I’m not very good at subtle nail polish. I never get a french manicure – too stuffy for me – and I never really got into the habit of using pale pink or nude polish. My nails are either bare, sporting a coat of clear polish, or covered in a great color. I think of nail polish as an accessory – why be boring?!

My allegiance to bright polishes was swayed when I tried Thanks a Windmillion from OPI’s Holland collection. This pale sage green is gorgeous, and looks extra interesting when paired with a matte top coat. I wore this religiously all spring, and am looking forward to bringing it back in the fall to contrast all of my go-to dark colors.

L’Oreal Paris recently redesigned all of their cosmetics packaging, and their Colour Riche nail polishes now reside in sleek glass and gold containers.

I was drawn to He Red My Mind, billed as a metallic Valentine Red. This color went on thinly, and did not have the best coverage. A second coat covered the flaws in the first, but then did not dry evenly. I like the color, though, a bright red with pink undertones and a slight gold sheen.

I then put a layer of glitter over the red. I chose Electrify, from the China Glaze Capitol Colors Collection - inspired by The Hunger Games. As a fan of the books, I was really looking forward to what China Glaze would come up with to accurately represent the Districts. A quick plot point without any spoilers – there are 12 Districts in Panem, the world in which The Hunger Games take place. Each of these Districts has a specialty, like fishing, agriculture, or technology. CONTINUE READING

I wholeheartedly agree with Daneen on the OPI Holland Collection for Spring/Summer 2012. Very rarely do I see a collection and want basically all of the colors, but I was more than happy to take any colors that Daneen was willing to share. CONTINUE READING

Stormy Weather is the product of two people who are among the best in their industries. Deborah Lippmann is a top manicurist who has her own line that includes over 65 shades of nail polish. Narciso Rodriguez a fashion designer known for his sleek, modern designs and use of clean colors. I am an admirer of both of their work!

This is a great quality polish. It went on smoothly, and looked exactly like it did in the bottle. Above is a shot of two coats of the polish.

Then, it was time to play. After admiring matte effect nails for a long time, I finally purchased my own matte topcoat. I chose OPI for Sephora ($9.50). Here is a shot of Stormy Weather and a matte topcoat.

I could not be happier with this manicure!

-Alyssa

“Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me!”

OPI’s Rainbow Connection (from The Muppets collection) is billed as the rainbow glitter of your dreams, and oh, it is. This polish contains both small and large chunks of multi-colored glitter – blue, silver, red, orange, pink, green!

I had to to turn off my flash in iPhoto just to get a decent picture of my manicure, as all the photos I took with the flash on just looked like a blur of glitter.

This polish is definitely statement-making, and I think it is a great accessory for the holidays. I am considering a base coat of black polish, topped with Rainbow Connection as my festive manicure for New Year’s Eve. What do you think of this polish?