Pure Ice Vinyl Remix Collection Swatches

Hey all!  Today I have for you the Pure Ice Vinyl Remix collection.  These are new crackle duos that apply color to your base as they crackle.  Each duo comes with a colored crackle and a white base.

OPI Nicki Minaj Collection Swatches Part 2

"Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away~"

Nicole by OPI Texture Collection Review

I got a request for swatches of the Nicole by OPI Texture collection, so here it is!  I was literally racing against the sun, so application and color combinations aren't stellar, but I hope you still find my review helpful! :)

I think the Nicole by OPI textures are similar to OPI's shatters, if not the same.  I don't own all the OPI shatters so I'm not positive, but I think I read somewhere that they are.

Black texture, creme:  The formula for this one was way better than my OPI black shatter.  My black shatter is so gloopy it clogs the mouth of the bottle when I use it.  I didn't have that problem with black texture.

Silver texture, metallic:  One thing I've noticed with these is that the color and formula separates if you don't use it for a while.  I had to shake some of these up, including this one.  It was literally one giant soft clump of silver floating in the formula.  When I shook it up, it seemed fine, but slightly clumpier than my OPI silver shatter.

Red texture, creme:  The formula was great for this one; it applied smoothly and cracked well.

White texture, creme:  So you're probably wondering what happened to this one.  You see, I swatched these as soon as got it on each nail (but didn't take pictures), just to see what they were like.  When I applied the white texture to my nails, it was equivalent to smearing thick sour cream to my nails...and looked like it too.  It was really thick and not pretty, although it cracked decently.  So I added boatloads of thinner to this one, and it looks like it messed it up.  I've added thinner to my black OPI shatter before and it was fine, so I'm not sure what happened here.  I'm thinking of leaving it open for a while to thicken it up and see if it returns to normal.  The white texture is my least favorite in terms of color, finish, and formula.  Oddly enough, I actually prefer this wispy look over the cracked sour cream look...

Turquoise texture, shimmer:  I know, bad combination of colors.  This one probably would've looked prettier over a different color.  Formula wise, it applied and cracked well.

Gold texture, metallic:  I'm guessing that the upcoming OPI gold shatter will be similar to this one.  The formula was a lot thinner for the gold compared to the other textures and OPI shatters.  It's watery, so you need to make an effort to do a thicker coat or it won't crack as nicely.  However, I prefer this formula to the thicker, clumpier ones.  I think this is one of my favorites from this collection, and it looks nice over China Glaze First Mate.

Overall, the collection isn't anything new from OPI, except for the gold texture.  If you don't own any of the shatters, you may want to pick some of these up.  Steer clear of the white texture though.

I'm personally done with the whole shatter trend now that I own these.  The only ones I may pick up are from China Glaze's metal crackle collection, since I prefer metallic crackles to creme ones.  However, I don't feel I need them.  They were pretty cool at first, but I actually don't reach for my shatters that often.  I think the only thing that would excite me would be holographic shatters.  Seriously, why not?  When shatters first came out everyone was layering them over holos.  Only it seems to cover up the holo, so I'd really like a holo shatter since we'd see more of the holo.  I don't think it's going to happen though. :P

What are your thoughts on the whole shatter/crackle trend?  Do you own any of the Nicole by OPI textures?  Let me know in the comments! :)


Liz

OPI: Simply Smash-ing

Trixie of Nailfiled wanted to see Simply Smash-ing from my latest nail packages.  So here it is!

OPI Teenage Dream & Black Shatter

Happy Mother's Day!  I think all mothers should just relax today and get treated to a mani and pedi.  Although they certainly deserve more than that. :)

And finally here's the post I promised 3 days ago!  But to be fair, I've been taking pics of this baby for 3 days.  I finally got a lot of sunshine yesterday, so I was able to get some nice shots.  However, the holo glitter refused to sparkle in my pics!  It was clearly sparkling on my nails,  but when I'd take the pic it wouldn't show up. :(  So you'll just have to trust me on this one.  It sparkles like crazy.

Teenage Dream, matte shatter, glossy shatter

This one's an indoor pic showing 3 coats of Teenage Dream from the Katy Perry collection.  As you saw in my previous pic, Teenage Dream is a bit sheer, but it builds up nicely in 3 coats.  This polish has a clear pink base with pink micro glitter and medium holo glitter.  Overall, it's a sparkly light pink polish.  I think one coat of TD would look very sweet and girly over a classic french.  The ring and pinkie has black shatter over it.  The shatter dries matte, so I put top coat only on the pinkie to show you the different finishes.  And here are my lovely sun pics:

Sparkly!  Be sure to click on these for super close-ups!

A semi blurry pic to show some of the sparkle.

There was some nice holo effect going on in the bottle, so here's a bottle pic as well. :)

I hope you enjoyed this post!  It was tough picking pictures.  I'm still wearing this, which is the longest I've worn the same mani in a long while.  So yes, I really love this. :)


Well, enjoy the rest of this beautiful Sunday!


Liz

NOTD & Update

Hi!  Sorry I haven't updated in like a week, and I missed Pink Wednesday too! :(  May is not a fun time for a college student. *sigh*  Thought I'd just share what I've been up to (besides finals and 12 page papers), so I guess this post will have more of a personal touch.

Last Tuesday was the 100th day anniversary for me and my bf, so he sent me flowers!  This wasn't the first time, but it was the biggest yet, so I was pleasantly surprised. ^^

Too pretty

He also got me OPI Teenage Dream and Black Shatter, which I've been lemming.  I know I didn't run out and get those when they came out, but I've been meaning to.  I'm currently wearing this combo right now, because it actually came in the mail today.  It was supposed to come last Tuesday, but there were some problems with shipping.  So I'm actually getting another set free!  Not sure if I'll be swapping those or giving them away.  We shall see. ;)

These were taken in weak, indirect sunlight coming in through the window, so they're not the best pics.  I'll snap more pics outside tomorrow to show you the amazing holo and glitter.  I also should've done another coat of Teenage Dream, but I was too excited and wanted to see it with the shatter right away.  Doesn't look nearly as sheer in person though.

The day after our anniversary was his birthday, so I made a surprise late night meal for him.  I'd post pics, but I forget to take pics after plating it.  Basically, I made kimchi fried rice rolls wrapped in bacon, whisked egg rolls, and some veggies on the side.  I made this off the top of my head, so I was glad they were edible.  The bf said they were good, but who knows. :P

Since we couldn't really celebrate our anniversary and his bday, he celebrated this past Sunday.  I treated him to a late birthday dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  We had soup, salad, duck spring rolls, and sushi, which was pretty good since we're in the middle of cornfields. -_-

Yes, that's my bf's arm.  He didn't want to be in the pic. ^^;

Yum!

For this dinner, I went with the less conventional date shade...grey/silver.  I did think about wearing some thing pink and red, but settled on this.  It's $OPI If You've Got It, Haunt It, which was the first polish the bf has bought me.  He likes it when I wear it, so I chose it over the pinks.

So, that's all the fun stuff that's been happening in my life in a nutshell.  Hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more, especially during the weekend.  After that I might be MIA again, since it's finals week for me.

Anyhow, sorry there wasn't much nail stuff in this post.  But I hope you enjoyed this more personal post too.  I'll be reviewing the $OPI and OPI polishes featured in this post in more detail tomorrow, so don't forget to drop by! :)


Liz