OPI Number One Nemesis and Chanel Graphite

What beauties!!  I just love this color.  A beautiful deep silver foil with gold throughout.  In both cases, it has the effect of a golden glow.  I already had Graphite and I didn't really intend on picking up Number One Nemesis, but when I saw it in the store I couldn't help myself.  In the bottle, the OPI version seems more murky and grey than Graphite.  On the swatch, they are the same basic idea.  But there are some differences.  The OPI version is more mellow and it does not have the same granular appearance as Chanel's Graphite.  In Graphite the gold flecks are much more prominent - giving it a more golden feel.  The fleck in Number One Nemesis reminds me of Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous.... but I seem to have misplaced my bottle.  Number One Nemesis looks to me like Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous plus a golden glow.  But I can't tell for sure until I find my bottle.  These are close enough that the casual observer might not know the difference, but different enough to say it's definitely not a true dupe, in my opinion.

OPI on Left.  Chanel on Right.

With the blur you can definitely see the larger gold flecks in Graphite.

OPI on Top.  Chanel on Bottom.

Happy Friday - Did I buy 4 of the same color?

I know I can't be alone in this.  I pick up colors that I like in-store and when I get home I wonder to myself, "Did I already have that?" Today I was doing some organizing and I decided to compare some of them for my own sake. 

(Left to Right): OPI Grape..Set..Match, Zoya Julieanne, NOPI I'm A Pool For Love, OPI OPI Ink.

They look similar in the bottle, but they all have some subtle and some not-so-subtle differences.

Here's the first coat... I don't know why blogger likes to flip my pictures...

(Top to Bottom): OPI Grape..Set..Match, Zoya Julieanne, NOPI I'm A Pool For Love, OPI OPI Ink.

And here are three coats...

(Left to Right): OPI Grape..Set..Match, Zoya Julieanne, NOPI I'm A Pool For Love, OPI OPI Ink.

In other news, I am going to finally buy a decent camera.  I have been really wanting one lately and my birthday is coming up.  It will be nice to be able to take decent pictures - of my nail polish and everything else really.  We always struggle to get good pictures on vacation (although we rarely go anywhere).  It's at the point where we don't even bother.  It will be nice to have the option of taking decent pictures because my memory is devoted to other things, like chemistry...

Also --

I know some people who are opening up a boutique and I'm considering making some polish and selling it.  I purchased some supplies and we'll see how it goes.  I'm not really out to make a profit as much as I just love nail polish.  It could be fun to make colors I like and share the love. I had already made a bunch of cuticle oil for myself (using vitamin E & jojoba oil).  The bottles lining the top row are filled with that.  From doing a cursory search on Etsy it looks like there's no shortage of people selling their own mixtures.  I might be joining the bandwagon!

New Essies - Yay for spring

I really hadn't been drooling over the Essie previews this year.  I never really am excited about Essie collections (except the Luxe Effects so far), but when I saw them in person I couldn't resist the temptation.  I picked these up at Target and I'm glad I did.  They are very pretty and I don't have anything like them. 

Orange, It's Obvious! is a very bright orange creme.  It is in the Spring 2012 Navigate Her collection.  It leans more yellow than red, which is really great.  I can't wait to wear this in the middle of August.  It's hot, hot, hot.  Haha.  Here is a comparison pic.

(Left to Right): Essie Orange, It's Obvious!, OPI A Good Man-darin Is Hard To Find, OPI Cajun Shrimp

In person it is easier to see the pink in Cajun Shrimp and the red of A Good Man-darin.. in comparison to Orange, It's Obvious!  It is a very bright medium orange.  Think kid's building blocks or crayons.  It looks to me like the perfect orange product of primary red and yellow.  The first coat (on the wheel) was patchy, but the rest were fine and it leveled itself out well.

The other two are part of the Essie Resort 2012 Collection. 

No More Film is very moody.  In some light it appears blue and in others it appears dark dusty purple.  The polish levels itself out like a pro immediately.  It definitely does not have the patchy tendencies that Orange, It's Obvious! does.  I really like this one.

Sure Shot.  If you like the Beastie Boys, enough said.  It's a really bright pink raspberry kind of color with ultra tiny shimmer.  It's really complex and deep.  I'm in love with it.  Sometimes Essie tends to look way cooler in the bottle than the swatches.  This one lives up to its bottle bling.  I didn't have any patchiness or streaks while applying it on the nail wheel.

Happy Spring.  You deserve it, bitches.

A Little Bit of Random

My collection slowly grows. I picked up some of the China Glaze Hunger Games polishes last week and a new Julep Maven box arrived in the mail.  Plus, I picked up Essie Playa del Platinum on a whim.  Fun, right?

As soon as I got home with them, I swatched them on nail wheels for fun and then compared to some of my older polishes.  I always wonder if I've gone out and bought something that I basically already have.  Here are some pics and comparisons.  As always, sorry about the quality.  I would like to buy a real camera, but I'm kinda selectively cheap. Being a college student cramps my style sometimes.

(Left to Right): Julep: Sofia, Natasha.  China Glaze: Smoke and Ashes, Riveting, Harvest Moon, Fast Track

Julep Sofia in the bottle was so cute that I thought it deserved a couple pics of its own.

Julep Sofia, Julep Natasha

Unfortunately, on the nail I wasn't as impressed with it.  It was a different sort of consistency than I expected, I guess.  It was fine when I started using it, but after a while it was almost like a paste.  It was very thick, but workable.  As I was working with the brush, the polish on the brush stem started to look like it was drying and sliding down the stem.  It dried lightning-quick and had a somewhat matte finish.  The green and blue sparkles were a nice touch, but I wasn't happy with the color of the green.  It reminds me of Slimer from the Ghostbusters cartoon.  I was confused by the polish, but soon I discovered the reason it was so strange.  Later that night I found that IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!  It all makes sense now.  It glowed crazy, too.  Way better than the China Glaze Goulish Glow from last Halloween. 

On to Julep Natasha... I can't say much for application because I only put it on the nail wheel.  It does seem very pigmented and leveled itself out very fast.  Here are some comparison pics.

(Top Row) Julep Sofia, Julep Natasha (orange), CG Smoke and Ashes.
(Bottom Row) OPI A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find, OPI Cajun Shrimp

In real life, Natasha is just a hair lighter than OPI's A Good Mand-arin... But you would never notice it unless they were side by side.  I would call it a dupe for sure.  Cajun Shrimp looks much pinker than both.

(Left wheel - Top to Bottom): Julep Sofia, Julep Natasha, CG Smoke and Ashes, CG Riveting, CG Harvest Moon, CG Fast Track
(Right wheel - Top to Bottom): OPI Cajun Shrimp, OPI A Good Mand-arin is Hard to Find, two blanks, OPI Brisbane Bronze, Zoya Jules

Okay... now lets compare the China Glaze to some random stuff.

(Left Wheel - Top to Bottom): Butter All Hail the Queen, Ulta Taupe on a Rope, Zoya Jules, OPI Brisbane Bronze.
(Right Wheel - Top to Bottom): CG Fast Track, CG Harvest Moon

(Top Wheel - Left to Right): CG Harvest Moon, CG Fast Track
(Bottom Wheel): OPI Brisbane Bronze

Harvest Moon has a really brilliant copper foil finish.  The picture doesn't show how fantastic it is in comparison.  OPI Brisbane Bronze feels more pink and has less shine.

(Top Wheel - Left to Right): CG Harvest Moon, CG Fast Track
(Bottom Wheel - Left to Right): Butter All Hail the Queen, Ulta Taupe on a Rope, Zoya Jules

Zoya Jules is cool in comparison to CG Fast Track and you can definitely see a difference in the type of fleck.  Jules has a finer, smaller fleck and Fast Track's fleck is slightly larger and irregularly shaped - it's also much more yellow gold.  All Hail the Queen is has a more pink feel and is faintly holographic.  I thought the shimmer would stand out a little bit more in Taupe on a Rope - it's much darker and a very faint shimmer.

And one more random comparison wheel.... slightly blurry.

 (Left to Right): Essie Playa del Platinum, SOPI Don't Feel the Hand Models, Rescue Beauty Grunge, Essie Topless & Barefoot, OPI Tickle My France-y, Essie Lady Like.

Essie Playa del Platinum

A month ago or so, I bought some more Rescue Beauty polishes so I hope to get some more time to share them.  They are beautiful.

OPI - I'm Not Really A Waitress

So I picked this up on a whim.  An in-mall salon was having an OPI sale around Christmas, so I said, "Why the hell not?" After all, how much of an OPI fan can I really be, if I haven't tried their famous best-selling shade of all time?!

I thought this polish looked a little dull in the bottle, but it's at least a shade lighter on the nail.  It is a very deep looking red shimmer.  Almost frost, but not in that gaudy 90's way.  It definitely has dimension.  I got lost during a chemistry lecture today, just admiring my nails.  I can't believe it only took two thin coats!  I can see why this polish is so popular.  I was hoping it didn't look dated, as I'm not really into old school shimmer reds.  And it definitely doesn't look dated in my opinion.  It has a vampy vixen feel to it. 

I'm pretty rough on my nails and generally any polish shows a tiny bit of wear at the tips after one day - even when I wrap them.  But after one long day of punishment, this polish isn't showing any wear at all!  I used one coat of OPI Chip Skip, one thin coat of OPI Natural Base Coat, two thin coats of I'm Not Really A Waitress, and a generous coat of Out The Door to top it off.