So Many Clowns... So Little Time

 This was swatched a little while ago but hadn't gotten around to posting it until now. It is a very soft milky pink, I am a sucker for these pale colors. Pictures is three coats with a slight visible nail line but nothing really noticeable.

Nicole By OPI's Texture Coat

 Just thought I would share the new press release for Nicole by OPI's Texture Coat, these will be released in July. I am curious to know if these will be the same as the Shatters or will they create a different look on the nail? I have never used any Nicole's but the Gold Texture looks interesting.
 Pictures after the jump...

I Loveded You Piggy!

 I am back with Gir and Piggy! Just a quick post today. I made these nail stickers but did not have the time to use them yet and I really wanted something different on my nails the next few days.
 These were done yesterday, I haven't been feeling so great and wasn't up to doing a full mani with nail art so I used the stickers a made and some rhinestones and bead chains. I used Planks A Lot for the Background.
 Here is the left hand before I was finished with it.

 Right Hand.

And the left hand when everything was on. I didn't have high hopes for the bead chains but they are still on today.

Texas Sorbets

 Today I have the sorbets from the Texas collection. I wasn't sure what to make of these. I like them for the high shine and squishy look you get, on the other hand I am not crazy about visible nail line and they are a bit watery. You have to be careful to not overload your brush. Pictures of these colors are four thick coats each. 

 Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? is a nice orange but was the most sheer. I wanted this one the most and I was a bit let down. 

 Guy Meets Gal-Veston, an orange-red.

 Big Hair...Big Nails is a light coral red.

 Too Hot Pink To Hold 'Em was my favorite of the sorbets on the nail. It really is like a hot, dark pink. 

 Do You Think I'm Tex-y? is somewhere between Too Hot Pink To Hold 'Em and Houston We Have A Purple. 

 Which brings us to Houston We Have A Purple. Almost like grape jelly, with four coats their really isn't much visible nail line. 

 Overall, I am a little disappointed with this collection. I was expecting that but still I was holding that I would change my mind when I had them. Their are colors that I love here but with the sheer, watery mess that most of them were doesn't make me love them much. But on a plus they dry pretty quick. I wish they had made a larger range of colors. The sorbets all look about the same, just a shade away from each other. If you haven't picked up any of the sorbets and are thinking about it you could easily buy one or two and probably be perfectly happy. 

 My favorites of the sorbets were Too Hot Pink To Hold 'Em, Do You Think I'm Tex-y? and Houston We Have A Purple just because those seem more opaque. If the other sorbets were just a bit less sheer I would love all of them. I will have to layer a few and do some candy manis, maybe then I will feel a bit different.

 What do you think of the sorbets? 

Texas, The Creams and Shimmers

 After a long wait I have gotten my Texas Collection, these came out in February and most of you have likely seen them. Anyways, sometimes I wish I was back home and could just go to JC Penny or Trade Secret or where ever and pick it up myself. When I saw the promo pictures for these and I didn't really want any, a few days later I wanted to try a couple. Then I started seeing swatches and went back to not wanting any and then I got the entire collection. Indecisive much, me? No, not at all. Lets start off with the best of the creams and shimmers.
 Suzi Loves Cowboys, yummm, makes me think of melted chocolate. It isn't very exciting but I have to say this is my favorite of this half. Maybe I like it so much because I don't own any other brown polishes? Either way I love it. Picture is two coats, applied great, no troubles.

 Don't Mess With OPI is much like Jade Is The New Black from the Hong Kong collection last year. They vary slight in shade so if you aren't an addict or a hoarder you probably don't need both. Picture is two coats and application was nice like most OPI creams. 

San Tan-Tonio was not a favorite of mine but had one of the best formulas out of this half. It is a nice tan, neutral but not for me. It does something to my skin tone that I cannot describe. I think it would look great on a darker skin tone though. Picture is two coats, good formula like the first two above. 

 I Vant To Be A-Lone Star is a blueish gray with a bit of shimmer. Application was a bit tough, it seemed a little thick and did not want to even out for me but I do like the color. Picture is three coats.

 Austin-Tatious Turquoise was beautiful in the bottle, a turquoise blue with a hint of pink shimmer, but was a nightmare, a sheer, watery mess. I would have loved it if it was not like water. Picture is of four coats and it could have used at least one more.

 It's Totally Fort Worth It, just like Austin-Tatious Turquoise, I would have loved if it were not for the thin watery formula. This was the color I was most exited about from this collection and I was very disappointed. In the bottle it is a gorgeous silver with pink shimmer. This color is very hard to photograph, the pink shimmer does not show up on camera. I guess I will have to find something to layer this over. Picture is four coats. 

 These are great colors in the bottle but the two I loved most don't show up well on the nail or are a mess. I typically do not like to do more than two coats of polish unless it dries super quick or the color is really worth it. I might try leaving the tops off Austin-Tatious Turquoise and It's Totally Fort Worth It a few minutes, hopefully they will thicken up a bit and not be such a watery nightmare.

 I will be back tomorrow with the sorbets from this collection.

Giveaway Update

 Sun, finally, I took pictures of a few polishes from my giveaway before the sun disappeared today. 

 If you haven't yet, you can enter here, giveaway ends May 31st.

Tip for using OPI Pro Wide Brush

 I know many people do not like the Pro Wide brush because it is too large for their narrow nails. I have almost the same problem but I love the Pro Wide. My pinky nails are somewhat narrow so what I do is simple turn the brush straight up and down. This is kind of hard to explain in words but instead of using the brush flat, where the widest part is horizontal with the nail, turn it so the flat part is vertical. Like in the pictures below.
 Use the wide part of the brush flat, horizontal to the nail for wide nails.

 For narrow nails turn the flat part vertical, up and down, so you are using the narrow side of the brush. 

 I hope this helps some of you. Using the brush this way lets me cover my pinky nails in two strokes and the rest of my nails in three. It works great for me.

 Have you tried the Pro Wide this way? Do you like the Pro Wide brushes?

Stranger Tides with Silver Shatter

 This is my favorite of the pirates collection. The murky sage is awesome, it is easy to apply for this kind of polish as well. Two coats, dry time was normal.

 I love Silver Shatter, just not on Stranger Tides, it is far too pretty to cover up. I am still playing with the Silver and it does not shatter as much as I like with a thick coat. When I apply a thick coat I get small line breaks and it doesn't show the base coat much. Picture of Silver Shatter is with topcoat.

  Did any of you pick up Silver Shatter, have you tried layering it over other colors? I have had it over Black Onyx on my toes since I first got it. I don't post pictures of my feet much, maybe I will put that combo on my nails next.

Planks A Lot with Silver Shatter

 The dusty lilac purple from OPI's Pirates collection, Planks A Lot is beautiful. I am really loving these colors. Two coats and it dried quickly, great pastel polish! 

 Like Mermaid's Tears, I don't care for the Silver shatter over Planks A Lot much. I think that is because I like the colors much better on their own. Picture of Silver Shatter is with topcoat

 On Stranger Tides opens this weekend, are you going to see it? 

Giveaway! ( Closed )

 Finally, I am having my first giveaway! It isn't much but I would like to say thank you to my followers.
 This giveaway will be simple, to enter fill out the form below. You must be a public follower if you are not already and you must leave me your email so that I may contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be chosen randomly using random.org and the giveaway will end on May 31st at midnight EST. A winner will be chosen by Friday June 3rd, if the winner has not responded by June 10th a new winner will be chosen. This is open internationally, be sure though that you can receive these items. I will have to ship them ground parcel post, my post office will not let me ship any polish by air no matter what, tried it, been there done that. Air mail is a definite no go, so it may take several weeks to get to the winner depending on where you are.
 On to the prize, ten bottles of A Rainbow polish. These are very hard to get pictures of but are gorgeous scattered holographic polishes, think Catherine Arley. All of these polishes are new, purchased by me. When I saw these I picked up four for myself and the entire collection to giveaway here. I don't know why the blue is lower than the rest, my personal bottle was like that as well.

 Pictures do not do these polishes justice, you have to see them in sunlight. Unfortunately we have had little sun and I have not been able to get pictures. That is why I haven't posted pictures of the other two of these polishes that I have. But here are a few of them under indoor lighting.

Mermaid's Tears with Silver Shatter

 Mermaid's Tears is a dirty sea foam green. It had the best application out of the collection for me, smooth as could be with no drag, bald spots and dried quickly, no problems at all. Pictures below are of two coats.

 Silver Shatter over Mermaid's Tears isn't my favorite but I still like, although I think I would wear it alone rather than covering it. The picture of Silver Shatter is with topcoat.

Sparrow Me The Drama with Silver Shatter

 Sparrow Me The Drama, I love that name, is a stunning dusty pink. I didn't think I would love this one as much as I do but it is so perfect. I cannot stress enough how perfect the formula on these pastels are, two thin coats was all I used and it dried quick partly because of that. 

 Just like Steady As She Rose, Sparrow Me The Drama with Silver Shatter makes it much more interesting to look at. I guess that is because of the shimmer finish it gives or maybe it is just me because I get distracted by shiny things. Picture is with topcoat.

Steady As She Rose with Silver Shatter

  Out of the entire Pirates collection Steady As She Rose was the thickest formula for me. It was not difficult to work with like most pastel polishes though. 

 I really love this light pink, it has a bit of a lavender tone to me, somewhere close to Lucky Lucky Lavender maybe? I would love to compare those two but my LLL is with my mother, although I know it has that usual streaky pastel formula. That is probably why I do not wear it much. Steady As She Rose will be getting plenty of use especially with the great application. 

 I used two thin coats, it covered fantastically and dried quick.

 With Silver Shatter I love this color even more. The light pink under the silver I think looks very interesting. I really like this combo! Picture is with topcoat.

 Just my piece of advice on the Shatters, some have been saying they have dried up quickly so every few times I use mine I add a couple of drops of thinner and gently roll it until mixed well. 

Skull and Glossbones with Silver Shatter

 One of my favorites from this collection, Skull and Glossbones. The pastels from the Pirates collection apply and wear extremely well and I have had this on for about four days now with no chipping. It was opaque in two coats with no streaking or bald spots. 

 I added a coat of Silver Shatter the other day because I wanted to play with it and think I have found the way that works best for me. I like the bigger more spaced out pieces and to get that I applied the Silver Shatter very thin, as thin as I could get it while still covering the nail, you could see the base color beneath it. When it dried I had large spacing between the silver. Picture is with topcoat.

ARRRGGGHHH!

 I am a bit behind, blogger would not let me post the past few days, very fustrating. The Pirates collection finally came in, I ordered from Aveyou.com again and shipping time was fantastic. My Stranger Tides had black streaks though it, I think it was from the balls. No matter what I did, rolled, shake, nothing still streaked with black. I emailed them about and they are shipping me a new one so I am very happy about that. After I emailed them went ahead and swatched Stranger Tides along with the rest of the collection, but am waiting until I get the new bottle to do a full mani. It does not seem to have an effect on the color and does not show black streaks on the nail. I have no idea why it is doing that, has anyone else had that problem? Anyways, beside that I have to say I am in love with all of these.
 From left to right are Steady as She Rose, Sparrow me the Drama and Planks a Lot.

 Here they are with Silver Shatter which was a bit more difficult to work with than the Black Shatter.

Left to Right are Skull and Glossbones, Stranger Tides and Mermaids Tears.

 The Silver Shatter on these is a thinner coat and seemed to shatter more than a thicker one. I have Silver Shatter on my toes with Black Onyx under and it looks amazing!

 Overall I love all of these! Stranger Tides and Skull and Glossbones would have to be my favorites, they are just such strange colors I can't help it. 

 I did not have many problem with application other than the Silver Shatter and I will just have to play with it. Planks a lot and Mermaids Tears stained my nails pretty bad with no base coat so if you will be wearing those I highly suggest using one. Other than that they seemed perfect to me. Some of the pastels from last years Shrek collection were a bit goopy and needed three coats to be opaque but these I did not have that problem. I used two coats and they were fine, Skull and Glossbone did not want to apply smooth on the tip of my index finger but I think that is because of the curve on my nail and not getting the brush close enough. My only real problem is the brush for Skull and Glossbones, it does not want to stay on the cap! I will probably super glue it in later. 

Can I Be A Mongoose Dog?

 I love Gir from Invader Zim and wanted to give him a try. He is pretty simple to do really. Just don't put him on a black like I did, he is hard to see that way. I painted my own Gir stickers, they turned out great but when I put him on the nail with the black he faded away a bit, disappointing, next time I will know better thought. I had other plans for my ring finger where I put him but it didn't work out like I wanted. I was going to paint lines of different colors to cover most of the black but got frustrated and moved on. Maybe I will try him again next time, possibly with piggy as well. 

Cherry Blossoms

 Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom here and over the weekend we made a trip to a well know park not far from us to see them there. Before we left though I had to try cherry blossom nail art. It was very simple and quick, I painted my nails white, after it dried I sponged a light blue over the entire nail. With acrylic paint I made a few branches then added some larger blossoms with a few dotted blossoms to make them seem smaller, farther in the background and a few falling petals. 

 Please excuse the cuticles, this picture was taken after we returned and I had been wearing it for four days, and still am. I am really happy with this design and like the way it turned out!

 I will leave you with a few pictures of the Cherry Blossoms to enjoy. Even though the weather was not that great, the trees were beautiful this year!