OPI Sheer Tints Top Coats Swatch and Review Nail Art MEGAPOST! (OPI Be Magentale With Me, OPI I'm Never Amberassed, OPI I Cant Teal You Like Me, OPI Don't Violet Me Down)

Alright, so I have been saving "the best for last" so to speak. I wanted to leave my blog unattended with a "good one" so, here it is. I'll be on a plane to Europe in no less than 6 hours and I'll update here and there when I am over. But in the meantime, here's my 30 photo MEGAPOST of the new OPI Sheer Tints! To kick it off, here's my current nails and what I'll my wearing on my fingertips to Euroland:









I did the above nails using Saran Wrap, as advised to me by Caitlin from Addicted to Lacquer. I didn't think it would work because of the top coat formula, but painting the top coat directly onto the wrap and dabbing it made for an AWESOME look. I finished the look by outlining all my nails with a fine nail art brush and Essie Good As Gold, then finished it off with a coat of Seche Vite! REALLY happy with these!

But when I first saw these sheer tints, I just saw people swatching them over white, or over their bare nail and I found ZERO appeal. I thought they were the stupidest things I had ever seen. But then Amanda from Sweetheart Nail Art posted Sailor Moon transformation nail art and I was sold. OK, fine. I'll bite the bullet.

Here's what the OPI Sheer Tints look like on the bare nail. From left to right: OPI Be Magentale With Me, OPI I'm Never Amberassed, OPI I Cant Teal You Like Me, OPI Don't Violet Me Down. (Yup, OPI does indeed take the cake on worst puns ever!)

Here's one coat...



Here's two coats...



Here's three coats...



And here's OPI Sheer Tints over top one coat of OPI White Alpine:

One coat...



Two coats...



Three coats...



As you can see, they're nothing really special on their own. The formula is top coat, so it can be fairly "goopy" when applying. You can also easily get bubbles due to layering and thick application, but I don't think it's too bad. The great thing about the thick top coat formula is that it's SO easy to mix colours! They just sink right into each other!

But I truly think that OPI Sheer Tints are destined for something better... They work flawlessly together. Here's the initial experimenting I did - Amanda told me she only picked up the magenta, amber and teal sheer tints as they are primary colours and can mix well with one another.

Here's a "primary only" experiment with sheer tint "blobbing":



And added violet sheer tint...







And of course, how does it look with OPI Matte Top Coat?



... Pretty fucking good. I added some geometric shapes (which actually kickstarted my obsession with outlining my nails and doing geometric patterns but I have improved since)...



... They're OK.

I tried to do fishtail tints but was unable to control my brush work. Instead I made some pretty crazy vibrant rainbows!







And this is what made me think, "yes I am SO glad I got these"... Caitlin suggested I tried the Saran Wrap nails. I looked up how to do Saran Wrap Nails - you paint on one coat of polish, let it dry, paint another colour on top and before it dries, dab some of it off with Saran Wrap. Unfortunately, that would never work with because the top coat formula is VERY thick and adhesive, and it would make a mess! Bbbbbbut I painted saran wrap pieces with sheer tints and I looooove the look! They look like Poprageous' Heaven Legz leggings!







And of course... Started getting obsessing with the geometry and outlining, so this is what it started going into...









Looks pretty good with OPI Matte Top Coat too:



Here's a bare nail gradient rainbow with OPI Sheer Tints - I don't like it too much as I applied too many coats and should have left it more sheer but it's still cool you can do this.







I hope you enjoyed this OPI Sheer Tint megapost! I know you can replicate a lot of this nail art with acetone but sheer tints makes it SO easy. Honestly, I am in love. (Love them so much, I had to take them on my tips to Europe with me! High praise!) Yes, the formula is VERY thick - it's top coat, after all - so you might be surprised at first on how they apply, and how they mix but I think you get used to it rather quickly and will be happy with the mixing results. It just works!

Anyway that's all for now, I'll update next weeks at some point on my Europe adventures! In the meantime, have you seen these OPI Sheer Tints? What do you make of them? What nail art would you attempt with these babies?

Rainbow Honey Sample (Large Grab Bag Christmas 2013) and OPI Pure 18k White Gold and Silver Top Coat Swatch and Review

I have returned. I had this hiatus going on for a while and I didn't mean for it - I was out of country, then backlogged in photos, then went through a break-up. It's been good times, it's been bad times but I've always had this nail blog in the back of my mind and I miss it - quite truly! It's my birthday today which means I have a birthday hail from Sephora to share with you this week as well but I figured I should kick off a comeback post with some actual NAILS!

So Rainbow Honey had a great promotion during the Christmas season and if you spent $75 or more, you would receive the "Large Grab Bag" - what I didn't know is that it would also include a FULL SIZE bottle of a "Sample". Now whether or not it's going to be some sort of upcoming shade, I don't know - but on a clutch, I was trying to figure out what to do for New Years' Eve nails and this is what I ended 2013 and started 2014 with! To glam it up even more, I added one coat of OPI Pure 18K White Gold and Silver Top Coat and I think it just killed it.

This Rainbow Honey Sample is a bit of a royal blue that has hint of purple shimmer. It's very subtle. Formula was a bit thick so it was best to do thin layers. This is my swatch in three coats with Seche Vite top coat:









And lastly, here's that OPI Pure 18K White Gold and Silver Top Coat. Just one coat brought this type of coverage! I'm pretty happy with it:









Anyway.

I just want to say thank you to any of you who have stayed by the blog and followed it. I want to give a special thank you to My Ten Friends Nail Polish for giving me a massive shout out on Facebook, giving me a surprise influx of Likes just in time for my birthday. I hope I won't have to go on hiatus like that again.

I'm also sorry for the shabby cuticle care - haha! There's something I'll have to resolve this year.

Anyway, let me know how your 2014 has been so far. Are you killing it this year? Any big changes? I hope all of you have had an amazing winter, and I can't wait to catch up on the trends and share our swatches this year.

OPI Casino Royale Swatch

Hey guys, just a vanilla post for you today. My nails all broke when I was out of town so I am dreading having to swatch anything. If you could believe it - my Cinderella hand is killing it! Haha, at least I've got an option for a last resort.

Today I'm sharing OPI Casino Royale from 2012's winter collection from OPI inspired by James Bond. Casino Royale is a vampy plum creme. Formula wise it goes on in two self-leveling coats. It finishes very smooth and glossy on its own. Here's my swatch in two coats:









Ugh I feel so weird lately. I am really just wanting to get drunk with a friend and take headshots while trying to do our make-up like Lady Gaga's in the music video Applause. I just think it would be a hilarious time.

Anyway, this polish is really nice and vampy. Just right for the fall and winter season (although I am the type to wear a colour like this all year round!) It's not that unique but it's still a pretty polish.

What do you think of vampy colours like this? Did you pick up any polishes from the James Bond collection?

OPI Pink Friday Swatch and Review (Bonus: Rainbow Honey The Power of Love)

Alright so first thing's first. Please vote for my photos in the Rainbow Honey Outfits contest! I have a few entries but the ones I am gunning for are my Breaking Bad X Heisenberg outfit and my Galaxy Nails X Galaxy Skirt outfit. Please vote for me, it would mean the world to me!

Other than that, today I've got a polish that in the short attention span world of polish, could be a throwback! This is OPI Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection. It is sort of like a candy pink creme, still very vibrant but maintaining an *almost* pastel touch. Almost, not quite. It's still bright, but it's definitely not in your face! Formula wise, this one's great - a self levelling two coater creme. OPI has so many of those and this doesn't not make an exception! Here's my swatch in two coats with no top coat:









And for funsies (this was going to be another entry but I decided against it), here's one coat of Rainbow Honey The Power of Love over top!:











And that's my Crescent Moon Wand necklace from Kuma Crafts!

Anyway that's all for today's Monday - a Pink Friday! Maybe I should have waited? Aw well - my mindset wants it to be Friday! What do you think of OPI Pink Friday? Too vibrant for you? I say it's just right! And please, remember to vote for me for the RH outfits contest! Thanks to any of you who do.