Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

...and into BLUE nail polish.  Me.  Wearing blue nail polish.

I don't really know now what I was so afraid of.  Probably left over from the 70s and 80s where all we had were reds, pinks, mauves and neutrals.  Blue nail polish was unheard of then.  I'm not going to get over my fear of black polish as easily.  But I won't say never.

So I started by sticking my toe in and testing the waters.  Literally.  I wore China Glaze For Audrey on my toes for a few days and it wasn't that bad!  So I decided to pull out one of my untrieds in a scattered holo (because I love holos!) and put on Milani 3D Cyberspace.  And I loved it!  Who knew? The formula is great for a "holo."  It's not a tight holo, but it's better than strictly a holo glitter.  I'd call it a scattered holo.  This is three light coats with a topcoat.

Milani 3D Cyberspace

Milani 3D Cyberspace

Milani 3D Cyberspace

Milani 3D Cyberspace

So with an easy blue under my belt, I got a little braver!  Dior makes great blues, but I'm not going to shell out the price of a Dior when I don't know if I can follow through with it.  So I picked up NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme and Sally Hansen HD Laser to test drive.  The Sally Hansen definitely has a lot of depth and shimmer with flashes of purple and pink. It took 2 coats.  I didn't do clean up on either the Sally Hansen or the NYC because I didn't know if I was going to leave them on.  I usually have very little, if any, cleanup, but blues and reds seem harder for me to apply perfectly on the first swipe, for some reason.

The NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme is a little on the thick side, but for a $2 polish, it certainly had more depth and shine than I expected.  It went on okay, not great, only because it's thicker than I am used to.

NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme

NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme

Then I decided to see how the Sally Hansen HD Laser would layer over it.  Below I've layered it over the NYC polish on the middle and ring fingers.

NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme with Sally Hansen HD Laser layered over on middle and ring fingers

I liked it, so layered the rest of the nails and I decided to leave it and see how it fares tomorrow.  Can I make it through an entire day with such a BLUE blue?  We will see!!!  (Below I tried to capture the flashes of purple.)

NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme with Sally Hansen HD Laser layered on top

NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme with Sally Hansen HD Laser layered on top

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro - Steel Grey and Pink Zinfandel

So we're down to the last couple of Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro colors I have for review right now.  There are several other Rimmel variations, such as Rimmel 60 Seconds, coming up as well.  But for now, the last two in the Lasting Finish Pro line are my latest, Pink Zinfandel, and my favorite go-to polish, Steel Grey. No, you're not crazy, I've reviewed this one before, but it's my favorite, so I'm throwing it in there again.

Steel Grey is one of those mushroom-y, taupy colors I always fall for and because it's in this line, which happens to be one of my favorites, and is applied with one of the best application brushes out there, it qualifies as my "if you could only have ONE" polish.  It reads as a neutral, but has plenty of color saturation to contrast nicely with my pasty white skin.

Rimmel Steel Grey

Rimmel Steel Grey

Steel Grey is actually a fairly close Chanel Particuliere dupe, but, unlike Particuliere, Steel Grey has a slight hint of a purple undertone that makes me favor it slightly.  It wears like iron on my nails and is the polish I wear when traveling.  If I am going to be gone for more than a week, I'll take a clear-based glitter coat to wear over it the second week if/when it starts showing wear.

Lastly, we have Rimmel's Pink Zinfandel.  This is what I would call a "frost." (Remember the 80s?)  It's an easy-to-apply formula, but it does have the tell-tale brush strokes reminiscent of a frost.

Rimmel Pink Zinfandel

Rimmel Pink Zinfandel

It's a nice mauvy-pink frost.  I wasn't thrilled with the brush strokes and pastels aren't really my best colors, so I layered a coat of Wet n Wild Hannah Pinktana over it - a sheer, pink glitter/shimmer coat.  Hides the brush strokes fairly well and gives it a little more depth (and a little more contrast against my skin.)

Rimmel Pink Zinfandel with Wet n Wild Hannah Pinktana on top

This concluded the Rimmel reviews for a few days.  I think I kind of ODd on them for now!  Have a great day!

LCN Magnetic Nail Polish

Well, I have to admit I was really excited about this magnetic nail polish when I heard about it, so naturally I had to give it a go.  I ordered the "star" magnet and 2 of the polishes from LCN, which arrived yesterday.  The shipping was fast, which is always a plus, and FREE shipping!  But the price of the product is a bit off-putting.  Each polish is $9.90, but they're only 8ml (while the "normal" size for most polish is 15ml) and the magnets are $19.90 each. Also, there were no instructions included in the package. That's not a huge deal as you can get instructions on-line, but just seemed a little odd to me, especially given that it's more than a little tricky to use.

Here are some tips:

1. You definitely need a base color first - NOT the same color though or you won't see the contrast.  It needs to be a much lighter color.  I suppose you could do it without a base if your nails are white.  Mine, however, are yellow.  Not attractive at all.  And it is pretty much bare nail (or light base coat) that forms the star as the magnet moves all the polish everywhere BUT the star shape. You certainly don't have time to use more than one coat of the magnetic polish, which is a little on the thin side already.

2.  Do one nail at a time.  The polish must be very wet to work at all.

3.  Steady the hand that's holding the magnet or you WILL get it in the polish.  If you do, do NOT use acetone remover to "clean" the polish off of the magnet or it won't work.  Just wipe with a wet cloth real quick (or use non-acetone remover, which I didn't have on hand.)

4.  Put the polish on as quickly (and as thick) as possible and get straight to the magnet. Hold it as close to, but not touching, the polish as possible. 14 seconds seemed to be the magic number for me.

5.  Don't be discouraged if you have to re-do several nails on your first go at it.  Which is rather a pain, since that means re-doing the base color too.

With all of that said, I'm going to show you my first attempts.  As you will see, it's going to take some practice as these are not very good.  I am not giving up just yet, though.  I'll give it a few more shots and only time will tell if I end up thinking it's worth it.  Basically, I guess I am saying that the jury is still out on that.

LCN Magnetic Moments

I tried Magnetic Moments first, which is a metallic looking slate grey...nothing really worked out except the thumb nail, but I admit I was impatient and gave up pretty quickly and moved on to Fuchsia Attraction.

LCN Fuchsia Attraction

As you can see, I was starting to improve, but some of the stars are off-center and some are more clear than others.  The Fuchsia Attraction is a really pretty metallic looking berry-mauve color.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro - Posh Pink, Marine Blue, Hot Cocoa and Stiletto Red

Still loving on the Rimmel Londons.  These 4 all had fantastic formulas and went on like a dream, as usual. I may have already mentioned, but I LOVE their wide brush - it's angled perfectly for smooth application.  These photos are all pre-cleanup.  As you can see, I had very little cleaning up to do.  Which is a definite plus for me.  Something else I may have mentioned...I'm LAZY! =)

First up - Posh Pink.  This is a POP of neon pink and I captured it the best I could. My photography skills leave quite a bit to be desired, but I intend to get out the booklet that came with the camera and actually read it.  One of these days.

Rimmel Posh Pink

Rimmel Posh Pink

Marine Blue is a shimmery teal -  more on the blue side than the green.

Rimmel Marine Blue

Stiletto Red is a perfect blue-based red creme. No fancy sparkles or shimmers, just a lovely, perfect red creme with great application.  And as you all know, reds are a pain to clean up.  As you can see here, pre-cleanup, I had very little to do.

Rimmel Stiletto Red

Hot Cocoa is aptly named.  If I had to chose another word to describe it, I'd say it's a toffee color. It's also a great creme with no sparkle or shimmer.

Rimmel Hot Cocoa

I still have a few more colors to review in the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro line that I'll get to this week, providing Tropical Storm Don doesn't do anything funky in the next day and a half.

OPI Funky Dunky Accent

I was wondering how OPI Funky Dunky would compliment the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro Wild Orchid I was wearing, so I did an accent nail for comparison.  It is actually the same color - only about 3 shades darker.

Rimmel Wild Orchid with OPI Funky Dunky

Should have polished the edges to reduce tip wear, but I got lazy.  Oh well...live and learn.  As much as I type, I should always do the edges.

Layered with Orchid brand Starry Night glitter.

Rimmel Wild Orchid with OPI Funky Dunky under Orchid Starry Night

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Pro - Rags to Riches and Wild Orchid

After all of the Butter London testing, I decided to go back to one of my favorites for a few days.  Rimmel, despite being a "drugstore" brand and under $7 in price, has a fantastic formula and a fantastic brush.  LOVE!

I really wish they would put more into coming out with more colors though. Hear that Rimmel?  MORE COLORS PLEASE!

Here's a start, though - I know Rags to Riches is brand new for the fall and I *think* Wild Orchid might be new as well because I hadn't seen it until I picked up RtR.

Rags to Riches is a great metallic mossy green with silver shimmer.  The formula is smooth and easy, and it's a two-coater (shown here with 2 coats and no topcoat.)  Probably going to be one of my go-to polishes this fall.

Rimmel Rags to Riches

Wild Orchid is a smooth creme that is a one-coater.  I am pretty much a serial two-coater, though, so my pic is with 2 coats and no topcoat, though I'll probably add one and wear it for a few days. It's a light purple/dark lavender - what I think OPI Funky Dunky would be if it were about 3 shades lighter.  It's certainly a lighter/different purple than I normally wear, but I'm an equal opportunity purple lover, so it's definitely a keeper.

Rimmel Wild Orchid

Rimmel Wild Orchid

Stay tuned for more Rimmel reviews...

Butter London Nail Polish Reviews

UPDATE:  Well I've had the pleasure of buying and receiving a lot more Butter London polishes since I wrote this post (And thankfully I've gotten better at photographing the polishes!) and the brand continues to grow and improve and has actually become one of my favorites! Check out these posts:

butter LONDON Royal Navy

butter LONDON Blowing Raspberries

butter LONDON Lillibet's Jubilee

butter LONDON Trout Pout, Yummy Mummy and Teddy Girl

butter LONDON Queen Vic

butter LONDON British Racing Green



Some thoughts on Butter London polish.  Overall, it's not a bad brand.  The 3-free, not tested on animals attributes are certainly a plus, as are some of the colors.  My problem with Butter London is the inconsistency of the formulas from one color to the other.  I've noticed bottle imperfections, too, but other than that possibly being an indicator of quality control in general, that doesn't really bother me.

For instance, the cremes generally have decent application while the glitters and other "special" polishes (like Chancer) have such horrible application that I doubt I will ever use them again.  Chancer was extremely gloppy and thick and hard to apply and just got worse with each coat, even when drying completely between coats.

Butter London Chancer

Butter London Chancer 

Not sure if you can tell how gloppy it is in the photos, but it was so bad, I didn't bother doing cleanup, OR the other hand.  In the first photo, I've compared Chancer to China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  They both have the same shimmer, but the Butter London base is a slightly darker red than the China Glaze.  The main difference is the formula and application.  No comparison.

Marrow, on the other hand, has a smooth application.  It is slightly thicker than most, almost making it a one-coater, but it applies well.  It's a deep, vampy purple (or even blurple) creme with a slight hint of silver micro-shimmer, that dried a bit darker than the bottle indicates.

Butter London Marrow

I decided to try the No More Waity Katie with it.  I've seen so many gorgeous photos of it used over Zoya Caitlin and figured it would go well over Marrow.  In theory, it does.  In reality, however, the formula is so gloppy and thick and uneven, it's not really worth it.

Butter London No More Waity Katie

It's really too bad that such a gorgeous color, which would have made a great layering polish or stand-alone polish, is just horrible in application.

To be fair to Butter London, I swatched a few more with NO application or formula problems.

Butter London All Hail the Queen

Butter London All Hail the Queen

All Hail the Queen has a fantastic application and it's really a lovely color.  Some call it a holo, but if it is, it's not a strong holo.  Though I haven't really worn it in full sun.  I'll have to test that out. To me, the shimmer makes it a very interesting, if not truly holographic, color.  This one is a keeper.

Butter London Queen Vic

Queen Vic, a creme, is a deep mulberry/cranberry/raspberry color. It's not what I would call a unique color and while the application isn't as bad as NMWK or Chancer, it is a little on the thick side and slightly difficult to work with.

Butter London Snog

This polish looks to be more of a fuchsia in the bottle but on the nail is a darker, more red-toned pink than fuchsia. I'll definitely need to get more full sun photos of this one as it's a hard color to capture for someone like me who is "photographically challenged."  The formula/application is great on this creme.

Butter London Toff

Toff is one of the new Autumn/Winter 2011 colors. I would describe this as a dark dusty mauve or a darker rose pink with very definite and noticable brown undertones. Color is great. The formula was acceptable, but not great.  There was some cuticle drag and it's a bit on the thick side - again, making it almost a one-coater but without the best application.

Butter London Pearly Queen

Butter London Pearly Queen

Pearly Queen had good application and formula. And the color was actually quite surprising.  I really didn't expect to like the color as much as I did. It's definitely a pearl, but the brush strokes, while definitely there, as with most pearls, weren't the worst I've seen. It's not your 80s pearl, for sure. The surprising part for me was that it was opaque in 2 coats.  I really expected it to be a sheer.  It has good shimmer and the color is a sandy pearl/white with a pale pink flash.  Without natural light, it's almost a pale cement color, but it comes alive in the sun where you can see the pink flash.

Chanel Graphite vs. OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous Part Deux

Continuing from last night's post with the comparison between Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, I've taken photos of the two in natural light.  As you can see, they are not identical.  That said, it's likely that you could wear both colors as your mani for a week and no one would notice that you have two different colors - except you, of course.

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

You can see that the Chanel Graphite flashes gold (with a very subtle copper and green) in indirect sunlight. But you have to look really hard for the copper/green flashes and I wasn't able to capture them here.

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

In full, direct sunlight, we are back to barely seeing ANY difference between the two at all.

To sum it up: without natural lighting almost perfect dupes; indirect natural light, not dupes; direct natural light, back to almost perfect dupes again.

Chanel Graphite vs. OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Are they dupes or aren't they?

Well, in spite of the photos you are going to see here, I can tell you that they're not.  Of course, it also depends on how close you want them to be.  Are they close?  Absolutely.

Below are some pics I snapped this evening - no natural light. And in this light, I can tell you they are dupes, right down to the application and number of coats (I used 2 coats on both.)

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Chanel Graphite and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

I can actually tell now, but it's very subtle, plus the fact that I remember which fingers have which polish. Ha! But at arms-length, identical.

But just wait for the sunlight photos!  Tomorrow, I promise!

Merging Blogs!

Okay, so who was I kidding?  Two blogs?  Yeah, after one day, I kinda knew that wasn't gonna work.

But could a luddite like me actually figure out how to merge them? Surprisingly, there was no need!  Click Export on the secondary one, click Import on the main one, find the download on my computer and Voila!  Mischief Managed!

eBlogger ROCKS!

Chanel Peridot

I really didn't think I would love Chanel Peridot, but I figured I would like it well enough to justify the purchase.

And that's about how it all ended up. It's a very interesting color and multi-dimensional.

Chanel Peridot

You can see the golds, coppers and greens coming out quite well. And I swear I can even see some flashes of blue sometimes - see the photo of the bottle.  Like Graphite, it certainly morphs into various colors/shades depending on the lighting. It's not the best polish for my skin tone, but I like it well enough that I WILL still wear it.  As usual, the application is a dream.

Various views - such an interesting and VERY unique polish.  I seriously doubt there will be a dupe of this one.

Chanel Peridot

Chanel Peridot

Chanel Peridot

Chanel Peridot

Chanel Peridot