OPI Fall 2014 Nordic Collection: My Picks

Today I'm going to share my picks from OPI's Fall 2014 Nordic collection with you, and how I wore them.

First up is Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm? This is a dark purple with strong blue undertones. I've seen a lot of swatches where this leans very blue, but it is definitively purple, but very cool-toned. It still manages to be bright and vivid while being dark! It applies perfectly, super-easy formula (not too thick or thin) with two easy coats. Can I just say that I love OPI's brush? It makes application SO easy and it's the perfect size and flexibility.

I paired this with an accent nail of Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos, a really dense  silver holo glitter topper. One coat is better coverage than you'd think! 

Next up is My Dogsled is a Hybrid, a beautiful jade/seafoam green. It manages to be bright but muted at the same time! It's really a great pop of color for fall without being too loud. And the formula? This polish, I declare, has the best formula I have ever worked with. It just glides on quickly and easily with the help of OPI's ProWide brush, and the polish isn't too thick or thin, again. Two coats.

I wore this polish twice this week--that's how much I like it! I paired it the first time with an accent nail of Essie Beyond Cozy from their winter 2012 collection. (This was a lemming of mine for a while and I recently came upon it in a dusty nail supply store!) It's a gorgeous, sparkly, unique glitter that's opaque on its own on two coats. It's an interesting hue: a very cool-toned gold or a very warm-toned silver. Or platinum... Depending on your skin tone and the light, it can lean gold or silver. 

I'm also wearing this polish for the second time this week as I type this! I saw a beautiful look on Instagram by the super talented Mllr Design and I recreated it with slight modifications to suit my preference as my nail length. Here's the link to her original nail art on her blog: http://www.mllrdesign.com/?p=204

I used Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art studs in gold and microbeads in copper and Capri. 

It's so pretty in the sun!

I've heard that the formula on all the polishes in this collections is fantastic, so I might go back for Suzi has a Swede Tooth and With a Nice Finn-ish. 

Do you like these polishes? Have you purchased any from this collection? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

XOXO

Is

Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil Review

So today I'm changing things up a bit and doing a review on one of my favorite nail care products: Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil.

This comes in a classic bottle like the ones Essie polishes come in. It has the same skinny brush, too. 

I started using this product a few months ago. Now, I haven't tried many cuticle products. The two I've tried are the two I like, this one and Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, so I am not an expert on cuticle products, but I really do like this one.

This oil is available wherever Essie products are sold. It is usually displayed along with base and topcoats.

This oil is a good consistency, not too thin or thick. 

It's light and absorbs fairly quickly, but still leaves a slight shine.

 It has a light apricot scent that is fragrant but not too strong. It's actually pretty scrumptious!

It softens your cuticles so they're easier to push back.

It's fairly easy to apply, but because of the structure of the bottle you will essentially only be able to apply it easily where you can apply polish easily. If you can sit on your bed with a polish bottle in your hand and paint your nails, you will most likely be able to do the same with this cuticle oil. However, if you're like me and need and flat surface to do your nails on, you'll need to apply this oil on a table or something of that nature. In other words, I don't recommend this oil for travel. For this reason, I kind of wish it came in a tube or something so you could take it on the go. 

The thing I like most about this oil is that it gives your cutes a clean, polished look in seconds! However, I find that, while it does moisturize your cuticles, the moisture it gives doesn't last as long as other products I've tried. 

Overall Rating:

8 1/2 out of 10. I really like this product and I feel that you do get a lot of oil for your money's worth. However, I docked a half a point for the lack of portability and a point for not providing long lasting moisture. That being said, I do recommend this product. It's the first cuticle moisturizer I tried, and you can see the difference it made in these pictures below. However, I would not recommend this product for "fixing" your cuticles if they're very damaged. Granted, that is what I used it for, but it took a pretty long time to get them in an acceptable state... like, a few months. Rather than using this oil to fix your cutes, you may want to use this oil to maintain them.

          

Here is a picture before I started using the cuticle oil. You can see the hangnail on the left side of my thumb and the raw area on the right with some dryness mixed in all around. Sigh... Not pretty.

Here is a picture taken today, about four months later. 

Before

After

I hope this review has helped you! Good luck in all of your nail care ventures!

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XOXO

Is

NOTD: Faux Stud Manicure and Essie Lots of Lux Swatch and Review

Hi guys! So I came up with an awesome new mani yesterday! Here it is:

This picture was taken in the sunlight.

Ok, in the picture it doesn't look that spectacular, but I assure you, it's glorious.

I used two polishes: The blue is Essie Lots of Lux (part of their winter 2013 Encrusted Treasures collection) and the silver dots are Essie No Place Like Chrome (from their Mirror Metallics collection).

So first, let's start off with the review! Essie Lots of Lux is actually a textured polish! The finish is similar to that of OPI's Liquid Sands, meaning that the finish looks like liquid sand! (You don't say!) It's a medium-dark blue polish and the "sand" is a medium blue. It dries to a matte finish, but there are flecks of different colors in it as well that sparkle and glint beautiously! (I know, that's not a word, but...) The most prominent sparkles are light blue. The next most visible sparkles are yellowish-green. I know, it sounds kind of weird to have that color in a blue polish, but it actually adds some really nice, subtle contrast. There are also very few green sparkles in there, but I'm not sure if those are just the yellow ones in a different light.

Here's a picture of the bottle. I made it blurry on purpose so you can easily see the different colored sparkles.

Here's an in-focus bottle shot.

If you see any other colors in there that I missed, great! Let me know in the comments.

Ok, let's talk application now. This polish is very thick (because it's textured) which made it a little tricky to apply. It spread out on the nail ok, but the strokes were a little hard because the thickness of the polish "grabbed" a little. It dried pretty fast, though!

This polish is not intended to be used with a topcoat, so I didn't apply one. However, the next time I use this polish I might! Check out the Polishaholic's swatch of Lots of Lux with a topcoat here, along with the other polishes in the Encrusted Treasures collection!

Now, let us explore nail art possibilities. 

I call this mani the Faux Stud manicure, and you will see why.

Check out this picture again. The dots are not just dots! In actuality, they are the "faux studs!" You have probably seen a LOT of studded manis floating around online lately, because nail studs are a HUGE trend right now! However, if you're like me and want to take part in this trend but don't have the studs, read on!

You will need two (or three) polishes to achieve this look. The first one must be a matte polish. You may use a regular polish with a matte topcoat if that is what you have, though (this is where the third polish would come in: the matte topcoat). The next polish must be a chrome polish. Chrome polishes are usually very opaque and leave a smooth, metal-like finish. I used Essie's No Place Like Chrome. 

This manicure is really simple. Just paint your nails with your matte polish and let it dry. Then, take a dotting tool and make three dots with your chrome polish on either side of your nail, on all of your nails. If you don't have a dotting tool, I have two alternatives for you. First, you could use a toothpick, just make sure you pick up a sufficient amount of polish so the dot isn't too small. Second, you could take a regular pencil and stick a straight pin into the eraser! This is actually what I use, I just took a number two pencil with the eraser intact and stuck a pin in it. Quite easy, really.

Don't finish off with a topcoat on this design, as you want to keep the matte matte and the chrome shiny.

I can think of some really cool color combos for this mani! A cool one would be matte navy blue (such as Essie Bobbing for Baubles with a matte topcoat) with copper dots (maybe with Essie Penny Talk) to imitate jeans! That would look pretty slick. Or for a punk biker look, opt for a matte black (like OPI Black Onyx with a matte topcoat) with silver dots (using Essie No Place Like Chrome). Or, get creative and use whatever polishes you have! You really can't go wrong with this simple but chic mani. 

Well, that's it for this post! See you soon!

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XOXO

Is

Essie Really Red Swatch and Review

Hello, nail polish lovers! Today I have a swatch and a review to share with you. It's of Essie's Really Red.

This is a red crelly polish. A crelly is a semi-creme, semi-jelly polish. Refer to my Jelly Sandwich Manicure Tutorial for more information on jellies. (FYI: In case you don't know, creme polishes are basic ones that you probably make up most of your collection. They are pretty opaque, and have no special effects, such as shimmers.) So crellies are essentially cremes, but with a hint of transparency. As you can see in the bottle, it's a little sheer.

I purchased this at Harmon for $7.79.

This is what it looks like on my nails! This is actually a pretty standard red. I can't really decide whether it's cool or warm. Maybe it's universal! Excuse me while I go on Essie's site to check and see what they say about it...

...Here's what Essie says about it: classic. bold. pure. the perfect shade of truly rich red lacquer – universally flattering in winter, spring, summer & fall. brush it on and paint the town fabulous. 

There we go: "universally flattering in winter, spring, summer & fall." I was right! 

This polish is shiny and pretty, and virtually opaque in just one coat. However, I used two coats. Now here's where the jelliness comes in: On one finger I can almost see the visible nail line, but I really can't... if that makes any sense. So part of me thinks it's opaque, the other part thinks it's more jellyish. I guess that's where the "crelly" comes in. Weird!

Application was pretty easy. I'll admit, I do have some trouble with some of Essie's polishes in that area (for example, Mint Candy Apple is kind of streaky and hard to apply) but this one is great! It glides on with ease. The application is similar to that of Essie Mod Square, but not quite as easy-peasy. But still very nice! 

This red is great if you don't have much experience with reds (like me!). It's not to bright, but not too muted; not really warm or cool (if you're not sure of what undertones you have); not too dark, not too light. You should definitely add this polish to your collection, as red polishes are one of the bare essentials of a nail polish collection. Also! If you have one, I would highly recommend using a base coat with this polish. Granted, I haven't tried to remove it yet, but since reds tend to stain, wear a base coat to avoid such problems. 

That's it for this post! I'll see you when I see you!

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XOXO

Is

Essie Mod Square Swatch and Review

Hello, anyone and everyone who loves nails and/or is viewing this blog! Today I have a swatch and review to share with you. The polish is called Mod Square and it's by Essie. I purchased it at CVS for $8.50.

 

This polish is a gorgeous shade of pink. It's kind of like a hot pink, but not as neon and bright as some hot pinks. It's more muted, but the color is very saturated and eye-catching.

The formula is great! Not too watery, as I have found with some of Essie's other polishes, but not too thick. The application is easy-peasy--it glides right on without a hitch.

This is what it looks like on my nails. I used two coats. The first coat was a little sheer, but the second made it totally opaque (as expected). As for the chip factor, I'm pretty happy with it so far. It's been three days and it hasn't chipped at all!

I would give this polish five stars! I absolutely LOVE the color, and the formula and application are wonderful. This polish is great if you want a girly manicure that's eye-catching and pretty, but not too flashy. Thanks for reading, and check back soon for more posts!

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XOXO

Is