HARE Polish Dauphine of Decadence & Sephora by O.P.I. Cartwheels on the Catwalk

I believe my gradient skills are becoming a little better. I tried a method I found here thanks to Imperfectly Painted and I found it a lot easier than sponging the glitter. I doubt I’ll ever get it right, but it’s good enough for me.

I haven’t got good undies for the rest of the HARE jellies yet, so I thought I’d start making a dent in the glitters. Here’s the description for Dauphine of Decadence:

“Dauphine of Decadence is a mixture of gold glitter in several sizes of hex and square glitter, with a sprinkling of pale mint green hexes as a subtle accent. This shade also features striking gold shimmer! This is in a CLEAR base.”

It goes without saying that I love this. Gold and I have been lifelong friends, and I can confidently say that the shimmer in Dauphine of Decadence has outstripped the 24k gold dust shimmer in Deborah Lippmann’s Boom Boom Pow. Hands down. In my head,anyway. There’s more depth in this glitter, and the pretty mint sequins take it way over the top (which is a good thing if you’re inspired by the French Court in the late 18th century).

Anyway, I chose Cartwheels on the Catwalk, my favorite blue, to layer under the glitter. I love the effect…pretty faded, dusty blue and glitzy gold glitter.

Life is becoming a bit easier for me; the main trouble I have lately is being unable to sleep. I also find myself missing school a lot, which was an enormous shock to me. I’d spent the last two years of my life impatient to get out of school…now all I want to do is crawl back into that familiar phase of my life.

Sephora by O.P.I. Sparkling Personality

This mani is a bit smudged because about 20 minutes after I slapped top coat on it I decided I had to repair a bureau drawer that’s been hanging the wrong way for a week. Naturally, instead of ignoring my ridiculous brain and going to bed, I hauled out the pliers and screwdriver, and mashed up both thumbs and a couple fingers. My left hand is worse (I’m a southpaw) so here’s the right.

Anyway, this is another one of the Betsey Johnson polishes I scored on eBay, Sparkling Personality. GLITTAH! There are two types of glitter that I love to bits-blingy, dense glitters such as this, and really delicate, whimsical glitters that just add a touch of sparkle.

Sparkling Personality has a clear base, and is full of dark silver micro glitter. I wouldn’t quite call it charcoal, but it’s not a true, pure silver. In addition to the silver, there are scattered light blue, yellow-gold, and magenta micro glitters. A really fun, different take on silver glitter.

This was two coats, with two coats of Out the Door. This one is a bit of a topcoat gobbler, not as bad as some glitters I have, but a coat of Gelous wouldn’t go amiss.

Sephora by O.P.I. Cartwheels on the Catwalk

My brain just about short-circuited when I saw this color first come out and it’s been on my wish-list ever since. I ended up scoring it on eBay with XOX Betsey and Sparkling Personality. Oh god, this blue. This freaking blue. It’s unusual and girly and edgy and feminine and fancy and casual and empress of the blue polish world. If it were human, I’d be its slavey girl.

I don’t even know how to go about describing it. Despite my camera handicaps, the pictures are color-accurate. It’s a soft, delicate, dusty, pale blue; edgier than a sky or baby blue, but not as funky as an aqua. Even though it’s a creme (cream? I dunno) it’s got a soft, silvery quality to it that bellows “SPRIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!” down my lugholes.

This was two coats, I probably should have done three to even out all the patchiness. It’s also really evident that I have mad ridges on most of my nails. I can’t remember when they appeared, or if they were always there, but they are the bane of my existence. I’ve yet to find a base/top coat combo that masks them completely. And I love the formula. I’d never tried any of the Sephora line of O.P.I. polishes, and I’m pleasantly surprised-nice and creamy!