OPI The Top 10 mini collection review - first 5

Hi there!

Hope you're well today.  Snow is forecast here AGAIN! Spring is playing hide and seek with us at the moment. 

I picked these pretties up at TK Maxx a few weeks ago, and have had them in my 'to swatch' pile since.  Here's how they look in the box:

Apologies for the slightly rubbish picture.  I didn't find out until it was too late that it was impossible to get the polishes out without wrecking the box.  I believe these to be the 'light' half of the OPI Top Ten collection (Amazon LINK here) but I didn't see the other darker half in TX Maxx.

Without further ado, let's get on with it.  The first in the box is Alpine Snow:

I actually already own the full size of Alpine Snow, and I did a comparison post with My Boyfriend Scales Walls (HERE) which is one of my most popular posts.  The first coat is patchy, but the second coat evens it out, so this is two coats.  It's also pretty fast drying.  I was pleased to find that the brush in the polish was still a pretty decent size, even though it's a mini polish.

Next up we have Bubble Bath:

I also own the full size polish of this one (why did I buy this set haha), and I already knew I didn't like it so much, too sheer for me.  This is two coats.  Of course it would be good for a french manicure, which is probably why it was formulated in the first place.  I noticed that the mini bottles are comfortable to pose with.

Next is Tickle My France-y:

This was also quite disappointingly sheer.  At two coats I still had alot of VNL.  However I do like the colour, so I went with another coat, so this is 3 coats in this picture.  It is a very pretty nude.

Second to last we have Kiss Me On My Tulips:

This is a bright pink that does nothing for my skintone, but no fault of the polish for that.  It reminds me a bit of Orly's Basket Case.  Perhaps I'll do a comparison on the two at some point.  At one coat it still had VNL, but this is two, and as you can see, hardly any VNL left.  Dry time was med/fast.

And last but not least we have Red Lights Ahead... Where?

This is two coats.  Too sheer for me.  It was relatively fast drying though.  Lifes too short for undies on a polish when I have other reds that don't need it.  Not too impressed with this one.

Here's a picture of the brush, which was pretty consistently good across all the polishes:

So there we have it.  That's the whole (half of the) set reviewed.  I paid £19.99 at TK Maxx and to be honest, if you're like me and don't like to see your nail line through your polish, I wouldn't recommend this set.  Oh well, live and learn!  One of these days I'll actually have that blog sale I keep wondering about having, and most of these will probably be in it.  I'm sure there's somebody out there who has the patience to apply more coats than I do.  I can't comment on wear time, as I haven't liked any of them enough to wear for any length of time.

They were all very shiny though, no topcoat in any of these pictures, and pretty fast drying, so it wasn't all bad.  Now I know the brushes are OK, I would buy more OPI minis, but I would check out the reviews first to make sure they're opaque enough.

What do you think?  Yay or nay?  Is VNL a big no-no for you too or don't you mind it?

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Artsy Wednesday - White Nailart

Artsy Wednesday once more!  These days whizz around I can tell you.  This weeks offering is the product of one of those happy occasions where you just throw something together out of neccessity and it actually comes out okay.  Nice one!

As quite often happens with me, it was after 9pm on Tuesday night when I started thinking about doing these nails.  As I work all day through the week, I have to prepare my posts beforehand, so this really is the last chance saloon.  I have of course been trying to think up designs for a couple of days, but it turns out that white is quite difficult to think of designs for.

I went through all the thoughts of glitter accent nails, or crystals/glequins, but nothing really made me think, ooh yes I'd like to try that.  So I just went upstairs to my polishes, grabbed the obvious white, OPI's Alpine Snow, and thought, what colour do I really like with white?  And as it happens only one colour came to mind, and that's orange.  Now, I have done an orange and white manicure on the blog before, (here's the link) but that was stamping, and that means waiting for the base to dry, and no time for that today, not even with Seche!

So here's what I came up with:

One of the brightest oranges I own is Essie's Orange It's Obvious, which I swatched and reviewed in full (here) so I thought I'd go with that.  A good nailart technique to use if you're in a rush is dotting, because you don't have to wait for the base colour to dry fully before you get on with the art.  I decided to make random flowers instead of plain dots, just because I wouldn't have to take so much care (and therefore time) over it, and actually, I like the results!

 Here's another pic with the bottle getting a look-in:

As you can see, the Essie dries a shade or so darker on the nail than it shows in the bottle.  I used one quite thin coat, and then one thickish one because I was in a rush (as I think I've mentioned haha).

And I might as well put in the last picture, seeing as I took the time to edit it:

Back to indoor photos now, as there's no light left in the sky when I get home from work.  But to be honest, I didn't really take that much advantage of it even when there was.  So many more fun things to do when the sun's out, like sunbathing and reading a book in the garden.  I actually enjoy my polishes more in the winter, when I'm indoors and sitting still long enough to let them dry properly.

Why not take a look at what whiteys the rest of the Artsy Wednesday crew have come up with:

Catrine at Unnaked Nails (link)
Michelle at Labmuffin (link)

Maria at Maria's Nail Polish Blog (link)

Melanie at Nail and Polish (link)
Emily at An Accent Nail (link)
Ameerah at Valiantly Varnished (link)
Anna & Haylee at Makeup and Masala (link)
Rosemarie at Every Little Polish (link)
Anna at Makeup N More (link)

All in all, I like this, and I think I'll definitely have a go at it in some other colours. What's your go-to "in a rush" nailart technique?

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Artsy Wednesday: Inspired by a brand - Louis Vuitton Nailart

Hi everyone,

This weeks Artsy Wednesday is a bit of a cheat for me.  I've had these pictures since before I joined Artsy Wednesday, and when I saw this theme I kept them back as they were so perfect for it. 

So although I've had them a while, I'm still excited to show them to you, because when I did them, I absolutely loved them!  I came across the advert in my photos, if I remember rightly, when I bought Glamour Magazine for the free Nails Inc polish that came with it (yes, I'm cheap haha).  As soon as I saw the advertisement, I knew I had to have the design on my nails as I liked it so much.

Originally I attempted to freehand the design, but that was a total disaster, so I turned to my stamping plates, and amazingly I didn't have one that was right.  So I went to Amazon, and found a Gals set that had a plate in that looked like it might do the job.  I got the Princess set (link) which cost £7.99 inc shipping for 25 plates - BARGAIN!  The quality is really good too.  I know it seems a bit much to go to these measures for a single design, but I really, really, wanted to do it.

Here's what I came up with:

I used OPI Alpine Snow for the base, and then stamped over it using Color Club Almost Famous.  I tried a few yellows, but this was the best match.  I meant to do my ring finger beige to match the background ladies, but forgot - doh!

Here's another pic, a bit closer up:

As you can see, even with stamping, my checks are a tad wonky, but hey, you get the idea, right?  I went over it with a topcoat of Seche Vite to smooth it all out.

One last pic of my nails.  I took so many, and have had to weed lots out.  I like this one as the checks on my nails are almost exactly the same size as the ones on the handbag, which makes me happy.  I'm a bit strange like that:

And here's the advert that got the whole thing started:

Now, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to afford ANYTHING in that advert haha, but at least I can have a bit of LV style on my nails!  What do you think?

Don't forget to check (pun alert!) out what all the other super-talented Artsy Wednesday girls have come up with:

Catrine at Unnaked Nails (link)
Michelle at Labmuffin (link)
Alanna at Pretty Purple Polish (link)

Maria at Maria's Nail Polish Blog (link)

Melanie at Nail and Polish (link)
Jessica at Beauty Gnome (link)
Emily at An Accent Nail (link)
Ameerah at Valiantly Varnished (link)

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Snooker Loopy! Nail Art

Hi everyone!

I hope you are well today.  Its been snowing here today, thankfully it's stopped now.  I love looking at the snow, but I HATE driving in it.  Last year it snowed, then froze, then snowed again on top of that, it was flippin deadly.  My car broke (again) on Thursday night, the bonnet  (hood) catch broke and it wouldn't close properly.  Thankfully I managed to get booked in to the garage on Saturday morning and they mended it, but that was when I was going to blog so didn't get the chance.  I did manage to squeeze in a little bit of polish shopping though, so will do some swatches later this week :)

It's been a frustrating weekend for me nailart-wise though.  It seems that I've had some brilliant ideas, but making them work on my nails has been a torment.  Sometimes they've looked ok and I've smudged them before I've photographed them, or they haven't looked anywhere near as good as they did in my mind.  There's a design based on a photo that I'm dying to do, but I really want to do it justice, and what I've produced so far is.... well, you'll see.  When I do finally get the design I like, I'll put the fail in there too to show you.  Also I've been doing my Valentines experiments.  Have come up with a few maybes, again, will include them once I get the design I like.

Anyway, on to what I have managed to produce today.  The snooker has started this weekend, and I LOVE it!  You get to know the players, and that makes the psychological element of the game even more fascinating to watch.  My favourite player is Ronnie O'Sullivan, he's the bad boy of snooker, gotta love that.

So, as I was watching the snooker I thought to myself, why not do some snooker nail art?  So I did exactly that.  Unfortunately by the time I'd finished it was dark outside, so please excuse the indoors photos.  Maybe one Sunday when I'm at a loose end, I'll do this again and put some daytime pictures in here too:

Pretty sure I got all the colours of ball in there!  These are the colours I used:

Here they are, lined up on my mantel piece.
White: OPI Alpine Snow
Black: unnamed from Simple Pleasures Halloween Scented collection, review HERE
Pink: OPI Mod About You
Blue: Barry M Cyan Blue
Yellow: Rimmel Sunshine
Green: Barry M Spring Green
Brown: Nails Inc Ganton Street
Red: Rimmel Double Decker Red
For the background 'baize' base, I used a Color Club green which I believe to be Twiggie from their Poptastic Collection, but have thrown the packaging away so can't be 100% sure.  I wish so much that Color Club put the names on the bottles.

Anyway, I'm rambling again, here's another pic:

As you can see, I was a tiiiny bit impatient with my topcoat and slightly smudged a few red balls, but in real life you don't see that.  Nowhere to hide with these close ups!

And finally, here's the BBC Snooker theme tune, the video to it is so clever and creative.  I always get excited when this comes on!

So, are you a snooker lover or a snooker hater?  I admit nail art and snooker aren't usually talked about in the same breath, but I love both!

 

Also, one final, final thing...  I noticed I've passed 50 followers, this is a really big deal for me.  I'd like to thank you, each and every one, from the bottom of my heart, for sticking with me while I work out this weird and wonderful world of blogging.  It really means alot, and I hope to keep you all entertained for as long as you'll have me!  Thank you again XXX

 

Until next time...

 

MASPOOASE x x x

~Wendy~

Lace Dots Pink Nail Art

Hi everyone!
 
Naileys you can look again now :)
 
Today I've got some nail art for you that was inspired in no small part by a Youtube tutorial from nailart guru and all round lovely lady, Plasmaspeedo.  I'm a massive fangirl of her videos.  If you want to see her tutorial, HERES the link.  I asked her if it was ok for me to do some nailart based her her design and she said no problem, so here it is!

I wanted a nailart look that I could wear to work, and that means no crazy colours, so I selected Nails Inc Marble Arch, which is a nice light cerise, or punchy pink, whichever way you like to look at it.

I did divert slightly from her tutorial, here's how it ended up, and then I'll get on to how I did it:

Apologies in advance for the quality of the step-by-step pictures, my camera was on the wrong setting and I didn't notice until after, doh!

So firstly, after my basecoat, I applied one coat of Marble Arch just on the bottom two thirds of my nail.  I didn't use tape, just freehanded because I'd be covering up the line anyway:


As you can see, it's by no means perfect, but that was just as good as I needed it to be.

Then, using Konad White stamping polish, and Bundle Monster plate BM-324, I covered the line across the top.  I believe the plate is from the 2012 collection:

Again, not perfect, I haven't done much stamping lately, and am way out of practice! Also I was a bit impatient and smudged the polish on some of the nails, but c'est la vie.

Once I'd finished stamping, I made my dots, using quite a small dotting tool, and OPI Alpine Snow:

And there we have it, all it needed now was a top coat (I used Seche Vite), and a clean up and you're good to go!  Here's a final pic:

I'm really liking this! It's girly and fun without being too cutesy, and it wasn't too hard to do.  If you haven't seen any of Plasmaspeedo's nailart tutorials yet, check them out, I'm sure you'll love them as much as I do.

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

OPI Alpine Snow vs OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Hi All!

It's Saturday and I'm off work, so happy!  Even better, the suns out, and that can only mean one thing, SWATCHES!!

This is a post I've been meaning to do for a while, then I saw that someone navigated to my site while looking for a comparison, and I felt all bad because I hadn't done it yet, and it spurred me into action.  So whoever you are, anonymous, thank you for the boot up the bum that I needed.

Looking at the two in the bottle, it's obvious why people can't decide between them:

In this, and every, picture, My Boyfriend Scales Walls is on the left, and Alpine Snow is on the right.

So lets get into it on my nails:

As you can see, Alpine Snow on the right, is ever-so-slightly brighter.  This picture is a pretty good representation of how it looks in real life, indoors but in the light from the window.

Formula wise, you can see that I had a little bubbling issue with My Boyfriend Scales Walls, I didn't have that last time I used it, perhaps I shook it a little too vigorously.  These pictures are all three coats, and I didn't need to do any clean up.

Lets have another pic.  This one's in the sunlight:

I think this one shows the shine nicely.  You can see on my index finger that My Boyfriend Scales walls shows more shine than Alpine Snow.

One last pic of it on my nails, this one in the shade:

Getting back to the formula, they are slightly different.  I prefer the formula of My Boyfriend Scales Walls, because it's less self deleting than Alpine Snow, and it seems to self level better.  Also, I'm pretty sure I had to add some thinner to my Alpine Snow when I first got it to make it more cooperative. 

Brushwise, theres not much in it.  If I HAD to chose between them, My Boyfriend Scales Walls brush is a tiny bit better, you can see the difference between the formulas quite well in this next pic, look at the difference in how each polish clings to the brush:

The coating on the brush is denser on Alpine Snow (right), and that gives you a pretty good idea about the application.

They both needed the three coats for perfect coverage, dry time was identical and medium/fast. 

I would actually say that this is the one time where I'm happy to own both, even though they're so similar, as they both have their place in my collection.  Alpine snow where I need a bright white, especially for nail art and dotting, and My Boyfriend Scales Walls for all over nice shiny and level nails.

But, if you can't afford both, and so I absolutely have to pick, I would say to choose My Boyfriend Scales Walls, as it's a bit more versatile.  I bought both of mine from Amazon and paid about £7.50 each.

So there you go, comparison done, I hope you liked it!

Until next time....

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Russian Doll Manicure

Hello again!

Well, despite telling myself that I wouldn't make my blog a nail blog, it seems a disproportionate amount of my posts involve manicures, well it is my current love, so I forgive myself!  I've been planning a manicure this week which I'm calling "a reflection of me".  Like all of us I think of myself as an onion (or a Kinder Egg), lots of layers, and each of those layers are significant and different. 

I had the terrible feeling that this weeks manicure was going to go the same way as last weeks, which was a total fail, but after an hour or 3 of experimenting (dotting, striping, acrylic paints etc etc) I finally got a result I'm pleased with!  I've called it a russian doll manicure as it's a colour inside a colour, inside a colour.  Heres what I ended up with:

The polishes I used were (from cuticle to tip)

Base coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

Pink: Nails Inc Bruton Street

Dark Red: Leighton Denny Saturn Seduction

Black: L'Oreal Color Riche Black Swan

White: OPI Alpine Snow

Pink: again Bruton Street

I love the fact that it looks like an elongated bullseye, and its much more punchy in real life.  Have had to post a day early this week as I'm off down home this weekend, am super excited to be spending the whole weekend with my family and besties, should be lots of music, dancing and feasting!

Hope you have a fab weekend, please feel free to comment, and see you soon!

Take care

MASPOOASE X X X