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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XOX Betsey - $9.50 at sephora.com

I very nearly didn't buy this, but I can't resist a pinky sandy nude to save my life. Up till this point, my favorite nude polish had been another Sephora by OPI: Don't Feed the Hand Models, which I used in this manicure. I still love that one, but this is now on top. It is a bit pinkier, and has a bit more grey in the base, but really the main reason is because it's so much more smooth and opaque. Also, I don't know when this started, but Sephora by OPI polishes are coming with a flat brush similar to the OPI Pro-Wide which makes me like it even more. This polish went on perfectly in two coats. That's a first for me with a nude polish, especially one this pretty. The color changes a bit depending on what light you're in. Sometimes is a really pale milky beige, and in others it's a light pinky grey sand. Sounds strange but, have mercy, it is gorgeous! It looks sexy on the nail, in my opinion. LOVE IT!!

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Illamasqua Jo'mina - $14 at sephora.com

Here's an Illamasqua polish I've been debating purchasing for a really long time. I thought that I'd be ok with just Color Club Puccilicious, because in photos they look so similar, but in the end, they're pretty damn different. Jo'mina is lighter, pinker and maybe a bit warmer. It's awesome. It's got a great formula just like all the Illamasqua I've tried. Very pigmented and it takes only two coats for excellent coverage. It will be amazing with a summer tan, I'm telling you! I don't have any other polishes that are dupes, though it's somewhere in between Puccilicious and OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender.

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I haven't been so excited about a nail polish collection before in my LIFE. I am a huge Hunger Games fan if you didn't know already, and the marriage of some of my favorite books and my favorite nail polish company is so awesome. I am dying waiting for this damn movie, I'm serious. Anyway, I went and grabbed the collection today at CosmoProf and did some swatches. This is a diverse collection full of color, texture, and awesome.

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A few weeks ago I did swatches and comparisons of some of the other Electro Pop colors, and now I've got a swatch of Aquadelic to put up. It's a very vibrant aqua, almost like an electrified China Glaze For Audrey. The application is excellent, just as the others from the collection, and it's very glossy. This swatch is without topcoat:D I wish I'd have had this when I did my Vera Bradley Island Blooms nails, because Aquadelic is a great match for the base color of the pattern!

This item was provided by the brand for consideration.

Products used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• China Glaze Reggae to Riches
• Sephora by OPI Opening Night
• China Glaze Millenium
• Seche Vite Top Coat

I did this right before I changed my nail shape from square to oval. Man, it feels weird to see them so square, lol. Anyway, I'm really into half-moon manicures right now, and I like the added interest of contrasting colors and a little something extra to deliniate the place where the colors meet. I used China Glaze Reggae to Riches for the base, which is a beautiful bright magenta shimmer with a really, really intense blue flash to it. Then for the rest of the nail, I used the incredibly well-pigmented Opening Night by Sephora by OPI which is a rich sapphire shimmer. For the line of "beads," I used a dotting too and China Glaze Millenium. I'm thinking of trying this same manicure out with black, white and grey soon, I think that would be really elegant. Maybe with some 3D pearl action...

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Essie Shine of the Times - $8 most drugstores

I have seen Essie Shine of the Times in just about every drugstore and big box store I've visited in the last month or so, so I know it's relatively easy to find at this point. I had been seeing it everywhere on the internet and decided I didn't need it because I have Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, a bunch of Nfu-Ohs, the Finger Paints flakies, and more random flakies and honestly don't use them often, but SotT really impossible to resist in the end because when I finally gave up and just picked the polish up in my hands to examine it, I realized it was different than all the others I mentioned above. The shards of mylar are more finely milled, which does a couple things; 1) there is more variation in color because since these are light reactive to a point, the larger the shard, the less color in the area the shard takes up (therefore the smaller the shard, the more shards per area equaling more color!), 2) the surface appears, and is to a certain extent textured rather than just a bit of interesting color being randomly scattered over the surface making the finish look irregular and sort of gross. So overall, SotT is better than a lot of flakies. SH Hidden Treasure had, to this point, been my favorite overall in the mylar glitter category as it had somewhat small particles and was very dense on application. SotT is the new point to which the bar has been raised, y'all. woot! The only weird thing is that there are some random plummy purple colored specks in the polish. You'll see what I mean below.

I love mylar over dark colors, but because this is so dense and makes such a neat textured looking surface, I decided to use a light, delicate color under it for once; China Glaze White on White.

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For the second installment in my Hunger Games nail art series, I did nails based on District 2. In the books, that district is described as having several principal functions; it is home to stone cutters, it supplies the majority of Peacekeepers, they manufacture weapons, and the snow-capped mountain housing the military nervecenter called "The Nut" by the rebels. So in this nail set you see The Nut, the district number, elements of a Peacekeeper uniform as shown in movie trailers, a stone wall, and a gun silhouette. All elements are hand painted.

Products used:

• China Glaze Concrete Catwalk
• China Glaze Recycle
• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze Sea Spray
• Wet n Wild Black Creme
• acrylic paints
• Seche Vite Topcoat

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Nubar Polka Dot Collection - $20 at bynubar.com

The Polka Dots set actually contains Black Polka Dot, White Polka Dot and a Diamante Topcoat for that price. Not too shabby. I really liked both of these polishes. I applied WPD over black and BPD over white to give you as much contrast as possible.

Both polishes are nice, but I prefer Black Polka Dots. It's a lot more unique, and black glitter is just cool. Both have mostly small glitter with a dash of larger hex glitter. It's not hard to get the glitter to transfer but you'll have to maneuver the bottles around before applying to get the hex glitters near the top. Don't know why. The black one is pretty straight forward, but the white one... the glitter is this pearlescent white, first of all. It's pretty but it likes to suck up your base color and go all discolored. I let it stay on the black one for a while and the small glitter turned blue. Plus the white large hex glitter are prone to be broken when you get them on the nail so about 30% of them are shards instead of a hex. Either way, I like it. I actually liked when the glitter went blue, it looked cool, but if you want white, this might be inconvenient. The black makes anything look really cool and speckled and makes the purchase of the set worth it, in my opinion.

Side note: I just noticed Nubar has soak-off gel polishes... Has anyone tried them yet? I'm pretty much decided on buying the Orly GelFX kit but just wondering. I daydream constantly about China Glaze developing soak-off gels. That'll be the day.... *le sigh*

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This manicure inspired by 10 Crosby Derek Lam SS12 RTW includes China Glaze Gaga for Green and Aquadelic and the colors are such a perfect match for the ensemble in the picture that it's scary. When I was perusing the Style.com app for inspiration, this is one of the photos that really called out to me. I love the graphic nature of the black and white with pops of geometric colors. I recreated it with those two China Glaze polishes with the addition of a white polish and a black striping polish. Also, in case you didn't notice, I filed my nails into ovals! Big change for me, as I have had sqaure nails just about all my life. They're still short yet, but I want Rihanna nails, and I will have them if it's the last thing I ever do! *Evil laugh*

Products used:

• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• China Glaze White on White
• China Glaze Aquadelic
• China Glaze  Gaga for Green
• Black striping polish
• Seche Vite Topcoat

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