Swatch: My OPI - Euro-Centrale Picks

Hi ladies! I've had these swatches sat on my computer for a couple weeks now and I haven't gotten around to posting them, which explains why my nails look a little shorter than they do now. When I saw the PR photos of the Euro-Centrale collection, I automatically knew I wanted all the Blues/Purples in the collection, so when I saw them at Professional Beauty, I didn't hesitate to pick them up. To my surprise, once I saw swatches cropping up online, I really liked the Pink in the collection, and as you can see, I also picked that one up too.

As always, the formula with the Euro-Centrale polishes were flawless. I had no issues with application besides slight patches on some first coats, but that was easily rectified. All the photos you see below are taken without a base/top coat inside of my lightbox, using only natural lighting (no lamps were used) I tried to make all as colour accurate as possible, but I do have a love/hate relationship with my camera when it comes to colour accuracy. 

Since there are quite a few photos, I took the liberty of adding a jump break.

Swatch: China Glaze - Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection

Hi ladies! I have an exciting post for you today featuring the brand new China Glaze collection! Before I get into the swatches, I have a little bit of information on the Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection taken from China Glazes' Press Release;

China Glaze and Ardell Introduce Exclusive Collections Inspired by Paramount Pictures’ new 3D Film, “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away”

"China Glaze and Ardell announced today their partnership with Paramount Pictures to offer exclusive collections of nail polishes and eyelashes inspired by the upcoming 3D film, "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" in theaters December 21st.

From the big top to the big screen, visionary filmmaker James Cameron and writer/director Andrew Adamson invite you on an all new 3D adventure: "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away." A young couple who is separated must journey through the astonishing and dreamlike worlds of Cirque du Soleil to find each other as audiences experience the immersive 3D technology that will allow them to leap, soar, swim and dance with the performers.

The new China Glaze and Ardell "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" inspired nail polish and eyelash collections will bring to life the wonderfully exotic artistry that is presented throughout the film. The China Glaze nail polish collection combines rich crèmes, soft shimmers and bold glitters to create 12 limited edition shades."

I just want to say also, that the weather in the UK has been dreadful lately, there's been NO sunshine whatsoever, just thick, black rain clouds. Which means all of the photos you see in this post have been taken inside a light box, resulting in some of the polishes being 'dulled down' due to the lack of natural lighting. I'm still trying to figure out the best settings to use with the light box too but I have tried to make them all as colour accurate as I can!

Since this is going to be a very picture heavy post, swatches are after the jump!

Swatch: Essie - Resort 2012 Collection

Hi ladies! I'd like to apologise for the lack of posting recently, I haven't really had the time to sit down and get some polishes swatched for you let alone write the posts to go with it! I'm hopefully going to be back on track now and I have some exciting new polishes coming up for you shortly, so stay tuned for those. Today I have the Essie 'Resort 2012' Collection to show you, unfortunately I only have the minis of these, but after seeing them on my nails, I think I may have to purchase the full sized ones! Anyway, enough rambling, let's get into the post!

Label Shot

Indoors, Natural Light

Direct Sunlight

Pink-A-Boo is a semi sheer, baby Pink with Blue and Pink iridescent micro glitter. I actually liked this one more than I thought I would, the iridescent glitter really does bring this otherwise plain, pale Pink polish to life. The photo above is 3 coats, but as you can see the nail line is still visible, nevertheless it's still very flattering to the nail and I actually think this suited my skin tone very well!

Label Shot

Indoor, Natural Light

Direct Sunlight

She's Picture Perfect is a gorgeous light Periwinkle with a Blue/Pink shimmer. I wasn't sure what to make of this polish, the shimmer does make it different to other Lilac polishes, but the shimmer only becomes apparent when in direct sunlight, which is a tad disappointing for me. The above photos are 2 coats, I did find the formula of this polish to be a little thicker than the others, which resulted in having to re-do my pinkie finger!

Label Shot

Indoor, Natural Light

Direct Sunlight

Sure Shot is a bright, perfect for Summer, Magenta shimmer. This has to be my favourite out of the four in the collection, go figure?! The photo above is 2 coats, but you could easily get away with one thick coat. This was also my favourite formula to apply, it went on without any issues, which is definitely what I look for in a polish!

Label Shot

Direct Sunlight

No More Film is a deep, 'Blurple' creme. This definitely leans more purple than it shows in the photos, but nevertheless it's still a beautiful shade. The application was a bit hit and miss, it applied well in one coat, but it was the kind of formula that tends to flood around your cuticles, which can be a HUGE PITA. You should definitely take care when applying this polish to minimise the chance of flooding, slow and steady always wins the race, right?! The photo above is 2 coats due to some flooding clean-up mishap!

Essie Resort 2012 mini collection retails for £16.95 (or £11.95 at BeautyBay!) or you can purchase each polish separately for £8.50 each, again from BeautyBay (or £9.95 RRP) - but we all love savings right!
What are your thoughts on Essie 'Resort 2012' Collection? Do you have a favourite?

Press Release: OPI - The Amazing Spider Man Collection

In“Spider”ed Shades!

OPI are proud to present their spectacular new collection for summer 2012, created in collaboration with Marvel Studios' amazing new film:

'The Amazing Spider-Man'

Weave a web of colour with these six new shades and a crackling Green Shatter Topcoat; guaranteed to ensure you are looking stylish even when swinging from the rooftops!

The seven new shades in The Amazing Spider-Man by OPI include;

Your Web or Mine?
The perfect pink for sticky situations.

Into the Night
This perfect midnight blue was made for prowling.

Call Me Gwen-ever
Girlfriend, be sure to pick up when this urgent coral calls

Just Spotted the Lizard
Be seen in this reptilian yellow-green.

My Boyfriend Scales Walls
Climb new heights with this cityscape white.

Number One Nemesis
Show your metal in this sparkling nickel.

Shatter The Scales
Green Shatter Topcoat

As with all OPI nail lacquers, these shades inspired by The Amazing Spider-Man contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

This limited edition collection will be available to buy on line at the beginning May 2012 at the official UK retailer of OPI products, Lena White for £11 each. Also available is The Amazing Spider-Man Mini Pack, consisting of 4 x 3.75ml including; Into The Night, Number One Nemesis, Just Spotted The Lizard and  Your Web Or Mine? for £12.95.

For more information, please call 01923 240 010 or visit www.lenawhite.co.uk. Follow Lena White on Twitter @OPINAILS and become a Facebook Fan!

ABOUT OPI
As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colours and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no BP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

*Photo's provided by PR

Press Release: OPI & New York City Ballet Release 6 New Soft Shades.

On Pointe Lacquers for Spring!

OPI are proud to announce six stunning new additions to their SoftShades collection, inspired by the world renowned New York City Ballet.

The New York City Ballet collection by OPI features five en pointe pretty pastel shades and a sparkling silver glitter topcoat which will take your nails from sophisticated office-chic, to stylish evening-glamour in a hop, skip and a jeté.

A must have collection for prima ballerinas everywhere.

The six new lacquers in New York City Ballet by OPI include:

Barre My Soul
This sheer beige is gorgeous, and that’s the “naked” truth.

You Callin' Me a Lyre?
This ascending pink hits all the right notes. 

Don't Touch My Tutu!
Hands off this wispy white -- it's all mine! 

Care to Danse?
This lilac is up-to-the-minuet in fashion. 

My Pointe Exactly
See? This gorgeous sheer grey has been right all along! 

Pirouette My Whistle
Drink up! This silver sparkle is just what you need. 

All SoftShades nail lacquers contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

New York City Ballet by OPI is now available to buy on line at the official UK retailer of OPI products, Lena White for £11 each. Also available is New York City Ballet Mini Pack, consisting of 4 x 3.75ml including; Pirouette My Whistle, Don't Touch My Tutu!, Care to Danse? and My Pointe Exactly for £12.95.

For more information, please call 01923 240 010 or visit www.lenawhite.co.uk. Follow Lena White on Twitter @OPINAILS and become a Facebook Fan!

ABOUT OPI
As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades and contains no BP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

*Photo's provided by PR

Storage & Organisation Tips!

There's nothing more annoying than searching through your whole collection, just to find the one polish you're looking for; am I right, or am I right? So I needed a cheap, fast solution, that actually works, to store my stash as well as keep it remotely organised. As much as I would like to invest in a Helmer, I can't afford to at this moment in time, not to mention my collection isn't big enough for me to justify buying a Helmer. Therefore, in the mean time, this is the storage/organisation solution I have come up with.

Updated Stash Swatches!

Okay, so a while ago I posted a few pictures of my stash swatched on some nail wheels, now I only had 10 wheels at the time, so I couldn't swatch all of my collection. However, now I have a LOT of wheels to swatch my collection on, granted I don't actually need loads, but preparing for future expansions is always a good thing, right?! So here we have my complete collection as of today, I even re-took the photos of the previous wheels as they were done at night with a flash. This time, I literally chased the last bit of decent daylight to get them done for you in natural light with no flash, and I did it! If you are interested in seeing some of the swatches in flash lighting (it does bring out the holos/glitters a lot more) just click HERE. Same goes as last time, if you see a colour you like, leave a comment below with the wheel name, and number and I will get back to you asap with the name and brand :)

Stash Swatches! (Pic Heavy)

I did it guys! I finally got around to swatching my whole collection (well most of it, I ran out of Nail Wheels to put them on, >.<) Let me tell you, I had headache for the WHOLE day after doing this, I think I might have even got a little bit high too, is that even possible!? Anyways....I've swatched them by colours, not brands, so they're a lot easier to compare. All of these were taken with flash, as by the time I'd finished swatching everything it was dark outside, and like I said before, I have a Red bedroom, so photos not taken with flash tend to look a bit like this;

Horrible Orange Tints >.<

My Name is Rachel & I'm a polishaholic....

It's currently 01:46am and I cannot get to sleep. I've literally just been laid in bed for the last hour & half just waiting to fall asleep, to no avail. So what do you do when you can't sleep? Write a post and hope you're ready to sleep by the end of it! I thought I would show you how my collection has grown since I started blogging merely 2 months ago. As you can see from the photo above, my polish collection was that of someone who liked nail polish, but not to an extremity that I do now. The Models Own & China Glaze polishes were actually only about 2 weeks old when I created this blog, so you can imagine how small my collection really was....Then I discovered blogging, well I say I discovered it, I didn't. It was more of an adventure into blogging that made me spiral out of control.
I look at the amount of polish I have now and can't even justify having so much, I mean as of this moment, I rarely post swatch posts - this NEEDS to change asap (please Britain, give me some good quality sunshine, if only for 3 hours), anyone care to kick me into gear?!
So....in 2ish months, my collection has gone from the above, to this...(and even this isn't all of it, I'm expecting at least 5 more Nail Mail packages...)

This is my collection as of right now, literally, I took these just before I wrote this post. I know there isn't as much as alot of the polishaholic bloggers out there, but this is in just 2 months, I can only imagine what it will be like in another 6. As you can see, the half empty one box has turned into 2 full boxes! Box1 contains all my BarryM, Models Own, Nails Inc, GOSH, ELF & 17 polishes. Box2 contains all my China Glaze, OPI, Cult Nails, Collection 2000, Andrea Fulerton & various other polishes.
I will eventually get around to posting swatches of my whole collection, I'm just waiting for the Nail Wheels that I ordered from eBay to arrive, which SHOULD be in the next 2 weeks. They won't be reviewed swatches, it will just be the polish on a wheel with a number underneath and a link to a spreadsheet with the corresponding number on it. Good idea? Let me know!