OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England - Part 1

Hey everyone! Today I have swatches of one of the new OPI Serena Glam Slam! England sets featuring Grape... Set... Match and Servin' Up Sparkle.

This duo is part of the third installment of Serena's collection of laquers in collaboration with OPI and I have to say it is my favourite one so far! While I liked the base colours of the French sets and Black Shatter from the Australian set, I'm honestly all crackled out now! So a shimmery purple and a blingy holo glitter is a really nice change of pace!

Grape... Set... Match is a red toned purple, jam packed with purple, blue and pink microglitter. This polish has a kind of duochrome effect as well and you can see the flash of fuchsia in the pic below. I used three coats for these photos but you could easily get away with two. Grape... Set... Match reminds me a little of OPI Ink, so I will try and do a comparison for you over the weekend.





The second polish in the set, Servin' Up Sparkle, is a clear polish packed with tons of silvery holographic glitter and holo hexagonal sequins. This polish is meant as a layering polish so I haven't done a swatch of it on its own. But as you can see, over Grape... Set... Match it is ridiculously blingy! This is two coats of Servin' Up Sparkle.



You can really see how sparkly this polish is in the blurry photo below.



I honestly couldn't fault Grape... Set... Match, but I did have a little gripe with Servin' Up Sparkle in that there weren't as many larger hex sequins as I would have liked. This meant that they applied unevenly on each nail. You can see in the photos above that I ended up with a ton of them on my ring finger but not that many on my middle finger. But I think with a little care when applying the polish, this wouldn't be a problem at all.

OPI must have realised how awesome Servin' Up Sparkle is because they also teamed it up with the silver foil Your Royal Shine-ness, in the other duo pack which I will be showing you in the next post.

What do you guys think of this set? Do you like the glitter top coat? Or do you prefer the Shatter top coats that were included in the other sets?

Glam Slam! England is available in leading salons and David Jones stores nationally July 11th, $19.95RRP. For your nearest OPI stockists 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.

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!

BYS Colour Change Collection

I was sent the new BYS Colour Change collection a couple of weeks ago to review and I have been so excited to do try them, but unfortunately other things kept getting in the way. So today I told myself that when I got home from work, I was going to swatch the collection and nothing was going to stop me!

What I didn't count on was how freakin' cold the weather has become over the past few days!!!! The whole point of "mood polish" is that it changes with your body temperature. So, if you hands are icicles, like mine were tonight, then the polish ain't changin!!!!! 

I tried to swatch them and then stick my hands under warm water, at which point the colour change would happen, but in the process I would ruin the mani because I wasn't waiting long enough for the polish to dry. So in the end, I resorted to swatches on a nail wheel, which is something I have never done before on this blog! Please forgive me Director Dave and my lovely followers!

I want to state from the outset, that these polishes do change colour! They just weren't changing enough on my frozen hands to be able to photograph them properly! I also want to point out that regardless of their colour changing capabilities, I really love the colours of these polishes! So lets take a look!

First up, we have the colours at normal room temperature, which at the moment, is pretty cold. I used three coats for every colour, but you could probably get away with two coats for all the colours except for Blue Glitter, Purple Glitter and Bright Purple.

From left to right: Royal Blue, Blue, Blue Glitter, Bright Pink, Salmon, Bright Purple, Purple Glitter

Next we have the colours, when they are warm. As you can see, there has been a distinct change in Royal Blue, Blue Glitter, Salmon, Bright Purple and Purple Glitter. The change in Blue and Bright Pink was more subtle. 

From left to right: Royal Blue, Blue, Blue Glitter, Bright Pink, Salmon, Bright Purple, Purple Glitter

And now the best for last! As the swatches cooled down, it created this awesome gradient effect on the nail wheel, with the "cool" colour on the nail tip and the "warm" colour near the nail bed! I wish I could have nails like this always! Especially with Salmon and Bright Purple!

From left to right: Royal Blue, Blue, Blue Glitter, Bright Pink, Salmon, Bright Purple, Purple Glitter

Despite the difficulties I had trying to swatch these, I really did like the colours in this collection. I would have liked the two glitter colours to be a little more opaque, but apart from that I don't have any complaints! What do you think?

You can get your hands on these BYS colour changing polishes at Fashion Addict for $4.95AUD each. Don't forget, Fashion Addict ship to the USA!

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

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.

OPI The Show Must Go On!

Hey everyone! I can't believe I'm posting twice in one day! I have been so productive today!

The Show Must Go On! is from OPI's recent Burlesque Collection. This is a pink leaning red duochrome that has a yellow/orange flash which you can see really distinctly in the bottom two photos. I used two coats for these shots.

TSMGO! is definitely not a dupe for MAC's Bad Fairy (I gave my bottle away to Jacie at You've Got Nail so I can't do a comparison), but from what I remember of Bad Fairy, I much prefer the way TSMGO! looks on me. 

Nubar Charmeuse

Hey everyone! I hate to do this, but this is going to be another quick post. 

Today I'm wearing Charmeuse from Nubar's recent Finest Silks collection.  Charmeuse is a pink creme that leans brown. I used two coats here. This colour is a bit old fashioned I guess, but I love it! I don't own a lot of Nubar polishes, but all of the ones I have tried have applied like a dream and Charmeuse is no exception.

Natural Light

Natural Light

Indoors with flash

Do you love it or loathe it?

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Smitten

Today I saw this post by Michelle at ALU about Rescue Beauty Lounge's new Spring 2011 collection and my instant reaction was "ohhhhhhhh I must own these!"

And then I remembered that a couple of months ago I went through a bit of an RBL craze and purchased quite a few polishes from the RBL collection... When I saw a few, I mean this many.....

I know... I'm insane.... I don't know why I bought so many.... They are so expensive and I am still paying them off my credit card... But since I have them, I thought that I should give them some more love on my blog, since I haven't really swatched a lot of the colours... And no, I will not be buying the new collection... Even though that dusty lavender is to die for... 

Getting back on track,  today I have Smitten on my nails which is light pink creme. Ji calls it a "light lilac pink creme" on her site, but I'm not seeing the lilac.

 No Flash

No Flash

This polish is a gorgeous colour, but application wasn't great. Being such an opaque creme, it was really streaky, even on the second coat, so I had to add a third. Because the polish is a bit on the thick side, the third coat made my nails look kind of lumpy.

Despite these issues, after a coat of Poshe, it actually dried quite evenly and the end result is fantastic. You can still see some patches in the photos, but you can't see these on my nails. I have a bit of a tan at the moment and Smitten looks fantastic against my skin, so maybe I'm a little biased!

What do you think of this colour?

Before I sign off, just a quick reminder that there are only a few more hours left to get your name down for my NARS Zulu Giveaway, so make sure you check it out! x

OPI Back to the Beach Peach

Hey everyone! The past couple of days I have been super busy with wedding stuff, but I had to take a quick break from it to show you this gem I found on evilBay a couple of weeks back.

I had been on a no buy for over a month and then one day I found an old post on a blog featuring peach and coral colours and it made me start lemming discontinued OPI polishes!

OPI's Back to the Beach Peach is from the 2006 Flip Flop Fabulous collection from what I can tell, so it is a long discontinued colour. I wouldn't normally post discontinued colours, but this baby is hot!

In some lighting it appears really coral, and then in others it is more of an orange peach and then in other lighting it is flat out pink! I love polishes that do that! It stops me from getting bored with them!

I have included a whole bunch of photos in differnt lighting to try and give you an idea of how this colour changes.

Before the photos, just a quick reminder that my NARS New Year Giveaway closes in three days so make sure you get your name down for it! I clicked over the 400 follower mark today, so stay tuned for another giveaway really soon to celebrate this milestone!!

More photos after the jump!

Borghese Stellar Notte

Today I have some swatches of Borghese Stellar Notte which I received from the lovely Carli aka Konad-licious in a recent swap.

I hate swatching a nail polish when my nails aren't perfect (according to my standards anyway!) but I hate not posting on here even more! So, on to the swatches!

Stellar Notte is a really complex and unique polish. It's a little hard to describe as well! The base is definitely blue/green and it is packed with purple, green and blue shimmer. 

Of course, such a complex colour was a total PITA to photograph! So I have included a stack of photos in different lighting to give you an idea of how gorgeous it is!

Check out the pics after the jump!

China Glaze Strawberry Fields

Quick post today! I'm super tired!

China Glaze Strawberry Fields graced my nubbins today (my poor middle finger - it looks so sad!).

This polish is a gorgeous warm pink with gold glass flecks. I love it enough that I think I'll re-swatch it when my nails grow out again!

This was three coats.

I'm off to bed now! x

Zoya Flame

Hi all! Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend. I've had a lot going on, but I won't bore you with the details! I also realise I haven't posted the winner of my 50 Follower Giveaway yet! I'm sorry guys! I promise I will do that in the next day or two :D

Today I have some more colours from the Zoya Flame collection. All were three coaters, except for Valerie which only needed two coats. Despite the need for the extra coats, all these polishes applied really well.

Gloria - Rosy pink with gold, pink and red shimmer. Not a colour I would usually go for, but I did like the way this looked on my nails. Some people have suggested this is a dupe for MAC's Bad Fairy. I gifted my bottle of Bad Fairy to Jacie at You've Got Nail, so I can't compare the two, but from what I can remember, Bad Fairy had a far more distinct duochrome effect that Gloria. Gloria has a metallic/shimmery finish. So I'd say they aren't dupes...

Valerie - Dark purple with pink, red and gold sparkle. This one has a distinct duochrome effect in the bottle, but it is lost a little on the nail. However, that doesn't make this polish any less spectacular. This is definitely my favourite from the collection!

Tiffany - Pink/peach with golden foil flakes. This colour is spectacular in the bottle, but a total fail with my skin colour - it looked really dated... Like something my grandmother would wear... :P

And to round off the post, I included another photo of Crystal....  Second time wearing Crystal and I still don't love this polish! haha!

I think I will probably give Crystal, Gloria and Tiffany away in a swap or should I do another giveaway?! Or should I keep them? What do you think? x

Eyeko - Punk Polish and Chi Chi Polish

Today I have the other two Eyeko polishes that Carli from Konad-licious sent me in our swap :D

Punk Polish - A super neon pink. This was a little thick, and dried to a satin finish like most neons do. The finished product was quite spectacular though! One of the brightest neon pinks I have seen!

Chi Chi Polish - Rosy pink glitter in a soft baby pink base. This is a really gorgeous glitter, but it definitely needs to be worn over something. This was two coats.

I thought I'd try Chi Chi over Punk to see how it looked but sadly I wasn't a fan :S I think I'd probably like it more if it was layered over a lighter pink polish....

That's all for today! I haven't been sleeping a lot lately so I'm pretty exhausted tonight. Need a good night's sleep x