Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI Push and Shove

Hello!

Today I have OPI Push and Shove! Push and Shove is a super-metallic silver polish. It was from the Gwen Stefani Collection, and it comes with a special base coat called Lay Down That Base. Even with using that base coat, this polish only lasts about 24 hours.

OPI Push and Shove. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Lay Down That Base, two coats of Push and Shove, and one coat of Seche Vite (I think... I wore this sometime in March and didn't take notes...). I found this to be fairly easy to work with, but you do need to be careful with brush strokes.

OPI Push and Shove. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

The effect is crazy-metallic! It's almost mirror-like in that I can see blurry reflections in my nails. The trade-off for the awesome finish, however, is the wear time. This will start showing tipwear surprisingly soon, and in a day, be flaking off almost like the silver stuff on a scratch-off.

OPI Push and Shove. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I purchased my bottle on clearance at Sally Beauty, where I still saw a few bottles left on the clearance shelf about a week ago. It's a novelty polish, and definitely not for everyone, but if you're at all interested in it, I think you can probably still find it. I'm going to guess that this one might become one of those coveted, hard-to-find polishes some day.

OPI Push and Shove. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Trixie

Hello!

Today I have the fantastic Zoya Trixie swatched up for you!

Zoya Trixie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Trixie is a silver, metallic foil -- it looks like liquid metal! It is very bright and shiny. It's amazing!

Zoya Trixie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For swatches today, I've used a base coat of Seche Clear, one coat of Trixie, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This is wonderfully pigmented and covered perfectly with one coat.

Zoya Trixie. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I purchased this super polish directly from Zoya's website. They often run flash sales and give promo codes, and the best way to catch those is to follow their Facebook page.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI The World Is Not Enough

Hello!

I have OPI's The World Is Not Enough on today!

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Indoors, artificial light, no flash. Not duochrome-y. Ignore that pinky center.. it's my silly red camera reflecting in the metallic hotness that is this polish.

The World Is Not Enough is a gunmetal shimmer polish with added copper, pink, and silver flecks. The shimmer is so fine that it's hard to focus on and pick out individual pieces. Overall, this polish is beautiful and kind of mysterious. To me, it looks like what magic potions should be if they existed!

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of The World Is Not Enough, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish has a thin formula but it applied easily.

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This polish is mesmerizing. It is difficult to photograph. These pictures do not do it justice. You need to see it in person. The gunmetal shine is punctuated by pink and copper sparkles in the sun. It's very metallic and looks like a foil.

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I found this polish at a local salon. It's from last fall's James Bond Collection, and was on clearance when I purchased it. So, happy dusty hunting if you haven't found it and want it yet!

OPI The World Is Not Enough. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Orly Rage

Hello hello!

A quickie post to show you one of my most reached for polishes. This is Orly Rage.

Orly Rage. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Rage is a fantastic rose gold foil. I use this a lot. It's great for stamping, but it's an interesting neutral, too. I use this as a base for nail art and glitter often. The formula is great. It is well-pigmented--a one-coater.

Orly Rage. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats of Rage (just to be sure I covered everything), and  one coat of Seche Vite. The great thing about this one is that it is a metallic that doesn't show brushstrokes. It will, however, show imperfections in the nail.

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This one is still widely available. I've seen it Sally Beauty and CVS recently.

Orly Rage. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Zoya Penny

Hello again!! And happy fall! The weather has finally turned cooler out here on the east coast, and I couldn't be happier about that!

Zoya Penny. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

It's my favorite time of year, and today we have the very autumnal, Zoya Penny from the Truth Collection!

Zoya Penny. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Penny is a gorgeous orange-leaning, copper metallic polish. This is my 'Fall-in-a-Bottle' shade.

Zoya Penny. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches up to this point today are a basecoat of Sally Hansen Nail Protix, two of Penny, and a topcoat of Orly Sec n' Dry. The formula on this is nice. As to be expected of a metallic, this one shows brushstrokes, but they are not very apparent. Still, I like my metallic polishes to be even and brushstroke free, so I have found a solution! Using a make-up sponge to dab on a final, light coat of a metallic polish will eliminate the brushstrokes. I love taking the time to do this little extra step because it also has the great side-effect of bringing out the sparkle and shimmer in a polish as well. See what it did to the China Glaze Lusterchromes here. Here is Penny after I sponged a final light coat and added another layer of topcoat over the original swatch.

Zoya Penny (final coat of polish dabbed on with a make-up sponge). Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

And outdoors--see how it brings out the sparkles?! I love that!

Zoya Penny (final coat of polish dabbed on). Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Zoya Penny (final coat of polish dabbed on). Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

As I've said before: I bought my bottle from Zoya's website. They offer a lot of great deals, especially if you're plugged into their social networking, so like them on Facebook! They also offer deals to their existing customers (those who have an account set up at their website) on occasion. If you don't have an account and want one, you're welcome to use this link to make a new account. It's my "Share the Love" link, which if you do sign up by using it, I'll get points to use towards more deals on polish and, as a first time customer, you'll get a free bottle of polish when you order! Awesome! My link takes you to the seasonal collections page; you can create a new account by using the link at the top of that page that says "Create An Account". Once your account is set up, if you go to "My Account" then click "My Coupon Codes" you'll see the code for a free bottle of polish. I believe you have to order more items to use it, so it's not a total freebie.

Zoya Penny (dabbing method not used here). Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^