Introduction to Work Wear Wednesdays and Tutorial

Guess what day it is?! Move over "hump day" it is now Work Wear Wednesday! I have decided to create a new series called Work Wear Wednesdays! I will be creating nail art that is work appropriate for professional work environments. We all know that our love of nail art can sometimes be a bit too much for the workplace, especially if your employer is particularly strict or if you have clients you want to impress. This series is meant to be a guide to give you ideas on how to execute simple nail art that you can show off at the office without raising any eyebrows. Every workplace is different, so feel free to work off of these designs to make them your own and appropriate for what you do!

Nail Art: I Theodora Your Fishnets

Today I have a little nail art for you! I have really enjoyed getting acquainted with my nail stamping plates and have been playing around a lot. I love my Konad M57 plate, shown here in my first post: http://handtasticintentions.blogspot.com/2013/06/hello-blogiverse-i-am-really-excited-to.html. I did a little bit of a glitter sandwich with some nail stamping! I started with a base of two coats of OPI's I Theodora You. After that, I stamped the fishnet design and some flowers and coated that with OPI's Pirouette My Whistle and one more thin coat of I Theodora You. Take a look:

 Outdoors

 Outdoors

Outdoors- close up

 

Outdoors

I really enjoyed this soft design. It was subtle enough for work or a change of pace from a bright or bold design. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do. Thanks for reading!

Swatch and Review of OPI OZ The Great and Powerful Mini Set

I have an OPI mini set swatched and reviewed for you today! This is the Soft Shades Collection for 2013 and it is based off of the movie OZ The Great and Powerful. OZ The Great and Powerful Mini Set includes I Theodora You, Don't Burst My Bubble, Glints of Glinda, and What Wizardry is This? Three are the soft and sheer shades and one is a liquid sand polish. It is a pretty interesting mix. I had hoped that one might be a glitter from the collection, but I love sheer shades so, I wasn't disappointed for long.

Here's what the box set looks like:

I accidentally blocked Theodora on the box. I kind of feel bad about that. If you've seen the movie, you'll know why. I Theodora You is first up though!

I Theodora You was the thickest of the bunch. It is a pink cream jelly (crelly). I would call it a jelly, but it is a little thicker. When I say thick, I actually mean it in a positive way. It was wonderful! It covered the nail in two coats, flawless. The pink isn't too girly but it isn't too pale either. I would describe it as my perfect nude. I haven't found a nude that really works for my skin tone, so this is my nude for now.

Outdoors- pretty darn spot on its true color.

Indoors

 

 Indoors

Next is Don't Burst My Bubble. This is a really pale pink/almost white jelly. Oh so lovely! It takes three coats, four if you want it totally opaque, but it is really smooth and great to apply. Definitely a lot less thick than I Theodora You, but worthy in its own right. It would be great for a clean summer look, or a glitter sandwich! 

 

 Outdoors

 Indoors- closest to true color.

Glints of Glinda is a translucent tan color. Another jelly which takes several coats, below is three and would take four to be totally opaque. This is a really unique color! It is different from anything in my collection, which is saying something! It definitely looks different in different lighting, but overall I would call it a toffee. I actually like this nude on my skin tone, which is surprising. I would say that this color isn't for everyone. In some lighting it leans a little yellow, and in this color makes me think of dirty nails. In most lighting, it is a great complimentary color. I have used this color recently as a base for nail stamping, and it was one of my favorites!

Outdoors- closest to true color.

Outdoors

Indoors- see the yellow leaning hue? Not as bad in real life. 

What Wizardry is This? is a liquid sand polish. Liquid Sand is OPI's brand of textured polish. I'm not quite sold on the textured polish fad, but I wanted to give it a try. I had heard great things about What Wizardry is This? The way it works is it goes on smooth, but after it dries, it feels like sandpaper. Honestly, I'm not crazy about it. I kept feeling my nails because they felt so rough. I decided to add a top coat to see if that would smooth it out and it actually exemplified the colors! You aren't  meant to add a top coat to this kind of polish, but I did it anyway. I guess I'm just rebellious like that. Unfortunately I didn't get fantastic photos, but I hope you can see the change of texture and color. Speaking of color, I'm not sure what to even call this, brown-black with gold and green perhaps? Below is two coats, one shot without top coat and two with top coat.

 Outdoors- without top coat.

 Indoors- with top coat.

Indoors- with top coat.

This is what each of the brushes look like. As you can see they are pretty small, but that makes it pretty easy to apply cleanly. Much smaller than a typical OPI brush.

Overall, this collection was highly impressive. I have already used all four of these polishes multiple times, which is abnormal for me. I am seriously considering getting all three of the sheer polishes in the larger bottle because I love them so much! I like What Wizardry is This?, but I don't love the finish. I highly recommend the soft shades, if you don't have any sheer colors like these in your collection, you need these! I bought my set from Ulta for $12.95 and each bottle is 1/8 fl oz, normal sized OPI bottles are .5 fl oz. I'm not sure who else sells these mini sets, but I am sure you can find one online. Hope you like the swatches and reviews! Let me know if you have these colors and what you think of them! Thanks for reading!