OPI Ulta Holiday Exclusives Comparison - 2010 vs. 2009

So, I think you guys know I'm not huge on swatches ... I like wearing polish, I even like changing it often, but I won't claim to like sitting down & changing it multiple times in a row LOL.  I have a couple nails wheels, but they are usually buried somewhere ... I had to do some digging to locate one for this post =)

Forgive me my lack of descriptive skills LOL.  I'm not used to getting this technical comparing polishes.  The color on the left for each comparison is from 2010, the right 2009.  There are no true dupes although we've got the same color palette for both collections.  All colors are 2 coats no top coat.  Let's start with All the Berry Best vs. Dreaming of Red:

These 2 are the closest, but still not dupes.  AtBB has a color shift, appearing to have a bluer tint at some angles & a bronze tint at others.  You can see it a little in the pics, but it was hard to capture.

Next is Gift of Gold vs. Dazzled by Gold:

GoG is an awesomely pigmented glitter.  I was kind of expecting it to need 4 coats or something but it looks fine at 2 (though I might wear 3 just for good measure).  GoG also has a touch of red glitter - DbG on the other hand has finer glitter in a silvery sheer base

And finally Plum Full of Cheer vs. Visions of Sugarplum:

PFoC has color shift at different angles, and VoS is much sparklier.  The camera actually makes the difference look more drastic with these two than it really is, VoS is not that blue in real life.  Are you planning to pick up this year's exclusives, or maybe already have your bottles?

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

OPI 2010 Ulta Exclusives

The colors from this year's Holi-Daze collection are the same as last year's exclusives - red, gold & plum/purple - but they are somewhat different.  Top row is this year's exclusives, bottom row is last year:

 

 

Top:  All the Berry Best, Gift of Gold, Plum Full of Cheer.  Bottom:  Dreaming of Red, Dazzled by Gold, Visions of Sugarplum.

 

The pics don't really do the colors justice IMO ... the red & plum are both almost duo-chromes.  The red flashes gold, the plum flashes kind of a bronzy-pink.... very pretty.  I'll try to do a better job when I'm actually wearing them =)

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

NOTD: Christmas Poinsettia Water Marble + Tutorial

This design came about ... well, not exactly by mistake, but it's not what I started out to do with these colors.  I was going to do the french tip marble that's been on my to-do list for like, ever, and as I was experimenting, this design just came out & my plans had to change =)

 

I used Wet 'n' Wild French White as my base, and then I marbled with Sally Hanson Salon Berry Sweet & Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Going Green.  After marbling I topped it with one coat of China Glaze Golden Enchantment just to glitterfy & bling it up a little, although it was hard to catch all the sparkle in pics.  I can't quite call this my favorite marble ever, but it may be my most impressive if that makes sense?  Just got such good positioning with all of my dips, and it's PERFECT for the season!  It came out looking so much just like the flower - here's my poinsettia water marble for Christmas:

 

 

Favorite nails left to right:  left thumb, left index, right middle, right ring:

 

Here's the tutorial - I'd heard Going Green was a bad one for staining, and you can see it actually tinted the water green, which doesn't normally happen marbling, so I'm hoping it won't be too bad on my nails since the red is dominant:

 

 

 

Here are just a couple of my tests - I was going to use the top pattern for my french tips until I did the bottom one & totally changed my plan:

 

 

I have a TON more holiday ideas.  I don't know if I'll even get around to all of them, but I'm going to give it my best shot =)  Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

TOTD: China Glaze Short & Sassy

Quick post, I'm off today & going on a holiday field trip with the family =)  I'll take lots of pics of course LOL.  Here's what's on my toes right now, I don't do them as often in the winter, but can't stand them bare - China Glaze Short & Sassy:

 

If you need a fix of holiday nail art, I put together a slideshow of last December's NOTD & posted up last night, you can check it out HERE on YouTube.  Also will be the featured vid in my YouTube widget until I get home later & get the poinsettia water marble tutorial edited.  Yes - poinsettia water marble & yes it is even more awesome that that sounds!  Stay tuned =)

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

NOTD: Revlon Perplex + m72

So, I mentioned when I posted my haul that this is supposed to be a dupe to Chanel Pardoxal, but that I didn't have it to compare.  I guess I don't really care if it's a dupe, because it's gorgeous either way!  I was lucky enough to get some sun today, but seriously it was so cold outside, I was shivering so hard I had trouble holding the camera steady LOL!  I don't think even in full focus they would have done this color justice though, none of these pics come close - I just love it.  Revlon Perplex, stamping done with Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme & Konad image plate m72:

 

Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette