Dare 2 Wear Mood Polish - Blue Charcoal 2 Green

My latest mani is Dare 2 Wear Blue Charcoal to Green and was an extra in a lovely swap package that I received a few months ago.  

I had this color well before I purchased Essie Sew Psyched and once compared it's surprisingly similar except with more shimmer, as you can see.  

The shimmer is not noticeable without the flash, but for some reason the flash makes this this color look like a frost, which it is not.

The mood polish blue to green effect is no longer working. EDIT: Though, I've seen no charcoal blue, there is a darker green that is apparent when my hands are in cold water. The picture to the right shows what "cold" does to the polish. This after one day and tip wear is showing.  I really do like it, though. :)

Thanks for checking me out and have a well-polished Sunday evening!

NYC - Empire State Blue (10/29/2010)

This is one difficult color to capture.  NYC Empire State Blue has that "lit from within" green shimmer happening and it is sooo pretty. 

I picked this up a few weeks ago at the CVS BOGO 50% off.  I purchased this and Love Letters, the sheer pink glimmer coat, which gives a similar finish as the CND Effects line.

Anyway, back to Empire State Blue, it's actually a bit more green than my pics are showing.  Again, very hard to capture but definitely worth checking out at this price point.  I would compare the color to the Sephora by OPI's Mermaid to Order.

This Look: no base coat (I know, shame on me!), two coats of NYC ESB, and 1 coat SH Mega Shine.

Alrighty, then off to start planning my weekend.  I will be doing lots of housework and possibly a little remodel work so I really am hoping not to damage my nails, at all.  The mani won't survive, I'm sure but will definitely try to protect the hands.

In real life, this color looks more like the picture to the left.  This is an extremely old Sally Hansen called Funky Frost topped with Pure Ice Heartbreaker. 

I have have been trying to create the look of Empire State Blue since July but now I found it and yay for only 0.99 cents...

Have an awesemely well-polished weekend and talk to you soon. :)

VERDICT: MAC Bad Fairy (to ♥ or not to ♥)

Here's an update to my post from a few days ago on MAC Bad Fairy.  

Well, I'm keeping her!  My thumb nail chipped today so I decided to re-do both thumbs in OPI DS Perfection.  While they are similar, on me, they are no where near dupes.  I'm almost embarrased to walk out of the house with a mismatched mani.  However, unless someone is really checking out my hands they won't notice a thing. 

This Look: 3 coats of each Bad Fairy on fingers and DS Perfection on thumb.  The OPI is much pinker and lighter than the MAC.  BF definitely has much more depth and range of color on me.

So with that said, while it's not ♥, it's definitely a keeper...

Hope this helps someone out there stay well-polished!

The Many Faces of MAC Bad Fairy (10/26/2010)

BF at window with much maneuvering.

I now reveal the many faces of Bad Fairy, as I see it.  I promised myself I would try MAC's BF with a full mani before returning it to Nordstrom. 

When I first swatched it the duochrome was not easily identifiable or in your face, like I thought it would be.  But that was only on one finger...

This is the way BF looks 90% of the ti

This Look: 1 coat: SH Hard As Wraps base coat; 3 coats: MAC Bad Fairy; and 1 coat: SH Mega Shine topcoat.

What's the verdict? Indoors (90% of the time) this color looks like a dark rose foil; that's it and that's all!  So, with that, I'm still not 100% in love.  Once I get outside in the sunlight I will make my final decision to return or not to return.  

Here is one more window shot for your viewing pleasure.  I am almost certain that to get the most enjoyment from BF you will need to be outdoors (a lot).  


Alrighty, then!  Off to see the duochrome - or not.  Will update post with my ♥ or not to ♥.  Have a well-polished day:)

NAIL REWIND: China Glaze - DV8

Oh my!!!  I think China Glaze put this formula under lock and key after this creation.  Has anyone seen anything close to this?  I wore this color in July when the sun was hot and bright.  Such awesome vividness in the sunlight.

It is a beautiful turquoise/teal holo, like no other. DV8 wears very well.  There have been a few complaints about the application but my bottle gave me no problems.

This Look: basecoat - SH Hard As Wraps, 2 coats - ChG DV8, topped off with 1 coat - SH Mega Shine.

This is a winner in every sense of the word...

Have a well-polished weekend and if you haven't already started, join me on my natural nail-care journey.  We'll have a blast. :)

DESIGNER SERIES: OPI DS Glamour (10/19/2010)

OPI's Designer Series has been described as jewels for your nails and DS Glamour definitely does not disappoint!  

This royal holographic, prismatic beauty is a stunner and it's taken far to long to wear it...  The application goes on pretty sheer so I decided to layer it over an older Revlon called Typhoon.

Glamour was released in February 2007 and Typhoon dates back to 2003 or before.  Both were picked up this year at mom & pop type beauty supplies.  At any rate, they are a great compliment to each other.  

I like the idea of "stretching" my nicer colors by layering them on top of a similar color so that I won't use as much.  And this combo looks like it was made for each other :).

 

This Look: 1 coat of Typhoon, 2 coats of Glamour and 1 coat of Mega Shine.

Do you have Typhoon or Glamour?  What are you thoughts?  

Stay well-polished and for some of you stay dry (Los Angeles residents).  It's a gloomy rainy Tuesday but my mani will keep my mood up, I'm sure :).

"Extend-a-Mani" SH Hidden Treasure/Nubar Iris Dust/Misa Earthward

I wanted a quick change so decided to do an "Extend-a-Mani"...  This is an interesting mix.  My previous look was Misa Earthward and since Nubar's Iris Dust is sheer like water, I layered it over along with Hidden Treasure.  

So to string it all together, if you go earthward, through the iris dust, you will find your hidden treasure.  Have a well-polished afternoon, ya'll!

NAIL REWIND: Orly - Royal Navy

Orly Royal Navy is such a pretty color that I just had to revisit it!  I wore this color to one of the last Dodger games of the season and they won...  It was fun and a perfect match for the occasion - I felt very, very well-polished that evening.

This is two coats with one coat of SH Mega Shine.  I just love the turquoise shimmer in this.  I've yet to see a comparison posted about this color, however, the shimmer has been compared to Pure Ice's Heartbreaker which can be layered over to intensify its brilliance.

This is definitely a jelly and if you take a close look at the pic you will see "vnl", the dreaded visible nail line (lol), however, that's the beauty of a jelly - the utter sheerness of it all!  And in a vibrant blue, this color is to die for. For me, this nail color pretty much stands alone.

Do you own this color?  Have you seen any comps out there? What are your thoughts - would love to hear from you!

NICE FIND! - Misa Earthward

I guess you can see that I'm full swing into the fall/dark color spectrum of my collection.  The problem is I've yet to wear a polish that I already own, I keep picking up new colors to swatch.  Anyhoo, today I decided to check out a few of my favorite spots to pick up a some vintage Misa's and Earthward was my favorite of the bunch.

Here's Misa Earthward on the nail.  This is about 3 coats (for the bald areas) and one coat of SH Mega Shine topcoat.  

The flash really captured the brown aspect of this color and what it actually looks like in the bottle, but with out intense light, it is a deep charcoal frost.  A frost that I don't mind, at all.

 

If you can imagine the brown version of OPI's My Private Jet but in a frost, this is what this color looks like to me.  Sometimes dark brown but mostly charcoal and 100% gorgeous.

Thanks for stopping by and as always remain well-polished my dears!

L'Oreal Dark Sky (10/10/10)

This is L'Orea'ls new LE offering: Dark Sky!  This came out in the same collex as Luminescence and Femme Noir (both of which, I snagged, as well).  Though, I don't own OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark, this is what I've seen it look like IRL.

Dark Sky went on opaque in two coats and as with dark colors was a nightmare to clean up, but I really like it.  It's shiny and intriguing.  Is it black, what is it?  It's very sophisticated, is what it is :)  

This color is getting little or no mention on the 'net and so I am giving it its five minutes of fame.  If you were like me and never got into the whole LPAD craze, try out Dark Sky by L'Oreal (if you can find it) - ♥ the formula...

Have an awesomely wonderful and well-polished Sunday!

Kleancolor Orange Holo (10/06/2010)

This NOTD is inspired by the base color, a Jennifer nail lacquer, that my friend picked up for me on her tour of the South of France.  She wanted to get this one because she's originally from New York and she had to go all the way to Paris to find something with the description Beauty from New York; the name of this color is Orange. We had a good laugh and since I didn't already own an orange frost I really wanted to try to figure out what to do with it.  

Let me say, however, that orange is my least favorite color to wear, but I also own an orange jelly that I'd never worn so I came up with this combo.There's something very sparkly and delicious about this Kleancolor's Orange Holo; I layered this on top. 

Oh, and by the way, if you don't know what to do with your frosts - layer them underneath a holo glitter and none will be the wiser!

Wahlah!  I introduce to you Holo Orange over Orange frost: 

Looks much more holo in person. (see next shot)

The frost base actually adds a shimmering depth to the finished look which is really pretty.  So don't throw out your frosts - LAYER THEM!

Dark shot for holo effect; difficult to photograph.

Holo Orange is a jelly and really can stand alone at about three (or four) coats. 

Here's a macro shot which shows the sparkleliciousness of it all!

Hope you enjoyed this post and have an awesomely, well-polished afternoon!

Orly Space Cadet - Blingtastic!

Well, here it is, my rendition of Orly Space Cadet a crazy-blingy lacquer, thus, BLINGTASTIC!  This nail polish will satisfy the purple lovers, pink lovers, green lovers, as well as, the gold lovers.  

I just asked my DH what color comes to his mind when he sees this polish then I proceeded to move my hand around so that he could appreciated the duocrominess, of it all. Can you guess which color he saw?  Are you ready for this?  Brown.  

He's such a boy; to his credit, however, if you mix any the above mentions colors together, I'm almost certain you will get some type of brownish hue.  

Do I see a challenge brewing for all you franken-ladies?  Alrighty then, pick this up at your local beauty supply or drug store and you are certain to be well-polished!

COMPS: Green and Gorgeous - MAC Jade Dragon Q&D's

This is definitely a set of gorgeous green polishes worthy of comparison!  This quick and dirty post was totally inspired by MAC Jade Dragon, which the Nordies SA so kindly pointed out, that this was the "last one" they had in the store.  

What'd she want to say that for, I took a closer look and said, "I'll take it!".  I did, however, mention to her that I have many greens and if it's too close to something I already have I would bring it back.  Well, so much for that - IT'S A KEEPER!

The picture above consists of (top to bottom): Ulta Tainted Love (index), China Glaze Watermelon Rind (middle), Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (ring), and MAC Jade Dragon (pinky). At a glance, you will see, that the bottle pics (below) are in the same family.

These colors, though they're similar, are not the same.  And I'm thrilled to have them all in my collection.  MAC's JD has what I'd call a "secret shimmer" which makes it super shiny and is darker on the nail, while Orly's MMUtM is all-out glass-flecked gorgeousness.  ChG WR is the most teal of the bunch and is glass-flecked, as well, with Ulta's TL being a beautiful deep green with golden shimmer.  And if I'm not mistaken, all of these colors are still available for purchase in the U.S.

One more gorgeous deep green of note would be Nina Ultra Pro's Emerald City.  This was the very first green shimmer I fell in ♥ with (see pic to the right).  This would be a suitable base for all comps above, that is, if you wanted to stretch your nicer bottle of polish.  At any rate, I hope you enjoyed these comps and please let me know your thoughts below.  

Now off to do my "real" mani, Orly Space Cadet!  Can't wait and until the next time, thanks for checking in and being my inspiration to be well-polished.