Nicole by OPI Love Your Life and Let's Get Star-ted

I got these a while back at Walmart because I have a weakness for glitter and impulse buys.  They look great in the bottle huh?  I was just going to Let's get Star-ted at first but the hearts just called my name :)

Purchased at: Don't remember but they were $6-7/each. Not exactly cheap.  You can get this at Walmart and Target as well as other drugstores I'm sure.

Packaging: Bottle is a cool shape.  Kind of like a sphere squashed on one side :]   The brush is rather unusual though - very wide and flat with the tip cut in a V-shape (though my shitty macro shot does little to show that).  The tip of the V is to "place" the huge stars and hearts onto your nail....which brings me to the formula....

Formula: ....since the idea is more to "place" the large glitter pieces onto your nail rather than brush them on, this formula does not glide no matter how you play with it.  It goops, clumps, and dries gloopy - it's too viscous!  It's almost a gel rather than a liquid.   If you look at the Let's Get Star-ted nails below, you can see how friggin gloopy it dries :\  It also dries slowly...very slowly.

Removal is pretty easy though :)  All you do is hold a cotton pad to it, the "color" of the heart or star will turn silver, and you can just gently peel it off your nail. It's a fairly painless process.

Essie Ador-a-ball

OPI Love Your Life/Let's Get Star-ted

On top: OPI for Sephora Flurry Up

Overall
As cute as the finished look is it's SUCH a pain to fish those glitter flecks out then place it nicely on your nail before it hardens.  If you move it around too much the clear part of the formula starts "rolling up."    Also the little glitter sprinkles are essentially useless even though it does look nice in the bottle.  Application is a pain but removal is easy.   Surprisingly, I liked how Love Your Life turned out more even though I like stars more in general.  I think it's because the Let's Get Star-ted formula was even more viscous than the Love Your Life - I hated the way the final look dried in clear bumps and waves :\  Also the tips of the stars curl up a little so you do have to use a top coat (I didn't feel like it) if you don't want the tips of the stars folding up.

Overall, these were fun to play with but the formula got on my nerves so much that I just returned both.  I think these would be fun for a once in a while play, but it's not something I'll miss that much.

OPI Hello Kitty Blueberry VS Zoya Jo

As much as I was drawn to Blueberry from OPI's Hello Kitty nail collection for Sephora ($10), I didn't purchase it for myself because I was convinced it was a dupe of Zoya Jo ($7), which I already had.  However, Julie from PDXbeautiful gave it to me in a swap so I got to try both and learned my lesson about calling dupes without trying it for myself xD  So yep, on this lovely Sunday afternoon, I thought I'd experiment with these two colors.

Pinkie: Blueberry, Nubar 2010

Ring: Jo, Nubar 2010

Middle: Blueberry, Seche Vite Top Coat

Index: Jo, Seche Vite Top Coat

Thumb: Blueberry, OPI Flurry Up

No top or base coats.

Ehhe, I was just having a bit o fun ;) I like how Flurry Up looks but Nubar 2010....meh.  It looks so much better over dark nails.

Zoya Jo is one of my personal favorites, my 3rd favorite Zoya polish (#1=Freja, #2=Adina).  It is just a beautiful complex periwinkle blue that is surprisingly opaque.  Here's the review that convinced me to get Jo :)

Zoya Nail Polish in Jo can be best described as: Delicate and serene looking medium periwinkle blue with subtle silver and blue toned shimmer. This calming, flattering blue is like stress relief therapy on your nails!

Color Family: Blues
Finish: Metallic
Intensity: 5 ( 1=Sheer - 5=Opaque )
Tone: Cool
Original Collection: Twist 

I just adore this color - the official description describes it very well, "a periwinkle blue with subtle silver and blue toned shimmer."  What I especially like is that it is not sheer, it's quite opaque just as they promise.  It's also a very complex blue, surprisingly so, and perfect for Spring/Summer.  It applies silky smooth and has a very nice, smooth finish.  No complaints.

OPI Blueberry caught my eye after fuzkittie wore it a week or so straight xD  But from the bottle I was so sure it was a Jo-dupe so I contented myself to whinging on about how cute the bottle was xD The only official description they have of this color is an "opaque pastel periwinkle blue."  After applying it to my nail though, I'd say it's an "opaque, pastel periwinkle blue with no shimmer." It's a little harder to apply than Jo; it's a tad streakier and prone to chipping at the cuticles and tips a bit.  The formula seems a gooier overall.

You can see how jagged Blueberry applied around my cuticles :P It's harder to apply than Zoya, the formula is goopier and the brush is harder to use. Anyway, it's easy to see that the two colors are very different! Jo is defintely a complex, deeper cornflower blue while Blueberry is a flat pastel periwinkle.

Flat pastels are probably going to be trendier next season but I personally prefer Jo, if only because I like a little shimmer in my polishes.  Overall, both have their place and time.  Jo is a classic, spring/summer color that would be chic on all ages.  Blueberry is a fun, trendy color that would be great for the upcoming spring.  I think nail art would go particularly well over Blueberry as well. Zoya is cheaper at $7/bottle but we can't deny that the HK polish collection is just ridiculously cute in the packaging department.  It just depends on what style you're going for I think.

Last thing, I'm pretty disappointed how Nubar 2010 looks on anything but very dark polishes :P In the end, I think both Jo and Blueberry look best worn alone without any fancy top coats.