FingerPaints To-teally Chic & Konad m63

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I went with another from the FingerPaints Fall Fashionista Collection, To-teally Chic.  It the teal creme, as the name implies, and I used two coats for perfectly smooth, opaque, shiny goodness.  After it had dried, I stamped it with the ribbon-y pattern from Konad plate m63 in Konad White Pearl Special Polish.

My stamping fell a little short of my usual standards, I think because of the humidity.  Everything through picking up the stamp was business as usual, but applying the stamp, the polish stuck to the stamper and only about half of it transferred to my nails with the other half staying on the stamp.  Some polishes have done that before, but White Pearl never has and it's a color (and particular bottle of that color ) which gets plenty of use, so it seems like it has to be an outside factor.  Since I was left with light image on the stamper after applying, rather than double stamp to cover the small edge that was left bare, I just applied leftover bits from the stamper to fill it in.  Some came off, some stayed stuck, but I was able to finish the mani that way.

FingerPaints To-teally Chic Nail Polish with Konad Plate m63

See?  Not great, but not awful.  If I'd managed to make super clean stamps, in which case I would have done a careful double-stamp to fill in rather than a half-assed job of using stamper leftovers, this one could have been really striking, I think.  I'll have to give it another shot after either the weather lightens up a bit or I figure out a workaround.

That's today's near miss of a manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

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!

L'Oreal Blue Marine

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I changed my polish to L'Oreal Blue Marine, the sparkly blue from the L'Oreal Summer Siren Collection, after wearing my Fourth of July manicure for three days.  I'll tell you, the red OPI did not hold up spectacularly well - I had quite a few chips, which is what prompted me to change it.  Anyhow, the need to change it gave me the opportunity to try out Blue Marine, so that's alright...

Blue Marine is really a three-coater for me, after two I could still see through my tips a bit.  The coats were very thin, but the pigment in this polish (the kind that seems like tiny flakes) doesn't seem to appreciate thick coats, so three it is.  I topped it off with some quick dry top coat and went to take pictures in the sun.

L'Oreal Blue Marine Nail Polish, Three Coats

Although I like this one quite a bit, there is some disappointment.  When I showed you a bottle picture of Blue Marine, I'd mentioned that there was a purple duochrome effect in the bottle that wasn't showing up in the picture.  Well, it ain't showing up on my nails, either, not in any light at all.  I applied it in a bright room with morning sun shining in through sheer curtains and could see it on the brush, but not on my nails at all, it clearly doesn't show in the sun, didn't in the shade, and doesn't here in a room with low natural light.  Now, in the post with the bottle picture, I recall at least one comment assuring me the duochrome shows up when the polish is applied, so I think this one might be a little trickier than most to get the purple to show up.  All I can think of that would make it show up for others and not me would be the curve and shape of a person's nail bed.  Mine have an unusually strong C curve (the curve left to right over the nail bed), which usually makes duochromes show up really well, but it's not helping me any here.  Regardless of the cause, my own experience is disappointment that zero purple show for me, but I know that others have had a better outcome.

That's just about all there is to tell you about today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Essie Trophy Wife

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's manicure is just a simple nail polish, Essie Trophy Wife.  When I started it out I'd planned to stamp over Trophy Wife, but I like it so much on its own that I decided to leave it alone for today.  I might add more to it tomorrow...

Trophy Wife is a teal shimmer, and it applied very easily and is opaque in two thin coats.  I have no complaints to speak of, so I'll just show you the picture, taken outside on a cloudy day.

Essie Trophy Wife Nail Polish, Two Coats

This one's definitely a keeper.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a picture I haven't shown you yet of China Glaze Oxidized Aqua from the Metal Crackles, so that'll have to do for today.  I wanted to try it out over a contrasting base color, so I picked OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries, and this is what I came up with.

China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle over OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries

Not my worst, not my best... I do think Oxidized Aqua is pretty cool though.

I'll have to scamper off and come up with something better for tomorrow, so until then, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm back much sooner than I'd planned because I have swatches of the upcoming China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals to show you.  China Glaze sent them for review and they arrived this morning, and once the bottles had cooled down to room temperature, I got to swatching.

I used them all over a charcoal shimmer - I figured charcoal would let them show up well and show us their opacity, and I thought shimmer would work better with the almost-chrome finish of all six Crackle Glaze Metals.  I did just single nail swatches for this preliminary test drive and look at them - in addition to the fact that I was racing predicted storms for sunlight and didn't want to change lighting conditions halfway through, all six are gorgeous and I'd rather put a little more thought and effort into full manicures with them than just pairing them with charcoal.

Since I used three colors on each hand I split them up as I figured you'd want to see them, putting the true metallics (silver, gold, bronze) one one hand and the others (teal, pink, lavender) on the other so you can see how they look relative to one another.  They all have top coat, and this is in good sunlight.

First, we'll look at the true metals.  They are, from the top down, Cracked Medallion (bronze), Tarnished Gold (gold) and Platinum Pieces (silver).

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, Round I

I think you can see how well these apply, and the application was  the same for all six shades in the collection.  The consistency of the polish is like normal polish, and so it was easy to apply a thin coat.  With crackles, I pay no attention to how even or opaque the crackle is during application - when it splits up, the pieces become much more opaque and things even out.  When applied, these looked somewhat sheer, but you can see that all three broke up beautifully and are opaque enough to completely cover the charcoal base between cracks.  Here's the same picture with the polish names added - I find labels on pictures can be distracting, so I figured I'd let you get a first impression without them and tack on the labelled version for reference.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, More Round I

As for the colors, I really like them a lot.  I've always loved metals and chromes, but the fact is, a chrome finish isn't the most forgiving.  If there's one ridge in a nail, and I have many, a chrome finish pretty much places a neon sign flashing "RIDGES" on that nail.  These have the same overall effect as regular chromes without that shortcoming, and they are really solid renditions of each color.

For Round II, also from the top down, I have Oxidized Aqua (teal), Haute Metal (pink), and Latticed Lilac (lavender).

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, Round II

Here, you can see that these three are as opaque as and broke up just as well as the first three, and the colors are stunning.  These three will require a little more thought to pair up with good bases.  Here's the labelled version of Round II.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, More Round II

All six swatches have just the one coat of top coat, and you can see that the crackle layer isn't terribly thick, which is nice.  I'm a huge fan of this collection, and I'll be trying them out individually this week.

That's really all I have for today, Dear Reader, so until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

About a week or so ago I showed you Nfu Oh 40 over Misa Quirky Smile, but what I didn't show you was that I got an extra day out of it by topping it off with China Glaze Crushed Candy, the Crackle Glaze that's about the same shade as For Audrey.  I really just wasn't particularly excited about removing the flakies, and it didn't occur to me until after I'd added Crushed Candy that I'd succeeded in making the situation a little worse.  Since we know by now that I was able to remove all of it, all's well that ends well, and it was fun while I wore it.

China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle over Nfu Oh 40 and Misa Quirky Smile

On this one, I really like how glowy the flakes are as they peek out of the kind of muted creme shade of Crushed Candy.  I think as long as a base polish and a crackle are pretty dramatically different from one another, I'll like them together.

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

Nfu Oh 40

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd bring out an Nfu Oh flaky today, and I went with Nfu Oh 40. For the base color I chose Misa Quirky Smile, a teal shimmer. Quirky Smile was a two-coater, and I just ventured over to Trans Design to see what collection it's from (a recent one, I know), and noticed all of Trans Design's OPI pages are gone - everything OPI-related is just missing (TD got back to be, see update at the bottom of the page). Hmmmm... I'll have to remember to email David to ask what that's about. I also didn't find which collection the Misa's from, to get back to the topic of today's post, but that doesn't especially matter.

I added two coats of Nfu Oh 40 to Quirky Smile, and it turned out being a little bit better in real life than the best picture I could get with artificial light. It's a little mermaid-y, a little like a mosaic, and reminds me why I like Nfu Oh flakies.

Nfu Oh 40 over Misa Quirky Smile, Two Coats Each

I didn't alter this picture, I just had the good fortune of catching one where the bottle really shows how cool Nfu Oh flakies are. I only used one coat of top coat, and now that it's totally dry, the manicure could use one more to smooth it out completely, but I don't think it will take more than that. The only thing I dislike abut flaky glitters is the removal, which always makes me wish I had a mini sandblaster. I'm sure the neighbors would enjoy that show, me sitting on the lawn sandblasting away with my tiny portable sandblaster. Like they don't have enough questions about what the heck I'm up to, always taking lots of pictures of secret things I'm hiding in my hand...

That's the manicure, the made-up removal method, and the Trans Design news for today. If I'm able to get more information regarding the OPI situation, which I just stepped aside to send the email about, I'll pass it on as soon as I get it. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



Update from Trans Design: OPI products are on a new site, www.nailsupplies.us, so they're still available. Good news for all of us!

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune for you, one of the new Wet n Wild Fast Dry polishes.  It a sparkly  teal that's very smooth - it seems to have big shimmer bits rather than glitter.  Here's two coats over a base with top coat.

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune Nail Polish, Two Coats

I like it, but I thought I'd like it more with the addition of a coat of China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle Glaze.

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune with China Glaze Crushed Candy

That's much better!

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

CND Teal Sparkle & Urban Oasis

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just changed my polish, and I thought I'd give you a look at what I changed to.  I got CND's Night Factory duo from Trans Design, which has Urban Oasis and Teal Sparkle in it, and I decided to crack into the two of them.

Urban Oasis is a really good teal creme.  Though not the most unique shade ever made, it's completely opaque in one thin coat.  In the picture, the texture looks weird because it's just the one thin coat over a ridge filler and my left hand was dry by the time I finished the right, but I wanted to show you how saturated the color in this one is.

CND Urban Oasis Nail Polish, One Coat

I added one coat of Teal Sparkle to it, which completely transformed it.  This is with top coat.

CND Teal Sparkle Nail Polish over CND Urban Oasis, One Coat Each

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

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have the last of the SpaRitual Imagine collection for you, Dreams Becoming Reality.  This one's a really good teal creme, a two coater, with the same good application as the rest.  The color isn't too bright, it's just right for a Fall teal.

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality Nail Polish, Two Coats

Dreams Becoming Reality wraps up the Imagine Collection, which I overall like quite a bit.  The only thing is that the six colors together seem a bit random, not really like a collection.  That's not a huge criticism, all things considered.

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

Color Club Untamed Luxury Diamond Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Color Club sent me samples of their Fall 2010 Untamed Luxury Collection, which consists of two sets of seven shades, and I have swatches of the Untamed Luxury Diamond Collection for you today.

I found the application of these was very good, and that the colors are well pigmented.  For the one I'm wearing, the dry time was about average.  I'll tell you specifics of each color as we go through the pictures.

Ms. Haute is a grey taupe shimmer with lots of very fine glitter.  The picture is without top coat, and I think one coat of top coat would smooth is out nicely.  I used two coats of Ms. Haute.

Color Club Ms. Haute Nail Polish, Two Coats

Snakeskin is a kind of muted olive shimmer with gold microglitter, also a two-coater.

Color Club Snakeskin Nail Polish, Two Coats

De-luxe-cious, despite the name, is a great color.  It's a slightly bluish grey shimmer with fine multi-colored glitter.  I used two coats.

Color Club De-luxe-cious Nail Polish, Two Coats

Red Velvet is a whole lot of fine red glitter in a black base.  There are lots of variations on this combination, and this is a good one - the black is very black, but the red glitter shows up well and is quite dense.  I think Red Velvet is probably most similar to Eyeko Vampira.  Again, Red Velvet was a two-coater.

Color Club Red Velvet Nail Polish, Two Coats

Covered in Diamonds is called a "luxury top coat" by Color Club.  It's a clear base with large irregular flaky glitter.  Here, I used one coat over black.

Color Club Covered in Diamonds Nail Polish, One Coat over Black

Untamed Luxury, the namesake of the collection, is a bright teal glitter in a teal jelly base.  I used two coats, I probably could have afforded to use a third.

Color Club Untamed Luxury Nail Polish, Two Coats

That brings us to the last one, Resort to Red.  Resort to Red is a cranberry red shimmer, and the shimmer is really fine, almost metallic.  This one was good in two coats.

Color Club Resort to Red Nail Polish, Two Coats 

That, Dear Reader, is Color Club's Untamed Luxury Diamond Collection.  I'll have the Indulgence Collection, the other seven shades, swatched for you soon.  Until then, love and nail polish to you!  

Diamond Cosmetics Fall 2010

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I received samples of Diamond Cosmetics' Fall 2010 collection, and I have swatches of them for you today.  The collection is four cremes and a jelly, and most were two coaters.  The application was typical of Diamond Cosmetics, so nothing new to tell you about there, and the brush is the usual as well.

Classic Pink is a very pale pink creme, and I used three coats.

Diamond Cosmetics Classic Pink Nail Polish, Three Coats

Sunset in Sedona is a really good terra cotta creme, and it was good in two coats.

Diamond Cosmetics Sunset in Sedona Nail Polish, Two Coats

Private School Girl is a red creme, also good in two coats.

Diamond Cosmetics Private School Girl Nail Polish, Two Coats

It's Nothing to Wine About is a wine jelly.  I used two coats, but I think it would have been better with a third.

Diamond Cosmetics It's Nothing to Wine About Nail Polish, Two Coats

Under the Willow Tree is a blackened blue green creme, very pretty and not black in indoor light.  I used two coats.

Diamond Cosmetics Under the Willow Tree Nail Polish, Two Coats

The release date for this collection is tomorrow, and it will be available on Diamond Cosmetics' site.

That's all for today, Dear Redaer.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

OPI Ski Teal We Drop & Konad M71

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm back to OPI Swiss today with Ski Teal We Drop, a deep teal creme.  This one only took two coats to be good, and the dry time was average.  Here's Ski Teal We Drop finished with top coat.

OPI Ski Teal We Drop Nail Polish, Two Coats

Even though I like it on its own, I thought it could use a little something to brighten it up, so I added a pattern from Konad plate M71 in Konad White Special Polish.

OPI Ski Teal We Drop Nail Polish, Two Coats, with Konad M71

I realized it's been an eternity since I used Konad, so it's a nice change of pace.  That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Orly Viva! Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have swatches of the Orly Viva! Collection for you.  It consists of four shades, two cremes and two shimmers.  Three of the four were three-coaters for me, with the fourth being a two coater.  They applied well, and there are no changes in the bottle or brush to report.

Fiesta is a medium pink shimmer, a three coater.

Orly Fiesta Nail Polish from the Viva! Collection, Three Coats

La Playa was the two-coater, a really nice dark-but-still-blue creme.

Orly La Playa Nail Polish from the Viva! Collection, Two Coats

Bailamos is a light  blue teal shimmer, also a three-coater.

Orly Bailamos Nail Polish from The Viva! Collection, Three Coats

Ole is a coral-y orange creme, also a three-coater.

Orly Ole Nail Polish from The Viva! Collection, Three Coats

That's Orly's Viva! Collection for Summer 2010, and all I have for you this morning.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!