Thoughts on OPI Black Shatter

Katy Perry + OPI = Nail Polish Heaven

Yeah. I am a child of the 80s.  Yeah. I wore hot pink spandex leggings with big baggy t-shirts on top. 

Guilty as charged.

So, of course, when OPI released their version of a crackle nail polish I rushed out to ULTA the day it was released to get my greedy little hands on it.  With coupons, of course. ;0)

Hear me when I say- it does not disappoint!

It's called Black Shatter, and it's been released (as if you guys didn't know already) as part of the Katy Perry collection for OPI.  The company also partnered up with Serena Williams to bring us a set with both "Simply Smashing" (an almost tennis ball green) along with Black Shatter together.


I LURVE black shatter.  I think the way it crackles is PERFECT.  Really. You've seen pix of other crackle polishes, the way you can't really see the polish color underneath.  This one is different. 

Honestly, it all depends on the way you apply it, so if you aren't getting the results  you want, try it again with more or less polish on the brush.  I find, however, that with one moderate coat I get the effect I'm looking for. 

Exhibit A:

This combination was created using two polishes from Sinful.  The hot pink (wisely chosen by my BF, actually) is Sinful "Fasion Neon."  That's how it's spelled on the bottle, anyway.  *snort*

The pink glitter polish is Sinful's "I Miss Yuo."  *rolls eyes*  Seriously.  I'm couldn't make this stuff up, folks.  Both of these polishes are misspelled on their labels.  Unless there's some joke I'm just not getting... ;0)  It's a discontinued color, but you might have it hiding out in your stash somewhere, or you may be able to swap for it on MUA.  For $1.99, honestly, it's a very pretty and fun polish.  I personally, will probably only wear it under BS.  Same with the hot pink (Fashion Neon).  I'm just not a pink person, but the pink and black combo looks so chic next to all the grey clothes I wear all the time.  It's a welcome pop of color and really lifts me up whenever I look at my hands!

Anyway, I think this combo is AWESOME!  The pink glitter (I Miss [You]) is very similar to one of the other OPI's from the Katy Perry collection called "Teenage Dream."  Except I didn't have to spend $8.50 on it.  In fact, I got this gorgeous polish for free just by asking the most generous people on freecycle Portland if they had any polish they didn't want!  Thank you portland nail polish lovers!  You've gifted me with some wonderful old stuff that I couldn't get anywhere else! 

And just for fun, here's a little skittles look I did when I was first playing around with it:

Thumb: Milani Hi-Tech;  L-R: OPI Blue Moon Lagoon, Zoya Trixie, China Glaze He's Going In Circles, and DV8.

These are all holographic (except for Zoya trixie on my middle finger).  I thought I'd like the way a holo polish looked peeking out from the black.  Honestly, though, it was barely noticeable.  The BF even said he thought it would look best over a neon polish.  Hence the hot pink!  haha! 

Cause, you know. Real men like pink. Right?  =0)

The one and only thing I'll say about BS that could be a negative is that it dries SOOOOOO fast that it makes it a little bit hard to work with.  It can get clumpy on the brush before you're even done painting one hand.  I have a feeling I'll need to clean off the neck almost every time I use it for fear of getting little dried clumpies in the bottle.  It is, however, worth all the trouble in my opinion!


Wadda you guys think?  Loving it?  Hating it?  Waiting on the China glaze crackles to make up your mind? 

Cause, you know. Real men like pink. Right?  =0)

Happy New Year! (slightly belated)

Yay! It's 2011 and it's time for MORE nail polish!  haha!!!

Zoya (a wonderful NP company which many pretties) is giving away nail polish!!!!!!

Go to their facebook page and "like" them.  Sometime on the 3rd of this month (yeah. tomorrow! I know- short notice. Sorry!) they will be giving us all a code for 3 free nail polishes!  You'll just have to pay shipping.  Which should be $6.99.  $7 for 3 Zoya polishes is CRAZY.  Seriously.

CRAZY I tell ya!

And if  you're not into Zoya colors, LMK and you can have them shipped straight to MY HOUSE!  XD 

MUWahahh!!!!  ;0)

Go on!  I plan to take advantage of this offer!  I mean, how can you pass up an opportunity like this, right?  You girls know what I'm talking about! 

SQUEeeee!!!!

Shooting Stars BM NOTD

Here I used the Milani silver Holo called HD.  It's more holographic than the Cosmetic Arts polish I used last time.  I was still in my starry mood so I used another star image from the same plate I used last time (plate BM20).

I stamped in Konad Special Black and topped with SV. 

Milani HD, BM20, Konad Black

Shooting Stars!

Rainbow-ey goodness

Look how L O N G my nails are!

On another note, oh my gosh!  I can't believe how Looooooong my nails are!   They started just at my fingertips, I'd say.  In fact, here's my first Konadicure so you can see the length I started with:

This is OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui stamped with Sonia Kashuk Taunting Teal

See? Just to my fingertips maybe a *touch* past...

And now my nails are the longest they've EVER been!  I could never keep them long because of sports (if you play water polo you KNOW what I'm talking about! You can't have ANY white showing), or because of playing the guitar, or just plain being a big fat tomboy!  haha... which I definitely am.

I'd like to think I'm S L O W L Y growing into a "young woman," and maybe by the time I'm 50 I'll feel like a "lady."  I'm just not there, yet, though!  In my mind, I'm just one of the guys.  That is, if guys wear zebra print nail polish!  =0)

I just may have to cut them all off, though, and start again.  With the new year coming and all, I feel like a change!  Wadda you guys think? 

Should they stay or should they go?  

*dun dun dun dah dah dah dah DUN*  (yeah. you were humming along, WEREN'T YOU?!  hahah!)

Bundle Monster Image Plate Storage Solution!

OK.  Since I went from 4 Konad plates to 25 (including the 21 new BM plates) in ONE DAY, I needed a storage solution.  Especially since the BM plates are kinda sharp and not that nice to handle.
And I tell ya what, a stack of 21 image plates (even though they're a little thinner than the Konad ones) is HEAVY!  =0)

So, I asked the girls on MUA what they do, and I got a few good ideas.  One girl said she uses a business card file.  AND she told me that they could be had at the Dollar Tree, no less.  Thanks Love8Brain!

So, I checked...and there they were!  And she was right- the openings fit my image plates perfectly.

Business card file-$1 at DT holds BM and Konad plates perfectly!

This thing holds 72 business cards- but that's front to back.  I figured the image plates should be one per side...but that leaves the other side to hold a business card with the images stamped onto it for reference:

This is the front page....

And these plates match the images on the cards...cool, eh?

here's more...

And another...

So get thee to a Dollar Tree STAT! And enjoy your new BM/Konad plate file folder thingey and your new life as an organized zen like master of the clutter. Haha. Just kidding!

We can all try though, can't we?  =0)

Bundle Monster Mani #1! I'm Seeing Stars...

Yeah. I did it.  I finally ordered the Bundle Monster plates.  And right at Christmas time at that.  I had them on my Amazon.com wishlist for a while, but I heard some chatter on MUA about them maybe not being available (question mark? still not sure what that was about...) so I jumped on it.  Mr. L said it could be my Christmas present.  Yay!

It said on the Amazon tracking system that they were coming from Hawaii!  Which I didn't know.  But even though it projected the package to arrive in 11 days, it only took 5. Woohoo!  I was so excited to see that little white envelope!  XD

I of course had to immediately rip it open and play!

The first design to really jump out at me (and one I have been waiting to get my hands on) is the all over solid star pattern from plate BM20.  It's really cute!  I'm surprised I haven't seen more pix of girls using it.

Cosmetic Arts polish in "Silver Belle," stamped with Konad Special Black w/ BM20 plate

Silver Belle is pretty! I was going for a sparkly/rainbow/shining star thing.

It didn't come out totally 100% perfect, but I need to practice with the BM full nail plates since they are so much smaller than the Konad images. My left hand looks better than my right, though, because as luck would have it, my left hand nails are the exact right length for the BM full nail images. My right hand nails are a tad longer so the star image ends before my tips.  Doesn't look that great.

I'm very happy with the Bundle Monster plates, though.  A couple of them had scratches on them, but not over any of the images.  They all seem to stamp well once you get the right polish or pressure or method down.  So, yeah.  They're a little more finicky than the Konad plates, but the price difference makes it totally worth it.  I'd have spent close to $150 on Konad plates instead of the less than $20 for the BM set.

True, you don't get to choose the exact plates you will get, but they are always the same set.  So at least you know what you're getting and can see them before hand.  I always research my purchases like crazy before buying so I knew what all the images were.  Most of the plates have images I will use and a few of the plates I LOVE!  So, it's definitely a win for me! 

Hope everyone is hanging in there!  Xmas is coming fast. . . but make sure you guys KEEP YOUR HEADS!   Remember what it's all about and enjoy the time you get to spend with your loved ones.  I know I treasure every second I get with mine!  (you know who you are!)  =0)

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I've neglected you.  I feel bad about it, I really do.  I feel like I've let you down somehow.  The holiday roar and commotion has taken over my life and taken all my time away from you.  I know now that I need to keep up with posts and not just leave them in the "draft" section.  *shy grin*

Dear blog, I promise to nurture you with the fervent fever that I started you out with.

And to show you my determination and commitment, here is a little nail p0rn for you to enjoy- just so you know I'm utterly serious:

From the Color Club Enchanted Holiday mini set

Holiday Mani#2

Color Club Magic Elf with xmas tree decals

No-man (get it? snowman) decal = cute!

And just for kicks, here's a new ULTA I got called Smoke Screen.  Supposedly a dupe for Zoya Kelly.  I swear I'm the only person left on the planet who doesn't have Zoya Kelly!  And now I don't feel the need to go out and get it! Mouwahahaha!  ;0)

ULTA Smoke Screen

ULTA Smoke Screen - little different lighting view

Wow. Look how it matches my blog background! funny.

Wet N Wild Prancer over WnW Black Franken

OK. It happened. I gave in to the hype.  I've participated in and created my very own, FIRST, holiday mani.  And it was AWESOME!

WnW Prancer Holiday LE over WnW Black Creme Franken

Hmmm...huge red glitter yummy-ness...

Oh yeah, look at that shine!

So, I finally did it.  And it wasn't so bad!  I have had this franken for a while, but never wore it until now.  I'm not sure if you can even tell, but it's a mixture of WnW Black Creme with some holographic silver thrown in. I love frankening with WnW's black creme. It makes any polish I can come up with a one-coater.  And I LOVE that!  I used the glitter, also from WnW, from the Halloween Limited Edition Display this year.  It's so sparkly and yummo!

Here's a straight up Franken I did with the holo glitter in WnW Clear.

It's a rainbow in a bottle, alright...

Blurred for xtra rainbow effect!  XD

Now I'm pumped.  I've got Bundle Monster plates on the way, and I'm ready for more Holiday themed mani's!  I'm thinking I'll do a "Winter" theme next.  I think there's a snowflake design in there somewhere I can use as soon as my plates arrive (from Hawaii!) . . off to plan some winter wonderland nail art!

Wish me luck!  XD