Lynnderella - Connect The Dots

Hey everyone!
I neglected posting all day today just because I'm lazy so I decided to do a quick little post before I go to bed so I don't feel guilty for not posting 2 days in a row... Haha!

A few weeks ago I got a bottle of the infamous Lynnderella's Connect The Dots.
Black and white glitters are all the rage and there is really no questioning why. They're just so freakin' cool on your nails!

I layered CTD over two OPI polishes I wore just to try some layering combinations! I'll show those to you tonight along with one small comparison.

Lynnderella - Connect The Dots over OPI - I Don't Give A Rotterdam!
I loved this combo, the muted blue color really looks nice with the crazy glitter and added shimmer of CTD. I think CTD is best over bright colors but I like seeing it over more soft things for a change. It's versatile.

Lynnderella - Connect The Dots over OPI - Paint My Moji-toes Red
I tried out CTD over a coral red, seeing as coral/tangerine is supposed to be the color of the year, or whatever that nonsense is. As usual, it looks great.

My one complaint about Connect The Dots is the bar glitter. Good grief, the bar glitter likes to poke out of topcoats and annoy the crap out of me. I end up picking most of them off with tweezers in a few hours. They lie flat at first... And then go rogue.

You may remember my post before about Cover Band - Sticks 'n Stones, an amazing creation made to resemble CTD.
If you're not crazy about polish, you would probably think these are identical. But for us polish lovers, you can totally see how these are different when they're next to each other. and I love them both in their own way. I don't think I could part with one, like I previously thought I might.
Here's a quick comparison I did:

CTD has some pretty shimmer going on and overall more glitter, but overall smaller glitter. I also found my CTD to be pretty heavily white.
SnS has no shimmer, lots of big glitter pieces, and a pretty even black/white mix.

They give two different looks. You know, if you've got polish-eyes. I can't pick a favorite.
I saw this picture on Pinterest earlier and thought it would be appropriate for this post:

Photo from Like A Candy Shop. Soooooooooo true.

If this black-and-white-glitter-post wasn't enough to fill your glitter appetite, please head over to Chalkboard Nails and check out her massively huge comparison post.

Tomorrow I'ma be posting a neon CTD mani I wore last week sometime. It's a good one. See you then!

More about → Lynnderella - Connect The Dots

1/2 of the OPI Holland Collection

Hey everyone! I'm gonna hit you with a few more swatch spam posts in the upcoming days because my swatch folder is just overflowing!

When the Holland Collection from OPI was first announced, I was so in love with all of the colors. But then when they came out, I decided I didn't really need any of them. So I didn't buy any!
...But then I found a bunch on sale for $2 and I ended up with six.
(A lot of you have been asking me where I find OPI on clearance for so cheap - they were at a local drugstore called Lawtons which I think is only in Atlantic Canada. It was only one location and I have no idea why they were so cheap. Some were old stock and some were new. They have the Hollands for full price again there now. So weird.)

I'm happy I picked these up, they are such pretty colors! Let's get to the swatches.

OPI - I Don't Give A Rotterdam!
Pretty shimmery blue, needs three coats for the best color payoff. I just love the large, almost-speckled shimmer of this type of polish.

OPI - I Have A Herring Problem
I've shown you this polish already in this manicure. Another shimmering blue but a slightly different shade than the previous one. If you look at the bottle shot at the beginning of the post you can see the difference in the colors better.
They are super similar so you don't really need both, unless you're a sucker for the shimmer like me! (And if they are $2 each you can totally justify it, too.)

OPI - Kiss Me On My Tulips
A nice, bright pink creme! Nice formula, 2 coats. Not an original color but pretty nonetheless.

OPI - Vampsterdam
Okay, I regret buying this one a little. It's much streakier than I anticipated and I just don't like it. 3 coats.

OPI - Pedal Faster Suzi!
Gorgeous shimmery pink! I adore this one. It covers nicely in just 2 coats, but you can also wear it at just one coat for a sheer shimmery look, which my mom loves!

OPI - Dutch Ya Just Love OPI?
Yes, yes I do. And I love purple. 2 coats of loveliness.
I had a request to compare this one with another polish I posted about recently:

OPI - Dutch Ya Just Love OPI / Sephora by OPI - Hell To The No
I couldn't get a great picture of the difference in these two on a wheel so I'm just gonna show you the bottles. The Sephora polish is a more vibrant purple and the shimmer is more golden compared to the bronze shimmer in Dutch Ya.
I prefer the Sephora but the OPI is nice too, of course.

What do you guys think of these colors? Did you pick up any of the Holland Collection?

More about → 1/2 of the OPI Holland Collection

OPI - Shatter The Scales

You know, the new Spiderman movie kinda bums me out. I liked the old ones! Don't change my Spidey!
And sadly, I've gotta say, the OPI Spiderman Collection is a bummer for me too.
Only one polish interested me enough to buy it - the shatter! It's a pretty awesome polish in a collection filled with "meh."

OPI - Shatter The Scales
This is a dark green shimmering shatter polish that worked pretty flawlessly for me. Sometimes shatters can be a total pain (I'm looking at you, Turquoise Shatter) but this one is easy to use.
It dries matte, but really comes alive with topcoat!

I layered this polish over OPI - Skull and Glossbones to show off its green hue the best.
I wish the other colors from this collection had been more fun! Frosty pink... streaky blue... off-white... goldy-green over-done dupe... Bleh! At least the shatter is fun.

And now for a comparison!
I had some requests for a comparison of Shatter The Scales and Teal Scales from Funky Fingers!
In the bottle, you'd think they might be pretty similar. But over white, the real difference shows!

OPI Shatter The Scales / Funky Fingers Teal Scales
As you can see, the true color of these polishes is totally different!
That being said, when you layer them over certain colors, they can look more similar.

It's hard to see them over black, but what you can see is hard to tell apart.
So, depending on the color you layer them over, they can look pretty similar, but truly they are really different! And you can totally justify having both.

More about → OPI - Shatter The Scales

A Crewed Interest vs. Sunset Sail

I had been on a mission to find some pale orange polishes to add to my stash. It's a shade I'm always mixing in acrylic paint for cartoons, so I felt having it in polish form was important.

I picked up China Glaze Sunset Sail and Essie A Crewed Interest.

Sunset Sail is more yellow toned of the two and it has a shimmer. 3 thin coats here. 

I had very little trouble with it. No streaking. It comes across very subtle and nude.

A Crewed Interest is more pink toned without any shimmer. 3 thin coats. This one was more trouble. I had some streaking, pulling, and pooling. It's still a great color though.

All in all, I'm happy to have both!

More about → A Crewed Interest vs. Sunset Sail

What suits me best?

I've been thinking about all the different nail shapes & lengths that I've done in the past and I'd like to ask you guys what you think looks best? I can't decide.

Short and square? Long and square? Short and oval? Long and rounded?

Cast your vote in a comment please.

#1 - Short and oval

#2 Long and Oval/Rounded

#3 Short and square 

#4 Medium Length & Square

#5 Long and Squared

 Let me know what you think! What do you think is the best fit for me?



More about → What suits me best?

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pink Satin + Nail Art

More than just a swatch today. I've got a look showing it's stamp-ability as well as it's comparison to another polish. I saw this in the store and thought it looked "chrome" enough to stamp well. I'd been wanting a light pink polish to stamp with, so it came home with me.

 This is 2 coats swatched. You can tell it's just a little bit "brush-strokey." Below is compared to China Glaze Emotion. Which is just a shade darker.

 

I accidentally reversed the order of my swatch-sicles....

To take care of the visible brushstrokes, I used my tried and true method for smoothing out the finish. 

Check it out here.

Then to test out it's stamp-ability I used the Bundle Monster zebra print image to do the following.

 I used OPI Skull and Glossbones as a base polish, then stamped with China Glaze Emotion on my ring fingernail. I used Pink Satin on all the other nails.

More about → Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pink Satin + Nail Art