Dazzle & Glitz at the Blue Grotto

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Sephora sent me a replacement Sephora by OPI Blue Grotto this week - if you recall, the swatch I showed you before was kind of a mess, as I was trying to apply polish out of a broken bottle! Looking at the new one, without the resentment of having Blue Grotto all over the place, I think I judged it too harshly last time. It still doesn't match the color dot on Sephora's site, but it's a better blue than I initially thought.

I used it this morning, and I do think it's a great blue. It's a just a hair different than some of the China Glaze Bahama Blues, but it's nailboard different, so I'm glad I have it! I also love the application of $OPIs, so it was a nice one to use. Here's Blue Grotto alone.

I was thinking of the name of this one, too. Growing up Irish Catholic, and having gone to a Catholic university with fabulous grounds, my only exposure to a grotto was a Marian grotto. I didn't know there was any other kind until this morning! I checked, and Wikipedia tells me that, "A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans." So I guess there are other kinds of grottoes. I tried to find you a picture of the super-cool one at my college, but they don't have one on their site. I did find a pretty good one from Franciscan University of Steubenville, so I'll show you that to give you an idea of why I had no idea what a grotto was doing in the Mermaid in the Shade Collection.

Back to the manicure... The title promised you Dazzle and Glitz as well! That comes in with, of course, the Konad. I tried Orly Dazzle (silver) with plate M45 for an all-over pattern, and the one I used always makes me happy. About a year before I finally cracked and got my first Konad set, my friend grayeyez had a picture of the the argyle pattern I used today in silver over blue, and I was awestruck by it. Just loved it! So she's my Konad Mentor, and I always think happy thoughts of her when I use this pattern. I added tips from plate M60 using Orly Glitz (gold), and I don't think I chose the best pattern - the tips don't show up as well as I'd pictured. The point of showing you the Konadicure just the same is that the two Orlys I used are both Big 3 Free and probably the best silver and gold I've seen for Konading. Here's the finished Konadicure - check out how sparkly and vivid the metallics are.

So that's the tale of my morning manicure, my discovery of a great silver and gold for Konad, and finally finding out the full definition of "grotto."

Also, Dear Reader, remember that as the counter in the lower right approaches 3,000,000, keep an eye on it. It's not really a counter of visitors, it's of page views. If you email me a screen shot of the counter at 3,000,000, I'll send you a cool prize for sticking with me for 3,000,000 page views! I have a few new polishes and duplicate Konad plates that were sent to me in error, so I'll customize the gift for the winner. If it's someone who doesn't do her nails, we'll figure something out. In any case, if you see it at 2,999,999, hit F5 to make it one more!

Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Sephora by OPI Mermaid in the Shade Collection, Summer 2009

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I promised you Sephora by OPI's ($OPI's) Mermaid in the Shade Collection, and here I have it!

Let's start with what's on Sephora's site. Here's the promo pic for the collection.

There are five bottles in the picture, and if you click to order the collection, five colors go in your cart. However, on the $OPI page, there are six nail polishes listed as new limited edition colors, with the sixth one being Lagoon-a Beach. So I have no idea if Lagoon-a Beach is really supposed to be in Mermaid in the Shade or not, but I've got it here.

On to the swatches! Each of these is three coats over a base photographed under artificial light. Some of the pics have an odd angle, but it was the only way to accurately capture the polish, so we'll have to live with some odd pictures.

First up is Blue Grotto, which is much more of a plain blue than the promo dot from Sephora's site indicates. Nothing special at all, really, while the dot makes it look like an improved SpaRitual Solitude. This one arrived broken, the lid cracked off at the neck, but I was so determined to get it on camera that I swatched it anyhow (that explains the clearly different $OPI I'm holding). Know that I was working around glass shards when you judge the application of this one!

Next up is Just a Fairy-Tail, which is sheerer than I'd anticipated. However, the shimmer on this one is really striking and unique, so I like it. It doesn't really look like its dot.

Now we have the one that I don't know with certainty belongs here, but wth... Lagoon-a Beach is also sheerer than I'd thought, but also has a great shimmer. This one is pretty well represented on Sephora's site.

Water Baby, the other silver in this collection, is also sheer and has a good shimmer, but had more brush stroke issues. It's much lighter than it's represented on Sephora.

Now we're up to the last two, and you know I always save my favorites for last. My second favorite is Underwater Fantasy, not as periwinkle as its dot, and a surprise. On the first coat, this one looked terribly sheer, but the color built up quite well.

And my top pick from this collection (drumroll please!) is Mermaid to Order. It's opaque and has a great flash to it. None of these pictures have been PhotoShopped (other than adding text), but this one really looks like it has been. Nope, that's just the polish! Sephora's dot doesn't indicate how cool it really is. It also has brush strokes, but the color's good enough to suffer them.

Now you can say you've seen Sephorq by OPI's Mermaid in the Shade collection!

I mentioned that my Blue Grotto broke in transit - as long as it was broken and headed for the trash, I peeled a label (eek!). It turns out that $OPIs are indeed Big Three Free. I thought so when applying, both by the application and the smell.

They all applied quite well, and I'm a fan of $OPI's bottle and brush. They're nice for how I hold things while applying nail polish - I hold the bottle in the hand I'm polishing, and this bottle is well shaped for that, the brush handle is nicely shaped to hold, and the brush itself is good. I find I like $OPIs better than OPIs for the formula, as they seem more pigmented and less watery, and I prefer the $OPI bottle and brush.

Well, that's all for today, Dear Reader. Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!