Awesome awesomness

OPI Merry Midnight.
This is definitely THE best OPI of this year. Purple base with blue micro glitter and opalescent mica scales/flakes.

I'll let the pictures do the talking:











It looks fantastic with a matte top coat. Here I used Essie's one:
(please excuse my horrible cuticles)




Absolutely unique and very, very pretty. Merry Midnight is a part of a Christmas collection; so grab it "while supplies last".

PS: Another flaky polish from the same collection - Shim-Merry Chic - it a total boring fail, IMO.

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Unfortunate NOTD: Nubar Raspberry Truffle

So far, my first big disappointment with Nubars. Raspberry Truffle looks stunning in the bottle and under a very bright sunlight:

Alas, without the perfect conditions (meaning: on the nails, not in the bottle) it turns a bit... boring. Shimmer is basically invisible. What's worse, it has a hint of a muddy gray; I like muddy gray, it's stylish and all that; but it does nothing for my skin tone: my fingers turn a bit muddy gray as well. Thanks, but no thanks.

I layered CND Raspberry Sparkle over Raspberry Truffle (woops, double raspberry - I just realized it); but it's still meh on me. My expectations for this color were too high to accept its mere OK-ishness.

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Orly Nail Rescue vs silk patches

You might know that I'm a big, big fan of the silk patches from Sally's. They are cheap, they are easy to apply (or so I thought) and easy to maintain.

Have to tell you, I've been through a breaking spell recently. Couple of days ago I broke a nail on my right middle finger - opening a car. Who does that? Anyway, I was a very nasty break: my nail split both horizontally and vertically (you know, when it sorta splits in two layers). Not really reparable with the patches.

I was about to file all my nails down; and then I remembered Orly Nail Rescue - my good friend L. swears by it. To Sally's I went.

Long story short, I basically made a fake tip for the broken nail, in one minute. It looks really good and holds up very well.

You need to cover your nail with a special glue (this stuff reeks); then dip your nail into a white powder; then tap off the excess and buff. Done!

Definite pros, compared to the patches:
- it's faster; no cutting/sizing needed;
- you can repair these nasty little cracks here:
which is pretty much impossible with patches;
- you can use Nail Rescue as a preventive measure (actually, it was exactly what L. did before her vacation)

Cons:
- I do not see a "spot treatment" possible here; you have to cover the whole nail, no matter how small of a break you have;
- buffing is a must. I personally suck at buffing: I either overdo it or have unbuffed spots left;
- related to buffing: I still have rough edges close to cuticles - it almost impossible to buff in this area; so the overlay is somewhat visible (especially if you use Macro function of your camera and/or a microscope):
To conclude: I will probably use up the patches - they are really good as a spot treatment for the small, easy to reach breaks; but won't buy them again.

Couple of words about application and maintenance. I did all my ten toes tonight and instead of dipping them into the powder (what am I, a gymnast?) I sprinkled the powder over the glue. Worked out perfectly. Use non-acetone remover; acetone will dissolve Nail Rescue.

PS: Dear L., thank you so very much!

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