Nicole by OPI "Am I Making Myself Claire?"

Hi everyone!  I can hardly believe that today is the last day of February and that means Spring is just around the corner!  So this week I decided to pull out a Nicole by OPI polish from their Modern Family Collection which came out in early 2012.  All of the colors in the collection are named after characters in the show, which is fun.  The polish I am wearing this week is "Am I Making Myself Claire?" which is named after the mom on Modern Family, Claire.

Nicole by OPI's "Am I Making Myself Claire?" is a dusty pastel purple.  I like the color because it is neutral but with a Springtime twist!  The formula is amazing and with the wide brush it applies so easily!  After two coats "Am I Making Myself Claire?" was completely opaque and streak free, which isn't always an easy feat for a pastel color!  As for chipping small chunks began to fall off on day two, which was a bit disappointing.

Overall I really like Nicole by OPI's "Am I Making Myself Claire?" because it is a nice color and the formula is wonderful!  The only thing I didn't like was how quickly it chipped!  But I love this polish so much that I will definitely be wearing "Am I Making Myself Claire?" again and again!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Comparing butterLONDON "Jasper" and ULTA "Cream of the Crop"

Hi everyone!  I can hardly believe that February is nearly over and that pretty soon Spring will be here!  So while I was rummaging through my collection of polishes I discovered two pastel yellow nail polishes that looked very similar in their bottles and I decided to test them out to see if they were dupes.  The polishes are butterLONDON's "Jasper" and ULTA's "Cream of the Crop."  Here's how they looked next to each other in the bottles:

After looking at the bottles next to each other I guessed that they were not going to be identical but I went through with the test anyways.  butterLONDON's "Jasper" retails for about $15 (USD) and ULTA's "Cream of the Crop" ranges anywhere from $3-6 (USD) depending on the sale going on.  And with such a massive price difference I was curious which nail polish would be better.  The above picture shows the finished product of both polishes.  butterLONDON's "Jasper" only required two coats while ULTA's "Cream of the Crop" required three to get better coverage.  But I made sure to take pictures along the way, so here is what they looked like after one coat of nail polish each:

As you can see after one coat it became obvious that the butterLONDON nail polish was brighter in color and that the ULTA nail polish had a watery formula.  But as with all lighter colored polish the first coat and possibly the second can be somewhat streaky.  I continued on and here are what my nails looked like after two coats each:

After two coats of nail polish butterLONDON's "Jasper" looked completely opaque and had very minor streaking while ULTA's "Cream of the Crop" was somewhat see-through and full of steaks.  I decided at that point to add a third coat of "Cream of the Crop" which did help a bunch, but it did still have plenty of streaking after the third coat.

Overall while butterLONDON's Jasper" is very expensive compared to ULTA's "Cream of the Crop" I believe "Jasper" to be the better nail polish.  "Jasper" had better coverage in fewer coats, the formula was decent and the color is prettier than ULTA's "Cream of the Crop."  Plus "Cream of the Crop" has a very watery formula and requires at least three coats of polish to make it look okay.  I would definitely recommend butterLONDON's "Jasper" over ULTA's "Cream of the Crop."

Side note: I have already reviewed butterLONDON's "Jasper" on its own and here is the link to that post: http://perfectlypolished12.blogspot.com/2013/03/butterlondon-jasper.html  So feel free to check it out!  :)

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Zoya "Yummy"

 

Hi guys!  After a huge blizzard last week the weather this week has been warm and sunny!  And while it isn't Spring or Summer yet I decided to pretend it was!  So this week I decided to wish for clear blue Summer skies by wearing Zoya's "Yummy."

Zoya's "Yummy" is a lovely bright sky blue and I purchased it for the lovely color. The formula for "Yummy" was awful!  I had a very hard time controlling "Yummy" and I am having a difficult time deciding why.  In some strokes the brush held far too much polish causing "Yummy" to run everywhere and on other strokes the brush held no polish and required multiple passes over the nail.  It was very odd and frustrating!  And after all that work the polish was not opaque at all and the weird formula left streaks all over the place!  As for chipping I don't know how long "Yummy" would have lasted because it looked so horrific on my nails that I removed it right after I took pictures.  I worried that the bright blue was going to stain my nails but thankfully it didn't.

Overall I am seriously disappointed by Zoya's "Yummy"!  The formula was terrible and drove me crazy while trying to get the polish to look even halfway decent.  I will most likely never wear this nail polish again because I cannot get it to go on my nails and look nice.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Sally Hansen "Gold Roses"

Hi everyone!  So now that Valentine's Day is over I wanted a break from red nail polish and decided to go with a neutral this week.  I settled on Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in "Gold Roses" which is as the name implies is a rose gold color with a lot of shimmer!

This past Winter metallic nail polishes were very popular and I like to wear lighter metallic as neutrals because they aren't too over the top but they tend to go with a fair amount of clothes!  Sally Hansen's "Gold Roses" has a fantastic formula which was easy to manage and was completely opaque after two coats of polish!  However like many metallic and shimmer polish there was noticeable streaking on most nails, but thankfully it didn't make "Gold Roses" look bad!  As for chipping "Gold Roses" lasted about two days before it started to chip off in big chunks, which was a bit disappointing.

Overall I have mixed feelings about Sally Hansen's "Gold Roses."  It has an amazing formula, was completely opaque in two coats, and is a gorgeous color.  But on the downside it chipped so quickly and for such a pretty color I would have liked to have worn the polish for longer.  I will probably wear Sally Hansen's "Gold Roses" again because I adore the color, and maybe it'll last longer next time!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Covergirl "Lingering Spice"

 

Hi guys and Happy Valentine's Day!  Now Valentine's Day is all about red, pink and white with a bunch of hearts so I decided to pull out a fitting nail polish.  I went with Covergirl's "Lingering Spice" because it is a super pretty pinkish-red polish and it seems very happy and cheerful!

I purchased Covergirl's "Lingering Spice" last autumn when I heard several people say it was a dupe or very similar to butterLONDON's "Blowing Raspberries."  The price difference alone was enough to convince me to give Covergirl nail polish a try.  Covergirl costs about $5 (USD) a bottle while butterLONDON retails for $15 (USD) a bottle.  Covergirl's "Lingering Spice" has an amazing formula which was completely opaque after two coats and left no streaks on my nails.  Also the nail polish was very easy to control and didn't stain my skin when I touch up around my nails.  As for chipping "Lingering Spice" lasted four days and then I started to see small chunks coming off.  Removing this nail polish was very easy, which always makes my day!

Overall I am very pleased with Covergirl's "Lingering Spice"!  Aside from being a very pretty color "Lingering Spice" has a great formula and was easy to work with, was completely opaque after two coats and had no streaking, and lasted four days before chipping!

Thanks for reading my blog!  And have a Happy Valentine's Day!  :)

Sochi 2014 Olympic Nail Art!

Hi everyone and Happy Winter Olympics!  Now I know that Sochi wasn't exactly prepared for the Olympics but I do love watching all the athletes compete.  So while watching the events I decided to do a last minute, super simple, Olympic themed nail art!  I settled on the Olympic rings (and not the failed snowflakes ones from Sochi) but the iconic colored ones.  So after a quick Google search to remember what colors the rings are I picked out there nail polishes:

From left to right: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Blue Me Away!", Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Mellow Yellow", Sally Hansen Hard As Nails "Black Heart", Sally Hansen Triple Shine "Kelp Out", and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Cherry Red."

So first I decided to paint my nails white because it makes for a nice base and the rings would be very visible.  I used two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's "White On."  I really like "White On" because it is opaque after two coats, and it fairly easy to apply.  I have had good luck with this white and it is my go to white nail polish!  Here's how my nails looked after two coats of "White On":

So after applying two coats of "White On" I used a quick drying top coat (Orly "Sec'N'Dry") to make my nails dry quicker which means less smudging when I do the rings.  Now the rings traditionally look like this:

Image found on Google.

But I decided to do a little bit of a twist on the rings.  Using my pointer finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky I decided to put two rings on each.  And on my thumb I decided to write 2014, that way I remember which Olympics it is!   To do the rings I used a small paint brush and cleaned it between each color.  I decided on two rings per finger to show which colors overlap.  They turned out like a fun twist on French tips!  Here's how it turned out:

Overall this nail art is super simple and very easy to do!  I love how it turned out and it is a way to support all the completing athlete and not just one country!  Also I used almost all Sally Hansen nail polishes to show that nail art can be done with drugstore brands!  (I purchased each bottle for less than $5 or $6.)

Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy the rest of the Olympics!  :)

Sephora by OPI "Leaf Him At The Altar"

 

Hi everyone!  So I know it is technically still Winter but I am already dreaming of Spring so this week I decided to pull out Sephora by OPI's "Leaf Him At The Altar" which is a super gorgeous olive green glitter.  The green reminds me of the leaves in Spring!  (Can you tell how excited I am for Spring and warmer weather!)

I got Sephora by OPI's "Leaf Him At The Altar" on sale a few months ago when Sephora had the polish on sale for 3 for $10, which was a great deal because Sephora by OPI polishes usually cost about $9 a bottle.  What I didn't realize at that time was Sephora was doing such a great sale because they were discontinuing Sephora by OPI nail polish.  I am a little sad to see this brand of nail polish go but I am excited to try out Sephora's new store brand called Formula X.

So formula wise "Leaf Him At The Altar" is really fantastic!  I was a bit worried because of the amount of micro-glitter that it would be thick and hard to handle but I was so happy to be proved wrong!  It went on my nails very easily and was completely opaque after two coats of polish.  Also despite all the pretty glitter and shimmer "Leaf Him At The Altar" had no streaks and looked amazing with a shiny topcoat on it!  (I use Orly's "Sec'N'Dry" as my topcoat!)  As for chipping I saw some very minor tip chips on day four, but was able to wear "Leaf Him At The Altar" for six whole days!  Also I was thrilled with how easily this glitter polish was to remove!  Many glitters require a lot of time and effort to remove but "Leaf Him At The Altar" came off quickly and without a lot of work!

Overall I am very impressed with Sephora by OPI's "Leaf Him At The Altar."  The color is gorgeous, the formula is nice and very easy to control, the polish was completely opaque after two coats and had no streaking, and it lasted for six days before it started to really chip!  This is a fantastic nail polish and I plan on wearing it again a lot!  I would recommend this nail polish to everyone, but unless you already own it, it may be hard now that the Sephora by OPI nail polish line is discontinued.

Thanks for reading my blog!

L'oreal "Brit Invasion"

 

Hi everyone and happy February!  I can't believe that January is over already!  So while it is a new month it is still isn't Spring yet.  Since it is still Winter I decided to rock a fun L'Oreal nail polish called "Brit Invasion" which is a super pretty purple-grey nail polish with copper colored micro glitter in it!

L'Oreal's "Brit Invasion" aside from being a really nice colored polish is perfect for Winter because it is cool like the weather but the micro glitter makes it sparkle and add a little fun to your cold Winter day!  Formula wish "Brit Invasion" is fair, and it isn't too watery or thick.  However the good formula did not help with the streaks.  "Brit Invasion" left tons of streaks all over my nails and was not very opaque even after two coats, which was a little disappointing.  As for chipping I started to notice tip chips on day two.  The nail polish just started flaking off and my nails looked awful by the end of day two, which I was not very happy about.

Overall I have mixed opinions on L'Oreal's "Brit Invasion."  The color is really pretty and the formula is fair, but the awful streaks and its inability to become opaque after two coats and the fact that it started chipping after two days is a big let down.  I do plan on trying this nail polish again and I have high hopes that with a little patience and practice I could get "Brit Invasion" to be more opaque and have less streaks.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)