Coty Purchases OPI (and a rant)

In case you didn't hear, yesterday came the official announcement that Coty had acquired OPI.  Please read the following press release:



COTY INC. TO ACQUIRE OPI PRODUCTS INC.
Coty Adds OPI Nail Lacquers and Nicole by OPI to Its Growing Color Portfolio


NEW YORK, November 29, 2010 — Coty Inc., a leading global beauty company, and OPI Products Inc., a leader in professional nail salon products, today announced that Coty has entered into an agreement to acquire OPI.


The acquisition will enhance Coty's color cosmetic portfolio, through the addition of over 200 fashion forward colors of OPI Nail Lacquer's chip-resistant formula, which has been an international success.  "We view the acquisition of OPI as complementary to Coty and a natural extension of our strategy to offer a unique portfolio of brands that produce some of the best known consumer products around the world," said Bernd Beetz, CEO, Coty Inc. "OPI is both dynamic and high quality and has earned its place as a leading provider to professional nail care salons. This acquisition will allow Coty to expand our presence in the nail care category via an important new channel of distribution: professional salons, and importantly will offer an even greater selection of products and choice to consumers."  


"We are very excited about having OPI join the Coty family. OPI has gained a place in consumer's minds in the US and internationally," said Renato Semerari, President, Coty Beauty. "It is one of THE fashion brands in Nail Color for salons and that is a very unique position to be in. OPI's success is the result of a very focused and high quality effort by the OPI team over the past decades. We are very excited to join forces with such a talented team to strengthen OPI even further in the future."


"It's time for a new era at OPI, and together with Coty we can begin this new journey," said George Schaeffer, President and CEO of OPI Products Inc. "For almost 30 years, we have built a solid foundation of innovation and excellence. We are confident that by joining Coty, this legacy will continue and be strengthened. We are all excited about the next phase of opportunity for OPI. Our management team will continue on with the company and OPI's business strategy will remain focused on the salon professional."


"OPI has a reputation for creating fashion-forward products that make women feel beautiful and Coty is a well established trend setter in the beauty industry," said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, the Executive VP & Artistic Director of OPI Products, Inc. "Together we will continue to push the envelope in beauty, color and trends."


Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is also subject to customary regulatory approvals.


Moelis & Company served as financial advisor to Coty in connection with the transaction. Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to OPI. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisor to Coty in the transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor to OPI.


About Coty Inc.
Coty was created in Paris in 1904 by Francois Coty who is credited with founding the modern fragrance industry. Today, Coty Inc. is a recognized leader in global beauty with annual net sales of nearly $4 billion. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, passion, innovation and creativity, Coty Inc. has developed an unrivaled portfolio of notable brands and delivers its innovative products to consumers in 90 markets worldwide. The Coty Prestige brand portfolio is distributed in prestige and ultra-prestige stores and includes Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Cerruti, Chloé, Chopard, Davidoff, Jennifer Lopez, Jil Sander, JOOP!, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Cole, L.A.M.B. fragrance by Gwen Stefani, La Voce by Renee Fleming, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Nikos, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood and Wolfgang Joop.  The Coty Beauty brand portfolio is more widely distributed and includes adidas, ASTOR, Baby Phat, Beyoncé Knowles, Celine Dion, Chupa Chups, David and Victoria Beckham, Esprit, Exclamation, Faith Hill, GUESS, Halle Berry, Jovan, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, La Cross, Lady Gaga, Miss Sporty, Nautica, N.Y.C. New York Color, Pierre Cardin1 , Playboy, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, Stetson, Tim McGraw, and Tonino Lamborghini.  Coty and Puig Fashion and Beauty S.A. have a strategic partnership for the distribution of the perfume lines of Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, Prada, Paco Rabanne, and Antonio Banderas in the United States and Canada.


For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com.
(1) Not available in North America


About OPI Products Inc.
OPI Products Inc., one of the world’s leaders in professional nail care since 1981, has revolutionized the beauty industry by combining leading-edge innovation with trendsetting, fashion-forward colors. Under the leadership of OPI President & CEO George Schaeffer and Executive VP & Artistic Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, beautifully manicured nails are now seen as the essential fashion accessory.  Preferred by salon professionals and favored by red-carpet celebrities, OPI Nail Lacquer is currently available in 200+ shades. OPI Nail Lacquers contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature a patented Lacquer bottle, ergonomic cap, and ProWide® Brush designed for flawless application.  In addition to Nail Lacquer, OPI also offers an entire range of state-of-the-art quality products for hands, feet, and nails – with more than 30 Patents for the company’s innovative product ideas.  OPI has had a number of successful partnerships, including CW Network, DELL, DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kristi Yamaguchi, Serena Williams, Sony Pictures Screen Gems, Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, Walt Disney Pictures, and Warner Home Video.


For more information, call 800.341.9999 or visit www.opi.com


========================================================
Okay.  Krystal talking.  So there has been MAJOR Internet uproar over this because "Coty tests on animals."  Now, every time I hear this phrase, I roll my eyes a little.  When Facebook applications first started in spring of 2007, I had the unique opportunity to help on one of the applications, and it ended up being wildly successful early on.  That's when the rumors started.  I couldn't BELIEVE some of the things I saw being written about myself and the company I was working for.  The rumors only got worse when my game was purchased by a larger company.  I mean, really, some of the rumors were ranging from interesting to "What on earth is WRONG with people?"  So when ever I hear Internet rumors about another company, I know what it's like to have been on the other side of that coin and how MOST of what I heard about MY company was completely fake, false, made up and just Internet rumor.


So today I decided to learn about Coty.  I had never even heard of this company before the OPI acquisition, despite how many very famous brands they carry.  I was specifically looking as to what does Coty say about animal testing?


I didn't even spend five minutes before I found my answer.  Plain as day, under their "Product Safety" page: http://www.coty.com/#/citizenship/product_safety


We share our consumers' respect for life, and therefore are committed to maintaining the highest possible standards of human safety while eliminating the need for testing on animals. Coty's safety testing policy requires that we meet or exceed all governmental safety laws in each of the 90+ markets in which our products are sold.

Okay really?  All this uproar and craziness and the company flat out says they aren't testing on animals?!  SERIOUSLY?


So I was thinking okay, let me at least CHECK where people are getting their information that Coty is apparently an animal testing company...


Simple Google - "Coty animal testing" - not hard here.  In fact, click on those words there because I love the LMGTFY website. ^_^


First resulthttp://www.uncaged.co.uk/crueltyfree.htm
This page was updated in June 2010, which makes me feel at least decent about the information even if it is almost 6 months old.  Coty is listed as a bad company BUT it's NOT because they have been proven to animal test... it's because they didn't provide THIS WEBSITE with Coty's policy.  I don't know when Coty added the above quoted message to their website, but it must have been after June 2010.  So frankly, this isn't FACT, this is an outdated opinion to me.


Second resulthttp://www.ethicalbeauty.com/animal-testing.html
No date on this page, so there's no telling how old the information is, but Coty is NOT listed as a "bad" company, they are listed as "questionable".  When I clicked on the word "Questionable" I was taken to this website http://www.navs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ain_pt_whois which also said "Questionable" when I entered Coty in the search text box.  That doesn't mean that they are a tester, it means that someone didn't get the above information.  Again.


Third resulthttp://lazybeautiful.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/rimmel-london-coty-inc-animal-testing-statement/
Now this is a blog that an official statement from Coty which states flat out "Coty Inc, does not test on animals."  Need I say more?


Fourth result: Dead link - bad Google.


Fifth resulthttp://en.allexperts.com/q/Animal-Rights-2716/Animal-testing-cosmetics.htm
I am not familiar with this website at all, but it looks like a question and answer type website.  Coty is listed as testing on animals but if you look at the top of the page, the only date listed is for 5/30/2002.  That's very outdated information.  And here I thought "Oh, 6 months is bad."


So please, stop the rumors, stop the nonsense. Do your research!  If you are going to boycott someone or something, do it because you did your research and you believe in your results.

Blogs of Note

Happy Sunday!  Today I have 4 more blogs.
First today is Ali's Nail News.  Ali has short nails and includes a lot of drugstore finds which I really appreciate.  I always forget about brands like Cover Girl, Revlon, or even Sally Hansen, but she has them.


Next is Alizarine Claws.  I love that she shows her nails from the side which properly shows any duochromes and always has a great view of the finish both blurred and in macro.  She has long squared nails and always includes a Swedish word at the end of her posts which I find fun to read.


Next today is All Lacquered Up.  Owner Michelle is one of the big names in polish blogging, according to her website she is the web's first nail focused beauty blog. ALU was one of my original reads before I started Polish Galore for sure.  She not only has one but two nail polishes designed under her now - a whole collection with Barielle and Rescue Beauty Lounge Mismas.  Additionally, she is the only blogger that I know of that has sold all her excess nail products for charity and raised over $700 which she donated to Dress for Success.  She absolutely loves green polish and provides a lot of comparison swatches which is great for finding dupes.


Finally today I have a blog that covers more than just nail polish reviews, trends and tips but rather all fashion, blog reviews and more.  They provide daily content so keep checking back or add them to your RSS feeds now ^_^  Be In Style also has a lot of deals and specials listed which with the holidays coming up, it's like your own personal style guide!


Enjoy!

Nicole by OPI Stuck in the Chimney

Part three of four from Nicole by OPI's Holiday Magic winter 2010 collection - Stuck In The Chimney.  At first, I was pretty unimpressed by this color until I got it outside and saw that it's not just another red, but rather a vampy maroon red with a slight gold shimmer to it.  I'm a SUCKER for reds with gold - like - I will buy you every time.  Plus after playing with glitter for awhile, I was really happy for a shimmer.


I used a base coast of OPI Natural Nail Base, 2 coats of Stuck In The Chimney and then ended up using Seche Vite to top.  I'm not loving the dry time on OPI Top Coat, and I didn't notice any problems with the Vite.


In the sun, this color doesn't look nearly as maroon as it does in the shade, and the gold is completely hidden, but you can see that the color wears really well for me.  The formula was very nice too - smooth and good consistency.
Oh hello love.  In the shade you can start to see a bit of that maroon gold coming through - so pretty.  I will definitely wear this color all year long - not just in the winter.  Very nice.


Nicole by OPI is available beginning at ULTA, Meijer, Harmon, HEB, Sears, Wal-Mart and more for around $8 a bottle.  For more information, visit their websitefollow Nicole by OPI on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Nicole by OPI Spark My Mistletoe

I was most excited about this color from Nicole by OPI's Holiday Magic winter 2010 collection called Spark My Mistletoe.  It looked like a red glitter with circle reflective glitter.  What I didn't expect was that this was actually a clear base, not colored like China Glaze Ruby Pumps.


Coat test!
I think two coats works just fine especially if this color is pared with a base color underneath.  I do really live the reflective crystal which is actually hexagonal, not circle glitter.


I used a base coat of OPI Natural Nail Base and OPI Top Coat.  Time for some sun!


Shade picture!
Such a pretty color but for me, this will definitely go in my "Must be layered over another color" pile.


Nicole by OPI is available beginning at ULTA, Meijer, Harmon, HEB, Sears, Wal-Mart and more for around $8 a bottle.  For more information, visit their websitefollow Nicole by OPI on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mini Turkle 
©
(fluff)Friends, SGN
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers!  I hope you've either had your fill of turkey and mashed potatoes and dinner rolls or you're smelling the pies cooking or something like that!  Today is a great day to tell people you love and appreciate them and how thankful you are that they are in your lives - I am thankful for every single one of you!

I'm still debating on what color to paint my nails but I just went back to nubbins after one break and one jammed finger (ow), but this was from a couple of days ago when I was testing some water marbling.  I did not use a base color but should have.  This is China Glaze Chocodisiac, marbled with China Glaze Code Orange.  Enjoy!

gobble gobble

Nicole by OPI Liquid Metals

Please enjoy the following press release

Notice-Me Nails!

Nicole by OPI Nails High-Impact Drama with
New Liquid Metals Collection


Nicole by OPI ignites a mesmerizing look for the New Year with Liquid Metals. Featuring four new metallic Nail Lacquers ranging from shimmering sea foam to sophisticated champagne, Nicole by OPI’s Liquid Metals collection offers the season’s must-have accessory.
“Dress your nails with Liquid Metals to make a chic fashion statement with a high-shine finish,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Nicole by OPI’s Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Metallic shades are perfect to wear with all clothing colors, adding some easy edge to your wardrobe.”
The Liquid Metals collection from Nicole by OPI includes:
Miss Independent
A violet with a shine of its own.

The Next CEO
A highly motivated metallic gold.

Rich in Spirit
This metallic silvery blue-green is all you really need.

It Starts with Me
A metallic champagne that channels your inner shine.

Nicole by OPI Nail Lacquers and Nail Treatments contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Liquid Metals will be available January 2011 at ULTA, Walmart, Target, Sears, Harmon, HEB and Wegmans.
For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!

Nicole by OPI Bring On The Tinsel

Remember this promo picture of Nicole by OPI Bring On The Tinsel from the Holiday Magic Winter 2010 Collection?  Well, I received this color in the mail, and it's not a brown gold glitter.  Surprise!
Quite different, eh?  I think of tinsel being a goldish brown with some hint of green and red (thanks Mom), but this is more of a blue tinted silver.  It's actually made up of tiny red, blue, green, silver and gold glitter in a clear base.


Here's a simple coat test - and oh yes, it was super hard to remove (being a glitter and all), but the formula was fine - no problem there.
If worn alone, I'd go with 3 coats but if worn with a base color underneath, 2 coats will do.


I used a base coat of OPI Natural Nail Base and a top coat of OPI Top Coat.  SUN!
You can really see the blue and green pushing through.


Shade!
Oh Tinsel - I do love you.  Maybe this year I'll show y'all my awesome (and CHEAP) way to make a table top Christmas tree using wire hangers, tinsel, and Christmas lights ^_^.


Nicole by OPI is available beginning at ULTA, Meijer, Harmon, HEB, Sears, Wal-Mart and more for around $8 a bottle.  For more information, visit their websitefollow Nicole by OPI on Twitter or become a Facebook fan.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Migi Nail Art Update

Soooo I don't know what happened with Migi Nail Art - their rep totally disappeared on me, so I'm sorry there wasn't more information posted about the giveaway, but thank you to the 54 readers who signed up.  I'll be verifying and adding up the entries and posting a winner soon.  ^_^

Apothica Giveaway Update

The post to sign up for my $25 Apothica Giveaway is still located here but due to an angry computer virus, the Tweet didn't get posted until today for 2 extra entries.


This is the Tweet from Apothica that you need to ReTweet in order to get 2 extra entries for my giveaway.


If you already signed up for the giveaway and now want to RT the above tweet for 2 extra entries, just fill out a new entry form - I'll just merge whatever is a duplicate manually.  Thanks!

Zoya Julieanne

I don't know how this beautiful shade sat on my testing shelf for so long...  It's amazing!  Zoya Julieanne is from the 2010 Fall Wicked and Wonderful collection (Wicked) and is listed as a Byzantium purple sparkling metallic.  So apparently Byzantium is just a dark shade of purple - knowledge is power ^_^


I was absolutely thrilled with this color.  I always forget how smooth Zoya applies and am always happy with it when I put it on.  I used a base coat of Zoya Anchor, 2 coats of Juileanne, a top of Zoya Armor and another top of Seche Vite (to make it dry faster for me).


Look at that beautiful color in the bottle!  And holy cow, my nail just all of a sudden got super long!  It almost takes on a glass fleck look instead of a metallic.  Lovely.


In the shade, you can really see the richness of this color.  The ONLY downside was that inside in ridiculous yellow light (I hate yellow light bulbs), this color was super dark - almost black.  I was in church with my son when he said "I like your nail polish" (we're still working on indoor voices) and I noticed two women kind of look at me and wrinkle up their noses.  Oops.  ^_^  I ended up wearing this color for a couple of days because it was just so stunning.  Love it.


Zoya [official website] can be purchased on their website for $7/bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Cherry Love

Did you take advantage of the Rescue Beauty Lounge, who by the way, is now on Twitter, 50% off sale?  When I heard rumors (which are still just rumors) that this would be the last sale of its kind, I narrowed it down to 4 shades and pulled the plunger.  I do own Scrangie but realized last night that I haven't officially swatched it yet - and I need to!


One of the 4 colors that I purchased is Cherry Love, listed as a "Popsicle-fuschia, the love child of hot pink and sizzling red.  When pink is too tame and red is too expected, give this glamorous shade a try."  I always have heard from other bloggers that the Rescue Beauty Lounge cremes are super smooth but I did find this one to be just a bit thick.  I'm not sure if it just needed time to adjust to the Texas humidity (is that real?) or what - but I didn't have that hard of a time applying - just needed to wipe a little extra off my brush.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Cherry Love and a top of Seche Vite.
In the sun, you can see how smooth the formula comes out - I do love how cremes look on the nail, which is funny... years ago I was all about glitter and nothing more.  Now I love the look of glitter on other people because I know how hard it is to remove heh.


One shade picture - just a tiny bit of VBL, but I may be the only person to see it - you can see a bit of red-blue in the bottle, but not too much.


Now, I've heard (again from other bloggers) that RBL doesn't play well with Seche, but I didn't have any problems.  I have 3 more colors here plus Scrangie and so I may be doing a wear test soon.  ^_^


Rescue Beauty Lounge is available for sale on their website for $18 a bottle.  You can Like her on Facebook as well as follow her on Twitter.

Blogs of Note

Happy Sunday!  I have 3 more blogs here for you.
First today is Vampy Varnish.  Blog owner Kelly has short to medium nails and has also started to blog about makeup too.  She gets some advanced releases of certain brands, so she's a good one to watch if you like reading about things way ahead of time.  I do wish that her RSS would load the whole post the first time.  I always have to click the "Read more" from my reader, which I haaaaaate because it loads in a new tab but I'm more inclined to comment because it does load the blog ^_^.  Kelly also created a line of nail polish with BB Couture found here.


Next is Inside Of My Purse which actually a Turkish blog but owner Zuzu writes in both Turkish and English for her readers.  She has short nails and reviews a lot of cremes with other finishes as well.  She recently moved so she was on a bit of a break since everything has been packed up.


Finally today is A Polish Problem.  I love that she promotes other blogs every Friday in her "Blogger Round Up" which includes new and just new to her blogs.  She's one of the people who inspired Blogs of Note.  She was also listed as a Top 50 Nail Blog by SpaBeautySchools.com.  Megan has short pear shaped nails which I have never seen before.  It's great to see a variety of nails out there, and blogging has certainly done that.


Enjoy!

China Glaze Jolly Holly

Oh look!  More icky weather!  I seriously couldn't get a good picture of Jolly Holly to save my life due to the cloud coverage.  Everything just looked gross which is sad because China Glaze Jolly Holly from the Winter 2010 collection is a super pretty dark green shimmer!  China Glaze actually had it listed as a forest green shimmer.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 1 coat of Jolly Holly and a top of Seche Vite.  Very nice formula - completely opaque in one coat.  I'd also like to mention that I didn't have any staining of my nail or of my hands after wearing this color - something that always scares me with greens.


I really am sorry for just having this one nasty cloudy picture - I promise the color is pretty dang awesome!  Additionally, I think it would be very beautiful with some Konad stamped in Cheers To You!



China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

SkinCare Rx Coupon

As you may have seen, my Apothica giveaway just started last night and I got an email that their sister site, SkinCareRx is having a Friends and Family sale from now until 1 December, 2010!


This code will give you a 25% discount on SkinMedica and other brands which now accepts PayPal (and frankly, I prefer using PayPal these days, personally!)!


Friends and Family Coupon* Code: FF25
*Excludes some brands.

Disclosure: The above post is a paid insertion in exchange for a gift card from the company.  I do not receive any compensation if you click on the links in this post or if you use the Coupon Code for a purchase.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Sale

Just in case you haven't heard, nubar is offering 30% off retail orders of $30 or more now through November 30th with code NOV3030. Free shipping on orders of $75 or more after the discount is applied. Visit them at www.bynubar.com to take advantage of this offer!

Stealing is not fun

There has been a rash of websites popping up using other bloggers' pictures and in some cases, their own blogs. I thought I was slightly immune because I'm still new to the game, but I'm not a spring chicken anymore.


Please do feel free to report these posts as well - here's the ones of mine that I know (and have reported) so far.


Again, I did NOT authorize users taking my images and/or blog postings.


China Glaze Gelato http://www.luuux.com/health-beauty/china-glaze-gelato 
China Glaze Ingrid http://www.luuux.com/health-beauty/perfect-fall-nail-polish-0
China Glaze Seduce Me http://www.luuux.com/health-beauty/china-glaze-suduce-me
Nicole by OPI Bring On The Tinsel (image only) http://www.luuux.com/health-beauty/what-i-did-my-make-gift-cards
Sephora by OPI Club Scene Queen http://www.luuux.com/health-beauty/sephora-opi-club-scene-queen 

Flat Irons

Considering my birthday is in exactly one month from today, and I'm definitely feeling like I'm getting older, I've decided that I needed to start caring more about my appearance.  Nail polish/long nice nails was part of it, but I've also started wearing eyeshadow and lipstick (still not getting into foundation/powder), and actually taking care of my hair.  I have very straight hair, as I showed you in a blog posting awhile back, so I never thought I needed a flat iron until I had my hair done at a salon.  It's crazy how much nicer my hair looks when it's been flat ironed - all the little flyaways are down and the hair almost shines.

However, my knowledge of flat irons is pretty non-existent.  All I know is what friends tell me and there is a kiosk in the mall that constantly tries to ask me "What flat iron do you use?"  Now, I like to read up on products before I buy, and recently I was told about a flat iron reviews website where some of the top rated flat irons can be found.  The best part for me is custom searching with the different tags.  If you're looking for a certain brand, this website has them listed alphabetically or if you have no idea (like me), you can browse by type as well.

I currently own 3 different flat irons - none of them have brand names that I can even remember, and all were very cheap.  I have a tiny traveling one that I used on my bangs when I first cut bangs this year, and I had a wet to dry flat iron that I loved but my Mom took to use for herself, and then I have one that I currently use that I just know gets really hot, really quick.  But just owning a product is half the battle - you have to know how to use it and of course, you have to use it.  At the very bottom of the review website are some tips and advice including how to create wavy hair with your flat iron and even how to clean it.

Do you own a flat iron or plan to get one during this holiday season?

Disclosure: The above post is a paid insertion in exchange for a product from the company to be reviewed for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.