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Friday, March 30, 2018

OPI Lisbon Collection Spring/Summer 2018 Swatches and Comparisons

Long time no see y'all! I have taken a major break from nail polish and blogging, in fact I had naked nails for the first 6 weeks of 2018... I have been so busy with life that I have let self-care go. In an attempt to take better care of myself, I am hoping to get back in to nails and nail art. I completely skipped the Fall 2017 and Holiday 2017 OPI collections but when I saw this collection I felt inspired again. No these are not unique or ground breaking shades, but I am a sucker for a classic OPI creme shade. I'm hoping these polishes do not disappoint. There are 18 shades in this collection, 12 core colors, 3 Ulta exclusives and 3 Sally Beauty exclusives. I picked up 5 core colors, 2 Ulta exclusives and 1 Sally Beauty exclusive. Side note, does anyone know how long Sally Beauty has had exclusives??? Also, new year new style right? I'm going to swatch the polishes like normal, but now my comparison shots will be done using swatch sticks. My OPI collection is getting out of hand and usually there are more than 4 polishes that I want to compare so swatch sticks will make that possible.
Swatches
A Red-vival City
This is a bright, hot red toned orange. Summer perfection in a bottle. I did 3 thin coats for preferred opacity and brightness. 

Suzi Chases Portu-geese
Although OPI describes this as a plain white, I'd say its slightly lilac tinted. Like so slight, its practically white until you see it next to a true white. The more I look at it, the more I question the undertone. Sometimes I'm sure it's blue, but then it looks almost pink, then neutral. It is a mystery to me. It is a pretty thin formula, but it isn't particularly surprising given the shade of this polish. I did 3 thin coats for opacity. It dried shiny and smooth and I totally love this polish.

Closer Than You Might Belem
Three creamy perfect coats here. I love colors like this. It isn't super original, but I seriously love it. OPI describes this as a coastal sea green and I think thats totally spot on. This polish polish has total beach vibes and is perfect for spring and summer. 

Tile Art To Warm Your Heart
I did 2 coats for opacity here. The formula was thinner than normal perfect OPI cremes, but it built up smoothly. I like rich blues like this that are slightly cool toned but not blurple-y.

Lisbon Wants Moor OPI
Three thin-regular coats here. I love this kind of polish. It has a pretty decent formula for a milky color like this. This color is a cool toned and slightly dusty very very very pale pink.  I have this polish on my toes already and I don't think it will be changing any time soon.

Climb Every Castle (Ulta exclusive)
*disclaimer- photographed more beigey-nude than it really is* This is a milky, warm toned, pale pink. Its a great neutral and actually makes me look tan! I totally love this even though the formula is kind of meh. It took 3 thin coats for even opacity, but totally worth it in my opinion.

Can I Bairro This Shade? (Ulta exclusive)
This is 3 thin coats of minty goodness. This is pretty, but not very original at all. 

Set Apart by Tile Art (Sally Beauty exclusive)
This is a very pale blue that is seriously almost white. On my nails it looks almost white, but when put next to something actually white the blue tones come through. The formula is very thin, but it isn't patchy at all and builds opacity easily in 2nd and 3rd coats. I used 3 thin coats for opacity, but maybe could have gotten away with 2 think coats. 

Comparisons
A Red-vival City
Meet My "Decorator" vs Me, My Selfie, and I vs Aloha From OPI vs Living On The Bula-vard vs Race Red vs The Drummer Is Hot (aka A Roll In The Hague) vs Red Lights Ahead... Where? vs Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It vs A Red-vival City
I'm not sure if any of these are dupes, but they are all awfully close. 

Tile Art To Warm Your Heart 
Rich Girls and Po'boys vs Super Trop-i-fiji-istic vs My Pal Joey vs Tile Art To Warm Your Heart
Not dupes, but Joey and Tile Art are so so so close that unless you love blue polish you probably don't need all of these. 

4 neutrals from this collection:
Lisbon Wants Moor OPI vs Climb Every Castle vs Suzi Chases Portu-geese vs Set Apart By Tile Art
These are obviously not dupe, but as they are all pale neutrals from this collection I wanted to see them compared with each other. 

Suzi Chases Portu-geese and Set Apart By Tile Art
Suzi Chases Portu-geese vs Set Apart By Tile Art vs My Boyfriend Scales Walls vs I Cannoli Wear OPI vs It's In The Clouds
For sure not all dupes, but all of these neutral off-white shades show their true undertones next to Portu-geese. 

Climb Every Castle and Lisbon Wants Moor OPI
Climb Every Castle vs Lisbon Wants Moor OPI vs It's Pink P.M. vs Let's Be Friends
Not dupes, but Pink P.M. and Castle are very close. Lets Be Friends is the coolest and most white based pale pink of all the options. 

Climb Every Castle (pointer/ring) vs Lisbon Wants Moor OPI (middle/pinky)
Both are 3 thin coats, Lisbon is a better formula for sure. Considering the shade differences are minuscule I would recommend Lisbon over Castle, unless you love pale neutrals like this any then I would say go with both.

I wasn't planning on doing any comparisons on my nails but I just had to see how these two look on the nail. They are so close and I really like both of them, but I'm not sure how necessary it was to put these in the same collection.

Fly vs Can't Find My Czechbook vs My Dogsled is a Hybrid vs Closer Than You Might Belem vs Can I Bairro This Shade
Not dupes at all. Next to Belem, Dogsled looks like a true green when alone it looks like a nice dusty teal. 
It's a Boy vs Suzi Without a Paddle vs Gelato on my Mind vs Can I Bairro This Shade vs Close Than You Might Belem. 
Gelato and Bairro are so close, I would consider them to be almost dupes. When I picked this polish up at Ulta, Gelato had been put in the Infinite Shine slot for Bairro. I love this color but I don't know if someone would really need both of those polishes. 

Final thoughts, I love this collection. It may not be the most original, but I totally love all of the polishes I picked up. In fact, I'm reinvigorated about OPI and have already purchased the entire Summer 2018 Grease Collection and will have those swatches/comparisons ready ASAP. 

Did you pick up any of these new OPI shades? Its been 5 months since I last bought any polish, what have you picked up recently that I should check out? 

Stay Sparkly,
A

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Phoenix Nail Art

Continuing with the @clairestelle8challenge for March is Phoenix nails! This mani is inspired by @mira_susannanails on instagram. For this mani I chose to use Darkest Before Dawn from Envy Lacquer because the name symbolizes a rebirth similar to what a phoenix represents. This polish is so special to me because I actually got to name it, and it celebrates the rebranding of Envy Lacquer. If you'd like to pick up your own bottle of this stunning polish, you have to join the Facebook group Envy's Entourage as it is a group exclusive.
Polishes Used:
Envy Lacquer Darkest Before Dawn
OPI Got The Mean Reds
OPI Coca Cola Red
OPI A Red-vival City
OPI Yellopalozza

Envy Lacquer Darkest Before Dawn swatched

Stay Sparkly,
A

Monday, March 5, 2018

Unicorn Nail Art

I'm trying to complete the @clairestelle8challenge March nail art challenge to get my mani mojo back! This month is all about mystical creatures, and the first day is unicorns! This design was inspired by a cake that I saw on instagram.
 
 
Polishes Used:
OPI Suzi Chases Portu-geese
OPI You're Such a BudaPest
OPI Kiss Me I'm Brazilian
OPI I'm Gown For Anything
OPI Closer Than You Might Belem
OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby

Stay Sparkly,
A

Lilo and Stitch Nail Art

Hey Guys! This mani is super special because it was done in part of a collaboration for Melody of Envy Lacquer's birthday! Melody loves all things Disney, but she loves Stitch most of all so naturally I had to feature Lilo and Stitch for this mani. Also, this mani was inspired by Samantha of  @samrosenails on instagram. My cuticles are a hot mess right now, but for Melody I'll pretend they don't bother me and do this special birthday mani. This red, Envy Lacquer Lady M is sadly discontinued, but if you can snatch it up DO IT!! Seriously could have been a 1-coater and dried so fast and shiny. I have had this color for almost a year and for some crazy reason this is the first time I'm using it.
 
Colors used:
Envy Lacquer Lady M
Envy Lacquer Zero
Envy Lacquer Blue Razzberry

And for fun, here is the collage of all the manis done for Melody's birthday:

If you feel like it, hop over to @EnvyLacquer and send Melody some birthday love.

Stay Sparkly, 
A