It took me four manicure-fails this weekend until I finally put on a polish that worked. I've never tried on so many colours that legit didn't work for me before!! I kind of wanted to show you the fails, but I didn't want keep them on long enough for it to be light out. (That bad. Really.) After so many disappointments I had to go to a colour that worked - my hubby was visiting this weekend and I know it was kind of annoying him that I redid my nails three times...
My sure bet was Essie Great Expectations:
I got this puppy for 70 cents at Ulta on clearance (not my Ulta, but the way more awesome one that is far away). I'm finding more and more that I either gravitate towards dark vampy colours or super light colours. I seem to struggle with the middle range, especially non-neutrals in the middle range. These light polishes yield what my mother calls "the corpse look" - but I think it works for me! I have a lot of colours in the corpse-genre and they are my fail-safes. If nothing is working and I don't know what to wear, the super-pale, but not-quite-natural colours seem to go with everything, and don't leave me completely bored.
Great Expectations is a virtual dupe to OPI Moon Over Mumbai - it's a soft grey with a very subtle amount of shimmer. (Definitely not enough to the point where you look at it and think "shimmer polish!") This pulls slightly purple on me (what doesn't?) but I think it is because I used Barielle Nail Camouflage underneath it instead of a white basecoat. The effect is a semi-sheer (but opaque in 3 coats) finish that looks like a thin layer of porcelain was laid over your nails - delicate and pretty.
The other advantage of super-pale polishes? My lab-mates don't seem to notice if I change my polish colour so as long as I keep it in "the corpse look" category, I can change my polish as often as I want and not have it pointed out in a condescending fashion! Bonus!
Not shabby for 70 cents - not shabby at all.
Do you guys rock "the corpse look"? Am I just morbid?
kittytokaren
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14 comments:
I like it! It looks beautiful and works with your skintone.
LOL I am not sure that I buy the "corpse" look as your mother would have us categorize it. I think it looks lovely. (Certainly better than manicure hands...which in my opinion looks far more devoid of life than this.)
I haven't done neutrals in a long time... And I am really finding them (especially when you post them) to be very soothing.
LOL.. I'm commenting again. This is a prettiest mani I've seen for such a long time so I have to comment twice. It's it's dupe for OPI Moon Over Mumbai I'll have to look for it. I can't find Essie anywhere here! *pout*
@Skulda... I don't wear Essie, but I am fairly certain I saw it at Shoppers Drug Mart. (I just noticed you're from Canada).
@Skulda - Aww thanks so much!!! It is definitely a dupe of OPI Moon Over Mumbai colour-wise from what I've seen. The only thing I can't comment on the formula. Essies was streak free and lovely to work with. I'm assuming OPIs would be too! :) Thanks so much for the nice comments.
@mKat - Yeah I'm not into mannequin hands either - it just looks like badly applied foundation and doesn't do anything for my hands or state-of-mind. I think you hit the nail on the head - I find these pale colours really soothing and quite and calm. I need that in my life a lot so maybe that's why I love these so much! PS Why do you not wear Essie? Is it like my battle with China Glaze?
<3 kittytokaren
LOL no, my story isn't as exciting as your relationship with China Glaze. It's to do with two things...
1) I don't want to have an out of control collection...because polish (like makeup) is extraordinarily expensive and has a terrible shelf life. Plus I feel if I confine myself to one or two favourite brands, I can spend money elsewhere.
2) Due to my OCD tendencies I don't think I could handle a ton of different sizes and shapes of bottles. (This is a somewhat weaker rationale). I like order and symmetry and sameness...to the point of frustrating other people...and I don't want a ton of random bottles of "stuff". (My random bottles are currently filed away neatly in matching boxes just so I don't have to see them all unmatched... LOL)
If there's a colour I absolutely can't find in a line I wear (like ChG) then I may consider picking it up. But after collecting loads of makeup I've come to realize that *most* people will never be able to tell the difference between the 15 shades of blue I own. :P
I am moving out of my comfort zone though. I bought OPI and Color Club minis last month. And I do have "random" bottles of treatment stuff like Essie MAY and Orly Smudge Fixer. :)
Is this polish anything like Zoya Harley?
@mKat - hahahahaa I'm the same way!! I hate when the bottles don't match....but Essie is one of my brands (I'm mainly an Essie/OPI person - my next largest brand is RBL, then I have a couple loners). I also do it for monetary reasons - I would spend so much money if I also did ChG and drugstore polishes!!
@Grace - Zoya Harley is quite a bit warmer - it is more like $OPI Run With It! that I posted about a while ago.
kittytokaren
I like it! And hey! Ya cant beat .70.
~Sylvia
Thanks mKat!
I LOVE this. I need to try the corpse look for the name alone.
@WizardsofBling - I don't know if I've said this before, but I love your name. Also totally - can't beat 70 cents. Especially for a brand I love.
@osnyder - Thanks!! :) It's not really a fashion-sanctioned name for the look - just what my mother dubbed it! :) But I love it.
<3 kittytokaren
70 cents?! Even on sale (decent brands of) nail polish is never that cheap in England: I've heard of it "on sale" in a salon at GBP£5 :( What a beautiful polish, at any price, but especially 70 cents :D
Oh, this is so not the corpse look lol: it glows, it's beautiful! No corpse ever had nails that look this pretty ;)
My hairdresser pretty much exclusively wears Essie (the brand the nail technician in the salon uses and she buys from her) and her nails always look amazing, I've seen Tart Deco, Chinchilly and a stunning red that've made me drool, even when I thought I didn't like Tart Deco or even 'normal' reds!
I love corpse hands! Maybe we're both just morbid.
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