Aly Loves Lacquer

This OPI polish is from the Swiss Collection OPI did in Fall 2010. It is a darkened purple crème. I wore this since my nails are pretty short right now, and I love vampy colors on short nails. This color applied well and was quite pigmented. I like it on the nail as well. It is dark, but you can still tell it isn't quite black.

This is 2 coats of William Tell Me About OPI and 1 coat of Seche Vite on top.

First, hello to all my new followers!! Thank you so much for reading. I love showing you all of my polishes, and thought I would show an old NoTD to you. It didn't turn out the best, but it is still pretty cool. I used China Glaze Coconut Kiss, OPI Dating a Royal, and OPI Black Onyx for the marbling. Underneath I had one coat of Pure Ice Skinny Dip as "underwear." I love mixing blue and purple, so I am calling this one my blurple water marble.


I was a bit disappointed in the opacity of this manicure. I wanted it to be bolder, but I still like it how it is. One thing that bugs me about water marbling is that sometimes I get weird bubbles when I do the design.   Does anyone know how not to get bubbles like that?

Anyway, I liked this mani. It was fun enough that I didn't remove it like 12 hours later, which I usually do.

- Aly

Here is a pretty pink polish I got in a swap on MUA. This is Zoya Jolene, which was released in the Flash Collection for Summer 2010. Zoya Jolene is a super glossy pink crème, perfect for On Wednesdays We Wear Pink. I am pretty sure the Plastics would wear a color like this :) It is very girly.

This is 2 coats Zoya Jolene and 1 coat Seche Vite.


Happy Wednesday!

- Aly

I am finally back! I recently moved back home for the summer, and finally unpacked my camera. So here is an awesome summer color, OPI Banana Bandana. This polish is a buttery crème with a super subtle shimmer. In fact, I think I might be imagining the shimmer :) It applied like a jelly almost, and took 4 coats to be completely opaque. Normally I am not a big fan of four-coaters, but this is so pretty I don't mind. It has a squishy look to it, so I guess it's more of a jelly crème.

These pictures are 4 coats OPI Banana Bandana and 1 coat Seche Vite.



Thanks for sticking with me when I was gone! I am so happy to be posting again :)

- Aly

I just found out that the OPI Holiday 2011 polishes are going to have a Muppets theme! I remember watching the Muppets when I was younger, and I am so excited to have some Muppets colors. It seems like there will be 6 glitters, and 6 other polishes just like the Burlesque Collection.

Golden Rose is a Turkish brand of nail polish and nail care products. They are gaining some notoriety for their holos, and you can see one I've swatched here. They also do lots of other colors, including some nice glitters. Golden Rose With Protein 290 is a fun glitter. It has star glitters, and smaller hex glitters, many with a holographic shine.

Here are 2 coats of Golden Rose With Protein 290 over 2 coats of Essie Flirt.



I really think Golden Rose deserves more recognition. I have not been disappointed with any of their products thus far. This is a really fun glitter and I think it looks great.

Do you have any Golden Rose polishes? What do you think?

- Aly

Essie Splash of Grenadine is a gorgeous crème polish from Essie's Resort Collection. It has a jelly-like shine to it, so I guess it's technically a jelly crème. Splash of Grenadine is a dusty pinkish magenta, with some purple in it. The application was great! It took 2 coats, and leveled itself out really nicely. This color looks great on the nail, and it looks good with my skintone as well.

This is 2 coats Essie Splash of Grenadine and 1 coat Seche Vite.

Zoya Rica is another polish from the Sunshine Collection that Zoya recently released. All of the colors feature golden glitters. Zoya Rica is a perfect coral color, filled with bright gold glitter. I think Rica may be one of my favorites in the collection. For me, the whole Sunshine Collection was a winner -- all of the polishes are so gorgeous!

Zoya Rica took 2 coats to opacity. These pictures are without Seche Vite, so you can see the polish's natural shine.



I think Zoya did a great job with the Sunshine Collection. They all really look sunny and beautiful. Zoya Rica goes on beautifully, and looks great. The only problem I had with Rica was that the removal was a bit difficult, even with Zoya's Remove+ remover. Nonetheless, I really like this polish.

What do you think? Anyone else have trouble removing this?

- Aly

It's Depression Awareness Week, and the depression ribbon is green, so I thought I would show you guys one of my favorite greens. This is Nubar Reef Green, a frosty lime green. It is very bright, and looks likes it glows on the nail. It applied absolutely perfectly, and took 2 coats. Normally I don't like frosts much, but this one is beautiful. It isn't too streaky and the frostiness actually brightens up the color a lot.

It's Pink Wednesday again! I love doing these Wednesday manis. Pink is so girly and fresh for me, because I rarely wear it. Today we have OPI Argenteeny Pinkini, a ladylike pink polish. Argenteeny Pinkini starts out sheer, but builds to opacity in 3 coats. The polish itself is a very light baby pink, with a hidden pinky shimmer. This color is refined and girly.

My swatches of OPI Argenteeny Pinkini are 3 coats with 1 coat of Seche Vite.



This color isn't really my favorite for me, but I can see it looking great on a woman who's a little older than me and out of college. It's super work appropriate and very pretty, but I just like a little more pizzazz in my polishes. OPI Argenteeny Pinkini is a nice polish, but it's not for me.

What do you think of it? What's your favorite work polish?

- Aly

I originally did this springy water marbling mani for Easter, but I neglected to post until now. I used three bright colors, OPI Flit a Bit, OPI Don't Know...Beets Me!, and China Glaze For Audrey. I also used Pure Ice Skinny Dip as a base color, so that the marbling would show up brighter.

This was my most successful attempt yet at a water marbled manicure. I really liked it. Though there are some imperfections up close, it looked great throughout the days I wore it. I got many compliments.




I really like this technique, though I am not exactly an expert with it. It always looks unique and pretty, though it does use up lots of polish. I thought all the nails came out really well, but especially like the pinky nail.

How do you feel about water marbling? Do you know how to make it look cleaner than mine?

- Aly

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