Swatch Spam: OPI

Hi ladies! As you may know, I'm addicted to Nail Polish and because of that addiction and the fact I can't help but purchase multiple new polishes every month, a lot of those I already have become lost in the abyss that is my Helmer resulting in me having hundreds of untried polishes....bad I know. So I thought it was about time I started getting those polishes swatched and out into the daylight, at least once in a blue moon and have decided to start going 'Swatch Spam' posts. Every couple weeks, or even more regularly depending on my motivation level' I will swatch a load of polishes from various brands I own and feature them as part of the swatch spam. This week we have some OPI polishes to show you! I could feature these in their own individual posts, but as I only post 3 times a week, it would take me forever to get through them and they'd just keep piling up.

So, lets take a look at a selection of OPI polishes! Since this is a HUGE post, I took the liberty of adding a jump link, just to minimise loading time for those visiting my page.

Review: BornPrettyStore Studs

Hi ladies! I was recently contacted by bornprettystore asking whether I'd like to review one of their products, of course I said yes. I've been wanting to get my hands on some studs for a while now but haven't come across some I really like. Until I came across these - the colours, the shapes and the sizes were exactly what I wanted. I have a couple mani's to show you in which I used various studs from the wheel, you'll have to excuse the second mani, I did it late at night so I had to use my light box and artificial lighting, but my camera doesn't like when I do that and 99% of the photos I took were a blurred mess. Luckily, you can still see all the detailing.

As you'll see, there is a huge difference in nail length between mani's, I had a little accident with the nail clippers whilst trying to attempt to trim them slightly....so unfortunately, I had to cut them all down to nubs.

I saw this photo on Pinterest using studs to make a bow at the bottom of the nail against a solid background colour, and I really liked the idea, so I thought why not take that idea and turn it into a Tuxedo. I started off with a base of Essie - Licorice then painted on the triangles using White acrylic paint. Once that was dry, I added a Top Coat to one nail at a time and added the studs.

I got the idea from various images around Pinterest, I really liked the idea of a cross but also wanted to include the Diamond shape of studs too. I didn't want the whole mani to be studded, but was stumped for ideas to add to the pinkie and thumb, so of course, out came the stamping plates. I started off with a base of Essie - Licorice and an accent of A England - Excalibur. I then stamped with BM-223 and BM-314 using Excalibur for the stamping. As I mentioned the photo is a bit blurry since it was taken at night, so I apologise for that.

I loved the way both of these turned out, although after wearing the second mani to work, by the end of the day I had started to pick at the studs, so they didn't last very long. Of course, if you didn't pick at them they'd probably last you a lot longer! You can purchase your own studded wheel here for $4.89 as well as many other tools and decorations for your nails and otherwise! If you use the code below, you'll also receive 10% off of your order!

Swatch Spam: Sally Magpies

Hi ladies! I have a little swatch spam post for you today featuring a selection of polishes available from Sally Magpies. If you're from the UK and aren't aware of what Sally Magpies is, basically it's a brand new online retailer, like the Llarowe of Britain, which currently sells Ozotic, Jade, piCture pOlish, Layla, Cirque and Hits all for amazing prices. Although there aren't a lot of brands available at this time, partly due to Sally Magpies being relatively new and a also one woman show, Sally is constantly on the look out for more brands to bring into the fold. If you have any suggestions of brands you'd like to see on Sally Magpies, be sure to like her on Facebook.

Now onto the swatches!

Pshiiit was created by Camille of the down-right amazing blog, Pshiiit, as part of the 2012 Collaboration shades. It's a gorgeous Teal-y Turquoise-y jelly base packed with shimmers and Teal flakes. This polish has been on my wish list for a looong time and I practically screamed when I opened up the package to find it sitting there. This is 3 coats of Pshiiit without a top coat. piCture pOlish retail for £10/£11.50 here.

Scarlet is part of the Diamond collection and is a gorgeous Red duo chrome that flashes to Orange and Magenta in certain lights. Though not as apparent on the nail, you can see the colour shift inside the bottle. I applied 3 coats of Scarlet without a top coat for the photos above. You can purchase the Jade Diamond collection for £5.50 each as well as the Holographic collection for £6.00 each.

Roma is part of the Glitters World collection and is a clear base packed with small Pink glitter, medium Pink, White, Blue, Gold and Holographic glitter and large White glitter. I had a little trouble with this polish, it was so thick that it was difficult to get an even coverage on the nail, I did add a little thinner to the polish which seemed to make it a little better. I applied 2 coats of Rome over Killer Colours - Gunmetal with a top coat (which didn't seem to smooth the glitter out as much as I wanted it to). You can find various Hits collections from between £3.50/£6.50.

Veruska is part of the Guerra Dos Sexos (War/Battle of the Sexes) collection, all the polishes in this collection are double ended. Veruska is a Dusty Rose creme one side and a sheer Blue/Pink shimmer on the other. As you can see from the photos above, the polishes can be worn separately (I didn't think to photograph the blue worn alone), or layered upon each other to create a Rosy Lilac shimmery shade. The first photos are 3 coats of the Pink, and the others are 1 layer of the Blue on top. These particular polishes are available for purchase here and are currently 15% off at £5.10 each

So there you have a little introduction to Sally Magpies and a sneak peek of some polishes she offers! Be sure to give her a like on Facebook to keep up to date with the latest brand additions and special offers! Who is excited to finally be able to get these brands in our own backyard?! I know I am!