Random blogpost: Glitter!

As you may guess from our name, everything sparkly, glittery, or shiny captures our attention almost immediately. Needless to say, we also love glitter polishes like crazy. I am a huge fan of OPI glitter polishes in particular, which they traditionally bring out at Christmas. It still pains me to say I didn't buy Mad As A Hatter when I had the chance, and it still is the one polish I really desire (I've tried to find dupes, but unfortunately Funky Fingers Icicle Lights was no match... not special enough). When the Burlesque collection came, though, I swiftly sweeped up my favorites, which are Bring on the Bling, Sparkle-iscious, and Simmer and Shimmer (all of which you'll probably see come by in future NOTDs).

You may ask why I am rambling on about glitter like this, but trust me, I am all leading you to something great: for the upcoming Christmas collection, OPI has teamed up with the Muppets! First of all, I love the Muppets on their own, especially the Ma-nah Ma-nah song, but their wild colours are sure to make for an awesome collection. Although only official pictures have been released so far, here's what I can show you:

This promotional Lena White (UK distributor) poster shows us all great 12 colors (plus shatter); I will definitely be going for Rainbow Connection (though I hope it's not a Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday/Milani Gems dupe, as I went through a lot of trouble to get the latter), and probably also Divine Swine, Excuse Moi!, and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It!

Another nail blogger, Short Wide Nails, has an image of all of the colors, swatched:

Not our image; source: Short Wide Nails

This collection looks really great (although I never get the six 'boring,' safe colors that OPI puts in... Don't they have enough reds by now?), and I can't wait for it to hit the shelves! It'll probably be out around October in the USA, with Europe usually not far behind.

Pastel Shatter Mani

Last week, I decided to try a pastel rainbow manicure, using various summery budget polishes. After about four days, I became tired with the look (and the small chip that had appeared on my right index finger), and then this happened:

Pastel Black Shatter Mani (further description below), indirect sunlight

Close Up of the Shatter effect

This is what was on my nails (on both hands):
Thumb: Catrice Sweets For My Sweets (3 coats)
Index: Essence Makes Me Weak (2 coats)
Middle: Catrice Bye, Bye Birdy (2 coats)
Ring: Essence LE You Rock Speed Of Light Blue (2 coats)
Pinky: Essence Dress For A Moment (2 coats)


Blossom and I have some issues with Sweets For My Sweets, as ours seem to have a slightly different color -- hers is darker than mine, and mine (which is an old purchase) seems more Barbie pink. Nevertheless, I'm crazy about these budget pastels (which range from €1,29 to €2,49).


We decided a couple of months ago to invest in OPI Black Shatter, priced at €13,95 here in The Netherlands, and although I am still not 100% sure on my feelings about the look, I can't help but smile about all the comments I get from people thinking that my nails are either stickers or drawn on. However, as I'm a perfectionist, the fact that the crackle isn't identical on each nail still bothers me (which is why I'm currently sporting a different mani). The image above shows the difference in applying Black Shatter thickly (thumb -- middle) or thinly (ring -- pinky). This wasn't on purpose at all... I just always have to get used to applying thick coats!


XOXO
Sapphyre