OPI - I'm Feeling Sashy

Hey everyone! Before I start this post I wanna take a moment to mention the changes happening to Facebook for pages. You probably have seen people mentioning this already: Facebook is going to be showing posts from pages like mine to less and less people. For example, I have 8.5k "likes," but in recent weeks only around 300 people get to see any posts I make. That's a tiny amount! Scrolling back a few months, 2,000 people were seeing every post.
A Facebook spokesperson said, “the best way to get your stuff seen if you’re a business is to pay for it.” Frankly, I am not paying Facebook to share posts that I create and share for free.

This means you may not receive my content anymore in your news feed. If you want to be sure you get my updates, head over and try to interact with my page! Like something, comment on something, post something. If you interact, you should be able to keep seeing posts from me.

If you wanna be even more positive that you'll get my updates, why not subscribe via email? The box to sign up is in my side bar.
You can also follow me on Twitter. I don't use it much, but as of today I'm gonna be sure to post all new blog posts on there, in case some readers prefer to catch up with me that way.
And if you wanna interact with me even more, you can check out my Instagram! I love me some IG.

And now let's see some polish!

OPI - I'm Feeling Sashy
This is a nice dusty purple polish from the Miss Universe 2013 collection. Originally I passed on this color, but then a few people said it reminded them of Parlez-Vous OPI? and then immediately I wanted it because I love that color so much. They're not quite the same, but... Hold on, maybe I should do a comparison. Lemme go do that...

Tada! It's been a while since I did one of these!
Parlez-Vous OPI? is the more gray of the two shades, and it also has a better formula than I'm Feeling Sashy, which can be a bit patchy if you aren't careful. I think they look more similar in the bottle than they do on the nail.

Verdict? If you are looking to soothe your desire for PVOPI, I don't think this will cut it. But it is a really nice shade on its own!
In my next post I'll be showing the mani I wore with this polish! Hint: it involves glitter.

China Glaze Fairy Dust vs. OPI Yule Love This Silver

A reader (Miss Intensity Nails, to be exact) commented on my last post, asking if I could shed some light on the difference between China Glaze - Fairy Dust and OPI - Yule Love This Silver.
The two bottles were nearby so instead of just telling her, I thought I would show her!

(Posted this nice bottle shot on my Instagram.)

These are both clear holographic topcoats with very fine silver holo glitter. What's the difference?

One is much more dense than the other. That's the OPI on the left and CG on the right.
Yule Love This Silver is more glitter-packed than Fairy Dust.

Shown is just one coat of each over the color I was already sportin', China Glaze - Shell-O from the new Sunsational collection for summer. I bought all 12 of those babies and I can't wait to show them all off to you guys!

Probably a neon wasn't the best color to do this comparison on, but hey, work with what ya got.
Both these topcoats are very sparkly and add that extra oomph to any mani, but I prefer the OPI just because it has more glitter and is more sparkly!
But the CG is nice for when you're looking for a more subtle touch of glitter.

I hope this comparison did the trick :)

Lynnderella - Connect The Dots

Hey everyone!
I neglected posting all day today just because I'm lazy so I decided to do a quick little post before I go to bed so I don't feel guilty for not posting 2 days in a row... Haha!

A few weeks ago I got a bottle of the infamous Lynnderella's Connect The Dots.
Black and white glitters are all the rage and there is really no questioning why. They're just so freakin' cool on your nails!

I layered CTD over two OPI polishes I wore just to try some layering combinations! I'll show those to you tonight along with one small comparison.

Lynnderella - Connect The Dots over OPI - I Don't Give A Rotterdam!
I loved this combo, the muted blue color really looks nice with the crazy glitter and added shimmer of CTD. I think CTD is best over bright colors but I like seeing it over more soft things for a change. It's versatile.

Lynnderella - Connect The Dots over OPI - Paint My Moji-toes Red
I tried out CTD over a coral red, seeing as coral/tangerine is supposed to be the color of the year, or whatever that nonsense is. As usual, it looks great.

My one complaint about Connect The Dots is the bar glitter. Good grief, the bar glitter likes to poke out of topcoats and annoy the crap out of me. I end up picking most of them off with tweezers in a few hours. They lie flat at first... And then go rogue.

You may remember my post before about Cover Band - Sticks 'n Stones, an amazing creation made to resemble CTD.
If you're not crazy about polish, you would probably think these are identical. But for us polish lovers, you can totally see how these are different when they're next to each other. and I love them both in their own way. I don't think I could part with one, like I previously thought I might.
Here's a quick comparison I did:

CTD has some pretty shimmer going on and overall more glitter, but overall smaller glitter. I also found my CTD to be pretty heavily white.
SnS has no shimmer, lots of big glitter pieces, and a pretty even black/white mix.

They give two different looks. You know, if you've got polish-eyes. I can't pick a favorite.
I saw this picture on Pinterest earlier and thought it would be appropriate for this post:

Photo from Like A Candy Shop. Soooooooooo true.

If this black-and-white-glitter-post wasn't enough to fill your glitter appetite, please head over to Chalkboard Nails and check out her massively huge comparison post.

Tomorrow I'ma be posting a neon CTD mani I wore last week sometime. It's a good one. See you then!

1/2 of the OPI Holland Collection

Hey everyone! I'm gonna hit you with a few more swatch spam posts in the upcoming days because my swatch folder is just overflowing!

When the Holland Collection from OPI was first announced, I was so in love with all of the colors. But then when they came out, I decided I didn't really need any of them. So I didn't buy any!
...But then I found a bunch on sale for $2 and I ended up with six.
(A lot of you have been asking me where I find OPI on clearance for so cheap - they were at a local drugstore called Lawtons which I think is only in Atlantic Canada. It was only one location and I have no idea why they were so cheap. Some were old stock and some were new. They have the Hollands for full price again there now. So weird.)

I'm happy I picked these up, they are such pretty colors! Let's get to the swatches.

OPI - I Don't Give A Rotterdam!
Pretty shimmery blue, needs three coats for the best color payoff. I just love the large, almost-speckled shimmer of this type of polish.

OPI - I Have A Herring Problem
I've shown you this polish already in this manicure. Another shimmering blue but a slightly different shade than the previous one. If you look at the bottle shot at the beginning of the post you can see the difference in the colors better.
They are super similar so you don't really need both, unless you're a sucker for the shimmer like me! (And if they are $2 each you can totally justify it, too.)

OPI - Kiss Me On My Tulips
A nice, bright pink creme! Nice formula, 2 coats. Not an original color but pretty nonetheless.

OPI - Vampsterdam
Okay, I regret buying this one a little. It's much streakier than I anticipated and I just don't like it. 3 coats.

OPI - Pedal Faster Suzi!
Gorgeous shimmery pink! I adore this one. It covers nicely in just 2 coats, but you can also wear it at just one coat for a sheer shimmery look, which my mom loves!

OPI - Dutch Ya Just Love OPI?
Yes, yes I do. And I love purple. 2 coats of loveliness.
I had a request to compare this one with another polish I posted about recently:

OPI - Dutch Ya Just Love OPI / Sephora by OPI - Hell To The No
I couldn't get a great picture of the difference in these two on a wheel so I'm just gonna show you the bottles. The Sephora polish is a more vibrant purple and the shimmer is more golden compared to the bronze shimmer in Dutch Ya.
I prefer the Sephora but the OPI is nice too, of course.

What do you guys think of these colors? Did you pick up any of the Holland Collection?

OPI - Shatter The Scales

You know, the new Spiderman movie kinda bums me out. I liked the old ones! Don't change my Spidey!
And sadly, I've gotta say, the OPI Spiderman Collection is a bummer for me too.
Only one polish interested me enough to buy it - the shatter! It's a pretty awesome polish in a collection filled with "meh."

OPI - Shatter The Scales
This is a dark green shimmering shatter polish that worked pretty flawlessly for me. Sometimes shatters can be a total pain (I'm looking at you, Turquoise Shatter) but this one is easy to use.
It dries matte, but really comes alive with topcoat!

I layered this polish over OPI - Skull and Glossbones to show off its green hue the best.
I wish the other colors from this collection had been more fun! Frosty pink... streaky blue... off-white... goldy-green over-done dupe... Bleh! At least the shatter is fun.

And now for a comparison!
I had some requests for a comparison of Shatter The Scales and Teal Scales from Funky Fingers!
In the bottle, you'd think they might be pretty similar. But over white, the real difference shows!

OPI Shatter The Scales / Funky Fingers Teal Scales
As you can see, the true color of these polishes is totally different!
That being said, when you layer them over certain colors, they can look more similar.

It's hard to see them over black, but what you can see is hard to tell apart.
So, depending on the color you layer them over, they can look pretty similar, but truly they are really different! And you can totally justify having both.

Nicole by OPI - Nothing Kim-Pares To Blue

I now own 5 polishes from the Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kollection. This is not something I am proud of.
I was really let down by 3 of the 4 I bought from the first release, and I wasn't planning on buying any of the new ones for this reason.
...But then I saw this beauty in the supermarket last night and I had to take it home with me.

Nicole by OPI - Nothing Kim-Pares To Blue is a beautiful blue shimmer polish from the new Kim-oriented line of Kardashian Kolors called Wel-Kim To My World.
(How many more god awful Kardashian puns will we have to endure?!)

This polish is so beautiful that I can totally get past the fact that part of the money I spent on it probably went to the Kardashians.

So pretty. I love it so much that when I put it on this morning, I knew I had to post about it today!
This is 3 coats for full coverage and it can be a little streaky if you aren't careful, but it is worth it and it does dry pretty quickly. And the shimmer is just beautiful.

I realized why I love this polish so much, actually.

It's the blue version of my beloved China Glaze - No Way Jose.
The shimmer is the same and the formula is quite similar. This type of finish is definitely one of my top faves!

I was wondering how close this would be to other blue shimmers I have in my collection, and I was surprised to see just how different these four colors ended up looking together.

Left to right:
Nicole by OPI - Nothing Kim-Pares To Blue
Essie - Smooth Sailing
OPI - I Have A Herring Problem
Sinful Colors - Cinderella

As you can see, none of these are even close. It's crazy how dirty Herring Problem looks compared to the others. I think my favorites have to be Kim-Pares and Smooth Sailing but I really love all four of these colors and I am happy to have them all.

Verdict: Buy this polish!

new layout! + reader comparison request

Hey everyone! Just wanna make a little post to let you all know that I have a new layout for my blog!
This is the first time I have ever changed it since starting my blog. (Which was almost a year ago!)

Sarah from Chalkboard Nails changed the colors of the background for me and I made the cute header. (Are you surprised it has a bow?)
Now my blog is totally "me" and I adore it!

Now for a little comparison to make this post more interesting.
Earlier today I posted some Glitter Gal swatches as you know, and a reader named Candice asked me to compare Glitter Gal - Dark Purple 3D/Holo and OPI - DS Original.

There you go, Candice! As you can see, they aren't close in color at all.

I know I've been saying all this time that DS Original is my favorite polish ever... but... after seeing these vibrant Glitter Gals I sort of feel different!

I know there will be more comparison requests with my Glitter Gal swatches (and I will mention similarities as I go along) but I think I will wait until I have all the Glitter Gals and do one big massive holo comparison post. Sound good? :)

I'm going to go stare at my blog some more now! It's too pretty. Have a lovely evening!

China Glaze Eye Candy Collection - swatches and review

Good evening!
Remember when I polled you guys the day before yesterday on which collection you wanted me to post first?
This one won by a landslide.

Blonde Bombshell, Material Girl, Lorelei's Tiara, Marry a Millionaire

This is the China Glaze Eye Candy Collection (well, 4/6.)

I got my hands on this collection really early. I'm not sure when it is supposed to hit stores but I have heard that it won't be out until December.
For some reason, one of the supply stores here seems to be getting collections in early, and Kayla picked these up for me!
You can't ever have enough glitter, am I right?
(I left behind a red glitter - I do have enough of those. And a gray that I have a dupe for.)

First I decided to swatch these over black on a wheel to see what one coat would be like.

Blonde Bombshell, Material Girl, Marry a Millionaire, Lorelei's Tiara
(click to enlarge)

They are, for the most part, surprisingly opaque! Marry a Millionaire is less dense than the others but still covers well.
Now lets get to the swatches!

 

Blonde Bombshell. This is a mix of gold glitter, a whole bunch of different sizes. There is some very fine bar glitter in there as well
This is three coats but you could get anyway with two. It's sort of a greenish-gold, very pretty. I especially love it over black! I think I'll be wearing that as a full mani soon.

Material Girl. This is my least favorite out of the four I got.
There is a bunch of multiple sizes of pink glitter and some large holographic glitter that doesn't show up very well. 3 coats.
The formula was just... lumpy. I found it really difficult to work with. Not to mention, it is like a less pretty, lumpy version of OPI Teenage Dream.
I bet some thinner could help but I am just not loving it like I love TD.

Also... my bottle appears to be under-filled. I only did one swatch and it is missing that much! (Whereas the OPI has been used several times.)
I think I'm going to be passing this Material Girl on to someone who will love her more than me.

Lorelei's Tiara. This one is just beautiful! Multiple sizes of silver glitter with some blue glitter sprinkled in.
Can't you picture this as a winter mani? With some black stamped snowflakes? Love it!
This is 3 coats.

I've saved my favorite for last.

Marry A Millionaire. I was most exited for this one and it did not let me down!
This is small purple and pink glitter with lots of bar glitter mixed in. It comes off mostly purple. As you can see it is a bit less dense than the others but this is still 3 coats.
I almost feel like the bar glitter is sort of duochromatic... Look:

Straight ahead... gold bars as well as greenish and blue.

Downward angle... No gold? Lots of turquoise and blue? The pink stands out more from certain angles too.
I noticed this on my nails (I've worn this as a manicure layered over dark purple) and then I confirmed it in the bottle. It's pretty awesome.
Fave for sure!

I'm loving these! Are you loving these?
What's your favorite?