NoTE-OPI Ski Teal We Drop w/Mad As A Hatter

Yesterday, Monday, I had an urge to polish my nails. What color, I really didn't know. So I had a conversation with my self. It went something like this:

Me: I want to paint my nails.
Self: Well, what color do you want to use this time?
Me: I don't know!
Self: *silence*
Me: Umm, what about teal?
Self: It's still summer! You can't do teal in the summer!
Me: I don't care. I want to use Ski Teal We Drop, and I don't care that it was a winter color, and you can't tell me what I can't do! *violent raspberry*
Self: Fine, whatever, but when people start looking at you weird(er than they do now), you'll think back and realize I was right. *gives a violent raspberry back and flounces off*

So I used Ski, and to bling it up a little, I did an accent nail, which I've never done before. By the way, the man hates it. He's a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to polish colors, and never seems to like the nontraditional colors I prefer. He especially dislikes the accent nail.

One coat Orly Bonder
Two coats OPI Ski Teal We Drop
One coat OPI Mad As A Hatter on thumb nails
One coat Seche Vite, with two coats on thumb nails to smooth out the glitter.

I took pics for once, because I like the result a lot. However, my pic taking skills are less than great, and my cuticles are imperfect. If that bothers you, consider this your warning and scoot. :)

NoTE-OPI I Brake For Manicures

I bought this one yesterday, at the mall. I had doubts about it in the store, but bought it anyway. In all the swatches I'd seen online, it looked dark, but you could see the plummy tone to it. Well, on my fingers it looks like mud. Very dark brown mud. I've looked at it under daylight CFL lighting, fluorescent lights, incandescent lights, and indirect sunlight. In all lights, it still looks like mud. The only time I could see the plum base was when I shone (how's that for obscure conjugation?) my very bright Mag-Lite at one of the nails. I can't be carrying around mini Mag-Lites attached to all my fingers, now, can I? The inevitable conclusion is that this sucker has GOT to go back to the store. I think that's probably for the best, since I also ordered three colors from Zoya last night, and the money from the OPI can go toward those. Yes, I'm that much of a cheapskate these days. Being unemployed brings most discretionary spending to a crashing halt.

Now, the formula on the OPI was wonderful. It was completely opaque in two coats, and self leveled very well. I'm not a fan of the Pro Wide brush because my nail beds are a bit on the skinny side, and the brush is huge. It also tends to hold onto a lot of polish, then release it all at once, so be careful to wipe enough off that you don't get flooded with polish.

One more thing. I've started a new tag in honor of this color: ugly.

NoTE-Zoya Reva and OPI Silver Shatter-Updated!

Friday night I felt like doing something a bit different, so I drug out the Silver Shatter and picked a bright, cheerful color to pair it with. That happened to be Zoya's Reva, from one of the summer collections they released this year. To be honest, I cannot keep the collection names straight. Reva is a reddish berry tone with a lot of gold shimmer. Very pretty.

Here's what I used:
One coat of Zoya Get Even
Two coats of Zoya Reva
One coat of OPI Silver Shatter
One coat of Poshe.

I made sure to wrap the tips with Reva, but, as usual, forgot to wrap the tips with the top coat. Still, I had excellent wear with this combo for THREE days! I removed it this afternoon, mainly because I was bored with it, but partially because after my shower, I noticed a smallish chip in one nail, and seized on that excuse to change it. Even after three whole and one partial day, there was only minor tip wear, and mild top coat fading. I was truly surprised. One thing I did want to mention: because Reva has so much gold shimmer in it, I think it would look much better with a gold shatter/crackle over it instead of silver.

Normally I don't take and/or post photos, but I did take pics the day after application, specifically to show you, my faithful readers. Yes, all three of you. lol Unfortunately, I've had no time in the last few days to actually edit them, and when I sat down today to do so, decided that Gimp was completely worthless to me, and have since kicked it the heck off my computer. So...I DO have pics, and will upload them when I can find a program that actually works.

Finally! It's been crazy here the last two days, what with a mouse in the apartment, and laundry & grocery day yesterday. I literally just got done editing the photos and uploading them. This kind of delay is why I didn't want to do pics at all. I feel bad that I might have kept anyone waiting for my pics, which aren't the best, admittedly. :)

Update on Ski Teal We Drop

Still loving this color, though I discovered a couple of chips this afternoon. I've repaired them and applied a new layer of top coat, although the top coat I used left bits of "stuff" on some of my nails. I'm not sure if it's bits of dried up top coat or what the heck it is, but I'm not happy about it. It also didn't level well, left ridges on a couple nails, and some nails are scratched already. Not good. I'd classify this as a moderate top coat fail.

NoTE-Ski Teal We Drop

If I were to sum up this polish in one word, that word would be Amazing. Yes, with a capital A.

Opaque in two coats. It flowed onto the nail smoothly, leveled like a dream, and was perfection. I simply can't say enough good things about the color and the formula. I wish all polishes applied this wonderfully.

Ski is a dark teal blue creme, for anyone who didn't know or couldn't remember. It was released in OPI's 2010 Swiss collection. I wish I'd bought it then, instead of wasting so many months without it. I think this will be a year-round staple for me. Gorgeous!

Sally Hansen Complete blahblahblabbity blah in Delphinium

My nails are peeling, so I needed to go out and find something to deal with that. Knowing that the Sally Hansen shatter polishes are out and about, I headed to Walgreen's first. Saw them, but didn't buy anything. I was tempted by the gold, but it wouldn't have gone with anything I own, so I left it. Super pretty, though.

CVS-again, nothing I wanted to buy, and this one doesn't get a lot of new stuff. When they do get new, it's a little late, and not very much of it.

Sally Beauty-bought a bottle of Orly Nail Defense in hopes of fixing my peeling nails. As soon as I got back in the car, I put it on. Why wait? *shrug*

Target-was wandering through the polish section, examining the Essie, when I saw another display a couple aisles away. I can't remember the set up, but there was a display of brand new Sally Hansens; the limited edition designer colors, including Delphinium. Oooooh. I snatched it, right away, then grabbed a bottle of Essie's Super Bossa Nova, then wandered to the next display, which was a bunch of assorted Sally Hansens.

After all was said and done, and much dithering, I bought the Delphinium and a hairbrush and left. The color was bothering me, however, and I was sure it was close to something I already had, Done Out In Deco. Hmm. After dinner, walking the girls, dealing with the stupid clothes dryer in the laundry room, and the man "happening", I finally got to comp the two. Yes, they are very very close, but not dupes. Delphinium is lighter than DOID, and has a bit of gray in it. It's DOID's muted sister, if you will. Now I need to decide if I'll keep it.

NoTE-Yodel Me On My Cell

Before I get into YMOMC, I feel compelled to say  how much I enjoyed Winter Wishes. I didn't want to remove it yesterday, but there were so many layers of Gelous and top coat that it was peeling away from some of my nails. I will definitely thin it some more and try again. The color is too amazing not to try.

I bought Yodel Me On My Cell a few days ago at CVS. It's what I call a gray market polish, because the serial number has been filed off. I have no doubt it's authentic, but no way to prove it. In any case, it doesn't matter to me. That store had a few other shades from the Swiss collection, and I was torn between this one and Ski Teal We Drop. I put Ski back because it's so much like Blue India, but darker. Ski has been weighing on my mind ever since, and I bought a bottle at the mall today. Figured what the heck. :D

Anyway! Yodel was today's color. The first coat was a little thin and patchy, but the second coat covered well. To be safe and really build the color, I did three coats in total, and it was well worth it. Excellent opacity, and a pretty short dry time. Finished up with one coat of Seche Vite. Gloriousness. Even the man liked it. He hated Winter Wishes for some reason. I think it was the glitter in it.

I'm not a fan of OPI's brushes. They're generally too wide, and for some reason, I have difficulty reaching the far side of my right hand nails. I have to reload the brush and paint over the skin to make sure the nail is covered. A small pain, but a pain nonetheless. Also, with this polish being so thin on the first coat, you have to use a very light hand or get major bald spots, especially near the cuticles. I don't think it would be as much as an issue with a thicker polish, such as Done Out In Deco. I don't have the bald spot problem with that one, but I do have the same problem with reaching the nails properly. No problem with Zoya or China Glaze brushes.

I like this color very much. Ski Teal We Drop is up next. Can't wait!

NoTE-Kotori and Silver Shatter

Zoya Kotori, three coats, still not completely opaque. This color shines when applied over a black creme polish, otherwise it's too sheer on its own.
Silver Shatter over Kotori, one thick coat. I used a thick coat because I'd read on OPI's blog that if you use a thin coat, it can look muddy. I'm not convinced thick coats are the way to go. I'll have to try thin ones next time. Silver Shatter doesn't shatter as much as the black does, so there is more of the shimmery silver taking up all the attention. Perhaps I should have used Zoya Jo or China Glaze Midnight Mission instead of Kotori. Oh well, you live and learn.

I finally caved and used OPI Done Out In Deco. Opaque in two coats, and a lovely muted light/med. purple creme.  Perfect for spring, flattering, and muted enough not to draw undue attention to itself. It's pretty, the formula's great, and it dries quickly. What's not to like?

NoTE-Tanzy

Zoya Tanzy with Black Shatter over it.

The overall effect is of a bronzey brown, when seen from a distance. I changed up my technique this time; using diagonal strokes on some nails, and an attempted swirl on one nail, which was a failure. The brush is too wide to get any sort of swirl going on my nails, which are rather petite. A nice way of saying I have skinny fingers. I like the diagonal; it's interesting.

I could probably get another couple days of wear out of this combo, but I'll be removing it tomorrow. Tanzy just isn't for me, and will be going into my "get rid of" pile.

Stopped by my fave local salon because they claimed they had the new OPI Silver Shatter, via Facebook. They didn't. They lied. I'm sad. They did have the entire Pirates collection, just not the shatter. "It's backordered." Bah!!

What color to wear next? Done Out In Deco or Ahoy!?

I went to the mall the other day and ran across a display of the OPI Swiss collection. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I walked away with Ski Teal We Drop and Lucerne-Tainly Look Marvelous. BOGO half off. (buy one get one) From the first moment I saw Ski, I wondered just how close to MAC Blue India it was. I've just done a comp, but the lighting's not right, so no pics. I did every other finger with one or the other color, and did both on my thumb nail. Ha. Ski IS very much like Blue India, but it's deeper, more vibrant, and has more green, making it a truer teal. Blue India is a grayed slate blue. Wearing them side by side, you'd never mistake them for each other, but if you were to wear one or the other, I doubt a "civilian" would be able to tell them apart. I'm undecided if I'll return Ski. I like the color, but I certainly don't need it. Then again, I don't have anything else exactly like it. Ah, I'm waffling again. I could justify it by saying if I return it, then I can afford a bottle of Remove +, and that's far more important than this color. I guess. :D