We are huge Diet Coke fans - so when we realized the O.P.I. Coca Cola collaboration had a chrome-y sparkly silver inspired by Diet Coke we were super excited. The background polish is 'Today I Accomplished Zero' and the Diet Coke nail uses My Signature is 'DC' (the silver chrome), Coca Cola Red and our blackest black - YSL Noir Primitif. We also added some bubbles using the vanilla coke shade - You're So Vain-illa. Overall - we love this collection! The silver is to die for... Stay tuned for swatches of the full collection!

O.P.I. I Just Can't Cope-Acabana, Where Did Suzi's Man-Go? and Toucan Do It If You Try

When we saw the bottle shots of the O.P.I. Brazil collection for Spring/Summer 2014 we had a moment of tropical excitement - despite braving temperatures in the negatives in chilly Canada. We consistently look for polishes lacking in our collection, and orange and yellows always top that list. After using the yellow polish, I Just Can't Cope-Acabana, we can totally confirm that it is the perfect creme yellow for our nail art needs. If you are starting to get in to nail art or looking to do a rainbow design and lacking a yellow - you need this. If you are looking for bright, punchy orange and orange-y pinks, the other two polishes are for you! 

We used a sponge with some topcoat on it (to prevent absorption of the gradient polishes) and sponged 4 coats on with no base coat. The coverage is pretty amazing for four sponged coats, we are definitely impressed. If these polishes are any indication of what the whole Brazil collection will be like, we will definitely check out a few more! We cleaned up the mani using acetone and a nail art brush, and topped it off with an O.P.I. top coat. 

What do you think of this mani? Would you wear this bright gradient in the hot weather?

Disclaimer: Some of these products may have been provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest opinion and review.

The Gwen Stefani for OPI signature shade was released in a kit including some Swarovski elements and as hard as we tried to resist making a joke about it being bananas - this kit is bananas. The shade is the perfect Gwen red (as to be expected) and the nail art supplies have a rock and roll twist that would mesh with any of the polishes in the collection.

The box is beautiful on its own, we can't ever get enough red.

The kit comes in a large box which includes the shade Over & Over A-Gwen, along with a tiny nail art glue, and 5 different Swarovski elements. Also included is a little nail art guide which contains suggestions for art using the whole collection of Gwen for OPI polishes. The contents of the box are pictured below!

The Nail Art Glue, Swarovski elements, and Nail Art Idea book!

Over & Over A-Gwen

 Finally, after much anticipation and a little drooling, we got to work. The Over & Over A-Gwen polish is a gorgeous orange-y red that leans to a jelly finish. It is ultra-shiny (the look is topcoat-free with two coats) however there is a tiny bit of visible nail underneath. We used the tiny gold buttons and larger diamond studs and we love how it turned out.

Our finished nail look ft. OPI Over & Over A-Gwen and Swarovski elements.

Disclaimer: These products were provided by the company/PR in exchange for our honest opinions and review.

We have to admit that we were overly excited when we heard that the O.P.I. Gwen Stefani collection was going to include a chrome shade - Push & Shove. Comparable options such as the Layla Mirror Effect polish ($12 CAD at Nail Polish Canada) and the Formula X for Sephora Foil Look ($30 CAD at Sephora) run a bit unavailable and expensive for our tastes. Not to mention, the O.P.I. set comes with a mini base coat (Lay Down That Base) which should smooth out the nails. Any ridges or bumps can make the chrome polish effect less chrome-y - and will be very visible. 

It is worthwhile noting that this polish is intended to one day wear, which is similar to the other options. Since the chrome finish is more effective without top coat, this is prone to peeling but after testing on two of us, it does seem to last for a solid 24 hours with no terrible issues. The iPhone photo below was taken about 25-26 hours after application, and as you can see there is some tip wear but if you wanted to leave it on 48+ hours and you weren't working with your hands it would likely be okay!

What do you think of this product, would you wear a polish that only promises to last 24 hours? We love this look and can't get over it. 

The Push & Shove set (including mini base coat) retails for the same price as a regular O.P.I. polishes! 

OPI has recently released two new additions to their Designer Series, both with a new finish called 'Granite' - a less sandy matte liquid sand! The two polishes are Pewter (a sparkly grey) and Lapis (a deep indigo shimmer). We are in love with the look of these polishes, and are super happy to review one of the shades, DS Lapis!

The texture of the polish really is a smoother version of the liquid sand, the matte effect really shows the glitter off in a cool way! This polish looks sort of like a sparkly jean, and we are in love... We might use this for a jean inspired nail art in the future. The swatch is two coats, and we have to say that we are super impressed with the formula. While the liquid sands can get a bit gritty, this formula applies super smooth - we definitely recommend! 

These polishes retail a bit above the price of a regular OPI, for $14.95. Let us know what you think of these new ones in the comments - happy polishing! 

Chalkboard Mani (and an awkward thumb)

We love this mani because its so simple! We only used two colours of polish, black and white, and some pastel sharpies to give our 'chalk' writings their colours. We started with two coats of black polish,  then used one coat of the OPI Matte Top Coat to make the 'chalkboard'. Then, using a nail art brush and some white polish we doodled on each nail and let the polish dry. Using some sharpies, we coloured in our doodles and then finished with a second coat of OPI Matte Top Coat.

The OPI Matte Top Coat really provided a smooth matte finish which we love! Simply, this has become our new favourite matte top coat because of how well it applies! Check out our instagram for a comparison to the Essie Matte About You Top Coat.

The full Chalkboard Mani with thumb art showing

What do you think of this mani? Would you rock chalkboard nails?

Check out OPI online, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Disclaimer: Some of these products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

This OPI Euro Centrale inspired mani contains 4 OPI Euro Centrale shades, including: 

• A periwinkle for the base colour, in You're Such a Budapest
• A deep blue-purple, for the triangle colour (and line details) in Eurso Euro
• The glitter, in Polka.com
• A turquoise for the circle within each triangle, in Can't Find My Czechbook

We also used striping tape and a nail art brush to place the glitter and draw fine lines for this look!

For this look, we started with the two coats of the base shade, a purple based periwinkle colour. We were really loving the blue tones in this collection, which is how this mani came about! We then placed striping tape where the outline of our triangle pattern would be. Using the deep blue-purple and a nail art brush we lined the inside of each triangle. Then, we used the nail art brush to place the glitter within this boundary in a rough triangle. Note: this look can be simplified by filling the whole triangle with glitter instead of tediously placing the glitter! Then we used the nail art brush to paint the centre of each triangle with a turquoise shade, and then filled the open space with some more pink glitter and fine details.

We love how this turned out! Glitter placement is definitely a time-consuming task, but we think it's worth it. What do you think?

We're excited to share with you swatches of the OPI Euro Centrale Collection! This collection has a mix of rich cremes, with a few metallics thrown in! We swatched 6 shades from this collection and are in love with the colour payoff! 

This is You're Such a Budapest, which is a periwinkle (although it photographed slightly more purple!) with a hint of shimmer. This is two coats without topcoat - one of our favourites!

This is our favourite shade from this collection - Eurso Euro. This royal blue has deep purple undertones and really packs a punch in terms of colour payoff. Two coats with no topcoat.

This is Can't Find My Czechbook, is a blue turquoise which continues the great colour payoff trend in this collect. Two coats without topcoat in the swatch below.

This shade is bright - almost blinding red-orange. You cannot miss My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours from a mile away. We loved how this looked and will definitely be adding this to our rotation! Two coats to opacity, no topcoat.

This shade turned out to be more of a jelly than the others when we applied thin enough layers - perhaps a jelly sandwich in our future? Suzi's Hungary Again is a cheery pink, we applied three layers with no topcoat for this swatch.

If we're one thing (other than nail polish addicts) it would be glitter addicts. This glitter is fab! Pink, turquoise and blue-purple small hex glitters mixed with fine glitters in the same colours make a great topper for any mani. We used two coats of Polka.com over Eurso Euro for this swatch.

Overall, we love how fun and bright this collection was. The collection includes a total of 12 polishes, which in addition to the ones above boast copper, rose, and gold metallic shades, as well as a milky creme (My Vampire is Buff) which we're currently on the hunt for. The collection also includes another, darker blue shade in I saw… U saw… We saw... Warsaw as well as a deep purple shade in Vant To Bite My Neck? We definitely recommend checking out the rich hues in this collection - and stay on the lookout for our nail art using some polishes from this collection in the coming days!

You can check out OPI online, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Disclaimer: These products were provided to us by the company/PR for our honest consideration and review.

What is the Can't-Miss List? It's a list of our top polishes that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

1. Nails Inc. Feathers Collection

Nails Inc. Feathers in Cornwall
photo from Nails Inc.

This line of polishes (which comes in four colours, including Cornwall Feathers, pictured) has small multicoloured rubberized strips in it, giving it a textured 'feathered' look when applied to nails. Textured nails are becoming more and more mainstream, and we're loving where this collection is taking it! Checking out this collection in stores is a must!

This collection is already released on the Nails Inc. website, however it has not shown up at our local Sephora yet. For fabulous swatches, we suggest the Polishaholic!






2. OPI inspired by Oz The Great and Powerful

OPI Oz collection in What Wizardry is This?
photo from OPI

This collection, set to be released in March 2013, is inspired by the upcoming movie Oz The Great and Powerful starring James Franco and Michelle Williams. It is undeniably hard to say no to a polish designed with James Franco in mind.

The collection includes 3 glitter shades (Which is Witch? has holographic glitter - our favourite!), three neutral pink creme shades, and one new Liquid Sand shade, pictured to the left. The Liquid Sand shade, a rich brown, is the polish inspired by James Franco - who plays the Wizard of Oz. Not only are we dying to see the movie, we are dying to check out these polishes! For swatches of this collection, we recommend Ommorphia.


3. Essie Madison Ave-hue

Madison Ave-hue polish, from the Madison
 Ave-hue collection, photo from Essie

Why do we love Essie so much? The rich colours have proven their great colour payoff, and we can never have enough pastels (Mint Candy Apple is an all time favourite Essie polish).

The Madison Ave-hue collection features six creme polishes, which includes two purple shades, a blue, grey, red, and the pink (pictured). Some of the photos do look rather similar to other Essie polishes to us, as was noted by The Sunday Girl. We have high hopes for these polishes and look forward to seeing them in stores around March 1st - though we have yet to see an official release date.






4. Deborah Lippmann Staccato Collection

The full Deborah Lippmann Staccato Collection
Image from Nail Candy 101

This collection boasts three shades, all of which contain small black glitter. Named the 'Staccato Collection', the line includes a pink, white, and pale green creme base.

This line is reminiscent of the Illamasqua Speckled collection, but the brighter pastels have really caught our eye. Set to be released in April 2013, we cannot wait to check these out!



What do you think of these upcoming collections? Did we miss something big? Let us know!

Spring has sprung! Or is that just our nails? Regardless, we're getting in to the season by sporting some bright and pastel stripes on our fingertips. For this look we used a variety of brands and colours, but the fun of this mani is mixing and matching! Gather a bunch of your favourite polishes and go with the flow. We used striping tape, available here, to create the straight edges for our lines - but you could just as easily use a thin paint brush available at your local craft store.

We started with OPI's Alpine Snow for our base, a classic white with great coverage. We used Seche Vite top coat and let that dry for about 10 minutes, to ensure the striping tape didn't strip the white polish. Then we applied striping tape at different intervals to achieve the bands of different thickness. We used a few of our favourite colours, examples above, to paint within the boundaries of the striping tape. Alternating the order of your colours on each nail makes this mani even more playful, we tried to keep each nail different! Then, after a few minutes drying time, we carefully peeled off the striping tape and finished with a second coat of top coat! Voila, stripes for spring!

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 With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we think it's the right time to get in the spirit and embrace the heart-filled nail art craze. To keep this mani fun and fresh, we used an OPI Liquid Sand Shade on the thumb and ring finger, and used a bold red with black and white accents on the remaining fingers. We love the results, and the added texture from OPI Liquid Sand makes this mani even more interesting to look at! If you can't get your hands on OPIs Liquid Sand collection, we recommend a glitter accent nail in a coordinating shade.

What you need:

• Red nail polish (we used Nails Inc. St. James, available here)
• White nail polish (we used China Glaze White on White, available here)
• Red Liquid Sand nail polish/Glitter nail polish (we used OPI Liquid Sand The Impossible, available here)
• Black nail polish (we used Essie Licorice, available here)
• Nail art brush (available, as a set including a dotter, here)
• Base coat and top coat (we used Essie First Base, available here, and Seche Vite top coat, available here)

What to do:

1. Paint all nails with a base coat.
2. Paint your accent nails (thumb and ring finger) with the red liquid sand (or glitter) polish, and all other fingers with a red polish. Do 2-3 coats as required.
3. Pinky: Use black polish on half of the nail, and paint the top half of 'LOVE' using a nail art brush. After that dries, use the (clean) nail art brush and white polish to connect the bottom half of 'LOVE'.
4. Middle Finger: Using the nail art brush and black polish, starting at the centre of the nail, make two dots and then drag the dots together, making a small heart. Repeat this until the nail is covered. Then, using a clean nail art brush, put white polish inside one of the hearts as an accent heart.
5. Pointer Finger: Using white nail polish and a nail art brush, draw many xo's all over the nail, and then draw a larger white heart in the centre of the nail (following the procedure in step 4). Then, using a clean nail art brush, fill in the white heart with black  polish.
6. Allow all to dry, and paint with a top coat! Note: for OPI Liquid Sand, do not topcoat, as the matte 'sand' effect will be lost.

Completed Valentine's Day Nails

Monarch Butterfly Wing Nails

The Monarch Wing Nails on a full hand.

Why we love these:

These nails reflect the beauty of mother nature, and are fun and easy to do! We love mixing this look up with different backgrounds colours (full silver glitter butterfly, anyone?) and even using it as an accent nail to liven a tired mani!

What you need:

• White Polish (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Black Polish (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Orange Polish (we used Misa Speed of Life, buy it here)
• Gold Shimmer Polish (we used Chanel Gold Fiction, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)
• Nail Art Brush and Dotter Tool (buy both in a set here here)
• Makeup Sponge (we used something similar to the Make Up For Ever HD Sponge, buy it here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint each nail with two coats of your gold shimmer polish, and allow to dry fully (this is the most important part!).
3. Soak your makeup sponge in water - so it doesn't absorb all of the polish - and paint your orange polish on to one side. Begin sponging at the tip of your nail, and move  3/4 of the way towards one upper corner, creating an ombre style fade of orange polish in to the gold shimmer polish.
4. Using your nail art brush and black polish, paint a diagonal black line from the upper top corner to the opposite bottom corner of your nail. Perpendicular to this black line, draw another black line near the top of your nail.
5. Use the nail art brush to draw two more black lines, dividing the bottom section of your nail in to 4 quarters. Fill in the tip of your nail creating rounded edges (see photo below for clarification).
6. Using the dotter tool and white polish, make some white spots on the black tip of your nail.
7.  After ensuring your nails are dry enough to top coat without running (allow about 5-10 minutes), paint the top coat over your whole nail and the tip of your nail and allow to dry!

Close up of a Monarch Wing nail.

Silver Glitter Ombre Nails

Completed Silver Glitter Ombre Nails.

Why we love these:

These nails are fun and easy, and require no extra-special nail art brushes or techniques! These nails are fun and the layered glitter adds a new dimension of sparkle. These nails are perfect for a night out, and can be done in any colour to match any outfit.

What you need:

• Grey Polish (we used OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts, buy it here)
• Fine Silver Glitter Polish (we used OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, buy it here)
• Medium Silver Glitter Polish (we used Nails Inc. Sloane Square, buy it here)
• Chunky Silver Glitter Polish (we used Sephora by OPI Glitter to the End!, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint two coats of the grey polish on to your nails, allowing some extra time to dry before starting the glitter polish so there is no running.
3. Take the finest glitter polish, remove all excess polish from the brush, and paint from the tip of your finger to 3/4 to the cuticle on each nail. (Note: The less polish you have on your brush, the more the glitter will appear to 'fade' out in to the next colour)
4. Using the medium glitter polish, remove excess polish from the brush, and paint from the tip of your nails to half  way to the cuticle on each nail.
5. Finally, using the chunky glitter, add some larger pieces of glitter to the tip area of each nail.
6.  Paint all nails with a top coat, ensuring to seal the tips of your nails, and allow to dry!

Flower Patterned Nails

Why we love these:

These nails are super simple, and classic! They don't require a high skill level or any specific tools, and the colours can be varied endlessly. For a simple, chic design that is easy to paint and wear - this is the answer!

What you need:

• Black Polish (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• White Polish (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Yellow Polish (we used Misa Hanging With the Girls, buy it here)
• Silver Glitter Polish (we used China Glaze Glistening Snow, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with a base coat.
2. Paint two coats of a high shine black polish (navy blue works well too!) on each nail.
3. Using the brush attached to your white nail polish lid (no separate brush required, although it may be helpful for smaller flowers) make 5 dots in a circle, and drag inward to the centre of your circle. Repeat these circles on each as many times as you can fit - we averaged about 3 flowers a nail. For a less uniform look, vary sizes of each circle. 
4. On top of the white areas, use a sliver/white glitter. This step can be omitted for a more plain floral pattern.
5. Using yellow polish, make a small dot in the center of your white 'petals', completing your flowers.
6.  After ensuring your nails are dry, paint a layer of top coat (dont miss your tips!) and allow your nails to fully dry!

Nautical Heart Nails

Completed Nautical Heart Nails.

Why we love them:

We love the look of these striped heart nails! If you like the look of striped nails why not play with it and add this fun little heart in the corner? :)

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set here)
• White (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Red (we used Nails Inc. The Hurlingham, buy it here)
• Base Coat and Top Coat (we used Essie, buy the top coat here, and base coat here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint all nails white. Two coats may be required.
3. With the nail art brush, paint two or three thick black lines depending on how long your nail is. Two coats may be required.
4. With the Dotter Pen, dot and shape a red heart on the bottom corner of your nail, left or right is up to you (opposite on either hand looks nice).
5. Paint on top coat after ensuring your nails are dry, and allow to dry!

Single Nautical Heart Nail.

Glam Nails

The completed Glam Nails.

Why we love them:

These nails incorporate everything we love about nail art! The zig zag accent nail adds a funky twist to the nude and glitter trend - and of course we always love a full glitter nail! The matte top coat adds an effect we love, but this design can also be achieved with a regular top coat.

What you need:

• Nail Art Brush (buy it in a set here)
• White (we used OPI Alpine Snow, buy it here)
• Black (we used Essie Licorice, buy it here)
• Nude (we used Nails Inc. Porchester Square, buy it here)
• Glitter (we used Nails Inc. Sloane Square, buy it here)
• Base Coat (we used Essie, base coat here)
• Matte Top Coat (we used Nails Inc.Westminster Bridge, buy it here)

What to do:

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Paint each nail with base coat.
2. Paint your thumb with glitter polish, and your index, middle, and pinky fingers with nude polish. Paint your ring finger with white polish. Two coats may be required.
3. With the nail art brush, start by painting two full triangles in black polish (starting the bottoms at the middle of your nail) on the tips of your nails. Add half triangles on the edges if there is still room left over.
4. With the nail art brush again, continue the zig zag about a 1/3 cm above the top of the black triangles. Continue this pattern until you reach the cuticle of your nail.
5. Paint on the matte top coat after ensuring your nails are dry (so there is no running!), and allow to dry! Note: Two coats of matte top coat both lasts longer, and makes a more matte effect on your nails!

Sparkle accent nail.

Black and white missoni accent nail.