Christmas Glitter Mani 2021

I fell behind with posting, but I really wanted to get this Christmas Mani up on the blog (even though there are a few older manis that I have yet to post! 😅), as it's becoming a bit of a tradition for me to do this same mani at Christmas-time:

I talked about the first two times that I did this manicure in this post from December 2018. I'm pretty sure that this is actually the fourth time I re-created this mani, as I distinctly remember wearing it during the holidays in 2019, however, it looks like I didn't take any pictures of it that year.

One change that I made from the original version, is that I am using a different gold base polish for my middle finger. In the first two versions I used Orly 'Luxe' as the base coat, which is a bit more of a true gold colour. This year (and I think last year too), I started using OPI 'Dazzling Dew Drop', which is a bit more of a brassy, yellow-toned gold. I think that this shade of gold works a little better with this bright, playful look. For both versions, I used Orly 'Halo' as the glitter topper over the gold polishes.

Once again, I love how it turned out! This manicure was so much fun to wear, as it instantly put me in a festive mood!  

Happy Holidays to all!

Grey, Red and Black Abstract Mani

I wanted to do a fun abstract pattern to go with a black, white and grey tie-dye dress that I wore today. This is what I came up with:

For this manicure, I used Nubar Citadel, a light gray creme polish, as the base for the stamped fingers. I then stamped an abstract texture pattern over it using a dark gray creme polish, OPI's "Liv" in the Gray.  The texture patters used were from ÜberChic Beauty Über Mini plates 'Texture-licious', and 'Texture-licious 3'. The two accent nails are painted red with OPI 'Let Your Love Shine'. I also added some cute red heart decals over my stamped index and pinky fingers, to tie the look together.

I also did a slight modification of the mani on my other hand: 

It's essentially the same design, but I double-stamped the nail stamped fingers with another texture pattern in black - Bundle Monster 'Straight Up Black' stamping polish. The texture pattern I used to top the design was from ÜberChic Beauty Über Mini plates 'Texture-licious' 4. This design more closely resembled the tie-dyed dress that I used as inspiration, but I liked both versions and couldn't bring myself to just pick one! 😄

I really enjoyed creating this manicure! It was a lot of fun to design, and a lot of fun to wear!

Revlon 'Elusive'

 Today I have a quick swatch to share:

Revlon #736 'Elusive' is a matte black crelly polish with Emerald green hexagonal glitter particles of various sizes. I'm pretty sure that this polish is discontinued.

I think that this is one of those polishes that looks a million times better in the bottle than on the nail. I find myself wishing that the black base was a bit more translucent, so that the glitter particles would be able to make more of an impact. I also think it would be better with a glossy finish instead of the matte formula that was chosen - of course that is an easy fix with a bit of glossy top coat. 

Overall, it's an OK polish. The formula applied and dried well. The final look is edgy, and somewhat unique. It's just not really my cup of tea... I could see myself maybe wearing it again around halloween, or as a base for nail art, or perhaps if it worked well with a particular outfit - but all in all, it is not one of my favourites.

China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps'

Today I have a swatch of an oldie but goodie, China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps':

'Ruby Pumps' is an amazing ruby red jelly glitter polish that is part of China Glaze's core line. Apparently, the polish was originally released as part of a collection called 'The Wizard of Ooh Ahz' way back in 2001, and then brought back due to popular demand in 2009.  'Dorothy Who?' is another polish that I own, that was originally from the same collection. I previously featured it on the blog in this post. 

In the picture above, the polish looks a lot lighter than it really does in person. However, it does a good job of showing the embedded sparkle from the shimmer particles in the deep red translucent base. The picture below more closely captures the gorgeous true shade of the lacquer. 

I believe that the 'Wizard of Ooh Ahz' collection was released for the holiday season, and I can definitely see how 'Ruby Pumps' in particular would be great for Christmas time. However, it is such a glamorous and glitzy look, that I'll make it work any time of year! 😄

Revlon 'Romantique'

Today, I have a snapshot of a mani that I wore last week. I was feeling like doing something neutral, and demure, so I went with Revlon 'Romantique':

'Romantique' is warm powdery pink creme polish. For me, this type of shade is perfect for when I'm not in the mood for a lot of colour. It's absolutely beautiful, and makes for an elegant mani. As can be expected from most Revlon classic shades, the formula for this polish was great. It applies cleanly and smoothly, and dried quickly.

Sky Blue Dotticure

Today I have a dotticure to share:

This manicure was quick and easy to do, and a lot of fun to wear. It's simply a bright sky blue base, with silver, orange, and dark teal layered polka-dots. This is the perfect type of mani to do if you want to incorporate a little nail art into your manicure, but don't want to do a lot of thinking or planning. I haven't been doing a lot of manicures lately, so it has been really fun to revisit this hobby after a little while away!

Let Them Eat Cake Mani

For today's post, I have a manicure themed around an 'oldie but goodie' indie nail polish, NCLA's 'Let Them Eat Cake':

For this Manicure I used NCLA's 'Let Them Eat Cake', a gorgeous lavender glitter crelly polish from NCLA's 'Duchess of L.A.' collection, which I believe came out in 2014. I added two metallic glitter accent nails, one in lavender (Essie's 'Stroke of Brilliance'), and another in plum (L.A Girl's Glitter Addict 'Provocative'). These glitters closely match two of the colours in the metallic glitter mix used in 'Let Them Eat Cake'. 

'Let Them Eat Cake' would probably be one of my favourite polishes, If I really had to try and pick favourites! I've always loved the colour scheme, and even after all of these years, the formula is still impeccable! 

Morgan Taylor - Just One Bite

For St Patrick's day this year, I did a 'Green Plaid Mani' which used 'Mistress of Mayhem', a sparkly dark green polish from Morgan Taylor's Fall 2020 'Disney Villains' collection. Today, I have a swatch of another polish from that 'Disney Villain's' collection. It is a metallic red polish called 'Just One Bite':

'Just One Bite' is the Morgan Taylor 'Disney Villain Collection' polish that was themed around the Evil Queen from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'. The name is a reference to the poisoned red apple that the queen offers to Snow White. Fittingly, it is a gorgeous apple red polish with a finely milled shimmer that gives the polish a metallic look. 

I'm partial to metallic reds, so of course I absolutely had to have this polish when I noticed it in the collection! Now that I've tried it, I can say that I really enjoyed wearing it. The colour and finish were beautiful, and worked well with my skin tone. I also think the formula was fairly decent, and the polish was reasonably long-lasting on the nail. Overall, I'm quite happy with this polish!

Essie 'Cupid's Beau'

Today's swatch is 'Cupid's Beau', from Essie's Valentine's Day 2021 Collection:

'Cupid's Beau' is a vibrant, shimmery, reddish-orange polish with a metallic finish. It's not the typical type of shade you would expect from a Valentine's day collection, but it's a beautiful polish nonetheless. It's also really versatile, as it will be great to wear this bright, shimmery shade right into spring and summer, and since the orange leans more red than yellow, this darker orange shade will even work for fall!

The packaging was a little different for the 2021 Valentine's day collection than it had been the last couple of years, as Essie has steered clear of the Valentine's Day themed decorative bottle wraps that they had been using. I actually really liked those bottle wraps, as they made the bottle stand out, and they added an air of celebration, and festive fun to the collection - the bottles were dressed for the occasion! They were also really easy to remove, for those who prefer to be able to easily see the polish in the bottle at a quick glance. For the 2021 Valentine's Day collection, the bottle decoration was just limited to the bottle caps. I actually miss the wraps!

All in all, 'Cupid's Beau' is a lovely, eye-catching polish, and I enjoyed wearing it!

Yellow, Green, and Blue Dotticure

 Today I have a nail art manicure to share:

This yellow, green, and blue dotticure was really quick and easy to do. I just alternated some blue and green holographic polishes as my base colours, and then added dots of various sizes and colours with a dotting tool. The overall look was very whimsical - it was a lot of fun to wear!

Below, I have a shot of the polishes that I used o create this mani:

I used 3 polishes to create this manicure. The base colours were two different holographic polishes from Cirque Colors, 'Emerald' and 'Sapphire'. These polishes were both originally released in Cirque Colors' 'Facets 2018 Collection', which was themed around various precious gemstones. The third polish was a bright yellow that I used for the dot design. It is called 'Hit the Lights' and it was part of Nicole by OPI's collaboration collection with Selena Gomez, which was released way back in January 2013!

I have so many nostalgic feelings around the (now retired) Nicole by OPI line! I remember how OPI saved the majority of their fun, bright, and bold shades and formulations for this line. It was so much fun to browse through them in the drug stores!

Below, I have some additional shots of the manicure.

OPI '15 Minutes of Flame' - Hollywood Collection for Spring 2021

Today, I have another polish from the OPI Spring 2021 Hollywood collection. This beauty is called '15 Minutes of Flame':

'15 Minutes of Flame' is a stunning metallic fuchsia polish. On the OPI website it's tag line is that "this fuchsia nail polish has a flair for the dramatic" - it's so true, the polish is very bright, and eye-catching, with a shimmery finish that reflects light in such a way that the polish seems to glow from within. 

I found the formula on '15 Minutes of Flame' to be a little tricky to work with, but I feel it's still worth it for the gorgeous colour and shimmer pay-off. The coverage is really good, and if you have a smooth nail surface, you might be able to get away with one coat. When I used one coat, it applied well and dried easily, but did nothing to hide the surface imperfections on my nail. 

I decided to go for a second coat, but that's when I ran into problems with the formula. After a few attempts, I found that it's best to give a fair amount of dry time between coats to ensure that the first layer is dried thoroughly before applying the second. This seemed to minimize bubbling. And also, if applying two coats, it's probably best to give a good amount of dry time before doing other activities, or going to bed. The first couple tries, I did my nails about an hour before going to sleep, and woke up with a little bit of smudging.

All in all, I really do love '15 Minutes of Flame' - despite how careful I had to be when applying it. It such a fun, and flashy colour and finish. I'm looking forward to more great manis with this awesome shade!

OPI 'I'm Really an Actress' - OPI Hollywood Collection for Spring 2021

2021 marks the 40th anniversary of OPI's 1981 inception in California, USA. To celebrate this milestone, the company has created a Hollywood collection for Spring 2021. This is actually the second Hollywood collection that OPI has released. The first was for Fall/Winter 1999, the 10th anniversary of their 1989 nail lacquer launch collection. Even though they started running the company in 1981, they only expanded their products to include nail polishes in 1989. They are now one of the most popular brands of nail polish in the world!

That first Hollywood collection introduced one of OPI's most iconic polishes, 'I'm Not Really a Waitress',  which has since become part of their permanent line. The polish has also become one of their best sellers. As a nod to this renowned polish, the 2021 Hollywood collection includes the equally cheekily named 'I'm Really an Actress'. When I first heard about this collection and saw that this polish was part of it, I instantly knew that I had to have it! And so we have the subject of today's post!:

OPI is known for it's red polishes being some of the best in the industry, so it's only fitting that the marquee polish of the Spring 2021 40th Anniversary 'Hollywood' collection would also be a red! 

'I'm really an Actress' is a bright red holographic polish, with slightly cool undertones. This red has a somewhat translucent consistency, which is the perfect base to showcase the fine holographic shimmer particles mixed into the formula. It really does embody the glitz and glamour of Hollywood actresses and red carpets. It also has an excellent formula, and looks quite lovely on the nail.

Now, you may be wondering how 'I'm Really an Actress' compares to it's sister polish 'I'm Not Really a Waitress'. Well, I've got you covered with a handy-dandy comparison swatch below!:

As you can see, both polishes have completely different finishes, and are different shades of red. 'I'm Not Really a Waitress' is a stunning deep red metallic perfectly befitting the Fall/Winter collection that it was originally released in, while 'I'm Really an Actress' is a gorgeous brighter red holo, more suitable for Spring.

As someone who not only loves polish, but also appreciates the nostalgia element of certain polishes, I'm super excited to have 'I'm Really an Actress' in my collection. 

As a side note, I also own another polish that was initially released in the original 1989 Hollywood collection. It is a deep red creme shade called 'Chick Flick Cherry'.  I used this polish in an earlier post on this blog, which you can see here.

OPI 'Envy the Adventure'

St. Patrick's day has recently passed, but I was still in a green mood! Today I have a quick mani to share using OPI's 'Envy the Adventure', and Rimmel's 'Dazzle':

For this mani, I started with a base of 'Envy the Adventure', and then added a few simple star embellishments that I made by using a star-shaped hole punch on a dried sheet of gold nail polish, 'Dazzle'. It was super quick and easy, and made for a fun mani!

Materials Used:

Green Plaid Manicure

I decided to do a green plaid manicure as a warm-up to St Patrick's Day. Here's what I came up with:

For the plaid nails, I used Zoya 'Ireland' as the base, and I double-stamped plaid images from my UberChic Beauty stamping plate, 'Pretty in Plaid 2'. For the stamping, I used Zoya 'Hunter', and then Sally Hansen Color Foil 'Liquid Gold'. I did a sparkly hunter green accent nail on my ring finger, using Morgan Taylor 'Mistress of Mayhem', from their Fall 2020 'Disney Villains' collection. I also did a gold accent nail on my middle finger, using Rimmel 'Dazzle'.

To finish off the mani, I put on a layer of glossy topcoat - but then I decided it would look better matte! I then carefully applied a mattifying topcoat, trying to avoid putting it over the gold stamping,  so that the gold would still be super shiny.

All in all, I'm really happy with how this mani turned out. I purchased the 'Pretty in Plaid 2' plate relatively recently, and ever since, I've been wanting to do more plaid manicures. I'm glad that I was able to incorporate some plaid into this one!

Zoya 'Carmen'

 This gorgeous polish is Zoya's 'Carmen':

Zoya's website describes Carmen like this: "a bright, clean medium true red in a glossy creme finish. You can't go wrong with this classic red." The polish has a slightly translucent, crelly(ish) formula. My lighting in the photo above makes this swatch look a lot brighter, and more of a 'poppy red' than it actually is. It really is a true, neutral red as the website describes. My thumbnail in the label shot photo below is a much closer representation of how this shade looks in real life.

Fun Fact: You'll notice in the label shot picture that Carmen has the distinction of being colour ZP001 - polish number one in Zoya's numbering system. I couldn't find an official source for this info, but the rumours on line suggest that this was possibly Zoya's first polish, or perhaps we can speculate that it was at least released in it's initial launch? Anyhow, as someone who loves the odd bit of polish history, I found this interesting!

Blue, Orange, and Silver Stamped and Dotted Manicure

I finally managed to do a little nail stamping! It's been a while, but it was fun to get back into it again. Here's what I came up with:

I started with a simple base of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 'Calypso Blue'. Then I stamped some silver accents on my middle and ring fingers using an image from my ÜberChic Beauty ‘Culture Rich’ stamping plate. I finished it off by using a dotting tool to add orange dots on the nails.

The manicure came together rather quickly, as the embellishments were done pretty much at the spur of the moment. However, I really like how it turned out!

 

Zoya 'Mae'

For today's manicure, I did a swatch of Zoya's 'Mae':

Zoya's website describes the polish as a "warm magenta pink with a micronized metallic pearl finish, reminiscent of vibrant Mediterranian flowers". I love how fun and girly this polish is! This is a great 'Monday Morning' polish, that helps bring a little cheer to the start of the work-week! Now that many people are working from home, I guess every polish is now 'work-appropriate' - so why not go for colours that bring a smile to your face! 😄

 

Revlon 'Red Affair'

Today I have another red mani to share. This bright, true red creme polish is by Revlon, and is called 'Red Affair':

I've really been fancying a lot of red polishes lately. This shade of red is such a fun pop of colour on the nail, while also being a timeless classic! This polish is relatively new to my collection, so I didn't have it at the time that I did my Revlon Red Polish Comparison, featuring the 10 Revlon red polishes that I owned at that point. 

For some reason, I can't find very much information on-line about this particular polish. Even on Revlon's website... I'm fairly certain that it is a newer addition to the 'Super Lustrous Nail Enamel' line. I think I first noticed it on a shop shelf around just over a year ago in either late 2019, or perhaps early 2020 - sometime prior to everything shutting down. I ended up buying it online in summer 2020.

All in all, I really like the polish. It's not the most unique shade in the world, but it has a very nice formula, and it's a lovely shade that gives an effortless 'put-together' look when worn.