Admittedly I wasn't very excited about this collection when I saw the press release. Honestly, I have so many pinks that it is hard to find a new gotta-have-it shade. Nice Stems is made up of three base polishes, all in pretty pinks and a gorgeous top coat. Keep reading to see if these rosy hues are worth a look...

Trying to remember what I used...

UDPP in Eden

Urban Decay Deluxe eyeshadow in Zero

Fyrinnae Marshmallow Puffs

Sally Girl glitter adhesive gel

Wet N Wild holo glitter

Milani Brow Kit

Cover Girl Lash Blash Length Mascara

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse

MAC Dollymix blush

MAC Candy Yum Yum lipstick

You may remember a little while back I showed you a little bit of a franken I made- Chaos. I finally made myself a big bottle of this and wore it as a full mani. And then I went to work and saw we had gotten in the SH crackle polishes and I snapped up Fuchsia Shock.

...it's like a gluey consistency and won't seem to break down even with pure acetone. It happened to 2 Seche bottles, I've used them before with no issue so I thought this was weird! Any guesses?

Anyways, back on topic...

I quickly applied a coat of Fuchsia Shock over the polish I already had and was kind of disappointed. When I picked this up I have grand visions of it over so many colors- in my opinion pink goes with nearly any color. So when I brushed it on and the pink barely had enough coverage to go over pale blue, I was a little disappointed. I mean, you can see the glitter in my base polish THROUGH the pink. No Bueno!

So on my other hand I decided to try a thicker coat. Now, I want to say that this is not easy. The brush this polish comes with is small (think Essie) and I can only coat half my nail before this stuff starts to dry. Sometimes if you take too long to apply it it gets mad or something and doesn't quite work right- so you have to move fast. The small brush makes this really annoying and I think that OPI has it right (can't comment on others) with the mop like brush that covers (albeit somewhat messy) in one quick coat.

Just to be sure, I did a bunch of swatches on paper. Which, I have photos of but they are kinda on my dead camera at the moment so I will upload them tomorrow and link later. Among them I tried both dark and light colors and decided that this was one polish I would be returning- which I have never done before. Over dark colors it was pretty much useless. You can't tell that it is pink because it takes on the color beneath it. Even over lighter colors (think pink would look awesome over yellow? SO DID I) it takes on the tone of the base (over yellow it appears orange). If you apply it thick enough this isn't so much of a problem- but I had issues getting it to be consistently thick on each finger.

While I haven't tried the other colors, I have discussed the silver one and have seen it used and it also seems to be more on the sheer side (on her nails it went on more like a metallic top coat and had minimal crackles).

As for how it crackles, I can't put my finger on it but I just don't care for the way it does- both thick and thin. I was over all unimpressed. These retail for $6.99 and can be found in most drug stores.

Walking through Rite Aid I spotted a Petites display with a few new shades mixed in with a bunch of core shades. There were a couple semi-interesting new shades but the only one I ended up getting was Daze. This is a rich green somewhere between lime and chartreuse, it has a pretty sheer green base and is loaded with matching green glitter (actually they kind of look almost like teeny flakies?). It is a little more sheer than I would have liked but at 3 coats it is good enough for me, but I don't fear the VNL. I'm gonna try this over black I think but I have to pick up a new bottle since mine have all turned into thick mucky grossness.

Bask in the glory of Daze!

Do you have Bieber Fever yet?

The first set of Justin Bieber nail polish Nicole by OPI released sold so well, they followed up with a second set! I was really impressed with the first set and I'm happy to say I am equally impressed with these. These once again contain the "perfect stroke" brush, which I have heard some people don't really like but I stand by saying I love it.

Inspired by Chloe's Nails I decided to give scotch tape manis a try. I used to do french tips back in the day with mixed results but hers always come out so good I gave it another go!

As requested, here are the glitters from the Katy Perry collection layered :)

Still want to try these over black and white but haven't yet!

Something I'm really excited about, OPI's new Black Shatter top coat. I've got it over 3 colors for you today, including the Serena Williams polish Simply Smash-ing.

I've been on the hunt, like I'm sure many others, for a crackle top coat for a long time. I recall having one when I was much younger from Maybelline or Cover Girl. I L-O-V-E-D crackle polish and was very disappointed to find that at least here in the US it was impossible to find.

I even ordered the crackle polish from Transdesign and really, I don't even know what that was but it wasn't polish. Sure, it crackled but it also peeled completely off the nail and what didn't was ridiculous to remove. I really don't feel like it was a safe product even- at least I didn't feel like it was safe.

Which brings me to OPI with Black Shatter! The one thing I am confused about is what collection this is part of, as it seems to be a duo with Simply Smash-ing. But then it says...

First I have to show you how it looks over Teenage Dream from the Katy Perry collection...

Layered with Black Shatter. Can you see the differences in the crackle from finger to finger? On my thumb and pinkie I used a very thin layer and on my ring finger I used a thick one. I do recommend using a top coat as the crackle polish has a semi-matte finish.

And here it over yellow, my current mani (I'll have it without black shatter for ya tomorrow ;) )

Katy Perry...I don't particularly care for her. But I can't help denying that these polishes are both an awesome collection and totally remind me of Katy Perry.

This post is gonna be a little bit pic heavy, just a warning. Please ignore any photos with lines, blogger is just not cooperating lately (grrrr).

Today I have the Justin Bieber collection from Nicole by OPI. I don't know how all of you feel about the Biebs but I have no beef with him. I'm really impressed with this collection and with the exception of one polish these were absolutely amazing to apply, like buttah. If you don't believe me check out how clean my gap is in these pictures (usually ;) ) something I can't quite achieve unless the polish has a nice application. It once again has the Perfect Stroke brush I've been telling you about again and again. And these colors? Gorgeous.

One Less Lonely Glitter- I love the name on this one, adorable. This is purple glitter both bit and small in a clear base. On the first coat I highly doubted it would become this opaque but this is 3 coats, not bad. This will be an awesome layering polish. The application on this one was impressive, I have gotten used to my glitters being difficult and thick.