Swatch - OPI Got Myself into a Jam-balaya

Instant like for the color on my first coat! Almost neon quality to this color, very vibrant.

Got Myself into a Jam-balaya:
Neon-ish/vibrant salmon, coral cream. Pictures look more orange and less pink/less salmon than in real life. Part of New Orleans collection released in Feb 2016.

Pictures show two coats with Seche Vite top coat.

Specifications:
Formula - Thin for a cream but not a crelly
Pigmentation - Expected more pigmentation for a cream
Prone to - Patches, streaking (covered by second to third coat)
Bottle vs. Mani Color - Less milky/white cast than the bottle. Darker than bottle color.
Dry Time - Average for creams
Shine - Some shine that I would pump up with Seche Vite for sure!
Removal - Easy
Staining - None
Wear Time - Average for cream, still going strong on day 3

Application - First coat was patchy, polish is on the thinner end for a cream. Second coat still leaves slight patchiness that can be seen at certain angles. Depending on how lazy I feel I may or may not let it slide since it's only noticeable at certain angles. The patches are so tough to see that they don't bother me, so two coats is all it took! It's not hard to work with like neons, but you can't work the polish too much otherwise you would get major patches.

Overall, I like this polish a lot! It has been awhile since coral has been on my nails, so this is very refreshing. Upon the first coat, the formula was a little concerning but a thick second coat made the mani acceptable. The faint patches/streaks did not both me since seeing them was so difficult. When it comes to my mani's, nowadays, I am trying to not sweat the small stuff that use to bother me. Just live and enjoy your mani~

OPI New Orleans collection:
Crawfishin' for a Compliment, Got Myself into a Jam-balaya, Humidi-Tea, I Manicure For Beads, I'm Sooo Swamped!, Let Me Bayou a Drink, Rich Girls & Po-Boys, She's a Bad Muffuletta!, Show Us Your Tips, Spare Me a French Quarter?, Suzi Nails New Orleans, Take a Right on Bourbon,

Swatch - Essie The Girls Are Out

This polish was part of the Essie Naughty Nautical collection released in 2013.

The Girls Are Out:

Plum magenta with gold flecks. The flecks are kind of confusing because they look white/pearlescent, but on the nail and in light they look gold. Flecks are not sparkly in the sun; the polish is too shiny and makes that hard to see if they do somehow sparkle. Definitely adds more interest to what would otherwise be a regular cream. I quite like this polish and don't have a colour like this in my stash~

Pictures show two coats without top coat.

Specifications:

Formula - Great! Smooth and easy to apply (shocker for Essie)

Pigmentation - Great! One coater if thick coat

Shine - Shiny

Dry Time - Faster than average cream

Removal - Easy, tiny bit more scrubbing than creams due to flecks

Staining - None

Naughty Nautical Collection: Full Steam Ahead, Naughty Nautical, Rock The Boat, Sunday Funday, The Girls Are Out, The More The Merrier.

Swatch - China Glaze Budding Romance

An unusual colour and one many would consider ugly will be reviewed today. 

Budding Romance:
Mossy mustard green crelly. Jelly-like but builds opacity nicely with no VNL. I applied 2 medium coats easily. This one is from the Avant Garden collection released in 2013.

Specifications:
Formula - Good, easy application

Pigmentation - Okay, jelly-like but two thicker coats covered everything

Shine - Shiny!

Dry Time - Average

Removal - Easy

Staining - None

Bottle Vs. Mani Colour - Darker and with brown tones instead of green on the nail vs. bottle colour

I quite like these strange, unique colours. This could also be a really handy colour for nail art maybe? Sometimes I hold on to strange colours also for nail art purposes.

Avant Garden collection polishes: Budding Romance, Dandy Lyin' Around, Fade Into Hue, Fancy Pants, Keep Calm Pain On, Life Is Rosy, Mimosa's Before Mani's, Passion For Petals, Pink-id Promise, Snap My Dragon, Sunday Funday, Tart-y For The Party.

Nail Art - *~Canada Day~*

Happy Canada Day! Hope all my fellow Canadians are having a fun time celebrating our national holiday. I tried to be as patriotic as I could with red and white tops, red lipstick and (of course) patriotic nails~ No one at work commented on my look today, other than give me strange looks due to my red lipstick (normally I wear zero makeup and VERY casual clothes at work). Guess people in America do not know today is Canada Day. Enough jabber, onto the nails!

This is a picture heavy post since I really liked how my nails turned out!

 And the right hand, which has better dotticure maple leaves because I am left handed.

 Here is a closer look at the maple leaf dotticure:

Mani Composition:
Thumb & Index - OPI Alpine Snow, Nicole by OPI It's All About The Glam, OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI)
Middle to Pinky - OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI), Formula X For Sephora Wham!


The abstract dot maple leaf design just kind of sprung into my mind as I grabbed my dotting tools. I'm super happy with how it looks, it's cute and pretty. Definitely gaining better control with dotting tools; practice does make perfect! This is motivation to do more nail art~

Swatch - OPI Vesper

A textured polish today~ I find it quite interesting that the textured trend seems to still go going relatively strong. Companies are still cranking out textured polishes....I am assuming this is because consumers keep buying them? Everyone in the polish world was saying texture is a phase that will phase out just as fast as "shatters". I suppose only time will tell, personally I really like them and hope they stay around for awhile longer.

Vesper:
Dark purple jelly with black specks (glitter?) liquid sand. From the Bond Girls collection released May 2013. Due to the base being a jelly this dark polish requires at least two coats for full coverage. I suppose the intent of the jelly base was to allow the black glitter particles to be visible. However, you will find this isn't necessarily the case (depending on the number of coats you apply).
One very important note: the polish colour in the bottle suggests a brownish/reddish purple, but as a manicure this is a true purple without the brown undertone.

This is what one coat looks like, where you can clearly see a purple base with black particles.

The final manicure under the sun shows two coats without top coat. Here you can also tell this polish is purple with black pieces, but not as obvious.

Specifications:

Formula - Ok, easy to apply but a bit sheer

Pigmentation - Sheer, for such a dark colour I expected this to be a one-coater, needs 2 coats

Bottle colour similarity - Very different, there is no brownish undertones (bottle) when worn on the nails

Shine - None (liquid sand)

Removal - Average for textured polishes

Staining - None

Definitely a unique polish! Not my favorite, but it is strange enough to make me want to bust this out and pain my nails with it.

Are you still on the textured polish bandwagon? Or has the trend past for you?

Swatch - OPI Sleigh Ride For Two

Another one from the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday collection to be shown today.

Sleigh Ride For Two:
Shimmery chocolate plum. This is like a hybrid of Every Month Is Oktoberfest with I Knead Sour-Dough. Since I like both those polishes this is an automatic like! Depending on the lighting, this polish changes in colour.

Pictures show two coats with top coat.

Specifications:
Formula - Great, applied like butter, self-leveling
Pigmentation - Good, two thin coats needed
Dry time - Faster than average creams
Shine - Little, top coat recommended
Prone to - Brush strokes slightly, apply with light touch
Removal - Easy
Staining - None

To make this short and sweet: sophisticated and classy is how I would describe this colour.

How do you guys like colours in this family? Which Mariah Carey Holiday polishes were your favourite?

Swatch - OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI)

It was time to wear something classic and clean. I was in the mood for a good red cream, no shimmer or lit from within glow, just a straight cream. A craving for red nails is far and in between nowadays, so this was a great palette cleanser and way to try on this red cream from the new-ish OPI Mariah Carey Holiday collection!

All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI):
Deepened classic cherry red cream. Depending on whether a light or dark hue is desired, you may apply one or two coats (respectively).

Two coats without top coat is shown in pictures.

Specifications:
Formula - Great, applied like a dream
Pigmentation - 1 or 2 coats (depending on shade desired)
Dry Time - Average
Shine - Shiny
Removal - Easy
Staining - Stainer!

As this polish was being applied (a few months ago), Mariah Carey's new single that released on the same day was playing in the background. I felt it was all very fitting!

Do you ever use red as a palette cleanser?