Funky French with OPI Onyx and Orly Rock It

As I was flipping through the pages of a recent Ulta catalog, there was a small ad that caught my attention... It was for the Orly French Fx Cosmetic set- it featured this ravishing black with these dramatic fuchsia foil tips coming into a V at the end of the nail. I had to have it on my nails!
I decided to recreate the look by using OPI Black Onyx and Orly Rock It. I think it turned out pretty good, and I got several compliments on it!

 

Orly Androgynie

Base: OPI Black Onyx
Topped with Orly Androgynie from the 2011/2012 Holiday Soiree collection

I know that I did a mini-review on Androgynie a while back, but I used this for a manicure the other day and had a much better experience- thought it was worth an update!
Androgyine has a base of black jelly and is filled with fine soft gold glitter and larger blue, teal, and hex glitter. The first time I tried it, I was let down because I had trouble getting the glitter on to the nail. This time, I tried turning the bottle upside down for maybe 20 minutes or so before using it. My gosh the difference it made! I was able to get a nice sample of glitter on each nail and was very happy with the overall result.
I'm so glad I gave this polish a second chance!

Orly Ingenue

Orly Ingenue from the 2011 Holiday Soirée collection

Orly Ingenue is a stunning purple leaning pink with fine golden particles. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Orly polishes- from the generous amount of polish the bottle holds to the bottle shape that prevents the polish from toppling over to the rubberized cap, they’re pretty great.

As far as the actual polish is concerned, we saw many similar colors to this released in 2011- there are several dupes, or near dupes such as OPI Rally Pretty Pink. This certainly does not take away from my love for type of color though, and since I do not own Rally Pretty Pink, I was happy to pick this one up. The formula was a bit thin for my liking, but I think I’ve just been spoiled by too many rich crèmes. The thin formula really did not impact application though, and this was reasonably opaque in 2 coats.

This is such a tricky polish to photograph because of the color shifts! In low lights, the pinky purple base really comes out, and in bright lights, the gold shines and sparkles. I think I loved this polish on me most when I was in a lower light situation with a small chandelier over me in a bar area of a restaurant- the way the light hit my nails the pinky purple came through but they glistened with golden shimmer.

I’m not sure how flattering the color was on me, but it was still very pretty!

Do you have any colors like this?

Did you get any of the Holiday Soiree collection when it was released?

Fun with layering featuring Finger Paints Asylum

I was inspired on this one, but for the life of me, cannot remember where I saw it.

Base color; Essie Midnight Cami from Essie’s 2009 Cuddle with Color collection

I do like Essie, while I have heard mixed things on them; I have yet to have one that didn’t play well with me. The square bottle makes storage easy, and while the brush is small, it’s still easy to use. Midnight Cami was nice navy shimmer, and for layering, one coat was fine. If I was wearing it on its own, I would likely use two coats because I like my color opaque. Midnight Cami is such a great color because it’s dark blue, but without being so dark you’d mistake it for black.

Layer 1; Orly Androgynie from Holiday Soiree 2011

Orly is a favorite brand of mine. They have so many good qualities! The bottles are a full .6 oz! For reference OPI’s are .5 oz, Essie’s .46 oz, and Ulta’s current bottles are .3 oz, so this is quite generous. Second, the bottom heavy design is great because it prevents them from toppling over easily. Finally, that rubberized cap rocks! I have actually chipped nails trying to remove stubborn caps from nail polish, so I am in love with their easy grip tops.

Androgynie is a mix of glitters, gold, multicolored, small and large in a black jelly base. In the bottle, it rocks my world- when I first got it I just played with the bottle, examining, and admiring the contents. On the nail, I was a bit disappointed. The density of the glitters in the bottle looks perfect, but it would take many, many layers to build it up to what you see in the bottle. I still liked it, but I think I was so excited for what I saw in the bottle that not having that same density was a letdown.

Layer 2; Finger Paints Asylum from Finger Paint’s 2012 Special Effects collection

I don’t own many bottles of Finger Paints polish. I think because it’s a Sally Beauty Supply store brand, I’ve discounted it. To top it off, not many of their collection have blown me away. The bottle is okay, I believe it’s supposed to look like an ink well. The cap doesn’t quite thrill me- it’s a very thin top, and when it gets stuck, it’s quite a chore to remove.

That said, Finger Paints shocked and surprised me with the release of an entire collection of flakies! Oh, I love flakies- they can take a dark color and make it pop, they are more subtle than glitter (in my opinion), and they make my heart pitter patter. I stalked Sally’s after seeing the press release for this collection because I did not want to miss out. This collection was amazing- it brought flakies to the masses at an affordable price. Many of these are dupes of Nails Inc. flakies, sets which run $20 for a set of a .33 oz base color and .33 oz flakie. Asylum is a stunning mix of deep blue, purple, and orange flakies with some green and gold. I couldn’t help but stare at my nails when this was on.

Overall, I think this layering experiment was a success, though my nails did end up a bit thicker than I would have liked. It was very pretty- you could see little bits of the Androgynie glitter peeking out from the Asylum flakies. I had used Midnight Cami as a base hoping some of the blue would come through, but it seems the black jelly from Androgynie canceled out the blue.

What are your thoughts on flakies?

Do you ever layer your polishes?

Do you have a favorite layering combination?