Orly Fall Collection - Once Upon A Time?

I just got an email with this picture:


Of the Orly Once Upon A Time collection!

Happily Ever After, looks like a berry-red creme
Pixie Dust, looks like a grey creem
Enchanted Forest, looks like THE BEST GREEN CREME EVER
Mirror Mirror, Possibly a lighter grey creme?
Poison Apple, red creme
Prince Charming, chocolate creme, could be a slight shimmer, can't tell from the pics


ENCHANTED FOREST OMG!!!!!

Will post more when I have more info. Happy Friday!

Essie Matte About You Matte Finisher

Here's Essie's contribution to this year's matte polish trend- a versatile, quick-drying matte topcoat!

Since it's an Essie topcoat, I thought it best to try it out on some of my favorite Essie polishes to see how they look matte.

My camera battery was dying, so a couple of these are sorta blurry, but you can still see how nice and matte this topcoat is:

Index to pinkie: Essie Sexy Divide, Essie Decadent Diva, Essie National Velvet, Essie Over The Top. No topcoat, just wet polish.

With one coat of Matte About You Matte Finisher.

This stuff is awesome. It dries very fast. I applied it on wet polish like I'd do with a quick-dry topcoat and it set them almost instantly. They were still dentable after five minutes, but it's been about twenty minutes now and they seem totally dry.

An advantage to this matte topcoat is that it's long-lasting. The information I got directly from Essie states that this fast-drying matte topcoat is just as long lasting as any Essie treatment or topcoat. Essie also says that wearing hand lotion is fine with this product- you can apply as much hand lotion as you want without it interfering with the product.

I can't report on wear yet as I've only had this for about a half an hour, but I'll be sure to follow up when I've had more experience with it. So far, so good.

And, if I'm gonna do matte Essie, I might as well go all the way:

That's pretty hardcore. I get butterflies in my stomach when I look at that. I didn't think Starry Starry Night could get any better, but I've proven myself wrong once again.

Essie's Matte About You Matte Finisher matte topcoat is available starting in August and will retail for $10.

Scrangie by Rescue Beauty Lounge

The day is finally here! Today I get to reveal the color of the color I designed for Rescue Beauty Lounge!!

Here she is, Scrangie by Rescue Beauty Lounge. Please view the pictures full size!




Blurred to show the shimmer:

Flash:


Shade:
Isn't it beautiful?! It's a medium blue-based purple with green iridescence and green microshimmer. It's a combination of my two favorite polish colors, purple and green. The green iridescence in this is mesmerizing. It sits on top of the polish like fairy dust, and it lights up to a bright, glowing green in the sunlight. It has a near-duochrome effect, and when I wear it I can't stop staring at it.

This polish has been almost a year in the making and it's been worth the wait. My original vision was to have a polish that mimics the color of a beetle's wing with a base of bold violet, something to capture the green and multichromatic iridescence of beetle shell or butterfly wing while sitting on a vivid purple flower. I made change after change after change, I'm very impressed with Ji Baek's patience and understanding! I was very picky with this polish, even making changes to it up to the very last minute! Ji has been so understanding and accomodating through this entire process and all my pickiness, I really have to thank her for all she's done. She's made my dream come true! So, Ji, if you're reading this, thank you for everything!

I am very happy with how it turned out. Sure, it's not the Scrangie version of Clarins 230 that I dream about every night (hahaha! Someday!) but it is MY polish, my dream, my fantasy... And drop dead gorgeous, to boot :) You won't find a color like this on any salon's shelves!

Scrangie by Rescue Beauty Lounge is part of Rescue Beauty Lounge's fall collection of limited edition blogger-designed polishes. The other polishes were designed by Stephanie of Polish Addict and Michelle of All Lacquered Up. These will be available soon on Rescue Beauty's website, and I'll be sure to keep you posted on availability!

This collection also includes a MATTE TOPCOAT!!! I think matte topcoats are the way to go since you can transform ANY polish into a matte with one. I can't wait to show you Matte Scrangie!

After the other lovely bloggers reveal their creations, I'll have swatches of all three. I just know they're going to be awesome. Bloggers have good taste! ;-)

OPI Fall 2009 Mattes

OPI has jumped on the Matte-finish bandwagon and that makes this matte-fiend very happy!

Pics first, opinions second.

Alpine Snow - Matte. Stark matte white. Yep, this is the Alpine Snow I remember, just with all the shine removed. I prefer this over the KO Powder white for two reasons. First, this is brighter, whiter, cleaner while the KO is somewhat yellowed looking. Second, this is more opaque, two coats is perfect but the KO took three at the very least.

Gargantuan Green Grape - Matte. Bright spring green. Same as Gargantuan Green Grape, only matte! Now that I'm looking at these pictures on a different monitor, the color doesn't look right. It's a lot greener with some yellow and a lot more saturated. These pictures make it look like a pale mint green- it's not. Or maybe it's just my laptop screen skewing the color. I'm sure you already have Gargantuan Green Grape so you know what it looks like.



La Paz-itively Hot - Matte. Hot pink matte shimmer. WOW. Just... wow. This is a must-have if you like mattes. It looks like hot pink satin. 80's prom dress? It has that same velvet-looking finish that Zoya Posh has. This is just absolutely fantastic. And La-Pazitively Hot will always have a special place in my heart, it was the first OPI polish I ever bought for myself. Although, the matte version seems different from the original. I will find my old bottle to compare.

Lincoln Park After Dark - Matte. I'm not sure about this one. I don't feel that it translated well into matte finish. The original Lincoln Park After Dark has a hidden shimmer to it- it looks like a creme, but in bright light or up close you can see the little particles. This just looks like prunes. Almost black with a little purple. Prunes, or licorice! Maybe I just need to let this one grow on me, because I liked the original. They should have done Midnight in Moscow or Black Cherry Chutney or some other shimmery red-black matte.


Russian Navy - Matte. This one was a total shocker for me! Based on the pictures, it's the one I expected to like the least, but when I tried it on, it was my favorite! I love the matte Navy shade, it reminds me of blue uniforms. Sexy policeman polish. This would look so awesome with a gold or silver chrome Konad star. I really, really love this. What's odd though is that the original Russian Navy is a shimmer and this is a creme. I would have liked to see it stay shimmery cause matte shimmers rock, but I am happy with this the way it is.


You Don't Know Jacques - Matte. This one is... interesting. I like it but it is very unusual. It looks like dried mud! That's pretty cool. This does look a little better in real life, but it's still a strange choice for OPI to convert to matte. In certain lights, the matte finish on this makes it look more grey so that it resembles stones rather than mud.


The formula on these was great for mattes. Not glue-like and sticky! It was thin, but very opaque. All of these had great opacity, only two coats were needed. Near-instantaneous dry time, so be sure to apply these quickly and evenly! Please refer to my Zoya Matte Velvet post for matte application instructions. There is a trick to applying mattes. They are very unforgiving and fast drying, so you really have to be careful to get it right the first time.

I have been wearing these since yesterday and I can report a little on the wear. They don't stay matte for very long. About six hours into wearing them, they developed a more satin semi-matte finish. Not yet shiny, but not chalky matte either. You could see the matte finish starting to wear off. Today they're about the same, half-matte. No shine yet, but they lost the nice chalky-looking super matte finish. I did apply these with a basecoat- Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. So far there is no chipping, cracking or tipwear. And I have applied hand lotion, but the shine that is added from the hand lotion is easily removed when you wash your hands.

I don't really know why the say not to use a basecoat. With these shades in particular, I would definitely recommend using them. In my matte experience, they don't tend to stain, but I would err on the side of caution if staining bothers you. I wear the basecoat because I like to always have treatment on my nails.

If you are applying basecoat, be sure that it is FULLY dry before applying the matte polish. If it isn't dry, the mate polish will crackle, just like those old Cover Girl Crackle polishes. Cool effect, but not exactly what you want to have happen.

Anyway, my thoughts. While I am super super excited that OPI did mattes and that we are seeing more mattes in general, I am somewhat disappointed in the shade selection. I already have these six polishes and if I wanted to make them matte, I could have used a matte topcoat. You can see where this would be frustrating, right? I would have loved to see six NEW shades, mattes unique to OPI. They have the ability to do great things with polish, we've seen them do great colors for years, they're just playing it extremely safe lately. Maybe it's the economy or maybe we can blame it on the boring consumer who only wants to by the most 'popular' best-selling shades instead of trying something new and exciting.

I'm going to see if I can find my original bottles of these colors and see how they compare with a coat of matte topcoat.

Also, once ALL the new mattes are in my hands (Orly and Nubar are next) I'll be doing a comparison with all the mattes I have. So stay tuned for that if you're curious.

Overall, I'm happy about these. The promo pictures were also deceiving, and I am absolutely shocked at how much I love Russian Navy Matte. It always seems to happen that way- I pick favorites and least favorites based on the promo pictures and advertisements and then I end up liking the exact opposite.

OPI Fall 2009 Coleccion de España

OPI's polishes for fall 2009 are another destination-themed collection. This time it's based on the colors of Spain.


Ate Berries In The Canaries. Bright berry pink. Really pretty and surprisingly bright for a fall collection! It's a gorgeous bright pink-purple creme. The sunlight picture pulls out more of the warm tones in the polish while the indoor picture brings out the cool tones. It's in between the two. More pink than purple, a little bit similar to OPI I'm India Mood For Love. Same type of color.


Barefoot In Barcelona. Soft pinkish nude. Another spin on Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge? This one is very putty-like. Odd color. I can't decide if I like it or not. In some lights it seems more brown, in others more pink. It's unusual, but we're seeing more of these colors lately, so I guess it's not as unusual now...


Bullish On OPI. Red-orange creme. This is more orange than red, maybe what I would consider 'brick'. This one feels more like fall to me. I don't get the name... maybe it's a play on words? The only thing I think of when I read "Bullish" is "Bullshit" but I don't think that's what they meant. Intentional or not, I got a laugh out of it!

Can You Tapas This? Red-brown creme. Like chocolate and red wine! Or maybe mole. Not the animal, the sauce. I really like this one, this one is also more of a fall shade.



Conquistadorable Color. Raspberry creme. Not really very interesting, I feel like I've seen this color a million times. It's bright, it's smooth, it's candy-like. Next!


Give Me Moor! Vampy eggplant shimmer. This is really very dark, almost black. Black cherry... Eggplant... A dark, vampy shade with a reddish-purple tinge. It also has barely noticeable shimmer. Applying this is strange- it's a sheer base with a lot of little dark speckles!


Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow. Very dark green with slight shimmer. WOOHOO!!! A real green! OPI did a green, I knew they had it in them! This is just a bit darker than I had hoped, but at least it's green. It does look almost black in most lights. It has a small amount of shimmer like Give Me Moor! but it looks like a speckled creme most of the time.


Manicurist Of Seville. Berry red creme. Nothing wrong with the color at all, but don't we have enough berry-colored cremes already? I'm getting a little sick of them, to tell you the truth... Moving on...

No Spain, No Gain. Red-purple creme. Wow, almost all cremes. I'm surprised! Anyway, this is mostly purple to my eye, but it's a very red based one. So red based, in fact, that it's also veering dangerously close to berry territory.

Pamplona Purple. Purple creme. This is gorgeous!! Absolutely gorgeous! Like I've said before, I can never get enough purple cremes and this one is especially nice. My picture makes it look way more blue than it actually looks in real life. It's not a Can You Dig It? dupe, I'd call it closer to that one from the France collection, the name escapes me at the moment...


Pink Flamenco. Hot blue-toned pink. Another love! And another odd choice for fall. Seriously, brights for fall? Has OPI been drinking too much Sangria? Well, I'm not usually happy about pinks, but I love this one. It's the only type of pink that looks good on me. It's only a couple shades off from Ate Berries In The Canaries, but this is more purple and that one is more pink. Same kind of I'm India Mood For Love cool pink shade.

Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees. Smoky dark blue shimmer. Very strange shade. It looks smoky. Crazy smoky blue. I really don't have many shades like this, this is definitely unique in my collection. The closest comparable colors I can think of are Orgasm Hard Day's Night and Carolyn New York Frankie Joins The Navy, but neither are dupes. So a smoky blue-grey base with barely perceptible shimmer, a lot like the other hidden shimmer shades in this collection.


The formula on these was top notch. Thin, smooth, flawless, super-fast drying, pretty much perfect. No complaints on the formula. Well... maybe... not really a complaint, but an observation... These are thinner than the previous collections. Not a bad thing, but unexpected. The pro-wide brushes in these have also undergone another change. They don't seem as wide and moppy, more flat and square this time. And a cool detail- the brush stem now says OPI! Very cool! One more observation, the labels on these have black text. Did I get a weird batch? Let me know if yours have black text or the traditional three-free indicating green text.

This was an odd collection. The promo pictures were pretty misleading. From the promo pictures I saw, I was salivating at all the pretty purples and vampy shades. I didn't expect these shades at all! And brights for fall?? I'm not complaining, I love brights, but OPI is usually so traditional when they do seasonal collections, I was surprised to see that these weren't all vampy fall shades.

I would have liked to see fewer berry and red shades and more browns or golds or other fall colors. I am craving fall colors right now, so brights aren't doing it for me. I was happy that the two pinks included were my favorite kind. This means I can actually wear them, unlike the unflattering warm pinks they seem to release every 15 minutes.

Overall, unexpected but not bad. I would wear at least half of these shades. This was a frustrating collection to photograph because berries and purples always do weird things to my camera. I'm a little disappointed at all the cremes and berry shades. I was hoping for another Black Cherry Chutney-type vampy fall shimmer collection. But from the looks of it, this will be a creme-filled fall. Haha, that sounds funny.

Official release date for OPI's Spain Collection (La Coleccion De España) is August 5th.

What do you think? Are you as surprised as I am?

More nail polish shades from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics!

If you recall, in my last post about Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, I raved and raved about how awesome the polishes are.

I hadn't tried all the colors when I wrote that post, but now I have gotten to try almost all of them (minus White Noise/Feathered, Inky and Cesare/Tarred.) and my opinion remains the same: These polishes rock. Let's get to the pics.


Pageant, formerly known as Anime. A medium neon pink. As with all neons, this picture can not possible capture the eye-melting glow of neon pigment. So imagine this color, but glowier, brighter, more awesome in real life. This is in the medium to dark neon pink range. While I adore the color, this polish was extremely sheer. I believe this picture was five coats and there's still a little visible nail line.


Bone Daddy. Sheer antique white shimmer. This one is fairly unique among the whites in my collection. It's not a stark, bright white by any means. It's a slightly yellowed, antique-looking off-white with a hint of shimmer. The name is quite appropriate, it reminds me of bone. This one is also pretty sheer, but I think it's meant to be worn that way. I'm not fond of sheers so I did four coats of this to make it opaque. There's still a little visible nail line. This would probably make a very natural looking french manicure tip or base.

NSFW, formerly known as Lucretia. Bright, rich, bold red creme. Another 'LOOK AT ME!!!!" dramatic red. This one seems slightly orange-based to me. Very bright, very noticeable. I liked the name Lucretia because it reminded me of Lucrecia from Final Fantasy VII. But, NSFW is also a great name, so I can't complain.


Rhythm Box. Saturated yet soft red-purple creme. This is a fascinating color. I don't own very many shades that can compare to this. It's not a neon purple like Essie Bermuda Shorts like I originally thought it would be. It turns out is a very unique shade of soft mauve-red-purple. This picture shows it a little more bright and pink than it looks to me in real life.


Spanglemaker. Metallic silver flake. I would almost call this a foil, except it doesn't seem to have the same sparkle that foils generally tend to have. If it makes any sense, I'd want to call this a matte silver metallic. It's silver and kinda-sorta reflective, but it has this matte metal quality to it that prevents it from being too shiny or sparkly. It's not a matte, but it's not chrome either. It's industrial silver. It looks like machine metal.


Uber. Drab taupe creme. I used the manufacturer's description - drab taupe- because I think it's perfect. It's a taupe, tan, light brown... Actually, it could also be described as Chocolate Milk colored. Either way, it's awesome. Unusual. Interesting. I know, drab taupe doesn't sound like an interesting shade, probably quite the opposite. But there just aren't a whole lot of polishes this shade and that's what makes it so interesting to me. Odd is good. And, of course, I love the name.

The formula on these was decent for the most part. All were smooth and even, though I did have a little trouble with Bonedaddy. These seem to be more sheer than the previous shades I tried which were opaque in two coats. In order of sheerness, I'd say Anime/Pageant is the sheerest (five coats), then Bonedaddy (four), Lucretia (three), Spanglemaker (three also) with the most opaque polishes being Uber and Rhythm Box at two coats. Drying time was very good, the more opaque ones dried the fastest.

Now, as I mentioned above, a few of these have changed names. The reason for that is so that they could be the same name as their matching Lip Tar shades. Yes, you can get matching lip and nail color from this brand! I have not yet tried the Lip Tars, though I hear rave reviews from other beauty bloggers. Personally, I'm dying to get my hands on some of the non-traditional shades like Safety Orange, Traffic, Katricia, Rx and Tarred...

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Nail Lacquer is three-free, vegan and not tested on animals. All fifteen polish shades are available directly from OCCMakeup.com and retail for $8.00.

Happy Independence Day!

I was playing around with some of my Art Club striper polishes and did these two designs really quick:

Stars

Stripes

Lippmann Holiday , Art Club Blue Glitter, Art Club Silver Hologram, the silver stars from Love My Nails Glort, INM Out The Door Northern Lights Gold and Orly Prisma Gloss Silver.

I know, they're a little sloppy and uneven, I was just playing around a bit, but I think they turned out pretty cute! I might actually leave this on as my final Fourth of July mani. It's so sparkly, like little fireworks on my nails!

If I don't get a chance to post again, I wish you all a happy and safe fourth of July / Independence Day!

Preview: Misa Fall/Winter 2009 Only Human Collection

Fabulous, Flawed, Feminine, “I’m Only Human”

July 2009 – Philadelphia, PA. Knock me down, I’ll pick myself up. Ask me about my alluring, bedroom eyes, I’ll coyly wink but won’t give away my secret. Spoil me, today is my birthday—I deserve it! I am fabulous, flawed but most of all, intoxicatingly feminine—forgive me for I’m Only Human.

Introducing “I’m Only Human,” the new sexy and vibrant nail collection for Fall/Winter by Misa Cosmetics. This collection celebrates the power and ambition of women who recognize and embrace their own humanity. It offers a rich palette of colors that signify key elements of being human.

Fall/Winter 2009: I’m Only Human Collection
Can’t Nobody Take Me Down: For centuries women have been praised for their mighty resolve in the face of adversity. Today’s modern woman can exude this same level of confidence and power by wearing this inspiring, brick brown colored hue designed to spice up any look year round.

Forgive, Forget, For Me I Will: Versatility, honesty and authenticity, describe the meaning behind this vibrant red-orange shade. Women possess the ability to relate to others in an honest, real way. This color celebrates the humanity and femininity of women.

That’s My Little Secret: A crush no one knows about, the black dress that accentuates just the right curves, a beauty product that seemingly produces magic results. Women love the thought of keeping those little treasures to themselves—however that last little secret? Apply this salacious cherry shade to accent your favorite little dress and your secret just might escape you!

Sorry, Just Can’t Help It: Okay, we admit it. There are certain things in life we just can’t help. Our chocolate addiction, our love of gossip, our fascination with window shopping. This rich violet purple color signifies those things which women love to apologize for.

Today is my Birthday!: Presents, party time and pizzazz! We may not like turning another year older but we love the attention…even when we say we don’t. Today is my Birthday. Cue the gorgeous pink hue and the celebration!

I’m Going to Love Myself: Brilliantly magenta, this color creates a luster that puts the world on notice, that as women we may devote much of our time to work, family and friends, but above all we are committed to loving ourselves for the fabulous, flawed, and ferociously feminine beings that we are—for after all, We Are Only Human.

Release date is August 1st!

A little bit of everything! Hard Candy, Revlon and some MAC

Last night I asked on Twitter what you'd like to see me post today- nail polish, makeup or fake nails. The overwhelming response was nail polish, but my buddy Mazoo had a fantastic idea- post an awesome discontinued color, like a Hard Candy!

Hard Candy Hick. This is long gone, so don't even ask me where to find it because I have NO idea. Anyway, this is one of my favorites. It's a sky blue shimmer base with lots of silvery glitter and a slight pink sheen. It is on the sheer and thin side, but it's SO worth it. Old formula polish filled with chemical goodness. I miss the Big Three.

Why don't people make colors like this anymore?! And furthermore, why did Hard Candy stop making all their AWESOME colors and start making crap colors (and then just discontinue everything)?? They went from having the best, most unique and unusual shades in the universe to making nothing but four crappy sheer pastels. Yeah, Hard Candy... pastel pink shimmer is REALLY edgy... *insert eye-roll here*


Let's move on to a little makeup...


I did this last year and I don't think I ever posted it. I don't remember exactly what I used... Definitely MAC, but I can't remember which shades! Lucky Green and Purple Shower perhaps? My hair looks really black here, but it was purple when I took these pictures. It always looks black the first week.

And, for the fake nails...

Here's a little preview of one of the Revlon Runway Collection nails I got to try. I love this style! I want to do a full review of it, so it will be a mystery until then!


That was fun and refreshing. Maybe I should do this more often!

Independence Day Mani Idea: Orly Star Spangled

This is Orly's Star Spangled. A red jelly-like base with tons of sparkling red glitter. It's from the Orly Stars and Stripes collection, which is not really a "new" collection, but a set of three polishes, two are repromotes (Star of Bombay and White Out) and one is new (Star Spangled).

Even though I bought this polish just for the name, I still love the color. I can never resist a red glitter. There's just something about red glitters that makes me excited. They're so rich and sparkly, I can't take my eyes off of them.

I haven't decided exactly what my 4th of July manicure will be yet, but this might be part of a cool, festive fireworks manicure.

On a totally unrelated note, I thought I should let you know that I am still *way* behind on everything- posting reviews, responding to emails and comments and completing requests. I am absolutely buried in requests and I'm starting to feel like I'll never be able to finish. I know that lots of you are waiting for me to post your requests, and I apologize. Lately my schedule just hasn't allowed me to complete them. And if you've sent me an email that I haven't responded to, I'm not ignoring you! I promise! There's just a lot going on for me right now. I'm sure you can relate to that. Thank you for your support, I really do appreciate every one of you!

And on a happier note, I hope to have the rest of the Obsessive Compulsive polish line posted this week, and some polishes that have travelled halfway around the world to reach me, including Illamasqua, Barry M and Bloom!

Celebrate: The Lippmann Collection 10th Anniversary Set

I did a sneak preview of this set a while ago, and now it's finally here! It appears to be a Nordstrom exclusive set, but I didn't know that when I first posted. Though, a lot of times "Nordstrom Exclusive" means Nordstrom has it first for a little while (remember the Nordstrom Exclusive Essies?)

Superstar. Golden copper glitter in a brown jelly base. This is my picture of the original-release Superstar. The new one is exactly the same, so I saved time on swatching. This is unique in more ways than one- I've never seen a glitter shade like this one, and also, this polish has square glitter instead of round. It's totally awesome, it was really cool of Lippmann to bring this one back because everyone asked for it!


Ruby Red Slippers. Black creme base with two sizes of ruby red glitter. I adore this. This is one awesome polish. I wore it all weekend and everyone commented on how cool it was! The combination of the large, hexagonal shaped glitter and the small round glitter gives this polish a serious punch. It's flashy and sexy and glamorous all at the same time. It's like China Glaze Lubu Heels but a million times better. The glitter in this polish is very obvious. It looks like little ruby gems on your nails.



Funky Chunky. Black with large black glitter. You guys know I am a Lippmann lover, but this polish makes me sad. I have to be honest with you; This is the polish I was looking forward to most from this set, but it's the one I like the least. I hate to say it because it was such a cool concept, but this polish just doesn't work. It's very difficult to apply evenly because of the thickness of the polish. You can't really see the glitter in this unless you hold your hand up close to your face. This polish just looks chunky and bad. It looks like you don't know how to apply polish, or maybe like you punched a beehive with wet nails. I wanted this one to work so bad... And in my opinion, it would have worked if the black base was sheer and let the glitter particles show through. This black is very opaque (think Lippmann Fade To Black) and the glitter particles all clump together and look chunky and weird. Lumpy. Looks like sludge, but not in a good way. Very sad. (This picture is with two coats of Nubar Diamont topcoat)

I'm going to try adding a lot of thinner or clear polish to my Funky Chunky to see if I can make the base a little more sheer so that the glitter looks like glitter and not like chunky polish.

The formula on these seems average for a glitter polish. Funky Chunky was the thickest and hardest to work with, but Superstar and Ruby Red Slippers seemed thin and even. Opacity on these is really good. They're opaque and dense in two coats. The only downside to this gorgeous glitter polish is that it's insanely hard to remove. I used my jar that I use for removing fake nails, and it couldn't get the glitter off. Felt worked okay but it made a mess. I resorted to extremely wet cotton balls and that got the glitter off with minimal headache.

Overall, I think the set is still worth getting for Ruby Red Slippers alone, and if you don't have Superstar then it's definitely worth having.

All I can do is keep on telling you- I want you, I need you... But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you, Funky Chunky... No don't be sad... Cause two out of three ain't bad...

Lippmann Collection Celebrate is available at Nordstrom.com, but I have a feeling it might show up on Lippmann's website eventually.

Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict 31120 Black French Manicure Nails

The black-tipped french manicure seems to be extremely popular these days. I can deal with that. Personally, I like the look and I have worn it in the past. French manicures can be tricky to do yourself, so if you need a little help, Fing'rs EDGE has something you might like.



These are the Fing'rs EDGE black french manicure artificial/press-on/glue-on nails. The style number is 31120. It includes 24 short-length (and they do mean short!) nails, a small tube of nail glue and a sheet of stick-on tabs.

Application of these is the same as with any press-on nail, and you can read about the application process in more detail in these posts I've done about them:

Revlon Color Allure Vintage Velvet
Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict Pink Houndstooth French
Revlon Runway Collection Stella

Anyway, here's what they look like on me:




As you can see, these nails are extremely short. This is an uncomfortable length for me as I had to file my nails down as far as they could go to apply these. If they were just a few millimeters longer, they would be much more suitable for me. However, I know that a lot of people prefer very short nails and don't have the same problem as I do. As always, with any product, your mileage may vary. These were too short for me, but might be the perfect length for someone else.

The design itself is great. It's a flawless black french tip that's perfectly even across all five fingers. The line is not too thick and it looks nice and neat. I would be hard pressed to do a black french this good on my own.

The base color of the nails is a semi-opaque milky nude pink. It's not a perfect match with my natural skintone, but it does mimic the look of a lot of salon french nails that I see on people. I think I prefer a more clear look on the nail bed, but these are especially good at covering damage or stains because they're not too sheer.

One thing I really like about the Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict line of artificial nails is that they all come with a sheet of adhesive tabs with enough tabs to do at least three full manicures. A lot of people wear these type of nails for a temporary look, and using the adhesive tabs instead of the glue makes these not only temporary, but also reusable. Alternately, I can see these being a first fake nail experiment or a dress-up type product for a very young girl and the adhesive tabs would be safer to use than the nail glue, but also allows the nails to be removed with hot water instead of soaking off in acetone.

The other thing I love about Fing'rs EDGE is that they have the best designs. I'm not the type of girl who wants a traditional french manicure or who wants frilly-frou-frou pretty pink princess nails... Fing'rs EDGE acknowledges that another type of girl exists (FINALLY!!) and provides products and designs that fit my personal style. I honestly love every single Fing'rs EDGE product I've ever tried. Repeating themes within the line seem to be skulls, stars and 'Rock Star' designs and that makes me very happy.

These nails are available at pretty much every drugstore I've ever been to, and I've never seen them for more than $6.

More from Diamond Cosmetics (with foils!)

Another post I have been meaning to do for quite some time... I find myself saying this a lot lately, but better late than never!



182 Metallic Blue. Bold blue shimmer. I don't know if I'd call this as metallic as much as I'd call it a frost- it is kind of frosty but not in the unflattering, brushstroke showing way. The color is bold and bright, sort of a medium blue shade that reminds me a bit of Essie Aruba Blue.

192 Hi-Ho Silver. Purple silver grey shimmer. This is a weak duochrome effect color, the duochrome is definitely there but it isn't dramatic or visible in all lighting. Just a nice, subtle change at different angles. Makes it interesting to look at. This is a little frosty as well, but not bad frosty, though brushstrokes are slightly visible when the polish is dry.


231 Party Hearty. Champagne foil. This is a really cool color. It's a champagne type color, not quite silver but not really gold either. Maybe white gold. Pale neutral. Party Hearty has a metallic foil finish that sparkles like it's on fire when it's outside. It gleams and glints, it shimmers and sparkles... It's super reflective and completely distracting.
232 Sparkling Sherry. Dark pink foil. This is a must have. I don't even like pink and I love this. It is too beautiful for words. The closest thing I can compare it to is Hard Candy Scam. It's the same type of foil metallic finish, but this one seems much more sparkly. This thing is insane.


235 Decadence. Chocolate metallic foil. Noticing a trend here? Diamond Cosmetics does foils extremely well. They are rich and flashy and sparkle like crazy. This particular shade is a rich chocolate brown with hints of gold. I have a feeling I'll be wearing this a lot when the leaves start changing colors.

256 Seafoam Spray. Light seafoam green pearl. The color of Seafoam Spray is so pale and beautiful, it makes me feel relaxed looking at it. It's tranquil. Not the best color with my skin tone, but that won't stop me from wearing it. On top of the soft seafoam green base, there's an overlay of white pearl finish. It looks like the white is floating on top of the grean, and it looks smooth and pearly. So dreamy.

295 Hue Are You? Warm golden burgundy foil. Hey, look! Another foil! This one is different from the other ones, it's mostly a dark red burgundy base with gold flakes making the foil finish. The other foils seem like silver flakes with a colored sheer base that lets the silver shine through while adding tint. This shade screams fall to me. I love it.


302 Dirty and Flirty. Metallic taupe shimmer. The name of this one cracks me up. Taupe doesn't really scream dirty or flirty to me, but hey, maybe it does to someone! Anyway, beautiful smooth metallic pearl shimmer, borderline frosty. Nice soft color. Lots of sparkle.


The formula on these was perfect. I had no application problems. The brushes were consistent and the texture of the polish was smooth and even. I applied all of these using the Diamond Cosmetics Base Coat and Quick Dry Topcoat. The basecoat provides an even yet sticky surface perfect for the polish to adhere to and the topcoat is smooth and glassy and is comparable to any good quick-dry on the market.

Since their online color chart is nameless and sort of nondescript as far as swatches go, you'll have to go by the numbers when ordering.

Diamond Cosmetics polishes retail for $2 each (excluding the neons, which are $2.50) and as far as I'm aware, can only be purchased from their website. Shipping is a flat rate of $4.95 for ten bottles or less, orders of more than ten bottles are charged exact shipping.

I still have more Diamond Cosmetics swatches to come :)

Zoya Truth and Dare Fall 2009 Collection plus my first ever giveaway!

I know, I really dropped the ball on these. I should have had them posted ages ago. I had a really off week. It happens to everyone once in a while. Well, here they are now, better late than never, and to make up for it I have a special surprise at the end!

TRUTH

Anaka. Shimmery dark pink. This color is ridiculously pretty. I don't even like pink and I love this. It's on the darker side as far as pinks go, but it has so much depth and shimmer that I can't stop looking at it. It has little golden and slightly iridescent flecks and also a very faint blue reflection. Unusual choice for fall, but I'm not complaining.

Drew. Soft mauve pink shimmer. This one feels a little more fall-like! It's a greyed-out medium pink, I'm calling it mauve. We used to have carpet this color in the 80's. You may think that's a bad thing, but it's the opposite- I like it because it reminds me of those happy memories.

Isla. Blackened red shimmer. Whoa. When I first saw the promo pics and color chips for this, I was thinking... Oh joy, another red shimmer. But wow! I didn't expect it to be this hot. It's one of those reds that looks black on the edges and bright in the middle. I love colors like that. Surprise favorite for me.

Kalmia. Red and gold shimmer. I don't know if I can truly call this copper, but it's sort of coppery looking. Very metallic. Not quite rose gold, not really copper... It's more of a red-gold fusion. Unlike most metallic shades, this one doesn't show brushstrokes.

Penny. Golden metallic shimmer. Since this is called Penny, I feel like I should be calling it copper, but it looks more gold to me. A warm, orangey gold. It's bright and shiny, also very metallic and it shows a little bit of brushstroke but nothing major.

Salma. Red shimmer. This is a loght warm red, almost kind of orange looking. This is probably the most fall-like shade for me, it reminds me of maple leaves changing colors and gently floating to the ground.

DARE

Ciara. Warm red-purple creme. This is a bit softer and more purple in real life. All of these Dare colors were so hard to capture! Reddish purple creme. Pretty straightforward.

Demi. Medium purple creme. I love this!! This color also looks different in real life. It's a fantastic purple creme, but it's a little more dusty looking and it's a lot richer and deeper. Photographing these was more difficult than I anticipated!


Envy. Blackened green creme. Wow. Seriously. Wow. Deep, dark, leafy green. Like the forest at night. Beautiful. It has a slight amount of shimmer that is really only barely visible in very bright light. I'm declaring it a creme for sanity's sake. It also has this interesting textured look- like there's a bunch of little green spheres in a green base.


Ibiza. Shimmering midnight blue. Dark, velvety, mysterious. This is a very dark blue, not quite black-looking but pretty much as dark as blue can be before it looks black. It has a little bit of soft shimmer to keep it interesting.

Pinta. Dark purple creme. This picture isn't even remotely color accurate. I couldn't capture the purple color of this polish at all. I'm only posting it here so the set of pictures can be complete. In real life, this isn't blue. It's purple. Deep, dark, sexy purple. It is gorgeous. You might just have to see it for yourself because I don't know if I'll be able to keep it from turning blue in pictures.

Vanessa. Deep berry creme. This is darker in real life. This is a straight up, no-frills berry creme. Not much else to say about it! Reminds me of Moxie.


I didn't expect Dare to be such a challenge to photograph! All of the colors kept changing on me! If I can get better pictures, I will. But, at least between my bottle and swatch Dare pictures you can get a general idea of what they look like.


Anyway. Formula was good on these. Very good. Smooth, even-textured, not thick or runny. They didn't give me any application problems at all. The opacity was great, almost all of them were two-coaters, but I did three on everything just to see how they looked that way. The polish itself is perfect. The only thing that gave me a hard time were the brushes- all of the brushes in these seem to be cut at an angle... almost in a V shape... I'm thinking they got a bad batch of brushes, because I've never had problems with Zoya brushes before. They normally fit my nails like a glove and give me perfect coverage, but these made me have to actually pay attention to how I used them.


My favorites from these collections are Anaka, Isla, Demi, Envy and Pinta. Anaka and Isla really surprised me, they were totally unexpected but entirely gorgeous on the nails. Demi and Pinta are perfect purple cremes, and there are not enough good purple cremes in the universe. Envy... do I really have to say anything about Envy? It's dark green. It's fan-freakin'-tastic!!!

So, now for the surprise!

These polishes aren't available until July 15th, but Zoya and I are giving you a chance to get your hands on them before they're released! You'll be the only one besides the media to have them!

I have a full set of Truth and Dare polishes up for grabs. That's the entire fall collection, all twelve polishes. Starting from right now until noon Central on Friday, you can enter your name and email for a chance to win both sets before they're released. I'm leaving this open for everyone, both US and International.



The winner will be drawn at random. Good luck!! :D

Scrangie by Rescue Beauty Lounge!

The cat's out of the bag!  :)  It is true!  I've been collaborating with Rescue Beauty Lounge to create my very own color!  And it's not what you might think...

It's been almost a year in the making and it still needs the finishing touches, but I am SUPER excited about it!  You have no idea how hard it was to keep this a secret for so long!

My color, named Scrangie, will round out a trio of blogger-created shades available from Rescue Beauty Lounge.  You'll also be seeing a polish created by Stephanie of Polish Addict and Michelle of All Lacquered Up!

I'm not going to ruin the whole surprise just yet, so you'll have to stay tuned to see what color mine will be :)  

China Glaze Fall 2009 Retro Diva Collection

China Glaze's fall collection this year is all about retro, hippie, frosty, bohemian type shades loaded with shimmer.


Cords. Metallic warm grey shimmer. This one reminds me a lot of China Glaze Stone Age and also perhaps Beatnik. I call this a warm grey because it seems to pull out the warm tones in my skin.

Cruisin'. Sheer golden orange shimmer. This one gave me problems. Four coats. This is sort of an orangey, coppery golden frosty shimmer. The shimmer in it is very fine. This color is quite sheer and watery.

Drive-In. Red shimmer. I really like the shimmer in these, it looks like little pearls. This is a red shimmer, it seems to be on the cool side... Not much else to say about this one!

Far Out. Warm golden tan mauve shimmer. This is an odd color. It's mauve, but it's also brown, but it has strong gold shimmer. It reminds me of something from last year's Rodeo Diva, but I can't remember what.


Free Love. Bold orange shimmer. Ooh, I love it! It's a bright, punchy, fiery orange with gold shimmer. A lot of the colors in this collection have that 'lit-from-within' look where they seem to be glowing in the center and darker on the edges- this is a light version of one of those shades.

Let's Groove. Deep purple shimmer. This picture is pulling much more blue-purple than it really is. It's a Zoya Yasmeen type purple. Extremely gorgeous. It doesn't look like much in the bottle, but once it's on your nails it really shines.

Short And Sassy. Deep vampy cranberry shimmer. An unexpected favorite! It's deep and velvety looking, very vampy. Another lit-from-within color, this one really does look like it's glowing.


Skate Night. Magenta shimmer. This is magenta, right? If it's not magenta, I'd call it a light toned purple that leans waaaay red.

Stella. Warm purple shimmer. Another amazing purple! I love it! I can never get enough purple. This one is lighter than Let's Groove and also more red toned. Really nice. I love purple so this one really appeals to me.


Street Racing. Nearly duochrome reddish rose gold metallic. I say nearly duochrome because it doesn't really flash between two colors, but it does show two distinctly different tones when exposed to different lighting. It's mostly that light red/orange/copper color but also has a lot of cooler gold in it.

Stroll. Deep burgundy with golden shimmer/glitter. Four coats. Glitter!! This glitter is really different, it's not traditional glitter. It's like paper thin little flakes of gold. Very reflective golden glitter in a rich wine-like sheer (but not really jelly) base. I still had visible nail line at three coats, so I did four.

Thunderbird. Glowing blackened red. One more lit-from-within shade. The edges look black and the middle looks like molten red metal. Beautiful.


The formula on these was so-so. It was pretty three-freeish, thick and watery at the same time. These shades weren't as thick as the past few China Glaze collections, so the formula seems to be improving, but they were still runny. I didn't get a chance to gauge the drying time on these. None were dry by the time I was done taking the pictures, so I'd say that based on that observation alone, these have a slightly longer dry time.

These aren't really the type of shades I was expecting when I heard about the Retro Diva collection! I was thinking... Avocado... Orange... Chocolate... Almond... Brady Bunch type colors. This seems to be a more 70's themed collection, but I'll admit that I all I know about 70's colors, I learned from my in-laws' kitchen. So, maybe there was a lot of red stuff in the 60's and 70's... But, I also think of disco and glitter and outrageous hair and makeup and outfits. I feel like they could have ditched half the reds and oranges and added in a little more variety.

But, overall, not too bad. I really love the purples and the glowy vampy wine shades. My favorites are Let's Groove, Stella, Stroll, Free Love, Short and Sassy and Street Racing. While there are a lot of really nice interesting colors in here, I feel that they're very safe and not 100% unique. I would wear almost all of these, but I would have liked to see some ugly 1970's appliance shades in here!

What do you think? Does it say 'retro' to you? I didn't exist in the 60's and 70's so I have no insight into how truly retro this is. But hey, I love purple, glitter and vampies, so I can't complain too much!

My Kat Von D Gypsy Look on Sephora's Blog!

Woohoo!  I'm featured today on Sephora's Beauty and The Blog!  

On an unrelated note, I did manage to get some decent pictures of Zoya Truth and Dare, I'll try to get them posted either later today or tomorrow morning.

Zoya Fall 2009 Truth and Dare Bottle Pictures

Since there's no natural light today, I can't really take adequate swatch pictures of these, but here are some bottle pics for a little preview of the shades :) As always, click the images to enlarge. They're GINORMOUS.

TRUTH

Anaka

Drew

Isla

Kalmia

Penny

Salma




DARE


Ciara

Demi

Envy

Ibiza


Pinta (This is purple, not blue- it won't photograph correctly)

Vanessa (a bit more muted and less pink than this)

I'll do a complete review as soon as I can get some swatches done :)

Limited Edition Zoya Matte Velvet Collection

Wow. Just... wow. These are even better than I had hoped for.

Zoya's MatteVelvet Collection for Fall 2009.

Dovima. Matte black shimmer. This is super matte. Much more than I had anticipated. I LOVE IT. It's so sexy and industrial looking. The shimmer keeps it interesting, it really reminds me of rocks or granite. That's what it is! Granite! Or perhaps graphite. This shade of black is also a little bit lighter. I wouldn't call it grey, but it's not a deep, saturated black either.


Loredana. Matte grey shimmer. Again, super matte. Not even a hint of shine here! This is a medium charcoal/grey- it reminds me of unpolished metal. Or frozen concrete. This is going to look amazing with all the clothes you wear during fall. I don't normally coordinate my outfits with my polish, but this makes me want to wear a black turtleneck.


Posh. Matte red velvet shimmer. This is posh, indeed. It reminds me of antique and expensive Victorian furniture, red velvet and satin fabrics, sophisticated but almost a little spooky. If dracula was a chick, he'd wear this. I am not a red-lover by any stretch of the imagination, but I am infatuated with Posh. I can't get over how insanely beautiful it is. It looks like every nail is covered in red stain fabric.


And, because I couldn't resist... I added some Seche Vite to see what they look like glossy.

Dovima. Ridiculously sparkly.

Loredana. This looks like it's filled with broken glass!



Posh. Look at that depth! It's even more complex than I thought it would be!

The formula on these is perfect. Some of the best matte formula I've ever used. It's smooth and not too thick- a lot of mattes tend to be as thick as glue, but these aren't. They're really opaque- Posh only needs one coat and Dovima could use one thick coat, but I did two coats on all just to be safe. They dry lightning fast. They were dry before I even started snapping pictures. I did have some staining from Posh, but it stained my skin and not my nails.

Since mattes are quite different than normal polish, I think it's wise to give a few application tips. Here's how you should apply mattes:

Start with a lot of polish on the brush- enough to do the entire nail plus a little extra to keep the brush wet. Fan out the bristles at the base of the nail and then in one smooth motion, 'push' the excess polish toward the free edge (this will remove the excess polish from the nail and leave it on the brush). You want to try to cover your entire nail in as few strokes as possible. Zoya's brush lets me cover my entire nail in one stroke if I fan the bristles, but if you have larger nails you may need to do two.

This does start to dry as you're applying it, so the faster you can work, the better. Be mindful of creating a smooth, even surface because the matte finish will show any flaws in application. This is why I recommend starting with lots of polish and using only one to two strokes.

Honestly, I was expecting these to be good, but not quite as good as they are. I was expecting them to be more of a satin matte or semi-matte, but these are REALLY matte. I have not had them long enough to determine how well they wear or how basecoat effects them, but I'll be testing them out all week.

I'm just positively thrilled with these. I love mattes a whole lot. I think they're edgy, sexy, mysterious, bad-ass and a little masculine. They're non-traditional. They fit me. I am extremely happy that Zoya and other companies have decided to do mattes. They're also great for men, and I've heard from a couple polish-wearing dudes that the matte finish is easier for them to wear.

These are limited edition, but I don't know exactly how limited. They're not officially released until July 1st, but they're available now for pre-order on Zoya.com.

Thank you, Zoya. You've made this matte-lover very happy.

Essie Matte About You Matte Finisher

This just in from Essie- they're doing a long-wearing Matte Topcoat!

Introducing

Matte About You

Matte Finisher

It’s a matte matte world.  The no-luster polish look is taking center stage in today’s fashion.  Essie, the ultimate nail color authority, gives you that high-impact fashion statement with any of your favorite nail colors.  Introducing Matte About You Matte Finisher – the perfect solution to mattifying any color. 

Matte About You is the only product you’ll need to achieve the look – this innovative new product leaves a matte finish on any nail color you choose.  From light sheer colors to dark crème, Matte About You creates a smooth matte finish and adds new dimension and texture to any essie nail color.  The exclusive, advanced formula instantly transforms any polish from high gloss to matte in seconds. 

“A matte finish is very fashion-forward,” explains Essie Weingarten, founder and president of Essie Cosmetics.  “We developed Matte About You so you can still wear the colors you love – classics and hot-right-now – but with a striking matte finish. A totally unique approach to wearing color.”

 Matte About You achieves the matte color look with the same salon-proven, long-lasting durability as our stable of colors and nail treatments.   Start with an essie base coat, followed by two coats of your favorite essie nail polish.  Finish by applying a thin layer of Matte About You in place of a top coat. 

 Matte About You Matte Finisher will be available beginning August 2009 atwww.essie.com and fine spas, salons and beauty destinations nationwide. Contains no formaldehyde, no toluene and no DBP.  SRP $10.