opi love.angel.music.baby (gwen stefani)

today i am showing love.angel.music.baby (lamb) from opi's gwen stefani collection for 2014. i already showed 4 in the morning from the same collection.

i have to admit, lamb totally surprised me. the shade is a pale, muted gold, with a satin finish. it is shimmering gorgeously, and it is not at all kitschy or over the top. 

formula is also awesome, self leveling and, since it is supposed to be worn without a top coat, it is drying quickly.

natural light:

china glaze stone cold (capitol colors)

it's time for some stone cold classics, so today i am showing china glaze's stone cold from the capitol colors collection for the spring 2012.

capitol colors was intended to be a spring collection, but i somehow picked up the more autumn looking shades (see gorgeous agro). it may be weird, but i see this polish as super elegant. i wore it to a couple of weddings, actually. maybe it's because of the matte finish, maybe because i see all shades of grey as elegant, even when they are asphalt-like.

the formula got a bit thicker over the years, as it happens with matte shades, so it is a one coater. 

natural light:

china glaze turned up turquoise (ink)

in these corona days, i need a mood lifter, so here is  china glaze's turned up turquoise from their ink collection for summer 2008.

i give up on the long mission to capture the exact amount of turquoiseness of this shade, like many more poor souls before me. after all of that suffering, i have not yet hit the spot. i will surely add more attempts here, if and when they become more successful.

while my mint fascination started not so long ago, i have been obsessed with turquoise for a long time now. and this one is vibrant and aqua-like while being neon and matte. i love it like this so much, that even though i own it for years now, i still  haven't been tempted to see how it looks with a top coat.

my experience with neons is not really vast, but i have to say that the formula of this one is not problematic at all. it dries really quickly, which is always a bonus when one is skipping a top coat.

natural light:

opi ink suede (suede)

i am currently in a matte mood, and i love opi's suede collection, so i decided to show ink in suede version.

i love ink in both versions, but they are quite different. ink suede is beautiful, eggplant type of colour. suede finish is beautiful, matte but filled with silvery shimmer that gives it a sort of a satin look.

the formula is  nice and it dries quickly, so try to be precise, otherwise you will get brushstrokes.

natural light:

opi lincoln park after dark (suede)

i am still a fan of matte/suede polishes. lincoln park after dark was from opi's suede collection back in 2009, but the effect is still great even after such a long time.

lincoln park after dark suede is a gorgeous, rich eggplant/purple shade packed with shimmer. it dries quickly, becoming this velvety perfection. of course, as every matte, and with not being sealed with a top coat, it chips after a couple of days, so it's not recommended if you are going for longevity.

dance legend velvet 651

today i am showing another polish from the versatile dance legend velvet collection, and this time it's number 651.

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the only thing 651 has in common with 648 that i already showed, is the matte finish. the colour on this one is periwinkle, a beautiful interplay of blue and purple.

i decided to use aqua base, since it is supposed to work better with complicated formulas. it is a bit chalky, but i had no serious issues and it dried pretty quickly.

natural light:

zoya chyna (pixie dust winter)

it's time for a gorgeous zoya's pixie dust shade, this time it's chyna from the winter 2013 collection. zoya describes it as "a red dazzle with a sugared sparkle".

i almost skipped this one and got it in the second round. i thought, well, it's red, it's not like i'm going to be amazed by it. oh, how was i wrong!

this polish is super stunning. base colour is rich, dark red that dries into the textured finish, with light red glitter and sparkle that just pops out of it. it can be pulled off as a one coater, but i did two out of habit. formula and application are great, and drying time really fast!

natural light:

opi russian navy matte (suede)

opi came up with their matte collection in 2009, when they took some of their popular polishes and made matte version. in the end, since the original and the mattified one had little in common, it created a bit of confusion, but it didn't stop me from owning a couple. i am shoving russian navy matte today.

russian navy matte is your simple navy blue matte polish. no shimmer, no nothing. it might seem flat and boring, but it's a good one to have in collection as it truly is one coater, has minimal striking problems, and the formula is still great even though we are approaching year 10. i usually wear it simple and bear for a day, and add a topper the next.

natural light:

dance legend velvet 648

today, i am showing a polish from dance legend's velvet collection (or Бархат in russian), number 648.

lately, my love for matte finishes reemerged. i know i know, you can mattify anything, but i still like polishes that have the effect to begin with.

648 (i wish it had a name) is really gorgeous. colour is very rich, a mix of dark grey and blue, with rich shimmer and amazing velvet finish. the formula is good, no streaking and difficulties. just gorgeous.

natural light:

dance legend velvet mini 6

i love dance legend, especially  their holos, but the velvet mini collection was also pretty awesome. i showed number 10 a while ago, and now it's time for number 6.

the shade is an awesome, vivid turquoise blue, a tad more green in real life than in the photos. the finish is satin-type of matte, due to the interesting, tiny silver shimmer. 

even though it's matte, the formula is awesome and it dries very quickly.

natural light:

opi 4 in the morning (gwen stefani)

when i saw the gwen stefani collection for opi, i knew i had to have 4 in the morning. so, the time has finally come to show it off.

the moment i put it on, i got that powerful feeling that i have when i wear black polishes (maybe this is the reason my nails were exclusively black during my bachelor's and master degree).

this one is something special. i love this satin-like finish, combined with tiny silver shimmer. it is not the deepest of blacks, but it's gorgeous. the formula is easy to work with, and i think it can get away with one coat.

natural light, no top coat:

dance legend velvet mini 10 (бархат мини 10)

i love dance legend velvet collection, and i had to pick up a few polishes when the velvet mini (Бархат Мини) collection came out, so i'm starting out with number 10.

other than them having a matte, satin-like finish, this collection is very versatile with many different shades. of course, i had to get something green.

number 10 is a really gorgeous, vivid green with dense golden shimmer, it's drying matte and looks really fresh and unique.

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