Browsing Tag

raspberry

OPI – Diva of Geneva

Thursday, 9 December, 2010
OPI Diva of Geneva

OPI Diva of Geneva is part of their Fall 2010 Swiss Collection. I know I’m a bit late in getting this out, but when I had seen the promo pics, I got excited. So excited I was that I kept calling my nail guys here. I was begging, pleading, whining to know when/if they got it and have them call me so I can get there and buy it ASAP.

Well, they did as they promised and called me. However, once I had them in my possession, I was not impressed. I was so unimpressed that I put them in the back of my OPI drawer. Yea. Out of sight, out of mind and all that. However, it sat at the back of my mind for ages and I finally thought…”why not?”

So here it is. OPI Diva of Geneva is a pretty color – don’t get me wrong. It’s got some nice flashes to it and that makes it somewhat redeemable, but it’s not me. Sorry, OPI. Your final solo fall collection didn’t wow me the way your France collection just a few scant years ago.

Formula was ok. Nothing really stood out. I guess that means it dried in a decent amount of time and didn’t annoy me.

OPI Diva of Geneva

Please excuse the big old chip on my middle finger. I had been wearing this color for a few days just to see how it would hold up. It wasn’t too bad. 🙂

OPI Diva of Geneva

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Nubar – Iris Dust

Monday, 25 October, 2010

I wanted something happy for the gray rainy days we’ve been having…and this epitomizes warm weather and sunlight to me. Iris Dust is this crazy duochrome thing where it’s kind of a raspberry, then it has flashes of orange/bronze in it. The sunlight shot definitely washed out whatever duochrome goodness may have been going on, but the shade shots definitely caught them. This really is just one bottle of nail polish!

Not sure when this came out, but I happened to find it while browsing the duo chrome section on Nubar’s site.

Formula was a bit on the thin side and I had to do three coats to get it opaque because I didn’t think this was a sheer color.

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StrangeBeautiful Volume I

Strange Beautiful – Puce – Volume I

Friday, 9 July, 2010

I love that Jane Schub has has inspirations for her collections of StrangeBeautiful…however, for the lesser artist that I am, I have a hard time figuring out some of the colors. I think I’ve pegged about five of the eight colors. I keep thinking I’m being inaccurate and to be so would be a big injustice to Jane’s collection of … fabulosity.

This particular color I dubbed raspberry merely for generic purposes, but I think it’s “…the color Puce which I remember mixing when oil painting as a child, …” I do hope I’ve got it correct.

Puce, while not a pretty sounding word, means flea in French. However, the color has a bit of an extended range. While technically a dark red, it can run the gamut from purple-red to gray-red. I think Jane got a good handle on it here as it’s a purple red. Frankly, when I saw it on me, I identified it as Alexandrite…an extremely rare stone that is far more precious and expensive than a diamond. While diamonds are a girl’s best friend, Alexandrite was once the birthstone for June babies (and named in honor of Tsar Alexander II of Russia) – before it was discovered to be an extremely rare stone. So rare it is now that when I last checked, it ran for over $11,000 a carat. Yea, try to one up that, diamonds! What makes Alexandrite so unique is that it has the ability to change colors in ambient lighting and…Ok, I digress…Sorry. Back to my regularly scheduled nail swatch review.

Again, color and application is flawless – two coats that dried quickly. No bubbles. Yay!

See why I am so enamored with StrangeBeautiful…

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Zoya – Nidhi and Gilda – Sparkle Collection, Summer 2010

Tuesday, 18 May, 2010

The last two I have to show. The sun washed out the colors, but some of the shade shots turned out decently. Nidhi’s incandescent lighting shot turned out beautifully.

See below. 🙂

Raspberry in color, it’s not a shade that looks good on me. I think the shade shot brought the good part of the polish out, but it wasn’t enough to convince me that I would like it enough to wear it on my nails during the summer.

See how gorgeous this color was until the sun hit it? Ugh. I’ll fix it, though. I look forward to wearing it a lot this summer.

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Orly Fall 2009 – Once Upon A Time

Monday, 8 February, 2010

8 February, 2010
10:17PM

Orly decided to drop a collection on us called Once Upon A Time, basing colors on fairy tale stories from either their lines or just a vague reference to all stories.

Overall I liked the collection…save for one color, which you will see.

I liked the formula on this – I had no problems or complaints…not even a tiny one!

As always, click to enlarge the thumbnails.

Now, off with her red…oops. That’s OPI’s Alice in Wonderland thang…wrong place to put it – sort of. 🙂

Enchanted Forest
Flash (Top), Sunlight (Middle), Comparison (Bottom)
The last one is a comparison from Orly’s Spring I Bloom Collection with Wandering Vine vs Enchanted Forest. Enchanted Forest is a bit darker, deeper while wandering vine really does remind me of ivy…not the poison kind. 😉
Happily Ever After
Shade (Top), Sunlight (Bottom)
Kind of a nice raspberry color with hints of shimmer and a glitter. Not too shabby, but not for me.
Mirror Mirror
Overcast (Top), Shade (Middle), Sunlight (Bottom)
This color wasn’t so bad on me…I was preparing to dislike it. People are loving and lapping up all the greys that’s carried over from fall into Spring. I’m not a fan of grey nail polish but eh…this one looked decent on me.
Pixie Dust
Shade (Top), Sunlight (Bottom)
Not quite cement grey, but almost a dove grey with some pretty sparkles thrown in for good measure. In some lights it looked almost periwinkle on me!
Poison Apple
Shade (Top), Sunlight (Bottom)
Jury’s out on this…it’s almost like a tomato/maraschino red. It’s well…kind of delicious! 🙂
Prince Charming
Shade (Top), Sunlight (Bottom)
Prince Charming failed…application was good, but that color. *barfs* They’d have been better off calling this Tree Bark Brown. Prince Charming was not charming…at all.
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china glaze nail polish swatches spring 2010 Up and Away Collection

China Glaze – Spring 2010 – Up and Away Collection

Thursday, 21 January, 2010

Couple of notes – the flash distorted some colors and I’ll let you know where. Also, it’s a big collection – 12 colors. So this post is pretty image heavy.

Despite the fact that I have an intense dislike for pastels, this collection for Spring 2010 that China Glaze has put out totally does it for me. I’d wear all the colors except Happy Go Lucky, High Hopes and Peachy Keen.

I’d have swatched this outdoors, but it was raining cats and dogs….and my impatience got the better of me. 😀

Last note: the formula was wonderful – only 2 coats were needed.

Light As Air
No Flash, With Flash
I loved this light lavender on me…it had a hint of grey that was more thanlikely brought out by my skin tone. But whatever the case may be, love this color.
Lemon Fizz
No Flash, With Flash
I never thought I’d like a pastel yellow, but the pictures make it look somewhat flattering on me…it’s not when you see it in person. It brought out the yellow undertones in my skin and it wasn’t pretty.
Something Sweet – No Flash, Flash
A light pink that is definitely very sweet!
Fe-Fresh Mint – Flash, No Flash
A very pretty minty green. I almost expected it to smell like mint, too! It didn’t. Very bright on me, but a fun color. I’d wear this.
Peachy Keen – No Flash, Flash
Funnily enough, it looks like a peachy orange on me.

Flyin’ High – Flash, No Flash
Not quite kickin’ green, but it reminded me of turquoise.
The flash distorted the color in the bottle and on me. It’s actually a great color…and I’ll be wearing it!
Four Leaf Clover – Flash, No Flash
This color was so difficult to capture. To be honest, I was a bit thrown off because they look almost completely different. Maybe it’s me, but this color is one you have to see in person – absofreakingly gorgeous. Flash distortion played a big part in this, but … WOW do I love this color! Maybe I can start to finally stray from dark/black nail polish…
Happy Go Lucky – Flash, No Flash
Yellow. Yikes. I was tempted to paint smiley faces when I put this on.
Heli-Yum – Flash, No Flash
This is just like seeing an electric raspberry on my nails – completely enjoyable!
High Hopes – Flash, No Flash
I was baffled with this color. I ended up scratching  my head a few times, too. I took the pictures then thought I hadn’t cleared off the memory card because there was some strange orange/pink swatch, then an orange swatch where the no flash ones had been taken. It finally sunk in that the color changed a bit (more like a lot) in the flash. I don’t know what to say – you be the judge.
Sugar High – No Flash, Flash
Yowzers. The flash made this color even more bright than I thought possible!
Grape Pop – Flash, No Flash
I really like this purple. I was wanting a gorgeous royal purple creme without any shimmer or glitter. It was totally nailed here – love it <———— this much ————–> ! Thanks, China Glaze.
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