OPI DS Indulgence

HAPPY FRIDAY! I don't know about you guys but I am SUPER stoked this Friday. Why? My presentations are over. They weren't formal presentations or anything, more like standing in front of my poster and presenting to whoever walked up and asked me about my project, but it went on for five hours. Also, my lower back and I learned the importance of supportive shoes. Oy. Anyway, I am so relieved, and it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. So let's end the week with one of my new favorites.

OPI DS Indulgence was one of two Designer Series colors released in Fall 2012. The other was Luxurious, a fiery orange foil that is quite pretty, but not really my thing. Indulgence, on the other hand, is perfect.

This is three thin coats, with no top coat. Application was excellent, and I didn't even have to clean up!

That gold shimmer is even more spectacular in the sun.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm really excited about this. More Top 20 material!

Zoya Kimmy and Zoya Reva struck me as similar, but they seem more foil-like, and Reva is more berry/pink. I do like the Zoya foils I've tried, but out of the three I'd go with Indulgence, personally. If you're in Europe, check out P2 Hot Berry! Like Kimmy, it is more of a foil than Indulgence, but the gold shimmer looks nice and visible.

Have you tried either of the two OPI Designer Series from last fall? What do you think?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great weekend!

Zoya Valerie

Zoya Valerie was from the Fire and Ice collection released in Winter 2010/2011. It's a warm, dark purple foil. I've had this color for about 2 years, and I remember it being one of my favorites, especially for pedicures. Then again, I was also a huge purple fiend, and I seem to have cooled off of purples quite a bit. It's not an ugly color or anything, it's just not really my kind of color anymore, I guess. I will say though, that it is very opaque, which is definitely a good thing. 2 coats, plus top coat.

And in the sun:

The formula is weird though. Like I said, very opaque, but I noticed that if I don't let the first coat dry completely before starting the second, it got sort of lumpy. It also dries a bit more slowly than most other polishes I've tried, but not by a whole lot. And oddly enough, it seems to have a bit of an appetite for top coat? I mean, nothing like a glitter of course, but I initially used one coat and noticed that it sort of sunk in, so I added a second and it was perfect. Wasn't expecting that though. At least it's got interesting shimmer- in the shade, it's ever so slightly duochrome.

Like I said, very slight. But it's enough to add interest to the color.

I believe there are a few dupes, or at least colors that are very close to Valerie. Zoya Jem, for one thing. Why did Zoya release 2 colors that are so close? There are some subtle differences, but they're pretty much imperceptible to me, and I imagine they would look the same at arm's length. There's also Color Club Winter Affair, which is warmer, but still quite close.

Have you tried Zoya Valerie? What do you think?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Revlon Gold Coin + Orly Halo

Yaaaaay, I am free! My cast was originally supposed to come off four weeks ago, but my wrist was definitely not healed enough at that point, so I got a new one. Watch out for those skateboarders, y'all. I still have a bit of trouble with my right knee. :|

Picking up where I left off, here's Orly Halo. It's an awesome, flashy metallic glitter from the Naughty or Nice Collection that was released last winter. When I tested this on a single nail, I realized it's sheer as hell, so I opted to layer it over a cool gold foil: Revlon Gold Coin. I know I said I wasn't going to buy Gold Coin, but I didn't! I discovered it in my mom's stash. Apparently we both have weaknesses for gold and copper. :'D

Luckily, Gold Coin is really freaking opaque, so I only needed to use one coat for a base. Here it is with 3 coats of Halo on top. I did use top coat, but Halo is surprisingly smooth on its own.

And in the sun:

Yay! Sparkly metallic glittery awesomeness. This is a pretty flashy manicure, and I got several compliments on it from people, which was nice. Let's take a closer look:

Ok, well, you can't really see that much because it's so busy...but it's comprised of small silver hexes mixed with tiny cool gold glitters, and flecks of Gold Coin peeking out through the glitter. I should also note that the wear on this mani was great. 5 days, still super blingy, no chips or tipwear.

As far as dupes go, I can't think of any that I would consider exact, but OPI Spark de Triomphe seems pretty close. I think it has a veeeeery slight greenish tinge, but the glitter composition seems similar. I actually bought Halo to kill my Spark de Triomphe lemming, and it's close enough to suit my purposes.

Have you tried Halo, or any of the other Holiday Orlys? What did you think?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Color Club Wild & Willing

So, I've noticed that my experiences with polish tend to be pretty good, and as a result, I post mostly positive reviews here. Once in a while, however, I'll come across a polish that really. Freaking. Sucks. And it's a shame because fairly often, it happens to be an absolutely lovely color. Remember how I felt about Essie Penny Talk? Beautiful color, horrible formula. Yeah, that applies here too. Allow me to introduce to you, Color Club Wild & Willing, AKA the biggest pain in the rear I've used in a while. It was released in Fall 2009 with the Wild at Heart Collection. 5 coats, in direct sunlight:

5 coats, visible nail line, and bubbles. How nice. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

That color shift though! Sigh. Why do I love copper so much? And the color shift is so strong. That pinkish copper in the middle is the color you see most often, but it also shifts to pink, gold, and a greenish gold.

Next time I will definitely be layering this. Maybe I'll use a nude base, or Revlon Copper Penny. I've also had OPI Tease-y Does It suggested as a base color, so I might also try that? If I ever get around to it.

As terrible as the formula is, I love the color enough that I'll keep it. Have you ever tried Wild & Willing? Was it as bad as my experience? Any other recommendations for base colors?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Orly Halley's Comet

Orly Halley's Comet was released in Fall 2010 with the Cosmic FX collection. I've already shown you Galaxy Girl and Lunar Eclipse, and this is the last one I picked up. Like Galaxy Girl and Lunar Eclipse, I am smitten with this color, even if it is not the most unique. Here it is in the shade. 3 coats, plus top coat.

Yeah, 3 coats means it's pretty sheer, but because of the sheer base, you can see the shimmer very clearly. In indirect light:

Because the base is blue, the shimmer looks mostly greenish, but it is actually gold most of the time. I think it counts as a glass-fleck, but because the shimmer is so dense, it has foil-y qualities to it as well. In the sun:

This is one of my all-time favorite colors for pedicures. I love blues and teals on toes, especially in the summer, but it's a great pick-me-up in the middle of a particularly dreary winter.

As much as I love this color, I will freely admit that it is not unique. There are many versions available, including Zoya Charla (which I believe was the original), OPI Catch Me In Your Net (discontinued), Essence Choose Me!, and probably a few others that I can't think of right now.

How do you feel about these types of finishes and colors? Do you have a preference for color families when doing pedicures versus manicures?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Revlon Copper Penny

Revlon Copper Penny was released in Winter 2010 as part of the Heavenly Metal collection. There were 3 nail polishes in that collection, Copper Penny, Gold Coin, and Silver Dollar. I've already got a light, cool-toned gold foil, as well as a silver foil, so I passed on the other two. I'm quite glad that I chose to get this one though, because it's opaque in one coat. Yeah, one. In the shade:

Yeah, you can see a bit of the nail line on my ring fingernail, but really, it's negligible. In direct sun:

So cool! And the bits of shimmer are different colors. Of course, the main color is copper, but there are bits of silver and gold in there too. Really complex.

There are a lot of copper foils out there, but I can't think of any that are quite like this one.

I actually consider metallics to be my kind of neutral, so I'm always a bit surprised when I hear people say that metallics are super flashy or far too bold/daring a choice for them. I guess it's because in my experience, in South Asia and amongst Desi people here in the U.S., the most popular nail colors are gold, silver, and copper/bronze/rose gold. Aside from the typical pinks, reds, and browns of course!

Thoughts? Feelings? Is copper actually a low-key color choice for you, or am I just weird?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Purple & Gold Half-Moons

I wound up wearing Orly Luxe for a few days, and thought I'd try a half-moon mani. I figured, eh, I was planning to take it off anyway, so if I royally screw this up, no big deal. It wound up being...not as bad as I expected! I used China Glaze VIII for the tips.

VIII is a super opaque eggplant creme. It's nearly opaque in one coat, but the formula makes it tricky. It's globby and runny and a tad bit streaky, so I definitely needed that second coat to even things out. It was released in Fall 2007 with the X collection (intended to celebrate China Glaze's tenth anniversary, if memory serves).

I do love purple and gold together, but my half-moons could use some work. I used reinforcement labels, but I had some difficulty getting them to stick to my nails properly. In certain spots, VIII leaked under the labels, and in other areas, it smeared as I tried to remove the labels. Well, practice makes perfect right?

Have you ever attempted a half-moon manicure? Or any other sort of nail art? How'd that go down?

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Orly Luxe

Orly Luxe, like Shine, was released as part of the Foil FX collection. There is a third color in the collection, a rose gold foil called Rage, but I don't like rose gold at all, so I didn't bother with that one. This is 2 coats of Luxe, no top coat, in the shade.

I prefer Luxe to Shine because of the opacity. It does need 2 coats for full opacity, but if I'm in a rush I can get away with one coat. Here it is in the sunlight:

It's a nice gold; not too cool and not too warm, so it should be flattering to many different skin tones.

I don't feel that this polish is terribly unique, but can't really think of any dupes off the top of my head either. I think Revlon Gold Coin is similar, but not quite the same.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and have a great week!

Orly Shine

Orly Shine was released as part of the Foil FX collection for Spring 2010. It's a plain and simple silver foil, but it's a good one. 2 coats, no top coat.

Apparently the Foil FX polishes were supposed to emulate the look of Minx, and Orly failed miserably in that respect, but Shine is quite pretty. And unlike China Glaze Swing Baby, Shine is completely opaque at 2 coats!

I'm pretty sure there are tons of dupes for this one out there. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City, Zoya Trixie are among them.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and to those of you celebrating Eid today, Eid Mubarak!!

Orly Galaxy Girl

Orly Galaxy Girl is from the Fall 2010 Cosmic FX collection. It consists of blue-magenta shifting glass-flecks in a murky purple base. It kind of reminds me of a blackened bruise, but in an awesome way. This is what it looks like most of the time:

As you can see, those blue flecks are super prominent, but in order for that to work, the base has to be pretty sheer. I used 3 coats, plus top coat. The texture of these flecks is so cool! In indirect light:

That pink shift in the bottle does show up on the nail at an angle, but like the purple shift in Lunar Eclipse, I was on the verge of flipping tables trying to capture it. I do have this super awkward shot that I took a while back though. That shimmerrrrr.

Here's a closer look:

I believe there are several dupes for Galaxy Girl. There's Models Own Purple Blue, MAC Formidable!, and Claire's also had a version of this a while back, called Evil Queen, though that one's a bit different. Personally, I prefer Orly's brush and formula, but alternatives are always nice!

Thanks for looking and commenting, and I hope you're having a great week!

Orly Lunar Eclipse

Orly Lunar Eclipse was released with the Cosmic FX collection from Fall 2010. It's a blue foil-y glass fleck in a blue jelly base, with a purple shift. That purple shift had me ready to hulk smash everything! I could not capture it for the life of me. But it's there, I promise, haha. It's not like those polishes that look duochrome-y in the bottle and then completely fall flat on the nail! This is 2 coats, with top coat.

It's so vivid! I love it. This was one of my favorites when it came out, and I wore it a TON that winter, but for the last year-ish I haven't reached for it much. I don't know why, because every time I use it for a mani or pedi I remember how awesome it is. I especially love it in the shade.

I think Lunar Eclipse has a dupe in Sally Hansen HD Laser, but Laser is very sheer. Orly Stone Cold is similar, but doesn't have the purple shift, and the shimmer is also different- those are more like small blue flakes of shimmer. Sparitual and Orly are made by the same company, so Lunar Eclipse is also sold in Sparitual form as the color Meditate on This. I don't think the Cosmic FX colors are easy to come by in person anymore (unless your local Ulta has a bunch of leftover stock), but the Sparitual version is available at Sephora, and is the same price as Cosmic FX and Mineral FX polish.

Thanks for looking and commenting, and HAPPY FRIDAY!

OPI The Show Must Go On

OPI The Show Must Go On was released with the Winter 2010 Burlesque collection. I couldn't care less about the movie, Cher, or Xtina (is she even relevant anymore?) but with that collection came some truly lovely shimmers. Aside from this, I picked up Tease-y Does It, which has become one of my favorites despite the horrendous, cringe-inducing name.

The Show Must Go On is an insanely vibrant pink-orange duochrome foil. It's almost opaque in 2 coats, but definitely needs the third one to make sure it's covered evenly. I am not a pink lover, but this is just awesome. The formula is pretty good. Nothing stellar, but definitely not bad either. Here it is in sunlight:

And in the shade:

The color shift doesn't show up too well in normal photos, so I took some at weird, awkward angles. It's a lot more visible in person.

It's so weird. I don't like pink, and I'm not big on orange either, yet I really like this color. Well played, OPI. Well played.

Thanks for looking!

OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous is from OPI's Fall 2010 Swiss collection. It's a gunmetal foil that's fully opaque in 3 coats. Under artificial light:

It's got a bit of a blue tinge to it, but that doesn't really show up all that much in other lighting situations.

Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous isn't sparkly like most foils (eg. Orly Luxe, Orly Shine). It's a bit dull, but in an interesting way, not necessarily a bad way.

The formula and application are pretty good, despite the Pro-Wide brush.

Yeah. There's not a lot to say about this one. It's good, and it's fairly unique (I think), but it's not all that exciting, and nothing to write home about.

Thanks for looking!

Zoya Faye

Faye is from Zoya's Sunshine collection, the sparkly counterpart to the Summertime collection. It consists of gold foil-y flecks of sparkle in a dark pink/mauve base. Sounds weird, but it's actually really pretty. It's also identical to OPI Rally Pretty Pink and nearly identical to Orly Ingenue (which is the tiniest bit more purple). Here it is under artificial light:

Here you can see the base color really clearly, but in the shade, the gold is really prominent, and Faye looks coppery with pinkish edges.

Here's the bad news: Faye is super sheer. I used four coats for these photos, and you can still see my nail line in person, though I'm not sure just how visible it is in these photos. It could definitely use a fifth coat, which is kind of disappointing since Zoya has shown us several times how good they are with these foil/jelly-type colors. Just look at Ivanka and Charla! Those have a very similar finish, but they're good in 3 coats, not 5.

Yep, there's that visible nail line. Boo. I do still prefer this one to OPI Rally Pretty Pink, just because I hate the Pro-Wide brush. The Zoya brush is also a little tricky for me, but nowhere near as bad as that ridiculous mop that OPI provides for us. Still a lovely color though!

Thanks for looking!

Green Spam for St. Patrick's Day!

China Glaze L8R G8R - 3 coats, no base coat

Chanel Peridot - 3 coats, no top coat

China Glaze Glittering Garland

Color Club Snakeskin - 2 coats, no top coat

Don't Mess With OPI - 2 coats, no top coat

Illamasqua Rampage - 3 coats, no top coat

Illamasqua Rampage + Pure Ice Heartbreaker, 1 coat

Illamasqua Rampage + Pure Ice Heartbreaker + Nails Inc. the Wyndham, 1 coat

Illamasqua Rampage + Pure Ice Heartbreaker + Nails Inc. the Wyndham + Essie Matte About You

Hard Candy Envy, 2 coats, no top coat

Green Holo Franken, 2 coats, no top coat

Green Franken, 4 coats

Sinful Colors Mint Apple, 3 coats, no top coat

Ulta Tip the Scales, 3 coats, no top coat

Essie Pretty Edgy, 3 coats, no top coat

Thanks for looking, and I hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day!