Is the glass half full or half empty

Hello my dears,

People say you are either an opimist or a pessimist. I don't believe in that and think we are both. It all really depends on our mood and the people we are friends with.

Do optimism and pessimism have their corresponding colors? I don't think so and don't know how Essie came up with such a silly name. Eternal optimist...they could have done much better for such a pretty polish.
This typically is a color I would have steered away from a while back, and I don't know what is getting in to me these days but I'm becoming attracted to colors I used to flee. Must be the rain, my mood or an overdose of Coptic texts.

Enough rambling. Aside from the silly name, this polish couldn't get any better. It's opaque in 2 coats, fast-drying, self-leveling and super shiny without a topcoat. What more could you ask for?

Do you ever go through phases where you tend to gravitate towards polishes that you used to think were just blah and boring?

Thanks for reading

Glitter craze - phase 2

I'm still craving glitter!

Here's my most recent discoball manicure featuring 2 coats of Mavala's Sweet (#397, a dusty peachy antique rose creme) as a base and 1 coat of LA Girls Glitter Addict in Inspire.

I love this! What do you think of it?

Thanks for reading

 

OPI's Lucky lucky lavendar. My lucky color?

Hi lacquer lovers,

I did something unusual yesterday, I bought a polish I was sure was going to look terrible on me but I was so attracted to it that I had to give it a shot. Boy am I glad I did. Ever since I polished my nails with it yesterday I can't stop staring at my fingers. Several people, total strangers, even asked me what shade I was wearing.

The polish in question is OPI's Lucky lucky lavendar. The name doesn't suit the shade as you can clearly see this polish is far from being lavendar toned. I'd say it's more a wild cherry blossom or a pink lilac.

The formula was great: 2 easy coats followed by Sèche Vite (no shrinkage).

What do you think of this polish?

Thanks for reading.

Nfu Oh 62

Hi lacquer lovers,

Today I lovely pink holo (prismatic) polish to show you: Nfu Oh's # 62.

I got this one a while back but wasn't able to wear it earlier due to it's high incompatibility with every basecoat I have...

I tried all of mine and nothing, absolutely nothing worked, resulting in a very hectic streaky lumpy bald patch polish mess! I even attempted layering it over another polish and had disastrous results...

Apparently you are supposed to use a special basecoat with these (i.e. Aqua basecoat), fact that I was unaware of when I ordered my Nfu Oh bottles.

This is ridiculous! You should be able to wear any polish with any basecoat! Oh utopia!

Anyway, I found a solution: no basecoat at all. I applied 3 coats here and had absolutely no issues or problems with the awkward formula. No topcoat either, I was afraid of spoiling the holo effect.

So for all of you who are having trouble with Nfu Oh holos, don't wear a basecoat and your problem will be solved!

Have a nice day!

Photo 1:  Artificial lighting, no flash.

Photo 2:  Artificial lighting, no flash.

Photo 3:  Artificial lighting, no flash.

Photo 4:  Artificial lighting, no flash.

Photo 5:  Daylight (cloudy day, mid PM)

Essie's Topless and barefoot

Hello all you polish lovers out there!

Yay it's Friday! I don't know about you but I had a great day: work, then some roller skating in the park and finally I went to pick my niece up at kidergarten with my boyfriend. I love picking her up from kindergarten, she's just the cutest little girl I've ever seen and is so sweet and funny. She always notices my polish and prefers when I'm wearing one of my many polka dot manis. Let's just hope she doesn't get too interested in makeup yet. I don't know about you but I believe kids shouldn't be wearing any makeup at all. I'm a teacher as you might know and see young girls (8-13 yrs) with lots of makeup on and it just doesn't look or feel right. I'm a firm believer that childhood is sacred and that kids should be kids. They'll have plenty of time to wear makeup when they are a bit older. 

Sorry for the little excursus, let's get back on track here!

For my NOTD I used Essie's Topless and barefoot, an opaque dusty light pink with nude-ish and very subtle lavendar and magenta undertones. I'm sure you guys already know this polish but I love it's color and felt like sharing it with you even though you can find thousands of swatches of it on the web. The color is very similar to OPI's Bare it in Trafalgar Square that I swatched a while ago.

Topless and Barefoot's formula wasn't great: a bit thick and streaky even after having added some thinner. I had to apply 3 coats to even out the streaks and bald patches and ended up with the polish looking too thick on my nails... I hope it was just my bottle. Anyways, I really like the color here! Once again it's one of those hard to describe lacquers that looks different on everyone.

To help my polish dry and smooth it's surface even more, I used Sèche Vite and didn't notice any shrinkage.

Have a nice Friday!

Photo 1:   Picture taken outdoors (late PM).

Photo 2:   taken indoors in artificial lighting (no flash).

OPI's Tickle my France-Y (# NL F16)

Hello polish lovers!

I hope your week started out well. Mine did :)

For my NOTD I wanted something nude-ish with a bit more color. I looked through my collection and hesitated between a few polishes and finally made up my mind for Tickle my Francey, a soft rosewood pink with mauve and fleshy undertones.

I really like this polish. It has the perfect formula which means it isn't too thin or thick, doesn't streak or make any bubbles and dries quickly to an opaque finish. I used three coats because I really dislike VNL but am sure you could get away with two coats.

For my topcoat I used Sèche Vite and am happy to say that there was absolutely no shrinkage! Yay!

Thanks for reading and have a nice Tuesday!

All three pictures were taken in natural daylight (early PM).

OPI's Step Right Up! (#NL F28)

Hello lovelies!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. Mine was pretty lousy as I was sick (caught a cold on Thursday). Well I'm feeling much better today and was glad to start off my week at work.

For my beginning of the week mani I chose something a bit classic as I have a meeting with my boss tomorrow. I just couldn't go to work with the very bright green polish I had on Sunday! I wanted a light pink but nothing that cries bubblegum or Barbie so I opted for OPI's Step Right Up, a whitish creamy pink. 

This polish is sheer if you apply 1 coat but I chose to do 3 to get a more opaque finish. The formula was fine. No streaks, clumps or irregularities in sight! Yay!

Sorry for the messy cuticle lines on a few of my nails, I was a bit messy today and took the photos before I had time to clean my lines!

Thanks for reading!

All the pictures were taken in artificial lighting, without flash.

 

• Base:   Revlon's calcium hardener (2 coats)
• Top:    Sèche Vite (1 coat)

Van D'Go + Glitter-flakie + matte topcoat = Smile + Summer + Obsessive nail staring!

Hi,

For todays mani, I felt like doing something summery and girly as the sun finally came back, so I used Essie's Van D'Go that I Barbied up a bit with a glitter-flakie polish, then finally added a matte topcoat for a modern and polished look.

As you surely know, Van D'Go is an opaque peachy pink milky shade. The fomula on this polish was good but rather on the thick side (nothing alarming because the polish doesn't streak and dries evenly). But like all the Essie polishes I've tried, it doesn't bubble, goes on smoothly and dries quickly.

As to the glitter polish I used (Cover Girl's Boundless color nail sparkle topcoat in Pink Twinkle #420), it is amazing! It's a mix of different shaped holographic glitters (square and hex.) and flakes in a very sheer pink jelly type base (the base color is very similar to Essie's Pink Glove Service). 

I picked it up the other day at my local supermarket and really don't regret it! The only negative point of this polish is that it lacks shine; you really need to apply a shiny topcoat to get sparkly nails, or go matte with special topcoat. I like Essie's Matte About You and Essence's Matte topcoats but will probably try the Chanel one as soon as the ones I have are finished. For this mani I used Essie's Matte About You topcoat.

I hope you don't mind the numerous photos; I felt like showing you the different phases of this mani and really wanted you to see the flakie effect...that is most obvious on photos 7 and 8.

Have a nice day!

Photo 1:   Van D'Go, artifial lighting.

Photo 2:   Van D'Go, artifial lighting.

Photo 3:   Van D'Go, artifial lighting.

Photo 4:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle, artifial lighting.

Photo 5:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle, artifial lighting.

Photo 6:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle, artifial lighting.

Photo 7:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle + Matte About You, artifial lighting.

Photo 8:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle + Matte About You, artifial lighting.

China Glaze's Pool Party

Hi,

Here's China Glaze's Pool Party, a neon that's pretty hard to describe. I'd say a mix of neon red, orange and pink. 

As all neon's do, Pool Party dries to a semi matte finish. You can leave it like that but I really prefer applying a topcoat which smoothes the streaks that most neons leave and gives your polish a high gloss shine.

The pictures don't do this color justice, although photos 2 + 3 give you a pretty good idea of what this polish really looks like. Believe me, it's one of the most vibrant neons I've ever seen. 

Can polish get any brighter?

Enjoy! 

Photo 1:   Artificial light, no flash.

Photo 2:   Artificial light, with flash.

Photo 3:   Natural daylight, no flash.

Opaque light pink comparison

Hi,

While I was painting my nails with OPI's Mod about you, I was thinking of doing a little comparison of several opaque light pinks I own, such as:

• China Glaze's Something sweet
• China Glaze's Go go pink
• Essie's Fiji

Photo 1:  #1: Essie's Fiji, #2: OPI's Mod about you 

Photo 2:   #2: China Glaze's Go go pink, #3: China Glaze's Something sweet

These pinks all seem very similar, which is pretty true, but they are far from being identical.

Fiji is by far the warmest of them all, and Mod about you is the coolest and the one that has the most white in it. Go go pink and Something sweet are the ones that are the closest in color. The only real difference is that Go go pink is warmer whereas Something sweet has lavandar undertones, but not as much as Mod about you.

Application wise, I must say that these China Glaze polishes apply well but have a tendancy in letting bubbles form, which is not so much a problem since I got Sèche Vite topcoat. Fiji goes on like butter.

Have a nice day!

OPI Mod about you

Hi,

As promised, here is a picture of OPI's Mod about you, a beautiful opaque in 2 coats pastel bubble gum pink with hints of magenta and lavendar in it. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, this color is on the thick side and is rather difficult to apply. The first coat is pretty streaky and you really need to apply your second coat as thinly as possible. 

I didn't wait for the second layer of polish to dry before gently stroking on my Sèche Vite topcoat, which eliminated every single little bubble that was starting to appear. I love that topcoat!

Photo 1:   Natural daylight, outside (late afternoon) 

Photo 2:   Natural daylight, inside (late afternoon) 

Photo 3:   Inside, with flash

Have a nice day!

OPI Pirates collection

I know you guys surely already know/own this great OPI collection, but I love it so much and just wanted to share some of my preferred colors with you. Note the matte topcoat (Essence) on Sparrow me the drama and Skull and Glossbones.

Photo 1:   Skull and Glossbones with a matte topcoat (Essence), a beigey grey.

Photo 2:   Sparrow me the drama (a dusty bubblegum pink with lavendar undertones) with a coat of China Glaze's Fairy dust (fine holographic glitter) on my ring finger + matte topcoat

Photo 3:   Stranger tides, a murky light imperial jade green + China Glaze's Fairy dust on ring finger

Photo 4:    Steady as she rose (a light rosy and dusty lavandar with greyish undertones) + OPI Teenage dream (pink metallic base with multicolored and holographic glitter) from the Katy Perry collection.

Photo 5:   Mermaid's tears, a gorgeous turquoisy dusty green with bluish undertones. 

Enjoy!