MAC Dry Martini

Oh, Dry Martini...I wanted to love you. So badly. But three streaky coats later (with evident bald spots), and the beautiful olive green tone of the bottle replaced by duck poo brown on the nail...I don't love you. At all. I've seen this colour look amazing on other people but on my skin all the green just flew right out of it.

I also have issues with MAC's formula - this chipped after two days and could really have done with a fourth coat if I wanted it to be totally even. It's a shame, because I LOVE the MAC brush. It fits my nails perfectly. But the polishes usually wind up being a let down for me.

Are there any brands that just don't work for you?

MAC Ming Blue

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in America! And happy Thursday to everyone else!

Ming Blue is color from MAC's Fall/Winter nail polish collection that was released back on August. It is a vibrant blue with fuchsia and aqua shimmer. The shimmer is undetectable most of the time, except it really sparkles in the light like in the first picture. I'd say the second picture taken in natural light is the most color accurate.

Went on perfectly with two coats and dried pretty fast, actually all of the MAC polishes I have dry pretty fast. This was the last polish I bought out of the Fall/Winter collection. I have to say, the only thing I have an issue with is the poor durability of the polish after a day of normal wear. I usually don't get much tip wear from a mani until maybe day 4 or 5, but with MAC polish, no doubt after day 1 I get tip wear. Sad, but not saying I won't continue to purchase.

MAC Concubine

Concubine is another shade from MAC's Fall/Winter collection with Jin Soon. I know not everyone likes the ideas of concubines, but that is another story and this is about a nail polish! Although, concubines are a part of Imperial China's history, so I can see why this is a name for a polish in this collection. Concubine is a deep red with red shimmer. Here it is applied with two coats:

It looks pretty light on my nails, but it is definitely the shade of the bottle in the second picture. The shimmer is very understated and can only be seen up-close or in bright lighting, but this is red we're talking about. I have red, long (compared to most people I interact with) in for your face nails, it definitely grabs people's attention.

MAC Jade Dragon

Jade Dragon is from the MAC + Jin Soon Fall/Winter 2010 line that is Imperial China inspired. Hence the name of this polish, Jade Dragon. I only picked up three from this collection that debuted this past August. After success with my first MAC polish, I immediately stopped by my local MAC to check out the collection. I've only gotten to the chance to use this one out of the three I got, and I have to say I wasn't let down! See for yourself:


The first image is what it looks like majority of the time and the shimmer isn't as apparent. I'd say most of the time it is exactly like the second nail from the right. Dark evergreen with aqua shimmer. The shimmer isn't in your face sparkley, but you can see it more in the sun or if you stare really hard. This mani went on nicely with two coats. My only complaint about MAC polishes is that I get tipwear within two days whereas almost all other brands I don't see tipwear until day 4 or 5.

Introducing our newest Polish or Perish blogger...!

Let's just say that if I were her, my manis would NEVER have a gap like this:

MAC Earthly Harmony

OMG, look at that jagged, uneven gap. Even a little bit of nail polish seeping into my cuticles! (P.S. I love this polish. I'll post a real review of this one along with some other MAC Jin Soon-Nail Trend A/W '10 polishes soon.) Man, if only there was a tutorial I could easily access on how to clean up my manis with a paintbrush soaked in acetone...

Oh wait. There will be one right on this blog very soon!

That's right! The newest member of the Polish or Perish family is none other than MEGANCHAIR! :D

(Yes, Fuseki525 will be getting a free polish for guessing correctly! I'll be emailing you soon about that...)

Fans of MeganChair's old blog, Little Music Boxes, can sigh with relief. She's back and blogging with us now!

This was a totally unexpected development for all of us. After Megan poofed her blog on Wednesday night, citing burnout and stress, I impulsively invited her to do some less-stress blogging with our little posse. (Between the bunch of us, none of us have to worry that much about keeping up a super regular schedule.) To my surprise and happiness, she accepted! And we are all very excited to welcome her. In a way, I wonder why she hasn't been with us from the beginning... ah well, no use on dwelling on the past. From this day forward, she's one of us!

...and the MeganChair cleanup tutorial will be posted this weekend.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

MAC Blue India

I'm usually not one to run after these make up counter polish releases. If I happen to be at the mall, I'll stop by to look at the polish and not end up buying it because of the price tag or possible dupes or bad reviews I've read about the quality. The only thing I bought that was released as a limited collection from MAC was back when they had Hello Kitty, I bought a lip balm thingie (don't even know what it's called lol). But recently I've found myself lemming the grey from that collection, On the Prowl.. The thing about MAC collections is that they sell out amazingly fast and once they're gone, they're gone unless you live near a CCO or buy from a third party online. I knew MAC fanatics and NP addicts went gaga over this shade so I decided to give it a chance when I was at the mall last month, since I've really been feeling all these dusty shades. I was suprised when the SA said they still had some available since the collection had already been out for a week or so when I stopped by to look at it. First of all, the packaging for this is so so cute! The box alone made me giddy when the SA took it out for me. A little birdie!

Direct sunlight

Indirect natural light

Different lightings made this shade look more teal and then more dusty in others.. weird! Or maybe I'm just imagining it.... The thing that suprised me about this polish is the pigmentation and formula. I've read so many complaints about MAC formula being runny and difficult to use. This wasn't the case at all! It was really easy to control and only took two coats! :) I am very pleased with my first nail polish from MAC and will definitely give the future collections a chance before letting them pass by.

Did anyone else nab this polish besides Flinty and myself? Let me know what you think about MAC nail polish!

This is why my Sally Hansen Insta Dri topcoat isn't my BFF anymore: a ruined MAC Blue India mani (plus a rare EOTD)

Look at all the dumbass bubbles in my beautiful mani! I took this off immediately after I finished applying it: never have I had so many damn bubbles! This topcoat is now consigned to glitter polishes only (because then bubbles are not as visible over glitter).

MAC Blue India

Surprisingly good application for a MAC polish. Gorgeous dark dusty blue creme with a slight teal tinge. Bought it on a whim, still not sure if I love it or not though -- MAC polishes always seem to be too expensive for its quality. I haven't done a wear test with this yet though. I'll do one sometime and if it doesn't chip off within the first 24 hours, I may just keep it.

Haha, my first ever EOTD using something else from the MAC Liberty of London collection. I was trying to coordinate eyeshadow with nail polish (a plan that fell through when I took off my bubbly fail of an NOTD)...

Inner corner: Urban Decay Honey eyeshadow

Outer corner (upper lid): MAC Birds & Berries eyeshadow

Outer corner (lower lid): MAC Azreal Blue pigment

Imju Fiberwig mascara (and no, I don't curl my lashes because I hate the way curled lashes look on me... and they uncurl in less than an hour and then my mascara crumbles with it and then I'm a raccoon with short, thin lashes. The joys of Asian monolid eyes. My eyes are half closed here; when fully open, I don't have a visible eyelid.)

So, I've been thinking about it and instead of posting less in April, I'm going to not do any formal posting for the next 2.5 weeks -- a mini-sabbatical, if you will. School and research are very overwhelming for me right now and keeping up with blogging is starting to feel like "keeping up" rather than something I do for fun. (I'm going to try to stay away from MakeupAlley too since that also distracts me more than I like it to. For the better anyway, I kinda spent a lot of money in the last month and don't need inspiration to spend more.) From now until approximately April 25th, I will be limiting myself to the occasional iNOTD (which I usually do on the bus to and from campus) but I'll not be posting any "real" swatches or NOTDs. Fortunately, there are six other wonderful Polish or Perish bloggers to entertain you all and between them, I'm sure you'll barely notice that I'm gone. :D

Have a nice April everyone! See you soon. :)

MAC Dry Martini and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Swamp Thing comparison

I keep on typing "Dirty Martini" when I really mean "Dry Martini". The problem is that I don't usually talk about "dry martinis"; if I'm going to order a martini, it's gonna be a damn dirty martini.

As for MAC Dry Martini, I think I would have loved it if I didn't get OCC Swamp Thing first. I prefer Swamp Thing because it's slightly greener whereas the Dry Martini is slightly more brown. That and it's called Swamp Thing. If the MAC was called Dirty Martini, maybe I would've liked it more.

MAC Dry Martini

From left to right:

OCC Swamp Thing (index, ring)

MAC Dry Martini (middle, pinky)

Really, they are very similar. In terms of application, the MAC was pretty good but the OCC was easier to apply. I needed three coats to get the MAC even but only two for the OCC. MAC seemed to dull pretty quick but OCC stayed glossy. The OCC is $8 and the MAC was $12. On the other hand, MAC does a lot of no-minimum free shipping and OCC does not. Personally, if I had to give away one, it'd be the MAC. However, since there is no one standing next to me with a gun to my head saying, "You must give one away!" I find the fact that they are an uncommon color enough reason to keep both for the time being.

MAC - Dry Martini

I must apologize in advance to Flinty; her Dry Martini is en route and I don't mean to tread on any toes by commenting on this first. Sorry, Flinty! (Her opinion might be quite different from mine however, so I look forward to hearing what she has to say about it.)

Having said that, I thought I'd ask our readers just what they thought of this polish or, more specifically, what they think of this polish on my hands. To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of it. In a way, to me this is the nail polish version of MAC's Smoke and Diamonds, which, in my opinion, is a very confused eye shadow that is sometimes taupe, sometimes green and sometimes smokey grey. You'd think that would be a good thing, right? Not always.

Application
Dry Martini goes on very well. I do not have a lot of experience with MAC polishes; the one other colour I do have, I can't complain about and in that light, Dry Martini is the same. In one coat DM is a bit streaky, but after two you attain a nice creamy coverage. For the swatches I present here, I've applied three for good measure, but this is not necessary and it should be noted that I typically apply two coats of colour for all of my manicures. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Good
If you want a colour that can be categorized as unique then Dry Martini might be for you. After I looked at it online (the initial swatch on AllLaqueredUp being what sold me), I was convinced I needed this colour in my life as I thought it was something rarely seen. I still think that's a fair statement, to a point.

Under the lights at MAC, this polish was nothing special. After I'd gotten it home, it was already dark, so I waited until I could see this polish under bright sun to truly understand its complexity. In the light, DM reminds me of a smooth river rock; a little muddy, a little mossy. The olive tones of the colour really come through when it catches the sun.

The Bad
Unfortunately, with fall drawing closer and skies slowly turning to grey, there will be little sun for me to stick my hands under in order to admire the olive beauty buried deep within this polish. Neither yellow lamp light nor fluorescent light adequately brings the green of this polish to the surface. After a small sampling, it is clear that most people simply think of this colour as "brown". (Not even "khaki" as it is pleasantly described by MAC.)

The Ugly
I've heard this polish described on forums and other blogs as something reminiscent of what you'd find in a baby's diaper. While I think this description does the polish a disservice, I find that I'm really disappointed that it isn't more green as was initially promised.

Personally, I think this polish looks decent enough against my skin, but I'm not convinced that it's unique enough to warrant paying MAC prices, nor am I convinced that other people won't find it a) unprofessional or b) downright disgusting.

What do you guys think?

-mKat

shade sun flash

P.S. In case you hadn't noticed, I've chopped my nails off. :P I'm going in to Apple to give the iPhone one last try. No nails = no excuses. If I can't type now, I'll chalk it up to technological ineptitude on my part and I'll (sadly) admit that the iPhone is not for me.