OPI - Houston We Have A Purple

I believe this is the second to last jelly polish from the OPI Texas Collection (2011) that I have yet to post about... I know, I know, this is taking me ages :)

This particular polish happens to be my favourite, not only from the collection, but also one of my favourite polishes in my collection... it's for sure the prettiest purple I've seen so far - the hint of wine red is gorgeous. I really have no words, which is why I gave in to the temptation of posting more pictures of this polish than I usually do. Please click on them to enlarge them, in order to enjoy the full beauty of this polish (although my pictures don't even do it justice).

My thoughts on the OPI "sorbet" (aka jelly) formula:The jellies which came out with the OPI Texas collection are very, very sheer, but other than that, they apply like a dream. They are buildable, but getting them completely opaque would take many, many coats. You can get away with three coats, but the true magic doesn't happen until the fourth, or even the fifth coat. I usually use four coats, and I get the most amazing jelly finish I've ever seen. No patchiness, just gorgeous shine and everything looks completely even, like a professional manicure.
As far as weartime goes, those jelly polishes wear much better than the average cream formula. I don't get any chipping until the sixth day, and tip wear is minimal. Removing the jelly polishes is relatively easy, but if you use a top coat (which I don't find necessary) you might find it a bit more difficult.
Really, there is only one real flaw to those polishes - they are completely addicting!

This polish is perfect for fall - deep, rich, purple... what more could I possibly ask for?

Product (65%) - 9.5/10 (would have been a straight 10 if it hadn't been so sheer)

Value (10%) - 8/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 10/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 9.5/10

Love, Miss Diorista

P.S. Please tell me what polishes you are loving for fall!

OPI - Need Sunglasses?

What an incredibly fun polish! Yes thank you, I do need sunglasses!

I wore this on the 17th of June, as I showed you in my June 17th post, and I loved it! I originally bought it because I wanted a yellow polish for spring (remember Chanel Mimosa? What a huge trend-setter!), but now I'm really glad I have it, because it's the perfect yellow colour. Not too mustardy, not dull (definitely not!) and not too bright - yet very bright in a fun way.



Unfortunately, this polish is extremely sheer and needs at least 4 coats, which is what I have on, but as you can see, it still looks sheer. Weartime was good though, 4 to 5 days.

Product (65%) - 8/10

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 7.5/10

Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 8/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

OPI - My Chihuahua Bites!

Watch out, that one bites!   :)
My Chihuahua Bites is a lovely, bright coral red creme. I know it doesn't look especially bright in my pictures, but it really is. You're just going to have to take my word for it :)

This one was a true dream to apply (although I often shy away from those really pigmented cremes, since applying them can be difficult - but not with this one!). I only needed two coats, drying time was rather quick, weartime about 4 days. I got so many compliments on it!

As often with really bright, pigmented cremes, removing took slightly longer than usually. Wasn't difficult though.

Product (65%) - 9/10

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 9.5/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 9/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

P.S. Does your chihuahua bite? I've only met nice ones :)

Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri in Mint Sprint

On the hunt for a perfect minty polish, I picked this up. Fell in love with it the moment I put it on, but heavens, that's not minty! Or is it? Do you think this is minty? I don't. To me, this is the most perfect "sea-blue" creme I've ever seen. It is a little more green and minty in real life than in my photographs, but it's still not minty. Not by far.

This is the third Insta-Dri I've bought, and it's my favourite of the three. They all have great application, dry in a matter of minutes. The weartime of this one was about 4 days, and removing it was average. It only needed two coats to be completely opaque.

This polish looks even better with nice rings - here I'm sporting the ring from my Summer Trend post on big, bold rings.

Product (65%) - 9/10

Value (10%) - 9/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 8/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 9/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

P.S. Any nice minty polishes out there that I should try out? Please spill the juice on the mint :D

Summer Trend - Bright Polish!

Don't let anyone tell you that summer is coming to an end - half the fun is still left!

Bright polish is a classic summer trend - it pops up every single summer. It so happens, that I love bright and fun nail polish, so I have a few to choose from. Above are some of my favourites, all by OPI. It's been a while since I took the picture, but let's hope I still got the names right!

L-R: Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?, Holy Pink Pagoda!, Big Hair... Big Nails, Too Hot Pink To Hold'em, Do You Think I'm Tex-y? and Houston We Have A Purple.

And of course, have fun with your polish! You can do accent manis, ombre manis... the options are endless!

Love,

Miss Diorista

OPI - Aceton-Free Polish Remover

The past year or so, I've been wearing nail polish almost every day, every week, every month... which definitely takes a toll on your nails. In an attempt to help them cope, I've been using aceton-free nail polish remover, since aceton really dries out your nails and just isn't good for them at all.



OPI's Aceton-Free Polish Remover is quite a nice nail polish remover - it has a nicer and not-so-strong scent as regular removers (although I don't recommend smelling it the whole day long, not at all!) and it also leaves a nice rose scent on my nails after removal of nail polish. As for the actual removing, it does a decent job. It maybe isn't quite as effective as an aceton-remover, but I think spending two minutes or so more on removing my polish is worth it, as opposed to having dry and brittle nails.

And yes, I do notice a difference in my nails since I stopped using aceton loaded polish removers - they feel more moisturized, less brittle and thicker. I will continue using aceton-free removing substances.

Product (65%) - 8/10

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 9/10
Packaging (10%) - 6/10 (it has a screw-cap, and it's easy to get way too much product)

Overall - 8/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

OPI - Lucky Lucky Lavender

I rarely wear polishes two times in a row. I have a rather large nail polish collection and like to try as many polishes as I can, and change things up, but this nail polish had me a bit bananas, so to speak, and I wore it two, if not three times in a row :)
It is a lovely lavender cream, but it gave me troubles when photographing. It's not so warm as on the top picture, and not so cool as on the lower picture. I guess it's somewhere in between, but the pictures give you a pretty good idea.

Pretty, right? The application is dreamy, the wear time is about 4 to 5 days, and removing is easy. You do need about 3 coats (I'm only sporting 2 in the pictures), but it's worth it in my opinion.

Product (65%) - 9/10

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 9.5/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10
Overall - 9/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

OPI - Italian Love Affair

Italian Love Affair is a beautiful milky pink polish with shimmer. It takes a bit for me to love a light polish shade like this one, but this particular shade has that extra factor that made me fall for it - not to mention that I would probably wear it even though I didn't like the shade, just because of the name! I wore this for just a little less than a week, and every time I met someone who showed interest in my polish, I would ask: "Wanna guess the name?"  :) Nobody got it right, and people loved hearing the cute shade name (the name sounds even more "out there" in Icelandic!).



You can click on the pictures to enlarge them if you want to see the beautiful shimmer.

The application was nice, but since this is on the sheerer side, I used three coats. Weartime was about five days before chipping, which has to be considered quite nice.

So, if you're looking for a nice light shade, I say go for an Italian Love Affair!

Product (65%) - 9/10

Value (10%) - 8/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 8.5/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 8.5/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

Haul - OPI, Nicole by OPI and Ole Henriksen!

I told you I had another haul post for ya! I love this haul, to be honest... well, lots of polish and (hopefully) great skincare - what's there not to love?!?

L-R:

• OPI Femme De Cirque minis - this set of four minis has gorgeous light hues - pinks and nudes, as well as a really special "glitter" topcoat. Can't wait to try them out.
• Ole Henriksen Starter Kit for Normal/Combination Skin - I had been saving up for this one, since it's high-end skincare and on the pricier side, and I'm so happy to finally have it. I have heard great things about Ole Henriksen's skincare line, and I thought this kit was a great way to get to know his products. You get 2 months supply of complete skincare, and the six products include cleanser, face tonic, day creme and night creme, a walnut scrub and a firming mask. I'll do an in-depth review when I've used these for a while!
• OPI Nice Stems! minis - Another set of four mini OPI shades, but those are quite the opposite of the other one - these are bright summer colours! Sounds like me!
• I had to get at least one pirate shade! I only picked one since I was already buying quite a lot that day, and the one I chose was Stranger Tides by OPI, which was the one that seemed most unique to me. It is a greyish green, really pretty in a strange way. Arrr!
• And finally, we all need some glitter! I'm not really a Justin Bieber fan, but when I saw that his Nicole by OPI collection was out here, I had to pick one shade We've never had Nicole by OPI in Iceland before and my heart started beating so fast when I saw the stand - yes, I know. I´m a polish junkie, proud to be :) I chose Step to the Beat of my Heart, which is a clear polish with purple glitter and purple hearts floating around! This will be so pretty for layering over other shades, particularly for accent manis!

So, like my haul? I have to say that I'm in love with all my new polish!

xox,

Miss Diorista

Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure in Naked Ambition, 210

Ugh. Not a success. I initially bought this bottle of polish for French manis, but now I think it's a little too peachy for that. However, I fell for the unique peachy nude colour with the silver sparkle flecks, and though it would be a gorgeous nude polish.

Nope. How wrong I was. The application was horrible (as you can see from my pictures), the colour was just "blah" and don't even get me started on removing this! The silver flecks where a nightmare to remove, I still haven't got some of them away.

This is 3 coats. The only "not-so-horrible" thing about this polish was the weartime, which was approx. average. As you can probably imagine, I won't be wearing this again anytime soon. Even though the polish was gorgeous (which it isn't), I doubt I would put my nails through the removing process again.

Product (65%) - 3.5/10

Value (10%) - 7/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 2/10
Packaging (10%) - 7.5/10 (I don't like the look of the rubber ring...)

Overall - 4/10

xox,

Miss Diorista



OPI - Don't Mess With OPI

OPI Don't Mess With OPI is a strange shade of green creme that came out with the Texas Collection (2011). When I say "strange", I mean "I can't find a word to describe the colour"... it's not moss green, not bright green, not dark green... I guess the closest match would be gray green, but with a hint of grass green... Photographing this colour was not easy, let me tell you! For example, the colour below is way too dark.

The formula was the usual with OPI, pretty nice. Weartime was about four days and drying time was average. However, I didn't really fall in love with the shade. Maybe I just have to try it again in fall/winter, since this kind of green doesn't really shout "summer".

Here you can see the gray green to it...

...and there is the grass green.

So, do you like strange colours like this? Did you try this polish? Share!

Product (65%) - 8.5/10

Value (10%) - 8/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 5.5/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 8/10

xox,
Miss Diorista

P.S. Don't you just love OPI shade names?!?

OPI - Austin-Tatious Turquoise

Austin-Tatious Turquiose came out with the Texas collection (2011), and it is a rather-super glittery teal polish... like my description?  :)

It looks so pretty in the bottle, but sadly, something about it didn't make me smile... the formula was sheer, but I could have put up with that... it was simply the colour itself that I didn't like. As I said, I love it in the bottle, and I really wanted to love it on my nails too, but it just doesn't match my skintone in the right way.

That being said, the drying time was alright and the weartime too. What do you think about this polish? Or just glittery polishes altogether? Like'em? I usually do, I don't know what's wrong with me when it comes to this particular colour!

Product (65%) - 8/10 (so sheer...)

Value (10%) - 8/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 4.5/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10


Overall - 7.5/10

xox,
Miss Diorista

OPI - Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

This amazingly bright orange jelly came out with the Texas collection (2011). The colour is perfect for summer. It's as I said, really, really bright, and has the amazing shine and jelly-look that you can expect from the jellies that came out with this collection. Love it!

My thoughts on the OPI "sorbet" (aka jelly) formula:


The jellies which came out with the OPI Texas collection are very, very sheer, but other than that, they apply like a dream. They are buildable, but getting them completely opaque would take many, many coats. You can get away with three coats, but the true magic doesn't happen until the fourth, or even the fifth coat. I usually use four coats, and I get the most amazing jelly finish I've ever seen. No patchiness, just gorgeous shine and everything looks completely even, like a professional manicure.

As far as weartime goes, those jelly polishes wear much better than the average cream formula. I don't get any chipping until the sixth day, and tip wear is minimal. Removing the jelly polishes is relatively easy, but if you use a top coat (which I don't find necessary) you might find it a bit more difficult.

Really, there is only one real flaw to those polishes - they are completely addicting!

Isn't this pretty? Click on the picture to enlarge it, and it will look even more gorgeous!

Product (65%) - 9.5/10 (would have been a straight 10 if it hadn't been so sheer)

Value (10%) - 8/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 10/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 9.5/10

Love,
Miss Diorista
 
P.S. No, it's not just you :) This text is almost exactly the same as in my review about OPI's Do You Think I'm Tex-y? because the formula is the same. I will also post pictures of the other jellies I bought, with the same text.

OPI - Do You Think I'm Tex-y?

You already know I love this beautiful pink polish, which has a jelly finish, because I featured it in my April Favourites. It came out with the Texas collection (2011).

The colour is a medium dark pink, definitely neither a hot or a bright pink, but it has a hint of purple undertones to it. Very pretty, and indeed very summery.

My thoughts on the OPI "sorbet" (aka jelly) formula:
The jellies which came out with the OPI Texas collection are very, very sheer, but other than that, they apply like a dream. They are buildable, but getting them completely opaque would take many, many coats. You can get away with three coats, but the true magic doesn't happen until the fourth, or even the fifth coat. I usually use four coats, and I get the most amazing jelly finish I've ever seen. No patchiness, just gorgeous shine and everything looks completely even, like a professional manicure.
As far as weartime goes, those jelly polishes wear much better than the average cream formula. I don't get any chipping until the sixth day, and tip wear is minimal. Removing the jelly polishes is relatively easy, but if you use a top coat (which I don't find necessary) you might find it a bit more difficult.
Really, there is only one real flaw to those polishes - they are completely addicting!

There you have it, that's why I love those polishes. They are high-shine, last amazingly and apply so well! If you haven't tried those, try to find some (at least here in Iceland, you can still get them). You won't regret it!

Product (65%) - 9.5/10 (would have been a straight 10 if it hadn't been so sheer)

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 10/10

Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 9.5/10

xox,

Miss Diorista

OPI - The One That Got Away

Better get those polish posts going, we have so many ahead of us!
This pretty polish came out with the Katy Perry Collection (2010). It is a very sparkly dark pink colour, with hints of some golden shimmer.

The colour is pretty, but spectacular in direct sunlight, which makes this polish great for the beach! However, watch out, since this stains very badly!

Application was alright and so was drying time. I used three coats for the pictures, to get the full effect, but you could get away with just two coats, if you make them decently thick.

The polish started chipping just a bit after about one day, which is of course not good, but after that, it held up for about three or four more days, so I would say just a little below average. Removing the polish was not easy, but also not difficult, although you have to watch out for staining, as I mentioned before.

In direct sunlight (above)! Look how the polish just comes to life! And it is even prettier in real life.

  

Product (65%) - 7/10 (lost points because of the staining)

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 6.5/10

Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 7/10

 

xox,

Miss Diorista

OPI - The Katy Perry Collection

I'm so late posting this! You've probably seen this collection months ago, but I like my minis, so I'm putting this post up anyway :)
I bought this set of mini polishes in March, when I was in Berlin, and it has all four shades of the Katy Perry collection, except for Black Shatter:

The One That Got Away, Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night and Not Like the Movies

• Teenage Dream and Last Friday Night are glitter polishes, the latter is blue, the other one is pink. Last Friday Night is the thickest polish I've ever worked with, it felt like applying pudding to my nails!
• The One That Got Away is a dark pink with shimmer/glitter.
• Not Like the Movies is a... strange colour! It's a metallic grey/dark silver, with green and purple shimmer. Pretty, but not really "me".

Teenage Dream is my favourite from the four, it is super sparkly and pretty, especially over another polish for some "bling". Wish I had gotten the full size before they ran out!

Pretty much self-explanatory, but I have The One That Got Away on my thumb and my pinky, Last Friday Night on my index finger, Not Like The Movies on my middle finger and Teenage Dream on my ring finger.

Just in case any of you haven't seen a mini OPI nail polish bottle, I have a momma-polish and a baby-polish of The One That Got Away. The "momma" is 15 ml, the "baby" is 3.75 ml. They're so cute!

Same order of polish, but with OPI Black Shatter on top. Teenage Dream with Black Shatter is so pretty, with all the glitter peaking through!

Over to you: What did you think of the collection, did you buy any of the shades? And what about mini bottles, do you like them?

Love,

Miss Diorista

Chanel - Nail Colour in Black Pearl, 513

I got my hands on this famous polish when travelling to Berlin, and I quite like it! Its beauty is something your eye has to get used to - at first I didn't think much of it, but after one or two days, I fell in love with it!

The colour is very difficult to describe, it is a blue, but with green shimmer and it has a metallic effect to it. Nothing over the top though, and the polish is absolutely stunning, especially in direct sunlight.

This is two coats, and although it is opaque, you can see that some ridges can still be seen. That could of course be fixed with a base coat or a top coat, but you could also put on one more coat of the Black Pearl polish, and get an even deeper colour as a bonus.

The formula was... actually a bit disappointing. It went on a bit patchy , dried too quickly and was difficult to work with. I would have expected more from a brand like Chanel.

However, the weartime was nice, four to five days.

Don't you just love this colour? It is amazing!

Product (65%) - 7.5/10 (love the colour, not a nice formula)

Value (10%) - 7/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 8.5/10

Packaging (10%) - 9.5/10

Overall - 8/10

 

Love,

Miss Diorista

Make your polish live longer!

Sadly for us polish addicts, polish goes bad with time. However, there are a few things you can do to help it live longer. Some keep it in the fridge... I personally have too big a stash for that, if I were to fit all my nail polish into my fridge, I'd have to give up eating food and start eating chilled nail polish!

What I do instead, is that every now and then, I clean the edges of my polish jars. This is a bit time consuming so I only do it every two or three months or so, but it really does help. Why? You know when you paint your nails, how a bit of nail polish always goes on those edges of the jars? Well, that dries and then it adds up really fast when you do your nails again. And over time, this allows air into the jar of nail polish, which makes it dry and go bad faster. Cleaning up the edges of the jar stops this process.

On the picture above is all you need:

• A jar of polish to clean up (above is OPI's Who The Shrek Are You?)
• Nail polish remover
• Cotton swabs

Open the jar of polish and put the brush aside for a second.



Now dip the cotton swab into the polish remover and remove the polish from the edges as shown above. You're done, easy peasy! Don't forget to close the jar though, haha!

Love

Miss Diorista

OPI - Green-wich Village

OPI's Green-wich Village is a beautiful grass green colour, and a cream formula. I bought it in Germany, when I was on a hunt for green polishes, and this most certainly is a must if you like green.

The formula applies nicely and doesn't take a long time to dry, but it definitely is on the sheerer side - I needed 3 coats to be happy (I usually need 2). The wear time was what I most often get from OPI, about four days.

Isn't that green just so gorgeous? It is definitely a nice break from the usual summer colours, yet so summer-y!

Product (65%) - 9/10

Value (10%) - 8/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 8/10

Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 8.5/10

 

Love,

Miss Diorista