All That Glitters...

Recently I have become a nail polish fanatic. Late last fall I realized I was dropping a lot of money on mani/pedi's twice a month, and got the Bright Idea that if I did my own nail maintenance, I'd save a lot of money. Well, every single dollar I saved on mani/pedi's has been spent on buying nail polish. It's an addiction! I'm currently up to around 55+ different colors, and my love for nail polish blogs is what inspired me to start Polish & Tonic.

If you haven't caught it yet, you may want to check out the Trade Secret Warehouse Sale which is currently wrapping up. It's only available in stores, so be sure to look if there is a location near you. I went to the Pure Beauty store in Encino last week and managed to snag about 15 new polishes with their buy 1, get 2 free promotion! I picked up several polishes from the OPI Designer Series which I have been dying to try out.

The first color I tried out was DS Reserve, which I found to be a muted pink with a light silver and gold shimmer undertone. I think this polish was also supposed to have a hologram, but I never saw it and couldn't find an angle that brings it out.



Here's a great shot that shows the polish in direct sunlight:



Verdict: I love it! I thought the pink was bright enough to have some pizzazz, but not too bright to not work in a conservative office environment (which I work in) Monday through Friday, I like my polishes to be creative and understated - have to show the co-workers I appreciate beauty and a finished look, but can't look like I just stepped off the March 1987 cover of Seventeen! magazine (don't worry - on the weekends, we cut loose!).

Today I decided to try out a second color from the series, DS Illuminate. This is a warm brown polish with silver and gold flecks, some violet/blue undertones, and an amazing hologram. When it catches the light, this beautiful green/gold iridescent shimmer shines through.



The image doesn't capture the hologram very well, so here's another shot at the hologram in the bottle:



Surprisingly, I didn't like this polish on me as much as I thought I would. The primary brown color matches my skin tone - almost too much. I prefer my polishes to pop! (yes, pronounce the second 'p') at least a little and this one is really muted on me, except for the hologram shimmer. Overall - this is a keeper, but I'll likely be rocking the DS Reserve with more regularity.

OPI Designer Series retails for $12.50 each and both DS Reserve and DS Illuminate are currently available.