I don’t know how it happened. They sold like crazy, they were impossible to find. We had people all over the world contacting us as to whether we had any more of them left. I had to tell them no.
Then for some reason, I now have two of them sitting on my desk.. Glittering at me.
Then came the choice: sell them or give them away?
I asked people on the Facebook, and it looks like a giveaway is the answer.
We’ve had a few suggestions, but I really like the idea of a photo contest. It will let others see some great colors that are available.
So here you go!
1) Post a picture on our Facebook page of you wearing your favorite OPI polish color. Don’t forget to list what the color is!****
2) Extra entries for Tweeting, blogging or FB-ing about it and commenting on this post when you’ve done that.
Open to Canadians, 2 winners will randomly be chosen on Wednesday, June 30 and the polish will be mailed out to them.
It’s funny that the actual photo of the polish from OPI shows it as purple-ish. In reality it’s far more silver.
We’re looking forward to your entries!
****To post a fan photo, you just have to use the space where you comment on our wall and attach the photo to that.
You’ve stepped away from the fumes and drawers over flowing with sparkles, cremes and that perfect greige.
You’ve heard of the new collections and you must have them. But each spa/salon only carries 1 or 2 of the lines you are after. You don’t have time to drive around looking for that one specific brand.
Plus starting your car almost always chips a nail.
After going from website to website, you are continually denied shipping because you have a Postal Code instead of a Zip Code.
We hear your cry.
Why is it so tough to purchase nail polish online in Canada?
Reason #1 It’s a lot of work. I mean A LOT of work.
Merchandising for internet sales is time consuming, and it’s made even more difficult when the distributors of the brands don’t provide digital information. It’s a daunting task for online beauty retailers to take on.
A single spreadsheet with order codes and names of polishes is often what we have to work with. This means finding or making the images, writing descriptions of the colors and dragging out what ever info we can get from the reps about upcoming lines.
It’s a lot of work for a single, small item.
Reason #2 It changes constantly.
New releases, discontinued colors and limited editions. The products are always changing. All that time that is spent finding the info and then a color/collection/line can be discontinued in a matter of weeks.
Reason #3 There are hundreds of colors.
At the time of this post we carry 1114 individual colors across 7 nail polish brands. That does not count base and top coats, strengtheners or other fun paraphernalia. Think of all of the combinations! So pretty.
What it also means is that is isn’t feasible to carry multiples of every single color in house. So we work with several different distributors, each with their own way of doing things.
Pause for me imagining a glorious warehouse with thousands of glittering nail polish bottles…
Distributors don’t even take on more than 2 polish lines because of the detail work that is involved.
Reason #4 Existing in cyberspace
Since we are one of the only online accounts for those distributors, their systems are built to work with brick and mortar retail stores. Those stores purchase what the distributors currently have in stock. If it’s not there, they don’t sell it.
It would be very difficult to update a site everyday with several different distributor’s stock levels. Real time stats would be fluctuating constantly.
We always try and have the most up to date list possible, but sometimes they are simply out of a polish that they carry. In those cases we have to wait for their order to come in.
With OPI it’s almost never a problem. But those harder -to-find-but-stunning-ones like China Glaze, Zoya and Spa Ritual, are ordered less frequently by the distributors as fewer people sell them.
This means sometimes there can be a wait, most of the time there isn’t. On the upside it means you own that polish and it will come to you as soon as it’s available. You don’t have to go looking for it. It’s yours already.
This is particularly true of really popular colors (I’m looking at you Essie Mint Candy Apple).
Reason #5 Color Accuracy
Screen settings effect everything. Sometimes you just can’t know what a color looks like simply from a computer image. This is where polish blogs are endlessly useful. There are some ladies out there who work tirelessly swatching colors, sometimes even before they are even released! Great photos and explanations of how they wear are out there.
My two favorites? All Laquered Up and Scrangie. They are by far the best polish resources I’ve found. They will also introduce you to brands you may not have heard of before.
Why do we do it at Spa Boutique?
We love nail polish and know how hard it is to get here in Canada. We are a way for you lovelies to shop for colors and brands in one place and we do our absolute best to get you those colors.
We sell only professional lines and we get them from reputable distributors. We have beauty professionals on staff to help you with choice whenever possible. There are colors that come through all the time and some we’ve never actually seen in person, but we will do our best to provide guidance.
It’s an extremely complex item to sell online which is why there aren’t many that do it. Over time the process will smooth out as the smaller lines become bigger and more readily available.
For now we do everything we can to get you your nail polishes.
I’ve written before about under eye puffiness but for some inexplicable reason I have not touched on under eye circles. They seem to go hand in hand for most people.
Dark circles can be really tough, there isn’t really a guaranteed solution. There are several possible causes for them, so it’s necessary to pinpoint your cause and work from there.
There is no single solution unfortunately.
Most lines have started to move away from specific products to combat them, it was just to easy to disappoint people. “Helps with dark circles” will be tacked onto the list of benefits, but the focus is mainly puffiness, hydration and anti-aging.
On the upside it’s always nice to see cosmetics be honest about the results they can actually provide.
Here are some possible common causes for dark circles:
Thin Skin: muscles and blood vessels are visible and when seen through the skin they appear blue. This most commonly occurs with age as skin thins out and dehydration becomes the norm. There’s very little cosmetic products can do in this case and a good concealer is probably the best option. Creams and such will give minimal results if this is the culprit.
Shadows: These are created by the shape of the face itself. Bumps and dips all effect how the lights hits you. Going for de-puffing products can help if that’s the major cause, as well as making lifestyle changes to reduce fluid retention; less salt! Under-eye hollowing cannot really be affected by cosmetics as it’s the lack of underlying muscles and fat structure that causes it. This is where surgical fillers come in handy, but that is too far outside of my knowledge to comment any further than that.
Blood Vessels: Weak or dilated blood vessels can cause blood to collect in the area making it darker or bruised looking. Eye Products that can help to strengthen blood vessels are useful. Once again a good concealer is usually the best/quickest remedy. Strengthening them takes time and consistent application of the product for cumulative results which will often be minimal.
Skin Pigmentation: For people who struggle with constant and dramatic dark circles and have their whole life, this is often the reason. It can also happen as a result of allergies, medication, sun exposure and pregnancy. The skin itself has more pigment and is darker. Products with mild skin lightening properties can help over time. But it’s best to try and identify the cause of the hyper-pigmentation and try and eliminate it. If it is a life long hereditary issue, then lightening ingredients are the way to go. This being said the effects will be subtle and take awhile. Those ingredients can only be safely used in very small percentages around the eye.
Once the cause(s) of dark circles have been identified, then a proper treatment program can start.
It will take patience and consistency to see results, but they are possible in certain cases.
Some great ingredients to look for, not the only options, but easy ones to look for:
Horse Chestnut or Ivy: Decongesting and draining, these will reduce puffiness which will smooth out the overall look of the eye area
Caffeine: There is no real science behind this providing drainage benefits, but it is an anti-oxidant so it will help protect the skin. So it’s worth looking for.
Retinol/Vitamin A: These increase cell turnover and healthier cells. Some of the most effective ingredients at reducing line and wrinkle depth which can give a brighter look to the eye.
AHA: Glycolic and Lactic can exfoliate and hydrate the area, again creating a smoother look to brighten the area. Glycolics can also lighten hyper-pigmentation. Do not get it too near the eye though. It causes irritation in mucous membranes
Peptides: Anti-inflammatory and healing, when formulated correctly can provide great anti-aging results in the skin.
Vitamin C: Reduces inflammation, promotes collagen, lessens hyper-pigmentation and can help to protect the skin. This is subject to several complicated formula issues though: percentage, which kind of Vitamin C and how it’s packaged to keep it from degrading.
Kojic Acid: Reduces hyper-pigmentation.
Vitamin K: Some research suggest that this can help with vascular problems such as blood pooling.
Licorice: Anti-inflammatory to reduce puffiness under the eye.
As soon as the new collection arrived we were selling Mad as a Hatter and Absolutely Alice like crazy.
At two separate points we have been sold out of the items as every distributor in town had run out of stock.
Both polishes are stunning and will be guaranteed to get you comments whenever you are out.
The Good: Gorgeous colors. So complex and beautiful to look at, they are both extremely unique as well. 
Absolutely Alice is a bright blue with little spots of gold in it.
Mad As A Hatter is a multi-color glitter. It’s probably the best multi-color ever released. At a glance it appears mostly silver, but really there is an array of other colors: green, pink, blue, orange, purple and gold.
So. Pretty.
Like all glitter/sparkle polish they are horrific to try and remove. The reason for this is that nail polish remover dissolves the liquid part of polish.
With a glitter polish, a large portion of it is solid little pieces that don’t dissolve. So you have to wait for the remover to work it’s way through the layers of glitter to actually dissolve that polish.
Add to that the fact that glitter polishes often take multiple layers to achieve full coverage and you have an undertaking that is more time consuming than applying the polish itself. Plus glitter ends up all over your hands.
Of course as an esthetician I would never, ever suggest you peel a polish off of your nails as it can weaken them and cause peeling…but for the most part these two tend to just lift straight up off the nail once they start chipping.
Which brings me to the next fault, these guys aren’t great at lasting. Even with top and base coats. While the first application will last a good long while, I’ve personally found that each time I use the bottle, the polish has thickened even more and the application lasts a shorter period of time, chipping within a day or two.
They work best and last longest as a toe polish as opposed to fingers. Absolutely Alice is pretty much opaque after two coats, Mad As a Hatter seemed to be three. Both dry very quickly, which explains why the polish in the bottle thickens up. Try to keep the amount of time the bottle is open to the absolute minimum.
You’ll need a nice thick top coat to get rid of any texture as well.
Overall, I’m so glad I own them and will probably buy another bottle or two before they’re gone forever. They make for perfect special occasion or party polish.
Have you used either of these polishes? What were your experiences?
I finally did it.
I branched out from standard OPI polishes and bought a Zoya Matte. In green.
It was a big day for me.
I followed all the rules, I used polish remover on the nail to remove any oils, let a base coat dry completely and did quick, thin coats of the polish.
The color I used was the Veruschka green. A deep, shimmering forest green that instantly got comments and envy from all those around me.
Then for experimenting sake I put a top coat on the nails of one hand. It deepened the color and brought out the absolute stunning complexity of the greens and sparkle. I’d be hard pressed to pick a preference. They are just different ways to wear the color.
The biggest complaint with the Mattes is that they don’t last nearly as long. This is not really the case in my experience. I’m 4 days in and, granted, the small amount of chipping that is happening is on the Top-Coat-Free hand (also my dominant hand) but the top coated hand is not far behind.
I love the soft, velvety look of the matte, but I can’t tell yet if it’s that or the actual green color I love more.
I would give this particular product a big thumbs up and suggest that if you haven’t tried Matte polishes yet, this is a great place to start.
