Katy Perry Glitters

These aren't new polishes, but since I've been so obsessed with glitters lately I decided to swatch my OPI Katy Perry collection glitters that I bought a long time ago. I remember the day I bought these; I was so excited because I hadn't been able to find them for a while ... and I love Katy Perry.

First up is Last Friday Night, named after my absolute favorite Katy Perry dance song. Seriously. Laugh all you want, but give me a Friday night with my girls and I'm all set.

 

This is two coats of Last Friday Night layered over three coats of OPI My Pointe Exactly (a sheer blue-ish gray). Last Friday night has just a hint of blue base with fine glitters as well as some larger pieces that have an iridescent sheen to them. It's a really subtle look, much more subtle than Katy Perry herself, but with just enough sparkle to make your fingers stand out. 

Next is Teenage Dream, a soft pink with glitters similar those in Last Friday Night.

The base on this one was a little more opaque than on the super sheer Last Friday Night, however. I used two coats of Otherwise Engaged as my base, but was really surprised when I layered Teenage Dream over it, only to find that the pink was much more defined than I expected. 

My favorite of the two was Teenage Dream (I fall in love with anything pink), but both are great, consistent glitters that offer you a lot of sparkle with each application.

OPI Glitters: Polka.com and Pink Yet Lavender

So I caved and decided to go ahead and (kind of) swatch Polka.com from the Euro Centrale collection. I was in a very glittery mood after swatching The Living Daylights the other day, so I just went for it.

I love, love love this glitter! The application was a little thin (this was three coats), but the end result is a really pretty, sparkly glitter using some of my favorite colors. Below is three coats of Polka.com over two coats of A Grape Fit.

I also created a jelly sandwich mani using OPI Pink Yet Lavender from the Mariah Carey collection. Using two coats, layered between Do You Think I'm Texy?, it creates the perfect, subtle shine.

 

OPI The Living Daylights Glitter

I'm just a little bit (a lot) in love with this combination. I picked up OPI The Living Daylights a while back when I bought the mini Bondettes set, but hadn't had a chance to try it out. I layered it over three coats of OPI So Many Clowns ... So Little Time.

What I think I loved the most is how different it is from other OPI glitters that I own. The multicolored glitter pieces are great and add a lot of depth without being overwhelming.

The formula was even thick enough that I could easily spread the glitter over my nail without a lot of trouble.

But most of all, I loved that there were no pieces of microglitter or irregular shapes. While I do appreciate the dimension and complexity that microglitters offer, sometimes there's nothing I want more than a simple glitter polish that looks clean yet colorful, which is what The Living Daylights offers.

It's up there on my list of favorite OPI glitters of all time. What are some of your preferred glitter polishes?

Don't Mess With OPI Glitter Mani

I'm a fan of OPI Don't Mess With OPI, but I needed to dress it up with something extra. I picked up some of the polishes from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil Whirled Away collection, but hadn't had a chance to swatch the glitters yet.

China Glaze Whirled Away is a black and white bar and hex glitter. The base color is clear and I found it to be really runny, which is unusual for the glitters I've been using recently. Like other bloggers, I found that the formula was difficult to work with. I ended up having to place all of the glitter pieces on my nails very carefully. What's more is that when I took this glitter off, I found that it stained my nails pretty badly! It's definitely an interesting look, but very difficult to work with. I would recommend using this with a LOT of patience, as it takes a bit of time to get the glitter where you want it.

OPI My Private Jet Glitter Mani

I was feeling a little lazy last night, but decided to paint my nails since I was already filing, buffing and smoothing my nails. Also, I finally fixed my beloved lightbox, meaning better I can properly display my nails at any time of the day (my new kitten, Sami, decided to throw herself through the tissue paper so I had a cat-shaped hole through two sides).

The base of this mani was two coats of OPI My Private Jet, topped with a bit of China Glaze Glitter Goblin near the base. The effect actually reminded me a bit of my Girl on Fire mani back in February. I'm not overly thrilled with the color pairing, as I thought Glitter Goblin had a more pinkish hue rather than reddish-orange (apparently, I'm a little color-blind). You can check out the swatches below. At the very least, My Private Jet is an awesome, inky brown with a rich metallic shimmer.

Happy Hunger Games!

Hunger Games comes out tonight and we are so excited! Just wanted to show off the mani I'm wearing to tonight's premiere, inspired by Katniss's own manicure when she entered the arena (Cinna, you are the best for making our kickass hero stylish as well!).  I recall when I read the the book, that Katniss's polish chipped during the games.  Girl needed a better topcoat!  Anywho, Allison also did a Girl On Fire inspired nail look, which you can check out here! Here's my rendition:

China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, China Glaze Electrify, OPI Big Red Apple

I thought it would be fitting to use some of the colors from the China Glaze Capitol Colors collection for this look. I started off with China Glaze's Strong Adhesion Base Coat (please don't skip this step! Dark polishes will stain your nails!).  Then I put on one coat of China Glaze's Smoke and Ashes on all of my nails, one of my favorites from this collection.  Using OPI's Big Red Apple, I put one one thin swipe at the tip of each nail. It is a sheer layer, and I use it as a guide for the next step, which is putting on the glitter.  For the hardest part of this mani, I put on random vertical swipes of Electrify to make the flames.  Electrify is absolutely perfect for this look,the gold and red glitters make it way easier to emulate the fiery look.  Next I went back over the red region, and put another light coat of Big Red Apple  over it to seal together the look.  Finish off with Top Coat, and you're ready to let the games begin!

Abstract Girl on Fire Mani

So, after doing a Valentine's Day mani, I felt really inspired by the black and red color palette. As a base, I used OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, a great black shimmer that reminds me of coal in the sunlight. I frosted my fingertips with a red glitter, OPI's Gettin' Miss Piggy With It from the Muppet's Collection...and the result looked so similar to a flame that my Hunger Games-obsessed mind  immediately knew I had to do a mani inspired by Katniss' 74th Games tribute costume, designed by Cinna.

For those of you who haven't read the Hunger Games, the main character Katniss Everdeen donned a black bodysuit and a cape that was set ablaze by her stylist as she rode into the arena. She literally (and figuratively) became The Girl On Fire. It's hard to tell in the photo, but I topped my original "bleeding black heart" Valentine's mani with a "pa" nail polish I picked up from a Japanese market. It's a gold glitter that looks like it changes opacity in different lights. This is the first time I've used it, and I'm pleasantly surprised.

The result was a subtle gold shimmer atop the black and red, like an abstract flame. I could never rock a bold red and yellow flame on my nails (just not my style), but the glittery flames suit me perfectly...plus, every time I look at my nails I'm reminded that there's just a little more than a month until the Hunger Games movie comes out—AND that the China Glaze Capitol Colors will be out soon too!