OPI Fiercely Fiona and "The August Blues" preview



Another day, another manicure.  I removed the depressing "suede/silver shatter" and decided to go for something fun and summery even though it's cloudy and rainy.  This is from the OPI Shrek collection of last year.  "Fiercely Fiona"-it's the color of Fiona's skin tone.  My daughter has the toy to compare.                                            I used 2 coats but it could've used a third to even out the streaks.  Streaks are normal with this type of color.  On that note is also wasn't as streaky as some other pastels.  I thought it applied well.    I like this yellow/green better than a normal yellow because its not blinding on my fingertips.  This is my 3rd manicure with this color but the first time I'm posting it.  I've been wanting to do this watermelon stamp and "Fiercely Fiona" is a good base color.  The stamp is from Konas plate m55.  It includes a variety of summer fruits.  The colors did smudge when I added a top coat (a random mini bottle that said top coat).  I decided to add gems to distract from the smudging. I might keep this on until August.  If not, I'll use Paint my Moji-Toes Red (OPI South Beach 2009) to finish off the month.  It's been on my toes all of July and never made it to my fingertips.

Fiercely Fiona, Paint My Moji-Toes Red, Konad Special Polish -Green

This is a preview of my "Blue collection".  I lined them up for August.  Blue is the color I'm most drawn to when buying polish.  (Left to Right)  CA Colors #47, SH XTWear  "Blizzard Blue", OPI Burlesque "Simmer and Shimmer", Milani 3D "Cyberspace", my own Frankenpolish, OPI "No Room for the Blues", OPI Katy Perry "Last Friday Night" (my favorite), SHXTWear "Pacific Blue", SHXTWear "Deep Blue Sea", another Frankenpolish I mixed, OPI "Blue my Mind", and OPI DS "Fantasy"   

I still want to get a pastel blue like "What's with the Cattitude" and next month OPI has a bright turquoise foil to be released "Swimsuit, I Nailed It" from the upcoming Miss Universe.  I know that some mainland shops have this collection out but here in Hawaii, I don't expect to see it til the end of August.  I'm telling myself I won't buy it....but when I go to pick up "It's My Year" (a light purple shimmer from the same set) I will probably get it too.  I just really like blue polish.

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede and Silver Shatter

This is from 2009 OPI Suede collection.  In 2009/2010, nail polish was the last thing on my mind.  This year when I looked back on previous OPI collections, there were quite a few great colors and finishes.   I found this last month and wanted to give it a try. I was in a purple mood because of the weather.  The sun comes out and then an hour later it's raining.  A couple hours later-blue skies and hot weather.  So hard to plan anything (frustrating).

 It dries super fast and has a suede-like feel.  It chipped fast.  My pinkie chipped right after I painted it. 

I wanted to cover up the not so perfect paint job with silver shatter.  It didn't break apart well and I'm thinking it's because of the suede finish.  This is coming off first chance I get. 

OPI Sparkle-icious

IThis picture is not that great.  I took it in the sun and couldn't see the screen.  I felt like somrthing festive so I used Sparkle-icious from OPIs Burlesque  and did a Konad design.  I thought it would look like streamers. Of course it was completely different than I envisioned it.  The polish chipped fairly quick and I didn't get a chance to retake the picture before it happened. I removed it today.  This picture is from Tuesday (four days ago).  It's looks so pretty in the bottle but this is my second manicure with this polish and it doesn't look right on my nails somehow.   I still really like this polish.  

Removal was very easy.  I used 3 cotton balls torn in half and tin foil.  I soaked each half cotton ball with acetone remover and held it in place by covering my nail with tin foil.  Not even 5 min later the polish was completely off.  I didn't resoak the balls, I flipped them over and repeated on my other hand.   I had looked this up online and it works amazingly. 

OPI Thanks So Muchness

 I wanted to try one of my new colors from my last haul.  This is "Thanks So Muchness" from the OPI Alice in Wonderland collection.  I also wanted to compare it to "Ali's Big Break" from last holidays Burlesque collection.  On my ring finger I painted "Ali's Big Break".  Once applied it's really hard to tell the difference.  In the bottle "TSM" is a rich shimmer (it's the same formula as "Blue My Mind" from OPIs permanent set-a beautiful royal blue).  "ABB" has fine gold glitter distributed throughtout the bottle but once applied it's hard to see.  If you look close "ABB" is slightly darker and has depth, while "TSM" is shimmery.  Both colors apply smooth and were 2 coaters for me.

I used Konad plate m65 Rose design in Konad black.  It looks like a manicure the Red Queen would wear.  I wonder what kind of manicure Alice would have?           Manicure consisted of OPI Natural Nail Base coat, two coats Thanks So Muchness (2 coats Ali"s Big Break on ring fingers), Konad plate m65, and Sally Hansen Complete Care as a top coat.                              

Ali's Big Break

Thanks So Much-ness

*Note   I'm on day 3 with this manicure and I absolutely love it!  I will definitly be doing this design again.  The reds are beautiful and it makes a dramatic statement contrasted with the light color clothing that I normally wear.  I'm happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone and did red tones this month. 

OPI Houstan We Have a Purple, OPI The Show Must Go On, Extra-va-vaganza, White Shatter

"Houstan We Have A Purple"
I picked this color up on Wednesday and tried it on that night.  Its from the Texas collection for this Spring/Summer.  I wasn't interested in this set until I recently heard that six of the colors had a new "sorbet" formula.  I decided to try one out and went with the purple. This is the only one I'm getting since I really don't like the other colors
 It's dark in the bottle and you can't tell that its slightly translucent.  It goes on smooth and dries super shiny.  This is 2 coats.  I tried to do an orange Konad tip but it didn't show and then I tried a red design and you couldn't see it.  That ruined the manicure so I took it off.  Removal was very easy. I will be using this polish a lot since it is very versatile.  I want to try putting a Konad design under it to see if it looks like something floating in a jelly candy.  I hope they do another sorbet set with a better variety of colors. I wouldn't mind a bright blue or a caramel orange.

"The Show Must Go On"

How true.  I didn't want bare nails for the day.  After I removed my new sorbet polish I continued with my July red theme.  This is last Dec Burlesque Collection.  This color is always changing.  It looked dark red when I bought it, the next day it was more of an orange tone, when I painted it on, it was a pinkish color with no trace of orange.  Sadly I didn't keep it on too long either.  I applied white shatter over and it didn't shatter.  It was more of a haze.  I used too little polish and put too much pressure on the brush.  This was my second failed try with this shatter.  No pic because it was awful.


"Extra Va-Vaganza"

Third time is a charm.  Another color from the Burlesque collection.  This is two coats.  Its not as loud as I thought this glitter would be (which is great).  Its one that I think could be used year round because its about as neutral as a glitter can get.  It goes good with my skin tone.  The edges of my finger are red because I didn't completely remove The Show Must Go On.  I was rushing and planned on giving the white shatter one more try.


White Shatter

Okay. It finally worked for me.  Black,silver, and white shatter all have their own formulas.  They apply so differently.  Black shatter is the best for me.  This white I have mixed reviews.  I had to apply it thick and with  a light touch.  It shatters more like a crushed candy.  It is not goopy like the black and goes on smooth.  Thats probably why I was applying it too thin at first.  I have the urge too scrape it off like peeling paint but yet I want try it with more colors.

As I'm typing this today, my pointer finger already is chipped after doing dishes.  I applied the gliiter on thin but I didn't use my usual OPI natural nail base coat and had remnents of my previous polish
 

OPI Flit a Bit and OPI Conga-line Coral

Here is one of the five OPI colors that I found at Trade Secret for $2.  Because these usually are $8.50 each, I grabbed every clearance color. This is from last years "Summer Flutter" collection.  It's called "Flit a Bit".  I didn't know I would like orange so much.  It's a nice shade for spring, summer, and fall.  I used Sally Hansens speed dry in "Lightning" to do the Konad stamps.  I'm glad the image picked up on camera.  It's not that noticeable in person. 

Here is a pic of the "Summer Flutter" display.  All of the colors are really pretty.  I wish it was part of their permanent collection.

My orange manicure didn't last because I was messing with the nail polish remover again.  I was cleaning empty polish bottles so I could mix Franken polish.  I made three of them.  I will swatch them next month because two are blue and another is purple with pink sparkles.

This is my third mani for the month of July.  This is another clearance OPI.  Conga-Line Coral  from the Spring 2009 South Beach Collection.  It's a color I would normally not use.  Turns out, I really like it.  It's bright and shimmery.  A fun color.  I will probably be using it again through this month and also in November with a glitter top coat.  The hibiscus Konad stamp turned out nice.  My nails are super soft right now from using clorox last week.  I'm getting a lot of breakage and will have to file my nails shorter for my next mani