OPI Gwen Stefani Holiday 2014 Nail Effects

Are you ready for Holiday collections yet?  For the Winter of 2014, OPI is releasing 3 separate collections in collaboration with Gwen Stefani.  The collection I have to show you today is the glitter collection.

Let's begin with a look at the solid color polishes that come with the collection for you to layer the glitter over:

no base coat, 2 coats Rollin' in Cashmere, no top coat

First up is Rollin' in Cashmere.  A frosty yellow-gold.  To me, this looks exactly like I though 50 Years of Style from the recent Ford Mustang collection would look.  I don't have them to compare, so you'll have to tell me if you agree or disagree.

no base coat, 2 coats Rollin' in Cashmere, no top coat

Next up is Unfrost My Heart.  Made up of dense, tiny silver particles to give you a chrome finish.  Like Rollin' in Cashmere, I think this polish looks very similar to a previous OPI polish.  What do you think: could this be a dupe to My Signature is DC from the Coca-Cola collection?

no base coat, 2 coats Unfrost My Heart, no top coat

How about another photo to help you decide:

no base coat, 2 coats Unfrost My Heart, no top coat

Ok, now on to the part you (probably) came here to see: the glitters.

no base coat, 1 coat of So Elegant over 3 coats of My Boyfriend Scales Walls by OPI, no top coat

This is So Elegant.  Large gunmetal hexagonal glitters, medium gunmetal hexagonal glitters, small matte black hexagons, and micro matte black dots are all suspended in a clear base.

no base coat, 1 coat of So Elegant over 3 coats of My Boyfriend Scales Walls by OPI, no top coat

Next up is I'll Tinsel You In.  Yay!  An easy-to-apply black and white glitter-topper from a mainstream brand.

base coat, 1 coat of I'll Tinsel You In over 2 coats of My Turn by Sinful Colors, no top coat

Honestly, I thought this was just a black and white glitter.  Upon closer inspection, this polish seems to fit its name perfectly.  There are large matte white glitter pieces, matte white bar glitter, small matte black hexagons, micro matte black dots, and… what  appears to be silver chrome bar glitter, thus making it look like this polish has actual tinsel in it!

base coat, 1 coat of I'll Tinsel You In over 2 coats of My Turn by Sinful Colors, no top coat

Snow Globetrotter was the polish I was most interested in when I heard about this collection, and it doesn't disappoint!

base coat, 1 coat of Snow Globetrotter over 2 coats of Whipped by Sinful Colors, top coat

Layered over black, this polish looks like a mix of crushed jewels and galaxies on your nails!  A combination of opalescent hexagons in large, medium, small, and micro, along with matte white hexagonal glitter in sizes large, medium, small, and micro all in a clear base.

base coat, 1 coat of Snow Globetrotter over 2 coats of Whipped by Sinful Colors, top coat

In the sun, the opalescent glitter pieces really catch the light!

base coat, 1 coat of Snow Globetrotter over 2 coats of Whipped by Sinful Colors, top coat

Last but certainly not least, here is Comet in the Sky.  I tried to save the best for last, and I think you may agree.

no base coat, 1 coat of Comet in the Sky over 2 coats of You Got Me Started by Deborah Lippmann,  no top coat

Comet in the Sky is the twin to Snow Globetrotter in that it features multiple sizes of matte glitter and multiple sizes of opalescent glitter in a clear base.

no base coat, 1 coat of Comet in the Sky over 2 coats of You Got Me Started by Deborah Lippmann,  no top coat

The matte black hexagonal glitter comes in size large, small, and micro, while the opalescent glitter comes in large, medium, small, and micro, all in a clear base.

no base coat, 1 coat of Comet in the Sky over 2 coats of You Got Me Started by Deborah Lippmann,  top coat

The strong opalescent colors are most prominent in regular indoor (tungsten) lighting, unless you want flashes of sparkle, which you can get by wearing this glitter in the sun.  If you see below, you'll notice that the opalescent glitter on the bottom of my ring finger which looked clear-tinted yellow two photos above now glows a purplish-blue.

no base coat, 1 coat of Comet in the Sky over 2 coats of You Got Me Started by Deborah Lippmann,  no top coat

And there you have it!  

The coverage in each of these glitter polishes for just one coat was great.  No fishing for the larger glitter pieces was necessary!  The glitter applied smoothly and laid flat on the nail when dry.

I bought this collection on eBay for relatively the same amount it would cost at a beauty supply store, so if you can't wait for this collection like I couldn't, try checking online sellers, since this collection hasn't been officially released yet.  You can buy it at Ulta or JC Penney's (or any of your preferred retailers) when it becomes available in the fall.  But, you know, why wait when you can buy it online.  Right now.  Go!

But first, share your opinions!  What do you think of this Holiday collection?  Better than the last?  What do you think of this Gwen Stefani collection compared to the last?

Silver Winter Wonderland

Days 3 and 4 of the Twelve (condensed) Days of Christmas consists of a glitter gradient manicure reminiscent of falling snow.




If you think of a silver winter wonderland, what comes to mind? Landscape covered in snow and ice - so frozen it gleams silver in the minimal sunlight?

image from wikimedia.org

Well if you try to Google the words "Silver Winter Wonderland" some of the first few images that come up are of silver jewelry with winter motifs. Not really what I had in mind for this manicure, but the above picture does the trick to bring forth thoughts of snow glazed countryside.


For this manicure, you'll need four nail polishes. A base color, and then three varying foil and glitter-like shades all in the same color range.




For this manicure, the colors I chose were (from left to right) Revlon Top Speed Chrome in PetalChrome (all one word on the label for some reason), Revlon Top Speed Chrome in Lily Chrome, Love & Beauty in Silver (this is a dense silver micro glitter, similar to Orly Dazzle), and Love & Beauty in Silver (and although this one has the same name on the label as the last one, this last polish is a regular silver glitter polish made up of round-ish particles of silver glitter in a clear base).



For Step 1, simply paint on a coat of your base color. For this manicure, I don't recommend adding a top coat, because that will interfere with layering the other colors over the first layer and how well the layers mesh together.




This is one to two coats of PetalChrome without a top coat.




Step 2 consists of brushing the tips of your nails in the silver foil polish to create a base/starting line that will be a solid silver background for the rest of the gradient manicure.




You can do this freehand, and it does not matter if you have straight lines, because it will be blended into the other layers on top of this one.


Also, consider how long your nails are, and how far up you want your glitter gradient to travel on the nail, for how high you want this silver stripe to be on your nails.




In Step 3, you will take your dense silver micro-glitter polish and do a stripe across each nail that reaches to about one forth up the nail. Make sure to paint this coat so the glitter stays dense, dragging the brush from left to right (or right to left) across the tip of your nail (rather than from top to bottom).







After the last step has dried a bit (but not completely dry), take the same dense silver micro-glitter polish you used for the last step and using an upward motion, start at the bottom tip of your nail and drag the brush up, making sure that the brush has a minimal amount of polish on it, so that after each single stroke of the brush, there is almost no nail polish on the brush. The less polish on the brush before each stroke, the easier it will be to layer on the micro-glitter, so that it does not become too dense at the top of the gradient.





Paint up to about two-thirds of your nail, leaving the top third still uncovered by silver glitter.





For this final step, the blue painter's tape is optional, but I find it helpful to control how far the last glitter polish travels without accidentally painting the whole nail.



Using the regular-sized-particle silver glitter, sweep the brush in an upwards stroke along the nail to the nail bed, up to about four-fifths of the nail, so that from about the moon of the nail upwards is not covered in any silver glitter. Feel free to add a bit more of this larger-particle silver glitter at the end of your nail if you so desire, while still keeping the glitter sparse at the top of the gradient.


And here is the final look when a top coat is added.




To create this silver snowy wonderland on your nails, no sponge is needed for the gradient. I find the blue chrome polish compliments the silver glitter gradient nicely for a background shade, emphasizing the silver look to the nails. If you try this design, what shades would you use?


And this concludes Days 3 and 4 of the Twelve Days of Christmas Manicures.


On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me
three french hens
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
four calling birds
three french hens
two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.