OPI Think Merry! Pink Merry!

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

For my first manicure of October, I thought I'd go with a pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, although the pink I chose, OPI's Think Merry! Pink Merry! isn't specifically a BCA color.  It was an Ulta Holiday Exclusive a few years ago, I think 2008, but it's a great pink so I'm wearing it.  I don't have any 2011 BCA colors - with the state of the economy as a whole and my household in particular, I'm becoming a bigger fan of direct donations or drumming up direct donations through pledges for walking.  Any money for research is great, so I have no argument with products supporting charities, it's more that my own cash is limited enough that I'd rather see a charity get  my $10 than $1 from a $10 purchase I've made.

I'm very aware of breast cancer this year - my closest cousin fought it a few years back and did well, being cancer-free for years.  She's in the medical field and working on a doctorate, and has been the ideal follow-up patient.  Between twice-yearly oncologist visits to verify everything's still clear with this being the last year of such visits, she was having a lot of joint and leg pain, really bad pain that required attention (for reference, she's given birth six times naturally without a painkiller), and the upshot was that the cancer had returned and gotten into her lymph nodes and bones, all within a matter of a few months.  That's some scary stuff, and it's mean in the sense that it hurts so badly and unfair in the sense that she actively participated in her own treatment and did everything modern medicine said to do yet still had a worst-case result.  It's a gruesome disease, and I tell her story for the awareness side of the month's theme.

So now that I've thoroughly bummed you out but decided to leave the story there because it's just one such case of many, I'll tell you about the manicure.  It's one coat of base coat, three very thin coats of Think Merry! Pink Merry! because the color is on the frosty side and thinner coats are kinder in terms of brush marks, then one coat of Poshe.  I let it dry and then took a picture ion the sun, so here's OPI Think Merry! Pink Merry!.

OPI Think Merry! Pink Merry! Nail Polish, Three Coats

I love the finish on this one because it has little sparkle bits and I like non-streaky frosts, and an opaque pale pink will always win my heart.

I'll be trying to go heavy on pinks this month, mixing in the other polishes I have to show you, so Think Merry! Pink Merry! is the beginning of my 2011 BCA pinks.  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.

Hard to Find OPI's, Part IV

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have the last of the hard to find OPI swatches for you for a little while.  They're all black labels, and most were two coaters, with the exception of one.  I took the pictures in daylight at a reasonable hour using my brand spanking new camera, which I'm still adjusting to, and the light was coming and going to some extent.  All six pictures are swatches.

The first is a classic, Blue Moon Lagoon, a light blue holo.  Since it's a little sheer, I used two coats over SpaRitual Full of Life, a light blue creme.

OPI Blue Moon Lagoon Nail Polish, Two Coats over SpaRitual Full of Life

Greenwich Green, and olive green shimmer, is also a classic.  It's close to At Your Quebec and Call, but not a dupe for it.

OPI Greenwich Green Nail Polish, Two Coats

Nordic Nights is a warm red creme.  The bottle had separated a bit leaving pigment on the inside of the neck, so I have a few pigment bits on my nails which I didn't notice until looking at the magnified picture.  Since I just wanted to show you the color, I decided to use the picture anyhow.

OPI Nordic Nights Nail Polish, Two Coats

Ulta-mate Ruby was an Ulta exclusive red shimmer.

OPI Ulta-mate Ruby Nail Polish, Two Coats

I Love the Holidays is a pinky coral shimmer, and it was the three coater.

OPI I Love the Holidays Nail Polish, Three Coats

I Love the Holidays has a corresponding glitter top coat, and I added one coat of it to I Love the Holidays.

I Love the Holidays Glitter Top Coat, One Coat, over I Love the Holidays

That's the end of this round of the hard to find OPI ebay extravaganza, and there's a much, much smaller one still to come.

That's all for now, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Pink Me I'm Good & EL Ultra Violet

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have anti-greens for you: OPI's Ulta Exclusive Pink Me I'm Good and Estee Lauder's Ultra Violet, also a limited edition nail polish.

Pink Me I'm Good is a pink jelly with lots of gold glitter. It was the only one of this year's OPI Ulta exclusive pinks I wanted, which is fortunate as I no longer have an Ulta nearby. Since it's a jelly and I didn't want to use a zillion coats, I used one coat of Essie Walk Down the Aisle under it, and two coats of Pink Me I'm Good.

Walk Down the Aisle seems to be my new go-to base for jellies - it whitens the nail, masks VNL, one coat is sufficient, and it doesn't have the stark look of completely opaque whites.

Ulta Exclusive OPI Pink Me I'm Good Nail Polish, Two Coats

The other color I have to shake off the greens is Estee Lauder Ultra Violet, also limited edition. It's a rich violet purple with shimmer bits that border on being tiny glitter. It's opaque and even in two coats.

Limited Edition Estee Lauder Ultra Violet Nail Polish, Two Coats

That gargantuan bottle is hard to get a hold of, and it only contains 0.3 ounces.

I hope you had a great Saint Patrick's Day, and are as relieved as I am to be done with the theme. I think I managed to shake it a little today!

Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!