Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

I am going to be honest guys...most of the holiday polish collections I've seen from major brands this year are incredibly disappointing. I will concede that there are a few pretty ones in the O.P.I. Starlight (I think that's what it's called) collection, but nothing I'm desperate to get my hands on. 

If I'm honest, my tastes run towards the classics. Rich, decadent red cremes, sparkly silver and gold, emerald anything...that's what I like to see. And since I didn't get it, I'm looking at past polishes for my fix. 

In my humble opinion, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is probably one of the most beautiful polishes ever made. Ever. And this is coming from someone who doesn't wear a lot of glass fleck. It's a beautiful, deep green that can look straight up emerald, or more teal (or blue spruce as I like to think of it) depending upon the lighting. On top of this, there are flashes of gold glimmer. It is just explosive in the sunlight. I come off as a vain idiot because I literally hold my nails to the light every chance I get. 

I took these pictures after about 5 days of wear. FIVE. I did this because I'm putting the new Essie Gel Setter top coat through its paces. And it's good. I love my European Secrets Rock Top Coat, but about a third of the way through the bottle I notice it shrinks my tips, which is incredibly annoying. However it does mask any and all bubbling and imperfections so I'm not eliminating it permanently from my top coat line up. 

3 coats of Christmas goodness, and Essie Gel Setter top coat. Y.U.M. 

O.P.I. Chiffon My Mind

Here's another from the O.P.I. spring collection, and I tried so, so hard to get pictures to show the shimmer in it, but of course failed miserably. I'm just not a good photographer. 

Chiffon My Mind is an ethereal pink-tinged white with lots and lots of multi-colored shimmer. It's pretty subdued under artificial light, but really twinkles and pops out in the sunlight. Unfortunately though, the formula is a bit difficult to work with. The consistency is fine, not too thick or thin, but it applies pretty sheer and streaky. A better and more patient painter (with less ridges) than I probably could have gotten away with 3 coats, but I got to 5 before I was happy. Now I don't mind multiple coats of polish as long as the end result looks good, but 5 coats doesn't come without complications...slow drying, bubbles, lumps...ugh. So I turned my stash upside down looking for a good base. Which was harder than I thought, considering it isn't that unique of a polish. 

Luckily I own Orly Cake Pop, which is perfect. It's a pink-tinged white creme from their spring Sugar High collection. It should still be readily available, and hopefully I'll remember to show it on here later because it really deserves its own post.

So. You're looking at 2 coat of Orly Cake Pop and two of Chiffon My Mind. Dry time was great for both polishes. 

Orly Cheeky

Say hello to a naughty polish that has the cheek (hurr) to not photograph properly.

I spied this beauty on the nails of one of my favorite bloggers (please go by her swatches, they are MUCH more color accurate than mine), and seeing as it's a coral, well...I had to buy it. 

It's bright, punchy and leans slightly more orange than pink, which I normally don't like, but I'm willing to overlook it because of the shimmer. Oh ye gods, THE SHIMMER. It is predominantly gold, but you get flashes of yellowish-green. It's not shy; it's delicious, in-your-face SHIMMAH. 

Formula was where it got tricky. The consistency was smooth and even, but it did streak a bit. I got dragging on a couple of nails, and it took 3 1/2 coats to get it to behave. But I.Do.Not.Care. It's gorgeous, springy, juicy, and delightful. Upside was that dry time was excellent. 

If you like coral, get your butt to Sally's and buy this.

Off to get the house ready for tomorrow. It's Nana's 88th birthday, and we're having a big celebration for it. It hasn't been a banner year so far, but we're fighting as hard as we can. And we're gonna win. 

L'Oreal Le Pastille

I haven't seen any of the polishes from this Les Blancs collection anywhere but Bed Bath and Beyond, which is frustrating because I frequent CVS way more often and want a few more. This was the only one I picked up at BB&B, Le Pastille. 

This makes me want an Oreo milkshake. Bad. It's different sizes of shiny black glitter suspended in a soft, sheer off-white/light beige. I layered two coats of Le Pastille over one coat of Orly Decades of Dysfunction. I've also worn it over Nicole by O.P.I. Am I Making Myself Claire? and that gives it a sort of lavender undertone which is very pretty as well. 

Application was great. Seriously, it was no trouble at all. The glitter spread nice and evenly, and I didn't have to do any placing or dabbing. I'm sure it would have been a nightmare if I didn't use undies, but I've learned my lesson; I don't want to spend hours scrubbing black glitter off my nails. 

I was binge-watching Once Upon a Time last night, and was top coating during a particularly suspenseful part and sort of lost track of how many coats I did. I know I did a coat of Gelous...possibly two coats of GCS. Oops. 

On the upside my manicure is perfectly smooth (not that this polish is particularly bumpy-the glitters lie nice and flat) and rock hard. 

Orly Decades of Dysfunction

Some days things just don't line up, everything is horrible, and all you want to do is go to bed until things stop sucking so much. Today is one of those days. The only good part of my day so far has been boyfriend and his new puppy.

I wanted a palate cleanser to transition into my spring polishes. Fresh start, you know? 

Ha. 

Decades of Dysfunction looks like a creamy off-white in the bottle. Once on the nail however, it sort of turns into a putty/pink color. It's nice and clean and soft-looking. Certain lights will bring out the off-whiteness more. It's similar to O.P.I. Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, except a bit less pink, I think.

The first two coats were a bit streaky, not so much because of the formula, but the brush. It's longer and thinner than I'm used to. I did three.

I never saw the Dark Shadows show, but I did see the movie. Wasn't horrible. Why am I trying to make small talk when I'm in a bad mood? Ugh.

CND Copper Shimmer & Orly Bon Bon

Oh Bon Bon. My beautiful problem child. It’s the one polish in my stash I long to wear all the time, but can’t because it throws such horrific tantrums.

It’s a lovely greyed-out lavender jelly with just a drop of slate blue. It’s understated, edgy, AND a jelly…it’s my polish soul mate. But the bubbles. Oh the bubbles. I’m not sure if I got a bad bottle, but no matter what temperature it happens to be when I apply it, I get terrible bubbling. Like the type of bubbles sand crabs leave at the beach. The formula is thick, though not unmanageable, but also a bit…fluffy. I’m hoping if I thin it out (more than I already have), it’ll behave itself.

So what do I do when the urge to wear this becomes overwhelming? I slap CND Copper Shimmer over it. This stuff is GOLD (but not really). I LOVE CND’s effects polishes, and have quite a few on my wish list. Copper Shimmer is just amazing…it transforms any manicure into awesome. And the beautiful pinky-copper sheen it gives Bon Bon is pure magic. MAGIC I SAY!

This was 2 1/2 coats of Bon Bon and one of Copper Shimmer. Dry time was terrible, thanks to Bon Bon, and I definitely experienced sheet marks, mostly on the left hand, which I will omit for perfectionist reasons. I’ll try this again once I thin out my Orly and I’ll see if I can’t make it even more magical and princess-y (perhaps a Boom Boom Pow accent nail? My brain might explode).