OWWWP - Color Club Raspberry Rush

I have put the comparisons aside for another week so I can show off my latest find. After months of stalking Ross, I have finally found Wicked Sweet!!!

Wicked Sweet is one of the two Color Club Summer 2011 collections - this is the candy scented one! I found this set looking nice and shiny (which is surprising given how polish sets normally look in my local Ross) and put on Raspberry Rush as soon as I got home.

Raspberry Rush is a vibrant raspberry creme - a cool leaning hot fuchsia that is so bright that it must be part neon. I say "part" because the first coat dries matte, but the second and third coats dry shiny so this polish can't be entirely neon.

I think these pictures begin to convey the juicy raspberry vibrancy of this polish, but neons throw the camera off. Imagine the polish a brighter, cooler shade with a bit more purple that makes my hands look more tan.

And the scent - it is fruity candy to the extreme! I thought the scented Revlon shades were decent because they kept their scent for a few days. This polish put that scent strength to shame! Usually, I have to bring my hands past my face to catch a whiff of the scent. After Raspberry Rush dried, I could smell the candy scent even when my hands were far away, like in my lap. The scent is pleasant, but it is strong - you have been warned :)

 I can't wait to try all the other Wicked Sweet shades. I'm so happy I finally found this set - eeeee!!

OPI Stranger Tides

We were out shopping with friends in Tucson when I spotted a nail supply place named "Andy's." That's kinda my name and it's a nail supply place, so I dragged my friends. What did I find? Affordable OPI!! I recently sold some polish in my blog sale, so I took my new funds and picked up some new shades.

They had all the shades from the OPI Pirates of the Carribean On Stranger Tides Spring 2011 collection. Since I'm on a limited polish budget and could only get one bottle from that collection, I went with the shade that would be the most unique in my beloved set of OPI polishes.

Stranger Tides is a light green creme with touches of gray to give it a murky feeling. I felt the formula was a bit watery so this is three thin coats to get full opacity. It set quickly, dried shiny, and wore like iron, so it was well worth all three coats.

On my hand, this green definitely leans yellow - most likely due to my olive skin tone.  I like the quiet oddness of this shade, but the heat has hit AZ hard in the last week. This pastel shade doesn't fit my "summer's here" mood so I'll be putting this away while we're in our triple digit days.

OWWWP - Zoya Lindsay

I prefer Zoya's shimmers and glitters. Something about the pieces and particles they use make these finishes look extra unique. Most of their shimmers glide on relatively easy and opaque in two coats. That has not always been the case, though.

In the summer of 2006, they released their Glitterati collection - 6 shades that were translucent and packed with shimmer. Most of the Glitterati colors were pink and today's Wednesday, so I'm wearing one of those pink shades today.

Zoya describes Lindsay as a "translucent medium pink with sparkling silvery shimmer." On some people, this medium pink is bright enough to be a hot pink. Since I have some summer color and this is a cool pink, Lindsay looks more like a vibrant fuchsia on me. The Glitteratis are on the sheer side, so it took three full coats and some spot touch-ups to get Lindsay close to opaque.

Zoya and Seche Vite don't always get along, but I decided to use SV anyway to get all these coats of polish to dry. Lindsay was still dentable almost an hour later and I dinged my index finger. I slapped on a second coat of SV and it seemed to harden it up really quickly, so maybe I should've put two coats of topcoat on in the first place. Although Lindsay was dentable for awhile, once this polish actually dried, it wore like iron for days - we're talking no tipwear.

I like the brightness and femininity of Lindsay, but I'm not sure how I feel about it in comparison to some of my other sheer, shimmer-packed pinks - like BB Couture's Hermosa Surfer Girl.  I think next Wednesday will be a comparison week to show Devious Nature and Hermosa Surfer Girl against these other OWWWP shades.

Zoya Ivanka & Charla

If you haven't heard, Zoya is offering a free bottle of Ivanka AND Charla with any online purchase (US Only) while supplies last or until Thursday, June 16 at 11:59 EST.

Both of these polishes are from the Zoya Summer 2010 Sparkle collection. I've worn both these colors so far this summer because the warm weather has put me in the mood for bright shades. I want sparkle and iridescence until the hotter triple digit days of July when it looks like everything is radiating heatwaves - that's when I'll wear my neons. These polishes are definitely bright and sparkly!

According to Zoya, Ivanka is a "mermaid green sparkling metallic." The gold-with-hints-of-blue duochrome are very visible in the bottle. On the nail, this translates to a green that is bright and cool with tons of gold shimmer.

Charla is a "tropical blue sparkling metallic." I love turquoise polishes and this is one of my favorites. It's not a neon but it's still so bright and sparkly that my camera thought it was radioactive in the sunlight. Charla is packed with gold and green glitter that doesn't disappoint in any lighting.

Both of these polishes ran on the sheer side, probably due to the thin formula that lets the glitter swim through and set at different levels in the base. With three coats, you get sparkly depth and almost-full opacity. Zoya is not known for being a fast drying polish, but these polishes dry extremely quickly - even with three coats. They also dry smooth and grit-free.

If you don't have these two polishes or any of Charla's known dupes, don't wait to take advantage of Zoya's deal. They almost sold out today, but kept the deal going because their VP had them fill more bottles. Rush, rush, rush and go get some awesome free polishes!

OWWWP - OPI I'm Indi-a Mood For Love

Happy June to all!! I just ordered Devious Nature from Cult Nails during their fantastic Memorial Day sale. While I wait for my perfect hot-pink-with-a-touch-of-berry polish to arrive, I decided to wear another bright, cool leaning pink - I'm Indi-a Mood for Love from the OPI Spring 2008 India collection.

One of my favorite pinks of all time is OPI Strawberry Margarita from their Spring 2006 Mexico collection. It's a great bright warm pink, so I didn't pay attention to any of the cool pinks in the later spring/summer collections. Warm pinks made me feel tan and summery golden - until I moved to New York and looked for a cooler color that seemed more appropriate for their milder seasons.

I'm Indi-a Mood for Love is a bright, cool pink creme that goes on smoothly and dries shiny. I prefer three thin coats for full opacity. This polish is opaque enough to be worn with only two, but that does leave some nail line visible in brighter lighting.

 

There's enough blue in I'm Indi-a Mood for Love for this shade to look more purple-magenta on me. That tames this bright pink down enough to make it sophisticated enough to be work appropriate for me in the summer months.

I wonder how Devious Nature will measure up against this shade? Given the extremely fast shipping from Cult Nails, I'll probably have it my hands in time to share for next week's On Wednesdays We Wear Pink post.