OPI Grape... Set... Match Swatch & Review

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I just realised I hadn't posted this beaut yet, so I thought I'd better get it up quick!

Indoors no flash

Sunlight - shows blue shimmer duochrome

Indoors without flash - shows pink shimmer duochrome

I was pleasantly surprised by GSM from the Wimbledon leg of the Serena Glam Slam releases. It looked so gorgeous in the swatches I had seen & ta da... it looked gorgeous in person too! It has the same formula/finish as OPI Ink but it is a Violet with duochrome shimmer. In sunlight the blue shimmer was most obvious, but in the shade I saw a lot more of the pretty pink shimmer! The pinkiness warms the violet up (kind of makes it look like there is some red in the formula) so it actually suits more skintone - bonus! I would have worn it anyway!!! This was 3 coats, but I could have got away with 2.
The one downside? The brush was crazy wide. First I just thought OPI had redesigned their Prowide brushes. Then upon application I realised it just must be a brush anomaly. It must have been squished extra tight when attached to the brush end because it was barely able to fit down the neck of the bottle & I could only apply it to my pinkie side on (that covered it in 1 stroke!) or the whole tip of my pinkie would have been covered in polish. It was kind of a mission but very entertaining to my friend to watch me apply, then clean-up!
While this made me a bit reluctant to wear GSM again, the formula was lovely & with a bit of a technique adjustment I could probably cut down on the clean-up.

Seeing as it was probably just my brush that had this issue -  have heard of quite a few OPI brush inconsistencies - I would definitely recommend GSM - probably the best of the Serena Glam Slam colours thus far.

xxx NPA

Misa Hip to my Jive Collection Swatches & Review

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I got three of the six polishes from this collection in my last nailsupplies.us order; Bop Til You Drop, Catch A Flick & Pop The Clutch.
I chose those 3 because they looked the most interesting to me/ I wanted to see if CAF was a dupe for OPI Mermaid Tears

Turns out... it is, well kinda. Suffice it to say I do not recommend buying 1 if you already have the other:

Misa Catch A Flick & on middle finger OPI Mermaid Tears

A pastel-like sea-foam green creme; this was 2 coats of CAF on the index, ring & pinky & 2 coats of MT on my middle finger. As you can see Misa's formula is a shade lighter & OPI's might have a touch more blue/grey in it. Certainly not worth having both. I couldn't decide which formula I liked more. But because I have narrow nail beds I prefer the Misa brush. CAF wasn't as pigmented as most Misa's I own but in person the hint of VNL you can see in the photo wasn't obvious. If I knew they were this close I wouldn't have bothered getting it, but if you missed out on MT this one is cheaper!

Misa Pop The Clutch 2 coats

I really like Pop The Clutch. It is pretty much the best pink neutral shimmer I have. Okay I only have like 2 or 3 but I think this is quite flattering on me. Not too stark & the silvery shimmer manages to somehow give this a  yellow tint so it becomes a warm pink. It has a grey quality to it that I like too, it prevents me from feeling like an elderly lady who will only paints her nail 1 colour!

Misa Bop Til You Drop 3 coats - flash

indoor lighting, no flash

I love it! A super bright coral with shimmer that looks orangey-gold, Bop Til You Drop is certainly  a must have pedicure colour!. Excuse the dents in my first two nails, I was lying in bed with tacky nails so of course I munted them a bit!!!! As you can see from the two photos this polish can look quite radically different in different lighting situations - either a very pink coral or that orange coral. It doesn't look as orange as the non-flash photo shows it though, just my camera freaking out as it likes to do when a coral or orange says Howdy! Such a pain in the bumhol-eo. I feel like watching Beavis & Butthead Do America now!!!! Getting back to the subject though - when I first got  BTYD I swatched it on my big toe & in sunlight I was like 'Holy Smoke it's pretty much neon - it can look that bright. Not really a fall colour more of a summer but heck I'll wear it year round!!!!

I have a sneaking suspicion that BTYD is very very similar to OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster. Time will tell as I can't find any comparisons on the interwebs & my Touring America polishes probably won't turn up for another week or 2 :( I wish fast shipping to NZ was cheaper. I can never justify the expense considering I'm never hurting for polish - I have too many draw fulls to need a new one pronto!

I hope these swatches help you - I could only find 1 other blogger who had put this collection up so far. I wonder if that means everyone else has boycotted it? To be fair it kind of looks like Misa checked out everyone's spring & summer collections & made some copies! I forgot to mention formula! They were less pigmented than my other Misa lacquers. Usually I only need 2 coats,while these ones kind of hurt for 3 - or two if you don't mind VNL, and anyone who has read my blog before will know I find ignoring VNL very difficult indeed!

xxx NPA

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

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Isn't my puppy gorgeous?! He'd been sleeping on Mum when I took this photo so he looks a bit dopey & super cute.

It's been a lazy Saturday for me - could not get to sleep last for the life of me so I had a mid-morning 'nap' and woke up in time for lunch. Of course sleeping half the day means that I feel fatigued and have a headache so I've achieved nothing yet! Just been entertaining the dogs. Charlie has started to get a bit jealous of the puppy so he's ultra needy! Lots of cuddles, geez louise he's a sissy! But I love him.

 Due to my laziness I'm just going to show you a swatch of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. Gorgeous emerald (really a darker bluer green than true emerald) jelly base with lots of green glitter - just like Ruby Slippers. I'm in love.  Can't wait to do xmas manis with the two!

3 coats Emerald Sparkle - flash

indoors without flash

xxx NPA

Check this out if you're a fan of the ALL BLACKS

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Steph from Nail Juice has some very exciting OPI news relating to the RWC, click here to check it out. Only 28 days to go! Go Black!

xxx NPA

Essie Braziliant Swatches Revisited

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Today the sun came out to play & went away & came again & went away & repeated this same pattern every half hour so I was madly dashing out to snap photos of these 3 polishes/ watching the new pup & entertaining a few preschoolers & trying to give Charlie enough attention so he doesn't get jealous of no-name.

This is the first day that I have got in to bed physically tired in a long, long time! And no-name is crying loudly about being in his crate tonight :( I can see why new mothers have a hard time Ferberising their babies! You feel so guilty!!!!  Watching the little guy & 2 little girls at the same time certainly made me think about delaying the birth of my own future babies (2 max, maybe even 1 if I can remember the pain of childbirth after baby #1).

Indoor sunlight

Sunlight

Indoor shade

Braziliant is truly brilliant. A super bright medium orange that leans coral, probably because it has a gorgeous coral/pink shimmer running through it. The pink shimmer is really obvious in the indoor photos. Such a summer stunner. I used 3 thin coats here but 2 was opaque. Also had on a layer of SV (because I was picking up dogs left right and centre and couldn't afford normal dry time).

sunlight

outdoors - shade

Essie Super Bossa Nova is a gorgeous fuchsia (reminds me of OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia) with a slight purple-ish/blue shimmer and small flakies - I think. I'm not sure if it's glass fleck but in a creme base rather than jelly or if they are called glitter flakes. Anyways, so bright and attention grabbing - good in 2 coats. I put SV on top of this one too because I knocked the middle finger a bit while attending to the dogs and wanted to even it out rather than paint another layer of colour!

sunlight

outdoors in shade

Essie Smooth Sailing is the perfect cornflower blue creme packed with silvery/white flakes of shimmer. Like Super Bossa Nova but the flakes of glitter/glass fleck are bigger and more abundant. This matches a dress of mine perfectly. The finish makes me think of Picture Polish Denim - a polish I aspire to purchase! Two coats again - I don't think I used SV - but I might have, it looks super shiny so I probably did :p

These summer shimmers had fabulous formulas - richly pigmented, on the thicker side & very workable with good brushes that fan out well on my nail. Highly recommend these 3 shades!

Can't wait for another day of puppy love!

xxx NPA

P.S. Super Bossa Nova counts as Pink Wednesday for this week since I forgot yesterday/didn't have enough time.