Nail Polish Nonsense

Recent NOTDs

2012-01-30T11:44:00.000-05:00

Hi there!

Well I've had quite a long break, mostly because this winter has been exceptionally unkind to my cuticles. I even had a couple of fingers splitting and cracking with the dryness, and of course they looked absolutely hideous. I've posted pictures here where my cuticles weren't the best, especially in my camera's macro view, but there was no way I would have posted pictures of my nails in that condition. It was downright unappetizing, folks.

I turned to the wisdom of nail world for a solution. Word has it that Lanisoh lanolin is a sure fix for dry and painful cuticles, and it's absolutely true. I've been using a little bit each night before bed and sometimes during the day as well, and the improvement is remarkable. My hands still get dry right after a shower (hot water is not a friend to dry skin) and during the day, but I've had no more splitting and cracking. I just moisturize as usual and everything's much better.

If you want to use Lanisoh, there's no special trick to it, but be warned it is extremely thick and greasy until it is absorbed, so you won't want to handle anything for a while.

I thought I'd share some NOTD photos that I snapped with my iPhone over the last couple of weeks. They're not spectacular but they will mostly spare you from Cuticle Apocalypse 2012.

Laura Mercier Twilight

I bought this on impulse after Janice described it as an amped-up Paradoxal/Perplex. You can't see the subtleties in this Instagram photo, but it's much more lively than Paradoxal (I don't own Perplex), but it still has that smokiness.

OPI Fly

This is OPI Fly from the Nicki Minaj collection. It's greener in real life - again Instagram isn't spectacular for catching color accuracy. Formula on this was wonderful and I really enjoyed wearing it.

Essie School of Hard Rocks

I love colors like this lately...slightly dusty blues and greens...dark but not too dark. This was almost a one-coat wonder. Also contrary to what this picture might have you believe, I have not recently been jaundiced.

Revlon Whimsical over 10 Professional Pinky Promise

This was a huge favorite of mine; I hated taking it off. I had been half-heartedly looking for Revlon Whimsical but never saw it in any of the displays with the re-named Perplex and Facets of Fuchsia, so I kind of forgot about it until it turned up in a regular display at Rite Aid. Plus it was on sale for $3, so I caved. I LOVE IT, especially over Pinky Promise, which I'm now wishing I had a backup or even several backups of. It's the perfect perfect perfect pink sheer. So this is two coats of Pinky Promise alternated with two coats of Whimsical and topped with Seche Vite. I love it, it looked like a gel manicure.

Chanel Blue Rebel

Finally, my current NOTD. This is one of those colors I mentioned above, a dark dusty blue that's dark enough to be vampy but not so dark you can't tell it's blue. This is from the Les Jeans de Chanel collection, which I ended up really liking in spite of the furor that it's not unique enough to be special. Chanel knocked it out of the park with the formula on this and Blue Boy, though I can't speak to Coco Blue as I haven't used it yet.

Anyway, thanks for your patience with my sporadic "attendance"...with the help of Lanisoh I hope to be back in full action soon!

Zoya Feel Collection - Winter 2011

2012-01-03T22:24:00.000-05:00

My heart grew three sizes when I saw the promo pictures and preview swatches of the Zoya Feel collection - six soft cremes for winter. I had the same reaction to the Misa 9-5 collection, of which I ordered all but one. I'm not sure why these colors are so appealing to me - they're not all that unique, or eye catching to others, but I just really love the way they look on the nail. The colors remind me of angora sweaters...soft and cozy. And they're completely appropriate for almost any workplace.

I ordered four of the six colors in the collection: Kendal, Kennedy, Kristen and Carey.

Kendal

Kendal is a soft purply gray - too dusty and gray to be lavender. This would be a great shade for anyone who has trouble with lavender shades or just doesn't care for Easter egg-type colors.

Kristen

Kristen is a soft blue creme with a lot of gray in it. Typically I'm not crazy about baby blues on me but this has enough gray in it to change my mind. I found myself looking at this polish a lot...it's unusual in my collection.

Carey

Carey is a gray creme and is pretty standard. I have...um, a bit of a problem with gray cremes...I have to stop myself from buying them sometimes. This is a really pretty choice if you are in the market for a gray creme, though!

Kennedy

Kennedy was my runaway favorite in this bunch. I'm sorry the picture is a little unfortunate (my cuticles are suffering with the arrival of colder weather) but this is almost a perfect "mannequin hands" shade for me! I got a lot of compliments on this one...weird how sometimes the quietest polishes elicit the most response.

All of the four shades I bought were excellent in terms of formula. All but Kristen could even be one coaters if your application is very good - Kennedy in particular was nearly perfect in one coat. The Zoya brush is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, and each of these polishes applied beautifully. Wear time was good for me - I got probably 3-4 days out of Kendal and Kennedy, though Kristen chipped the morning after I applied it and I only wore Carey for about 24 hours.

As usual, I used Palladio Fuse base coat, Palladio ridge filler and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri (red bottle) top coat with most of these. I tried Rush 60-second top coat with Carey and it didn't work all that well. I'll try it with different polish brands though...Zoyas can be funny about top coats, which is why I don't use Seche Vite with them.

Overall, this is a really nice collection of neutrals with something that should suit a variety of skin tones. If you're always looking for more work-appropriate shades, these would be perfect to consider!

My 2011 Top 10

2011-12-28T10:47:00.000-05:00

It's nearly the end of the year, so why not a best-of list?

I contemplated doing a top ten "new things" and a top ten "all-time favorites" but I settled on just ten total items. This is a mix of things that were new to me in 2011 and things I've loved for a long time.

Naturally, I could compile a top ten nail color list, and I still might, though it will probably be a top 20 because it's very hard to choose and I have...um, a lot of nail polish.

In no particular order:

1. Avene Cleanance Soapless Gel Cleanser
I've raved about this in a couple of other posts, but it's by far one of my favorite discoveries ever. Truly, my face is noticeably softer and clearer. Available online from many sites, including drugstore.com.

2. Chanel Topkapi
I wrestled with whether or not to get this and then when I bit the bullet, it was out of stock. Luckily Chanel.com restocked and I ended up with what may be one of the most perfect shimmery taupe eye shadows around. I super dig the gold, too, and I will cry a very bitter single tear when this gorgeous palette is gone. Limited edition, of course. You can try eBay but this sells for about $100.

3. Coloresse Smooth Shampoo
This is a Sally Beauty exclusive and it works as well for me as Aveda Dry Remedy conditioner, at a fraction of the price. Available at Sally Beauty in stores and online.

4. Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Therapy SPF 15
Like the Avene cleanser, this is one of those happy accidents where I received a sample and fell in love with the product. Somewhere between a balm and a gloss, this product has a pleasant mild fruit scent and feels light, not sticky or goopy. I usually use it before bed and then first thing in the morning, while I'm putting my makeup on. Nice and moisturizing. Available online from several sites, I bought mine at aveyou.com.

5. Maybelline Volum' Express The Falsies Flared
Wow that is a mouthful of a name for mascara, but: recommend. I am actually a huge fan of the whole The Falsies line, including the regular stuff and the Black Drama version, but OMG do not use the waterproof unless you want to have to chisel your mascara off every night. Available pretty much everywhere, I usually buy mine at CVS.

6. MAC Viva Glam Cyndi
As much as it seems pointless to include things that are discontinued and increasingly hard to find even on eBay (and inflated to 3x the original price when you do find it there), I really do love this lipstick. It's red, but not heavy handed or overly bright - just pretty and flattering and easy to wear. Which is probably why it sold out quickly and why not many people are willing to give it up for less than $40. Limited edition; try eBay if you must have it.

7. L'Oreal Paris Project Runway Sultry Raven's Blush
Ugh, so this is also a limited edition item that was released this fall with the Colors Take Flight collection. But I have to mention it here because it's my favorite blush and I wear it nearly every single day. It's really a foolproof color and great for every day. Sadly I can't find this online anywhere (okay, I found one on eBay, tragically overpriced) but it's possible you could find one languishing at a drugstore or discount store somewhere. I got mine at Rite Aid.

8. Cover Girl Lipslicks Lip Gloss in Hipster
I've talked about this before, it's probably one of my favorite products of all time. Cheap and available just about anywhere; I've purchased at CVS, Target and lots of other places.

9. Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
This is the top coat I reach for most often, and I'm bummed it doesn't work for me with Zoya, Chanel and certain other brands. But for most everything it works great and looks amazing. I find that it dries very quickly on me and that I can get back to my regular activities in fairly short order. Available in-store at CVS and Sally and probably several other places as well.

10. Smith's Rosebud Salve
At around $6, this is a huge beauty bargain. It's versatile, portable and suitable for both men and women. I use it primarily as a lip balm and cuticle treatment, but you can also use it on rough dry skin and for a dozen other things. I have bought this at Sephora, but you can order it online at drugstore.com and probably lots of other places.

Honorable Mention: Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle
I would have included this above if there weren't already four lip products on the list! I'm not sure if these are limited edition; I sure hope they aren't because they are amazing. Pink Truffle is my favorite of the three colors I bought and I already picked up a backup. I have found these at Rite Aid and CVS. A great bargain for about $8.

December Birchbox

2011-12-21T11:27:00.001-05:00

I joined Birchbox in November and really enjoyed my first shipment. I even purchased the full size of the Avene cleanser, which I love. I really cannot recommend it highly enough. The bottle says it's for oily and blemish-prone skin, and I am not either of those, but I have been remarkably and happily blemish free since I began using it. My skin is really soft now, too.

My December Birchbox was more hit-or-miss. It included a fragrance sample, for one thing, which...eh. I'm not crazy about most perfumes, and even less crazy about the sample of Harvey Prince Ageless I received. I would never buy this.

This month, all Birchbox subscribers got a tiny sample size of Jouer lipgloss in a signature color (although it looks suspiciously like the Peony color Jouer always offers) designed especially for Birchbox. It's a very bright pink, though less pink on the lips than you would expect, and shimmery. Not my taste, although it wasn't horrible looking. I doubt I will use it, though.

I have been using my sample of Orofluido Elixir and thus far I can't really see that it has any lasting wonderful effect, other than making my hair smell really really nice. Which is lovely but I'm not going to pay $30 for just that. I have yet to try this on wet hair, but I have no great enthusiasm about buying this.

I'm still undecided about my sample of Benefit The POREfessional. I've used it on the areas of my face that are the most...uh, pore-y and it...kind of works? I have some spots on either side of my nose and right above my eyebrows that kind of bother me, and I've applied this over makeup and I do find that it sort of diffuses the appearance of larger pores. However, the last thing I need is another pricey ($29) product to slap on my face every day, so I'm not at all sold on this. It just seems like a large investment for a minimal payoff.

Truly, I could care less about the Showstoppers fashion tape I received. I'm not a 19-year-old starlet nor in desperate need of attention so I don't wear stuff that's in danger of exposing my breasts and I doubt I will ever use these. But you never know! So I'll hang onto them just in case.

The last item in the box was a packet of EBOOST natural energy booster. I gave this to my boyfriend because he said he was super tired this morning. I'll have to ask him if he felt invincible after drinking it. I like the opportunity to try little things like this, but honestly, I would probably never buy something like this. I'd be more likely to have a glass of ice water or take a nap.

So that's it for this month! We'll see what January brings. If you're interested in signing up for Birchbox, it's $10 per month. You can use this link to sign up (if you subscribe, I get Birchbox points.)

A few holiday colors

2011-12-20T14:39:00.000-05:00

I haven't started holiday-themed manicures in earnest yet, but here are a few that I wore a month or so ago that would be good for Christmas.

Revlon Mistletoe

Above is Revlon Mistletoe from the Spice It Up holiday collection. This is a deep evergreen with multicolored shimmer - I can see green, red, copper, gold...really pretty. This has a smooth finish. Now that I'm looking at this picture, I can't wait to wear this again.

Wet 'n' Wild Rockin' Rubies

I purchased two colors from the Wet 'n' Wild Ice Baby collection, and I didn't really care for either of them. I really, really, really hate super lumpy glitter and this is as lumpy as they come. Two coats of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite couldn't tame this and in fact seemed to make it worse. It was so gritty I couldn't stand it.

Which is a shame, because it's beautiful. Tons of sparkle and some gorgeous holographic glitter thrown in for good measure. Perhaps leaving plenty of time between coats would allow this monster to dry smoother, but I'm reluctant to try. Removal was, as you might imagine, labor intensive.

OPI Speak for Your Elf

Speak for Your Elf is one of this year's Ulta/OPI holiday exclusives. It's a red jelly with red and perhaps pink or silver glitter, nothing groundbreaking, but truly pretty. I wore this for nearly a week and got a ton of compliments (why do people always seem to notice reds, of all things?) The picture above is two coats but I think this could use three for the deepest, richest color. I'll definitely be wearing this on or around Christmas Day. Removal was about as you would expect with a glitter, but I didn't even use foil and it didn't require too much elbow grease.

In addition, here's a link to a holiday post I did two (!!!) years ago, with some more ideas. Some of them are mostly long gone by now (Sally Hansen Project Runway, SH Zip, OPI Visions of Sugarplums, OPI Merry Midnight)...and oy, my pictures. I need to re-take some of those!

What are you wearing on your nails for the holidays?

Jamberry Nail Shields

2011-12-18T22:37:00.004-05:00

Earlier this fall, Tara, a Jamberry Nails consultant, asked if she could send me a set of Jamberry nail shields to review. I agreed and she promptly sent over a half sheet of the turquoise and pink polka pattern.

This is a half sheet - each set contains a full sheet, which is enough to do 2-3 manicures or pedicures. A set is $15.

The nail shields have a glossy finish, so you don't need to use top coat with them. The instructions are extremely easy to follow and after a quick read-through you could be up and running with these in no time flat.

To apply the shields, you remove them from the paper backing and warm the sticky side with a hair dryer for 10-15 seconds. I used a pair of tweezers to gently hold the shield under the blow dryer so the hot air wouldn't burn my fingers.

After you heat them up, simply apply the shield to your nail and then trim and file to fit. You do need to work quickly to take advantage of the shield being its most flexible. Once you've got it on your nail, you can press it gently with an orange stick to ensure a tight fit. On a couple of nails, I used the hair dryer to warm the shield up again and then press it down firmly with the orange stick. I simply used a small pair of nail scissors to trim off the excess shield, and then carefully filed off the remaining bits.

My nail plate is relatively small/narrow, and I didn't have any trouble getting the shields to fit. You can see here I had a little bit of a gap at the top of my index finger - that's because I should have trimmed the shield a bit more. Operator error.

But mostly, I think they look great.

Really nice and tidy, which I like.

I love how glossy these are. They also didn't feel thick or uncomfortable on my nail, and they didn't snag on my clothes or other fabrics while I wore them.

Jamberry nail shields are designed to last up to two weeks on fingers and a whopping six weeks on toes. This would be a great alternative for a vacation or any other time you don't want to think about your polish chipping. I think new growth would be the only thing that would keep me from wearing them more than a week, or if they began to lift significantly. (Jamberry recommends using a small amount of nail glue to seal the free edge, if you like.) I think that $15 for 2 or 3 manicures or pedicures is a good price, especially with the variety of designs to choose from.

These were very easy to remove - you just heat them up with the hair dryer for a few seconds and gently peel them off. They came right off my nails with absolutely no peeling or damage to my nail, which is a huge plus.

The booklet I received with my nail shields has pictures of a number of the designs, and some of them look pretty awesome. I realize these pictures aren't ideal, but I wanted to give you an idea of the variety (which you can, of course, also see on the site). There are more than 160 styles available.

I really want to try the metallic silver/white fishnet design. So awesome. The metallic designs look very Minx-like to me. In addition, there are some holiday designs up on the site now - I especially like the whimsical swirls, the dark red floral, sunflower damask and OMG the yellow and gray floral! Tara says there will also be Valentine and St. Patrick's Day designs released soon - great news for those of you who like to tailor your manicure to the holiday.

If you're interested in Jamberry, the site has lots of information, including how to become a Jamberry consultant. You can also follow Tara on Facebook.

A product sample was provided to me for use in this review.

Chanel Spring 2012: June

2011-12-15T11:53:00.002-05:00

Chanel's spring 2012 nail release consists of three polishes: April, May and June. Cute eh?

I passed on April and May, although they are both pretty shades. I love berry shades, therefore I own many, therefore I did not feel drawn to April. May is a super pretty, feminine pink, but it's the kind of pink that makes my hands look dirty.

So, I went with June. Right now (through December 16) Chanel is offering complimentary shipping and a free keepsake box if you choose the gift option with your order. You should do this because it's fun.

It's a cardboard box, nice and sturdy.

This should give you an idea of the size of the keepsake box.

June is a creamy apricot color. The finish is a cross between a creme and a jelly. When I first opened the bottle, my heart sank a little because it looked so sheer. But it's not - below is a picture of my thumbnail with one coat of June.

June's formula is excellent - those of you who have Mimosa and found it difficult to work with can breathe a little easier. The polish is very easy to control.

I didn't do any cleanup on this whatsoever, so you can see that the polish is easy to put it where you want it to go.

These pictures are a little off in terms of color, even using an OttLite. In the picture above, my ring finger and pinky show the truest color representation of June. It's more creamsicle than straight up orange - very creamy and pastel.

If you're considering the spring collection from Chanel, don't fear the pastels! I did two thick coats but with three thin coats, streaks should be a total non-issue.

NOTD: Chanel Black Satin

2011-12-14T14:47:00.000-05:00

I became fascinated with Chanel Black Satin before my nail polish obsession really started in earnest. Black Satin was released, if I recall correctly, sometime in 2006, and it touched off a frenzy - even The New York Times breathlessly reported on the black/dark nail polish trend.

I wanted it, real bad. At the time I was not yet accustomed to shelling out $18 (remember when Chanel nail polish was $18? How adorable) for nail polish or for that matter ordering nail polish online. Why there was plenty of perfectly good nail polish at every drugstore in town! (And don't ask me why I couldn't have gone to one of these stores and purchased a bottle of plain black nail polish for $1.)

Anyway, I really wanted that Chanel Black Satin with its slight platinum shimmer - the famous Chanel "secret shimmer" - but it was long gone from Chanel counters and I couldn't bring myself to shell out eBay prices for it. So I kind of gave up on it and bought a bottle of OPI Lincoln Park After Dark instead. (Another polish that I still truly love.)

Fast forward a few years and Chanel Black Satin isn't nearly the fashion darling it once was. I picked up a bottle on eBay for just about retail. You can, of course, still buy Black Satin on chanel.com. I am not sure if there is a difference between the Made in U.S.A. and Made in France versions of Black Satin - some people claim there is, some people vehemently insist they are exactly the same. The bottle I have is a U.S.A. bottle, which is different from all my other Chanel nail polish. Whether it means anything or not? I have no idea.

I'm glad I went ahead and got it after lemming it for so long.

Is it different than a $1 bottle of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme? Well, it is to me. I just wanted the real deal. It does have the platinum shimmer, which I guess you could say softens it a little bit or gives it some depth, but if all you want is black nail polish that $1 bottle of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme will work just fine and then some. (Or you could buy OPI Black Onyx or Zoya Raven or a billionty other versions.)

I do love black nail polish on shorter nails, so that's why I chose to put it on last night. My nails were getting to that point where they start breaking and looking crummy if I don't go ahead and cut them down, so it seemed like the perfect time to vamp it up.

Live Nude Nails!

2011-12-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

Or nearly nude, anyway. This is my NOTD, 10 Professional Pinky Promise.

I keep wanting to call this brand "Pro10," but that's a different brand altogether. 10 Professional is available at CVS and the colors are not terribly exciting, but they are all 75% off right now. I paid about $1.12 for my bottle of Pinky Promise, which I've been wanting for a while now. I've picked it up and put it down a number of times.

It seems strange to be lemming such a run-of-the-mill sheer, I suppose, but Pinky Promise is just the right shade of natural-but-not-too-natural (meaning too clear - I like a little camouflage). And it's not streaky!

The formula was fine - no issues. The brush is a little on the wide side, but nothing like the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri brushes. In the picture above I'm wearing one coat of Palladio ridge filler, one coat of Palladio Fuse bonding base coat, two coats of Pinky Promise and one coat of Seche Vite.

I'm not sure if the 75% off sale means these polishes are being clearanced for good, or just to make way for more colors, but it's probably a good time to buy any you've had your eye on.

NOTD: Revlon Chic

2011-12-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to get a back-up of Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle but I needed a sale or a coupon in order to pull the trigger. I got my wish when I stopped by Rite Aid the other night and discovered a BOGO 1/2 sale on Revlon cosmetics. I did get the lipstick and also picked up Chic from the new Revlon nail color display.

Initially I was looking for Whimsical, the Glitter in the Air dupe, although I probably will not ending up getting it. I just wanted to see it. My Rite Aid doesn't have the display with Whimsical in it, though, so it was a non-issue.

I did like the look of Chic, a dusty blue green that looks to be unique in my collection.

Formula was lovely and nearly opaque in one thick coat (I did two thin coats). I am wearing this with a ridge filler, base coat and Seche Vite top coat.

NOTD: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Tattoo

2011-12-07T19:41:00.001-05:00

I figured I'd get back in the swing of things with a fairly straightforward NOTD and, coincidentally, a new brand to me.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics is changing their nail polish packaging and closing out the old by offering all of their shades for 50% off (I believe the sale is still on, but when I checked today, there were only two colors still available. All the shades will be back, they'll just be in new packaging). I took advantage of this offer by picking up Chlorophyll and Tattoo.

Chlorophyll, Tattoo

Both shades are green cremes (how shocking for me to choose these). Tattoo is a dark, inky green - like a faded tattoo - and Chlorophyll is a bright, almost neon, chemical-looking teal.

I chose to do a manicure with Tattoo first. The formula on this one is simply gorgeous - heavily pigmented and a great consistency that's a bit on the thin side. I had no problem getting this polish to go exactly where I wanted it with no crazy cuticle flooding. I know people will be curious about the so-dark-green-it-looks-black question, but to me this is quite definitely green on the nail. It's murky and awesome! A quick bottle comparison showed that Tattoo is not a dupe for OPI Jade is the New Black or Essie Going Incognito.

OCC's brush is fairly long, but not too floppy or flimsy. However, I am curious if the brush will change along with the new packaging.

I'm sort of bummed I didn't jump at the opportunity to order a few additional colors, because I love Tattoo and I'm a sucker for a beautiful formula. $8 isn't at all a bad price, particularly for a niche/cult brand, though I am also curious if the price and/or product size might change as well. In any case, I can't imagine a reason not to invest in a few more OCC colors at some point in the future!

An unintentional hiatus

2011-12-05T15:05:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone - sorry for the long break!

I had a couple of things get in the way of regular blogging - most significant, believe it or not, is the crummy light now that it gets dark so early. I haven't been able to take a decent picture in quite some time, so I really have no backlog of photos to show you. I do however have a little OttLite on the way to me, so hopefully I'll be able to manage some good pictures during the short, gray days of winter.

I do have a couple of posts planned. I finally ordered one of the Zoya Touch colors, Pandora, and I absolutely loved it, so I'd like to share that with you. There are also some holiday colors that I've picked up, including one of the Ulta OPI exclusives, Speak For Your Elf. I just removed that after an entire week of wear and I just adored it. There will also be a review of some Jamberry Nails that I tried, and perhaps even a couple of makeup posts.

One thing that has also slowed down my posting is my informal end-of-the-year policy of buying for others and not myself! I've passed up quite a few purchases online and at drugstores recently so that I can budget for Christmas gifts and other holiday expenses that come up.

So that's what you can expect to see from me in the weeks to come!

Dr.'s REMEDY Fall & Holiday Collections

2011-11-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

Today I have swatches and a review of the Dr.'s REMEDY fall colors as well as some information about their holiday release, which includes glitters!

I've tried and reviewed Dr.'s REMEDY products before. The polishes are big three-free and are enriched with natural ingredients like tea tree oil, garlic bulb extract and wheat protein. These substances are naturally occurring, antibacterial and healthier for nails. Dr.'s REMEDY states that the polish is especially suited for people who suffer from nail fungus, brittle or discolored nails, those who are allergic to chemicals in commercial nail polish, for pregnant women and kids.

My experience with the Dr.'s REMEDY line has been great. A lot of nail polish lovers, me included, often think about our older, chemical-laden polishes when we think of lacquers that have a great formula. For something so specifically targeted toward people who want a polish that's free of irritants, I find the Dr.'s REMEDY formula to be excellent. The Fall Fever 2011 collection includes:

Defense Deep Red - "a rich bordeaux with a mystifying matte finish"

Noble Navy - "a sea-at-dusk shade that reflects light and brings dimension to tips and toes alike"

Balance Brick - "a modern maroon with body and balance"

I really like the brushes, too - they're like a slightly narrower version of the OPI ProWide brush.

I did get one wonky brush - it looks like it has its hands on its hips - but this didn't affect my application in any way, so I just left it alone.

I was supremely, incredibly impressed with the formula of Noble Navy. Really, it could have been a one-coater. I did two out of habit but now I wish I'd left it at one for the purposes of showing you just how awesome it is.

This is such a gorgeous color - I guess it's partly psychological because these deep blues are on trend right now, but I adored wearing this as a full manicure. Very chic. I compared Noble Navy with Wet'n'Wild Nocturnal and Chanel Blue Rebel. It's not a dupe for either - Noble Navy is darker than Blue Rebel and not quite as dark as Nocturnal. It's also very evident that Nocturnal is a jelly.

Balance Brick is probably not a color I'd choose very often - it's certainly not unique but for someone with very specific requirements about the content of their nail polish, this is a good go-to shade. Very conservative. I found this one to be easy to apply, but the coverage was not as even as Noble Navy. I applied three thin coats.

Initially I wasn't all that jazzed about Defense Deep Red, but you know what? It looks great. It's a classic vamp, very chic. I got a number of unsolicited compliments while wearing this. Defense Deep Red was also a bit streaky - nothing serious, but I did need three coats. For some reason I had a hard time applying this one and made more of a mess than I usually do. That could be chalked up to operator error, however. Thank goodness for acetone and a concealer brush!

Overall, these were great. Noble Navy is by far my favorite in terms of formula and color. Sometimes a shade just speaks to you and this is one of those times. I also liked Defense Deep Red - I'd say this type of color is a must-have in any collection and if you're looking for a healthier nail polish alternative, this would definitely be worth a look. Balance Brick is not a must-have for me, but again, this type of standard shade undoubtedly has many fans. I wore all three colors as full manicures with Palladio Fuse base coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat and got great wear out of them.

Dr.'s REMEDY also has a holiday collection called Jolly & Joy. I didn't review these, but I do have pictures! It includes five shades, two of which are GLITTERS and we all know how the nail polish ladies love themselves some glitter. At least one of these shades, Revive Ruby Red, is from the Dr.'s REMEDY core collection (I reviewed it in the post linked above).

Jolly & Joy includes:
Revive Ruby Red - "a shimmer-infused, Wizard of Oz-inspired shade of crimson"
Passion Purple - "a bombshell-boysenberry with subtle silver meshed throughout"
Essential Emerald - "a take on the classic tree-and-plant-inspired gem of a shade, with delicate glimmer and unparalleled amounts of glamour"
Serene Silver Glitter - "a seasonal sizzler like no other: shine, chic, totally unique in the metallic scene"
Resolution Red Glitter - "a red-meets-copper spin that's sequin-look-alike laden with high-shine and sparkle"

You can purchase Dr.'s REMEDY polish for $17 each at www.remedynails.com. To keep up with product releases and other information, you can also find the company on Facebook and Twitter.

These were sent to me for review.

Birchbox!

2011-11-13T22:30:00.000-05:00

My pal Cookbook referred me to Birchbox and I finally joined up last month. I've had a few days to tinker with a couple of the products so I'll share my thoughts.

Avene Cleanance Soap-Free Gel Cleanser

I was actually very pleased to get this, because I've been considering a different face wash (currently I use Cetaphil, which works fine but I'm not married to it). I think this smells wonderful, like clean water and fresh air.

Thymes Body Lotion in Kimono Rose and Eucalyptus

I got a small bottle of the Eucalyptus scent but just a little packet of the Kimono Rose scent. I wish it was the other way around, because I really like the Kimono Rose. The Eucalyptus is...fine? I guess? It just smells like hotel lotion, which is to say, like nothing specific. I'm not a big fan of scented body lotions usually, but I'd love to try the Kimono Rose cologne or even the candle.

Minerologie Ultimate Cream Concealer

I'm a sucker for a good concealer so this was a nice perk. The product information states this can double as an eyeshadow primer. I'm running out of my Urban Decay Primer Potion so this seemed well-timed. I do like this as a concealer but this far I'm not blown away with it vs. my usual, which is Maybelline Dream Mousse (though this has sadly been discontinued and I'll need to find something else). I tried this as an eyeshadow primer on one eye with the UD primer on the other eye as a sort of comparison test. I used UD shadow because I know how it performs over the primer. After eight hours of wear, the Mineralogie held up well, though with slightly more creasing than the UD Primer Potion.

Anyway, I started using the Maybelline as a less expensive alternative to my favorite Laura Mercier concealer, so switching back to another expensive product seems annoying.

Zoya Noel from the Gems & Jewels Collection

Finally, I got a mini bottle of Noel from the Zoya Gems & Jewels holiday collection. It's not a color I would have gone out of my way to buy, but I'm delighted with the sample and I'll certainly wear it during the holidays. It's a very pretty blue shot through with silver - it even looks great in the bottle.

There were also a couple of cute letterpress coasters in the box, which is fine, but I would probably buy something like that locally, if I were going to buy it. (Not to sound twee or anything.)

In any case, I think I'll stay signed on for another couple of months at least. It's fun to get presents in the mail.

I have a couple of nail product reviews coming up for you, so stay tuned!

Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter

2011-11-03T23:50:00.000-04:00

I just had to take a moment to rave about the new Revlon Color Burst Lip Butters.

I'm not what you'd call a lipstick junkie, I tend to stick to the few colors/products that really work for me, but I am a bit antsy about always having a lip balm close at hand. In the past few months I've tried Maybelline Baby Lips (not my favorite, although I did replace mine when I ran it through the washer and dryer recently) and I finally treated myself to a full-size version of the Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector that I received as a sample from Sephora a while back. (Trust and believe no one has ever wrung as much product out of a sample tube as I did in this case.)

Because I'm so hyper about lip balm, I really like my lip color to be as moisturizing as possible, too. Finding a lipstick that is moisturizing enough for me has been a bit of a challenge. I am very picky about this. I don't want the product to be too dry, but I want it to hold its color for a decent amount of time without bleeding or being all sticky.

So I was excited to try the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters and wow am I impressed.

Tutti Frutti

These are packaged very nicely in slender silver tubes with a frosted overcap that matches the color of the product inside. There's a clear viewing window on the top of the tube, which is nice, because trying to judge the color by the little sticker on the bottom can be tricky.

These have a very faint vanilla - almost cake - scent to them, but not as strong as MAC lipsticks. The scent doesn't really stick with the product one it's on your lips, either.

Thus far I've picked up Pink Truffle, Red Velvet and Tutti Frutti, and I love all of them. Red Velvet, for me, is a more dramatic special occasion look but the other two are super flattering and wearable. All three of the shades I bought are cremes, but there are some shimmers in the range as well.

These wear amazingly well and feel very moisturizing and smooth on the lips. They're not overly sticky, goopy or at all like a gloss, but they're also not drying like a typical lipstick or stain. For a balm-type product, they are quite pigmented (particularly Red Velvet). I'm not actually sure what to call this product...it's too pigmented to call it a straight-up balm but it's more comfortable to wear than any lipstick I've ever tried.

My one - ONE - complaint is that the base of the tube is so narrow that it's a little clumsy getting the lid off. But that's a nitpick, because I love these so much.

I purchased Pink Truffle and Red Velvet at Rite Aid, where they rang up as $4.29 each, but when I bought Tutti Frutti at CVS they were marked $7.49, which is closer to what I've seen other people report. I guess I just lucked out at Rite Aid.

I love these. Love them. I will be incredibly sad when/if they're discontinued and I have frequently considered getting a backup of Pink Truffle, because that shade is wonderfully neutral and wearable for me and I've been wearing it a lot. More than my Cover Girl Hipster even, which is saying quite a bit.

Anyway, if it wasn't clear already: RECOMMEND.

Red holo and holo sparkle comparisons

2011-10-25T09:08:00.000-04:00

Hi there, I'm still here! I have some NOTD photos and a product review waiting in the wings but I wanted to post these comparison photos today because they're ready to go.

Here they are, in non-direct natural light.

1. Sally Hansen Prisms Ruby Diamond
2. Sally Hansen Prisms Golden Tourmaline
3. Hits Ares
4. Ozotic 511
5. Catherine Arley 800
6. OPI DS Reflection

Numbers 1 through 4 are linear holos; 5 and 6 are holo sparkles. I've been in search of a true red holo for a while now, and while Ozotic 511 is gorgeous I suppose I really meant to order 621 (and uh...probably will at some point!). Glitter Gal also has a gorgeous red. I bought Ares - the red from the Brazilian-based Hits No Olimpo collection - because there were a few I wanted to try anyway (and I will post about them at some point soon).

Here they are in more direct sunlight.

You can see here that the base color is closest between Ares and Golden Tourmaline. DS Reflection also approaches true red. Catherine Arley 800 is really gorgeous on - it has this great orange flash that I just adore. Ruby Diamond (1) and Ozotic 511 (4) are definitely more of a strawberry pink than a true red.

Here's a full swatch of the Catherine Arley.

Anyway, if you've been looking for a red holo or holo sparkle - hope that helps!

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

2011-10-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, you just want to wear a classic.

Lincoln Park After Dark is one of the first OPI polishes I bought, in order to use it for touch-ups on salon manicures.

Feels very autumn to me.

The joy of Nfu-Oh Aqua Base

2011-10-15T09:52:00.000-04:00

About a month ago I ordered a bottle of Nfu-Oh Aqua Base from FabulouStreet. I was tired of struggling to apply my Make Up Store and Nfu-Oh holos only to have them look like crap when I finished and begin chipping/wearing off almost immediately. I accept that some types of polish don't wear as well as others, but holos are so gorgeous and frankly, when you put that much work into applying a polish you want to enjoy it for a while.

I decided to try the Aqua Base with Make Up Store Siw. Aqua Base is milky in the bottle and goes on the nail that way. You'll want to make sure you're not applying it too thick, or it won't dry properly and your nice holo polish will get messed up in spite of your efforts. It has a slightly sweet, almost flowery scent. I don't mind it but I suppose it could bother some people. I think it smells much nicer than typical nail polish.

In short, the Aqua Base is a must for holos in my opinion. It made application 100% easier, made the holo look better on the nail, and thus far has made the polish wear much better. I've had Siw on for three days which is unprecedented for me.

Have you used a special base for holos? If not, what do you use, and how does it work for you?

Misa Surreal Escape Collection

2011-10-12T20:33:00.000-04:00

I saw the bottle pictures of this collection on Scrangie's site and ordered the whole thing immediately. I've never done that before! Although I did order 5 of the 6 shades in Misa's 9 to 5 collection, which was awesome. I really do love my Misas.

However, I think I might have jumped the gun a little. The colors in Surreal Escape are fine, but I'm not sure I really needed all six. (Inasmuch as anyone "needs" nail polish at all.)

First off, some quick nail wheel swatches.

Beyond Infinity, Gray Matters, Spaced Out

Phazers on Stunning, Shields Up, The Great Green Whatsit

Beyond Infinity

I've seen this dissed as a boring color, and I will concede it's not exciting. However, if you don't already have a gunmetal shade in your collection, or if you're just particularly fond of them, this is worth checking out (especially for the price). The shimmer is sophisticated and not frosty - no brushstrokes.

Phazers On Stunning

Please excuse the lighting on some of these, the weather was terrible today after a long stretch of perfectly gorgeous summery days.

This is three coats. The duochrome is quite evident, and the scattered silver sparkles just make it that much prettier.

The Great Green Whatsit

This leans a bit frosty and doesn't have much of a duochrome, but it does shift to blue a little bit. It reminds me of Missha HGR01, but GGW has those tiny flecks of silver glitter.

Shields Up

This is my least favorite of the collection, and if you have WnW Gray's Anatomy, Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game or OPI Not Like The Movies, you can skip this one. There is decent duochrome with Shields Up but even after three coats, it was almost totally sheer. Maybe it would look good over black? I'm not sure and frankly it annoys me because "it would look good over black" is not something I like to hear.

Gray Matters on pinkie and ring finger; Spaced Out on middle and index

I like both of these grays - Gray Matters is your standard concrete gray with black and silver specks; while Spaced Out is a more blue-toned gray with black and silver specks. These aren't shimmers per se...they're just subtly sparkly.

I've worn two of these shades (Gray Matters and Beyond Infinity) as full manicures and they both applied well and held up great, as I'm accustomed to with Misa polishes. I typically adore Misa's formula and these two were no exception. The other four all applied perfectly as well - easy to control. Drying time was a little long. All are nicely pigmented except for Shields Up.

If I had it to do again, I'd skip Shields Up, Beyond Infinity and one of the grays (probably Spaced Out, I'm a huge sucker for light grays).

If you don't have any Misa lacquers, I highly recommend them. The formula is reminiscent of a much more pricey brand, and if this collection is any indication, Misa may be back on track to create some amazing colors in the upcoming seasons.

Do you own any Misas? Did you buy anything from this collection?

Nicole Iceberg Lotus & Bad Brushes

2011-10-10T18:10:00.000-04:00

Couple things for you today, first off my current NOTD, which is Nicole Iceberg Lotus. I keep wanting to call this Iceberg Lettuce, which really amuses me.

Anyway...I forgot I bought this at Target a while back. I'd been interested in it for a while and kept picking it up and putting it down...as you do...until I finally decided to just get it. After all it's green and shimmery, making it a virtual lock in my book. (I also thought I had a $1 off Nicole coupon in my wallet, but when I got to the checkout it wasn't there...oops.)

I decided to wear it on Sunday because my Sacred Ground manicure was chipping badly. (I blame this entirely on my nails and specifically on the Nutra Nail Gel Perfect disaster. My nails are still recovering from the extreme dryness.) Iceberg Lettuce - er, Lotus - is a semi-sheer teal sparkle with a slight duochrome. As usual, the duochrome is stronger in the bottle, where it changes to a magnificent blue/purple. On the nail it shifts to blue but not as strongly as in the bottle.

Application was...well. Let's just say that I'm glad I recently saw the light regarding the acetone/concealer brush cleanup method because YIKES. I'm normally a pretty tidy polisher but this so-called "Perfect Stroke" brush was a disaster. How bad is this brush? As bad as a Borghese brush and that's saying a lot. (Yes I know a lot of people claim to love the Borghese brush but you...you are all getting different brushes than I am, I guess.)

In what world...nay, on what PLANET would this make a "perfect stroke"?

For comparison, here is a (terrible) Borghese brush. I only have two Borghese colors left in my collection, this one (Fantastico Lime) and Ecstasi Indigo. For Ecstasi Indigo at least, tt's worth the cleanup. But the brush...the brush is tragedy.

Ugh ugh ugh ugh. Look at how uneven and jagged that thing is! Awful.

Anyway, aside from the brush issues, the formula was jellyish and easy enough to control, but very sheer. I used two coats and probably could have used a third for some additional opacity. Next time I'll probably use an underwear polish...but I'll be dreading that brush.

SpaRitual Sacred Ground

2011-10-07T18:11:00.000-04:00

I haven't owned too many SpaRitual polishes, and most of the ones I've bought I've ended up passing along, because either the colors didn't excite me or the formula didn't work well for me. I've never paid full price for one, either: I've seen them at Marshall's for $3 or $4, and I bought some on Aveyou.com during a 40% sale. Normally they're $10 each, and obviously I've paid more for a bottle of polish, but SpaRitual has never thrilled me enough to shell out the full price.

The Wilde collection for fall 2011 interested me, though. After viewing swatches online, I narrowed my wish list down to Sacred Ground and Howl. Not long ago I bought a coupon deal for Aveyou.com, which basically allowed me to buy $50 worth of goodies for $14, so I added the mini sizes of both polishes to my cart.

SpaRitual minis are adorable because they are pint-sized versions of the full size bottles, right down to the awesome grippy cap. At $5 each, they're not exactly a bargain for the amount of polish you get, but if you're slightly wary it's at least a savings over the full-size bottle. Fewer regrets if you don't like it, but probably more difficult to swap.

SpaRitual full size (Yes, I Can!) vs SpaRitual mini (Sacred Ground)

Sacred Ground is difficult to describe - the best I can do is that it's a gray/brown base with gold and purple flecks. Initially it reminded me of Hard Candy Mr. Wrong, and they are similar, but Mr. Wrong is more blingy...and less subtly interesting. I know I'm splitting hairs there, but you polish devotees will know what I mean.

SpaRitual Sacred Ground; Hard Candy Mr. Wrong

Anyway, the color is quite interesting and beautiful, though I suspect some will find it too muddy for their taste. It puts me in mind of OPI by Sephora's Absinthe Makes the Heart - there's a beautiful color in there, but it's hiding a bit.

What it really reminds me of on the nail is brocade fabric, where you can see little hints and threads of brilliant colors peeping out.

Another comparison

The formula on this was nicer than other SpaRituals I've used. It was far less runny and much easier to control. Drying time was pretty normal, too.

I used two coats over a nail treatment and base coat, and topped them with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in the red bottle.

Glitter Gal Bronze Sparkle, White Sparkle & Electric Blue Sparkle

2011-10-04T15:18:00.000-04:00

Today I have for you three of the 3D sparkle holographic polishes from Australian brand Glitter Gal. I have purchased Glitter Gal polishes previously, but these three colors were provided to me by Leah from her shop. I'm happy to share the swatches and results with you so let's get started.

Bronze Sparkle, White Sparkle, Electric Blue Sparkle

Bronze Sparkle

Bronze Sparkle reminds me of Cleopatra, or jewelry that you would traditionally associate with ancient Egyptian culture. It's a bright bronze base with lots of silver holo sparkle, which reflects red and turquoise and a rainbow of other colors, giving it that jeweled look.

The sparkles just light up, giving the polish a gorgeous depth.

In natural light, the polish looks more subdued. I like this quality - it's probably work appropriate for more settings, but it still has plenty of sparkle and interest - especially in the sun!

White Sparkle

White Sparkle is more than meets the eye - it's a sheer, pearlescent white base with scattered holo sparkles that glint and gleam. The pearly finish flares orange and pink in the light. Here, it's swatched over a single coat of Essie Marshmallow.

I can see this delicate look being appropriate for a wedding or even as a work-appropriate manicure for office environments. It's even more subtle worn alone. The scattered holo sparkles remind me of sunlight on a fresh snowfall.

I saved my favorite for last - Electric Blue Sparkle, which lives up to its name.

Electric Blue Sparkle

The bright blue jellyish base is packed - packed - with holographic sparkles. The result is a manicure that glows from within, because the jelly base makes the glitter look like it is sparkling from underwater.

When I tilt my nails in under a light source, I get a beautiful teal/turquoise glow. It's hard to capture in a photograph, but it's in there! Truly lovely. Definitely not subtle or delicate. Blue polish lovers will love this one.

All three of these polishes were easy to apply; Electric Blue Sparkle was probably the easiest to control because of the jellyish quality. I've always gotten good wear from Glitter Gal polishes and these were no exception (I've worn Electric Blue Sparkle and Bronze Sparkle for full manicures and both lasted 2-3 days before showing tipwear or chips). The sparkle is more dense in Broze and Electric Blue than in White Sparkle, so if you're looking for a glitter bomb, those are the two you'll want to consider. White Sparkle is a more sheer, subtle look.

In case you're not familiar with Glitter Gal polishes, remember that these bottles are smaller (.3 fl oz) than many nail polish bottles that you might be used to (OPI, Essie, Zoya, etc). As an example, here's a bottle of Glitter Gal next to a Revlon bottle.

Having purchased Glitter Gal polishes before, I can say that the quality and color payoff are certainly worth the price. Just know that they are smaller and you won't be surprised when you receive them!

You can get Glitter Gal polishes from Leah at her shop (she also offers Ozotic, a-England and other harder-to-find brands). I have always found her customer service to be fantastic.

The polishes featured in this post were provided to me for consideration from the seller. Aside from product samples, I have not received any compensation for this post. Opinions are strictly my own.

Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color: Mixed Results

2011-09-24T21:54:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I go to Rite-Aid and it's such a bonanza of cool items and new displays that I want to go completely bonkers and buy everything. Last Friday night was one of those times.

I didn't go completely bonkers, but I did see a display that intrigued me.

The picture's not award-winning because I was trying to be stealth about it, but these are Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color (phew!) kits. There are 10 colors available (the Nutra Nail website lists 12; but there are clearly 10 in the display. I'm not sure which ones are missing). Also featured in the display are several packs of No-Mess Express, the remover kit that is suggested to go with the polishing kit. The gel color kit was $11.99 and the remover kit was $5.99. However, there is a tear-off pad on the display with coupons for $1.50 off either product. That sealed the deal and I had to buy it.

I've been thinking for a while about doing Gelish at home, mainly for pedicures. It's a not-insignificant upfront investment, but it would pay for itself after a few pedicures. I'm pretty boring when it comes to pedis - I like dark pinks, classic reds and the occasional vampy shade. Maybe a purple sometimes. But mostly I just don't like to change it very often. The Nutra Nail kit seemed like it might present a good option for my lazy woman's pedi and even for the occasional manicure.

Most of the shades in the Gel Perfect line are pretty safe - reds, pinks, neutrals - though there were two that stood out: Moonstone is a pretty blue shimmer and Torenia is a vibrant violet shimmer. I chose the Orchid shade, a medium red-purple creme. It's exactly the kind of shade I'd choose for a pedicure most of the time.

Don't worry, by the way - I'm not going to show you my feet! I decided to do my fingernails for the sake of experimentation. Besides, I'm much better at painting my nails than my toes.

Here's what comes with the kit: A bottle of cleaner (you use this to clean the color brush), a bottle of activator and a bottle of color. The color is .17 ounces, so it's quite small. For reference, an Essence Colour & Go polish is .16 ounces.

There are also two coupons inside the instruction booklet, which is nice. One is for the color kit and one is for the remover.

You can read the how-to on the Nutra Nail site. I read it through a couple of times before I applied the color. It's really not difficult at all. Basically you apply a layer of activator (which smells exactly like nail glue) followed by a layer of gel color. You do five nails at a time, cleaning the brush in between every five nails, repeating the activator-then-color process for the second coat.

So this isn't hard, but there is a bit of a learning curve. If you're the type of polisher that just slaps on color and then relies on a lot of cleanup afterward, this may not work for you. However, if you tend to be neat and precise in your application then this shouldn't be a problem. This is because the color goes where ever you've applied the clear activator - so if you flood your cuticles with the activator, they're going to get flooded with color too. The color doesn't sit on top of the activator, it blends with it - so you definitely want to keep the activator out of your cuticles.

Here's what the bottle of cleaner looks like after you switch the brushes a few times.

Overall, I didn't have any problems applying this, and I did go back and clean up a little with a small concealer brush and pure acetone, which worked fine. For removal, Nutra Nail tells you to use the No-Mess Express removal kit, but as an alternate they suggest the foil method. So I'll try that and let you know how it works.

Anyway! Enough blabbering. Here are the finished results.

You probably can see some issues here. (That's a glare going diagonally across my nails...that's not a flaw in the application or polish.) There area a couple of bubbles and some slight unevenness - you really want to use a steady hand with this because it's not as self-leveling as some polishes and top coats. I have to be honest, though, in real life? It looks pretty darn good. Macro mode is very unforgiving, so you're seeing every single flaw.

The claims that you can "dig in your purse" and "step into your shoes" in five minutes seem to hold true. Immediately after I did this manicure, I fed the dog, washed my hands and put on lotion, pushed a cardboard box into the trash, did some typing and just generally went about my business. I didn't get any dings, smears or dents.

I also like that there is a troubleshooting guide on the back of the how-to guide. There are Facebook and YouTube logos on the instruction sheet included in the box, but I couldn't find Nutra Nail on either site, and there are no links to videos for this product on the Nutra Nail site. You can order Gel Perfect online though, just click "order now" under the color you want.

After one day of wear, however, I think it's safe to say these are not a great fit for my fingernails.

To be fair, I was hard on my nails on Sunday (the day after I put Gel Perfect on). I cooked, I cleaned, I bashed them into things. Because Gel Perfect cures so hard on the nail, when the gel cracked, my nails cracked too. I had two large chips on Sunday that took a layer of my nail with them. I did patch the chips, which worked fine, but I had several more chips that afternoon and evening...even on one of the nails I had just patched!

My nails are having a brittle moment, and as I said, I was unusually hard on them. But the drying effect of Gel Perfect is hard to deny. If your nails are better hydrated, perhaps you'll have better luck. And if you typically you wear your nails short, you might not experience the breakage that I did.

I'll still try Gel Perfect on my toenails, but I think I will steer clear of it on my fingernails, at least until I feel they are better hydrated.

Nic's Sticks Rainbow's End

2011-09-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

A few months ago there was a big frenzy for Nic's Sticks in Silver-ella and Rainbow's End - both holos! People were finding them at Tuesday Morning stores, buying two or three at a time and decanting them into regular bottles.

Why would you do that, you ask? Because Nic's Sticks are not easy to use, and they come with probably the worst brush I've ever seen. Worse even than the Missha brushes, which is saying a lot. For all of that, I will admit that the final result is not bad. I didn't have to do a ton of cleanup, just some tidying around my cuticles. It just took a lot longer than usual to paint my nails.

To use a Nic's Stick, you have to press down on the cartridge that holds the polish. This releases a small amount of the polish, which then flows down into and over the brush. Sounds good in theory, but it results in very clumsy application, and it's very difficult to control how much polish you get on the brush from nail to nail. Add to that the inherent challenges of a holo polish and you stand to have a real mess on your hands. (Literally! Ha!)

I only found one stick in the Rainbow's End color, a peachy/nude holo. It's a shame OPI didn't just bottle these colors up because Rainbow's End, at least, is gorgeous.

This is a linear holo and it shines and glows even in low light, including my dreadful office lighting.

I love this color because it's almost a neutral/office appropriate shade while still being interesting and incredibly pretty.

I used my regular base coat for this (don't ask me why it slipped my mind to try my new Nfu-Oh Aqua Base) and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri as a top coat. It's held up remarkably well - I've been wearing it for four days and it still looks great. I have some tip wear and one small chip on my left hand. (Another good thing about this color - it doesn't show wear very easily!)

I'm a huge fan of this shade, which is why it bums me out that it's no longer widely available. Even if it was, to truly use it the way I'd want to (often, and with minimal fuss), it would need to be in a real nail polish bottle with a real brush. And this is something I don't understand about the nail polish biz: How is it that OPI can put this awesome shade in a Nic's Stick with a subpar brush, but not in a Nicole or OPI bottle with a regular brush? I love the OPI ProWide brush, it's probably my favorite aside from RBL.

The bottom line is that I'd love it if OPI released a collection of awesome, high quality holos like this one, but I'd also want to enjoy applying and wearing it. And for that, it needs to be in a real bottle.

What do you think? Have you ever used a Nic's Stick? How did it work out for you?

Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso

2011-09-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

Good morning. Today I have for you one of the new Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes from the recent Firebird collection. I chose one shade from the collection, Piu Mosso, and pre-ordered it way back in July. I received it in late August and finally got around to wearing it yesterday.

Unfortunately my experience with Piu Mosso was not what I had hoped, in general and certainly not based on my previous experience with RBL polishes. However, some of that was definitely due to operator error and was not the fault of the polish - so I'll have to give it another try to know for sure. Perhaps my thoughts will be helpful if you're considering buying this shade.

I chose Piu Mosso because of the gorgeous murky blue base color and the sunset-orange shimmer.

Doesn't it look awesome? Amazing? Delightfully unique? Well in the bottle, it is.

Part of me knew the shimmer would not be that strong or dramatic on the nail but...I couldn't help hoping otherwise. You do get flashes of it from time to time:

But mostly, it looks like this.

Indoor lighting

Natural lighting

In the picture above, you can see a bit of the dragging (near the cuticle on my middle finger) and the dullness of the finish. These are two of the issues I had with Piu Mosso.

To be fair, I didn't exactly set myself up for success with this manicure. I put the polish on at around 11pm, when I should have been going to bed. I was dead tired, exhausted actually; and to make matters worse I decided it would be okay to drink a Diet Coke before/during doing my nails. So my application skills were probably not what I would call "ideal." I was impatient and cranky and probably rushed a little.

However.

The formula was definitely thick and definitely difficult to control. It was pasty, resulting in drag marks like you can see in the picture above. I did a very thin first coat but went fairly thick on the second coat; this would also prove a bad idea when not 10 hours later the manicure began chipping. (I do think that's my fault...I used too thick of a second coat.)

I used Seche Vite as a top coat. I don't remember this giving me problems with RBL previously but I'll definitely try something different with Piu Mosso next time. The chipping got much, much worse and I actually removed the polish less than 24 hours after putting it on. Typically I leave manicures on for at least 2-3 days and if I need to, I often get 5-6 days of wear. So this was annoying.

I dearly love my other RBL polishes - they are heavily pigmented, easy to apply and have good wear with my usual base coat/top coat combination. I might try a couple drops of thinner in Piu Mosso.

The fact is, however, that none of these tactics will change the fact that the color isn't quite what I'd hoped. Someone suggested trying Piu Mosso over another polish with a similar base color, and I'm willing to give that a try as well.

The biggest bummer of all is that when you lightly swipe a cotton ball soaked in acetone over the polish, it lifts up just enough of the murky blue to let that coppery orange shimmer really glow. ARGH!

NOTD: Revlon Fierce

2011-09-16T11:33:00.000-04:00

FIERCE!!

It's appropriate that I've bought this polish the same week the new season of America's Next Top Model starts up again. I'm not watching it this season ("All-Stars"...too crazy) but if you are, or if you have ever seen it in the past, or know anything about Tyra Banks whatsoever, then you know that the show and the word "fierce" are inextricably linked.

Anyhow. It was during a random trip to Rite Aid that I finally found the new Revlon Edgy Elegance display. I've been cruising the drugstores lately looking for the Wet 'n' Wild Halloween release, along with new stuff from L'Oreal and Revlon, and coming up with nada for the most part.

(My CVS in particular is useless for this right now. All the cosmetics special display space is taken up by Burt's Bees products, Garnier hair color (??) and the woefully boring WnW "Go With The Flow-er" display from early summer. GAH!)

Revlon nail products are BOGO 1/2 off at the moment, so I scrounged another Just Tinted topcoat (not in love with it...more on this in a minute) and picked Fierce from the Edgy Elegance collection.

Revlon Fierce

Fierce can best be described as a violet-leaning silvery purple foil. The formula on this was thick thick thick but easy to control. It could possibly be a one-coater.

With flash, indoors

In natural light

So I mentioned the Just Tinted topcoat. I heard that this was akin to Seche Vite but without the shrinkage issues, so last time I was in a Walgreens I took a peek and found one hanging around. I picked up another bottle at Rite Aid because of the 1/2 off sale. I figured the likelihood of this playing well with another Revlon product was high, so I gave it a try with Fierce.

Well. First of all, a lot of color came up on the brush. I'm not sure if that's the fault of the topcoat or the polish (or me). Otherwise it applied very well, but it took forever to dry. (It doesn't claim to be a quick dry top coat anywhere on the bottle, I just thought that was worth noting.) It's shiny, but not as shiny as SV or Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. My nails were tacky for a very long time and in fact were still dentable this morning - although now the dent has disappeared...which is strange yet sort of awesome.

I'll definitely try the Just Tinted topcoat with another polish and see how that goes. It's not horrible by any means but I suspect it wasn't at its best over Fierce. And I do love Fierce, so I want to wear it with an awesome top coat.

Incidentally, the stickers on the caps of the Edgy Elegance polishes say "New Shade" rather than "Limited Edition." So perhaps they will become core, which is good news for those whose local drugstores are a bit slow on the uptake. (Ahem, northeast Ohio.)

Les Jeans de Chanel

2011-09-14T20:39:00.000-04:00

I bought myself the Fashion's Night Out exclusive Les Jeans de Chanel polishes for my birthday. This is a limited edition collection and they are sold individually at selected Chanel boutiques and online. (At the time of writing this post, they are still available.) I'm not certain if you can find these at Chanel counters or not.

(You may remember the Les Khakis de Chanel from last year's FNO. I treated myself to Khaki Vert, which I love but oddly enough don't have a swatch picture of.)

Anyway.

The three shades are Blue Boy, Blue Rebel and Coco Blue. Coco Blue is a shimmer, the other two shades are cremes.

Blue Boy, the medium shade.

Blue Rebel, the darkest shade.

And finally, Coco Blue. The shimmer is quite subtle.

In my memory, Nouvelle Vague was a light blue with subtle shimmer, just like Coco Blue. However! They are very different.

I don't have Riva to compare to these shades, unfortunately.

Here they are on the nail wheel at one coat. Blue Rebel, Blue Boy, Coco Blue.

And at two coats:

You can see some drag at the bottom of the nails for the two lightest shades, but I did a full manicure with Blue Boy and that wasn't the case. Two coats covered perfectly. The application on these was very nice, though I haven't done full manis with Blue Rebel or Coco Blue.

Some comparisons:

Misa Office Polish-tics, Blue Reble, Blue Boy

Blue Boy, Coco Blue, Nouvelle Vague. It's amazing how green NV looks next to Coco Blue!

Here's Blue Boy on the nail.

I do love this color. The formula is almost jelly-like and I had excellent control of it going on. Definite A+.

Of course this release brings up the usual hate and resentment about Chanel. There will always be people outraged at Chanel for the simple fact that it's Chanel, and there's nothing anyone can do about that.

Are these polishes 100% unique? Nope. I don't have any dupes in my collection, but I am sure they are out there. If all you want is a blue creme you have hundreds of choices. But I've never regretted buying a Chanel polish.

This brought up an interesting question...what kind of Chanel release would I not buy? Well I didn't buy Riva (I had purchase NV not long before and it just didn't whet my whistle) and I didn't buy Quartz. I passed on Particuliere and its friends Inattendu and Tendresse.

So there are many I don't buy. What else would I pass up? Bar glitter...though to be honest if Chanel actually did lose its marbles and released a bar glitter, I might have to buy it for the sheer noteworthiness of such an event. Perhaps a red creme...though I have from time to time given red Chanel cremes as gifts.

So it's not a knee jerk reaction to just buy them all regardless of what they look like. People like to say that Chanel could bottle a frosty mauve and people would go nuts for it, and while that might apply to some people I'd like to think I'm immune to label whoredom.

I mean I'd like to think it. I guess we'll have to wait for that frosty mauve to really know for sure.

A quick NOTD

2011-09-12T14:08:00.000-04:00

My pal Janice recommended Milani Hi-Tech to go under Lynnderella She Lived In A Swamp, so I picked it up when I swung my CVS last week (ExtraBucks clutched in my hand). I put it on with every intention of immediately topping it with She Lived In A Swamp, but...

I love it so much on its own that I'm holding off for the time being. It's stunning in many different types of light and it applied perfectly. Recommend!

Make Up Store holographic nail polish

2011-09-06T11:29:00.000-04:00

First things first: My manicure today is Maybelline Be Scene In Green from the new fall collection.

I picked up this one and Cool Couture, which you can see on the right in the picture below. (Be Scene In Green is on the left.)

Another shot of BSIG.

So. I like this in theory. It is a very pretty medium green, perhaps leaning a bit teal, with lots of gold shimmer. On the nail the effect is kind of foily. I'm just not that big a fan of this particular manicure. For one thing, although I filed and buffed my nails before applying BSIG, the polish brought out every imperfection. So while you can't really see much of this in the pictures, there are all kinds of lumps and ridges showing, which of course annoys me to no end.

It's making me give this polish a side-eye, is what I'm saying.

However! I thought you might like to see bottle pics and nail wheel swatches of the Make Up Store holos I bought during their 40% nail polish sale at the end of August.

Madeline, Greta, Siw (I asked and found out this is pronounced "Seev," thus solving one of the Great Nail Polish Mysteries of my life).

The bottles are awesome. Round, perfectly solid. There is no undercap but I found them very comfortable to hold. Also the brush on these is much nicer than on my Nfu-Ohs.

Madeline, Greta, Siw.

Yeah.

*fans self*

Thus far I've worn Greta but did not get pictures because my cuticles were so displeasing to the eye. I used Essie Matte About You as a top coat and it definitely worked the best of anything I've tried with this type of holo. I'm still working out the perfect application, though. I had a few bald patches with Greta and it chipped pretty quickly, but I think some of that comes with the holo territory.

Anyway, that's all the news for now. I hope to show you some more Lynnderella goodness this week, and I'm fairly sure that I'm going to buy myself the Chanel Les Jeans collection for my birthday. We'll see if I pull the trigger when the time comes (I suspect I will).

Coming Soon...

2011-09-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

More pictures of my Lynnderellas, which arrived today. For the time being, here's a quickie phone pic.

From L-R: Snow Angel, All Hallows' Eve, Gotta Love Brains, Love Potion No. 99, She Lived in a Swamp.

Revlon Starry Pink

2011-08-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

I was all prepared to ignore the new Revlon glitters because the last ones were so disappointing to me. You might remember them - they were mixed-size, multicolored glitters in a clear base, sold with matching solid colors:

They look beautiful in the bottle but on the nail they didn't really do it for me. I ended up selling these to someone who probably put them to much better use!

So when I started seeing pictures of the new glitters I didn't think much about it. Particularly because one is a pretty close dupe for Deborah Lippman's Bad Romance, which I have and love. But then I saw pictures of Starry Pink and I kept wanting it...and wanting it...and not finding it. I'm not sure if these are Target exclusives or not, but that's where I found them and I haven't yet heard of anyone in the US finding them elsewhere.

Blue Mosaic, Starry Pink. I didn't get Facets of Fuchsia because it is a little too close to Bad Romance to justify having both. (For me anyway. You can do whatever you want!)

Blue Mosaic is in a clear base which, as I mentioned, usually turns me off. But the glitter is dense enough that you could get it opaque or nearly so in three coats.

This is two coats. Crummy pic but you get the idea.

Starry Pink...Starry Pink is just beautiful. It's large silver hex glitter and small round silver glitter in a milky, semi-sheer pink base.

I used two coats over one coat of Essie Marshmallow.

For whatever reason, these mixed-size glitters really grab me. I like the randomness of the pattern that the different sizes make, I guess. And I do love that this one is in a tinted base. This is a manicure that's subtle without being boring.

Did you buy any of these? Will you?

Little White Liner

2011-08-29T15:24:00.000-04:00

So this isn't groundbreaking, but on the off chance it's helpful to someone else I thought I'd share it anyway. I've been wanting a flesh-toned or white eyeliner for a while now, having ditched my faithful (and old - very old) Nat Robbins shimmery ivory one a long while back. Once I got rid of it, I forgot how easily white (or just light-colored) liner on my lower waterline makes my eyes look a little brighter, a little more awake.

(BTW, I'm going for something like this, not so much this.)

I've never found anything I liked as much as the Nat Robbins, though I've been getting by using lighter colored shadows applied with a damp liner brush. Mostly I've been using Chase or Vanilla from my UD 15th anniversary palette and sometimes the gold from my Topkapi quad.

I really wanted a liner, though, mostly because I am lazy and also because I tend to poke myself in the eye with a liner brush. Of course the one I have earmarked is from Chanel and costs $28, which is just stupid. So I bought a Wet 'n' Wild eyeliner on Friday for a whopping $.69. I thought oh boy this is going to be great!

When I first tried it on the back of my hand, however, I was a little bummed out. There was the familiar greasepaint smell. The application was uneven and patchy. It took me straight back to the old, bad days of Wet 'n' Wild , when I would ride my bike up to Gray Drug and spend my babysitting money on chalky eyeshadow and dry, pasty lipstick. It's shocking how strong my associations with that smell are - it was like I was right back in the girls' restroom in middle school, shakily putting on blue eyeliner before school.

In the last year or so I've purchased some really nice WnW eyeshadows and nail polishes, so I just assumed the eyeliner had changed as well. Sadly it seems about the same.

However, after working with it for a little while - rubbing in on the back of my hand, sharpening it - the liner has mellowed a bit and I've been using it over the weekend. I'm actually pretty happy with it - it creates enough of a brightening effect for casual looks and I'll probably continue to use shadows as liners if I want a little more TA DAAAA.

More recent NOTDs

2011-08-25T10:57:00.000-04:00

Hello there friends!

I have a couple of recent NOTDs to share, but first, let's catch up a little. I am eagerly anticipating my Make Up Store holographic polishes that I got for 40% off on Wednesday, and word on the street is that we will begin receiving Lynnderella invoices over the weekend. I also have a line on the Rivkas I wanted and then of course there are those Fashion's Night Out Chanels coming up. Needless to say this is all being done in the name of WHEE IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!! My birthday is actually September 13 but...I like to spread it out a little.

I've twice tried to get the new Estee Lauder color, Metallic Sage, and twice failed. Yes I could order it online but the shipping cost is bumming me out. I've gone to two Lauder counters and one behaved as though they had no idea what I could be talking about. Sigh.

Also, my blog sale is back up. I have some new things on there that I've decided to part with so take a look if you are so inclined. I've changed up the shipping a little bit because I was losing money on it but I still think it's pretty reasonable.

Anyway, this is NARS Orgasm.

I love the shimmer in this. I do think I used too many coats or perhaps the wrong top coat, because I could still dent it after about 24 hours. I used four coats of Orgasm (hahaha) over two coats of NYC Little Italy. I think next time I would try one coat of Little Italy and three of the NARS. Also, I used SV and it could be that NARS just didn't play well. Beautiful color though. I've wanted this for a while even though peachy colors like this typically don't do me any favors. The shimmer in this one saves it though and I'm really happy with it.

Today I'm wearing Diamond Cosmetics in Chainmail Charm.

I ordered this more than two years ago and never tried it until now! I still remember getting my Diamond order because I ordered so many. At the time they were still $2 each (they're $2.50 now I think) and I had them delivered to a friend's house because I was on vacation.

BUT I DIGRESS.

There are, of course, "dud" versions of this. I do not think this is one.

Thanks for looking!

Blog sale!

2011-08-24T21:09:00.002-04:00

I've taken the blog sale down for the time being! Thanks for looking.

Comparison: Chanel Peridot and Missha HGR01

2011-08-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

Around the time I got Chanel Peridot I heard about a possible dupe, Missha HGR01. Here they are side by side.

As you can see, they're not twins. They are more like cousins...the idea is the same, but the colors are different. In the photo below you can see the color shift.

Chanel on the bottom, the Missha on top. You can see that Peridot is predominately green and gold while the Missha is blue and green/gold.

Color shift on the nail.

In the sun it's amazing.

Fortunately I like both versions very much! Some may prefer the Missha over the Chanel, or vice versa, depending on color preference. Application was good with both polishes. The Missha is rose-scented. It is fairly strong, though things like that don't really bother me.

The Missha *is* less expensive than Peridot, but it's shipped from Korea and if you're in the US you'll probably want to order it from eBay. So a little inconvenient if you're into instant gratification. I think that if you already own Peridot, don't rule out the Missha. It's different enough to own both (I know you love to hear that).

Glitter Gal Light As A Feather

2011-08-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting not-so-patiently for the new Glitter Gal linear holos to be available in the U.S. Earlier this week I received the long-awaited email and I quickly ordered Lizard Belly, a dark green (!) linear holo (!!) and Light As A Feather, a white linear holo (!!!).

Before I get into that however I need to tell you about taking off the Missha purple glitter. How much foil, how many cotton balls, how much acetone was sacrificed in the name of getting that stuff off my nails? I hesitate to try and tote up the damages. Not even 10 minutes with foil wrapped around my fingers did the trick. It merely softened the glitter's hold on my nails until I could gently pick it off with an orange stick. Also there was glitter EVERYWHERE. I said on Twitter that it looked like I murdered Ke$ha in my bathroom sink.

After all of that my nails were surprisingly undamaged, but I did use my ridge filler just to be on the safe side.

Light As A Feather. This is a white linear holo with a jellyish quality to it, and as you can see it comes out a soft, delicate mist gray on the nail. I used three coats.

In this nail wheel swatch, you can see that Light As A Feather (far left) looks very white, not gray. My nail wheels are white, and I suspect that if you did two or more coats of the holo over a white polish, you might get closer to this effect. I tried it over two coats of Sally Hansen White On and didn't like my result, but that's probably more the fault of White On. The Asian Girl suggested Essie Marshmallow as a base and I agree. I love Essie Marshmallow's application and coverage. (You can also see Lizard Belly on this nail wheel. It's gorgeous!)

Taken in early morning sun. You can see more of the holo in these pictures. Application was a breeze - the jellyish texture makes it super easy to apply.

I ordered these polishes from shop.llarowe.com and my experience was excellent! I ordered on 8/16 and received my polishes 8/19. Shipping is so reasonable and I think we can all agree that sometimes that is a make-or-break with e-tailers. I have heard international buyers rave about the shop as well. (No I'm not affiliated...just a very big fan.)

As an aside, I'm not having much luck finding the new Halloween releases from Wet n Wild or the new Revlons. I'm not sure how many (if any) of these I want to get, but I do want to see them in the wild. Yesterday I did happen upon the new Maybelline limited edition fall releases, and picked up Cool Couture (a dusty opaque blue-gray with blue shimmer) and Be Scene In Green (a medium green shot through with gold and green shimmer). Here's a quick peek:

L-R: Be Scene In Green, Cool Couture.

More news on those as events warrant!

Missha Purple Glitter

2011-08-18T12:11:00.000-04:00

You guys, I can't even...

This polish is so cuckoo bananas.

I just thought it was like...regular size glitter in an extremely pretty color combo. I didn't know it was pieces of glitter big enough to boogie board on.

So the thing about Missha polishes is that they have this horrible brush.

It barely comes out of the neck of the bottle, it's so wide. I had to trim several stray bristles off the brush in my Missha HGR01 (the reputed Chanel Peridot dupe which is not a dupe but might appeal more to certain people based on color preference...post to come, obviously) before using it. But this was another story because of the HUGE glitter pieces.

I glopped it on a nail wheel to see what I was dealing with.

Well.

Because this glitter is in a clear base, I started with two coats of Milani Hi-Res. Although not overwhelmingly holo, I do like this polish a lot. Very pretty and sparkly and spring-like due to the lilac tones.

Then I plastered on two coats of the Insane Purple Glitter From Korea.

In this picture the polish looks better but you can see all my acetone dryness. Sorry.

It's very sparkly and really fun in you're into sequins. It's a little much for me though. It reminds me of the time I glopped on many, many coats of a Street Wear bar glitter for a New Year's Eve party and snagged my nails on everything.

I need to take it off soon though because my Glitter Gal holos are arriving in my mailbox today!

Illamasqua Brigitte

2011-08-16T10:23:00.000-04:00

Not long ago my nail pal The Asian Girl helped me get my hands on some Illamasqua polishes I've been wanting. Some of these have been on my wish list for a while now...I don't think I've bought an Illamasqua polish in more than a year. Longer even! Which is just crazy because they are truly lovely.

This is Illamasqua Brigitte. We are going to get married.

Brigitte is a jelly. Such a jellyish jelly that I was terrified when I opened the box because wow does it look sheer. It put me in my mind of my Ruby Kisses American Clear Pink, which made my nails look like a nuclear accident. I've also purchased other iterations of that color with equally disappointing results. Oh how I craved the perfect pink jelly!

This is four coats.

I used my Palladio ridge filler, which I haven't in a while, because it has a slight creamy tint to it. Just enough to take the edge off any stains on my nails.

With the first coat of Brigitte you definitely think "I have chosen...poorly." But with the second coat you can tell it's definitely going to build properly. I might have even stopped at three, but most of the swatches I found online that I liked showed four coats, so that's what I did.

Brigitte is a UK-exclusive Illamasqua shade, although when I tried to find it on Illamasqua's site this morning, I couldn't. So it's possible it's been discontinued. I couldn't find it on eBay, either! There are other UK-exclusive shades, though, and they retail for about $22US, depending on the conversion rate.

Revlon Craving Coral

2011-08-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

I'm not overall super jazzed about this manicure. Part of it is that I bought this polish for a kind of dumb reason.

Revlon Craving Coral came home with me during the Revlon/CVS frenzy earlier this year. I must admit I only bought it for the ExtraBucks. This is annoying to me because the first rule of ExtraBucks is buyeth not stuff you don't need. Otherwise you just end up wasting money, which sort of defeats the whole point. (This is why shows like Extreme Couponing drive me nuts when they show someone buying 93 bags of Texas Toast croutons. YOU DO NOT NEED 93 BAGS OF TEXAS TOAST CROUTONS.)

Anyway.

It's a pretty polish but it is still a little bit translucent at three coats, plus it was a little runny. Fail on both counts. Also, my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat left these drag marks (you can see them in this picture, on my middle finger), which it tends to do if you use too thin a coat. Additional fail.

For funsies I pulled out everything in my stash I thought might be dupish.

Essence What Do U Think?, Diamond Cosmetics Cameo, Essie Chubby Cheeks, NYC Spring Street, Revlon Craving Coral, Revlon Chili, Sally Hansen Azalea. As you can see, many are not even close. The best candidates are Chili and Spring Street.

I struggled to get a shot where these didn't all look identical. From L-R: Spring Street, Craving Coral, Chili.

It's difficult to see here, but Craving Coral is closest to Chili. I like Chili a lot better so maybe Craving Coral will get re-homed. I should mention that NYC Spring Street is a superior orange - I bought it in lieu of a more expensive Essie polish and I really like it.

Here's a swatch of Revlon Chili, which is part of the Top Speed line.

Tony Moly Galaxy Glitters

2011-08-12T11:47:00.000-04:00

I joke about his happening often enough, but it's pretty rare that I see a picture of a nail polish and immediately go buy it. But when I saw pictures of the Tony Moly galaxy glitters on MUA, I went directly to eBay and snapped up Neptune, which is (of course) the green one.

This is small green and gold glitter and larger round green glitter in a very pigmented green jelly base. If that sentence sounded like "magical magic magicky magic time" to you, that's because IT IS.

The cap of this polish is a little clumsy to hold, but the brush and formula are great so I had zero application problems. This jelly base is so pigmented and so full of glitter that this is what one coat looks like:

I mean, !!!!!!!!!!

I don't think my photo captures the amazing shiny blingy goodness of this polish, but:

My only tiny nitpick is that this dries pretty heavily textured. I used a coat of Gelous between the polish and a thick coat of SV and I still have some texture. Not enough to detract from the awesomeness, but next time I will probably use an additional coat of Gelous.

I LOVE THIS. I would like to buy more at some point but I've got other stuff percolating right now. This was $9.99 from the eBay seller where I found it, with free shipping from South Korea. I ordered it on June 3 and received it June 11.

Highly, highly recommend!

Lipstick break!

2011-08-08T21:50:00.001-04:00

The pictures I've taken of the Sally Hansen Prism in Ruby Sapphire are making me mad, so I'm going to share this fun lip gloss with you today.

I first read about Maybelline Shine Sensational Pop Sticks on Scrangie's blog and the 7th grade girl in me wanted one real bad. I saw them a few times at different drugstores but couldn't pull the trigger (mostly because I kept seeing them at Rite Aid and my CVS bucks don't work at Rite Aid, and I am a cheap bastard). I finally relented today, on the rationale that I am nothing if not a lip balm addict.

These are billed as "tinted" ~~but if you can tell a difference in the color of your lips after using them, you're a better woman than I~~ and surprise, they actually are! There is a definite raspberry pink tint to this one, which surprised me. It is moderately shiny and a bit moisturizing. I'll probably use it under or over lipstick that I find drying.

They have a slight fruit scent but it's not terribly overpowering. And the container is super cute!

They're kinda neat - translucent jelly, but not mushy or melty. They're slick and shiny.

This is Fruit Punch. It provides a nice coat of shine for your lips and would probably be fine over or under a lipstick you find a little too dry. I'm pretty happy with it! If nothing else, it comes in a fun package and you know how appealing that can be all on its own!

Sally Hansen Golden Tourmaline

2011-08-07T21:19:00.000-04:00

Holographic polishes have grown on me after not really being a fan for a long while. Maybe it's the summer sun pouring through my windows, but right now I can't get enough of them. I remembered that I had a couple Sally Hansen Prisms languishing in a drawer of my Helmer, so I decided to give them a whirl. I showed you Purple Diamond last time.

This is Golden Tourmaline.

I got very excited because I thought it would be a true red holo. And it is red, but the holo effect is not as strong in this one as in Purple Diamond.

(Here's Purple Diamond, if you don't feel like scrolling back.)

I wouldn't say this was "disappointing" per se. I still enjoyed wearing it. It just bears more resemblance to a straightforward red shimmer than a holo. It's still gorgeous in bright sunlight and would probably be a fun pedicure color. (Although I like holos on my fingers...so I can gaze at them admiringly. You know, like a lunatic.)

Lastly, a comparison.

Ozotic 511, SH Golden Tourmaline, SH Pink Diamond. This picture really shows how strong the Ozotic holo is compared to Golden Tourmaline. Pink Diamond is a little stronger, and the color is closer to the Ozotic.

I also tried a Sally Hansen Prisms duochrome, which I'll photograph in daylight tomorrow and share with you accordingly.

A couple of recent colors

2011-08-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

Hello there. It's been a busy week and I'm very glad tomorrow is Friday. The only bummer is that there's no Formula 1 race this weekend or ANY weekend in fact until the end of the month. At my house we do love our Formula 1 Sundays.

In any event, I thought I'd share some recent manicures. No real theme other than I have the photos and I wanted to post!

This is Kleancolor Metallic Green. I got some not-so-nice comments on this one along with some raves. Green nail polish is very polarizing for some reason, I guess. I like it. It's a very glowy polish. If you are into this sort of thing, it would make a good St. Patrick's Day manicure.

I have to say though that the not-so-nice comments took the fun out of wearing it a little bit. So it didn't give me the usual joy to look at it.

Someone on MUA mentioned they got this color for stamping, so maybe I'll try another fishnet manicure with this as the accent color.

I was in the mood for another holo recently and I remembered that I have a couple of Sally Hansen Prisms. Unbelievably I found these in a local Dollar Tree. I feel like so many people find treasures at their Dollar Trees and mine are always nail polish wastelands. But one time I got lucky!

This is Purple Diamond.

I don't know if this is true for all of the Prisms, but this one has a very strong holo effect. It's even visible in relatively low light.

You'll have to forgive the leftovers of Metallic Green on my cuticles. It was stain-y!

Fall releases, some new Zoyas

2011-07-29T14:19:00.001-04:00

July is barely over, but pre-fall and fall collections are already starting to be released. Does time fly or what?

While I love fall colors and fall clothing and everything about fall, it does make me a little bummed out. Instead of looking ahead to a long summer we're now looking ahead to Labor Day and everything that comes with it. To this day, when I see a back-to-school shopping commercial on television I get a little twinge of anxiety, even though it's been years since I had to worry about any of that.

Anyway. There are three shades that I have my eye on from OPI's Touring America Collection, but I can pretty safely say that I don't feel compelled to buy anything from Essie, Misa or Finger Paints, and I never buy anything from China Glaze so that's a non-issue. I liked some of BB Couture's recent release, but I'm not positive that I'm sold on their formula and wear; I also skipped Cult Nails' fall colors and missed out utterly on Lynderella.

Thus far I've picked up two from Chanel's fall release (Peridot and Graphite, which I've shown you), two from Zoya's Smoke and Mirrors collection (Neeka and Yara; it's possible I may get Jem at some point) and I pre-ordered Piu Mosso from Rescue Beauty Lounge.

This could of course all change when I start seeing the colors crop up on more blogs and in more pictures on MUA. With nail polish, the decision not to buy is always Subject To Change.

Since it's not a post without pictures, here are the fall Zoyas I purchased during the pre-order.

Yara and Neeka. These are both heavily pigmented creamy polishes with what has been described as "brocade shimmer" - it looks like little threads of embroidered gold running through fabric.

These polishes feel very rich and very "fall" to me. The base colors feel very autumnal. I love them! I'd like Zoya to put out a collection of this type of shimmer in every color.

Neeka.

Crazily, crazily pigmented. Pretty nearly opaque in one coat.

Yara. A gorgeous olive-y green.

If you have tried Zoya's formula in the past and didn't like it, these may be worth another go. I absolutely loved them! One thing to remember with Zoya, though, is that they generally don't play nice with Seche Vite. I've had much more success with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in the red bottle. You can also use Zoya's Color Lock system, though I've never tried it. I use Palladio Fuse bonding base coat and it works fine.

What are you getting for fall? Are there any releases you're really excited about?

Glitter Gal Deep Green Sparkle

2011-07-26T10:56:00.001-04:00

In my continuing quest to seek out polishes from all across the globe, I ordered Glitter Gal Deep Green Sparkle sometime early this month. There was a slight delay in shipping (due to the supplier and not the US stockist) but my polish finally arrived last week!

Deep Green Sparkle is a scattered holo glitter in a dark green jellyish base. While the base is very dark it is indeed very definitely green, almost a very deep teal.

My photos of this are not the best I've ever done, I really should take some more in the sunlight. These were done pretty late at night, with dry cuticles because I had just removed my previous manicure (Chanel Graphite!). Forgive me.

The polish itself was pretty thick and tended to drag, so I stuck to thin coats and let the first coat dry quite a bit before doing the second, which worked great. Two coats were sufficient. I might thin the polish just a tiny bit, but not too much because it was very easy to control and I don't want it running all over the place.

The only "drawback" of Glitter Gal polishes is that they are small - 0.3 oz to be precise (OPI bottles contain 0.5 oz). It's so small that you might consider it a mini. This in itself isn't so bad, but they do cost $15 per bottle, making Glitter Gal one of the more expensive brands. However...consider the payoff...these are pretty unique!

This being said, I will not hesitate to buy a couple more of them. I like the quality and the US seller I went through (she is on eBay) was excellent so I am happy to give her my business. I heard that Overall Beauty will also be carrying Glitter Gal soon, too. I plan on pre-ordering the upcoming green and white (!!!) linear holos (!!!).

Lastly, a request: I am eagerly seeking some Rivka polishes from Brazil. If any of you have any advice/ideas on how I can purchase some, please let me know!

Topkapi madness!

2011-07-22T18:27:00.000-04:00

A long time ago I started a new job and was immediately tasked with clearing out the desk of the person who used it prior. Mostly I was just files and stuff, but there was a drawer full of more personal items, like instant oatmeal packets and some change. I also found a bag from the Chanel counter at Saks, which contained (sadly) no left-behind makeup, but a receipt for something like $160. I was surprised at how few items were listed on the receipt!

Anyway, I never bought anything but nail polish from Chanel until last year, when I could no longer resist Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle (favorite!!). I've always wanted some of their eyeshadow, and late last week I finally lost my mind with regards to the Topkapi eyeshadow quad and I ordered it. I had some eBay and blog sale proceeds burning a hole in my pocket, most of it earmarked for the Urban Decay 15th anniversary palette. That product is sold out for the moment so I decided to pull the trigger on Chanel.

I'm kind of hopeless in the face of Chanel limited edition items anymore, primarily nail polish. I do have some Chanel perfume and the lipstick, which I really love (believe me you'd have to love it, for $30). Occasionally I buy this stuff because...I don't know, life is short? I like nice things. I like cheap things too but sometimes it's fun to splash out.

Anyway my Topkapi quad arrived yesterday.

I shipped it to myself as a gift, complete with note!

Again...life is short. (And Chanel gift packaging is free. Frankly it should be for $10 shipping.)

Chanel really has it nailed when it comes to packaging. Here's the little flocked pouch the compact comes in.

And the compact:

Yes it's plastic but it feels...serious. The lipstick I have (Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle) is the same way. Closes with a satisfying *click*. Weighty and sturdy feeling. Even the little plastic cover used to protect the shadows in transit was well made...and, of course, embossed with the interlocked Cs. (Naturally I seem to have lost track of that, but I don't really need it, it was just kinda neat.)

What really sealed the deal for me with this quad was the colors.

They're all colors I'll wear. I have lots of taupes and browns (I mean, this basically describes the UD Naked palette) so I know these will get use. What's better than something luxurious that you can use all the time?

I should also mention that while I was on the Chanel website, I made myself a big ol' wishlist of stuff that I want. I may or may not do something really insane and buy a lot of it for myself on my birthday. It's kind of fun to buy yourself something ridiculous on your own birthday.

Elf mineral eyeshadow & brushes

2011-07-17T15:24:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month, I (painfully) took advantage of the Elf anniversary sale. Everything on the site was 70% off for 70 minutes. This would be a bargain on any site, but Elf's prices are already super low, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get myself some new makeup brushes and try a couple of Elf's mineral eyeshadows.

I only say that it was painful because the crush of traffic to the site meant it took the entire 70 minutes for me to put together an order and check out. However, that's a small price to pay for a discount that hefty. The $3 brushes and $3 eyeshadows I ordered were $.90 each.

Now I should say that I cannot recommend the Elf eyeshadow that's sold at Target - perhaps it's from the Essentials line? I bought some after work once when I was in a rush before an event and didn't have time to go home. It was awful in every way - barely pigmented, too frosty, no staying power. So basically, a $.90 price tag was the only way I was going to give another Elf cosmetic product a try.

First though let's look at the brushes, because I do like Elf's brushes and have used them for a while now.

I chose the Elf Studio line brushes, normally $3 each. In the past I've used brushes from the Essentials line, but because of the sale I decided to upgrade! I chose the complexion brush, blush brush, small angled brush, angled contour brush, C brush and small smudge brush. They are nice looking and seem to do the job just fine.

I saved some of the cards from the packaging because I'm not what you'd call a "natural talent" with eye makeup. For instance...what does this even mean?

(I actually figured it out later and it did indeed help me create a smoky eye! Glory hallelujah!)

Anyway, the shadows. I chose Socialite, Temptress and Smoldering.

Socialite and Smoldering are shimmers, and Temptress is a matte shade. I'm very interested in matte shades lately...sometimes I just don't want the sparkle. So I've been collecting a couple of these in subtle colors.

I swatched these on my arm but the pictures weren't anything to write home about. I do like Temptress, which is a medium rose terra cotta shade, but Socialite is the most interesting of these colors. It's a metallic, plummy dark gray with tiny multi-colored shimmer. Smoldering is a fairly typical shimmery metallic-leaning charcoal.

Here's a closeup of Socialite on the brush, in an attempt to show you all the different-colored particles.

I just kind of slapped on a quick look with Socialite and Temptress, and it seems to be wearing okay. I should note I didn't use any primer, which I expect would improve the wear a great deal.

I have another post (or two) about eyeshadow brewing, per one of your requests!

Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid

2011-07-08T15:41:00.000-04:00

First off, I need to tell you briefly about my trip to CVS yesterday or I'll explode. No one else really cares, though my boyfriend bore witness to the whole thing and was duly impressed. Anyway, I didn't really buy anything fun (light bulbs, batteries, new toothbrushes, Q-tips, that kind of thing) but I ended up saving $26.50 on a $50 total (and I got $7 in ExtraBucks back). HOORAY FOR EXTRA BUCKS AND COUPONS.

What's really nice is that the CVS sale circular will even tell you what products have coupons in the Sunday paper so it's kind of a no-brainer. The only issue is that if you are really against buying stuff from P&G you are kind of out of luck.

Okay back to the fun stuff!

I mentioned a while ago that I was waiting on an order from Cult Nails, and I just now realized I haven't posted about it yet!

My Kind of Cool Aid, Living Water.

Silver shimmer.

Comparison with Sally Hansen Mystic Lilac, in case you were curious.

Living Water looks amazeballoons, in my opinion. I need to get some Gelous before I wear it, though. If it's lumpy I'll cry and throw a fit and no one wants that.

Here's My Kind of Cool Aid on the nail.

My application is uneven here but you can see the silver shimmer. It's VERY subtle.

I can happily report that the Cult Nails formula is lovely. The brush was great, too. This was a curious color...my boyfriend went out of his way to compliment it. I don't really see my greens and glitters as all that "out there" anymore but I forget that other people do. He really noticed the subtlety of this one (if in fact that makes sense...noticing subtlety...anyway).

For me personally I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I love the polish but I have other similar colors that I also love, so this one is in the blog sale for someone else to love!

Barry M giveaway winner

2011-07-08T12:58:00.001-04:00

I used Random.org to pick a number at random from the comments:

So the winner is comment #3, Ana!

I've emailed you, Ana, so just send me your address and I'll mail you your bottle of Barry M Blue Moon!

Thank you for the suggestions you all left in your comments...I made a list and plan to use all of them for post ideas.

Deals and Steals: How To

2011-07-07T15:15:00.000-04:00

One of my most important rules for buying nail polish and make up is to try very hard to never ever ever pay retail. It's really pretty easy, depending on what you are trying to buy. It doesn't work with everything - there's no way (that I know of, anyway) to avoid paying full retail on Chanel, for instance, without a gift card or stealing (haha...don't steal). Some things just don't go on sale.

Then there are the sales that are hardly worth having. Some brands will make a sale announcement and it winds up being for 10% off or, worse, something like $15 off a purchase of $100 or more. Sorry but that doesn't cut it for me. We can start talking turkey at around 20% off. And free shipping! Tell me a way to get free shipping, and don't make it for something assy like orders of $100 or more, CHANEL. (It would be pretty easy to spend $100 at Chanel.com, though I have never done it.)

To the untrained eye it may seem as though I am constantly splashing out on nail polish and makeup, but in reality there is a good deal of plotting that goes into most purchases. I try to spend as little as possible, which I realize is something that everyone thinks they are doing, but with a little research and a high threshold for things like annoying email updates, you can save a lot more.

Here are some things you can do to get great deals on cosmetics.

1. Sign up for email updates.
Yes, this is annoying, but you can always create another email address for stuff like this, or set up a filter on your email client. If I wasn't on the Urban Decay email list, I wouldn't know that it's their friends and family sale right now, which is pretty good (25% off). Sephora also does a F&F sale, and you need to be on their email list for that.

2. Engage with brands on social media.
Also annoying. You will have to decide which brands are worth the annoyance. Zoya does a lot of promos through Facebook and Twitter, and I've noticed several brands doing flash sales and spreading the word through Twitter. Some will just not be worth the effort, but it's easy enough to unfollow or unlike a page.

3. Join an online community.
Granted, this is not the most efficient way to find out about sales, but it is interactive. With the right forum, you can rest assured there will always be someone somewhere in the world talking about blush or nail polish or conditioner or whatever it is that you love and obsess about. This is how I discovered the 40% Aveyou flash sale and the 70% off ELF sale, though that one almost make me go crazy as I waited for the entire 70 minute duration for my order to process. However, for 70% off my preferred makeup brush? WORTH IT.

4. Join customer loyalty or bonus bucks programs.
I am speaking specifically about CVS in this case. Walgreens in this area does not have their rewards program yet, and I don't have anything all that great to say about the Rite Aid Wellness Plus program. I am totally crazy for CVS ExtraBucks however.

This is where your planning and strategic buying will come into play. I know it seems like a lot of trouble to save a couple of bucks, but this afternoon I am going to CVS with a $4 off $20 coupon, $10 in EB and a coupon for a free candy bar. (The candy bar is kind of irrelevant, but hey...free candy.) If I buy $20 worth of products, I'll only pay $6 for them. And if the products I buy earn me ExtraBucks...it just keeps things rolling along.

There are a few things you can do to maximize your ExtraBucks savings. One is to combine CVS sales or rewards with manufacturer's coupons - so buy the Sunday paper or, again, rely on joining email lists. The other is to buy coupons, which sounds counterintuitive, but it works very well if you plan well. I buy $4 off $20 CVS coupons on eBay. They are very cheap and more than pay for themselves in savings.

Another type of customer loyalty program is like what you might find at Sephora or Ulta. I personally don't find Ulta's rewards program all that rewarding - it's depressing to see that you've spent something like $150 and that it entitles you to ... one free Ulta-brand nail polish or something. (Ulta does have good sales and coupons, however.) Sephora's rewards program is a bit different, and can pay off nicely. At a minimum you'll get a $15 "gift card" around the holidays and the opportunity to save 15% or 20% during F&F sales.

5. Sign up for a service like CouponMom.
These things can be a bit cryptic, but I just pay attention to the stores where I like to shop and go from there. These sites will help you match up coupon savings to sales and rewards programs to maximize your spending.

6. Shop clearance.
This seems obvious, I'm sure. Drugstores have great clearance sales but you will need to do a little picking in order to find the clearance stuff sometimes. I try to stick to products I know I like and will use - otherwise it's really not a savings - but I've bought just loads of $2 mascara over the past year or so. If you combine clearance pricing with coupons and rewards bucks, you'll actually find yourself paying pennies for cosmetics that usually cost $6, $8, $10.

By deploying these tactics carefully, you can save a lot - not just on makeup and fun stuff but on things you need around the house, cleaning products, etc. Of course, the thriftiest thing is to not buy in the first place, but if you're going to buy, don't pay retail!

Barry M polishes and a wee giveaway

2011-07-05T18:11:00.001-04:00

Last week before I went on my nail polish diet (which has been going really well, ha ha ha) I ordered some Barry Ms during a 20% off sale. I didn't get a ship notice but they showed up at my door today so hooray!

I got my first Barry M, Block Orange, in a UK swap.

I liked the formula a lot and the color is squishy and delightful. So when I got the email about the discount code I jumped on the chance to acquire a few colors I've been wanting for a while now.

Blue Moon, Racing Green, Mint Green. I've been eyeing Racing Green since...oh since I first started frequenting MUA, I guess.

Blue Moon is a soft blue with a hint of shimmer - similar to Hard Candy Sky and a distant relative of Chanel Riva. I'm hoping the formula is better than Hard Candy Sky, though.

Also, because I am a dunderhead and accidentally somehow ordered two bottles of Blue Moon, I'm going to give one away! To win it, just leave me a comment telling me something you'd like to see here on Nail Polish Nonsense. A swatch, a comparison, stash pics...whatever! Just anything.

Leave your comment before Thursday, July 7 at 6pm EST.

I'll select a winner at random using Random.org.

Note: Comments closed at deadline! I'll announce the winner tomorrow.

Blabbing About Makeup

2011-07-03T12:02:00.001-04:00

First let me say that I admire all you ladies who take pictures of your eye makeup looks, because I tried to take one the other day and LOL. First off I am not yet comfortable with that level of macro and second of all, it turns out my makeup is just not all that interesting on camera.

A day or so after I tried that, I read Kerry's post about solving her wedding makeup dilemma. I too would be very wary about putting myself in the hands of an unknown makeup artist for an occasion where I would a) want to look my best; b) feel comfortable and confident; and c) be photographed a lot. And therein lies the problem, because there is a great, yawning ocean of difference between what looks good to the eye and what looks good in a picture.

Back in my Fancy Job days I had a professional head shot taken, and I was excited that hair and makeup would be part of the deal. The pictures turned out all right, but when I got home after the photo session I was horrified by the way my face looked in the ordinary lighting of my bathroom mirror: tire treads of blush, cakey powder, white circles under my eyes and lips that looked like giant slabs of liver. The best part? I had gone out in public like that. Thank goodness it was at night.

I've gone through no-makeup periods, where I got by without anything other than mascara and some lipstick. I essentially gave up on foundation until I discovered mineral makeup, and I've stuck with that ever since. I'm also back to doing full eye makeup most days - to be completely honest, it makes me look more awake. I have to be careful, though, because I'm not overly skilled at application. I've found the most important thing is to change things up every now and then - to switch out the products I'm using as I...uh, age, and to keep the colors, finishes and application of the products from looking dated.

Last year I realized that a lot of my makeup was indeed dated and didn't really work well together. Luckily, I read enough nail polish and beauty blogs that it was hard to avoid learning about new products, and so it came to pass that I purchased the Urban Decay Naked palette at some point last fall. It was an almost shocking amount for me to spend on eye makeup after years of chucking Revlon quads and singles in my basket at Walgreens, but it's been 150% worth it and I would absolutely buy it again. (Except that now it's $4 more than it was when I bought it, and it comes with an applicator brush instead of two UD 24/7 eyeliners. I find this annoying because UD eyeliners are the best, and I can get a brush any old place.)

I took some quick snapshots of my stuff, they're pretty terrible but you'll get the idea.

The Naked palette is perfect for you if you ever resisted a palette because there were shadows in it you could never imagine wearing. For instance, I got the UD Preen palette on sale, and I love it - particularly Mildew (the kind of camo green) and Flash (the purple) - but check out that blue.

I've worn it before and it's super fun, but...I'm never going to wear it to work or whatever, it's just too Cherie Currie. But I can wear all the colors in the Naked palette. If I'm going somewhere overnight I pack the palette and a mascara and I'm all set for eyes.

Reading makeup and beauty blogs also introduced me to eyeshadow primer. I use UD's - a sample size came with the Naked palette and I've since bought the full size.

I can really tell the difference when I forget to put this on - my eyeshadow doesn't fall off in clumps or anything but it does fade and lose its "pop" much more quickly. The primer helps it to stay looking freshly applied longer.

Lastly, I mentioned that I love love love looooove UD's 24/7 eyeliners. They are seriously the best.

My favorite is 1999. I have the travel size and I know I'll eventually buy the big-girl size, too. I'm also a big fan of the Whiskey liner that came with the Naked palette. My main issue with eyeliner was that it would end up halfway down my face by mid-morning. Because I do not enjoy looking hungover at work, I ended up wiping it away several times a day, which of course is a huge pain; plus it wipes away all the concealer and anything else I took the trouble to apply. But UD's eyeliners stay put all day and they go on super easy. No scraping or pulling.

I tell you all this because UD's friends and family sale is coming up, so if you think you might want to try anything you should sign up for their email newsletter and get the sale code. (I am just passing this along because I truly love the products...and because I love sales.)

Do you have a favorite UD product?

Oh hey!

2011-06-30T11:10:00.001-04:00

The layout of this joint was driving me crazy so I did some minor renovations. Like HGTV but with nails!

HOMG SPARKLEZ

2011-06-28T18:18:00.001-04:00

Sorry, I can't be any more articulate than that.

I've wanted some Ozotics for a looooong time now, ever since I started hanging out on the MUA nail board. Until fairly recently you could only get them by a) going to Australia or b) getting someone in Australia to send them to you. But now you can get them at Picture Polish, who will send them internationally! All the way from Australia! (The Ozotics are 10% off through July 5, and Picture Polish's international shipping rates are way reasonable as those things go.)

I bought two Ozotics, but let's talk about 511.

I used to think I wasn't a big fan of holographic polishes but OOPS I WAS WRONG.

Just like the Nfu-Oh I showed you, this isn't much in dim or indirect light but in the sun? Yowza!

I guess this is why holos are so fun to wear in the summer. (Duh.)

Nfu-Oh 51

2011-06-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

Good morning! Today I finally have Nfu-Oh 51 to show you.

Here I am wearing it over OPI Visions of Sugarplum, which is a glittery purple polish.

I have to admit I've spent a lot of time gazing at my nails. Uh moreso than usual, that is.

This really lights up in direct sun. You can see all this fantastic green and gold microglitter that doesn't show up in my pictures.

Nfu-Oh 51 has a dark purple jelly base and I would like to try wearing it on its own. I'd also like to try it over a red glitter, a dark green like OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow or a dark blue jelly. THE MIND REELS.

One thing I have to say about Nfu-Oh though: I do seriously hate the brush. It's stubby and floofy and pretty useless when it comes to controlling application. Luckily the formula is nice so it doesn't need too much fancy maneuvering.

Next up I hope to be able to show you my Ozotics, should they ever arrive from the distant shores of Australia; a couple of Barry Ms; a comparison of Hard Candy Mr. Wrong and Chanel Graphite (not dupes! jeez) and then I'll be delving into my backlog of untried colors that I should really use before buying MOAR COLORZ.

We'll see how that goes.

Chanel Fall 2011

2011-06-23T09:50:00.000-04:00

So I'm on a nail polish diet that started sometime...oh let's say Sunday, immediately after I placed my Chanel order. Since that time I've strolled past the racks at Walgreens, gazed upon clearance items at Rite Aid and grasped CVS ExtraBucks in my hot little hands, all without buying anything. On Tuesday, I got my hair cut at my usual place and I pawed through their basket of OPIs but didn't buy any. They even had the Pirates colors! The very ones I wanted. But I left them there. I reminded myself NAIL POLISH DIET and I walked away without further internal debate.

I'm somewhat fortunate in that a lot of the new stuff falls into three categories: Crackle polish, sheer sparkly top coats and glitter. None of these are my favorite things and so I can definitely live without them. Also, I'm still waiting on my Ozotics, I just got my Nfu-Ohs and the Chanels, so I think I'm good for a while.

Anyway my Chanels arrived today so I have lots o' pictures for you.

Part of the "Chanel buying experience" (even though the box comes from what is probably an industrial park in Tennessee and not Rue Cambon in Paris) is the presentation. Yes it's a regular cardboard box but you open it and see this:

All nice and nestled in tons of snowy Chanel logo-printed tissue. Samples on either side and your goodies in a little drawstring bag. (You can use it for your sunglasses!)

I am a fan of the iconic packaging.

What's better than Chanel?

Anyway I am sure you are more interested in the polish, so here we go.

Peridot...where to start.

Some people doubted the duochrome shown in the promo images would actually be in the bottle.

It is!

'Tis also on the nail.

These pictures show three coats. I used Palladio Fuse bonding base coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat (I've not had good luck with Chanel and Seche Vite). The formula was great. It is a leeeeeeetle frosty. Just a tad. The tiniest bit. And really, the brush stroke issue is totally workable. It's more something to be aware of rather than a deal breaker.

I'm wearing Peridot as a full manicure, but I also swatched Graphite on three fingers and it's a real winner too.

This is also three coats with base coat and top coat.

There's something going on with Graphite...yes, it's black and silver, but there are other teeny, weeny, not-necessarily-visible particles of something else in there. Pink? Blue? I noticed it when I took off the polish after swatching. It's not that you can see the other colors as sparkly particles on the nail, it's more that they are buried in there adding depth and sparkle. Behind-the-scenes glitter!

I'm super happy with these polishes. Sadly, the release of these polishes has brought up the usual hating about Chanel - complaints that it is overpriced and of poor quality. I'll give you that it's overpriced...of course it's overpriced. It's Chanel! You are paying for those little interlocked Cs and all the trappings that goes with them. It's an indulgence.

I won't, however, agree that the polish is poor quality. If it doesn't work for you that's one thing. Some brands don't work for me either...so I don't buy them. It's frustrating but...it's just nail polish. There's always another color to try.

I do think base coat and top coat are touchy issues for Chanel and I can see how that would be a pain for some people. I understand being impatient with tricky formulas, but honestly the whinging seems more knee-jerk than based in actual fact sometimes. Patience and keeping an open mind goes a long way!

In any event, Fall 2011 is a big winner for Chanel in my opinion. What do you think?

Nfu-Oh 66

2011-06-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

I was going to sit on some of these for a while but who wants one big overblown post when you can have a couple little, appetizer-sized posts? Mmm, appetizers.

So in my quest to try new-to-me brands I ordered two Nfu-Oh polishes from FabulouStreet.com recently. I've always loved the ornate bottles and the stunning holos, flakies, jellies and cremes from this line, but I never took the trouble to make an order until recently. Was there even a promo? I don't think so...I think I just ordered them on a whim.

I chose 51 and 66 (the colors have numbers, no names). Nfu-Oh (pronounced en-foo-oh) polishes are $12.50 each so although I would love to try some of the creme and jelly finish colors, I took it easy this time around and went with a flakie and a holo.

Honestly, I've been lingering over pictures of 51 since I first started perusing the MUA nail board. LOOK AT IT.

Even considering how delighted I was to finally own 51, I chose to wear 66 first. I'm not holo crazy like some, but I do think they are pretty, and we had been having a lot of sunny days so I figured why not? Of course, now it's raining almost constantly but I did manage to capture a few rainbows indoors for you.

This polish is cuckoo bananas in the sun. Really sparkly, full of rainbows. It's even eye-catching under artificial light.

One of the tricks with polishes like these is using the right base coat. Nfu-Oh offers their own Aqua Base, and you can get similar products from other lines with holographic polishes. Without these bases, the polish will drag and look chalky and patchy.

Some women like to use a matte top coat as a base coat with holos. I didn't buy the Aqua Base this time around and I do have a matte top coat, but because I am a smartypants I decided I would use my ridge-filling basecoat instead. To make a long story short, it didn't work very well. You can see that the finished product looks fine, but up close and in person I can see a bit of patchiness and it bothers me because I am a little bit nuts. So, next time I will try the matte top coat trick and see how it goes. As I said, I'm not holo crazy so I am reluctant to buy the $12.50 base coat for one polish.

I'll post pictures of 51 when I get around to trying it...which should be...very soon.

Rambling

2011-06-18T15:54:00.001-04:00

I've been in need of some calming distraction lately and so I've been perusing MUA with rather more frequency than I had been. There were a few weeks where I just barely even looked at it and now it's like I can't get enough of it.

Anyway, I suppose it would be better for me to wait until these things arrive so I can show you pictures, rather than just talking about how I am so excited to get some nail polish in the mail, but: distraction! Hence: rambling!

Lately I've been thinking I might like to cool it a little bit on the impulse drugstore nail polish buying in the interest of trying new-to-me brands. I think this was all brought on by my recent purchases of Lippmann Bad Romance and the trio of a-englands. Damn you, high-end nail polish!

We've discussed before how I won't buy anything for a while and then I'll go bonkers for a couple of weeks - well, the last few weeks have been a "bonkers" period - I'll discuss that in a moment - so now it's time to lay low. I'm also thinking I might like to get all three of the fall Chanels (I should note: I always think this, and then end up getting one or none) so it would be nice to kind of bank the nail polish budget for a while.

So: going bonkers. I thought I would want all the OPI Pirates collection, and I do want a couple of them, but I haven't been plagued with the burning desire to acquire them to the point where I actually drive myself to Ulta and buy them. I have all the Sally Hansens and Wet 'n' Wilds and Essies I could possibly need or want at this point. I don't buy China Glaze and it's been ages since I had to have a Zoya or an Orly. So, WHAT DO TO.

Obviously, ordering pricier polish from smaller companies and/or foreign shores is the answer. Consequently I am waiting on polishes from Nfu-Oh, Cult Nails and Ozotic. I only purchased two from each, so it's not as if I completely lost my mind, but factor in shipping charges and that's a whole lotta Wet 'n' Wild.

Anyway, all this to say that I'm going to try and take it easy until the Chanels are released. Which...I actually don't think is too long from now. But it's good to have goals. Right?

----

LOL, the Chanels went up today. I ordered Graphite and Peridot.

Another winner from a-england

2011-06-17T14:14:00.000-04:00

A while ago I told you about the polishes I ordered from a-england. I really hated to take off Tristam, it was so pretty and it wore really well. But this is the cross I must bear as a nail polish hoarder.

Last night I took off Revlon Polished.

This is from the Top Speed line. It took four coats to even out the streaks and get this degree of opacity but I quite like it.

A nice subtle color with a little difference.

Prior to that I had on SpaRitual Health, Wealth & Happiness, which I ordered in the Aveyou.com 40% off flash sale. So happy I stumbled into that!

I am told (and my independent Googling confirms) that this is a dupe for Orly Royal Velvet. Just FYI.

Pretty. My only complaint is the formula - quite thin, so you need lots of coats to build opacity. But the coats aren't uniformly thin, so you end up with quite a bit of polish on the nail and that = chips. Also I would recommend a B3F top coat.

So back to a-england. After I took off Polished I wanted a little more color but I wasn't quite ready to go full purple holo with Lady of the Lake after wearing HW&H so recently. Instead I chose Guinevere, a dusty light purple creme.

This is two coats. Looking at my nails today, I could have done a third, but after four coats of HW&H and four coats of Polished I just couldn't bring myself to pile on the polish. Two is very sufficient for Guinevere. It dried super shiny with Seche Vite.

You couldn't pay me to say a word against a-england, however, I will say that if you have OPI Done Out in Deco, you might be okay without Guinevere. All I have is this weird NOTD picture with me holding a Moon Pie, but you can see the color so whatever:

I'm not sure how similar those look on your monitor and I haven't swatched them side by side, but in the bottle they are pretty twinny. DOiD is only slightly lighter that Guinevere.

Have you tried any of the a-englands yet? They're still offering free international shipping through the end of June, so now is a good time.

At Last!

2011-06-16T13:46:00.000-04:00

A while back I mentioned that I had a story to tell you about Milani. This is that story! It has all the elements of a classic: longing for HTF shades, triumph, redemption...and of course, nail polish.

Way back when I discovered the nail board on MUA, there was a Milani collection called (I think) Vintage that had been out for a while and was just beginning to disappear from stores. As you may know, limited edition collection from normally ETF brands (Milani, WnW, Maybelline, Sally Hansen) can actually be quite HTF in a way, due mostly to the peculiarities of distribution in different parts of the country. Add to this the differences in which product lines are carried in which stores and you may find yourself wandering like a lost soul from Rite Aid to Rite Aid, searching high and low for a temporary display of $2 nail polishes, which often only contain 1 or 2 bottles of each color and are rarely restocked. It's maddening, to say the least.

I have the most luck with Milani (which is actually $5 nail polish) at CVS. Walgreens carries the line, but the ones around here don't seem to get the special collections, and Rite Aid doesn't carry the line at all. So although I looked and looked, I came up empty on the Vintage collection. Primarily I wanted the gray, light blue and green from the collection. I put them on my wish list and tried to swap for them, but to no avail. Someone did eventually swap with me for Vintage, the taupe from that collection, but I could never get hold of the other three colors.

Then! I was on MUA the other day and someone mentioned that Milani had re-released the whole Vintage collection. It took about point-one seconds for me to order the three colors I wanted from the Milani site. Happily, they arrived over the weekend.

Timeless, Antique, Original.

Here they are with the Taupe, called Vintage.

This is Original on the left with Dress Maker on the right. Dress Maker is reportedly a dupe - or near dupe - to Chanel Jade.

I haven't tried any of these shades on yet, but I was very happy to find them!

And now, for something completely different

2011-06-12T16:35:00.003-04:00

One of the things that amazes me about nail polish is that no matter how many brands you try, there is always something new and amazing you've never seen before. Lately I've been much more interested in trying new-to-me brands, particularly those available exclusively overseas.

It is, of course, possible to get almost anything stateside, whether it's through eBay or a blog sale or a friendly pal in Europe or Asia who will send things to you. Getting polishes across the ocean, however, can require you to throw a great deal of money out the window on shipping. Most of the time that is unavoidable.

Happily, some brands do sales and promotions that make it a little easier to splash out on non-US brands. a-england is a UK brand that's doing a sale this month with totally free international shipping and while the polishes are not what I'd call cheap, I was only too willing to take advantage.

a-england's Mythicals ocllection includes 15 lacquers named after characters in the Arthurian legends, as well as a basecoat and topcoat. I ordered three polishes on June 2 and received them in my mailbox on June 8, which was super awesome especially considering the free shipping.

Lady of the Lake, Tristam, Guinevere

Tristam and Lady of the Lake are holos and Guinevere is a dusty-looking creme. I decided to wear Tristam first because the base blue color is pretty unique in my collection.

These polishes are crazily pigmented and apply really well. I don't have a base coat that's specifically for holos, but I just used my good old Palladio bonding base coat and it was fine.

a-england polishes are £9 (or about $14.60), so these polishes are on the higher end of the price spectrum with Illamasqua or Deborah Lippman. Throw in the free shipping and the price is a bit easier to swallow.

Next I'm planning on trying some Ozotics from Australia and perhaps some UK-exclusive Illamasquas...fun!

Sally Beauty Favorites

2011-06-03T16:02:00.000-04:00

I used to rarely set foot in a Sally Beauty. I always found the stores somehow overwhelming, I suppose because most of the merchandise is pretty unfamiliar to someone who typically only shops at mass market retailers. Then I got laid off and decided to forgo salon haircuts and highlights and do all that myself. I went to Sally and spent about $15 on scissors, color, developer and a little brush and mixing cup. I even got reasonably good at cutting my boyfriend's hair and I do still give him a touch-up from time to time.

Now of course Sally sells nail polish but I have to admit it's not my favorite place to buy polish. For one thing I don't like China Glaze and for another thing, you could go into a Sally on 20 different occasions and find all of the exact same colors every single time. Holiday is a special collection bonanza time at Sally but aside from that it's kind of a bust.

However there are a lot of products I've discovered at Sally that I truly adore, so I thought I'd babble on about them here.

Coloresse Smooth Shampoo

I recently went to Sally's to stock up on a different Coloresse product, but this caught my eye and there was a $2 coupon, so I bit. I love this shampoo! I noticed a difference in smoothness the very first time I used it. It lasted into the second day, too, and my hair smelled very clean and felt very soft. I am bonkers for this shampoo. At about $8 it's more than I would ideally like to pay for shampoo, but if you work your Sally's card and any available discounts you can knock down the price a little bit. (Coloresse is the Sally version of the Pureology line, if you're familiar.)

Beyond the Zone Turn Up The Heat Protection Spray

I bought a sample size of this product on a lark and it worked so well I picked up the full size a few weeks ago. I'll save the sample bottle for travel. This is a slick-feeling spray that I spritz on my wet hair before combing it out after a shower. Sometimes I put a little bit more on the ends after blow-drying and before flat-ironing. My hair has been much easier to manage and seems to suffer less from the effects of the flat iron, too. The one drawback of this is the faux-grape, Fruity Pebbles scent. It doesn't really bug me but it is a little cloying. However, I don't notice it in my hair once it's dry. This is also about $8, but the trial size is $2.79.

Palladio Fuse Nail Bonding Base Coat

I feel very strongly about this base coat, and I feel it gets approximately no love on the nail board. I like the consistency of this product, it's about $4 with my Sally card and I can typically get 5-6 days out of a manicure if I need to. Excellent product.

Palladio Flexi-Strong Ridge Filler

Another winner from the Palladio line of treatments is this ridge filler, which I use with any creme-finish polish. My nails aren't terribly ridged but this definitely helps prevent a good deal of staining and provides a nice smooth surface for the polish. I do the ridge filler first and then the Fuse base coat. Never had a problem with any brand of polish, regardless of the formula. The only time I wouldn't use this is with a glitter polish but that's only because any nail imperfections are less noticeable with glitters and foils.

Customer loyalty and the Sally discount

Naturally, Sally offers more significant discounts to professionals, but regular consumers like you and me can still get the Sally card. It costs $5 up front, but you receive a $5 coupon in return. You also get discounts on certain products - for example, without the card, the Palladio products I mentioned are $4.49; with the card they are $3.99. In addition, if you spend $25 during a given month, you'll get a 15% off coupon to use the following month. I also receive Sally mailings that often include a 15% off coupon. So the opportunity for discounts is there. I also look for the tear-off pad of coupons during promotions for different products - you can usually use them in conjunction with your card.

Are you a Sally fan? If so, what are your favorites?

Gaga, oh la la.

2011-05-30T22:05:00.000-04:00

Last fall I ordered Deborah Lippman Bad Romance during Nordstrom's beauty preview sale. Nordstrom canceled the order for some reason and I never bothered to re-order.

Also, I'm not usually one to blanket boycott something just because the personality behind it occasionally acts like a jackass, but Deborah Lippman's "explanation" of Funky Chunky (a disaster of a polish in my opinion) turned me off. It is patently ridiculous to say that a big fat fail of a nail polish is designed to be worn "in a new way." Worn how, on your eyelids? It's nail polish, you only wear it one way. It's insulting for someone to tell me that *I* need to "put away [my] OLD ideas of how polish should look." Just admit that Funky Chunky looks like a melted tire on the nail and be done with it.

/rant

In any event, I saw some pictures of Bad Romance last week and decided to order it again, this time from WhatSheBuys.com. It arrived lightning fast and when I sat down to do my nails on Monday evening, I decided I couldn't wait to give it a try.

The base of the polish is black, but it's not an opaque black so I applied Bad Romance over OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not.

I. Love. It.

I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of glitter polishes and in particular chunky glitters, but the varying sizes of glitter in this polish appeals to me.

Based on Bad Romance, I'm definitely going to get some more Lippman polishes and SOON. Just not the melted tire one.

Revlon Top Speed

2011-05-28T11:25:00.002-04:00

I mentioned earlier that Revlon nail polishes are on sale at CVS this week. Here are some colors if you have any last-minute shopping in mind! One nice thing about the Top Speed line is that several of the colors are delicious squishy jellies.

Chili (a jelly!)

Jelly (perhaps unsurprisingly...a jelly)

Royal (jelly jelly jelly)

Emerald (not a jelly)

Top Speed display...there are many more colors in this line, but you get the idea.

Happy hunting. :)

CVS sale, new summer colors

2011-05-25T10:04:00.000-04:00

This past week has been a bit of a nail polish bonanza here at Nonsense HQ. For one thing, CVS is having a crazy sale on Revlon polishes, which are marked down to $4.99. If you have a CVS card you get $4 back, so essentially you're paying $.99 for the polish. If you have other coupons, you can actually make money on the deal. And you can buy up to six, which would give you $24 Extra Bucks!

Then, if you are like me and truly crazy, you can reinvest those free dollars into 1/2 price Essies and 75%-off Sally Hansens and Revlons (you won't get $4 back for the sale Revlons but...they come to $1.37 so you're still getting quite the deal).

I only bought two Revlons but I did grab the Essies that were half price. It's only the French Affair collection, but you really never see Essie discounted that deeply so I jumped at the opportunity to pick up two colors I've been wanting.

Anyway. I have some pictures for you!

Essie Absolutely Shore, from the summer collection. I love this polish...the formula was very nice for a pastel and the green is so, so, so subtle.

Absolutely Shore, Mint Candy Apple, Greenport. This picture is a good example of having "a lot of the same color" that are not at all the same color. U needz them all.

Sally Hansen Barracuda. Another great pastel with a nice formula. You still have that crazily wide CSM brush but, I don't have any problems with it.

American Apparel Neon Red. I am bananas and coconuts for this polish. Just crazy in love with it. Highly recommend, A+, would do business with again.

I'm a little embarrassed to post this next one because the macro setting on the camera reveals the many many imperfections, but we're all friends here right? Anyway, I love a nice nontraditional French manicure and here is one I did with Essie Blushing Bride (essentially, a clear polish, though it builds nicely) and Chanel Black Satin.

I'll continue to work on my technique with this because I like the look.

That's all for now!

Oops.

2011-05-17T20:24:00.000-04:00

Haven't I told you, internet, that whenever I say "I'm not really buying much nail polish right now," something happens in my brain and I go crazy and buy one millionty nail polishes?

It happened again.

I've had a shopping list in mind for Transdesign involving a couple of the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection, the two new OPI Serena duos and some New York Summer colors. Cookbook mentioned she was looking at RBL Bikini Bottom and I suggested NYS Hot Baby Blue as a (much) cheaper alternative, which got me thinking that I would like HBB as well and perhaps also Super Violet.

Well, Transdesign is out of everything. Out of the Pirate colors I want, out of the Serena duos and out of Hot Baby Blue and Super Violet.

So I set my list aside and thought I would just wait until Transdesign restocked, oh, EVERYTHING and until then I'd just continue my nail polish diet.

Except...I had some PayPal money and I really did want OPI Not Like The Movies...so I bought it...and then I also bought OPI Mamma Mia and Movin' Out.

Then today at lunch I couldn't stand not having the American Apparel neons anymore. I work close to an AA store so I went there and made them mine.

I got Neon Red and Neon Purple and, for some reason that I still can't explain, Dynasty. It's not that it isn't a nice color but whuh...whut was I thinking? I should have bought Neon Orange instead. Temporary insanity.

Then - because once you're in the rabbit hole you might as well go all the way down the rabbit hole - I went to Walgreens. I don't live close to a Walgreens anymore so I haven't been to one in months, and it was like Walgreens pulled out all the stops for me. They had the Sally Hansen crackles, the new Hard As Nails colors, new Complete Salon Manicure line, the new Revlon that's a supposed dupe for Chanel Black Pearl (and the Wet 'n' Wild eight-pan eyeshadow palettes, but that's a post for another day) - just everything that could possibly tempt a nail polish, um, collector like myself.

I did practice some restraint, however. I chose the red crackle (Cherry Smash) and a light blue, called Barracuda, from the CSM line.

Ooooooooh, Barracuda.

I also have a tale to tell you about some long-lost Milani colors, but I'll save that for another post, too.

Cover Girl Lipslicks vs. Cover Girl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm

2011-05-16T20:59:00.000-04:00

In the mid-to-late 1990s I spent a lot of time wearing inappropriately dark lipstick (Revlon Vixen to be precise), as was the way of young women everywhere. After that, I went through sort of a no-makeup phase where inappropriately dark lipstick looked...well, inappropriate, and I happened to discover Cover Girl Lipslicks Lipgloss in Hipster. Since that time, I've bought untold tubes of this product, sometimes buying two or three tubes at a time in case it was suddenly discontinued.

Cover Girl Lipslicks Lipgloss in Hipster.

For years, I tried to buy other lipsticks and lip glosses, but none came close to winning my heart the way Hipster did (aside from the faintly dolt-y name). Everything about it is perfect. The color is like my regular lips but just slightly darker. It goes with everything and, like mascara, just makes me feel "finished." And it costs about $5. I tried a couple of other products once in a while but kept returning to my beloved Hipster while other glosses and stains languished in my makeup drawer. (Sorry, almost-forgotten $18 tube of sticky, gummy Make Up For Ever gloss.)

Recently I branched out again and I've discovered a few things I like. I love Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle almost as much as I love Hipster, and I'm pretty happy with my MAC Captive lipstick and Hue lip glaze. I'm a fan of those Milani Buzzworthy glosses I bought a few months ago, too.

But I keep buying Hipster. It's just such a solid product for me. Last week I realized I was running pretty low and made a mental note to pick some up at Target. Sadly, Target was out of the Hipster color (grrr) so I decided to try their new NatureLuxe Gloss Balm, which sounded similar. I chose the color Pinot as it looked similar to Hipster.

Cover Girl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm in Pinot.

Well. I don't like it.

First of all, I realize it's a different product line and is said to contain "decadent mango and shea butter", but the NatureLuxe Gloss Balm is $2 more than the Lipslicks. The color I selected also has way too much "sparkle" in it and the effect is kind of borderline 80s frosty. For some reason - whether it's the sparkle or some other ingredient - it also feels kind of scratchy on my lips, instead of moisturizing as I would like. I do not recommend, sadly.

Side by side comparison...no comparison!

So, I bought another tube of Hipster. What products are you hopelessly devoted to?

Some recent NOTDs

2011-05-12T10:38:00.000-04:00

Oh my, I haven't posted in forever. But I am still having a blog sale! I will bump that post up in the next day or so. 'Cause everything is still for sale.

I have a couple of posts brewing, one about lipstick and one about Wet n Wild eyeshadow palettes, but I managed to finally take a couple of nail polish pictures recently so I'll do those first.

OPI Not Like the Movies was the only color I wanted from the Katy Perry collection (aside from Black Shatter anyway), but the whole collection sold out on Transdesign before I could order it. Then there was such a frenzy on the MUA nail board about fruitless searches at Ulta and other stores that I just figured why bother because I'd never get it. Of course, the furor died down and now it's pretty widely available online, so last week I ordered it from eBay.

There are, supposedly, two versions of this color: the original and the second or "dud." I thought I had the so-called dud, but a couple of women on MUA thought perhaps not, and anyway I really like it.

NLTM is a silvery sage and lavender duochrome with silver microglitter. It's very smooth on the nail, not gritty like a full-on glitter. The purple in the duochrome is not as strong on the nail as it looks in the bottle, but it is there. This is a very unusual color and I've received a couple of compliments on it.

Pretty.

I'm in a place with my Nail Polish Museum right now where I really want to winnow it down to colors I really like, aren't a pain in the ass to apply, and that I want to go back to again and again. It's fun to have lots and lots of polish but if I wear it once and then it sits in a drawer, what's the point? Hence the blog sale. I've also started returning to colors that I love, like Mmm...Vould You Like a Lick-tenstein?, which is the very first OPI that I ever bought.

It's more of a fall color, I think, but old formula OPI applies so marvelously. It's like a dream! A chemical-laden, semi-poisonous dream.

New makeup & CVS Beauty Club

2011-03-29T21:34:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday I was seized with the desire to buy cosmetics and, because I had some CVS coupons burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to embrace the situation.

Earlier in the week I had stopped at CVS for some face wash and I bought a couple of Revlon eye shadows, Nude Slip and Violet Starlet.

Violet Starlet has a super neat greeny flash in it.

Nude Slip is one of those colors I just can't get enough of lately. It's like the Urban Decay Naked palette has inspired me to build an entire collection of wearable neutrals. (Wow...sounds exciting doesn't it?)

The other day I wore Nude Slip under (haha) Maybelline Lux Lilac and Urban Decay Mildew with UD Mildew eyeliner. It sounds garish but it was quite subtle and I would definitely wear it again.

Anyway, it was on this visit to CVS that I joined the beauty club, which is really just a rewards system within a rewards system. You can piggyback it onto your CVS ExtraCare account. Basically you get a 10% off coupon when you join, $5 ExtraBucks for every $50 you spend and $3 ExtraBucks on your birthday.

Now initially I thought the $50 reward level was a little much. That's a lot of makeup. However, qualifying Beauty Club purchases include hair care, sun care, skin care, hair accessories, hair color and even hosiery. So there are a number of items that would get you closer to your $50 reward, provided you like and use items that can be found at CVS, of course.

So I joined, because I am a sucker, and I got my 10% off coupon and a stray ExtraBuck. The coupon is only good for three days, so when I felt compelled to go peruse the cosmetics aisles on Tuesday during my lunch hour, I went back to CVS.

I actually did "need" a few things. I am out of my Sally Hansen nail polish clean-up pens and CVS had Sally Hansen products on sale. I also had in mind picking up some Physician's Formula bronzer, as every bronzer I own seems to be destined to fall to its death on tile bathroom floors.

I chose something called "Happy Booster" bronzer.

I must admit it is terribly cute.

Supposedly these are "mood boosting" bronzers and blushes. I mean, okay, sure. I can't speak to the veracity of that claim but it does what a bronzer should do otherwise.

The back of it reads like a bad translation to English: "The sweet scent of Violet provides a feeling of joy each time you apply." Hm well if you say so. It does have a scent so if that kind of thing bugs you, be warned.

See? Cuuuuute.

Plus these come with a $3 off coupon on the package and you get $7 ExtraBucks when you buy it. So it's almost like getting it for $4 instead of $14. Yay coupons! I will spend the $7 on something boring like contact solution. (Or maybe Easter candy. I will keep you posted.)

My Sally Hansen correcting pens are different now.

First I hyperventilated a little bit when I saw this, but honestly it's the same thing. Plus they're $5.49 now instead of $9.99. BOGO 1/2 off right now at CVS!

You can also get ExtraBucks rewards right now for buying Maybelline or CVS brand skincare products, and Revlon cosmetics (including the Top Speed polishes) are BOGO 1/2 off too.

I'm not one of those super savvy couponing people but I am a huge cheapskate so CVS' reward program gets a thumbs-up in my book.

Oh and because this site is called "Nail Polish Nonsense" and not "Makeup Nonsense" or "Plain Ol' Nonsense," here is some nail polish I wore recently, Like It Like That from one of the more recent Misa collections. It's more grass green and less teal in real life.

Time Out

2011-03-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

Hello there!

I didn't intend to take such a long break after those two labor-intensive posts. It just kind of happened. For one thing, we got a dog three weeks ago, so my nail-polishing time has been significantly reduced. I haven't even been on MUA very much of late. And...though you may find this shocking...I haven't even bought any nail polish recently.

I'll let that sink in for a minute.

Again, we'll blame this on the dog. It seems that little doggies need all sorts of things (a crate, a bajillion toys, a bed, a harness, a collar, a lead, dental paraphernalia...) that cats don't need or at least that no cat of mine ever had. So I've been saving money for dog things.

I'll also admit to some degree of fatigue with the whole thing of late. Not with polishing my nails, I always love doing that, but I don't really find that any of the new collections are really doing it for me right now. Everything seems pretty but not exciting enough to spend money on. Also, I'm tired of hearing people complain about crackle polish. It's fine if you don't care for it, but I'm not sure I ever need to see another MUA post that begins, "Is it just me, or..." regarding crackle polish. AIEEEEEEEE.

Some recent-ish manicures.

Revlon Royal, from the Top Speed line. These polishes are really nice. I resisted buying this one for a long time, because Orly Royal Navy looked so disgusting on me. But this was nice! I wore it the day we adopted our dog.

This is Pay Days are Happy Days, from the Misa 9-5 collection. I bought almost all of them.

Pretty highly dupe-able I'd say. But Misas are great quality and very inexpensive, so I was happy to grab them up. L-R: Coffee Pick Me Up, Office Polish-tics, Pay Days Are Happy Days, Working Hard or Hardly Working, PaintMyNails@Work.

Sadly I've been neglectful about taking pics of the colors I wear lately. (Oops.) Frankly I've been wearing a lot of OPI Moon Over Mumbai because it's hard to mess up the application and it doesn't show wear very easily. My nails are having kind of a janky moment right now and I don't feel like fussing with a spectacular color, so low-key is where it's at.

Tell me what you're excited about getting or looking forward to seeing for spring and summer. Maybe that'll put me back in the mood to blab about polish again. :)

Dr.'s REMEDY Review

2011-02-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

Not long ago I received some information about Dr.'s REMEDY, a new line of doctor-inspired cosmetics made with clean, hypo-allergenic, anti-fungal ingredients. The website suggests that the polish is especially suited for people who suffer from nail fungus, brittle or discolored nails, those who are allergic to chemicals in commercial nail polish, for pregnant women and kids. Of course, you might also like to try it out if you are trying to be conscious of the substances you use on your body, including cosmetics. There is an FAQ with more information here.

The polishes are big three-free and are enriched with natural ingredients like tea tree oil, garlic bulb extract and wheat protein. These substances are naturally occurring, antibacterial and healthier for nails. The impetus for the line came about when the co-creator's wife became pregnant - you can read more about that backstory here.

Dr.'s REMEDY recently introduced their winter collection, which includes four colors:

- Healing Heather Grey, described as "a seductive pewter with deep blue undertones;"

- Revive Ruby Red, "a shimmer-infused, Wizard of Oz-inspired shade of crimson;"

- Desire Dark Brown, "a cocoa-meets-hot-fudge handsome hue;"

- Nurture Nude Pink, "a delicate, damsel-in-distress barely-there beautiful."

I was able to try Healing Heather Grey, Desire Dark Brown and Revive Ruby Red.

I chose to try Revive Ruby Red first.

Dr.'s REMEDY polishes are packaged in square bottles with square, slightly rubberized-feeling caps. The square overcaps are removable, revealing a narrow ribbed cap that is more convenient to hold while polishing. The overcap was a little stubborn coming off, so make sure you remove it carefully and before you do your base coat, treatment or ridge filler so you won't mess up your work. The brushes are fairly standard round brushes.

(I wondered if this polish would smell like tea tree oil...but...it smells like good old regular nail polish! Perhaps a bit less intense.)

Revive Ruby Red is a beautiful color. It looks like molten glass on the nail - very deep, shimmery and gorgeous. This is a classic color, and has a lit-from-within effect that I love in a shimmer.

The formula for all of these polishes was good. If anything, Revive Ruby Red was perhaps a bit on the thick side. It took me a while to get comfortable with how much product I was getting on the brush. (You could just add thinner if this was a real problem for you, although that would of course add chemicals back into the formula.) I didn't have to do a lot of clean-up with this color. It was fairly easy to control. I just had some problems getting the polish to lie smooth on the tip of the nail. No cuticle drag with this color.

Here's a picture after four days of wear. Ignore the large chip on my middle finger - I cracked my nail against a kitchen cabinet so that one was kind of inevitable. Except for minor tip wear, this polish held up very well with no other big chips. It stayed very shiny.

Next, I tried Healing Heather Grey. Luckily I'm a huge sucker for grey cremes so I was very eager to give this one a spin. I was totally delighted - I would almost call this a grey jelly - the finished effect had a squishy, dreamy quality! The formula on this was slightly easier to work with than Revive Ruby Red. I used two coats and my only real issue was with the brush, which had a crazy stray bristle. A quick snip of the scissors solved that.

I wore the grey for three days with no chips and very little tip wear. (With both of these manicures, I used Palladio Fuse, Palladio ridge filler and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat in the red bottle.)

Finally, I swatched Desire Dark Brown. This formula was super - the picture below reflects absolutely zero clean-up. Dupe alert: in the picture, my index and ring finger are Desire Dark Brown and my middle and pinky finger are Essie Little Brown Dress. As you can see, they're quite similar. However, if you're interested in the health-conscious formulation of the Dr.'s REMEDY polishes, this is a great chic color with superb application.

Speaking of dupes: Dr.'s REMEDY Healing Heather Grey is very similar to Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle and Misa Working Hard or Hardly Working, though it does have that jelly-ish texture that some people (me included!) find very appealing. It's really a beautiful grey color. I couldn't find any duplicates to Revive Ruby Red in my collection.

I can see these polishes appealing to a lot of people - pregnant women, people who have specific issues and concerns with their nails and, of course, people who just love nail polish and beautiful colors! (Dr.'s REMEDY has some great pinks, a purple shimmer and a bright, bold blue on their site that all look intriguing.)

Dr.'s REMEDY nail polishes $16 each and are available online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 877-323-NAIL.

These were sent to me for review.

Cherry Culture order & reviews

2011-02-21T11:13:00.000-05:00

I have some nail posts planned, but I got an order from CherryCulture.com last week so I thought it might be fun to talk about that.

A lot of the women on the nail board at MUA talk about CherryCulture, but this was my first time ordering with them. I ordered on February 1 and my order shipped on February 9. I received it on February 11 via USPS.

I say all this as an FYI because people seem to get awfully worked up about shipping issues. I know the immediate nature of the internet - not to mention fast shipping from places like Zappos.com - leads us to believe we should receive things instantly after buying them, but the truth is no one's figured out teleportation yet. So waiting is still part of the game.

I also liked ordering from CherryCulture because they accept PayPal (Ulta does now, too!!), which is great for when you want to order something but can't be bothered to get up and find your wallet. (I am only sort of kidding about this.)

In any event, the site was having a little sale and I found a few things I wanted to try at very agreeable prices.

I ordered the Milani Buzz Worthy lip glosses in Bee Rich and Bee Gone.

I love these! My love is due in no small part to the smell: Bee Rich smells exactly like Jolly Ranchers and Bee Gone smells like cake. Normally I'm not a fan of candy scents (too strippery) but these are fun and not too cloying.

Angled applicator/dispenser.

I did a fair bit of research on these before I ordered, so there were no real surprises. They are sticky (your hair will get caught in them) but have the color payoff I wanted and don't run down my face. Bee Rich is just spectacular - much as I would like to, I just can't wear super pigmented, rich red lipsticks, so this kind of clear red gloss is a good substitute. Bee Gone has some shimmer to it and is a nice understated shade.

I'm not always the world's biggest fan of arm swatches, but I gave it a try, just for you.

Bee Gone, Bee Rich.

I've heard a lot about NYX eyeshadows on blogs and MUA, so I decided to give some a try. I ordered Taupe, Matte Gray and Exotic Green.

NYX Exotic Green.

Thus far I've only tried the taupe and the gray on my eyes, and I really like the taupe. Matte Grey is not very pigmented. (Based on a quick swatch on the back of my hand, Exotic Green is very pigmented.) The texture of these is very soft and velvety. I like the "quilty" look of the unused shadows although I realize that has no bearing on the quality. It's just cute.

Finally, I also ordered some nail polish (doy). I chose LA Girl colors in Hustle, Head Banging and Deep Sea Mica. I wore Deep Sea Mica already and it's a very pretty teal/green jelly.

Hustle, Deep Sea Mica, Head Banging.

LA Girl Deep Sea Mica

I don't know what was up with me not polishing my whole nail for this manicure, unless it's the fact that my back was still hurting pretty bad when I did this and I wasn't bending over as far as I usually do. I like to get my face right down in there so I can really see where the polish is going.

As a comparison, you can see the manicure I did for Valentine's Day is much less bizarre.

(That's OPI Big Apple Red, one of my all-time favorites. Just a great, shiny red.)

I'd definitely order from CherryCulture again and I'm really happy with all of the products I picked, particularly the Milani glosses. I've heard good things about several of their products and I think it's great they are so widely available.

Later this week, stay tuned for posts about the Misa 9-5 collection (I ordered five of them...yikes) and some nail colors from Dr.'s REMEDY.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips

2011-02-08T22:48:00.003-05:00

A while ago Sally Hansen introduced these Salon Effects nail polish strips, which are designed to last up to 10 days. They are available in patterns, solid colors and glitters. The look is similar to Minx, which you've probably seen on Beyonce or Katy Perry. The strips allow you to get the Minx-like look at home for a fraction of the price (however, the process to apply them is different).

I purchased a set of these (a bright flowered pattern) several weeks ago but had yet to try them. Then I found a coupon in this week's Red Plum mailing for $2 off the strips. I also had some CVS ExtraBucks laying around, bringing the cost of the strips down from $10 to $5.50. So I picked up the Kitty Kitty pattern, a metallic leopard print.

I am nothing if not subtle!

With some spare time on my hands (har har) Tuesday night, I decided to give the leopard print pattern a go. Here's what comes in the package with the nail polish strips:

16 nail polish strips, mini orange stick, mini file/shaper and instructions. The picture in the instructions indicates that you can just gently file off all the excess nail polish strip, but I suspected I might need scissors, so I got a wee pair out to do a bit of trimming.

The strips were not hard to put on at all, but it did take me some time - nearly an hour. They're not overly delicate, but you do have to be careful not to gouge them if you're using the orange stick to smooth out the wrinkles. And if your nails are very curved, you will have to be careful not to wrinkle the strips.

I was really happy with the results. It's nice to finish applying these and then just go on about your business without worrying about denting or creasing your manicure. Because I just put these on, I have no idea how they'll wear - I did put a top coat over them and used it to wrap the tips. So I'll have to report back to you about the removal process and how long these last.

Couple things: I had to trim the sides of some of the strips because there were not enough smaller strips to fit my nails. If you were careful and willing to do a lot of shaping, you could get two manicures out of one package; I don't really have the patience. The strips do get kind of stiff and difficult to work with if they're exposed to the air too long - I warmed them up by putting them between my palms or blowing on them. This just makes them a little easier to shape.

Even at full price, I'd definitely buy these again, but for me, I wouldn't waste my time on the solid colors. If I want a nice red creme on my nails I'll just take 10 minutes and paint them. The patterns are really fun, though, and I'll purchase them again for sure.

I've seen these at CVS and Rite Aid. Highly recommend!

I have something ridiculous to show you.

2011-01-31T10:57:00.001-05:00

Having grown up in the 80s, I've always been wary of fake plastic drugstore nails. I think I bought some Lee Press-on Nails when I was in middle school. Do you remember those? No? Perhaps a visual aid will help.

I like how they come in "natural" and "glamour" length. Lee's idea of "natural" is more my idea of "glamour," but, whatever. I think at one time there was also a "sport" length, which I definitely remember buying.

Although as a teen, perhaps I should have been buying Miss Lee Press-on Nails. I definitely remember seeing this commercial on television.

I love this commercial. In particular I love the shot of the shoes - we called them "jazz shoes" - at the 15-second mark. I was crazy to have a pair of shoes like that circa 7th grade.

Anyway, I was never able to keep my Press-on Nails pressed on for more than an hour or so, plus, they looked terribly fake. (I suppose part of that could have been operator error.) So I've always been wary of the fake nails that are available in drugstores, because while fun and adorable, I figured there was no point unless you were going to glue them on.

Nonetheless, I saw a review of Nail Bliss nails on Scrangie and I had to have them. I figured I would just skip the adhesive tabs and glue them on. I bought the chrome ones in her review and also the faceted nails (SO AWESOME).

This weekend I finally had an opportunity to wear the nails. I couldn't commit to the glue, however, so I tried the adhesive tabs. And they worked great! These nails were crazy fun to wear.

AHHHH! I can't even stand how shiny they are. They were far too long for me right out of the package so I used nail clippers to hack them down to size and then gently filed off the rough edges. They are rather thick, plus using the adhesive tabs makes them somewhat thicker. Viewed close up, I suppose you can tell they are fake, but they didn't look tacky or jank. I felt like I had magical robot droid hands. They really reflect light, too, so if you were going to a concert or a club they would probably almost bling you to death.

I put them on at about 5 pm on Saturday night and removed them at around 7 pm on Sunday. They were fairly comfortable to wear although the thickness started to get to me after a while. I used a nail that was slightly too wide on one finger and that one was kind of sore while I wore the nails. But overall they didn't bother me, and they stayed on very securely.

Removal was easy. I just poured a few drops of pure acetone around the edges of each nail, waited a minute and then gently worked an orange stick underneath. They popped right off. A few of my nails were a little rough after that, but I just buffed them lightly. I did my nails with regular old polish right afterwards, and you can see that (aside from dry cuticles due to the acetone) there were no ill effects. (This is Funky Fingers Elephunk, a dupe to Color Club Wild Orchid.)

New OPIs, hooray!

2011-01-28T16:35:00.001-05:00

So you may have heard some news recently about the Katy Perry collection from OPI. (That's a joke, because of course you've heard of it.) The collection is already out of stock at Transdesign and I totally missed being able to order Not Like The Movies, the only one I wanted from the set. Bummer. I suppose it's possible I'll find it out in the wild somewhere, but from what I hear this whole collection is flying out of stores so perhaps I shall just have to live without it.

Not to worry, there are other OPIs to get excited about. (And yes...I'm still in the throes of my OPI love...new collections can't come out fast enough for me as far as I am concerned.) For instance, the Serena Williams Glam Slam duo and the Texas collection. Yee-haw!

Sorry.

Anyway, here's the first color I tried from the Texas collection, It's Totally Fort Worth It.

Silvery gray with pink microglitter/shimmer. Quite pretty. When I was applying it, I had a sad trumpet moment when the first coat went on incredibly sheer. But it built well enough. This is three coats.

Perhaps work appropriate, if you have a more conservative office environment. Maybe just two coats if the office is super conservative.

Very subtle and delicate. I'm a sucker for most anything gray so this is win for me.

Except for this.

This is what Transdesign does to some of their OPI caps now. It's a gouge where a serial number should be. Kind of annoying, though not annoying enough to make me drive to Ulta and pay an additional $3 per bottle.

The other Texas colors I ordered are I Vant to Be A-Lone Star, Guy Meets Gal-veston and Don't Mess With OPI. Guy Meets Gal is a jelly and I think it's going to look super cute as a pedicure, should winter ever care to release its iron grip on Northeast Ohio.

As I mentioned, I missed out on Katy Perry but I did get the Serena Williams duo, which includes Black Shatter. Black Shatter is a crackle polish designed to be applied over dry nail polish, creating a shattered effect. I have to admit I didn't go wild for this one at first, but of course I ended up having to have it. I really liked the green in the Serena duo, so I just got the set.

Here's Black Shatter over Revlon Powder Puff, a squishy dreamy white with a blue flash.

AUGH. I love it!

Now I know a lot of people are excited about the upcoming China Glaze crackle polishes, but I won't be buying them. I will keep the few China Glaze colors I truly love (Emerald Sparkle, Stroll, Ruby Pumps) but owing to either body chemistry or some other whim of science, China Glaze just plain doesn't work on me. (I also hate their brush, but that's another story). So no Tronica, no Anchors Away, no crackles and no summer neons for me. I can't say I'm too sad.

I'll have to try my other Texas colors soon and let you know what I think!

Post-Holiday Wrap Up

2011-01-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

Hello there.

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break, whatever you celebrate. Mine was lovely. Time off is a wonderful thing, though of course the holiday rush makes it not so relaxing as you might like. To remedy that I had a three-day weekend that ended today, and we didn't do much besides cook and watch football.

Last time we spoke (more than a month ago!), I was eagerly anticipating my first ever BB Couture order. It arrived in due time but I regret to say that I neglected to photograph the three colors (Eve, Sex on the Beach, Horned Devil) that I wore. The holidays were kind of a whirlwind in terms of slapping nail polish on and running out the door only to (unsurprisingly) discover dents and smears when I arrived at my destination.

So, here are a few one-offs for you.

Barielle Elle's Spell! I believe this is from a holiday collection. I heard about this while in the grips of my frenzy to acquire the Ulta/OPI holiday exclusives after I had been told they weren't happening. I haunted two different Ulta's on what felt like two of the coldest days of the decade and didn't find the OPIs (at that point) but was able to grab Elle's Spell.

Pretty and lit from within.

Elle's Spell over black. My nails at this point can only be described as profoundly janky but I did like the look of this polish. If you missed it, don't fret: If you have Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure or Nubar 2010 you probably don't need this. Yes, the base is a jelly red but unless you want to wear it alone, that won't really matter.

OPI Cuckoo for this Color. I bought this when I finally acquired the Ulta/OPI holiday exclusives. Beautiful green with a teal/blue shimmer (that you can't see too well in this picture.

Barry M Block Orange, received in a swap from a nice lady in the UK. Jelly goodness.

As for my holiday nail colors, I didn't get too blingy or crazy because I have grown to truly detest removing glitter. I know this makes me a nail polish heretic in some quarters but I can't help it. So labor intensive! I wore Chanel Black Pearl on Christmas Eve and OPI Plum Full of Cheer (one of the Ulta holiday colors, and so pretty) after Christmas, and Illamasqua Fern on New Year's Eve.

What would you like to see next? I'm off buying for a while (of course...every time I say that, I fall off the wagon), but am happy to delve into my collection to show you some fun colors.

OP-I Love You

2010-12-07T16:56:00.003-05:00

I feel like it's been so long, and yet the last post was just six days ago, which is crazy because I feel like I wore Zulu just ages ago.

In that post I mentioned I was having a fling with OPI. For various reasons I wore several OPI colors back-to-back and became semi-obsessed. They're just so darn GOOD. The brush is perfect on my nails and the formula and pigmentation are simply awesome. Around this time I also became somewhat stalker-ish about acquiring the OPI/Ulta holiday exclusives. Now I'm not so sure they're a must-have, but never say never when it comes to nail polish.

In any event, OPI.

I did totally swearsies with myself that I would not get any of the Burlesque collection. Call me crazy, but most glitters don't drive me wild with desire. In fact I think most of the Burlesque glitters are kind of a mess, frankly. I know many were over the moon about them, but between the gritty finish and the pain-in-the-A removal process I just can't be bothered. Aside from Ali's Big Break, I didn't feel particularly drawn to any of the other colors, and then? Then I went to Ulta.

Yes. Very very very pretty. Incidentally, also very close to Pomegranate Me A Wish, one of the 2009 OPI exclusives through either Trade Secret or Beauty Brands.

After that, I felt compelled to drag out a 2009 Ulta holiday exclusive.

Then I received Parlez-vous OPI? in a swap and used it right away.

So here's where things started to get sliiiiiiiightly obsessive. I put together an all-OPI cart at Transdesign.com and then thought better of it. However I did find myself at Ulta AGAIN one night recently and purchased two colors I've been wanting for a little while, Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not and You Don't Know Jacques!

I love OPI so much I can't stand it. But next time I'm going to show you what I got in my first-ever BB Couture order, which should be arriving in my mailbox very soon. Hooray!

Zulu!

2010-12-01T00:43:00.000-05:00

So originally I was going to tell you about my recent love affair with my OPI polishes, but then I remembered that I promised to show you Zulu.

I resisted liking this polish for so long, even when people were crowing about it nonstop. I bought Illamasqua Rampage, which isn't meant to be a dupe but is very like Zulu. I liked it well enough and thought well who needs Zulu?

And then one day I was doing a Sephora order for some Christmas gifts and BAM Zulu fell into my cart.

I really love it.

I mean, what's not to like?

It's a beautiful, beautiful color and it applied like a dream. This was a can't-stop-staring color for sure.

I got Zulu from Sephora and I am pretty sure it's still available...so if you can't live without it...get after it.

OPI Burlesque

2010-11-17T23:53:00.001-05:00

The OPI Burlesque collection is old news to most of you by now. At first I was a little disappointed that this year's holiday collection was one of OPI's promotional gambits (a la the Shrek collection or the 90210 polishes), but people really went crazy for the glitters. For me, that wasn't a draw - glitter is all well and good but I'm not crazy for it. I hate the way it eats top coat, feels bumpy and takes forever to remove.

So, initially I was only interested in one color: Ali's Big Break, a pretty red with gold glitter. But when I saw it in person I was underwhelmed. So I skipped it and ended up bringing home Tease-y Does It and Let Me Entertain You instead.

Each time I go back to OPI I remember why I love them so much: perfect formula and perfect brush.

I got something in the mail today that I'm excited to show you soon, too:

YAY! ZULU!