Wheel Q11: Glitters from OPI

Back to glitter for this Nail Wheel Wednesday. The six OPI Metapmorphosis were right there waiting after I swatched them, so I gathered more OPI plus a couple Sephora by OPI to fill up a wheel with dense glitters. The Metamorphosis shades are the most sheer of this group, though with their packed shimmer bases, they too can be worn on their own; your nail line will peek through but the effect will be like any intentionally sheer polish, not streaky like you didn't put on enough coats or spotty like you are wearing a topper without undies.




(all have clear topcoat in addition to glitter coats noted below)

1. OPI Can't Be Camouflaged (2)
2. OPI Ecstatic Prismatic (2)
3. OPI Butterfly Me to the Moon (2)
4. OPI You Little Shade Shifter (2)
5. OPI DS Temptation (2)
6. OPI unknown (3) [this is an old formula, with the distinct smell of polishes before brands starting going 3-Free ... and 5-Free and 7-Free and such]
7. OPI unknown (2) [I spent a lot of time squinting at the bottom of the bottle and trying to see the numbers printed there so I could determine what this is with no success]
8. OPI Metallic 4 Life (2)
9. OPI DS Titanium (3)
10. Sephora by OPI If You've Got It Haunt It (2)
11. OPI Frog in My Throat (2) [a little bit of glitter in with the flakies here so it's legit on this wheel]
12. OPI Top the Package with a Beau (2) [okay, this is really a microflakie and not a glitter, but close enough for nail wheel purposes]
13. OPI Today I Accomplished Zero (2)
14. OPI Pineapples Have Peelings Too (2)
15. OPI This Changes Everything (2)
16. OPI Metamorphically Speaking (2)
17. OPI Baraque But Still Shopping (2)
18. OPI Ce-less-tial is More (2)
19. Sephora by OPI Sparkling Personality (2)
20. OPI Is This Star Taken (2) [my least favorite on this wheel, yes, even more so than the often reviled Pineapples Have Peelings Too, which at least has some fun color to it and glitter that you can tell is there, unlike these wispy holo bars that look like they might have been due to a mistake on the production line]


Bottles 1 through 4:



5 through 8:



9 through 12:



13 through 16:



17 through 20:

OPI Metamorphosis Collection

I don't buy anywhere near as much OPI as I once did, but the entire Metamorphosis collection found its way into my collection because it combines two of my favorite things: glitter and layering. There are six shades: Butterfly Me to the Moon, You Little Shade Shifter, Metamorphically Speaking, This Changes Everything, Ecstatic Prismatic, and Can't Be Camouflaged.



When these were released last fall, they were packaged/displayed with a dark base coat (Lincoln Park After Dark) and a white one (Alpine Snow). I decided to to more of a tone on tone thing when I swatched them. There are two blue polishes in the collection; I paired them with OPI Dreams Need Clara-fication, a periwinkle-leaning light blue creme. I started with Butterfly Me to the Moon, adding one coat of it plus clear topcoat over the two coats of Dreams Need Clara-fication I laid down as a base. Butterfly Me has sky blue glitter and blue and pink shimmer.





The other blue in the collection is You Little Shade Shifter. In comparison to Butterfly Me, it has darker blue glitter and blue and purple shimmer rather than blue and pink. I did one coat plus clear topcoat over Dreams Need Clara-fication.





There are two golds in the collection as well. Those I matched with Sephora by OPI Neutral Beauty, a warm light tan creme. First up, Metamorphically Speaking, which has gold glitter and gold and pink shimmer. As with the blues, I did one coat of the glitter over the creme base and added clear topcoat.





This Changes Everything also has gold glitter and gold and blue shimmer. Again, one coat of glitter over the Neutral Beauty base plus clear topcoat.





To better show the differences between the two gold toppers, I put them over a black creme base. Leftmost two fingers are Metamorphically Speaking over black; rightmost two are This Changes Everything over black.



Another angle:



Closeup on Metaphorically Speaking:



Closeup on This Changes Everything:



Two greens round out the collection. I put them over OPI Envy the Adventure, a green creme. Ecstatic Prismatic is first; this has green glitter and green and pink shimmer.





Can't Be Camouflaged has green glitter and blue and gold shimmer.





I did also put the blues and greens over black to better compare them. Left to right, all over black: You Little Shade Shifter, Butterfly Me to the Moon, Ecstatic Prismatic, Can't Be Camouflaged.



From another angle:



These glitters are fun and versatile, but I don't think I needed all of them. One each of the blue, gold, and green would have been fine. My picks are: You Little Shade Shifter, This Changes Everything, and Ecstatic Prismatic.

Wheel P11: Lime Cremes

Seeing all the green manicures around for St. Patrick's Day inspired me to sort out some lime cremes for this week's Nail Wheel Wednesday. Some of these had been sitting unused for quite a while, which meant a lot of settled pigment and tired wrists for me trying to get them mixed up again enough to paint with. I think a nail polish shaker is in my future; I'm trying to decide whether to start with one of the cheap models or go right to the more expensive and I hope more durable one.




1. Wet n Wild Wild Shine Stand the Test of Lime (3 coats)
2. NYC In a New York Color Minute Apple Fizz (3)
3. Essie The More the Merrier (3)
4. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Inchworm (3)
5. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green with Envy (3)
6. LuxVisage Flirt 307 (3)
7. L'Oreal New Money (3)
8. SinfulColors Innocent (2)
9. Butter London Jaded Jack (2) [dries to a satin finish; maybe I should have saved this for a neon wheel]
10. Butter London Squatter (2)
11. China Glaze Def Defying (2)
12. Finger Paints Grassy Knoll (2) [this name still strikes me as inappropriate for a polish]
13. Finger Paints Mistful Thinking (2) [another satin finish]
14. Finger Paints Leonardo's Lime (2)
15. Finger Paints Sexy Sundress (2)
16. Ulta Professional Wham (2)
17. Spoiled I Only Eat Salads (2)
18. Salon Perfect Go Granny Apple (2)
19. Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy In the Money (2)
20. Mineral Fusion Meadow (2) [this starts to edge into what I think of as grass green territory]


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:


11 through 15:



16 through 20:

Recent NOTD: Sally Hansen Mega Strength Persis-tint

In recent months, I've continued mostly doing fake nails instead of polish manicures since the fakes are so easy and so protective. But once in a while I'll get back to my roots and do a full manicure, like I did recently with one of the new Sally Hansen Mega Strength shades, Persis-tint, a pale purple-y pink with blue shimmer.



I did two coats of this. Maybe three would have been better since there was a hint of nail line, though it was less noticeable in person than in these photos.





The blue shimmer showed itself nicely in direct light:



This is a pretty polish and wore fairly well given how hard I am on my nails. I didn't notice my nails being especially stronger but maybe that takes consistent use of the Mega Strength line. I'd like to try it over a creme base next time; I feel like it might be just sheer enough to use as a topper, too.

Wheel O11: Glitters from Brands No Longer in Stores

Nail Wheel Wednesday is back from vacation with glitter polishes from brands I used to be able to get in stores but no longer can. Look Nail Color used to be at Rite Aid and Fred Meyer; now there a few colors on Amazon but the brand's website has gone private. Kohls was the only place I ever saw Candie's. Whim was an Ulta exclusive brand.



(all have clear topcoat in addition to glitter coats noted below)

1. Look Ocean Mist (3 coats)
2. Look Twilight's Last Gleaming (3)
3. Candie's Supernova Sky (3)
4. Candie's Enchanted Night (2)
5. Candie's Over the Rainbow (3)
6. Candie's Dream Pink (2)
7. Candie's Champagne Frenzy (2)
8. Candie's White Noise (2 coats, over half black base)
9. Candie's Candy Hearts (3)
10. Candie's Disco Chic (2)
11. Whim Sparkle Sparkle Everywhere (3)
12. Whim Dreaming in Glitter (3)
13. Whim Midnight Wink (3)
14. Whim Rule the World (3)
15. Whim A Girl's Best Friend (2)
16. Whim Is My Tiara on Straight (2)
17. Whim Catching Confetti (2)
18. Whim Rock N Stroll (2 over skintone base)
19. Whim Frosted Cupcade (2 over skintone base)
20. Whim This Calls for Cava (2)


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:



11 through 15:



16 through 20: