Nicole by OPI Green Up Your Act!

Green Up Your Act! is a polish I purchased a while back - it was part of the Target exclusive Fall line, Something About Color. As you can see, it's a military green creme. A really awesome color that has rightly become quite popular in nail polish collections lately.

While it hits the mark color-wise, application-wise it is a mess. It's one of those polishes where the consistency of the polish and the brush don't mesh well, and you end up with a ton of bald spots. This is three coats, and there are still bald spots (which luckily Seche Vite toned down, and they didn't show up on camera). I do not have the patience for four coats, so I gave up and left it at three. On the bright side, it did dry fast.

Overall, if you are looking for a color like this, I would say chose a polish by one of the million other brands doing this color. The application process is just not worth it when you can find others so easily. (Though I did see a TON of these on clearance last time I was at Target, so if you are a Nicole by OPI lover than now is your chance to pick this one up at a decent price.)

Inspired by the Supernatural: Nicole by OPI Too Rich For You

I am just a couple posts away from finishing the 31 Post Challenge! Today is the 29th post, which is a manicure inspired by the supernatural. I've been looking forward to this one since I started the challenge. I love the paranormal and supernatural. I've had some unexplainable experiences myself, and I also love shows like Ghost Hunters. First I'll show you the polish, which is Too Rich For You from Nicole by OPI, then I'll explain more for those of you interested.

Too Rich for You has been on my wishlist for a while now, and Chi Chi at The Phalanges Files was kind enough to send it as an extra with the polishes I won at her recent giveaway. It was so kind of her to not only host a giveaway, but go through the effort of looking at my wishlist and sending me a couple items from it. What a sweet lady!

The consistency of this polish is on the thin side, but still quite easy to work with. There was no flooding around my cuticles, and it only needed two coats. On top of the easy application process, Too Rich for You is one of the prettiest polishes I have ever used! It just glows! It has lots of teal shimmer packed in a smoky base. It gives off an ethereal sort of vibe, which I thought fit well with the challenge. I love that it can look dark and vampy in some lights, but then really shine in others. It reminds me of deep scary parts of the ocean and rare jewels, depending on the light. I encourage you to look at the larger versions of the images, and let yourself by mesmerized by the shimmer. I can't get enough of this, and I also got a ton of compliments on it! It's one of those polishes that when people said, "Nice nail polish," rather than thank them, I was all, "I KNOW!!!!"

Now, on to why I chose this color, for those of you still reading. Beyond the ethereal quality this polish has, it also reminds me a bit of a paranormal experience I had (well, experiences really). I wouldn't call myself a medium or psychic or anything along those lines by any means, but I do feel I am somewhat sensitive to the paranormal, and I have had dreams come true (as well as some other things potentially too weird to be coincidental).

My parents' house was built in the 70s, by the people who owned it previous to us. So I figured it's far too new to have any spirits attached to it. But probably about five years ago or so, I started noticing this figure in the basement. I always see him in the same spot, and he never moves or acknowledges me. He's solid, and not transparent at all. He wears an older style suit (I would say somewhere between the 1920s and 1950s) and fedora, both navy blue (hence my choice of nail polish). Like I said, he's always just standing there, and never moves or looks at me. It's a bit strange, but not scary. I'm not sure why he'd be hanging around my parents' basement, but maybe he's got some attachment to the land it's built on. Who knows?

Have you had any paranormal experiences? I want to hear about them!

Red & Gold Gradient

I'm up to Day 10 for The 31 Day Challenge! And Day 10 is gradient nails. For this look, I was inspired by Rebecca's gradient nails, which can be seen here.

Here we go. So, first I started with a base of Burgundy by Santee.

At my previous job, we sold Santee polishes for a buck. I got 50% off, and really should have purchased more. Burgundy is an appropriate, albeit not very creative name for this polish. My favorite color - a deep, berry red. The application process was not great. The polish was pretty thick, and I kept smudging it. It also seems to want to hang out in my cuticles, no matter how much acetone I use in clean up attempts. My apologies for that. I used two coats for opacity.

Next, I sponged on a light coat of Sea How Far You Go from Nicole by OPI.

It's hard to give an accurate description of how applying it went, considering I only sponged one coat on. But it did sponge on easily! I love the antique-y feel this polish has. So pretty!

Next, I sponged a coat of Sally Hansen's Set the Stage over Sea How Far You Go.

The glitter pieces were a bit hard to pick up, but with the sponge it was easier. I imagine it is sort of a pain using the brush to apply this.

Overall, I'm really pleased with how this turned out. It's sorta regal and Elizabethan-y meets gore and goth meets glitz and glam. For a while I thought it seemed too Holiday-like, but today it reminds me of Gryffindor, so I guess it depends on my mood. A friend of mine really loved them, and said they need a matching fancy party dress. What do you guys think? I can't wait to try more gradient manis like this!

You might have noticed my nails are shorter than they were last post. A couple nails broke on my right hand, so I took that as an excuse to chop 'em all down. While I like how they look when they are longer, especially for the blog, I do feel much better with them shorter. They're so much more comfortable at this length. When they're longer, I feel like they're in the way, and I never really get used to them. I know that my "longer" is pretty short for a lot of nail bloggin' ladies - I have no idea how you guys do it! But, I am glad this mani looks good even on shorter nails, because I worried it would look odd.

Today I had my interview with that gallery. I think it went okay. It was pretty short, and not very discussion-based, but hopefully I make the cut.

Also I think I'm developing a dairy allergy. Bleh!

What have you guys been up to?

Rainbow Nails!

Now The Challenge is getting to the fun stuff! Post 9 is rainbow nails!

 

So, for my rainbow manicure, I decided get a lil' skittle on you guys. I think it turned out pretty darned cute, and the colors work really well together. Given that I'm doing this Challenge to use more of my untrieds/unphotographeds, they're all colors I haven't shown before. I somehow managed to get dust all over my nails between painting and photographing them, so do me a solid and ignore that!

Here's what I used:

ELF Mango Madness - A lovely coral color! I used three coats, as this seemed to have some jelly qualities. It's so pretty, and it's begging me to use it as a full manicure.

Nicole by OPI One Voice - A shimmery yellow. I was going with a creme theme, but I realized I'd chosen a shimmer too late! This was sort of streaky and thin, so I used three coats, but it wasn't impossible to work with. It's a very pretty color, and I love that it leans a little mustard.

OPI Who the Shrek Are You? - Lime, but not neon, colored creme. Surprisingly easy to work with. This was two easy coats.

Essence My Boyfriend's Jeans - What a stupid freaking name. But what a pretty color! The first coat seemed a little gloopy, but it all evened out with the second.

OPI Done Out in Deco - LOVE this polish! A really lovely lilac creme. Super duper easy to work with. Absolute perfection in two coats.

What do you guys think?

Today is the last day of my long "weekend," and I am so not looking forward to going back to work. This weekend has been a nice combination of productive and lazy.

I got myself a caffeinated lil treat today, and sat my butt down to work on more grad school stuff. I also found out I am a finalist for a Solo Exhibition Program at a local gallery here, so I have been working on stuff for that, too. Crossing my fingers I make the cut! 

Nicole by OPI Nicole's Nickel

Holy bananas! I picked up Nicole's Nickel on sale at Target (the Target exclusive and the Bieber collections were on sale) recently, and it is fantastic!

This was such a great find! I love that it's a glitter that's meant to be worn on it's own, rather than layered. Nicole's Nickel is a ton of silver glitter in a dark base. I only needed two coats for full coverage. It was pretty thick, but not too difficult to work with. It dried ridiculously fast, and, of course, gritty. It was tough to photograph, though. It was so bright, that the sun just blew everything out.

It makes me feel like I've got disco balls on my hands! Which reminds me of three things:

1.) Lady Gaga's disco bra -

 

2.) Lady Gaga's Disco Stick -

 

 3.) Noel Fielding's/Vince Noir's Mirror Ball Suit - 

Vince Noir was the inspiration for my blog's name. :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day/Bank Holiday/Monday. My family doesn't have any traditions, but I did have the day off work! I spent it on my parents' couch with a horrible migraine, though. Bummer.

Nicole by OPI Party in the Penthouse

Party in the Penthouse is part of Nicole by OPI's Gossip Girl collection. I've not seen Gossip Girl. Do they party in penthouses?

 

Party in the Penthouse is a metallic blue. The application was great, and it dried fast. I used three coats, but it would probably have been good to go in two if I were actually paying attention when I applied it. In my collection, this is a pretty unique color. It's so pretty! One of those colors that makes me look at my nails all the time.

Hope your weekend is going well!

Nicole by OPI Fresh Squeezed

The other night, I was at Target and noticed some Nicole by OPI polishes on clearance. They were all around $5. I picked up two of them, and today I tried Fresh Squeezed, which was part of the Spring 2010 collection.

I've got a soft spot for Nicole by OPI. My mom used to buy me them when I was younger, because my name is Nicole, and I was drawn to the fun colors and glitter as a kid. But I haven't used one in years, so I'm interested to see how they wear.

 

I was initially drawn to it because of the duochrome glass-like flecks in it. In the bottle, they shimmer yellow, orange, and pink - and even lime green at the right angle. Unfortunately, that doesn't translate too well on the nail. And it translates even worse on camera. I had such a hard time photographing this lacquer. The sun is finally out, so I thought I'd have an easy time, but apparently not. Really, the best images I got that showed off the duochrome were in the shade.

 The polish is jelly-like, so it is fairly translucent. I used three coats, and still have a couple bald spots. The bald spots don't bother me that much because of the sparkle. Seriously, this polish looks so cool. Even though the duochrome doesn't translate well on the nail, the shimmer is still gorgeous - especially in sunlight. Even when it is not in direct sunlight, this stuff glows!

Despite my difficulties with getting good photos of this stuff, I am really pleased with it. I can't stop looking at my nails. I can't wait to show this off in the summer, when the sun is really shining!