Nicole by OPI - One Less Lonely Girl Collection

The One Less Lonely Girl was conceived to raise awareness for Pencils of Promise, and organization that builds sustainable schools for underserved children in the developing world. In addition to educating consumers about this non-profit, Nicole by OPI has committed to building two such schools.

Not A Gold Bigger - This is a gold foil. Is it pretty? Yes. Is it unique? No.

I've Got Bieber Fever - This is a dark plummy purple with a subtle shimmer. This is very beautiful and I want to believe I have other shades like this, but I still have a spot for this one in my heart.

Make U Smile - This is a chunky silver/blue glitter in a clear base. It is shown over My Lifesaver. At first glance I thought maybe this was a dupe to Deborah Lippmann - Today Was A Fairytale, but it's not. TWAF has a blue base and although this looks blue in the bottle, it's clear on the nail. Also the glitter in TWAF is more dense.

Red-y To Runaway Love? - This is awesome. How could a plain red creme be so awesome you say? First thing is the formula. It's thin but pigmented. It glides on effortlessly in two coats. Next the color is so bright and amazing. I know, I know. This is a red creme. That is what I thought too until I put it on. I was actually going to wear this to work because I thought it would be boring, and I quickly realized I had to take it off because it is just SO DAMN BRIGHT!

I'm A Belieber - Hott damn. This a bright purple creme. It has the slightest bit of jelly finish. It is so bright a purple it makes me real happy. It makes me think of grapes. I feel like it should smell like grapes. I don't have anything like this.

My Lifesaver - This is a bright mint creme. Another winner. At first I wasn't excited because I assumed I had a dupe but its honestly not like any other mint cremes I have. It is more blue than most mints. The bluest mint I have is Essie - Mint Candy Apple but My Lifesaver isn't at all like it because it is more saturated and not pastel like MCA. It is awesome.

One Time Lime - This is another winner from this collection. This is a bold, saturated lime creme. I don't have anything like this in my collection.

"Baby" Blue - Cute name. And yet another winner. This is a bright sky blue creme. Another saturated, rich creme in a beautiful shade.

Overall this is a very fun collection. I feel a bit luke-warm about the non-creme polishes in this set but the creme shades: Oh my. I love every one of them. They are all incredible on and have great formulas, especially Red-y To Runaway.

These are all available now at Wal-Marts, select Targets, Sears and Ulta.

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

OPI -Texas Spring 2011

For Spring/Summer this year OPI has released a set of 12 timeless shades perfect for the warm weather months to compliment fingers and toes. This is broken down into two distinct six-piece sets. The green/blue/gray/brown shades then the pinks and purples that are all a jelly finish that OPI is dubbing "Sorbet".

Don't Mess With OPI - This is a grass green creme. Is it similar to Jade Is The New Black? It's close. JITNB is more blue toned leaning toward that tennis court green and DMWOPI is more grass green. Although it is different, I would hope that if they did a green reme, or a green at all, they would do one that was more unique. The formula of this is a dream: super smooth. I got it on in two easy coats.

Austin-tatious Turquoise - This is a shimmery teal. Very beautiful. What I love about this is the base is a cool, jungle green sheer and then it's packed with the teal shimmer. Then to take it one more level, the shimmer has a purple duochrome. This polish is more complex than just teal shimmer. What I don't love about this is the formula. This is 4 coats.

I Vant To Be A-lone Star - I vant to be alone with this. I mean.... this is a hot color. This is a gorgeous clean silver with a pearly shimmer finish. Bright, clean, flattering, shimmery and just mesmerizing. This may be my fave from the whole set.

It's Totally Fort Worth It - Is it? If it's worth it is going to be different for everyone I suppose. This is a taupe-gray sheer with flecks of pinkish shimmer. I like the idea of this but it is very sheer which is a deal breaker for me. This was four coats. If I were to wear this for a full mani I would layer it over gray creme.

San Tan-tonio - haha! I have been dying to get this just for the name! I love it! I love the color of this too. I can't really think of color I have that looks like this. And if I do I don't like them on me. I actually like this one. And the formula rocks as well. Perfection.

Suzi Loves Cowboys - Oh my. This is delicious. It makes me want to eat my hands. I feel like my nails are little drops of dark chocolate.

And now for the sorbets>>>

Ya'll Come Back Ya Hear? - This is a bright, tangerine orange jelly. Very fun and happy, but it's a jelly so it's still got some visible nail line (VNL) after 4 coats.

Big Hair Big Nails - Red/orange jelly. This is a sort-of coral shade. I want to call it something else though. Maybe... guava? I was thinking guava and it hit me that it was like a jelly version of China Glaze - High Hopes, which is described as guava. So I guess that is a good description.

Do You Think I'm Tex-y? - This is a jelly raspberry. Clean and bright and decently pigmented so less VNL than some of the others.

Houston We Have A Purple - This is honestly pretty similar to DYTIT? but darker and I guess more purple than berry. It makes me think grape slush.

Guy Meets Gal-veston - This is a bright coral jelly. I really like this one. I can't wait to put this one on my toes.

Too Hot Pink To Hold 'Em - This may be my favorite of the sorbet finishes. This is a hot pink jelly. I think it's the richest and most pigmented of the sorbets and just the most fun! I am a lover of hot, hot pinks like this though!

Overall this is a kick-ass collection. The non-sorbet polishes are gorgeous. You can't really go wrong with blue, green, gray and brown. As for the sorbets, I am pleased that although OPI gave us a whole lot of pinks and berries, they at least made them different. I love the squishy, juiciness of a good jelly. The color choices for all of these really made me think of sorbet and gelato. The only down side is that they take several coats, however that isn't anything new for jellies and when I want to wear a jelly, I deal with more than the usual two coats.

OPI - Texas is available now. Which ones are you going to get?!
:c)

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Some New Drug Store Swatches

Recently there have been several drugstore nail polishes releases from several brands. I have picked out a few from these brands to show you>>

Sally Hansen - Lacey Lilac - This is from a new set of Xtreme wears that includes a mint, dark gray, blue and magenta. This is an awesome pastel lavender/lilac creme. It's bright, but not stark and is isn't too red or too blue. Beautiful and also has a great formula. Easily applies in two coats. God I love Xtreme Wears.

Revlon - Copper Penny - This is a copper foil that can be found in a special display of metallics that includes a gold and silver as well. This is awesome. I have plenty of gold and silver metallics but none that are a copper color like this. I have a cool mani I did with this to show you too.

Revlon - Cloud - This is in a new collection of Top Speed Revlons that have a big display of several bright colors I am sure you have seen if you frequent the makeup section of the drugstore at all. This is a super pretty periwinkle creme. I feel like this is what Sally Hansen - Cloud should have looked like. Although I shouldn't take away from it, but this one is more wearable.

Wet n Wild - Party of Five Glitters - (shown over black) - This is a clear top coat with blue, silver, green, red and purple glitters (five!). I was disappointed with this one formula-wise. The base is very thick and gloppy and the glitter is very sparse. This is three coats and I am still not pleased with the coverage.

Oke Doke - Camo Loco - This is a new brand to me. Oke Doke surprised me one day at Rite Aid. And I am glad I found it because this green is to die for. This is a mossy, olivey, super shimmery green with gold undertones. This is gorgeous.

Oke Doke - Purple Nurple - Another winner from Oke Doke. This is a deep, rich, royal purple with red and blue shimmer. Really pretty. This is one you have to see in real life.

Just goes to show, you don't have to spend a lot to get gorgeous, good-quality nail lacquer. These are all between $1.99 to $4.99 and are easy to find at any drugstore.

Nicole by OPI - Wal-Mart Exclusives - January 2011

I don't know if there is an actual name for this set or if it is just "Wal-Mart Exclusives". I have swatches for you of four new shades added to the Wal-Mart line of Nicole by OPI. They are meant to be "timeless and sophisticated shades".

He's A Keeper - Bright red, creamy creme. This is sort of on the orange side and I like that. It's hard to make an red creme different, and this one has at least a bit of an edge.

Got Style? - This is a cinnamon, brick reddish, shade with a ton of silver shimmer. This is reminding me of a gingerbread cookie color and I like it because it's interesting but work appropriate. I wore this as a "work shade".

Never Give Up - Unless it's on trying to make polishes like this. This is a magenta with small holo glitter, which should be awesome, but the base is too opaque and frosty, and with the glitter it turns into a lumpy mess. This swatch even has a top-coat on it and it doesn't help even it out :c(

Count On Me - Back to the good stuff. This is a shimmery lilac with a flashy duochrome blue to purple shimmer. This is sheer so I layered it over Sally Hansen - Thinking of Blue.

These are available at select Wal-Mart stores this month.

What do you think?!
:c)
-Elaine

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

A Quick Trip to Outer Space

If you thought my last layered glitter mani was outer space looking check this bad boy out>>>>

This is Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance layered over black and then a coat of Sinful Colors - Hottie layered over that.

Looking at this seriously gets me lost in it.

-Elaine
:c)

Glitter, Glitter, Glitter... and more Glitter!

I am a list writer. I write to-do lists all the time, for everything, and I generally like to write them in little notebooks. That means I am always on hunts for cute notebooks to write all my lists in. While shopping recently I found really cute glitter-bomb notebooks at Charlotte Russe and of course bought one. It was made of red, purple, green and blue hex glitter and of course all I could think is "how can I translate to this exact look to my nails?" Well I figured it out!

I did this with two coats of Nubar - Night Sparkle, a deep blue base with blue glitter. Then added Nubar - Grass Green Glitter, then Hard Candy - Zombie, then Wet n Wild - Prancer on top.

-What do you think?
:c)

NARS - Zulu and More

I finally got my NARS - Zulu on my nails and although it is beautiful alone, I couldn't help but layer over that dark, dreamy base. It was too inviting.

This is what I did: I started with a base of NARS - Zulu. Then I added Nfu-Oh - #56, a green/blue flakie in a green base. Then I added Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure, a mostly red flakie with gold and green at the angles. Lastly I added Pure Ice - Busted, a purple shimmer that has a bit of a gold/green duochrome. This rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I have some Halloween manis for you!

Sally Hansen - Plum Burst with Kiss Halloween decals

Sephora by OPI - If You've Got It, Haunt It - I really love this! This is black and silver glitter in a sheer black base with little iridescent blue/green/red glitter pieces. Super cool!

Zoya - Paz + Nicole by OPI - Pitch Black Glimmer with decals. I really wished I took a pic of the left hand before I started removing the polish. Because then I had to take the right hand and I unfortunately suffered a break a couple hours before!

Hard Candy - Halloween Polishes 2010

Hard Candy has released three, new, limited Halloween shades this year that you can find at Wal-Mart. They are a nice change of pace from the usual orange, black and white creme shades we usually see for Halloween which seems to be the theme this year. Polish companies have learned that we need new, unique shades for Halloween just like all other releases. The best part about the Hard Candy Halloween shades? They are all glitter!

Wicked - This is a black base with tiny silver glitter. The base is a bit sheer but that is a good thing because it lets the glitter shine through. This is three coats.

Mischief - This is a orange glitter in a murky, green-black base, much like China Glaze - Ick-A-Bod-Y. I really couldn't tell a difference when I put this on. I could have sworn I was wearing Ick-A-Bod-Y. If there is any difference, Mischief may be a smidge more condensed, but they're pretty much the same.

Zombie - This is the star of this collection, in my opinion. It's the most unique, the most fun, and it's a bit of an oddball for a Halloween collection because it's really bright and happy instead of dark and spooky, but that is what makes me like it. This is a mix of purple, pink and blue glitter in a clear base. I love the overall purple glitter look.

These can be found at Wal-Mart and retail for $5.

What do you think?
:c)
-Elaine