Sparkled Beauty

We cannot deny the fact that OPI Hello Kitty collection is very cute :) I appreciate the special details on the cap but wish it was printed on instead of being a plastic sleeve.

Start with this beautiful blue cream called My Pal Joey, one coat, definitely great on its own. Adding a layer of Charmmy & Sugar, a pink and gold glitter (various sizes), bring the mani to the duochrome territory. It is a lot more beautiful in person.

2 more colours that we don't normally expect in a Hello Kitty collection - Never Have Too Mani Friends!, an opaque black cream, and Let's Be Friends, a cotton candy pink cream. A perfect black and (almost) white pair!

On to the obvious colour options for the famous cat :) Spoken from the Heart is a coral pink and 5 Apple Tall, a bright apple red cream, is just a tad more red. Pick your poison.

Super Cute in Pink is a blue toned pink which I can see myself wearing (I am not a fan of pinks, as you know). Starry-eyed for Dear Daniel is in similar tone, just a lot more glittery:)

Then these pinks are very Hello Kitty-y for the girly girls - Look at my Bow!, a darker pink cream and Small + Cute = ♥, a very pale pink.

To wrap up the collection, here is My Twin Mimmy, a sunny yellow cream, opaque in 2 coats and not streaky. Kitty White is a pearly white with micro shimmers, slightly sheer so I recommend to layer it up, but not on top of a different colour though (see my pinky).

Other than the overwhelming amount of pinks, I enjoy this collection quite a bit.

Second half of OPI Starlight collection today, starting with Cosmo With a Twist. Described as a dark purple with purple and blue micro shimmers with subtle duochrome effect, it looks dark navy most of the time (because of the strong blue shimmers) except around the edges of the nails.

I topped it up with Infrared-y to Glow, similar odd shapes Two Wrongs Don't Make a Meteorite from the first batch (linked above) has but in gold and rose colours.

A deliciously dark pairing with Guys & Galaxies, an almost-jelly dark maroon red and I'm in The Moon for Love, a shimmery plum.

Some "sister" pairings next. There happened to be quite a few similar colour tones in silver and almost black in the collection, with different finishes.  

No More Mr. Night Sky is a dark shimmery grey with silver flecks that only become "vocal" at removal. They go everywhere from my cuticles up and require an extra cotton pad to clean up.

Super Star Status made my head spin the first time I applied it, as it turned out to be a silver textured glitter on a grey tinted base.

I totally did not expect to see a texture in the mix of this collection, but it is the holiday after all, anything goes. It sure glows in the bottle but there was no indication of the texture on the packaging.

Center of The You-niverse is obviously a lot darker, with a shimmery and almost jelly finish.  

Is This Star Taken? has short holographic bar glitters in the mix, but are quite hidden once applied because of their size and of the opaque silver base.

The holographic effect is only visible under strong lighting and at certain angle, which is a shame. Maybe the brand should just make the whole base holographic, for my benefit :) Bar glitters are not very favourable with nail bloggers anyway.

Another surprise, shown here on my index and ring fingers, Ce-less-tial Is More is also a textured shade, slightly less gritty than Super Star Status and with a pink base instead of grey.

Comet Closer is a shimmery leaning metallic silver, slightly more matte than others. The base is the same as that of Is This Star Taken? above, just without the holo bar glitters.

And saving the best one for last. This is Give Me Space, a deep navy blue with very scattered holo flecks. Don't think I need to say more :)

Over all, it is a fun holiday collection. I do wish the brand branched out a little more and added more festive colours instead of too many silvers.

OPI's holiday collection called Starlight during vacation, so these NOTDs are a bit late. It is a big and diverse collection with different colour tones and finishes, so I'll break it down in a few posts.

I like the first pairing more than I thought. On the left is Press * for Silver, a rosy silver (more modern and on trend than a pure silver), slightly metallic. Then I added Two Wrongs Don't Make a Meteorite in the pic on the right.

The glitters are in random odd shapes and different sizes of rose colours, plus dark grey diamond shapes. Not for everyone, but I like it for now :)

If you are more traditional, go with I Drive a Supernova, a one coater silver foil, shown on my index and ring fingers. On the exact same tone is By The Light of The Moon on the middle and pinky fingers, but with a bumpy finish because of those silver glitter pieces that can't peak through the base.

The experiment with the finish of By The Light of The Moon obviously did not turn out well, plus the base is not as opaque, so I recommend I Drive a Supernova if you want a silver.

Then, a trio of reds. Love Is In My Cards, on the index  finger, is a basic blue based red, Ro-man-ce On The Moon, on the middle finger, a shimmery red (the only shade among these 3 that took 2 coats), and Let Your Love Shine, on the other 2 fingers, a glittery dark red that seems to glow from within.

They are all great, don't get me wrong, but when put together, Let Your Love Shine steals the show for sure. It is dark but still very festive, and wears well. Enough said.

The finish of these shades has been interesting so far, I am excited to try the rest of the collection. Stay tuned for more NOTDs.

OPI Infinite Shine Gel Effects line offers nail polish with strong shine and the lasting wear of gels (up to 10 days) without LED-light curing or soak-off removal.

I received 3 among the 30 shades, plus the Primer base coat and Gloss top coat (a gel polymer formula that cures in natural light) which I used in all 3 manis below.

The 2 bright shades: Endurance Race to the Finish, a coral orange cream (left) and Running with the In-finite Crowd, a raspberry pink red (right), 2 coats each.

And then a dark shade, Steel Waters Run Deep, described as a dusty grey, also 2 coats.

I love the shine (even before the top coat) and the easy removal with just nail polish remover but cannot get pass 3-4 days with wear on all 3 shades, which is an extra day or 2 compared to regular polish on me.

I envy the nail bloggers that had the Infinite Shine last long on them. I probably am too hard on my nails since the real gel nails last me a few days shorter than average too.

The line retails $12.50/ CAD14.95/ bottle.

The next shade I wore in OPI Hawaii collection is Go With the Lava Flow, described as a golden red.

It looks to me like a raspberry red (not a typical colour of lava, I don't think) with super fine gold shimmers, a bit easier to wear than a traditional red but still bold.

I don't wear reds often, but would prefer this tone of red for sure. Normally gold shimmers in a red would make a striking appearance but the shimmers are quite shy in this case.

This is 2 coats of Go With the Lava Flow, with top coat on the ring finger and different matte top coats on the rest to change things up a bit.

The 3 matte top coats I tried:
- Claire's matte top coat: index finger
- NYC Matte the Crazy: middle finger
- P2 Matte Victim top coat: pinky.

Claire's and NYC versions have stronger mattifying effects but not 100%, and are easier to find in stores too.

P2 Matte Victim seems to be the weakest, with a milky finish that alters the base colour a little.

This mani is about the only thing that is summer-y enough. I came to work in below zero windchill this morning, so not in that mode. Appreciate the warm weather if you have it!

This mani is crazy bright! I can't get warm around here with this weather nor can I be in Hawaii right now, so bright nail polish would have to do it.

This in-your-face red (described as a coral cream) is OPI Aloha from OPI*. It only needs one coat here, amazing right?

Then the thick French tips and the clouds happen as I try to be "creative" to tone down Aloha from OPI a tiny bit for work, using the 2 shades that I featured in previous NOTDs.

The purple mauve on the tip and part of the clouds is Just Lanai-ing Around*, also seen in the bottle shot below, another one coater. If I haven't said it already, this is my favorite colour from the Hawaii collection.

The light pink in the clouds is Suzi Shops & Island Hops*. I find this the easiest way to wear a pink for someone who don't have a knack for it normally.

And as you would have known by now, the * on all 3 shades means they are also available in paint colours at Clark+Kensington.

Nail polish aside, how's everyone doing? Now that all the VIB sale madness calmed down, Mother's Day sales starts to pop up lol. Don't know if I felt overly generous to treat myself ahead of time or it was an excuse as good as any, my wallet will not like this.

Stay tuned for lots of reviews of stuff I have bought :)

This is OPI This Color's Making Waves, a lagoon blue from the Hawaii collection I was sent.

The flash in low light brings out the shimmers hidden in this shade, which I love, but this is not how the colour looks most of the time :)

In normal lighting, it looks like the picture on the left below, close to being frosty but not quite. I normally slap on a matte top coat or glitters, cause I don't like frosty shades. This is 2 coats.

Then I want to see if the shimmers in This Color's Making Waves will show through with saran wrap sponging of Suzi Shops & Island Hops (from the same collection) on top, so that's what happens in the picture on the right below.

It looks better IRL than in the picture, but this sort of drives me to enjoying Suzi Shops & Island Hops more.

OPI Is Mai Tai Crooked?* is an orange cream from the Hawaii collection. It appears more like a pastel orange in natural light (here) and darkens a little with flash (below, left side).

Can't help a giggle at the name lol. Is Mai Tai Crooked? applies a little sheer with the first coat, so I did 2 coats here.

Making a cameo appearance on the accent nail is OPI Just Lanai-ing Around*, a dark mauve cream that leans quite purple, from the same collection.

Both these shades are available in paint colours at Clark+Kensington, as the * implies.

Then I move on to the only glittery shade in the collection, OPI Pineapples Have Peelings Too!. I count blue, green, pink and silver chunky glitters on the nails.

The gold shimmer base in Pineapples Have Peelings Too! is dense enough to be opaque on its own. Here it has a light peach sheen from Is Mai Tai Crooked? and a warmer tone from Just Lanai-ing Around. All fun!

Going through the shades from OPI Hawaii collection (Spring/ Summer 2015) I received, I knew that these 2 shades gotta go together,

I can relate to Hawaii’s lush greenery I saw in pictures and YT with this paring. And shades like these can be worn all year round, not seasonal really.

The dominant shade in this mani is OPI My Gecko Does Tricks, a bright shimmery green. Cute name huh?

The shade is sheer after the first coat, so I did 2. I also attempt stamping with it on my ring finger but it shows up very light due to the sheer finish. I know you can hardly see it on there.

On the accent nail and stamped on top of My Gecko Does Tricks on middle finger and pinky is OPI That’s Hula-rious!, a pastel mint green. I like how fresh and luscious it looks, would totally imagine it in a pastel Easter mani.

This is the third shade in the collection that is turned into a paint colour at Clark+Kensington. If you happen to fall in love with it on the nails, now you can decorate your wall with it too :)

Thanks to the super long weekend, today does feel like Friday. Yay for some time off to sleep, but no yay for snow next week. I know!!!

It is totally not like me to talk about a nude nail polish, but I am, today :)

I found two gems from OPI Hawaii collection that I was kindly sent to swatch. One of them is Do You Take Lei Away?, a nude cream.

I find the description is accurate but under certain lighting, the colour leans a bit more pink or grey, quite interesting.

Either way, this is the perfect work colour without being boring. It does not wash me out nor clash with my skin tone, and warms me up to the idea of wearing nude polish.

I would still jazz it up with glitters and things though, like I did here. I am not used to a full neutral manis.

The other favourite shade of mine in the collection is OPI Hello Hawaii Ya?, a dusky purple, pairing up nicely with Do You Take Lei Away?.

I don't see many purples this dark in a Spring/ Summer collection, but am not complaining at all.

Both shades apply easily to regular standard of OPI nail polish, opaque in two coats and lasted about two days on me.

Selected shades in the Hawaii collection are available in paint colours through Clark+Kensington, and both shades in this post are. I can imagine Hello Hawaii Ya? as an accent wall in the makeup room :)

Now that the little meltdown I told you about yesterday when Lunar New Year hit had a chance to calm down, let things go back to normal, shall we? :)

The fifth colour I have to show you from Essie Cashmere Matte 2015 collection is Spun in Luxe, a matte black with blue shimmers.

This is just one coat of Spun in Luxe, without a top coat. I appreciate the opacity and pigmentation of the matte black base.

Those amazing shimmers you see in the bottle, however, only slightly transfer to the nails, not the same intensity unfortunately.

Mind you, at the right angle, the blue shimmers are beautiful and I still pretty enjoy Spun in Luxe, but that sheen is not as strong as that in Comfy in Cashmere and Coat Couture, my two favorite shades in the collection.

Since it is a matte black, my favorite way to wear Spun in Luxe is, you guess it, as a base for a glass fleck/ flakie or duochrome polish. See an example below :)

The collection is out now, so track it down to grab a bottle (or a few). You will not regret it!

Shout out to OPI Girl Color, another "mysterious" OPI shades I found at Dollarama.

Applied on top of Spun in Luxe, Girl Color shows off its strong blue and green shimmers. A good pairing right? I layered it on a little thicker on the middle finger to enhance the milky pinky beige base too.

And if you wonder why Girl Color is mysterious, follow the link above to read more. It is the rebottled version of Nicole by OPI Kim-pletely in Love from the Kardashian Kolors collection (Holiday 2011).

Have a good Thursday guys. We have more snow coming lol..

This is OPI Stir-fried Eggplant, one of the "mysterious" OPI shades found at Dollarama I told you about a while ago.

Despite being a rebottled colour, it is a beauty, this dark plum with pink and purple (and sometimes green and gold) micro glitters. 2 coats here for colour intensity. I could wear it all the way through Winter.

Considering its original colour - Nicole by OPI Smile for the Glam-era from the Kardashian Kolors collection (Spring 2012) - was exclusive to CVS in the US, I am glad I could get my hand on it.

Originally, I didn't particularly care for any of the Kardashian Kolors collections and looked pass them when they were out. I don't mind the rebottling in this case, since I prefer the OPI bottle shape (easier to hold for photos) and wide brush compared to those of NOPI.

Due to Dollarama's no-return policy, I did buy Stir-fried Eggplant blindly but only paid $3 for it instead of the $8 price tag (US)/ $10 (Canada). All in all, I am happy with this purchase.

Here is the label, as proof that Stir-fried Eggplant does exist (lol) and more closeups for you. A friend found inspiration in NOTD pics with a kitty's paws as the background and challenged me to do it. Oreo graciously offered his paws to help me out :)