Prevail Concrete Jungle Holographic

When I first spotted this polish in the dimly-lit Prevail section of Duane Reade, I thought I saw a peek of holo in the bottle.  Outside in the sunlight it was clear that my premonition was correct!  I was excited because I’ve never found a holographic nail polish in a drug store before.  Say hello to Concrete Jungle.

Under low light and indoors this polish looks like a dusty lavender/pink.  (That helped make it a bit more office-friendly for me.)  Although the formula was thin, it was super-smooth and easy to apply without being runny.  Here I used 3 coats.

All it needs is a bit of light for the linear holo to really pop!  I believe this is called a linear holographic due to the bands of refraction.

I kept this on for several days and couldn’t stop admiring my nails!  It was so chameleon-light in different types of light.  My only qualm is that it chipped on the first day, even with a top coat.  I wonder if layering it on top of another color would help it wear longer?

~ Allison ~

OPI Miss Universe Review – Crown Me Already!

Crown Me Already!, my third pick from OPI’s Miss Universe collaboration, is a bright silver glitter.  There is very fine “glitter dust” as well as larger sized hexes mixed in.  It’s like having discoballs on your nails!

Here’s how it looks layered over It’s MY Year, which I reviewed two entries back.

My middle finger has only two coats of “Crown Me Already” on a bare nail.  While the density of the glitter builds up with each layer, you will still have some bare spots because the polish body is clear.  This is a fun polish for layering thinly on top of other colors or layering on its own for super discoball sparkly goodness.

~ Allison ~

OPI Miss Universe Review – Swimsuit… Nailed It!

This is the second polish I picked up from OPI’s brand new Miss Universe line.  There are blues and then there are blues.  Holy moly, this one is bright!  Swimsuit… Nailed It! is an electric metallic blue polish with shimmer.

Great formula, easy application.  I used 3 coats here.  But I’ve gotta warn you, you must must wear a base coat!  I didn’t and now I’m paying for it with blueberry-stained nails. >.<

This is what Swimsuit… Nailed It! looks like with 2 coats of Sinful Colors Hottie holo glitter on top.  Mm, so much depth and twinkle.

And then I mattefied that baby.  I actually think this looks awesome both glossy and matte.

Does this blue resemble any other shades you know of?

~ Allison ~

It’s MY Year Review from the OPI Miss Universe Collection

I am so excited!  I dropped into Ricky’s today on my lunch break and the first thing I saw was the brand new OPI collection for August – a collaboration with Miss Universe.  The girl working there informed me that they had just come in yesterday.   Squee!  The polishes are sassy and fun, and I ended up taking three of the four home.

And you know that I started swatching immediately.  See my #1 polish pick from this collection after the jump.

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Sally Hansen Barracuda Dupe

These are identical dupes as far as I can tell – Sally Hansen Barracuda (from the Tracy Reese Spring 2011 collection) and Brucci Kathy’s Baby Blues.

No clue why my hands look so red here but the polish color is accurate.