Chanel Riva/China Glaze Moody Blue Dupe...

pic: direct lamp light

Well, this quick and dirty mani was inspired by China Glaze's Moody Blue, the "Chanel Riva dupe" mentioned on Lacquerized.  I found Moody Blue yesterday while nail polish shopping with a fellow MUAer "faerieberry".  

Color Description:  This color has been described as a "pretty eggshell blue... the perfect shade of blue for your next exotic vacation."  And I'd have to agree.  Very pretty light blue but both Moody Blue and this one are very sheer and a pain to apply.

ChG Moody Blue/Unnamed Lacquer

Price Point:  This is a huge (1 oz.) unnamed lacquer that I picked up at a really old beauty supply Downtown L.A. for $1.00.

Similar To:  I swatched the unnamed light blue and China Glaze's Moody Blue on one hand, alternating fingers and couldn't tell the difference.  Then I decided to take it all off and just wear the unnamed polish, since I had this one first.  So, I guess that means that this unnamed polish is a Chanel Riva dupe, as well. (p.s. bottle pics look slightly  different but on nail, they're just about the same)

pic: w/ lightbox

This Look:  Because this is a Q&D mani, I have on only 4 coats of the unnamed light blue. Oh, and don't "look" too close - I called it a quick and dirty mani for a reason (lol).

Thanks so much for stopping by my well-polished ones and have an awesome weekend!

Maybelline Colorama Pink Pinata over Revlon Pink Lingerie (12/28/2010)

Pink was so nice I had to wear it twice!  Today's review will be on Pink Pinata.

Color Description: Pink Pinata has iridescent flakies in a translucent pinky/peach base.

Price Point: This is a discontinued collection, however, it pops up in dollar stores and Big Lots across the country.  I've yet to see any at my local stores, so when I got this in a swap (as an EXTRA, nonetheless) I was like, "SCORE!"

Similar To: Pink Pinata is similar Hidden Treasure or Nubar 2010.  I believe, you could tell the difference over a white polish; the pink base would be apparent.  However, if you were to layer this over a black or darker nail color, they would be the same.  (See it over black in Steph's Closet swatch here).

This Look:  As mentioned in my previous post Revlon's Pink Lingerie and Wet 'n Wild's Flirty Rose Creme are almost identical.  So I decided to keep the pink theme going by wearing Pink Lingerie with a twist, layering the Maybelline Colorama - Pink Pinata (my top coat is Sally Hansen Mega Shine).

Well, that's all my well-polished folks.  Looks like I'll be wearing pink for the next few days! :)

OPI - DS Mystery (12/21/2010)

This color is crazy-beautiful.  And yes, it's a mystery...  Is it black, is it blue, is it a creme or a glitter?  It's all of the above.

Color Description:  Mystery has been described by OPI as, "an alluring dark violet diamond sparkle."  My take on it is an inky indigo with fine dark gold glitter that to the normal eye would look black.

Price Point:  OPI's Designer Series boasts of having diamond dust in the formula, which brings the price tag up quite a bit to $12.50 per bottle.  OPI says that this collection, "is reserved only for the privileged few who recognize its elegance, its special allure and its rare beauty."  I think anyone reading this blog fits this description! :)

Similar To:  I have nothing that is an absolute dupe of Mystery, however, a few similarities lie in Sally Hansen Midnight in NY (black base with fine gold glitter) or NYX's Collection Noir.  Comparisons have been made to Avon Golden Twilight and China Glaze's Wagon Trail and though they are similar, they lean towards brown, in my opinion, which Mystery is definitely not.

This Look:  One coat of DS Mystery layered over my my previous platinum gold mani, with one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine to top things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  What are your favorite DS's?  Would love to hear from you "privileged few" (lol) well-polished beauties.  Have a great day. :)

NYX Girls - Mushroom Glitter (12/17/2010)

NYX - Mushroom Glitter

This polish reminds me of that Pillow Pet Commercial Jingle: ♪♫ "It's a glit-ter, it's a foil, it's a glitter-foil!" ♪♫

Color Description: NYX Girls Mushroom Glitter is so fine it's almost a foil.  Everything but the shine on this glitter is soft from the light pale gold almost platinum coloring, to the superfine glitter - it's just breathtaking and the shine is out of this world.

Price Point: This is a super inexpensive nail polish that runs about $3.00 retail and can be purchased at CherryCulture.com. I found this at a local beauty supply.

Similar To:  This reminds me of Orly's Gold Luxe, however, it's a much more subtle gold leaning towards taupe with very little yellow in it, whereas, Luxe is very yellow and a bit more brash.

This Look:  One coat of Starting Over After Artificials, 3 coats of Mushroom Glitter, and one coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.  This was one smooth glitter and was topcoat optional for both the texture and the shine but to be on the safe side and because as with foils and glitters, they stay dentable for a long time, I made sure to top it off with a quick dry.

Thank you so much for stopping by and see you next week sometime!  Would ♥ to hear from you and keep it well-polished!

Glitter Glam-Up: Nabi Mix Big Glitter over Barielle Elle's Spell

Introducing the Nabi Mix Big Glitter - what a name (lol)!  Last night I was playing in my glitter collex and thought this look came out pretty funky and fun, at the same time. 

This is a "less than 24-hour" mani that will be removed this evening but it's gonna be fun while it lasts!!!  See you tomorrow with my real "glitter" mani that will stay on the entire weekend.  As usual, stay well-polished...

Barielle - Elle's Spell (12/13/2010)

I was so excited to find this at Ulta on Saturday!  I called and the store said, "No, we don't have it but we have the Too Faced Enchanted Kit".  I went to the store thinking, "One out of two isn't bad."  Low and behold, I perused the aisles and there it was.  The only Barielle of note (IMO) in the collection.

Color Description: Elle's Spell (ES) has a deep ruby jelly base with medium size golden-orange flakies.  This is definitely a nail fanatic must-have, however, like many jelly finishes, it is extremely difficult to capture in pictures.  I did the best I could. :)

Price Point:  Barielle's are reasonably priced (for a salon brand) at $6.00.  So far, I've only seen these at Ulta and Barielle.com, but I'm sure these can be found at a few boutique salons and beauty supply stores.

Similar To:  I have no other red flaky in my collection, however, from pictures of Nfu Oh #59 (see PHD's awesome post here), it looks like #59 is the closest thing on the market and is probably as accessible as ES.  I own about five other red lacquers with gold or red glitter which are: Rush Glamour (old school Sally Beauty brand), Essie Ruby Slippers, Maybelline Red Carpet, China Glaze Ruby Pumps and the newest edition Milani Red Sparkle. All of these put me in the same mind frame as ES (also included in the bottle pic below).

This Look: 1 coat of Starting Over After Artificials, 3 coats of ES and 1 coat of Sherani Tufcoat.

Well, thanks for stopping by and I believe my next mani will be full on glitter.  Can't wait to post this soon. 

Stay well-polished and dry today; it's raining here in Sunny Los Angeles!

Maybelline - Gray T Glamour (12/10/2010)

Glamour and sophistication rolled into one!  This nail lacquer even gets compliments from men...  This particular gentleman said, "♥ your nails, the color is so nice!"  I told him that it was my hobby and he says, "Looks like they're professionally done!"  It's the color, I tell you!  it covers all flaws and this compliment came after two days of wear.  On to the review...

Color Description: Gray T Glamour (GTG) is a dark gray with hidden shimmer (depending on the light) which makes it oh so shiny on the nail. It's one of those colors that you don't want to change. This gray is definitely on the blue side so it goes well with jeans, or anything else, for that matter.

Price Point:  This was a Limited Edition Fall 2010 color for Maybelline and retailed for about $4.50.  You may be able to scour your clearance bins at some drugstores for this color.  Sometimes LE's are placed back on the regular display - this is definitely worth a look-see if you don't own it already.

Similar To:  GTG reminds me of a deeper version of Orly's Pixie Dust (which is still one of my untrieds). 

After surveying my collection of over 20 grays, nothing else comes close.  GTG is unique!

This Look:  No base coat (I know, I know, I am so bad!), 2 coats of GTG, 1 coat of SH Mega Shine.

Well off to change my mani to Barielle Elle's Spell!  Can't wait to see what this looks like...  I wanted this one as bad as HT, but didn't do much driving around just a lot of calling around.  Talk to you well-polished readers later. :)

QwicPic: NDB Sweet Pea over Daisy Asian Pear (12/09/2010)

This "qwicpic" is with lacquer found at the Nail Expo (Daisy - Asian Pear) last month and a beauty supply yesterday (NDB - Sweet Pea).

Asian Pear (l); Sweat Pea (r)

I thought it was about time I pulled out my mint greens again and obviously yesterday's find, Sweet Pea, prompted my selection.
 
Hope you have a wonderful Thursday and talk to you lovely and well-polished ones soon...

OPI - Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It (12/3/2010)

Yesterday while at Sally's Beauty Supply two sales associates at different times asked me what color this was.  Here I am thinking, "Wow, they work at Sally's with over a hundred shades of nail polish and they're curious about this color - that's amazing!"  I was beaming and was happy to give them the 411.

Color Description:  Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It (TDMMDI - whew!) is an orange-red, leaning towards neon, but not quite.  Vivid and vivacious, TDMMDI reminds me of the safety orange vests worn in Earthquake Drills (a California, thing!), but this color is anything but safe.  It's out there, as far as color goes, but can be worn with pretty much any outfit.

Q&D - Milani Gems Glitter Comps

New Stuff: Whoa, Nelly!!!  Have you seen the new glitter offerings from Milani?  There are at least six and I purchased three (Silver Dazzle, not shown) and I'm swatching two: Purple Gleam and Blue Flash. Big shout out to Chloe's Nails for posting all the colors for your perusal!

Picture: To the right, you have from top to bottom Wet n Wild Night Prowl (NP), Milani Purple Gleam (PG), China Glaze Dorothy Who? (DW), Milani Blue Flash (BF)

Comps:  I wanted to do a "quick & dirty" comp because these new glitters (in the bottle) reminded me of a few that I already own: Wet n Wild Night Prowl and China Glaze Dorothy Who?.