Showing posts with label red. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red. Show all posts

Monday, March 2, 2009

More New Nail Polish Colors from Nicole by OPI

Happy Monday! Here are some more of the new colors from Nicole by OPI. 

Nicole by OPI Light a Candle:



Light a Candle is a silvery color with a lavender twist. It is a chrome and therefore has a much different appearance indoors vs. outdoors, hence the two pictures. It dries relatively brush stroke free which is a huge plus. Opaque coverage in two coats.

Nicole by OPI I've Got the Power:



I've got the power is a magenta/red metallic. I love the smooth and shiny metallic look indoors and then the fabulous shimmer in the sun. I think this shade is particularly flattering for women with pale skin but I am also sure it would look great on darker ladies as well. Opaque coverage in two coats. 

Nicole by OPI Imagine If...:


Imagine If... is a silver holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. This swatch is two coats. As you can see, two is not enough for opaque coverage. I think you would need 4 coats to make this one totally opaque. But I still think it looks great with two coats if you don't mind the sheer look. This would also make a great one coat 'topping' for a dark color. 

Nicole by OPI Positive Energy:



Positive Energy is a true silver chrome. Again, this chrome applied fabulously. When it dried I could hardly notice the brush strokes. This color is more silver than stainless steel but it still reminds me of stainless steel appliances. I love it! Super opaque, only two coats needed.

Nicole by OPI You're a Star:


You're a Star is a clear base that is super packed with fine white/iridescent glitter. It is relatively opaque with three coats. This is a really pretty and sparkly color. 

My favorite thing about these Nicole by OPI colors is that I really enjoy the formula, application and brush. There are some three coaters but they don't bother me. They all apply super smoothly. These new shades are available at select Target and Wal-Mart stores. I wish they were easier to find!




Monday, February 23, 2009

New Colors from Nicole by OPI

This is the first of a few posts featuring new colors from Nicole by OPI. It has been a really long time since I have featured Nicole by OPI on my blog; probably because these polishes are not available at the online discount beauty supply stores that I frequently order from. These new colors from Nicole by OPI are available at select Target, Wal-Mart, and other retailers and are definitely worth hunting down. The application is perfect and I absolutely love the brushes. They are much better, in my opinion, than the regular OPI pro-wide brush. Application on all of these was really dreamy.

Nicole by OPI Do Good...Feel Good:


Perfect opaque light pink creme. This swatch is three coats. I love how non-streaky and non-chalky this one is. It dries super glossy. A lot of nail polishes that are similar in color to this are problematic when it comes to the application. This one was perfect!

Nicole by OPI Play Fair:


Gorgeous lavender shimmer. This swatch is three coats. It looks fine with two coats but I prefer the more opaque look of three coats. The shimmer in this color has a wonderful iridescent quaility.

Nicole by OPI Love Your Life over Play Fair:


More cute hearts! I love these pink hearts suspended in iridescent glitter. These hearts were much easier to fish out of the bottle than the Maybelline hearts because the bottle opening is much larger. I did not even need to use a toothpick, the brush worked just fine.

Nicole by OPI No Limits:


Super dark, blackened blue. Very similar to Lippmann Devil in a Blue Dress. This color is more opaque and only takes two coats to achieve bottle color. 

Nicole by OPI Dream Maker:


Sheer pink that is loaded with iridescent micro glitter. This color is great worn alone (this swatch is three coats) and would also make an excellent topping for another color, like a deep pink. 

Nicole by OPI Keep It Real:



Two photos of this color to show you the wonderful metallic finish it has indoors and then the amazing shimmery glow it has outdoors in the sun. This red really reminds me of the holidays! I can't wait to do a pedi with this color. This swatch is two coats. 

I will be featuring more fabulous new colors from Nicole by OPI soon. Check your local Target and Wal-Mart stores for these new colors! They are all all available now.

Friday, February 13, 2009

China Glaze Summer Days for Summer 2009

They are here! THE summer collection of the year - China Glaze Summer Days. These polishes are spectacularly beautiful. This is only collection that I have seen in a while where all of the colors are truly must haves. On to the swatches! Oh, one small disclaimer before these swatches. I have yet to see any photographs of these polishes that accurately capture the amazing FIRE that these babies put out. My photographs are no exception. While they are color accurate, you just will not understand how truly amazing they are until you try them. The shimmer and fire from the glass fleck like glitter is just amazing. Now, on to the swatches, really!

China Glaze Raspberry Festival:

china glaze raspberry festival

Raspberry Fields is a pinkish red with magenta and silver glitter. It really does not remind me of raspberries, which incidentally are my favorite fruit. But who really cares about the name when it is this gorgeous?

China Glaze Watermelon Rind:

china glaze watermelon rind

Watermelon Rind has a green/teal base with silver, green and blue glitter. This is freaking stunning. 

China Glaze Cherry Pie:

china glaze cherry pie

Cherry Pie is a slightly orange toned red with magenta and silver glitter. This shade reminds me of candy for some reason.

China Glaze Grape Juice:

china glaze grape juice

Grape Juice is a purple with silver and purple glitter. The glitter in this one has a very iridescent feel outside in the sun. It certainly is juicy! This is tied with Watermelon Rind for my favorite shade in the collection. 

China Glaze Strawberry Fields:

china glaze strawberry fields

Strawberry Fields is a deep pink with gold shimmer. This one is particularly glossy looking!

China Glaze Orange Marmalade:

china glaze orange marmalade
Last but not least, Orange Marmalade. You guys know how I feel about orange nail polish. I think it is really pretty but just not on me. It just does nothing for my skin tone! But this shade is still super gorgeous. Orange with gold and orange shimmer. If you are an orange lover, you won't be disappointed with this one.

Wow! Aren't these amazingly gorgeous? They are all so juicy looking. Like I said earlier though, the brilliance of fire of these in real life is so much more amazing than my pictures. Application was top notch, smooth, and quick drying. All swatches were three coats. Two coats is nice but three coats make these look spectacular!

China Glaze Summer Days for Summer 2009 officially launches in March but sometimes the etailers get these early, so keep your eyes peeled! These will *fly* off of the shelves.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Essie Spring 2009 Collection Swatches

Hi everyone!

Today I have swatches of Essie's Spring 2009 collection for you. First the swatches and then my overall thoughts on this terrific collection. All swatches here are three coats of color, no topcoat. As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them if you like.

Essie Lacquered Up:
essie lacquered up
Red Hot Crimson. This reminds me of a juicy, ripe tomato!

Essie Flawless:
essie flawless
Cherry Blossom Pink. Nice opaque pink for those of you that do not like sheer ones. I think this is a very pretty work appropriate type color.

Essie Eternal Optimist:
essie eternal optimist
Spiced tea rose. Nice opaque beige-y nude. Another very nice work appropriate color. This is a color I will definitely reach for when I am in one of my nude color moods, which are happening surprisingly often lately.

Essie Mesmerize:
essie mesmerize
Roa va-va blue. Whoa Essie! This one is straight out of left field! Huge surprise, in a good way.

Essie One of A Kind:
essie one of a kind
Poppy red kiss. Fabulous pedicure color! I love this red hot coral. Nice and bright.

Essie Status Symbol:
essie status symbol
Feisty hot pink. It certainly is feisty! Nice hot pink (not neon) that would also make a lovely pedicure color. I am not huge on pinks but I am really digging this one.

Application on all of these was just fine. I used three coats of nail polish on all of these swatches but to be honest with you, the only one that really needed three coats was Lacquered Up. The rest of them were opaque enough to be fine with two coats.

I am seriously shocked, in a good way, by Mesmerize. This color is so hot! It is mesmerizing, no lie. I have been looking for a fabulous blue creme, one that is not blackened, and this definitely fits the bill. 

As far as the other colors, I can live without Lacquered Up, but I am really digging the rest of them! I think that Essie does the soft colors better than anyone else. Flawless and Eternal Optimist are great soft, work appropriate colors. One of A Kind and Status Symbol are great bright colors. With the exception of Lacquered Up, I would absolutely wear all of these colors in real life. I am actually really excited to get a pedicure with Status Symbol!

I think this collection has a nice variety and something for everyone. Two thumbs up from me for Essie on this collection! What do you all think?

Essie's spring collection will be available starting in February at www.essie.com as well as beauty stores nationwide. 

That is all for now. I will be back soon with some reader requested comparison swatches and of course, more spring collections!

xoxo,
Katee


Friday, January 9, 2009

OPI South Beach Collection Spring/Summer 2009 - Swatches Part 2

Hello, dear readers!

Today I am bringing you part two of my OPI South Beach Collection swatches for Spring/Summer 2009. The more I use and play with these nail polishes, the more I love them!

OPI Done Out In Deco:

Gorgeous lilac creme. Need I say more? Ok, I will. This color is fabulous.

Paint My Moji-Toes Red:

Rosy red creme. Not my thing, but there is nothing wrong with this color either. This is one of those colors that falls into the category of something that my mom, sister and best friend would love. 

OPI Clubbing Til Sunrise:

Frosty orange with golden shimmer. I think Clubbing Til Sunrise is the prefect name for this color because when I was swatching it, I definitely thought of the sun. If I have not said this before, I'll say it now - how the heck does OPI come up with these names? I love them! OPI always comes up with the most clever and witty names for their nail polishes. I don't know how they do it.

OPI Suzi & The Lifeguard:

Cool pink shimmer. This is a very girly color! A great opaque pink for those of you that do not like sheer pinks. My sun stopped cooperating during the swatching, so for now, this is not the best swatch of this shade. I will update later when the sun comes out again. 

*edited* The sun came out and so here is an entirely better picture of Suzi & The Lifeguard:

OPI Miami Beet:

Dark raspberry colored creme. I absolutely LOVE this color! My picture does not do it justice. This color is really a few shades darker than this picture suggests. For some reason, colors like this always appear lighter in photographs than they really do in real life. 

OPI Conga-Line Coral:

Rosy orange shimmer. I think this is a shade that my girlfriends with darker skin will be able to rock more successfully than I. But still very pretty!

Ok, so now for my overall thoughts on this collection. I'll be the first to admit, when I saw the promo pics for this collection, I was feeling let down and underwhelmed. But now that I have had a chance to swatch all of the colors, I think this collection has something for everyone.  For lovers of pinks, purples, and summer brights, this collection does not disappoint. OPI also threw in a few colors that are different enough to satisfy those with tastes that fall outside of the mainstream. I know that some of you are disappointed with the lack of a green or blue shade, but hey, all collections can't be everything to everyone.  But seriously, the tie in for a blue color in this collection entitled South Beach would have been soooooo perfect! Either a pale art deco blue or something vivid and shimmering like the ocean. Oh well! But even me, with my tastes for "different" colors, I still found plenty (see below) that I feel are MUST HAVES. 

Katee's MUST HAVES from the OPI South Beach Collection, in no particular order:
OPI Sand In My Suit
OPI Done Out In Deco
OPI OPI On Collins Ave 
OPI Overexposed In South Beach
OPI Miami Beet
OPI Feelin' Hot-Hot-Hot!

Those are my MUST HAVES, colors that I will be rockin' this summer on both tips and toes. 

If you missed the first half of my OPI South Beach Collection swatches, make sure to check them out here. This collection hits store shelves February 4, 2009. 

OK, now that you have seen all of the swatches, I want to know what colors you are feeling! I am really curious, so let me know in the comments.

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed the swatches.

xoxo,
Katee


Wednesday, January 7, 2009

CND Spring/Summer 2009 Nail Polish News and Swatches

Good day, dear readers!

The new year is officially in full swing and so are the 2009 Spring nail polish collections! The first one I have to share with you is from Creative Nail Design aka CND.

CND is currently in the process of a major color relaunch. They have paired down their current nail color offerings to their top 40 polishes and will begin to create seasonal color collections outside of their top 40 colors starting spring 2010. In the meantime, CND will select colors from their core collection that they feel best represent the seasonal trends from Fashion Week.

For Spring/Summer 2009, CND has selected the following shades:

CND Bisou De Lulu:

CND Bisou De Lulu is a sheer white that is build-able to almost opaque. This swatch is three coats, two coats was a little too sheer for me. This is one of the few whites that is not a streaky mess to apply. When my nails were longer I would never wear colors like this because I thought they made my nails look like acrylics. Now with shorter nails, I think a white nail color like this looks very chic and gorgeous for spring. My boyfriend rarely notices or comments on my nail polish, unless it is a green or something else he hates. But he really liked Bisou De Lulu.

CND Moonlight & Roses:

CND Moonlight & Roses is a sheer color that has a white base and tons of pink and violet toned iridescent shimmer. This swatch is two coats. This is a very pretty color, I think I'll try this one on my toes for my next pedicure.

CND Fedora:

CND Fedora is a gorgeous, red toned brown creme. Inside it looks like dark coffee and outdoors in the sun it almost has a bit of a plum tone to it. If your collection is missing a nice dark brown, pick this one up! 

CND Cocoa:

CND's Cocoa was seen on the runway at spring 09 shows for Giambattista Valli, Nina Ricci, Max Azria, Halston, Thakoon, & Peter Som... to list a few. This is a super chic, fleshy nude creme. This was the #1 requested nail color requested at fashion week by designers. 

CND Wildfire:

CND's Wildfire, a red-violet, raged on both tips and toes at Tibi's spring 09 show. Red is one of those nail polish colors that is very difficult to photograph. This picture does not do this gorgeous red justice. This is a super blue toned red, it is SO HOT in person! I do not normally wear reds, but this color is so sexy, I'll definitely wear it as a mani soon. If you are a red lover, Wildfire is a must.

CND Iced Cappuccino:

CND Iced Cappuccino is a light brown metallic. It is a very pretty color but I am not big into metallic polishes. Application was flawless though, no brush stroke issues here.

CND Decadence:

CND Decadence is a dark red that I might also classify as a jelly. Again, another photographic problem child. This red is much deeper in person. 

Application of all of these polishes was flawless, with a capital F! The lacquer flowed onto my nails perfectly. The finish of all of the cremes in this collection was super glossy. These did dry slower than average for me though. At first I used Orly Bonder and Seche Vite when I did a mani with one of these, and it seemed like they would never dry. But then I did another mani with CND's Stickey base coat and CND's Speedey top coat and they dried much faster. So if you don't have luck with your normal base/top coat combo, give CND's a try.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the shades that CND has selected for Spring/Summer 2009. I get tired of seeing the same old boring pinks and pastels. Here we have gorgeous nudes, a vampy brown and two fabulous reds. I think all of these colors are versatile, wearable, and in my opinion, much more chic than easter egg colored polishes (just my opinion!).

CND products are available at Head2Toe Beauty and 8ty8 Beauty - links are under the "where to haul" section of my blog.

That is all for now, dear readers. Stay tuned for more Spring 2009 nail polish swatches coming soon!

xoxo,
Katee

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

CHANEL Moscou/Moscow Nail Russian Nights Collection Swatches

Hi everyone! 

I know you've been waiting for these so I am just posting these swatches quick. I will edit later with more commentary. Bottom line is, they are freaking gorgeous, all of them. These pictures DO NOT do them justice. 

**EDITED TO ADD BABBLING COMMENTARY**
When I say that these pictures do not do them justice, it is because these polishes have a lot of sparkle and fire in the sun that my camera just would not pick up. I almost feel like my pictures make these look a bit flat, and flat they are not. I photographed these in the late afternoon and typically my late morning/early afternoon sun is better. I am going to photograph these again later in the week, the next time the sun comes out. If I am able to get better pics I will share them. 

My favorite is Nuit De Russie, followed by Feu De Russie and Or De Russie, in that order. Click on the pics to enlarge the shimmery goodness. 

CHANEL Nuit De Russie:

Blackened base that is loaded with teal and green micro glitter. There are also sparsely placed pieces of burple micro glitter that really add extra fire and sparkle in the sun. 

CHANEL Feu De Russie:

Blackened base with burgundy, almost magenta shimmer. There are also some larger pieces of red and hot pink glitter.

CHANEL Or De Russie:

Blackened base with gold shimmer. There are also pieces of orange and green micro glitter. This color definitely has an olive look to it. 

Application on all of these was a bit on the thick side but nothing problematic. Sometimes I appreciate a polish that is a bit thicker because I feel like I have greater control over the application and less clean up to do.

So the main question everyone probably has - are these worth $30 bucks each? I think that can only be answered individually. For some people this might feel like a major splurge. Others might not think it is a big deal to plunk $30 bucks down for little luxuries like this. I am sure there are several people that simply can't bring themselves to spend the $30 on a bottle of nail polish. I say, if you like it, and have the money to spare, then get them. And I also cannot blame the people that won't drop the cash and think it's foolish. If I wasn't blogging, and didn't feel the need to show you the latest and greatest, I probably would have only sprung for one or two of these. But I am glad I have them and will definitely wear all of them. 

Well that is all for now. I am spent! LOL literally.

xoxo,
Katee


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

OPI La Collection De France Swatches - Fall/Winter 2008 - Part 1

Good Morning!

As I write this post, I realize that I have gotten a bit out of order with my swatches... I posted Spring 2009 for China Glaze, before Holiday 2008 for OPI, before Fall/Winter 2008 for OPI... oh well! These swatches of the OPI La Collection De France are still to be enjoyed, in my humble opinion. 

I will be posting these swatches in two batches, with the next batch to come in the next day or two.

OPI Tickle My France-Y:

opi tickle my france-y swatch
Nude-ish, pink, creme. This color is so classy and so chic, I love it. One of my top picks from this collection.

OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?:

opi parlez-vous opi swatch

Smoky violet creme. Also super classy and chic, another top pick.

OPI Baguette Me Not:

opi baguette me not swatch
Salmon creme. I kind of thought that it looked "blah" in the bottle but I really like this one on. Big surprise for me!

OPI A Out Bit Of Red:

opi oui bit of red swatch
Bright red with faint magenta shimmer. Very pretty but not terribly unique. Toe color! p.s. as always, click on the pictures to enlarge them. If you enlarge this one you will see the shimmer better.

OPI Crepes Suzi-Ette:

opi crepes suziette swatch
Caramel creme. Another one that looked "blah" in the bottle to me but I really liked it on.

OPI Bastille My Heart:

opi  bastille my heart swatch
Deep burgundy shimmer. Very pretty but probably more of a toe color for me. 

I will have the rest of the OPI La Collection De France for you soon!

Wanted to make a quick shopping note for my newer readers - the best places to purchase OPI polishes online are Transdesign, 8ty8 Beauty, and Head 2 Toe Beauty. Links are under the "where to haul" section (bottom right of my blog). These sites essentially sell wholesale prices to the general public and it is much more economical to order from these sites and pay their shipping prices than to pay retail prices in regular stores for these polishes. These online stores also carry all of the treatment products that I love as well. You will save mucho dinero shopping online at these e-tailers!

As always, please feel free to email me or comment with any questions that you have and I'll definitely get back to you shortly! I want my blog to be a resource for all of  your nail polish and nail care tips and needs, so if you have any questions that you want answered, all you have to do is ask. I love receiving, reading and responding to your comments!

Have a wonderful day.

xoxo,
Katee