Chanel Peridot

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

After passing on Chanel Peridot with confidence, I saw someone wearing it in person recently, and that completely changed my mind.  I think it's one that doesn't translate to photos terribly well - I've seen pictures where it looks mostly kind of yellowish or gold , and that's not what it looked like in person at all.  I decided to get it somewhere with easy returns in case I hated it, and I don't.  If only I'd waited to get Stairway to Heaven from Nordies...

Anyhow, Peridot seemed like a nice change for today, so I tried it out.  It's a well pigmented two-coater, mostly green with some pale yellow and a strong shimmer.  I used SpaRitual Lacquer Lock as a base and their Tout de Suite for top coat (some experimenting a few years back showed me those consistently work well with Chanels) and two coats of Peridot.  Then I went outside and took some pictures.  This is Peridot in the sun.

Chanel Peridot Nail Polish, Two Coats

Since it's a duochrome, I also took a picture in the shade.

Chanel Peridot Nail Polish, Two Coats in Shade

It took about ten pictures each to get the real color, and even at that neither picture is as cool as in person.  I never knew it had the shimmer that shows in sunlight, but it does.  Peridot is a happy surprise that's kind of made up for the Stairway letdown.  This is not my favorite duochrome color combination (and not terribly far off from Nubar Wildlife but definitely not a dupe), but it's a very nicely done duochrome so I like it.  If it were the purple/green kind, I'd be giddy about it.

That's Chanel Peridot and the update for today, Dear Reader.  I have some new Konad stuff (the two new plates and multiscraper, which looks super handy) to show you this weekend, so until then, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After spending many days of being able to see through my tips with Revlon Fizzes, I wanted to change to a good opaque polish.  I chose an oldy, Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams.

Laura Mercier hasn't put out nail polish for at least a couple of years now, I think, but I loved them when they did.  I'd liken them to Dior with respect to overall quality - they're extremely well pigmented with one coat being almost sufficient, are so easy to control they pretty much apply themselves, and some of the colors are spectacular.  Caviar Dreams is in the Spectacular category.  I recall when Chanel Black Pearl came out that at least one person asked me if it was a dupe for Caviar Dreams, and at the time the likelihood of me locating this one to compare was virtually nil, but I was sure that Caviar Dreams was far more duochrome and I managed to get some pictures that at least hint at its spectacularity (I know that's not a real word, but it's a fun word).

This is Caviar Dreams in direct bright sunlight.  You can see that it's a charcoal shimmer and there's something going on with a bit of teal in the shimmer, but the duochrome effect is largely washed out in the brightest lighting.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in Direct Sunlight

I wandered around taking pictures in different light to see how many of its colors I could catch, and partially lit with bright sunlight, the kind of purple-pink side of Caviar Dreams shows up.  Indoors, that pinkish cast shows over the whole nail well, but in light bright enough for a color accurate picture it's just in a few spots.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in Partial Sunlight

Completely in the shade, I was able to get a good look at the teal in Caviar Dreams, which is also apparent in indoor lighting.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in the Shade

Pretty cool, huh?  This is a good one, so I'm glad I stumbled upon it while looking for something completely different.  Really good duochromes are so few and far between that I always really enjoy one when I wear it - it's fun to make my nails change colors in the sunlight while sitting at traffic lights.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Clarins 230 over Black

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Around noon today I began what I thought would be the relatively simple project of evening out my nails and switching the soak off gel, but it ended up being quite a project to remove the old.  Were I not exhausted from the arduous task of removal I'd tell you all about it, but since I am I'll leave pertinent facts out, making it best to let that wait until another day.

I ended up losing lots of length in order to reshape, so I figured I'd go with a good shorter-nail choice, black creme.  I picked black because I like how a lot of polishes look layered over it, but I don't like the application with nail polish.  I always end up digging the brush for my layering color into the black base near the cuticle on at least one nail, and that ends up leaving me with bald spots.  This way, I can get all the layering colors out of my system without that being an issue.

After finishing the gel, I added three coats of Clarins 230 to it, then a coat of Poshe.  The sun's out and I got a couple of pictures I like, one that clearly shows the main color well and another that shows the variety of colors well.  My application of the black is imperfect, and my cuticles took a heck of a beating with the removal of the pink glitter, so please forgive those parts and just have a look at the pretty colors.

Clarins 230 over Black, Main Color

Clarins 230 over Black, Three Coats, All Colors

Clarins 230 is such a pretty polish, and I don't think I've worn it over black in a few years.  I like it.

So for another week, I have the fun task of picking out come good layering colors to wear over this one.  I have tomorrow's in mind already, so until it's time to show you that one, I wish love and nail polish to you!

Clarins 230 & Just A Little Dangerous

Happy New Year, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd start off the new year with a fun manicure, so I figured I'd go with Clarins 230.  Since I'm not entirely wild about it on its own, I layered it over Sephora by OPI Just A Little Dangerous, a deep royal purple shimmer.  I used two coats of the SOPI, then two of Clarins 230.  Since I knew it would be a lot of layers of polish, I waited about two minutes between coats to allow each to set a bit before applying the next, and after one coat of 230, I tested a second coat on one nail to be sure it actually made a difference.  It did, so I used the second coat.

I took the pictures outside, where it's daylight bright but cloudy, so the light isn't glaring.  I took several pictures, but I would have liked to have gotten more to show more colors in Clarins 230.  Unfortunately, it's really dang cold out, so I lasted as long as I could before my hands started to get pink.  Of the pictures I took, I think this is the most representative of how this mani looks in regular light.

Clarins 230 Nail Polish, Two Coats over SOPI Just A Little Dangerous

So that's my first manicure of 2011, which ain't a bad start.  I hope your 2011 is off to a fantastic beginning, and until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  


Edited to Add:

Hello again, Dear Reader!

I don't normally edit a post to add to it, but in this case, I am.  I was out and about running errands, one of which required my camera, when the sun came out and I was able to get a decent picture of Clarins 230 in the sun.  It's dangerous to drive with this manicure - check out the color variation from thumb to pinky.  That's a result of the angle of the sun, which makes it hard to not play with this one in the light.

Clarins 230 Nail Polish over Just a Little Dangerous in Sunlight

I just wanted to add the sunlight picture since I had a chance to get it.  This time, I'm really done for the day!

MAC Bad Fairy & WowSoCool Contest

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I had the good fortune to get MAC Bad Fairy when MAC's Venomous Villians was released, and I have a picture of it for you today.  It's kind of a red/orange duochrome with the new-ish pigment that's been all over in recent months.

I was somewhat disappointed to find that the brush in my bottle of Bad Fairy had a bunch of splayed out stray hairs - for what MAC charges, it seems like a flawed brush should not be an issue.  The polish was a bit sheer going on, and I needed three coats to make it opaque.  Here it is in the sun.

MAC Bad Fairy Nail Polish, Three Coats

I like it and I think the color's unique, but I find that I'm completely burned out on this pigment, which keeps me from being as enthusiastic about Bad Fairy as  I otherwise would be.  This kind of finish wowed me at first, but a billion Fall and Winter collections later, I'm just not as impressed.  I assume I'll come to like it better once I'm a little further away from all the collections with this sort of finish though.

The other news is that Jessica from WowSoCool let me know that she's having a giveaway taking entries through the 15th of October.  The prizes are things like a $50 and $25 gift certificate for WSC, which is pretty generous.  You can find details on how to enter at the WowSoCool blog.

That's just about all I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

SpaRitual Health, Wealth & Happiness

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I got some polishes from SpaRitual's Imagine Collection, their Fall 2010 release, and I have one of them to show to you today.

Health, Wealth, & Happiness is a deep blue/purple duochrome, and a really good duo chrome at that.  It flashes blue to purple even in low light.  It's a little sheer, and I used three coats, which seems to be the absolute minimum (the coverage isn't really 100% at three coats).  Here it is finished with a top coat.

SpaRitual Health, Wealth & Happiness Nail Polish, Three Coats

I like this one a lot, and haven't seen a whole lot like it.

On an entirely unrelated note, the Chanel Khaki polishes became available on chanel.com today, but the site is painfully slow.  I got an order through, it was just a matter of waiting about five minutes for each page to load.  It wasn't too bad while doing something else in another browser.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquers

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I told you I had something fun for you today, and this is it!  I was going through more stuff, this time a big plastic bin of non-nail stuff, and stashed inside it I found two six-pack nail polish boxes full of Toma Metallic Illusions, a way old discontinued line of duochromes.  I only swatched nine - three were missing the bottom label with the name and only had the side label with the number, and truthfully I've only endured swatching twelve maybe twice before.  The sun was out in the morning, so I was able to do them in decent light.

The bottles are like Hot Topic bottles, and the brush is big and floppy at the end of the long giant stem.  Two have silver caps and the rest black, I don't know what the deal is with those two.  Some had thinned dramatically, either with age or by the not-so-reputable seller from whom I bought them maybe two years ago, but the colors are gorgeous.  I used two coats of each, and on one or two you can still see through my nails a bit as a result of how thin the polish was, but I wanted to be consistent.  I'll show them to you in the order in which I swatched them, which is by the number on each (I did them in order so I'd keep them straight).

I took the pictures with the sun coming at my hand from the bottom at an angle, so the primary color shows on the front of the nail and the secondary more on the side towards the top of this page, and in the descriptions I'll give the primary color first.

Stellar Stormwatch is a rose and gold shimmer.  Since they're all duochromes and shimmers, I'm not going to mention that for all of them - I trust you to retain that information for the next eight pictures.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Stellar Stormwatch, Two Coats

Metal Mirage is a murky purple and green.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Metal Mirage, Two Coats

Moonstruck is a dark and light gold.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Moonstruck, Two Coats

Swing on a Star is a burgundy purple with a green gold.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Swing on a Star, Two Coats

Copper Comet is a light golden copper with rose gold.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Copper Comet, Two Coats

Meltdown on Mars (which I think is an hilarious name - I picture an astronaut throwing a tantrum) is a swirl of gold and light pinkish brown.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Meltdown on Mars, Two Coats

Heavenly Body is a dusty dark purple and green.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Heavenly Body, Two Coats

Milky Way is a green with gold.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Milky Way, Two Coats

Eclipse is a Bronze-y gold with rose gold.

Toma Metallic Illusions Nail Lacquer: Eclipse, Two Coats

That's all nine of the Metallic Illusions I swatched.  They're really cool, I think.  Since they're discontinued and Toma was a minor brand anyhow, they're pretty hard to find, and truthfully, I wouldn't exert extraordinary effort or pay a boatload of money to find them.  The bottles are crap, so many of them are evaporated by a good third or so, and there are colors dupey to them that are more readily available.

That's all for today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  

L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquers

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm about a year late showing the L.A. Girl Rock Star nail lacquers, but I just got a few of them recently and they were too cool to not show you.

Overall, they're somewhat sheer, so I layered the lighter shades over black.  I used one coat of Nubar Black and one coat of the Rock Star polish for each of those swatches.  The darker colors, I just used two coats of the Rock Star.

Scandal is a pale pink shimmer that doesn't really show up on its own, but really comes alive over black.

Scandal L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquer, One Coat over Black

Crowd Surfing is an interesting green with glaky gold glitter, also over black.

Crowd Surfing L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquer, One Coat over Black

Addict is a vampy red jelly with gold glitter.  This is two coats.

Addict L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquer, Two Coats

Overdose is a pink and purple glitter in a clear base, and one coat over black worked well.

Overdose L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquer, One Coat over Black

Rock Star is a purplish brown with gold glitter.

Rock Star L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquer, Two Coats

Punk is a kind of duochromey blue base with purple glitter.  I think it would have been better over black.

Punk L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Lacquer, Two Coats

Those are the L.A. Girl Rock Star nail polishes I chose, but there are quite a few more.  I got them from Cherry Culture, where I believe they are still available.

That's it for this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

SpaRitual Kaleidoscope Collection for Summer 2010

Good evening, Dear Reader!

Here I am again with the something cool I mentioned, swatches of my picks from SpaRitual's Kaleidoscope Collection for Summer 2010.  There are twelve shades, I left behind a two pinks, a white creme, and found there are a couple of dupes to existent Orly's.

I'll get straight to the pictures and give you some details as we go through them.  This is just the order in which I swatched them, with the last being a full manicure.  The pictures are in moderate natural light.

Crystal Eyes is a fabulous light medium blue creme, a two-coater.

SpaRitual Crystal Eyes Nail Polish, Two Coats

Illume is one I was excited about, a somewhat jelly purple creme that took three coats, but I've seen a picture showing it's a dead-on dupe for Orly Charged Up.  I don't have the Orly around to compare them, unfortunately.  Still, Illume is a lovely color.

SpaRitual Illume Nail Polish, Three Coats

Twinkle is a great just-lighter-than-navy blue shimmer, and was great in two coats.

SpaRitual Twinkle Nail Polish, Two Coats

Solaris is a creme that's a great traffic cone shade of neon orange, with the bonus of being a two-coater.

SpaRitual Solaris Nail Polish, Two Coats

Flashback is another orange, not quite neon, slightly darker and redder than Solaris.  I used two coats and should have used three.  

SpaRitual Flashback Nail Polish, Two Coats

Color Trip is a neon purple creme with a slightly jelly finish, and is like Essie Perky Purple's older sister.

SpaRitual Color Trip Nail Polish, Two Coats

Looking Glass is a silver metallic and a dead-on dupe for Orly Dazzle.  They're a great silver, but they're the same.  This is two coats.

SpaRitual Looking Glass Nail Polish, Two Coats

Golden Gleam makes up for the dupe disappointment of Looking Glass - it's a butterscoth gold metallic base with gold and silver shimmer.  It was almost good in one coat, I did two.

SpaRitual Golden Gleam Nail Polish, Two Coats

The absolute standout of the collection is Optical Illusion, an odd shade of green with an almost flaky glitter and a slight duochrome effect.  This is three coats.

SpaRitual Optical Illusion Nail Polish, Three Coats

So those are my picks from SpaRitual's Kaleidoscope Collection.  They applied beautifully, which is what I expect from SpaRitual, and my only complaint is the Orly dupes.

That's all for today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure & Her Complete Salon Manicure Friends

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday I stopped at a Walgreen's and found the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure display with Hidden Treasure, which I think is a Tracy Reese collection.  There were a bunch of cool ones in the display, I just passed on the reds.  The funny thing was on these, I did no drug store stalking for them - what caught my eye on the way in was the limited edition Revlon Pastels, the scented Revlons, and an LE Maybelline display with two colors I hadn't seen before.  It was the mecca of all drug store LE's.  So here, Sally hid her treasures poorly - I usually have to hunt for these collections forever.

The Sally Hansen display didn't even seem to have a collection name, so I have no info to give you other than pictures of what are in the display and what I know firsthand.  I got six of them, there were two or three reds there as well.  They applied nicely, with the exception of getting used to the big brush again.  Once I did, it worked well, and the polishes have a good dry time.  Most of these were three-coaters for me, but I think that's because they're intended to be more sheer than I like.  I'll let you know how many coats were used in each picture.  All but the last picture are in natural light.

Ring My Shell is a delicate pink with a great sparkling shimmer, and this is three coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ring My Shell Nail Polish, Three Coats

Silver Lining is like the silver version of Ring My Shell with the sparkly shimmer and delicate coloring, and also required three coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Silver Lining Nail Polish, Three Coats

Dive Deeper is the blue version of the previous two, just a hair lighter than baby blue, also a three coater.  This one is my favorite of these three.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dive Deeper Nail Polish, Three Coats

Sea and Be Seen has the same shimmer finish in a light medium blue and was a three coater.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Sea and Be Seen Nail Polish, Three Coats

Lagoon is different than the others, a shimmering greenish teal similar to Sephora by OPI's Mermaid to Order.  This one only took took coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lagoon Nail Polish, Two Coats

So, that treasure I've been hiding from you... I tried two coats over Lagoon, it wasn't so impressive, although nice.  Hidden Treasure is a flaky glitter in a pearly white base.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish over Lagoon, Two Coats

This morning before writing this, I thought I'd try Hidden Treasure over black to see if it's worth the all the hubbub.  It is.  This is two coats over SpaRitual Body.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish over Black, Two Coats

That's so much more impressive!

That's Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure and her Complete Salon Manicure friends who came home with me.  I'm really happy with my picks - even though the first few are three coaters because I like them more opaque, they're so delicate and have such a fabulous sparkle that they're totally worth a third coat to me, and I don't have much along those lines.  The pink is appropriate for anything, but can also take a little decoration - I think they're just great.

That's what I have for you this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, happy drug store LE hunting, and love and nail polish to you!