Choi's nails

Anyone saw that Boxing Day haul post that I published a while ago? Well there was two OPI’s that came in the order and right now I’ll be showing you one of them, OPI’s underneath the mistletoe.


OPI’s UTM is a deep red jelly filled with silver and raspberry glitter and flakies. Application was alright with the polish having normal to thick consistency and so it only took two coats to reach full opacity. Its old news about OPI and their big brushes but this one made it harder for me to cover the sides without having to specifically go over it again.


It’s a little fast drying so as I was painting it felt a little draggy but its gorgeous shimmer is worth the time and effort. Even during clean-up it didn’t leak to give the ‘sore cuticle’ look which some reds tend to do.


The colour is beautiful but it washes out my skin tone, my hand’s actually look paler in these pictures. UTM seems too good and too much for work so I think I’d be leaving this polish for day outs or special occasions.

Did you pick up this polish when it first came out? What other OPI polishes are on your favourites list?

Here's another one of the oldies sitting in my stash, Essie's Bold and beautiful which is a deep blood red jelly. Back then this used to be one of those 'wow' polishes especially when I was going through the phase of really liking reds. It's not entirely unique but I still think it's a nice one to have.



This polish had a nice consistency and as expected with jellies the first coat was sheer and patchy. It looked like a raspberry red at first but adding a second coat made it look more like the blood red in the bottle so I stopped there. I'd recommend at least 2-3 coats with B&B. Even though it has normal consistency it's best to be careful with the application otherwise it'll come out more patchy than you want it to look.

It also leaves behind a bit of staining during cleanup giving your fingers that sore look but in the end it's all good. Everything dried pretty quick considering I didn't finish it off with a fast dry top coat; I had other plans with it. *Points to the photo below*

All photos brightened except the second one.

I ended up layering one coat of Barry M's Yellow topaz on top which I felt I shouldn't have right after. The red and gold reminds me of Chinese new year so I weren't really feeling this combo since it's not the right mood or the right time.

Which look do you prefer? With or without the glitter?

Gel effect Nail Paint that provides an extra glossy finish

Top row L-R: Plum, Blackberry, Watermelon, Blood orange, Blueberry, Prickly pear, Satsuma Bottom row L-R: Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Lychee, Dragon fruit, Greenberry, Papaya

L-R: Plum, Blackberry, Watermelon, Blood orange

L-R: Blueberry, Prickly pear, Satsuma

L-R: Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Lychee

L-R: Dragon fruit, Greenberry, Papaya

Plum. A deep dark purple which is definitely a one coater. The consistency was slightly thick and opaque in one coat so I didn't add another because it really didn't need one. It shows up a little too dark in my photos but in the collection photos above you could see the purple in the bottle.


Blackberry. Deep navy blue. This one passes off with one slightly thick coat as well or if you prefer, two thin coats. Same consistency as plum and no problems experienced whilst painting. It did seem to stain a teeny bit after I removed it though.


Watermelon. Deep dark green and like plum my camera didn't capture the colour right and it's looking a little darker than it is. Thick formula once again and this time I painted one coat on my middle and index finger and two on my ring and pinkie.


Blood orange. Looks like a blood red in the bottle but appears a little brighter on the nails. It's like a classic red. Thick consistency and in the photos I'm wearing one coat.


Blueberry. My camera doesn't always capture blues right so this one turned out brighter in the pictures. Everyone says this is like a cornflower blue. Just Google searched the colour and it seems close so I'll agree. Slightly thick formula once again but this time I used two coats to cover some of the sheer patches it had. It's best to be careful with the application of this one.


Prickly pear. A light pastel lilac. Being a light colour with a slightly runny formula this one also needed two coats. Three if you want to make sure everything is covered and even but if I thought it was fine at two coats.


 Satsuma. Really bright orange. This one has potential to be a one coat polish if you apply it evenly which I didn't so I'm wearing two coats in the photo to cover up a few streaks I had. Slightly thick consistency.


Grapefruit. A bright pinky coral shade. Here's two coats of grapefruit. It was almost opaque at one coat but wasn't quite there yet so I added another. Slightly thick formula.


Pomegranate. A raspberry pinky-red. Has a thick consistency and only took one coat. Noticed a slight bit of staining after I removed it too.


Lychee. A nude beige which surprisingly looked nice against my skin tone. I think I've found my next favourite nude. First coat was streaky as I'd expected with colours like this and two was fine. The formula of this one was a little thinner than others.


Dragon fruit. Bubblegum pink creme that looked like it had some fine silver shimmers in it. This one was slightly runny that it applied a little streaky and pooled into the cuticles a little. Two coats did the job and made everything opaque though.


Greenberry. A turquoise green. For this one it's slightly thick but also on the runny side. The brush picked up a bit more than I wanted and it ended up pooling a little onto my cuticles as well. I left this with two coats in the end. 

All photos taken indoors. Natural lighting.

Papaya. Peachy orange shade which is bright and great for summer. No surprise with the slightly thick consistency and this one needed two coats.


A really good bunch of colours in this collection. My favourites being the reds, pinks and darker ones like plum. I didn't use a top coat for any of these swatches since the collection claimed to offer a glossy shine and the best way to prove this is without the added top coat. They all applied shiny but dulled down after a little while. I remember keeping one of the shades on for a little longer and it held up for 3-4 days with minor tip wear and chipping. That's just me having very little to do at that time though, just a lot of crazy typing being the roughest thing I do. I didn't wear the others long enough to comment on their wear time but I'd suggest adding a top coat if you really wanted to extend the wear.