OPI Wonderous Star & Emotions from the Mariah Carey Holiday/Winter 2013 Collection

Good afternoon dears!  I hope the day is going well for you.  Yesterday I had the new liquid sand Make Him Mine to share and today I have more from the Mariah Carey Holiday/Winter 2013 collection!  So exciting!  This time I mixed a sand and a glitter and I love how it turned out.  I'm actually stunned with how much I liked one in particular...keep reading to find out which of these 2 polishes knocked my socks off!

Let's start with Wonderous Star!  OPI described it as "gold-flecked shimmer" but I'd say it is more of a heavy gold microglitter with black hexs sparsely mixed in.  It has a very pretty and classy look to it.  This polish makes you feel dressed up without being over the top.  The gold glitters also make it feel very "holiday-esque" and I personally think this would be an awesome polish for New Years Eve because is so sparkly and shiny!  I used Wonderous Star alone and the pictures below show 4 coats.  I didn't mind so many coats because the polish isn't heavy or thick and it applied very easily.  But if you have an aversion to more than a couple coats you should start with a base color.  I used 1 layer of topcoat on the nails with Wonderous Star.  

I then used the new black liquid sand from the collection called Emotions.  I wasn't so sure about this polish.  It looked pretty boring in the bottle and I didn't think it really fit in with a holiday collection.  Well I was wrong on 1 of those counts.  Dead wrong.  Emotions is stunning!  It's fabulously perfect, vampy and sexy.  It's a pure black matte texture polish with sparkly black glitters mixed it.  OPI says it's a "dramatic sparkling coal."  Perfect description.  The only problem I see is that I still don't know how it fits in with the holiday theme.  I purchased it because I think it will ROCK with Halloween polish next month.  The formula was wonderful, true to the liquid sand form that I love so much.  Easy application with no problems to report.  Be sure to let it dry completely though!  Dry time is a tad longer than regular polish.  I used 2 coats for full coverage and no topcoat.  

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OPI Make Him Mine from the Mariah Carey Holiday/Winter 2013 Collection

Good morning lovelies!  I have been looking forward to this post for DAYS!  I was lucky enough to find several of the beauty supply stores in my area already have the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday/Winter 2013 collection and I have picked up the ones I like best - some of the sands of course, and some glitters.  There are 12 new shades and 6 new Liquid Sands, they are all Limited Edition (at least that's the way I understand it).  This collection is supposedly available in October, but check your beauty supply stores!  You might happen upon it sooner.  They retail for $9.00 each.  Now lets take a look at   my favorite of the ones I purchased!
Make Him Mine was described in the OPI press release as a "textured glistening rose."  Yup, nailed it!  I am likely drawn to MHM because I am a big fan of rose gold jewelry - it's just so lovely and different.  I feel special when I am wearing any of my rose gold pieces and wearing this polish made me feel the same way.  MHM is matte, but so sparkly at the same time.  It's some kind of magic formula the OPI lab has over there I tell ya!  I kept "checking myself out" and stared at my nails quite a bit over the 3 days I had this on.  Like all the other Liquid Sands, MHM wore like iron!  3 days and barely any tip wear at all!  Such a  great formula that applied so well.  It was smooth flowing and went on evenly.  The texture is perfect too, I was almost obsessively running my nails to feel the "sand."  I used 2 coats for full coverage and no topcoat.  

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Esmaltes Da Kelly Sabrina & Lonely Is the Night

Good morning dears!   I've come to the end of my South American international review spam!  This is the final brand I have to share with you and I specifically saved these 2 for last.  When I initially opened my blogger package I was immediately drawn to these and they didn't disappoint!  Esmaltes Da Kelly is another Brazilian indie polish brand with tons of pretty polish.  I went to check out the Esmaltes Da Kelly website and it's got a notice that it will soon be moving, but there is still some polish posted for your viewing pleasure.  Once again, if you don't live in Brazil don't fret, Sisi at Color4Nails can hook you up!  She has a great selection of EDK in stock!  They are $8 for each 8 ml bottle.  You can also follow Color4Nails on Facebook (you really do want to like this page!  Sisi has flash sales, promotions and giveaways all the time) and Instagram (color4nails).  

*PRESS SAMPLE*

Up first is my favorite of the 2 EDK.  Sabrina is a simple but gorgeous golden holographic glitter polish.  Sabrina is VERY sparkly.  The base is clear, so it would take quite a few coats to build this up on it's own, if at all.  I chose to layer Sabrina over 2 coats of Zoya Piaf, a pale, creamy, shimmery yellow.  I then only needed 1 coat of Sabrina for maximum holo-sparkle effect.  The formula and application were both great.  I used 1 layer of topcoat.

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This is Lonely Is the Night and it's a very pretty "dark blue jelly with fine blue and black holographic glitters."  I loved the color and the sparkle factor!  LITN had a formula that was a tad thick, but it wasn't difficult to use.  I'd suggest using a touch of thinner if you feel yours is also thick.  I used 2 coats and had a little visible nail line showing.  If I added a third coat it likely would have disappeared.  I used 1 layer of topcoat.  

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*these polishes were provided for my honest opinion and review

Penelope Luz Taurus & Picasso

Good morning and happy Saturday!  Hopefully you didn't have to be up as early as I did today!  3 kids soccer games starting at 9 AM - ugh!  Thankfully I have pretty polish on right?  I have another lovely Brazilian brand to share today.  I am positive Penelope Luz has been around for a while now, but because the translation button didn't work for on the website so I didn't get much information there.  But what I can tell you is that if you are interested in trying out this brand you can purchase directly from Color4Nails!   The price ranges from $8.50 to $10 for a 12ml bottle.  You can also follow Color4Nails on Facebook and Instagram (color4nails).  

*PRESS SAMPLE*

Here we have Taurus.  This is actually my astrological sign so of course I like this.  Alot.  Taurus is a dark green-teal jelly base full of micro glitter, holo and small blue hexs.  It applied nice and even with a good amount of glitter coming out with each brush dip.  This is a very sparkly polish, I tried my best to share pictures that capture the sparkle.  The base was slightly tinted, but I think it's too sheer to build up on it's own.  In my pictures you see 2 coats of Taurus over 2 coats of Nfu Oh 570, a matching green-teal jelly polish (This is so stain-y!  Please excuse my stained finger skin and if you have this one beware!).  Taurus was also very shiny so I didn't need to use topcoat.  

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And this pretty polish is Picasso!  Picasso is a multi-colored glitter in a clear base that reminds me more of the circus than a Picasso painting.  But you say To-mato, I say Toh-mahto.  I definitely love multi-colored glitter bombs and have my fair share.  Picasso is lovely, it has more of a demure glitter effect.  Not so much "in your face" as some of the others.  I used 2-3 coats of Picasso and do wish more glitter had come out to play on my nails.  The glitters laid flush on my nails.  My bottle also had some pretty good separation going on, but a hearty shake got everything mixed back up.  I have Picasso over 2 coats of OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender.  Again, it was so glossy on it's own I did not need to use topcoat.

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*this polish was provided for my honest opinion and review

Vermelho Esmaltes Artesanais American Pie & Dorothy Shoes

Good morning again dears!  I love when I get a new to me polish brand to play with!  This post shows off some Vermelho Esmaltes Artesanais, a line that comes directly from Brazil!  How cool is that?!  I translated the website to English and had a little browse around, but there isn't really much verbiage other than polish descriptions.  But that's ok, sometimes I just like to look and don't like to read.  So I am going to take VEA's lead and let the polish pictures do the talking.  But first, you can purchase Vermelho Esmaltes Artesanais from Color4Nails. The 12ml sized bottles are $9.00 each.  You can also follow Color4Nails on Facebook for stock updates and promotions!  Color4Nails is also on Instagram (color4nails) so check the page out to see tons of great blogger swatches!  

*PRESS SAMPLE*

Up first I have American Pie.  Are you humming the song, I am..."bye bye Miss American Pie."  I bet you are now.  You're welcome.  This micro glitter polish is packed full of silver, blue, red and pink glitters.  It does reminds me of fresh berry pie - you know the one.  Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and other miscellaneous berries.  Anyways, the glitter looks yummy.   The base is slightly tinted so you probably want to go for a matching not contrasting base color.  I have on 2 coats of Zoya Areej and 2 coats of American Pie.   Plenty of glitter came out and applied easily despite a wonky brush.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat for smooth nails. 

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Here we have Dorothy Shoes.  This was actually my favorite of the two and not just because I love The Wizard of Oz.  It's just so red and sparkly I can't resist it!  Dorothy Shoes is another microglitter bomb, full of red and a few black glitters.  The addition of holo glitters created a very flashy effect.   I used 2 coats of Dorothy Shoes over 1 coat of Milani Rapid Cherry.  Application on this one was easy and plenty of glitter came out with each brush dip.  The brush was also easier to work with than the one in American Pie.  I finished with 1 layer of topcoat for smooth to the touch nails.     

*blurred to show holo sparkle

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*these polishes were provided for my honest opinion and review