Continuing with the sorbet section of the Texas collection is Guy meets Gal-veston, an 'engaging" coastal coral. Okay, I've said it before but I'm going to seriously say it again. OPI, who does your promo pictures? See my bottle picture? Here is the one that OPI produced in their press release.
What?
Anyway. I used a base of OPI Natural Nail, 3 coats of polish and a top of OPI Top Coat. As with sorbets/jellies, this is not opaque.
Even though it does have a watery squishy finish, it's not bad - I could see myself being able to deal with this color pretty decently.
Here in the shade you can see that it can definitely hold it's own. It's more red than coral to me, but it's still pretty for the summer.
Finally indoors with the flash and you can see a bit of VNL on my middle finger. I think this is probably my favorite so far for the sorbets.
OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [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.
This has been my favorite Eye Dust to date from Jesse's Girl - Peek-A-Boo a light lavender with blue duochrome shift. Big, big fan. I think I may have to wear this one on August 1st at Cosmoprof. ;]
Even in the shade, this color is VERY me. I love this one!
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
Hey look, it's another black crackling polish! Nicole by OPI's Black Texture. I decided to use my previous manicure from yesterday as my base.
Unfortunately, I found this polish to be thick, muddy and it wrinkled up on me on the nail. It just needs a little thinner, which is pretty typical of crackle/texture/shatter polishes.
Boo older brush. Never knew I'd miss the Perfect Brush that just came out.
Now, I decided to attempt something more than just the normal crackling.
Normal on the pinkie and ring finger (I actually paint my nails from pinkie to thumb), butt hen I tried horizontal stripes on my middle finger and sideways on my index finger. I think I'm happy with just "normal" vertical lines instead.
In the shade, you can see how it's a bit wrinkly on me as well as bumpy.
Finally indoors with the flash - I like this color combo a lot! And I really like that crackle hides the whole weird jelly/sorbet finish.
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 website, follow 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.
I watch way too much Toddler and Tiaras on TLC, because as soon as I saw the word "Glitz", I was thinking of glitter and flippers and spray tans. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's quite okay. Jesse's Girl eye dust Pink Glitz is a light pink base with very pale pink shimmer. Very pretty for a night out or your daughter/little sister. Sadly, I have neither but that's cool. Above picture is in full sun.
And here it is in the shade - you can see that very pale pink up on the top of the swatch that I was mentioning previously. Lovely little color.
So I tried to take a picture of my eyes but um, fail. Lots of fail. I have a huge new respect for beauty bloggers (face) because it's HARD.
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
Going back to the OPI Texas Collection, Big Hair...Big Nails is listed as a "rosy pageant peach." Okay, I may not be a color expert, but this is no peach. Or is it? The odd thing about these jelly/sorbet colors is that it's not going to look like its bottle.
I started with a base coat of OPI Natural Nail, 3 coats of polish and a top coat of OPI Top Coat. On my index and middle finger I put down a base of OPI Alpine Snow just to see if it would make a huge difference.
In the sun you can't really tell the difference between the polish alone and the polish over Alpine Snow. I guess I picked the wrong shade to try it with, haha.
In the shade you can just barely tell that there isn't a smile line on the first two fingers but there is on the last two fingers.
Here's where the difference comes in - indoors with the flash. The nails (index and middle) with the Alpine Snow layer appear brighter (and a bit streaker) than the other two which are polish alone. So is it worth it for a layer of white under? Not for this color.
OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [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.
So today's Eye Dust by Jesse's Girl is Key Lime and it's just like the pie as far as a lemon lime eye pigment. Above is it in the sun.
I also got a shot in the shade - it doesn't have near as much sparkle here... more matte looking like some of the other shades.
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
Call it Texture, call it Crackle, call it Shatter, or call it Grafitti - crackling top coats are all the rage for 2011. Nicole by OPI announced in late May that they would be throwing their hat into the ring with 6 colors. Nothing new to the game - still the same kind like OPI... the one down side is that while Nicole by OPI changed to their new "Perfect Stroke" brush back in January, there are still some issues with getting all their bottles with the same new brush. That was the case for most of my Texture collection (confirmed with the Nicole by OPI press relations representative).
I decided to use my existing (and botched) manicure from yesterday with OPI Houston We Have A Purple, and just add one coat of White Texture. I topped it with OPI Top Coat.
One good thing about texture/shatter/crackle is that it can hide a bad manicure. I don't like that this white isn't as crisp as OPI White Shatter but it still works. Part of it, for me, was having that thin brush instead of the "perfect stroke."
By accident, I caught a picture with natural lighting. Pretty stuff!
Here it is in the shade - still nothing new.
And finally indoors with the flash. Not bad, not great, not unique, not terrible. I will, however, stick with my OPI White Shatter for my white crackle/shatter/texture needs.
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 website, follow 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.
So this was kind of my experiment into "Just post a swatch" but now that I see it, I want more. Hah. This is Jesse's Girl Sparkle Red which is actually slightly more pink than red. The base is the same color as the shimmer, no duochrome effect. So which do you like better? Lots of pictures in different lights or just one simple "Hey, this is it?" type of posting?
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
Continuing with the Texas Collection is Houston We Have A Purple. Just a note - I avoid driving in Houston as much as possible. Houston is scary. This polish? Not so much. This purple sorbet (jelly) is just a bit too thin for me.
I used a base of OPI Natural Nail, 2 coats of polish and a top of OPI Top Coat.
Welcome to sheer town! You can see my smile line on every nail. Additionally, I accidentally got a hair in my index finger so as I pulled it up, it made the polish pull like plastic sheeting. It also wrinkled up on my middle finger. Go figure.
In the shade, it's not much difference. But just check out the bottle - see how watery this is? I can see how nail techs were frustrated. I do like the actual color though - it's a light plum with a bit of a berry red to it. Very pretty!
Indoors with the flash so you can see how sheer this comes up. This collection showed me that I don't like sorbets (jellies) as much as I thought. :[
OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [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.
I know I'll be reswatching this later as well but for now here is Jesse's Girl Eye Dust Blackstar Blue, a dark hued pigment with light blue sparkles. This is one pat, dry, no extra added.
Here in direct sun you can see the light blue sparkles really shine through.
Slightly shifted in the sun and you can see how dark the base color is.
And finally in the shade this color really has a matte feel to it, so it might be a lot easier for me to wear out since blacks normally make me shy away.
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
Update 12 September 2011: ManGlaze, cheeky fellows they are, have renamed this polish "NawSome Sauce".
The finale in the upcoming ManGlaze shades to be released later this year is Gleen Rantern, a forest green matte. Next to Metal Licka, this was the color I've been most looking forward to, since I have slowly started getting into green polishes. This is worn with no base, no top coat, and only one coat. Best part, there was zero staining from the polish - very important to me!
Additional shade picture so you can see how well it wears. I haven't tried it against Zoya Veruschuka yet, but I think this is more green and less blue.
And here it is with a top coat of Seche Vite.
Loads of sparkly goodness!
And just some additional shiny goodness. Again, this color has not yet been released.
You can purchase ManGlaze on their website. You can Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company because of a Twitter giveaway. For more information, please read this post.
I'm still learning with these makeup swatches. I kind of like just posting "Here's a swatch" and moving on but how helpful is this? I know that my makeup posts get far less comments (and my page views have dropped significantly) but I don't blog for fame or fortune, I blog to share and to serve as a graphic database for myself and others. (Especially for myself.)
Today's Eye Dust from Jesse's Girl is Rouge Flambe, a dark red - almost rusty color.
In the sun, you can see some shimmer.
However in the shade, it almost looks matte. I made the decision to still swatch dry, but instead of one pat using the sifter, I patted with the sifter, then added a bit more with my finger. I think after my Antique Green gone wrong project, this is a better way to show the pigments off. I'm going to end up having to redo swatches at some point for my previous ones but that's okay - I'm not too far into this project, so no big deal.
Enjoy your Sunday! This time next week, I'll be in Vegas at Cosmoprof North America - Las Vegas!
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
Bouncing around a little again to the Zoya Touch collection and today is Minka, a latte beige creme "with a metallic kiss." I used a base of Zoya Get Even, 2 coats of polish and a top of Zoya Armor. The formula was a little on the thick side but it was overall nice.
My nails are in horrible shape right now... I'm waiting until Wednesday to get my nails shaped for Cosmoprof. This is a delightful nude but that's about it for me. It did give me a bit of lobster red hands which was weird considering the color but very office appropriate.
Much cooler in the shade - more of that mocha color I was thinking of.
And finally indoors with the flash - slightly shimmery, mostly a creme - good times.
Zoya can be purchased on their website for $8/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.
Normally, I'm obsessed with green eyeshadows. It's one color that pretty much always looks good with my brown eyes. However, Jesse's Girl eye dust in Antique Green just didn't have a lot of oomph for me. As soon as I opened my pot, my finger slipped and I ended up with a chunk of it under my nail.
Look at all that sparkle.
Okay so sun time
In the sun you can see that it doesn't really have much punch behind it which granted, this is one swipe, dry, no primer.
Sun take 2 and you can see the dark base of the green without all the pretty sparkles.
The shade is pretty lackluster as well. I'm very sad about this because I absolutely have loved these eye dusts but this one fell short. It was already too dark green for my tastes but the lack of opacity and pigment just didn't hit a home run.
Jesse's Girl sells for $4.99 a piece online or at Rite Aid stores. You can visit Jesse's Girl on their website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.
Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me using store credit for external work I provided. For more information, please read this post.
