OPI - I Vant To Be A-Lone Star

I'm attending a wedding tomorrow and will be wearing a yellow/gray floral dress and this color was calling my name. I Vant To Be A-Lone Star is from OPI Texas Collection (Spring/Summer 2011). 


After doing a little sleuthing, it appears that the name of this lacquer comes from a famous Greta Garbo quote from the movie The Grand Hotel. 


Wikipedia states that Garbo saying, "I want to be alone..." became so popular that "in 2005 it was voted the 30th most memorable movie quote of all time." I guess there is something to these collection names, after all.


Description: Isn't she lovely? On my skin tone this shows up as a creamy gray frost (EDIT: definitely a pearl finish not frost) with blue undertones but OPI describes it as a starry-silvery blue.  Whatever the case may be it will look good on anyone!

Similar To: China Glaze Sea Spray is almost a dupe for this out of my collection. It is also said to be very similar in hue to Essie Sag Harbor.


This Look: One coat of Starting Over After Artificials, two coats of I Vant To Be A-Lone Star, and one coat of Shine & Hold topcoat.


Price Point/Availability: You can still find this lacquer at some salons and online retailer for up to $8.50.


Have a great weekend everyone!

Pink Wednesday: OPI - Come To Poppy

Come To Poppy is from OPI's Spring 2011 Nice Stems Collection.  The only thing I can say is that this is not what I imagine the color Poppy to be; to me Poppy is a bright orange-red.  It's still nice though.


Color Description: A pearlized shimmering hot pink frost with lavender duo-chrome, Come To Poppy is bright and cheery.


Similar To: Unique finish but similar in color to many hot pinks on the market.


This Look: One coat of Growing Nails Garlic base coat, with one coat of Instant Artificials, two coats of Come To Poppy with one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.


Price Point/Availability: OPI retails for $8.50/ea, however, this may not be readily available as it was limited edition.  I'm sure you can get this online and it may still be at select salon locations.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Bronze Ablaze (09/24/2011)

If this isn't a Fall color, I don't know what is?  Not only does this lacquer remind me of Autumn, it also reminds me that it's time to switch out my closet from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter.  Browns, rusts, and olives will be the theme of my wardrobe for the next six months.  But back to the topic at hand, Bronze Ablaze...


Color Description: Bronze Ablaze is a great name for this lacquer because it glows from within with golden undertones reminding me of a beautiful bronze statue. Shows as a frost in certain lighting.


Similar To: Nothing that I can think of or that I own.


This Look: Two coats of Bronze Ablaze and one coat of Maybelline Infinite Shine. 


Price Point/Availability: This is a recent Fall 2011 edition to the Sally Hansen line.  I'm not seeing this available anywhere online, however, it should be available at most drugstores.


Talk to you lovelies later!

Pink Wednesday: OPI - I'd Like To Thank...

OPI I'd Like To Thank... is from the 2007 Holiday in Hollywood collection and "pink" definitely comes to mind when you put this on.  In the bottle it's a copper duo-chrome, though..

Color Description: I'd Like To Thank... is said to be a mauve-pink by OPI. I definitely agree with the pink but it reminds me of a brand new copper penny, leaning towards the dark rose gold with fine green and gold shimmer giving it a duochrome effect.

This Look: One coat of Starting Over After Artificials and two coats of I'd Like To Thanks... with no topcoat.  In my previous post you will find that I topped this with Pros & Bronze which made for a lovely pairing.

Do you have this one? What did you think of it?

Maybelline - Scene On The Runway Collection Swatches (Fall 2011)

The new Scene On The Runway Collection from Maybelline caught my eye on Thursday (yesterday) in Rite Aid and so I decided to "participate" in the BOGO50 promotion that was ending.  

These were the three that I thought I must have...

Cool Couture is a dark gray with fine turquoise blue shimmer
(Ott light w/ light box)

Here's another look at the shimmer
(incandescent lighting)

Natural Beauty is a nice deep tan creme and
is almost a dupe for OPI San Tan-Tonio.
From top to bottom: STT, NB, STT, NB - close, eh?
(NB is a shade or two deeper than STT)

And lastly, Be Scene In Green a medium green frost
(not special enough, IMO)

I am definitely going back for the purple shimmer that I overlooked called Purple Trend!  See it here on Nouveau Cheap as well as glimpse at the rest of Maybelline's new Fall 2011 line.  


So far, what do you think?  Have you seen this in stores yet.  My sales associate just put these out today and I'm glad I stopped by! :)

Pink Wednesday: OPI - Blushingham Palace

OPI Blushingham Palace is this week's choice for Pink Wednesday.  Originally from the 2003 British Collection, Blushingham Palace is fit to be worn to the Royal Wedding. :)

Color Description: Described by OPI as a cool light mauve, Blushingham Palace is a medium pink frost with mauve undertones.  Not too frosty, though, it's a nice balance of frost and shimmer.

OTT Lighting and Light Box

Similar To: Nothing I know of or own.  One of a kind...

Incandescent Lighting

This Look: Three coats of Blushingham Palace (no top or base coat)

Halogen Lighting

Price Point/Availability: Blushingham Palace is discontinued but can still be found at some brick & mortar stores and 99.9% of the time it will be clearanced out.  This can also be found online, if interested.

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Kleancolor - Holo Yellow/Catherine Arley #801 Comp

Just out of curiosity I swatched Kleancolor's Holo Yellow on my pinky so that I could compare it with Catherine Arley's #801.  As you can see the coloring is very close in color but the finish is totally different. 

The finish of the Catherine Arley is jelly and linear (very sophisticated), while the Kleancolor Holo Yellow is a bit more frosty and definitely a scattered holo.

Again, if you can't get your hands on Catherine Arley's version, Kleancolor will definitely do!

Pink Wednesday: OPI Pistol Packin' Pink

Window Lighting

Happy Wednesday, my wonderful readers!  Today I decided to wear Pistol Packin' Pink from 1999's Wild West Collection.  Still wanting to keep my nails interview-ready, I thought this would do the trick and maybe even "pistol-whip" someone into hiring me, with my winsome words and well-polished mani, of coarse (lol).


Color Description: Described by OPI as a light pink pearl lustre, Pistol Packin' Pink is an understated frost with lots of appeal.  So dainty and soft, a bride can easily wear this for her wedding mani.  In certain lighting a pale blue duo-chrome appears making this lacquer extra yummy - totally reminds me of cotton candy.

Incandescent Lighting

Similar To: In my collection, L'Oreal's Sweet Chiffon came up real close in bottle comparisons but not sure what else to compare this to.  I don't know many of us who collect light pink frosts, so let me know if you have something close.  Would love to see some pics!


This Look:  I decided to file my nails down a bit and then add one coat of Starting Over After Artificals, one coat of Barielle Camouflage, two coats of Pistol Packin' Pink and one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.

OTT Light

Price Point/Availability: This lacquer is discontinued, however, I believe drugstores may still carry L'Oreal Sweet Chiffon.


I did say, a little over a week ago, that I would let you know how the job interview went, right?  Well, as you can see, I'm still looking but the interview itself went well.  Only time will tell where I will land but I'm excited to see what the future holds.  Something good is lurking just around the corner, I can just feel it. :)

OPI - Bling Dynasty (07/01/2011)

Color Description:  Looks a bit frosty in the picture but Bling Dynasty is an antique gold with tiny micro-shimmer which makes it a very regal.  I wanted a sophisticated neutral for a 3-day convention I'm attending this weekend and this fit the bill!


Similar To:  In the bottle it reminds me of Milani's Gold Lame and OPI Golden Rules!, but both of these have no micro-shimmer and would lean more on the frosty side than Bling Dynasty.


This Look:  One coat of Starting Over After Artificals, three coats of Bling Dynasty, and one coat of Shine & Hold topcoat.


Price Point/Availability:  As with most OPI lacquers, this retails for $8.50 and is from the Hong Kong Collection of Spring/Summer 2010.  It is still available online and in select salon locations.


Thanks so much for taking a look at this lovely lacquer.  Do you wear gold often because I don't?  But I'm glad I gave this one a try!

L.A. Colors - Solar Gold (5/16/2011)

Today's manicure was inspired by a picture from a Yahoo! article on the web Sunday morning.  I was so in awe by this golden tipped bride that I set out on a quest to recreate the look.  A few thought this was minx and though that may be true, I wanted to see what my stash had in "store" for me, so I went shopping in my own collection.

Color Description:  L.A. Colors Solar Gold is a very pale, yellow,14k-like, gold frost.  Nice but not opaque enough for the look so I layered it over an pale yellow from Maybelline called Bamboo Yellow, (click here to see Scrangie's pic). 

Yahoo! news pic

Similar To:  This gold was the only gold like this that I own.  A few other suggestions were Orly Luxe, OPI Glitzerland or Maybelline's Gold Guitar.  I own two of these and they didn't quite have enough yellow in them and both contained shimmer, which the pic does not.

This Look:  Two coats of Miss Marion's Superbase, one coat of Maybelline Bamboo Yellow, one coat of Sally Hansen NailShine Miracle and one coat of Shine and Hold top coat.  I think I overdid it a bit with the topcoats because there's some bubbling happening which I'm not happy with but overall the color was close that I tried to achieve.

Price Point/Availability:  Both Solar Gold and Bamboo Yellow are discontinued but please let me know if you try to recreate this look what you come up with!  This was my best shot but it's not nearly as pretty as my inspiration picture.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to hear from you soon!

Misa Chenille Chartreuse (3/2/2011)

Color Description:  Chenille Chartreuse is molten metal goodness!!!   This color is a grayed-out golden frost with olive green undertones.  I don't usually go for frosts but most golds are frosty and I just couldn't pass this one by.   It is extremely sheer, so I layered it over Sinful Color Black on Black in order to get the full effect of this lacquer and it worked - yay!

Similar To:  This color is extremely unique and not similar to anything in my collection or that I can even think of.

This Look:  As mentioned earlier I used a base of Sinful Colors Black on Black and then added two coats of Chenille Chartreuse with one coat of Sharif's Tufcoat to top it off.

Price Point/Availability:  Misa retails their nail lacquer for $7.50, however, this color is discontinued.  I believe it can still be found online.  Just recently saw it go on Ebay for $7.99 (not too bad).

Thanks for stopping by and as usual stay well-polished!!!

Zoya - Isla (09/08/2010)

I decided to let my husband pick my mani for our cousin's memorial service today by painting all 10 nails a different color - he chose Zoya Isla.  

This was my first choice, as well, so I was relieved.  He was only 40 years old and died of a heart attack.  Life is so very fragile and because of that I try to remember to cherish every moment and use my time wisely.

Isla is very pretty but was difficult to photograph without it looking extremely frosty (I am not a lover of the frost).  So here's my attempt at capturing the beauty of this beauty. 

This is one coat of my base coat (SH Hard as Wraps),  two coats of Isla and on coat of my current favorite base coat (SH Mega Shine). 

Have a great and well-polished "hump-day"!