A vegan nail polish blog. A celebration of colour and light, as well as of justice for nonhuman animals.

Dark teal comparison featuring Nicole by OPI

January 8, 2012

Someone on a nail board I frequent asked for a comparison of Zoya Cynthia, from last fall’s Smoke collection, and Nicole by OPI Khloe had a Little Lam-Lam from their new Kardashian collection. (Now let me just say that I don’t know anything about the Kardashians except that their names all start with K and they’re on the cover of a lot of magazines in the supermarket checkout line. So, I really don’t know what this polish’s name refers to, but anyway… I’ll just refer to it here as Khloe!)

Cynthia is definitely darker (almost looks black in low light), and has less green in it. I found another polish in my collection that’s much closer to Khloe, Joe Fresh Hunter. I also added LA Colors Jungle to the comparison, but it’s a significantly lighter teal than the others.
dark teal creme comparison: Zoya Cynthia, NOPI Khloe, Joe Fresh Hunter, LA Colors Jungle

Here are the four polishes at one coat, under my Ott light. From left to right, Zoya Cynthia, Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam, Joe Fresh Hunter, and LA Colors Jungle.

dark teal creme comparison: Zoya Cynthia, NOPI Khloe, Joe Fresh Hunter, LA Colors Jungle

Cynthia is the darkest of the bunch and the least green; it’s a blackened teal but it could also pass for navy. At one coat it also has a pretty cloudy texture to it.

Two coats (no top coat), overcast natural light:
dark teal creme comparison: Zoya Cynthia, NOPI Khloe, Joe Fresh Hunter, LA Colors Jungle

Khloe has a really smooth formula, great application. Joe Fresh Hunter is nearly identical in colour, though I prefer Khloe’s formula and brush. Not that Hunter’s formula is bad either. My brush on Hunter was a little screwy though; it has one bristle just slightly longer than the others. I’ll have to trim it… The brushes are fairly similar in shape though, both wide and flat, which I personally prefer in a brush shape.

Two coats, still without topcoat, setting sun:
dark teal creme comparison: Zoya Cynthia, NOPI Khloe, Joe Fresh Hunter, LA Colors Jungle

dark teal creme comparison: Zoya Cynthia, NOPI Khloe, Joe Fresh Hunter, LA Colors Jungle

At first I was going to say that Hunter is maybe a hair darker and less green than Khloe, but I don’t know if that’s even accurate (it almost looks like Hunter is slightly lighter in these photos – apologies that they aren’t the greatest; I did what I could with the light I had!) Either way, it’s really hard to pinpoint any differences in the two colours. Khloe does dry glossier before top coat, though.

So there you have it, a less expensive alternative to Khloe for those of us who have access to Joe Fresh polishes, although Khloe’s formula is slightly better and the bottle contains more polish (a standard 15 ml, versus 6 ml).

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Joe Fresh, LA Colors, Nicole by OPI, Zoya

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A couple of recent OPI glitters

OPI Excuse Moi and Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls

A few weeks ago I did this alternating manicure with two of OPI’s recent glitter polishes. Excuse Moi? is from the Muppets holiday collection, and Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls is from the Kardashian collection. They have a lot in common so I thought they would go well together.

The two polishes are very similar in that they have the same kind of multi-coloured medium hex glitter in them, but obviously the bases are different. Disco Dolls is an orangey-gold fine glitter in a clear base, while Excuse Moi has a pink-tinted base packed full of fine glitter. I think the glitter itself is mainly silver, but it looks pink with the base colour.

These swatches were 3 coats, although both of these are pretty dense and you could probably get away with two coats. Both were easy to apply without having the glitter clump together or anything. This is with top coat; both are kind of gritty and need a layer or two of a good top coat.

OPI Excuse Moi and Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls

OPI Excuse Moi and Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls

OPI Excuse Moi and Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls

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Nicole by OPI, OPI

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OPI Man of La Mancha

January 5, 2012

OPI Man of La Mancha

Happy New Year everyone!

I recently got this discontinued OPI on eBay (it was released in their 2003 Holiday on Broadway collection) and it immediately jumped straight to the top of my list of favourites. It’s an amazing duochrome (well, multichrome really) burgundy/red that flashes through shades of orange, yellow and green at different angles, and also has a ton of fine sparkle in it.

OPI Man of La Mancha

Shown is two coats of Man of La Mancha over one coat of Kleancolor Black, my favourite one-coat black. Man of La Mancha is from OPI’s old formula (contains toluene) and so is super-smooth and easy to apply. It’s a pretty sheer polish, as many good multichromes are, so I put it over black which really shows off all the colours it shifts to. I haven’t tried it on its own or over other colours yet, but am looking forward to!

OPI Man of La Mancha

I also added a coat of Nubar 2010 flakie polish on my ring finger – the flakes have the same colour scheme as Man of La Mancha so I thought they would go well together. However, Man of La Mancha is just so sparkly and awesome that the flakies weren’t even visible in most light! In the the photos with the turquoise background below, you can see the flakes though. Those were taken in my bathroom under incandescent lights.

OPI Man of La Mancha

OPI Man of La Mancha

Anyway, I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking – short version, if you have a chance to get this amazing polish, do it!!

OPI Man of La Mancha

OPI Man of La Mancha

OPI Man of La Mancha

OPI Man of La Mancha

OPI Man of La Mancha

Category:

Kleancolor, Nubar, OPI

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Orly Androgynie

December 21, 2011

Orly Androgynie is from their Holiday 2011 collection. It’s a black jelly with holographic and gold microglitter and larger hex iridescent glitter that combines with the black base to reflect colours that are light but not pastel. It’s kind of similar to Sephora by OPI’s 212-Sephora, but with multicoloured hex glitter instead of flakies.

I love the look of this polish. Its formula wasn’t the greatest though; there’s not enough suspension base in it so the glitter sinks to the bottom. I found that standing the bottle upside down overnight before I used it, as well as standing it upside down between coats of polish, helped a lot with that and I was able to get a proper amount of glitter onto the nail. The formula also seemed a bit thick-yet-runny at the same time. I can’t remember if this was 2 or 3 coats, but whichever it was it’s with topcoat. The end effect was worth the hassles! These first two photos are in natural overcast light.
Orly Androgynie
Orly Androgynie
Blurred to show the sparkle:


Orly Androgynie

Androgynie's sparkle


And finally, the full mani in the sun:
Orly Androgynie

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Orly

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Orly Bus Stop Crimson

December 20, 2011

I have a couple of longer fall-collection-related posts I’ve been meaning to get around to, but have been so busy lately it doesn’t seem to be happening, so I thought I’d go ahead with some shorter posts in the meantime. This is Orly Bus Stop Crimson, a really great red! Not too bright but not too dark, warm toned, with a semi-jelly creme finish. It’s part of Orly’s core collection, I believe. This is two coats with top coat. Please excuse the small scratches on the surface and the tip wear; I had already been wearing this for a day when I took the photos. On the ring finger is one coat of Bus Stop Crimson topped with two coats of Nicole by OPI Glitter in my Stocking from their new holiday glitters (and again, with top coat). Also a great polish, sparkly warm gold glitter with sparse red glitter and I think even some silver glitter in there. It dries a little rough but an extra layer of top coat would fix that. Love both of these polishes!

Orly Bus Stop Crimson with Nicole by OPI Glitter in my Stocking

Orly Bus Stop Crimson with Nicole by OPI Glitter in my Stocking

Orly Bus Stop Crimson with Nicole by OPI Glitter in my Stocking

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Nicole by OPI, Orly

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China Glaze CG in the City

December 8, 2011

Today I have for you China Glaze’s CG in the City from the fall 2011 Metro collection. This is a really interesting and unique glitter with lavender, silver, copper and opaque black very fine glitter.

These photos show 4 coats with Poshe top coat. Since the glitter is fine, one coat of top coat is enough to make it pretty smooth. The first two photos are taken directly under my Ott light, look cooler than in real life, and if you click on the full-size versions, the second one also seems to show more colours in the flashes of glitter than are generally seen in real life.
China Glaze CG in the City

China Glaze CG in the City

The next two photos are not the greatest pics but are taken under warm indoor light and I think they give a better representation of how the polish looks in everyday life.
China Glaze CG in the City

China Glaze CG in the City
Although this polish is fascinating and has a nice formula, for some reason it just doesn’t do much for me. I guess I just don’t really care for the lavender/silver on my skintone. I like how it looks in the first two photos better than how it really looks. Actually, I like how it looks in all these photos better than I liked it as a mani. Maybe the glitter is just too fine for my tastes and I’d prefer it if there were bigger pieces of the individual colours to distinguish them better at a glance. I’ll have to try it again using only a couple of coats layered over top of another polish (I’m thinking something bronze or coppery) to see if I can make it work for me…

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China Glaze

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Kleancolor Fashionista

December 3, 2011

Just a quick post to show one of my all-time favourites. This is Kleancolor Fashionista, an awesome olive-green creme. Two coats with Poshe top coat. I find that Kleancolor makes really great cremes, always opaque and smooth.
Kleancolor Fashionista
Kleancolor Fashionista

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Kleancolor

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Wet n Wild On the Prowl (partial) collection

November 28, 2011

Wet n Wild Cougar Attack

On Halloween I posted Wet n Wild’s Cougar Attack (an awesome brown jelly with orangey-copper glitter, shown again above) from their limited edition and annoyingly hard to find On the Prowl Halloween collection; here are the other polishes I got from the same collection.

Buy Me a Drink
Wet n Wild Buy Me a Drink
Wet n Wild Buy Me a Drink
A gorgeous glowy shimmery plum burgundy. This is my favourite from the collection after Cougar Attack. Shown is three coats, no top coat (none of these photos have top coat).

Ready to Pounce
Wet n Wild Ready to Pounce
Wet n Wild Ready to Pounce
Wet n Wild Ready to Pounce
This is a blue-based purple with red-purple shimmer. It’s also nice and glowy, though less so than Buy Me a Drink. This was two coats, but it could have used three because of the crappy brush (more about that later). The colour is off in the last photo, but it shows off the shimmer really well if you click on it for the larger version.

Jungle Fever
Wet n Wild Jungle Fever
A light grass green shimmer with metallic shimmer particles. This was three coats.

Tangled in My Web
Wet n Wild Jungle Fever and Tangled in My Web
Medium-sized, opaque black hex glitter in a clear base. This is one thick coat over Jungle Fever, sort of dabbed on more than just brushed on, which is how I usually apply polishes like this. I really like this one too.

I decided to turn the Jungle Fever – Tangled in My Web layering into a jelly sandwich by adding a coat of Barry M Lime overtop. Here it is in natural light and then under a lamp.
Wet n Wild Jungle Fever and Tangled in My Web, with Barry M Lime
Wet n Wild Jungle Fever and Tangled in My Web, with Barry M Lime

I did have application problems with the shimmers from this collection. I don’t know if I was just unlucky, but the brushes were awful. Uneven bristles that leave big drag marks all down the nail. The formula of the polish is thick and not very self-leveling too, which certainly doesn’t help with the drag marks! Cougar Attack had a better brush than the shimmers, or perhaps I just didn’t notice anything since it’s a glitter polish so I expected it to end up a bit bumpy. I didn’t notice any issues with the brush on Tangled in My Web, but then since it’s a clear layering glitter, again, it’s quite possible that I just didn’t notice since it applies so much differently.

Anyway, this collection has some great shades, brush problem notwithstanding! My favourites are Cougar Attack, Buy Me a Drink, and Tangled in My Web. The other two shades in the collection that I didn’t end up getting are Behind Closed Doors (I have NYX Girls Dorothy which from what I can tell online is a dupe with a much better formula) and Correction Tape, a multi-coloured layering hex glitter.

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Barry M, Wet n Wild

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NYX Jungle

November 22, 2011

This lovely polish is NYX Jungle! Turquoise blue with golden-green shimmer. This is 3 coats, so if you can’t stand visible nail lines then this polish may not be for you. Personally, I love it and don’t mind that it’s fairly sheer. It would also be good for layering over an opaque creme. The formula was great, no issues with application. If you’re in Canada you can still order this polish from nyxcosmetics.ca; not sure where else it’s available as the other websites where I buy NYX don’t have it anymore… Definitely worth hunting down though!
NYX Jungle

NYX Jungle

NYX Jungle
Oh, and these photos are without topcoat.

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NYX

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Zoya Codie

November 21, 2011

This is Zoya’s Codie from the recent fall Smoke collection. It’s a dark brown creme with a distinctly green undertone. I love the colour, but didn’t love the application quite so much!

I found that the formula was kind of thick, and had a bit of that thick-yet-runny thing going on. Shown in the photos are 3 coats, no base coat or top coat. It was streaky at one coat and there were still a few bald spots at two coats. I also got some bubbling. The bald spots and bubbles were probably due to not waiting long enough between coats. I need to remember to be more patient with Zoya cremes and let them dry for a few minutes between coats!

In sun:
Zoya Codie
In overcast natural light:
Zoya Codie

I do really love this shade though. I’ll definitely try it again with a bit more patience, I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end!

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Zoya

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