OPI The Muppets "Muppettes" Minis

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of the four OPI Muppets colours featured in the "Muppettes" Mini pack. I have been impatiently waiting for the launch of this collection ever since I saw some swatches at the Touring America launch party I went to back in August and I'm so excited that it is finally available!

The Muppettes Minis pack contains one of the six glitters in the 12 piece collection, Excuse Moi! and three of the other polishes. At first, I was a little disappointed that Rainbow Connection wasn't in the pack, and I wasn't sure I liked the other three polishes in there, but after swatching them I quickly changed my mind!

Wocka Wocka! - Rich red with microshimmer. Normally, I wouldn't gravitate towards a red like this because I feel like shimmery reds can sometimes be a little dated, but Wokka Wokka! was pure red perfection. Not only did it look fabulous on my nails, it applied flawlessly with one coat! I used two for the pics just for consistency. I did notice however that the shimmer is more pronounced in the bottle than on the nail, but you could still see flashes of it once applied. There was only one small problem with this polish - it stained my nails big time! You definitely need to wear a base coat with this polish. Overall though, a really great Christmas red!



Excuse Moi! - Warm pink jelly-ish base with silver microglitter and tonnes of multi-coloured hex glitter - green, blue, pink, orange, yellow and silver. Without a doubt, one of the best glitters OPI has ever created. The base colour was ridiculously opaque and the glitter applied evenly over the nail without clumping or dragging. This was only two coats. So pretty!



Designer... de Better! - Pale gold/silver foil with sparse copper foil particles. I have about a dozen silver foils in my collection, but nothing like this! I'm really loving this variation on the classic silver foil. It applied really smoothly and only required two thin coats.



Warm & Fozzie - Brown-bronze, gold and pink foil particles with a slight duochrome effect suspended in a dark black/brown base. This is a really unusual colour and I was a little unsure whether I would like it or not, but it actually works! Once applied, the foil particles kind of meld together to give an overall gold foil effect with flashes of the other colours. The first coat was a little thin, and I was thinking that three would be necessary, but it only needed two coats in the end.



Overall, I'm pretty impressed with this Minis pack. Warm & Fozzie is probably my favourite out of the four because I don't really have anything like it, but Excuse Moi! comes a close second! Since I liked these four so much, I decided to purchase the whole collection! Naturally, when I get those in the mail, I'll do some more swatches.

This OPI Muppettes Minis pack is part of the limited edition Muppets Collection which is available at selected salons and David Jones nationally, for $24.95RRP incl. GST. For stockists phone 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

Which ones have you picked up??

The items featured in this post were provided for review. For further information on GildedNails' Disclosure Policy, please click here.

OPI Touring America Launch (and Muppets sneak peek!) *pic heavy*

Hey everyone! If you follow me on Twitter you will know that I am meant to be on a hiatus in the lead up to my wedding. However, I have sooooooo much stuff to post, I just couldn't stay away! So, what I have decided to do is try and get through my huge backlog of reviews and swatches this weekend, and then schedule posts for the next three weeks until I get married! It is a big task, but I just have so much stuff I need to show you and it just can't wait until after the wedding!

For this post, I have some pic spam from the OPI Touring America launch party which was held at the gorgeous Woollahra Post Office last night. I was ridiculously excited about this event, firstly because of the Touring America collection, but also becuase I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Muppets holiday collection! The nail polish fairies must have been listening, because they had a full Muppets display and I was lucky enough to even have a mani done with one of the glitters, Rainbow Connection!

Rainbow Connection is a crazy, super blingy multi-coloured glitter polish. There's silver, green, pink, orange, blue and yellow regular and hex glitter all jam packed into a clear base. It is plain and simple awesome. I will definitely be getting a bottle (or two!) of this when it is released and I can't wait to try the other glitters in the collection as well (Gone Gonzo... drool!)

And now for the pics of the products featured at the Touring America launch event!

The Touring America collection, available now at selected beauty salons, spas and David Jones nationally for $19.95RRP.

OPI's new Lemon Tonic Manicure/Pedicure collection and Hibiscus Blossom Avojuice Hand & Body Lotion, available in August/September 2011. These lotions smell absolutely divine! 

OPI Nice Stems collection, available in September 2011.

OPI Muppets Holiday Collection, available in October 2011.

The Muppets Holiday Collection collection nail wheel swatches - *DROOL*!

Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolor collection, available in December 2011.

Some nail wheel swatches of the Kardashian Kolor collection. Having seen the swatches, I am actually really looking forward to this collection now! That soft pink, Kim-pletely in Love, is calling out to me!

The lovely OPI Australia ladies, about to give everyone a fabulous manicure! 

Shatter by OPI available now at selected beauty salons, spas and David Jones nationally for $19.95RRP.

Serena Glam Slam! US Open duo, available in August 2011.

Nicole by OPI Texture Coat available in October 2011, and Nicole by OPI Justin Beiber - The One Less Lonely Girl collection, available now at Terry White Chemists and leading pharmacies.

Some of the entertainment at the launch party with Femme De Cirque collection and Pink Shatter. 

Femme De Cirque is available now and Pink Shatter will be available in September through to October.

The gorgeous Michelle from Cosmetic Cupcake with the lovely Ruth and Bill McKendrick from International Beauty Supplies/OPI Australia.

And finally, the only photo of the night of me! The downside of taking all my own photos is that I'm never in any! I got this sneaky polaroid taken with one of the "cowboys" at the launch party! ha!

I was lucky enough to get a goodie bag with some samples of the Touring, Nice Stems and Beiber collections so I will definitely be posting those in the coming weeks! 

OPI Pink Ribbon Shatter 2011 Press Release

OPI Pink Ribbon Limited Edition Lacquer: A Shattering Pink Ribbon Partnership!

"Showing your support for breast cancer during the month of October has become a fashion statement; OPI wishes to celebrate their partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation with their limited edition Pink Ribbon Shatter texturing treatment product, the new fashion statement in nail art.

During the month of September and October, OPI joins forces with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, for our 7th year as silver sponsors, where 100% of profits from the sale of the limited edition Pink Shatter will be donated to the Foundation.

The revolutionary new Pink Ribbon Shatter is a texturing treatment formula that transforms as it dries on your nails. When applied, OPI’s Pink Shatter begins to shatter and disappear, leaving behind a shattered effect in matte within minutes of it being applied onto an OPI lacquer shade. For a high gloss finish, seal the shatter effect by applying another coat of OPI top coat.

OPI’s Pink Shatter offers a new dimension to nail design, the cracked pattern effect, similar to a pink leopard print, offers another form of fashion statement in nails.

OPI aims to raise another $25,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and assist in their funding of research programs into the prevention and cure of breast cancer, which affects 1 in 9 Australian women.

OPI’s Pink Ribbon Shatter will be available from September through to October at selected beauty salons, spas, and David Jones nationally, $19.95 RRP incl. GST. For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au."

OPI Touring America Collection Sneak Peek Swatches

Hey everyone! Sorry for the gaps between posts. With only 60 days until the wedding I’m in planning overdrive! But it is all coming together, so the hard work is paying off!

I have so much stuff to swatch and review but today I just had to show you guys some sneak peek swatches of the upcoming OPI Touring America collection!



The Touring America collection is OPI’s tribute to America’s unique landscape, cultural heritage and diversity, and iconic locations such as Hollywood, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York City.

I have been lucky enough to travel to the USA twice and can honestly say it is one of my favourite travel destinations, so naturally I am really excited about this collection!

The Touring America collection features twelve new shades:

I Eat Mainely Lobster – Rich coral with golden microshimmer

My Address is “Hollywood” – Rose pink with golden microshimmer

Are We There Yet? – Bright melon with golden microshimmer

Honk if You Love OPI – Dark vampy grape creme

Road House Blues – Dark blue creme

Color to Diner For – Rosy red with golden microshimmer

I Brake for Manicures – Eggplant-plum creme

Suzi Takes the Wheel – Grey-green creme

French Quarter for Your Thoughts – True grey creme

A-taupe the Space Needle – Creamy rich taupe creme

Get in the Expresso Lane – Dark brown creme

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window – Olive green creme







It is winter here in Australia, so you would think I would be drawn to the darker shades, but the microshimmer in the four reds/corals just makes me swoon! Based on these swatches, I must own Are We There Yet?, My Address is "Hollywood" and I Eat Mainely Lobster!

Touring America will be available from 1st August 2011, at selected beauty salons, spas, and David Jones nationally for $19.95 RRP incl. GST.

For your nearest OPI stockists contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au. 

 

OPI DS Original

Hey everyone! Today I made the long trip to the nail supply store where I got the China Glaze OMG's from last time. Today's visit was just as successful as the last one! I found a stack of HTF polishes including China Glaze Channelesque, OPI DS Sapphire, OPI DS Desire, OPI Glacier Bay Blues and the polish I'm showing you now, OPI DS Original.

I have been lemming DS Original since I first got into nail polish. Well I have been lemming alllll the old DS polishes, but I never wanted to pay the prices they were asking on evilbay. So when I walked into the store and saw those polishes selling for $10, I had to grab them (and a couple of backups!)

DS Original is a lavender holographic polish. I used three coats to get good coverage because I found the formula a little thin, but even with three coats it dried lightning fast. The holo effect is quite scattered as opposed to the linear OMG holos. In regular lighting, the holo is subtle but still visible, but in bright lighting and daylight, it is spectacular! I have included photos with two different types of lighting. Behold, DS Original holo heaven!

I am totally in love with this polish and I can't wait to try DS Desire and DS Sapphire now. I am officially holo-addicted!

On a side note, I took your advice and softened out the edges of my nails to make a more feminine squoval shape. They seem more manageable at this length and with this shape, so I'll give it a go for a while! Thanks for all your advice everyone! :)

OPI Los Cabos Coral and Blog Sale Question

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. I have been working such long hours, I just haven't felt up to swatching/posting when I get home from work. Since I haven't got anything new to show you at the moment, I thought I'd show you something from the "vault".

A couple of months back I was on a big coral kick and I bought a stack of discontinued coral OPI polishes on evilBay. One of the colours I purchased was OPI's Los Cabos Coral which I believe was from the Mexico collection.

When I first got it I was a little disappointed because it looked so frosty in the bottle, but once it was on the nails, I actually really liked it! I remember I had to use three coats, but the polish was quite thin so this wasn't an issue.

(I actually loaded these pics up to Imageshack months ago so they have my old watermark! )

From what I can tell, you can still find this polish on eBay, for a fairly reasonable price if you want to get your hands on it! 

In other news, the other night I was cleaning out my makeup bag and realised that I own a RIDICULOUS amount of unused and untried makeup! Before becoming a nail polish addict, I was a huge makeup fanatic and this has resulted in me having crazy amounts of makeup that I never use..... Think 60+ blushes and hundreds of eyeshadows! 

I also have a stack of nail polishes that I want to off load, sooooooooo I was wondering whether you guys would be interested if I held a makeup and nail polish blog sale? I would keep prices reasonable, even for HTF items, and I would be willing to ship internationally... So let me know what you guys think? If I get a good response, I'll try and take the pics and post the sale up over the weekend...

P.S 500 Follower Winner will be announced shortly! 

OPI Teenage Dream & Too Pink To Hold 'Em

Hey everyone! Before I get to today's post, I just wanted to let you all know that yesterday I changed my commenting platform for the blog and I'm now using Disqus. So far it seems to be working well and it makes it so much easier for me to reply to specific comments. I'm slowly working my way through all the unanswered comments, and I should be done replying soon.... I hope it makes commenting easier for you as well :D

I also quickly wanted to say how stoked I am with the response to my BB Couture Giveaway! Since posting it last night I've had over 120 individual entries already! And some of you guys have honestly made me bust a gut laughing at the things you have written in the comments!!  Keep them coming!

Now on to today's post! A few weeks ago, I saw a Twitter post by @the_asian_girl
  where she linked to a mani she had done using OPI's Teenage Dream and Too Pink To Hold 'Em! I fell in love with the combo so I had to try it myself!  

To achieve this look, you need to use a jelly or "sorbet" polish like the ones released with the OPI Texas collection and a glitter polish, like the ones released with the Katy Perry collection. Paint one coat of the jelly, then one or two coats of the glitter polish, and then add another thick coat of the jelly over the top. 

The final product is squishy, glittery, jelly goodness! 

I personally think @the_asian_girl did a far better job than I did, but I still love the way my mani turned out! You should definitely check out her other swatches on her tumblr page!

OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Swatches

Hey Everyone! Yesterday I was lucky enough to get my hands on two colours from the upcoming OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection as well as a bottle of the UH-MAZING Silver Shatter. Naturally I put all my other posts on hold so that I can show you these awesome colours straight away!

First up is Mermaid's Tears which OPI describes as a "sea foam pale pastel green". I think that's pretty spot on to be honest. I'm totally in love with this soft sea green cream! It was really flattering, and despite being green, didn't bring out any redness in my hands. I used two coats here, but I had to apply them carefully to avoid patches. Some of you may prefer to use three coats. I then added a coat of Seche to make it nice and glossy.

I then added one thin coat of Silver Shatter, which is the much anticipated second shatter polish from OPI. Silver Shatter is a super sparkly metallic crackle polish that has a matte finish when dry. It crackled perfectly within 15 seconds of being applied. However, I decided to add a coat of Seche over the top once it was dry, because I prefer the glossy look.

The second colour I have for you is Sparrow Me the Drama, which OPI describes as "a cool shade of pink". I would describe this is a muted purple-pink cream. This colour is interesting - in some light it's a dusty soft pink and in other lighting it appears brighter and more purple. This one needed three coats and then I added a coat of Seche.

And then with a coat of Silver Shatter.....

I absolutely love all three of these polishes and I will definitely be buying the other four in the collection, because I am a sucker for pastels! However, I think I would prefer Silver Shatter over a darker base colour so that there is more contrast. What do you guys think??

OPI Pirates of the Caribbean will be available in Australia on 1st May 2011 at selected salons and David Jones. For stockist please contact 1800 358 999 or visit www.opi.net.au.

The items featured in this post were provided for review. For further information on GildedNails' Disclosure Policy, please click here.