Christmas Time, Glittery OPI

I received some OPI products for Christmas to add to my nail varnish collection, this included the OPI Nail Envy duo (original and matte) and two of the new Muppet Collection OPI's, both Miss Piggy ones (Excuse Moi and Divine Swine).

Excuse Moi is a pink polish with small glitter particles and when I got it I thought it looked red but now it's on it does look pink. I used a base coat of 2 coats of Nail Envy Matt, a coat of pale pink polish, 2 coats of Excuse Moi, then a top coat of original Nail Envy. I put the pale pink coat on to help remove the glitter later so it didn't get as stuck to my nails as usual (leading to scrubbing the glitter off).

Divine Swine is a pink polish with pink glitter and sliver hexagons. This doesn't give an opaque coverage and next time I use it I will put a coat of coloured polish under it as I ended up having to do 3 coats of the polish to give a good coverage. This was mega hard to remove due to this but it is such a lovely polish and hard wearing.

OPI Shatter Polish - Black

I brought this when it first came out along with the Katy Perry polishes. (photo above with alternate nails painted with OPI Last Friday Night and OPI Teenage Dream with the Shatter polish on top, sorry for bad photo, this is an old one from when I first used the polishes)

It is a great effect and works when painted onto dried nail varnish (it won't crack on bare nails).

I like to put a glitter polish as my main colour such as Teenage Dream by Katy Perry as the glitter then shines through the gaps in the black shatter. You then put the shatter onto the dry polish (it has to be dry or it won't shatter properly.) You have to apply this quite quickly as it starts to dry straight away. The thicker you put it on the bigger the gaps made in the polish, ie you get less islands of black but they are bigger and more like animal print, if you put it on thin it goes more stripy and smaller streaks, more like the effect shown on the bottle. The shatter then gets to work and once dry will be matt. I then finish my nails with an OPI topcoat to keep it shiney and also to reduce chipping.

I think of all the colours the black is my favourite and this effect works well on both short and long nails.

The only thing with this polish is that it does go a bit lumpy as obviously its fast drying so make sure you put the lid back on straight away. You may also find it beneficial to wipe the brush off on some kitchen paper to get the lumps of shatter polish off.

OPI RapiDry Top Coat

I wear a lot of OPI products and brought this as it drys quickly. It helps keep my polish perfect for a few days however the only downside to this product is after a few months it goes very thick and gooey. This means that it goes on too thicky and not smoothly.

It's a good product but is only worth buying if you are going to use it a lot in a short period, ie not great if you wear other top coats or if you only paint your nails every now and then. I much prefer using Nail Envy as a top coat or the OPI Start to Finish Base and Top Coat.

OPI Nail Polish Start to Finish Base & Top Coat

I use to use OPI Fast Dry Top Coat but after a few months the top coat gets a bit sticky and gooey and I found this product while looking to purchase a new Fast Dry Top Coat.

I have a huge make up bag/box full of OPI and Nail Inc polishes and anything to help cut down on the number of product I have makes me (and my fiance) very happy! (ie less products left laying around the living room while I do my nails)

I usually use my OPI Nail Envy as a base coat but this product also has a strengthener in which is nice. My nail varnishes never last long on my nails as they chip within 24 hours usually (I am very hands on person so my nails always get bashed etc) but this top coat is great as it does give me a longer wear and doesn't take massively long to dry either.

This is usually the product I use if I want to sit down with my fiance to do my nails but don't want to turn the coffee table into a nail salon. This plus a nail colour is all I need.

It's also great as it works out much cheaper that buying a treatment, top coat and base coat and I would really recommend this to someone who wants to try OPI but doesn't have a huge OPI collection or for someone who wants to take OPI polished on holiday but doesn't want to fill their makeup bag with too many products.

OPI - Original Nail Envy Review

I've used this product on and off for a number of years and it's the best nail care product I've ever used and I'm a HUGE OPI fan!

I usually use this product when my nails are a bit weak and flaky although I always use it as a basecoat whenever wearing OPI polishes.

The way to use this product is to put 2 coats onto bare nails, then apply a colour polish if you wish, then either use a top coat or you can use nail envy as a top coat (which I recently have started doing and find it's very hard wearing.) Every 2 days you should then put a coat of nail envy over your nails again (over polish or just on top of the nail envy you already have on if you have bare nails)

I've only ever used the Original Nail Envy but I am looking to try the Matt version.

I did see a pink maintenance version of Nail Envy a while ago which I fancied but it seems to be out of stock everywhere so I think they may have stopped doing it but I'm going to carry on my search so that I can wear Nail Envy with a hint of colour as I prefer to wear a coloured polish on my nails.

Some people think that Nail Envy is expensive (its usually around £18) but keep and eye out on QVC as they usually do deals on Nail Envy sets for much cheaper. Word of warning though, I've heard that there are OPI fake products out there, ie products made to look like OPI but they're just imitations so I would try where possible to buy from official stockists.

Caught The Glossy Box Bug!

Saw these when they first came out around May time and was tempted to subscribe but didn't fancy having to wait a few months due to the high demand so forgot all about them.... Until someone posted on Facebook again about them this week.... and my box arrived this morning!
I got it as my skin can be funny with products so getting smaller versions to try it handy as you can never tell if You like a product unless you try it a few times. I also find if I buy a new product I use it once or twice then never again so at least I can gage if I'll use the product regularly. Another reason I got it is as I seem to buy the same products again and again, OPI or Nails Inc polishes, L'Oreal make-up etc in the same types of colours.
This box contained Leighton Denny polish which I've seen in John Lewis before and on QVC I think but to me it looks cheapish packaging so I've never tried it (not that I wouldn't try cheaper things, it just looks similar to own brand polishes which I've tried and haven't been of great quality). I gave it a try last night and it's nice in that it goes on well and the lid/brush is quite weighty which seemed to make it easier to apply. The colour I received was sex kitten, a metalicy silver blue. It'a ok but having applied it while watching a film and not touching anything for a few hours I've noticed this morning marks on my nails like when you go to bed with wet nails so not sure what happened there... Doesn't usually happen with my other polishes. The test though now is how long it lasts....as usually my polishes on last 2 days max even long lasting polishes.
Love the dermologica products, especially the heating face scrub although it made my face all shiney but luckily I was at home all day. My fiancé at one point asked what I had on my chin and it was the light reflecting on my face making it look like I had something white on me.
The lip stuff is also great and really lasts and is making my lips look bigger with the shine.
Another product in the box was Stilla eyeliner in a goldy/greeny/brown colour. I've never used this make before and usually go for black eyeliner but really liked this for everyday wear without eyeshadow and it had a glittery effect to it which looks great. I wouldn't have brought this colour myself normally but love it! Also I've never tried Stilla but it's a good product, not sure I'd go looking for Stilla items but would probably but this eyeliner again when it runs out (or look for similar by my old fave L'Oreal.)
I've not tried the perfumes yet as had lots of migraines over the last few days and heard these were heady fragrances but hopefully will get round to trying them soon.
Very much looking forward to the next box :)