30 Days of Blues for Autism Awareness - I love "blue" "cherry" much!

Today is Day 16 in my "30 Days of Blues" for Autism Awareness.  Sorry for the completely corny title of this one.  LOL.

Anyway, for today, I decided I wanted to do another deep blue, but this time, I wanted to punch it up with some lighter and brighter color.  I chose a base of Nina Ultra Pro Sailor and then threw the kitchen sink at it...

I used 2 coats of Nina Ultra Pro Sailor (a rich, navy creme) and then applied a cherry stamp design using the all-over cherry design from BundleMonster plate BM21 and the single cherry design from BundleMonster plate B70 using Konad White Special Polish.  I then used my largest dotting tool and applied Zoya Shelby on a few of the cherries.  Last, but not least, I then added a coat of Deborah Lippmann Bring on the Bling.  

I think this one is so much fun.  Unfortunately, Sailor has been d/c'd, but to my naked eye, it looks to be relatively dupey to RBL Dead Calm and China Glaze First Mate (though I didn't do a direct comparison to First Mate and I blog-sold Dead Calm).  All the other polishes I used are easily obtainable.

Again, I want to thank you all so much for reading my posts during my month of blues for Autism Awareness.  It means so much to me.  As always, if you have questions, comments, or requests, please shoot me an email to megan@apolishproblem.com.

30 Days of Blues for Autism Awareness - Nina Ultra Pro Out of the Blue

Hi all!  Today is Day 10 in my "30 Days of Blues".  I'm going to keep things short and sweet today (are you saying "thank goodness" LOL) because I have to run a thousand errands this afternoon.

Anyway, today's blue is Nina Ultra Pro Out of the Blue...

I originally purchased this one several years ago because I read it was a dupe to Chanel's Blue Satin.  I had fallen in love with Blue Satin, but I refused to purchase it at $23.  That was back in the day when spending more than $10 on a polish was a completely foreign concept to me.  So, I had read that there were a few dupes of Blue Satin floating around and Out of the Blue was one of them.  I must say, in pictures, it looks quite similar, but that's said without doing a direct comparison.

I had worn this one a few years ago, but today when I put it on, it was much darker and murkier than I remember.  Unless you are in bright light, the shimmer is completely lost in the deep navy base.  This is why I added the gold and silver chains (using ChG Passion and Misa Got to Be Real, respectively, with the chains stamp from Bundle Monster plate BM12) and the little rhinestones.  I was trying to do anything I could to liven this up.  It's still a pretty color, but if you are looking for a navy shimmer, and not just a dupe to Chanel Blue Satin, there are better ones to be found.

Nina Ultra Pro is a discontinued polish, but if you are looking for a Blue Satin dupe, I hear that Rimmel has one (Midnight Blue).

Hope you all are enjoying my "30 Days of Blues" posts.  I greatly appreciate you reading them, as this is an issue that is so near and dear to me.  I'll be back tomorrow with another blue polish.  I swear... after this, I'm going to have to detox with boring pinks.  :P

Nina Ultra Pro Hard Candies Collection

Like I mentioned Wednesday, before I received my samples of OPI Shrek Forever After, I was working on swatching and reviewing the new Nina Ultra Pro collection, Hard Candies. My NP ADD kicked in and I had to stop and review the OPIs, but I didn’t want to wait too much longer to review the Ninas, so here goes…

I stopped in my local Sally Beauty on Wednesday to pick up French mani guides and I walked out with 9 new polishes… this new collection and 3 new Fingerpaints glitters, that I will review in the next few days. So much for restraint. ;) Does it help if I mention they were Buy 2 Get 1 Free? LOL.

As soon as I saw this collection, I was immediately drawn to it. The bottle colors are absolutely amazing and really do remind you of hard candies. And the colors on the nail are just as awesome. Unfortunately, the opacity in the bottle does not translate to the nail, but let me show you the swatches before I get too ahead of myself.

Guava is a juicy orange shimmer. All the colors in this collection are named after various types of fruits, save for one. Anyway, the color on this one is so pretty. Like I mentioned, it’s an orange shimmer, though it would need more red it in to be a true guava color. Compared to another recent sheer orange I reviewed, CC Turn the Other Chic, I like this color, though it didn’t necessarily work with my skin. This pic is 3 coats and I still have VNL, so it is rather sheer.

Dragon Berry is a bright reddish purple shimmer. The shimmer in this one is more silver than tonal. Also, this one has more of a metallic appearance in the bottle, though it is still definitely a shimmer, which is what gives it a slight frosty appearance on the nail. Right after I put this one on, I didn’t really like it. Then I left it on while I typed my review and it started to grow on me. This pic is 3 coats and it did reach opacity, although there are faint VNLs in bright light. This one could definitely be worn without layering, however.

Tutti Frutti is a bright pink shimmer with a hint of coral. Unless I’m mistaken, outside of children’s programming, there is not a “Tutti Frutt”, so this is the only one not named after a real life fruit.  :P Of the 6 of these, this is the one that really reminds me the most of ChG’s 2009 summer collection, Summer Days. This picture is 3 coats and I do still have VNLs, though it’s not nearly as pronounced as with Guava or Star Fruit, so IMO, if VNLs don’t make you completely OCD, you could wear this one alone.

Soursop is a sheer turquoise blue with blue, green, and purple shimmer. When I googled “soursop”, because I had no clue what it was, I found pictures of a weird bumpy green fruit with white flesh, so I have no idea why they put that name with this polish color.  :S Anyway, the color on this one is beautiful and the shimmer is mesmerizing. But you'd have to put on a gazillion coats to get bottle color, unfortunately.  And while it’s the prettiest of the lot, IMO, it’s also the sheerest (though it looks amazing layered - see below). Pic is 3 coats.














Pomegranate is a magenta shimmer and like Dragon Berry, it has more of a metallic appearance. The shimmer is purple, pink, and silver. Also like Dragon Berry, this is one of the more opaque colors in this collection and could definitely be worn without layering. This pic is 3 coats.

Star Fruit is a bright yellow lime shimmer.  Like Guava, this one looks very "juicy".  This one is also sheer and like Guava did not work with my skintone. Pic is 3 coats.

While the sheerness may send you running in the other direction, IMO, the beauty in this collection is in the layering. I layered it over 2 coats of white and over one coat of black.

This is two coats of each of the four sheerest polishes in this collection over white (ChG White Out).

L-R: Guava, Tutti Frutti, Soursop, and Star Fruit.  (FYI, Tutti Frutti was not streaky IRL, not sure what happened w/ the pic).

And the same 4 colors over black (Zoya Raven)

L-R: Guava, Tutti Frutti, Soursop(sigh), and Star Fruit.

And for continuity’s sake, though it's not as necessary, here are the other 2, Dragon Berry and Pomegranate, over white and black.

L-R: Dragon Berry over white, over black, Pomegranate over white, over black

Okay, I like them over white. I think it really makes the color pop, and I especially like Dragon Berry and Pomegranate over white. It really takes the frostiness out of the finish. That said, I looooove them over black. My favorite has got to be Soursop over black. It looks very close (I will have to do a comp post in the next few days).

Like I mentioned above, the finish, save for Dragon Berry and Pomegranate is very similar to the ChG glass-fleck polishes And other than being super sheer, for the most part, I had no application issues.

When I first swatched this collection, I was disappointed. The colors on the nail just did not live up to expectations when you saw them in the bottle. However, if you like to layer, I definitely think it’s worth picking these up. Guava, Tutti Frutti, Soursop, and Star Fruit are so beautiful over black. Right now, these are B2G1F at Sally Beauty and with a Sally’s card, they are $3.79 each. I haven’t seen the collection online, either through Sally’s or another e-tailer, and there is no contact information either on the bottle or online. So it looks like these are in-store only for right now.

NOTD: Nina Pro Out of the Blue

I posted a pic of this color in my review of Migi Nail Art, but I'll post it again just in case you didn't see the Migi post.

A few months ago, I was jones-ing Chanel Blue Satin pretty hardcore. I kept stalking it on eBay and on Chanel.com, but I never got around to pulling the trigger. I did a web search for dupes and Ballz and Thinner mentioned that Nina Pro Out of the Blue is a good dupe of the Chanel. I picked it up at Sally's for around $3 and finally got around to putting it on last night.

It applied well in 1 coat. I had a bit of texturing on my thumbs, but I blame that one my TC. I don't really like the tiny wand on the Nina Pro brushes, but that's my only application complaint. As for the color, I do like it, but if it is as dupey to the Chanel as it looks in pics, then I'm glad I just spent $3. It's a pretty color. A deep, rich, almost-black navy with a hint of shimmer, and for dirt cheap, I love it. Had I spent almost $30 on it, I would have been a little underwhelmed. It seems that the more I spend on a polish, the more I expect choirs of angels to sing while I'm applying it. It's not as pretty on the nail as it is in the bottle, but for 3 bucks, I'm just fine with it.

Nina Pro is available at Sally Beauty Supply and for the month of October, Nina Pros are $2.99 each. They are normally near the floor, which bugs the crap out of me. They have some really cute colors, so if you are in Sally's and are in the mood for cheap polish, check out the Nina display. I have 2. This one, which I love, and In a Tiff, which I love in the bottle, but not on me.

A Couple Previous KOTDs, a Current NOTD and a Score!

I've been having some issues with my present nail/glue combo lasting for more than a day, so I have a couple KOTDs to show, both of which were removed before they'd even been on 24 hrs.

The first KOTD was achieved using Nina Pro In A Tiff, konad plate m64 and a combination of colors which included Misa Chocolate Icing, ChG Adore and Passion. I also matted it with Orly Matte Top. I swear I've become addicted to matting lately.

I loved this look on the nail, but once you saw the whole package with my hands and skin tone, it just looked odd. I was prepared to leave it on for a few days, but due to my aforementioned issues, it was lifting by that evening.

In A Tiff is a soft Tiffany-esque blue that is very similar to For Audrey. Unfortunately, there is too much light green in it for it work w/ my skin. Chocolate Icing is a rich metallic brown in the bottle, but on the nail, it looked like a brick red. Though, I bet w/ more coats, it would be bottle color. Adore is a metallic blue and Passion is a metallic gold.

Nina Pro is available at Sally's. Adore and Passion are from the Romantiques collection and though I have no idea what collection Chocolate Icing is from, it is available at TD. In a Tiff applied okay. This is 2 coats. It was a little thin, so it was a tad difficult to control.

This second KOTD is OPI Music Hall Curtain Call with plate m20 and ChG Passion, Cherish, and Poetic (I think... for some reason, my brain is shot today). I also used Matte Top.

Yes, another "falling leaves" konad. I loved the first one so much that I had to try it with another color combination and I may have to try it yet again, so if you get tired of the leaves, I apologize in advance. I loved this one as well, and MHCC actually worked with my skin because there is so much pink in it. Unfortunately, it was lifting up as well, so I had to remove it. I also had other issues (with both of these, in fact... but more on that in a bit).

MHCC is from OPI's Holiday 2006 Rockettes collection. It's a gorgeous pink-copper-orange-gold metallic. It kind of reminds me of Man of La Mancha, if MoLM had been a foil-ly metallic and not a duochrome. Shiny, it's a hard color to describe, but matted, it becomes a rusty orange with tons of pink undertones. That's why it worked with my skin. I have 4 from this collection and each one is a amazing. I got mine on eBay for ~$7, and I think at this point, it's only available at eBay or in a dusty. This is 2 coats.

Lastly, 2 of my local Krogers are closing to consolidate into one big Kroger. I'm a little miffed about them closing my favorite Kroger, but since they are marking down all cosmetics to clear them out, I'd dealing. Last night, my sister and I happened to go to the other Kroger that is closing (I've already shopped the one near me 3-4x). And lo and behold, they had an OPI Espana display on the top shelf. WHA??? They were marked down to $3.99. There were only 4 left, but I snatched them up. Then some older woman proceeded to stalk me for 10 minutes seeing if I'd put them up. No way, lady... these were mine. I got Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow, Suzi Skiies the Pyrenees, No Spain No Gain, and Pamploma Purple (my current NOTD). I was so excited I couldn't pass them up, despite my no buy.

Finally, here's a pic of Pamploma Purple. No flash, so you can get a true color representation.

I apologize for the glue around my cuticles. I've since cleaned it off. As for the color, It's an amazing plum-my purple with very fine and sparse purple shimmer. In fact, you'd think this was a creme until you got right on it and held your hand at just the right angle. The shimmer is not noticeable in the bottle. This is 2 coats and it applied like a dream. However, I did have an issue with it bubbling on 2 nails on my right hand.

Also, as I mentioned this earlier in this post, I wanted to tell you all of an issue I'm having with Orly Matte Top. Lately, it's taking forever to dry and it's making the polish very soft in the process, so I'm getting tons of dings. I think the problem is that I'm applying it over set, but not fully cured nail polish. I don't have this problem when I apply it over NP that is 1-2 days old.

Not sure if I'll be around much this w/e as I'm planning on finishing the murals in my kids' rooms. Hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend.