Category: Preen.Me

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Fall Leaf Stamping 🍁

Sorry for my lack of posting this week. If you follow me on Instagram you would have saw that I was struck down by the gluten gods this past weekend & I’ve been recovering from a particularly bad attack the last couple days. I spent Monday & Tuesday in bed sleeping but I finally had a bit of a burst of energy, enough at least that I could post this mani. 

& can I just say I freaking love how this design turned out?! Okay so my husband may have said that he thought they looked like spiderwebs but he’s a boy & it doesn’t count. 😂 

For this manicure, the products I used were: 

I started off with a base shade of This Isn’t Iceland the used my other OPI shades to create a Saran Wrap splatter. I topped that with clear nail polish that I knew would smear the polishes so it blended them together better. Then I stamped the leaf print over top over the blend using Back to Black to finish the design. I topped everything with top coat to seal in the design, & used a brush dipped in acetone to clean up around the cuticles. I love using Back to Black for stamping because not only does it stamp well, it cleans up easily & doesn’t leave my cuticles stained black when using acetone. There is nothing worse! 

I’m digging this pattern. I wish I could have gotten a picture with an actual leaf but mine aren’t quite on fire yet. I’ll have to repeat this stamping again when the leaves are in full colour change, just for the chance to take a picture! That, or I’ll recreate one of my all time favourite Fall designs. 

What do you think of these Fall leaf nails? Do you see leaves or spider webs? Let me know what you think in the comments below! 

Some of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

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Fall Argyle Sweater Nails 🍁🍂

I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but here in Halifax Fall weather has been slowly creeping into the air. & when I think of Fall, I think of over the knee Argyle socks. They’re pretty much my fashion staple when the days get cooler, so I thought I would translate one of my favourite thing about Fall fashion to my nails using a few the OPI Iceland shades.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Quick Dry Top Coat
  • OPI Krona-logical Order
  • OPI Icelanded a Bottle of OPI
  • OPI Less Is Norse 
  • OPI Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Diamond Stencils (turned horizontal)
  • Striping Brush (from Bundle Monster)
  • Small Dotting Tool (also Bundle Monster)

These nails make me so beyond ready for Fall & all the things that come along with the Fall season. Colourful leaves, plaid, & pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. In fact, they’re giving me the serious urge to pull out my favourite pair of over the knee argyle socks just for the occasion! 

What is your favourite Fall fashion accessory? Would you ever recreate it on your nails? Let me know (& what you think of this design!) in the comments! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

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Aurora Borealis Inspired Dry Brush Featuring OPI Iceland Collection 🌌

Good morning & Happy Friday Eve! Anyone else super excited for the weekend to almost be here? 

Today I’ve got some pretty nail art to share with you featuring some of the OPI Fall/Winter 2017 Iceland Collection. The first design I saw when I looked at these polishes was dry brush! I wanted to create something that would bring to mind the beauty of the Aurora Borealis.

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Base Coat
  • Top Coat: OPI Top Coat
  • OPI Less Is Norse
  • OPI Aurora Berry-alis 
  • OPI One Heckla Of A Color!
  • OPI Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots
  • OPI Check Out The Old Geysirs

A couple tricks to a good dry brush:

  •  have to have a light hand & only apply small spots of colour. I find it’s good idea to only choose a few shades for your dry brush. I tend to stick to about 4 polishes to avoid my dry brush ending up muddied. 
  •  make sure you don’t have too much polish on the polish brush. I like to keep a piece of paper towel (or regular paper would work too) beside me to brush your polish on first to steal any excess. This also keeps you from gunking up the neck of your bottle. 
  • Use a clear polish or non-quick dry top coat to brush over your dry brush a few times to blend the edge of the colours together. (I do this with gradients & sponge manicures too!) 

What do you think of these Aurora Borealis inspired dry brush nails? It’s been a while since I played around with dry brush, but as always I love the look. Also I think I was (semi) successful channeling my inspiration! I’m having a lot of fun playing around with these OPI polishes, so stay tuned for lots more nail art to come! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program. 

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OPI Fall/Winter 2017 Iceland Collection Part 2


Okay so I somehow managed to get the second half of the OPI Fall/Winter collection swatched (even with a baby who has decided he doesn’t like bedtime) so if anyone feels like bring me cupcakes or a really large coffee you are more than welcome to! & for you I have 6 more shades to share from this gorgeous collection, dipping into the darker & richer shades from this trip to Iceland OPI is sending us on. 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program, as well as OPI’s natural base coat & top coat which I used for all swatches! 

Less is Norse

I like this shade, I like it a lot! OPI named this the Hero Shade of the collection, & I get it! Two coats for opacity (although it could potentially be a one coater if you’re really careful) & it goes on really smooth. The formula is just great which I like in a navy blue. & the underlying dust dusty-ness of the shade makes it just a little bit different than other Navy shades I own. 


Turn On The Northern Lights

If you’re looking to buy one shade from this OPI collection, personally I think this is the shade you need. It’s beautiful. Two coats gives you this shimmery indigo that just glows on the nail. You get that hint of fire-y red/pink/gold shimmer coming through & it makes me so excited. & the fact the shimmer shows up just as well on the nail on the bottle gives it even more points. The only thing I didn’t love was it’s weird smell–it smelled kind of skunky going on–but for this gorgeous colour I’m okay with that! 


This Isn’t Greenland

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this shade was “interesting” because as you know, I’m not much of a green polish kind of girl. But once I put it on, I really kind of liked it. This is two coats of this pistachio shade & I really needed three because I’ve got some streaks happening. I could definitely see this myself wearing this for a nice fresh punch of colour when I’m not in the mood for my usual blues or purples. & I think it would make an awesome base for some Fall leaves nail art! 


That’s What Friends Are Thor

I don’t have many brown shades in my massive stash, but brown in a Fall/Winter collection makes a lot of sense. & this chocolate-y brown is actually quite pretty. The Formula was great, only 2 coats, & dried down quite nice. It dries down slightly darker than in the bottle, but not in a way that changes the colour too much. 


Krona-logical Order

Yep, another brown! This shade however is much more dusty with grey undertones. This was two much needed coats (coat one was extremely streaky). Its a nice shade, although not really my usual go to, but I could definitely see myself grabbing it if I was needing something a little more dark & vampy on my nails. It works really well for this collection. 


Suzi & The Arctic Fox

& last but not least in the collection we have a surprise favourite shade for me! This dark grey, with blurple understones, took two coats for full opacity. It looks quite dark & grey but once you put it on & look at it under lighter circumstances you see that blurple coming through. It’s reminds me of a darker version of OPI Miss You-niverse which is one of my all time favourite OPI shades! Love love love it! 


& that’s it! What do you think of OPI’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection? Are there any shades which stood out to you from the collection you just have to have? For me I know I’ll be wearing Aurora Berry-alis, Turn On The Northern Lights & Suzy & the Artic Fox a lot this coming season! Let me know all your thoughts on this collection down below. 

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SWATCH SUNDAY: OPI Fall/Winter 2017 Iceland Collection Swatches Part 1!

Good Morning lovelies. It’s my favourite day of the week (& not just because the Mr takes Little Bubs to watch cartoons so I can sleep in!)… it’s Swatch Sunday. & it’s so exciting that I actually had to break it up into two days because I have the entire OPI Fall/Winter 2017 Iceland Collection to share with you. I’ve been obsessing about Fall shades for a few weeks now, so it makes me so excited to get to show off some finally! 

All of these lovely polishes were all gifted to me by OPI as part of the #PreenMeVIP program, as well as OPI’s natural base coat & top coat which I used for all swatches! 

 Icelanded a Bottle of OPI

Okay I’ll be the first to admit this kind of shade is not my usual go to polish grab, but once I put it on I really liked it. & as far as a Fall shade, this taupe-y brown is perfect. This was two coats, & the formula dried down really nice. If someone was looking for a great neutral shade that was office appropriate but not a simple nude, this would be a great choice for them! 


I’ll Have a Gin & Tectonic

Oooooh this pink leaning peach shade is very pretty. & it definitely brings out the yellow/olive undertones in my skin. It took 2 coats to opacity & top coat is a necessity to avoid any streakiness. It’s a gorgeous shade, although I do think more Spring than Fall when I see it. Paired with one of the darker shades in the collection in a half moon or chevron moon & I bet it would look lovely & more Fall appropriate!


Reykjavik Has All The Hot Spots



Hello frosty pink rose gold perfection. Whatever you want to call this shade, it’s very pretty! It’s also 3 coats which I’m okay with because of the end result. There are some streaks but I feel like that’s part formula & part my lack of carefulness. This one definitely feels very Fall to me & even though it’s been forever since frosted polish was part of my collection, I can definitely see myself featuring this shade a lot this season! 


Aurora Berry-alis

You know sometimes when you see people posting swatches of a shade & you think it’s so pretty but figure it can’t possibly look that beautiful in real life? Well this berry shade is actually as gorgeous as it looks. It’s slightly dusty but rich at the same time. I used 2 coats for my swatches below. It’s juicy & the formula is flawless & I never wanted to take it off. Expect to see me wearing this shade a lot this Fall! (Definitely going to need a back up bottle!)


Check Out The Old Geysirs

Now this shade screams Iceland! For my swatch, I needed 2 coats of this greyed blue for full opacity. I was quite impressed the shimmer showed up on the nail as well as it showed in the bottle. It gave a little extra pop on the nail! You know how much I love a good blue shade, & this shade was very very pretty. Reminds me of icicles! 


 One Heckla of a Color!

& finally for today’s swatches we have this 2 coated purple creamthat as you can see dries slightly darker than the bottle colour. OPI describes this shade as a “frosty purple” on their site which I would necessarily agree with the frosty part, but it does have that little bit of underlying dusty-ness to it that a lot of these shades have that works really well to bring the whole collection together. 

& that’s it for today? What do you think of the OPI Fall/Winter collection? Any favourites you see already that you have to have? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

I hope to have part 2 of the collection (the much darker shades!) up either tomorrow or Tuesday!