Monthly Archives

November 2010

Nars – Midnight Express

Tuesday, 30 November, 2010

I didn’t expect this color to be so…luscious. I had anticipated this dark blue that would be almost black…and it is.

It’s beautiful.

Sadly, I couldn’t do it justice. I am so awful in application. See the VNL? Streaks! It dried quickly even with three coats.

Uncategorized

Disappointment abounds…

Tuesday, 30 November, 2010

As some, all, or none of you know, OPI was/will be purchased by cosmetics giant Coty.

While it’s great for OPI and they’ve made a profit for themselves, it’s a big step backwards for me. I’m saddened and disappointed by this move. It was, after all, OPI that brought back my love of nail polish years ago with their French Collection.

While some people decry the move due to Coty’s policy on animal testing – they do test on animals, whether we like it or not – I, for one, find that OPI is no longer that cool, independent business I love supporting. I stuck through with OPI when they went after etailers, but I can’t support them in this. I’m saddened that OPI is no longer on my swatching list since it was OPI that I’ve loved back in the early 90s…and it was OPI that brought my love of nail polish back just a handful of years ago. I will swatch the last of my Swiss Collection and I will keep swatching some of their collections because it pre-dates the Coty purchase. The Katy Perry and Serena Williams lines being the last two I will do of OPI.

I didn’t make this decision lightly. I’m a huge fan of smaller businesses. While I’m glad OPI has made money for themselves and I certainly congratulate them on their success, I won’t be lining Coty’s pockets any time soon.

Take care, OPI. I’ll be loving your colors from afar when they’re under the Coty umbrella.

Nubar – Palisade

Monday, 29 November, 2010

Part of the Fortress Collection by Nubar, this shade of gray really wasn’t too flattering on me. 🙁 I am bummed because I love grays so much and almost all of them are epic fails on me. 🙁

This dried quickly and was opaque in 2 coats. Boo hoo that it didn’t look good on me, though.

Cat Dog Pets

The Dog Days of Rex and The Tale of Persnickity Cat Dr Bombay

Monday, 22 November, 2010

I rarely post pictures of my pets. I am not sure why I don’t, but I will remedy that now.

I wore my poor Rex out last week. Initially I had busted out with the flashlight in the hopes of enticing Dr Bombay out of a tiny cocoon of blankets he had made for himself in our bed, to no avail. He merely stared at me groggily.

Comfortable cat is comfortable…

Usually kitty gets marginally interested enough to pounce a few times, then decides if the activity is futile/worthwhile.

Rex, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of chasing the flashlight beam on the floor. After half an hour, I was a little bored by waving it around and watching Rex happily yap after it. He did do a little protest whinge. I turned away for a moment to get a glass of water. I looked over my shoulder from the kitchen and the picture below is what I saw. Rexie zonked out. So zonked, he was hanging out of his basket and was snoring into the carpet. Awww….

Nubar – Purple Rain Glitter

Monday, 22 November, 2010

Everytime I was writing Purple Rain Glitter on the images, I kept thinking I got the name wrong. Maybe it was Purple Rain and I added the word “Glitter” as a reminder of what it was. Nope. Checked the label, Purple Rain Glitter.

Ok, so for once my desire to constantly edit didn’t stand in the way!

What was cool about this purple is that it’s like a royal purple – very pretty and very flattering. Tossed into all of that is this nutty sparkly glitter. I don’t know where this all came from, but I’m suddenly having a huge love of purple nail polish. Like I don’t understand why when I normally never gave purple a second glance. Lately, I’ve been gravitating towards purple and I’m a bit dismayed/puzzled by my choices.

Oh well, I won’t dwell on it, but I do know that I love purple polishes now.

Ka-ching! Check out the Purple Rain Glitter goodness. Of course, I did have Prince’s Purple Rain running in my head as I was applying this color, but only because I’m so utterly predictable.

Sunlight, once again, shows my deficiency in polish application. I wish I weren’t so heavy handed!

Wimpy macro shot

Essie – Limited Addiction

Friday, 19 November, 2010

I haven’t worn red nail polish a lot in the past few years. I think it’s mostly because I wore it for 6 years straight. Loved red nail polish…no other color would do.

Then Chanel’s Rouge Noir (aka Vamp) came along, relegating all my reds to the end of the line.

Lately, I’ve been feeling the need for red again. Like I’m going to seriously binge on red nail polish until I feel I no longer need to wear it again.

That said, I’m wearing Essie’s Limited Addiction in these pictures. LA is part of Essie’s Winter/Holiday 2010 collection. *swoons* I loved how it looked on me – it was lovely and so seductive, but not in a trampy way! Application was flawless – dried quickly and was opaque in two coats, despite my heavy handed application. See for yourself!

comparison

Essie – Smokin’ Hot vs Zoya – Kelly

Wednesday, 17 November, 2010

Essie’s Smokin’ Hot is literally, smokin’ hot. It’s gorgeous. It’s plummier, yummier. So gorgeous. Hotter. It’s a great way for Essie to say hello to the Holidays for 2010. Zoya’s Kelly holds its own quite well and is gorgeous, but when pitted against Essie, I definitely prefer Smokin’ Hot.

While Essie shines in color, it is, quite sadly, deficient in application. A bit moody – in that godawful once a month kind of way. It took three coats to get it to the color you see in the pictures and it took forever and a day to dry. It held me up for the day I had allocated for swatching. Zoya dried quickly and only needed two coats.

I really should’ve had taken a picture of these colors in artificial lighting because that’s where they both fall extremely similar – you would almost never be able to tell the difference.

Anyway, come see what I mean below. I also tested for wearability on both and found they held their own after 3 days – all you’ll see is tip wear and my ghetto cuticles. It’s my right hand – what can I say?

Essie Smokin Hot Zoya Kelly

.Essie Smokin Hot Zoya Kelly

China Glaze – Peace on Earth vs NARS – Mash

Tuesday, 16 November, 2010

When I saw these greens separately, I thought, “Could one be a dupe for the other?” Well, let me just test it out!

While both formulas were excellent – quick drying and opaque in two thin coats, there was a world of difference between the colors themselves. See below for the comparison.

As always, click the thumbnails until they become huge.

Mash is more on the green side while POE has more yellow in it. Both were flattering on my skin, despite the warm undertone. Yay! Please excuse the big old chip on my pinkie finger. I had been wearing the color for a week and then remembered to take a picture.

Sunlight couldn’t really bring any real depth to the shade shot, but you can still see the difference.