OPI - Russian Navy

Ok I feel like I'm in an OPI period at the moment, so here comes another of their polishes.

Russian Navy is a navy blue and magenta shimmer polish from OPI's fall 2007 Russian collection.
This is a beautiful polish that I unfortunately didn't catch very well in the photos, but it's just gorgeous IRL!

Application was a breeze and it was opaque in 3 thin coats, but drying time was great so no problem there.

No top coat was used for the photos.

I was in an experimenting mood and had just read somewhere that you could make your own holo top coat, so I wanted to try that out! Fortunately I had a normal top coat from OPI standing around that I would never really get to use because it's not fast drying (bought it used along with some other OPIs).

I took my top coat and GOSH - Holographic Hero and poured a bit of HH into the top coat and tried it out on top of another color. It took a few tries before I was happy with it and then I applied it over Russian Navy. I actually really liked the result and now I can turn any polish into a holo *wuhuu*

I applied a layer of top coat over the holo to get it to dry faster (I don't have any patience), and I did regret that a bit since it took a little of holo effect (not much), so next time I will probably put on top coat before the holo.

In the shade.

In sunlight.

What do you think? Do you like the holo touch?

Opacity: 7/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7,5/10
Buy again: Yes

Musical Mani Monday, week 6: Lady Gaga - Americano

Todays song is Americano by Lady Gaga.

I had a hard time coming up with anything for this week after seeing the music video. It's seriously strange and all in blue/gray tones and the song in it self is not much better. Half the time she sings in english the other half it's spanish (I think) and it some times changes mid sentence. I'm not a fan that's for sure, even though I do like other songs she has made. Take a look at the video:

So after watching that I decided to use the name of the song as inspiration this time and do nails with the american flag "stars and stripes", but I didn't want to just paint the flag on all the nails so I googled a bit and found a design I really liked made by Nuthin but a nail thing and I ended up more or less recreating that with a few different details.

I started out painting my ring finger and thumb with OPI - Alpine Snow, my little finger and index finger with China Glaze - Ruby Pumps and my middle finger with Kleancolor - Metallic Sapphire.
Then I taped up my thumb and ring finger and used Metallic Sapphire on the tips and OPI - Color To Diner For on the nail bed and took of the tape again. I painted a small star on the tips of those 2 nails with white acrylic paint and also small stars on the whole little finger nail. I painted a big star on the middle finger and taped up my index finger and painted with Alpine Snow.

The design:

I am NEVER going to use Kleancolor - Metallic Sapphire on a whole nail again! It stained like hell and even though I had put a layer of top coat on before painting the white stars (and they were totally white when I was done), it some how soaked up the paint when I applied top coat over it (and it was completely dry when I did it). So this polish will only be used for stamping from now on!

What do you think of the design?

Next weeks song is Eminem & Rihanna - The monster, so tune in and see how I get inspired by that! And don't forget to check out the other talented bloggers Musical Mani Monday designs:

An InLinkz Link-up

OPI - Push and Shove

Today I want to show you one of OPI’s speciel polishes.

Push and Shove is a silver chrome polish from OPI’s 2014 Gwen Stefanie collection. This polish comes in a duo with a mini sized base coat called Lay Down That Base. This is meant to be worn without top coat and according to OPI for only 1 night.

I used the base coat, but I don’t think it made much of a difference. It was a bit of a hassel to apply to be honest. Well the first coat was anyway since it easily dragged, but the second coat applied just fine and it was opaque after that. Before drying the brush strokes were very visible, but they disappeared when it dried and it became smooth and shiny. Unfortunately it highlighted EVERY little imperfection on the nail *sigh*

I didn’t use top coat for the photos.

I think it might be good for stamping since it’s very color dense… I will have to try that at some point.

I didn’t want to let it get tip wear in less than a day so I wanted to try putting a top coat on it. It actually didn’t make much of a difference. It got a very little bit less shiny and some of the brush strokes showed up, but not as much as I had feared.

See for yourself.

Now that I was already wearing it I wanted to try out a design a friend of mine asked me if I could do on her for her wedding. Like French nails except only in silver where the tip is shiny and the nail bed is matte, so I put on some french tip cheater stickers and applied matte top coat on the nail bed. I’m not really satisfied with the result, but I will see her later so she can see the design. 

Not a good look for me...

What do you think?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 5/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: No

OPI - Can't Let Go

Today I have another OPI for you.

Can't Let Go is a purple texture polish with pieces of purple hex glitter and a bit of blue micro glitters from OPI's spring 2013 Mariah Carey collection which was the first Liquid Sand polishes that OPI release.
I really love the look of this one! It's so beautiful!

Formula on this one was great to work with. It spread out evenly and was opaque after just 2 coats. Drying time was not super impressive as with most of OPI's Liquid Sands, but it was one of the quicker ones though. It dries to a matte and rough finish.

I didn't use top coat for the photos.

I wanted to take a picture in the sunlight as well, but it didn't turn out that well, but in this photo you can see the blue micro glitters.

What do you think?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8,5/10
Buy again: Yes

OPI - Manicurist of Seville

Today I have a polish from OPI to show you.

Manicurist of Seville is a berry red creme polish from OPI's 2009 España collection.
It's a very pretty red that gives your nails a bit of a classic look.

The formula is a bit thin, but it is great to work with and applies easily and even on the nail. It took me 3 thin coats to be totally happy with the opacity, but it dried fairly quickly so it wasn't much of a problem.

I didn't use top coat for the photos.

Ok so I wanted to do something with it and I thought of stamping a bit, but I have not been stamping for a while because my nails are too long for the full nail designs I have and I don't like it if there are missing 1-2 mm, but then I found a great youtube video that shows how you can stretch the designs and it's super easy and I don't know why I haven't thought of this before... Take a look at this video.

I tried it out and wouldn't you know, it worked! I can now use my full nail designs again *yay*

I used a black stamping polish from Dashica and finished the mani off with a layer of top coat.

What do you think?

Opacity: 6/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: Maybe

Musical Mani Monday, week 5: Aqua - Back to the 80's

Ok so I suck at getting stuff done in time, so this post is a day late again *sigh*

This weeks song is Back to the 80's by Aqua. which is a Danish band that had their debut in 1997 and has been the most successful band from Denmark.

For this mani I got inspired by the clothes they are wearing in the music video, which is very much 80's style!
Have a look at the video:

For the little finger I made tiger stripes to match the shirt Lene is wearing in the start on stage, for the ringfinger used a nude base and painted a black star to match the one René has painted on his face, for the middlefinger I made a denim design to match the denim west René is wearing on stage, for the index finger I used a neon orange base and made a black zipper to match the outfit Lene is wearing on the motorycle and on the thumb I made a leopard design to match Renés pants.

Time to see the design.

What do you think of the design?

Next weeks song is Lady Gaga - Americano, so tune in and see how I get inspired by that! And don't forget to check out the other talented bloggers Musical Mani  Monday designs:

An InLinkz Link-up

Musical Mani Monday, week 4: Robbie Williams - Candy

Ups late again*blush*

This week the song is Candy by Robbie Williams.

For the base color for this mani I got inspired by the suit jacket Robbie is wearing in the music video which is a light pink.

I really wanted to take advantage of the sun finally shining though, so I decided to go with a light pink holo instead of cream (which would be more similar to his jacket). I ended up using Color Club - Halo-graphic.

Halo-graphic is from Color Clubs Halo Hues collection and it's just a gorgeous and great polish!
The formula is great to work with, it covers in 2 coats and it dries fairly fast.

You wanna see it?

I haven't used top coat for the photos.

First here is what it looks like in the shadows:

And now it's time to let it shine! (and it sure does) *swoon*

It's so beautiful and very much an "in your face" holo!

Ok on with the mani.

After applying Halo-Graphic I decided to get inspired by the title of the song and do a little hand painted nail art candy. On the index finger a couple of chocolate bars, on the middle finger some candies and on the ring finger a lollipop. I was only really satisfied with the candies though.
I finished it all of with a layer of top coat.

In the shade.

And in sunlight. *yay*

What do you think of this weeks mani?

Here is the music video if you want to see it:

Tune in next week when I do a design inspired by Aqua - Back to the 80s and don't forget to check out the other bloggers designs.

An InLinkz Link-up