OPI Big Hair...Big Nails

        For today, I have OPI Big Hair...Big Nails from the Texas Collection. BHBN (as I shall call it from here on out) is one of the six polishes in the collection that feature OPI's brand new and totally unique sorbet finish.

BHBN is an orange-leaning, bright coral jelly. 

Sunlight, no flash.

And sorry about the shrinkage.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, noflash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I really like BHBN's color...it pulls really orange on me and is not particularly unique, but I still like it. It's so bright and cheerful, and evokes thoughts of summer days on a tropical beach. It also reminds me of the delicious papayas in Del Monte's Tropical Fruit Salad.  And as a jelly aficionado, I love how shiny and squishy the finish is.

   But Lord have mercy upon this formula. At first, I enjoyed BHBN's liquid-y, non-streaky formula, but the lack of pigmentation started to get to me. I ended up needing five coats of polish to achieve the opacity in the pictures. I only used a milky base coat beneath, so next time I use this, I'll definitely put on underwear first.

   And as far as the sorbet finish goes, it's bullshit. I feel like OPI's marketing department made it up to get people more interested in a collection that would have otherwise gotten a lukewarm reception. This stuff is just plain old jelly polish...nothing new, special, or revolutionary about it.  However, I do have to give OPI's marketing people a shiny gold star and a cookie, for unlike mice and men, their plan totally worked. 

And that's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading!

Black History Month Nails

    As many people know, February is Black History Month in the U.S.  I didn't want to let the month end (I know I'm cutting it close) without doing some kind of nail thingy to commemorate the occasion.  So using the colors of the Pan-African flag, I came up with this:

Sunlight, no flash.

Sorry for all the glare...I took these later than I normally do and the sun was acting funky.

 -___-

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     To do this, I drew a diagonal line across my nail and filled it in with Nubar Unfaithful Red. Then, I covered the other half of my nail with Nubar Greener.  After letting that sit for an hour, I used a thin layer of China Glaze Black Mesh on top, let that crack up for like ten minutes, and finished the whole thing with topcoat.

   I wish I could have done something better conceived, but there just wasn't much time. In any case, I like it. I got lots of compliments on it too.

And that's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading!!

China Glaze White Cap

        For today, I have China Glaze White Cap from the Anchors Away Collection. 

White Cap is a very sheer ivory base, stuffed with gold iridescent glass fleck shimmer. As well as gold, the shimmer shows bits of orange and lime green, depending on the light. I couldn't capture it in the pictures but you can definitely see it in person.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I felt so irritated with my camera while trying to take pictures of White Cap, because it just could not pick up the details in the polish. So the pictures are lame, but White Cap is awesomeness. In person, the shimmer catches the light and gives the nails this lovely golden sheen.  Within the sheen, you can see the individual bits of gold, orange, and green shimmer sparkling. It's so lovely, and made my nails look like abalone shells on crack. Another plus is that the golden iridescence kind of cuts and softens  the whiteness of the polish, making it much more palatable for people like me, who can't really get with white polish. China Glaze really did a great job with this one.
   I also found White Cap's formula agreeable. It's extremely sheer, and my nails are gross and stained, so I prepped them with one coat of Seche Ridge Filling Base and one coat of Essie Limo-Scene. Then, I applied three coats of White Cap, followed by one layer of topcoat. Even though it was kind of alot of work, I didn't mind, because White Cap was quite easy to work with. It wasn't streaky or draggy and even though the formula was thin, it wasn't watery or uncontrollable. I really think that White Cap would make a great addition to anyone's polish collection...it's so versatile and pretty.


And that is all I've got for today! Thanks for reading!

Color Club Revealed

     For today, I've got Color Club Revealed, from the Alter Ego Collection. 

Revealed is a peachy-pink creme base with super secret rose pink microshimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Lately, I've been craving these more demure shades, and Revealed is a cute one. It's soft and pretty, and pastel without being chalky or stark. I also liked how it made my nails look perfect...they seemed longer and squarer with this polish on. But I did not like how I could barely see Revealed's shimmer. It shows up fine in the bottle, and I expected it to be subtle on the nail, but it ended up being invisible, which sucks. It's such a lovely color of shimmer in its own right, and looks particularly nice with the base color. Why would they not want people to see it? o_O

   I also hated Revealed's formula. It has that weird sticky-thick syndrome and went on in streaky patches. The pigmentation wasn't that bad, because it was opaque in three coats, but I ended up having to dab polish into the bald spots, and then applying one more thick coat to try to even up the streaks. Luckily, with the help of topcoat, Revealed dried to a fairly smooth and creamy finish, but that doesn't negate the nightmare of applying it.  

   Even though Revealed is inexpensive and I love me some Color Club, I have to say that this one was a bit of a fail. If I could do it again knowing what I know now, I'd definitely put that $2.50 towards something else.  Like a sammich.  n_n

And that's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful Friday! 

OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise

For today, I have OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise, from the Texas Collection. 

Pictures and stuff after the jump!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Under the Stars (Take Two)

          Okay, so today, I'm reposting Rescue Beauty Lounge Under the Stars. I've written something on this color before, but I kind of hate the pictures on that one, so I decided to take another crack at it. These ones are not the best either, but they look better, I think. Oh yeah, and there will probably be more of these types of posts coming...I noticed that lots of my older pictures suck more than what is normal for me. So sorry if that displeases you. I'll space them out with newer stuff.  

Under the Stars is a deep and slightly dusty navy blue creme base with blue shimmer and small teal glitter scattered throughout.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Under the Stars looks much better in the bottle than on the nail. In the bottle, the shimmer and glitter are so intense that it's like holding the Milky Way in the palm of your hand. You can still see a bit of that on the nail, particularly if you wear this polish in bright sunlight, but it isn't nearly as prominent, which is a bummer.That aside, Under the Stars is a good color. The base is not the usual type of navy that you see in most night sky interpretations...it's a bit smoky and leans a smidge teal, which makes it look (in my opinion) more realistic and sets it apart from other shimmery dark blues. I think these pictures make it look a bit more typical, but if you look at the third picture, that one shows the base color best. It's really pretty, and bonus: it doesn't look black in lower light. 

    I also enjoyed Under the Stars' formula. It was excellently pigmented, and looked perfect in two thin coats. You would be able to get away with one thick one, if you were careful. Also, Under the Stars applied beautifully, with no streaking or dragging. 

    Although Under the Stars is definitely a high quality polish, I probably would not pay $18 for it. I got it at half price, which was quite fair. I'd probably even pay up to $12 for it, just because it is unusual, and the formula is so wonderful. But for me, $18 is a bit too much for this polish. 

And with that, I am all done for today. Thanks for reading, and have a great day! ^_^

China Glaze Below Deck

         After like weeks of glitter and shimmer, it was time to cleanse my palate. That desire, combined with my new resolution to at least make an effort to keep up with the polish world, made me put on Below Deck, from China Glaze's recently released Anchors Away Collection. 

Below Deck is a taupey-lavenderish-greyish creme.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Below Deck is such a weird color. It's like...if taupe and grey both had a thing with lavender, and then lavender had Below Deck. But lavender couldn't tell who the daddy was just by looking at baby Below Deck, because it looks like both of them, so everyone had to go on Maury. That's what it's like. But despite its convoluted and scandalous origins, I like Below Deck. It's subdued without boring, and I don't really have many of this type of polish, so it fills a big gap in my collection.

   And I have to give China Glaze a high five for Below Deck's formula. They did such a good job! It was so creamy and smooth, and went on so nicely with no streaking or dragging. The pigmentation was also excellent, and Below Deck reached opacity in only two coats. I added a layer of topcoat for shine, and the whole thing dried really fast. In the pictures, I feel like it looks like there were leveling issues, but that was from my topcoat, not Below Deck. 

And that is all I've got for today! Thanks for reading, and have a happy Sunday! ^_^

BB Couture Love Bug

         For today, I've got Love Bug from BB Couture's Ladybug Collection. 

Love Bug is a super squishy rose pink jelly base with tons of opalescent microglitter suspended in it. The base color here is too dark, but the other pictures are accurate. I could not really capture the glitter, but it's super tiny and delicate, and shows mostly pale green and gold, although I've managed to get blue out of it  at the right angle. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, gentle flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

      Love Bug is  without a doubt the cutest polish in my collection. From the base color, to the squishy finish, to the tiny glitter, right down to the name, it is ridiculously, almost sickeningly cute, and I love it. Like, if it were a Pokemon, it'd be Jigglypuff. Or even Igglybuff, which is cuter than Jigglypuff. Does it not scream some sort of -puff? It's just so girly and sweet, and it makes me feel the same way when I have it on. Love Bug was one of my first BB Couture lemmings, and I'm so happy that it did not disappoint, especially because BB Couture is a bit on the pricey side for me.

    However, Love Bug's formula confuses me. The first time I wore it, it was like...sticky and gross and my nails were streaky and disgustingly thick. Just horrible. But the next go round, it went on really easily. It was a bit streaky, but that evened out fine. So idk what to tell you on that one. I can tell you that I needed three coats to reach relative opacity though. I can still see a hint of VNL, but that's par for the course with jellies, so I'm cool with it.

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading! ^_^

China Glaze Crushed Candy (Quick and Dirty Edition)

         Oh man, I am sick of crackle polish. I feel like that's all I've been hearing about for like the past month...even Oprah is talking about it. Ahh it's driving me crazy. So when my own China Glaze Crackle Glaze polishes arrived yesterday, I felt annoyed with them and tossed them unopened into a corner of my room. I woke up in the middle of the night, and couldn't go back the sleep, so I decided to open the box and try out Crushed Candy. Instead of studying for my midterm. 

Crushed Candy is a Tiffany-blue crackle polish in a creme finish.

Underneath, I have on three coats of OPI La Paz-itively Hot Matte.

Florescent light, no flash.

Florescent light, with flash.

Florescent light, no flash.

Doesn't it kind of look like sunlight though?

Florescent light, no flash.

Florescent light, with flash.

The color in the bottle is accurate...the color on the nail is a bit too sky blue. 

     Even though I'm sick to death of this stuff, I have to admit that I really really like Crushed Candy. The color is pretty, and will make for lots of great color combos. I really want to try it over China Glaze Lighthouse...yellow and blue look so nice together. I was also pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the pattern that it made...I thought I preferred the look of the ones from Born Pretty, but this pattern looks really cool too.  

   As far as formula goes, Crushed Candy was not bad...it was fairly thick, but that's okay, because you don't really want a smooth finish with Crushed Candy. It's just gonna crack up anyway, so streaks and stuff don't matter. What I did was just to put a little bit on the brush and focus on covering the whole nail in one go, without overlapping. It dried almost instantly, and I gave it like ten or fifteen minutes to crack up all the way before applying topcoat. I wanted small chunks, so I tried to make the coats as thin as I possibly could and I liked how it came out. On my right hand, I used thicker coats, and ended up with thicker lines and larger chunks. It also looks nice, but I like the smaller chunks better.

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Thursday! ^_^