Funky French

After my last black and green flakies manicure (which was every bit as involved to remove as you'd think) I was craving something pale and clean. Inspired by K2K's gold tip french I decided to try my own renditition, which is a bit less subtle.



This is OPI creme of crete (three coats) as the base with China Glaze 2030 tips freehanded over the top. I usually use creme of crete for french tips and I'm not sure what possessed me to use it as a full manicure. It's very runny and streaky and my planned sheer base fell by the wayside because it's impossible to get it to level while keeping it sheer. Nevertheless I quite like the effect, unintended though it is, and it's also covering my first go at a teabag patch (on my middle finger).



I've only ever freehanded french tips - what do you do? Any suggestions for good stencils?

Sticks & Stones - Thumb Accent Mani

When I wore this mani, I got insulted for it. And honestly, it really hurt my feelings. I didn't think it would - I'm usually pretty confident about my fashion and life choices. But it stung.

Essie Pound Cake with OPI Spark de Triomphe thumb:

My labmate (who is consistently seriously rude to me) saw my mani, grabbed my thumb, gasped and made a face, then said:

"Are you kidding me with this?! That is so high school."

I guess it hurt because the implication was that it was tacky - and I really don't like or want to be tacky. I tend to be more reserved in my fashion choices and I like it. Hell, I even think of my fashion sense as classy. So I think that is why her words hit me like that.

But - sticks & stones, right? I've decided to believe that her insults stem from jealousy - this seems to be the common thread in most of her put-downs. I have tried to stay above it by never saying anything negative or mean to her, but it hasn't really worked.

Why must women be so cruel to each other?

kittytokaren

Essie Braziliant and OPI Blue Shatter

Hey, I'm alive, I exist. Really. Summer has FINALLY arrived for me -- except not really because I do actually have a ton of work to do and am going to France in two weeks for a conference -- and I have a pretty substantial backlog of NOTDs that I have to post! (Plus a lot of swatching to do... alas, I don't think I'll be able to resume swatching until after I get back from France.)

Essie Braziliant

This was such a disappointment for me. It was this really bright orange in the bottle with this fabulous magenta shimmer... and then I put it on and discover that it just looks coral in most lights. (Oddly, once I uploaded the photos to blogger, it looks a lot more red...) You can see the magenta up close (though I wasn't able to capture it in the photos) but it just sort of mixes with the orange and turns into coral... and I just don't look good in most corals. Application was great though: two coats. This photo was taken on day 2 or 3.

Essie Braziliant and OPI Blue Shatter

My SO took one close look at my nails and asked, "Why did you choose this color combination?"

I answered, "Because it's the ugliest color combination."

He replied, "OK. Just making sure you knew that."

But I love it. I would not mix blue and orange in any other situation but my nails but I just love this shatter *coughcrackle!cough* mani. This was taken on Day 2 of the shatter mani (which would be day 4 of the Braziliant mani). I used one coat of the blue shimmer shatter and it crackled beautifully. Why can't all crackle polishes crackle nicely? (Oh, and it wasn't clumpy. Thank goodness.)

Braziliant and Blue Shatter closeup

So I have a question for y'all: I have several boxes that are CHOCK FULL of nail polishes that I need to get off my hands. (I'm sure there will be more after my annual summer de-stash.) Some are older, some are more recent. The vast majority have only been used once; a small fraction have had 1/4th decanted from them. Most cost between $1 and $10. Many, many different brands. I do plan on selling the ones that I paid many pretty pennies for individually (though I won't charge pretty penny prices, I promise) but there are at least 300 polishes that don't fall into the "oh man, I spent too much on this one polish, I have to recoup this loss" category. I just don't have the time to sell all of them off individually.

I know my $10 (+$5 shipping) small flat-rate grab-boxes have been popular in the past. But even selling these polishes by the dozen is a daunting task. Would there be any interest in my selling medium flat-rate grab-boxes? I need to pack one up properly to see how many I can fit into a single box but I estimate it to be between 40-50 polishes. The price will probably work out to be about $1.50 a polish (plus shipping), a good mix of brands, colors and finishes guaranteed. (And seriously, no one will get a box even half full of polishes that cost me less than $3.) It's a steep price but for those who want to build their stash quickly... I mean, it's a stash-in-a-box. Open it up and voila, a decent-sized stash for a fraction of its retail price.

If I do go with the medium flat-rate grab-box idea, after selling a few, I'll probably be offering small flat-rate grab-envelopes (which can reliably hold 20 polishes, price TBD). ...there's plenty of nail polish to go around!

Illamasqua Boosh and Nfu.Oh 56

Illamasqua Boosh is a pretty standard black creme. I have 'issues' with black cremes. I spent my teenage years sporting Boots No.7 black nail polish (or occasionally 'black cherry' for variety, which was...well black, basically) which I applied on a weekly basis in front of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's been years since I've been willing to go near black creme. I'm not sure if I'm looking back on my younger days with rose tinted glasses (unlikely, to be frank) but I didn't think the application on Boosh was that great. It was a little sticky and required a bit of work to get it to level. Then again, that's black cremes for you. Man am I glad I don't wear this stuff all the time anymore.


Fortunately, I can't say the same for the lovely green flakies I put over the top, which are much more my to my twenty-something taste. This is the infamous Nfu.oh 56, which is every bit as good as I'd hoped. Bright green flakies with shimmer and a blue duochrome, these really pop layered over a dark colour. I had a hell of a time trying to pick up the duochrome (it drifts between grass, emerald, teal and blue, with the blue showing up best indoors in low light - I am sure those of you who are into lenses will know why this created such problems!) but here's a couple of badly focused macro shots which kind of show it. Click to embiggen.





Yummy, no? The only problem with Nfu.Oh is that I keep wanting to type it 'NFU', which is the national farmers' union. I wrote a couple of my Masters essays on path dependency and regional governance in EU agriculture. I can't see the national famers' union producing nail polish somehow. Anyway...

The Nfu.oh was sent to me for review by Affiniti, the Illamasqua was purchased by my own fair hand. Although technically it came free in the Art of Darkness four polish set, so I'm feeling like a big cheap-o today. No-buy status: 6/35.


Edit - the UK Nfu Oh retail site has now launched. It's at Nfuoh.co.uk. Enjoy!

Quiet Coquette - Essie Limo-scene

Just wanted to share a classic sheer pink with you today - Essie Limo-scene. It strikes a beautiful balance between creamy and sheer, pink and cream - it's also the perfect palette-cleanser to give me a break from all the bright colours I've been wearing this summer!

Not much to say, but this is an easy polish for me to wear - applies nicely, never feels overdone, but also feels a little bit sexy...like wearing delicate lacy underwear that no one knows about but you!

kittytokaren

A tale of two polishes

Or, how to ruin perfectly good mani. I just cannot leave things alone.

This is Illamasqua Caress, a gorgeous baby blue creme. Easy two-coat application, smooth finish, stunning colour. When they do pastels right, they really do them right, and this is a fabulous example.



I managed to leave it all of two hours before deciding that what was clearly missing was a bumpy, draggy, horrible topcoat to frakk everything up. Lo! What's that I spy? It's Barry M Blue crackle!



I hesitated to show you this one because it was SO AWFUL. I still don't know how it's so bad, but it dragged the base polish everywhere, dented it, didn't crack properly, and was still really bumpy and gritty after two coats of lumos. Some days I really, really hate myself for doing stupid things like this to perfectly lovely polishes. I took it straight off because I was too embarrassed to leave the house with such a revolting manicure...*shame face*

On the plus side, this used up two polishes in my no-buy challenge.

Ombre Pedi for Summer!

I did an ombre pedicure for the first time, and I loved it so much/was so proud I actually found colours that seemed to work, that I had to share it with you...

...but of course I'm not going to show it to you on my feet!

Thumb to pinky (aka big toe to little toe):

OPI No Spain No Gain

OPI Dim Sum Plum

Essie Splash of Grenadine

OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender

OPI Panda-monium Pink

So loving this look on my tootsies! I wish I had enough greys with the same undertones to do a grey ombre on my tips...

Have you ever tried an ombre manicure or pedicure? What colours or colour family did you use?

kittytokaren

OPI Skull and Glossbones vs. Essie Playa Del Platinum

Skull and Glossbones is the first polish I tried from my Pirates Haul. It was the one I was most looking forward to, having lusted after it since seeing Just Nice Things' swatches back in February. And after all that interminable wait, I'm (inevitably) a little disappointed.



Don't get me wrong, it's very nice. This is two coats, although it could probably have done with three. It's pleasant to apply. It's a pretty colour. It's just...well, grey. I was kind of expecting a grungy, warm undertone, a thick creamy finish (it's a little sheer), y'know, something a little edgy. This doesn't make me think of bones particularly. Moaning aside, I have no doubt I'll reach for it (as I did here) when I want a clean, simple, stop-gap mani; it just doesn't knock my socks off. I compared it to Essie Playa del Platinum and although they're close, they're not dupes. PDP (in the middle) is a hair darker and warmer.



Anyway! I mentioned in the last post that I was going on a no-buy. So I diligently counted up all my unworn polishes, counted again, gulped, and then concocted a plan.

• I have 70 unworn polishes of various brands (yikes) with the biggest offenders being illamasqua, OPI, and china glaze.
• I have to wear half - 35 - of these before going on another polish bender.
• I wear about two manicures a week, so this should take about 4 months.
• Minor get out clause (the 'china glaze metallic crackles' amendment): I can make purchases during the no-buy, but these must be worn before the no-buy ends PLUS one additional polish from the unworn stash, thereby extending the time of the challenge.

Nude Pink Perfection - Essie Topless & Barefoot

Usually nude colours in any given collection are the least likely to be the most buzzed about. However, I think that the hands-down favourite for me (and many many others judging by how this was sold out everywhere!) of Essie's spring collection was Topless & Barefoot. It is, quite simply put, the perfect pink nude.

Here it is with my rose gold Fossil watch! (I am a total watch fiend, if you haven't noticed yet...) My mother and I both got rose gold Fossil watches - in different styles - to commemorate something big that happened recently.

And a regular shot! (I'm learning diffused flash...)

Just - perfection. To me this is the ultimate blend of beige, pink and white. Brava, Essie!

What's your perfect pink-tinged nude?

kittytokaren

Nfu.Oh 497: so bright it broke my camera

Usually I try to show my photos as 'normally' as possible - I take off all my fancy pants custom camera settings (it's used more frequently for portraiture and suchlike), leave it on P, take off the colour tweaks, and off I go. This one? 60 shots later, I am still no-where near doing it justice. It's just SO. AWESOME. Seriously. This is straight into my top-ten polishes - I do not want to take it off.


First off, I should say, this polish was sent to me for review by Affiniti, who are Nfu.oh's UK stockist. They are about to open a non-trade sales website, which I am very happy about, having spent 8 months trying to track down the flakies. (You US ladies have it made). After trying this and No.56 (coming soon to a blog near you) and going bananas for them I now have a wishlist as long as my arm, so as soon as I can afford it - on which see below - I will be getting more (GS14, come to mama!). I don't think I would have chosen this colour if it wasn't sent to me, but I'm so glad it was because I adore it.


You see this? This is like, a quarter of how amazing this polish is in the flesh. It's very very bright, yet deep and oceanic. It's creamy, yet squishy and super shiny and vinyl-like without having any VNL. It's super blue, but has a slightly cyan undertone (which is probably overplayed here, because most of the shots made it look like a light turquoise). Most blues look purple on my skin but this is really flattering. It was a whizz to apply in two coats and I just love it to death. I think it's knocked Illamasqua force off my no.1 blue spot. I also have an extra special reason to love it...

It's the same colour as my new car.

I am now on a no-buy. For the rest of my life.

OK, I jest - the ilexicamobile does 60 miles per gallon, so it's not going to bankrupt me, but it seems a good opportunity to spend less money on non-car stuff since the insurance is a bit steep, what with being a newly qualified driver (I passed my test yesterday). I will be thinking up some rules for a shop my stash challenge for the next post, and hopefully the threat of public shame will keep me on the straight and narrow.

Having a car is going to make my life so much easier. I commute 160 miles to university (usually once a week, usually on a train) so being able to make it under my own steam if the weather's horrid or I'm due back late will be heaven. Hoo-rah!

Edit - the UK Nfu Oh retail site has now launched. It's at Nfuoh.co.uk. Enjoy!

More Bright! - OPI Cajun Shrimp

I think that this might be a Polish or Perish favorite! My bottle of OPI Cajun Shrimp was sent to me by the fabulous ilexica, who already had a bottle herself. It is also one of Piff's summer faves. And now, it has a permanent place in my stash!

It's not coming out as shocking in the picture as it is on me in person, but it is a hot-hot-hot pinky coral!

While I prefer Essie Geranium on my tips, I think that this will be a favourite pedicure shade of mine this summer! In fact, I think I'll put it on tonight...

Is there a shade that is universally loved among your friends?

kittytokaren

Illamasqua Milf. *insert innuendo here*

Okay, so I know this is a filthy name, but I actually find this one of the most 'innocent' of the polishes I own. It's clean, it looks kick-ass on my skintone, it's easy to apply, and it goes with all my clothes. In short, it makes me feel more like me. So I wear this whenever I need a comfort blanket polish to get me through something hard. Like, in this case, having a massively important week at work, where we presented the report that's been three months in the making (and for which I was doing the launch photography), when I was feeling really horrendous thanks to a trapped nerve in my back.



Fortunately, this polish made me feel better. Two creamy coats of jade green goodness made me a little cheerier ever time I had cause to look at it. I'm also trying a new base/top coat, the Lumos system, as recommended by Charlotte of Lipglossiping. (A very good friend of mine also bought the set after reading this post, so I'm pleased to know I'm not the only susceptible one!). I'm just pleased that I can finally tell Seche Vite to get bent, after wasting huge amounts of money on bottles that to turn to pudding one-third the way in.



What polishes make you feel zen-like?

Dismay - Essie Lilacism

Ugh. Not much to say about this one besides - FRUSTRATION!

Such a gorgeous, gorgeous colour - a blue-toned lavender. But such a crappy, crappy formula. And I think my threshold is pretty high for dealing with bad formulas.

Really disappointed with this. I love the colour so much, but I am super apprehensive about applying it ever again. I don't know whether to keep it, or swap/give it away.

Have you ever had a polish that you loved but had an awful formula? Did you keep it?

kittytokaren

Illamasqua raindrops: does what it says on the tin

Piff asked me if I had this in my stash. I do, and shamefully, I hadn't even tried it. Which is odd, because I normally gravitate to greys - it's one of my favourite neutrals, and a colour I wear often. I picked up this colour mostly because I loved the name and idea - here's the inspiration - so I was pleasantly surprised that the polish lived up to my rather inflated expectations.

This is definitely different from the plentiful other greys I've tried. Firstly it's sheer. Not something I'd usually be overjoyed about, but in this case, I think it works, especially since it allows the little silver flakies suspended in the polish to peek through. (You can see them better in the bottle than on the nail, but they are visible when worn, and it's an unusual touch). Secondly it's a blue-based grey. I tend to prefer the taupe-y side of the spectrum (Essie playa del platinum being the one I pick up most often) and I'm not sure if ths works all that well with my skintone. In this I think the almost baby blue undertones add to the delicacy of the polish - it really does make me think of summer rain drip-dropping on my windowsill. Spot on nomenclature!

This is three coats. Four would probably get rid of the VNL, but it didn't really bother me and it takes a bit of a while to dry, so I went without. Especially since I did coat three on the train to work and I think a forth might have resulted in me smearing the stuff all over my colleagues.

Chanel Miami Peach

Chanel Miami Peach

First off, "peach" is a bit of a misnomer. It's redder, more saturated. More like Miami Guava than Peach. (Mmm, guava.) What really sucked me in was the more-obvious-and-bigger-than-usual Chanel shimmer. This polish originally caught my eye, not at Neiman Marcus where it's currently being repromoted as a store exclusive, but at the duty free shop in the SFO International terminal. This was during my second most recent trip to Taipei in December. I saw it in the shop and wanted but thought that it wasn't a good color for me anyway and besides, if I changed my mind, I could just order it from Chanel.com or something. At the time, I don't even think they had re-released it in any stores... which disappointed me. And also it whet my appetite for it. (I love it when polishes play hard-to-get.)

Anyway, the next time I was back at the SFO International terminal (to Taiwan in April), I saw it again and I seized the day... along with one or two other Chanel polishes that aren't as common. (Nothing too famous.) I waited a couple of weeks to wear it because I wanted a nice occasion and eventually, I put it on for my birthday.

Maybe I was having a bad day but I got so annoyed with the application of this polish. Barring Mimosa, Chanel polishes have been a breeze for me to apply. Miami Peach, however, was thick, sheer, and uneven... and I was risking cuticle drag after the first coat. I believe that this was three coats and the only reason I stopped was because I was in danger of sweeping it all off. (No, I don't like to wait between coats. Yes, I know I should.) So... upside... it's jelly. And the gold shimmer is truly lovely. Downside, it clashed badly with my skin. And it took a long time to dry... and then it shrunk.

At least I didn't pay tax on it?

Close up of Miami Peach

Mainstay Neutrals - a couple Japanese OPIs

The two are from the Japenese Collection from....2005 I want to say? There is one other member of this trio - Have A Tempura Tan-Trum - that I'm not including. We had it in lab about a year ago and I tried it and it was viciously atrocious on me, so I don't own it. (It is actually *fabulous* on Piff, and I believe she will be posting it soon.)

However, the other two from this collection - Miso Happy With This Color and Let Them Eat Rice Cake - are two mainstay neutrals in my collection, so I thought I'd share them with you today in such a way that you can see the differences between the two!

Top to bottom (index to pinky): OPI Miso Happy With This Color, OPI Let Them Eat Rice Cake, OPI Miso Happy With This Color, OPI Let Them Eat Rice Cake

With no flash...

and with a flash...

Miso Happy With This Color is the more red-toned of the two pinks - and a dupe for Rescue Beauty Lounge Plie! (I loved the colour of Plie, but broke up with RBL a while ago.) It's pink, but not in an obnoxious or overly sweet way - quite subdued. It doesn't have huge amounts of white in its base like a lot of the light pinks I own either, and it really is a perfect neutral to have in your polish wardrobe.

Let Them Eat Rice Cake is the blue-toned counterpart to Miso - it is still most certainly pink, but it is lighter and more cool-toned. I loooooveeeee this one! I have a lot of neutrally pinks that are in this family, and I can't get enough!

Application on these is kind of a bummer though - probably three coats? Normally I'm fine with three coats, but they weren't the most fun coats. I'm not sure why everyone is so coocoo-for-coco-puffs over black-label OPIs - I always find the formulas thin and runny. Am I the only one? Even though the formula is not the best, it is definitely worth it to have a couple perfect go-to neutrals!

Have you tried the Japanese Collection OPIs? Thoughts?

kittytokaren

Butter London Henley Regatta

Butter London Henley Regatta is a gorgeous blue/green sparse glitter. It does nothing fancy - no holo, no multi-size glitter, and it's only two colours - but it is stunning nonetheless and so sparkly it practically goes *ping!* when the light hits it. Behold:

This has many many pros:

1. Just look at it! I spent ages twirling my hands and going 'ooh'.
2. Dries faster than I can say 'where's my topcoat'
3. Wears like iron (I took it off 8 days later with only tip wear)
4. Totally smooth with one coat of Seche Vite - you wouldn't know you were wearing glitter.

On the other hand,

1. Removal is a bitch, as you might expect
2. It's sparse, so requires at least three coats. I popped it on over my existing mani (BL Thames, which itself is sheer) so I had 9 coats in all. My nails were about an inch thick.
3. I failed my driving test while wearing it. (I blame the sparkliness for distracting me - definitely not my own fault for not indicating to move off, oh no).

Have another one for good measure. As an aside, the wear time is so awesome that I couldn't be bothered to take it off before the big conference I had to go to last week. So I rocked sparkly turquoise nails with my black suit in order to deliver a paper on public administration. The panel head said my nails were amazing (never mind the paper), so clearly a good choice if it took her attention off how nervous I was!

k2k goes BRIGHT! - Essie Geranium

I usually reserve brights for my toes - I'm a bit scared to wear them on my tips! What with the unofficial start of summer (Memorial Day weekend), I was suddenly in the mood to have some colour to pop against my almost-always-neutral outfits!

So I chose Essie Geranium, a super award-winning polish that I picked up at Ulta for a buck a long time ago when I was visiting my mother. (Her Ulta always has the most random/wonderful things on sale.) This is a polish I lovelovelove on my toes, but it's never ventured onto my tips.

Until now...

I received *so many* compliments on this mani it was ridiculous! I guess because it was more noticeable? I wore this with neutral outfits - blacks, greys, whites, khakis - and delicate turquoise jewelry and I think it worked really well. I usually steer clear of such loud hues on my tips, but something about the season has me feeling adventurous. The fact that I think this colour really works with my skin tone and lil' nubbins doesn't hurt either! I think the name of this polish is absolutely perfect - Geranium - yes, named after a flower, but it also sounds like it could be a radioactive element!

Colour me converted - I now imagine that I'll be sporting this and other orange-y colours (a la Essie Meet Me At Sunset - *swoon*) on my tips this summer! And maybe a bright pink or two? We shall see...

Do you wear brights in summer? What are your faves?

kittytokaren