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Of Life and Lacquer > OPI

OPI MLB Collection

Posted on 3 April, 20142 April, 2014 by Cynthia

I’m sick of starting every post with how crappy I feel so today I’m just going to blabber on and on about polish…mmmk? This is the first full collection that I have swatched since I cut my nails back down to a squoval shape. I tried to rock the almond/oval shape for a while, but I got sick of it pretty quickly. It’s not that I hate that shape, I just missed my square nails. They do need a little bit more length to get to my ideal shape and size, but they’ll get there soon enough. So, a few people had asked me about the OPI MLB Collection and when I would have swatches up. I just got the polishes on Monday so I got right to work on swatching them. I did finish them on Tuesday, but I already had a few post lined up so here they are…finally. Ha! Let me show you my swatches first and then we can get into the nitty gritty.

OPI 7th Inning Strrretch

OPI Right Off The Bat

OPI Umpires Come Out At Night

OPI Short–Stop

OPI Love Athletes In Cleats

OPI Orange You Going To The Game?

OPI Girls Love Diamonds

Where to start? Well, I can tell you that the formula on all of these polishes is really great which is something that I have come to expect from OPI. I seem to take it for granted at this point so at least I am not always worrying if the polish is going to be a pain in the ass to apply like with other brands that shall remain nameless. However, I am not going to say that I found this collection exciting because to me, it’s a total snoozeville. The reds are nice, the blues are nice…but we all probably have similar colors if not dupes. Orange You Going To The Game? is really foul because it’s a weird orange color and it’s frosty…but some people have already told me that they like that color the most so you know what? Different strokes for different folks. You all know me well enough that if I came on here to tell you that I loved this collection, you’d be doing this:

I see this collection as something that baseball fans would enjoy. It’s like when a themed collection comes out and you want ALL THE COLORS just because of the marketing. Damn you marketing geniuses! So what do you think about this collection? I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Since OPI is my favorite brand of polish, I know they will make it up to me…besides, they have a pass after the gorgeousness that is the Brazil Collection. Well, I hope you’re having a great day–the weekend is almost here! *happy dance* I’ll talk to you soon!

MLB Collection by OPI nail lacquer shades each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. MLB Collection will be available April 2014 – just in time for the start of the baseball season – at professional salons and select retailers for $9.00 suggested retail. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

China Glaze Who’s Wearing What

Posted on 27 March, 2014 by Cynthia

The weekend can’t get here fast enough for me. I’m currently sitting here just wanting to cry uncontrollably just looking forward to having my weekend to rest. I haven’t been sleeping well this week so of course I’m completely beat down mentally. The fact that work is kicking my ass and the lack of sleep has been a lethal combo so now I just want some mental peace and quiet. Yeah, I know I probably sound all melodramatic, but that’s just how horrid I’m feeling right now. I don’t really know why I’m even posting right now except that certain days it just feels GOOD to post and feel like I’m doing something that I really enjoy. But enough of my pity party of one! After all, tomorrow is Friday which means that I am going to go watch Noah and I’m going to have a yummy dinner. That’s what I have to look forward to tomorrow…that and sleeping in. So the polish I have for you today is China Glaze Who’s Wearing What from the Creme Couture Collection which also spawned the lovely Channelesque. I’ve had this polish for a while now, but hadn’t used it lately and it just called out to me when I was organizing my melmers recently

I think that this polish lightened up a bit on me since the last time I used it because it looked more purple to me previously. Still, I really love this color. The formula is a little bit of a beast because it was streak city. I applied 3 coats and it still looked gross so I decided to try to smooth it out with Seche Vite. Magically, the polish evened out!

And because I fel like I needed a little bling, I applied a coat of OPI Snowflakes In The Air (press sample). Doesn’t it look super gorgeous? I love this combination and how dreamy it looks. I did these swatches before I reshaped my nails so don’t freak out about my magical nails, ok? I’m really missing this old shape but now it’s going to be a long process to grow them square again. The funny thing is that I never hesitate to cut my hair pixie short yet I really have to think about cutting my nails…what a ding dong, right?

What do you have planned for this weekend? I hope you have a nice Friday tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection

Posted on 24 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi guys! After a pretty uneventful day at work today, I am just chilling at home playing with Peanut and catching up on last night’s episode of Resurrection. I am trying to catch up on posting some collections, so I’m finally getting up my review of the OPI Muppets Most Wanted Collection. I really love The Muppets so I was very excited to see this collection in person. I swatched this collection when I had just reshaped my nails so they look fairly short. I am really missing my square nails right now, but I’m going to work with them for another month before I decide to go back to my old shape. Let me show you my swatches of the collection and then I’ll let you know what I think overall.

OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number

OPI Muppets World Tour over OPI Miss Piggy’s Big Number

OPI I Love Applause

OPI Let’s Do Anything We Want! over OPI I Love Applause

OPI Chillin’ Like A Villain

OPI Gaining Mole-mentum over OPI Chillin’ Like A Villain

OPI Kermit Me To Speak

OPI Int’l Crime Caper

Overall, I find this collection a little bland. When I think of The Muppets, I think of flamboyant and vibrant colors so I don’t really understand why the colors are so incredibly restrained in this Muppet-themed collection. My two favorites from this collection are Muppets World Tour and Miss Piggy’s Big Number. Miss Piggy’s Big Number is so vibrant and gorgeous even if it does apply a little thin. However, it does build up nicely so 2 coats are enough for full opacity. The most interesting glitter in this collection is Muppets World Tour. I don’t think I have anything quite like it, and I love how it has an icy/frosty feel to it. The rest of the polishes in this collection are nice, but I’m just not that interested in them and definitely don’t see the Muppets connection. The two other soft shades in this collection: I Love Applause and Chillin’ Like A Villain apply nicely and have a creamy consistency that I quite liked. Sadly, I’m not completely on board with this collection. I think they are nice on their own, but they fall flat as a Muppets collection. So what do you think? Are these interesting to you or do you feel like me? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

Muppets Most Wanted by OPI nail lacquer shades each feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Muppets Most Wanted is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

OPI Spotlight On Glitter Collection

Posted on 20 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Ok, so I know I’m way behind on EVERYTHING lately, but I promise you that I have an excuse. I recently got a promotion, and my new position is kind of kicking my ass at the moment. I’m really grateful that my hard work did not go unnoticed, but there is a definite period of adjustment so right now I’m mentally and physically exhausted by the change. Even though I did a ton of swatching this past weekend, it’s been torture having the energy to actually write up a bunch of posts, but I’m trying! I’m trying to remain active on Facebook because I enjoy talking to all of you on there so join us on my Facebook Page if you want to chit chat

! Today I will be showing you the OPI Spotlight On Glitter Collection which I layered over some solid colors. I don’t have that much to say about glitters in general, but I will address a few things at the end–mainly the whole dupe thing. Let’s take a look at my swatches first.

OPI Blush Hour

OPI Chasing Rainbows over OPI Red Hot Rio

OPI Desperately Seeking Sequins over OPI Incognito In Sausalito

OPI I Reached My Gold! over OPI I Sao Paulo Over There

OPI Rose Of Light over OPI Don’t Bossa Nova Me Around

OPI You Pink Too Much over OPI Kiss Me I’m Brazilian

Before I say anything else, let me tell you that I absolutely adored Blush Hour. I think it looks amazing on it’s own and because I used the Glitter Off base coat, I did not have a hard time with removal. Now, for the bit about these being dupes of existing polishes: I can confirm this 100% with all the polishes, because I don’t have them all, but I do think that a few of them seem to be repromotes. For example, I Reached My Gold! seems to be When Monkey’s Fly–taco glitter and all. Chasing Rainbows looks a lot like Rainbow Connection and Desperately Seeking Sequins looks a lot like Which Is Witch? So I say that if you don’t already have dupes, these are really nice. However, I don’t like the idea that these may just be recycled polishes that were just renamed. If you see any other dupes, please let me know!

If you’re interested in any of these, Spotlight on Glitter by OPI nail lacquers will be available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

OPI Sheer Tints – Review & Giveaway

Posted on 10 March, 20149 March, 2014 by Cynthia

Happy Monday? Uhm, yeah…not so much. I’m kind of hating life right now because of daylight saving time and the whole missing an hour of sleep thing. Yeah, 1 hour is a big deal especially when you have to be at work at 5 am. It’s going to take me at least a week to get used to this so I’m probably going to be a grouchster until then. In the meantime, I have a new product to share with you: the OPI Sheer Tints. When I first saw the press release, I had no idea what these were. I googled some similar products and I sort of got an idea of what you might be able to do with a sheer tinted top coat such as these, but I still wanted to try them out on their own to start with.

I am not too impressed with these when worn on their own. They are very sheer so I applied 3 coats to achieve the above results. The consistency of these top coats is also a little difficult to work with–they feel very jelly-esque and tend to dry really quickly so they were very easy to overwork. I started out applying thick coats but thin coats worked a lot better.

This isn’t the most creative use of the OPI Sheer Tints, but I like how this looks. I applied one coat of these tinted top coats over a white base and also used them to do a dot design. If you want to see some cool ideas, check out what Nory from Fierce Makeup and Nails did with them so go check out her post here. The gradient that she did is really fun!

Now for the fun part! I purchased a set of minis so one of you will be getting this set to try out! In order to enter, use the rafflecopter widget below. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide to those 18 years or older. Please don’t enter if your country has strict customs regulations as I will not be responsible for confiscated prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Overall, I think that I need to play around with these some more to see what other ways they can be used. What do you think? Have you used a similar product? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and good luck if you decide to enter the giveaway!

Stamping Saturdays #8

Posted on 1 March, 20143 May, 2014 by Cynthia

I was feeling so shitastic last night that I passed out fairly early. Then this morning I woke up feeling as if I had consumed a bottle of Tequila the night before, but I had to soldier on and get ready for work. By the time I got to work at 6 am, I was feeling a little better but then my foot started to bother me. It’s been throbbing a lot and it feels swollen so now I’m thinking I should definitely go to the doctor just so they can check it out. My co-worker felt it would be funny to show this to me:

You know what? It is pretty fucking hilarious and so accurate so props to him. The one saving grace of my crappy morning is that work was fairly slow as we were actually adequately staffed…yay! I am glad that I got my mani for Stamping Saturdays done a week in advance because I am feeling super lazy today and probably would have missed posting this week….I am super late as it is but I guess it’s better late than never!

I started out with two creamy coats of OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? I love this color and love the collection it came from!

I then stamped this designs from Bundle Monster plate BM 314 with Essie Good As Gold. I know that I use the Essie Mirror Metallics quite often for my stamping, but they are just fantastic stamping polishes.

So what do you think of today’s stamping mani? I’m liking it but it’s definitely not one of my favorites. I hope to come up with something really cool for next week because I just received my MoYou plates. You have no idea how excited I am to have gotten them!!! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!

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Gradient Success?

Posted on 10 February, 2014 by Cynthia

Hi everyone. I’ve got some news today: I’m a challenge loser. I was supposed to join a Valentine’s Day Challenge, and I was all pumped and even completed 3 of my 5 manis this weekend…and then I ruined my SD card and lost them all. I am so sad about this and feel kind of defeated, but I hope that tomorrow I will have some time to recreate the manis I lost. Sadly I will be missing the first day but hope that I can get back on track because it’s only a 5 day challenge! Since I didn’t want to NOT post today, I decided to share with you a gradient I did. If you follow me on facebook, you may recall my posts (here and here) asking for advice on how to do a gradient because I’m such a gradient loser. A couple of weeks ago I was lamenting to a few friends how ugly my gradients are and how I always hope my gradients would turn out like Sarah’s from Chalkboard Nails. Sadly, they always end up looking like I did them with my toes. One of my friends told me to stop comparing my gradients to hers because she’s not human. lol Seriously, though–how amazing are her gradients? I was drooling over her black and white Leather Gradient and thought that maybe I would be able to do something similar. Let’s take a look at what I feel is my first semi-successful gradient:

I started off with 2 coats of OPI This Gown Needs A Crown. I love this polish!

I then used OPI 4 In The Morning which is a black satin polish from the Gwen Stefani collection to sponge on the gradient. I used a rough and porous latex sponge and applied the two polishes directly on it and sponged the polishes on twice to get them to blend well.

I think that you can see the gradient effect a lot more clearly in this picture. I’m kind of proud of myself right now because I have struggled with so many of these techniques forever so it feel like I just conquered my second Everest (water marbling being my first).

Is it pathetic to be all excited about a manicure? Hey, it’s the little things that make me happy, ok? So what do you think of my gradient? Win or fail? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.

Stamping Saturdays #5

Posted on 8 February, 20147 February, 2014 by Cynthia

It has been 5 Saturdays since I started up Stamping Saturdays and I think today we have most of the girls participating so I’m super excited. When I say the girls, I am talking about my girls (no, not those!). The girls are Amy, Siobhan, Frosso, Nicole, Amanda, Jessica and Lesley. While I have only met one of these amazing ladies in person so far (Southern California is still not over the polish destruction that Lesley and I caused), I spend so much time emailing back and forth with them about EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. Stamping Saturdays was just an idea for all of us to do something together without the pressure of a challenge. We’re all pretty relaxed about it, and we post when we can. It’s only fitting that today I have my favorite stamping mani ever. Maybe I’m biased, but I absolutely love how this turned out, so I hope that you all love it too. Let’s take a look at my pictures below so you can be the judge.

I started out with the delicious OPI Ink Suede. Absolutely breathtaking polish. There are no more words.

I used Konad M64 and my white special polish to stamp this design. I know that there are a lot of polishes out there that work for stamping, but nothing really beats the white special polish. I find that it stamps so cleanly and crisply that it’s definitely worth the expense. I usually buy my konad polishes on amazon and have always been happy with my purchases.

So what do you think about this design? Do you like it as much as I do? For other awesome designs, make sure to check out the links below, Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

OPI Brazil Collection Spring/Summer 2014

Posted on 3 February, 201426 February, 2019 by Cynthia

******** COME CHECK OUT MY BLOG SALE********

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been patiently waiting to get my hands on the OPI Brazil Collection ever since I started seeing promo pictures and random swatches online. When the box of polish joy showed up, I was bursting with excitement when I realized this collection is mostly cremes. Don’t gorgeous cremes make you ridiculously happy? Am I the only one whose mouth waters just looking a beautiful and buttery cremes? Ok, I guess I’m just weird, but it’s the truth.This 12 piece collection also includes a collection of mini Liquid Sands, Beach Sandies, that really are like the cherry on top of this luscious grouping. Let’s start by taking a look at the 4 Beach Sandies.

OPI What’s A Little Rain Forest?OPI You’re So Flippy Floppy

OPI Samba-dy Loves Purple

OPI I’m Brazil Nuts Over You

These 4 textured polishes all apply beautifully. They all need two coats for full opacity and dry lightning fast. If you are not a lover of textured polishes because of the rough feeling, these are surprisingly smooth. Obviously they still have a textured feeling, but they feel very fine and definitely not chunky at all. These are super shimmery and just look fantastic out in sunlight. You know what my beef with these is? They only come in mini-size!!! WHAAAAAAAAATTTT???? I would kill for a full size of these–especially that blue–so I’m feeling kinda sad about that. Now let’s move on to the main collection so get ready for some awesomeness.

OPI Where Did Suzi’s Man-go?

OPI Toucan Do It If You Try

OPI Live. Love. Carnaval

OPI Kiss Me I’m Brazilian

OPI Red Hot Rio

OPI Scores A Goal

OPI Next Stop…The Bikini Zone

OPI Don’t Bossa Nova Me Around

OPI Taupe-less Beach

OPI I Sao Paulo Over There

OPI Amazon…Amazoff

OPI I Just Can’t Cope-acabana

I didn’t get into describing each polish individually because the formula on all of them is nearly identical: they are luscious cremes, highly pigmented, smooth, buttery and glossy. Application on all of them was flawless. and they were all perfect with two coats. In fact, many of these could be one coaters if you’re careful with your application. The most surprising polish was the yellow as this too, is almost a one-coater!!! I found the variety of brights and neutrals in one collection pretty refreshing. I am so happy with this collection and loved every single polish. What do you think of this collection? Is it what you were expecting?

Brazil by OPI will be available in both nail lacquer and GelColor formulas beginning February 5, 2014. Nail lacquers will retail for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) each at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com. Beach Sandies Liquid Sand mini pack will retail for $12.95 ($14.95 CAN). For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

OPI Ink Suede

Posted on 27 January, 201426 January, 2014 by Cynthia

Yep, it’s Monday–my least favorite day of the week for a variety of reasons. Having to wake up at 4:00 am for work doesn’t help either.

That’s a pretty normal reaction, right? Given the fact that I had such a great day of polish finds yesterday, I’m going to try to look on the bright side and just focus on getting through the day. The weather has turned here again so I’m kind of happy about that because I was definitely missing the cooler temperatures. I am also hoping that we get some much needed rain because otherwise we are going to have a really terrible wildfire season this year. So yesterday I shared with you how I found two amazing polishes and now I am sharing the beautiful OPI Ink Suede.

After using this beauty, I can completely understand why people are crazy over these suede polishes. The formula was absolute perfection as it was easy to apply and control. It is very pigmented so you could almost get away with one coat, but I applied a second coat for my swatches. Since it is a matte type polish, it dries super fast so make sure that you don’t overwork it.

I am going to make a habit of going to dusties maybe once a month to see what else I can find. I’m really trying super hard to cut back on polish spending so I am going to limit myself to a few here and there instead of my usual massive hauls. Since I was able to get 2 bottles of this lovely polish, I have put the second one up on my blog sale. I have added quite a few oldies on there this weekend such as China Glaze Channelesque, China Glaze BFF and now OPI Ink Suede. Make sure that you check it out if you’re interested in getting these or other polishes. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon!