Nicole by OPI Coca-Cola Preview

Nope, you didn't read wrong--OPI is doing another collab with Coca-Cola. This time, it's a part of their "little sister" brand, Nicole. I love me some Coca-Cola, but I'm not 100% convinced there was a need for another Coke-branded collection. Either way, I can't really complain, because the colors look very nice! Take a look!

Always A Classic Coca-Cola

 

DC Lover

Zero Is My Hero

 

Seriously Citrus

The Look Is Orange

 

In Grape Demand

 I'm definitely loving on Seriously Citrus, plus DC Lover and Always A Classic Coca-Cola look promising to me as well. I was wild about Coca-Cola Red from the original OPI collection but I was originally a bit surprised they made it a creme rather than a metallic, which would match the finish on the iconic Coke cans. So I'm happy to see they put in a metallic this time around. 

Look for these this March!

Essie Coat Couture

Essie Coat Couture is a purple-leaning grey satin with soft iridescent blue shimmer. I love how effortlessly chic this shade is! I can see myself wearing this a lot come fall. The finish and the color together bring to mind a luxurious leather hand bag--you know, a classic one that goes with everything? I absolutely adore grey polish and I am really living for this one!

Coat Couture looks stunning all on its own, but I couldn't resist popping on some topcoat to see that gorgeous shimmer come to life. Look how pretty and twinkly it is!

The formula is one of the best I've seen from a matte/satin. It's very creamy--no streaking or dragging. I used two coats here.

I thought I'd be hard pressed to find a shade from the Cashmere Matte Collection that I liked more than Just Stitched, but Coat Couture is giving it a run for its money! Both are wonderful, classic shades that benefit even more from the understatedly chic look of the satin finish.

PSA: Fake OPI Update

Seeing as it continues to be one of the most popular posts on my blog, I wanted to let you guys know I've updated my How To Spot Fake OPI post with new information for 2015. I try to keep that post as up-to-date as possible and OPI has made some pretty significant changes to their bottle labeling this year--probably their biggest re-design in the past five years. So if you like to buy your OPI online, you might want to take a minute to look over the changes so you know what to look for with new, authentic OPI. Happy hunting! :)

China Glaze Electric Nights Preview

UPDATE: Now with official shade names and bottle shots!

Nowadays everyone does a summer neon collection, but in my mind, China Glaze did it first. They've released neon collections for years! So leave it to CG to shake things up this year with neons that glow even brighter under a black light. I hate clubs (give me a good book and a mug of tea instead any day) but it's still a cool idea. The collection, Electric Nights, features nine cremes and three matte glitter topcoats, to create a splatter effect.

Violet Vibes

 

Plur-Ple

 

Glow With The Flow

 

Red-y To Rave

 

DJ Blue My Mind

 

UV Meant To Be

 

Home Sweet House Music

 

Treble Maker

  

Daisy Know My Name?

 

Point Me To The Party

 

Let The Beat Drop

 

Can I Get An Untz Untz

 

These puppies are slated to drop in April. I feel like I already have a lot of neons (plus Essie's look really promising this year) and as I mentioned, I won't get any use out of the black light function, but I might pick up a shade or two if there's a standout when I see these in person.Maybe the minis set and one of the glitters? We'll see!

Do you like the wave of neon polishes each summer or are you over it? I am all about brights, but now that there are soooo many neon collections, I gotta admit I could do with a little more variety sometimes.

Sneak Peek: Essie Summer 2015

 Essie is cranking out the brights this summer with a huge batch of new polish! There is no official info on this collection (Or collections? Essie has been doing both a summer AND a neons release lately), but I did find some promo shots floating around, so I thought I'd share what I've come across:

 

 

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It may just be an early preview, but so far I am loving the collection(s)! The color variety looks wonderful, so if Essie can get the formulas right for these (I know that's been a concern in years past with their neons in particular), then they should be a big hit! And you know I'm personally loving that there are so many blues and greens here. ;)

2014 was kind of a lackluster year for Essie in my books, so I'm happy to be falling back in love with the brand this year. What are your thoughts on these?

Twinsie Tuesday: Julie G Hot Cinnamon

This week, we're showcasing polishes we received in a swap. One of my most frequent swapping partners is my fellow Twinsie Amanda and I chose this beautiful Julie G textured polish, Hot Cinnamon, to show you guys today! Hot Cinnamon is a warm, rich red texture with bits of gold shimmer. This originally came out as part of a holiday collection and you can see how it would be a natural fit for that aesthetic. I love how bright and luxurious it looks!

Hot Cinnamon has a stellar formula--super smooth to apply and the consistency is just right. It is almost a one-coater, but I used two here.

A huge thanks goes out to Amanda for hooking me up with this polish! There's only one, super sketchy Rite Aid in my area, so I can never find the new Julie G collections anywhere by me. But she was kind enough to be my Julie G connection!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Orange You Glad?

I'm home visiting family this weekend, so I thought some nail wraps would be a good choice for the trip. I recently picked up a whole bunch of Sally Hansen Salon Effects (some of my favorite nail wraps) on clearance. It's extremely rare for me to pay full price for nail wraps, given that I like to change my polish so often, but I always try to stock up when I find them on sale. I think these only set me back like 99 cents!

This design, Orange You Glad?, is a creamsicle orange base with darker orange snakeskin detailing. I love this fun, colorful twist on a snakeskin pattern!

So far, the wear seems typical to my experience with Sally Hansen wraps--some visible tipwear on the first day, then near-ironclad durability from there on out. I didn't wear topcoat this time (the wraps have a smooth, shiny finish all on their own), but when I do, the wear is even better!

Happy Hands Motherboy

Let's take a moment to pour some out for Happy Hands. They closed up shop last year, but I still love wearing their awesome polish...while mourning the lack of future additions to their Arrested Development-themed collection. :-/ One of my favorites from that set is Motherboy, a matte pastel glitterbomb(!) with  pops of pink, purple and green in a clear base. The temperature has been below zero for the past couple days, so I needed some spring color in my life! I paired Motherboy with OPI That's Hula-rious! and together, they're like a little garden party on my nails. :)

I love this combo! It's so cute and colorful! Pastels are some of my favorite shades to wear, so to have them all together like this in one mani is perfect for me!

What is your favorite defunct polish brand?

OPI That's Hula-rious!

The reason I bought this polish can be summed up in three words: it's mint green. This blog is pretty much a love letter to green polish and I have a special weakness for pastel greens. This one has a cooler tone to it, giving it a fresh, soft look. Seriously, how yummy is this color?!

I feel like my skintone looks really off in this picture, even though the polish itself appears color-accurate. Maybe the color just makes me look more tan? Hmmmm..... Anyways, it's practically a given that mint greens are streaky and this one is no different. The consistency of the polish is spot-on, but I needed three coats to even out the bald spots.

This is 1000% my kind of color. I absolutely love it! I limited myself to this and Is Mai Tai Crooked? from the Hawaii Collection, but the set is filled with gorgeous shades! Which ones did YOU pick?

Twinsie Tuesday OPI Is Mai Tai Crooked?

This week, we're matching our purses to our nails! I know we've done this theme at some point in the past (I remember doing my nails like my L.A.M.B. clutch) but I have plenty of bags, so I don't mind! :)

I bought my picks from the OPI Hawaii Collection not too long ago, but I've been so busy with "real life" junk lately that I haven't had as much time to paint my nails as I would like. I've been dying to wear them though, so how convenient for me that one of the polishes, Is Mai Tai Crooked?, is a pretty close match for one of my Coach purses!

As for the polish, it's a light orange that makes me think of creamsicles and sunshine!

I really wanted Where Did Suzi's Man-go? from last year's Brazil Collection, but I convinced myself it wouldn't look good on me and in the end, I regretted not getting it. So when I saw that Mai Tai was similar, I wasn't going to pass this one up! I'm glad I didn't, because I actually think this color looks super cute! It's different from what I would normally wear, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Hope you enjoyed this little peak into my closet this week!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Essie Just Stitched

This is one of the shades I was most looking forward to from Essie's Cashmere Matte Collection. Just Stitched is a baby pink satin with iridescent blue shimmer. Comfy In Cashmere looked kinda blah with my skintone, but this? This I like! It's so clean and pretty. I feel like a ballerina when I wear it. :)

I expected the formula on this to be a bit problematic--you know how temperamental pastel pinks can be--but it was surprisingly nice. It was noticeably smoother than Comfy In Cashmere and much easier to apply. I used three coats here. Weartime was respectable too, especially when you take into account that I didn't apply topcoat. I wore this for three days until I got a big ol' chip on my right index finger, but prior to that, I didn't even have any real tipwear!

Just Stitched has got to be one of my favorite Essie polishes in a while. Yep, file this one under "instant classic" cuz it is all kinds of gorgeous! I love the color and the satin finish together; really puts a contemporary spin on pastel pink polish. It looks like pink porcelain--so smooth with a soft glow to it. The lighter base color also allows the shimmer to come through, even without topcoat. I honestly didn't have the heart to try this one with topcoat. I think the satin finish is a big part of what makes Just Stitched so interesting!

Sneak Peek: OPI Soft Shades 2015

There's not too much information out there (yet) about OPI's 2015 Soft Shades Collection, but I thought I'd share what I've come across so far.

If it's too small for you to read above, the names are, from left to right: Put It In Neutral, Act Your Beige!, Chiffon My Mind, Petal Soft, This Silver's Mine, Make Light of the Situation

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The Soft Shades Collection are traditionally not a favorite of mine and it looks like this year's is about what you would expect: sheer neutrals with a metallic pop here and there. I'm intrigued by Petal Soft though!

If past years are any indication, these should drop sometime in early March. I feel like I'm still too busy lovin' on the Hawaii Collection to already be looking ahead to Soft Shades! But is there anything YOU are looking forward to from this collection?

Twinsie Tuesday: Anti-Valentine's Day Mani

 Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is this Saturday. This Twinsie Tuesday, we're all falling into the "hate" camp with anti-Valentine's nails! I personally am kinda "eh" on Valentine's Day. I'm not really a candy and flowers kind o' girl. The bf and I will probably be eating dinner at Denny's (it's my favorite restaurant--yes, really) and playing video games on the couch, which is exactly how I like to spend my evenings. :)

All I could really think of for this was to do black nails, but I wanted to try something a little more interesting. I did some Iggy Azalea-style "Black Widow" nails a few weeks ago and I thought the idea of some more literal black widow nails would be perfect for an anti-Valentine's mani! Plus I love this fierce bitch...

...so win-win! I'm willing to bet Natasha is not a Valentine's Day fan. ;)

Anyways, for my nails, I used Rimmel Black Satin, OPI Over And Over A-Gwen and a black Sharpie marker to make this:

The Sharpie got a little smudged when I put topcoat on, so I tried my best to tidy it up. I doesn't look amazing, but it took me an embarrassing number of attempts to even get this looking halfway decent, so I'll take what I can get. :p

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alaina at The Little Canvas