aside from yesterday's "unrelated to polish" question, I don't feel I've been participating enough to call myself a blogger. I really, really can't wait til the semester is done (not simply because I would like to have time to blog again)... I feel I am well and truly sick of this year. :P

Anyway I just wanted to post a quick haul. The ladies of this blog (as well as several of our readers) have encouraged me to branch out from my usual China Glaze and so I have, as you'll see below. But there will always be room for my beloved China Glaze. :P

Pics courtesy of my Google Nexus One. (Yes, I have become "that" girl.) :s

OPI Shrek Minis

(What's With the Cattitude?; Fiercely Fiona; Rumple's Wigglin' and Who The Shrek Are You?)

Since Flinty has been awesome enough to provide you with some great swatches, (and inspire me to pick this up!) I won't have to do the honors. My only regret is that I didn't grab "Ogre The Top Blue". Still, I own no full bottles of OPI - yet. (And I'm not sure that I will if I can't buy it at a discount!) I couldn't pass up that green though. "Oh Em Gee!"

A plethora of Color Club blues. This explains why I am still on the hunt for the perfect green... all I buy is blue. :P

I happened, unknowingly, to throw in ChG's Towel Boy Toy during this haul and was surprised upon opening the package by how close these colors are in-bottle. Fellow blogger Nihrida has a great comparison of this and CC's Pure Energy, if you're interested.

 (Chelsea Girl; Emerald Depths; Sexy Siren; Pure Energy and Factory Girl)

Staples! (Well, Revvvolution is, anyway.)

I can never get over how awesome Revvvolution is in pictures. EVERYBODY who has ever posted a shot of this polish has made me want to try it.  It's more complex than gunmetal, I think. I liken it to tv static...just before the girl from The Ring crawls through my screen.

(Jackie Oh!; Revvvolution and Ultra Violet)

See you guys soon - I hope!

Upcoming: Fabuloustreet/Nfu Oh haul; some oldies but goodies (courtesy of the folks at China Glaze) and new nail art. :)

NJ Transit FAIL and NOTD

So I've been excited about Nails Night Out NYC for months now. MONTHS. You may have read about it on other nail blogs (it was featured on All Lacquered Up and Scrangie, among others). Finally, tonight was the night. I got up early this morning to have time for homework and working out. Finally, I got on the NJ Transit train to New York Penn Station at 5:58 PM. I figured that was plenty of time to get to NYC around 7ish and then take a cab to the venue. Little did I know that tonight was the night that NJ Transit trains would completely shut down. :( It was a very disappointing, frustrating, sad night for me. I missed Nails Night Out because of a stupid train malfunction. I can't stop blaming myself for not having left earlier, you know? Oh well. :(

Here was my special NOTD that I wanted to wear to NNO.

This is 2 coats of Sephora by OPI What a Broad and 1 coat of Nicole by OPI Let's Get Star-ted.




With flash:


You can purchase the SOPI at sephora.com and the Nicole is currently available at most Harmon stores and some Bed, Bath & Beyond stores.

Thanks for reading!