Tuesday, August 25, 2009

BB Couture For Men

BB Couture For Nails has just released a collection of polishes designed specifically for men. I am beyond excited about this. This is awesome!!



45 Caliber. Silver chrome frost. This is a very smooth, opaque, fast-drying silver chrome. It's not a completely smooth chrome, this one dries with a few brushstrokes and a bit of shimmer. It's not a super light-bright silver, either. It's a nice medium silver which is more flattering on me than the super light varieties. I love it. Some girls match their polish with their purse... But this one goes perfectly with my 21.

Blue Steel. A deep charcoal metallic frost. This is a pretty interesting shade! It's kind of chrome-like but it's really dark. Dark chromes are cool. I don't see many of those. This one is really on the frosty side, but in this particular shade, it looks right. It's a little brushstrokey and has a little sparkle. I know this is probably named after the Bluing on firearms, but I can't help but think of this:



Grenade. Dark olive green with gold shimmer. HO. LY. CRAP. This is amazing!!! This one makes it to my top favorite greens list. Grenade is nice and dark- no wimpy light green that polish companies seem to bombard us with even though we have a million already... This is deep, mossy, murky, like green with a splash of black. The gold shimmer gives it dimension and makes it look kind of antique. If they sold nail polish at the Army Surplus store, I'm sure they'd sell this one.


Military Blues. Medium/Dark blue shimmer. I say medium/dark because this one seems to change on me. It looks pretty dark when there's no light hitting it, but it becomes much brighter when the sun hits the shimmer- it lights up. Very cool. This is another frost, but this one is less frosty than Blue Steel. The frost in this one is like light veins of silvery shimmer.


Night Ops. Blackened blue with large particle shimmer. This looks like a night sky. Super vampy. It's a very dark navy blue, but it has a very slight dark purple duochrome from the shimmer. The shimmer isn't really glittery- these are really thin translucent flakes, not little metal discs or flakes like traditional glitter. While this is a blackened blue, to me it still looks blue indoors, unlike a lot of other blackened blues like Wet n Wild Craze Nocturnal or Lippmann Devil In A Blue Dress. Dark blue, yes, but still blue.


Widow Maker. Grey shimmer with subtle black glitter. Very unique! A pale warm grey with silver shimmer, somewhat similar to Zoya Harley, but this has a few particles of black glitter thrown in. Black glitter! That's something you don't see often. There's not much of it in here- you'll have to enlarge the picture to see any- but it's there and I like it. I'm not sure what in particular this is named after- I'm sure there are many, many things called Widow Maker, including a band with these two guys:



But when I see "Widowmaker", I can't help but think of my favorite thing to order at Claim Jumper.

Photo property of Julia Z.

The formula on these is great. A little on the thick side, but not unmanageable. I did three coats of each- some polishes needed only two but I like the way they look with three coats. They dry pretty fast even without topcoat. BB Couture claims to have a 4-in-1 formula (treatment, color, basecoat and topcoat) and I'm not sure if it's true, but these do dry to a shiny finish without topcoat. These come in a new style of bottle- they're heavy square bottles with the trademark metallic blue cap. They really look nice! And they stand out from the rest of the line for sure.

I absolutely adore this collection of colors for many reasons. First and most importantly, the colors rock. Plain and simple. These are great colors. Colors that I love to wear. Hopefully also colors that men love to wear.

This is a collection of polishes made for men- it even says so on the bottle. One of the things that surprised me is that they aren't mattes. It seems like matte color has become the standard for men's polish, but it doesn't have to be. I think it's like suggesting that women should only wear pink polish. I'm happy that these aren't matte.

I'm actually curious to hear from the guys on this one. I know you're out there- don't be shy! Leave a comment- tell me what you think about BB Couture Nail Polish for Men.

Even though this polish says that it's just for men, there's no reason why women can't wear it. I think sometimes those specifications are a little restrictive. People who are not really into polish will see it and think that only men can wear it. Kinda like that DuWop Toe Polish that said it's just for toes, or OPI Feet. A lot of people actually thought that you couldn't wear it on your fingers. However, I'm happy that they designated these 'For Men'- it's about time that someone thought about them when creating polish.

This collection is right up my alley. I love every single color, I love the names, I love the ideas, I love the bottles... It's just... awesome. I am really not a girly-girl... Sure, I love makeup and nail polish and perfume, but I'm really more into traditionally masculine things than I am in stereotypical feminine things. If you dislike pink polish as much as I do, this is a collection for you.


Anyway, I think I'm rambling a little. My verdict on this collection: Awesome. Two thumbs up.

BB Couture For Men can be purchased from Overall Beauty and they retail for $9 each.

EDIT: Polish or Perish is having a BB Couture for Men giveaway where you can win three of these shades- take a look!

41 comments:

  1. Those look great! Can you swatch Grenade with GUG?

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  2. I really like "Night Ops". I imagine that it would look great with a matte topcoat. :)

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  3. Those look really great, love Grenade in particular. I've never been a pink/glittery np girl anyway, so these are right up my street. Does anyone know if BB Couture is available in any B&M locations, or are they only available online?

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  4. luv the colors!
    can you compare night ops with sinful whats your name and china glaze's blk a bong?

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  5. LOVE these colors! I am always drawn to darker colors (I realized how true that was when I sorted my stash by color) & these are right up my alley, especially that blue & the green. I think these will be my first BB Couture polishes ... although after 3 good-sized online hauls I was supposed to be on a no-buy ... oh well, those never last long anyway, righ? =)

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  6. Hahaha, I saw Blue Steel and thought of Zoolander too! These are great looking polishes!

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  7. I think it's a little annoying to assume that men need their polish to be "manly" -- and that "manly" = guns -- but I can see why a polish company would want to name polishes geared towards men with something more stereotypically masculine. All in all, I think it's a fabulous collex as well.

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  8. OOH, I love Widowmaker and Blue Steel. Gorgeous colours. If my husband would ever try nailpolish (which I bet he don't) it would definitely be Grenade :-)

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  9. That green is stunning and I really want it, actually having seen lots of BB swatches of different collections on various blogs never been really drawn to them, til I saw these - must have an overload of testosterone or something!

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  10. Wow! And, I'm almost afraid to ask, but does Night Ops compare to Essie Starry, Starry Night?

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  11. Oh my...I love Night Ops!!! I have got to have that one. Gorgeous.

    I did see the black glitter in Widowmaker. Somebody should release a black with black glitter (how cool would that be?) but as I understand that's impossible :(

    Gorgeous swatches, as always...I'm in love, hehe.

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  12. These have such cool names!

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  13. These are so cool!!! Love the names of them, definitely have to get some :) Thanks for the awesome swatches - Laeny

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  14. Interesting concept for men nails :P :) I loved all of them :)

    and before I forget: You got a blog award:

    http://xoxo-parisky.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-award-inglorious-basterds.html

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  15. WOW! I love Grenade, Night Ops and Widowmaker! I'm waiting on my BB Couture for Men...they should be here soon!! yayyyy

    As for what I think about the collection as a whole...I am not a big fan of metallics (I actually kind of hate them :x), and the same goes for basically all of my guy polish friends :P (there are only about 2 of them...they are Japanese and are more than willing try new things, but they would much rather rock a neon pink than a metallic...)

    I wonder why metallics are so unappealing to me? It must be because I honestly feel that there is nothing manly about them. I love shimmers and glitters way too much.

    As always beautiful swatches Scrangie!! I've been waiting to see you swatch these and now I am really excited about my order getting here!

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  16. I think I need all but 45 Caliber. Great swatches!

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  17. Hello, there! I happen to also be a fan of nail polishes, & yes, I'm a guy! I think that each of them look fantastic! I also think they can be worn on women as well. Though should I happen to buy & wear these polishes on my nails, people will think of me as crazy, etc.; & then I would have to tell them about this product in that it was made for men. I shouldn't worry about that, though.

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  18. Fantastic swatches!!! You are my greatest lemming creator...

    And you made me giggle when I read about people that thought you couldn't wear Toe Polish on fingers. Reminded me when I wore Paw-lish (I had bought for my pup), and totally freaked out my friend.

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  19. Yes, you were rambling near the end, there! Thanks for the swatches and showing us the new bottles.
    -DanaCerise

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  20. FYI, Polish or Perish blog is having a BB Couture for Men giveaway (Grenade, 45 Caliber and Military Blues): http://polishorperish.blogspot.com/2009/08/back-to-school-bb-couture-for-men.html! :)

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  21. Now there are a million dark yellow greens.

    I fail to see the attraction.

    The dark charcoals are the news. Green. Notsomuch.

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  22. I just got my whole collection on Saturday. I was very excited to see the swatches. I love all colors of polish. The green is absolutely gorgeous. I think your swatches are amazing! I have many new polishes so I didn't know what to wear. So many polishes and so many choices.

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  23. Thanks for showing these. I love Grenade! It looks amazing

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  24. All Riiiiight Scrangie! You always do such a fantastic job when reviewing new polishes, and this time is certainly no exception!

    I guess I don't really care if it says it's for men or not, but I think that maybe some guys may be a bit hesitant to wear polishes that seem 'girly', so I am really glad that BB Couture has broken through this misnomer and introduced these awesome masculine-looking colors. And you're right, they are different - in a cool sort-of way.

    I have been wearing my toes polished for some time and am really, really excited to see this nail polish collex for men because it makes it even more 'okay' for guys to wear it. And, it also acknowledges the many open-minded men who don't really want to be 'boring' anymore.

    Kudos to BB Couture for their insightful introduction of this cool style trend, and Kudos to you Scrangie for your awesome review!

    I hope more women take the initiative to introduce their guy to this, as mine did many years ago (thanks dear!). And I hope more men wise up to the fact that being a bit more expressive is not a bad thing for us!

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  25. Well, I like them. Especially Night Ops and Widow Maker.

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  26. Reading this post has made me hungry!

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  27. I bought two of these (Grenade and Blue Steel) and I love them! I'm wearing grenade today and it's awesome. I thought of Zoolander when I saw blue steel too. Thanks for the great swatches, as always!

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  28. THIS IS FREAKIN AWESOME! thank you so much for the swatches- they are amazing as usual. yes i dont like the insinuation that women should only wear pink...cuz i REALLY hate that, but this kinda reminds me of why urban decay originally came out- because the founders hated not being able to find mu and np in non-traditional colors. i LOVE old UD and they totally rocked, just like these colors do! BBC hit it out of the ballpark ;)

    ps: i laugh when i hear people say piggy polish is only for toes! HA!

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  29. Do men really wear nail polish? Hmm.

    Love the collection! I wouldn't mind owning every single one of them! Reminds me of this Japanese brand of biscuit stick called Pocky -- they had a flavour called "Men's Pocky" and I just had to stick it to them by eating a few boxes. Men's nail polish? Bring it on!

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  30. Great colors!

    What a cool concept, those nail polishes marketed to men; however I don't think guys will look for it :(

    Commonly, nail polish = girl = secretaries doing their nails at work :((( I wish people forget this stupid idea!

    This collection is shiny; I think it's also somthing that reject men: once I used a nail buffer on my husband. He liked it but was embarassed because of the shiny look.

    I try to convince him to try dark nail polish on his toes but he still refuses...

    Jason, I like you and your open mind!

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  31. I had to come in to comment that I loved your nod to Zoolander. Hilarious. I totally thought the same thing! I like Blue Steel and Night Ops best!

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  32. really fierce nails! the color is great!

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  33. These are gorgeous!!! I have to have Night Ops!

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  34. I really like these! Thanks for the amazing swatches, as usual.

    Since the rest all have weaponry or military themed names, I'm assuming Widowmaker is referring to the colloquial name for military jets with high incidences of fatal accident. It's a relatively common slang name for the B-62 and F-104.

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  35. Love the colors, the swatches and the review as always, Scrangie.

    It strikes me, though, that if a man is not the sort to wear nail polish, a bottle marked "men's polish" is not going to change his mind. And if he *is* the sort to wear it, guns and widow makers are probably not going to be that attractive to him! How about a line for men named after glam rock stars instead?

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  36. Now I have to listen to some Twisted Sister!
    Great pics as always. I may have to break the chains on my wallet and pick some up!

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  37. wow they are cool!
    and black glitter, hmmm....

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  38. @Alyssa - Au contraire... I like guns AND glam rock.

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  39. I am a male who aspires to wear nail polish in the same way females are able to wear it - whatever color they want, whenever they want, and for the most part, wherever they want. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the courage to do it except once or twice, but this kind of post really helps give me some encouragement and confidence. The fact that companies are still taking the leap and offering polish for men is also quite promising.

    Also - thanks Scrangie for keeping us guys in mind! It seems like a silly thing but the fact that we can't use nail polish without fear of ridicule still exists, and hearing your inclusive thoughts is slowly helping to break down that stigma.

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  40. Thank you SCRANGIE!!! I'm a man who discovered nail color in July when I lost a bet and had to wear hot pink on my toes for a week.

    Take a moment and imagine yourself as a man working in heavy construction. You're required to wear poorly ventilated steel-toe boots all day... and you've never even thought about putting anything on your toes except soap at bathtime and an occasional tube of Lotrimin AF.

    That's where I was in June. Honestly, I could not remember a time when I wasn't embarrassed to show my feet, despite a dedicated and continuous fight against fungus and general nastiness.

    Then, suddenly, I lost the bet and painted my toes. Instantly, the "fugly yellow" was hidden, and - even with hot pink "Party Girl Creme" on - they were not embarrassing. ALSO, the paint does the same job on my toes that it does on my car - it protects them from moisture and corrosion. Since July, I've worn polish almost continuously. The fugly yellow nails have grown out and been replaced by clear, healthy nails, and the polish even seems to inhibit the growth of nasties on my skin.

    So, my point is that NOT ONLY is there no good reason for men to shun polish, there is actually a very good reason FOR men to wear it, at least on their toes!

    I think the time has come... and I think that WOMEN should encourage their men to try polish on their toes, for at least a week. When he notices that, besides looking better, he has also escaped the itching, burning and peeling that has been a fact of life for so long.... he'll be hooked!

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