THEME WEEK - My Favourite Neon

Ok, so I have a massive thing for corals. Yeah. Bright pink, fluoro barbie hues. It's a bit embarrassing, but hey, it's not the worst skeleton to have in one's closet, right?

I've somehow collected a palette of neon corals, so instead of just swatching one coral creme, I'd swatch a bunch which had "coral" in the name and try to justify why I need (yes, NEED) them all.

L to R:

Kim Nail Polish Miami Coral - This was the first of my corals, so it was obviously justified. I bought it from Cotton On while waiting in the queue, so it was a snap decision. It's a bit too pink though, and dries really slow, and smells like industrial paint.

ulta3 Sunset Coral - I bought this as a less stinky, quicker drying alternative, so obviously justified. This applies beautifully and was $2.50.

Hello Kitty Kawai Coral - I won this in a giveaway so it was basically forced upon me. You can't refuse free nail polish, especially in your favourite summer shade and from a brand you haven't tried yet. Justified.

Max Factor Diva Coral - Bought this in a sale for $0.50. Name brand polish for under $1 is always justified. Sample-sized bottles are always justified. DOUBLE WHAMMY JUSTIFIED.

Forefinger to pinky: Miami, Sunset, Kawai, Diva. For some reason, in the sun they actually all look different, and I think this could almost pass as an ombre mani. But in the shade, it's just a bit embarrassing how similar they all are.

OK, if you held a gun to my head and made me choose one, I'd probably go for ulta3 Sunset Coral (middle finger) - it's neon enough to be strictly summery, but orange enough to not be completely girly. But since that's never going to happen, they're ALL MINE. FOREVER. Yes. Ha. I win! The, uh, coral-collecting race. Yes. :\

Hello Kitty Banana Cream and Minty

So I've really gotten into jewelry making lately. (I don't know why I'm taking up all these craftsy hobbies lately: first crocheting and knitting, now jewelry making... I REALLY don't have time for this sort of hobbying.) And I was on FireMountainGems.com, contemplating a huge order.

See, this is how Fire Mountain seduces you: every item on their website has four prices. There's the price for if you buy 1-14 units of anything on the website, then between 15-49, then 50-199, and then 200+. The prices are highest if you buy the least amount of stuff but then it gets lower and lower the more you buy and buy (in one sitting). The prices of popular and expensive stuff, such as Swarovski crystal beads or things made out of real 14k gold, barely budges a dollar but, for the majority of items, by the time you have 50 items in your cart, cost between 1/4 to 1/2 the original price! (Man, if they sold nail polish like this... yikes.)

Anyway, the reason I brought up Fire Mountain was because they have a lot of handy dandy guides, such as Pantone's "Color Forecast" for the upcoming seasons. I don't really get how the Color Forecast thing works but here the projected hot colors of Spring/Summer 2011. I was struck at how many of the spring and summer polish collections had colors that can be found in this palette. Maybe there really is something to these "forecasts"? Or maybe more people pay attention to them than I had thought.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because it looks like the Hello Kitty "Liquid Nail Art" polishes are taking some cues from some of these...

Hello Kitty Banana Cream

The one saving grace of these polishes: they come in cute little Hello Kitty head bottles. This basic pastel yellow creme was hell: four coats, still bald patches here and there. Some cuticle drag. Yellows are always hell but this was an especially intractable one.

Hello Kitty Minty

This one had slightly less cuticle drag but it was also pretty streaky and uneven. The above is four coats, which is too much for a minty creme. Plenty of other minty cremes out there that apply beautiful in three coats tops.

These aren't quite sending me back to Sephora to pick up more. Definitely regretting spending money on them. $10 each and not even the standard 0.5 fl oz!