OPI Fall 2009 Mattes

OPI has jumped on the Matte-finish bandwagon and that makes this matte-fiend very happy!

Pics first, opinions second.

Alpine Snow - Matte. Stark matte white. Yep, this is the Alpine Snow I remember, just with all the shine removed. I prefer this over the KO Powder white for two reasons. First, this is brighter, whiter, cleaner while the KO is somewhat yellowed looking. Second, this is more opaque, two coats is perfect but the KO took three at the very least.

Gargantuan Green Grape - Matte. Bright spring green. Same as Gargantuan Green Grape, only matte! Now that I'm looking at these pictures on a different monitor, the color doesn't look right. It's a lot greener with some yellow and a lot more saturated. These pictures make it look like a pale mint green- it's not. Or maybe it's just my laptop screen skewing the color. I'm sure you already have Gargantuan Green Grape so you know what it looks like.



La Paz-itively Hot - Matte. Hot pink matte shimmer. WOW. Just... wow. This is a must-have if you like mattes. It looks like hot pink satin. 80's prom dress? It has that same velvet-looking finish that Zoya Posh has. This is just absolutely fantastic. And La-Pazitively Hot will always have a special place in my heart, it was the first OPI polish I ever bought for myself. Although, the matte version seems different from the original. I will find my old bottle to compare.

Lincoln Park After Dark - Matte. I'm not sure about this one. I don't feel that it translated well into matte finish. The original Lincoln Park After Dark has a hidden shimmer to it- it looks like a creme, but in bright light or up close you can see the little particles. This just looks like prunes. Almost black with a little purple. Prunes, or licorice! Maybe I just need to let this one grow on me, because I liked the original. They should have done Midnight in Moscow or Black Cherry Chutney or some other shimmery red-black matte.


Russian Navy - Matte. This one was a total shocker for me! Based on the pictures, it's the one I expected to like the least, but when I tried it on, it was my favorite! I love the matte Navy shade, it reminds me of blue uniforms. Sexy policeman polish. This would look so awesome with a gold or silver chrome Konad star. I really, really love this. What's odd though is that the original Russian Navy is a shimmer and this is a creme. I would have liked to see it stay shimmery cause matte shimmers rock, but I am happy with this the way it is.


You Don't Know Jacques - Matte. This one is... interesting. I like it but it is very unusual. It looks like dried mud! That's pretty cool. This does look a little better in real life, but it's still a strange choice for OPI to convert to matte. In certain lights, the matte finish on this makes it look more grey so that it resembles stones rather than mud.


The formula on these was great for mattes. Not glue-like and sticky! It was thin, but very opaque. All of these had great opacity, only two coats were needed. Near-instantaneous dry time, so be sure to apply these quickly and evenly! Please refer to my Zoya Matte Velvet post for matte application instructions. There is a trick to applying mattes. They are very unforgiving and fast drying, so you really have to be careful to get it right the first time.

I have been wearing these since yesterday and I can report a little on the wear. They don't stay matte for very long. About six hours into wearing them, they developed a more satin semi-matte finish. Not yet shiny, but not chalky matte either. You could see the matte finish starting to wear off. Today they're about the same, half-matte. No shine yet, but they lost the nice chalky-looking super matte finish. I did apply these with a basecoat- Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. So far there is no chipping, cracking or tipwear. And I have applied hand lotion, but the shine that is added from the hand lotion is easily removed when you wash your hands.

I don't really know why the say not to use a basecoat. With these shades in particular, I would definitely recommend using them. In my matte experience, they don't tend to stain, but I would err on the side of caution if staining bothers you. I wear the basecoat because I like to always have treatment on my nails.

If you are applying basecoat, be sure that it is FULLY dry before applying the matte polish. If it isn't dry, the mate polish will crackle, just like those old Cover Girl Crackle polishes. Cool effect, but not exactly what you want to have happen.

Anyway, my thoughts. While I am super super excited that OPI did mattes and that we are seeing more mattes in general, I am somewhat disappointed in the shade selection. I already have these six polishes and if I wanted to make them matte, I could have used a matte topcoat. You can see where this would be frustrating, right? I would have loved to see six NEW shades, mattes unique to OPI. They have the ability to do great things with polish, we've seen them do great colors for years, they're just playing it extremely safe lately. Maybe it's the economy or maybe we can blame it on the boring consumer who only wants to by the most 'popular' best-selling shades instead of trying something new and exciting.

I'm going to see if I can find my original bottles of these colors and see how they compare with a coat of matte topcoat.

Also, once ALL the new mattes are in my hands (Orly and Nubar are next) I'll be doing a comparison with all the mattes I have. So stay tuned for that if you're curious.

Overall, I'm happy about these. The promo pictures were also deceiving, and I am absolutely shocked at how much I love Russian Navy Matte. It always seems to happen that way- I pick favorites and least favorites based on the promo pictures and advertisements and then I end up liking the exact opposite.

OPI Fall 2009 Coleccion de España

OPI's polishes for fall 2009 are another destination-themed collection. This time it's based on the colors of Spain.


Ate Berries In The Canaries. Bright berry pink. Really pretty and surprisingly bright for a fall collection! It's a gorgeous bright pink-purple creme. The sunlight picture pulls out more of the warm tones in the polish while the indoor picture brings out the cool tones. It's in between the two. More pink than purple, a little bit similar to OPI I'm India Mood For Love. Same type of color.


Barefoot In Barcelona. Soft pinkish nude. Another spin on Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge? This one is very putty-like. Odd color. I can't decide if I like it or not. In some lights it seems more brown, in others more pink. It's unusual, but we're seeing more of these colors lately, so I guess it's not as unusual now...


Bullish On OPI. Red-orange creme. This is more orange than red, maybe what I would consider 'brick'. This one feels more like fall to me. I don't get the name... maybe it's a play on words? The only thing I think of when I read "Bullish" is "Bullshit" but I don't think that's what they meant. Intentional or not, I got a laugh out of it!

Can You Tapas This? Red-brown creme. Like chocolate and red wine! Or maybe mole. Not the animal, the sauce. I really like this one, this one is also more of a fall shade.



Conquistadorable Color. Raspberry creme. Not really very interesting, I feel like I've seen this color a million times. It's bright, it's smooth, it's candy-like. Next!


Give Me Moor! Vampy eggplant shimmer. This is really very dark, almost black. Black cherry... Eggplant... A dark, vampy shade with a reddish-purple tinge. It also has barely noticeable shimmer. Applying this is strange- it's a sheer base with a lot of little dark speckles!


Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow. Very dark green with slight shimmer. WOOHOO!!! A real green! OPI did a green, I knew they had it in them! This is just a bit darker than I had hoped, but at least it's green. It does look almost black in most lights. It has a small amount of shimmer like Give Me Moor! but it looks like a speckled creme most of the time.


Manicurist Of Seville. Berry red creme. Nothing wrong with the color at all, but don't we have enough berry-colored cremes already? I'm getting a little sick of them, to tell you the truth... Moving on...

No Spain, No Gain. Red-purple creme. Wow, almost all cremes. I'm surprised! Anyway, this is mostly purple to my eye, but it's a very red based one. So red based, in fact, that it's also veering dangerously close to berry territory.

Pamplona Purple. Purple creme. This is gorgeous!! Absolutely gorgeous! Like I've said before, I can never get enough purple cremes and this one is especially nice. My picture makes it look way more blue than it actually looks in real life. It's not a Can You Dig It? dupe, I'd call it closer to that one from the France collection, the name escapes me at the moment...


Pink Flamenco. Hot blue-toned pink. Another love! And another odd choice for fall. Seriously, brights for fall? Has OPI been drinking too much Sangria? Well, I'm not usually happy about pinks, but I love this one. It's the only type of pink that looks good on me. It's only a couple shades off from Ate Berries In The Canaries, but this is more purple and that one is more pink. Same kind of I'm India Mood For Love cool pink shade.

Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees. Smoky dark blue shimmer. Very strange shade. It looks smoky. Crazy smoky blue. I really don't have many shades like this, this is definitely unique in my collection. The closest comparable colors I can think of are Orgasm Hard Day's Night and Carolyn New York Frankie Joins The Navy, but neither are dupes. So a smoky blue-grey base with barely perceptible shimmer, a lot like the other hidden shimmer shades in this collection.


The formula on these was top notch. Thin, smooth, flawless, super-fast drying, pretty much perfect. No complaints on the formula. Well... maybe... not really a complaint, but an observation... These are thinner than the previous collections. Not a bad thing, but unexpected. The pro-wide brushes in these have also undergone another change. They don't seem as wide and moppy, more flat and square this time. And a cool detail- the brush stem now says OPI! Very cool! One more observation, the labels on these have black text. Did I get a weird batch? Let me know if yours have black text or the traditional three-free indicating green text.

This was an odd collection. The promo pictures were pretty misleading. From the promo pictures I saw, I was salivating at all the pretty purples and vampy shades. I didn't expect these shades at all! And brights for fall?? I'm not complaining, I love brights, but OPI is usually so traditional when they do seasonal collections, I was surprised to see that these weren't all vampy fall shades.

I would have liked to see fewer berry and red shades and more browns or golds or other fall colors. I am craving fall colors right now, so brights aren't doing it for me. I was happy that the two pinks included were my favorite kind. This means I can actually wear them, unlike the unflattering warm pinks they seem to release every 15 minutes.

Overall, unexpected but not bad. I would wear at least half of these shades. This was a frustrating collection to photograph because berries and purples always do weird things to my camera. I'm a little disappointed at all the cremes and berry shades. I was hoping for another Black Cherry Chutney-type vampy fall shimmer collection. But from the looks of it, this will be a creme-filled fall. Haha, that sounds funny.

Official release date for OPI's Spain Collection (La Coleccion De España) is August 5th.

What do you think? Are you as surprised as I am?

More nail polish shades from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics!

If you recall, in my last post about Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, I raved and raved about how awesome the polishes are.

I hadn't tried all the colors when I wrote that post, but now I have gotten to try almost all of them (minus White Noise/Feathered, Inky and Cesare/Tarred.) and my opinion remains the same: These polishes rock. Let's get to the pics.


Pageant, formerly known as Anime. A medium neon pink. As with all neons, this picture can not possible capture the eye-melting glow of neon pigment. So imagine this color, but glowier, brighter, more awesome in real life. This is in the medium to dark neon pink range. While I adore the color, this polish was extremely sheer. I believe this picture was five coats and there's still a little visible nail line.


Bone Daddy. Sheer antique white shimmer. This one is fairly unique among the whites in my collection. It's not a stark, bright white by any means. It's a slightly yellowed, antique-looking off-white with a hint of shimmer. The name is quite appropriate, it reminds me of bone. This one is also pretty sheer, but I think it's meant to be worn that way. I'm not fond of sheers so I did four coats of this to make it opaque. There's still a little visible nail line. This would probably make a very natural looking french manicure tip or base.

NSFW, formerly known as Lucretia. Bright, rich, bold red creme. Another 'LOOK AT ME!!!!" dramatic red. This one seems slightly orange-based to me. Very bright, very noticeable. I liked the name Lucretia because it reminded me of Lucrecia from Final Fantasy VII. But, NSFW is also a great name, so I can't complain.


Rhythm Box. Saturated yet soft red-purple creme. This is a fascinating color. I don't own very many shades that can compare to this. It's not a neon purple like Essie Bermuda Shorts like I originally thought it would be. It turns out is a very unique shade of soft mauve-red-purple. This picture shows it a little more bright and pink than it looks to me in real life.


Spanglemaker. Metallic silver flake. I would almost call this a foil, except it doesn't seem to have the same sparkle that foils generally tend to have. If it makes any sense, I'd want to call this a matte silver metallic. It's silver and kinda-sorta reflective, but it has this matte metal quality to it that prevents it from being too shiny or sparkly. It's not a matte, but it's not chrome either. It's industrial silver. It looks like machine metal.


Uber. Drab taupe creme. I used the manufacturer's description - drab taupe- because I think it's perfect. It's a taupe, tan, light brown... Actually, it could also be described as Chocolate Milk colored. Either way, it's awesome. Unusual. Interesting. I know, drab taupe doesn't sound like an interesting shade, probably quite the opposite. But there just aren't a whole lot of polishes this shade and that's what makes it so interesting to me. Odd is good. And, of course, I love the name.

The formula on these was decent for the most part. All were smooth and even, though I did have a little trouble with Bonedaddy. These seem to be more sheer than the previous shades I tried which were opaque in two coats. In order of sheerness, I'd say Anime/Pageant is the sheerest (five coats), then Bonedaddy (four), Lucretia (three), Spanglemaker (three also) with the most opaque polishes being Uber and Rhythm Box at two coats. Drying time was very good, the more opaque ones dried the fastest.

Now, as I mentioned above, a few of these have changed names. The reason for that is so that they could be the same name as their matching Lip Tar shades. Yes, you can get matching lip and nail color from this brand! I have not yet tried the Lip Tars, though I hear rave reviews from other beauty bloggers. Personally, I'm dying to get my hands on some of the non-traditional shades like Safety Orange, Traffic, Katricia, Rx and Tarred...

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Nail Lacquer is three-free, vegan and not tested on animals. All fifteen polish shades are available directly from OCCMakeup.com and retail for $8.00.

Happy Independence Day!

I was playing around with some of my Art Club striper polishes and did these two designs really quick:

Stars

Stripes

Lippmann Holiday , Art Club Blue Glitter, Art Club Silver Hologram, the silver stars from Love My Nails Glort, INM Out The Door Northern Lights Gold and Orly Prisma Gloss Silver.

I know, they're a little sloppy and uneven, I was just playing around a bit, but I think they turned out pretty cute! I might actually leave this on as my final Fourth of July mani. It's so sparkly, like little fireworks on my nails!

If I don't get a chance to post again, I wish you all a happy and safe fourth of July / Independence Day!

Preview: Misa Fall/Winter 2009 Only Human Collection

Fabulous, Flawed, Feminine, “I’m Only Human”

July 2009 – Philadelphia, PA. Knock me down, I’ll pick myself up. Ask me about my alluring, bedroom eyes, I’ll coyly wink but won’t give away my secret. Spoil me, today is my birthday—I deserve it! I am fabulous, flawed but most of all, intoxicatingly feminine—forgive me for I’m Only Human.

Introducing “I’m Only Human,” the new sexy and vibrant nail collection for Fall/Winter by Misa Cosmetics. This collection celebrates the power and ambition of women who recognize and embrace their own humanity. It offers a rich palette of colors that signify key elements of being human.

Fall/Winter 2009: I’m Only Human Collection
Can’t Nobody Take Me Down: For centuries women have been praised for their mighty resolve in the face of adversity. Today’s modern woman can exude this same level of confidence and power by wearing this inspiring, brick brown colored hue designed to spice up any look year round.

Forgive, Forget, For Me I Will: Versatility, honesty and authenticity, describe the meaning behind this vibrant red-orange shade. Women possess the ability to relate to others in an honest, real way. This color celebrates the humanity and femininity of women.

That’s My Little Secret: A crush no one knows about, the black dress that accentuates just the right curves, a beauty product that seemingly produces magic results. Women love the thought of keeping those little treasures to themselves—however that last little secret? Apply this salacious cherry shade to accent your favorite little dress and your secret just might escape you!

Sorry, Just Can’t Help It: Okay, we admit it. There are certain things in life we just can’t help. Our chocolate addiction, our love of gossip, our fascination with window shopping. This rich violet purple color signifies those things which women love to apologize for.

Today is my Birthday!: Presents, party time and pizzazz! We may not like turning another year older but we love the attention…even when we say we don’t. Today is my Birthday. Cue the gorgeous pink hue and the celebration!

I’m Going to Love Myself: Brilliantly magenta, this color creates a luster that puts the world on notice, that as women we may devote much of our time to work, family and friends, but above all we are committed to loving ourselves for the fabulous, flawed, and ferociously feminine beings that we are—for after all, We Are Only Human.

Release date is August 1st!

A little bit of everything! Hard Candy, Revlon and some MAC

Last night I asked on Twitter what you'd like to see me post today- nail polish, makeup or fake nails. The overwhelming response was nail polish, but my buddy Mazoo had a fantastic idea- post an awesome discontinued color, like a Hard Candy!

Hard Candy Hick. This is long gone, so don't even ask me where to find it because I have NO idea. Anyway, this is one of my favorites. It's a sky blue shimmer base with lots of silvery glitter and a slight pink sheen. It is on the sheer and thin side, but it's SO worth it. Old formula polish filled with chemical goodness. I miss the Big Three.

Why don't people make colors like this anymore?! And furthermore, why did Hard Candy stop making all their AWESOME colors and start making crap colors (and then just discontinue everything)?? They went from having the best, most unique and unusual shades in the universe to making nothing but four crappy sheer pastels. Yeah, Hard Candy... pastel pink shimmer is REALLY edgy... *insert eye-roll here*


Let's move on to a little makeup...


I did this last year and I don't think I ever posted it. I don't remember exactly what I used... Definitely MAC, but I can't remember which shades! Lucky Green and Purple Shower perhaps? My hair looks really black here, but it was purple when I took these pictures. It always looks black the first week.

And, for the fake nails...

Here's a little preview of one of the Revlon Runway Collection nails I got to try. I love this style! I want to do a full review of it, so it will be a mystery until then!


That was fun and refreshing. Maybe I should do this more often!