OPI Spring 2014 Collection - Brazil Collection

We have already seen the spring nail polish collection from Essie and I have been eagerly awaiting more releases from my favorite nail polish companies, this is one of the times of the year where I purchase the most amount of polish shades and I am excited to keep adding some new shades to my collection.  We have yet to see a collection from China Glaze or Butter London however the new OPI collection is now up on the company's website and I am going to check these shades out today.  OPI usually has one of largest range of shades in their seasonal collections and I always know that I will like quite a few from every collection.

The collection for this spring is inspired by Brazil and contains twelve brand new shades, I have complained in the past about how this company seems to bring out the same shades over and over again and this collection does not contain anything revolutionary.  OPI has a huge shade range and many of their limited edition shades are close to ones already available, I find this to be a good thing as I don't have to be upset if a limited edition shade sells out and I can't find it anymore.

The shades contained in the OPI Brazil collection are as follows...

- Kiss Me I'm Brazilian - bubblegum pink cream

- Live.Love.Carnaval - medium warm coral cream

- Red Hot Rio - medium warm red cream

- Next Stop...The Bikini Zone - pale lavender with a subtle gold duochrome shift
- Don't Bossa Nova Me Around - nude cream
- Taupe-less Beach - pale taupe cream
- I Sao Paulo Over There - medium taupe cream
- OPI Scores A Goal! - deep warm red-brown cream
- Amazon...Amazoff - deep teal cream
- I Just Can't Cope-Acabana - medium banana yellow cream
- Where Did Suzi's Man-go? - medium orange cream
- Toucan Do It If You Try - deep orange cream

The shades in this collection are designed to remind one of the jungles and beaches of Brazil, I have never been to this country so I cannot comment on how accurate the shades and names are.  When I think of Brazil, I think of jungles and numerous Botany classes about the Amazon jungle.  Some of the shades fit this theme very well and others seem a bit out of place.  The bright hues fit perfectly with the season and the theme however I am not sure why two shades of taupe were included with the Brazil collection.  The most unique shade is the only duochrome in the bunch, many of the cream shades are similar to those in the permanent line up or have been featured in previous seasonal collections.

My favorite shade is Amazon...Amazoff, this bright deep teal reminds me very much of Butter London's Slapper shade.  That is my current favorite nail polish shade and I used it like crazy last spring and summer.  I will purchasing Amazon...Amazoff to replace my bottle of Slapper once it runs out.  Next Stop...The Bikini Zone is the only other shade that I find unique enough to purchase from this collection and I will also be grabbing of bottle of this one once it is available at Ulta.  I really like Taupe-less Beach and Don't Bossa Nova Me Around but neither of these shades are unique enough for me to track down, I would buy them if I found them but I can find shades like this from other companies very easily.

I don't like any of the oranges or yellows in this collection, shades like this never flatter my skintone and I would be skipping over all of these.  I also don't need any other pink or red shades right now and this pretty much rules out the rest of the collection for me.

OPI is not my favorite polish formula and one that I will deal with when I really love the shades.  The application of this polish is very easy and the wide brush makes the polish quick to apply.  My problem with this formula is not the application but the wear of the product.  I cannot seem to get more than one day from this formula before it starts chipping off like crazy, there is something about the combination of my nails and this formula that just does not work.  I am the only person that I know with this issue, all of my friends who use this formula absolutely love it and get at least three or four days of wear time without anything more than minor chipping.  I wish I didn't have these issues but this formula just doesn't work well for me and will never been a formula that I highly recommend.

I have a few shades to add to my shopping list but I think that I will have even more shades to add once I see the new collections from China Glaze and Butter London.

photo courtesy of Google

OPI Holiday 2013 Polish Collection - Mariah Carey

I am hot on the holiday nail polish collections right now and we are going right from Butter London to the newest from OPI.  The new collection from OPI is much larger and contains nearly every shade of red known to man.  Red is my favorite lip and nail color so I want to pick up some more shades from this collection however I have so many reds already that I don't know if any of these shades will fill any holes in my polish collection.  There are eighteen shades in total so I can't wait to see how many shades I will want from this collection.  I already have a list from the new Butter London collection and now I will be making that list even longer...

The newest OPI holiday collection is designed around and for Mariah Carey.  I am already singing "All I Want For Christmas" as I type this and eating Halloween candy at the exact same time.  I can't say that I am pumped about the collaboration with Mariah Carey as that is one of the most overplayed Christmas songs of all time but I do bet I will get some great new shades out of this collection.

"The most-asked-for brand in the industry! With a superior range of shades and the hottest special effects and textures, OPI is the go-to brand for nail fashion. From elegant classics to eye-popping brights, OPI has your color! Formaldehyde-free.", states the Ulta website in describing the polish formula.  This is one of the best selling polish formula and one that I converted to later.  I like the formula but the color range was always a bit more limiting than many other brands.  OPI isn't my favorite polish line but I do find many shades that I like and their nail hardener is my standard at this point.

Here are the Mariah Carey holiday shades...

- All I Want For Christmas - classic red-blue cream
- All Sparkle and Gold - dense gold microglitter
- Baby Please Come Home - bright lilac microglitter
- Cute Little Vixen - deep magenta shimmer
- Emotions - charcoal black microglitter
- I Snow You Love Me - large circular silver glitter suspended in a clear base
- In My Santa Suit - classic red-blue shimmer
- It's Frosty Outside - bright silver microglitter
- Kiss Me At Midnight - pale bright blue microglitter
- Make Him Mine - rose gold microglitter
- My Favorite Ornament - light champagne microglitter
- Silent Stars Go By - cool rose microglitter
- Ski Slope Sweetie - pearly iridescent white with gold shimmer
- Sleigh Ride For Two - deep burgundy shimmer
- Underneath The Mistletoe - classic red-blue glitter
- Visions Of Love - deep burgundy cream
- Warm Me Up - deep charcoal shimmer
- Wonderous Star - large gold glitter suspended in a clear base

This is like any other OPI collection for me, there are always shades that I like but never any that I really fall in love with.  There is nothing in this collection that I am dying to buy but there are quite a few that I would like to add to my collection.  If I had to pick a favorite, Warm Me Up will be a great charcoal neutral for the cold weather months.  Emotions is my second favorite shade, this charcoal glitter will also be great for me. 

My other choices are: All Sparkle and Gold, It's Frosty Outside, My Favorite Ornament, Silent Stars Go By, and Visions of Love.  I mostly like the shades with the Liquid Sand finish, which is surprising since I hated this finish when it was first introduced.  I think I am warming up to this finish when it is combined with neutral glitter shades that I can wear all year long.  I might actually be the most excited about the fact that I can wear a few of these shades all throughout the year and a few shades in this collection break with the tradition of reds and greens.

photo courtesy of Google

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener with Color

I am always changing my nail polish color out and everyone that reads this blog knows that my nails always seem to need some extra TLC (especially in the late fall and winter months).  I recently started to get one manicure a month, I had dismissed them for years as a waste of money especially since I tend to change my polish color almost every other day.  My view was changed once I saw how nice my natural nails would look once they were filed nicely and my cuticles were cleaned up.  I use mostly OPI shades in the salon and my stylist recommended one for me to use at home and continue to look and feel of salon manicures.

Cue the backstory.  The first time that I got my nails done, I was asked why I kept my nails so short.  I replied that I often cut them all when one or two break and then I keep them all short.  She recommended that I try a good nail strengthener and use it at least twice a week.  Her favorite is the OPI Nail Envy and I loved that it is available in some of their best selling shades so I can use it alone instead of only as a base coat.  I started by buying one shade and am considering the original clear base coat on one of my next visits. 

The Ulta website provides a description of the product and the benefits that can be reaped with the use of it.  "Nail Envy Colors - strength in color.  Original Nail Envy is renowned for strengthening natural nails with hydrolyzed wheat protein and calcium. Now Nail Envy is available in three favorite, classic OPI shades plus one exclusive shade to add a tint of color to nails while strengthening them.  With Nail Envy Colors, your nails can be harder, longer, and stronger - beautifully!"

I didn't know that one of the colors was exclusive...now I have most bottles that I will want to get.  The available colors are:

- Hawaiian Orchid - medium cool pink cream
- Samoan Sand - pale nude cream
- Bubble Bath - pale pink cream
- Pink to Envy - clear with a pink tint

I bought the Bubble Bath shade, I have used this shade for a few months already and had it on frequent rotation in my polish line up.  Using the Nail Envy was a no-brainer on this, I can combine the shade that I love with the benefits of the best selling base coat.  I can already see a difference in the length of my nails after using it three times and I can click them on hard surfaces with ease now (I could never do this before or they would break).  The Hawaiian Orchid shade would be pretty for spring and summer so I will want that shade but not right now.  My next shade will be Samoan Sand and I am on the fence about Pink to Envy.  I will either love or hate the way this tint appears on the nail so I might need to try it in a manicure first.

photo courtesy of OPI

OPI Fall/Winter 2013 Collection - San Francisco

Today we are back to the fall collections and I am ready to look at more new nail polish shades for fall!  We looked at the Butter London fall collection earlier this month and while I did like them, I was somewhat dismayed because the company released several shades that would be perfect for summer and decided not to create "traditional" fall shades.  I am ready for some deep jewel tones and want to expand my collection, I must say that my neons are getting a little old and I am ready to buy some new shades.  I saw the advertisement for the new OPI collection in several of the August issues of leading beauty magazines and this is a collection that will meet my expectations of what I want for fall.  I have been using OPI more than usual recently and I love the huge brush and how easy the polishes are to apply, this brand is truly error proof in application and the recent shades that I have used have much better formulas than those from when I first started using the brand about a year and a half ago.  I wonder if I got a few bad bottles in the beginning or if OPI has slowly been revamping its polish formula...

The fall/winter collection for this brand is another one of their city-inspired collections, this one is inspired by San Francisco and contains a huge variety of hues and some shades that are available in the new Liquid Sand finish.  I personally have not found a shade that I like in this finish but maybe this collection will change my mind.  I like OPI collections for how easy they are to find and how wearable most of the shades are, this is one of the safest and most widely used nail polish lines on the market today.  I am excited to see silver, blue, and deep purple hues in this collection and am already starting to think about what shades I want to add to my collection this fall!

Here is the San Francisco collection from OPI!

- A-Piers to be Tan - medium warm tan cream
- Dining al Frisco - medium blue with silver frost
- Haven't the Foggiest - medium silver foil
- Peace and Love and OPI - deep charcoal foil
- Keeping Suzi at Bay - navy blue cream
- Incognito in Sausalito - very deep navy blue cream
- Lost on Lombard - deep cool berry red cream
- I Knead Sour-Dough - warm plum brown with subtle shimmer
- Muir Muir on the Wall - deep plum with shimmer
- In the Car-Pool Lane - deep oxblood cream
- Embraca-Dare Ya! - bright magenta with warm gold shimmer
- First Date at the Golden Gate - medium warm red cream
- It's All San Andrea's Fault - medium cool taupe (Liquid Sand Finish)
- Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! - medium navy blue (Liquid Sand Finish)
- Alcatraz...Rocks - deep cool purple (Liquid Sand Finish)

The blues and silvers in this collection are the shades that I will be adding to my collection first.  Haven't the Foggiest is my first choice, I am almost finished with my bottle of Platinum Silver from China Glaze and would benefit from a new bottle of silver foil.  Peace and Love and OPI is my second choice, I use silvers as neutrals all throughout the year and this is another good choice for me.  The blue shades would all have a home in my collection, I love Keeping Suzi at Bay and Incognito in Sausalito and I will be playing around with them and the silvers in accent manicures this fall.  Muir Muir on he Wall and In the Car-pool Lane will round out the rest of the collection for me and Muir Muir will fill the lack of ox blood shades in my polish collection.

The navy blue shade in the Liquid Sand finish makes me want to try it more now than in collections past.  I will try to find more photos and reviews of Wharf! Wharf! Wharf! and see how finish looks when applied.  I will also see if my salon carries this shade and what the overall thoughts are on it.  I will report back if I decide to purchase this Liquid Sand shade.

photo courtesy of Google

OPI Summer 2013 Collection - Couture de Minnie

Last year, OPI launched a collection with Disney that was inspired by Minnie Mouse and all the fame that has been built up around her over the past few decades.  This collection became an instant best-seller and every display that I visited was empty.  I don't feel that the shades were unique enough on their own to inspire such love and devotion so they must all have been bought by Minnie Mouse lovers.  It seems that any collection from OPI that teams up great nail polish shades and movies/pop culture always sells out faster than any other collection.  Last year's Minnie Mouse collection was a collection of solid pink hues and then one over the top pink glitter top coat.  I seem to remember that the top coat was the biggest hit of the collection and I am sure that OPI will bring another one (or perhaps two or three) out with the collection this year!

The Minnie Mouse collections are always about pink shades and are super girly, a look that I am all about this spring and summer.  I have said it before but I will say it again, I used to hate pink polish shades until about a year ago and now I just can't get enough of them.  I keep adding more and more pink shades to my collection and am always on the lookout for them in every single polish line that I have ever shopped from.  I already bought a few new pinks this spring and now I want even more, I will have to get to Ulta quickly since I know this collection will sell out within the first week of it being put on display.  I see three traditional finish polishes in this collection and then I see both a glitter and a Liquid Sand finish.  I have never liked the Liquid Sand finish and I know that I can already rule one shade out from this collection but I will find at least two or three shades from this line up of pinks that I will want immediately.

Here are the shades in the Couture de Minnie collection!

- Minnie Style - This red and white glitter is the height of fashion.
- Chic From Ears to Tail - This pop of bubblegum pink is totally fabulous!
- Innie Minnie Mighty Bow - Catch this crimson by the toe!
- A Definite Moust-Have - This fantastic fuchsia is at the top of my shopping list!
- Magazine Cover Mouse - The headline-making strawberry has sparkling texture.

Chic From Ears to Tail is my favorite shade even though it is not the most unique pink that I have ever seen.  This is the perfect bubblegum pink cream and I will wear this shade all summer on my nails and toes, I want to use this shade in a manicure and then do a deeper pink with similar undertones on my toe nails.  This shade is very similar to one of my current favorite lipsticks, MAC Sheen Supreme in Behave Yourself and I love creating elegant looks with matching my lips and nails.  A Definite Moust-Have is my second choice in this collection, I could take this deeper fuchsia shade all through summer and then into the fall months.  These are the only two shades that I must have from this collection, I could easily skip over the glitter hue and the Liquid Sand hue.  Innie Minnie Mighty Bow is a pretty red hue but Hey Sailor from China Glaze is basically the exact same shade and I already own a bottle of it.

I heard rumors of another summer collection that will be arriving soon...a tie in with the Bond girls!

photo courtesy of OPI

OPI Oz The Great and Powerful Nail Polish Collection

The new movie Oz movie has already turned into a hit at the box office and has become THE movie for beauty product and collection tie ins.  We have already looked at the new eye shadow palettes from Urban Decay that were inspired by two of the main characters of the movie and now we are going to look at the nail polish collection that OPI has just brought out to tie in with the movie.  The Glinda eye palette that I have been wanting from Urban Decay has been out of stock for the past few times that I have checked it on the Sephora website and I can't wait for it to come back in stock, the Glinda palette has the prettiest lilac shades and will be perfect for spring.  While I am waiting for that item to come back in stock, I will need to get my Oz fill from the new OPI polish collection.

The Oz collection from OPI contains seven new polish shades, one of which has the new Liquid Sand finish (that I cannot stand) and six with the traditional polish finishes.  Some of these polishes have a very intense glitter finish and others are more subtle, these are not polishes that can be worn in a professional atmosphere but will be great for going out at night.  The other polishes are more sheer and neutral and will be very easy to wear in any environment, I can see both areas of this collection selling out very quickly.

We are going to start with the sheer shades as I tend to buy shades like this all the time, I love that I can get several days of wear from these and I don't have to worry about if my polish hue is appropriate to the environment.

- Don't Burst My Bubble - sheer off white cream with a cool undertone
- Glints of Glinda - sheer neutral beige cream
- I Theodora You - sheer neutral pale pink cream

I think that the glitter shades will be the most popular of the collection and these will sell out first and become cult favorites.

- Lights of Emerald City - clear base with square silver glitter pieces
- When Monkeys Fly - clear base with big chunks of gold glitter pieces and small silver pieces
- Which Witch is Which - clear base with small silver glitter

The last shade is my least favorite already, being that it has the Liquid Sand finish that I could not stand from the first time that I saw a picture of it.  I feel that the Liquid Sand finish looks like your polish was smudged when it was wet and is over the top.  I know that many people like this finish and disagree with me but I would not buy any shade with this finish any time soon.
- What Wizardy is This? - olive base color with gold and bronze shimmer

I like some of the shades in this collection but this isn't one of my favorites from OPI, there have been much stronger collections over the years and this doesn't contain a great range of shades.  My favorite shade is I Theodora You, this pale pink will fit right into my polish collection and would be on constant rotation for me for the next few seasons.  Don't Burst My Bubble is the other shade that I would purchase from the collection, Glints of Glinda won't be as flattering on me as the other two.  Which Witch is Which is the only glitter finish shade that I like but it is much to similar to the glitter top coat in last year's Ballerina Collection and I bought that one already and don't need a second bottle of this type of top coat.  The other two glitters are just ugly and I would never use them.  I am not a fan of this collection and I will just keep waiting for that eye palette from Urban Decay for my Oz fix...

photo courtesy of Amazon

OPI Spring Collection 2013 - Euro Centrale

Euro Centrale is the big spring collection from OPI, I have been hearing hints of this collection since the very beginning of winter and I am so excited that it is finally here for me to buy.  This collection contains a series of limited edition polishes, all of which were inspired by the major cities and landmarks in the European Union.  I loved the Holland collection from last spring and I am even more excited for this spring's collection!  This collection contains a wide variety of polish shades and many of them are not the traditional "spring" types of shades, when I looked at the collection on the cover of the newest catalogue from Ulta, I see some shades that I will wear now and then some that I will be saving until the start of the cooler weather.  I also see that there are a variety of finishes available in this line up, I see creams and shimmers and then one glitter finish too.  What a variety to choose from!

OPI is one of the best selling polish lines on the market today and therefore I know that many of these shades will sell out very quickly but I must say that OPI does a great job in getting that shades restocked in a timely fashion and therefore everyone will be able to get all the shades that they love.  I already see several that I will really want and I need to go to Ulta very soon.

We will start with the lighter shades since these would be the ones that I would purchase first and start using now.  My Vampire is Buff is the lightest of the shades and this is a pale neutral nude that will be great alone or when used as a base hue for nail designs.  This is one of the shades that I have seen the most of in magazines (as it is so versatile) and this is one of the shades that I really want to buy.  I will be able to paint my nails with this one day and then not have to touch them up for the rest of the work week, I love shades that give me this much freedom.  The next shade that is part of the lighter hues is You're Such a BudaPest and this is my early favorite of the collection, this is a pale periwinkle hue that can shine lilac in certain lights.  I must have this shade since I love it and I own nothing like it in my collection right now.  This one is going right to the top of my shopping list.

Now we are going to go onto the part of the collection that contains the brighter and deeper hues, this is the much larger part of the collection and almost makes the collection seem more appropriate for the fall months.  There are two reds in this collection, My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours! and  Suzi's Hungary AGAIN!.  My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours! is an orange red with a bright cream jelly finish, I cannot stand this shade and these never look good on me.  Even though I bet that it will sell quickly, I will be passing on this shade in the first round.  Suzi's Hungary AGAIN! is a bright pink red, in some pictures this shade looks very red but in others it looks like a bright warm pink.  In either case, it is too warm for me so I will also be passing over this shade.  The next bright is Don't Touch My Czechbook, this is a bright blue with a slight hint of aqua in it.  I love this shade and it will be on my list for the first round of shopping, this will be shade that I wear all spring and summer. 

The darker shades will be the last part of the shade collection.  A Women's Prague-ative is a deep copper foil, this shade just screams "fall" and this would be one that I would put away for later on this year.  I like shades like these but I don't always love them, I would consider buying it later on and seeing if I still like it as much.  Hands Off My Kielbasa! is a deep rose gold shimmer, normally I love rose gold shades but this one is just too warm for me, I was very disappointed when I saw more pictures of it online.  This shade will not be flattering on me and I will be skipping over it.  We are now at the deep jewel tones in this collection, there are two navys and a deep purple.  Eurso Eurso is my favorite, this is a deep cool navy cream and I must add this one to my collection.  I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw is another deep navy cream, this one seems to have bit of a green tinge to it, it is different that Eurso Eurso, I prefer the former rather than the latter.  OY-Another Polish Joke! is a medium gold tone with lots of shimmer in it, I like this shade but I would need to see how warm it is before I would purchase it.  This shade could be really flattering or really awful on me and I want to hold the bottle up to my hands first.  Vant To Bite My Neck? is the last of the polish shades, this is a deep black purple with a bit of shimmer in, I had high hopes for this color but I find to be to be a bit on the flat side, I prefer Baptiste from Illamasqua if I am going to wear a deep purple hue. 

Polka.com is the only glitter shade in this collection, this shade contains a clear base with red, blue, and purple pieces of glitter suspended in it.  This shade would work equally well on its own or over another shade.  I would love to see this shade over You're Such a BudaPest! and Eurso Eurso, this will be lovely over blue shades!

My first round of shopping will include the following shades: You're Such a BudaPest!, My Vampire is Buff, Can't Find My Czechbook, and Eurso Eurso.  My second round will likely include the Polka.com shade and then any others that I think would work well on my skin tone.  This collection has some stunners for me but a few shades that I would be able to easily live without.  I don't know that I find any of the shades very unique but I know that I would get lots of use from any of the shades that I buy!

photo courtesy of Amazon

OPI and Mariah Carey Nail Polish Collection

OPI has released a very early first spring nail polish collection, I still believe that there is another full color collection coming out later for spring.  I have heard rumors that the full spring collection is another travel collection, with all the polishes being inspired by major cities and landmarks all over the European Union...how many will I buy just because I love the city or the place?!  The Holland collection from last spring is still a favorite of mine from them and I know that this spring's collection will end up being another favorite of mine.  Nail polish storage is going to be an issue this spring (even more than it already is!)...

But until the European collection releases in the next few months, the Mariah Carey collection is nw.  Mariah Carey is not a musical artist that I am a big fan of, I loved the song "Butterfly" several years ago but I haven't really listened to her since then so this collection doesn't hold the appeal for me that it will hold for her longtime fans.  I can see this collection selling really quickly, her fans will buy every single shade no matter what they look like.  I will always thank Mariah for her influence on Deborah Lippmann though.  Mariah is the person that suggested to Lippmann that she should start her own product line and polish formula and I have been using Lippmann products for years now...

This collection introduces a new finish to the OPI polish line up, the Liquid Sand finish.  This is one of the first (if not the first) textured polishes from OPI, it reminds me very much of the Velvet Manicure from Ciate however this formula does not require more than one step.  I would be likely to buy one shade in this finish just to try it out (assuming that there is any shade that I like that comes in the Liquid Sand finish that is).

"Mariah Carey by OPI introduces 8 new Limited Edition shades, selected personally by Mariah Carey."  So far this collection is only available on the OPI website so I imagine that it will come to Ulta and most major salons very soon. 

First we will look at the traditional finish polishes in this collection and then go onto the Liquid Sand finish shades.  Anti-bleak is the first shade in this collection, it is a deep magenta cream that would be great for the fall or winter on pale skin hues but would only work for the spring months if you have a deeper skin tone.  I like this shade but don't love it enough to purchase it so I will put this shade on the backburner for now.  The next of the traditional finish shades is Sprung, a deep copper metallic shade.  This shade will be awful on me, it is too warm for me to pull off and this looks nothing liek the shades that will be in style this spring.  This shade would be very flattering on a skintone like Mariah's but since hers' in nothing like mine, this shade will go on the "no" list for me.  A Butterfly Moment is the third shade, this obviously was named after her hit "Butterfly" and is a pale pink with a shimmer finish.  This is the only shade that would be flattering to my skintone so far and therefore is the only one that I am even considering buying.  Pink Yet Lavender is the last shade without the Liquid Sand finish and is the most unique shade in the collection.  This shade is a clear base with huge pieces of pink and lavender glitter suspended in it, this would be a great top coat for any pink, purple, blue, or even gray polish shade.  This is the only other shade that I would even consider buying from this set, this shade would really compliment many of my current polish hues but I run very hot and cold with glitter top coats, I own a few but don't use them very often.

Now onto the Liquid Sand finish part of the collection.  Liquid Sand dries to a matte finish that has the texture of small sand grains on the nail.  Get Your Number is a medium blue polish with a jelly finish that is spiked with all sizes of silver glitter.  I like this shade but everything will depend on my thoughts on the Liquid Sand polishes.  I love blue nail polishes and normally I would be all over this shade (if it was a traditional finish from OPI).  The second of the Liquid Sand polishes is Can't Let Go, a grape purple shade with the same style of multiple sizes of silver glitter in the mix.  I don't like the grape purple shade anyway so this one is off the shopping list already.  the Impossible is a bright warm pink jelly finish with huge pieces of silver star glitter mixed in, I hate this shade.  The pink is too wamr for me and the star glitter just pushes it into child territory, I cannot see any grown woman seriously wearing this polish...  The last of the Liquid Sand finsh is Stay the Night, a deep black cream spiked with bright pink glitter.  I am not a fan of this shade either so I will be skipping over this one too.  The only shade that I find attractive in the Liquid Sand line up is the Get Your number shade and this is the only one that I would consider buying...

But I HATE the Liquid Sand finish...I find it so ugly.  My description of this finish is "what happens when your nails are still slightly tacky and you accidently press them up against a cloth".  Basically, this finish just looks like an accident, if my manicure looked like this, I would be redoing it since I would never wear it out in public.  Therefore this pretty much kills me buying the Get Your Number shade. 

Since I hate the Liquid Sand finish, I would only consider buying shades from the traditional finish part of the collection.  The only shade that I considering buying from this group is the pale pink shade, I don't love the shade, I like it and I know that I will get lots of use from it but I won't die without it.  This is not a collection for me and I will be looking forwward to the full spring collection from this company instead of shopping now.

photo courtesy of OPI

OPI Holiday 2012 Collection - Skyfall

I am so excited for the release of the newest James Bond movie, Skyfall.  I have always enjoyed James Bond movies and loved the style of Bond himself but ever since Daniel Craig has started playing the Bond character, I have been in love with the movies and I can't wait to see the newest version of the movies.  I hate seeing movies in the theater and I actually want to go out and see this film on the opening weekend...very few movies can get me to want to come out and deal with the rest of the population at the movies. 

I knew that many companies would try and do product tie-ins with the release of this movie and my favorite so far is the nail polish collection from OPI.  Skyfall is their holiday collection and the collection that celebrates the glamour and style of the ladies that are in the Bond movies.  A special manicure was created for this movie, one shade on the top of the nail and another shade on the bottom tip of the nail.  Adele has been spotted in a nail look that is very similar to this...she does the theme song for the movie so I bet she got a sneak peek and feel in love with the unique nail look.  My nails are too short to make the look really pop, so I will have to let my nails grow out a bit if I really want to go after this look.  I doubt that I will really go after though, by the time that I have grown my nails out to be long enough, I will be on to something else and done with the look...

I know that I want to buy polishes from this collection and I will be hitting up Ulta so very soon, I know that this collection will sell fast and I will have to move quickly to get exactly the shades that I must have.  Each of the shades in this collection is named after a specific Bond movie from history, my favorite movie was Casino Royale so I am hoping that I love that shade.

Here we go with the Skyfall collection!

This collection is divided into two categories: the Seductive Shades and the Dangerous Shades.  We are going to start with the seductive shades, I see lots of reds and many shades with glitter and shimmer finishes in this category.

- Goldeneye - very dense yellow gold glitter suspended in a clear base
- The Spy Who Loved Me - bright coral red with gold shimmer
- Die Another Day - orange red with subtle silver shimmer
- Casino Royale - deep berry plum cream
- You Only Live Twice - bright magenta with strong gold shimmer
- Skyfall - deep maroon cream

Onto the Dangerous Shades...

- Moonraker - silver with a frost finish
- Tommorrow Never Dies - deep periwinkle with silver shimmer
- The Living Daylights - clear base with teal, red, silver, and copper large glitter pieces
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service - smoky blue base with multi-hued shimmer
- Live and Let Die - deep black with a green cast and gold shimmer
- The World is Not Enough - silvery deep rose with rose shimmer

I see a bunch of shades that I want here.  I think the first shade that I must have is the Goldeneye shade, this is the perfect golden glitter hue and will fit right in with any holiday look that I can come up with.  Lately I have been buying a lot of red and black clothing and this gold polish will perfectly complement all the clothing that I have brought home.  This is also the shade that was used on the underside of the nail in the special look created for the movie, one of the deep red hues was used for the top of the nail.  Goldeneye will work well for me in an accent manicure, against all the shades of red polishes that I have bought in the past few weeks.

After I get Goldeneye, I still have a few other shades that I want to buy.  On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Tommorrow Never Dies are the two other hues that I want to add to my collection, I will wear these all winter and they will work very well with all the clothing that I have been buying lately.  Casino Royale is a bit of a disappointment, I was really hoping to love the shade but it isn't really doing anything for me.  I don't really love any of the reds either, they remind me very much of the reds in the China Glaze holiday collection and I wasn't interested in buying any of the those. 

I love some of these nail shades and now I am even more excited for when the movie opens!

photo courtesy of OPI

OPI Fall 2012 Collection - Germany Collection

The Germany Collection from OPI is one of the collections that I have been most excited about ever since I began to see previews and hear about some of the different fall collections.  I have been haunting the OPI website for the past few weeks and I am so excited to see that this collection in finally up and ready for me to buy!  The Holland Collection for spring was one of my favorite spring collections and I know that the Germany Collection will hold the same place in my heart.  I went to Germany when I was in high school and toured Europe for several weeks one summer.  I was so excited to visit Italy and France that I never really thought about Germany and Austria.  Within a day of my tour, I fell in love with some of the little towns that I saw in Germany and I want to return to the country within the next five years!

It seems that OPI is going many of the seasonal collections on places in the world, we already talked about the Holland Collection however over the previous two years, this company has featured different landmarks and states in the United States for their collections.  Personally, I love that this company is heading back to Europe and picking up their inspiration from some of my favorite countries and cities in the world. 

This collection contains a real variety of shades, I see deep jewel tones, nudes, and even a mustard yellow shade in here.  Some of these shades will be perfectly on trend for the fall months, some will be a bit of a stretch but I suspect that all of the shades will sell very well.  I am sensing an Ulta trip in my very near future, I will work it all in around work and the upcoming first week of classes.  I am going to be a very busy girl this fall but I sincerely hope that I can keep up with the beauty industry as much as I currently do.

Here are the shades in the OPI Germany Collection!

- Don't Talk Bach To Me - light mustard yellow with a hint of pale green
- Schnapps Out Of It! - medium terracotta cream
- Deutsch You Want Me Baby? - deep orange with gold shimmer
- Danke-Shiny Red - deep cool red with a subtle silver shimmer
- German-ciure by OPI - deep brick red with red shimmer
- Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs - medium purple with subtle red shimmer
- Every Month is Oktoberfest - deep cool purple with red and gold shimmer
- Unfor-Greta-bly Blue - medium teal frost
- Nein!  Nein!  Ok Fine! - deep forest green cream
- Berlin There Done That - medium cool gray cream
- My Very First Knockwurst - pale pink cream
- Don't Pretzel My Buttons - pale beige cream

Overall, this is a strong collection of shades but there isn't really one or two major standouts.  I really like several of the shades however there isn't any one that jumps out at me and is so unique that I must buy the polish on my next shopping trip.  OPI has never really been known for having super unique shades however they excel at having a huge shade range and shades that can be worn in many different circumstances.  The oddest shades in this collection are the Don't Talk Bach To Me (pale mustard) and Schnapps Out Of It! (terracotta), neither of these two shades are my cup of tea and I will be skipping over both of them.

When I first saw that there would be a blue hue offered in this collection, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that this would be my favorite shade of the group.  While I do like Unfor-Greta-bly Blue, this isn't the most unique blue that I have ever seen and since it has a bit of a teal cast, it is very similar to China Glaze Sexy in the City (which I already own).  Unless this shade looks very different when I see it in person, this shade won't be on my first round of shopping from this collection. 

My favorites in this collection are the red and purple shades, my favorite shade overall Danke-Shiny Red.  This is a cool red with subtle silver shimmer, it is more subtle than China Glaze's Ruby Pumps (no glitter!) and a lighter hue than Heart of Africa from the same company, I really love this OPI shade.  I like the German-icure shade too, however this shade is pretty close to Deborah Lippmann's Since I Fell For you so this is another one that I like but don't really need to own.  Every Month is Oktoberfest is a great jewel tone and this is one that I don't own a very similar shade and will want to buy the next time that I go to Ulta.  The last two shades that I really want are tw of the more neutrals, I can never have enough neutrals to add to my everyday shade line up, Berlin There Done That and My Very First Knockwurst are my two choices from this category, Berlin There Done That is a great addition to me gray collection and I will wear this shade at least twice a week in the fall months.

This is a very strong collection for OPI, there are many shades in this line up that I feel very strongly about and I can see this collection selling very well.  The jewel tones are my top picks for the fall but I can many different women adapting a shade or two from this collection into their style!

photo courtesy of OPI's Facebook page

OPI and Minnie Mouse Collection

In addition to the Spiderman collection, OPI has recently released a second small nail polish collection.  This little collection consists of a range of pink hues for the nails, all of which have been inspired by vintage Minnie Mouse cartoons.  It appears to me that the collaboration of OPI and The Muppets last holiday season must have done very well since cartoon and movie-inspired collaborations have been released from this company over the past few months.  I am liking this little collections, they have had some fun shades that are right on trend.

I have been buying pink polish shades all spring and my collection of pink-hued polishes has grown by leaps and bounds over the past season.  I really wish that this collection would have come out a bit earlier in the spring, I would have been all over these pinks but I don't need to add anymore summer shades to my collection at this time.  "She's flirty.  She's stylish.  She's totally fa-'mouse'.  And now her irresistible charm is yours to enjoy."  This collection consists of four new polishes, one of which is a confetti and the others are full pigment hues of pink.

The three full pigment shades range from a light pink all the way to a deep magenta.  The light pink is named If You Moust, You Moust.  It is a tradition cool-toned light blue pink cream.  This is a very pretty shade but it has been done so many times from OPI and other companies that you really only need this shade if you are obsessed with Minnie Mouse and want to collect all the shades in the range.  The next shade is The Color Of Minnie, a bright pink-red with a very subtle silver shimmer.  This shade is right in the middle of a pink and a red, it is too red for me and I think that I will be skipping over this one since I doubt that it will be as flattering as the others.  The last of the full pigments shade is my favorite, I'm All Ears.  This shade is a bright magenta with vivid silver shimmer.  I love this shade but when I looked at pictures of it online, I saw that it looks exactly like China Glaze Ahoy!, a shade that I already own and love.  I don't need another bottle of this shade, they are almost exact dupes.  However, Ahoy! has been getting harder to find at Ulta and if you can't find it, this is a great sub.

The confetti top coat is the shade that I am most likely to purchase, it is the most unique and can be worn on its own or over any of these pinks.  This polish is called Nothin' Mousie 'bout It.  It is a clear base with gold and pink glitter suspended in it.  In addition to the full-sized glitter particles int his polish, it also contains heart-shaped pink confetti pieces.  I am not someone who goes crazy for anything heart-shaped but there is just something about this top coat that I love.  This top coat would be great for Valentine's Day and is still fun throughout the whole summer months.  I would be more likely to use this top coat in an accent manicure, painting the heart confetti on only my ring finger nails and using the traditional glitter on the rest of my hands.  The salon that I have recently started going to has the full line of OPI polishes for use in manicures so I am considering asking for this type of manicure to see how the effect looks in real life.

This would have been a great collection to release around Valentine's Day and to use at salon in manicures for this special day.  This is still a very fun collection for the summer months, however I wish that some of the pink shades would be a bit more unique since I already own shades that look very much like these.  The top coat is the most unique polish in this collection and that is the only shade that I want to try out.  I will be looking for this collection the next time that I get my hair done at the salon!

photo courtesy of news.instyle.com

OPI Summer 2012 Collection - The Amazing Spiderman

Last week, we saw the new Benefit set that was created for the new Snow White and the Huntsman movie that will be coming out on the first day of June.  One of the other movies this summer that proves to be a huge release is the new The Amazing Spiderman movie.  I saw the first movie but I haven't see any of the subsequent movies so I doubt that I will go and see this film but I will be more than happy to check ou the new OPI series of polishes that have come out for the release weekend.  I am not surprised that OPI has teamed up with the film since they created a collection for The Muppets movie from last holiday season.  Personally, I was more excited about the Muppets movie but I am always excited about new nail polish collections!

This collection is another one that is not considered a typical summer shade collection, the range of shades is all over the place in this collection.  We have brights, pales, deeps, and then one top coat with the crackle finish.  I immediately groaned when I saw the crackle finish top coat, I am so sick of these crackle finish polishes and I thought that trend was on the way out when I saw these polishes on the Sale rack at Ulta and I can't believe that I am seeing yet another one of these.  When is this awful trend ever going to end?!

The first polish that we are going to look at is the only pale shade in this collection, My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  This polish is pale, creamy white.  This shade just showed up in the newest MAC collection and I can see that we are going to be seeing hues like this all summer.  I have never really used white polishes unless I am cerating designs on my nails.  I will be skipping over this shade since I will barely ever use it. 

The bright polishes are slightly less to my liking.  The first shade is my "favorite" of the bright shades, Your Web Or Mine? is very pretty but it leans too much to the warm side for me to find it flattering.  This shade is a warm coral pink with a frost finish, we have seen this shade so many times over the years from OPI and I have never liked it.  This shade would be very pretty against a tan for someone with a warmer skintone, I will never be able to pull this shade off.  The second bright shade is even was, this is a bright orange.  I have never even liked bright orange polishes on someone else and I would never wear a shade like this.  I klnow that oranges are very popular right now but this is not a shade range for me.  This shade is named Call Me Gwen-ever and is a creamy medium orange.  This shade almost reminds me a bit more of a pumpkin than a super bright orange but I still don't like it.  I can't wear either of these shades and so far this collection is not working very well for me.

The deeper tones are the best shades of the collection for my skintone, I would be more likely to buy these shades and then put them aside until the beginning of fall.  Into the Night is my favorite polish from the collection, it is a deep blue shade that will be perfect this fall.  The shade is a medium blue shade with a metallic finish, it is lighter than most of the navy polishes that I own and I have no shades like this in my collection already.  I will be adding this blue to my polish collection.  The second of the deeper shades is Just Spotted the Lizard, a medium toned gold with a green cast.   This polish has a metallic finish to it and remains me very much of the Peridot polish that Chanel released last year.  This shade isn't technically a deep tone but it fits better with this area of the collection than any other.  I really like this shade and I will most likely purchase a bottle of it, this one I would wear in the summer so this is one shade in the summer collection that I would actually wear in the summer.  Number One Nemesis is the last of the deeper tones in the collection, it is deep charcoal shimmer that will be a great neutral in the fall months.  i am planning on purchasing all three of the deeper toned shades from this line.

Lastly, we have the crackle top coat.  This type of finish tends to give me a headache everytime that I see it on someone.  I actually wanted a bottle of the crackle when it was released with the Katy Perry collection and it was only available in a black shade.  The combination of all types of shades with the crackle finish just tends to annoy me now and I wish that this trend would just end.  That being said, I will not be buying this shade.  Shatter the Scales is a deep blue green shimmer that is said to look like the scales of the lizards.  I like the thought of this shade but this shade is just completely ugly, it is destined for the sale rack within the next month or two. 

The only shades that I like are the deep toned polishes in this new collection.  Only the gold shade can be worn now, the other two shades will have to be held until the fall months because they don't really work with my current line-up of summer polishes.  I wonder how many other movie tie-ins we will be seeing this summer...

photo courtesy of OPI's page on Facebook

Current Favorites!

The last month has consisted of me trying product after product to keep the reviews coming and looking forward to what I am going to be buying this summer.  Over the past few weeks, a few winning products have emerged and I am going to be paying tribute to my current favorite products and why I love them.  I have been all about color and skincare the past few weeks, I have been using up most of my current perfumes in order to open some new ones up and the same is going for most of my body products, I can't buy any new bottles until some more space is cleared for the current products that I haven't even opened up yet.  My five favorites therefore are taken from my skincare and color purchases so hopefully the next time that I write a favorites list up, I will have more fragrances in it.

My current favorites!

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Sea Spray - "Unleash your inner color with China Glaze...your longwearing professional nail lacquer choice!  Longwearing formula with hardeners features great coverage and DBP free.  China Glaze Nail Lacquer makes nails look spectacular and dries in seconds.  China Glaze offers the latest technology in formulas and color selection."  Sea Spray is a shade from their spring Anchors Away collection that was released in early 2011, I was introduced to this collection last year when I purchased White Cap (still a favorite shade) and now I have added Sea Spray and Ahoy! to my collection.  Sea Spray is a lovely pale gray blue shade with a hint of a shimmer finish.  I started wearing this shade in early spring and have been wearing it ever since.  The best way to describe this shade is to tell you to look at the sky right before it begins to rain.  This shade is a new neutral for me.

Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer Oil-Free SPF 20 in Fair - "A tinted, oil-free moisturizer with a hint of color.  This water-resistant moisturizer is packed with sun protection and just enough color to even skintone.  The light, hydrating formula is ideal for all skin types and comes in natural, see-through shades.  Application is a cinch and the coverage is long lasting, leaving you with a perfect finish every time."  Fair is the lightest shade in this product and it turned out to be a perfect match for my skintone.  I only purchased this product to use when I am in a hurry, since my normal routine doesn't work well for busy morning.  However with me being on vacation from work this week, I have been using it almost everyday for a bit of extra coverage while I run errands and hang out, it is working its way into being a VIP of my traincase.  This product covers better than many tinted moisturizer formulas and lasts throughout most of the day.  It hydrates just enough for my skin to be soft and smooth, even though I have chosen the oil-free formula.  I am really liking this formula and being able to have a bit of coverage when needed but not looking made up.

Origins Gin-Zing Refreshing Eye Cream - "A clinically-proven eye cream that instantly de-puffs and reduces dark circles.  Late night?  Long flight?  Look tired all the time?  This natural, clincially-proven morning-after eye cream instantly reduces dark circles.  Unsightly bags and puffiness virtually disappear.  And Origin's  proprietary complex of caffeine from coffee bean.  Panax ginseng, magnolia extract, and natural optic brighteners rapidly wakes up, refreshes, and and restores radiance to tired eyes.  Best for all skin types."  I use this eye cream at night and the Cliniqe All About Eyes Rollerball during the day to take care of my puffy, allergy eyes.  This product helps to reduce my puffiness and my dark circles.  This is one of the few eye creams that I have worked with recently that actually helps dark circles look better and not just easier to cover up with makeup.  In addition to helping reduce both puffiness and dark circle appearance, this product helps to moisturize and to brighten the entire eye area.  This is simply one of the best all-in-one eye creams that is on the market today and I recommend it to almost anyone that needs help choosing an eye cream formula.

OPI Nail Lacquer in You Callin' Me a Lyre? and Pirouette My Whistle - "The world leader in professional nail care."  Both of these shades came out recently with their New York City Ballet collection released mid spring.  I put both of these together since I prefer to wear both of them together, I have worn each one alone but they pack a huge punch when used together.  You Callin' Me a Lyre? is a pale peach pink cream that is the epitome of the natural nail look and Pirouette My Whistle is a fine silver shimmer suspended in a clear base.  The combination of the two creates a natural nail look with a bit of pizzazz that keeps it from being boring.  I can get three to four full days wear from this combination so I use it at least once a week.  I have really been getting into OPI polishes lately and my shopping shows no signs of stopping...

Illamasqua Lipstick in Test - "Let your lips speak volumes.  Indulge in colour-intense lipstick with a highly pigmented formula, available in a choice of flawless finishes, from creamy matte to iridescent finishes.  Illamasqua Lipstick glides on smoothly and doesn't give up without a fight for the perfect all-night pout.  A must have for professional makeup artists, and those who want to make a statement."  Test is a "soft pink chocolate" with a matte finish.  For those of you who remember my initial review on the Illamasqua Lipstick formula, you will remember that I went on a near-rant about this shade and how it was described on the Sephora website (to sum it up - it looks nothing like what is pictured/described on the Sephora website and use the Illamasqua website for accurate descriptions) and I decided that I never would have purchased it had I known exactly what it looked like.  Application at full strengh produces a warm pink nude mouth with a matte finish, what sets this product apart is that it has a very full pigmentation and is not as subtle as I had been expecting, greatly reducing the amount of ways I could wear it.  I originally wanted a sheer, my-lips-but-better shades when I ordered this and not a shade with strong pigmentation.  However, recently I have been applying this shade with a bit of lip balm underneath, reducing the pigment strength and have been wearing it with all types of colored eye looks.  Even sheered out, this product lasts for several hours and stays color-true the whole time.  I love this lipstick formula and am happy that I have found another way to wear it!

These are my current favorite but I know that they will be changing again within the next few weeks, as I type this I am letting my newest shade of Illamasqua Nail Varnish dry and I just received a big Sephora order two days ago (complete with skincare and the 500 point perk of a Too Faced palette) and I will be working on getting some new fragrances and body products out.

photo courtesy of Sephora

OPI New York City Ballet Collection

I have finished up all the official spring color collections and now I am covering a few of the smaller ones that came out this season (with much less hype and fanfare).  Yesterday I looked at the Mad Men collection from Estee Lauder and today we are looking at a second spring collection from OPI.  Both these little spring collections are much better for me than the actual collections from these companies, I wish that they were expanded since I love pretty much every shade in them.

The New York City Ballet collection consists of six polish shades that are pretty pales and are based off the costumes in the ballet itself.  "The soft color palette and effortlessly chic style of the urban ballerina comes to life in this elegant ensemble of six dreamy lacquers."  I have been indulging in all shades of brights lately and now I think that I need some pales in order to balance out my collection. 

Here are the six shades that are offered in this little collection...

- Barre My Soul - sheer nude beige cream
- You Callin' My a Lyre? - soft neutral pink cream
- Don't Touch My Tutu! - sheer neutral white cream
- Care To Danse? - sheer cool lavender cream
- My Pointe Exactly - sheer cool pale gray cream
- Pirouette My Whistle - clear backgrouund with large and small pieces of silver glitter suspended in it

All the shades can be layered with the glitter shade in dress them up and make them slightly more trendy for the season. All of the shades are sheer and need to be layered to really pop on the nail, Care to Danse? seems to have to have the most pigment (based on the swatches that I have seen) but even this shade isn't all that pigmented.  My favorite of the shades is the pale pink shade, this one reminds me of a Deborah Lippmann polish shade that I ran out of and now have a much harder time finding than I used to.  I actually would love to buy all the shades in this collection expect for Barre My Soul, it seems a bit too warm to be as flattering as the others for me.

This collection will sell out very quickly since these shades will work well for any occasion, from work to play.  These are the perfect shades to wear to the office and anyone can pull them off, it is refreshing to see pale shades instead of all the brights that I have been seeing for the past few months.

photo courtesy of brides.com

OPI Spring 2012 Collection - Holland Collection

We have been seeing some great nail polish collections so far this spring and I am excited to see even more great new shades!  So far, my favorite has been China Glaze but I am really excited to see the newest collection from OPI, I have been seeing pieces of it in many of the beauty magazines over the past month and it is finally out and on the website.  Last year, this company did a collection based on major cities in the United States and they have done the same theme throughout the years on countries from all over the world.  This spring's collection is another version of this type of collection, all of the shades are based on the culture and history of Holland.  Kiss Me On My Tulips is my early favorite from this collection, I have seen it in multiple magazines so far and I love the deep pink shade.
This collection consists of fourteen new shades, all types of colors and finishes.  They range from a pale nude all the way down to a deep eggplant.  In this respect, this isn't your typical spring collection since many of the shades are deeper than what we have been seeing so far this season.  However this collection is so diverse that everyone can find at least one shade to suit them.

The shades...

- A Roll in The Hague - bright neon orange cream
- Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? - neutral light cream beige
- Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI? - deep reddish purple with a shimmer finish
- Gouda Gouda Two Shoes - dirty warm rose cream
- I Don't Give a Rotterdam! - dusky perwinkle blue with silver shimmer
- I Have A Herring Problem - slate blue with silver shimmer
- Kiss Me on My Tulips - bright cool pink cream
- Pedal Faster Suzi! - light blue pink with silver shimmer
- Red Lights Ahead...Where? - bright coral red cream
- Thanks a WindMillion - dirty mint green cream
- Vampsterdam - deep eggplant with silver shimmer
- Wooden Shoe Like To Know? - medium warm chocolate brown with gold shimmer

As I stated above, my favorite shade is Kiss Me on My Tulips, the tulips that blossom every spring in Holland are lovely and this shade is a great representation of them, along with being perfectly on trend.  This is my number one pick from the collection and is making my next Most Wanted list.  My second favorite shade is the oddball shade in the spring collection, Vampsterdam is the deep eggplant with silver shimmer and would fit in much better in a fall collection.  I will buy it now and get it out to use next fall.  Pedal Faste Suzi! is the light pink shade with silver shimmer and I would get a lot of wear from it with my current pink obsession.  To round out the collection, I want two shades that will fit perfectly with all the light blues and greens that are so popular this spring; Thanks a WindMillion and I Don't Give a Rotterdam!

I like this collection more than I have liked the past few from the OPI and it is pretty rare that I find a shade from OPI that I get obsessed with it and must purchase it.  The collection does contain a great range of shades but it seems like some of them were just thrown in with no rhyme or reason (why is there a deep eggplant in this collection?!), some of the shades are directly on trends but others are completely out of the blue...

photo courtesy of OPI

OPI Nicki Minaj Collection

Nicki Minaj is the newest beauty industry obsession, after the annoucement that she would be pairing up with MAC for the newest Viva Glam shade, she became the toast of the beauty industry and I am willing to bet that we will be seeing even more from her within the next few months.  I am seeing the same trend that we saw with Lady Gaga two years ago and then with Katy Perry last year.  I love all of these women so I am happy to see all of these trends and they end of making me buy all kinds of products and shades that might not have appealed to me before.  The new Viva Glam shade comes out in Feburary so we have a bit to go before we are able to see that shade.

OPI will be releasing a nail polish collection made with Nicki Minaj in January 2012, so I am dubbing 2012 the "year of Nicki Minaj".  Let's see how correct I am, I am betting on a fragrance release and tons of other color products coming out in the upcoming year.  This collection contains six brand new shades, five of which are regular shades and one of which is a crackle finish top coat.  Personally, I am the most excited for the Viva Glam lipstick but I am looking forward to this collection too. 

The fact that Viva Glam teamed up with Nicki Minaj was actually the only reason that I ever gave her music and style a chance.  I used to gag at every wig that she wore and I would refuse to ever listen to her songs.   But when she teamed up with MAC, I downloaded a few of her songs from iTunes discovered that I really liked her.  Thank god for MAC! 

The shades that are in the Nicki Minaj and OPI collection are either bright or glitter finishes, but I would expect nothing less from a collection that was inspired by Nicki Minaj.  This would not be a collection of boring reds and pinks and that is exactly what OPI needs to keep up with Illamasqua and China Glaze.  This collection might inspire me to buy crazy shades from OPI, something that I rarely ever do.  Normally, OPI is the company that I go to for reds and sheers.  This is a whole new concept for me and might actually make me love OPI a bit more than China Glaze for the moment...

First we will start with the regular nail polish shades...

The first shade in named Pink Friday, after the title of Nicki Minaj's first album.  On first glance, this is my early favorite shade of the collection.  Lately, bright pinks for both lips and nails have been my style and I can see this going right into the spring.  I am over the holidays and just so ready for spring!  I am just so looking forward to spring shopping....

Pink Friday is the first shade is the collection.  It is a light blue pink and we all know how much I love blue pinks!  This is a great light blue pink shade and I imagine that this is will be the best shade to match the upcoming Viva Glam Nicki shade.  This is a light blue pink and I wish that I could tell if it has a shimmer or a cream finish but the picture isn't exactly forthcoming as to what the finish of this shde is.   It is the perfect light blue pink and I love it it.  I can't wait to buy this shade and rock it all spring, this is a great shade and I can't wait to wear it.  The second of the the new shades is Did It On 'Em, a bight green that is is so ready for spring.  This is a bright yellow green that is reminescent of a shade that I wore in middle school.  This is another shade that I can't tell if it is a shimmer or a cream.  I doubt that this shade is one that I would use very much on my nails but would use more on my toe nails.  I wish that OPI had a few more details of these shades, I can't really tell what I want to buy from it. 

The next shade is named Fly, a shade that would be great for the spring and summer months.  It is a bright robin's egg blue cream that reminds me a lot of the China Glaze shade For Audrey, a favorite polish of mine already.  I really like this shade but I have to see it in person first because I might not need this if it very close to For Audrey, however unless it is an exact dupe, I will most likely end up buying it because the shade is so pretty.  This is the last of the non-metallic shades, we will look at those two shades next.

The two metallic shades are very very heavy on the silver and chrome, both shades are able to be worn now and well into the spring.  The first shade of this finish is named Metallic 4 Life, a deep metallic charcoal shade.  This one will work best this time of the year but I don't know how well it will translate with the spring trends of light and bright polishes.  In the warmer months, this might be better as a pedicure shade with black or silver sandals.  I will reserve full judgement in this matter until I see it person.  The second shade in the metallic finish is Save Me, a chrome that looks like it has holographic shimmer in it.  This is the wildest of all the shades and another one that would work well in the winter time but also might be better with sandals in the warm weather.  I really like the Metallic 4 Life shade but I think that I will be skipping over the Save Me shade, I doubt that I would get all that much wear from it.

The last polish is one with the popular Crackle finish that was first introduced in the Katy Perry collection last spring.  I thought that the Crackle polishes were really unique and pretty when they first came out but I am now waiting for the trend to end.  Putting a black crackled top coat over a light cream polish looked great but now taking the trend all the way to metallics is beginning to look cheap and trashy, I doubt that I will ever wear a Crackle again after seeing some of the looks that have been created with it.  This shade is named Super Bass Shatter and is my least favorite shade in the collection, it is deep plum metallic Crackle top coat.  I have a feeling that this will take the trend to new level of awful, I can't even imagine how bad this will look over any of the polishes from this collection.  I am skipping over this polish and I cannot wait for this Crackle trend to end!

I love the pink and blue shades in this collection, the pink will look so pretty when paired up with the Viva Glam shade that should be coming out within the next two months!

photo courtesy of OPI

OPI Holiday 2011 Nail Polish Collection - The Muppets

One of the biggest movie releases from this season is actually not a holiday themed movie!  The newest Muppets movie comes out on November 23rd and promises to be one of the biggest hits of the season.  I have loved watching The Muppets ever since I was a child and I am actually planning on braving the crowds to go out and see this movie, this will be the perfect cure for the stress of the holidays and getting ready to study for finals.  One of my favorite aspects of this movie is the collaborations with the beauty companies, I have heard hints of a MAC and Miss Piggy collection that will be coming out soon.  Until that one is released, we will look at The Muppets collaboration with nail polish giant O.P.I. 

This collection consists of twleve new shades, six of which are shimmer finishes and the other six are glitter finishes.  This looks like a traditional holiday collections, lots of color and glitter.  I can see this collection flying out of store this season, it will make great gifts in addition to being a great way to dress your nails up for all kinds of parties and events.  I wonder if this collection will only be sold in individual bottles or if the company will offer little sets in these shades too..

First we will look at the shimmer finish polishes, the more wearable shades from this collection.  The shimmer finishes offer some of the more traditional holiday shades, lots of reds and silvers that are very festive.  Animalistic is the first of the red shades in this collection, it is a very warm coral red with red shimmer in it too.  This color can best be described as a tomato color, it is very likely that this shade is too warm to be really flattering on my skin.  The next of the red shimmers is Meep-Meep-Meep, this is one is cooler shade of red that is a bit more of a berry than a true red.  This one is a easy to wear berry with pink and red shimmer in it, this is then better of the two reds for my skintone.  Wocka Wocka is the last of the red shades and the least interesting of the group, this one is more of a cream finish than a true shimmer.  This is a true cool blue red shade with almost imperciptible shimmer.  I am betting that this one will look very different in different lights and could be very beautiful in the right light, I really like this shade and it will be very easy for me to pull off this season.

The next group of the shimmers is the non-red shades; we have a purple, champagne, and a bronze shade.  The first shade is named Pepe's Purple Passion, a very deep warm plum shade that contains a fine gold shimmer to make the shade more interesting.  I love this shade, it is very unique and this one will be great for the fall and winter months.  This might be my favorite shade of the collection and I will be trying this out.  Designer...de Better is the next of the shimmer shades.  This one is the champagne shimmer that I described in the beginning of this paragraph.  In pictures,  it is a champagne base with very sparkly coppery shimmer.  It looks too warm for my skintone, if it was a champagne with a silver shimmer then I would be all over this shade but since it is a warm than I have to skip over it.  The last of the shimmer shades is Warm and Fozzie, a deep shimmering copper.  This one borders between gold and bronze and is absolutely beautiful in pictures.  Sadly, this shade is not for me since it is very warm and would be awful for my skintone, this is another one that I wish was cooler toned and I would be all over it.

The shimmers were the more wearable part of this collection, the glitters are bright and funky and totally unwearabe in any professional environment.  One group of these are the more traditional holiday shades, we have some reds and pinks and the other group are bright colors that remind me of The Muppets themselves.  Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is a clear base with lots of big red glitter pieces in it, it looks great in the bottle but the pictures of it when applied are not quite as lovely.  I prefer red glitters that are more like China Glaze's Ruby Pumps, a red base with red shimmer/glitter mixed right into the formula.  I will skip over this one and just keep using my bottle of Ruby Pumps.  Excuse Moi! is a red-pink even though it looks more pink in many lights.  This is a bright pink base shade with lots of multicolored glitter in it and I just love this shade.  The color base with the glitter in it looks so much nicer than just suspending glitter in a clear base, I will be buying this shade very soon. 

The rest of the glitters are all the more unusual of the O.P.I. shades.  Divine Swine is a warm plum with a bit of a reddish cast.  This is another polish that has a clear base and glitter suspended in it.  The glitter is both plum and silver, with the silver being a much larger size than the plum.  Gone Gonzo is a bright glitter that will also work very well in the summer months.  This is yet another shade with a clear base and bright blue glitter pieces in it, the glitter is a very pretty color and I would love the color if it was the base color and the color of the glitter.  The name of the next polish is my favorite, Fresh Frog of Bel-Air, O.P.I. does a great job naming their polishes and bringing some fun to the salon.  It is a shame that I don't like this shade more since I would giggle everytime that I used the polish.  This polish is a clear base with bright kelly green glitter pieces in it, I would love this polish to use next St. Patrick's Day but I have a feeling that I would need to layer it over another shade.  The last polish of the collection is Rainbow Connection and this one looks very much like Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday shade.  It is a clear base with chunks of multicolored glitter in it, I see shades of blues, reds, greens, silvers, purples, and several other shades.  I only need one shade that looks like this and I will be sticking with my bottle of Happy Birthday since I am quite pleased with it already.

I love the tie-in with The Muppets movie but I am sad that I will be skipping over most of this collection, I really like only two of the shades.  I like one from each of the finishes, a shimmer and a glitter.  From the shimmer finishes, I love the plum shade with the gold shimmer it, Pepe's Purple Passion.  It is so pretty and unique and I will get lots of use from it.  The glitter shade that I like is one of the few that isn't a clear base with glitter suspended in it, that finish just kills most of the glitter shades for me and will cause me to skip over a huge part of the collection.  I want the Excuse Moi! shade, I love the pink and the glitter combination. 

photo courtesy of OPI