NIcole by OPI. Gone But Not Forgotten

Back in 2011 Nicole by OPI was a going concern. In fact they'd had even some affiliation with a pretty popular tv family, plus some TV show tie-ins.

Somehow it just wasn't meant to be. Gone the way of the Dodo, as I frequently say.

I found that in the nail community people didn't like the bottles.

Sometimes they did a better version of something (Dutch Ya Like OPI next to NOPI Purple Yourself Together as an example) or did some fun stuff with glitter.

This set came out around Christmas 2011 with four glitters. I had them set aside for swatching, but ended up separating them into their color families.

Nicole by OPI Orna-ment For Each Other

Three coats (two would be fine).

No top coat.

This is a texture, but  I honestly can't recall if it was supposed to be textured or not, I really can't recall. 

I love how the gold brings it into the warmer tomato family of reds.

Wore it for about a 4 day span with no tip wear or anything. Nice!!

I think I bunged it over another polish, so you can see that a little around the edges. 

Perhaps considered rare at this time, as it's not inexpensive on eBay. You might find it on a blog sale, though.

Thanks for reading and sticking with my little nail polish journal!

That Autumnal Feeling

Longer nights now, but not impossibly so, not like the dead of winter, just that long mellowing until dark.

Here's a polish I really have had for a long time, but needed to post, Nicole by OPI Bah Plum-bug.

To me less plum than purple, but naming certainly often falls into a realm that has less to do with color than punnage.

Here it is topped with Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

This is a translucent, well more like transparent, semi-flakie large glass fleck.

It has turned a bit yellow in my bottle, but goes on like a transparent white. More fleck than flake, but the size is nice.

It was a hot little wedding collection SH came out with a few years ago, no longer on the site, but easy to find to buy. I recommend "Aisle Be There" for toppers, it's a great one.

No complaints on this one, either, just not a thrilling combination.

I wonder if I am getting jaded! 

LOL!!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Capacity for Dystopia

I admit my encounters with young adult literature entailed a lot of horses and a lot of history and classical literature. I read one sci-fi that my sister liked (the Tripods trilogy), but I was much happier parsing the world of Walter Farley or Jack London.

So when I picked up a few random polishes from a big Nail Supply order I got a few that said "The Giver" on the lid. Based on a book, based on a movie it's a sad story about a sad future. (Read 1984, then look at the current news media, you don't need a book to show you dystopia!)

Reading the wicky-dicky about The Giver, I really have so little incentive to open the book, much less see the movie, that I can't really tell you much more than the bottles have "The Giver Limited Edition" on them. Although I've found a dupe, I am wondering if China Glaze pulled a few old recipes out of a box for this collaboration. I know they got hung out to dry on the Hunger Games movie (yet another sad future for us all, sigh), but this seems like something I missed then accidentally happened upon.

What I've got on: China Glaze Capacity to See Beyond (no pressure) topped with Nicole by OPI Wink of Twink.

A rich blue that is not super unique, but drenched with summer sky. I like it, although I did manage to slop it around with enthusiasm! I did try clean up, but as you can see, that wasn't the whole-lotta-win I was hoping for.

I like this polish at three coats and I won't complain about it. Much. It is loose, but I can award it props for being so pretty and drying very well.

I think you can rustle these "Giver" polishes fairly easily these days.

Wink of Twink is an old Nicole by OPI from  what sounds like a holiday collection. Though I tried flash, sun, angling my hand in the lamps, I could not get a decent holographic rainbow out of it. Even at close examination, I can't even find an implication of holo in my photos.

Having said that, it's a pretty silver topper that may, grab some holo in person in the sun, but it's not really very holographic at all. 

I am debating if I should just relegate it to silver topper or move it along. With the latter being pretty much my feeling towards it.

Too bad, it does have a soft twinkle but it's supposed to be holographic. 

Sad future for this polish.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

The Same...But Different

The interwebz is full of people who enjoy laughing - a bit too hard at times - at others. Little has changed, exept the exponential way in which it all seems to happen.

One meme is the girl holding about 8 bottles of mint polish with a look of hapless frustration: they are different!!! (Even though they look all the same)

When I acquired Nicole by OPI Sing You Like a Bee (part of a country western singer's collection that came out a few years ago) and OPI Ski Slope Sweetie (from 2013's Mariah Carey collection) I just kept them next to each other because they were basically dupes:

While my stained nails don't provide the perfect backdrop, essentially these polishes - at three coats - just produces a translucent golden glass fleck shimmer. Nothing like the white you see in the bottle (unless you put it over white)

Left to right:

OPI Ski Slope Sweetie

Nicole by OPI Sing You Like a Bee

OPI Ski Slope Sweetie

Nicole by OPI Sing You Like a Bee

The only difference is that NOPI SYLaB is a texture, and OPI SLS is not.

I took OPI Time-Less is More and topped Ski Slope Sweetie:

I love this combo a lot. Uniformly sheer, Time-Less is More lets Ski Slope Sweetie glow.

Win! This is a good option if you don't want a big old chalky white base.

Then tried OPI Ski Slope Sweetie over a deeper shade, Sparitual Solitude:

It's quite stunning at one coat, but at two coats, here, it's a bit overwhelming. Very beautiful!

Finally I took NOPI Sing You Like A Bee and put it over Color Club Coastal Creme

then topped it with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

I took this with my camera using a flash and it's a fast last minute mani, but man, this one just is as close to opals on my nails as I 've been able to achieve. It's fairly amazing, this combo. 

Here's another shot where you can see the texture:

This is using sunshine, late afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed!!

Thanks for looking!

Nope: Not Dupes NOPI Purple Yourself Together Dutch'ya Love OPI

So, I've blogged both of these, but I didn't put them together until recently.

Thought I better put that one to bed before I actually rest on an assumption rather than something a little more empirical.

I've been wanting to get through so many polishes and just never seem to get around to this pairing!

Here they are:

Left to right:
Nicole by OPI Purple Yourself Together
OPI Dutch'ya Love OPI
Nicole by OPI Purple Yourself Together
OPI Dutch'ya Love OPI

Close, but no cigar. This is at three coats each.

While you can see they have the same bone structure - plummy purple and gold shimmer - it's like those photos of people who look alike but aren't related.

Ironically I decided to do this when I was organizing my stash and saw that I had them in separate drawer.

What?

It's basically a matter of ratios. I think that you will see in the next photo of the first coat where things differ:

Quite sheer is our little NOPI on the first coat, but I confess that I love the soft halo of gold that is shot across the length of the nail.

I didn't think until this writing that you could actually combine the two: use D'yLOPI topped with PYT to increase the gold.

Dutch'ya Love OPI is from the 2012 Holland collection and Purple Yourself Together is from a Target exclusive collection of the same year.

So, same ingredients, different proportions.

The OPI is more of a creme with a "secret shimmer" and the NOPI is more of a true shimmer bathed in a crelly base.

I think both are found online with some poking around, too.

I also think which one you might like more is more about personal taste. I like both, with a tendency toward the NOPI, but I don't think either is superior, I think they are just simply different.


Here's a bottle shot:

The pair are simply beautiful and it could have been either one in the Holland collection.

My personal recommendation? The Nicole by OPI. Why? The shimmer is spot on trend with the contrasting shade shimmer that is pushing up through the ground right now. I will add that secret shimmer, as I've stated before, often ends up being "personal shimmer" because that's all you can see of the darn thing.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Red Glass Fleck Swatch Fest

That trove of 2014 photos yielded a ton of colors I was sure I'd swatched. Finding these photos has been fun.

Here are a pack of jelly based glass fleck reds to share.

Enjoy!




OPI Wing It!

From OPI's Summer Flutter collection of around 2010, it is a beautiful bright cherry red packed with red, amber and purple glass fleck. It shifts from pinkish red, to orange red, depending on the light.

I found mine originally when it came out through an online etailer. The good news is that it's still floating around online, though not on OPI's site itself.

The mix of colors is splendid.

It's a three coater, with vaguely visible nail line, but truly a beautiful creation by OPI.



China Glaze Cherry Pie

From China Glaze's 2009 Summer Days collection, this is a beautiful red on red glass fleck in jelly base.
More of a sheer polish, though I have three coats, it's bright and fresh like a perfect summer day.
Still available online, but at a fairly HTF price point.

I won't lie, I miss that China Glaze used to put together whole collections of one type of finish. This was part of one such collection.






Borghese Colosseo Crimson

Now pretty much defunct in the nail polish realm, Borghese three out some unique shades.
This is a fairly generic red jelly packed to the rafters with gold glass fleck.

Three coats and scant visible nail line.

The red is bright, and it covers the glass fleck very well. Quite affordable on eBay at this writing.






Sephora Go With The Flow-er

Bright red with a generous, but scattered array of glass fleck in purple, amber and red. Lovely and almost full coverage at three coats.

I like the substantial SOPI bottles, but they don't grab my attention for some reason when I am reaching for a polish.

I found mine at the Big Lots! near me, since Sephora by OPI was phased out a few years ago and replaced by Formula X. Unable to find it online, it might show up, though I would opt for Wing It! should you be wanting this kind of polish since they have a lot of the same backbone with the amber, purple, and red glass fleck.




Nicole By OPI Fuchsia Wife

Not dissimilar to OPI Wing It!, but much more sheer and really more of a topper than anything else. Although not to discount it's capabilities as a topper. It can rock on its own dime admirably. Personally I like it a lot. I toss it over red and purple as well as any think vampy.

Not impossible to find, either. I will say this whole collection did have a lot of cool stuff that really never surprises me from Nicole by OPI. People hate on the bottles, but they do a nice job of keeping their head above water in a competitive drug store environment. I've got a lot of NOPIs and I have very few that give me a problem.




Milani Just Peachy

Perhaps the most obscure of the bunch, but still online for the having.

Found at the Dollar Tree, this one is loaded with silvery color changing glass fleck in a warm red base. In no way to I consider this "peach" at all, but really just a bright red.

The jelly red is strong and just zings. I think it, here at three coats, can stand alone and work as a topper.

This is part of the discontinued Milani as they've changed their bottles and tightened up their look into a much more modern and visually arresting one than they had in the past. I will say I've seen people comment on the look of the bottles, but I've never been too bugged by the look of a bottle if the polish inside works for me.


All right, there you have it. A bunch of zingy reds. I had tried to do a comparison, but my camera settings make my hands look red and even with access to real Photoshop, there was just no fixing any of the comparisons.

In a nutshell I'd say if you are like glass fleck, grab Wing It! if you like cool toned and Cherry Pie if you are warm toned, or the Milani (eBay for a song, btw).

Thank you for reading my little nail polish museum!

Something Old and Something New

While summer is here, I wanted to throw in an old photo I uploaded to Flickr, but forgot to blog about.

It's Color Club Something New over Nicole by OPI Ps and Qs

I love Nicole by OPI Ps and Qs. A soft vintage green that bears slightly cool.

Three coats here.

Then I topped it with Colur Club Something Blue from their Celebration collection back in 2014. It's a pearly white glitter loaded with light blue pearl glitters, all a medium hex size, then sprinkled generously with a small white glitter.

It's very much a lacy overlay to a beautiful dress kind of fun combo.

I feel like it's more springtime than full summer sunshine, kind of a guest at the wedding kind of thing.

The Color Club is still available online, but Nicole by OPI can be hard to find, though I think there are many good mint greens out there that would serve the purpose.

Meanwhile, hope you are having a wonderful summer!

Lavender and Pink

Here are three polishes, two new to the blog, one a reblog for a comparison. Enjoy!

Here is SinfulColors Zeus:

It's basically their Lavender polish loaded with a pink shimmer.
Three two coats.  A lot of win with that shimmer.

I then compared it to Nicole by OPI's Back to Reality...TV

Left to right:
SC Zeus
NOPI BTR..TV
SC Zeus
NOPI BTR..TV

I am kind of surprised how little oomph the NOPI has with regard to shimmer within the creme base. SC kills and NOPI just sits there.

I think that SC is a thicker polish and two coats versus a necessary three on the NOPI.

Plus and minus is that NOPI is a little bit easier to manage and control, but I really don't think it's a big deal.  For me the color payoff with the shimmer up front and ready is more important.


I threw in Essie Using My Maiden Name, but not to really compare.

Of the trio, I love UMMN a lot. The brighter, less muddy lavender that peeps into purple is perfect for spring.

I've got three coats on here, but no complaints on the formula.

I've heard, and now witness, that the shimmer is hard to find on the nail. This angle only barely revealed it. That is the one failing of a very pretty polish.

Where to buy
Essie UMMN is easily available on line. UMMN was all over TJ Maxx for awhile, so it's readily out there on eBay, etc.
NOPI BTR...TV is harder to find because that was a limited edition collection a couple years ago. It's not inexpensive, but of the pair, much harder to find.
SinfulColors Zeus was part of a 2012 Castaway collection  (Thank you Nouveau Cheap for your excellent blog on drugstore items, a great resource in the polish world!)

Of the trio, I think Zeus is the most challenging to find, as I don't think it's out there in their main line, and much harder to find. I had little luck.

My personal favorite is Zeus, but Essie UMMN has a great bright hue and the shimmer is ok for me, I can always goof around with toppers.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Indian Teal

Pantone captures this color very well: deep blue that inches towards teal, but doesn't push into Mallard blue territory.
Nice.

I've got three that I'd like to share.

Here is a star in its own right: Zoya Kotori

Three coats, no top coat. It's a beautiful shimmer swimming in a black base.

Here's another shot that shows how sheer it actually is:

After I wore this, I moved it into my toppers: it's a huge win in that department. Three coats does work, but this one has legs for other tasks and I didn't want to waste it on a multi-coater since Zoya no longer makes this beautiful polish.

A real loss, it's a favorite.


Here are some comparisons.

I found NYC Electric Nail Glossies at the Dollar Tree ages ago, but for some reason haven't blogged yet. It's a generic vamp that has this Indian Teal shimmer.

Here it is in comparison to Zoya Kotori.

Left to right:
NYC Midnight
Zoya Kotori
NYC Midnight
Zoya Kotori

It's the size of the shimmer, Kotori is bigger, and the black base, NYC's is deeper.

Here are the bottles:

Next is Nicole by OPI Too Rich For You and NYC Midnight

Left to right:
NYC Midnight
NOPI Too Rich For You
NYC Midnight
NOPI Too Rich For You

NOPI Too Rich For You is more shimmery, perhaps a larger size particle versus the uniform size of the NYC.

Both read vampy, though, because they need a lot of light to show off the shimmer.


Here are the bottles:

Finally Zoya Kotori and NOPI Too Rich For You:

Left to right:
Nicole by OPI Too Rich For You
Zoya Kotori
Nicole by OPI Too Rich For You
Zoya Kotori

You can find NOPI on eBay and other places, but it's not inexpensive. There is a SinfulColors dupe, I blogged it here along with NOPI Too Rich For You.

Of the three Kotori is a bit more of a unique polish. It will build and it will layer, so it's got a lot of versatility. Kotori is available online, just not at Zoya (naughty, Zoya, naughty!), and somewhat cheaper than the NOPI. I can't find the NYC online, not to worry, though, the SC dupe will fill all gaps, save the one left by Kotori!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Pair of Polishes that Are Something With Something In Them

Yes, the descriptive phrase for polishes that are a thing, but yet another thing..

Aka the shimmer in the creme.

Nicole by OPI Midnight Madness

Ostensibly a black, but a black packed with blue shimmer that shifts from an aqua into a purple. My camera just didn't catch any of that love, and as hard as I tried, I wasn't really able to do this polish much justice. 

I had this in my navy polishes, but the more I look at it, the more it really belongs in with the black polishes. 

My research tells me it's from a fall 2008 NOPI collection. Most blogs have a lot of info on OPI, but not as much on Nicole by OPI. 

It is basically a black, with some blue shimmer that shifts color. If you like to wear black polish, but want to change it up, this is a nice option. Unfortunately I've turned up a blank on finding this one. Might show up on eBay, though.

Nicole by OPI Back to Reality...TV

A beautiful purple tinged gray that shifts more gray in warm light and more purple in cooler/daylight. A bit of a bear if you want to have blue during the indoor, tungsten lighting season. As we evolve toward LED and cooler lighting indoors, I wonder if our descendants will live in a bright sunny indoor world and wonder what the HECK is she talking about with tungsten lighting!!!??

This has a pretty pink shimmer that is almost impossible to photograph. 

If you look at the bottle you see all that tasty shimmer and on the nail you have to hit either the angles correctly or you need to get some flash or sunshine. 

I may, down the pike, decant some of my own topper stuff like a glass fleck pink into this. 

As with the first polish, I thought this was a lavender polish, but really it's more of a purplish gray with a shimmer that is pink. 

A gray that can change up the old gray that you think "ah well, neutral" into more of a subversive "yes, folks, I'm wearing purple to the office!" Oh the rebel in you!

All over eBay at a variety of price points. I think at that price, you could dig into one with some frankening and make it have some oomph.

Two pretty neutrals with something extra that is kind of subtle, but it's something different.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Oops, I Duped It Again

It's a bit of a nice thing to buy a backup of a polish you really and utterly adore, quite another when you buy a dupe of something that is good, but not a thrill, it's a little bit of a let down.

I had originally purchased Nicole by OPI Me + Blue either at TJ Maxx or on deep discount at Shopko. I was pretty please because I like a holo glitter. I pretty much have put it on the back burner. 

The other day I was in TJ Maxx and found OPI Blue Chips (a re-label of the puntastic OPI Ulta Exclusive The Flowers are Blue-Ming) and completely forgot that I had NOPI Me + Blue.

I decided to see if in fact it was just re-labled NOPI or possibly I had something different.

Here are the bottle shots:

Don't be alarmed: the NOPI brush was disintegrating and I just decanted it into an old Color Club top coat bottle.

In the bottle there is a scattered holo along with a pretty bright blue shimmer. As you shall see, it is a somewhat frosty shimmer, too. Interesting choice.

Let's get get busy!

Nicole by OPI Me + Blue and OPI Blue Chips

Three coats. 

Left to right:

NOPI M+B

OPI BC

NOPI M+B

OPI BC

I can't tell the difference. I mean except that there is a touch more coverage on the NOPI and it seems a bit darker. But, it's negligible.

I then popped it over black to see its "bones".

Pretty interesting! You've got a scattered holo and a blue shimmer that pulls a bit frosty. It almost looks a bit turquoise at times, too.

Here is a closer shot:

The shimmer is less pronounced when you look directly on, but at most angles, aka most of the time, you will see it.

I like it, but it's not a thrill a minute. I do like it over black a lot more than alone. Having said that, I believe over any one of the strong blues that are out these days it will be quite a payoff. 

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

You Might Just Get Royal Part 2

Welcome back to my blog! This is part two of my thoughts on glass fleck polishes that could work as ingredients for frankening this beauty.

Here is a link back to part one.



Here, again, is OPI Designer Series Royal

Three coats of a red violet with a shifty blue/violet glass fleck. Perhaps one of the coolest and unique Designer Series polishes to ever come out. It has never really been truly copied, as many (many, many men - just had a Blanche Devereaux moment) of the OPI DS holographics.

You can see that in some light it runs very blue and dense, and as my fingers shifted in this photo, it runs more red violet and sheer.

In its day it was a rare beast that everyone coveted.

Pretty amazing. Running about $45 on eBay just at this moment.

Continuing with some glass fleck polishes that might be a good way to franken this puppy yourself...





OPI Designer Series Royal and Jesse's Girl Confetti

Left to right on the bottom:
OPI DS Royal
Jesse's Girl Confetti
OPI DS Royal
Jesse's Girl Confetti

For $3.99 a bottle on the Jesse's Girl website, there isn't much to say except: YES!!!

Though my photo doesn't show it well, this polish does shift. It's got that same delicate blue, too.

Much win. I am also very glad that Jesse's Girl (you know that 80's song is now an earbug, gaaaah!!!) didn't abandon this polish, because it's a classic beauty: great topper material. I cherish mine.

Three coats, as with OPI DS Royal.




OPI DS Royal and Whimsical Ideas by Pam Bliss

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
Whimsical Ideas by Pam Bliss
OPI DS Royal
Whimsical Ideas by Pam Bliss

Another win. This was a bit of a surprise when I purchased it, because it basically is a dupe of Jesse's Girl Confetti. There are differences. It has more of a lustrous finish. It might be because of the suspension base, but I don't know for sure. I like it a bit more than the Jesse's girl, it is somewhat more shifty and more luminous.

I would be, in all honesty, more reluctant to franken this one as it is so beautiful on its own. I wanted to throw it out there, though, because it is gorgeous and just as magical as are all of Pam's polishes.

She sells through her Facebook page (I've added a link, but I'm not affiliated and buy my own polish)




OPI Designer Series Royal and Nicole by OPI Canadian Star

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
NOPI Canadian Star
OPI DS Royal
NOPI Canadian Star

This is a polish that came out in 2011 and was a Canadian exclusive for a certain youtube sensation pop singer that went mainstream thanks to teenage hormones. (Never underestimate teenage hormones: they gave you Joan of Arc and Salem Witch Trials and probably Queen Elizabeth I's balltasticity.)

Meanwhile, I've blogged it here. It's a gorgeous polish that shifts beautifully. It isn't quite as light an airy as the glass fleck in OPI DS Royal, but it is in a deep blurple jelly base that does do a very good job of deepening this polish.

I think it could work, but tweaking the base would be problematic and the payoff would be less red violet and more purple.

But, it is still around on eBay here and there, I found mine there when it was first job lotted and am glad I have it. I do like it a bit better than OPI DS Magic, it is very similar, but Magic is more blue and less shifty. Not a total disadvantage, just more my taste.



There you have it, a small collection of polishes that really stand up against OPI DS Royal as potential to tweak into a copy of DS Royal.


First place would be Jesse's Girl followed by SH DVD, largely due to price point, it's still fairly cheap on eBay, then Whimsical Ideas by Pam, less of a front runner due to it's stand out beauty and price point (I don't enjoy frankening special polishes), finally NOPI Canadian Star, due to it's blue base being rather strong.

I think the trend in nail polish today is away from the collector of the super hard to find and more to the opportunities that are almost endless for excellent variations on color and finish. I think it's very exciting that instead of lamenting the loss of a one off hard-to-find, you can make a great facsimile or even find a bespoke indie. Times certainly have changed.

I will, though, give a nod to the collectors, like myself, who, though they can buy indie or knock off, enjoy the hunt. There is something to be said for finally scoring that one polish that seems elusive.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

You Might Just Get Royal Part 1

OPI Designer Series Royal, that is.

So, you will agree that I am not a blogger that gets new stuff breathtakingly fast. Even if I get it "early and often" (which seems like my collecting mantra if I love something), I still tend to waffle around on other things on my never ending list before I get them swatched.

OPI Designer Series Royal

Three coats, light nude translucent base to take the stains out of my nails.

This is a sheer polish, no doubt, but it does build into a beautiful red violet shot through with a delicate light blue that shifts into that same violet tone.

See the shift? Nice.

Personally I almost gave up on this polish, but happened about 3-4 years ago, on a seller on eCrater who had it for about 11-ish dollars. I bought it, the only one available. Talk about a lucky fluke.

As soon as I had it in my hand I thought, dang, this IS frankenable. Completely.

I have to say that I never got around to frankening a dupe, largely because I had the original, but I did believe it to be less impossible as I saw more and more glass fleck polishes rush into the market place.

I thought I'd compare OPI DS Royal to some glass fleck polishes that would be very good nominees.

Although I didn't try to compare red violets, but I think that would be less difficult to find, in fact, pretty easy when I thought about it. It would be a matter of testing and cutting it down to a an intense jelly. I should get around to it, note to self.



OPI DS Royal and Gosh Gasoline

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
Gosh Gasoline
OPI DS Royal
Gosh Gasoline

I threw this in here because it has similar bones.

If you see what I see, then you see that you can take some of the Gosh Gasoline and mix it with more glass fleck, thus diluting the heavier violet base into less of a strong presence.

I'd call it a close relative. Like George the 4th and Queen Victoria.

Here it is again  - same order - and the similarities mount.

Bottle shots:

It's almost a matter of percentages, isn't it?

It is difficult to suggest a polish that is only available in stores in Europe, but it does show up on eBay on occasion, and is no longer a rare hard-to-find polish.




OPI Designer Series Royal and Sally Hansen DVD

Left to right:
OPI DS Royal
SH DVD
OPI DS Royal
SH DVD

Sally Hansen DVD has been blogged before here. I will add that my photo then shows more of the shift than my photo here.

It is the same pale blue that seems to run almost to a frosty feel on DS Royal. But when I turn my hand in this photo, it seems to go darker.

DVD is three coats, no base coat. I will add that it is an excellent topper, truly worth having as a back up, it never lets me down and surpasses anything that CND came out with in their hey day of Color/Effects polishes.

It might work, though, if you look at the previous blog post. It does shift and it does carry that same light bright blue.

I have to give Sally Hansen serious slow clap for stationing herself at the front of the glass fleck bell curve. OPI did have access to these finishes, but it took years before it really decided to jump in with both feet.


More soon, three more to be exact!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!  

What? Another Purple? Orchid You Not!

I used to know an attorney who always said "I sh!t you not!" following what was invariably a really funny story. Godspeed one great guy.

Back to nail polish...

Nicole by OPI Orchid You Not!

Three coats and a beautiful medium purple with an implication of dustiness, but not totally squashed into gray, which is a welcome relief.

No top coat. This is on par with OPI's salon line, the formula was very good. 

I found this at TJ Maxx and am not sure if it's a relabeled NOPI, but it probably is. I don't follow the NOPI celebrity collaborations very closely and this might be from one of those, but when they finally arrive at Ross - OPI or NOPI - they are more often divested of those names that make them readily tied to that person's brand.

Meantime, this is a good option for soft orchid. I think my photo pulls a tiny bit blue. Purples are often my challenge.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Pink Glitter Comparison: NOPI Candy is Dandy and OPI DS Tourmaline

If you recall, back in April I swatched the lovely Nicole by OPI Gumdrops that I had in my possession, missing a couple, but happy with the ones I had. I mentioned that Candy is Dandy is very close in the bottle to OPI Designer Series Tourmaline.

Here's a link to that post.

In fact they not dupes, but seriously similar.

Left to right:

• NOPI Candy is Dandy
• OPI DS Tourmaline
• NOPI Candy is Dandy
• OPI DS Tourmaline

As you can easily see they are not the same shade, with the NOPI offering a touch more pink and OPI's a touch more raspberry. Additionally, there is more texture in the NOPI and more glitter in OPI DS Tourmaline.

Same order, top to bottom. I'd say that both have texture, just that Candy is Dandy has more of those little texture balls added, where DS Tourmaline is made up of glitter.

Both are three coats, no top coat and are both lovely.

If, however, you only budget for one, either would really do in a pinch.

Thanks for looking at my little nail polish journal!

Color Club Taps Into Tesserae - aka Modern Mosaic Collection Part 2

Back at it with Color Club's Modern Mosaic Limited Edition glitter collection.

Trying their hand at a "micro mosaic" effect for your nails.

Or a "pixel" effect, depending on  your visual art predilection, I guess.

Part 1 can be seen here.

In a nutshell: no top coats, two coats when solo, kind of thick, could use thinning, but that might be trial and error, too. One coat over the selected base.

On to the swatches.



Color Club Love You To Pieces

This is mostly white with a smattering of blue and a bit more violet glitter mixed in. I think the effect would have been more successful had it been less white glitter and more blue and purple.

One coat over Puccilicious. Pretty, and would be nice to add to a glitter layering combination, too.




Color Club Green Piece

This one you can really see my stained nails. Ugh!

Alright, this is a green and white glitter combination. One thing about this one that stands out is that it is truly thick. I should have redone it, but I think by now I was just exhausted. I also was watching the Roger Ebert documentary "Life Itself" since I'm such an Ebert fan, and it was sad and I was fairly spent so I was pretty much beyond worrying about this.

Green Piece over Nicole by OPI Mind Your Peas and Qs. I thought I'd blogged this before, but I didn't and so I don't have a "solo" shot. I love this polish a lot, have a backup I found at a blog sale. I think both of mine are from blogsales.

Meanwhile I need to do a mint green comparison, because I have a lot. The glitters in Green Piece seem to have a bit of a pearlescent quality, so unlike the rest, they aren't matte.




Color Club Blue Beaded

White glitter with a bright blue glitter mixed in. Should be more blue here, because it's a beauty.

I have it over Barielle Swizzle Stick, and you can see how it makes a sweet little topper.

Swizzle Stick is one that hasn't been swatched before:

Bright turquoise that isn't too intense, very beautiful and look at how smooth and glossy it is? I need more Barielle! No complaints on this one! I think I got this on a blog sale, but often Barielle runs sales.


That wraps it up on the Color Club Modern Mosaic Collection.

Cute, very thick, nice for layering with other glitters, but not sure if they are super favorites of mine. If you are into frankening, though, they might be a good resource, too.

My favorites: Orange Crush, Green Piece and Subway Station. Much more than just "white matte glitter.

The most affordable place to buy is Head2Toe, but shipping runs about $12-14 from where they are to the western US, so you need to buy a few polishes to make it worth your while. I don't have a Bed Bath and Beyond that carries Color Club so I can't speak on their prices. Most other places now carry them at $8 a pop. And while Color Club is head and shoulders above what Sally Hansen offers in her Complete Salon Manicure line, I've only seen Color Club very randomly in drug stores.


Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!