Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Glitter

It's mid-January and the Nicole by OPI "The One Less Lonely Girl Collection" has arrived at Wal-Mart and will be showing up at Target, Sears, Ulta and other retail locations next month.


This collection was supposed to have 6 colors but a surprisingly 7th arrived in this collection which I will swatch last. The "7th color" is apart of a separate collection - sorry about that!  Additionally, these bottles were the beginning of the new "Perfect Stroke" brush which slightly resembles the "new" Sally Hansen brushes.


All bottles in this collection had a little cardboard tag that talked about the Pencils of Promise, a charity that works to build schools and increase educational opportunities in the developing world.  Justin's goal is to build 15 schools around the world for needy children and has been giving proceeds of his earnings to PoP.  No information was provided on how much money from this collection will be donated to PoP.


One Less Lonely Glitter is a lot lighter in the bottle and way less blue than the promo picture.  I think the person doing the product pictures needs their monitor calibrated.


I used a base of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, three layers of One Less Lonely Glitter, and 2 coats of OPI Top Coat to seal it in. However, the glitter was still gritty and I really should have topped it with some Seche Vite to smooth it all out.  I love that the purple glitter in this polish looks a lot like little rhinestones - very Katy Perry nail like (if you've seen her Twitter pictures of polish, you know what I mean).


I didn't have any sun, so here are some mediocre polish pictures (boo).


Removal was an absolute pain which took acetone and soaking for me (I don't FOIL it, even though I should - I just think it wastes foil, haha).  Even still, I absolutely love this polish both in color and glitz.


Nicole by OPI is available beginning at ULTA, Meijer, Harmon, HEB, Sears, Wal-Mart and more for around $8 a bottle.  For more information, visit their websitefollow Nicole by OPI on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.

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

OPI The One That Got Away

The final polish of the Katy Perry collection is called The One That Got Away which is listed as a deep berry.  Now the promo picture was much more purple than my actual bottle but even then my actual bottle picture looks way more red than berry.  It's almost a plum?  There is a shimmer in here too that is a bit goldish but didn't transfer well onto the nail.


I used a base coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, 3 coats of The One That Got Away and topped with OPI Top Coat.  Even with 3 coats, I still felt this was just a tiny bit sheer and reminded me a little of a glass flecked raspberry polish.
I also had a bit of a problem with application because I had one wonky hair on my brush.  I'll end up clipping it later, I'm sure, but that one hair seemed to drive me nuts.


In the shade you can see a bit of that goldish shimmer in the bottle.  Again, not the most unique color but still not bad.

I also had to add some Black Shatter to top it off.
I really didn't like this as much as I love the Black Shatter over pure glitters.  I think shatter/crackle is a lot like matte... it's fun to play with - it changes the texture and appearance of your nails, but ultimately it's just another step to apply and sometimes you get bored with it.

Removal left my nails just a tiny bit stained red but I just washed my hands with soap and a nail brush and my beds were fine again.

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.

Essence Movie Star

My local HEB grocery store now has a small display of Essence makeup, and the nail polish was QUICK to sell out.  I believe it was $1.99 a bottle for 0.16 fl. oz but it might have been 99 cents - I need to go back and check, but either way, I decided to pick up this grey in my search for the perfect grey to go with my GREY SKIES.  Blah.


Movie Star I guess is supposed to be about the silver screen.  This is a bluish grey creme that was a tiny bit on the thick side but not unmanageable.  I used a base of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Movie Star and a top of Seche Vite.


There was just a bit too much blue in this for me - as you can see it dries darker on the nail than is shown in the bottle.  I think I need a bit more white in it to even it out.


Same story with the shade.  Overall, a good color and probably an amazing base for a winter Konad.  I may keep this one around for these gross grey days with no sun.  :\

NOTD: 16 Jan 2011

Instead of taking my nail polish off and putting something new on, I decided to layer.  And layer.  And layer.


This started out with a base coat of Seche Natural.  Next came two coats of Essence Movie Star followed by a layer of Seche Vite.  Then I added a coat of China Glaze Sexy Silhouette and topped THAT with a coat of CND Effects Violet Shimmer.  Oy.  This is going to be fun to take off but I SAW THE SUN so I'm running outside next.
Do I already have a violet red with grey undertones?  I'm sure.  ^_^  Was this fun?  Of course.

Blogs of Note

Happy Sunday!


Enamored Enamel hasn't posted since last year (har har) but one thing I love about this blog is the large pictures.  I'm not a fan of clicking (and clicking and clicking).  She does post a lot of batch swatches and doesn't really comment on formula or wear, but if you're looking for a quick picture, this is a good place to look.


Eternal Enamel also hasn't posted since last year (sad face now) but had some pretty amazing nail art.  I hope she reactivates her blog because I really enjoyed reading this blog.


Finally is my friend and inspiration, FrmHeadToToe.  If you like makeup, jewelry, or fashion, THIS is a great place to look.  Jen is absolutely beautiful and amazing and her tutorials are out of this world.  If I ever get married, I've already told Jen that I'm flying her to me to be my makeup artist (and hair, and I wouldn't mind if she picked my dress out too).  I love this girl.