Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire? and Orly Plum Pixel

Happy almost-weekend! I am so relieved to be off for the summer with lots of spare time on my hands. I've been reading a lot and even joined goodreads, a book lover's dream. Today I have for you a pretty pairing: Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire? from the Modern Family collection and Orly Plum Pixel from the most recent additions of the FX line.

Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire?
Orly Plum Pixel

Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire?
 Orly Plum Pixel

Nicole by OPI Am I Making Myself Claire?
 Orly Plum Pixel

Am I Making Myself Claire? is a purple-pink-nude creme. It leans in all three directions without definitively settling on one. I added Orly Plum Pixel, a grayed-out darker purple dense multi-sized glitter, as an accent nail to spice up the subtlety of the NOPI. Plum Pixel required 2 coats for opacity; Am I Making Myself Claire? required 2-3, depending on the nail.

What do you think of this combo?

-Shelby

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Hey there, ladies! Today I have for you a polish that's been in my stash for quite a while: Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams. I've worn it before, but finally decided to make a blog post on it. Without further ado, here's the photos:

Below is 3 coats of Havana Dreams with topcoat (Orly In a Snap)

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Havana Dreams is a pale baby blue creme. The formula on this is super thin; it required 3 careful, thin coats for opacity. Some nails could've even used 4 coats, but I didn't want to make my nails too "thick". I do love the color and it didn't take overly long to dry. Now, I'm not sure if that's due to the new topcoat I'm testing out or the polish itself. 

What do you think of Havana Dreams?

-Shelby

Orly Lollipop

Hey there, I hope everyone is having a good start to their week! I am 3/4 done with my finals and have a bit of a break until Thursday, which is the day of my last final and my move-out of the dorms. I wanted to get a post up before it got a little hectic with studying for chem and moving out. I recently picked up Orly Lollipop on 50% off clearance at CVS. Since Orly changed their packaging, its old packaging was reduced in price. I personally don't have a preference with packaging so I took advantage of the deal since I've been eyeing Lollipop for quite a while.

Below is 2 coats of Lollipop without a topcoat.

Orly Lollipop

Orly Lollipop

Orly Lollipop

Lollipop is a purple-leaning pink creme. The application on this wasn't bad, but was a little on the thick side. Not all pink-purples suite my skin tone (like Lucky Lucky Lavender), but this one looked quite nice! I think that may be because of the amount of white undertones in the polish. Also, don't mind the mark on the bottle, I took off the clearance tag and it left some adhesive behind :)

What do you think of Lollipop?

-Shelby

China Glaze Man Hunt!

Hey again! I hope you all have been having a good week so far! I finished my last class today and am starting finals this weekend, wish me luck! :P Today I revisited a color I featured on my blog before: China Glaze Man Hunt from their On Safari collection. That post was one of my first and is a poor excuse for swatches, so I am going to attempt to re-do some of my very first posts. What do you guys think about that? Anyway, onto the polish!

China Glaze Man Hunt

China Glaze Man Hunt

China Glaze Man Hunt

Man Hunt is a high-gloss dark blue, almost navy, creme. The application of this polish is wonderful and two coats made it perfectly opaque. Sometimes dark colors can be a pain, but this one gave me no problems at all! Man Hunt has almost a jelly quality to it; extremely shiny and rather jelly-like on the first coat in terms of opacity. I love this color year-round! 

What do you think of Man Hunt?

-Shelby

Essie In the Cab-ana (Resort 2013 collection)!

Happy late Monday (or early Tuesday to some of you)! I have another Essie post in store for you guys today- swatches of In the Cab-ana from their 2013 Resort collection. The line had a lot of lovely shades, but I only picked up 2, one being ItC!

Below is 2 coats of In the Cab-ana without topcoat:

Essie In the Cab-ana 

Essie In the Cab-ana

Essie In the Cab-ana 

In the Cab-ana is such a gorgeous bright aqua creme! This is the epitome of summer; in fact, when I held my nails up next to my pool, they practically were the same color! The formula on this was rather thick, so I may thin the polish out. Due to the thickness, the application was tricky, but wasn't unmanageable. Two coats created perfect opacity.

What do you think of Essie's 2013 Resort collection?

-Shelby

Essie Summer 2013 Picks!

Hello again, surprised I'm back so soon? Well, I just couldn't stay away because I've been eager to try out a different camera for my nail photos and I am loving how great the photos are with the switch! Let me know what you guys think of the photo quality :)

Last time I was at CVS, I came across Essie's summer collection- full of shimmers and brights with nautical names. I couldn't resist and picked up 3. There's either 4 or 5 in the collection, but I passed on a couple of the shades.

Lots of photos in this post! All swatches are without topcoat.

Essie Rock the Boat 

Essie Rock the Boat

Essie Rock the Boat

First up is Rock the Boat, a light cornflower blue with silver shimmer. The shimmer is only noticeable in the sunlight, but I love the shade nonetheless! Its formula was decent; at first it was uneven and streaky, but 3 coats seemed to do the trick to create full, smooth opacity. 

Essie Sunday Funday

Essie Sunday Funday

Essie Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday is a bright coral/pink with the same silver shimmer that the whole collection has. The application was better on this one; it only required 2 coats for opacity. This color was really hard to capture on camera! In person, it's a little more pink-leaning. 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Essie Naughty Nautical 

Naughty Nautical is a sea green/muted teal with the same silver shimmer. This may be my favorite from the collection because it's so unique! The application was similar to Sunday Funday and only required 2 coats. I must say the name drew me to it as well; I can't resist polishes with cute names!

What do you think of Essie's new summer collection?

-Shelby