Wow! Talk about an exercise in frustration! I have spent 2 days trying every light source, camera and setting to try and get the true colour of this polish. No chance! A quick google showed me I am not alone. Could not find a single photo by anyone that was the true colour. This first photo looks like everyone else's and it is not the right colour! This looks purple. A pinkish purple but still purple. As soon as the camera starts focusing it changes the colour. Tomorrow I'm going to do some black Konad stamping on it. Perhaps that will change how the camera focuses and I'll get the true colour.
This polish in real life is VERY pink! The most gorgeous, sparkly fuschia pink ever! By changing the saturation on the photo It comes pretty darn close to the right colour. The true colour is a touch deeper than this. The Nubar Sparkle glitters are awesome. I have 2. This one, Petunia Sparkle, and Violet Sparkle. The Violet photographs as Indigo. A very dark blue purple whereas in real life the colour is a gorgeous purple, Changing the saturation on a photo of it (Violet Sparkle) did not change the colour so I did not even bother posting it. I don't want to carry on misrepresenting the colour, there are plenty photos out there already doing that.
I have 3 more Nubar Sparkles on the way in the mail. Star, Night and Fire Sparkle! Can't wait because these glitters are awesome. Two coats and you have full coverage. Top coat is definitely a must. Not just because of the texture but also because the glitter is kinda flat on it's own. This is understandable as it is most glitter with very little liquid if you know what I mean. I used 2 coats of Seche Vite. My right hand already has loads of tip wear and chips. Next time I will try OPI top coat. I know many people swear by Seche Vite but I am not a fan.
After 3 months of impatiently waiting I finally got my hands on the Katy Perry collection by OPI. It was worth the wait but I am still annoyed. I monitored their facebook page for information. The whole situation and the way it was handled was, and still is, a mess. I heard through the salon supply store where I got mine that OPI would be distributing this collection for all of this year to try and catch up, and make up, for the shortage. OPI should have explained this, or whatever was/is going on, at their website and their facebook group in a way that stayed up, not just through passing comments. It's a shame that many people paid crazy amounts of money because they thought it was the only way they would ever get any. I understand stuff happens, just think it could have been handled better by OPI. Enough venting! The two polishes from the collection I am experimenting with today are "Teenage Dream" and "Last Friday Night". "The One That Got Away is another from the collection that I used as part of my experiment with the first 2. These photos do not even come close to capturing the sparkling beauty of these 2 polishes. I have my fingers crossed for a little sunshine tomorrow so I can take better pictures.
STAGE ONE
All colours are by OPI with the single exception of `Laser` by Sally Hansen
Left Hand
Thumb = Teenage Dream (2 coats)
Index = Teenage Dream (2 coats)
Middle = The One That Got Away (2 coats)
Ring = Just a Little Dangerous (Sephora) (2 coats)
Pinky = Black Onyx (1 coat)
Right Hand
Thumb = Last Friday Night (4 coats!)
Middle = Laser (Sally Hansen) (3 coats) (it`s very sheer)
Index = Last Friday Night (4 coats!)
Ring = Glacier Bay Blues (2 coats)
Pinky = Black Onyx (1 coat) + Last Friday
Night (1 coat) (I jumped the gun. Wasn`t supposed to add that until stage two.)
Now for STAGE TWO. As I said, these photos do not capture the full sparkly goodness of these. May add sunshine photos tomorrow if I am lucky. I was surprised by how much coverage I got with Teenage Dream and how little with Last Friday Night. Teenage Dream is loaded with pink micro glitter. Plus some silver microglitter and lots of awesome rainbow medium size holo glitter. Simply gorgeous! Full coverage with just 2 coats like the Burlesque glitters. I want a backup bottle now! As for Last Friday Night it is super sheer. Even with 4 coats I can still see my nail line. Much more subtle. Great as a top coat. I think it is blue and silver micro glitter with medium holo glitter that is muted by the slightly blue base.
Left Hand
Thumb = Teenage Dream (2 coats)
Index = Teenage Dream (2 coats) + The One That Got Away (1 coat)
Middle = The One That Got Away (2 coats) + Teenage Dream (1 coat)
Ring = Just a Little Dangerous (Sephora) (2 coats) + Teenage Dream (1 coat)
Index = Last Friday Night (4 coats!) + Laser (1 coat)
Middle = Laser (Sally Hansen) (3 coats) + Last Friday Night (1 coat)
Ring = Glacier Bay Blues (2 coats) + Last Friday Night (1 coat
Pinky = Black Onyx (1 coat) + Last Friday Night (1 coat)
Bye for now!
March 23rd
Even sunshine photos did not come close to capturing the multidimensional awesomeness of Teenage Dream. This video comes close. Maybe tomorrow I can shoot some video in sunshine. This was shot under an Ott Lite. I used my cell phone to take it. It's HD and the phone is a Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro. My technique needs some work! : )
As I mentioned Wednesday it was a purple polish party day. If only I could actually capture the colour purple! It always looks more blue as in indigo rather than the yummy grape juice purple that it is. At least I thought I wasn't getting it but now that I look at it on my work computer it looks purple! In fact I'm happy with how close it is to in person. Yay! I bought a new camera and so far I am quite happy with it. It was the only brand (Nikon) in the store that seemed to be getting the colour right and capturing the sparkle. Spent more than I intended. Got a Nikon Coolpix S80. Back to sparkly stuff! On my left hand I tried 5 different purples. One less is shown in the picture because it was a duplicate colour.
Index finger = Zoya, Mimi
Middle finger = Nicole, Gone Wishin'
Ring finger = Orly, Out of This World
Pinky finger = Sephora, Just a Little Dangerous
Sorry for the mess on my fingers when you click on the photos to see the larger size. : )
Gone Wishin' is now one of my top 10 all time favourites. I just found it this weekend. I'll be sharing that haul next blog post. It is a gorgeous polish. It is a clearish base with tiny purple specks and then bigger peacock blue and hot pink glitter. Just a Little Dangerous is a disappointment. When you apply it you see loads of purple shimmer. It must all sink to the bottom because on the nail once it is dry it looks like a cream. I did manage to catch a little sparkle in the photo but it is nearly impossible to see in real life.
On my right hand I experimented with things I could put on top of Just a Little Dangerous so I could wear it as I will never wear it on it's own. The following are on top of JALD.
Index finger = Cover Girl, Amethyst Mist
Middle finger = Cover Girl, City Lights
Ring finger = Color Club, Covered in Diamonds
Pinky finger = Nubar, 2010
I have more I want to try so that's just the first round!
Today was a relaxing, stay at home, rainy day! I spent the majority of it entering my nail polish stash in an excel spreadsheet. I'm about half way done! You can view it by clicking on the stash tab above and following the link. Some of them are so old you can't find them using Google. : ) I just bought 2 of these racks in the last couple of weeks. Not organized yet but here is the first rack which I worked on and completed today. These bottles will not stay in this order.
Click on the picture for a larger view in a window by itself. Click on that photo and it will give you an even larger view that is about 50% of actual size. You can read the labels and see the colours quite clearly. They are even the true colours which can be hard to capture at times! When I am all done I will take pictures of the final order and add text to each bottle with the name of the colour.
This does not include dozens of bottles of Zoya and China Glaze I have purchased in the last month. The Burlesque collection by OPI set me off on a feeding frenzy! I've kinda been out of the loop and didn't even know about Zoya and China Glaze! LOL I am now cut off and cannot buy another bottle for a long, long, long time. Hopefully I will find duplicates so I can trade for colours on my wish list. Must stop now.......
