Posts tagged OPI

I had another post ready for this week, but I just read an article on Vogue and wanted to shared it with our Style Bust readers. An article called “The Fighter” on the August 2011 edition of Vogue.

From the article I learned that Katharina Harf’s mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia when Katharina was thirteen. The family got working and within a year recruited 68,000 people who got swabbed looking for a donor match. Even though Harf’s mother passed away, she still continues the efforts by being the co-founder and executive vice-president of DKMS Americas. DKMS is the German acronym for German Marrow Donor Center, which is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world.

The way to become a donor is by visiting DKMS Americas site, you register and get do-it-yourself cheek swab kit. You will collect your own sample and send it for the lab for tissue typing. It is very difficult to match donors, maybe you will be called to donate, maybe you won’t but by registering and getting swabbed you may be potentially saving a life.

To honor and further the cause, OPI has come out with I Love DKMS, a limited edition nail polish duo in cherry red and shimmery, sheer white at $8.50. Proceeds will benefit DKMS’s efforts to register new donors. This polish is available in select Ulta locations, but I wasn’t able to find the color online or through the OPI website, so if you find a location drop us a comment!

First I want to give an update about Black Shatter from OPI. I bought the Serena Williams Glam Slam online and as soon as it arrived I tried it on.

The product works exactly as it should, it was very easy to apply and the effect came out immediately. Each nail had a different pattern and expect the polish to feel bumpy because of the shatter effect. As always I used a base and top coat and the polish lasted for about 5 days without chipping.

I tried Black Shatter with other polishes, even though it does work well, it looks better when you use the glittery polish underneath like the ones in the Katy Perry line.

And talking about unique nail polishes, I recently had a manicure at this really cool and tiny nail salon called The Nail Bar @6th in downtown San Diego where they specialize in natural mani/pedi. They used coffee to soak the hands and feet and sugar as a scrub, the results were great!

In this salon I was introduced to Shellac, a registered trademark of CND, sold only to licensed professionals so your best bet is to find a nail saloon that offers it. The unique thing about Shellac is that it a hybrid between gel and nail polish and lasts up to 14 days without chipping or fading.

The process of getting the Shellac can last up to 30 minutes since the manicurist applies coat after coat of the specialized polish and needs to let your nails cure in a UV lamp between each coat. Salons are encouraged to charge extra for this service, but for a busy woman, this can be worth it since you won’t have to worry for 2 weeks at least.

The end result will be nails with a very thick coat, which will actually protect your natural nail and encourage growth. To remove the Shellac it is encouraged to do it at the nail salon, but you can probably do it at home following these instructions I found on YouTube.

Personally I liked it, but its not my thing to have one color too long. I’m addicted to changing my nail polish colors at least twice a week and after one week I took the Shellac off. So I can’t really say if the 2 weeks on my hands is real, but I can say that I had the appointment 3 weeks ago and the Shellac on my toes still looks perfect.

I probably will use it again when I go on vacation or a business trip just so I don’t have to worry about the maintenance and can concentrate on the important stuff (fill in the blank as you wish).