Spring Challenge - Daffodilemmas ........

Hi Goddesses

Oh this is a frustrating one!  I tried, I really really TRIED. I did my research, found a Google image, practiced drawing it on paper, perfected it, picked my tools, set to work and ..... PAP, total utter PAP lol.

This looked a holy mess.  The polish was about 5 inches thick, the shape is all wrong ... lol, but I TRIED!!!!!!

Technical stuff - the base is either Herring or Rotterdam from the OPI Holland Collection.  The main yellow is OPI The It Color.  Then the darker yellow is CG Papaya Punch, and then the edging - see, I even did EDGING - is an art pen.

Will you look at how those dots look like rhinestones lol.   I tried to do what I've seen other bloggers do to great effect, and create a complementary pattern on a couple of the nails (this also reduces the need for excruciating art) but lol, will you LOOK at how far they protrude!!!

I did this mani a fortnight ago, and looking at the photos, I keep chuckling.  There is obviously something heinous in or around the ring finger that I am desperate to conceal, but I can't even remember now what it was.  Love those contorted poses though.

Oh well, at least I tried :)

Enjoy / walk away NOW xx :)

The Moody Blues

Hi Goddesses

So by whatever dark and dirty spilling of trade secrets, Zoya and OPI have managed to dupe themselves in their Spring Collections, with both their shimmery dark purple and their shimmery pale blues.   Originally, this post was only going to compare Skylar, I Don't Give A Rotterdam and I Have A Herring Problem, but as I was gazing at one of them, it started to remind me of Butter London Victoriana.  So I widened my parameters lol.

Behold - your Moody Blues -

thumb = Butter London Lady Muck

index - OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam

middle = Zoya Skylar

ring - OPI I Have A Herring Problem

pinkie = Butter London Victoriana

So we clearly have a split camp here - thumb and index v the other three.  Let's take Thumb and index first.

These are not dupes at all, with Lady Muck paler than Rotterdam, and actually quite similar to Pam's Stormy Skies  (here).    Lady Muck's sparkle is also a lot finer and more silver, whereas the OPI is golder and grittier and therefore more obvious to the naked eye.

Now to Skylar, Herring and Victoriana - don't they look similar?  Whilst none of them are EXACTLY like the other, that's like saying Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel don't look EXACTLY like each other - they look similar to confuse all but the most obsessive fan.

Victoriana is the odd one out.  It has a slightly teal tinge to it (which you don't notice unless you wear it next to Herring lol) and looks quite flat / matte in comparison.

Herring and Skylar however are almost twins.  There is a deeper intensity to Skylar's pigmentation, but they both share the same goldy sparkle and beauty.

It's also worth noting that everything had 2 coats - except the OPIs, which needed 3.   I want to return to that "has OPI got thinner" question - here they all are at 1 coat, I'll let you decide.

So, let's sum up.  Do you need all 5 ?   Definitely not.   So which ones are you going to give up, Crumpet?  Er, er .... really?  You want me to give up polish ?   Much as I surprise myself by saying this, if I were going to give any up, it would be the 2 OPIs.   The Zoya has the better colour density, and then I do love my Butter Londons ....

Sigh, what IS a Crumpet to do ??  Help .... gulp ...

Enjoy xx :)

OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam

Hi Goddesses

Yay, I finally got my giant-sized paws on the Hollands!  It's one of the things that really bugs me about OPI actually, that they do the press release about 3 years before the polish comes out.  Someone like me, well I'm usually bored by then and on to the next shiny thing, so you be careful you big conglomerate, you!

And actually, because I've seen sooooo many swatches, I feel like I've owned this forever.  Which is a shame, because this is a real lush of a polish, and it would have been so much more wow to be able to buy this 3 months ago.

As you'll have seen a lot of posts on this by now, I'll try and make this a little different.

5 Key Facts

* this is the lighter of the 2 blue shimmery Hollands

* this is infested with the lightest gold shimmer - like fairy sparkle

* someone on PAA mentioned the other night that they didn't think the Hollands were as opaque as OPIs usually are.  I disagreed, but after it had been on half an hour, I decided I DID need a 3rd coat after all - hhhmmm, make of that what you will

* this is sufficiently different to Zoya Skylar that you can justify owning both

* from a distance this is a lovely milky blue-gray.  Really ladylike, serene and calming

I really like this.  Actually, it really reminds me of Pam Heil's Stormy Skies, which I blogged here - the only real difference is that the shimmer is more structured in this one, but if you own Pam's polish, don't bother buying this as well.

I had some tip shrinkage with this, and wondered whether I'd been a bit of a muppet, but after trying Herring as well, it seems this is an issue with these polishes - that post will be up shortly and will give you  more info.




For now, enjoy xx :)  

Spring Challenge - Blossom Trees

Hi Goddesses

Today's nail art comes to you courtesy of my daughter, Beth, aged 8 and a half :)   I don't know about you, but I think she's done an AMAZING job!

Beth's quite good with the polish - she's neat, and she's a genius at picking out colour combinations.  She loves doing nail art on my nail wheels, and when I told her about the challenge, she planned to get involved.  However, by some miracle, her teal and mint drip mani has lasted 3 whole days, so instead of doing her own nails, she did mine :)

We started with 2 coats of OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam.  The branches (which she lined up beautifully) were done with an Orly striper in brown, and the blossom was done with dotting tools using OPI Steady As She Rose and Sparrow Me The Drama.

I know I'm biased, but I think she did a better job than I could have.  I love the branches and how they fade to a point.  I love the blossoms, and the Rotterdam makes a brilliant backdrop, perfectly complimenting the pinks and adding its own gold shimmer to the mix.

Today Beth is tackling the hardest challenge of all - bulb to a flower.  No, I'm not cruel.  My version would have sucked - at least this way you have half a chance of it looking like a bulb!!






Enjoy xx :)