Update, Milani, Sinful & other issues of global importance

I was staring down at my bright shiny new manicure earlier today and it occurred to me what a very long time it's been since I updated here! Oops.

So to bring you up to date, here are some colors I've worn since we last met:

This is a pretty, old formula OPI.

Oooooh.

Here's Milani Hot Metal. Milani has really been knocking it out of the park lately.

You know, if you're into SUPER PRETTY THINGS.

Which I am!

Here's another Milani that ladies on MUA have been going bugshit for: Dress Maker. It's from a new collection featuring names with fashion connections. This is the only one I bought myself from this grouping.

The reason for the frenzy is that it's widely reputed to be an exact dupe of Chanel Jade. I don't have Jade, so I can't compare for you, but having seen the comparison on MUA I can say that it's very convincing. I'd want to see it in person just out of curiosity, but suffice to say if you want a very close duplicate, perhaps this will do the trick for you.

It is very pretty. And in case you're wondering, Claire's Dream Catcher is also quite close. In the bottle the shades appear to differ slightly. I'd like to put them on my nails side by side to see exactly how they stack up, but I haven't had time.

Last month I went to New York to attend a wedding. I had some time to kill before I could check into my hotel, so I perused a few dollar stores and drugstores just on the off chance that I might find something wonderful. And I did!

Brucci Black Emerald! I know this is conveniently available to many of you, but Brucci isn't common around here and Black Emerald is slightly HTF. I had resisted buying it on eBay for $15 until now and I'm glad I did, because these were $2.79 each. Here's a close-up of Black Emerald:

Check out the sweet duochromey goodness. I can't say if it shows up on the nail, as I haven't tried it yet, but boy oh boy it looks pretty in the bottle. That's right I said BOY OH BOY.

And now the portion of the program where we discuss Issues Of The Day.

First, I got all excited when I saw this in a Rite Aid not long ago:

Now given Sinful's history of putting up what I like to call "fauxllections," which involve new displays featuring the same old colors, I didn't immediately pay any attention to this. But out of curiosity I began turning the bottles over and, lo and behlold, these sounded new. So I bought one, Bamboo.

But I was fooled. Although this is a color I didn't already own, and I'm not sure what already-existing color it dupes, these are in fact just re-named Sinfuls. Boo! I get that for $1.99 we're not exactly talking about the cream of the cosmetic crop here, but is it too much to ask for some honesty? I mean I've paid less than a dollar for Wet 'n' Wild polishes before, and they put out new colors and seasonal collections, too. Let's have some fun, Sinful! It's just nail polish.

Although this post is getting ridiculously long, I did want to pose a question: Does anyone ever tease you about your nail polish habit? I get a lot of remarks from people about how I "must have a lot of time" to do things like polish my nails. I've also had similar comments recently about knitting. To me, these are hobbies and things I enjoy, so I make time for them. And doing my nails takes so little time that I don't even think about it.

Thoughts?

A few new colors

Hello there...things are busy here as I prep for a weekend trip out of town. I have a few colors to show you before I go, though.

These tiny little bottles of nail polish are .99 at Ulta. .99! There weren't too many colors offered but a decent selection of bright colors that would provide a great opportunity to try a color you aren't really sure about or wouldn't normally wear. Nice formula. I really loved this color. I thought it was dupe-ish to Essie Chubby Cheeks, but it's not; I'd prove it except my picture of Chubby Cheeks is really bad. *sorries*

I picked this up to try the Confetti formula; it's really nice! Nothing spectacular, but considering the price of $2 per bottle it was a nice surprise. I also loved the name of this one.

If you have Sinful Show Me The Way, you might not "need" My Favorite Martian:

Ugh, sorry about the out-of-focus pics. That's what I get for rushing.

That's it for now! Have a great weekend.

Essie Fall Collection preview, Chanel Paradoxal

Hello. I hope you had a happy 4th of July, if you're in the US. Otherwise I hope you had a delightful weekend.

My boyfriend and I went to IKEA over the weekend so I painted my nails a sheer shimmery pearl color. I figured when you're assembling a million parts into a single television stand you don't want something that shows chips easily. And I was right!

A while ago I ordered some things from Nordstrom's beauty preview sale, including the Essie fall minis. I've actually decided not to keep most of what I ordered, but I'll keep the Essies. They're quite compact for storage and this is a nice way to sample the fall collection.

Here are some quick pictures.

Limited Addiction, Sew Psyched, Merino Cool, Little Brown Dress. All are cremes except for Sew Psyched, which has a very pretty subtle shimmer.

When I swatched these, I used two coats on everything except Merino Cool, which required three. The formula was best on Limited Addiction, which could have been a one-coater; and Sew Psyched, which was nicely pigmented as well. Merino Cool and LBD were streaky with the first coat and had some pull at the cuticles, so next time I'll wait longer before applying additional coats.

I'm told Sew Psyched is not a dupe for Rescue Beauty Lounge's Diddy Mow, but I don't have that one to show you a comparison. However I did compare Merino Cool to a couple of other Essies.

Chinchilly, Merino Cool, Mink Muffs

And some quick swatches on the nail:

Chinchilly, Merino Cool, Mink Muffs. No duplicates here.

And here's my current manicure, to show you that my cuticles really aren't that awful looking.

I don't think this is the purple shimmer some people wanted it to be, but I really am developing a fondness for this weirdo. Kinda raisin-colored, kinda brown, kinda purple, it is indeed a paradox.

Also, you'd better believe that when we went to IKEA I brought home some friends.

Everything's so nice and organized now. Thanks for feeding my OCD, IKEA!