Friday, October 21, 2011

OPI Excuse Moi

For the holidays, OPI has released a 12 piece collection featuring a collaboration with The Muppets.  The collection is divided into 6 glitters and 6 non-glitters.  Although The Muppets have a special place in my heart, as I grew up watching them, this collection didn't wow me beyond my initial "squeeeee MUPPETS!" reaction.  The non-glitter polish shades didn't wow me at all or weren't my thing.  Most of the fushia/red shades I had something similar in my stash.  The glitters fascinated me, but they are more like glitter toppers than stand alone shades.  The only one I was interested in purchasing was Excuse Moi because it was the most stand alone glitter shade in the lot.

I applied two coats over a base and topped it with Seche Vite.  The consistency of the polish is pretty thick and gel-like.  You have to move kinda quick because it does dry fairly quickly.  It dries down gritty, so I suggest applying a top coat.  A top coat will also give the polish a shinier finish.  Before the top coat, I thought the polish looked a little dull despite it's glittery goodness.  And glittery Excuse Moi is.  It really sparkles and shines in pretty much any light.  It's definitely a fun polish to wear and totally reminds me of the holidays.  

When it came to removal, this one was a female dog of a job to clean up.  I highly suggest soaking a cotton ball or pad with remover and just placing it on top of your nail to let some of the polish dissolve before you get to scrubbing.  Some degree of scrubbing will be inevitable.  No matter how well you clean up, I bet you will find some glitter still lurking for a day or two to come.

Under various indoor lighting:




While OPI's Excuse Moi is a pretty and fun polish, I don't think I will be wearing this more than a couple times over the holiday season.  The clean up alone causes enough dread in me to skip and choose another polish instead.  But if you like glitter, sparkle, and flashy nails and the clean up is worth it to you, check this one out.  It's overall a fun one to have in your stash.

Mani of the Moment

Chanel Paradoxal, oh how I love thee. Paradoxal was the "it" color of fall 2010, but it will be my fall shade for many seasons to come. Not only is the color so unique and ever changing in the light, the formula applies like a dream. Opaque in two costs and dries to a shiny finish. I topped mine with Seche Vite anyway.  The only negative to this polish is that it is very difficult to capture it in photos.  The photos don't do it justice.  It's so much prettier in real life.

Natural light

Direct sunlight

Because it was a limited edition from last season and it was mostly sold out then, this polish will probably be hard to hunt down if you still want it.  However, there are a few Chanel counters that secretly still have a bottle or two in stock if you ask.  

Sunday, October 16, 2011

A Fresh Start

A new blog, a new start.

Here's to more frequent posts and better blogging.