OPI - I Don't Give a Rotterdam

Hello everybody,

Hope you're doing fine.
Me, I'm still at home and resting... and now posting ;)

Oh, yes, the collection I've waited for such a long time is finally in my hands!! OPI Holland is here!! I know, here in Europe we get the collections after they are released in the US, but that's not a problem with me. I'm still happy I've got it!
Of course, I didn't order all the 12 polishes... but only 9 :D And amongst the 9, 4 of them are minis. Hopefully I will be able to show them all to you!

First of all here is I Don't Give a Rotterdam. I find the name excellent, i just love it. And i love this polish too. The colour is a gray-blue with silver crystal flecks inside.
The formula and the application were excellent. Purists will need 3 coats, but I'm OK with 2 coats for opacity. The wear was also very good.

 Here I'm wearing 2 coats of I Don't Give a Rotterdam + 1 coat of Seche Vite:

 

I think that the best way to wear this polish and to value it is to wear it with a light blue pair of jeans:

source

In conclusion:

Application: 4.7/5
Formula: 4.5/5
Finish: 4.5/5
Drying time: 4.5/5
Opacity: 4.0/5
Wear: 4.0/5.0

Overall: 4.37/5



And, in the end, I want to share with you this picture of the young magnolia tree in the patio just bellow my bedroom window:

... yeah... spring is here ;)

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs! 

OPI - Sapphire in the Snow

Hello everyone,

This has been a very busy week for me, working late and everything... And it's so cold outside, and it seems to me that it's going to last forever... Lost my little avocado-tree because of the freezing weather - well, ok, ok, I  know its' my fault I didn't bring it inside before it got completely frozen...  oh, well, enough with my talk! Let's get to the polish I'd like to show you today: OPI Sapphire in the Snow! Gorgeous!

I know this is another oldie, but I've got quite a few in collection ;) From the swatches I've seen on different blogs I think last OPI fall collection Road House Blues is very similar to this one.

It's an indigo cream, in some lights is more blue than purple, in other light i' more purple than blue. I just love complex colours like this. The application is very good, and you'll certainly need 2 coats to get it fully opaque - some perfectionists would like maybe 3.The drying time is correct.

As I'm far from being a perfectionist (while I do like things well done), I only did 2 coats, and I guess it came out pretty OK (except a little bald spot on my ring nail - thank you for ignoring :-) ).

In the shade

In the sun

And again in the sun

I don't know what's wrong with me, 'cause I've been so much into glitter layering lately... so I've added a coat of OPI Last Friday Night on top of my middle and ring nails:

In conclusion:

Application: 4.5/5
Formula: 3.5/5
Finish: 4/5
Drying time: 4/5
Opacity: 3.5/5

Overall: 3.9/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!

Essie - Smooth Sailing

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the long absence of posts. I've been on a vacation and I was very busy, and not often at home. Also, I was not really in the greatest mood, so I couldn't really think of blogging. But here I am!
And with a very very nice polish that I've seen on a lot of blogs, and which I adored!
This is Essie - Smooth Sailing. This one is the first of the 6 polishes from the Brazilliant collection 2011 I'll be showing you (and I'm really in love with the whole collection!). The base is a greyish blue with a lot of silver and some subtle duochrome violet/blue shimmer.
The application is ok, and the drying time very good.
Here I'm wearing 2 coats of Essie - Smooth Sailing, no top coat:

Thank you so much for watching!
See ya soon eveyone!

Big hugs!!! <3

Hema - Metallic Blue

Hello everyone,

Yes!!! It's the weekend!!! :D And I'm getting closer and closer to my holidays ;)

Today I'll be showing you one of the polishes Stéphanie sent me for our swap! It's my first Hema ever and I'm in love! Hema is produced in the Netherlans and comes in cute little 7 ml bottles. I have no idea about the price - as they are not available in France, nor over the Internet.
As the name name says it, it's a gorgeous metallic blue foil - with tons of silver shimmer inside! The quality of the formula is absolutely incredible! No streaks at all, applies like butter (almost a one coater, but I've applied 2 just to be sure ;))  and it dries extremely fast! 10/10 for this polish!!!
So here are the pictures! 2 coats of Hema Metallic, no top coat:

Then thought about doing an accent finger, inspired by the starry night sky. IN real life it was quite pretty, but my camera couldn't capture it... I applied some Color Clud   total Mystery, then, Zoya Charla and finally Zoya Faye. I painted some little silvery stars.. you know.. for the "starry night" ;)

And with a final coat of OPI Last Friday Night, for the sparkle side of the whole thing ;)

Thank you so much for watching!

See ya soon!!
Big hugs!!! ;)


EDIT: I've been asked why I'm holding a Zoya bottle instead of a Hema bottle. Wel, at fist I've taken picture with the Hema bottle, but my fingers were so disgracefully arranged that not only it was not beautiful, but they began to hurt! So, for my comfort and for the beauty of the pictures I'm holding a a bottle of Zoya Charla (used for my accent finger ;))
Also, Ruxi told me that Hema is available in France. But in Paris. So, for me it's not available ;)

Discovering the French Brand BIGUINE

Hello everyone,

A week or something ago they've had this sale at the Toulouse Monoprix, and I've decided to jump on the occasion and test some more Biguine polishes.
The first one I've got, about 2 months ago, is called Sunset Bld. and is swatched here.
Well, I was also thinking of starting to swap... so... maybe some of you would eventually be interested in this brand ;) ... Actually I am about to do my first swap with Stéphanie from So Nailed... So this is a big wink to you, sweetie! ;)

I've got in all 5 Biguine polishes: First Kiss, Juicy Jus, Lilas Spirit, Bleu Dur and Under Brown. The first 4 are swatched here bellow.
I didn't use any top coat. I applied 2 coats for all of them, except for First Kiss, which is a jelly, and  needed 3 coats.

First Kiss:

Taken in the sun

This one was the only jelly of the 5. The application is perfect, but as any jelly, is transparent. So I needed 3 coats to get it opaque. The finish is super bright, and the colour is just adorable!

Juicy Jus:

This is beautiful coral cream. The colour just freaked my camera out, but I've managed to get at least 2 or 3 accurate pics (the first 2 are the most accurate). The formula is excellent, is opaque in 2 coats and the finish is super-bright. Another "colour of the year 2011", in my opinion. So many brands released corals and shades of corals this year, and I know it is not even finished yet!


Lilas Spirit:

Isn't this pinkish lilac super cute? Me, I just love it! The pictures show a very accurate colour, so I think there is no need for more explanations on the colour... Just lovely! It's a cream, and the formula is excellent, just as for her sisters swatched just above. 2 coats for full opacity.

Bleu Dur:

OK, I had to post 4 pictures of this one.. It soo gorgeous and bright and perfect! Perfect bright blue! Just look at that colour and that finish! (I remind you that I'm wearing no top coat). This is a cream, the application was perfect and 2 coats are enough for full opacity.

Overall, I'm very happy with this brand, the quality of polishes is excellent. BUT, they are a bit expensive outside the sales and special offers. They contain 10.5ml (this is actually a lot for a French polish), which is a little less than the American polishes (containing at least 15ml). They and are normally sold at 6.70 euros/ bottle (about 9 $). With the special offer I had them at 5 euros/bottle ( 7 $). So I'm very, very pleased with my purchase !

I know, I don't have the Under Brown for you today, but I'll be swatching it later. What happened was that when I did this was very late, and I had no more sun light to do the last polish... and the next day I broke a nail... :( So I'm waiting for it to grow a bit before I do other swatches. But, don't worry, I have some pictures left in my computer, so there will be other posts ;)


Let me know what you think of these ;)
See ya!
Big hugs!

Zoya Breezi vs OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui

Hello everyone,

Busy week... So I'm not going to write very much tonight. 

On the previous post about Zoya Breezi I was telling you I was going to do a comparison between the 2, because I thought they looked very very similar.. 

I'm wearing 2 coats of each and no top coat.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

 And here they are on the nails!
Can you guess which one is which??

 

 No?

 

Still not??

OK, me neither :D
These babes are perfect dupes!
I'm wearing Zoya Breezi on my middle and on my pinkie, and OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui on my index and on my ring. No that this would mean anything! :) They are so alike that it doesn't matter anymore! :D

In conclusion... if you already own Suzi Says Feng Shui... maybe it won't n be such a good idea to buy Zoya Breezi too...

Hugs everyone!

See ya!

Zoya Breezi + mani

 Hello everyone!

Hope your weekend was ok, we had 2 days wonderful weather here in Toulouse! We've had very beautiful weather here, but  we also have the perspective of a terrible drought if it won't rain soon...

For this Sunday I have for you the 1st of the 7 nail polishes I've bought from the Zoya 2011 summer collection: Zoya Breezi.

This polish is actually part of the Summertime half of the collection, which contains only creams.
So Breezi, is a wonderful dusty blue cream, with perfect application and great wear. It looks very very similar to OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui... very very similar... I'll do a direct comparison in a next post. I really love this blue...

Here I'm wearing 2 coats of Zoya Breezi and 1 coat of NailTek Quicken:

Then, I've decided to see how it'd look like with a coat of OPI Last Friday Night ( this is 2 coats in fact ;) ):

This was taken in the sun.

And this one too.

 And as I was in the mood for trying out stuff... I've added one coat of the Silver Shatter over all:

 And the most spectacular effect was obtained after I've added one coat of top coat (NailTek) on top! The mani looks a little bit like ancient unpolished silver jewelry! I've never expected that!

I wish a very good  week to everyone!

See ya!
Hugs! ;)