On Trend: Zig Zag Enamel Rings

On Trend: Zig Zag Enamel Rings by emilychiemi featuring stackable rings

A look that's been very popular lately amongst many, including a ton of fashion bloggers, has been these zig zag enamel stacking rings.  Sadly, I am still without these rings as when I wanted to place my order on asos.com they were out of stock.  :( Hopefully I can get my hands on these soon, before they go out of style!  I prefer the look of the Asos rings, the Charlotte Russe ones look a little thinner than I would like, however they are a good alternative.  I have also heard of an alternative at Target for about $6 or $7, however I could not find it online to include in this post, so stop by your local store and see if they have any in stock!

Sephora by OPI: Keep Me on My Mistletoes

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While I was still away at school in Chicago OPI released their Muppet collection, just in time for the holiday season.  Bloggers and YouTubers alike were all going crazy over this color called 'Designer De  Better' and I thought I HAD TO HAVE IT.  Finals, Christmas shopping, and traveling home got in the way and somehow I completely forgot about this polish.  

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Fast forward to Christmas morning and as my family and I were unwrapping presents I received this nail polish in a gift from my sister.  I was so excited!  Not only had I forgotten about the OPI polish, but I swear that this Sephora by OPI color 'Keep Me on My Mistletoes' is an exact dupe.  

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I've never owned nor have I seen the other OPI polish in person, but when I logged online and started comparing swatches I'm absolutely certain that they are practically the same thing.  Plus I like the name of this one better.  The Muppet color was limited edition, and I'm pretty sure that this one is too due to the holiday themed name, but you might still be able to find it somewhere (my local Sephora still has it in stock).  

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I don't take pictures of all the brushes for every single polish that I post about, mainly because it's boring and you can't really tell much of a difference in the pictures if they aren't next to each other to compare.  However, I do think that you can tell the difference in this one.  This was the first Sephora by OPI color that I've had with this thicker brush.  The older Sephora colors that I own have a much thinner brush, but they seem to have upgraded to this size which is somewhere in between the old Sephora one and the current OPI normal brush.  I'm not complaining, I definitely like this sturdier version.  

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'Keep Me on My Mistletoes' is a gold based polish that has a bit of that foil effect, jam packed with a ton of silver shimmer and sparkle.  It is very similar to the last post I did (OPI 'Glamour Game') which is why I'm posting them one after the other.  The OPI color would be more to the taupey natural side of gold and this one is leaning more to the pure gold color.  Don't get me wrong though, I love both and I'm very happy to have them both in my collection.  

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 This color required 2 regular coats and 1 thinner final coat to get it to the opacity seen in the bottle.  Also you should note that due to the mass amounts of microscopic shimmer this is almost as difficult as a glitter polish to remove.  Now you don't have to use the foil method, just keep in mind that you need to scrub a little harder than usual.

*natural sunlight, 3 coats, Canon T3.

OPI: Glamour Game

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I was in a gold mood this week and picked out this baby from my collection.  Whenever I'm in the mood for something subtle but still glamorous this is my go-to color, hence the name 'Glamour Game'.  It's not too shimmery or glittery where it's obnoxious but it has just that right amount of shine to enhance the color and keep it from being a boring skin-tone finish.

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This is actually one of my sister's polishes, I stole it from her a few years ago (shhhh...) and I've used up a good bit of the bottle since then.  When I went away to college I left this at home, partly because I felt guilty and partly because I didn't have room to pack any more polish.  This week when I used it again for the first time in about a year I remembered how much I love it.

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'Glamour Game' originally came out in OPI's 'Holiday in Toyland' collection back in 2008.  It can simply be described as a gold shimmer with a subtle silver sparkle.

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*natural sunlight, 2 coats, Canon T3.  

Revlon: Minted

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When I first saw mint nail polishes sometime last year, I assumed that it would be a trend for the winter through spring seasons, I certainly never expected it to become one of my favorite colors to wear. 'Minted' by Revlon is very similar to 'Mint Candy Apple' by Essie (which I do not own but I did get the chance to borrow it from a friend...several times).  However the Essie polish has a bit more of a white base to it, which also tends to make that formula a little streakier on my nails.

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Since I do not own the Essie version of a mint color I saw this at the drugstore and thought that I couldn't pass it up, give me a break it was under $4.00!  I purchased it, even though I was a bit skeptical that I would have the streaky issue like I did with the Essie one which resulted in me painting on 4 or 5 coats to get full opacity.  Revlon surprised me with this one!  Three coats and I got this beautiful shade of mint just like it appears on the bottle, another plus for me is that I think this mint color (a bit more of a green base) looks better on my skin tone.

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*natural sunlight, 3 coats, Canon T3.

OPI: No Room For The Blues

 Doing the glitter accent nail has been a trend for a looooong time now, and I admit I was a huge fan when it started getting popular around last summer or so.  I kind of gave up on it for a while, but this combo really made me remember how much I loved it.  The reason that I started it up again was because I had been trying to figure out a way to wear the polish 'Dorothy Who?' by China Glaze, I didn't necessarily like the way that it looked on all of my nails.

 That being said, I didn't really like the way that 'No Room for the Blues' looked on my skin tone either, but adding the glitter to spice it up a bit really changed my opinion.  This is such a fun color for the summertime, and in the combination it looks extra amazing.  'Dorothy Who?' is a blue based polish with fine silver glitter, and even though the glitter isn't chunky, this polish looked pretty watery for a glitter, however during application it wasn't as sheer as I thought it would be (always a plus!)

'No Room for the Blues' was easy to apply, it was pretty opaque and creamy after 2 coats, but like always I added an extra.  Even though I knew it would be a pain to remove being that it is a straight up glitter polish, 'Dorothy Who?' was easy as well.  I'm almost certain that I could have gotten away with one coat, but two coats really added the extra shimmer.

*natural sunlight, 3 coats of 'No Room for the Blues', 2 coats of 'Dorothy Who?', Canon T3.

Essie: Secret Story

 When I saw this in the display of Essie polishes I immediately knew that it would be going home with me.  I have a ton of pinks in my collection, but I had recently begun looking for a bright pink color that was on the verge of being considered neon.  However, before I purchased it I did that little bubble test ( you know what I'm talking about right?  Where you tilt the bottle to see the little bubble of air?), anyway I could already tell that it was going to be a pretty sheer color.  The photo above is after only one coat.

 Surprisingly enough, this photo was taken after only two coats!  I thought that I would have to build up at least 4 or 5 coats to get this shade to the opacity that is shown in the bottle, but I was pleasantly surprised.  This blue-based neon pink is the perfect shade for summer, not only does it scream fun but it is also very 'on-trend' for this year.

 Of course, in typical fashion I painted on an extra coat just to be safe.  I absolutely love the way that this color turned out when I was done, it was so shiny that I contemplated not using a top coat.  I'm thinking that what I originally took as a sheerness to the color turned out to be a jelly like quality.  'Secret Story' makes my nails look amazing, I've never had a polish that looked this much like jelly before and I'm completely loving it.

My younger sister (who's in 7th grade) is on a school trip to California this week and she asked me to do her nails before she left.  I had just gotten home from the grocery store with this polish in tow, and I knew that this color would be perfect for her.  I'm a little jealous though, I like the way that this color looks on me but it looks even better on her.  She liked the color when I was done with her nails, so hopefully the staying power will last throughout her trip!  

*natural sunlight, 3 coats, Canon T3.

Sephora by OPI: Ms. Can't Be Wrong

Let me be honest, I bought this color solely because of the name.  I already had a fuchsia color like this in my collection (from some drugstore brand) but I can never refuse any type of product with a cute or funny name.  Personally, I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to certain things and I can also be a bit stubborn about things, which meant that I thought this name was perfect.  Now while I bought this color because of the name I was pleasantly surprised with the color.  It's one of those colors that I love, those darker shades that look amazing on shorter nails, for some reason I really enjoy the way that it makes my hands look.

While it is a bit on the darker side of the pinky/red genre, it isn't so dark that it can be categorized as a vampy shade.  Now I have my share of dark and glossy polishes I like colors like this that are more in the middle ground.  This color is also pretty opaque, something that I am always delighted by.  I honestly don't really mind having to paint on multiple coats of a polish, I mean it really isn't that hard to pop in a movie and paint a new coat every 10 minutes or so, but I also love a polish that I can slap on in 2 coats and run out the door.

This color is a lovely opaque creamy fuchsia that is perfect for any occasion or any season.  'Ms. Can't Be Wrong' isn't one of my most used polishes nor is it anywhere near being my go-to color, but it is a color that I'm glad to have in my collection.  Of course, the cute name doesn't hurt.

*natural sunlight, 2 coats, Canon T3.

Essie: Nice is Nice

Around this time last year I began looking for a pastel lilac color to add to my collection.  However with so many choices out there the internal struggle I have with picking out polishes began again.  This color also reminds me of a color that Essie introduced this year not too long ago, I believe it is called 'To Buy or Not To Buy'.  While I already own and love this color, I contemplated buying the other color just because I thought the name was so cute.  My sister talked me out of it (thank god, everyone knows I don't need any more polish) however after looking at some swatches I think that they have their little differences.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still very happy with this color HOWEVER, I think that 'To Buy or Not To Buy' would be worth checking out as well if you don't already have a shade like this in your collection.  

I finally decided on this color after searching through most of my favorite nail polish brands for a color similar.  'Nice is Nice' is the perfect pastel purple for me.  It has quite a bit of white in it which I think makes it very wearable for anyone.  It's also a very creamy color which looks quite nice and opaque on the nails although it takes a few coats to achieve the color shown in the bottle.  Nevertheless, I love the way that this color looks, especially with purple being my favorite color.  It's not a stand out purple which means that this color is great for outfits of any color variety, which is always a plus.

*natural sunlight, 3 coats, Canon T3.

Essie: Eternal Optimist

Instead of being a normal flat nude color, Eternal Optimist is the perfect mix of nude with a slight tint of pink.  It's that perfect shade when you want a nude color but don't want your nails to blend into your fingers.  A pretty creamy polish this seems to be one of Essie's more opaque colors.  I like to consider myself an optimist so the cute name just further adds to my affection for this color.  

I actually only needed 2 coats to get this color to reflect the shade in the bottle, and they went on nicely and easily without any streaks or bubbling.  This color is also nice on a lot of different skin tones, I've worn it, my sister is a lot darker than me and she likes the way it looks on her and my friends who are lighter than me have also used this polish.

*natural sunlight, 2 coats, Canon T3.

OPI: Purple with a Purpose

One of my best friends gifted me OPI's Purple with a Purpose as part of my Christmas present in 2010. When I first saw it I thought that it was one of those plasticy metallic looking colors that I wouldn't get much use out of, but I'm so glad I gave it a shot.  This was still during my phase where I shied away from bright colors and stuck to mainly neutral colors so I didn't know where exactly to begin.  I used this polish on my toes first, thought that I could ease myself into it, and I absolutely loved the way that it came out!  Turns out I actually love the way this shade complements my skin tone, and it has just the right amount of metallic-ness to make it a little shimmery without looking like foil.

The only issue with this polish is that it takes 3 coats for me to get it the way that I like it, which again is not much of a problem if you know me.  I normally like to paint an extra coat or so, I don't know why I just like the look of my polish being a little thicker, anyway it isn't that big of an issue.  Overall, I wouldn't say that this color is a necessity in my collection due to the fact that I don't wear it that often however it is one of those great fun colors to have when you feel like taking a bigger risk with your polish.  Every time I put this polish on it makes me wonder why I waited so long to use it again.

*natural sunlight, 3 coats, Canon T3.

Sally Hansen: Midnight in NY

Midnight in NY is a nice black if you don't really want a completely black dark polish.  It's practically black with the tiniest golden shimmers that you have to look closely to spot, however they lighten up the entire polish so that it's a little less dark and more glimmery than a creme black.

It is also one of the Sally Hansen polishes from the 'complete salon manicure' line which boasts the thick square shaped brush that I love.  Aside from the width of the brush the bristles are also short enough making it easy to control all strokes.  Overall I love the bottle and brush that this line has, something about the way that the bottle feels just seems so nice and sturdy to me.

While it goes without saying that you should always use a topcoat, it is extra necessary with this polish. I find that if you don't use a topcoat the golden shimmers don't show up as much which makes it come off as a plain black shade completely losing the magic of this color.  Another plus, I love the name (I'm such a sucker for cute names, I'll buy just about anything).  2 coats is plenty with this color, you could even get away with one pretty thick coat however you may end up with a few light colored patches, so it's always good to add an extra coat for good measure.

*natural lighting, 2 coats, Canon T3.

Urban Outfitters: Orange #6

I've been searching for a good sherbety orange color for a long time.  It's another one of those shades where you have to find the right one for your skin tone.  Of course, I found this shade when I wasn't even shopping for nail polish.  I was window shopping with my friends one day when I saw that Urban Outfitters was having a sale.  Standing in the checkout line I spotted this lovely color, and grabbed it to add to my purchase on a whim.  Boy am I glad that I did.  It's the absolute perfect shade for me!

At first glance I thought that the bottle would be pretty on a shelf but overall difficult to work with, however after a few uses I'm actually fine with it.  It did take a little time to get used to because of the large square shape but once you get the hang of it everything is normal.  Application is smooth, it only takes 2 coats to get an opaque color but of course I painted on 3.  Drying time was average, although I did use a quick dry topcoat due to my impatience.  Another plus, I love the way that this color makes my nails look perfectly shaped and my fingers a little more elongated.

*natural lighting, 3 coats, Canon T3.  

Unfortunately, this polish is not available for purchase on the Urban website and it's kind of a hit or miss with finding certain colors in store.  So if you happen to see it one shopping trip, grab it while you can!