Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers 2011

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I ran into the 2011 Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers display last night in a really unlikely place, and I have two of the nail polishes from it to show you.  Fantasy Makers polishes are the ones that come in the little tombstone bottles, so the Halloween theme of these is pretty campy in a good way.  It's raining, so the pictures are indoors.

It was strange to find them because I was in a store that has just a few basic beauty items as kind of a convenience afterthought, not anything to get people there, and I ran into two full standalone displays in completely different sections of the store, and near one of them, on a shelf with extension cords, were several of the tabletop displays of the round little jack o' lantern glow in the dark polishes.  I eyed a hot pink one, and moved along without it.

In the Fantasy Makers displays, I noticed something odd.  There were two little rows of a polish named Black Magic in each, and in both displays there were two versions of Black Magic.  One was a black creme, which I left that behind along with the glow in the dark top coat, and the other is full of lots of fine glitter.  This is the glitter version of Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a closer look at the glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish, Glitter Version

The other one I brought home is call Purple Potion.  It's similar but the glitter is purple-y fuchsia, and this might be the most poorly formed bottle I've ever seen.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a better looks at Purple Potion's glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish's Glitter

I'll be trying these out soon, but I wanted to let you know the displays are showing up and that there are two version of Black Magic in it.

That's just about it, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

OPI Zom-body to Love

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have the fun task of showing you OPI's limited edition Halloween 2011 glow in the dark polish, which is called Zom-body to Love, a light green.  For those newer to collecting polish, each year OPI releases a set of Halloween minis that includes a glow-in-the-dark, and there are "Promotional - Not for Sale" full sized bottles of the GID shade floating around all the time, usually easy to get for retail, which is just what I did on Ebay.

My experience of OPI's GID polishes, which I've bought since 2006 (I don't know when OPI started them, that's when I started...) is that they're always very sheer, impossible to make opaque alone, and pretty much the opposite of self-leveling.  They glow like nobody's business,which makes them completely worth jumping through some hoops to make workable for me.

The first thing I did with my bottle was take it into the bathroom (which has no windows) and hold it up to a light bulb for a few seconds before shutting the door, turning off the light, and taking a picture.  Since there was no light at all, the shutter time was roughly an eternity and it's a little blurred, and I apologize for that, but I really caught the glow.  They all seem to glow greenish, it's just coincidence that the color in the light is green as well.

OPI Zom-body to Love Bottle Glowing in the Dark

Next, I did a manicure.  I started with base coat, and to take care of the opacity issue, I used two coats of Misa Heaven White to start.  One moderately thick coat would have been sufficient, but I have a hard time applying thicker coats and also when my nails are on the shorter end of my length range, so two thin was better for me here.  I assumed I'd need at least two coats of Zom-body to Love, so I allowed a few minutes of drying time between coats.  I ended up using three coats of Zom-body to Love, and I made them very thin so they would stay uniformly smooth and the lack of self leveling wouldn't be a problem, and continued to wait a few minutes between coats.  With so much polish, any shrinkage would look pretty bad, so I used Diamont over it.  After it dried, I went out into the sun and took a picture of it.

OPI Zom-body to Love Nail Polish, Three Coats over White

I like the shade because it's a happier green than a lot of the recent drab ones.  It also looks pretty standard, so the glow is a fun surprise.  On the way to the computer, I was thinking that holding this in sunlight probably super-charged the glow, so I stopped off to get a disembodied nails picture (also blurry, and again I apologize) to show you.  I thought the disembodied watermark made it a more amusing picture, so I put it in.

OPI Zom-body to Love Nail Polish Glowing in the Dark

I didn't Photoshop any of these pictures other than cropping and adding text, the OPI GID's just glow like crazy, which is why I'm always happy when one is released.  I think you also know I wouldn't normally give you blurry pictures, but for fun ones of something glowing in a totally dark room, I'm going to show you whatever I'm lucky enough to get!

For a one-polish purchase, Ebay's a good bet for this one.  I just searched for the name, looked at Buy It Now only, sorted by price + shipping, and bought the least expensive one that was coming from a seller whose feedback I was at ease with.  Although the full-sized bottles are collector material, I think it's just fun to  wear GID's, especially as a pedicure since I wear those longer.  I never wear shoes in the house and tend to completely forget I'm wearing a GID polish, then walking down the hall or something I'll see it glowing and it entertains me.  My mother used to tell me I was like a magpie with this kind of thing...

So that's Zom-body to Love, the 2011 OPI Halloween Glow in the Dark release.  I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Limited Edition Halloween Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I ran across something cool I thought you might want to know about, so I'm here to tell you.  I've been eyeing the various patterns of Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips, and I ran into some limited edition Halloween ones that look really fun.  That's the kind of thing that'll test your last nerve to hunt for in stores much of the time, and the good news is I found them online for $8.  Here are the pictures of the patterns.  They're skinny pictures, so I'll just put the giant versions right here.

Spun For You

Wish Nets

Hot Wired

Numbskull

Ghoulie Girl

I found them listed as "Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips-Limited Edition Halloween" on Ulta.com for $9.99 retail, but the reason I was on their site was a 20% off code, which is 61252.  I don't know all the details of the code like end date and stacking codes, but I'd wager they're on the site somewhere.  It's a good price for them and Halloween stuff pops up and disappears so fast that I thought I'd let you know about them.

I'm really digging these nail polish strips in general (as well as the Halloween ones specifically!) - my mani's still good, but I'll likely change it tomorrow.  I used the gold glitter strips for a pedicure so I can do a real wear test on them though.  I tend to leave a pedi alone for a really long time - I remember crossing the Ridiculous line with one, and made the conscious decision to see if I could bear to just grow the whole thing out and did it (just cutting them and leaving my hot pink polish on there).  I wish I could say that at the time I wasn't writing a nail care blog, but alas...

That's about all I wanted to pass on, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



**Added 08/30/2011: I just saw a display of these in person.  It's a tabletop display, so one that goes on a shelf, and there are two boxes of each per display.  These pics are representative of all but the green, which looks very cool in person (but I bring you this information empty handed).

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze Awakening for Halloween 2010

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

As promised, I have more China Glaze swatches for you today, this time of their Awakening Collection for Halloween 2010.  These were manufacturer samples.

Here is the press release for them:

AWAKEN YOUR HALLOWEEN SPIRITS WITH GLAMOURISHLY GOULISH NAILS

China Glaze Introduces Three Limited Edition Halloween Polishes

Los Angeles, CA – (July 2010): Sink your claws into these three ghoulish glitters from China Glaze, perfect for a night of fright! Uniquely alluring and unlike any other Halloween colors before them, this collection is sure to entice. Colors in the promotion include:  

·        Zombie Zest: A mossy green shade with gold flecks of micro glitter.

·        Ick-A-Body: A dark green base chock full of orange glitter.

·        Mummy May I: Vampy, wine colored purple with flecks of hot pink glitter.

The 18 piece display will be available at Sally’s Beauty Supply Stores only and the 4 piece with free Fast Forward Top Coat will be available at all other beauty and nail supply outlets, stores and e-tailers. 

All three shades are great for Halloween.  Here's Zombie Zest, of which I used three coats for opacity.

China Glaze Zombie Zest Nail Polish, Three Coats

I used two coats of Ick-A-Bod-y since the glitter is so dense in this one.

China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-y Nail Polish, Two Coats

Mummy May I is my favorite, a two-coater that I'd wear when it's not Halloween.

China Glaze Mummy May I Nail Polish, Two Coats

I'm wearing Mummy May I now, and it's passably smooth with just one coat of top coat.  It seems like another coat would make it glassy.

That's China Glaze's Awakening for Halloween 2010 - another hit!

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!