OPI - Nicki Minaj Collection

Although there's five polishes & a Crackle with this collection, I opted for just three shades; one creme & two glittery polishes.

Metallic 4 Life

Metallic 4 Life is a black base packed with silver glitter in varying sizes. I found the base to be quite sheer, it took three coats to get an opaque finish. Quite a thick polish. Because of the sheer base & glitter, Metallic 4 Life works best over a black creme polish & it makes removal a bit easier.

Metallic 4 Life - 3 coats

Metallic 4 Life over China Glaze Liquid Leather

OPI - Muppets Collection

I feel like it's been ages since I last posted something. It's probably due to suffering from a horrendous cold that's left me with no will to do anything lately.

Anyhoo, what better way to cheer myself up than by posting about glittery things?
This is the OPI Muppets collection. Although there's 12 colours with this one, my inner magpie chose to concentrate purely on the glitters.

Rainbow Connection

First up is Rainbow Connection. A clear base packed with multi-coloured glitter, this one is the closest dupe I've found so far for Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday. Three or four coats are needed for an opaque, glittery nail or just a couple over the base colour of your choice.

Rainbow Connection

Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday

Halloween Nail Polish

Three polishes perfect for Halloween!

Two come from China Glaze, Haunting & It's Alive, whilst the third, Zombody to Love, is from OPI.

Haunting

I've been searching for a polish like this for some time now. Haunting is a black base packed with silver sparkle. Unlike a couple of other polishes I've tried that look similar in the bottle, Haunting's base isn't sheer black or a jelly finish, it's solid, deep black. This is basically MAC's Black Tied eyeshadow in nail polish form.

Two coats give perfect coverage, and although it doesn't dry to a matte finish, a glossy topcoat really brings it to life.

Haunting

OPI - Pirates of the Caribbean

Of the six shades with this collection, I opted for Planks A Lot, Mermaid's Tears, Stranger Tides & Skull & Glossbones. The two remaining shades, Steady As She Rose & Sparrow Me The Drama, are pinks but neither appealed to me, as I prefer bright pinks.

All are creme finishes that are quite glossy even before the addition of a topcoat. They're a dream to apply, no skipping, pulling or dragging & with two coats, you get opaque coverage that's bottle-shade perfect.

Planks A Lot

Vibrant mid-purple with a slight dusty tone to it. Not the most unique shade of the collection, but a nice one for fans of purple polishes.

Planks A Lot

The swatch shows Planks A Lot to be a touch darker than it actually is. There's no topcoat here, just the polish. Even so, it's still a glossy one.

Crackle Polish Haul

Five new crackle polished that I've just got. So far, I've tried Barry M & China Glaze versions. This haul comprises three LaRosa crackles, Barry M's white crackle & OPI crackle in silver.

Of the two brands I'd previously tried, I loved the colours from China Glaze but found the Barry M black crackle to give a slightly better effect. In fact, I was kind of disappointed with Lightning Bolt, China Glaze's white crackle. It didn't shatter into smaller pieces no matter what base colour I used under it. The other three shades I got worked better. I decided to get a different white to compare with.

LaRosa Crackle - Seaweed, Green, Million Dollar Red

I'd never heard of LaRosa before, but I liked the fact that they had a good number of shades in the crackle range. I was particularly interested in the green, as I've been longing for a green crackle for a while. Seaweed looked like a fun colour & Million Dollar Red appeared to be a vivid red that just needed to be tried.

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 9

Random colours that didn't go anywhere else! :)

1. OPI - All-A-Bordeaux The Sled!
2. Nails Inc. - Victoria
3. OPI - Black Cherry Chutney
4. MAC - Formidable!
5. China Glaze - Sangria
6. OPI - DS Reflection
7. OPI - Calendar Girl
8. China Glaze - Orange Knockout
9. China Glaze - Japanese Koi
10. Precision - Glam Metal
11. China Glaze - Cords
12. China Glaze - Party Hearty
13. OPI - You Don't Know Jacques

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 8

Reds

1. OPI - Don't Toy With Me
2. OPI - Smitten With Mittens
3. OPI - I'm Not Really A Waitress
4. China Glaze - Cranberry Flame
5. China Glaze - Sacred Heart
6. China Glaze - Long Kiss
7. China Glaze - Riveter Rouge
8. China Glaze - Stroll
9. China Glaze - Foxy
10. China Glaze - Short n' Sassy
11. China Glaze - Cowgirl Up
12. China Glaze - Sugar Plums
13. China Glaze - Crystal Ball
14. China Glaze - Masai Red
15. China Glaze - Ruby Pumps
16. Zoya - Delilah
17. China Glaze - High Roller
18. China Glaze - Go Crazy Red
19. China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 7

Pink

Aaargh! Yet more polishes that won't play nicely with the camera. It seems to be the brighter ones that aren't behaving themselves.

1. Essie - Flirty Fuchsia
2. Color Club - Pink Flame
3. Color Club - Just Chill
4. Nails Inc. - Piccadilly Circus
5. Zoya - this one has no name on the bottle!
6. Zoya - Ali
7. Zoya -Lola
8. Zoya - Katy
9. Zoya - Michelle
10. Zoya - Starla
11. Zoya - Nova
12. Zoya - Gilda
13. Nails Inc. - Elizabeth St.
14. China Glaze - It's 5 o'Clock Somewhere
15. China Glaze - Bing Cherry
16. China Glaze - Fly
17. China Glaze - Raspberry Festival
18. China Glaze - It's Poppin'
19. China Glaze - Shocking Pink
20. China Glaze - Pink Voltage

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 6

Purple

There's a couple of shades here that just don't seem to want to photograph well, despite trying several times. Oh, for a better-lit house!

1. DS Mystery
2. China Glaze - First Class Ticket
3. Sinful - Diablo
4. OPI - Ink
5. OPI - Siberian Nights
6. OPI - Merry Midnight
7. Zoya - Savita (matte)
8. Zoya - Mimi
9. China Glaze - C-C-Courage
10. China Glaze - LOL
11. OPI - Ink (Suede)
12. China Glaze - Flying Dragon
13. Color Club - Rev'd Up
14. OPI - Mad As A Hatter
15. OPI - Purple With A Purpose
16. Zoya - Charisma
17. Essie - Perky Purple
18. China Glaze - Grape Pop
19. China Glaze - Grape Juice
20. OPI - A Grape Fit

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 5

Turquoise & teals.

1. Color Club - Emerald Depths
2. China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise
3. China Glaze - DV8
4. China Glaze - Atlantis
5. China Glaze - Custom Kicks
6. China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover
7. China Glaze - For Audrey
8. Sinful - Envy
9. OPI - Austin-Tatious Turquoise

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 4

Green, gold & yellow.

1. China Glaze - Gussied Up Green
2. Zoya - Akyra
3. Zoya - Veruschka (matte)
4. China Glaze - Emerald Fitzgerald
5. OPI - Cuckoo For This Colour
6. China Glaze - Jolly Holly
7. China Glaze - Emerald Sparkle
8. Zoya - Ivanka
9. China Glaze - Watermelon Rind
10. OPI - Jade Is The New Black
11. OPI - Green-Wich Village
12. China Glaze - Paper Chasing
13. China Glaze - In The Lime Light
14. China Glaze - Mistletoe Kisses
15. China Glaze - Cherish
16. China Glaze - Entourage
17. OPI - Electric Eel
18. Zoya - Southbeach Ice
19. China Glaze - Sour Apple
20. MAC - Peppermint Patti

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 3

Blues

1. Illamasqua - Phallic
2. Zoya - Indigo
3. China Glaze - Calypso Blue
4. OPI - Yoga-Ta Get This Blue
5. OPI - Russian Navy
6. OPI - Midnigh Blue Glitter
7. Zoya - Kotori
8. China Glaze - Midnight Mission
9. China Glaze - Blk-Bila-Bong
10. China Glaze - Little Drummer Boy
11. China Glaze - Meteor Shower
12. China Glaze - Bermuda Breakaway
13. China Glaze - Blue Paradise
14. China Glaze - Rodeo Fanatic
15. China Glaze - Dorothy Who?
16. OPI - Absolutely Alice
17. OPI - Simmer & Shimmer
18. China Glaze - Blue Sparrow
19. Essie - Aruba Blue
20. China Glaze - Frost Bite

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 2

Greys, silvers & whites.

1. OPI - Brand New Skates
2. OPI - Lucerne-tainy Look Marvellous
3. China Glaze - Recycle
4. China Glaze - Let's Do It In 3-D
5. Zoya - Trixie
6. OPI - DS Coronation
7. China Glaze - Millennium
8. China Glaze - Devotion
9. OPI - Sheer Your Toys
10. China Glaze - OMG
11. China Glaze - Sexagon
12. China Glaze - Techno
13. China Glaze - Tinsel
14. Man Glaze - Hot Mess
15. China Glaze - Fairy Dust
16. China Glaze - White on White
17. China Glaze - Platinum Pearl
18. China Glaze - Glacier
19. China Glaze - Pelican Grey
20. Zoya - Freja

All The Colours of The Rainbow - nail polishes part 1

Aside from eyeshadows, my other weakness is nail polishes. Mattes, cremes, glitters, I love them all. I recently did a reorganise of my polish collection, mainly due to a box of them crashing to the ground in the dead of night, scaring me witless. They escaped lightly, only one bottle was lost. The mess left behind was something else altogether, I wasn't tempting fate & leaving them as they were.

Anyhoo, I came across these nail wheels online. They're cheap & a really great idea, no more digging around for the perfect colour. I number each wheel & keep a list of which colours are on each wheel, no more scrabbling through bottles of polish.

With that in mind, I thought it may be useful to post these as a reference for anyone wanting to know more about shades (if the one they're searching for happens to be here, of course).

To start off, this post concentrates on blacks and greys.