THEME WEEK - My Favourite Red!

I'm proud to announce that for the next 5 glorious weeks, all of the Polish or Perish bloggers will be participating in THEME WEEKS!!! *sound the trumpets*

Starting every Monday for the next 5 weeks, we will launch a brand spankin' new theme week. Each day one PoP blogger will reveal their absolute-number-one-hands-down-favourite-of-all-time-in-the-history-of-ever polish in the THEME WEEK category! Think you know what your fav blogger will pick? This week is...

FAVOURITE RED WEEK

I'm going to kick off Favourite Red Week with a colour that long-time readers will not be surprised by. It took me a long time - and I mean and LOOONNNGGGG time - to find a red that I truly loved and felt worked for me, so I'm super proud to share with you - Essie First Dance...

Isn't she gorgeous? Enough of an orange undertone to flatter my warm-toned skin, but definitely still a classic red - with just enough punch to keep it from going old lady. *preens* What can I say? This is absolute perfection to me. I really should buy a back-up!

A good red is truly hard to find, ladies. What's yours?

kittytokaren

Go-to sheer polish of the moment - Essie BBF Best Boyfriend

Essie BBF Best Boyfriend (dumb name) has been my go-to sheer for around the past 9 months or so. Most of my sheer polishes either seem to pale down my nails and give that milky white look, or they are quite pink and make my nails look candy-coated. There is a time and place for those looks, certainly (see some of the OPI NYC Ballet polishes), but I have always wanted a sheer polish that wasn't too pink, not too pale, and this is it! Rather than being super pink, it's more fleshy/mauve, and I think this is the key.

Why am I being so picky? I could just wear a clear polish right? Meh. The bonus of this kind of polish is that it blurs all the yucky parts of my nails and makes everything look more put together. Clear wouldn't hide a darn thing, and I have things to hide! It's like tinted moisturizer I suppose - doesn't cover everything, but the overall picture is much more even.

What's your fav polish for perfecting your natural nails?

kittytokaren

layers of blue: Milani Blue Flash, Revlon Radiant, LA Girls Jostle

I recently went out with some friends to celebrate a friend's birthday -- I knew that her favorite color was blue, so I wanted to do a blue glitter mani. Little did I know I would be running SUPER late and had to do a mani in 10 minutes.

I had to think fast! And saw Milani Blue Flash on a side table and knew I should use it and so I did. It dries really quickly and is opaque enough in a couple of coats, so I'm really glad I picked it! Slap on a couple of coats of NYC Grand Central Station (my favorite topcoat) and we have blue sparkly goodness. Cleanup wasn't a pain, either.


What I originally wanted to do before was a glitter layering mani involving blue, but not quite sure what. I had Revlon Radiant to use but when I tested it out, it didn't show up too well over Milani Blue Flash. Then I saw LA Girls Glitter Addict in Jostle, a dark blue glitter, on the floor (lol)! And an Idea was born!

I did more of a gradient type with Jostle, so about 2 coats, and 1.5 coats of Revlon Radiant (dotting on more of the green/silver bigger glitters) and then dotted Jostle to let more of the dark blue show.


Lots of dabbing with these glitters, lol. But so pretty!

Illamasqua Stance

Finally, pictures of Illamasqua Stance! I've been meaning to take pictures of this one for ages, but I've been waiting for a sunny day to do it justice since it's a neon and I figured my camera would probably throw a fit if I didn't photograph it in 'perfect' light.

I was right! These pictures don't quite show the intensity of the colour - it's a touch more purple and less fuchsia, like an amped up neon grape. It makes me think, for reasons I can't put my fingers on, of 80s neon tubes. I think this is the sort of polish Madonna would have worn. So, with that in mind, I took loads of shots at wonky angles. You're welcome.

Application was really good. I took three coats to get it opaque, although this is actually four, due to some topcoat drama. I know I've been whinging about this at length, but I'm going to whinge some more, so bear with me. I used some of Nails Inc's 45 second topcoat (I got it in a set with their Kensington caviar basecoat, which is amazeballs, and which I credit entirely for my strong nails). Well, maybe 45 seconds if we're talking Jovian years. Half an hour later I went to get dinner out of the oven and ruined all the tips. It actually worked out OK because I put another coat of Stance on over the top, which probably shows you the character of the polish better in any case since it dries ever so slightly satin.

Here it i in the shade - this is slightly more colour accurate but it's still richer in the flesh.

This was sent to me for review, by the way.

Calming Colour - OPI Thanks A Windmillion

I gave in - I bought another OPI Holland. I swore that A Roll in the Hague would be my only one, but alas, I am weak. I couldn't resist this peaceful sea green creme...

...and I swear it doesn't give me lobster hands like this picture shows. The colouring is so off and odd I probably shouldn't have shared this one...it was getting to be dusk and I think that's the problem. Ack! To compensate I have a much better comp photo for you!

L-R: Essie Turquoise & Caicos, OPI Mermaids Tears, OPI Thanks A Windmillion

See? Totally different right!? (And justifiable?) It is a little deeper and little dustier than Mermaids Tears - which makes it more finger-wearable for me. I know I should probably get rid of one of these, but I really can't bear that right now! I just love this colour - it's very soothing. And I need some of that in my life.

What colour relaxes you the most?

kittytokaren

Easy Paris Cosmetics NP-27

I love bargain hunting! I found this little polish in a discount store while looking for BYS glitters - it's like a cooler-toned, non-holo version of OPI Teenage Dream. Naturally, being a random brand polish, it smells crazy bad and dries super slow.

When I start working, I'm really going to miss being able to leave an experiment running and ducking out to the shops for a bit in the middle of the day...

Nails Inc Baker Street

Nails Inc Baker street. I'll admit, I have been totally coveting this polish after seeing on Beyoncé - she was on the front page of our local free newspaper when I was on my way into work, and I had to literally control myself from hollering out loud when I spied the colour she was wearing. I'm a blue fanatic (can you tell??) and this looked like it might just be approaching the imaginary fantasy blue polish that exists only in my head (and possibly in RBL IKB 2012, but I'm not coughing up $40 to find out). So after a bit of googling, I found out what it was and tracked it down on ebay - and I'm not disappointed.

It's a perfect bright yet rich cobalt, leaning slightly violet as cobalt does, without being in any way a blurple. (It has much more of a violet undertone however than, say, Barry M Cobalt.) This was also a dream to apply - two coat creamy application and it spread like butter. I was a little worried that it might be similar to H&M blue my mind, but I compared them earlier, and this is considerably deeper and more obviously blue. It's really beautiful. If you're half way thinking about it, buy it.

This is actually an all Nails Inc mani because I have their Kensington Caviar top and base coat on, too.  The top coat I'm not crazy about because of the dry time (Seche Vite has ruined me for life) but I've been using the base coat for years and it's by far the best I've tried.

In the name of SCIENCE (sort of), I went to the art and craft store today to see if the colour really *is* Cobalt. I am happy to report that it matched this acrylic paint perfectly. Well done Nails Inc!

Summer bubbly - Chanel Orange Fizz

Another polish I've been lusting after forever! I used my Nordstrom gift card again for this one! (Seriously, I love gift cards.)

The legendary Chanel Orange Fizz...

This puts me in the mood for fizzy drinks poolside in the summer! More pink on me than I expected (probably due to my skin tone), but I can legitimately say that this is one of the more perfect corals I own. Love. Love. Love.

Have you treated yourself lately?

kittytokaren

Nfu-Oh 51: Purpley flakie rainbow goodness

Back when I first started getting into nail polish, I remember reading this nail blog post by Scrangie about Nfu-Oh flakies. I felt this intense yearning -- back then, Nfu-Ohs were not readily accessible. When Scrangie had gotten them, she ordered them from New Zealand!

And then Fabulous Street came about. I <3 Fabulous Street. Decently priced, fast shipping... I remember she had a sale and I snatched up as many Nfu-Ohs I could get. They were all so beautiful...

The one that had the most hype was Nfu-Oh 51 because it had the same sort of magic effect as the even more rare Clarins 230. Purple base and a rainbow color shift.

Fast forward to now... lots of 230s on Ebay, Fabulous Street having steady stock of Nfu-Ohs... nail polish world is a lot more accessible now and it's awesome!



This is the lovely and wonderful Nfu-Oh 51 on its own, 4 coats. Delicious. It may have the same sort of rainbow as Clarins 230 but it's definitely not the same.

Nfu-Oh polishes are available at Fabulous Street for $12.50, free shipping over $25.

What was your first yearning for a polish that was hard to get, because of lack of distribution *looks at Wet 'n Wild*, it being an international polish or just HTF?

ulta3 Molten Metallics - Cocoa

A new-ish ulta3 from the Molten Metallics range today - there are so many disappointed reviews coming out about this collection. Basically, they're streaky, probably due to a combination of being too frosty and having tricky stiff brushes.

This is one I really like though: Cocoa. It's a shimmery dark brown which luckily isn't too streaky. This is 2 coats. I added some dots of Jade (green frosty shimmer) in different sizes with my new dotting tools (squee - yeah, the size gradient was just so I could use them all). I'm still trying to get the hang of making the dots perfectly round though... early days.

Models Own Indian Ocean

In the words of Blackadder*: I have a cunning plan.

I really like RBL's newest blogger collection. I entered at the time with a mallard duck inspired green glitter fest, but I'm so glad that the submissions that won did, because I think they're all awesome and original. BUT. I can't afford $20 a bottle plus $19 shipping. Super nice though they are, that is quite a lot of money, and I'd honestly rather spend it on important academic books wine and shoes.

So, I have been on a mission to try and find polishes with a similar 'feel', if you will. Scrangie swatched some comparable blues with IKB 2012 and has made me very tempted to buy Orly Royal Navy, which is supposedly a pretty close match, despite the shimmer. I've also picked up Nails Inc Baker Street (which I saw on Beyoncé and loved...don't judge), which will be up later in the week.

For your viewing pleasure today though is Models Own Indian Ocean from the new Beetlejuice collection, over CG Four Leaf Clover. I really liked it - even though it's nothing like Aqua Lily, because FLC for some reason went really green with the Models Own over it (it's still turquoise around the edges where it didn't get coated...weird, given the MO is blue-based).

Gorgeous, but I wanted to see if I could get a bit closer to the inspiration. So I took the ring nail off and tried it again over CG For Audrey. I love how the orange/pink shimmer shows up over the green, and the pink/purple over the blue, although both are more complex and multifaceted in the flesh. Very cool. I kept this on a week, I was so enamoured with it, and it wore like a champ. £3.50 nail polish for the win.

*One of my very favourite TV shows, along with The Thick of It and Father Ted.

Taking a crack at cobalt - Essie Mezmerised (aka Mesmerize)

I think the theme of this polish year for me is "finally!". I've been finally trying things I've always wanted to, but didn't take the plunge for some reason. This is definitely one of those. I've wanted to try Essie Mezmerised ever since it was called Mesmerize - before the Essie drugstore revolution, that is.

I've always wanted a lovely cobalt polish, and I've considered this several times, but always decided it wasn't exactly right. And it isn't exactly right. The cobalt I envision is a little deeper and brighter. But no matter, I'm still glad I finally got my mitts on this polish - it is lovely! A gorgeously formulated creme in a colour that is bold, but not too crazy, and can work for tons of seasons. I think I'd even love it on my toes.

All in all a success! But does anyone know of something a bit deeper/brighter? I'm still on the hunt for the perfect cobalt!

kittytokaren

China Glaze Midtown Magic + stamping + glitter

Midtown Magic is a gorgeous brown shimmer with green-toned gold shimmer throughout. I'm a big fan - smooth and beautiful in 2-3 coats.

Of course I couldn't leave it alone... so I stamped over it with a pattern from BM-206 in ulta3 Gold Rush Fever (PRC version - great for stamping!), then added a glitter topcoat of ulta3 Gold Digger. I am such a ridiculous fan of ulta3 - it's impossible to feel guilty over buying a $2 bottle of nail polish from the grocery store. Utterly impossible.

Essie Absolutely Shore

Essie Absolutely shore from the Braziliant collection. I coveted this for ages and was finally able to swap for it. I wasn't disappointed - it's a lovely soft sage that will be great as a pedicure colour. This was three coats and I think it could have done with a fourth, but I can live with that because I love the shade.

(Sorry that my thumb looks weirdly pink - I'm using a Nails Inc top coat which not only bubbles but also picks up the underlying colour terribly, so this has a bit of Illamasqua Lament on it...lovely.)

I also decided to ruin it with a crappy ring accent (China Glaze Cheers to You from Holiday 2010). This was supposed to be a thin line across the nail line, but the first stroke globbed and I had to make it a full french tip. Grr. Just pretend that's not there.

First taste of summer - Chanel June

I thought and thought and thought about this polish since I first saw the promo pics. I finally decided not to give in and to leave it be. But Chanel regret is a special kind of regret, and I felt it creeping up on me. I got a gift card to Nordstrom's and decided to happily pull the trigger.

Chanel June

I love this beautiful orange sherbet colour! It makes me feel like summer is around the corner. Bold enough to offer a bright flash of colour on the nails, but pastel enough to fit into a springtime vibe. I don't have much like this in my collection - everything else is much pinker. It is truly a pale, but bright orange. Very special.

I hope everyone is having a good start to their spring/summer season! What polish is on the top of your "to wear" list right now?

kittytokaren

A Sweet Introduction :)

Hello Polish or Perish readers! I'm minnie :) Some of y'all may have seen me around here or as a long time MUA nail board member as minnnie. I'm a lurker now, but post occasionally.

If the y'all didn't give it away, I'm a native Texan, born and raised. But also Korean American, so there's a twist on it. Or I'd like to think, anyway :) I'm currently a first year law student but will most likely get a MBA, also. I will most likely get into the more business side of law.

I first got into nail polish a couple of years ago... I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I suddenly discovered a few nail blogs and it sucked me in all the way, and I haven't looked back! Although I must say my mother always had a blue manicure going on, so she may have influenced me, haha.

Collecting nail polish is something that has stuck with me because there's always something new to interest me. For the past year, it seems, glitters have struck my fancy. Almost every manicure for the past 8 months or so have been glitter manicures, or have involved glitter somehow, no joke. The entertainment value of a sparkly manicure is endless! The process of doing my nails is also calming to me and sharing the joy of a pretty manicure is too fun. I've converted a few of my friends through the joys of fast dry top coat, and getting together to have mini mani parties is awesome :D

I love eating all different types of foods and exploring new cuisines whenever I can. I'm also one of THOSE people who take photos of their food all the time! My friends and family have learned to wait before eating for me to take a quick shot of their food. I also really love corny jokes, so if you have one to share, feel free to send it my way!

For my introductory mani, I'm sharing a non-glittery glitter mani!

It's Lynnderella Sweets to the Sweet, because it's so sweet that I'm joining such an awesome blog to share my nail polish love!

Sweets to the Sweet is a translucent white polish on its own, with white square, round and hexagonal glitters with a smattering of multi-shaped, rainbow of glitters in a white jelly base. I love the icy, spun sugar look that it has. This is 3 layers of Sweet to the Sweet over two very thin layers of OPI Funny Bunny, a very sheer white polish. I wanted to make sure that the nail line wasn't too visible but keep the integrity of the translucent quality of the Lynnderella.


I really really love this polish and I'm so glad to be able to share it with y'all! Lynnderellas are a bit hard to get, but are available through a wishlist system from Llarowe.

Thank you for reading!

"Kate Spade" manicure - SpaRitual Driftwood & OPI Glitzerland

I got a new wallet for my birthday - after 10 years! finally! - and I think it's fair to say that I'm a little obsessed with it. (In case you're curious, it's this one by Kate Spade in flo coral.) The lining of it inspired me to do another dot manicure (see my other dot mani here), and since the pattern is classic Kate Spade, I'm anointing this the "Kate Spade manicure" - hope she doesn't mind...

And a peek inside my wallet...

I used SpaRitual Driftwood and OPI Glitzerland for the dots.

Nail art is clearly not my forte, but the dots are easy enough to do with the end of a bobby pin, and I think it turned out pretty cute!

Have you dabbled in any nail art lately?

kittytokaren

Introduction, with stripey nails!

Hi Polish or Perish readers! I'm Lab Muffin, and I'm stoked join the PoP ladies. Some of you might know me already from my beauty science blog, Lab Muffin.

A few things about me:

- I'm currently doing a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry - this means I wear a sexy labcoat covered in dirty chemicals, and desperately avoid getting acetone on my hands. I'm working on ways of making new drugs... hopefully it'll be useful in the future!

- Things I love: most food, anagrams, efficient public transport, holo, TV comedies, bunnies, my boyfriend (also a synthetic organic chemist), candles, green glitter, Stephen Fry, dancing, tea, cheesy kung fu movies, octopuses, cryptic crosswords, stationery, bunnies, cheap IKEA stuff, nerdy webcomics, HTC phones, lists, bunnehs.

- Things I hate: inconsistently formatted references, tipwear, mouth ulcers, science-illiterate politicians, distracting Powerpoint backgrounds, trying to buy just one thing from IKEA, frosts, crappy tweezers, liquorice, hangnails, losing my lab goggles, soggy bread.

- I'm from Australia, so I'll be using some different polishes from the other ladies. I love nail art... I can't wear a polish on its own without stamping or freehanding over it within a day.

I love bold patterns, so for my inaugural mani, I decided on some freehand stripes!

Colours used: ulta3 Sizzling Red (red), NOPI City-Pretty Rose (pink), Sally Hansen Sun Kissed (orange), ulta3 Honolulu (yellow).

I'm really happy with this colour combination - it's so cheerful and summery! It's probably going to be my final summer mani since we're halfway through autumn here, but the sun seems to be holding out, so who knows!

Models Own Dream Stream, and some casual misogyny

Models Own Dream Stream, three coats, no top coat. It's shiny and pearly and a stunning bright clean blue with turquoise undertones, which are a little more visible than they appear here. Dries super fast, applies very easily, and I love it. Big thumbs up. (It's also a near clone for my beloved car's paintwork, VW Mercato Blue, which always gives me a nerdy glow of satisfaction).

I bought this polish yesterday and applied it yesterday night, photographed this morning, up on the blog today. I don't usually operate on this sort of snappy turnaround but I really wanted to wear this as a pick-me-up. I was dashing back from swimming to head to the chemists because I had a really bad case of heartburn (I've still not quite worked out what I can eat that doesn't disagree with doing 50 tumble turns) and on my way there, passed a slighly lairy Irish pub. I got the usual 'hello darlin' hollers. When I ignored them (what else does one do?) this turned into 'you're a horrible piece of **** with a fat arse'. Romance isn't dead...

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it - particularly since I was wearing a new pair of size 26 jeans which I'd finally managed to shoe horn myself into, and had just swum 2k, which suggests they are probably empirically incorrect - but why on earth do some men think it's OK to say those kinds of things in public? what gives them the right?

Naturally as I continued on my way down the road I composed a witty response about the patriarchy and self ownership and so on and so forth but my on-the-spot response is always either a) pretend I can't hear them or b) flip them the bird. Neither of which goes very far to showing that I'm a confident, out and proud feminist who thinks that kind of behaviour is pathetic and funny in equal measure. Sigh.

Anyway, after that rant, happy Easter to you all!

A bit more ballet - OPI NYC Ballet Part 2

This happens all the time. I say I'm only getting one or two polishes from a collection, and then I end up with a couple more...

I showed you some of OPI New York City Ballet already here. Today, I have more for you!

Top to bottom: You Callin' Me A Lyre? (index & middle), Barre My Soul (ring & pinky)

Sure, the colours are nothing overly special. You Callin' Me A Lyre? is a classic pink sheer, but it is warmer toned than other ones I own and therefore I think it suits me just that little bit better. Barre My Soul is a beige-y pink that is one of the most basic polish colours of all time. What makes these special is the formula! Blissfully streak free, and because of that they deserve a spot in my stash!

kittytokaren

LA Girl Copper Alloy

Another gorgeous polish from the reader donated box. Thank you! I love this one  - it's got a duochrome red/copper quality to it and it's so firey and glowy. This ended up being four coats for reasons explained below, but three was fine, and it dries quickly so it's much less of a hassle than that sounds.

What I do not love is seche vite. Oy vey. I poured two bottles together so I could actually use the dregs, and it applied OK, but it shrunk so badly! It's pulled in 2-3mm on the sides and taken the polish with it. So I apologise that this mani isn't as pretty as it should be :(

Does anyone have any suggestions for top coats that don't shrink so much? I've really had it with SV ruining manicures...