OPI Stranger Tides

I shouldn't love this one as much as I do. It gives me red-hands, and it's not a particular pretty color, but that doesn't stop me from being madly in love with it.  I can't really tell you why.  It's an odd, slightly dirty, artichokey green creme.  However, the formula is fantastic and the application was flawless.  Plus, I like that the color is a bit of an odd duck.  It's not typically "me", but I do like it.  LOTS.

Stranger Tides is from OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection that was released earlier this year.  This has been out for several months and OPI's polishes retail for around $8.50.

This was sent to me for review

Nicole By OPI Something About Color Target Exclusive collection Review (Fall Colors)

Back in March, I showed you the Nicole by OPI Spring Target exclusives.  Well, they have come out with 4 additions to this collection for Fall 2011. 

FYI, I got a new camera, a Canon SD1400IS, and I am still trying to work out some growing pains, so I'm sorry if these pictures are sub-par.

Cherry Much In Love - bright cherry red, glass flecked shimmer.  This one is beautiful.  The base was a little jelly-ish, so the glass flecks kind of suspended in the base.  I had no issues with application and the formula, was great, though a little thin.  Three coats

Green Up Your Act - dusty, greyed olive creme.  I struggled with this one.  I swear, I swatched it twice and took a gazillion pictures and I still wasn't satisfied.  The color is definitely unique.  It's not a traditional camo green, or an olive green for that matter, it seemed to have a lot of blue/grey in the base.  It also had a dustiness to it.  I struggled with the formula, as it seemed a bit goopy to me.  Picture is 3 coats, and I had an issue with drag, so it looks lumpy in places.

It's Not Me, It's Blue - Grey/blue metallic shimmer base with purple microshimmer.  This one is amazing.  I saw it at my local Target, and I immediately fell in love.  I promply came home and put it on my nails.  It's very similar to Sounds Grape to Me, it terms of formula and finish, and it feels almost like a foil.  It also has a beautiful purple shimmer that will pop when you turn your hand (there is also some golden shimmer, as well).  The formula was thin, so I did have to use 3 coats, but they dried quickly, so no issues.  Also, this picture was taken with my old camera, so that's why it seems a bit different.

Sounds Grape to Me - Deep purple/burgundy shimmer base with golden shimmer particles.  This one was very reminiscent of OPI Tease-y Does It or Zoya Valerie, but unlike Tease-y Does It, this one didn't seem muddy.  I think this one is my favorite of the 4.  The color is practically mesmerizing.  Formula was good and it reached opacity at 2 coats.

All in all, I like this little addition to Nicole by OPI's Target collection.  Green Up Your Act does seem to be the odd duck, but those of you that like dusty, ugly-pretty colors, will love it.  Also, and this may just be because my were press samples, but only Green Up Your Act had Nicole's new brush, and that's perfectly fine with me.  However, if you are a fan of their new brush, be sure to check your bottles at Target to see if they have them.

These are at Target now and retail for around $7 each.

these were sent to me for review

Nubar Holiday Jewel Basket

Nubar is a brand that I have never had the chance to try. I've thought about placing an order here and there and never got around to it. So, when I got the opportunity to try their new Holiday 2010 collection, Holiday Jewel Basket, I was more than a little excited.

Per Nubar's website and PR materials, Holiday Jewel Basket is their most discounted collection. The cost is $49.95. It contains nine total bottles, which breaks down to 1 creme, 4 glitters, 2 glitter/flake topcoats, and 2 treatments. That's $5.55 a bottle. The set also comes with an adorable wire and bead hinged basket, which would be perfect for holding cotton pads or q-tips. Unfortunately, mine was swiped by my 4-year daughter as a bed for her stuffed kitten, and I can't seem to find it, so I don't have a picture of it. BTW, it makes a great bed for a Beanie Baby. ;)

Normally when I post a collection, I post the colors in alphabetical order, as that's how I label the pictures. However, as this one has several distinct groupings, I'm going to break it up by finish.


















Competition Red - Pin-up red creme. The lone creme in the collection, this one is a classic red creme, but it's also got a touch of brown in the base. As it's pretty basic, there's not much to say. Formula was perfect. Pic is 2 coats.

Gold Glitter - Dense, fine, bright yellow-gold glitter in a clear base. I love the gold in this one. As I've been using the term "old gold" lately as a descriptor for several golden polishes, I almost wanted to use the term "new gold" for this one. The gold is very bright and clear. It doesn't work with my skin, however. Hence the redness around my nails. The application on this one was great. Because the glitter is so dense in the base, it only took 3 coats to reach opacity, and it was actually more like 2 coats and then a thin, third coat to cover a few bald spots.

Grass Green Glitter - Slightly-chunky green and gold glitter in a clear base. The application on this one was not as smooth as Gold Glitter. It took 4 coats to reach opacity, and on the last coat, I had to "place" the glitter in places. It was also a bit rougher in texture than Gold Glitter, and the 2 glitters to follow, but I evened it out pretty quickly with a coat of Nubar Diamont. All that said, I love this color. I know Emerald Sparkle is the holiday green glitter, but I have to say, if you want a brighter green for your holiday manicure, definitely check out Grass Green Glitter. Also, I absolutely love the pops of gold in this glitter. It makes me think of a field of grass scattered with dandelions.

Red Ruby Glitz - Fine red glitter in a red jelly base. This one just screams HOLIDAY to me. This is 3 coats, though in terms of opacity, I could have been okay with 2. However, the glitter in this one is very fine, so it "floats" in the jelly base, which means it adds dimension with each coat. Of all the 4 glitters in this collection, this one had the best application. If practically flowed on the nail.

Silver Glitter - Bright silver glitter in a clear base. This is the silver equivalent to Gold Glitter. It's very bright and has a ton of shine. Normally with silver glitter, I find it rather boring and flat, unless of course, it contains holo glitter. However, this was not the case with this polish. I was parrakeeting my nails like crazy. The formula and application were identical to Gold Glitter. Pic is 2+ coats (meaning 2 with a thin third coat in places to cover thin spots).

2010 - Thick clear base with red-based multi-chrome, rainbow flakes. I wanted to show you this one, and Pixie Dust (below) on naked nails, as well as on a dark base (but these are definitely meant for layering). This one, I had trouble coming up with a descriptor. I don't own many flakes, so I hope I did it justice. Basically, the flakes in this one change from red to orange to golden with a bit of green thrown in (much like the flakes in Barielle Elle's Spell). They almost look like flames. From what I gather, 2010 is a dupe to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (which I have yet to see in person, much less own). I liked before, and then I put it over the black base and... wow. It was beautiful. This is 2 coats on both the naked nails and the black nail.

Pixie Dust - Very fine, iridescent silver, blue, green, and purple shimmer suspended in a thick clear base. This is one of those polishes that you have to see in person to fully appreciate. There's something almost ethereal about it. In the bottle, it looks like swirls of fine snow and it's practically on mesmerizing. It's equally beautiful on the nail, and I think it would look amazing over any of colors in the shimmer particles (silver, blue, green, and purple). Pic is 2 coats on all nails.

This set also contained Diamont, a thick top coat, and Nubar's Foundation Nail Base Coat. In this review, I used Diamont over Grass Green Glitter and Silver Glitter. I have yet to use the Base Coat, as I like to give treatments a more thorough review. I plan on using the Base Coat over the next few days, along with Diamont, and I will report back in a separate post.

All in all, I must say I'm impressed with this gift set/collection, as well as with NubarNubar, but nonetheless, I love it. I've already created a small wishlist of Nubars I want to try in the future. :)

Nubar's Holiday Jewel Basket is available at their website, bynubar.com.

These were sent to me for review

OPI Shrek Forever After Collection

I just received this one a few hours ago, and even though I was in the process of swatching the new Nina Ultra Pro collection, I stopped what I was doing and started swatching these. I have to say, it was totally worth it.

Before I start the review, let me just say that the entire time I was swatching the collection, I kept singing the Fairy Godmother’s rendition of “Holding Out for a Hero” from Shrek 2.  Love that song.  :)

On to the swatches...

Funky Donkey is a straight-up bright, medium purple crème and probably, aside from Rumple’s Wiggin, the most mainstream of the colors. It’s very reminiscent of last year’s RBL Mismas, or ChG Grape Pop from this year’s Up and Away Collection. I don’t own Mismas, but I will be sure to compare it to Grape Pop when I do my comp post later in the week. I know the nail polish world went from zero colors of this kind to three within 9-10 months, and if you ask me… that’s just fine. LOL. This one applied perfectly and was opaque in 2 coats.

What’s With the Cattitude? Is a pale blue crème, but beyond that, I was finding some difficulty describing it. Unlike the picture, it does not lean aqua.  Bottle color is the most true-to-life.  It’s not a baby blue. It’s not a robin’s egg blue, and it’s not a watery blue (though the formula is watery, but more on that in a bit). There’s a dustiness to it that I was having a hard time putting into words, other than to say it’s a dusty pale blue. Then I happened to find this on Crayola’s website, and when I put my nail up to my computer screen, What’s With the Cattitude? was the same shade as Crayola Blue Bell. I love this color. I can’t wait to use it as a full mani. As for the formula, well it was typical for being a pastel OPI. It was a little watery and as my nails are short, I had to use thin coats, as I had nowhere for excess polish to go. It was opaque in 3 coats, however, you may want to let these dry a little more than usual in-between coats as I did have a bit of drag. That said, while it’s more difficult to work with than the darker shades in this collection, it is a must for any blue lover. Plus, Puss in Boots is probably my favorite character from the Shrek series, so I love it even more for the name.

Rumple’s Wiggin is a pale purple crème and unlike the other big pale purple from this year, ChG Light as Air, this one does not lean pink. It reminds me of this color of lilacs. Finding the perfect pale purple has always been a quest for me, and I think Rumple’s Wiggin finally ends my quest. If you read my review of ChG’s Up and Away collection, you may recall that I mentioned Light as Air may be my Holy Grail pale purple. I still like Light as Air, but I think this color has taken its throne. As for formula and application, it was a little easier to apply than What’s With the Cattitude? but it was still rather thin. It took 3 coats to reach opacity, but it didn’t require babying like What’s With the Cattitude?















Fiercely Fiona is a pale yellow crème, but it’s not a pale lemon or a banana pudding yellow, like the other 2 pale yellows, ChG Lemon Fizz and Orly Lemonade, I reviewed this year. This one is a true yellow-green. Even with Who the Shrek are You? Being a bright, swampy green, I think this one is the most unusual of the collection. If I was asked to use one word to describe this color, I would say “tart”. I was all set to say this one applied the easiest of the 3 light shades in this collection and then it took 4 coats to reach complete opacity. The formula was good, though. It wasn’t at all watery, like What’s With the Cattitude?. Also, I thought this one would make my hands look dirty, but it didn’t. Bonus!

Ogre-the-Top Blue is a bright royal blue crème. In my pics, it leans a bit aqua, but it is a true-blue, IRL. It reminds me of ChG Sky-High Top from the Custom Kicks collection from summer 2009, though they aren’t dupes. Ogre-the-Top Blue is a bit lighter and brighter than Sky-High Top. Also, Sky-High Top has subtle shimmer, whereas Ogre-the-Top Blue is a true crème. If you compare it within the collection, you could say it’s the blue version of Funky Donkey… highly pigmented and very shiny. I love this color, and though it’s a hard call, I have to say this one is my favorite. Application was practically effortless. It was opaque in 2 coats.

Who the Shrek are You? is a bright lime green crème, and there is really no way to accurately describe this other than calling it a Shrek-green. It is truly the color of Shrek in nail polish form. It’s super shiny as well, like the other brights in this collection. Unlike the other brights, however, this one was a little more challenging to apply. It took 3 thin coats to reach opacity and was a tad streaky until the third coat. Also, I thought this one, like Fiercely Fiona would make my hands look dirty and red, but surprisingly, it did not.

The one thing I will say, is while I love OPI’s names, some of these were not meant to be taken literally. Just reading the names and knowing the characters on which they are based, you would expect What’s With the Cattitude? to be an bright yellow orange and Funky Donkey to be a medium grey.

OPI Shrek Forever After is OPI’s bright contribution for summer 2010. Compared to some movie/tv show tie-in collection in the past, this one is the best yet, though I do have undying love for the glitters in the Alice in Wonderland collection. There are 4 in this collection that I see myself wearing on a regular basis (both blues and purples), one that I would only wear if I were going to see Shrek Forever (Who the Shrek are You?), and one I couldn’t see myself wearing at all, but I can appreciate it for what it is (Fiercely Fiona). On the whole, the formula was a bit hit-or-miss. Both Funky Donkey and Ogre-the-Top Blue had effortless application and a perfect formula. The other 4 were a little harder to handle, with What’s With the Cattitude? being the most difficult. However, there’s not a single one that I would say to shy away from based on formula. Like I mentioned Fiercely Fiona and Who the Shrek are You? aren’t my style, but they are beautiful colors and, as far as I know, dupeless. All-in-all, I love this collection. I think OPI hit it out of the park with this one. It’s fun, bright, and perfect for summer. OPI Shrek Forever After is supposed to launch in May 2010, but I’ve read of a few people already finding it online and at beauty suppliers.

These were sent to me for review.

Misa Dirty Sexy Money comps

In an effort to help some of you squash the lemming that is Misa DSM, I did a couple of comparision swatches.  Unfortunately, IMO, lemmings will failed to be killed with these pictures, but they are good for comparision's sake nonetheless.

First up... DSM and Orly Gumdrop. 

Gumdrop on index and ring, DSM on middle and pinky

In the bottle Gumdrop looks very similar to DSM, albeit a little lighter.  However, that does not translate to the nail.  While Gumdrop has the same dustyness as DSM, the colors are nowhere near close. 

So then I decided to try DSM with OPI Jade is the New Black.

JitNB on index and ring, DSM on middle and pinky

Unlike with Gumdrop, the colors themselves are closer, however, JitNB is deeper and more vibrant and doesn't have the dusty/dirty-ness of DSM.

If you are dying for DSM, and don't want to pay $13 for it on eBay, you can consider getting JitNB or Gumdrop, but I don't think it's going to fix the lemming.  Sadly, DSM is d/c'd and sold out most everywhere, though a quick search found it on eBay (as previously mentioned) and at Misa's website, though you have to create an account to see the price (though IIRC, it's $7).

Hopefully, this has helped someone a wee bit, though I doubt it.  LOL

Orly Sweet Collection (well 2/3rds)

I posted the press release for this collection back in December.  Many bloggers received samples of this shortly thereafter, so I figured I was out of luck, until Orly's PR firm asked me a few weeks ago if I'd be interested in trying some from the collection.  As luck would have it, I'd already picked up Gumdrop and Snowcone, and I even posted about Snowcone last month. 

Orly sent me another Snowcone as well as Lemonade and Cotton Candy.  As I already had Gumdrop, I figured I'd include it as well.  As I do not have the other 2, Lollipop and Pixie Stick, so this is 2/3rds of the Sweet Collection.  :P

Here are the pics...

Lemonade - pale yellow.  This is pretty close to ChG's new pale yellow, Lemon Fizz.  the formulas are very similar as well.  I compared both of them for an upcoming comp post and they were both streaky until 3 coats.  It was also a little hard to control, but as was the ChG.  If you want a pale lemon yellow, this one (or Lemon Fizz) would fit the bill.

Cotton Candy - pale peachy pink.  This is a beautiful color in the bottle, and it's one that doesn't have any dupes in the Up and Away collection.  Unfortunately, this didn't work with my skin.  Most pinks look good on me, but if they have too much peach/orange in them, all they do is make my hands look dirty.  This one was also problematic with formula and application.  It too 3 coats to reach opacity and it was streaky and hard to handle.

Gumdrop - dusty pale turquoise.  Another one with no dupes in U&A.  Though, in the bottle it is very similar to Misa DSM, and IMO, more appropriate for spring than DSM.  This one and Snowcone will have to duke it out for best of this collection.  It's a gorgeous pale green-blue turquoise.  It reminds me of seafoam green, but it's no where near mint green.  Unlike the previous 2, this one had awesome formula and application.  It was opaque in 2 coats and practically flowed on my nails.  Someome remind me to do a comp with this one and DSM.  I know many people are jonesing for DSM and this one may kill a lemming for some of you.

Snowcone - pale blue.  Almost like a pale cornflower blue.  This pic, like in my previous post is a little too vibrant to be true-to-life.  The color on my index and pinky are the most accurate.  Again, no dupes in U&A.  Like Gumdrop, the formula and application were perfect... 2 coats and no issues.

I'm torn on this collection, well the 4 that I reviewed.  Lemonade and Cotton Candy, while pretty, were frustrating.  However, Gumdrop and Snowcone are both beautiful and effortless.  If you like blues and greens, do not hesitate to pick up Gumdrop and Snowcone.  If you are pale and pink like me, Cotton Candy should be a pass, and if you are looking for a pale yellow, check out ChG Lemon Fizz before Lemonade, though if you would rather get Lemonade, keep in mind that it's a lovely pale yellow, just hard to control.

Snowcone, Cotton Candy, and Lemonade were sent to me for review

Random NOTD

This was my St. Patrick's Day mani that I never got around to posting.  I've been dealing with a lot of stuff surrounding my son, so I rarely have time to paint my nails and post anymore (though I've figured out a new strategy to always have new posts).  I only mention that because I wore this to my son's ped's office on St. Patrick's day and his nurse commented that she liked my nails.  :)

This is ChG Four Leaf Clover (keep in mind, it's a kelly green) and a fauxnad stamp in ChG Emerald Sparkle and 2 ChG from the "warm" Romantiques collection, but I can't tell you which ones.  Poetic and Passion, maybe?

I thought it was so fun, I couldn't not post it, even it is a month late.  LOL.