OPI Spark de Triomphe

Part of the Glam Slam! collection is Spark de Triomphe which was listed as a monumentally marvelous silver glitter but as you can see, it's definitely not silver - but rather a gold.  This was another in my failed attempt at a black and gold manicure (I ended up wearing Rally Pretty Pink to the game which had nothing to do with school colors, but was just a pretty color).  This color was supposed to be paired with White Shatter which I reviewed back in June.  I used a base coat of OPI Natural Nail, 3 coats of polish and a top coat of OPI Top Coat.

Definitely not opaque as you can see here.  The "dirty" smile line on my middle finger is actually dried blood from my nail trama on Monday - my fingernail was totally torn off and bled quite a bit.  It's just now getting to the point where it isn't sore to the touch.  Fun times.

In the shade, you can see the microglitter that is part of the sheer base of this polish but you can also see the loads of VNL.  I originally thought this was a gold glitter in a yellow base but it's more of a gold hexagonal and microglitter in a clear jelly base.

Indoors with the flash and again you can just tell how this is more of a layering polish than anything else.  While I would buy it in the set because of the White Shatter, this polish is going to probably see more shelf life than anything else for me.

OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [official website].  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

China Glaze 5 Golden Rings

Last night was the first home football game for my alma mater high school, where the school colors are black and gold.  I was attempting a manicure that was a gold bottom and a black crackle over it, but well - I had some issues.  One of the first golds that I thought to wear was China Glaze 5 Golden Rings, from the Loves You Snow Much collection.  I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 3 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.  The formula was a tiny bit thick, but not unmanageable.

As you can see in the sun, this isn't a fully opaque glitter - more of a yellow gold glitter in a slightly yellow base.  While it's not completely sheer either, it just wasn't going to work for the look I was trying to achieve last night.

In the shade, the color looks more opaque but it's still not fully there.  I also pulled the glitter up on my index finger a bit.

Finally indoors with the flash - it really gave me lobster hands for some reason with this color.  I think this would be a lot better as a layering polish than a stand alone.

China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Jesse's Girl Stiletto

Jesse's Girl Cosmetics has partnered with JulieG from YouTube to create the JulieG Collection!  Today I have Stiletto, a purplish grey (promise!) with some light silver shimmer in it.  It's kind of like a putty grey but you'll see in a bit that there is some dusty purple in it.


I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of Stiletto and a top of nubar Diamont.  The formula was nice and smooth, but I did feel like the brush was a little on the thin side for me... sometimes I feel a little spoiled by the OPI Pro-Wide brush because I have a lot of OPI's here (to swatch!).

Oh yes, I'm back to super nubbins.  :[  I broke 3 nails over the course of a day, including my middle finger way down under the free edge (ow).  Super nubbins make me look like I have baby hands!  So as you can see, there is a slight shimmer but it's a lovely grey at the same time.  I haven't watched all of Julie's videos to know why she called this Stiletto, but it's a very interesting color!

In the shade, the shimmer is shown in the bottle but lost on the nail (go figure).

Indoors with the flash, you start to see the shimmer a bit again but overall just the lovely dusty color of the polish.


Now when I was appling Stiletto, I immediately thought it looked like deborah lippmann's Waking Up In Vegas so I pulled out my handy dandy nail sticks that I've been working on (see this post from More Nail Polish to see what I'm talking about) to check it out.

Close, but not quite!  Waking Up In Vegas (stick 185 on the left) is more light grey than Stiletto (stick 177 on the right) where you can start to see that purple grey that I originally mentioned at the top of this post.  This is why nail sticks are SO handy for me.  I don't have to paint my nails with each color anymore, just look at my spreadsheet, pull the sticks, and check it out!  #winning


The JulieG Collection is a limited edition collection available at Rite Aid stores starting Labor Day weekend and will be available online at Jesse's Girl Cosmetic's website (not available yet).  They retail for $3.99 each ($1 more than the original core line).

You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Rite Aid's Glam Camp Presents Jesse's Girl Cosmetics!

So you know how I hinted at the super secret beauty project a couple of weeks back?  Now it's live!


Jesse's Girl Cosmetics invited me to take some photographs and feature a water marbling look using their products for Rite Aid's "Glam Camp" website and Glam Book.

Glam Products page - there are my nails!

Jesse's Girl's page with my nails & my water marble!

If I get a chance to get a copy of the actual Glam Book (probably in October), I'll be sure to show everyone, and the actual Water Marbling tutorial will hopefully be posted on Jesse's Girl's website or I'll scan in the page here (or something - heh).  The Glam Book is being distributed to some 200,000 subscribers which is SO awesome for me.  I haven't done anything this big in print since I worked with Teen People as a teenager!  Thank you Jesse's Girl and thanks to all who support PolishGalore!


Bonus picture - here is the completed water marble :)  Colors used: Wham Bam, Crush and Spring Break from the core line.

OPI The Muppets

Please enjoy the following press release from OPI!  

Sending “Warm & Fozzie” Wishes from OPI!

OPI Celebrates Disney’s “The Muppets” with Holiday Lacquers Inspired by Walt Disney Pictures’ New Film

This holiday season, OPI pays homage to America’s favorite Muppet friends as they hit the big screen in Disney’s The Muppets.  With an all-star cast including Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit, Miss Piggy and the entire Muppet crew, the family comedy opens in theaters nationwide on November 23, 2011. 


Inspired by the film’s namesake lively and colorful characters, OPI launches twelve limited-edition Nail Lacquers for Holiday 2011. “OPI is so excited to work with Disney to celebrate this long-awaited movie release,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “Not only do The Muppets characters inspire fun, bright and joyful colors, the fashionable Miss Piggy lends her name to three high-shine pink-based hues, ranging from bold red flecked with silver to a multi-dimensional strawberry shade.”

This line features six shimmery reds and neutrals, as well as six glitter-packed shades, including:

Animal-istic
This wild bright red cannot be tamed!


Meep-Meep-Meep
Missing out on this fuchsia would make you weep, weep, weep!


Wocka Wocka!
The popular deep berry makes everything fun and merry!


Pepe’s Purple Passion

This deep, decadent shade is the best purple ever, okay!

 Designer, de Better! 

And this light metallic bronze is ready for the runway.

Warm & Fozzie

A feel-good shade of metallic copper.

Rainbow Connection
The rainbow glitter of your dreams.


Excuse Moi!
Ahem! This pink glitter has something to say!


Gone Gonzo!
The aqua-blue glitter is taking over the world!


Fresh Frog of Bel Air
A glitter that prefers the greener things in life.


Divine Swine
The finest, most fabulous magenta glitter ever.


Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It!
Red glittery fun for everyone!
 

Lacquer packed with micas and sparkle gives a 3-dimensional textured look that makes nails look like jewelry. With shades ranging from textured glitters in rainbow, red, green and blue to softer shimmers in copper and bronze metallic hues, these twelve colors provide the perfect accessory for the holiday season.


As with all OPI nail lacquers, these shades inspired by Disney’s The Muppets contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application.


This limited edition promotion will be available beginning November 2011 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for  $8.50 ($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!

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

ABOUT THE MOVIE

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, Disney’s “The Muppets” hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.  

China Glaze Haute Metal

Somehow, this little one slipped away from me while I was reviewing the "Metals" crackle collection from China Glaze.  Haute Metal is a rosey reddish pink crackle that doesn't look good over pink (heh, tried and failed) but I figured I'd try it over my Dr.'s REMEDY Lovely from yesterday.


This is one coat of Haute Metal, topped with Seche Vite.

I think the moral of the story is that this color is best over dark colors.  It gets a bit lost with the purple underneath.

A bit more noticeable in the shade but it reminds me of like an 80s rock candy or Easter egg or something...  Hah I don't know - guess I'm reaching a little bit here.

Finally indoors with the flash.  What is your take on crackle/shatter/graffiti polish?  Is it cool still?  Are you totally over it?  My business cards feature my neon skittle crackle nails and at Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas, a lot of beauty business owners that I gave my card to were mentioning that crackle/shatter is "so over" already.  What's the next big trend?  Will magnetic nail polish make it mainstream?  I do have a lot of that to show you but it's going to be on super nubbins after breaking 3 nails yesterday.  (Fun fun).  Stay tuned!

China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dr.'s REMEDY Lovely

Going back to Dr.'s REMEDY's summer collection is Lovely, a creme lavender polish that is a bit dusty with some grey.  I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.  The formula was nice without being streaky.

I feel like it's a bit springy instead of summer but still a good color no matter what.  The vitamins that are in Dr.'s REMEDY set it apart from something like China Glaze but I think it comes down to preference.

My nails are getting to that length where I know they are about to go.  I already have 2 splits on my left hand and I broke my index nail on my right hand which is great for using my iPhone games.  ^_^

Indoors with the flash and you can see how opaque this is with just two coats.  It is a Lovely color.  

Dr.’s REMEDY® Enriched Nail Polish is available for $16 online at http://www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  You can "Like" them on Facebook.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Cult Nails Hypnotize Me

The finale of the Hypnotic collection from Cult Nails is Hynotize Me.  Now originally, I just wasn't thrilled about this color - I didn't know exactly what it was from the bottle picture and I kept thinking "Meh."  Boy, was I wrong.  This color is like a CND Effect on steroids.  It's TONS of blue and green microglitter in a Granny Smith green apple jelly base.  It's STUNNING on the nail.  I put 2 coats on my nails but I probably could have been fine with 1 since there's so much going on in this polish.  Index finger: Enigmatic; Middle finger: In A Trace; Ring finger: Awakening; Pinkie finger: bare.  While this is a lab sample, again I believe this is very close or is the same as the actual color.  Because this is a "thirsty" glitter, I put one coat of nubar Diamont over it, and the finish was smooth but without any top coat, the top of my nail felt a bit gritty.

Hello blue baby!  As you can see on the bare nail, it's that green jelly like base color.

Moved the bottle to the side so you can see all that glitter!  I really love the way this looks over both Awakening and Enigmatic.

Shade picture.

Indoors with the flash - check out how pretty it looks!  In person you can see a shift from the green to the blue which doesn't quite capture on camera but it's super beautiful.  If you're on the fence, don't be - get it!


The Hypnotic Collection is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle or $40 for the whole collection.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Cult Nails Enigmatic

Continuing with Cult Nail's fall collection is Enigmatic, a dark purple with silver micro-glitter.  Now please note that while this is a lab sample, I do believe it's very close to the final result - if not the exact same.  Like Awakening, the first coat for me was a little too jelly but after just one more coat, the polish was opaque (except for my pinkie - not sure what happened there).  I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.

Unlike most dark purples out these days, there is no red and blue microglitter (THANK YOU MARIA!) but instead just a bit of silver.  I decided to turn the bottle so you can see how it pretty it is.

It's so swirly pretty!  

In the shade, you can see that silver microglitter a bit better.  Because this is a dark vampy purple, it looks super dark without the sun behind it.

Finally indoors with the flash - again I don't know what was going on with my pinkie but this is a very nice opaque polish with 2 coats.  Very lovely and actually unique in my collection!


The Hypnotic Collection is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle or $40 for the whole collection.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dr,'s REMEDY Instant Cover

Please enjoy the following press release from Dr.'s REMEDY!

DR.'S REMEDY INTRODUCES ENRICHED INSTANT COVER

The Easiest Way to Perfect Your Skintone

Dr.'s REMEDY is proud to announce the launch of an amazing, awe-inspiring concealing cream, Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover, ideal for legs that need some extra loving. Intended to minimize any skin-tone imperfection from head to toe, this cream will become your most-adored vanity staple.


Have spider veins? Cover them with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover, which glides on smoothly and dries instantly to reveal a flawless finish. Loath those sun spots? Conceal them quickly with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover. Annoyed by pesky birthmarks? Camouflage them in a flash with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover. Grown tired of that tattoo? Hide the evidence with Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover.


Boasting an ingredient list that's good-for-your-skin, such as tea tree oil, lavender, vitamins C and E and wheat protein, Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover is a water resistant goof-and-fool-proof solution for perfecting a less-than-stellar skin tone situation.


Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Instant Cover is available in Light, Medium and Deep for $40 online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.


Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails; their Enriched Nail Polish is the first-ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  Dr.'s REMEDY has a Facebook Page online as well.

Cult Nails In A Trance

The fall Hypnotic collection from Cult Nails is available online now!  This is In A Trance, a shimmering olive green that has a gold shift to it.  I really thought it was going to be a drab color at first but the gold in this really punches it up!  I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.  Diamont played very well with this polish, and Maria had said that she used Diamont in the past and never had a problem so I'm pretty sure it was just user error on my part.

Here in the sun you can start already to see that gold flash in there - it's such a pretty color!  Definitely a fall color for sure (which this 100 degree weather is for the birds) as I think it would look amazing with a long sweater :]

Here in the shade you can really see the olive green but the gold shimmer is a lot more hidden.  It's a great use of shimmer though because it's not streaky and not overly flashy.

Finally indoors with the flash and it's just a beautiful flash of gold and green at the same time.  I'm glad that I looked at this color twice because it's so pretty!


And I have something up my sleeve for my dear readers!  More on it later but it has to do with Awakening and In a Trance.  ^_^

The Hypnotic Collection is now available in their shop for $10 a bottle or $40 for the whole collection.  You can like Cult Nails on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  Once they reach 5,000 Likes on Facebook, Maria will be offering all polishes for only $5!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.