Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Sorry for the lapse in posts!

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything lately-- I left for a work conference last Friday and the hotel charges for internet access, hence no posts. I could write it off as a business expense, but I feel guilty for that given that I would be using it for things that are definitely not work related, and my institution frowns on that. I get home tonight and so hopefully will post something tonight, if I'm not too tired. If I were more organized I would have set up some posts before I left, but I'm not!

However, just because I am at a conference doesn't mean I have neglected my nails! I am wearing Zoya Kendal on my fingers as an interesting neutral and a england Galahad on my toes for something fun! Both of these will be features on the blog later!

In meantime, enjoy Leap Day!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Rescue Beauty Lounge Om

Today's polish is Om from Rescue Beauty Lounge! Om is a very interesting polish. RBL describes Om like this: "You know that incredibly rosy golden glow you get when you're on a beach looking at a stunning
sunset? This is that color." Om is a unique pink polish, at least to me. It is a golden pink with brown undertones-- I definitely get what Ji is describing with the sun hitting the sand.

Om has a great formula.  It went on smoothly and was pretty good in one coat, though I used two to get rid of any visible nail line. I was convinced Om was going to look too old on me but once I had it on my nails I really like it. Like the sound it's named after, Om has a very soothing quality about it when you stare at it. I think this would look fabulous during the summer when my skin isn't so pasty and pale. I would love to be wearing this on a beach in a bikini sipping something delicious. Ahhh, sounds fabulous.

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Om is currently sold out on the RBL site, but if you want to see it again, vote for it during the next Bring It Back vote (should one occur again)!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pepto Pink

Sorry for the long delay with posting-- I had a whole plan laid out for the next several weeks and then I got lazy (and am now out of town visiting my parents) so I haven't done anything! Whoops. Sorry!

I was going through polishes to swatch (I have a lot!) before Valentine's day and thinking of something to wear and remembered that I had Rescue Beauty Lounge Pepto Pink sitting in a drawer, unswatched and lonely! So I pulled it out and went to town. The RBL site describes Pepto Pink thusly: "If your closet is an undulating sea of dove, biscuit, stone, ebony, charcoal, and black, you need this color as stylish punctuation mark." I definitely agree that Pepto Pink is an excellent pop of color against a more monochromatic wardrobe, but it also is a great pink color in general.

Pepto Pink is exactly what the name says-- it's the shade of Pepto Bismal. I love the color! However, the formula on this was a bit of a pain-- it was incredibly streaky and light hand is definitely needed to prevent this from having bald spots. I used a light touch and tried to use as few brush strokes as possible to prevent dragging the polish. I also used slightly thicker coats and needed this to get pretty full, opaque coverage. It dries to a nice glossy finish without a top coat, though.

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Finally got some sun! Even briefly, it was nice to have some.

And finally, an artistic shot with my Valentine's wreathe:

The formula on this was a little more annoying when I went to do this as a full manicure for Valentine's Day-- I found the streaking more problematic (especially on my large tumbnails) and felt that Pepto Pink took an extremely long time to dry in between coats. But I love this color and so am willing to put up with it, despite the slightly disappointing formula.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day Manicure

Since today is Valentine's Day, I have a Valentines inspired manicure for you tonight! This post will be pretty short and sweet. I guess, like most of America, I have been conditioned to accept pink and red together on Valentine's Day, even though the rest of the year I am not a huge fan of the combination (I don't know why-- it's actually fun!)

I had already planned an outfit for today-- nothing fancy, just a cute red cardigan over a white shirt, skinny jeans and black boots. So I decided to sweeten it up with a two-toned pink manicure. The light pink is Rescue Beauty Lounge Pepto Pink and Cult Nails Devious Nature. I like these two colors a lot and think they compliment each other well. Also... do you know it's really difficult to hold two polish bottles at once?! Oh, the problems nail bloggers face.

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Saturday, February 11, 2012

OPI Honk If You Love OPI

Tonight's polish is another from the Touring America collection- Honk If You Love OPI. This isn't the most original polish out there-- in fact, I posted another very similar color earlier this week in Julep Gayle. This polishes aren't actually the same in real life, though my pictures might look them similar. In real life, Honk If You Love OPI is a much deeper wine colored purple, but they are definitely in the same family.

Honk If You Love OPI had a really nice formula and was nicely pigmented and went on in two nice coats. It was a little dark indoors, but is a really nice vampy deep wine shade. Sorry, it's been a busy day and I've totally run out of things to say-- this is a nice polish, nice formula but it's not a terribly original color.

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Here's a quick comparison for you! Honk If You Love OPI (top) vs Gayle (bottom): 




They are definitely different-- Gayle is much lighter and more purple purple, if you know what I mean.

Friday, February 10, 2012

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

It's been a long busy week and I just spent the evening baking cookies for Valentine's Day next week. So I suppose it is fitting that the polish I have tonight is food related. OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster is a polish from the Touring America collection from this past fall, but the polish as a distinctly springy feel to it (can you tell I'm already over winter?).

I Eat Mainely Lobster is kind of a funny polish to me-- it's a bright coral polish, and depending on the light I find it leans extremely orange OR extremely pink. I love corals, but get frustrated because I have a time accurately describing them and photographing them. I would say that I Eat Mainely Lobster is pink-leaning coral with orange undertones. What this has to do with eating lobsters in Maine or even fall for that matter, well... I really don't know. But it is a pretty color! This is threaded with a lovely shimmer that is fairly subtle but definitely present. The formula on I Eat Mainely Lobster is pretty good-- went on smoothly and I didn't find it difficult to work with. I could still see some visible nail line after two coats, but it wasn't too bothersome.

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Look at the difference! In the yellow lights of my bathroom I Eat Mainely Lobster looks so orange-- then under a fluorescent bulb it is much pinker.

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The shimmer is a little subtle and shy in my bottle shot-- if you enlarge you can see it. While this definitely doesn't seem a like a fall polish to me at all, I do really like it. A coral never fails to lift my spirits, no matter the season. I can imagine coral being a fall color in an Indian summer sense. I can definitely see myself pulling out this polish this summer.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Julep Gayle

Tonight I have one more Julep polish for you - Gayle! I got this as an extra in my January Maven box for being one of the first 5000 people to become a Maven. Gayle is described as a "regal, deep aubergine. Sophisticated yet playful."

Like all Juleps creme polishes, Gayle had an exceptional formula and practically applied itself.  I used two coats, but with careful application I bet this could be a one coater. It also dries to a nice glossy finish-- I didn't use a top coat in the pictures below.

As you will see, my camera (and myself) found Gayle to be a bit of a chameleon. It's definitely not as dusky as my camera seems to think it is-- it is more vibrant in real life. It may not be a unique color, but it was really lovely! You can't go wrong with a good aubergine polish in your collection-- hugely flattering and a classic shade of purple that's fashionable and not too in-your-face.

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Julep Anne

After last night's bummer of a polish I have a good one for you tonight! Tonight I have Julep Anne for you! This was another polish from my January Maven Box. It is (I believe) a color from Julep's core collection-- at the very least it's been on their website for awhile. Anne is an "ultra-saturated violet" that has the same semi-matte finish as Helena.

I loved Anne! It is the perfect color for spring! Bright and cheerful and my favorite-- purple! Anne is super bright-- almost neon! Like other Julep cremes, the formula on this is perfect. It's well pigmented and goes on smoothly. It probably could have been a one coater, but I used two in the pictures below.

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After the fiasco that Maria was, Anne was a delight to use and wear. I love this polish! It's so bright and cheerful and lovely. I could stare at this color forever.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Julep Maria

Well, for every handful polishes you love there is inevitably one that you end up hating. And I have one for you tonight that I was less than thrilled with-- Julep Maria.

Maria was part of my January Maven box. It is one of the polishes from their 2012 Resort Collection. Julep describes Maria as a "shimmering platinum rose" that is feminine and sophisticated. It is a pretty polish for sure, but yikes... this polish was terrible! Like all metallic polishes (and particularly Julep's) the brushstrokes are pretty bad and you need to be extremely careful with your application. But this time it was way worse-- the polish appeared to dry very quickly but when I went to apply my second coat of polish, I actually ended up dragging the first layer of polish away for my nail-- literally peeled it away! I wish I had a picture, because I had never seen anything like this before. It was so weird! I managed to pat it down a little and then waited much longer before adding another coat to cover things up.

Maria is pretty, though, despite its issues. In the bottle it looks more like the first two pictures in artificial light-- sort of a rose gold color. However, in different lights the pink tones really come out and it does look distinctly pink.

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I honestly wanted to like this polish, but the formula was so bad that I don't think I can ever use it again. I love Julep's creme polishes, but their metallic polishes frustrate the heck outta me and this one was particularly terrible.

Monday, February 6, 2012

OPI Dating A Royal

Tonight's polish is one I had coveted for a very long time, but only picked up this last fall when I saw it at my local Ulta in a display of various blue polishes. It was the only bottle, so I snatched it up. Sadly... this is the first time I've gotten around to using it!

Dating A Royal is from the OPI Mod About Brights from the summer of 2008 (a lifetime ago in nail polish). The collection consisted of brightly colored jelly polishes. Dating A Royal is a royal blue jelly polish. It's similar to Cult Nails Tied Up, but Dating A Royal does not have the same purple undertones that Tied Up does. Dating A Royal isn't super bright-- it does has a sort of dusky quality about it-- but it definitely is blue.

Despite the fact that this is a jelly, which typically are on the sheer side, this was almost good in one coat. I have used two coats in all my pictures below. You can still see a bit a visible nail line on my ring finger, but that's more the camera picking it up than what you can actually see in real life. It had a great formula and applied really nicely-- giving this beautiful squishy blue finish. I've probably said it a million times, but I love blue polish and Dating A Royal is no exception-- I love it! I actually have plans to use this later on this summer for special manicure I am planning-- stay tuned for July 27th!

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So, do you love Dating A Royal? Any recommendations for other medium blue (true blue) creme nail polishes? I'm always on the lookout for more!