REVIEW of Sephora by OPI A True Romantic and Butterfly Nail Art

Hello bumblebees,

I felt like I needed a bit of a cleanse after a few weeks of darker colors. No, not one of those horrifying juice cleanses. I tried just incorporating juices into my morning routine and it was bad enough. I would rather eat fruits and vegetables. I don't need to consume them in liquid form. Anyway, I haven't been buying that many polishes lately so I was inspired to pull out the Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town Collector's Set I purchased all the way back in late December of 2012 as a bit of a Christmas gift for myself. And yes, of course there was some kind of sale going on at the time. I haven't used the set until now because I've just had so many other polishes to try out and I didn't want to waste these polishes as I'm not sure how long these little bottles will last. Also, I think Sephora has pretty much done away with the Sephora by OPI line in favor of Formula X so I didn't want to really fall in love with a polish and then worry about tracking it down or locating a dupe. Looking through the set for something refreshing after weeks of dark polishes and metallics, I decided to try out the lightest shade, A True Romantic.

Color: A True Romantic is a pale pink creme polish. I think it belongs more in the family of nudes and neutrals than it does in pink range of colors. That's part of the reason why I like it. It was light enough and had enough of a peachy/yellow tone to not clash too much with my skintone. I still prefer nudes that are more yellow like OPI Samoan Sand but I think A True Romantic is a very pretty, feminine shade and it would look great against very pale skintones with pink undertones. I'd be wary if you have yellow undertones as it could clash a bit. There were times when I didn't love the way this looked on my nails.
Formula: The formula is on the thicker side without being gloopy. Although it is thicker, it is also rather sheer.
Application: And here is where we run into trouble. When I applied the first coat I noticed that the brush seemed a little streaky and the polish seemed a little sheer but that's not out of the ordinary for a light nude polish like this so I just tried not to overwork the polish and go over it with the brush too many times. The second coat applied in much the same way. The polish went on smoothly (without the brush dragging) but streaky. The third coat was the same. I just could not get an even layer of polish. At three coats, it was semi-opaque but streaky. I could have deal with this polish not being completely opaque if I had been able to apply even coats of polish. As it was, it looked streaky and patchy. And here is where you just me. I ended up applying five coats of polish in a misguided attempt to get this polish to full opacity. Even at five coats it was still very streaky and could not have passed a light test in a million years.

CONCLUSION: The color of this polish is alright but the application was terrible. I would not recommend this polish. I was so frustrated by the streakiness that I ended up creating a nail art design to cover up the balding.

 

 SWATCHES

Emmy Awards Nail Art

Hello chickadees!

I personally find the Emmy's to be one of the most boring awards ceremonies of the lot. The Emmy's doesn't have the amazing performances of the Tony's (though fingers crossed given the return of Neil Patrick Harris as the host) or the prestige and glamour of the Academy Awards. I usually just watch the red carpet and then watch part of the telecast and turn it off sometime in the middle.

But this year I decided to make things a little more interesting for myself by doing a nail art look in tribute to some of my favorite shows. No, there will be no Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, or Game of Thrones themed looks. I always intend to watch shows like that but I'm not paying for HBO or Showtime and my DVR is full of old movies that air on TCM so I mainly watch whatever is available on hulu.

So what shows will I be celebrating? Gossip Girl, Smash, Glee, and Nashville, of course. ;)

I used two brushes to complete all of these looks. I used my regular nail art brush which I picked up at my local art supply store as well as a new brush that I cut into a striper brush for detail work. I used the striper brush for all of the text.

By the way, if you want to know any more about the polishes I used, except for Revlon Vixen, all of the polishes have been reviewed on my blog. You can of course substitute any colors you'd like if you're going for a different look or if you have different but similar colors in your collection.

Of course, I started with a rough sketch of the design. I had planned to also do the Emmy statue but there was no way I was going to fit it on my pinky.

Gossip Girl Nail

sunlight/afternoon 

This is going to be the easiest look to execute as long as you can manage the writing. You are going to be mimicking the logo of the show with the NYC skyline at night and the name of the show.

Polishes used: Confetti Black Tie, Zoya Trixie, L'Oreal Because You're Worth It, Zoya Purity, Zoya Pippa, Essie Avenue Maintain, Essie Jelly Apple

photo tutorial

1. Start by painting a black nail polish over your nail as a base. I used two coats of Confetti Black Tie.
2. Dot a pattern of the city lights at night over your nail. I used the first image that came up when I searched "Gossip Girl logo" in google image search as a reference. You can go in whatever order you want, but I started with white dots using Zoya Purity. I then added yellow dots using Zoya Pippa. I then added some blue dots with Essie Avenue Maintain. And I finished with some red dots using Essie Jelly Apple. You are going to want the yellow and white dots to dominate as the red and blue will be quite bright. If you use too many blue and red dots they will overwhelm the design. Try and keep the design fairly sparse. Remember, you have to write the name of the show over this design and you want a lot of negative space so the letters will pop.
3. Write gossip girl. I used Zoya Trixie for this as it is one of my brightest polishes and it has a lot of sparkle. If you don't have a polish like this you could use a pigmented pastel polish but you'll have to be careful about which color you choose because it could very easily blend into the white dots. Try to use very short strokes when you are writing the letters. Remember, you're using a detail brush, not a pencil. You don't have a lot of control over the brush, especially if you're using a brush with softer bristles. Also remember to elongate the vertical line on the "p" like in the logo. Be sure to turn your nail when you are writing and use the entire surface of your nail. Unlike a piece of paper, your nail is curved. By starting at the edge of your nail, you'll be able to fit all of the letters more easily.
4. If you have space on the nail, you can write in XOXO. I used L'Oreal Because You're Worth It.
5. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.

shade/early morning light

Cartier Inspired Orchid Nail Art

Hello my little flower buds,

Today I'm going to share a nice, simple orchid design based on the design Cartier has adopted for some of its jewelry.

It's exactly the kind of thing I would pin on pinterest. http://pinterest.com/lapin20/boards/ But don't feel obligated to follow me there. I'm not one of those bloggers who is obsessed with integrating all my platforms.

I've had a sketch ready for a while but it wasn't until I swatched Zoya Blu that I thought it would provide the perfect backdrop to test out this nail art design.

These are two photos of my original sketch after I colored it in with the polishes I ended up using.

Now, you know I'm technologically challenged so I don't make videos and I wouldn't know where to start with gifs. But I decided to try and break down this design as best as I can in a series of photos.

This line by line tutorial should allow you to replicate the outline of the flower. You are going to start by drawing the outline of the flower in black. (I did all the painting with a small paintbrush I purchased at an art supply store.) Do not worry about getting it perfect. If the lines are a little thicker than you would want them to be in the final design, do not worry. Mostly focus on getting the outside of the edges of the lines to look the way you want them to.

This is how my nail looked after I finished my outline in black. I used Confetti Black Tie. I like it because it's a smooth black that doesn't get gloopy and it's fairly opaque. 

Next, I went in and filled out my outline with Essie Penny Talk. You can see how I went in and covered up some of the black outline, ending up with a thinner line. 

I next went in and drew a teardrop with Confetti Black Tie and then filled that teardrop with OPI AntiBleak. This step is optional and if you decide to do it you can use whatever color you like. You can stop here but...

I wanted to replicate the Cartier Orchid so I added a piece of holographic hex glitter from my bottle of Sephora by OPI Beam Me Up Hottie!. I chose the holographic glitter because it really catches the light and reflects back interesting colors. I believe in using whatever you have around. You could use glitter from any bottle of glitter top coat, loose glitter, a nail art rhinestone, or even a silver polish like Zoya Trixie. Be creative and have fun!

MORE PHOTOS OF THE LOOK 

Nail Art: Black Leather With Gold Zippers

Hi chickadees!

I have so many new nail art ideas I want to share with you. Today, I thought we could start out with something simple. I've never tried this design before but I think it turned out pretty well. I was inspired by a leather bag with gold zippers in my Inspiration book.

You Will Need: 
A black polish (I used Confetti Nail Lacquer in 95 Black Tie)
A gold polish (I used L'Oreal Nail Color in 580 Because You're Worth It)
A matte top coat (I used Essie Matte About You)
Nail Art Tools (I used a small brush and a toothpick.)

1. Apply your base coat.
(I used Milani Smoothe Base Coat.)
2. Apply your black polish. Apply as many layers as necessary to get an opaque base for the design.
(I used Confetti Nail Lacquer in 95 Black Tie and applied 2 layers.)
3. Paint vertical gold stripes over your nail. Remember to leave enough space between the stripes to add the zipper tabs later. You could also paint one zipper at a time if you're not confident that you'll have enough space.
(I used L'Oreal Nail Color in 580 Because You're Worth It and made the stripes with a brush from an art store. You could also use a nail art brush or a striper.)
4. Paint the zipper tabs over each stripe. My style of zipper tab is a circle on top of a triangle. Remember to space your zipper tabs at different heights on adjacent gold stripes so the tabs don't overlap. Finish each tab by adding a black dot to represent the place where you would grip the zipper tab. (I used L'Oreal Nail Color in 580 Because You're Worth It for the zipper tabs and Confetti Nail Lacquer in 95 Black Tie to paint the black dots. I used my brush to paint the zipper tabs but if you're more comfortable with other painting implements, you could use a dotting tool.)
5. Make small black lines or dots on either side of the stripe (leaving the zipper tabs untouched). This will make your design look more like a zipper. It is not a necessary step. I originally didn't do this and I liked the way it looked but you will definitely get more of a zipper effect if you don't skip this step. Be careful. Don't let the adjacent lines touch or your zipper won't be connected. If you do make a mistake, just go over the gap with gold polish. (Again, I was using Confetti Nail Lacquer in 95 Black Tie.)
6. Using your most precise tool, draw three lines inside the circular part of the zipper tab as though you're making a rectangle but you don't close up one side. (Look at the swatches if this step is unclear).
7. Make sure your design is dry. This is very important!!!
8. Add your matte top coat over the design to create the leather effect. 

Note: If you don't want the gold polish to be matte, you can apply the matte polish after step 2. Then instead of painting the stripes normally, make thinner vertical stripes. Then after step 4, draw thin horizontal lines through the vertical lines, creating the same zipper pattern. You can then skip steps 7 and 8, though you should be careful and make sure that your nails are dry before attempting to do something with your hands.

MORE PICTURES

NYU Graduation Nails

Hi chickadees,

I'm keeping this post short as there's not much to say. I can't really give you a tutorial on how to accomplish this look as you basically just have to paint it. There's no easy technique. My only tips are don't be afraid to mess up and try doing a test run. If you make a mistake you can always just clean up the design with whatever color you used for the background. This is the test run I did to make sure I could execute the design before trying it on my nails.

For my background purple color, I swatched all the purples in my collection and my closest match to NYU violet was Zoya Pinta. However, I don't recommend this polish as my bottle is full of bubbles and it's much darker than NYU violet.

For the letters, I used a striper I bought at my local beauty supply store. It's from Nicka K but the brand seems to be A! Absolute Nail Art Paint. There's no name but it's the white striper. You don't need to look for this specific striper. Anything at your local drugstore should work. Just unscrew the cap before you buy it to check that you're getting a good brush. If the bristles are not cut evenly, it will make nail art much harder.

For the torch, I actually used a brush I picked up at Pearl Paint. The lettering on the side of the brush reads "00 Rekab 314 Kolinsky Israel". I've been using this brush for a while and I like that it is very precise. I also appreciate the fact that I can take off the nail polish with nail polish remover without damaging the brush or the bristles. As long as you remove all the polish, the bristles shouldn't harden. I will keep you updated on whether this changes as I continue to use the brush.

For my pinky nails, I used 3 coats of Zoya Trixie for some sparkle.

For the violet (which may not look like a violet... Google Image Search was supremely unhelpful) I used Sally Hansen Good to Grape for the petals, Zoya Monica for the shading and Zoya Pippa for the center of the violet. I freehanded the petals and shading with the brushes that come with the nail polish bottles and used my own brush for the center of the flower.

For the sake of comparison here are the letters on my left hand (top) vs. my right hand (bottom). While the letters on my right hand (painted with my nondominant left hand) aren't as neat or thin and precise, it is possible to execute letter on your own. I have very little control with my left hand but using the striper, I found that painting the letters was actually pretty easy. 

Valentine's Day Nails

Hello my little sugar hearts,

I know I'm either very late for Valentine's Day 2013 or very early for Valentine's Day 2014 but I wanted to share the look I came up with while I was wearing Confetti polish in I <3 U. The base for all of the nails is the Confetti polish. For the glitter, I used 1-2 coats of Darling Diva Polish in Rose. I painted the heart in Essie Sure Shot with a brush from an art supply store.

Marriage Equality Nail Art

Hi chickadees,

I wanted to share the nail art look I came up with for an InStyle contest. The challenge was to somehow incorporate tuxedo nails. Now, I already did a tuxedo nail art look for the Tony Awards which you can find here: http://smartandsarcasticwithdashesofinsanity.blogspot.com/2012/06/nighttime-special-occasion-nailstony.html But as I was looking at those tuxedos next to each other this design suddenly popped into my head.  

There are already a ton of tuxedo nail art tutorials online so I won't bother putting one here. I basically freehanded the jacket and then just did clean up. This time I used a brush I bought at Pearl Paint for the bowtie and buttons but you could also use a dotting tool, a toothpick or even an old pen that has run out of ink or a pencil. I also freehanded the rainbow though you could use nail tape if you want to. The heart was painted with a brush and the equal sign was done with a pencil. 

Anyway, I hope you like the design. Here are all the polishes I used for the look...

Heart: Confetti I <3 U, Essie Sure Shot

Rainbow: OPI Color So Hot It Berns, Zoya Willow, Zoya Pippa, Orly Lucky Duck, China Glaze Manhunt, Sally Hansen Good to Grape

Tuxedo: Confetti I <3 U, Essie Licorice

HRC Symbol: OPI Color So Hot It Berns, Milani Paradise Pink

More photos of the design...

Random Nail Art Experiments

Hi chickadees,

I just thought I'd share the random nail art experiments I've been collecting. None of them are quite successful enough for a full tutorial but I thought you might like to see what I've been working on and maybe the designs or color combinations can inspire your own work. :)

I was trying to mimic the Mulberry logo. I should have planned out the spacing and size and direction of the spots better. The base color is Sally Hansen Red Zin and the design was made with Essie Penny Talk and an old pen used as a dotting tool.

This is my first attempt at panda nail art. He's flanked by two stalks of bamboo. The base color is Essie Da Bush. For the body, I freehanded two white spots with Zoya Purity and then dotted on all the details with Essie Licorice and various tools. For the bamboo I used Essie Penny Talk.

This was my attempt at a design for Wuthering Heights. I used the same stamping techniques that I used with my Tempest nail art design but I couldn't figure out the trees. The green is Zoya Gemma. The hint of purple is  Zoya Pinta. The white is Milani White. I can't remember what color I used for the blue at the top. and the tree is Milani Black Magic.

This is my abstract fire design. I bought some cheap disposable nail art brushes and I was trying to see how they would perform on the nail. The base color is Zoya Blaze and the fire is Essie Penny Talk.