OPI Touring America: Swatches & Review

 Happy Tuesday!  Sorry I’ve been so MIA lately!  This has been a crazy few weeks.  So far this month I’ve been to Dallas and San Francisco, heading to Phoenix this weekend, and then Indianapolis in a few weeks!  Whew!  Either way, it’s no excuse for ignoring my love of nail polish! 

Today I have for you a few polishes from the OPI Fall 2011 collection, Touring America.  For the most part this collection underwhelmed me – I thought the collection was bloated, full of colors we’d seen before and names nowhere near as creative as collections past – but, I was shopping a few weeks ago and decided to give these 3 polishes a try.  If you like your polishes dark and vampy, there’s probably something here for you to enjoy.  Read on!

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First up is I Brake for Manicures.  I Brake for Manicures is a grayish purple crème.  It walk the line between gray and purple very nicely – just when I think it’s leaning more to one side of the color spectrum, I take another look and find it to be dead center between the two colors.  This was 2 coats of I Brake for Manicures.  The formula was great, as to be expected from OPI, but overall I thought the color was not at all flattering on me – very flat/dead, and the gray base just reminds me of ashy-ness! Haha.  Take a look for yourself!

 

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Up next is Honk If You Love OPI.  Honk, as I like to call is, is an eggplant purple crème.  Again, the formula on this one was impeccable, needing just 2 easy coats for full opacity.  I love crème polishes, and I love me some purple, so does it surprise anyone I find Honk If You Love OPI to be full of all kinds of WIN?

 

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Last but not least is my favorite from the trio, Road House Blues.  Gah, I am on such a blue kick lately!  Road House Blues is a navy tinted blue crème, and while I figured I would, I didn’t have anything like it in my collection!  Everything that I have this dark is much more of a true blue.  This is 2 coats, and I love that this is a dark blue without being near black (since, you know, those kind of colors actually show up as black on me!).  Take a look!

 

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And there you have it!  While I’m still less than impressed with the collection, I’m happy to welcome Honk If You Love OPI and Road House Blues to the Polish & Tonic collection.  I Brake For Manicures may be hitting the gas pedal to my swap/share pile, though.


What do you think?  Am I being too harsh on I Brake for Manicures?  Did you pick up any other polishes from this collection? And have you snatched any polishes from the other OPI collection that’s getting a ton of buzz? (Don’t worry, I’ll be reviewing the Muppets polishes soon!)

The Untried Diaries: Zoya Dove With a CND Sparkle

Good Morning!  Is everyone starting the countdown to the weekend?  I’m actually flying to Dallas for the weekend for sorority stuff, and looking forward to the heat!  LOL I know, I know, it drops below 70 degrees one day in LA and I’m ready to whip out the turtlenecks!  Even though I spent my first 25 years on the east coast, living in LA the past 6 years has made me a weakling!






Today I have for you some polishes I purchased last spring but still hadn’t worn.  First up is Zoya Dove.  Dove is a light grey creme with a slight blue hue.  I applied 3 coats for this mani, as the formula was a bit streaky.  This is my first light grey, so I’m not sure if this is just how the color tends to be – like yellows – or if it’s this particular brand.  Either way, I really liked how Dove looked on me!

I think Dove is a great work appropriate grey creme for a paler friend.  It looks good on me, but because it’s so pale I think it contrasts more than a medium or darker grey would, so something darker may blend better and appear more neutral on me.

To have some fun with Dove, I whipped out one of the CND Effects polishes that has been collecting dust in my untrieds, Sapphire Sparkle.  Sapphire Sparkle is a layering polish with micro glitter that appears blue or raspberry in color, depending on angle and lighting.  Take a look!

LOVE!  I think the blue hue from Zoya Dove is perfectly paired with CND Sapphire Sparkle, and the raspberry tinted sparkle is a nice bonus!

NARS Night Series Collection: Swatches & Review

 Happy Tuesday!  Today I have for your one of my favorite collections from this fall, the NARS night series collection.  Based on their popular eyeshadows, NARS released 4 polishes in this collection and it's sure to have something for everyone.  I've posted the polishes in order of least fave to most fave.  Let's take a look (and don't forget to click on the pictures for larger images).

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First up is Night Rider.  No, I can’t say the name without thinking of David ‘Don’t hassle the hoff” Hasselhoff either.  Night Rider is a soft plum with silver glitter polish.  Honestly, it reminds me less of a glitter, and more of plum version of Chanel’s Graphite with the foil finish.  This was my least favorite of the collection – it just doesn’t do anything for me and doesn’t pop against my skin tone.It's also really different from the other polishes, and stands out - for all the wrong reasons.

  

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Up next is Night Breed, a black base polish with TONS of silver glitter. No, really – a TON of glitter.  It’s blingy awesomeness.  My only dislike is the black base – I’m not a huge fan of black polish, so I really really liked this, but the black base held me back from instant love.
 

 

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The next 2 polishes are not only faves from this collection, but also faves in my overall collection – that’s how much I love them.  Night Porter is described as a blackened polish with green pearls.  On the nail, it looks like the polish is green with black shadows around the perimeter – it’s so hawt!  Even if you don’t normally wear greens, or shy away from bold color polishes, check this one out – I think Night Porter would be flattering on most skin tones, because it’s so dark and vampy.

 

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And now, my friends, my favorite polish from the collection – Night Flight.  Very similar to Night Porter, Night Flight is a blackened polished with cobalt blue pearls.  This polish is pure SEXY.  I seriously could wear this every day from now till Christmas and be just as happy each day as if it was the first time I’d worn it.  Okay, maybe not that, but you get the idea.  It’s FANTASTIC.
 

Do you see the purple flecks in Night Flight? How beautiful is that?!?!

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And there you have it!  For me, Night Flight and Night Porter are the absolute must haves from this collection.  Black polishes with silver glitter has been done many times before, so while Night Breed is nice, it’s not unique.  Night Porter gets a complete pass from me – it just doesn’t seem to fit the collection at all.

NARS polishes retail for $17 and are available at NARS counters in Nordstrom or online at NARS Cosmetics.  These are limited edition, so grab the ones you like while you can!


What do you think?  Have you picked up any polishes from this collection? Do you loved these blackened polishes like Night Flight and Night Porter? Or am I completely overreacting, and you've totally seen this look before?   (And if you have seen it, tell me where!!!)

Unicorn Pee Wanna-Be: OPI Movin' Out

Good Morning! Today I have a fun, picture-heavy post for you. If you're like most regular folks, the title of this post probably had you doing a 'huh?' when you first read it. Unicorn pee? Whaaa? If you're a nail polish fanatic, though, you probably know what it is - Clarins #230. #230 is this multichrome-y awesome polish that is pretty much the Holy Grail for nail polish fanatics. Swatch and Learn has one of the best posts on Clarins #230. (Really, do yourselves a favor and follow the link and check out photos for a few minutes. It is a stunner, this I cannot deny.)

Would I love to show off for you all my own bottle of Clarins #230? Why, of course! But I don't have one. Why not? Because it was discontinued years ago. And it sells on eBay for around $50 or higher a bottle. Yes - crazy eBayers are spending $50 on a bottle of polish. Crazy people - I mean, think of all the polishes me and my bargain-hunting skills could find for $50!

So, instead of dropping $$$ on #230, I spent about $ on #230's wannabe little unicorn sister, OPI Movin' Out. Movin' Out was released back in 2003 as a part of the OPI Holiday on Broadway collection, so it's pretty old and took some effort to find. The Polishaholic reviewed Movin' Out a few months ago, and ever since her post I've been lemming this polish. I finally got my hands on a bottle, and here we are at today's picturefest!

First, I started with CND Blackjack. Blackjack is a basic black creme with the CND formula I love. I could have gotten away with 1 coat, but applied 2 to make sure it was even and give Movin' Out the best opportunity to pop.


Then, over Blackjack went 1 coat of Movin' Out.


How many different colors do you see? I started counting, but stopped at a BAZILLION:


Oh snap! She sparkles!


No really, she SPARKLES! She's like polish and nail bling all in one:



OPI Movin' Out is long discontinued, but you can get your own bottle of Unicorn's little sister with just a little bit of googling. Check out sellers on eCrater or Bonanza first, before you go and get ripped off on evilBay. Happy hunting!