Perfectly Polished Tips 262 - Lemming Fulfilled

Before I get to today's polish post I just wanted to say thanks for entering my giveaway! I love hosting them. I have emailed both winners and will be sending their polish grab bags out soon :)


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Every once in a while I will come across a polish that I HAVE to have. It doesn't matter if there may be something similar out there, I need the real thing. A few years ago OPI did an Alice in Wonderland collection with a gorgeous blue polish. At the time I had no internet access and no stores with polish near by. I missed out on the entire collection and tried to just forget about it. I let it go for a while but I just could not forget about Absolutely Alice. I don't do ebay, I can't. I will put a polish on my wish list and let it sit for years in hopes of it somehow finding it's way to me. Recently I was lucky enough to have a bottle of Absolutely Alice find its way to me. I put it on immediately and I never want to take it off. I have the tiniest chip on the middle finger of my right hand but I am seriously considering doing a touch up and more top coat. That is how in love I am with it.

This is two coats of Absolutely Alice over one coat of Jessica King Tut's Gem. I don't think the Jessica was really needed but I wasn't sure about opaqueness and I didn't want to do too many coats of the OPI.

So many thanks to the lovely lady who swapped with me and sent this polish!

Perfectly Polished Tips 260 - NOTD Monday OPI DS Mystery

For some reason I thought this polish was a lot more purple. Maybe batch differences? I just purchased this polish recently. It looks very brown in most lights, think the glitter bits make up for it though. It's a lovely fall polish. Two coats.

I found this in the clearance bin at Ulta, I'm not sure if that means it's being discontinued or not. 

Check back in this week, I'll be posting a giveaway :)

Perfectly Polished Tips 255 - Essie Stroke of Brilliance

A few months ago I picked up Essie A Cut Above which was very unusual for me. It's a fun polish but so out of character for what I normally put on my tips. A couple of months ago I saw a promo image for a blue version and I knew I had to have it.

I layered Stroke of Brilliance over OPI Russian Navy Suede. I wore this combo last weekend and I really enjoyed it. I didn't wait long enough for the OPI to dry before applying the Essie. There is quite the bald spot on my index finger. I used two coats of the Essie and one of RN. I don't think Stroke of Brilliance would be opaque on its own. I want to say that I tried with A Cut Above and after three coats I still had some nail space visible. I prefer to layer glitters but that is just me.

OPI Russian Navy Suede was an untried for me, I have almost the entire Suede collection. I am missing Ink and it has been on my wishlist for a while. I don't know if these are still available any where. If anyone knows where I can acquire Ink please let me know!

Perfectly Polished Tips 237 - NOTD Monday

I did this NOTD when my nails were still long. Unfortunately I am not cut out to have long nails and I have been sporting nubbins for about a week now. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!

This is Essie Body Language topped with OPI Mod Hatter. We had very little sun last week so the pictures are not the best.

I had wanted to do a neutral manicure because I thought it would look very chic on long tips. I ended up hating this combo, which is odd because the first time I wore Body Language I loved it. It may have been because I wore it on short nails.

Are there any colors meant for long tips? Or colors that should only be worn on shorties? I know everyone has different opinions on this, I feel like if you like it rock it.

Have a great week!

Perfectly Polished Tips 223 - OPI Get in the Espresso Lane

This was supposed to be a NOTD Monday post! We don't have cable, we haven't for probably about 18 months now. We did however sign up for Amazon Prime because who doesn't need to stock their bathroom with 42 rolls of toilet paper at once? Thanks to Amazon Prime my kid recently discovered Go Diego Go! Whenever a computer is turned on she thinks it is Diego time...she is completely obsessed. I have been spending a lot less time on the internet because of this. It's probably a good thing though.

This week's NOTD is OPI Get in the Espresso Lane. It's from OPI's Touring America collection which was released last fall. In the bottle it is a murky, brown, kinda grayed out creme. I was hoping that it would be similar to the bottle color on my nails. It pulls way more gray and looks like cement on me. It's still a very nice color but with the beautiful weather we have had here in NC it is way too dark and drab.

The formula on this polish was decent, I had a bit of pulling which gave bald spots. One nail has three coats of polish because the first two were not even at all. The worst part of it all was the brush! I already have a strong dislike for the pro wide brushes, this one had bristles sticking out every which way. I tried to attack it with cuticle scissors but I was not that successful.

Yea, that is my steering wheel. NO I WAS NOT TAKING NOTD PHOTOS WHILE DRIVING! Who do you think I am? The high way FOTD taker from MUA? :)

In all seriousness though please don't take photos while you are driving. Not only are you putting yourself in danger but all the other people on the road! I was parked when I took these.

Zoya Surf & Beach landed here today! I hope to have swatches up over the next couple of days.

Perfectly Polished Tips 219 - Essie Pretty Edgy & OPI Jade is the New Black Comparison

Happy Weekend! I just have a quick comparison post for today.

Essie Pretty Edgy and OPI Jade is the New Black

Two more of my favorite polishes, I honestly do wear these often. Pretty Edgy is a lot more on the green side than the OPI. Before using Pretty Edgy for the first time I thought it was going to be a similar jade, if you will, color. After finishing my nails I felt so out of my comfort zone. I was wearing green! I don't wear green polish. After a couple of days though I loved it.

As you can see in the above photo they are nothing alike. Jade is the New Black is on my index and ring finger and Pretty Edgy is on my middle and pinky.

I love them both and I think both are an awesome addition to any polish stash.

 

 There is still time to enter my Sneekpeeq Giveaway!

Perfectly Polished Tips 216 - RBL Teal & OPI Ski Teal We Drop Comparison

l-r RBL Teal & OPI Ski Teal We Drop

In case you haven't noticed teal is pretty much my favorite color polish to wear. The creme-ier the better :) I purchased Rescue Beauty Lounge's Teal first and it was love at first stroke. RBL's formula is amazing, pretty much all of the ones I have are one coaters. To me there is nothing better and easier than a polish that is good to go with one coat. Being that I love the color so much I had to purchase OPI Ski Teal We Drop. I had read online that it was pretty much a dupe to RBL Teal but I didn't care.

pointer & ring = OPI, middle & pinkie = RBL

This photo is one coat of polish, you can see a difference not only in the color but the coverage.

pointer & ring = OPI, middle & pinkie = RBL

Two coats and the RBL is slightly darker. The OPI has awesome coverage with two coats of color.

pointer & ring = OPI, middle & pinkie = RBL

Three coats and you can't really tell the difference. I don't really purchase OPI much anymore to be honest. I absolutely hate the pro wide brush. I have small nail beds and most times I make a huge mess when using OPI. I will purchase if there is a color I feel I absolutely must have but if I can find in in another brand with a normal brush I go for that one.

I like the formula on both of these polishes, however if I had to chose one I'd pick the RBL. 

Perfectly Polished Tips 185 - NOTD Monday

Today's Nail of the Day is OPI Visions of Sugarplums. I believe this polish was an Ulta exclusive 2 winters ago. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to wearing it, it's a beautiful polish. I did decide to do a month of glitter. I had wanted to kick things of with Lippmann's Superstar but it chipped before I had a chance to snap a photo. I apologize for the tip wear in this photo. I am always running around like a chicken with no head this time of the year. I thought I was going to miss getting a photo but I forgot how well OPI wears on me. This manicure is 2 coats of polish w/ Gelous base coat + Poshe top coat.

sunshine.

indoor - no flash

This polish may only be available on ebay however I did read recently about random Ulta exclusives being spotted at CVS. so you could check there although I don't find this polish to be overly unique and there are probably a few dupes out there.

Perfectly Polished Tips 104 - OPI My Private Jet

I take back every mean thing that I said about OPI My Private Jet. Today was MPJ day over at the MUA nail board and I wanted to participate so I decided I would give this polish another chance. This polish has been quite lucky because I think this is the 4th or so time I've given it another go in hopes of loving it. Usually I don't do that. I layered My Private Jet over SpaRitual Solitude and was instantly in love. I guess I have just been layering it over the wrong colors. I tried a basic black, grey, and most recently white. None of them looked good to me, and honestly I would have never thought to try purple. I can only imagine what it would look like over blue, or red, or even hot pink.

1 coat of My Private Jet over 3 coats of SpaRitual Solitude

I'm really glad that I gave this polish another go. As I posted before there are two versions, this is the holographic version. The other is sparkley but not holographic. I think the Polish Addict posted pictures a few weeks ago if you are curious.

After counting my untrieds I decided that for the rest of this month each manicure and pedicure I do will be out of that list. I'll try to make it ones I haven't photographed.

Perfectly Polished Tops 103 - My Top 20 Part II

Here is the other half of my top twenty, in no special order.

Essie Ballet Slippers - my favorite neutral, it's just clean and neat

OPI You Don't Know Jacques - another weird one..honestly I love it purely because it's a creme

SpaRitual Solitude - unique dusty purple and it's a creme

OPI Hollywood & Wine - another classic red

Zoya Yasmeen - this glows..it's such a gorgeous color

OPI Don't Know Beets Me - my go to pedicure color

Zoya Nina - looks like chocolate!

CND Blue Blood - only polish I "needed" a back up of

Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot - bold but still wearable

butter London Henley Regatta - this is a pedicure only polish and I usually layer with Color Club Bizerk Turq

Well there you go, a complete list of the polishes I'm currently loving. Anyone else want to share their top picks?

Perfectly Polished Tips 102 - My Top 20 Part I

So some people have 1 favorite polish or maybe 5. I however have 20 "must haves" that I would like to share with you. Some are my all time favorite, some are from newer collections. These are the ones I am loving at the moment. Although when I think about it this list isn't really fair, as I haven't worn all the polishes I own. Yet. I will admit that I have an unreasonable amount of untrieds but we'll save that for another day! Here is the first half of my top twenty list. In no special order.

China Glaze White Kwik Silvr - reminds me of winter and the glitter is amazing

Nicole Pinkerbell - soft, girly and Tinkerbell is my favorite

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic - unique but chic..it's a fun color

OPI Got the Blues for Red - my HG red creme, it's classic

Zoya Kalista - one of the few glitter polishes, it's so pretty

L'Oreal Emerpor - my newest obsession..dark blurple (more purple) creme

China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway - perfect blue creme

butter London Portobello Pink - fun summer color..usually I use it on my toes

Lippmann Collection Fade to Black - 1 coater, great for layering

OPI Designer Series Glamour - looks awesome layered over OPI Dating a Royal

Perfectly Polished Tips 101 - Metro Chic & You Don't Know Jacques

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic and OPI You Don't Know Jacques are two popular colors that were released this fall. I did separate posts on both of these polishes but I never compared the two. The question of are they too similar to own both comes up often. In my opinion no they are not similar at all. Metro Chic goes very purple on me while Jacques pulls a lot of brown. Jacques is also darker than Metro Chic. Of course this is going to vary from skin tone to skin tone.

The lighting today made MC look very grey, usually I get more of a purple look from it.

In real life and in natural lighting Jacques doesn't look this brown. I like it either way though.

Here are the colors side by side. You can see that the tones have changed again, which makes me think it's a pretty versatile polish.

I love both very much and I love that they are cremes even more. I switched to posting large size photos, does it make much of a difference? You can always click on the photo for a bigger one but I think that might also have to do with my photo bucket settings. Let me know what you think.