Oopsie Daisies Nail Polish Pick More Daisies

Hi everyone! I'm safely back from vacation with a new polish to share with you.  I had mentioned this would be revealed while I was away but due to a few limited internet access issues it's going to happen today instead. I'm very excited about this polish, I hope you love it as much as I do!

Pick More Daisies is inspired by firstly, my love for the flower. They're my absolute favorite so it was only a matter of time before one like this was created.  Secondly, the name is from a wonderful poem with multiple adaptations that I'm going to credit Nadine Stair for, titled "I'd Pick More Daisies"

"If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. 

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have. 

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."

Pick More Daisies is a green jelly based polish with green shimmers, green and white glitter as well as the show stealer, yellow daisy shaped glitter.  This polish wears nicely on its own or over a favorite green polish.

Two coats of Pick More Daisies over one coat of Essie Mojito Madness - "Natural" Light

Three coats of Pick More Daisies - "Natural" Light

Three coats of Pick More Daisies - "Natural" Light

Two coats of Pick More Daisies over one coat of Essie Mojito Madness - "Natural" Light

Two coats of Pick More Daisies over one coat of Essie Mojito Madness - "Natural" Light

Three coats of Pick More Daisies - "Natural" Light

Pick More Daisies is available now at my Etsy shop for 8$.

Oopsie Daisies Nail Polish Shop 

Brucci Cali Cat and OPI Black Spotted

So Cali Cat is definitely a polish I bought for its name.  We call two of our cats the "Cali Cats" because my brother sent us this via an airplane when he moved. He lives in California but couldn't house them any longer, so two new additions it was!  I do also love Brucci as a brand in general so I wasn't opposed to the idea of purchasing another polish from them.

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This is 2 coats of Cali Cat over Orly Bonder, sealed with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash.  Cali Cat is a neon green shimmer. I thought maybe I hadn't tightened the lid enough when I swatched it for the OPI Black Spotted nail wheels because it seemed a little goopy.  I added a few drops of thinner and it seemed much more smooth and ready to go.

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It kills me to have to say anything bad about my beloved Brucci, but the formula, even after thinning, was difficult to work with.  I did not like how it applied; it wasn't super streaky but it was thick and difficult to smooth out without get tons of brush strokes. It's a neon shimmer but applies almost like a frost (EEEEEEEEEEK!!) so you can see the brush strokes.

Flash

Despite the formula and application issues, the color is really fun and bright, a great summer color. Makes me sad that Cali Cat won't be a new favorite. I wanted to test OPI Black Spotted on my nails so I figured this would be a great opportunity since it's coming right off anyways.

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This is one thin coat of Black Spotted over the previous manicure sealed with another coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. The index finger is a bit of a thicker coat, so it didn't do its effect as much, but on my pinky it was a super thin coat, so it spotted a whole bunch!

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Sinful Colors Leap Flog + Born Pretty items!

I saw somewhere that Sinful Color had a new collection with all repromotes except Leap Flog, which is new. It's more of a fall color and I probably won't use it again until then but I am just smitten with it.

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The photo above is 2 coats of Leap Flog over Orly OtD. I used a dried flower from my recent Born Pretty order.

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For the $2 price tag, Sinful Colors really does impress me. I added the flower over the tacky Leap Flog and it adhered just fine.

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I added Essie As Gold As It Gets (another favorite!) and decided it was a complete look with that last touch. This is just one coat of Essie, with another coat of top coat. I did put a layer of Instant Artificials over the flower since it is textured.  It smoothed it out a little bit, I had to wait until it was tacky and almost dry and then I was able to flatten it out a bit better. Some parts of the flower were sticking up before I did that.

I ordered a wheel of the dried flowers from Born Pretty as well as a wheel of half pearls. They have decent prices and free shipping but it took about 3 weeks to arrive from China.

Edit 7/23/12 - I just realized that this polish is actually Leap Flog, not Leap Frog. I edited this post accordingly. But seriously, what's a leap flog?

Ulta Carnivale Four Piece Mini Collection Swatch & Review

This mini set from Ulta has a little something for everyone. Four different colors with four different finishes was an interesting selling point in this for me.  Most mini sets have the same finish with various colors, I liked the variety in this one.  My friend Melissa got this for me as a gift for passing my Praxis II (yay!) test a week or so ago. This was one of those items I pick up and put down time and time again so it was good to have someone pull the trigger for me. All swatches have CND Stickey for the base coat and Brucci Nail Dryer for the top coat.

Cha Cha, I Want Samba That, Masque-parade, It's the Rio Deal

I'll start with Cha Cha, which is a yellow creme.  I was hoping this one wouldn't suck, but it's a streaky standard yellow 4-coater.  It does look pretty, I like the shade but I don't like four coats.

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This one was most difficult to apply and had the worst formula from the bunch. I've never had any really bad experiences with Ulta brand polish but yellows seem to be everyone's Achilles heel.

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I Want Samba That, whose name is a pun that goes right over my head (I want some of that?), is a green grass fleck, very sparkly!  The formula on this one was decent, 3 coats shown.

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 I recently swatched a Funky Fingers green grass fleck; I prefer the Ulta shade much more.

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Masque-parade is a purple shimmer polish with pinkish-purple shimmers.  The formula on this one was great! So smooth, very opaque. Two coats.

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The shimmer, seen below, is super subtle and hidden, I had some difficulties capturing it.

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It's the Rio Deal is almost a creme. It's got some jelly-like attributes to it, as well.  It falls somewhere right in the middle as there was still some VNL even though I felt it was adequately covered.  The formula for this one was pretty good too actually. Two thin coats.

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It's a fun, very bright red that leans a bit neon. It's a bit of a all-in-one polish considering how many finishes it manages to have.  It reminds me of tomatoes and while I'm not a big fan of reds, this one is certainly memorable.

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The Ulta Carnivale Four Piece Mini Collection is available at Ulta for $7.99 - I'm pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the swatches except for the crappy yellow. It's such a pretty happy shade but the four coats is a deal breaker for me. Which is your favorite?

Smitten Polish - Mint Chip

I am so excited to show you guys this polish as well as speak a little about Smitten Polish!  I've been super hesitant about most indie brands as they're typically chunky glitters. I've already gotten rid of all my Lynnderellas as they chip and I've been purging most of my chunky glitters as of lately. I thought that sparse glitter in a milky base may not behave a like "glitter" at all, and I was pleasantly surprised to be right!

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This is 3 thin coats of Mint Chip over Orly Bonder and sealed with Out the door.

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Mint Chip has tiny itty bitty shiny brown glitter as well as small hex glitter in the same color in a light minty green base.  It applied BEAUTIFULLY! The formula is amazing, really. It also wore really well on me.  I had one small chip after 8 hours of daycare work, which is a lot of hand washing. Usually glitters at work don't last past an hour without sheeting off. This is groundbreaking for me, and I know its due to Noelie's amazing polish!

Source

It really does look like the ice cream. I know a lot of people dislike that particular flavor but it's not bad actually, especially in a milkshake.. nom.

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Macro Bottle Shot

I am absolutely thrilled to have Smitten Polishes in my collection, I have another which I anticipate blogging soon, it's just as wonderful as this!  If you're interested in Smitten Polishes you can find out lots of info about them from the creator's blog here: Noelie's Nails and you can buy them here: Smitten Polish. Restock times, prices and other color information is available within those two links.

Funky Fingers Glass Fleck Collection

I picked up this set at Five Below.  There may or may not be dupes in these from the Color Club Take Wing collection. The Funky Fingers polishes are named after fairy tale and princess-y type stuff.  This set consists of five glass fleck sort of polishes. I used Orly Bonder and Brucci Nail Dryer for all of the swatches.

Prince Charming - Mirror, Mirror, Pixy Dust, Kiss the Girl - Belle

Prince Charming was the sheerest of the bunch needed a total of 4 coats.

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Bottle Macro

Not only was it the sheerest, it's the most difficult to describe. There are hints of blue and pink in there too.  And it's a bit glowy! The macro shot of my nail captures best what you can really see in real life.  It's got multi-dimensions to it. It loses points though for being a 4-coater, but you could probably get away with three.

Mirror, Mirror is a fun, vivacious blue that also is a bit glowy.  This is only 2 coats of polish in these pictures but I think if I applied slightly thicker coats that the bare spots or VNL you might be seeing would be eliminated.

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I was thinking this could possibly be a dupe for Color Club Sky High but upon closer inspection, I'm not so sure.

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 This one did stain though, just a warning.

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Pixy Dust, which I think is a nod at Tinker Bell, is the second sheerest out of this collection. This is 3 coats and could've used a fourth. I didn't really like how it looked on me that much. I'm sure there's an audience for this color, I'm just not a part of it.

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The next one, Kiss the Girl, is my favorite from this set.  Not just because it's pink, but the formula is incredible.  This is ONE coat of Kiss the Girl.  Out of all of them, this one has the most "glowy", least "metallic" look. It was slightly difficult to photograph. It behaved like a neon when I tried capturing it.

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Belle is the one I thought I'd like the least but it actually is pretty impressive for a yellow.  It's a direct reference to the Disney princess, Belle from Beauty and the Beast and I think they nailed it.  I stopped at 3 coats here. For as fun as this color is, I'm surprised I don't have one like it already.

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 I'm pretty sure this is a dupe for Color Club Daisy Does It.

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Yeah, it looks pretty bad on me but it's such a cool color. I love yellow so much, just wish I could wear it.

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So my overall take on these is that they're pretty awesome.  I got all of these for $9 and I'm pretty impressed with some of them. I'll run down their qualities again.


Prince Charming: Super sheer 4 coater with lots of depth.
Mirror, Mirror: Opaque 2 coater that stains.
Pixy Dust: Sheer green at 3 coats, not the best color.
Kiss the Girl: Super opaque one coat wonder that glows.
Belle: Decent opacity at 3 coats for a yellow. Has a CC dupe.


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