Liquid Sand Jinx

It feels like a really long time since I last blogged.  Ever since Summer break started, the three of us have been ill.  The girls are still not their best and I have an ear infection that doesn't seem to be responding to the prescribed meds I got.  It's now officially two weeks that we've been sick.  We still have been doing our Summer activities minus the trips to the beach.  My daughter had an appointment on a neighbor island and I think that the pressure of riding in an airplane might have caused my ear infection.  My daughter and I also have allergies.  We've been taking allergy meds, mucinex, antibiotics, ibuprofen.  I have a mini pharmacy in my cabinet.  It's just been exhausting. 
On one of our mini travels, I picked up Jinx from the OPI Bond Girls set.  I've seen other brand textured polish, but they look like stucco.  I like the sparkle of the Liquid Sands.  I might pick up a couple more from this set.  Jinx is a perfect shade for Summer.  I did a matching mani/pedi with it.  In pictures, it looks bright red orange, but it's a toned down coral in person. I did two coats over a base coat. I added When Monkeys Fly with Revlon Matte Top Coat as an accent for some added bling.

Double Accent Nails

This is my first bright manicure of the month. "When Monkeys Fly" has been sitting on my dresser waiting for another turn.  I paired it with "My Boyfriend Scales Walls"-my go to white.  I'm over the single accent nail and have not yet mastered the art of skittles.  Doing a double accent is very much in my comfort zone.  It feels more balanced-if that makes any sense.  My thumb, pointer, and pinkie is "Conga-Line Coral".  This is an OPI from back in Summer of 2009.  It doesn't look like much in the bottle.  I found it in a $2 clearance bin about three years ago when I was rebuilding my nail polish collection.  I'm glad I got it.  On the nail-it's a stunner! 

Right now I'm downsizing my polish collection.  I grew it too much.  I just sold thirteen bottles this weekend in a garage sale.  I'm planning on going through my dupes and non OPI brands and eliminating more polishes.  It will make my monthly polish maintenance routine a little less time consuming.  It will also mean that beautiful colors like the ones I'm wearing will get more use.  I'm also being ultra selective when purchasing new colors.  I haven't bought anything new for three weeks now. 

Eurso Euro and When Monkeys Fly

Im going to start off my saying that I've been in the market for a royal blue cream polish. Revlon Urban, Revlon Superstitious, and OPI Dating a Royal have been candidates. These are readily available and I can get them any time. Currently, I'm on a no- buy for nine weeks. It should have been easy since I started the no-buy the day after I picked up the Euro Central mini pack, two of the Oz glitters, and already owned the 3 out of 4 liquid sands. I apparently have no will power and caved the first week. Yes, I did. I bought four OPI in one day. It was Women's Day and I could give you a hundred excuses to justify it. I wanted Don't Burst My Bubble, and since it is limited, I couldn't wait nine weeks. The salon didn't have the Oz collection and I picked up Eurso Euro. Which is also limited and a shade that I had needed-yes needed- for my collection. It it very beautiful. Almost a one coater. It does have a unique odor to it. No one else has mentioned this on their blog and I'm wondering if its just me. The smell reminds me of Sally Hansens X-Treme Wear in Pacific Blue. It might have the same type of pigments in it.

I'm showing this gorgeous polish with a coat of When Monkeys Fly from the OPI Great and Powerful Oz over it. This polish has created such a negative stir in the blogging community. I wanted to say something positive about it by first saying that at least all of those controversial hex glitters don't have to be fished out and flow smoothly on the nail. Also, the small holo glitters are just stunning. And lastly, if you press the hex glitters down when it's tacky, it will lay flat. Add a coat of Seche Vite and it is good to go. Is that something we should be doing with glitter? Of course not. Did OPI mess up? Yeah, they did. Will this polish be remembered? Not in a positive way, but it probably will be still talked about years from now-kind of like OPI & Apple Pie. Remember that polish? I will continue to use my When Monkeys Fly because I don't think it's that big of an issue. It takes special application like how some softshades, pastels, and chromes do. It takes patience but the end result is pretty.

 

My bottle doesn't have the apostrophe in Monkeys like some others do. 
 I got it from Trade Secrets.

 

I also wanted to add that with my purchase of Eurso Euro, I managed to find a lemming of mine for a while. Isn't it Romantic from the OPI FairyTale Bride softshade collection in 2009. I also found Venus De Violet which was a re-release in 2009. It is a very unique color. If that's not a reason to break a no-buy then I don't know what is. I did get Don't Burst My Bubble. I ran in Trade Secrets and scooped that up. I am still going to try with the no-buy for the remaining eight weeks. I'm waiting for the OPI Bonds Girls in May and that is what started the no-buy. I want Honey Ryder and maybe a second color when I see them in person.