Candeo Colors Joker

Candeo Colors Joker has been one of my longest indie lemmings.  It seems like whenever Melinda would add it to the sale on her site, I wasn't fast enough.  So when I saw it in stock on Llarowe a few weeks ago, I jumped on it.  I know that Llarowe has been a bit of a drama llama lately, so I was a little nervous about ordering, but the power of the lemming was stronger than my trepidation.  LOL.  

She came in a couple of weeks ago, but that was when packages from Llarowe were still being sent with signature required, and it actually took me almost a week to have a chance to go the post office.  And then she sat in my purse for another week.  So much for a hardcore lemming, right?  :P

Anyway, I finally had a chance to put her on my nails (am I the only one that refers to nail polish as "her"?) and I am so happy I got her...

This is 2 coats of Joker over 3 thin coats of Essie Boxer Shorts, a soft periwinkle blue.  I also used one coat of Barielle No Chip Speed Dry.  

Joker is a mix of purple glitter, purple microglitter, blue glitter, periwinkle matte glitter and large silver and holo hex glitters.  Any other color you see in my swatch above (i.e. pink, orange, and green) was created by the flash off the holographic glitter.  It's a little brighter than I thought it would be, as I initially thought it would kill my lemming for Lynnderella Nosegay.  It doesn't... but Lynn's crazy kinda kills that on it's own.  :P  That said, it's still really, really pretty and I think it would fantastic over tons over colors (can you imagine it over a bright blue like Zoya Song?).  

Also, in the future, I think I may go lighter with my application.  It actually looked really pretty at just one coat, but I never know when to stop, so that's why you see two above (my second coat was much thicker).  The base on Joker is clear and I had no issues with the formula being thick or with the glitter not wanting to transfer to the nail.  That's one of the best things about Candeo Colors glitters.  

If you can snag it, Joker is occasionally available at Candeo Colors' website.  That said, they only restock about once every 4-6 weeks and when they do, the stuff is loaded into carts within seconds.  You probably will have a better chance of getting Joker through Llarowe (where I got mine), but keep in mind that she charges $12, about 25% more than purchasing directly from Candeo Colors, plus shipping costs.  For me, if it's something I really want, I'd actually rather pay a little more and get it, rather than deal with a long wait and fight a stampede.  

Joker was purchased by me.  Boxer Shorts was provided for review.

Candy Lacquer Polishes

Today, I have for you three colors by indie polish maker, Candy Lacquer.

Argyle - white, turquoise, and black diamond glitter, as well as white and black bar glitter in a clear base.  As soon as I saw a bottle pick of Argyle on another blog, I fell instantly in love and I knew I had to get it.  As soon as Candy Lacquer's Etsy store was reopened, Argyle was the first one I put in my cart.  Once I got it home, I love it even more... in the bottle.  Unfortunately, it was a pain to put on my nail.  I ended up pouring some out into a palette and then putting individual pieces of glitter on my nails with an orange stick.  Even with this method, it was still bumpy and I had bubbles after I put on a topcoat.  That said, I think it is still super awesome (can you look at my blog redesign and tell me what inspired it? LOL), and I still want to play around with it to see if I can find a better way of application.

Starlight - multi-sizes and shapes (there are stars!) of silver holographic glitter in a clear base.  I threw this one in my cart on a whim and I'm so happy I did.  Of the 3 Candy Lacquers I picked up, Starlight has the best application.  The glitters came out of the bottle easily, even the stars!  

White Wedding - multi-shaped and sized matte white glitter in a clear base.  Okay, so let's be honest... I got this one for the name.  I also thought that it looked super cool in the bottle, but really... I got it for the name.  LOL.  So when I got it home, I was pleasantly surprised.  I love this one over the bright red of Sooki, and think it would look equally as pretty over just about every color.  Application on this one was a little harder than Starlight, but nowhere near as difficult as Argyle.  I did have to go digging for the hearts, but that's to be expected.  

All in all, I really like the 3 polishes I picked up from Candy Lacquer.  Shipping was super quick and the owner, Sandra, was extremely pleasant.  I kind of wish that application on a few of them was a little easier, but honestly, with big glitters, you kind of know going in to it that you may have issues with application.

Candy Lacquers are $8 a bottle are available through their Etsy store (though it is currently closed).  For more information on restocks, please check their Facebook page.  

Argyle, Starlight, and White Wedding were purchased by me.  Links included within this post are not affiliate links.

Nails Inc. Burlington Arcade

For this summer, Nails Inc has released several small "nail effects" collections.  One of those collections is Nail Jewelry, which consists of four glitter top coats designed to "adorn your nails like precious jewels".  The four polishes in this collection are... Picadilly Arcade (emerald), Princess Arcade (pink diamond), Royal Arcade (sapphire), and Burlington Arcade (diamond).  Of the four, I received Burlington Arcade, the "diamond" topcoat, for review...

Burlington Arcade is a mix of silver, holographic glitter of various sizes and shapes in a clear base.  There are also shards of glitter in this one and while usually, glitter shards are on my "no-go" list, I actually don't mind them in this polish.  I think that's because they are smaller and lay flat on the nail.  

While I was swatching it, tt almost reminded me of one of the many "indie" glitter topcoats now available, simply because of the various sizes and shapes to the glitter.  Although, it's nowhere near as chunky as some indie shard-glitter topcoats I've seen.  Application on this one was perfect.  The polish flowed smoothly on the nail and there was no glitter-drag.  

I have seen swatches of the other polishes within the Nail Jewelry collection and it looks like it may be possible to almost reach opacity with the other colors.  However, with Burlington Arcade, that is not the case.  The above picture is 3 coats and I was nowhere near reaching opacity.  I did like that it gave my natural nails a flash of shimmer, though.  

I like it on my natural nails, but this is absolutely beautiful when it is layered, and, honestly, that's the whole point of this collection...

This is 2 coats of Burlington Arcade over 2 coats of Nails Inc Black Taxi, a rich black creme.  I love this over black.  It's very dramatic, and think the dark base is a perfect backdrop for this topcoat.  I really like how the black enhances the rainbow of colors that come out in the holo glitter.  That said,  my favorite way to wear this is below...

This is 3 coats of Burlington Arcade over 2 coats of Nails Inc Floral Street, an opaque, white creme.  Believe it or not, as stunning as this was over Black Taxi, it was just as beautiful when layered over this saturated white.  Unfortunately, in pictures this combination doesn't want to show off as much as Burlington Arcade + Black Taxi, but trust me... it is so, so pretty.  It's also a much more subtle look (as subtle as you can get with holo, chunky glitter.  LOL).  

I think you can guess, I absolutely love Burlington Arcade.  The multitude of glitter sizes and shapes sets it apart from other silver holo glitter topcoats, in my opinion.  I really liked it over black, but it was amazing over white.  Because of this baby, I can't wait to try the Nail Jewelry in other colors.  I've heard that Royal Arcade layered over Baker Street is especially gorgeous.     

You can find all 4 of the Nails Inc Nail Jewelry polishes at Sephora.com.  Price is $9.50 for a 0.33 fl oz bottle.  

All polishes shown within this post were sent to me for review by Nails Inc's PR.  The above link links to this product on Sephora.com and is not an affiliate link.

Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger

So normally, I try to avoid posting swatches of polishes that are extremely hard-to-find.  I know that personally, I hate perusing blogs and seeing a polish I love and then finding out it's long-discontinued or a super rare limited-edition.  I like to be able to go and purchase something once the lemming fire has been lit.

Probably like most of you, my most recent lemmings have been for indie brands, despite my claim that I've given up on indies.  LOL.  My general rule on posting indies is that if I have the indie polish, I will post a picture of it, provided that at some point, it will be restocked.

However, I had to make an exception for this baby.  Isn't she gorgeous?

This is one coat of Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger over 2 coats of Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather.

You may remember that my entry to last year's Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection contest was an oilslick polish.  I based the entry on a picture that I took the day after Christmas, right after we had our first-in-a-million-years white Christmas.  

An oilslick polish has been my dream for years and I was inspired by the picture.  I wasn't even planning on entering the contest and then I saw that gorgeous swirly rainbow in the middle of a dirty gas station parking lot, and I couldn't help myself.  Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Ji Baek didn't feel the same as I did and my idea wasn't selected as one of the finalists.  Boo.  

After my submission was rejected, I tried to find a polish that hits all of my check boxes when it comes to my dream "oilslick".  Some have come close, but so far, I had not found a polish that has the same feeling as my inspiration picture.  In fact, I pretty much decided that it was an urban legend.. a mythical being, and given up.

Then I saw Toxic Avenger on Krystal's blog a few months ago.  Yes, it's a holographic polish, but it's so much more.  There is also a duochrome shift to it, which unfortunately, I didn't capture in my pictures, but it shifts from pink to green.  And because of the spectraflair pigment, I think this one would look holographic in a cave.  :P 

I did think that it was too light to be my perfect oilslick polish, but a base of dark grey fixed that.  I opted to layer it over my new favorite grey creme, Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather.  Also, because I have a mini bottle (and this stuff is like liquid gold, IMO), I will probably continue to layer it when I wear it.

Unfortunately, it was a limited edition polish and I didn't know if Dollish Polish was going to ever restock it.  Then, I saw it listed as the "mystery polish" when Dolly re-opened her store last week.  I added it to my cart quick as a bunny, and I am so, so, so happy I did.  I think I could stare at my nails for a week and not get bored.  

As I mentioned, Toxic Avenger is a LE polish, and while Dolly is continually restocking her store on a relatively frequent basis, I'm not sure if Toxic Avenger will be making a come-back.  I hate showing you a polish that requires you to make deals with Rumpelstiltskin to acquire, but I just couldn't help it.  Please forgive me for any lemmings this may have created.

Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger was purchased by me.  The above links link to a post on this blog and Polish Galore and are not affiliate links. 

Glitter Gal Light as a Feather

Recently, Llarowe offered a "49% off one item" coupon to celebrate the owner, Leah Ann's, 49th birthday.  If you aren't familiar with Llarowe, it is an online retailer of several indie brands, as well as brands that are hard-to-find in the US, such as a-england, Ozotics, and Glitter Gal.  

As I had yet to order from Llarowe, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try one of these hard-to-find brands.  But which one?  I poured over the selection and was just about ready to pull the trigger on Ludurana Aurora Boreal Reluz when I realized that polish would be fairly similar to my coveted bottle of Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal, so I decided to keep looking.  That's when I saw Glitter Gal Light as a Feather.  Now, as a white holo is a part of nail polish lore, like a nail polish Big Foot, Yeti, or Unicorn, once I saw Light as a Feather, I think I got a little giddy.  I also bought it as quickly as I could.

It came the other day, and it was one of those polishes that I couldn't wait to put on my nails...

Unfortunately, it's one of those colors that I think I'm a little torn about, though I still really like it.  As you can see, it's not a true white.  On me, it's a very pale grey.  I've seen pictures of swatches on darker skintones, and it looks much more white than it does on me, so I guess that all depends on the individual.  Also, the linear holo is more pronounced in the bottle than it is on the nail (though it's still really pretty).  That said, I find it to be completely mesmerizing.  I kept staring at my nails while I swatched it.  LOL.  So while it wasn't a breathtaking white holo, it was still a beautiful polish.  I'm going to try layering with it, as well.

The formula was a little thin and was a bit streaky at one coat, though that evened out.  Also, you will want to wait a bit between coats to minimize streaking and drag.  Because of the thinness, it took 3 coats to reach opacity.

Light as a Feather comes in 2 sizes... the big 0.50 fl oz bottle (which I got) and a smaller 0.30 fl oz bottle.  Both sizes appear to be out of stock at Llarowe (link is to the big bottle), though it appears that the small bottle is currently available at Overall Beauty.  If you are in Australia, you can purchase these directly from Glitter Gal.  Also, you can check on Glitter Gal's website for other US stockists and stockists in your country (if not US or Australia, though I think both Llarowe and Overall Beauty ship internationally).  In the US, the smaller bottle is around $14 and the larger bottle is $18.

I purchased Light as a Feather myself from Llarowe.  The above links link to various product listings for this product, as well as to a stockist list for Glitter Gal and are not affiliate links.

30 Days of Blues for Autism Awareness - Zoya Wednesday

Today is Day 15 in my "30 Days of Blues".  Part me is so happy I am half-way through with my 30 Day challenge.  That part includes my blue-stained nails.  LOL.  And yet another part of me is going to miss it when it's over.  I think even after this month is over, I am still going to have "Blue Mondays" every week.  

Anyway, today's blue is a relatively new addition to my collection.  I reviewed this polish when I reviewed Zoya's summer collection, but 1. because I got some flack for my swatches, and 2. it's just a freaking awesome color, I wanted to re-visit it...

I realize this is another color with which I may be stretching the definition of "blue", but hey... Zoya calls this one aquamarine, and aquamarines are blue stones, so that's good enough for me.  :P

This is 2 coats of Zoya Wednesday that I topped with one coat of Nicole by OPI Make a Comet-ment (a fine, holographic glitter top coat) on my tips.  I also added a stamp below Make a Comet-ment using Konad White Special polish and the floral design from BundleMonster plate BM04. 

Zoya Wednesday is available at Zoya.com and Nicole by OPI Make a Comet-ment is a Target exclusive, but as it's still on Target's website, I'm assuming that it's in the regular line-up and is still available in-store.

30 Days of Blues for Autism Awareness - Essie Mesmerize

Welcome to my fourth day of blues in my "30 Days of Blues".  Today, I have for you Essie Mesmerize...

This is 2 coats of Essie Mesmerize, a bright royal blue (which is darker, brighter, and not nearly as dusty as my picture would suggest), with 2 coats of Barielle Starchild on my tips.  Yes, y'all... I am still addicted to the glitter tips.  LOL.  

Essie Mesmerize is easily one of my favorite blues in my collection, and it was one of the earliest blues I purchased.  I remember when it came out, I had recently started becoming interested in polish again, and I had just discovered nail blogs.  When I saw this one on The Polish Addict, I immediately fell in love.  However, I had yet to become comfortable with the idea of wearing blue on my nails.  Once I realized that I can wear anything and everything on my nails ("p'shaw Mom, red isn't natural either". LOL), I quickly added Mesmerize to my collection.  Also, unlike a lot of other older Essies made of win, Mesmerize is still in the regular line-up, so it should be easy to acquire if you have a lemming.

And because it was sitting right next to me looking all shiny, I then added 2 coats of Barielle Starchild just to my tips.  Starchild was one of the polishes that I purchased, along with Shannon's Attitude and a couple others, when Barielle offered their 30% off sale a few weeks ago.  Also, like Shannon's Attitude, this one looks nothing like the picture on Barielle's site (this is becoming a trend).  Based on that picture, I thought it was going to be blue and silver glitter in a clear base.  It's not.  It's still beautiful, but again, keep in mind, it's not like the picture.  Rather than being silver and blue glitter, it's actually highly rainbow-holographic, multi-shaped and sized, chunky glitter in a clear base.  When I first pulled it out of the box, I was disappointed, but just like with Shannon's Attitude, I was very pleasantly surprised.  This picture does not do it justice.  Trust me, it's crazy, I-may-wreck-my-car shiny.  I have several chunky, holo, glitter top coats and this one just blows them out of the water.

Again, thank you so much for reading my "30 Days of Blues" posts.  Remember, I'm glad to take any requests for blues.  I have a huge amount of blues, so chances are I may have it (just don't say Starry, Starry Night).  Please reply to this post with any suggestions, or you email them to megan@apolishproblem.com.  

Today's Nails - Barielle Shannon's Attitude

If you follow any of my ramblings on Twitter, you may know that today is my 37th birthday.  :\  

I've been waffling for a few days on what to use for my manicure today.  At first, it was going to be the obvious choice, Lippmann Happy Birthday, but I decided to do something different because 1. I think I did that last year, and 2. I don't like being predictable.  :P  

As luck would have it, I had just received my Barielle order (from their 30% off sale) and figured I'd use one of my new glitters (gnah... it's like crack).  This picture is 2 coats of one of their new shades, Shannon's Attitude (holo bar glitter and small micro-glitter in a clear purple base), over 2 coats of OPI Honk if You Love OPI (a deep, browned plum from OPI's 2011 Fall collection).  I also used 2 coats of Nubar Diamont.

Here's a bottle pic of Shannon's Attitude...

It's super-pretty and more than a little distracting.  LOL.  Unfortunately, when I pulled it out of the box, I was a little disappointed, to be honest.  This is because it looks nothing like the picture on Barielle's website.  I quickly got over my disappointment, and I now really like Shannon's Attitude, and my birthday mani in general, but I just wanted to give you all fair warning that in real life, this is nowhere near the picture on Barielle's site.

Barielle Shannon's Attitude is available on Barielle.com, and it retails for $8, though Barielle has their Shades by Barielle always offered on a "buy one, get one half-off" promotion.

QUICK UPDATE - 3/25/2012 - Shannon's Attitude was a complete hit when I went out for my birthday.  It shines like crazy.  If you love glitter, especially bar glitter, you need this one. 

Shannon's Attitude was purchased by me.  Honk if You Love OPI was provided to me by OPI.

Today's Nails - Glitter Layering

As you all probably know by now, I am currently in a glitter-obsessed phase.  I can't seem to wear anything on my nails that isn't covered in glitter in one way or another.  Today's manicure is no exception.  If you are anything like me, you may think about possible manicure ideas before going to sleep.  Sad, but I guess that's goes with the territory.  Well, this idea came to me last night, as I was falling asleep.

This is actually a combination of 5 polishes, but it's not as involved as you'd think.  Here are the polishes I used...

1. Color Club Bewitching (my go-to black creme)

2. OPI Your Royal Shineness (a bright silver)

3. OPI Paris Couture for Sure (a holo top coat) - this is the bottle pic

4. OPI Crown Me Already! (a silver glitter top coat with large, mirror-finish hex glitter)

5. OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It (a mostly red glitter top coat with a little bit of silver glitter in the mix)

I started with a base coat of Bewitching.  I then added a thin coat of Your Royal Shineness and a thin coat of Paris Couture for Sure.  I then added another thin layer of Your Royal Shineness and Paris Couture for Sure.  So there are 2 coats of each but they are layered.  I then added a coat of Crown Me Already! and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, and sealed the whole thing in with Diamont.  Sounds like a ton of coats, right?  Well all in all, it was 8 including topcoat, but being that I used extremely thin coats of each one, with the exception of Bewitching, which was just a normal coat, they were almost like half-coats.  I used dry drops so it was dry within minutes.  It only took me about 30 minutes, too.    

Maybe tomorrow, I should step away from the glitter.  

Lex Cosmetics Seashell

You may remember that around the first of the year, Ji offered a RBL fan submission contest.  My entry was for an "oilslick" polish.  Unfortunately, it wasn't selected (it may have been put in her "impossible" catagory. LOL), so I was more than a little excited with Sarah's Seashell/Oilslick inspiration polish was voted to be in Lex's line up of polishes.

I finally got around to getting this one last week, and while it's a very pretty polish, I have to say, that I'm a tad underwhelmed.  :(  This is a deep charcoal base with tons of subtly holo microshimmer.  Again, it's pretty, but it doesn't quite meet what I had in mind.  I expected it to be a duo/multi-chrome rather than a holo, and the black base really took me out of the "inspired by a seashell" backstory.  It's silly, but in my mind, there is a bit of a disconnect between a deep charcoal polish and a seashell (of course, I fully admit that is probably nitpicking).

Also, when you have a polish like this, it comes with the territory that it's going to be compared to OPI My Private Jet holo.  And when you do that comparison, there is no contest.  My Private Jet will always reign supreme (of course, it's now super rare and $$$, so perhaps this would be a good lemming slayer)  However, Seashell seems very similar to Color Club Revvvolution (which I blog-sold or I would compare) and perhaps Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm (which I never owned).

In terms of application, my bottle leaked quite a bit in transit and I think that made the formula a bit thick.  It wasn't impossible to work with by any means, but I just had to be careful with it.  It was a good formula, though, and it dried fast and is super, super glossy with just 1 coat of TC (which is awesome considering sometimes, these kinds of colors have a tendency to eat up TC and end up looking muddy).  I haven't been able to stop looking at my nails today because the finish is so SHINY!  :)

Even with my issue regarding the color and leakage, I still wouldn't dissuade you from picking this one up, especially if you don't have any of the similar colors, and one of the reasons I'm saying this is because of the company, Lex Cosmetics.  First off, this is the only company, that I can think of, that let's their customers decide on their entire color line, not just a couple here and there.  Also, $1 of each bottle sold goes to the charity of the creator's choice.  In this case, Sarah's requested that $1 go to the fight against sexual assault.

Seashell is available at www.lexcosmetics.com, and the cost is $10 per bottle.

this was purchased by me

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam pt. 3 Review

This is the 3rd installment of OPI's collaboration with Serena Williams.  As this one was meant to coincide with Wimbledon, the names are subtly English.  Also, this is the first set in the Serena Williams collection that isn't a sparkley base color with a shatter top coat, and as someone that still has issues with correctly applying crackles/shatters, I must say that this was a welcome change.  These sets consist of a base color and the same glitter top coat.

Grape...Set...Match - grape purple shimmer base with pink, blue, and turquoise shimmer particles.  Sigh.  I loved this one.  It is an amazing color and the entire time I was swatching this one, I kept thinking that it is a marriage of OPI Ink and Lourve Me Lourve Me Not.  It's got qualities of both.  However, unlike Ink, the shimmer doesn't get lost and unlink LMLMN, it doesn't look muddy.  So, in my mind, it's the perfect combo of the two.  The application on this one was fine, though it was still thin in spots after 2 coats, so it was a 3-coater for me.  

Servin' Up Sparkle (over GSM) - Small round and large hex HOLO glitter in a clear base.  Okay, now this is amazing.  I'm in love with this topcoat.  In fact, as soon as I received this from OPI, I slapped it on my nails.  This looks beautiful over every color I've tried, but really shines when placed over a shimmery base.  This is one coat over GSM.

Your Royal ShineNess - Silver foil metallic.  This one is pretty straightforward.  It's a little more muted than a bright silver, though.  It's reminiscent of Orly's Shine FX colors from last year.  The application was perfect.  2 coats.

Servin' Up Sparkle (over YRSN) - believe it or not, the effect of this over the silver was much more subtle than it was over the purple, but it is still crazy pretty. I think I'm in love with this TC.  

All in all, I'm a huge fan of this collection.  Everything about it is fantastic.  I'm a fan of the Serena Williams collection, in general, but this is my favorite one.  LOVE.

These were sent to me for review

OPI DS Coronation over Black

Seems like I'm all about layering polishes over black nowadays.  This is 2 coats of OPI DS Coronation over 2 coats of Illamasqua Boosh.

Hope you all have a good weekend.  I'm going to try and stockpile some posts over the weekend as my training is really ramping up and I don't know if I'll have much time to post after it all goes live.  

Both polishes were purchased by me

Nicole by OPI Something About Spring Collection - Pt. 2 (Glitters)

Yesterday, I showed you the first 9 polishes of this collection.  Tonight, I bring you the remaining 3 polishes in the collection, all of which are glitters.  

Brilliant Idea - golden-green mulit-sized glitter in a tonal clear base.  In the bottle, this one is definitely green. However, on the nail, it turned much more golden.  It actually reminded me of Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow once it was on the nail.  This one is jammed packed with glitter.  I was able to reach opacity in 3 coats, something I didn't think would be possible one I saw it in the bottle.  

Make a Comet-ment - holo micro-glitter in a clear base.  This one seems pretty straightforward... a holo glitter top coat.  However, it's actually pretty unique in that it there is tons of micro-glitter in the base, and after 3 coats, your nail is so covered in glitter that you could get away with wearing this alone.  You can, of course, layer this, but you don't have to, which is great.  The application on this one was fantastic.  Also, unlike the other 2 glitters in this collection, the finish on this one is very smooth without topcoat.  3 coats.

Nicole's Nickel - hematite grey, multi-sized glitter in a tonal clear base.  Remember in yesterday's post where I said that one of these glitters was amazing?  Well, this was the one I was talking about.  It's so beautiful and incredibly unique.  It almost looks like you have marcasite on your nails.  This one, like Brilliant Idea is packed with glitter.  It was almost opaque in 2 coats, but completely so in 3.  This is one of my favorites of the collection.  Gorgeous!

Honestly, I wanted to mentioned that I did these separately because they are glitters and glitters in general are a PITA to swatch, but these were remarkably stress free.  They removed extremely well.

--

I love these.  Love.  Nicole's Nickel is FANTASTIC.  Seriously.  If you get two from this collection, get I'm a Pool for Your Love and Nicole's Nickel.  Hands down.  Again, these are available at Target and Target.com.

These were sent to me for review

OPI DS Desire with ChG Crushed Candy and Lippmann Boom Boom Pow

Okay it is crazycakes how much I love this.  :D

I was inspired by this post on the MUA NB.  I don't have WNW Prancer, so I figured I'd do the gold one instead.  I had on OPI DS Desire and because I can't go 6 hrs without doing something to my fingers, I figured I'd add some crackle (me thinks crackle is the new konad.  LOL).  Then it still needed something so I added Boom Boom Pow.

I love it so much and I will be a little sad when it's gone.

A few OPI Designer Series Swatches

Like the rest of the nail polish world, I've recently found myself lemming holo (and duo/multi chromes, but that's another post) polishes like nobody's bidnez.  With OPI Designer Series polishes being the main objects of my affection.  :)  

What's funny is when I first started reading nail blogs, I picked up a few holos and just didn't like them (*gasp*).  I even had OPI Exclusive and gifted away to my sister (*gasp* again), though she said doesn't use it and I can have it back.  Nowadays, I can't get enough of them.  But (and this is a big but), they can't be sparse scattered holos.  I recently saw ChG Tronica at Sally's and the holo was so scattered and so hidden that I immediately put them down.  I like a holo, that even in low light, you can tell what it is.  That's what I love about the older OPI Designer Series polishes.

Here are 2 of the old DS holos I picked up last week...

Chiffon - rose pink holo.  I loved this one since the moment I saw a swatch of it, which was probably a year ago.  Unfortunately, even back then, it was already d/c'd and being sold at ridiculously jacked up prices on eBay.  So I passed.  I picked up OPI DS Opulence in hopes that it would be a good substitute, but unfortunately, it wasn't as bright as I wanted.  So I continued to lem Chiffon.  I was finally going to pull the trigger on eBay, and then I found it for $8 on Amazon (unfortunately, they've since sold out :( ).  Unfortunately, I think the pink may be a tad too warm for my skintone, but I think it's still a beautiful polish.  The formula was thin, but that's okay, because you want it to be buildable.  Pic is 4 coats.

Desire - Smoky, golden holo.  This one is such an unusual shade.  At some point last year, TransDesign happened to put a bunch of older Designer Series polishes on their site.  Maybe they found a box hidden in a corner.  Dunno?  Anyway, I'd waffled on this one a few times.  I obsessively looked at Scrangie's picture (which is amazing, btw) and read as many reviews as I could find, and when I finally decided that YES, I wanted it... it'd sold out.  :(  I was bummed, as the only other place I could find it was jacked up on eBay.  I'd do a search for it ever-so-often, and I finally found this one, about a week ago, at Beauty Clutch.  It was retail ($12.50), but I'd pay retail over jacked-up, eBay prices anyday.  When I first put this one on, I was a little disappointed.  It was more golden than I'd seen in pics.  Then I started adding on the coats.  With each subsequent coat, the base color deepened.  By 4 coats, it was a beautiful smoky, blackened gold.   I seriously think this is tying OPI MPJ holo as my favorite polish of all time.  Sigh.

In addition to holos, it seems that OPI, especially recently, is using their Designer Series line to showcase duochrome-y shimmers, like this one...

Magic - royal blue shimmer with purple/pink duochrome shimmer.  I knew I would love this one as soon as I saw it in the bottle.  The royal blue is so pretty.  I kept thinking "this is what I wanted ChG Dorothy Who to look like".  It's so amazing.  Formula was perfect.  Pic is 2 coats.  This one is a new release (came out end of last year), so it's easily available.  I got mine on Amazon for $4+ shipping.

Hope you guys like these.  I'm still lemming on OPI DS polishes (Illuminate and Coronation to name 2), but they are going to have to wait awhile, taxes are looming.  :\

Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Girl Collection

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about this collection, which was a collaboration with Justin Beiber (or at least with his handlers).  

Now, I know very little about Justin Beiber.  I know he's the latest teen phenom.  I know his fans have a tendency to be a little rabid.  I know his hair drives me batshit, and I know I'm older than his mom :\ (yeah, that was a kick in the pants).  However, I do know that this collection, which could have become very gimmicky, actually turned out pretty cool. 

Supposedly, all these polishes have names inspired by his songs.  I think I know of one Justin Beiber song, the one with Usher that has me singing "baby, baby, baby, oh" all day long, so the names seem a little foreign to me, but other than that (which is the gimmicky part), the collection is rather solid.

Give Me the 1st Dance - Silver foil metallic.  Pretty standard, but this one is a little different in that the silver is a little muted.  It's not a matte by any means, but it's not as flashy, as say, Orly Shine.  Formula was very nice.  2 coats.  

Me + Blue - Marine blue shimmer base with holo micro-glitter.  When I first saw this one in the bottle, it probably was the one I was the least excited about.  For one, it reminded me of a Fingerpaints glitter, which looked beautiful in the bottle, but was a total fail on the nail.  Secondly, the base is a little frosty, so I was a little afraid of this being like Color Club Ms. Hautie, with the glitter getting lost in the base.  Surprisingly, this polish far surpassed my low expectations.  The base is very dense, so it was opaque in 2 coats.  Also, while it is a bit frosty, it's also not a problem.  Formula was great as well.  

My Lifesaver - Blue-based mint green creme.  This one wasn't in the original PR info from Nicole, so it was a complete surprise, and probably my favorite of the collection.  It's a minty green (actually, probably more of a seafoam green) that actually works with my skin.  Formula was a bit on the thin side.  Pic is 3 coats.  

OMB! - True-red foil metallic.  This one really reminded me of the foil metallics in OPI's Holiday 2010 Burlesque collection, and probably it's closest match would by OPI Ali's Big Break.  However, whereas Ali's Big Break was a candy apple red, OMB! is more of a true red, or even a tomato red (I know my picture leans it a bit pink, but there is no pink in it).  This one is absolutely gorgeous.  3 coats.

One Less Lonely Glitter - Multi-sized, silvery-lavender, round glitter in a clear base.  As soon as I put this on my nails, I fell in love.  I absolutely love the color and different sizes in this glitter.  3 coats.

Prized Possession Purple - Tyrian purple shimmer with red and blue micro-shimmer.  This one is practically radiant in the bottle.  However, on the nail, it's a bit of a disappointment.  The color is still beautiful, but the formula lacks something to be desired.  I had quite a bit of trouble with drag (as show on my ring finger).  Pic is 2+ coats, meaning I tried for a third, but I had so much trouble with drag, I just gave up.  

Step 2 the Beat of My Heart - Holo micro-glitter and large hologram hearts (silver/pink/purple) in a thick clear base.  Oh how Nicole loves her big-piece glitters.  Me?  I find them to be mesmerizing in the bottle, but a total PITA to apply.  You have to place the big hearts and that has a tendency to make the clear base lumpy, and then if you try to smooth it out, you will move the hearts.  That said, I think this is a really pretty look.  I think this would look beautiful over the silver foil in this collection, Give Me the 1st Dance, or even over the top of a french mani (funky or otherwise).  Of course, as it's hearts, it's perfect for Valentine's Day.

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All in all, like I mentioned above, I think this is a great collection.  Yeah, the fact that it's Justin Beiber may turn some people off (or OTOH, it may make some people buy it just because), but aside from Prized Possession Purple all the colors were winners, IMO, and even that one was a pretty color, just annoying formula.  

These bottles come with little hang-tags that stated "in support of Pencils of Promise.  Join Justin and PoP to build 100 schools around the world".  However, there's no additional info.  I searched Pencils of Promise's website and Justin Beiber's website, but I didn't find any information to how this collection directly helps with this cause.  Though I did find information stating that Justin Beiber is a regular contributor to PoP.  

Also, as stated on the bottle, Nicole by OPI has a new brush.  It's almost a cross between the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri brush and OPI's own ProWide Brush.  I like it in concept, but as it's still new, it seems that they have a few kinks to work out.  Some of them were perfect and then some of them were cut so wonky, it made application really tricky.  Let's hope this is something that will work itself out with future releases.

From what I understand, this collection started off last month as a Walmart exclusive and should be headed to ULTA and Target next month.  Nicole by OPI retails in the $7-$8 range.  

These were sent to me for review

ChG Sugarplums (frankened up)

When China Glaze Sugarplums first hit retailers, all people could talk about was the fact that it may be a dupe for the long-d/c, much-loved China Glaze Crystal Ball.  Turns out, they aren't dupes (though I don't have Crystal Ball to do a direct comparison).  The base colors are slightly different and Crystal Ball has more holo shimmer particles.  Now, I couldn't do much about base, but I could add more holo.  This is a combination of Orly Shine On, Crazy Diamond (which didn't do much), OPI Paris Couture for Sure (which I didn't want to use much of), and Color Club Magic Attraction (which I used the most of).  I don't have a pre-franken pic of this (though I plan on taking one soon as I have 1/2 a bottle left), but I absolutely love this with more shimmer/glitter.

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Purple Diamond

Like the Maybellines of last year, large amounts of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms have been showing up at Dollar Trees.  Unfortunately, the DT near me always has goose-egg in terms of nail products, and while you can find nail stuff at the next closest DT, it's always hit-or-miss.  So, a few weeks ago, when I happened to find a duo-pack of SH Nail Prisms White Diamond and Purple Diamond, I considered myself lucky.  No, they weren't the Nail Prisms that I would have chosen, given a choice, but I figured for a buck... why not.  However, the tops felt like they'd been welded shut, so, yesterday, I finally got them open and got around to trying one.

This is Purple Diamond, a soft purple holo.  Honestly, it's just okay, and if I had to get it again, I probably wouldn't.  It's not a bad polish, per se, just kinda dupey.  Application was fine, but stank to high-heaven (gotta love pre-B3F polishes).  It chipped within a couple of hours, but due to a crazy day today, I was unable to remove and apply something else, and it's been super chippy the rest of the day, but I'm sure a basecoat would have helped with that.  Pic is 3 coats.

Color Club Bewitching Mini Set

For Halloween, Color Club is offering an adorable mini set.  This set has some really great colors...

Bewitching - super dark black.  This one is awesome. It's deep, rich, and opaque in one coat.  It dries to a vinyl or "rubbery" finish, so if you want it super shiny, just at some TC. I know the general consensus in the nail polish world is that, for the money, WnW Black Creme is the best black on the market.  Personally, I can't stand it.  I find the formula to be runny and the brush to be a horrible mop.  In fact, I am still trying to find my holy grail black creme.  In my Sephora haul last week, I happened to order a bottle of Illamasqua Boosh (which I am expecting to be amazing), but if you are opposed to the hefty price tag, and find yourself in my same where-is-my-hg-black boat, check this one out.  I'm not sure if CC offers a non-Halloween-themed, non-mini dupe to this color, but, IMO, this polish alone makes this mini set worth the price of admission.  

Charmed I'm Sure - deep tyrian purple with purple, blue, and pink-red shimmer particles.  This one is similar to CC Electronica, though they aren't dupes, yet a normal person would probably be happy with either/or.  Charmed I'm Sure was opaque in 2 coats, whereas it takes 3 coats for Electronica.  Electronica is also a tad lighter with a tad less shimmer.  My picture is a bit bluer than IRL.

Hocus Pocus - Holo glitter.  I have an addiction to holo top coats, and I prefer the ones that, with enough coats, can be worn on their own.  CC Magic Attraction and OPI Paris Couture for Sure are my top 2, and I think I prefer this one to Magic Attraction.    They are very close, but the glitter in Hocus Pocus is much finer in texture than Magic Attraction, which is a bit like craft glitter.  This is 3 coats, and I did have a bit of free-edge drag due to the thickness of the glitter, but that can be combated with a sticky base coat and allowing the coats to dry in-between.

Spellbound - Neon orange.  Normally, I steer clear of oranges.  They never seem to look right with my skintone.  However, this one has enough red in it to make it work for me.  It's very bright, and as it's a neon, it dries matte.  This is a perfect Halloween polish and I plan on wearing it on Halloween (along with the below products).  Pic is 3 thin coats to try to hide VNLs (as you'll notice, I wasn't totally successful).

This set also comes with the below decals (be sure to enlarge pic to see the detail, they all have colored gems).

Also, if you are really interested in Halloween nail art, Color Club's sister company, Art Club, has a companion gem set.

This has black, pearl, orange, and silver rhinestones, as well as black and orange seed pearls.

The mini set is available at TD, VNS, and H2T, and the Art Club set is available at VNS.

These were sent to me for review.