Nails Inc. Gel Effect - Round 2!

Happy Friday! Today I have my second attempt at Nails Inc.'s Gel Effect formula. My last attempt wasn't the greatest.

New Oxford Street is a dusty, greyed out purple creme, the colour is really great. The formula and application of the polish was awesome. It is very opaque and although I used two coats, one thick coat probably would have been fine.

Since when I previously wore a Nails Inc. Gel Effect shade it did not last very long on me I decided to wrap the tips of my nail to see if it would help the polish last longer. I was also sure to swipe each nail bed with some polish remover before applying my base. Unfortunately, by day two... again... I started to get some chipping. The first chip was on my pinky finger nail, which is odd, because I usually start to chip on my thumbnails or pointer fingers.

I want to blame it on cooking, you washing, preparation and cleanup, but I have been able to do this with other polishes without this kind of wear to my polish. I was really disappointed that this polish started chipping so early again. It's not like all my nails chipped at once, but once a few start to show signs of wear, I am usually ready to move on to another polish.

I am seriously considering returning the full set because I believe that they have falsely advertised their product as a "gel" equivalent, which in my mind is long lasting and durable, when in fact my regular nail polish lasts longer on average.

Oh, It's Real Alright!

Today I have a quick and easy mani refresh with one of my newly acquired (and discontinued) Sephora by OPI top coats. Surprisingly I almost left this polish behind, and it's the first once I choose to wear! Of course, right? My base is China Glaze Kinetic Candy, a lovely, dusty blue pastel. And the topper of choice is Sephora by OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat.

In my photos below I used two coats of the fold flakie top coat, which is made up of real gold fragments. You may also notice that it is very subtle, the gold pieces are very tiny for the most part. I really like the contrast between the soft, diluted blue and bright shiny gold. I''m not really a huge fan of yellow gold, but in small amounts, it works!

I do wish the gold flakies were a bit more dense so that I could achieve the look of two coats in one. Other than that, I am really a fan of this polish. That means a lot considering I had intentions of gifting or selling this polish. Super happy I purchased it an tried it out :) That being said, I would probably not pick it up if it was sold at original price due to the low density of gold pieces per coat of polish.

Candy!!!

I am so happy that the cold winter temperature is finally fading away and making way for some mild, early spring weather. It's not perfect and a little bit rainy, but at this point in the year anything is better than snow! I am also finally in the mood for some more spring inspired polish choices, todays being China Glaze Kinetic Candy.

This soft pastel blue creme has a dusty quality to it, making it appear more muted. My photos show it being a bit brighter than it is in real life. I used two coats for full opacity and the polish dried quickly. I want to say that this could be a one coater, but the formula in my bottle may be a bit thicker than most since it leaked a wee bit in transportation to me.

I have since added thinner and cleaned up as much as I possibly can along the rim of the bottle and inside of the handle to ensure that once the bottle is closed there is a good seal. I would say, generally speaking, two coats of this polish is your best bet. If you own this polish I'd like to know what you think, was it thick for you as well?

As you my or may not be able to tell, I chopped down my nails yet again! I swear, this has got to be the third time now within a few months. My nails are just to weak and brittle, not good. I need to start taking my Biotin again to help them along. I actually stopped wearing polish for a good 3-4 days before painting them again with Kinetic Candy and they only got worse unfortunately. No polish to hide behind. I am still blaming the longer than normal cold weather for this,but I know they will grow back longer and stronger than before, I just have to be patient.

Panda-monium!

This is one of the very first OPI polishes I had ever purchased! It is apart if the Hong Kong collection which was the latest one out at the time. When I first laid eyes on it I knew it was something unique, back then I didn't have a huge collection of polish but this shade was really different for me. I remember it being hard for me to find shades of creme polishes at the time and Panda-monium Pink was definitely interesting.

In the beauty supply lighting it looked to be a light pastel lavender, when I got home it looked to be pink! This is one of those pinky-purpley shades that is slightly blue based and appears to shift in shade depending on the light. Add on top of that that it is slightly dusty :) At the time I was disappointed that it leaned more pink on me, but I truly do love this shade, it is so mod and chic! The perfect pastel for spring.

I only needed two coats for full opacity. I have worn this polish in the past and remember having issues with application, but it may have been due to my initial inexperience. The formula may have also thickened up the slightly, so I added a few drops of thinner for some slight touch ups to one or two nails that got bumped to a little streaky.

Planks a Lot

I picked up this dusty purple late last year apart of OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection. Planks a Lot is a light, dusty purple that is just so perfect in application. I don't think I have worn an OPI polish in while and it was just a dream to apply. It makes me want to wear only OPI polishes from now on! lol

with flash

Shown on my newly trimmed nails is two coats and a top coat of Seche Vite. I don't know much more to say about this polish, but it is just lovely :)

lamp light no flash

Smoke and Mirrors

Zoya's Neeka was apart of the 2011 fall collection and ever since I saw swatches for it, I've had a couple that i've been lusting over. Unfortunate for me, Zoya's are not widely available in Canada the only place I seem to find them is Trade Secrets. They usually cost $9.99, but I picked this lovely shade up for only $5.99. I almost thought it was a mistake or something because it was the only one in the sale bin from that collection, too bad there weren't anymore.

I would describe this polish as a deep dusty purple with gold shimmery flakes. The base reminds me of Revlon's Perplexed without the violet shimmer.

Believe it or not this is only 1 coat! All of the Zoya's I own have great coverage and formula. This one was also super pigmented. Even though I applied a thicker coat for full coverage I did not get any bubbling :)

Don't have too much more to say about this one, I didn't wear it with a top coat, which I would recommend, glossy is always better. But even without the top coat and 1 coat of polish it wore very well.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one... Nail art? Stamping? Crackle? What colour would even work with this shade, it already has so much going on.

Guess you'll have to wait and see tomorrow!