OPI, Red Lights Ahead... Where?

Hi Girls.

Sorry for the absence. My laptop has been naughty, & wont charge, I've managed to get enough charge to do this post, & send an email!

I'm not the biggest fan of Red Nail Polish, but this had more of an orange shade to it. I think Red can look ridiculously sexy on a night out, but for every day wear, meh.

I will say that this polish stains like a bitch. I still have hints of of around my cuticles. *Glare*

My new job has also destroyed my nails, which has given me a bit of a sad face. Going to try & sort them out later if I can find the energy!

Hope you're all okay.

x

Kiss Me On The Tulips!

Hi, Girls!

Todays OPI swatch is Kiss Me On The Tulips. Now, this is my kind of shade. It's bright, fun & a little bit sexy.

These photos were taken Sunday evening, so as it got colder, it seemed to affect the smoothness of the polish on the nail. That's my excuse anyway. I know my hands were shaking. We have no heating, so brrr.
Still, it's a charming shade. Whilst I love the colour, I'd already done two plain manicures, so I wanted to add a little something else. I'd found this Maybelline polish in the 99p shop a while back, so used that on my accent nail, it has teeny tiny bits of glitter in, which you can only see when you move your nail. This still cheers me up. Both Polishes have such a shiny finish, that the photos don't do them justice, You can even see my reflection in a couple of the pics. It's not a flaw in the nail, it's ME!

As expected for 99p, the Maybelline isn't the best to apply. It's very thick & clumpy, you either have to much on the brush, or not enough. I do adore the colour though.

The OPI, like the previous swatches went on lovely. This was only two coats, which meant it took a matter of minutes, which is fantastic to know!

Another Swatch tomorrow, so look out for that.

OPI Neutrals.

Hi Girls.

Today will be my first day at work. So nervous! (Edit: I'm writing this today, 02/04, & yes, I'm nervous haha)

I've done two swatches for today, two of the minis from the OPI The Top Ten set. I'm putting these two together as they're both pretty neutral shades.
I'm not a huge fan of the neutral nail. I know they are subtly beautiful, but when I look at them, they never put a smile on my face as the more in your face brands do.

First up is Bubble Bath:

The batteries on my camera died half way through the photos, & whilst changing them, my index &  middle nails stuck together. I probably should have waited for them to dry fully, but I want to get a few more swatches in today.
This is quite a subtle pink, & it is pretty, but it takes quite a few coats to get any opacity to it.

Next up is Tickle My France-y

Despite only taking a few photos of this shade, I actually like this one quite a bit. I did take more, but it's getting chilly & they were coming out too blurry.
Yes, it is neutral, but it almost has a multiple personality. I basically looked at my nails & though "Ooooh, shiny!" This didn't need a top coat at all, & only three coats to get the desired opacity. Sometimes, things in life require you to have muted nails, & I think this will be my go to polish for such occasions.
Again, it applied liked a dream, dried in a reasonable time, & as I said, shinyyyyy.

What are your favourite shades? Are you a neutral girl? A neon girl? Let me know. I'm naturally nosy.

An OPI & W7 tragic love story.

Hi Girls.

I'm writing this in the past! Oooh! It's Sunday right now, but I'm being very efficient and doing a few swatches today.

I received OPI's The Top Ten minis from a lovely lady who saw it on my wishlist. I have only ever owned cheap polishes, so it's been so exciting have the more expensive ones on my desk.

I haven't wanted to open it, and have been just staring loving at it, but this week is all about the swatch!

Today, I'm using Alpine Snow. When it comes to whites, I usually like using them as a base colour, so they make my polish stand out, but I couldn't use this one for that purpose, it's worth too much!

As I have mentioned before, I have a Persian Chinchilla. She is so fluffy & her fur gets everywhere. I didn't actually realise 'til I was uploading the photos that I seem to have some Freya stuck to my nail, so it looks very uneven.

The polish it'self went on smoothly. This only took two coats, but I could have easily gotten away with just the one. It was the perfect consistency, & my only niggle was that the brush was tiny. It is a mini though, so it would be near impossible to have a decent size brush, so I can easily forgive OPI for this.

Whilst I'm getting used to the idea of plain manicures, I'm just not a fan of plain white. So, I had a rummage and found a W7 Crackle polish I had bought in Poundland, but had not yet opened.

I'm really not a fan of crackle polishes, but as it was only a quid, I thought I'd give it a go. My mind hasn't been changed. I think the finish is messy and ugly. The colour is very pretty, & I wish I owned this colour in a standard polish. Still, it jazzed up the white for the ten minutes I kept it on.

So in conclusion, Alpine Snow is pretty, the W7 was a very bad influence, & destroyed the looks of the gorgeous polish. A tragic end to a beautiful beginning.

2True Shade no 10 Swatch

Hi Girls.

Because I have a feeling the new job may destroy my nails, I'm being good & sorting out all the weeks blog posts. So you should get a new post each day.

Even though I've already posted my challenge nails today, I couldn't wait to share this with you. After the fantastic results I got from yesterdays 2True, I hunted through my stash to see if I had any other polishes I hadn't played with. There are quite a few, but I found another 2True a friend had gotten me.

Again, I'm really impressed with this polish. It does take a few coats, but not even that puts me off. It's very slightly holographic, however the photos do not really show this, despite me taking a photo in front of the window.
Again, this polish is £1.99 in Superdrug, & at the moment, they're doing THREE FOR A FIVER! So look down the back of the sofa for spare change, & go buy yourself some NOW! Well, tomorrow, shops are obviously closed today. Bad Times!

I'm currently in the middle of swatching OPI's The Top Ten. I don't own more expensive polishes, but a lovely lady bought me this set, & so far, I'm completely in love.

I know when I first started blogging, I said that I didn't like plain manicures, so I'm really contradicting myself during the next week, as some will be plain, but these polishes are so beautiful they don't need anything fancy to make them stand out.

Check out the first swatch tomorrow.

2 (good to be) True

Hi girls.

So, as I mentioned, I've got a new job! My nails needed a complete revamp, they were far too long to be able to get through manual work. Now the're short & pretty.

I've decided to use one of my untried polishes today. 2True's Shade no 48. I forgot I even owned this one, a friend passed it onto me not so long ago.

After yesterdays sad swatches, I didn't have my hopes up, this looks gorgeous, but wasn't expecting much:

You can't tell from the photo, but it's very shimmery & a little bit sexy. I put one coat on, & you could barely see anything. Three coats later:

Eeep, it's BEAUTIFUL! I can't put into words how in love I am. 2True is available in Superdrug for only £1,99! That's right, BARGAIN! Move your fingers slightly, & the light picks up tiny bits of glitter. I cannot praise this polish enough. It applied like a dream, dried ridiculously quickly, yet was super easy to clean up.

As I said before, I'm not a fan of plain manicures, so I had to jazz it up even more. I used cheeky plate CH5 & Sally Hansens Lavender cloud.

I still need a bit of practice with the stamper, but I'm pleased with the finish.

Turns out, a happy Kay makes for happy nails! I've had amazing support about the new job, I really have some amazing friends & family. I've pretty much been smiling all day, & a few specific people in particular contributed, they know who they are. :D

Now, I just have to decide what to do for tomorrows weekly challenge. Exciting!

Sinful Swatching.

Hi Girls.

I have no nail art today, but I do have a couple of swatches.

A friend of mine bought a few Sinful Colors (Colour*) from Boots, but didn't like them so she passed on to me. I believe they are £1.99 in Boots, so cheap & cheerful. I'm never one to turn down free polish, so I said yes, maybe before she even finished her sentence!

I thought I'd share my own opinion of two of the shades I was given.

First of all, we have Nail Junkie:

(Please excuse blurring of photos, the only place in the flat with decent lighting is the kitchen, & it's bloody cold in there!!)

I was ridiculously excited about this one. Whilst I DESPISE removing glitter polish this look awesome. Sadly, this took FIVE coats, just to get the opacity I wanted. It's ridiculously watery, & I ended up having drops fall on my hand, despite trying to wipe off all the excess so I could only do thin coats. Still, despite ending up a bit too thick, it was so pretty & the glitter really caught the light.

I think in this case, you really do get what you pay for. And yes, it was a BITCH to remove!

Secondly, we have You Just Wait:

If I thought the last one was ridiculously hard to get opaque, this one was a surprise! Again it's watery, & this took SIX coats, plus Sally Hansens Lavender Cloud as a base! I was expecting pretty shimmer. Something pretty. Instead, I got this. Don't get me wrong, if you angle it at the sun just right, it has a slight shimmer, other wise it's just underwhelming. Despite thin coats, it still ends up ridiculously thick.

Basically, I would buy the first one at the price of £1,99, but this one just didn't cut it. It was horrible to apply, took forever to dry, & looks boring. 

I have a couple of untried polishes I want to do swatches of. It will be nice to know exactly what they look like on the nail, so it's easier to decide when doing something arty.