Wednesday 17 July 2013

Miss Conduct

Miss Conduct by Orly - Indirect Natural Light
Miss Conduct by Orly - Indirect Natural Light
Today's NOTD is an incredible pink holo by Orly, that's amusingly called 'Miss Conduct'.   This was from the Naughty or Nice Holiday 2012 collection and I picked up a set of three in TK Maxx for the bargain-alicious price of £15.  Holo polishes are perfect for summer although ironically the sun wasn't shining when I took these swatches so you've got indirect natural light and artificial light.
Miss Conduct by Orly - Artificial Light
Miss Conduct by Orly - Artificial Light
This was my first experience of an Orly polish and I'm really impressed - formula was fantastic, smooth as butter and great opacity.  Pictured here with two coats, plus nail envy for undies and SV to top.  This had a really smooth glossy finish all on it's own, but I always use Seche regardless because of the extra wear time it gives me and the quick dry so I can get on with stuff after I paint my nails.
Miss Conduct by Orly - Artificial Light
Miss Conduct by Orly - Artificial Light
On a nail nerdy point, I think Orly have the most perfect bottle/brush combo I've come across.  The big rubber grip top is genius and really easy to handle (Chanel, with your stupid fiddly short handles, I'm lookin' at choo!).  Now if they would just adopt the OPI pro-wide bristles it would be a match made in heaven.

I absolutely love this polish.  It's the perfect shade of pink - a sort of crushed raspberry - that is really sophisticated.  There's always a danger with pink sparkly polish of looking tacky - as a rule of thumb, if Barbie would wear it then I avoid it like the plague.  This is jam packed with scattered holo goodness; darker yummy raspberry particles and bright rainbow coloured bursts of sparkle from teeny holo particles.  In the sun this is like a pink disco on your nails.

This polish is all kinds of awesome, highly recommended.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Wimbledon Glam Slam


OPI Glam Slam Wimbledon set - Direct Sunlight
OPI Glam Slam Wimbledon set - Direct Sunlight
In 2011 Tennis Champion Serena Williams teamed up with OPI to produce a series of two-polish sets, with one set released to coincide with each Grand Slam tournament of that year.  From this "Glam Slam" collection this is the Wimbledon set.  My birthday is really close to Wimbledon, and I love the colour purple, so this set was one of my birthday treats in 2011.  I've worn it for every Wimbledon since!  It's gorgeous....
The set consists of a super sparkly purple shade - "Grape, Set and Match" and a sparkly holo glitter topper called "Servin' Up Sparkle" which contains a mix of tiny circular glitters and larger hex pieces.  The formula on both is really good -  "Grape, Set and Match" has that slightly gritty, dry textured finish that's typical of shades with this amount of sparkle but it goes on really smoothly and dry time is good.  The glitter topcoat is fantastic - really dense, easy to apply, and no fishing for big particles required.

 

OPI Glam Slam Wimbledon set - Artificial Light
OPI Glam Slam Wimbledon set - Artificial Light
Shown here I'm wearing two coats of "Grape...", one coat of "Servin'...", with one coat each of Nail Envy base and Seche Vite on top.


OPI Glam Slam Wimbledon set - Indirect Sunlight
OPI Glam Slam Wimbledon set - Indirect Sunlight
This is such a fun combination, and great to use individually too.  I find them pretty durable for sparkly polishes...I can easily get through the whole second week of Wimbledon before I feel the need to change it :)

If you're watching the tennis, enjoy! Here's hoping it's Andy's year.....(sparkly fingers crossed)

[for all swatches, click to embiggen]....