OPI Simply Smashing!

Have been wearing OPI’s Simply Smashing from the first Serena Williams Grand Slam collection and comes in a set with the Black Shatter. However I didn’t get the black shatter because I’ve heard how goopy and thick it could become

This is a very pretty yellow-green that reminds me of a tennis ball indeed.

under direct sunlight

with flash

NOTD: OPI Rally Pretty Pink

I got the OPI Serena Glam Slam Rally Pretty Pink & Red Shatter set from smoochiezz at only $20. Quite a deal in my opinion as it’s usually going for $25 or so on other nail supplies blogshops. Anyway. I decided to try out the raved Rally Pretty Pink on its own today:)

natural light

close ups

direct sunlight

with flash

They really look more or less the same even under different lights where the gold bronzy shimmers are very prominent against the sheer mauve base. It’s a very classy colour where you look subtly polished (pun unintended!) without looking like you are trying too hard. This is mentioned to be a dupe of Zoya Faye, and I’d say they look very identical on the swatch pictures that I had seen online. It veers towards the sheer side though, and it took me about 3 coats to build up the opacity but I think two would have sufficed (the shimmers made it hard to guage). Formula for this polish is awesome as usual and did not give me any troubles. Drying time was good too and paired extremely well with my trusty ol’ Poshe Top Coat.

Swatch & Review: Zoya Charity

Zoya Charity is described as a “faded mauve-purple with copper colored duochrome shimmer”… But I feel that it looks brown under certain lights and angles which make this a very interesting nail polish indeed.

2coats:

Color Family: Purples

Finish: Metallics

Intensity: 5 (1=Sheer – 5=Opaque)

Tone: Cool

I usually stay away from colours like that for fear of looking dated or too dull. This one reminds me a lot of Zoya Deidra which unfortunately, seems to have been discontinued as I couldn’t find it on Zoya. They even look similar in the bottle just that Charity has a lot more brown undertones as compared to Deidra.

 Zara is the other purple from Zoya that I currently have in my stash.

with flash

This colour has an understated elegance that is usually mistaken for “boring”. I find that this takes me very well from work to play as it looks different under different sets of lighting. It looks darker in real life (almost like a rosy brown) under fluroscent lamps but in the sunlight this looks like a pretty purple with subtle gold shimmer flecks. Formula is fantastic as with all Zoyas, this one covered well in just two coats.

Zoya Charity on my tips 😉

Swatch: OPI My Private Jet + Nubar 2010

MPJ is a stunning polish, and I thought I’d just amp it up with a little bit of Nubar 2010! Whenever I use Nubar 2010, I think of ladeekim because I’ve never met anyone who is so passionate about Nubar LOL!

holy shizzzzzzz

reminds me of a reptile

This is just one coat of Nubar 2010 over 2 coats of OPI MPJ. It seems to transform the base color of MPJ from a charcoal-grey to a plummy-brown. I have no top coat on it but it’s recommended because you can see that the polish dries slightly matte.

Swatch & Review: OPI My Private Jet

OPI My Private Jet is a dark charcoal grey/brown with plenty of glamourous glitter bits in it making it look super luxurious on the nails especially under sunlight. I know there were some discrepancies about the different versions of MPJ around the world but as far as I know, the original MPJ is a holographic whereas the subsequent versions that were released are more glittery instead of being holographic.

Mine is definitely not a holo as you are to tell from my pictures… But this polish is amazing in its own way as far as I’m concerned.

Under the sun

With flash

Nope not a holo. Still looks damn pretty though.

Formula is great for OPI, it applies as smooth as their Designer Series in my opinion but dries down to dull semi-matte finish so a top coat is definitely required (no reason to skip top coat anyway). The top coat really brings out the glorious shimmers 😉

With that, I bid you all a good day… And I’m looking forward to the weekends myself 😉

Swatch & Review: Perfectly Nude with ZOYA Melodie

Zoya Melodie is one of my greatest finds in 2011. This is the nude I have been looking for all my life. It didn’t give me corpse-y fingers and contained just the right balance of beige and pink to give a really pretty neutral look. I am very glad I picked this up and according to my supplier, it is now (unfortunately) OOS and would probably not come in anymore. However if you do come across this, and you need a neutral polish for work… This is fabulous.

Color Family: Neutrals

Finish: Metallic

Intensity: 3 (1=Sheer – 5=Opaque)

Tone: Cool

Zoya Melodie (3 coats):

Sorry about the picture spam. It’s really too pretty and I can’t resist snapping more pictures just for the sake of it.

Two coats would have sufficed, this went on more pigmented than I had expected. As you know I’m fairly impatient and this resulted in alot of bald spots so I had to use a 3rd coat. No streakiness too and was easy peasy to work with. Wears like iron with Armor Top Coat too, and to speed up the drying process I used Poshe Top Coat over it.

It’s been almost 24 hours and I don’t even spot any sign of wear and tear though I’ve been using my hands a fair bit today.

I’m really not trying to act cute here, but see how the nail colour complements my skintone?

Swatch & Review: ZOYA Barbie

I wore Zoya Barbie yesterday! It’s a warm medium baby pink with very subtle hot pink shimmer and is very girly!

3 coats + Zoya Armor Top Coat + Poshe Top Coat:

Color Family: Pinks

Finish: Metallic

Intensity: 5 (1=Sheer – 5=Opaque)

Tone: Warm

This is a very cute medium pink that goes on a teeny weeny bit streaky but evens out after 3 coats. The Zoya Armor Top Coat is fantastic, I’ve never had a top coat that works so well with Zoya polishes. I did not notice any bubbling at all even though many consumers complained about it. But I did try to apply my polish without getting in the way of a direct fan or sunlight. However the drying time is terrible. I had waited 3-4 hours before I sleep and I still woke up with a smudged index finger which was why I layered Poshe Top Coat to help with the self-levelling.

Im not a fan of girly pink on my fingers but this is a pink with an attitude 😉

Swatch & Review: Zoya Mieko

Zoya Mieko is described as a “rosy pink with a touch of orange and tons of bold metallic gold shimmer”. The shimmer in it is incredibly beautiful and stunning but unfortunately, very invisible on the nail unless you peer closely.

Color Family: Pinks

Finish: Metallic

Intensity: 5 (1=Sheer – 5=Opaque)

Tone: Cool

Original Collection: Flourish

Application was great as usual, and while the colour goes on quite opaquely, it took me 3 coats to obtain the maximum opacity (without VNL). As I had mentioned, the shimmers are not so obvious on the nails and looks a little metallic from far. It’s a cute strawberry-pink colour and does not look the wee bit odd against my skin colour though it’s a cool color 😛

Swatch & Review: ZOYA Zara

Another purple for today!

Zoya Zara (3 coats):

Color Family: Purples

Finish: Metallic

Intensity: 5 (1=sheer, 5=opaque)

Tone: Cool

Original Collection: Flourish

I apologize for the bad quality, it was raining this morning and the skies were really dark.

Zara is a “vivid blue-toned light purple with strong golden duochrome shimmer”. It looks mauve-ish in some lights but it definitely is pretty! I’m usually not a fan of these light purples but it is too highly-raved to miss out on. It looks slightly dull without a top coat but a coat of Poshe really brings out the golden shimmers! This is a gorgeous gorgeous colour that wears well on fair skin tones. Tanner ladies might find this colour a little washed out.

The consistency and formula is great as usual. Goes on slightly sheer on the first two coats but 3 coats is just nice to cover VNL.

Swatch & Review: OPI Who Needs A Prince + China Glaze White Cap

This is my polish for work. OPI WNAP on its own is too boring for my liking so I layered ChG White Cap over it.

Sigh. It looks too feminine and “bridal-like” for me.

OPI WNAP (2coats) + ChG White Cap (1 coat):

White Cap adds a nice touch of gold shimmers to the entire look. The gold shimmers are more visible under low lighting. Prettiness.