Nude and Pastels

Hi guys! As I mentioned yesterday, today is my very first day back at work. I've been having a pretty nice time sitting around doing my nails, reading, and watching non-stop TLC and Stanley Cup Playoffs so it's a bit of a bummer to be headed back to work, but guess who can't wait to actually be earning money again! Anyway, today's nail art look came from me playing around with striping tape while watching hockey the other night and I really love this colour combinations!

The base colour is one of my favourites - OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh, and the two pastel colours I used are Zoya Neely and OPI You're Such a Budapest.

Is it just me, or does the purple OPI polish lean periwinkle-blue in these photos? It sure looks a lot more lilac-esque in real life.

Thanks so much for reading guys! I'll let you know how my first day of work goes later this week!

OPI Matte Top Coat - Swatches & Review

Good afternoon everyone! I got quite a bit of feedback regarding the press release I posted last week for this new Matte Top Coat by OPI, so I'm excited to let you know that I was sent this polish to review for you guys! I tried out a couple of combinations using the Matte Top Coat and I think you're going to like what you see.

The press release indicates that this is meant to be used over your favourite OPI polishes, so for my first combination I chose two recent OPI releases that look wonderful when matte-ified. 

I took two coats of OPI The Man with the Golden Gun that was released along with the Skyfall collection and layered it over two coats of the gorgeous OPI Vant to Bite My Neck? from this spring's Euro Centrale collection. To get the matte look I only used one coat of OPI Matte Top Coat covering the entire nail.

You can see the polish beginning to turn matte right before your eyes. It takes maybe two minutes for the polish to reach full matte-ness, and an added bonus is that it dries really quickly. 

Yum, matte gold flakes are definitely going to be making an appearance on my nails next holiday season. I love the way this looks.

I wanted to test the claims and see if I could use this successfully over a polish from another brand. I used to use my Essie Matte top coat on top of anything, so I was pretty sure the OPI would work the same way.

No surprises here, one easy coat of OPI Matte Top Coat over two coats of Zoya Blu makes for a fun take on pastels. On my ring finger I layered one coat of Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs on top of Blue before adding the matte coat. 

I mentioned my old matte topcoat - Essie Matte About You - which I had to order from ebay. I know that I searched long and hard in stores trying to get a matte topcoat, but there simply isn't one on the market for Canadian consumers that is easily accessible. I'm going to show you next how the new OPI release stacks up against my old Essie.

I wanted to show you how it performs over two colours - OPI Skyfall and OPI Jade is the New Black. I've labelled the photo above with which polish was on which nail. Personally, I can tell a difference, and I prefer the OPI Top Coat. Especially over Skyfall, I think the OPI polish has a flatter matte look which the Essie is a little more rubbery. I waited about twenty five minutes for these to dry to ensure that one of them wasn't still matte-ifying so I don't think that's an issue. Of course, they are pretty similar and if you already have the Essie maybe you won't need the OPI, but if you haven't invested in a matte top coat yet I would recommend OPI's.

Lastly, I wanted to show you guys some fun nail art using the OPI Matte Top Coat. If you follow OPI on facebook you will have seen the variations on matte manicures they have been posting recently. I love the idea of combining glossy and matte into the same manicure, it's a subtle but chic way of doing nail art.

I chose to use another colour from the OPI Euro Centrale collection, so for reference, here is OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw sans Matte Top Coat for a very glossy look.

I taped off some sections of my nails and brought out my dotting tools and this is what I came up with! I love how this looks!

I think in this combination, my middle finger is my favourite, look how satiny the section near the cuticle looks. Wow!

The OPI Matte Top Coat will be available starting in April 2013 and the suggested retail price is $10.95 CAN, which by the way, is less than what I paid for my Essie polish after shipping. I think this is a great product and it's really bridging the gap in the market that we face in Canada where there isn't a matte topcoat easily available. I love the OPI Pro Wide brush and I much prefer it to Essie's small brush. I would absolutely recommend the OPI Matte Top Coat to anyone in the market for one.

 I hope this review has helped you make your decision! Do you think you'll be picking up the OPI Matte Top Coat? What's your favourite way to wear matte polish?

Some of the products in the review were kindly provided to me for my honest opinion. 

Sheer Water Marble

Hello everyone! I'm not really sure what to call this post, it's a technique that I've shown you before on the blog where you watermarble with an opaque colour and a sheer one to make sort of a peek-a-boo over a pattern. I've been envisioning this manicure for ages but unfortunately the black polish that I used didn't spread in the water as much as I would have liked.

Gorgeous, right? 

So to get this look I first did gradients on each of my nails. If I remember correctly, the colours I used were OPI The Thrill of Brazil, Zoya Arizona, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, OPI Green-wich Place, OPI Fly, and OPI Do You Lilac It? For the water marble I used Quo by ORLY Little Black Dress and OPI Don't Touch My Tutu!

I think I need to find a black polish that would spread better in water, if there was just a little less black here I think I would be much happier.

Have you ever tried this technique? What colour combinations would you like to see?

St. Patrick's Day Manicure

Hello everyone and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! Today is also my eldest sister's birthday, so I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to Colleen!

I think this manicure mostly speaks for itself, right? I tried to freehand a trinity knot of sorts, I'm not sure how easy it is to identify though.

The two base colours I used were Animeniac Cosmetics Sandman and China Glaze Four Leaf Clover (how appropriate!) For the rainbow I used OPI My Paprika is Hotter than Yours, Zoya Arizona, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, and OPI Do You Lilac It?

I hope everyone has an awesome time today! Drink a green beer for me my friends, and be safe!

Zoya PixieDust - Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! So you probably all saw my last post featuring the Zoya PixieDusts where I featured them in a striping tape manicure, and today I finally have swatches of the entire collection to bring to you.

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Keep reading to see all my swatches, I've put it under a jump because there are quite a few!

Bright Little Flowers

Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well! Today I have a pattern that I adapted from The Illustrated Nail. I can't find the original post, but here's a picture. Can you see which nail I chose to recreate? It would be fun to do a Nail Art Challenge just recreating some of her designs!

I used a base of OPI Did It On 'Em, then my go-to black and white polishes for the flowers - Quo by ORLY Little Black Dress and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I like these, they weren't difficult or time consuming at all.

Not much time left until Daniel makes his first trip out to Montreal to visit me! I should start working on some posts to queue up during that time. Any ideas?

Thanks so much for reading!

Pastel Stripes

Hola a todos! Today I have a pretty simple design to show you all, it's just some simple colourblock-esque stripes on a pretty neutral base. Mixing nude colours with neons has been in style lately, but I'm predicting that neutrals and pastels will be big soon because they make a lovely combination.

I suppose if I had used tape this manicure would have sharper lines, but that takes forever and I was lazy when I set out to do this. I think this is probably a look that I'll try again with different colours, maybe add some jazzing up to the stripes too.

The base was OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh, and the stripes were OPI Thanks a Windmillion, OPI Pink Friday, OPI A Grape Fit!, China Glaze Secret Periwinkle, and Illamasqua Load.

What do you think about this colour scheme?

Zoya Lovely - Comparisons

Hi guys! Today I have the comparison post that I promised you the other day to accompany my swatches and review of Zoya's Spring 2013 collection appropriately titled Lovely. Let's see if I managed to find any dupes!

Here we have Zoya Blu vs. Zoya Kristen. Zoya Blu is much cleaner and more of a true blue while Kristen is very gray in comparison. In case you couldn't tell, Blu is on my index and ring fingers while Kristen is on my middle and pinky fingers.

Here's a bottle shot showing off the differences which I personally think are more obvious on the nail. Kristen is on the left and Blu is on the right. 

The next comparison I was able to do was between Zoya Neely and OPI Thanks a Windmillion. I really though these would be similar but the OPI is much darker and makes Neely look like a much better option for spring in my opinion.

See? They're not even similar! Are you convinced that you need Neely yet? She's amazing!

This last comparison compares quite a few lacquers. On my index finger I have OPI My Vampire's Buff from the new Euro Centrale collection, then on my middle finger I have Zoya Jacqueline, on my ring finger I have Zoya Avery, and finally on my pinky I have OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?

I personally don't think that the new OPI is a dupe for Jacqueline and I think this bottle shot illustrates it best. The OPI is a little more rosy while Zoya Jacqueline leans a little to the yellow side in comparison. Are these two extremely similar? Yes. Do you need both? Probably not. Honestly I would recommend the Zoya just because the formula is a bit easier to work with, but I love both of them and would be happy with either one.

If you're convinced about some of the Zoya Lovely colours you can follow this link over to the website and make an account. Using this link will allow you to get a coupon for a free bottle of nail polish, and by adding two more to your cart you can get free shipping!

Don't forget to check out my ongoing giveaway here because I know that all of you want a chance to win some free polish! The prizes are two OPI polishes, one from the Mariah Carey collection and one from the yet unreleased Euro Centrale collection!

The link provided is my personal referral link for the Zoya "Share the Love" program.

Zoya Lovely - Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! Today I have an exciting collection to show you that most of you have already seen, haha. To be fair, I just got these in the mail on Thursday so there IS a reason to why I'm so late in posting these. I love the Zoya Lovely collection so much that I could sit around looking at swatches of it all day, so I hope you don't mind some repetition.

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So here I've shown you the bottle pictures both with my blinding flash, and then in natural light in my apartment. I honestly think that every single colour in this collection is perfect for spring. Let's get started with the review and swatches!

First up is Zoya Blu, a gorgeous, clean baby blue shade. The formula on this colour was okay. I used two coats for opacity, but it seemed a little chalky and it wasn't good at self-leveling so I added top coat and it was perfection!

I really like this colour and I think it translates extremely well into spring. This will be a really nice creme to have around to use in nail art!

Next up is Zoya Neely which is my absolute favourite from the collection. Seriously people, you NEED this colour in your life. Neely is a perfect light mint green creme.

The formula on Neely was better than the one on Blu, it was a little more watery but there was no problem with getting ugly ridges. I will be using this polish over and over and over again.

This stunner is called Zoya Jacqueline and she is a lovely off-white colour. At first glace she seems similar to OPI's My Vampire is Buff but I will get into that in a comparison post soon. Jacqueline had a similar formula to Blu, two coats for opacity but a bit of a chalky feel to it. A coat of topcoat smooths everything out deliciously.

I am in love with neutral shades like this. You can be sure that I will be wearing Jacqueline all spring for a clean, fresh manicure, and after spring is over I'll be using her in a lot of nail art.

Next I would like to introduce you to Zoya Piaf. I guess I'm thrown off a little by the name, I thought that Piaf would be a pink colour (La Vie en Rose anyone?). This shade was surprisingly flattering on my skin tone which is something that yellows don't usually accomplish for me.

I love the silver shimmer in this polish, it really brings it to life. This polish and the two other shimmers in the collection have very similar formulas and take three thin coats for opacity. They were all very easy to work with!

This pretty pink is Zoya GeiGei (spelled GieGie on my label..hmm). GeiGei has the same silver shimmer running through her as Piaf and I think this is a really great colour for spring. I'm not sure how original it is but I can get behind it because it's unique to my collection.

You guys know how I am, I just can't get enough pink polishes!

The last lacquer from the Lovely collection is Zoya Julie. Apart from loving the name Julie, I cannot get enough of this pretty purple shimmer. 

I'm not sure why I love Julie so much more than GeiGei and Piaf, but I think the silver shimmer really goes well with this light purple. 

I don't have anything bad to say about this collection, I really enjoyed all six of the colours and I think that they're both great for wearing this spring and incorporating into nail art for the future. You know what the colour scheme reminds me of? Easter eggs!

Will you be picking up any of the Zoya Lovely collection? You can check these beauties out by following this link. If you click on that link and create an account, a coupon for a free bottle of Zoya nail polish will be placed in your account, and by adding two more polishes to your cart you can get free shipping!

The products in this post were kindly provided for review. The above link is my personal referral link for Zoya's "Share the Love" program.

OPI Oy - Another Polish Joke!

Hi everyone! I promised you that I would devote a post to OPI Oy - Another Polish Joke! since I was too intimidated to try it on its own in my original review post. Today I have a real swatch of this polish, as well as two layering combinations.

Here we go, the star of the show, OPI Oy - Another Polish Joke! The formula on this is interesting to say the least. I used three very thin coats plus one thicker coat, so four coats in total, to reach this level of opacity. The visible nail line in the photos wasn't quite as obvious in real life, but I still wasn't too crazy about it.

I think this polish taught me why some people don't like yellow gold, it's not terribly flattering on my skin tone unfortunately.

I'm sure that this polish is stunning in the sunlight, but I just don't think it's for me. Maybe we should kick it up a notch...how about some layering!?

Here I took Anti-Bleak from the Mariah Carey collection and layered one coat of Oy - Another Polish Joke! on top of it. I wasn't expecting the gold to go on so thick, and I was admittedly a little careless in my application.

I really thought I would love this, but I think the gold layered over berry just looks kind of brown-ish. Maybe a cooler toned purple would have worked better.

This on the other hand is a combination that I can get on board with! Here is one very thin coat of Oy - Another Polish Joke over OPI Thanks a Windmillion. I am so impressed by how the gold and the sage green play together, yum!

Don't you think this is a gorgeous combination? I just want to keep layering this gold over everything!

Do you have any combinations that you want to see or try out? Would you wear this polish on its own, or layered?

Some of the products in this post were sent for review.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Happy December everyone! We can finally start the countdown to Christmas, are you as excited as I am? I know I'm ready for the week long vacation, just to relax, eat, sleep, and get together with family and friends. I've been getting into the Christmas mood with some nail polish recently, so the first manicure I want to show you is with Ulta's Envy. This is a luscious dark forest green, with a little bit of shimmer. However, this is barely noticeable once it's on your nails. Nonetheless, this is a very nice and festive polish and I think forest green is a must have for this season.

Canadian readers, I'm sorry to say that this polish is exclusive to Ulta stores, which are only located in the US. So next time you're down there for vacation, be sure to check out their polish lines!

As for the formulation, it's a bit thick for my liking, and I have to make sure to clean up my cuticles afterwards because the brush isn't the best shape... But hey it's a nice color and affordable at that! Enough talk, here are the pics!

With flash you can see the shimmer/iridescence more clearly!

Lovely electromagnetic radiation notes!

And a Christmas party invite :)

Hope this was a nice and simple start to the holiday season for you! What manicures/nail art are you planning on sporting for your special occasions? 

Thanks for reading!

Mandy