Polishes -OPI - Grand Central Carnation 
mudpie1964 3/30/2011 7:07:00 PM
OPI's Grand Central Carnation is a very warm-toned rosy medium berry pink polish with a subtle silver shimmer. My fair complexion with slight yellow undertones tends to give this polish a slightly peachy-rose tone which is not flattering to me. The silver shimmer shows up very well in the bottle but does not translate quite as well to the nails. Application was extremely good with total opacity at two coats - I could have probably gotten away with one if I'd used a thicker coat. Drying time was very quick and wear time was four days (which was when I took it off) with no chips or crazing. All in all, I don't find this color flattering on me and I don't really care for it so I will not be buying it again.
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Polishes -Rescue Beauty Lounge - -- Scrangie
mudpie1964 3/30/2011 6:24:00 PM
Rescue Beauty Lounge's Scrangie is a medium purple polish with a heavy teal green/blue iridescent shimmer. The application on this was absolutely horrible with streaking and bald patches on the first and second coats but by the third everything was opaque and smooth. The drying time was average but it did seem to try to a semi-dull finish. The color on this polish is stunning outdoors and under fluorescent lighting when you can see the teal shimmer really pop; however, under ambient indoor lighting the green blends with the purple and makes the color very muddy and the iridescence is basically indescernible. For the price of this polish ($25.50 after shipping) I am highly unimpressed because of the application problems and the semi-dull finish. (It is shiny after a topcoat but not so much before.) Although this color is unique in my collection, I would not buy it again.
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Polishes -China Glaze - Tickle My Triangle
mudpie1964 3/20/2011 5:44:00 PM
China Glaze's Tickle My Triangle is from the Kaleidoscope Collection and is a medium pink/light fuschia very blingy scatter holographic polish. The holographic particles are multicolored and larger than the OPI Designer Series holos and more sparkly. Like the OPI, the polish goes on smooth as silk and not like a glitter. Application was a little on the iffy side with bald patches if you have to go over any area more than once; however, two coats equaled bottle color and total opacity. Drying time was very quick and wear time was a week with Seche Vite and no chips. This one is definitely a keeper and I would definitely buy it again.
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Polishes -Orly - Royal Velvet
mudpie1964 3/17/2011 4:50:00 PM
Orly's Royal Velvet is a shimmery dark purple polish with a very heavy blue flash/duochrome effect. In some lights it's blue and in others dark violet. There is also very slight dark pink shimmer that is hardly visible; however, what this shimmer does is add a not-so-flattering bruised look around the cuticle area on my light complexion with slight yellow undertones. This bruised effect is not visible all the time, just in certain lighting. The application on this was, IMO, horrible. The consistency of the polish was very gloopy and sticky and remained so even after adding quite a bit of thinner. The first coat was extremely streaky and had a muddy purple tone. The second coat evened out the streaking; however, I found that if I needed to go over any area more than once, I ended up with bald patches. Three coats completely evened out this polish and it dried perfectly. All in all, for the most part I really like this color but due to the application and formula issues and because it leans more toward blue than purple, I won't be buying this one again.
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Polishes -China Glaze - Draped in Velvet
mudpie1964 3/13/2011 2:28:00 PM
China Glaze's Draped in Velvet is a rich medium-dark plum/magenta shimmery polish. In the bottle it looks like there are microparticles of pink, silver, and blue that do not translate to the nail as glitter but do give it depth, warmth, and shimmer. Application was perfectly smooth and opaque in two coats (one could probably even get away with one coat). Drying timed seemed a little slower than usual (about eight minutes between coats) but not unbearably so. The finish was like glass even without SV but blindingly so with Seche. Wear time was five to six days with Seche Vite over top with no chips. This is a beautiful winter shade of plum that I would definitely buy again.
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Top/Base Coats -Nubar - Diamont Top Coat
mudpie1964 3/13/2011 2:11:00 PM
Nubar's Diamont is supposed to be a quick-dry top coat that rivals Seche Vite and Poshe. However, this did not dry quickly (15 minutes and still tacky) and an hour later was still dentable. I also ended up with bubbling on most of my nails with this top coat and sheet marks. The only upside is that it does give a thick, glass-like finish and there was no shrinkage (which occurs often with SV and Poshe). In my opinion, this is no better than a standard topcoat in that it will dry just as slowly (if not slower - I've had Sally Hansen t/c's dry quicker) so I will not be buying this again. EDIT: I don't know what happened to this topcoat but four hours after using it, it started to get dull. I will definitely NOT be using this again.
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Polishes -Nubar - Prize
mudpie1964 2/4/2011 2:04:00 PM
Nubar Prize is a medium redded pink-based polish with multicolored scattered holographic glitter. This looks a little more red in the bottle than it does on the nail. The application was opaque in two coats but this does dry very dull and gritty so a couple of layers of thick topcoat are a must in order to make the glitter "pop" and smooth out the roughness. Even with two coats of topcoat and one of Seche Vite it was still bumpy. Drying time was very quick at about four minutes between coats. Wear time, however, was not as good as some other Nubars I have tried. I had polish chipping off the tips in chunks at three days. (And this was with two coats of top coat and another coat of Seche Vite as well.) If you love glitter polish this is a must for your collection.
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Polishes -OPI - Russian to a Party
mudpie1964 2/1/2011 3:57:00 PM
OPI's Russian to a Party is a warm browned-red polish with a highly-shiny, shimmery finish. In the bottle, one would think there would be a gold element to this polish as it seems to have a gold shimmer; however, this does not translate to the nail. The gold microshimmer just seems to add a little bit of extra depth and warmth to this polish. It's a perfect fall shade of red. On my fair skin with slight yellow undertones this color is almost too brown. For reference, it's in the same color-tone family as Romeo and Joliet and Changing of the Garnet. Romeo and Joliet is very brown and Changing of the Garnet is very red. Russian to a Party sits in between both of these by being more brown than red but not actually brown (it's a "browned red"). Application was very streaky on the first coat and it actually took three coats for total evenness, bottle color, and total opacity. The finish was highly shiny and glossy even without a top-coat (but I added one anyway). Dry time was about three minutes in between coats (old formula OPI) and rock hard in 15 minutes with Seche Vite. While I like this color and it is very pretty, it's a little more brown than I would like; hence, I wouldn't buy it again.
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Polishes -Clarins - Nail Colour #230
mudpie1964 1/18/2011 8:59:00 AM
Clarins #230 has now entered the world of unicorns, rainbows, and leprechauns - unbelievable, hard to find, and absolutely magical! In the bottle the colors range from blue to purple to plum to gold to amber to red - you name it, it's in there! The microfine glitter changes to all these different colors depending on lighting and bottle angle. On the nail the base color is basically either a jelly blued-purple or a jelly redded-plum depending on lighting and angle. It's a very sheer jelly polish and will require upwards of four to five coats to get bottle color. In indoor ambient lighting you're going to see basically a medium to dark plum with red microfine sparkling or, at a different angle, a dark purple with gold/amber microfine sparkling. In outdoor lighting is where this polish really pops and all of the above rainbow colors play on the nail depending on which way you hold your hand. Application was very smooth and easy; however, the formula is water thin and one has to be slightly careful not to load the brush. I found the brush to be a little wonky and hard to work with - it seemed to have more or fatter bristles than the average nail polish brush and would not fan as easily as other brushes I've used. Again, because of the sheerness, if this isn't layered over another polish, it will take at least 4 coats to get bottle color. Drying time seemed to be very quick to the touch at five minutes between coats; however, with all these coats it was still squishy even with Seche Vite after 30 minutes. (As a side note, with this many coats SV will cause shrinkage or what looks like instant tip wear.) Wear time was very good at one week with no chips, cracks, or crazing. Now for the serious downside - this color is no longer in production and basically cannot be found. If you do find one the price is going to be atrocious!! Is it worth it? It depends on whether you like plum/purple/multichromatic polish. As for my rating, I knocked off a lippie because of the sheerness of the polish. I also indicated that I would buy this again but that would ONLY be if it came back into production and I didn't have to pay the out-of-this-world prices now being asked for this color. I only ever indicate that I wouldn't buy a color again if I really don't like it.
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Polishes -China Glaze - Anklets of Amethyst
mudpie1964 1/17/2011 3:47:00 PM
China Glaze's Anklets of Amethysts is a sparkly semi-foil finish medium plum/purple/pink polish. (After three coats it's the exact color of an amethyst stone.) This could be considered the lighter but very slightly more foil little sister of FingerPaints Decked with Dazzle. Anklets of Amethysts has a shimmery foil finish with super-fine microglitter in silver, pink, lavender, and some light blue. The finish was very smooth and in no way gritty. This is a very sparkly polish but, like DWD, in a grown-up way. The application was a little streaky but by three coats it was even. However, I did still have very, very slight visible nail and could have gone to a fourth coat. The drying time was very slow between coats but I did use Seche Vite over everything and it was rock hard 30 minutes later. I would definitely buy this one again. EDIT: Removal is slightly difficult because of the microfine glitter but not as bad as regular glitters.
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Polishes -China Glaze - Endurance
mudpie1964 1/10/2011 4:35:00 PM
China Glaze's Endurance was part of the 2010 Fight Like a Woman Breast Cancer Awareness line of three different pink polishes. It is a bright (but not too bright) glass-fleck, highly reflective, sparkly, semi-semi foil finish fuchsia polish. This has the same finish as Tequila Toes but this one is pink. The microfine particles of silver, pink, and fuchsia give this a mirror-like finish. Application was very smooth with no streaks or bald patches but it did take three coats for total opacity. Drying time was very quick and rock hard in 20 minutes with Seche Vite. Wear time was very good at a six days with no chips or crazing. I would definitely buy this one again.
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Polishes -China Glaze - Restless
mudpie1964 1/3/2011 4:44:00 AM
China Glaze's Restless is a semi-sheer jelly-like sparkly light red/pink polish. This color could be the red version of Zoya's Lindsay. On my pale skin with slight yellow undertones, there was more red than pink in this polish but it's definitely a red leaning toward pink. The application was like butter; however, I knocked off 1 lippie because it took five coats to achieve bottle color and near-total opacity. Even at five coats I still had visible nail line. The finish is very, very shiny and reflective. The microfine silver and pink glitter give it an almost mirror-like finish. It's not chunky at all, was very smooth, and dried quickly - five minutes between coats. Even with this many coats it was not thick at all and with SV was rock hard in half an hour. I would definitely buy this one again.
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Polishes -OPI - can't you sea
mudpie1964 12/27/2010 5:58:00 AM
OPI's Can't You Sea is basically a top coat and even that is questionable IMO. It's way too sheer on it's own to be used as a base color unless you only want a "hint" of color on your nails. In the bottle this looks to be a beautiful turqoise polish with multicolored microflecks. However, once on the nail there is nothing but a bit of sparkle. At four coats there is a bit of blue tint to the nail with a little more sparkle. Applied over any other color does no more than add "some" glitteriness to any polish. I would put this one in the same category as OPI's Rent, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Mama Mia - it's just way too sheer to do much of anything alone or as a topcoat. Two thumbs down and I will not be buying this one again.
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Polishes -OPI - The Color to Watch
mudpie1964 12/27/2010 5:53:00 AM
OPI's The Color to Watch was from the 2009 Swiss Collection and is a cool-toned shimmery-leaning-toward-frosty-metallic grey'd lilac polish with flashes of blue in certain lighting. The grey in this polish gives it a slightly muddy/muddled undertone that does not work well with my pale skin with very light yellow tones. Lavender is not a color I can wear well because of my warm-toned skin and this one just did not work. Also, it has that frosty (without brush strokes) almost metallic finish that I'm not a big fan of. The application was a little streaky on the first coat and it took four coats to total opacity. I did have a problem with bubbling on this one which I usually don't get with too many OPIs. All in all, I'm not loving this, don't think it will be on my nails long enough to judge wear time, and will not be repurchasing.
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Polishes -OPI - Smitten With Mittens
mudpie1964 12/22/2010 8:44:00 AM
OPI's Smitten with Mittens was from the 2009 holiday collection and is a glowy/sparkly dark red (but not vamp) polish. This is the perfect red color for those wanting something a little darker than the traditional Christimas ribbon red. The microglitter in this polish makes it look like there is a warm cozy fire inside the polish. While the glitter in the bottle looks heavily gold, on the nail I see more red and just "glowy" glitter. Application was perfectly opaque in two coats. Wear time was a full week with no chipping (although I did have very minor tip wear at four days from typing). This polish is now HTF and expensive so if you love it and can find it I'd definitely recommend it. I also would DEFINITELY buy this one again. It has become my Holy Grail holiday red.
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