Dior – Rock Coat

I cannot tell you how many bottles of nail polish I got for my birthday. I guess that’s just what happens when you have a lot of girlfriends who know you write a nail polish blog :p Thanks everyone!

Consequently, I have a lot of new material to blog about that I really should get around to. This is one of my more recent gifts (thanks Chu!).

Rock Coat over The One That Got Away

OPI The One That Got Away by itself

Dior Rock Coat (shown in the first image over OPI’s The One That Got Away, ) is a super sheer jelly gray-black that’s designed to be used over other colours as a top coat. It turns the existing colour into a smokey, vampier version of itself.

In theory, a really cool idea. I’m all for changing up my nail colour, especially if I’ve had the colour on for a few days and want to jazz it up without applying a new shade. However, you have be quite careful and strategic with Rock Coat. Getting the exact right amount of polish on the brush is important in order to achieve a streak-free finish. Even so, it’s sort of a hit-or-miss product – I HATE brushstrokes of any kind, so this kind of variability in application really irks me.

A lot of this has to do with the type of polish you choose to use underneath, though! I’ve had great luck with it over high-shimmer foil polishes such as OPI’s The One That Got Away (pictured). It turns the bright glittery polish into a more glowy, “dark on the edges, light in the centre” finish that I love so much. It’s pretty difficult to use over light pastel creme colours though – the streaks show up like crazy.

Layering 101: Essie – Kisses and Bises

A few weeks ago, I scored a beautiful new Essie polish from Shoppers Drug Mart for $2.99! Keep an eye out for SDM’s clearance racks, as sometimes there are gems lurking.

The shade I snagged is Essie’s Kisses and Bises, from the Spring 2011 collection French Affair. I was actually considering buying this at full price, because the shimmers in it are beautiful. I can’t pinpoint what colour exactly, but I would describe it as pink and gold, maybe a dash of copper? The shimmer is extremely fine and suspended in a milky off-white base colour.

On its on, Kisses and Bises won’t add much colour to your nails, but it is a brilliant layering polish. I’ve shown it layered over OPI Do You Think I’m Tex-y?. As you can see, it adds such a beautiful dimension to the jelly colour underneath. There are some visible brush strokes, but it’s not noticeable at all.

I’ve also tried Kisses and Bises over a black polish, and it looks even more phenomenal. The wicked pink/gold shimmer really alters the base black colour into something very unique indeed. I will post this combination when I get a chance!

OPI – Do You Think I’m Tex-y?

Just wanted to let everyone know first that I will be updating this blog less frequently over the next month, as I will be on exchange in Europe! No worries, I still have posts scheduled when I’m gone, but I’ve been busy packing and getting my stuff organized, so I haven’t had much time to write many posts in advance. Oh well. Here goes nothing!

OPI’s Do You Think I’m Tex-y?(CRINGE) is a “sorbet” finish polish from the Texas collection, just like the previously-blogged Guy Meets Gal-veston. What that means is that it’s a sheer, jelly-like polish. At one coat, it looks like a watery film of pink, with lots of your natural nail visible underneath. At three coats, it increases in opacity but still appears to look squishy…almost like a juicy berry. You don’t need a top coat with this one to achieve a high-gloss finish (yay!).

I actually quite like these new sorbet finish polishes from OPI, even though they’re not revolutionary in any way (no matter how hard OPI tries to convince me otherwise). Application was great, and they’re actually pretty opaque for jelly polishes. Three coats will be enough to get rid of a very noticeable nail line.

OPI – Guy Meets Gal-veston

SUMMER. PLEASE. It’s gotten to the point where I hope that typing in all-caps will make it true. Sigh. In the spirit of ineffectively making the weather cooperate, here’s another “summer” shade!

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston, from the Texas collection, is one of their “sorbet” finish polishes. OPI’s really pushing this as a new, ingenious finish, but come on now. It’s really just a glorified jelly that’s been around for years; that is, a very sheer, watery polish. The above photo shows three coats.

Why would you even want a sheer, watery polish, you ask? Well, I love jelly/”sorbet” polishes because they build up to look like yummy squishy jellybeans. They look so clean and fun! Guy Meets Gal-veston is an adorable, punchy red-orange-coral that would look gloriously summery on toes in toe-baring sandals. One can only dream of wearing such footwear in this weather…

I’ll leave you to your own fantasies of summer for now, and wish all the students out there good luck with their final exams! :)