OPI Mariah Carey Collection

Hey everyone,
    The newest collection out from OPI is the celebrity line from Mariah Carey, and in her collection she's got some polishes that have what is advertised as "liquid sand".  I had purchased a mini set of just the textured polishes, because the other four shades did not really interest me, and colors that weren't as new or special.

First off the OPI website describes the "liquid sand" polishes as "OPI's newest innovation in texture.  Dries to a textured matte finish infused with reflective glints of light". While this sounds really cool, the best translation of this is to think of a really chunky glitter polish.  The polish is also claimed to be matte in base, but I would not really describe it as that.  Instead it looks like just a regular nailpolish base, I've had previous well packed glitter polishes, with the same style base, so once broken down...these polishes aren't THE most amazing.  But lets look at the shades!

The first shade is the blue with shimmer called "Get Your Number".  The description from the OPI website is " weaing this matte blue with sparkles is a great call".  Not much of a description, but ok.  In the bottle Get Your Number is a deep royal blue with silver and light blue sparkles, but on the nails it turns out different.  As you'll be able to see from the photos, one coat leads to a light, and bright blue layer.  The second coat gets the color a little deeper, but rather opaque.  Even with three coats the shade does not come near the deep color in the bottle, but instead shows up as a vibrant, almost neon blue shade.  It had the most even distribution of the larger glitter, although it does not have the hexagonal glitter as the red and purple shades have.

The next color is "Can Let Go" and is a deep purple with silver and purple shimmer. There is silver hexagonal larger glitter in this color.  Again the bottle has this deep and rich shade that I could totally see Mariah wearing, but then comes out light and bright on the nails.  Two coats were fine, but a third coat did make the shade more rich in color.  The OPI description is: "Hold on to this matte purple with dazzling sparkle." Again, another description that isn't really witty or helpful.

The third shade is "The Impossible" which in the bottle looks like a bright red with silver and red shimmers, and silver hexagonal larger glitter.  This shade reminds me a bit of the Muppet Collection red glitter , Excuse Moi, although Excuse Moi has larger silver glitter, but only in the bottle.  The Impossible still comes out much brighter than the bottle shows.  OPI says "The matte fuchsia with start confetti will never give up."  If by stars they mean hexagon shaped glitter than that is correct, and it does turn out to be a a red-toned fuchsia shade.  But this color had difficulty distributing evenly the hexagon glitter onto the nail.  To get to the rich shade at the third coat, caused first coat with several hexagons to be covered up. 

The last shade is "Stay the Night" which in the bottle looks like a rich black with red shimmers in it.  This was probably the most disappointing shade out of the bunch, because even after three coats, it was not a deep black shade. Instead it came out as a deep grey/ charcoal with red shimmer. It truly was a color that I was looking forward to, and was just disappointed, but what I tried out was to use a black base coat, and then layered Stay the Night over. 

Even after doing these swatches, I don't really see a matte base, instead I see it more as a jelly consistency.  You don't put a top coat over this polish, but not to worry because it does not catch on fine fabrics (yay!) They also all come out as much brighter than their bottles, so I was a bit bummed about that.

So the question you all are probably asking: Would I recommend them? These looks can easily be achieved through layering glitter top coats over any jelly polish, and you can probably find the deeper shades as a first color coat.  But, they are still cool.  Thinking back, while they seem to be something new, like the crackle...they really are not the most special colors or formulations.  This bumpy "liquid sand" option seems cool,but no top coat means that it tends to chip a little easier, unless you get your hands on the Essie matte top coat.   If you can, you can get the mini versions, but I wouldn't buy them full sized.

Favorite Fall Nailpolishes

Hi all,

   Wow I feel like I'm on a roll with my posts! Or maybe that is just me procrastinating on my homework (guilty!), but either way I was thinking about what in my nail polish collection would count as on trend. Needless to say, I found a good amount of polishes since I harbor a deep DEEP love for rich jewel toned nail polishes. But I saw so many popular nail polish trend videos on youtube with brands like Essie and OPI. Don't get me wrong, I love OPI, but the cost makes me stop once in a while and attempt to find them on Ebay, Amazon, or my job where I can get a little discount on them. So I figured, let's see what I have that can still be on trend but on a cheaper, financially friendly budget. 

   So we have all heard how jewel-toned or as I prefer to say "rich and deep colors" are very popular. The first color family I love is my purples/ wine/ blues: (no particular order)

1. AVON nailwear pro: midnight plum ($5 normal price, but usually have 2 for 6.99)

    This is probably my go to color because it is so deep and rich. You can get away with one coat making the purple a bit lighter, but I am in love with 2 -3 coats to make it super rich and almost black. The downside to getting this polish is that I have to order online, which can make it a little more than what I truly want to spend. But a good investment overall. 

2. Sally Hansen Hard As Nails: Flirt or number 38 ($2.99 normally, usually can find it 2 for $4)

   This color is almost black looking in the bottle but on the nails it is a very, very dark version of a wine color and has time red/ gold reflects. It is probably something I would wear with a white or cream sweater at holiday parties to offset the lightness, and bring some color to my skin. 

3. New York Color in a New York Color Minute: Manhattan ($1.99)

  This color is like a slightly deeper wine color. It's not the black/dark of the last two colors, but still is very lovely on the nails. It does dry faster than many nail polishes, but not as quickly as it claims. Overall one of the better colors from the collection. 

4. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails: Plum Power ($2.99 or 2 for $4)

  By now you can probably tell that I love my plums, and my Sally Hansen polishes. This is a bright plum purple, that still stays in the relm of a darker version of the color. It has gold, silver, pink, and purple reflects in the polish, so it is just an overall fun color. More, as my mother would call it, a loud color. 

5. NYC Long-Wearing Nail Enamel : Skin Tight Denim Creme ($0.99)

  This is one of those more out there colors, but on short nails can be so much fun! It has light and dark blue reflects, so it goes with the metallic trend. 

6. OPI: Meet Me On the Star Ferry ($7.99-12.99)

  This is one of my few nail polishes from OPI, and I bought it because it is different than other colors I own. It has a lot of shimmer, with gold, pink, wine, and silver tones, but comes together in a light wine color. It is much prettier than I can explain, but another lovely shade. 

Phew! Now I have two red toned nail polishes that I adore, and can't wait to use up. 

1. AVON nailwear pro: Cherry Jubilee ($5 or 2 for $6.99)

   It is a true cherry red color after it has been in the syrup. It is bright, but not the scary bright bright reds we see a lot. It does not chip as easily as some of my other polishes do.

2. love & beauty: Magenta ($2.50)

  This is from the Forever 21 store, and my first polish from this brand. It is a lovely Broadway curtain red with red and gold shimmer. I went through a similar color within one season because I loved how it looked on my nails, I can only hope I love this one as much. The one downside of this polish is that it is very thin and runny, so it would take 2-4 coats instead of 1-2. 

I hope this post helped with this one aspect of the trend, I don't wear greens or other colors simply because my mother is a nurse and always tells me that when I have green fingernails, I remind her of a dead body. Gruesome image, but just out respect to her, I oblige :) Let me know if you have any other colors that you would add to this list! I'll be writing another blog on the other trends coming in for nail polishes, but it just would have been too long all in one. 

xoxo,

Ema