Fall Braided Mani

Good morning everyone! How has your weekend been? Mine has been totally hectic, balancing work and three midterms in the upcoming week is stressful. Today I have a manicure that I was really excited about, I wore this for half of last week, which is a pretty long time for me. I know some people are tired of seeing indie brands that aren't always easy to get your hands on so I wanted to do some nail art for you, because I know a lot of you follow my blog for that reason!

I chose some colours that don't traditionally go together, but still give off a nice fall vibe. I used OPI Don't Talk Bach to Me from the recent Germany collection, as well as OPI Diva of Geneva from the Switzerland collection from a couple years back. The grurple (gray/purple of course!) colour is Zoya Caitlin. I swear in person it looked more purple, but these photos make it look like a true gray.

I love the way these colours go together, I think braided manis are a really fun way to see how a colour scheme works.

Here we are in the shade, a little less exciting and more subdued but still pretty.

What do you think of this colour combination? Have you tried the braided mani technique yet?

OPI Press Release - Magnetics, Pure Lacquer Nail Apps, Holiday Mini Sets, and

Hello everyone! I know a lot of people have been anticipating the release of OPI's Holiday collection based around James Bond, but there hasn't been much press information about it. OPI has posted some photos on their facebook page, but I still haven't received an official press release. Today, however, some interesting OPI new did land in my mail box and there is a lot to look forward to. Let's get started!

OPI celebrates the 50^th anniversary of James Bond with the release of three, new magnetic lacquers inspired by the upcoming film Skyfall – the first magnetized colors from OPI. The three hues, gunmetal gray, gold shimmer and rich burgundy, each come with its own unique, specially-designed magnetizer to create striped, diamond or wavy patterns, respectively. 

 “For the first time OPI is launching magnetized lacquers in honor of our exciting partnership with EON Productions,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Nail design is here to stay, and these limited-edition shades offer a fun, easy way to experiment with lacquer. There are no limits when it comes to having unique, eye-catching nails.”

The three Skyfall Magnetic Lacquer Packs include:

Is That Silva?

Don’t mistake this gunmetal gray for anything else.

A diagonally striped pattern appears with this lacquer.

Bond…James Bond

Be spied in this elegant gold shimmer.

A diamond pattern forms over this shade.

Morning, Moneypenny

You secretly desire this heart-throbbing burgundy.

This lacquer has a dreamy, wave-like pattern.

  

To use, prep nails like normal, followed by Base Coat and one layer of the magnetic lacquer. Then, apply a second coat of lacquer to the first nail; while still wet, position the finger onto the base of magnetizer placing it down. Press the top down so the magnet rests on the finger above the nail without touching the lacquer. Magnetize for about five seconds for the design to fully develop. Continue this process until all nails are painted and magnetized. Apply Top Coat once nails are dry.

As with all OPI nail lacquers, these magnetic shades inspired by Skyfall contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

This limited edition promotion will be available beginning October 2012 at Professional Salons and spas, for  $21.95 suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer pack, including the magnet.

OPI adds four new, limited-edition designs to the Pure Lacquer Nail App collection, which offers instant, easy-to-apply nail designs. The precut nail strips are made of 100% real nail lacquer and provide a high-shine finish, long-lasting wear, and zero drying time. The new designs inspired by Skyfall include Nice Tux (silver and black glitter zig zag stripe), Positively Shocking (glittery gold), Floating Dragon (bright red crème with black dragon print) and Shaken Not Stirred (silver with martini glass print).

 “We are pleased to expand our Pure Lacquer Nail App offerings with designs inspired by OPI’s thrilling partnership with EON Productions and Skyfall,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “The popularity of nail design is booming with both the everyday woman and nail professionals. Pure Lacquer Nail Apps provide women with quick, easy and unique nail looks, offering long-lasting designs that could not be created by hand.”

To apply, peel off plastic cover and place Nail Apps on nails, while smoothing down all edges. Each pack contains 16 strips to ensure perfect sizing for all finger and toe nails. File the nail edge to remove any strip excess. Pure Lacquer Nail Apps already contain a base coat and top coat; do not use regular base or top coat with the strips. Simply remove with an acetone polish remover. For longer wear (about two weeks), have a manicurist cure the nail strips with OPI’s GelColor Top Coat.

  

As with all OPI nail lacquers, Pure Lacquer Nail Apps inspired by Skyfall contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. This limited edition promotion will be available beginning October 2012 at Professional Salons and spas for the suggested retail price of $14.95  suggested retail for each set.

OPI Releases Two New Limited Edition Mini Lacquer Sets for Holiday 2012

          OPI celebrates this holiday season with two new mini lacquer sets, the perfect stocking stuffers. Bond-ettes features four shimmery shades from the new limited edition Skyfall lacquers, inspired by the latest installment in the James Bond series. The Top Ten mini kit showcases ten miniature bottles of OPI’s most popular reds, sheers, neutrals and more.

 “This holiday season, it’s all about variety! OPI offers a wide array of colors in glamorous, elegant hues to wear for every festive occasion,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Bond-ettes offers four of the hottest colors from the new Skyfall collection, while The Top Ten mini kit features many of OPI’s greatest hits from over the years. These sets offer new and classic favorites in a variety of shades, making perfect stocking stuffers for all the special women in your lives: mothers, daughters, sisters, friends—and don’t forget about yourself.”

The Bond-ettes mini set features a spectrum of light to dark shimmers: GoldenEye, The Spy Who Loved Me, Live and Let Die, and The World is Not Enough. The Top Ten Mini Kit includes some of OPI’s most well-known colors: Alpine Snow, Bubble Bath, Tickle Me France-y, Kiss Me On My Tulips, Red Lights Ahead…Where?, Big Apple Red, I’m Not Really a Waitress, You Don’t Know Jacques!, Vampsterdam, and Lincoln Park After Dark.

As with all OPI nail lacquers, both The Top Ten and Bond-ettes mini lacquer sets contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde.

These limited edition sets will be available beginning October 2012 at professional salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA. Bond-ettes will be sold for $12.50 ($14.95 CAN) suggested retail, and The Top Ten mini kit will be sold for $24.95 ($29.95 CAN) suggested retail.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!


WOW, that was a lot of information. I'm still digesting all of this! I think the new additions to the Pure Lacquer Nail Apps look really cool, when I had a chance to review some of them earlier I absolutely loved them. I'm not so sure about the magnetic polishes, that's a bandwagon I never really jumped on and I think they're on their way out - but maybe these will change my mind. Lastly we have a look at the holiday mini set, the Bondettes, without any real information about the rest of the Skyfall collection. 

Do you see anything here you're planning on picking up?

Weekend Lacquer - Swatches & Review

Happy Monday, readers! Now if you're anything like me, you're already looking forward to next weekend, so why not get in the spirit with a new indie line! I originally contacted Erin of Weekend Lacquer to create a custom polish for me, but she pointed out that she was still very new at the world of selling on Etsy, so I offered to do a review of some of her polishes to get the word out! We didn't up collaborating this time for a custom giveaway polish, but after seeing the quality of these lacquers she is absolutely someone I will keep in mind for the future.
I know some people are getting tired of seeing similar indies over and over again, so let me make this clear, these polishes are not just glitter topcoats. They are all pigmented and they can easily be worn on their own. Erin was sweet enough to provide me with one full sized 15 mL bottle and three of her minis from the Fairy Tale Collection to swatch for you today.

In these photos I'm showing you three coats of Magic Lamp by itself. It quickly ate through the one coat of OPI topcoat I used, so I would recommend using a thicker one like Gelous if you need a smooth touch.

Do you see how complex this polish is? It is SO much more than just a glitter top coat run-of-the-mill indie polish.

I love all the different types of glitter in Magic Lamp.

This is how this colour looks in the shade, so beautiful.

A macro bottle shot, isn't this just to die for?

This awesome purple polish is called Wicked Queen and it is so gorgeous. Again, I would recommend either a thick topcoat or multiple coats because this glitter is hungry!

Here's an on the nail macro for you. Like all of her other polishes, Wicked Queen is full of all different types of glitter giving it a very interesting and unique look.

I used three coats of Wicked Queen for my swatch photos.

Here's where I fall in love - look at this polish in the shade! It looks so deep.

Another macro bottle shot for you to enjoy.

Here we have Glass Slipper. This polish reminds me of crushed up diamonds! I used three coats for the opacity shown in the photos.

This one was SO shiny I could hardly get nice pictures of it.

This was a surprise favourite for me, looking at the bottle I thought it would be a little too frosty for my liking but it's not even frosty in the least!

Here is a bottle shot, how many different types of glitter can you count? These polishes are so expertly crafted and multi-dimensional.

Last but not least we have Poisoned Apple. I can definitely see this being a colour I reach for over and over again in fall, it reminds me of fall leaves and apples and spices. This was the only polish that only took two coats for opacity!

I love how this looks! Poisoned Apple is not quite as jam packed full of glitter as the other polishes, but this also means it doesn't eat top coat as badly.

Look how pretty that shimmer is in the sunlight!

Here's a bottle shot! I didn't think I would end up liking this one, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall, I would definitely recommend these polishes. If you're bored of seeing countless glitter topcoats, Weekend Lacquer is definitely worth checking out. Erin offers a quality product and she was a delight to communicate with.

These polishes are absolutely full of glitter which can make application a little challenging, but it's nothing detrimental. I have no other complaints about Weekend Lacquer.

You can check Weekend Lacquer out on Etsy by following this link. Full sized bottles retail for $9.00 each. To keep up to date, I recommend following Weekend Lacquer on facebook which you can do here. 

The polishes in this post were generously provided to me for my unbiased opinion.

Lynnderella Connect the Dots

Hello everyone! How is it possible that the weekend is ending already? They always seem to go by so fast during the school year. I'm so relieved that I'm choosing a career where I get to have yearly summer vacations! (Not that that's the only reason I want to be a teacher...)
A few of my followers who have been here for a while may remember my interpretation of Lynnderella's famous nail polish Connect the Dots. I submitted this manicure to a nail art contest back in April I believe, and it made waves in the nail polish community, and I eventually was able to order the REAL Connect the Dots from Lynn herself. I can't believe that I've had this polish for about four months and this was the first time that I ever dared to try it out - but I am not disappointed! Connect the Dots is everything and more than what I was expecting. I'll let the photos do the talking, but you might want to get out a towel to wipe up the drool, that's how great this polish is.

I was inspired by the gradient nails that I did for my mom the other day, so I decided to throw together a subtle blue gradient to layer Connect the Dots over. I used Zoya Wednesday and OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui to create the gradient look. I topped it off with two coats of Connect the Dots.

Now, it's not that the glitter was difficult to place, but the brush is pretty small and it doesn't hold a lot of glitter. That said, a little bit of fishing and dipping will guarantee you a nice selection.

I am really, really, really in love with this.

See that huge hex glitter on my ring finger? It didn't stick up at all! Even before the Seche Vite that I added, that sucker was flat on my nail. The same can't be said for some of those pesky black squares though.

I tried to capture the microglitter, but I didn't do it too well.

This is absolutely one of my favourite manicures in a long time. Adding Connect the Dots makes it look like I've done some intense nail art, it makes the mani so much more interesting, with the simple addition of one glitter topcoat. 

Do you have any Lynnderellas? Which ones are your favourites? Did you hear I may be giving one away in an upcoming giveaway...?

xoxo Nikki

Guest Starring...

Hi everyone! Today I have a little double-post action for you. My parents went to the wedding of one of their good friends last weekend and my mom asked me to do her nails for her. She was wearing a black dress with flowers in purple, magenta, and ivory. I decided to go with a subtle gradient of two of the colours that matched her dress perfectly.

I used OPI Funky Dunkey and Zoya Ashley to make this pretty gradient. It didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to, but thank god my mom isn't as much as a perfectionist as I am.

Do you guys ever paint nails for your friends and family? I'm so much better at doing my own nails, when I start painting someone else's they begin to wonder how on earth I manage to have a nail blog with my shaky hands!

Candeo Joker

Hi everyone! Who else is excited that it's Friday? I finish class at 10 am today, so I am getting a nice, early, start to my weekend. Today I have another lovely indie polish to show you, this one by Candeo Colors - described on their website as a "clear base with blue, purple, lavender and periwinkle hex glitter." I decided to stray away from the light purples that I usually see this layered over, I decided to try it over a more neutral colour. I chose Berlin There, Done That from OPI's recent Germany collection.

Shown is two easy coats of Candeo Joker. This polish was very easy to apply and it was less bumpy than my previous experience with an indie, which was CrowsToes Gomez. I definitely could have worn this without topcoat and it wouldn't have snagged on anything, but to get the added dimension and shine that topcoat adds I put on one layer of Seche Vite.

Look at this close up of all those pretty glitters, I am in love with this polish. The colours are so beautiful and I love all the different shapes and sizes of glitter.

Here is a macro bottle shot for you guys!

I really like the way this looks over the taupe OPI colour, and I can already envision a tonne of other polishes to layer it over.

I love love love the Candeo bottles, look at that cute chameleon! Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately if you're not a big fan, they've changed there bottles and the labels will now be printed on them directly (like an OPI or China Glaze bottle). 

Now I'm sure all of you are dying to get your paws on Candeo Colors Joker after seeing how gorgeous it is. You can find this polish at Llarowe's website when it is in stock for $12.00. A lot of people are turned off of indie polishes because of the "mad rush" to get them, but I'll be honest with you, when I snapped up my Llarowe order most of the ones I wanted remained available for at least 10 minutes. All you need to do is follow Llarowe on facebook and when she announces the restock - hop onto the site and make your purchase!

Alternatively, you can purchase this polish directly from the Candeo website for only $9.00. I haven't ordered from this website before, but I have heard only good things.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this lovely indie polish! I know some people are worried about the quality of indies, but I wouldn't recommend something to you guys that I didn't truly think was a great product. Do you have any favourite indies? Which would you recommend to me to try?

OPI Germany and Holland Tape Mani

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! Today I have some pretty nail art for you that I did for the second day of school last week, of course for the very first day I was rocking CrowsToes Gomez. I used my new striping tape to create this look which was really simple. I went with some nice colours that aren't traditionally associated with fall, but I love it and I hope you do too!

I used two colours from the OPI Germany Collection: My Very First Knockwurst and Berlin There Done That, as well as a colour from OPI's spring Holland collection: I Don't Give a Rotterdam. The white that separates the colours is OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

This was really simple to do and I'm in love with how it turned out.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you are having a great day!

China Glaze 2NITE (Sort of..)

Hi guys! Today I have another dusty hunt find for you, except this time, I'm positive that it's been tampered with. Sometimes salons mix nail polishes together, and unfortunately in the dim light of this salon I could not possibly tell if this was the real 2NITE. Fortunately for me, I love it for whatever it is!

So the real 2NITE is like a blue-periwinkle linear holo, and this is a .. gunmetal gray extremely scattered holo? I'm not sure how to describe it, but hey, it's pretty.

I wish there was some way of knowing what on earth they put in there!

You can kind of see some holo here, right? Right?

Man I really want to find the real OMG collection, or maybe I could just wait for the Hologlams.. decisions decisions.

I think this one is my favourite photo.

What do you guys think of my salon's interpretation of China Glaze 2NITE. Not quite the original, eh? At least it's original to me, haha! Thank you for reading!