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Of Life and Lacquer > OPI

Stamping Saturdays – I’m Back!

Posted on 23 January, 2016 by Cynthia

I know it’s been like 5 bajillion years since I did a stamping design, but last night I just felt like stamping. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm waned once I saw my finished design, but I’m just glad to be participating in Stamping Saturdays after such an extended break. Today you will see my first post with my new nail shape so I hope you don’t hate it too much. I actually decided to change the shape from my signature square/squoval because I have been experiencing too many infuriating corner breaks. I hope that this shape will allow me to get some length without dealing with breaks. So…let me show you what I started with as my base color.

This pretty shade is OPI Spoken From The Heart from the Hello Kitty Collection (press sample). I will just get it out of the way and say that I LOVE this shade. LOVE IT. I love pink polish to begin with, but this color is just so pretty with its coral-leaning tones. The formula was pretty good as well so I only needed two coats for full coverage.

I feel like my stamping mojo failed me because this image just looks blah. I used my Konad black special polish and an image from Born Pretty Plate BP-L004. There’s nothing really wrong with this mani, but there isn’t anything exciting about it either.

I hope you are having a great weekend so far. Let me know what you think about this color! I am hoping to get my swatches of the Hello Kitty Collection done this weekend so they’ll be on the blog next week. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Starlight Collection Holiday 2015

Posted on 11 December, 201510 December, 2015 by Cynthia

Happy Friday everyone! I am so looking forward to the weekend because I am going to try to get all my Christmas shopping done (hopefully online), and I want to do a major cleaning session. It’s probably not the best time of the year to do this, but I’ve been wanting to paint my bedroom forever. I want to do a light blue or light green with white accents–it’s going to look awesome. Anyway, today I have the OPI Starlight Collection for Holiday 2015 to share with you. This is a pretty typical holiday collection so let me show you my swatches before I give you the rundown.

OPI Guys & Galaxies

OPI Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Meteorite

OPI Love Is In My Cards

OPI Infrared-y To Glow

OPI I’m In The Moon For Love

OPI Let Your Love Shine

OPI Give Me Space

OPI Cosmo With A Twist

OPI Center of the You-niverse

OPI No More Mr. Night Sky

OPI Press * For Silver

OPI I Drive A Supernova

OPI Is This Star Taken?

OPI Comet Closer

OPI By The Light Of The Moon

OPI Ce-less-tial Is More

OPI Super Star Status

Well, this is a huge collection! There are some really great shades here, but I can honestly tell you that I can live without all the metallic shades. Some of them are downright ugly, but then you see others like Give Me Space and Cosmo With A Twist and you just fall in love. Despite all the misses with the metallic shades, the cremes, shimmers and jelly glitters are just gorgeous and definitely worth picking up. What are some of your favorites? Let me know what you think. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a fantastic weekend!

OPI Designer Series Collection 2015

Posted on 23 November, 201522 November, 2015 by Cynthia

This might be the only time you will truly see me excited on a Monday, and it’s all due to the fact that we have a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I am looking forward to a long weekend and to all the delicious foods that come with Thanksgiving dinner. I was pretty lazy this past weekend which gave me some much needed time to swatch. I got through 3 collections which I should have up this week–unless I get super deluxe lazy and don’t post them until the following week. Anywho, today I wanted to show you the two polishes from this year’s OPI Designer Series Collection. I know we all dream of the past when DS polishes were delicious holos, but those times are long gone. Despite this, OPI manages to put out some interesting DS polishes and this year is no exception. Let me show you the two new polishes that have been added to the Designer Series line.

This is OPI DS Charcoal. Oh, now I wish I could have gotten better pictures of this polish. It’s so freaking pretty in real life. It flashes from green, to pink, to purple, to charcoal, to my polish loving heart. I think that what makes this polish stand out is that it dries to a satin finish so it just looks different from similar polishes. Of course I immediately thought of OPI Peace & Love & OPI, but they are not the same. They are similar, but they are NOT the same. It was incredibly difficult to capture the true essence of this polish, so you will have to trust me when I tell you that it’s kind of amazing.

OPI DS Imperial did not wow me in the bottle. In fact, I thought it was kind of boring when I first saw it. But I take it all back because this shade looks pretty phenomenal on the nail. It also has that satin finish that I love and it is super pigmented.

Overall, call me pleased. I think that both of these polishes are beautiful, but Charcoal is my fave. I just find it unique which is not something I get to say very often. These polishes are out now so pick em up while the are available. Let me know what you think of these. Will you be picking one (or both) up? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

P.S. I put up tons of stuff up on my blog sale. Polish is taking over my entire apartment–they need a new home. Check out the new stuff here.

OPI Venice Collection Fall 2015

Posted on 29 September, 201528 September, 2015 by Cynthia

I know it has taken me forever to post swatches of the OPI Venice Collection, but it’s better late than never, right? I won’t bore you with all my personal drama today just so we can focus on the actual pretty polish. Let me tell you that I ended up getting this collection pretty late so that affected my swatching time frame as well. Besides that, I’ve also been struggling with just blogging in general so that contributed to the late review too. I’m just a mess lately. I’m sure that you have seen 5 bajillion swatches of this collection so let’s make it 5 bajillion plus one. First of all I would like to mention that when I first started seeing reviews of this collection, I thought that I would be bored out of my mind with the colors, but I still wanted every single one because I love Venice. Venice is such a magical place–like a city stuck in another era. The first time I went there, it was Spring of 2000. I was studying in Paris and I took off for 2 weeks because I wanted to go to Rome for Easter and it was during the 2000 Jubilee. Rome was kind of a nightmare during that time, but I did get to finally see the Sistine Chapel which was huge for me. Anyway, while I was in Venice, I pretty much fell in love with the city. I enjoyed my time there even though I was traveling alone; I always managed to meet interesting people during my travels and Venice was no exception. I think that my love for Venice was the main reason why I wanted to love every single shade in this collection. Would I still love them if they weren’t Venice themed? Now that’s a question for which you will get an answer down below. Let me show you my swatches first.

OPI Gelato On My Mind

OPI Purple Palazzo Pants

OPI A Great Opera-tunity

OPI Tiramisu for Two

OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI

OPI Be There In A Prosecco

OPI It’s A Piazza Cake

OPI Amore at Grand Central

OPI O Suzi Mio

OPI My Gondola Or Yours?

OPI Gimme A Lido Kiss

OPI St. Mark’s the Spot

OPI Venice the Party?

OPI Worth A Pretty Penne

OPI Baroque…But Still Shopping

I don’t know about you, but I do not get “Fall” when I see this collection. I don’t get “Winter” either. What’s up with these shades, eh? Putting that aside, I do love all of the Venice references in the names, and I’m hoping that in the future we will have a Florence collection since 1) That is my favorite city in Italy 2) Dante 3) Uffizi Gallery 4)Birthplace of the Renaissance. I guess I could go on forever, but for now I am happy to have a Venice Collection. As far as the polishes are concerned, the cremes are the stuff that dreams are made of. They are delicious. They are heavenly. If you like creme finish polishes, you will not be disappointed. The only polish I will steer you away from is OPI Baroque…But Still Shopping because it’s a monstrosity in the vein of Pineapples Have Peelings Too–enough said. I am also happy that there are 10 reds in this collection because I really have had enough reds from OPI…and no silver chrome in this collection either which is refreshing. Overall, this collection is beautiful. Even if the colors don’t exactly seem to fit with a Fall/Winter theme and seem more Spring appropriate, that does not detract from the quality and the inspiration. On another note, I feel like I am starting to like my new lighting set up. I feel like the colors are more accurate than with my previous set up which is always a good thing. What do you think of this collection? I think a lot of people felt underwhelmed, but I can assure you that the quality of these is superb and you will probably be surprised by how much you may end up liking some of these. If you have already picked up some of these, let me know what you think. Do you have any favorites that you will be picking up? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will catch up with you soon.

OPI Infinite Shine Soft Shades Collection – Spring 2015

Posted on 24 August, 201523 August, 2015 by Cynthia

Hola! I feel tired today. I know it’s freaking Monday, but I had a busy weekend. My parents went back home after a long visit so I’m feeling kinda sad about that. I know I’m 35, but I can still miss my parents! They do tend to drive me nutso 90% of the time, but that’s what parents do so it doesn’t make me miss them any less when they aren’t here. Anyway, despite the business of trying to get them all packed and ready for their flight, I did manage to do some swatching. I have a pile of about 60 polishes to swatch and I only got through 18 but at least that is a start, right? I ended up starting with these because they are from a Spring collection that was sorely delayed, and I figured that I might as well get these out of the way before I start swatching Fall collections. The OPI Infinite Shine Soft Shades Collection for Spring 2015 is just what it sounds like: Spring appropriate soft shades. These are pretty heavy on the whites, but that doesn’t mean they are boring. Let me show you the six shades.

OPI Infinite Shine Pearl of Wisdom

OPI Infinite Shine Non-Stop White

OPI Infinite Shine Go To Grayt Lengths over Non-Stop White

OPI Infinite Shine The Beige of Reason

OPI Infinite Shine Beyond the Pale Pink

OPI Infinite Shine Eternally Turquoise

First of all, let me say that this collection is incredibly cohesive. They go well together and every single shade screams Spring to me. The formula on these is pretty typical of the Infinite Sine formula: rather opaque and a tad thicker than regular OPI. I have been experimenting with using my own quick dry top coat with these and so far it has worked well. I did notice that the OPI Infinite Shine top coat does stay glossy longer, though. I’m still freaking experimenting with my lighting set up and with my nail shape so I’m not that happy with how these swatch pictures turned out overall. Maybe I’m just being too picky. Overall, I am happy with this collection and can recommend these if you don’t already have something similar. I think that my favorite here is Eternally Turquoise and maybe Beyond The Pale Pink if you’re looking for something clean but not completely white. Let me know what you think of this collection. Did you pick up any of these already? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Color Paints Watermarble

Posted on 3 August, 20152 August, 2015 by Cynthia

I don’t normally start my blog posts by saying my mani is awesome, but today I will say it loudly and proudly. I have had my ups and downs when it comes to watermarbling, so every time that it works out, I rush out to buy a lottery ticket in case my good fortune decides to continue. I have really begun having fun with my OPI Color Paints, and I can’t tell you enough how awesome they are to play around with. In one of the many nail polish groups that I am in on Facebook, someone had posted a watermarble that they had done using the Color Paints with a base of Orly Mirrorball so of course I had to try it immediately. With Mirrorball as my base, holo is life. Let me show you again how gorgeous this polish is on its own.

Do I really have to say anything else about Orly Mirrorball? Nope. One great thing I have heard is that this polish is now part of the core line so you shouldn’t have trouble getting your hands on it. For once, a polish company didn’t discontinue a polish that everyone loved. Shocker, I know!

For my watermarble colors, I used OPI Color Paints (press samples) in Landscape Artist, Magenta Muse and Purple Perspective. I am in love with the outcome and will trying different variations of this mani in the future because it’s just so damn gorgeous. It’s so sparkly and gorgeous that it pained me to remove this mani, but I had so much swatching to do that I just couldn’t keep it on for very long. I am not super excited about trying more techniques with my Color Paints! You can see my first attempt here which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Well, I hope you like my mani as much as I do. Have you tried the OPI Color Paint before? Let me know what you think of them. I hope that your Monday is going well! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Infinite Shine Swatches

Posted on 16 July, 2015 by Cynthia

Since I should be getting samples of the OPI Infinite Shine Spring shades any year now, I figured I should show you some of the shades that came out during the initial release. I know I’m way behind on posting these, but long wearing polish is not my thing. As a sort-of nail blogger, I tend to change my polish so often that these types of polishes are wasted on me. However, I do tend to go through phases where I step away from too much swatching and just enjoy wearing a mani for a good week. Those are the times when these polishes come in handy because they really offer long lasting results with minimal wear. You can read my initial review of this 3 step system here if you are interested. Now, let the swatches begin!

OPI Infinite Shine Steel Waters Run Deep

OPI Infinite Shine Never Give Up!

OPI Infinite Shine Set In Stone

OPI Infinite Shine Endurance Race To The Finish

OPI Infinite Shine Unequivocally Crimson

OPI Infinite Shine Grapely Admired

So what do you think of these shades? Are you lured in by the idea of long-wearing polish? Let me know below if you have tried out this system and what you think. Do you see any colors here that you might want to pick up? Well, I hope you have a great Thursday, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Coca-Cola Collection 2015

Posted on 14 July, 2015 by Cynthia

I feel like I’m finally getting back into the groove of posting. I haven’t been very good about preparing my blog posts in advance, but I am making an effort to post even if it’s late in the evening. Lately I’ve been suffering with some ridiculous headaches. They are so strong that they wake me up, but I think that maybe it’s something related to my meds that I sometimes forget to take. Of course I immediately thought of that Kindergarten Cop scene about the tumor, but I’d rather stop the psycho self-diagnosis for now. I guess that if they continue I’ll have to go see my doctor, but damn I hate going to Kaiser. Anywho, today I have two polishes to share with you which were added to the Coca-Cola Collection. Last year, OPI put out the Coca-Cola Collection which I reviewed here, and this year 2 additional shades have been added in honor of the Coca-Cola bottle’s century anniversary. Whatever you may think of soda, we’re talking about polish here. Polish! Let me show you the two new shades.

OPI Centennial Celebration is described as a “shimmering pewter” and that’s pretty accurate…but another silver/metallic? I think that out of all the super similar polishes that OPI has put out lately, this one is one of my favorites. I don’t normally like metallics and definitely don’t like a billion of these silver/pewter colors, but this one is just nice. It is fairly thin, but it builds up nicely. I’m wearing 3 thin coats in my swatches above.

When I first saw OPI Visions of Georgia Green I pretty much assumed I would hate it. I wrote it off completely until I actually wore it. And you know what? I actually adore it. It’s such a weird ugly/pretty shade that I couldn’t help loving how unique it is. I’m sure that it’s going to be one of those controversial shades that some people like and some people hate so I’ll just let you make up your own mind.

If you’re interested in picking these up, you should be able to find them already at the usual places that sell OPI. So what do you think? Will you be picking these up? I am not sure if you can get these individually, but if you can, I’d probably pick up Visions of Georgia Green if you can only get one. Well, thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Nail Envy Strength In Color – Giveaway

Posted on 13 July, 2015 by Cynthia

Hello there! How was your Monday? If you knew how much swatching I got done this weekend, you would be extremely proud of me but now comes the hard part: actually putting the post together. womp womp. When I tackled my swatch pile, I really wanted to try out some of the newer products so I decided to try the new OPI Nail Envy shades. To be honest with you, I have never tried OPI Nail Envy mostly because my nails are super healthy and strong. However, I know many people swear by this treatment and credit it for giving them strong nails. Most people I know use it religiously as a base coat so I was excited to see that the treatment now comes in 4 shades that can be worn alone. For someone like me who is lazy about nail polish, these are perfect! Believe it or not, I don’t wear polish during the week for the most part, so applying a treatment like Nail Envy that actually has color would probably work out great. OPI has released 4 Nail Envy shades:

Hawaiian Orchid: A tropical pink with hints of light purple
Samoan Sand: A warm beige-pink
Bubble Bath: A sweet candy pink
Pink to Envy: A Nail Envy exclusive shade in sheer light pink

I only have three of the four new shades to show you today because I got two of one color. If you are OPI fans, I’m sure you’re familiar with these iconic colors anyway.

OPI Nail Envy Pink to Envy

OPI Nail Envy Bubble Bath

OPI Nail Envy Samoan Sand

Since I ended up getting two bottle of OPI Nail Envy in Bubble Bath, I will be giving it away to one of you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open internationally so use the widget above to enter. Good luck!

Stamping Saturdays #61

Posted on 11 July, 201511 July, 2015 by Cynthia

Last night I tried to get ahead of the game and started working on my Stamping Saturdays mani, but it turned out to be a big failure. This morning I decided to finally try out my OPI Color Paints since I was still confused about how to use them. I am happy to report that my mani wasn’t a complete disaster, but I guess I’ll let you be the judge of that.

The OPI Color Paints is a collection of 8 blendable colors and 1 silver color which is to be used as a base color. For my mani, I used SIlver Canvas, Magenta Muse and Turquoise Aesthetic.

This is what Silver Canvas looks on its own. It’s a typical brush stroke-prone silver so there’s not much to say about it.

For this design, I left very little polish on my brush and created a swirl pattern with each color and letting them overlap slightly. I really like the effect I created and the best part is that it was beyond easy.

And then I stamped this flower design on top of the swirly base since this is for Stamping Saturdays after all.

So what do you think? I’m pretty satisfied with the end result! I hope you are having a nice weekend because I sure am. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

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