OPI Pink Shatter

I can't believe October is almost over.  Next week it's going to be November.  Normally I wouldn't object to the whole course-of-time-month-change thing, but November means the semester is almost over.  And I have way too much stuff to get done for the semester to be almost over.  Sigh.  But my last post in October will be OPI Pink Shatter, since it's breast cancer awareness month.  I haven't mentioned it at all this October, which wasn't intentional.  But anyway, here's the shatter:

Sorry the fleshy part of my ring finger looks kind of shiny.  I have the world's worst paper cut there and I had to put some Neosporin on it.  Ow.  So anyway, this is OPI Pink Shatter.  There isn't much to say about it, actually.  Kind of self-explanatory.  The polish is shimmery, as you can probably see in the bottle, but also pretty sheer.  Don't even think about putting this one over a dark polish; it won't show up.  I actually tried it over Congeniality Is My Middle Name when I first got it, and it was like I hadn't added anything at all.  But if you put it over a light color you get much more interesting results.  You you see it here over American Apparel Coney Island, which I don't have a picture of on its own (but it's a light pink, and an Essie Fiji dupe).  I did really thin coats because I like the dispersed crackle look, but if you use a thicker one you'll get thicker cracks.  Just one coat necessary.

When I first put this one on I didn't like it at all.  Just because it's hot pink, and hot pink isn't me (at all).  But the next day I couldn't stop staring at my nails.  The patterns the polish had created were just really interesting to me, and from far away I thought they looked like pink camouflage or something.  So all in all, I think Pink Shatter is a win for me.  It's only one of two shatters I now own, so I guess the trend really didn't suck me in, huh?

Also, as requested, here's my hair pre-cut.  I'm going this afternoon to have something done to it, though I'm not sure what yet.  I probably won't do much of anything, because I normally don't.  My boyfriend has been in the habit of pointing out my split ends and lamenting my dearth of conditioner for the past couple months, so I finally gave in and made an appointment.  It's getting so long that sometimes I have my elbow on it when I'm lying down and then when I try to get up it turns out badly.

Yes, I'm at the library.  What else is new?

Okay, that's all.  I'll talk to you guys in November!  Also, don't forget to enter my OPI Miss Universe GIVEAWAY if you haven't already.  The whole collection could be yours; click here to find out details.

[This product sent for review.  Questions?  See my disclosure policy.]

OPI Miss Universe GIVEAWAY

Hi friends.  For the past week I've been posting the OPI Miss Universe polishes individually.  I wanted to wait until I had represented all of the polishes on Short n Chic before I posted this giveaway, so today's that day.


So, what can you win and how can you win it?  First, here's what you'll win.

Congeniality Is My Middle Name

Crown Me Already! (ring nail)

Swimsuit...Nailed It!

It's MY Year

The winner of this giveaway will receive the full set of OPI Miss Universe polishes.  Unused and unopened, of course. 

To enter, you must do two things:

1.  Become a follower of Short n Chic.  To do this, go to the righthand sidebar and click the button that says "Join This Site."  Have you done that?  Great, you're eligible to win.

2.  Comment on this post and include:

Your name

AND

Your e-mail address

ALSO this is not required, but if you want to tell someone about this giveaway that would be great.  You can text your friend, tell your mom on the phone, post about it on your blog, whatever.  I don't need proof of this.  I would just appreciate it.

This giveaway will end on Monday, October 31 at 11:59pm.  I will announce the winner sometime that week.  If the winner does not respond, I will choose another winner.

Pretty easy, right?  International readers are eligible too.  Anyone can enter, anyone can win as long as  you meet the two requirements above.

This giveaway was actually hastened by my unusually good mood.  I was going to wait until November to post it, but I'm so weirdly content right at this moment that today seemed like a good time.  Why my happy mood?

1.  I went out of town this weekend to a clambake hosted by my aunt and uncle (hi Auntie Laura!), and it was really fun and really relaxing.  In a way, I'm still basking in the afterglow of getting to spend time with friends and family.  The graduate school lifestyle is an amazingly solitary one, so being in the company of loved ones and good conversation is always a treat.  The amazing food also helped.

2.  Even though I was still technically on vacation today, I popped into work at the museum.  I got a lot done, and accomplishment makes me happy.

3.  At the beginning of the semester I was taking French.  It was a pain in the ass because I had to get up early, the homework took up a ton of time, there were a lot of tests, and I was always late getting to the class for which I TA because I had to run across campus from French to get there.  But now I can drop French.  I can drop French because I passed a translation test and I was able to semi-struggle through a scholarly article, translating it from French into English.  All this means is that I am certifiably able to read French according to my masters program.  In a word:  yay.

4.  I'm getting my bi-annual haircut on Friday, so the anticipation has me excited.  You may remember my February haircut, and a similar scintillating frenzy.

Okay, that's it!  Good luck everyone!  I hope I put you in a good mood too.

OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! and Crown Me Already!

There are entirely too many exclamation points in the names of these OPI Miss Universe polishes.  But other than that, I don't have any issues with them.  Because, my friends, in this tiny collection OPI produced a blue that I actually enjoy wearing.  Exhibit A:

This is Swimsuit...Nailed It! and it can only be accurately described as a cerulean blue shimmer bomb.  Really, this polish just sings in the sun.  It's sparkly enough, though, that it continues to sing quietly in the shade.  Besides the color, which is just...out-of-this-world gorgeous, it was really the formula that totally blew me away.  This polish is so pigmented that I nearly got away with one coat (I did two just to be safe).  Swimsuit... is just brilliant.  If you like blues like this, I can't recommend enough that you run out and buy this if you can still find it (or order it!).  

Something else of note:  when my boyfriend saw this polish he immediately commented on it positively.  This is abnormal; he's so used to my frequent polish changes (and probably my frequent dark color-usage) that he just never says anything about it anymore.  But apparently Swimsuit...was special enough to catch his eye.  Indoors, too.

But wait; there's more.  Since my nails were already sparkly thanks to Swimsuit... I decided to take the bling up a notch and add Crown Me Already!, a silver glitter polish.  

I only wanted to commit to scrubbing glitter off of two of my nails, so I just added two coats of Crown Me to the ring nails on each hand.  What a good color combination, right?  Unfortunately my pictures couldn't really capture the beauty of Crown Me, but I'll describe it for you anyway.  It's a glitter polish suspended in a clear base, but there are two types of glitter:  regular, grainy glitter, and hexagonal glitter.  The combination of the two is sure to make your nails shine like little disco balls.  The hex pieces tend to have a mirror effect that brilliantly reflects light, so it was hard to get a photo of this in the sun.  My camera freaked out.

Here's the bottle, just so you can see the two different types of glitter.

Weirdly, this color combination immediately conjured up very specific imagery for me.

[image credit]

On season 4 of Project Runway (RIP Bravo! Project Runway, by the way) Jillian Lewis made this little get-up for the WWE wrestling challenge.  I'm pretty sure the chick she dressed was going for a "girl next door" aesthetic.  While I don't exactly see that reflected in the costume, it's pretty cute nonetheless.  Maybe the knee-high socks are supposed to say "I'm all-American" or something.  Who knows.  But ANYWAY, the cerulean of Swimsuit...and the light silver of Crown Me immediately called to mind Project Runway for me.  Isn't it weird how something like that will just pop into your head?  

That's all for today.  Any thoughts on either of these polishes?  Any blue lovers out there die over Swimsuit...?  This is one sparkly blue I'm glad I got on my hands.

[These products sent for review.  Questions?  See my disclosure policy.]

OPI It's MY Year

Hazy and gray in Cleveland again.

Here's OPI It's MY Year without and with flash, respectively.  This is a really nice polish.  It's MY Year consists of gold and purple shimmer/foil-ish particles all suspended in a not-too-sheer jelly base.  This makes for a dazzling effect when brought to opacity and when in the sun.  The polish sparkles a grape color, lavender, and gold all at the same time depending which angle you're looking from.

The formula was good on this one, just a tad runny.  I used three coats because of the jelly base, but the dry time was really fast.  Also the glitter here is totally smooth even without topcoat, so that's a plus.  Personally, I don't have anything else like this polish, but when I saw it it reminded me immediately of Zoya Faye.  It also seems to be a more purple version of OPI Rally Pretty Pink.  I don't own either of those so I can't do a comparison, but I'm sure there's one out there.  I'm glad I have this one, though.  It kind of reminds me of a summer sunset.  

Speaking of summer, starting to miss it now.  I love fall, but it has been raining like crazy in Cleveland for the past couple days.  To keep my morale up, I wore my sweater with fancy kitties on it the other day.

The self-timer surprised me a bit, which is why I don't look at all photogenic here, but you get the idea. And if you don't, here's a close-up.

See?  Kitties.  Fancy kitties, because they're wearing bow ties.  Aristocats, if you will.  Har har.

Okay, time for me to be off to work.  Opinions on It's MY Year?  Man, the capitalized pronoun in the name of that polish is kind of annoying, huh?

[This product sent for review.  Questions?  See my disclosure policy.]

OPI Congeniality is My Middle Name

It's kind of a dreary day here in Cleveland, even though it wasn't supposed to be.  I usually have my Tuesday class outside at a coffee shop, but sadly I don't think that'll happen today.  But...at least I can bring the sparkle with my nails.

With flash.

And a shot of the bottle.

Congeniality is My Middle Name came out this past summer with the limited edition OPI Miss Universe collection.  This is one of two shimmers included in the collection, and I have to tip my hat to OPI on this one.  I usually never wear pink, especially a pink that leans so close to purple.  But this one is nice. A deep pink with a purple base, I'm sure this polish really sings in the sun.  Unfortunately I have none of that today, so we'll just have to make do with the flash.  Which didn't turn out poorly, so I think we're good.

The formula on this one gave me just a little bit of trouble.  It was thinner than OPIs normally are, so it was a little difficult to control, but nothing you can't handle.  I used two coats and it brought the polish to full opacity.  The microshimmer in this is what makes it special.  It's not just your run-of-the mill berry; it's packed with tiny, twinkling purple and pink microglitter that sparkles when in bright light.  

I think this is more of an autumn color than a summer one.  For me at least.  Berry shades always make me think autumn or winter.  Regardless, if you're a fan of berries or pinks, I wouldn't hesitate about picking this one up.  You won't be disappointed.  Plus, as I mentioned, I think it's a good transition color from summer into fall for those of us who aren't ready to go full-on gray and vampy yet.

Opinions on Congeniality is My Middle Name?  Does it make anyone else think of Sandra Bullock?  Any pink fans that absolutely adore this one? 

[This product sent for review.  Questions?  See my disclosure policy.]

China Glaze Foxy

I bought a few polishes from China Glaze's Vintage Vixen collection last fall.  I wasn't exactly crazy about any of them.  It was the type of thing where I wore them once, took pictures, and then forgot about them.  I even forgot that I had never worn Foxy.  I found it at the back of a Helmer drawer, all sad and forlorn by itself.

And now I'm kicking myself for letting poor Foxy languish on its own for an entire year.  I can't believe how much I love this polish.  It's a gorgeous brownish red with gold shimmer running through it.  Here's a bottle shot.

I love this.  The formula was great, of course.  Two coats and I was all set.  And the name is so perfect, isn't it?  I know that this polish won't be one that I use once and forget about.  For me, this one is repeat-manicure material.

Plus, as an added bonus, Foxy has been making me think of this all week:

[image credit]

Sigh.  So great.

Anyway, thoughts on Foxy?  Did anyone else pick this one up last year?  Does anyone love it as much as I do?  I don't know what it is, but I'm so into this one...

China Glaze Side Saddle

This post is going to be really short because I have to leave for my agonizing full day of Monday-ness in...eleven minutes.

Here's China Glaze Side Saddle.  I don't have the bottle because I lent this entire collection to my friend, but I felt weird holding nothing, so...that's why I'm holding Gelous.  Anyway, Side Saddle is a Rodeo Diva that you never really hear much about.  But why, I don't know.  Because it's gorgeous.  A dark plum or brown base with maroon, purple, red and gold microshimmer.  It lights up in the sun, looks like little gems glistening.  I love this one.  Good China Glaze formula; two coats and I was good to go.  

This is perfect for fall, isn't it? 

China Glaze Trendsetter

When I first saw the promo photos for Metro last winter (yes, I was creeping around for fall 2011 releases in winter 2010) and I laid eyes on Trendsetter I knew that it would have to come and live in my collection.  Then I saw swatches come out and I knew that this was the only polish of the collection that merited must-have-grabby-hands status.  

For those of you who are regular readers, it won't come as a shock when I tell you that I am head-over-heels in love with this color.  I've said it many times but I'll say it again:  these ugly puke greens and yellows look wonderful and elegant on my skin tone and I don't know why but I love it.  Trendsetter is basically a shimmery version of American Apparel MacArthur Park, probably a couple hairs darker and greener.  Therefore the name "trendsetter" isn't entirely apt.  But if that's my only problem with this polish, then...I'm still ecstatic about it.  The formula was typical China Glaze, and I had flawless and even coverage in two coats.

I was so happy to walk into Ulta and see that they had this collection.  The other one I wanted, Midtown Magic, was the only one they didn't have.  But now looking at swatches of that one I'm noticing that it's not exactly terribly unique, so I'm not too sad to have missed out on it.  I don't have much time at all for my once-routine pilgrimages to Ulta, but I made sure to find time last Sunday morning.  Trendsetter was a reward to myself for finishing tasks (like a toddler, I work on a reward system; fun fact:  writing this blog post was my reward to myself for finishing a particularly arduous reading).  

To conclude:  LOVE.  If you like weird ugly colors like this, get yourself a bottle of Trendsetter.  It's too gross/beautiful to pass up.  And I think it looks great on short nails ;)

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Creepy Pumpkin

October.  It's October.  September through December is my favorite time of year, and I consider "the holidays" to begin with Halloween.  Halloween is my favorite day of the year.  It's the best time of year, too.  The leaves fall, there's apple cider, I get to wear scarves and tights, and Halloween-themed nail polish comes out.  These pictures are terrible, though.  The manicure was a rush-job and the light was awful.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Creepy Pumpkin.  First of all, love the name.  This is the first polish in quite a while that I have bought for only the name.  I'm not a huge fan of orange, but I had to have this one.  As you can see, it's pretty sheer.  This was three coats and I still had significant-and-unable-to-be-ignored VNL.  I was too lazy to do a fourth, though.  This polish wore really well, so for $1.99 it's hard to be disappointed.  I think I had it on for four or five days before I saw any signs of wear, so that's good.  There really isn't much to say about it.  It's a jelly.  It has glass-fleck glitter.  It's really pretty.  Scrangie has a good swatch of this one.

I really wish I could blog more.  I'm six weeks into this semester, and I can say without reservation that it's the hardest one I've ever gone through.  And last year was tough.  And I went to a really rigorous school for my undergrad.  I don't have time to do anything for myself.  I'm always running, running, running.  Read, library, write, library, read, grade papers, teach kids, grade more papers, write lesson plans, read, read, read.  My stress level is the highest it's been...ever, I think.  And I miss my boyfriend. He's going to school full-time too, and working full-time, so it's hard to mesh our schedules.  I'm so proud of him, though.  But seeing him is always a stress-reliever for me.  He makes me laugh, and that's the best thing about him.  And he's the best cuddler.  Ah man, now I'm getting sad writing this.  I think I'll call him now...

Yeah, so I'm going to run off and do that.  And once again I'm making the promise that this will not be my only post this week.  We're supposed to get sun in Cleveland soon too, so my pictures should suck less next time.  Anyone else scoop up Creepy Pumpkin?  I'm sure it would look a thousand times better in sunlight and with four or even five coats, but my patience just doesn't accommodate that these days.