BLOGS IN BLOOM - OPI 'Mermaid Tears and Silver Shatter'

OPI Addict shows us the super gorgeous OPI 'Mermaid Tears' along with their lovely silver shatter...

Hello everyone :) I am really excited for the opportunity to be part of the "Blogs in Bloom" series.

I'll start off with a little about who I am. I am a Canadian university student, and I will be starting my second year in Honours Psychology this coming September. I eventually want to get my masters degree and potentially even more schooling, and then open up my own practice. My interests include reading (some of my favourite books include The Glass Castle, The Bell Jar, and Her Fearful Symmetry), music (country and top 40 are my favourite genres), cooking, baking, and enjoying life. :) Oh, how could I have forgotten? I have an extreme love for nail polish. OPI is like a drug to me. I really have a passion for their company and their products. I'm creeping up on 100 bottles, you can view my entire list of polishes on the sidebar of my blog. I have wanted to start up a nail polish blog for quite a while, but I just didn't know how to go about it. I finally got up the nerve to start it up, and I am so happy that I did! One of my friends, who goes by the name OPInionated, has made guest appearances on my blog, as she shares my love for polish. I love reading all of the comments from my readers, knowing that my blog is actually being read by real people, all around the world. My blogging goal is really just to share my passion with other lacquer lovers.

I would love to venture into the world of nail art, as I am not that experienced in that field. I have a real appreciate for those who can create works of art on their nails, and one day I would love to be able to do the same. You can definitely expect me to keep you up to date with the latest collections and news in the nail polish world. I will be showing swatch comparisons of similar polishes, and offering my opinion on which polishes are the must haves, and which ones simply left me wanting more. I also love layering polishes, so you can expect to see many different layering options. I am new to the blogging scene, as my blog is only about a month old. I am still learning how to best photograph nails, and I'm sure I will master this technique with time and much practice.

My three favourite blogs would be:

1) Beauty by Kayla Shevonne, http://kaylashevonnebeauty.blogspot.com, She offers many comparison swatches, and always has new posts to be read.

2) Josie's Nails, http://josiesnails.blogspot.com/, Her photographs are so beautiful! She always captures the perfect angle and lighting of the nail.

3) All Lacquered Up was the first polish blog I think I have ever read, and I still read this blog daily. Her expansive collection always allows for comparisons. I feel that I can trust her judgement on a new polish, and I really respect and admire her. http://www.alllacqueredup.com/

Here is an example of the type of post that you will find on my blog, http://addictedtoopi.blogspot.com/.

OPI's "Mermaids Tears" seemed to be the most talked about polish of the Pirates Collection that launched in Spring 2011. This collection seemed to take forever to trickle into salons, and this lacquer was always sold out. When I finally was able to purchase it I was very eager to use it to polish my tips :)

With such high expectations from this polish, I was bound to be at least slightly let down. I found this formula, as with most creams, to be slightly streaky. In fact, four coats was required for full opacity! And even then, some nails still showed streak marks. I will have to swatch this again using OPI's Ridge Filler, and see if that makes any difference.

With a collection full of creams, OPI decided to include a new shatter colour, Silver Shatter. I found that this shatter allowed for the underlying lacquer to be seen and appreciated, without being about to see any of the streakiness. Silver shatter was easy to apply, and shattered nicely. One thing that I really like about the Shatter line is the incredibly quick drying time. Since they dry to a matte finish, the drying time is almost instantaneous. If you like the matte finish, you could leave your manicure the way it is, but then you run the risk of the shatter peeling off. If you prefer a more high gloss finish, you can add a top coat, which would also help protect the longevity of your manicure. A major complaint with the shatter line is that the lacquer dries up very quickly inside the bottle. I have addressed this issue, and offered a few solutions on other posts on my blog :)

What do you think of this combination? What is your favourite polish to layer Silver Shatter over top of?

I hope that you will check out my blog, and leave me any comments that you may have! I would love any advice that you may have for a new blogger :) Also, if there is anything that you would like to see as part of my blog, please feel free to let me know.

Thank you for reading!

OPI Addict

Fancy seeing more from OPI Addict? Hop over and check out her blog!