Like a frothy beach party flick (think Gidget, Beach Blanket Bingo), the OPI Retro Fun In The Sun collection will be surfing onto shelves this summer. Filled with kitschy, fun shades the lacquers are perfect for those long sunny days of lazing in the sand. To add to the fun, each bottle comes with a retro ponytail holder. Takes me right back to elementary school when I had a ballerina jewelry box filled with hair ties in every color imaginable.
“In summer, glamour really moves from the city out to the sand, and these shades combine a retro pin-up-girl look with a beach party attitude – think ponytails, Frankie and Annette, and romance under the stars,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “The colors are rich, playful, and sexy – a great way to accessorize one of fashion’s most colorful summers ever!”
Peach-a-Boo! - Take a peek at this apricot sparkle!
Sit Under the Apple Tree - A tempting, light apple green.
Lemonade Stand by Your Man - You’ll stay loyal to this refreshing yellow.
Give Me a Coral Sometime - I’ll answer in this inviting pink-orange.
Sea Ya Later, Sailor! - A fun, flirtatious turquoise shimmer.
Calendar Girl - A pin-up, perfect pink-red.
Like previous beach themed OPI collections (It's Summer for Shore, Surf Party) I'm expecting the Retro nail polishes to have a unique shimmer that will make the nail girlies go gaga. I can't wait to see them in person and find out! Will this line become just as collectible? We'll just have to wait and see.
The Retro Fun in The Sun collection drops (I'm so street) in June and will be available at salons including Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, Ulta, Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Dillard’s, and JCPenney. MSRP $8.50 ($9.95 CAN)
OPI Summer 2008 Preview - Retro Fun in the Sun
CND Spring 2008 - Plexi Pop
The sheers are coming! The sheers are coming! Take cover vampy girls for the sheers are a-coming! This spring will be a sheer lover's paradise according to the spring collection previews. You all know I'm not a fan of sheers but I'm going to try my hardest to remain objective.
CND's collection for Spring, Plexi Pop, is sheer-gasm of pinks, peach and aqua with an opaque white cream. If you followed my coverage of the Spring 2008 New York Fashion Week shows, you know that a lot of these colors popped up on the runways of fashion's biggest designers. At the time they were still unnamed but here they are in all their glory.
Clearly Pink - a milky pink sheer, it reminds me of my beloved OPI Passion (not the Designer Series version). It applies streak free and adds a slight hint of creamy pinkness to my nails. The only downside for me is that with my whites being slightly yellowed from dark polish use, Clearly Pink's milkiness didn't help brighten my whites.
Nail Gloss - Is a straight up pink sheer. No milkiness, just a pink tinged clear. It really is like lip gloss for your nails. It reminds me of one of my favorite lip glosses from my early 20s, Bonne Bell Lip d'Votion in Fresh Melon, super glossy with the slightest hint of color.
Plexi Pink - is a pretty hot pink sheer with subtle bluish-purple shimmer that gives the shade some pop. It's more pigmented than the other pinks but still not buildable to opaque.
Retro White - This slightly creamy white was a nightmare for me. I'm not gonna lie, I tried three times to get an even application to show you all and it wasn't happening. The picture below is with three spaced out coats, to allow proper drying, and it was still streaky as all get out. Just look at the massive dragging near my cuticles. I assume that this shade was intended for use in an american manicure but I can't recommend it.
Translucent Tangerine - A glittery peach sheer, this color didn't work for my skin tone but it's really pretty in the bottle. I'm sure warm toned gals would love this. And despite the high glitter content, that polish felt smooth on my nail.
Turquoise Tint - To me, I see this color and immediately think layering. A turquoise sheer just isn't something I'd think of wearing. It looks so unnatural and alien-esque on me. Though the cellophane finish is pretty cool.
Plexi Pop will be available in salons, spas and professional beauty stores as of March 2008. Each enamel retails for $6.00 US/$9.40 Canada.
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OPI Holiday in Hollywood: Dazzling Darks & Neutrals
When I think of glitz and glam, my mind immediately drifts to Hollywood, award shows and the red carpet. For Holiday 2007 OPI takes us there with the Holiday in Hollywood Collection. It includes two distinct sets of six polishes: Dazzling Darks & Neutrals and Glamour Reds.
The Dazzling Darks & Neutrals are up first. The Glamour Reds are soon to follow.
Stars in My Eyes is a semi-sheer sparkly silver. What you see below is two thin coats. I'm sure a third coat would make it completely opaque. As I was applying Stars in My Eyes and the majority of the sparklers in this collection I noticed a great multi-colored shimmer in the lacquer but it doesn't appear on the nail. Instead this shade has a slightly pinkish cast and amazing depth. It dries semi-matte so if you really want to put on the glitz, add a super shiny top coat.
Hollywood Blonde is my surprise of the collection. I totally didn't expect to like, let alone love, this shade. From the few pics I'd seen of it online, it looked like a blah nude. Wow was I wrong. A glistening nudish pink semi-sheer, this is my kind pale. The gold shimmer gives it depth and a fairy dust quality. I would totally rock this on my tips or toes for a holiday party. I love when a polish blows my expectations out of the water.
I'd Like To Thank... is described by OPI as a "copper shimmer." I don't know what Suzi has been smoking but I see no copper here. I'd Like To Thank is a duo-chrome; a shade that changes from one shade to another depending on the lighting. This one changes from a mid-tone peachy pink a deep golden rose thanks to the magical gold metallic shimmer. This is a shade I'd say is more suited to warm skin tones. The only real downside of this color is that the metallic quality made my brush strokes more apparent.
My Big Break has the same consistency and duo chrome effect as I'd Like To Thank. And the same visible brush stroke issue but it's not nearly as visible. There is a small amount of green shimmer in the formula that shows up on the nail at certain angles. Overall it's a lovely berry rose shade that leans towards a deep lilac depending on the light.
Have You Seen My Limo? gets the prize for most unique. Yet another duo-chrome, the deep grape base has silver and green shimmer that allows the shade to transform from reddish purple to a dark silvery plum. I really hope OPI adds this to their permanent Classic Collection.
Who Are You Wearing? is a tough color to accurately capture. I must have shot 40+ images of it and I still had to add swatch shots from other images to give you an idea of how truly cool this polish is. When I first saw online swatches of it I thought it was just another blue, like OPI Ink or Russian Navy but, oh no it's so much more! The final duo-chrome in this collection, Who Are You Wearing? has a red shimmer that only appears in warm indoor lighting. Otherwise it's a battle between the blue shimmer and the purple base as to which color you'll see. The purple being the hardest to capture digitally. This is a shade you MUST see for yourself.
The Holiday In Hollywood collection is available now at professional salons, including Ulta, Trade Secret, Regis, Pure Beauty, JCPenney, Dillard’s, Beauty First, and Beauty Brands.Now it's time for you to weigh in. Which shades have you drooling? Which ones have you bought? What's on your wish list? What didn't work for you? Any lemmings killed?
Creative Nail Design Spring 2007 - Optix
There isn't a lot of info to be found about Creative's spring line. These few pictures are the best I could do. Optix is the name of the new collection but to be honest, they might want to call it "Spring 2006: Part II" Some of these new colors look like they're just a deeper version of what we saw last year. I'm just hoping they're more opaque. Especially the green. You know I'll have to have it.
Top Row (l-r): Milky Way: a lilac patina, Cosmic Coral: an edgy peach shimmer, Hyper Fresh: an opalescent white
Bottom Row (l-r): Aqua Jet: an opal mint lustre, Blue Nirvana: a translucent periwinkle, Pink Chrome: an opalescent pink
I found an interview with Jan Nordstrom-Arnold, co-founder and style director of Creative Nail Design, on the Gulf News website. In it, she comments on the upcoming trends in nails.
Spring: The collections have layered, sheer fabrics in pastels with translucent undertones. To complement these we have nail colours such as cosmic coral, blue Nevada, which is great with jeans, a soft luminescent lilac called Milky Way, aqua green and pink chrome. Hems are shorter and necklines are higher, so the accent is on legs and perfectly polished toenails are important. There is also a trend for a futuristic look which will see longer nails with a metallic silver or gold tip and Swarovski crystals on the nails.
Summer: The little white dress is big. We have designed longer almond shaped white eyelet lace nails and marblising effects to go with the dress. Glittering gold nails will be big and we have experimented with crocodile prints with metallic chocolate brown on gold. Lavishly decorated feet will also be the trend in summer 2007. Red, fuchsia and gold are the main colours of the season.
Autumn/winter: The attitude of the season is imperial anarchy or a London punk rock look with a regal touch. There is a lot of plaid with metallic undertones. Our palette for the season includes burgundy with bronze undertones, anthracite metallic, copper pearl, royal purple, metallic burgundy and fuchsia.
Essie Spring '07
Even though I'm not an Essie fan, in the interest of fairness to all brands, I present their spring collection. I must admit, I do like the Mod theme they have going on and I'll probably pick up a bottle of Guchi Muchi Puchi & Pinkadelic for the names alone.
Anyone that was disappointed with last years brights will be a happy camper this year.
And, can I get that bottle-heeled shoe? That would get me to rush to the stores.
Names are (l-r): Cool Lots, Guchi Muchi Puchi, Jackie Oh My, Mini How High, Mod Squad, Pinkadelic
