September 14, 2012 – 12:00 pm
I keep wanting to call this collection Golden Safari. To the point of having to redo all my labels. Might be because I actually went on one fairly recently.
The Golden Jungle collection actually included four colors, two of which were covered last week. Bengale was a Neiman Marcus exclusive. However, I’m finding that Dior sometimes releases them on the website after the exclusive event has run its cours – such as the Les Violetes Hypnotiques collection which were a Nordstroms exclusive and are now available on the Dior website.
Both Bengale and Amazonia are definate fall/winter colors. Earthy and smokey. Bengale is a chocolate brown creme. Brown is not my favorite shade as I’m much more into color. But still, the shade is appealing.
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September 10, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Compared to the previous NYX colors I posted, these four are positively colorful!
Although I have to chuckle a little about the names. For as wildly creative as some of the newer polish names are, the length of the names get a bit difficult to add to the swatches because they can be so long. NYX seems to have reverted to the old one to two word names that might not be highly original, but they are appropos and much easier to title swatches with.
Gold is a burnt orange shimmer that was an easy two coats. Although orange has never been my color, this one is “burnt” enough to go with my skin tone. Definately not a worry if orange tones work on you.
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September 5, 2012 – 12:00 pm
I can’t say that I’ve been a big fan of the crackle effect (or shatter, fracture or this effect by any other name). But when I saw the Crocodile effect from Dior, I kinda had to get it. Really, how often does a high end polish indulge in fad finishes?
Let’s talk about Golden Light first. Dior and Chanel seem to love coming out with one gold polish after another. And quite honestly, when I saw the Crocodile effects packaged with Golden Light, I think my eyes did a little roll.
But I have to say that this color is actually a step up. If you take a good look, you’ll see that this is just a little beyond the standard gold shimmer. There are small gold flakes scattered in the polish that make this a little different. And while this is a pretty sheer color, three coats (shown) will take you to a decent level of opacity.
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September 3, 2012 – 12:00 pm
The next batch of NYX Advanced Salon Formula swatches may seem a bit on the sedate side, but there are a few here that really captured my interest. Fortunately, I’d categorized all these as work appropriate, for those that are concerned with that. And as stated in previous posts, you can find these for a whopping $3.60 at Cherry Culture.
Snowflake was one of the few four coaters that I came across in the NYX ASF line. But I really like the way that it looks. The shimmer keeps it from looking harsh, but it’s a clean, fresh look. Although it took four coats, that many will take you to complete opacity.
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August 31, 2012 – 12:00 pm
I had recently covered two of the Estee Lauder Beyond Black colors and liked them enough to go back and buy the remaining two. To say that Estee Lauder has been surprising me with their edgy colors would be an extreme understatement.
Both Black Plum and Viper are shimmers, but they are definitely more apparent in Viper than they are in Black Plum. Black Plum is appropriately named because the color is extremely dark. In a normally lit room, this one will appear almost black. Due to this, the shimmer isn’t obvious.
Viper, on the other hand, is a bit more obvious with both shimmer and color. Although it is still quite dark, there’s no mistaking that it’s green and you can see the shimmer under normal lighting. This was my preferred color. And really, how cool is it to reply to a nail color query with the answer, “Viper”?
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August 27, 2012 – 12:00 pm
I realized that I’ve been doing numerous high end polishes since my haitus. So let’s get back to some low priced options. I started the NYX Advanced Salon Formula series before my break and still had quite a few bottles left to swatch. So over the next few weeks, I’ll have 3-4 more posts covering this line. You can see previous posts for NYX ASF here.
NYX Formula hasn’t been around for all that long… a little under a year? But the range is extensive. You can find these for a whopping $3.60 at Cherry Culture. Although nothing beats an on-the-nail swatch for internet buying, their color swatches are pretty good compared to other lines online. For the colors I already posted, I was pretty impressed with the line, especially considering the lower price range.
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August 24, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Although I may not post Lancome polishes in quantity on this blog, I actually have a nice little collection of them. However, most of them are the older 10ml bottles that were going for $20.
Recently Lancome has veered away from the 10ml bottles and have reissued everything to the 6ml bottles for $15. Which means we are now paying $2.50per ml instead of $2.00. Is that a big deal? Ummmm, yes. The 10ml (.33oz) was small enough for $20. But 6ml (.2oz) is infinitesimal for $15. And I’m adamantly against companies repackaging the same product so that you get less product for more money.
I purchased Lancome Noir before I realized that this was a permenant size change that Lancome was making. Now that I’m aware, I will not be buying any more of these itty bitty bottles.
I’m not quite sure I understand Lancome’s demographic. With other lines, there seems to be a clearer focus on what clientelle is being targetted. But Lancome has a reputation for being a cosmetics line that is favored by a more “mature” audience, something that seems to be validated by spokeswomen in thier 40′s (like Julia Roberts – who is still knock down gorgeous). However, in the last year they have been coming out with eye shadow color pallettes that seem to be targtting the 20′s crowd. It seems a bit incongruous.
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August 22, 2012 – 12:00 pm
The CND Pink Wishes Duo has been sitting on my desk for a little while. I’ve covered quite a few of the CND duos (I think I’ve actually gotten them all) and there are ones that I love and ones that I hate. Pink Wishes is a split decision.
Pink Wishes Color is a pale pink creme. Generally this color range goes on like chalk, is streaky and has horrible self leveling. Pink Wishes is no exception. Shown is 4 coats.
While four coats is not usually a super big deal (although not preferred), it ends up being a royal pain in the ass with CND. Here’s why. CND requires a 5 minute breather between coats otherwise you’ll end up with bald spots and pulling, not to mention getting polish on your topcoat brush. While this is normally fairly inconsequential as their colors tend to be one coaters, with four coats necessary for a even finish, this ends up being a loooooooooong manicure. I wish I could have passed on this.
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August 21, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Back in 2008, there were only a small number of blogs dedicated to nail polish. Stephanie at The Polish Addict was one of the original trailblazers that not only made you want to buy everything she posted, she also inspired people like me to create blogs to share one of our favorite passions.
While I was happy to see Stephanie pursue her law degree, pass the bar exam and launch her career (not alot going on there, eh?), I was sad when that her site took a backseat (selfish, I know, but can you blame me?).
But! With life settled down, she’s back! Although she professes to she’s going to focus on work appropriate colors, I’m familiar with her lust for green polishes. Don’t be surprised if a few of them slip into her blog!
Welcome back Stephanie!
August 17, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Addiction is a Japanese cosmetics line under the Kosi brand umbrella. These are difficult to get in the U.S. As in part-the-red-sea difficult. And if the accessibility isn’t enough to deter you, these are expensive. As in $25/bottle expensive. Not that I don’t encourage you to buy them, but you really, really need to love the colors.
So the big question here is, “are they worth it?” Hmmmmm. Maybe.
I had been eyeing the Addiction polishes for quite a while – well over a year. Misty Rain is actually from last year’s offerings and along with Jewel Beetle are the two that I’ve been drooling over. Is this one worth getting? Yes! Shown is 4 coats, but really, the last coat was due to me not using thin layers and having to even things up. This color is acheivable in 3 coats. It’s a super light grey-greeen filled with subtle, irridescent, blue shimmer. Here’s a closeup.
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