OPI Neutrals Swatches & Nail Art

I am trying to get all of my nail polishes swatched. I don't have an 'untried' pile as I've tried probably 98% of all my nail polishes, but I probably haven't swatched 50% of them. I use a lot of polishes for nail art, and some colours I buy exclusively for nail art.

Since my collection is quickly expanding, I thought it was time to destash. I easily got rid of about 30 polishes, including 10 OPI's and 8 Essie's. Now it's time to swatch the rest and see which ones I really like and actually use.

I have already gone through all my Kester Blacks... I'm keeping them all! And my second favourite brand is OPI.

OPI has a fantastic range of nail polishes and constantly have new collections coming out. It's very tempting to buy all the nail polishes that come out, but they also release a lot of dupes (within their own brand) so realistically, I don't need them all...

I decided to start with my neutrals. I'm obsessed with nude nails and I have quite a large range from OPI. I wanted to try something new. Instead of just swatching the polishes I wanted to add some nail art.

I'll start off with the pinky shades. First up is Tickle My France-y.

This is a very pink toned neutral mauve.

I bought this because I saw so many beautiful swatches of it online, but I'm not sure if this really suits me.

I've put it in the maybe pile.

More info, swatches and nail art after the jump!

Floral & Polka Dot Nails - Mani Swap

I decided to do a mani-swap with my good friend @shakun_05 on Instagram. For a mani-swap I choose one of the other persons designs to recreate and they recreate one of mine. Then we put them into a collage and post them on Instagram! This is my first ever mani-swap and I loved it! It was really difficult to choose one of Shakun's designs as she is so talented, but I ended up going for a rose and polka dot design and she recreated my Cath Kidston nails!

I started off applying a base coat on my index finger, middle finger and pinky and my  DIY peel off base coat on my ring finger. Once that all dried, I applied OPI Alpine Snow on my three fingers and Butter London Scallywag on my ring finger. Scallywag is a very dense glitter and is easily opaque in 2-3 coats. It could be used as a topper, but since it's so dense I always just go all out and cover my whole nail. It's super sparkly and beautiful and works great for glitter gradients too!

I used H&M Serenity Now for the blue polka dots and the roses. It has a jelly finish so the dots aren't fully opaque. If I were to do it again I would use Barry M Damson as it's wouldn't leave the dots inside the dots (if that makes sense). I then used Alpine Snow again and a tiny brush to add some detail to the roses and Essie Navigate Her to apply the leaves.

Every since I started instagram (over a year ago!) I have always used Essie Navigate Her for flower leaves. It's the perfect green that isn't too in your face, but just adds a bit of subtle colour. It really completes the look!

I absolutely love how this turned out. And I'm also in love with how Shakun's mani turned out! It's beautiful.





What do you think of the mani's and recreations?
xx Elaine

Butter London Trout Pout & Snog

Butter London Trout Pout

There is nothing more exciting than going through a friends nail polish collection and trying out new polishes. I tested out two amazing Butter London nail polishes: Trout Pout and Snog. I do own a few Butter London nail polishes myself, but only 1 creme polish, the rest is all glitters! I do like the formula for the creme polishes, but the brand mainly stood out to me for their glitters. Trying some more cremes definitely changed my mind

Butter London Trout Pout

First up is Trout Pout, a beautiful coral. The formula was fantastic, I applied two easy coats of the polish for the swatch. The polish is slightly thick, but that didn't make it difficult to apply. The first coat was slightly streaky, but because of the amazing opacity the second coat evened everything out. It's a stunning and a perfect shade for the spring/summer.

Butter London Snog

The second nail polish is called Snog. It's a much darker berry colour that leans hot pink. It really reminds me of OPI's Koala-beary. The colour is very similar, but the formula is similar too. For the swatch I only used one coat. You can see a slight nail line so I would advise doing two coats, but I wanted to show you how opaque the formula is. It's also super glossy and dried quickly.

I'm so impressed with the two creme polishes from Butter London that I might have to go and buy a few myself!!