Nubar Jeans

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just got a promo image that's pretty interesting for Nubar Jeans, which they say will be online within the next two weeks.

Nubar Jeans Nail Polish Collection

Look familiar?  They look like dupes for Les Jeans de Chanel to me.  The only other info I have is that the set of three will be $19.99 and the colors are as follows:

Faded Jeans, a light blue shimmer
Boyfriend Jeans, a medium blue creme
Dark Wash Jeans, a dark blue creme

That's what I know, and now you do too.  Until next time, Dear Reader, 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.

Sephora by OPI Fall 2011

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I received a Sephora gift certificate recently, so I picked up a few of the Sephora by OPI Fall 2011 releases to show you.  I just have three, not all of them, but they're most likely the only ones I'll be getting out of this release so I felt good committing to a title anyhow.

The first is Sin-cerely Violet, which is a delicate, pale lavender pearl, not violet and with nothing even hinting at sin.  In three coats, Sin-cerely Violet was even and opaque, and it dried well with Fast Forward.

Sephora by OPI Sin-cerely Violet Nail Polish, Three Coats

I like it even if there's nothing Fall about it.  The other two are separate releases not from the same collection, but since they're coming out at the same time, I think it's close enough.

Next up is Spark-tacular!, which is multicolored glitter of different sizes in a clear base.  I found that the glitter is much denser than  in some regular OPI glitter top coats, like Disco Ball Sparkle.  I added one coat of it to Sin-cerely Violet, a coat of top coat, then took a picture in the sun.  You can see that it's pretty smooth and the glitter lies flat, so I'm sure another coat of top coat would even it all out.

Sephora by OPI Spark-tacular! Top Coat, One Coat

I like it, but again I don't see anything seasonal about it, as I'd be more likely to use it in Spring.

The last is What's Your Poison, and I have a bottle picture rather than a swatch.  It looked like Sephora by OPI Merry Me, which I wore to celebrate a month of not smoking (and still going strong!).  I took out Merry Me, and but for the labels and the shrink wrap still on What's Your Poison, I can't find any way to tell them apart (the shrink wrap makes the bottle look a shade darker in the pic).

Sephora by OPI What's Your Poison? and A Dupe

Merry Me is especially fabulous, so if you missed out on it, it's back with a new name.

That's about all I know about Sephora by OPI's Fall 2011 releases, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nal polish to you!


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

Revlon Black with Envy

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I left the last gel manicure on for 14 days, the last week of which I was really hard on my hands, and I got the first chip on the 13th day.  I took a picture before removing it, but will spare you - what finally prompted me to change it was breaking off the entire free edge of my left pinky nail, and the little stump next to the four grown-up nails isn't a very attractive picture.  I filed all my nails down because in addition to the major break, the fake tip and repair I was sporting, I managed to break five more nails (cracks across, but not all the way through).  I can handle a repair or two, but two tips and six repairs is a little excessive, so I did a chop.  Two nails are broken about halfway down the nail bed, so they'll have to stay shorter than usual for longer than usual (much to my dismay).  I'll tell you the tale of their demise after the pictures.

When I did the gel removal, which was a painless one, it was a truly spectacular Spring day, and I simply didn't have it in me to stay cooped up in the house doing my nails for an hour when I had the option of slapping on some polish and going out, so I went with polish.  It's Revlon's take on Chanel Black Pearl, called Black with Envy.  The little red sticker on the brush handle says "New Color" rather than "Limited Edition," so I really don't know whether it's here to stay or not.  Honestly, I like Revlon's new schtick of copying the last big Chanel (I'm thinking Perplex from Fall, then this one) - I like the Revlons better in both cases.  With Chanel bumping up their prices again, I think I'm just over Chanel completely.  I recall that in 2007 they were going for $17-$18 (we'll say $18 to give Chanel the benefit of the estimate), and a $7 increase constitutes a 38% price increase.  That's ridiculous.

Wow, I hadn't realized I had a Chanel tangent in me, sorry about that.  This is about  Black with Envy, which applied beautifully and is perfect in two coats, and really is a great substitute for Chanel Black Pearl.  Here it is in sunlight on my stumpy nails, which will be back to normal as soon as they can be...

Revlon Black with Envy Nail Polish, Two Coats

For $19 less than the Chanel, I'm sorry that I bought the Chanel.

So, want to hear how I managed to break all but two gel-reinforced nails in a week?  It was due to what I shall forever recall as The Febreze Incident of 2011.  The weekend before last, I was working on the house, reorganizing and preparing for a new routine when I start the new job this week.  I got some Febreze Air Effects, and went about the business of freshening the air, carpet, drapes, etc., at the end of a long day, Saturday evening, I think.  Well, what I hadn't been aware of was the ridiculously high pollen count at the time, with pollen being a huge allergen for me, and as a consequence I had virtually no sense of smell.  I became aware of how impaired my olfactory sense was after taking some Benadryl and heading off to bed - I woke up absolutely choking on the hideous soapy air a few hours later.  I opened windows and turned on an air purifier, but in the morning it was just as bad as ever.  Searching online brought me to many discussions of "Febreze is the Devil" and things like that - some people were reporting no improvement after a month of trying to eliminate that noxious soapy chemical smell.  I tried a few things (bowls of salt and cider vinegar, a Heloise trick, eventually was the thing that made a huge difference), but for three solid days the focus of my cleaning efforts became washing every piece of laundry, throwing out anything porous and not washable, etc.  In that process, my nails took a real beating.  And if I'm ever caught using Febreze again I shouldn't be allowed into my own home until I get more sense.

The good news out of it was that it made breathing enough of a hassle to get me to quit smoking after twenty-five years (I'm really hoping quitting takes).  I'm also now quite knowledgeable about the myriad non-chemical ways to freshen air, so I guess The Febreze Incident of 2011 was not a total loss...

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

OPI Black Shatter vs China Glaze Black Mesh

Hello again, Dear Reader!

I'm back again fast this time!  I put in a scary movie (Chain Letter, it was pretty bad) and I started thinking about the OPI Black Shatter/China Glaze Black Mesh Crackle Glaze comparison, then I finally got up and just did the manicure for it while I watched the movie.  It's what I should have done earlier, but I was tired and my brain was disengaged.  I was thinking I should post it since Black Mesh is going fast when it shows up, but it's definitely obtainable.

I used one coat of China Glaze Sea Spray from Anchors Away, which was all it needed, for the base color.  I'll show you that one alone soon.  For the comparison, I just went with the good ol' reliable every other nail for the two black crackle polishes, all topped off with a coat of Gelous and a coat of Poshe.  Here's how it looks.

OPI Black Shatter and China Glaze Black Mesh over China Glaze Sea Spray

Here's the same picture labelled with which is which: OPI on thumb, middle, and index, China Glaze on the ones in between.

OPI Black Shatter and China Glaze Black Mesh Crackle Glaze Comparison

They're both inky black, but the China Glaze is a lot less goopy to apply than the OPI, so China Glaze wins Round I.  Round II is how it looks, and there's a little difference between the two in how they crack.  The China Glaze breaks apart into more random pieces, while the OPI has longer lengthwise splits that make it look like little strips of black in some spots to me.  I prefer the appearance of the China Glaze to the OPI, so the winner in today's battle of the black crackle polishes is China Glaze Black Mesh Crackle Glaze.

That's just about all I know.  I'm sure as heck not spending another second on my nails today, so until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  

L'Oreal Passport to Paradise Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have swatches of L'Oreal's Passport to Paradise Collection for you today, and found that they were very familiar.  On April 21, the news broke that L'Oreal was acquiring Essie, and it looks like L'Oreal took Essie for a test drive with this collection.  They're exact dupes for last year's North Fork Collection from Essie.

High Tide is the light blue shimmer...

L'Oreal High Tide Nail Polish from Passport to Paradise

...which is an exact match to Essie's Sag Harbor.  My index and ring fingers are the Essie, the others the L'Oreal.

L'Oreal High Tide and Essie Sag Harbor

Waters Edge (no apostrophe) is the turquoise creme...

L'Oreal Waters Edge Nail Polish from Passport to Paradise

...which matches Essie's Greenport.  Again, index and ring are Essie.

L'Oreal Waters Edge and Essie Greenport

Ocean Breeze is the blue creme...

L'Oreal Ocean Breeze Nail Polish from Passport to Paradise

...which corresponds to Essie's Shelter Island.

L'Oreal Ocean Breeze and Essie Shelter Island

Sorry I got a little sloppy on the last coat of Shelter Island.

So we see these are all dead-on dupes.  I prefer both the brush and the price tag of L'Oreal, so if I had to choose which to keep, it would be the L'Oreals.

If you want a fill review of the colors, you can just look back at the North Fork review - they're the same colors, so no point in making you endure a full review just to show you they're dupes.

That's what I have for you 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!  

China Glaze Glitters & A Dead On HTF Dupe!

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just got a great big ol' sparkling*nails order of primarily China Glaze Glitters, and thought I'd show it to you in manageable bits. I picked out four to show you now, and the last that I swatched was a happy surprise - it's a dead-on dupe for a hard-to-find nail polish! I'll show that to you at the end...

This is just the order that I swatched them in. The sun was being pesky and pooped out on me, so I switched to artificial light after the first, which is Moulin Rouge. This is a red jelly which is sufficiently (for me) opaque in two coats with relatively fine multi colored holo-y glitter. It'd kind of a maraschino red.

Two Coats China Glaze Moulin Rouge Nail Polish

Next I did Goddess, which was not as dense on the nail as I expected, even after three coats. It's a fine, light gold glitter.

Three Coats China Glaze Goddess Nail Polish

The third one is a stunner that I was really anticipating: Atlantis. It's a teal jelly, opaque in two coats, with holo glitter.

Two Coats China Glaze Atlantis Nail Polish

Finally, that brings us to Techno, the one that really caught me when I opened the package. It's a clear base with fine silver glitter and bigger holo hex glitter. I noticed what it was a dupe for swatching it, got all excited about the comparison, and forgot to take the second pic! See if you can tell - does this look familiar to you?

Two Coats China Glaze Techno Nail Polish

Here it is: OPI Disco Ball Sparkle, from the Reflecting Glitters. Look at them side-by-side. They're indistinguishable. Ring and index and OPI, middle and pinky and ChinaGlaze.

Dupes: OPI Disco Ball Sparkle & China Glaze Techno

How is that for a happy little surprise? On the down side, the OPI wasn't cheap (not like ebay not cheap, but still not cheap), on the up side, I had it handy to show all of you that you don't need to get it shipped from the UK! I've already used DBS three times (two manis, one pedi), and was kind of wishing I could get a backup, but not willing to spring for one - now there's no need for it. There an under $5 alternative!

Now I have to go run an errand before the place closes with my Disco Ball Sparkle/Techno comparison left hand and a naked right hand. That's a good look! Can you tell I was eager to share with you my findings? I was all excited...

Well, that's it for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

MAC Mercenary & Dior Gold Nugget

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'd heard that MAC Mercenary and Dior Gold Nugget were dupes, but when I saw Mercenary I did not think so. This morning, I thought I'd compare them for you. Unfortunately, there's no sunlight, but I can still see the diffference in artificial light. They're close, but not the same.

Here they are side by side, with my middle and pinky being Mercenary and index and ring being Gold Nugget. Gold Nugget is more golden and the sparkle is more pronounced, while Mercenary is more bronze.

If I had more pictures to show you, I would, but I don't so I won't.

Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pepto Pink

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm so enthralled with my Black Satin & Konad manicure from yesterday that I'm keeping it for another day (*gasp*).  By using Chanel base coat and SpaRitual Tout de Suite top coat, Chanels last for days on me (and I've also found that SpaRitual Color Lock base coat and Poshe top coat work with them, too), bypassing the chippiness that many attribute to them.  The good news is that I try to keep a few pics held back for just such occasions, and I have one from the past week for you:  RBL's Pepto Pink.

This was a longtime lemming for me, and I don't know why.  There are so many similar pinks, but the notion of one exactly the color of Pepto Bismol appealed to me more than I can tell you - kind of like the way that China Glaze's For Audrey is the Tiffany color, only less upscale!  I finally got it, and it's just what I'd hoped for - I absolutley love it.  Here are pictures of three thin coats with a base and top coat.

 

Pretty, huh?

The other good news is that my CNYs (Carolyn New Yorks) arrived yesterday, so CNY is doing a good job of getting the orders out.  In case you missed that post, they're 50% off with free shipping through the 10th with code HAPPYNEWYEAR at www.carolynnewyork.com.  At the time I ordered, there was an error on the site that cause mine to be discounted an additional dollar, so I ended up with some fabulous CNYs for $2.99 each (they're $3.99 now, still a great price).  Can't beat that!  Two in particular are noteworthy - I've had an attraction to RBL's Bikini Bottom and Square Pants, but have been told that those are four-coaters (probably five for me).  For me, that would mean about four or five manicures from the bottle, and so I've passed on them.  Well, two of the CNYs seem to be very close to the two RBLs - Blue Skies over the City looks very close to Bikini Bottom, and Summer in the City is really close to Square Pants.  Since I don't have the RBLs, I can't do a side-by-side comparison, but they're close enough from the pictures I've seen for me to be completely satisfied with what I have.  Also, CNY's Handball Courts is just shy of being a dead-on dupe for RBL Concrete Jungle (the CNY has a very slight shimmer, and the RBL does not) and Hangin' on the Stoop is a dupe for RBL's Stormy - those, I did do a bottle comparison of, but the pictures are long gone so you'll have to take my word for it.  I got a few other CNYs that interested me just because I didn't know when the next time I'll have them in my hot little hands for $2.99 would be, and there's not a  loser in the bunch - I was really excited about each of them, adnd it took a lot of will power to leave my current mani alone to enjoy for another day.  I took bottle pictures of all of them for some of the ladies on my nail care board, and if you're interested in seeing them before buying, please feel free to email me and I'll send you links to the pictures.

That's the update for now, Dear Reader.  Until later, love and nail polish to you!