Nicole by OPI Step 2 The Beat Of My Heart

Hello!

This is a short post because I had swatched on the same day with my Sparitual Wilde collection and had intended to include them in the same post as a "by-the-way-swatch" but it slipped off my mind completely.

Step 2 The Best Of My Heart is one of the polish in Nicole by OPI's Justin Bieber One Less Lonely Girl collection. I won it from Secret Allure's first giveaway :) It's a clear polish that comprises of heart flakies in pink & purple shades and colorful glitters that appear prismatic but too scattered to be holographic.

I'm not Justin's fan but to win a giveaway is like striking lottery once in my lifetime! I'm happy to own this polish but I might not use it often. It's a fun polish, cute, sweet and light. My character has none of these traits. Ha!

One thing about the bottle. It's weird. The bottom protrudes out with a wider base. I suppose it's good for stability but I don't like the shape. It seems to me the glassblower made a painful mistake in the process but was appreciated by the company! And the cap, hmmm, it belongs to nail polish in the 80s which mothers still keep as souvenirs these days. Ha! Ok ok maybe I'm just fussy.

Well, I believe everything on earth is balanced. You can't have the good unless there's a presence of the bad. Despite the odd looking bottle and old fashioned cap, Nicole by OPI improvises a wide flat brush... No, they called it 'Perfect Stroke Brush'. Upon taking out the brush I realized they have the same brush type as Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri's with the only difference in length; SH Insta-Dri's brush stand is longer. View SH's brush here. It's good to have flat-head brush for Step 2 The Beat Of My Heart because you should be able to scoop out the heart flakies and place them on the nails much easier than a round-headed one.

So anyway, here's the swatch - I was testing Sparitual Wilde collection and didn't have enough time to put S2TBOMH on my nails. I have this practice finger with me and trust me, color is 100% accurate.

I used OPI Ridge Filler as base before putting S2TBOMH. I know other reviewers described it as clear polish with subtle/faint hint of purple/pink but on the practice finger it's clear as water. Yeah, please don't trust the fake finger, the nail color is definitely different from our nail bed's.

Application is, of course, easy, like any other clear polish. But placing the tiny glitter is a task; they are scattered in the bottle and it's not gonna be dense on the nails. As with other similar types of polish, usually you have to slap thick glob of polish on the nails to put the flakies and glitter effectively on the nails. You can see the obvious layer on top of Ridge Filler. You can also see my successful attempt in placing TWO heart flakies but failed in getting more glitters as it should have been. Hmm, as I said, everything on earth is balanced...

Do you like Step 2 The Beat Of My Heart? Or you like it because of Justin Bieber?


1 coat of OPI Ridge Filler
1 coat of Nicole by OPI Step 2 The Beat Of My Heart

Guest Post: OPI You're A Doll with Silver Glitter

Hi, my name is Joyce, best friend of Agnes :) I was invited to be her guest blogger for Nailbytes because we both share the same addictive hobby, and like her, I have collected a museum amount of nail polish over the years (or maybe months).

For my virgin post, I am sharing this nail art that's nude yet elegant on the overall. It's simple, easily achievable and suitable for almost all occasions.

The base color is OPI You're A Doll. This color is in sheer nude pink with red dusty bits. After applying the coat, let it dry well before proceeding to the next step.

To glam up the nails, I added few layers of non-holographic glitter nail polish (around 3 to 4 will be good) from the middle to produce the gradient effect. This type of polish is clear-base, sheer with small, sparse glitter flakes. However try not to add too many layers  or else you'll have a hard time placing the flakies at the right spot.

So now to achieve a good gradient, you'll need to add pigmented silver glitter on the tips. You can use an opaque silver glitter polish but it's easier to use silver glitter powder. My method is to use the polish brush (from the silver glitter's), dip it lightly into a container of glitter powder to pick up the glitter. With light strokes, transfer them onto the tips. Control the amount with each layer - use the same brush to add or reduce the amount. You can also use nail art brush (or even silver glitter nail art polish to achieve the same effect). Advice: In order not to 'contaminate' the silver glitter nail polish or the top coat/clear polish, use a cotton pad (wet with nail polish remover) to clean the brush.

After drying, my finishing touch is to add few drops of  OPI Drip Dry for rapid drying. It really works for me, I swear by it!

Hope you enjoy reading :)

Nicole by OPI Giveaway by Secret Allure!

Secret Allure is having their first giveaway!
When you see the word 'giveaway', something stirred in your heart yes?

Who doesn't love freebies?
Who doesn't love nail polish freebies?????

This giveaway will pull your heartstrings because they gonna give you lots of love - Win a Nicole by OPI Step 2 the Beat of My Heart! If you don't know what it is, it's a clear polish with crazy amount of colorful hearts in it! Take out the brush, you'll see the hearts attached on it, apply as per normal and viola! HEARTS ON YOUR NAILS!

Go to their website to find out details of the contest: http://www.secretalluree.com/2011/08/nicole-by-opi-giveaway.html

Step 2 the Beat of My Heart is part of Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber collection. You don't have to go gaga over Bieber to get the polish. This collection consists of fun, bright and glitterlicous polish for one to go nuts with! Step 2 is the odd one out that is meant to be used as layering. I find that it looks cute even on its own :)

You can find the swatches from other site: cocomotion

Secret Allure is my new favorite online store for nail polish. I chatted (still do, almost everyday) with one of the owners when they first launched, a friendly seller who is always on the go, helpful and easy to engage with. Service is their forte! Even though they're new, they bring in latest collections and varieties of nail polish brands; Nicole, OPI, China Glaze, Essie, Zoya, Misa, Color Club, Orly, Nubar... yes, nothing unusual BUT, they have Sparitual, CND and Jessica! So far in my list Secret Allure is the only online store to purchase these 3 brands in Malaysia. They have other brands to order upon request, just ask :) Or, if you're in need of nail tools, nail arts and stuff, they can help you with it. I would say, Secret Allure provides affordable and wide range of nail products!

Go on, pamper yourself... start shopping in Secret Allure now :)