O.P.I. Polish - Samoan Sand & The Thrill of Brazil

Today I'm reviewing two O.P.I nail polishes:

Samoan Sand and The Thrill of Brazil!

(I don't have swatches right now but I'll update asap - my nails are currently healing
because I was careless and left my polish on too long...)

Samoan Sand 

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This is a very nice soft, sandy-beige nude color, with a sweetly pinkish tone.

I feel like this would be both really pretty and really forgiving on any skintone!

It's a little streaky with too much pressure on the brush, so it takes a little

bit of practice to get the amount of polish and amount of pressure just right.

Painting just one layer has a sheer "foundation/concealer" effect, 

in that it enhances the natural appearance of your nails.  

(Streaking is more of a problem if you're going to go for just one layer, however.)

Multiple layers gives a nice, creamy, well-pigmented sandy beige - very 

refined, I can see this going nicely for either a casual or formal look.

I was able to get a decent solid color with just two layers, but I

definitely recommend three layers for maximum coverage.

Both ways of layering are quite pretty, and best enhanced by a clear

topcoat.  However, O.P.I. is pretty glossy on its own, so depending

on your preference a topcoat may not be needed! 

Personally I didn't use a topcoat, I found it to be plenty shiny.

The color's a GREAT base for a french manicure, or to prep the nails

for nail art (especially negative-space art, since it evens out the natural color of the nail).

I'm giving it 4 stars because it's a little bit difficult to work with, and

it's pricey (about $9.50 with tax at Walmart).  That being said, the quality

of the polish and its classic color + versatility is well worth the price, and I did 

save on having to get a topcoat.

The Thrill of Brazil 

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A very retro-looking and classic red, this is one of O.P.I.'s *many*

red shades.  As I don't really know much about blue/orange/etc tones in red

polish (unfortunately), I sort of just stared at the various red bottles trying to decide

which one would look best.  Kind of how I picked out my first red lipstick.

I've used red polishes before, not from O.P.I., but

they've always made my hands look really dark/reddened/made my skintone look

a bit strange.  So I tend to shy away from red polish.

However this color looks great on me, both tanned and untanned!

Sadly I didn't take a photo the first time I used it, while I had a desk job and 

thus was a lot lighter from being indoors basically all day & night.

(here I'm wearing TWO layers of Brazil, over one layer of Samoan)

This color produces a nice, solid, well pigmented layer with just ONE layer!

One layer produces a "brighter" shade of red, and 2+ deepens the color to match what's in the bottle

It's a beautifully creamy, rich red that intensifies with layers (but don't take my word

for it as the max I've put is 3 layers).

The color definitely reminds me of pinups and 1950's style.

This is a nice shade for a summer day at the beach, or for a swanky party.

I'm giving it 4 stars because it will stain to the EXTREME without a basecoat.

I also noticed this dried my nails out more than Samoan Sand.
Finally, the price (about $9.50 with tax).

I haven't tried O.P.I. polishes before these, but I figured that if I was going

to go all-out on them I may as well get classic wearable shades.

Which luckily they are!  I'll probably use these down to the last drop. 

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with them.  

Sidenote:

A nice thing I've noticed about O.P.I. polishes is that they don't dry to

become darker than what's in the bottle - very true to shade.  The ones from Essie I've tried

end up slightly darker, and Sally Hansen's have been noticeably darker.

So if that's a concern for you I'd recommend O.P.I. - I can't speak for other colors

in their lineup but based off of these two, I'd guess the rest are equally true to color.

RIMMEL London: 60 Seconds Nail Polish

Today it's Rimmel London's 60 Seconds nail polish!

I saw them at Walmart for $1.75 each a few weeks back, which is really cheap for nail polishes

(Sally Hansen/Essie/Revlon tend to run $5-6 each, depending where you look).

I got one each of I Lilac You (light lavender cream with a pink cast) and 

Blue Eyed Girl (medium indigo/denim blue cream).  I've been looking for an inexpensive

denim nail polish and this is a really pretty blue that's not too dark.  Until recently

I was using Julep's Renee lilac polish (hint: you can still get free nailpolishes at Julep's site c:

just use their free first-timer's code) but it's practically empty and I think I prefer Rimmel's shade.

They're not kidding about the 60 seconds - I've never used a speed dry polish before

but it's so cool to not be picking things up gingerly for 15+ minutes after painting my nails.

It says you only need one coat, but imo it was still slightly streaky so I've put two in the picture below

(it dries in nearly no time so why not?).  It's also one of the smoothest, nicest, richly colored polishes I've used.  No bubbles or sticking, I wonder if that might be because it dries too quickly to let that happen?  

This application lasted a week with only some tiny chips at the tips of my nails, which

probably happened in lab ^u^ biology's intensive on the hands sometimes.  

I Lilac You

Blue Eyed Girl

(one coat over I Lilac You - I think one coat of this would be ok on bare nails

since it's a really strongly pigmented shade)

I'd say it's a 10/10 c: 

Once I run out of other polish I'll probably pick up colors from this line,

or at least a clear polish.  (I have Hard As Nails clear polish which is 

good but also takes a really long time to dry, and hardens fast in the bottle. :c )

You can find this really easily at Walmart around now, they've put out

a bunch of shades for spring - I think they're on the store site as well but I'm not sure.  

✿ Nail polish + extra tips

Some things I've read or figured out over time, in terms of nail polish. c:
(I haven't worn it much recently because I play guitar, and strumming pretty much means all my polish effort gets wasted.)

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If you're planning to put color nail polish, put a clear coat on under it.  This will prevent staining.  Another clear layer on top of the color will prevent fading and keep it shiny and chip-free.  It doesn't have to be a top/base coat necessarily, just something to protect your nails.

Light nail polish makes nails look longer, dark nail polish makes them look shorter.  Clear is usually what I use - it goes nicely with everything, looks clean and naturally polished (ahaha.), has no stain worries, and it's nearly impossible to tell when it's chipped etc.

To fast-dry nail polish, put your fingertips in a bowl of ice water for about 10 seconds, then shake off.  Repeat until dry to the touch.  A blowdryer might seem like a good idea but it causes bubbles and streaking.

Don't pick nail polish off.  You'll end up removing the top "skin" layer of your nails as well.  Also don't apply nail polish if your nails themselves are dry/damaged, it'll make it a lot worse.  (Foot cream works a lot better and faster than hand cream, to fix dry nails AND hands.  It's greasier but you only have to use it once or twice to get the same results.)

Don't buy cheap nail polish.  I don't mean price, I mean nail polish made with things that are BAD for your nails aka formaldehydes, formaldehyde resin, toluene, DBP, etc.
Some good kinds that are easily available and affordable: Essie, Revlon, Sally Hansen.  Other kinds I've tried are Sephora, Julep, and Goldie, the bottles are lovely).  My favorite ones I've used are Goldie, Essie, and Julep.  I have a lot of Goldie nailpolishes that I got on sale at Bath and Body Works, but that was a long time ago and I don't know if that brand exists anymore.
(EDIT: From what I could find online, Goldie was a B&BW brand that isn't produced anymore.  If I'm wrong somebody please correct me + source, I'd be glad to know - that stuff's great.)

To prevent streaking, make sure there's enough polish on the brush, then LIGHTLY brush it on in one stroke.  Don't press down too hard, because that causes the streaks/bare spots.

Put nail polish EARLY.  This ensures that it's got enough time to completely dry - I used to put it an hour before going to sleep and figured that would be enough, but nail polish takes MUCH longer to dry 100% so I would wake up with little cloth-crumple impressions.  (I also incidentally broke my habit of sitting on my hands...)

A lot of darker or bold colored polishes will stain nails.  For me, black nail polish doesn't stain, but blues do.  It depends on its chemistry with your fingernails, and it varies a lot from person to person.

Rather than waiting to figure out if it stains/doesn't stain, it's best to prevent it at all.  The best time to remove your nail polish is 3-4 days AFTER you put it on (so not including the first day you had it - therefore 4-5 days total).
An even more unwelcome effect is that your nails may yellow.  This is because, like your skin and the rest of your body, your nails need oxygen - yellowing happens when they're deprived for too long.  My nails tend to yellow/stain quickly, so I remove my polish 3 days after I applied it (total 4 days wearing) just to be safe.

If you do stain or yellow your nails, it can quickly be fixed.  Just put some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball, and hold it on each fingernail for 5-10 seconds.  (Don't get any on  your clothes, it'll bleach and leave white spots where you probably don't want them.)  This is obviously not the best thing for your nails, so see above for preventing it.  And if it's a REALLY dark stain/yellow, it'll only fade so much - the rest you'll have to just grow out.
AFTER you've bleached your fingernails, however, DO NOT apply nail polish for at least a week (not even clear).  They'll just stain even more quickly, so just wait for them to grow out a little bit before you get back into it.

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COOL AND PRACTICALLY-FREE STUFF.  --> http://www.julep.com/
Just take the "style quiz", and it'll give you what color nail polish matches your style (the other options are on the bottom of the results page, in case you don't like the polishes the quiz gives you).  Choose the one you like, then sign up for a subscription.
Enter either COLOR2012 or PENNY in the Discount Code box - this charges you only $0.01 with free shipping for the nail polish set! C:
After your package arrives, you can call and cancel your subscription (which is regularly $20 a month, there's a page that describes what they send you if you choose to continue subscribing).
(A Julep polish is somewhat expensive if you buy it instore, so this isn't half bad for what you get.  ...actually, $0.01 isn't half bad for pretty much anything in general. |D)
NOTE:  This appears to only work in the US as far as I know :c sorry guys!

2012-AUGUST-13 EDIT:  The COLOR2012 and PENNY codes no longer seem to work. :c  The new subscrip deal is on their website.  After you go through the quiz, you can get 3 nail polishes for $9.99, PLUS 2 extra polishes free when you use the code they give you, which isn't bad at all.