Sneak Peak: Kerry Washington and O.P.I. Coming Soon

Hi friends,

You know from previous posts that I love O.P.I. -fact. Well, now I have something new to be excited about.  I'm sure you've heard that O.P.I. is linking up with Kerry Washington to do a line of polishes.  Guess what?  It's coming real soon.  The fall 2016 line will appear in stores soon, and from what I see,  it's pretty extensive.  I thought the line would have 8 or so polishes, but instead there are almost twice that- 15. Looks like O.P.I. won't have a busy fall since the colors cover every seasonal color you can imagine. What's left? The names of the polishes are in true O.P.I. fashion. Yay!  I believe there is an embargo on details about the line, so I won't say more than what's available, but I can show a pic from Tumblr.

Like I said, the line is scheduled to come out in time for the fall season. I can't wait!
Ciao for now.

O.P.I-athon: What Does It Mean?

On Point Inc., Obviously Proven Intensity, Omnipotent Polish Indulgences, what does O.P.I. mean?? Does anybody know?  Well, I'll tell you what it doesn't stand for - Opulent Polish Innovations. You were thinking that one, weren't you? 

Odontorium Products Inc. Yes, that's what the acronym means. I'd have never guessed that one, myself. O.P.I. didn't start off as a nail polish company. Nope, O.P.I. got it's beginnings in the dental industry as a dental supply company, and didn't move over into nail polish until 1989. Their very first polish launch consisted of 30 colors, and had names like Pink#3. This was before color naming became their signature, obviously.  Their most popular color ever was I'm Not Really A Waitress, a beautiful vibrant red. I have a hard time with reds, as red is not one of my favorite colors (can you believe that?) I only own a handful of them. But, since this is the last polish in our O.P.I.-athon, I figured I needed to include just one red...or reddish polish. Thank Glogg Its Friday is a fuchsia/wine shimmer from the Fall 2014 Nordic Collection.  In case you're wondering, glogg is a European mulled wine beverage.  Yup, I had to look that one up. 

This concludes our look into the world of O.P.I. and a few of my favorite O.P.I. polishes.  If you enjoyed this mini series give me a comment. I might do another mini series for your favorite brand. Thanks for reading, and ...
Ciao for now.

O.P.I.-athon: Designer Series Tourmaline

DS Tourmaline

Hello O.P.I. lovers,
The last polish we looked at was a neutral cream, so today I have something a little more exciting.  This O.P.I. polish is one of my favorites because...? You guessed it, GLITTER! It sparkles, it shines, it puts you in a daze if you stare at it too long (like I do).
Tourmaline is a sparkling rose pink glitter polish from the 2014 Designer Series, Polished Quartz.

Pink is often symbolic with breast cancer awareness, and although this particular hue is not bca pink, it reminds me of a souped up fashion forward version of it.  So, I decided to do an awareness manicure and I think it turned out pretty nice.  O.P.I. has supported breast cancer awareness since 2006, and in 2014 created a small awareness collection called Pink Of Hearts.  For this campaign, O.P.I. donated $25,000 to help fund research and promote awareness. O.P.I. is no stranger to charity. They have contributed millions of dollars to charitable causes, focusing mainly on women's health, but also including diabetes and blood cancer. Their charity extends beyond health issues though. At the launch of their Nicole line, O.P.I. raised money benefiting environmental causes. You feel good buying from a company that goes over and beyond.

Until next time,
Ciao for now.

O. P. I. - athon: Withstands The Test Of Thyme

Hi ladies, gents, family and friends,

For the first polish featured in our O.P.I.-athon, I chose a beautiful summery green cream polish named Withstands The Test Of Thyme.  This polish is a favorite for two reasons. First, it reminds me of a garden trellis scene complete with chirping birds and butterflies. It's a refreshing color that makes you want to sip lemonade on the front porch or on the patio. The second reason why I love this polish so much is because of its name. O.P.I. is famous for choosing names that are fitting to the color, whitty, puns, commical, creative, naughty, delightful and just plain old fun. Hands down, they own the Polish Naming award (if there were such a thing).

Choosing colors is serious business for this company. It's heavy, laborious work if traveling to great places, being sequestered for eight hours in top secret brainstorming sessions (and eaing cultural foods, ) sounds like heavy labor to you. What goes on in these top secret sessions? Probably a whole lot of laughter and fun when you consider the outcome. I sure would love to be a fly on the wall. Better yet, I'd be more than willing to work for them for free.  Yes, FREE!  That means I would pay my own traveling expenses and hotel and sit for eight hours or more even if I could only sit  outside the meeting room door. HEY O.P.I. FREE LABOR OVER HERE!!!!!!  I'll scrub your floors, empty your trash.  I do windows too!! I think I'm going to send them a letter begging them to work there for no pay and do anything, even the jobs that nobody else wants to do. I wish I could say that I was just joking, but....

Until I'm recruited to work for O.P.I., I'll keep posting and sticking with my day job.

Ciao for now.

[Correction: O.P.I. polish naming brain children might not actually travel to theses great places, but their hours long secluded polish naming sessions are probably a close second.]

Blue Striped Pajama Party

Hello Sunshine, todays manicure makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book and a cup of chamomile tea. The blue on blue stripes reminds me of men's pajamas. Is it just me or do you think so too?  I wore the manicure one day without the roses and was complimented on them. Then I thought I'd overlay a bouquet of roses.  I think I've seen a similar fabric print like that somewhere.  I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think.

Blue on blue stripes with a pink floral overlay using China Glaze, O.P.I. and Essie

For this mani, I started with two colors from the spring 2015 Road Trip Collection. First I painted the light blue Dashboard Dreamer on all my nails.  Then, with Boho Blues, I stamped stripes using Moyou London stamping plate Pro Collection XL-01.

China Glaze Dashboard Dreamer and Boho Blues

Next, I used Gogoonly XL St. Happy stamping plate (Amazon for about $13), to stamp the roses with Essies Stylenomics deep green polish. I made decals using two colors by China Glaze. The first and peachier of the two (is that even a word?) is Pinking Out the Window from the Road Trip Collection (love the names). The second polish, which is a beautiful neon pink, is Glow With the Flow from the 2015 Summer Nights Collection.

China Glaze Pinking Out the Window and Glow With the Flow

Gogoonly St. Happy

For the leaves I used a minty green polish by O.P.I. called Withstands the Test of Thyme from the Infinite Shine line.

O.P.I. Withstands the Test of Thyme

I'm thrilled with my China Glaze minis.  I plan to pick up more soon.  Speaking of minis, I have a few Mundo de Unas to review for you soon. Several of the ones I purchased are cute little minis.  I placed a second order so I'm waiting for that to arrive.  As soon as it does, I'll get started on a review for you. I can tell you this, though, I'm loving the ones that I have so far.
Ciao for now.

O.P.I. Polish Review: Kermit Vs. Spidey

Two O.P.I. polishes from older throwback collections caught my attention because of their duochrome affects. They are Kermit me to Speak from the Muppets Most Wanted Collection (2011) and Just Spotted the Lizard from The Amazing Spiderman Collection (2012).

I fell in love with both of these polishes right away.  I've seen polishes with stronger duochrome affects, but these have just enough to make them intriguing.  Just Spotted the Lizard leans more towards gold with green highlights and Kermit Me to Speak has a rosier hue with soft purple highlights. Both are fantastic and I honestly can't pick one over the other.  Can you?

O.P.I. Paints review

It seems that everyone is jumping on the blendable nail polish band wagon. First, O.P.I. came out with their Color Paints collection, then Sephora with Formula X Infinite Ombre limited edition set.  Now, Morgan Taylor has Laquer Chrome Collection. What's next, China Glaze Silver Chromatic Backdrop Collection?


What's similar about these sets?  They're all two-step processes that start with a silver color base coat followed by one or more sheer polishes.

I purchased a mini set of O.P.I. Color Paints because I'm not so excited about the polishes.  I didn't want to commit to full size bottles.  The concept is nice, but I didn't look forward to testing them out.  But, test them I did, because I wanted to give you guys, my wonderful readers, a bit of information about them.  The O.P.I. Color Paints set has a silver base color called Silver Canvas Undercoat.  Then there are 5 color polishes-- Primarily Yellow, Chromatic Orange, Pen & Pink, Purple Perspective and Turquoise Aesthetic (what, no Green Screen?).

It started off simple enough.  The silver applied smoothly, and looked nice enough to wear on its own. Then I continued to make two failed attempts at creating colorful designs before I was satisfied with a wearable manicure.  I would like to show you the fails....no, I really don't want to show the fails. As a matter of fact, I didn't bother to take a picture of the second one.  But I can reveal my final attempt.  I was satisfied only after I stamped over the polishes with Konad Blue Pearl (I think that's the name).

I plan to continue to use the polishes, but probably as a single color over chrome and a simple stripe or two.  Then I'll throw a bunch of glitter over the whole thing and you won't see any of it anyway.  Glitter covers a multitude of ...errors

Unfortunately, I'll have to work with the multi-colored paint over chrome design concept one more time.  I accidentally purchased the Sephora Formula X Infinite Ombre set.  I placed a ridiculously low bid on EBay assuming that I wouldn't win, and by fluke, I won the bid.  So to be fair, I have to review it as well.  However, after Formula X I'm done with the base chrome concept and Morgan Taylors Chrome Collection won't be crossing my threshold.  Sorry Morgan.