Friday, September 3, 2010

Nicole by Opi, Pitch-Black Glimmer Nail Polish

I've been in major love with Nicole by Opi nail polishes these past few months. Whenever browsing my local Target I pick up a new color just about every visit. My last visit was no exception.

I spotted Pitch-Black Glimmer sparkling like a night fantasy on the shelf, and immediately knew I had to have it. The base color of the polish was black, but the shimmer residing within the base is what initially caught my eye. There are beautiful and very obvious micro flecks of silver glitter, but combined within this silver glitter I could spot beautiful eye catching hologram glitter flecks that gave off a nice shimmer of rainbow with every subtle movement of the eye.
In the bottle the color looked fantastic, and knowing from my own past experiences with Nicole by Opi, odds were it would look just as lovely on my nails as it did in its bottle.
My Use:

I have to say, Pitch-Black Glimmer is probably the very first nail polish I encountered by Opi that I was not all too fond of once I got around to using it.
I had to paint on 3 coats of the polish for there to be a full color coverage. Usually 1 coat is all I ever need when it comes to Nicole by Opi. Pitch-Black Glimmer however called for 3 coats, and still the cover was very lacking.
On the nails, the color also does not look as shiny and lovely as it does in the bottle. The black and silver coloring is basically all that shines through. The holographic rainbow like flecks of glitter barely shine at all.

All in all, I am not too happy with this particular color. Getting it off of my nails was a difficult task as well. The nail polish remover had a rough time removing the glitter from my nails, which was a pain in the butt.
Overall:
I do not care for this one, I would have liked the hologram shimmer to show up a lot more than it did. I will continue to by Opi products however, because this is just one bad egg in a bunch of other colors that look wonderful.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure: Silver Lining Nail Polish

Initially I was on the hunt for a nail polish color called Hidden Treasures by Sally Hansen. It belongs to the Complete Salon Manicure collection, and after seeing numerous photos online I fell in love with it. I guess when they said it was hard to come by, they truly meant it.

I prowled the isles at Rite Aide, and sadly was not able to find it. I did not walk away empty handed though, as another color in the collection sparkled in my eyes. It was called Silver Lining, and in the stores bright lighting the color looked like a beautiful holographic blue, purple pastel shimmer. The base of course was a sparkling, and alluring silver color.

Now I have done silver before, and frankly never liked it all too much on my nails. However the hologram looking appeal in the bottle called to me. I figured if it looked bad alone, I could always use a coat or 2 for a top layer on a darker color, for a different finish.

Mostly it reminded me a lot of Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms, which released years and years ago. Yet they are still popular as people are actively seeking them online.

My Use:

When I first twisted the cap off and removed the brush, I was happy to see that they used the same brushes in the Quick Dri collection. The brush is a wide thin brush which makes swooping the polish on in one quick swipe a heck of a lot more fool proof.

I dipped the brush in, and went ahead and began to paint my nails. The color went on smoothly and nicely, no clumps or dried polish to ruin the flawless cover.

The color in fact was flawless. It left behind a nice light and delicate touch of silver sparkling lights. My finger nails looked shiny, and as sleek as ice, but I wanted 1 more coat to see if I could really amp up the sparking shimmer.

The polish however dries a little bit slower than what I am used to. Opi in particular has some really quick drying polishes.

Once the color dried I added yet another coat of Silver Lining nail polish. It did in fact intensify the sparkling glimmer.

As the polish dried completely my nails were left looking phenomenal. The shimmer however in poor lighting does not show off quite as vividly in bright lights. In fact, in less lit rooms the Silver Lining color looked to be nothing more than metallic silver.

Seeing that we do not have high beam lights in every room in our home, the polish looked rather dull and lackluster. Out in the sin though and these babies shine and sparkle better than Edward in Twilight.

Overall:

I like this color. I would have liked if the sparkling effect was good in poor lighting areas though. Seeing that I am not outside too often during the day, I am a little disappointed. Any silver metallic nail polish could have delivered the same results. Seeing that this color sells for just shy of $8.00, for me, it is just not worth that much.