OPI Just Spotted the Lizard - $8.50

OPI's new The Amazing Spiderman collection is about to be released in store and there has been a lot of noise about this polish. Not only because it's a pretty rad multi-chrome, but because it's a Chanel Peridot (see my Peridot review here) dupe. With Chanel polishes now fairly assaulting wallets at a price of $26, it's nice to see a less expensive alternative to a popular shade. I've got several photos of OPI JSTL, and then below I have a couple comparison photos.

As far as this polish, It's pretty much a dead-on dupe of Peridot. It's somewhat sheer, but with three thin coats you get full coverage. The color in most lights is pre-dominantly an amber gold with a seafoam green and light turquoise showing up from time to time. The wear was pretty average, I tested it for two days and didn't have any tip wear or chipping. It doesn't show stroke lines as much as Peridot, which really didn't have much in the way of stroke lines in the first place; it's just mainly more metallic whereas Peridot does have some foil-like flecks which scatter light a little more. JSTL doesn't really have that and so it has a more linear light  reflection.

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I recently found Nails Inc Fouberts Place on clearance at Sephora, and was really excited to use it, but I just found myself not in the mood to wear anything too dark or drab no matter how pretty the color. So I decided to make it part of a design. I paired it with a much lighter polish in the same color family and a gold to add a little bling. Fouberts Place is a gorgeous olivey taupe and it's very pigmented, almost a one coater by the way.

Products used:

• OPI Skull & Glossbones
• Nails Inc Fouberts Place
• Orly Luxe
• Seche Vite Topcoat

I'm pretty into tribal right now, so I basically rehashed my Feathers nail set and my Angles nail set with a different group of colors. It wasn't anything very new, but I thought it looked good and figured I'd post it. In the end my middle fingers looked like weird easter eggs... The one caveat I've found so far with my new, more rounded nail shape. Otherwise I really love the new shape, and all the new nail designs I can do that just would never work on my old squares.

Products used:

• CHina Glaze Aquadelic
• OPI A Roll in the Hague
• CND Copper Chrome
• Orly Luxe
• CND Anchor Blue
• Nubar lemon
• CHina Glaze Gothic Lolita
• CHina Glaze White on White

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I did a little nail art inspired by the fletching on arrows. The little things at the back end of the arrow that stabilizes and improves the aerodynamics of the arrow in flight. I've been really into tribal sorts of things recently, and arrows are sort of an extension of that fascination for me right now. I added an ikat nail and also a Swarovski element to one of the "arrow shaft" nails for some interest.

Products used:

• Essie Go Overboard, Greenport
• OPI Skull & Glossbones
• Orly Luxe
• Seche Retain as base coat
• Seche Vite topcoat

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I've been seeing a lot more Ikat print buzzing around the interwebz, on Pinterest, tumblr, etc... shorts, skirts, tees, nails, everything. So I really wanted to give Ikat-inspired nails a try and I did a mix. I'm not sure how the Ikat dying technique works, but the technique on the nails is super easy, and it doesn't even require a steady hand. It's imperfect by it's very nature, so anyone can do it!

Products used:

• OPI Skull & Glossbones
• China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Aquadelic, Sun Worshipper
• FInger Paints Blue Raspberry Taffy
• Illamasqua Jo'mina
• Seche Retain as base coat
• Seche Vite topcoat

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I was in the mood for rainbow nails, but rainbows with some oomph. I sat down with four bright polishes and this just sort of happened. There's no real inspiration or idea behind it, I just started painting. The best things (and the most obnoxious, apparently) seem to happen when you start without a plan. I wouldn't suggest it in other parts of your life, like choosing a career for instance, but with paint, it's no big deal. Art is cool. Yeah.

Products used:

• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze Purple Panic
• Color Club Explosive
• OPI Did It On Em
• Finger Paints Blue Raspberry Taffy
• Wnw Black Creme
• Seche Retain (as base coat)
• Seche Vite topcoat

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Believe it or not this manicure started out simply enough. First I just wanted to wear OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh? because I haven't worn it yet. Then A Roll in the Hague in all it's bright orange glory was staring at me, so I put a little line down the middle and said I'd call it a day. I gave it a couple hours, did a little stuff around the house, read a little of my current book (A Storm of Swords, if you're interested) and then I just couldn't help myself. I got out a couple more polishes and kept on for a few minutes without a real plan. I didn't have anything in particular in mind, but it ended up looking sort of tribal. Maybe like feathers. So that's what I'm saying those little marks are. Sounds better than Random Brush Strokes.

Products used:

• OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh?
• OPI A Roll in the Hague
• China Glaze Aquadelic
• Wet n Wild Black Creme
• CND Anchor Blue
• Nubar Lemon
• China Glaze White on White
• Seche Vite topcoat

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I have to tell you, doing this series is so much fun so far. It's a fun challenge for myself. Though there's very little information in the books about some of the districts, which will make it a little challenging, I think it's fun to come up with something for each one. I plan on making my way through the districts in order and then I have some other designs based on The Hunger Games I'll be adding to the series. In the end, the series will hopefully be pretty sizeable. In the meantime, it's a lot of fun. On to the description!

District 4 in The Hunger Games is home to a ocean-based society. They make fish hooks, they use nets and tridents to fish, and overall it's a somewhat wealthy district. To reflect this rich ocean culture I painted the nails with sea greens, coral red for the, um, red coral, and gave it some gilded accents to reflect the fact that this district is a bit more rich.

Products used:

• OPI Thanks a Wind-million
• OPI Red Lights Ahead... Where?
• Sally Hansen Fairy Teal
• China Glaze 2030
• Seche Vite topcoat

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I've been wanting to do a zebra gradient for a while, and I finally gave it a whirl. I used some polishes from the newest OPI and China Glaze polishes together to make a nice rainbow along with a striping brush. with the flash the deliniation between the colors is really obvious, but in most lights and not so close up it looks like a true gradient, which is cool. Very excited to try this with neons and then over black instead of white.

Products used:

• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze Purple Panic
• OPI A Roll in the Hague
• OPI Did It On Em
• China Glaze Aquadelic

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For the third installment in my Hunger Games nail art series, I continued on with the districts. This time it's District 3 which we know from the books is mainly and electronics. For this nail set I did a circuit board, some random holographic based lightning bolts, some bright blinky light thing and then lastly the 3 for the district done in a digital style. It's a really abstract interpretation of the district, but I thought it was colorful and fun, and definitely felt sort of electronic-y.

Products used:

• GOSH Holographic
• Wet n Wild Black Creme
• OPI Who the Shrek are You?
• Sparitual Yes I Can
• China Glaze 2030
• China Glaze Purple Panic
• CND Anchor Blue
• OPI Rinse Charming
• OPI Roll in the Hague

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