Touch Of Gold with OPI

This is one of the manicures I wore this week, it's a combination of two colors by OPI - In The Cable Car-Pool Lane from the San Francisco collection which I reviewed in the previous post, and the gorgeous golden flakes Goldeneye from the James Bond collection.

This was a really simple design to create and I think that these two colors flatter each other, tho In The Aable Car-Pool Lane was a bit more purple toned in real life.
The golden flakes are just stunning and I can't wait to use them for another design, this is absolutely one of my favorite OPI polishes so far!
Hope you liked this look, I would love to hear what is YOUR favorite OPI?

OPI San Francisco Mini Set Swatches

In this post I want to share with you my swatches of the OPI San Francisco mini set.
My overall impression with this set was good, I liked the colors it included and the formula of most polishes was very good and easy to work with, despite the small brushes of the mini bottles.
I hope you will like these swatches and find this post useful in case you haven't decided yet which colors are your favorite from this collection.

Peace & Love & OPI - Silver based duo chrome with purple and green range / 2 coats, no top coat.
This is one of the colors that I was most curious about in this collection, and I was happy to see it was included in the mini set. The colors is quite interesting, and in first glance it reminded me of a previous polish by OPI from the Katy Perry collection - Not Like The Movies.
I was surprised to find that I only needed two coats for a full coverage, and the formula was really nice to work with. The purple-green duo chrome effect was pretty in the shade, but not as interesting in the sun light. Overall it's a pretty color but I wish the duo chrome effect was stronger, I think it would have been much prettier this way.

Shade

Direct Sunlight

In the cable car-pool lane - Plum / Berry creme-jelly / 2 coats, no top coat.
I really loved this color in the bottle but as for the formula, not so much. I applied two coats, and they were a bit streaky for a creme-jelly formula. The final look isn't that great with just two coats. It did look ok in the shade but you can see the semi-bald spots in the photo I took in the sun.

Muir Muir On The Wall - Dark plum with gold and red shimmer / 2 coats, no top coat.
This one is also quite interesting and I liked it's color and the formula. The shimmery finish was pretty both in the sun and in the shade, so I was very pleased with it. I found it to be a bit sheer on the first coat but the second coat gave a great coverage.

First date at the Golden Gate - Classy red creme-jelly / 2 coats, no top coat.
I have to admit I wasn't sure about this color at first, because I don't really like orange tinted reds, but I came to love this color thanks to the great formula.
I would say it's formula is much better than the one In the cable car-pool lane has, which is quite surprising since they are both creme-jelly type from the same collection.
I think this color is very flattering ind classic, so I just might change my mind about these orange-tinted reds ;) 

Chocolate dipped w/ Candy Nail Art & How To

Hello dear readers!

It's been a long time since I've done nail art...

So one day I was at San Francisco's Ichiban Kan store and stumbled upon the deco section. I saw all those candy deco parts and it occurred to me that I could use a little baggie of fake candy sprinkles on my nails and achieve a 3D type of nail art.

So here's the final result:

Note: Scroll down for instructions on how to do it yourself ;)

 

1. Start with a cream finish white or pastel colored nail polish as the base.

I used Orly - Cotton Candy

2. Use a dark brown nail polish or acrylic paint and paint on the tips of the nails as if you've dipped them in chocolate. The dripping effect depends on the length of your nails... there's no right or wrong way to do this. I used OPI - Suzi Says Da! for it's chocolate-like color.

3. I added little dots of clear nail polish and placed the fake candy sprinkles randomly.

*You can get these on Etsy, search for "deco fake candy sprinkles"

**You can also make these sprinkles yourself with polymer clay. I found a how-to video here.

***If you are not into 3D nail art, you can use acrylic paint or nail polish in pastel colors and draw little lines to emulate the small candy.

4. Apply 1 or 2 layers of clear topcoat to protect your nail art. I thought the candy parts would fall off right away, but I was wrong... they can last a week or more but believe me... it is not the most practical nail art to wear everyday... I had such a hard time washing my hair XD

Here's an extra pic that I posted on my Bunny Nails Facebook (feel free to add me) of me wearing this nail art.

What do you think of this nail art? Would you add the candy sprinkles or paint them instead?

♥ ♥Thank you so much for reading♥ ♥

OPI Venus Di Violet - Swatches and Review

Hello dear readers!

I want to show you a few swatches of OPI Venus Di violet. This nail polish was part of the Italian Collection and then re-released as part of the OPI Colorcopia Collection.

Venus Di Violet is a nail polish that I got from a blog sale. 

(Click here for a post about this haul)

 

As you can see, it is a light pink color with pearl finish. It has a subtle violet duo chrome shimmer.

For the swatches, I used 2 coats for opacity. In the picture it shows a bit of streaks, but not in person. The formula is sheer, 2-3 coats are necessary for opacity.

As far as I know, this color has been discontinued by OPI, but is still easy to find online.

I used this nail color as the base for my Bunny & Cherry Blossom nails.

(Click here to access the post about this nail art)

Would you wear Venus Di Violet by itself or would you add some nail art as well?

If so, which type of nail art would you do?

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

Sakura Bunny

Hello dear readers!

Easter is a couple days away and I was planning nail art for this occasion. I was thinking about Easter eggs, peeps or chocolate bunnies. When I decided that I wanted to include bunnies into the design, the image of bunnies viewing cherry blossoms was the first thing that came to my mind. The Japanese culture lover that I am could not resist doing another nail art inspired in this beautiful symbol of  Japan

For those who may not know it, 花見 hanami (flower viewing) is a Japanese tradition in which people gather and eat under a cherry blossom tree to observe the ephemeral beauty of sakura. 

(Pictures can be enlarged)

Here's what I used for this nail art:
-Base: OPI Venus di Violet
-Stamping plates: XL O (for background) QA21 (tree branches) and HD A & B (bunnies)
-Stamping nail polishes: Ulta - Grape Escape, Kleancolor - Dark Brown and Verity - White
-Cherry blossom nail stickers

うさぎの花見

Falling in love...

I hope you like this manicure as much as I did ;)

♥♥Thank you so much for reading♥♥

OPI St. Petersburgundy - Review and Swatches

Hello dear readers!

Today I would like to show you swatches of OPI St. Petersburgundy that I wore a couple weeks ago.
Red is not a color I wear that often, probably once a year at most, but a friend of mine suggested that I should wear a red nail polish more often because it's supposed to look more sexy ;) ... anyway, I tried to be more daring and wore this nail polish without any nail art.

St. Petersburgundy is a nail polish that I bought from a blogsale. 

(Click here for a post about this haul)

It belongs to the 2007 OPI Russian collection.

Now onto the review... This is a dark red color that is very sheer, jelly like. I had to apply 3 coats for opacity. I couldn't wait to let dry in between coats and it resulted in serious bubbling... it was my fault though, not the formula. 

Extra pics...

Ladies, do you wear red nail polish more often than me? 

♥ ♥Thank you so much for reading♥ ♥