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~

NOTD - Halloween Nails!

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! Hope you guys got to have a festive and exciting way to celebrate the day. I did not get up to anything whatsoever; didn't even dress up for work. I realized, since my teens, I have only dressed up and done something festive two or three times. Perhaps next year I should force myself to do something even if Halloween falls on a weekday. Enough rambling, on to the manicure!

Short blurb on the manicure: me and my fellow polish loving co-worker went to work on Halloween with very similar nail art. We went around the office showing other girls our mani's and everyone thought we had done our nails together! Guess great minds think alike ;)

So much blood! Middle finger has blood dripping and pinky blood splatter. My Frankenstein ended up having very creepy, soul-less eyes that I thought was very fitting. Originally, the index fingers were supposed to be stamped with skulls but it was bed time (I need my sleep!). The thumb was an excuse to use one of my "fuzzy" polishes and I also ran out of nail art ideas. In case you are wondering my right hand had an identical mani.

Mani Composition:
Thumb - OPI My Vampire Is Buff (MVIB) topped with China Glaze You're A Hoot
Index - Zoya Arizona (base) topped with Zoya Rica
Middle - OPI MVIB with dripping OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI)
Ring - Nicole by OPI Sweet On Pete, OPI Black Onyx, OPI MVIB
Pinky - OPI MVIB (base) spattered with OPI AIWFC

This was a fun mani to do. I got to try out a lot of nail art techniques that I have been wanting to do, such as the dripping and splatter techniques. The dripping turned out nicely, but the splatter needs more work (I think I need a thinner straw).

Did you guys do Halloween themed nails for Halloween?

Nail Art - Minion Nails!

Today is a great day! Finally my lamp arrived for my newly made lightbox. This lightbox is larger than the one I have at home and has a cool feature...changing backgrounds! My boyfriend was able to cut a slit to allow the exchange of coloured paper, so I could have different coloured backgrounds for my pictures. How exciting right?! There is no greater way to debut this new lightbox than with Minion Nails!

I am a beginner in terms of nail art, so things never turn out as perfectly as I want. But once the minions' cute mouths were drawn on I couldn't be disappointed at my nail art. They were just too adorable!

Mani Composition:
Goggles - Color Club Revvvolution
Goggle band & Mouth - OPI Black Onyx
Eyes - OPI Alphine Snow, OPI Black Onyx
Overalls - Color Club Bright Night
Minion Skin - Nicole by OPI Hit The Lights





These were super cute! Their cute little faces made me real happy and melted my heart. I hope these little minions also made you guys smile~

Dupe? - Paparazzi Dulce Butterfly

Time for another comparison post. This time I'm on the hunt for Nicole by OPI Paparazzi Don't Preach dupe. Grabbing the bottles of polish I also noticed OPI Dulce de Leche and OPI A Butterfly Moment seem comparable. Let's see how these polishes compared shall we?

OPI Fair Dinkum Pinkum (FDP) is part of the bottle comparison because it seemed comparable to NOPI Paparazzi Don't Preach. However, FDP is baby pink with white/milky base and sheerest formula. In other words, definitely not a dupe for any of these 3 polishes.

L-R: OPI Fair Dinkum Pinkum, NOPI Paparazzi Don't Preach, OPI Dulce de Leche, OPI A Butterfly Moment

L-R: OPI Fair Dinkum Pinkum, NOPI Paparazzi Don't Preach, OPI Dulce de Leche, OPI A Butterfly Moment

NOPI Paparazzi Don't Preach (PDP) looks like peachy nude when compared to the other two which are definitely rose coloured. Looks very modern and young compared to the other two colours. 

OPI Dulce de Leche (DDL)  is a deep rose and darkest colour out of the three. Formula is most pigmented and dried with the most shine.

OPI A Butterfly Moment (ABM) colour is between DDL and PDP. Its more rosy and darker than PDP, has gold shimmer, and dried with the least shine (very dull, needs top coat). ABM is beautiful, the gold shimmer really adds an extra dimension to this nude.

Pictures below show two coats without top coat:

Comparing shine factor between the polishes.

Definitely no dupes here. After this comparison, I am liking PDP a whole lot more, seeing what a modern/young shade of nude it is. Also, this comparison made me realize how much of a grandma shade DDL is on me; and that I should wear ABM more. From favorite to least, I rank these ABM, PDP and DDL. A reminder that nudes look different on different skin tones, so try swatching on some tape in the store (if allowed) to see which nudes look best on you!

Once again sorry for only posting about once a week. I just haven't had the time or been in the mood to do postings due to stress of my ever nearing exam. Hope you guys have a great week, happy nude hunting and thanks for reading!

Which polish out of these three is your favourite? Do you already own some of these polishes?

Swatch - Nicole by OPI Paparazzi Don't Preach

Woohoo! It's sunny outside, spring is finally here! Now we just need the strong winds to stop blowing our town then everything would be perfect. Another nude to be shown today. This is another polish I had given up on finding, but had a major lemming for. I came across it randomly while searching for other polishes (funny how that seems to happen). Even better... it was on sale for only $4.50! I was ecstatic to say the least. One comment about the brushes for these NOPI polishes, I am loving them. They are the bushier version of OPI polishes, meaning more bristles and thicker but with the same pro-wide shape. These makes application a breeze.

Nicole by OPI Paparazzi Don't Preach is a salmon nude cream. It is part of the Kardashian Kolors collection released in the Spring 2012. This guy is quite the color changer, meaning different lighting, different color. I do also find my hands change color depending on warm/cool lighting. So this polish can look very salmon/peach/rose at times, and light nude at other times. The color is darker and more rosy/salmon on the nail than in the bottle.

Pictures show 2 coats with top coat. These show the polish's nude and less rosy side. Hardly any pictures of the rosy side even on Google images, but darker skintones seem to bring it out more (must be the yellow tones in my skin bringing out the pink).

Specifications:
Formula - decent, streaky first coat
Pigmentation - good, 2 coats no VNL
Finish - medium shine, TC recommended
*Note - really annoying black fibers in polish (I think they are from the brush) that get stuck and part of your mani
*Application tip - light touch and thicker coats to avoid streaking then only need 2 coats, also if do 1st coat thick (minimize streaking and bald spots) will definitely only need 2 coats

I was sad this polish did not live up to my expectations in terms of colour. I had expected this creamy nude, not a salmon. Basically, I loved it when it looked nude (almost achieve mannequin hands) but disliked it when rosy (grandma-like). So depending on your skintone, this polish will look different. Hope this posting helped, since this polish can probably still be found at some drugstores. Thanks for reading~

Dupe? - Am I Claire vs. Steady Rose

If you have browsed around on my blog, you will have noticed I like to categorize my posts. The category being the first word in the post title be it "swatch" or "share". A new category called "dupe?" is now created, where polish comparisons will be made. I used "dupe?" because in my mind I was thinking "dupe or no dupe?" (like a TV show title) but that was simply too long.

On this first episode of "Dupe?", I am comparing Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire? with OPI Steady As She Rose. Looking online and at the bottles they look almost identical. Once on the nail there are clear differences. AIMMC is definitely a lavender/purple and slightly darker, while SASR is pink and lighter. I was surprised by how purple AIMMC is when I wore it by itself. So there are clearly distinguishable differences between the two.

In the pictures below, I wore 2 coats with top coat for both colours.

Here are some bottle shots to compare the colours. In the first picture, the differences I listed above are very clearly displayed. I thought OPI Rumple's Wiggin' might have similarities with AIMMC, so I put in a bottle shot for good measure. From the picture, RW is in a whole different spectrum from AIMMC. RW is clean with no dustiness and a brighter lavender.

 L-R: OPI Steady As She Rose, NOPI Am I Making Myself Claire?, OPI Rumple's Wiggin'

Conclusion: No dupes here! They are close, but one is pink while the other is lavender. If you have a clear preference for either pink or purple, you can pass up the other polish. However, if you love these types of dusty polishes then you will want both.

Hope you found this comparison helpful. Let me know which shade you prefer!

Swatch - Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire?

Recently, there was a sale on Nicole by OPI polishes at a drugstore. Since they were half price, I decided to get a couple from the Selena Gomez and Modern Family collection. These were polishes I had given up hopes of getting, because I did not want to pay the high price of NOPI. Obtaining these polishes was extremely satisfying, since I haven't been able to stop thinking about them ever since they were released!

NOPI Am I Making Myself Claire? is a greyed out lavender cream from the recently released Modern Family collection. I thought this was going to be a dupe for OPI Steady As She Rose, so I bought it as a backup. However, from doing a comparison of the two polishes I have found they are not dupes at all (comparison post coming soon). In the pictures, I wore 2 coats with top coat.

Specifications:
Formula - EXCELLENT! One of the best formulas I have ever come across.
Application - Super easy
Pigmentation - almost a 1 coater (medium to thick coat)
Finish - shiny with a tad of dullness, top coat recommended
Dry time - average
Prone to - nothing! (no streaking, dragging or balding spots)

Wow, this polish knocked my socks off! This took me completely by surprise. I was expecting to love to colour but the formula...oh man, the formula...dreamy, absolutely dreamy! The formula makes me love this polish even more. Admittedly, this is my first NOPI; therefore, I did not know what to expect from the formula department. After this experience, I will definitely be purchasing more NOPI's in the future if all their formulas are this great. With more NOPI's to swatch, we will see whether this excellent formula is carried out across the board.

I highly recommend this polish! The Modern Family collection is still available now in drugstores. Have you picked up any polishes from the Modern Family collection?