OPI DS Sapphire

 

 

There is something about the old OPI Designer Series that makes me all happy inside :D must be that holographic rainbow goodness. My skin goes all kinds of crazy colours against different nail polishes in pictures, I apologize. This is 3 coats of OPI DS Sapphire <3 quite a sheer polish, so I'm thinking I need to try it layered. Never enough holos :3

OPI Purple with a Purpose + OPI Can't you Sea?

 

I wanted to see if I could make any use of OPI Can't you Sea? - a super sheer, watery polish with tiny microflakes that reflect blue, green and gold tones. On it's own it looks terrible! I added two coats of Can't You Sea? over two coats of OPI Purple with a Purpose. It does look much better on top of another colour but it is still too sheer and underwhelming to impress me. Purple with a Purpose has great formula. I wouldn't call it muted or dusty, but isn't the brightest of purples. There is also a tiny amount of magenta shimmer in there, but sorry OPI after using Zoya Mimi this doesn't come close to being a fave purple :)

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe

This is Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe from the Beyond the Mistletoe Holiday 2011 Collection. I purchased all of the 6 glitters from this collection, and this one was the least coverage, taking 3 coats to get to this stage and it is still patchy in areas. It is a little hard to apply evenly as the glitter is thick, and dries very gritty as you can see. But still, it is a beautiful glitter that makes me a little happier just by looking at it. There is mainly light blue glitter with a hint of green to it, and a good amount of vibrant holographic glitter all in a clear base. The dry time is great. Beyond the Mistletoe looks nice layered over a creme, and the lasting time is also much better. Worn alone the glitter tends to chip easily as it is thick on the nails. Overall, while it isn't my favourite glitter, it is a beauty anyway :) 

Essie Smooth Sailing

This is Essie Smooth Sailing from the Summer 2011 Braziliant Collection. It is a beautiful periwinkle blue. It has plenty of silver shimmer through it, which looks like very small flakes. In the bottle the shimmer gives off just a hint of light pinkish purple and blue, but this doesn't translate well onto the nail. Though the colour is unique and pretty I am not a fan of it on me, I found it was aging on my pale skin. The formula is smooth and easy to use, and is opaque in two coats. Any uneven areas are my own fault :) I am used to using the wide OPI brushes instead of Essie's thin brushes. Whenever I use a different brand of nail polish I always love coming back to OPI's easy to use brushes. I have to say though, every Essie nail polish I have used has been top notch on formula and I am a fan of their bottles :)

Nicole by OPI Lets get Star-ted over Revlon Blue Lagoon

I love the colour of Revlon Blue Lagoon - but the formula lets it down. After three coats it was still a bit steaky and uneven, and the dry time wasn't the best. I would recommend taking your time to apply it and wait a few minutes between coats, and use a good base coat. Blue Lagoon has a shot of silver microglitter through it which is very pretty. If anyone knows of a dupe to BL with a better formula please let me know :) I wanted to try Nicole by OPI Lets get Star-ted over top, and it looks very cute. It has iridescent glitter and holographic light purple stars. They don't sit perfectly flat on my fingernails, but where they do sit flat (or on my toes) they last on the nail until taken off with nail polish remover. Otherwise I am too tempted to peel them off :)

OPI Simmer and Shimmer - One of my favourites

OPI Burlesque Collection 2010 is easily my favourite OPI Collection ever. All of the glitters are so yummy to look at. The formula gets a little thick as there is so much glitter packed in Simmer and Shimmer but it means it only needs 2-3 coats to be totally opaque. The multicoloured glitter makes it so much more interesting than just a plain blue glitter; there is a big sprinkle of silver, a little red, orange, magenta, green and gold glitter in here. This goes on well if you use a base coat that is matte like NailTek Foundation. OPI glitters are brilliant. Love love love :)

Milani Cyberspace

The Milani 3D Holographic Collection is a hit for me. They are so cheap and they look awesome. Easy formula to apply with 2 - 3 smooth coats. They remind me of My Little Pony :) super sparkley and pretty!

Zoya Charla

I love this nail polish :) on a very pale person like me it looks great in reality and I can imagine it looks beautiful on tan people as well. And of course it reminds everyone of mermaids! It took 3 coats as it is not very opaque, but the coats go on smooth and dry quickly so it is no hassle :) also Charla looks great for a pedicure. From the Zoya Sparkle Collection - well worth buying!

ORLY Royal Navy

ORLY Royal Navy is a must have :) I love how super bright it is, it gets so many compliments! It wasn't fully opaque on me after 3 coats so next time I would wear a nail foundation. The only problem I had was the tiny blue glitter settles in areas of the bottle and is very hard to get it to move from there, so there wasn't much that came out. I shaked and shaked and left it for a bit but didn't want to move! Did any of you find that? Otherwise it is a top colour and love it :)

OPI Absolutely Alice

OPI Absolutely Alice is perfect >.< that is all you need to know. One of my faves :) this is 2 coats without top coat and it dries nicely. I love the gold glitter amongst the blue it looks beautiful :) the colours of Alice's hair and her dress. It was worth paying more for this one. It looks great in person too, a real compliment maker and I would wear it all the time if I wasn't scared of it running out. Snatch it up if you can find it! From the OPI Alice in Wonderland Collection :)

China Glaze Skyscraper

Skyscraper is a brilliant glitter from the Metro 2011 collection :) all the China Glaze glitters I have tried I have loved. It looks multidimensional because of the different shades of colour, the base is navy and jellyish, and then there is loads of blue and silver glitter. I love the Metro collection, they are all modern and fashionable colours. I want all of them >.<

This was 2 coats no top coat. It did start chipping after a day with OPI Skip Chip and base coat but without top coat, so do use top coat if you want it to last. I'm terrible with glitter, I love it but once it starts chipping I pick it off. >.> *ahem* OPI Burlesque glitters...

ORLY Sweet Peacock from Birds of a Feather Collection

I love this! It is a super bright blue, brighter than these pictures. The formula is amazing, it is a one coater :) There is the smallest hint of green in this blue. I got a lot of compliments on this as it is really bright and looks amazing in light. I would love if ORLY had other colours in this finish - let me know if they do! I would definately wear this on a night out with a nice black dress :) Chipping time was pretty average. It doesn't make me look so lobster in real life either ;) It's not a unique colour and finish for a nail polish, but it is a keeper!

OPI The "It" Color with Blue Shatter

I have always loved OPIs Black Shatter nail polish and pairing it with yellow so I thought I'd try yellow with the Blue Shatter they have. I love the way the Blue crackles, it is more similar to the Black shatter than the Silver one. Big and bold chunks. OPI The "it" color (above on its own) is a bright yellow a little similar to OPI Need Sunglasses? But a bit more mustard and a little darker. It takes 3 or 4 coats for me on both yellows to get it completely opaque. I'd like to find a yellow that is a 2 coater :)

Here is OPI Need Sunglasses? for comparison

much brighter :)