Wednesday, May 25, 2011

OPI Serena Williams French Duos Review + England Press Release

Hi all, I sincerely apologize for being out of comission for awhile.  However, today, I received the new press release for third installment of the OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam collection and since the "French Open" Glam Slam duos have been sitting on my desk for awhile, I figured now was the perfect time to swatch them.  Fair warning, however, as it's been awhile since I've swatched, my pictures are not great... so please bear with me.

As the come in pairs, I'm going to review them as such.  However, I will descibe each of the polishes individually.


















This first duo is the combination of Spark de Triomphe and White Shatter.  When I first saw the image for this combination, I was immediate smitten.  I even tried to duplicate it, because I couldn't wait for it to be released.  And while I like what I created, I must say that I really love this combo.  Spark de Triomphe is a champagne gold glitter.  The large and small round glitter is suspended in a clear base, but because it's so dense, you don't really see the base.  It took 3 coats to reach opacity.  I love this glitter and think it would work so well for the "glitter tips" look, I was so fond of, before my life cut out all time for polist.  :P 

As for White Shatter, I like this one as well.  It didn't create the "leopard" look of Black Shatter, nor did it crackle like the ChG white crackle.  However, it created more linear cracks.  I know it looks bumpy, but that's simply because I didn't apply a TC.  Once you use a TC on the shatters, all the bumpiness goes away.  :)


















This second combo, of Rally Pretty Pink and Red Shatter, was the one that had me feeling a little more dubious.  I mean, they should work it theory... purple and red are complimentaty colors on the color wheel, so it makes sense, but I just wasn't sure how they'd work on the nail.  Turns out... pretty dang well.  Rally Pretty Pink is actually a bit of a misnomer, IMO.  I do see the pink in the shimmer, but in my mind, this is more of a dusty plum with golden metallic shimmer (much like Zoya Faye).  It's a beautiful polish on it's own, but when combined with the red shatter, it is even better.  First pic is 3 coats of Rally Pretty Pink, as it's a bit thin.

Also, Red Shatter, in and of itself, is great.  The base seems very jelly-like so it applied very well.  The consistency of the formula was one of the best I've seen in a crackle polish.  Plus, as it's a pink based red, I can't wait to try this over pale pink.

The Glam Slam duos are available now and retail for $14.95 each.


Additionally, like I mentioned above, I got the release for the "Wimbledon" installment of this collection, and let me tell ya, girlies... I am dying for the purple.  :)  Here's the release...

Get “Unbeatable” Sparkle!


OPI Unveils Three New Shades from
Serena Williams’ Glam Slam! Series

OPI joins tennis superstar Serena Williams in announcing the latest three lacquers in the Glam Slam! collection.  To celebrate the world’s oldest, most prestigious tennis tournament, Glam Slam! England features two duo-packs filled with sparkle.
The first Lacquer set includes Your Royal Shine-ness, a metallic silver shade, paired with Servin’ Up Sparkle, a shimmer-packed silver glitter. The second Lacquer set also features Servin’ Up Sparkle, along with Grape…Set…Match, a metallic purple.
 “England’s premier tennis tournament warrants colors with extra glitz and glamour,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “The next big trend in nails is making lacquer look 3-dimensional by adding different micas and glitters, turning fingertips into jewelry. With two bold metallics and a sparkling glitter, these colors are fit for royalty.”
“For stand-out nails, I love experimenting with different glitter shades,” explains Serena Williams. “The new Glam Slam! England lacquers can be worn alone for a bright pop of color, or layered with Servin’ Up Sparkle to create a textured effect.”
Serena Williams has received the World Number One in singles ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association on five separate occasions, along with being listed as sixth on the all-time greatest champions list.  Additionally, she has won two Olympic gold medals in women’s doubles and has earned 27 Grand Slam titles to date. Serena is the most recent player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so.
New shades in the Glam Slam! collection will be introduced to coincide with each of the four major tournaments, beginning with the Australian Open in January 2011, followed by launches in May 2011 for the French Open, June 2011 for Wimbledon and August 2011 for the US Open. As with all OPI Nail Lacquers, the Glam Slam! collection contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide Brush for the ultimate in application.
Glam Slam! England will be available beginning June 2011 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $14.95 ($20.95 CAN) suggested retail for each duo-pack. 
For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!







Thursday, May 5, 2011

Update

I wanted to do a quick update as I tweeted about this last week. 

Two weeks ago tonight, I started feeling my throat closing up.  I wasn't happy about it, but figured it was the precursor to a cold, so I took some Zicam and went to bed.  The next morning, I woke up with a killer sore throat.  I stayed in bed the entire day and around dinner time, woke up enough to down some painkiller and some DayQuil.  Voila... pain went away.  I felt so much better, that I thought I was out of the woods until the next morning.  :\ 

That was Saturday morning.  Over the next 2 days, my sore throat went from slightly painful to excruciating.  I couldn't even swallow, it was so bad.  I missed out on Easter with my family.  :(  By Sunday night, I had convinced myself to go to the doctor, but that would mean making it through another sleepless night.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), by 3am.  I had had enough.  There was no choice but to go to the ER. 

They said I had strep throat, gave me a bag of fluids (I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in days), a steroid, and a script for both an antibiotic and Vicodin.  I naively thought I wouldn't need the Vicodin.  I was wrong.  :\  It took me over a week to feel human again and finally after 2 weeks, I am able to eat and drink without any pain. 

I am finally better, but the moral of the story is... do not mess around with strep throat.  I hate doctors.  As a mom, I tend to think about myself last of all.  However, I honestly think I was about 12 hrs away from going septic, so at some point, I had to quit being brave and suck it up and go to the ER. 

Anyway, I hate to do a post on a nasty infection, but I wanted to give you all an update because at 3am on 4/25/11, the girls on Twitter were the only things keeping me sane.  I wanted you all to know that I'm feeling much better.  Thank you so much for all your concern.  <3

Friday Blogger Round Up

So, it's Thursday in the US, but I know it's Friday for some of you girls, so this is in your honor.  :P

I know I have been quite lax in the Blogger Round Up department, so over the next few weeks, I hope to get caught up.  This first batch of blogs are the bloggers that filled out my Blogger Round Up form.  Next, I will be working on getting all the bloggers that asked to be in my Round Ups off of my giveaway form.

Also, if you have asked me in the past via email to be in the Round Up, and I have yet to include you, I ask that you please ask me again via the Round Up form.  That's the main way to ensure I won't miss you.

Paws to Polish

Colores De Carol

Sara <3's Pretty Little Things

Polished Pirate

Gotham Polish

Polished Punkii

Polish Wonderland

disenos de gennie

Varnish Me

Orphea

I Heart Beauty

Lacky Nails

My Nail Obsession

Digital Design Nails

Beautifully Polished Up

Prettyfulz

HaveYouSceneHez

Princess Poly

Lucy's Stash

Nail Utopia

Melissa's Manis

So, Hi

Vermilion Art

Lust for Color

My Nail Art Blog

The Real Polish Princess

Live. Laugh. Love. Lacquer.

Candy Coated Tips

My Nail Graffiti

Nailyorkcity

Good Lack, Nail!

Beej's Nails

Nailside

Also, I wanted to let you know, that if you were listed, I tried to email you and let you know that you were on the Round Up.  I've had a few bounce back to me, so if you didn't get an email... that's probably why.  :)

Additionally, I went back through the list and followed all the blogs if you had the option on your blog.  I am also going to add these blogs to by blogroll.  A few of the links were dead links, so I marked through those in the list.  If your blog happens to be one of the dead links and it's an active blog, please let me know and I will correct it.

As always, if you'd like to included in my Blogger Round Ups, please see the "Blogger Round Up" tab for more information.  Any new entries to the form will be included in a Round Up after all my current requests have been honored.  Thank you for understanding.  :)