OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I've been in the mood for a good red lately, so it seemed like a good day to show you OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It from the OPI Muppets.  On the nail, it turned out far better than it sounds: it's a clear base with powdery-fine red glitter and red and silver hex glitter.  The outcome looks like opaque stop sign red glitter nails with white glitter polka dots.

For the manicure, I used base coat, three coats of Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, and a coat of Addicted to Speed just because it was late.  This morning, I felt around the edges of my nails for any pieces of stray hex glitter overhanging an edge, then just filed off the part over the edge and added a coat of Sally Hansen Salon top coat to seal it and smooth out the glitter.  Without the second coat of top coat, it definitely would have been passably smooth and was far better than I'd anticipated, but I really like perfectly smooth.  Once it dried, I took pictures in the sun.

OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It Nail Polish, Three Coats

Here's a closer look at the glitter in it.

OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It Nail Polish, Close Up of Glitter

There's no way to show you in a still picture just how reflective this glitter is, so I'll tell you.  In low-ish indoor lighting, it completely glows, and I think even in office lighting this one would catch attention from across the room.  It's really stunning, and I'd completely prepared myself for a disappointment since fine glitters often don't build up very well.  With the first coat, I definitely didn't see the potential it had because the glitter looked sparse, the second coat looked almost like this, and I added the third to finish covering a few barer spots.  Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is unequivocally a keeper for me, and it's really an exceptional red for the holidays.

I can chalk up another OPI Muppets success with Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, and that's all there is to tell you this morning.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!




All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I decided to try Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven when I ordered another Lippmann, and it got here in record time so I thought I'd give you a peek.  I looked at some pictures to decide on it, and it looked sheer-ish white with light colored moderately sized glitter.

I was surprised at how sheer Stairway to Heaven looked in the bottle and I simply don't have the patience for a million coats of color these days, so after applying base coat I applied one thin coat of Misa Heaven White.  I picked Heaven White not for the handy name tie-in but because it's not as stark a white as my other layering standby, FingerPaints Papier Mache.  On the very first nail, I was glad I'd put something under Stairway because I found it to be both sheer and incredibly thick, so thick that it was kind of hard to get it on the brush well.  In getting it on my nails, it was so thick that I had to got over some spots to flatten out the little square glitter bits I'll show you in a minute - the base was letting them stay standing on end.  I missed a spot in the flattening process of the first coat on one nail, and it's still lumpy after it dried (but it's on my right hand and not in the picture).  I did a total of two coats of Stairway to Heaven and  finished it off with Addicted to Speed, and the polish on my nails is pretty thick, so more coats of Stairway wouldn't have worked well for me.  I let it dry and went in the sun for some pictures, so here's Stairway to Heaven.

Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven Nail Polish, Two Coats over White

Here's a look at the glitter, which looks like itty bitty squares of colored transparent plastic.

Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven Nail Polish's Glitter

I liked it more when I started writing this than I do now because I've snagged a piece of wayward glitter on the edge of a nail about seventeen billion times so far.  I did wrap my tips with top coat, but extra clear wasn't an option when the polish was so thick to start with (I understand that's to suspend glitter, but there are limits to what's useful and I could always mix it before applying it if glitter settled...).  This isn't something I'd wear on its own, and it seems like a Springtime glitter to me.  I also have to point out the lack of gold - not many songs have specific color references, but what what do we know from the very first line of Stairway to Heaven?  There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold.  I would have put some gold in, because looking at this polish, this lady is sure all that glitters is pastel.

That's Lippmann Stairway to Heaven - not a huge failure, not a huge hit, but kind of a disappointment for me.  That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Edited to add a little note on removal: What a nightmare!  Imagine the worst Nfu Oh flaky removal you've ever had and square it.



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

OPI Excuse Moi

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have a new polish that's also pink to show you, OPI Excuse Moi from the OPI Muppets Collection for Holiday 2011.  I only got a few of the OPI Muppets, and I'm especially happy with this one.

Excuse Moi is a pink base that's opaque enough to completely cover in two coats, but not so opaque that it obscures any of the myriad glitters it's completely loaded up with.  For today's manicure, I used base coat, two coats of Excuse Moi, giving each coat of color several minutes to dry a bit, then two coats of clear polish over Excuse Moi to smooth it out before applying one coat of SpaRitual Tout de Suite.  When applying the clear, I covered the edge of my nails all the way around with each coat and also gave each coat of clear a few minutes to dry, then applied the top coat, covering the edges a third time.  I did that because sometimes when top coat wears a little from typing or just proceeding with the day, if there's a piece of glitter exposed, it'll catch on everything it possibly can and annoy the heck out of me, but I've found the extra padding of some clear polish tends to bypass that.

Once it dried, I went out into the sun and took some pictures, so here is OPI Excuse Moi.

OPI Excuse Moi Nail Polish, Two Coats

Check out all the glitter it has - this is a close up of part of one nail.

OPI Excuse Moi Nail Polish, Close Up of Glitter

That seems like a fair representation of The Muppets to me!  I loved really The Muppets growing up.  My mom only let us watch PBS when we were little, and Sesame Street was my favorite.  My dad was cooler and would let us watch Sonny & Cher sometimes, and he'd also get us Tater Tots and Lucky Charms when my mom went on trips (maybe that was so we wouldn't whine about when she was coming home...), but I was a Sesame Street gal at heart.  We'd watch The Muppet Show as a family when it started later on and going to see the movies was a great big deal, so I was glad that some of these polishes appeal to me for the nostalgia factor.  Some of them really, really don't - I currently have a pretty strong preference for smaller glitter.  The glitter in Excuse Moi is small but very visible, about the same size as that in OPI Teenage Dream.

Two coats of color and two coats of clear for a very smooth and totally opaque glitter manicure is about as good as I could possibly expect, so Excuse Moi makes me really happy.  I have a whole bunch of work to do this afternoon that's going to keep me inside, and this is a polish that make me really want to look at it in the sun, so I'll be fighting that impulse all afternoon.

That's my OPI Excuse Moi manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!


All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Glitter Gal Bronze Sparkle, White Sparkle & Electric Blue Sparkle

Today I have for you three of the 3D sparkle holographic polishes from Australian brand Glitter Gal. I have purchased Glitter Gal polishes previously, but these three colors were provided to me by Leah from her shop. I'm happy to share the swatches and results with you so let's get started.

Bronze Sparkle, White Sparkle, Electric Blue Sparkle

Bronze Sparkle

Bronze Sparkle reminds me of Cleopatra, or jewelry that you would traditionally associate with ancient Egyptian culture. It's a bright bronze base with lots of silver holo sparkle, which reflects red and turquoise and a rainbow of other colors, giving it that jeweled look.

The sparkles just light up, giving the polish a gorgeous depth.

In natural light, the polish looks more subdued. I like this quality - it's probably work appropriate for more settings, but it still has plenty of sparkle and interest - especially in the sun!

White Sparkle

White Sparkle is more than meets the eye - it's a sheer, pearlescent white base with scattered holo sparkles that glint and gleam. The pearly finish flares orange and pink in the light. Here, it's swatched over a single coat of Essie Marshmallow.

I can see this delicate look being appropriate for a wedding or even as a work-appropriate manicure for office environments. It's even more subtle worn alone. The scattered holo sparkles remind me of sunlight on a fresh snowfall.

I saved my favorite for last - Electric Blue Sparkle, which lives up to its name.

Electric Blue Sparkle

The bright blue jellyish base is packed - packed - with holographic sparkles. The result is a manicure that glows from within, because the jelly base makes the glitter look like it is sparkling from underwater.

When I tilt my nails in under a light source, I get a beautiful teal/turquoise glow. It's hard to capture in a photograph, but it's in there! Truly lovely. Definitely not subtle or delicate. Blue polish lovers will love this one.

All three of these polishes were easy to apply; Electric Blue Sparkle was probably the easiest to control because of the jellyish quality. I've always gotten good wear from Glitter Gal polishes and these were no exception (I've worn Electric Blue Sparkle and Bronze Sparkle for full manicures and both lasted 2-3 days before showing tipwear or chips). The sparkle is more dense in Broze and Electric Blue than in White Sparkle, so if you're looking for a glitter bomb, those are the two you'll want to consider. White Sparkle is a more sheer, subtle look.

In case you're not familiar with Glitter Gal polishes, remember that these bottles are smaller (.3 fl oz) than many nail polish bottles that you might be used to (OPI, Essie, Zoya, etc). As an example, here's a bottle of Glitter Gal next to a Revlon bottle.

Having purchased Glitter Gal polishes before, I can say that the quality and color payoff are certainly worth the price. Just know that they are smaller and you won't be surprised when you receive them!

You can get Glitter Gal polishes from Leah at her shop (she also offers Ozotic, a-England and other harder-to-find brands). I have always found her customer service to be fantastic.

The polishes featured in this post were provided to me for consideration from the seller. Aside from product samples, I have not received any compensation for this post. Opinions are strictly my own.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic

Good morning, Dear Reader!

When I got home last night I changed my nail color to one of the Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers, Black Magic, which I'd shown you bottle pics of but not swatches when I got them.  It's a black that's loaded up with very fine glitters, and it turned out to be quite nice.

The tombstone cap wasn't a problem to use as a brush handle, but the brush itself falls short of ideal.  It's long and kind of floppy, and mine had some wacky stray hairs.  My experience of Wet n Wild is that the quality of the products is generally good, particularly for the price, and that the quality of the packaging is what keeps the cost as low as it is, so I wasn't horrified to discover that the brush wasn't great.

I applied base coat, two coats of Black Magic, which was enough for even and opaque coverage, and a coat of Poshe.  The brush only interfered with one nail, my middle left, where the edge of the polish along the cuticle is imperfect, but not enough of a problem to actually do something about it.  This morning, after it dried nicely, I took pictures of it in the sun.  Here is Wet n Wild Black Magic.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at the glitter.

Glitter in Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish

I absolutely love this polish - it's really fun to wear.  Out of bright light, it's clear that there's glitter in it, and then in bright light it's really sparkly and cool.  I was definitely worth the $2-$3 I spent on it.

That is what I know about Wet n Wild Fantasy Maker Black Magic, my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze Skyscraper

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I felt like a fun polish today, so I used China Glaze Skyscraper from their Metro Collection.  I think this might be the only one I have from that collection, maybe one other.  Skyscraper is a really striking deep blue with very, very fine silver glitter.

I used base coat, three coats of Skyscraper, and a coat of Poshe.  After two coats, the blue base of Skyscraper had some uneven spots, so I added a third to make it even.  It dried just fine after a third coat of color, so it wasn't a problem at all.  I also noticed that despite being loaded up with glitter, the surface of the polish is quite smooth after drying.  This is Skyscraper in the sun.

China Glaze Skyscraper Nail Polish, Three Coats

This is a fun cool weather polish, so I like it, and a smooth glitter is always a plus.

That is China Glaze Skyscraper and just about all there is to tell you about this morning, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I thought I'd try out Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, which seems to be Revlon's take on Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, a black jelly base with fuchsia hex and regular glitter.  In the bottle, the black base of Facets of Fuchsia looked less pigmented than that of Bad Romance (which fell shy of opaque at two coats), so I decided to layer it over a black creme.  My thought was that drying issues would be inevitable with 4+ coats, and I wanted to make this one work.

I started with a base coat, using up what I have on hand, which was NailTek II (so my nails should be orange from the formaldehyde in it in short order).  I let that dry for a minute or two, then applied one coat of Revlon Lunar, the black creme released with a few glitters not too long ago, which is even and almost opaque at one coat.  After giving that a bit of drying time, I applied two thin coats of Facets of Fuchsia, giving each a few minutes to set before moving on to the next.  The glitter's surface was pretty pebbly at this point, so I added one coat of clear polish then one of Seche Vite (my thickest top coat) to even it out.  It's dry and very glassy smooth now, so the hassles involved in ensuring drying issues didn't appear seem to have been worth it.  There's no sunlight today, so this is Facets of Fuchsia in indoor lighting (mixed fluorescent and light bulb).

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia Nail Polish, Two Coats over Black

The consequence of the less pigmented base of Facets of Fuchsia versus Bad Romance is that the glitter shows through it more clearly.  The Lippmann seems to have more glitter, but a third coat of Facets of Fuchsia would even the score, and since this cost me less than $3 versus the $18-$20 for the Lippmann (I didn't look it up to see which it was since my point's the same either way), for me Facets of Fuchsia would be the winner in a showdown against Bad Romance.

That's what I know about Revlon Facets of Fuchsia and I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Pink Wednesday: Franken Sugary Acid

Hallo ladies,

Today I have for you one of my new Frankens that I made specially for Pink Wednesday I'm not really sure I like it but you be the judge and tell me :)

If this is not a Mean Girls color I don't know what is LOL

The polish is one big pink jelly glitter BOMB!!!! My nails look so squishy





Here is a blurry pic so your able to see it sparkle.



So what do you think?

Thanks for looking,
Kesha

Revlon Blue Mosiac

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I changed my polish to Revlon Blue Mosaic, one of Revlon's new glitter polishes, and I thought I'd give you a peek because it's a nice one.

Blue Mosaic is fine blue glitter along with blue and silver hex glitter in a clear base.  I used three coats of Blue Mosaic, and at three I figured it covered well enough to skip the fourth that would have made it better since I've always had drying troubles with Revlons.  I left a few minutes drying time between coats, then added one coat of regular clear polish to even out the surface and one of Lippmann Addicted to Speed since it's high-powered on drying and I had it out from yesterday.  That seems to have worked well, and I think it's totally dry now, but I still don't trust it enough to test by digging something into it to find out.

This is Revlon Blue Mosaic in the sunlight.

Revlon Blue Mosaic Nail Polish, Three Coats

It looks kind of mermaid-y to me, but without the touch of green most like this have.  I like it, although I'm not looking forward to removal.  It really does take pure acetone to remove glitters like this, which is kind of rough on my skin.


That's Blue Mosaic and what I know today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers 2011

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I ran into the 2011 Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers display last night in a really unlikely place, and I have two of the nail polishes from it to show you.  Fantasy Makers polishes are the ones that come in the little tombstone bottles, so the Halloween theme of these is pretty campy in a good way.  It's raining, so the pictures are indoors.

It was strange to find them because I was in a store that has just a few basic beauty items as kind of a convenience afterthought, not anything to get people there, and I ran into two full standalone displays in completely different sections of the store, and near one of them, on a shelf with extension cords, were several of the tabletop displays of the round little jack o' lantern glow in the dark polishes.  I eyed a hot pink one, and moved along without it.

In the Fantasy Makers displays, I noticed something odd.  There were two little rows of a polish named Black Magic in each, and in both displays there were two versions of Black Magic.  One was a black creme, which I left that behind along with the glow in the dark top coat, and the other is full of lots of fine glitter.  This is the glitter version of Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a closer look at the glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish, Glitter Version

The other one I brought home is call Purple Potion.  It's similar but the glitter is purple-y fuchsia, and this might be the most poorly formed bottle I've ever seen.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a better looks at Purple Potion's glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish's Glitter

I'll be trying these out soon, but I wanted to let you know the displays are showing up and that there are two version of Black Magic in it.

That's just about it, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Coming Soon...

More pictures of my Lynnderellas, which arrived today. For the time being, here's a quickie phone pic.

From L-R: Snow Angel, All Hallows' Eve, Gotta Love Brains, Love Potion No. 99, She Lived in a Swamp.

Revlon Starry Pink

I was all prepared to ignore the new Revlon glitters because the last ones were so disappointing to me. You might remember them - they were mixed-size, multicolored glitters in a clear base, sold with matching solid colors:

They look beautiful in the bottle but on the nail they didn't really do it for me. I ended up selling these to someone who probably put them to much better use!

So when I started seeing pictures of the new glitters I didn't think much about it. Particularly because one is a pretty close dupe for Deborah Lippman's Bad Romance, which I have and love. But then I saw pictures of Starry Pink and I kept wanting it...and wanting it...and not finding it. I'm not sure if these are Target exclusives or not, but that's where I found them and I haven't yet heard of anyone in the US finding them elsewhere.

Blue Mosaic, Starry Pink. I didn't get Facets of Fuchsia because it is a little too close to Bad Romance to justify having both. (For me anyway. You can do whatever you want!)

Blue Mosaic is in a clear base which, as I mentioned, usually turns me off. But the glitter is dense enough that you could get it opaque or nearly so in three coats.

This is two coats. Crummy pic but you get the idea.

Starry Pink...Starry Pink is just beautiful. It's large silver hex glitter and small round silver glitter in a milky, semi-sheer pink base.

I used two coats over one coat of Essie Marshmallow.

For whatever reason, these mixed-size glitters really grab me. I like the randomness of the pattern that the different sizes make, I guess. And I do love that this one is in a tinted base. This is a manicure that's subtle without being boring.

Did you buy any of these? Will you?

Misslyn Las Vegas

Hallo ladies,



Well Friday has rolled around again got any plans for this weekend? I have a Birthday party to go to today, as for this weekend I'll see what trouble I can get myself into. LOL



Today I have Misslyn Las Vegas for you, It's a beautiful purple jelly with gold specks(HOT DAMN) it's amazing. I used 2 coats for full coverage.



Artificial lighting.











Here is a blurry pic so you can see the bling bling.







Day light.













So what do you think about Misslyn Las Vegas would it be a polish you'd buy?





Thanks for looking,

Kesha