Zoya Summer 2009 Ooh-La-La Collection

The first part of Zoya's two-part summer collection is called "Ooh-La-La"- appropriate, because I'm pretty sure that's what I said when I saw them!

If you recall, I was given the Midori color dot in the blogger scavenger hunt- Midori is part of this collection of six bold metallics (shimmers, really) and it is *awesome*. I'll get to that in a minute. Just wanted to warn you of the hotness ahead of time so you can prepare, maybe sit down or stand near something soft so you don't hit your head on something when you faint.





Emme. Soft, girly pink pearl. Pretty, girly, delicate, feminine... Girly-girls and pink lovers will love this. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those! But I don't dislike this polish at all- just because it's not my style doesn't mean I can't admire a pretty color when I see one (on someone else! ;-) ). The pearl finish on this is especially nice.




Ginessa. Intensely shimmery white. This is a clean, bright, fresh white that you can wear without fear of looking like you've painted your nails with white-out. It's one of those Zoya shimmers that I love- not quite glitter, but large irregular-shaped and somewhat flakey shimmer particles. This polish has an unusual texture- it's thick but... airy? Squishy? It's almost like it's whipped... Peculiar! This is similar to Nicole You're A Star.




Goldie. Rich, shimmery yellow gold. This looks like molten metal. Not a polish for the faint of heart- it's loud, bold and flashy. Awesome. This is more of a yellow gold shade than other golds I have. Goldie is unlike other metallics that can drive you insane with visible brushstrokes. It's smooth and buttery.




Katy. Bright fuchsia pink with blue/purple shimmer. The shimmer in this polish is fascinating- it looks like a combination of silver and pink in the bottle, but on the nail it looks like a blue-purple flash. It's kind of a bright 80's Barbie pink color that's begging for a zebra-stripe Konad design!




Midori. Vibrant, shimmery green apple green. AHH!!! Isn't it SO COOL?! It is a lighter shade of spring green that leans yellow and it's packed with gold shimmer. But... It's GREEN!!! Thank you, Zoya! It looks like candy. It also bears a strong resemblance to a certain discontinued green that everyone loves... *cough*Moonpool*cough*




Tallulah. Medium electric blue with multi-toned shimmer. Easily one of the best blues in my collection. It's bright but not too bright- a lot of bright blues are either too sky blue or too turquoise, but this is a nice medium shade. It has very unique shimmer- the shimmer looks blue-green from straight on, but at an extreme angle it's purple. Very subtle, but it's there if you look for it. This is not a twin to Color Club Pure Energy, but they could definitely be cousins.

These pictures are all three coats of polish. Most really only needed two, but I did three anyway. Goldie, Emme and Ginessa were the sheerest shades of the bunch.

The formula on these is excellent as usual. Smooth, not too runny or too thick, no bubbles, no streaks. Pretty much perfect. Only Ginessa was a little weird- I've never encountered a polish with such a light, airy texture before! All dried quickly to a shiny finish even without topcoat.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this collection! Midori and Tallulah are amazing. Emme and Ginessa seem a little out of place with the other bold, bright colors in this collection. Ginessa is really cool, I wouldn't replace it if I had the choice. Emme could have been a nice bright purple, but I know you have to have a pink in there for all the pink lovers. And there are a lot of pink lovers. I know, because I think I can hear them collectively screaming at me from all over the world every time I bash pink- "PINK RULES YOU STUPID JERK STFU!!!!!!!" But Katy is pink.

Stay tuned for the second part of Zoya Summer: La-Di-Da, a collection of six bright cremes.

KO Flatte Matte Polishes

I had been drooling over these polishes ever since I first saw them, and then, out of the blue, a very lovely and wonderful person sent me them as a gift! I couldn't believe it. I still can't! Thank you, amazing generous friend :) Your gift is loved and appreciated.

Anyway, enough mushy stuff, on to the polishes!

These polishes were created by the makeup artist Mike Potter- known for his work on Hedwig And The Angry Inch. Just from reading that sentence, you know they're gonna be awesome, right?

They are.



Flatte Black. That's pretty much a description in and of itself. It's flat black. It's very black and very matte.



Powder. It's kind of an off-white matte creme. It's not as matte as Black, this shade has more of a satin finish.

KO (Knockout) also has a matte pink called Calamine and a matte red called Karen, but I haven't tried them.

First, let's talk about the formula. It is much thicker than your average polish. It also dries very quickly. The combination of those two qualities can lead to some difficulty in application. Just make sure you have enough polish on the (gigantic) brush and work carefully and you shouldn't have a problem. What you see is what you get, so be careful to apply them evenly.

The Flatte Black is opaque in one coat. Powder needs three coats to be even an opaque.

The polishes start out matte, but by the end of the day are a satin finish. They become smoother and shinier the longer you wear them. Kind of cool, but I wish they stayed matte!

Another odd thing about this polish is that when it dries it becomes very brittle. After I had been wearing Black for a few days (I was sick and couldn't change my polish) it began to crackle and little black flakes would fall off randomly. I have never seen that happen with any other polish- it was so weird!

Now comes the interesting part- the bottles.

The bottles are a work of art. I absolutely love them. They are beautiful and a polish I would be proud to display.

They have long brushed metal handles, a matte finish frosted glass with KO and Flatte being the only shiny parts. They are flat and have a scallop shape. Lovely. Oh yeah, and they're GIGANTIC.

Here they are compared to a regular OPI bottle to give you an idea of how huge they are. They are really, really tall and pretty wide.

They look awesome, but the super long brush and handle make them difficult to work with. It is very tricky to maneuver the extra-long brush stem, and since the stem is so long it's also hard to get all of the excess polish off of it to prevent dripping.


These polishes are incredibly cool and even if you aren't wearing them they're nice to look at.

They remind me of another brand of extremely cool matte polish with awesome bottles...



ManGlaze.

ManGlaze will always be my favorite matte polish, but the KO polishes are different enough from ManGlaze to warrant owning both.

KO is just plain flat black that becomes shiny after a few hours of wear. ManGlaze Black (I believe it's now called 'The Death Tar') and Grey ('Fuggen Ugly') have depth and texture. They're packed with these little particles that make the polishes look like smooth asphalt that stays matte without topcoat, but transforms them into an uber-sparkly black or grey polish when topcoat is applied.

I will do a side-by-side comparison when I get a chance, but I just wanted to point out that yes, they are different.

KO Flatte Black is one of my new favorite colors. It's seriously badass. But, if you want to keep it looking totally matte and intimidating looking, you will need to invest in the KO Flatte Top
topcoat. I have a suspicion that it's nothing more than a ridge filler or nail strengthener in a topcoat bottle, but I've never tried it so I can't say for sure. China Glaze used to have something called Flat Top -it's discontinued but still available at some beauty supply stores- it was a topcoat that made your polish matte. I wonder if they're similar?

I love matte finish polishes and I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of them this year. Bring on the mattes!!! (And make a green, please.)

OPI Fairytale Bride: Soft Shades 2009

OPI's soft shades for this year are actually quite interesting. Instead of being plain pale cremes, each color has a soft base color with a contrasting flash of another color. They're not true duochromes- the flash is strong enough to be noticed but not so strong that it overpowers the soft base color.

There are only four polishes in this year's collection. They are:




At First Sight. A very pale and soft nude/neutral base with gold flash.




I Pink I Love You. A soft baby pink with blue flash.



Isn't It Romantic? A very pale pink with green flash.




Otherwise Engaged. A pinkish-white with purple flash.


All pictures are three coats of polish. All of the colors are very sheer, as you can tell by the visible nail line even with three coats of polish. Four coats would make them almost entirely opaque. These can easily be worn with only one coat because they are not the least bit streaky and add an interesting shimmering pearl effect to the nails due to the colored flash in each shade.

The formula on these was fantastic. I had no application issues. They were neither runny nor thick like three-free polishes tend to be. The drying time on these was quite a bit longer than other OPI polishes. I'm not sure if it's because I did three coats or if it's the polish itself, but even with Seche Vite I could dent these up to two hours later.

Overall, they're not too bad for soft shades. They're not streaky! Not that I'm happy about more sheer pinks being released, but at least these have the fascinating colored pearl flash and there's only four of them instead of six.


I wish OPI's next Soft Shades collection would be a set of sheer crystal shimmers like Hollywood Blonde and Up Front And Personal, but in soft shades of blue, purple, gold, silver and green. That's my dream soft shades collection!

OPI Princess Charming Collection

In my post about the Essie Bridal Collection I mentioned that there was a collection of sheer pinks and whites that I actually like. Here it is- the OPI Princess Charming Collection.

This collection is already a few years old, but it still holds the title of "Only collection of soft shades that I like." The difference is that these soft shades have personality. Observe:




Got A Date To-Knight! A light petal pink creme with a shiny, jelly-like texture. You know me- you know I never wear these colors! But I have actually worn this. Twice. Because I wanted to. There's just something about it that I like, I'm not quite sure what. It's just so... cute...?




I'm A Princess, You're Not! A sheer shimmery iridescent shade that flashes green, pink, silver and soft gold. It's sheer, yes, but it's a duochrome! If you haven't noticed, I use the term 'duochrome' loosely- there are often more than two colors present but I don't feel like counting how many. Would that make this a quadrachrome? See, that sounds weird. Anyway, this color is really pretty on its own, but it's also really cool over black.




My Daddy's The King! A soft, pearl-finish peach. One of the few peach polishes in my collection, actually. I can't believe how much I truly like this. The unique shade and the pearly finish make me love it. That, and it just looks so nice on me. (Wow, I sound like a total narcissist!)




Princesses Rule! A sheer pale pink shimmer. If you do not have this polish, run, do not walk, to the nearest nail polish store and get it! It's the pink version of OPI Hollywood Blonde... well, I guess Hollywood Blonde came out later so maybe Hollywood Blonde is the gold version of Princesses Rule!. Also looks hot over black. One of the things OPI does very well are these sheer crystal polishes. I always look forward to them. Some other examples besides Hollywood Blonde and Princesses Rule! are Up Front And Personal, Pink Before You Leap, Pink Ulta-Matum and That's All Bright With Me (just to name a few.)




Who Needs A Prince? A soft white jelly with red pearl. The red pearl in this shade gives the illusion that the polish is pink. At a distance it looks like shimmery pink, but up close you can clearly distinguish the white and red. So cool.





Your Royal Shyness. Very delicate light pink with a pearl finish. This is a very pale pink. This is the only one in the collection I'm not completely crazy about. It's pretty, yes, but it's so delicate! Delicate colors just aren't my thing. I love the pearl finish- it's not frosty and it's not shimmery, it just looks like a real pearl. It's hard to find polishes that are truly pearl and not frost. This one looks smooth and shiny, even without topcoat.


These polishes used to come with a really fabulous crystal flower toe ring with an invisible band. I think I have one or two of them, but most of the time people just stole the toe rings of of the bottles so I couldn't collect them all. Boo, thieving bastards. You suck.

The formula on this collection is excellent. I am pretty sure it's old-formula OPI, but I don't remember old-formula polishes having the Pro-Wide brush. The label on the bottom is black, so I can only assume it is. They all apply smoothly with no notable issues and they all dry very quickly and to a shiny finish, even without topcoat.

I really do not like sheers, pinks, soft colors, neutrals, what have you- but this collection is too good to resist. They all have character! They're interesting! They all remind me of fairy colors or something. Fairy-tale, for sure. And the names... how could you not like the names? Okay, I'm not into princess stuff at all, but Who Needs A Prince? Genius!

I'm almost positive that this collection is still available, and I've even seen it with green-label new formula bottles, so some of the shades might even be Classics now. If you're in the market for ladylike colors with character, you might really like these. I do.

*watches a pig fly past the window*

Essie Bridal Collection 2008

I've been meaning to swatch this collection for MONTHS, but my nails are always so stained that I haven't been able to until now. For some reason my nails are really nice and white and pretty right now... I haven't done anything different! Maybe it's from all the swatching I've done this week. Who knows. I'm not complaining.

Anyway, just in case you like these polishes and don't want to read my less-than-glowing opinion of them, I'll post the pictures first and my review second :)



Blushing Bride. A sheer milky cream with a bit of a pink tint.


Cloud Nine. A sheer bright white jelly.



Happily Ever After. A sheer milky shade.



No Pre-Nup. A sheer pink jelly.


Tie The Knot. An off-white cream with a hint of beige.


True Love. A sheer peachy-pink jelly.


Now for my review.


Honestly, I HATE this collection. Sorry sheer-lovers. I just can't do it!

First of all, I never wear these types of colors so they are way outside of my comfort zone. They're not my style, not my personality, and really, really uninteresting to me. I'll go so far as to say that these polishes depress me. When I look down at my hands while wearing these, it's like seeing someone else's hands attached to my body. Freaky.

Second, what you're looking at is SIX COATS OF POLISH. No, I'm totally serious, six freaking coats of polish are on my nails here and they're not even close to being opaque. I do not like to see my nails through my polish. If I were to do only two or three coats of these polishes, it would pretty much look like I'm wearing nothing on my nails. I just don't see the point. With foundation it's one thing- wearing makeup to look like you're not wearing makeup. But my nails? This look is not for me, that's for sure.

Third, if your nails are even the least bit yellow or stained, these polishes will look like total crap. There is no hiding stains with these polishes. Any little bit of damage (like those white lines from where I slammed my finger in a cabinet) or discoloration will be glaringly obvious. These polishes require naturally flawless nails to wear, otherwise it just enhances and draws attention to any flaws that are present.

The colors are boring, plain, demure, uninteresting, natural and just all around too feminine for me. This means that a lot of women probably love these to death, and more power to them. If you like these colors, awesome for you. Thousands of them exist in the world and you can easily find something to suit your tastes. For me, they are the essence of frustration. When I go to the store looking for a cool new polish in a fun color, all I can find are hundreds of sheer pinks!! Sheer pinks are the bane of my existence, if you haven't noticed. Hah!

Okay, okay. I know I'm being harsh. But hey, this is my blog!

I guess there's one color I like from this collection. Cloud Nine.

Cloud Nine is really pretty. It's a bright white jelly that brightens your nails and makes them look very clean. I think it would be a good base for other colors and I'm sure it would make a really natural looking french manicure. If it wasn't so sheer, I might actually wear it. It's soft enough to not look retro, super bright but not stark and chalky looking! It is a really nice white jelly.

Why do all 'bridal' collections have to be so plain? Not every bride on earth wants plain nails on her wedding day. I sure didn't- I wore glitter! Holo glitter! OPI Paris Couture For Sure and Orly Love Each Other, to be exact. I wish someone would release a funky bridal collection for people like me. Seriously, not every bride wants to look identical and not every bride wants the stereotypical chunky fake pink-and-whites that plague the pages of bridal magazines and posters inside salons.

I can see that there are plenty of situations that call for these types of polishes. Job interviews, perhaps. Very conservative offices, sure. Jobs where you're not allowed to wear polish but want to do it anyway without drawing attention to it, totally.

Not all collections of sheer pinks are boring and plain. In fact, there is a collection of sheer pinks and whites that I absolutely love and would totally wear (and have actually worn)! I'll post about that later this week. Light feminine colors can have character and still be pretty (and not need six coats to wear).

*sigh*

Reader Requests

I've been sooooo behind on my swatching and requests, but I managed to finish a few today!



OPI Golden Rules! From one of my favorite OPI collections of all time, Night Brights. A soft metallic gold with a brushed-metal type finish.



OPI Cozu-Melted In The Sun. A shimmery peachy metallic with large particle shimmer. Super pretty. It looks darker in the bottle than it does on my fingers... Strange!


Lippmann Collection Rhapsody In White. I didn't think I had this one, but it turns out I did! A very pearly bright white. Easier to apply than Icing On The Cake, but still not easy to work with. Very brushstroky.



China Glaze Aqua Baby. A bright blue creme. If I recall correctly, this is practically identical to China Glaze Shower Together from the Eco Collection, but I couldn't find my bottle to compare.

I finally got a chance to swatch the Essie 2008 Bridal Collection and the OPI Princess Charming collection, as well as a ton of old and brand new polishes, so keep an eye out for those. I have comparisons on the way also. Whew!

Quick post: Nicole by OPI Spring Shades

I'm still sick, but I ventured out of bed to do a little fishing on the Selbina boat... Unfortunately the Sea Horror had other ideas, so I figured I'd pop in with a little post while I'm waiting for it to leave.


I've had these swatched for a while now and have really just forgotten to post them, but better late than never I suppose.

These are new shades from Nicole by OPI. I don't know much about them other than that! I'm not really sure if Nicole does traditional 'collections' like OPI, but they usually have new colors a few times a year.




Do Good... Feel Good. A soft, delicate petal pink. Semi-sheer, an almost jelly-like texture.



Dream Maker. An opalescent pink with crystalline shimmer. Not quite iridescent, but flashes hints of white, silver and gold.



Find Your Passion. A hot pink jelly.



Imagine If... A sheer silver holographic polish. Almost too dense to be a topcoat, but sheer enough that it needs at least three coats for opacity. This is four coats.


It's Possible. Pretty, shiny bronzy metallic chrome. Dries without brushstrokes.




No Limits. Very dark, inky blue-purple creme. Not obviously blue unless you're in bright light.


Light A Candle. A silvery chrome with a purple tint. Almost gunmetal.





Play Fair. A soft lilac shimmer. It's not as warm as the first picture suggests- it's closest to the second picture.


Positive Energy. Bright, gleaming silver chrome.




Reach Out. A candy-like medium pink jelly. Almost seems to appear coral colored in certain lights.


You're A Star. A sparkly and surprisingly opaque shimmering white. This is only two coats! It's extremely sparkly and it has hints of silver and blue.

Also worth noting: The chromes in this 'collection' work extremely well with Konad! Here's a demonstration:


No Limits topped with Imagine If... and Positive Energy stamp.


The chromes make such a crisp, clear Konad design, it's like they were made for each other.

The formula on all of these was excellent. I have no complaints. The only potential issue is the sheerness of a couple shades- Imagine If... and Do Good... Feel Good were definite three coaters, but this isn't really too much of an issue because these Nicole shades dry very quickly even without a quick dry topcoat. They are also very shiny and durable without topcoat. I kept my Valentine's Day Nicole manicure on for at least four days with no topcoat and there was no tipwear or chipping by the time I removed it.


Pretty, springy, versatile. A little bit of everything in this collection- sheers, pastel, vampy blue, holo, chrome, brights... Very cool. Now all we need is some green and some glitter and we'll have something for everyone!