Comparison Post: OPI My Dog Sled is A Hybrid vs. ACO by Ardene Jungle Green.

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The other day, I picked up My Dog Sled is A Hybrid by OPI (which you may have noticed in my chevron moon post the other day.) When I used it, I couldn’t help but think it looked an awful lot like an ACO by Ardene polish recently released — Jungle Green. So obviously I had to compare the two to see just how close they are and if maybe I found a less expensive dupe for MDSAH.

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I have Jungle Green on my pointer finger and pinkie, and My Dog Sled is A Hybrid on my middle finger, ring finger and my thumb. As you can see–definitely not dupes. Jungle Green is definitely brighter and a little more Neon than MDSAH. Comparing the two, I’d called MDSAH more of a Jade even, especially when side by side of Jungle Green. Both colours are absolutely gorgeous, but they had no twins. Not at all.

As far as application–MDSAH is actually a dream to apply. It takes two coats, but they go on like butter, with no streaks or bald spots to be seen! I wish I could say the same for Jungle Green–it was not a dream to apply. It was also two coats, but when I went to apply the second coat the first coat seemed to drag, which was not fun considering the top had already dried some. So strange. Top coat balanced everything out, but… yeah. I’ve never had that happen to me before.

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So what do you think of these two polishes? While Jungle Green is not a dupe for My Dog Sled is A Hybrid, it is a pretty polish–application issues aside. For my Canadian girls, you can pick up Jungle Green at your local Ardene’s location or online for $3.50 or as part of a promotion (usually 3/10). I picked up my bottle of My Dog Sled is A Hybrid as part of the OPI Little Northies Collection at my local Chatters.

Fall themed chevrons.

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Who doesn’t love a good fall nail polish? It’s officially September now, and there is no denying Fall it’s on its way–you can feel that little chill in the air, slowly creeping towards us. I can’t even complain. As much as I love Summer, I’ve been craving fall fashion–oversized sweaters, knit socks, layer after layer, and of course boots!

Today’s NOTD was my nod to fall fashion.

The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essie Vested Interest (from the fall 2013 collection).
  • Stripe Rite Striping Polish in Pink.
  • Nutra Nail Quick Dry Top Coat with Green Tea.

 

First off, I absolutely love Vested Interest from last years Fall Collection from Essie which is this fabulous greenish grey. I scored a collection of four mini bottles last year from the collection at Winners, which all quickly became favorites. Vested Interest is just such a great color for fall. But I think adding my freehand chevrons with the pink just took these nails over the top. Both are dark, rich color so they compliment each other. (In my eyes at least). These are the perfect fall nails–all I need is to pair them with an oversized knit sweater, knee high socks, and a couple scarves.

 

 

 

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So what do you think of these nails? I’m really proud of how my chevrons turned out. I know a lot of people are rocking amazing chevron nails using those nail vinyls, but I’ve yet been able to invest in them. I don’t want to be out of the chevron loop though–thank goodness for Stripe Rite’s striping polish. I’m definitely going to need to take a trip to Sally’s and invest in some new ones–my black is on it’s last legs sadly and they just made freehand nail art so much easier!

Now it’s time to go spend my day off reorganizing my closet and drawers for Fall. Can you tell I’m excited?! I’m such a dork haha. =)

Zig Zag accent nails.

Today I’m sharing a NOTD with you I created on a whim. I was in the mood to do something a little bit different–and keep away from doing another dotticure. Since I have some fun new stripers, I decided to give them another go. I’m also trying to work on creating straighter, cleaner freehand lines so I need all the practice I can get!

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The polishes I used for this manicure were:

  • Essence Bloom Me Up! in Blow my Mint.
  • OPI in Miss You-Niverse.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in White.
  • Mariposa Striping Polish in Mint.
  • Art Club Striping Polish in Paisley Paradise.
  • Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat.

 

 

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So what do you think of these zig zags? I went with colors that were a little darker, as like I’ve said I’m just craving fall colors. Also, I absolutely love Blow my Mint by Essence. I scored it for a DOLLAR earlier this year at Shoppers, and couldn’t say no. Also… my nails are getting long again! Yes! Yes! Yes!

‘Tis the season… for prom nails.

Tis the season for Prom. I’m long past my prom years, but my old neighbour I used to babysit is attending her grade 9 grad this year, which is pretty much a mini prom for those graduating to high school. It’s also a very big deal to them, almost as much as prom is to high school seniors. So when she asked me to do her nails for the big dance, I was more than honored. Her dress was lime green with sparkles, so I went with that theme.

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I did a glitter gradient at the bottom of her nails, with an accent nail of pure sparkle. (I also did her toes to match with a glitter gradient.) Her dress has a whole lot of glitter and sparkle going on, so we wanted to do something that would match. These are going to look awesome when the lights at the dance hit them! Just like a disco ball!

The polishes I used for her nails were:

  • Pure Ice Wild Thing
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City
  • Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Ice Pop
  • NOPI Inner Sparkle.
  • Color Club Platinum Record.
  • OPI I Snow You Love Me.
  • Essie Good to Go Top Coat.

Continue reading “‘Tis the season… for prom nails.”

Leopard Print Day Two–changing things up a bit.

So technically this isn’t new nail art. I was so in love with my leopard print nails from yesterday, I couldn’t take them off. However, my purple color chipped badly at work so I needed to change them up somewhat to pull off day 2 nails. I don’t often wear my manicures for more than a day, mostly because I chip them so badly at work on a regular basis. But I just couldn’t take off the leopard print–I am so proud of how great they look, I had to give them at least another day of work. So what could I do to chance this manicure up a little bit?

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After grabbing my blue Kosmic Colours nail polish, and painting on the color I still wanted to do something fun. I picked up OPI’s I Snow You Love Me at Chatters for a sweet deal a couple weeks ago, and read online about how awesome it was for a glitter placement manicure. I’ve never done glitter placement on my nails, but I really wanted to try.

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It really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. All it took was a steady hand and my dotting tool. The blue wasn’t completely dry when I started so the glitters kind of sunk into the color a little bit, but it still turned out neat. Like little diamonds on my nails. I’ve been really wanted to try out studs and such on my nails as I see them on so many awesome manicures on my favorite nail art blogs, but I haven’t had a chance yet. These little glitters definitely gave me a taste of how pretty it can look though!

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So how do you save a manicure you really love? How long do you tend to keep your manicures on your nails?