New Layout, New Design, Same Level of Excitement!

Hey everyone!

I feel as though I haven't been here forever (and really, I haven't).  I just wanted to drop in to mention that my fellow PoP bloggers and I are very excited about unveiling our new layout tomorrow, just a couple of weeks shy of our one year anniversary! 

There are tons of great things happening here at PoP. We are so very thankful for our fans who have helped make this place great and have really driven our efforts to improve the site. We hope you enjoy the changes as much as we do - constructive comments welcome - and we hope you'll keep coming back for more!

The new look launches on July 1st (Happy Canada Day! to all of our Canadian friends).  Please be aware that there may be site disruptions during this time... I'll do my best not to have things down for too long! ;)

See you soon!

On-the-fly mall swatch: Chanel Paradoxal v $OPI Metro Chic

My Nordstrom got Chanel Paradoxal in today, and I know a lot of you (like me!) have been foaming at the mouth to see this one in action!

Before I paid the Chanel fee, I was curious to see how this matched up to Sephora by OPI Metro Chic - the scuttlebutt was that Paradoxal might be its darker, more brooding sister. So I quickly swatched Paradoxal at Nordie's and headed over to Sephora to swatch MC, so you're seeing very sketchy mall swatches here!

In all the pics, Paradoxal is the darker of the two. I don't know if I think that these two are sisters - maybe half sisters? They definitely from the same genre and the colour try to evoke a similar smokey, sexy, neutral-ish feeling. However, Metro Chic has a malted-milk creaminess to it that is lacking in Paradoxal - plus, it is much lighter and has more 'taupe' flavour to it - whereas Paradoxal is plummier. Paradoxal has that famous subtle Chanel shimmer - but trust me, it's very subtle. Especially for those of us thinking of wearing it in the Fall/Winter season, I think the shimmer is going to show itself only rarely. If you're considering this, I wouldn't factor the shimmer into your decision - if you don't like the base colour, you're not going to enjoy it.

What do I think?? I LOVE it! This was pretty much made for me - it's greyed out, sort of neutral, and purplish. I love edgy neutrals and I love purple, so this is perfect. Plus, the formula was lovely so that gives it some more points. Needless to say, I bought it. I will probably wait until the Fall to really get wear out of this though.

Just wanted to show you really quick!!

kittytokaren

PS Don't forget to tune in July 1 for our NEW and IMPROVED site, courtesy of mKat!!!! It's going to be amazing :)

China Glaze Vintage Vixen, Part III of III

First thing's first: expect a new layout very soon! mKat's been hard at work and we should have our spiffied up new website up by the weekend. We're aiming for Thursday, July 1st for the big launch! So if you come here on Thursday and find it looking VERY different, don't freak out... it's still us, just spiffier. All designed by the ultra talented mKat. The banner, of course, was designed by Heidi, one of our readers.

But enough talk. Onto swatches of the rest of the Vintage Vixen collection that China Glaze sent me! I had waited for a day with lots of sun but it's been overcast for the past few days so I had to make do...

China Glaze Goin' My Way?

I thought this was going to be blah. But it turned out to be a very glossy, burnished bronze that applied like a dream. It looks like it might be a mahogany shimmer with a ton of gold shimmer thrown in. Two coats, super smooth.

China Glaze Bogie

I did my nails in the semi-gloom of my apartment. Which is obvious when you look at my application job. This dark plum foil (or perhaps it might be just a lot of silver shimmer tossed in?) was a slight bit gloopy and hard to apply -- and it wasn't as glossy as the others in this collection -- but it still was fine in two coats.

China Glaze Midnight Mission

Stop the freakin' presses! OMG. Have you guys SEEN this one? I didn't realize how fantastic it was until I applied it. It's a dark blue shimmering jelly that is just chock-a-block with silver microglitter. It's like Essie Starry Starry Night on crack. Two coats and you are done! Gleaming gorgeousness, through and through. Definitely needed a glossy topcoat though.

Closeup of Midnight Mission

China Glaze First Class Ticket

This may be my favorite of the collection. Dark shimmering purple with blue microglitter (it may just be shimmer but the little blue bits just pop out at you)... with a touch of foil. You have to click on these photos to see their bigger versions. It's so hard to see how pretty this one is through smaller photos. Two coats and very glossy.

Closeup of First Class Ticket

Overall, this collection was wonderful. Many of these were so surprising: a lot of them look ordinary or even boring on the bottle. To tell the truth, a lot of these aren't even super stunning indoors. But get them in some light and they'll just come to bright burning life. Furthermore, most of these polishes apply amazingly well: most of them are two coaters and many of them have a high-gloss finish that makes it look like you've already got topcoat on (although you should probably still put on topcoat).

Goodbye

I'm so sorry for being so MIA lately but life has gotten in the way, as it always inevitably does. Unfortunately, as a result of some increased responsibilities (like writing my Master's thesis...eek!), I will no longer be blogging with Polish or Perish. I am very sad to leave but I know I am leaving readers with all the wonderful PoP bloggers who post much more often than me anyway. :)

I wanted to say goodbye and that I enjoyed blogging on PoP. Good luck with all your nail polish endeavors! PoP bloggers, I will miss all of you dearly!

Urban Decay Cult

Urban Decay Cult

Got this off of eBay UK for less than $10 shipped. It's just such a lovely color: a blue-green-gold shimmer. A bit on the sheer side: I think this might have been three coats and in most lights, I could still see VNL. It applied very well though.

OPI Summer Flutter - Quick 'n Dirty

I'm a bad bad girl...I bought these on a total whim at Ulta. I'm not usually an impulse shopper. I'm still dubious about whether I should keep them or not - I can only really envision myself wearing them as pedis!

Help me decide! This is OPI Catch Me in Your Net (index and middle) and OPI Wing It! (ring and pinky) from the OPI Summer Flutter Collection:

These were both very sheer - for this swatch I used 3 coats of Catch Me in Your Net and ugh...like 5 coats of Wing It!? Sheesh.

They've very sparkly and unique, and I can see myself enjoying them on my feet - especially Wing It! I'm not that into layering, so even though I know I could just layer them over an opaque colour, the toddler inside me is whining "but whyyyyyyyyyy???"

What do you think? Keep or swap?

kittytokaren

Prevail I'm Not a Tourist

I picked up this super dark green at a Duane Reade in NYC a few weekends ago. I was on a dark green craze for month.. a little late to the party, but it's never too late for dark greens! :) This was very opaque and applied smoothly in two coats. The formula reminded me of the Pure Ice brand that is found in Walmart. I'm pretty sure Prevail is a Duane Reade exclusive brand. According to this website, they have other stuff like tweezers, hair brushes, etc. I didn't browse around Duane Reade long enough to find out what else Prevail had though.

sorry for the lint!

They had a whole display of nail polishes in a wide arrange of colors -- all of which that I've seen before and didn't think they were unique enough to buy. The thing I didn't like was that this thing cost $6!!!!!!!! Way more than what a lot of my other nail polishes normally cost. On top of that I have to pay 8.875% NYC sales tax (sales tax is only 7% in NJ). Pretty pricey for a drug store nail polish that reminded me of Pure Ice nail poilsh found at Walmart. I definitely won't be buying anymore Prevail nail polishes unless they are unique.

No Regrets: Chanel Nouvelle Vague

I went to my grandfather's funeral earlier this week (I sported Essie Demure Vixen btw...), which as you can imagine wasn't the most uplifting occasion, so I really needed something bright with some punch for today - and Chanel Nouvelle Vague was waiting! I had passed this one by many times, and told myself I didn't need it - but then I realized that of all the China Glazes I used to have (and gave up, because no matter what they chip terribly on me), the one I missed most was For Audrey. This is a veritable dupe for FA, and Chanel wears beautifully on me.

My grandfather was someone who lived with no regrets - ever. I got my hands on this polish to alleviate the regret I was feeling - that special kind of Chanel regret - so in a way, this is a bit of an homage to him. To make it even more fitting, he loved Chanel!

For you Opa, Chanel Nouvelle Vague:

See how different it can look in different lights?

Not all that much to say about this one that hasn't already been said - it's wonderful. I find the colour uplifting and calming all at the same time. It's a lot brighter than I usually go, but since its about 100ºF outside, I think if there's any time to go bright - it's now! Oh and I'm rocking Essie Carousel Coral on my toesies, and I think the combo is pretty great! :)

I'm thrilled and relieved I got this - and I think I will enjoy it for years! No regrets whatsoever. :)

Do you regret not picking up a certain polish?

kittytokaren

Some drugstore yellows: Maybelline Banana Bamba and L'Oreal Yellow Buzz L'Oreal

Maybelline Banana Bamba

Cool yellow. I love yellow cremes. But not this one. This is four coats and the formula had a weird gritty, bumpy texture that kind of gave me the creeps. I think this was part of the Sun Salsa collection from earlier this spring.

L'Oreal Yellow Buzz

Warm yellow. Eh. The formula was kind of thick and sticky and it took four coats to even out. Also not a favorite.

China Glaze Vintage Vixen, Part II of III

Some more Vintage Vixen swatches, thanks to China Glaze.

China Glaze Swing Baby

Photos probably do not convey the awesome burning bright fire of this polish. It's a champagne foil but it's so glossy and glassy and kind of sears your retinas when in the sunlight. Three coats.

China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald

Yes, please! The bottle color is unimpressive, it's almost kind of a murky emerald. But on the nail, it is a vibrant teal shimmer. Nicely pigmented too! Full coverage at two coats. What I really liked though was that it had a very glossy finish. Very easy to apply, mildly brush-strokey.

China Glaze Foxy

Looked like a Christmas-y red-with-gold shimmer in the shade but in the sun, it became a burnished orange shimmer. I was shocked at how pretty it turned out once I held my hand out in a beam of sunshine. Two coats.

China Glaze Jitterbug

I loved this one. Charcoal foil. Like Swing Baby, it had an extremely glassy, glossy finish and it was just so freakishly bright, even for a dark silver like this. Really misleading in the bottle since it looks sort of dull and dark when not on the nail or in the light. Two coats. I think this would look nice as a pedi shade actually.

Almost done. Hope to get the last of the Vintage Vixen swatches up by tomorrow. :)

Some old BB Couture NOTDs: Paradise, Caterpillar and Moon Over Manhattan

And thus begins my effort to try to post all of my old swatches that I haven't ever gotten around to posting -- part of my massive and massively delayed spring cleaning efforts. I will try to get to the rest of the China Glaze Vintage Vixen posts this weekend though. :)

BB Couture Caterpillar

I think this is an incredibly cute color: kelly green with gold shimmer. The day I took the photo, it was overcast so it's hard to see the shimmer... but it's there! Three coats. Typical great BB Couture application. I believe this is from the Spring 2010 collections (the bug, butterfly themed ones).

BB Couture Paradise

Mmm, lobster claws. I love this color but it did impart a certain lobstery look to my skin. It kind of reminds me of the color of calamine lotion, maybe a shade more purple than that. This was from the Haiti collection. Three coats, again, really wonderful application.

BB Couture Moon Over Manhattan

This is a relatively old BB Couture. I've had for... oh, probably a year before wearing it. I LOVE this shade: dark blue with a hint of green with silver microglitter. It's jelly but not quite as squishy as most BBC jellies I've encountered before.

Closeup of Moon Over Manhattan

It's not a sparkly polish but it's got spark to it. :)

China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection swatches, Part I of III

China Glaze sent me the Vintage Vixen collection to review. And my biggest regret is that I've had to nubbinize my nails before swatching because I finally have finished pampering my previously injured pinky nail and am sick of attempting three-fingered swatches: in the interest of having my nails roughly the same length, I quickly sawed off several millimeters off of all of my nails. And now I am sad because they feel and look so stubby. :(

China Glaze Hey Doll

I don't know how quite to describe the color of this polish. A brown-leaning burgundy (redwood, perhaps?) foil. It would be a dull color as a creme but as a foil, it burns beautifully in the sunlight. Two coats.

China Glaze Classic Camel

This is just perfectly named: the color reminds me so much of a camel coat. It's an odd mustardy color... with a texture that also reminds me of mustard. It's great and smooth (and opaque) in three coats but the first two looked kinda... chunky. I don't know if that's due to the color of the pigment or because of the gold shimmer. A little off-putting at first but it's good to go and normal-looking after the third coat. This is probably one of my favorites from the collection: I have nothing else like it and the gold shimmer really does liven it up.

China Glaze Riveter Rouge

I think I would've gotten a great kick out of this name if it were Riveter Rose. But Riveter Rouge it is. This one I'm so-so on, mostly because I think it short nails do it no justice and it does no justice to short nails: it looks like a red shimmer (almost a foil) but is studded with sparse gold glitter. So it has the sort of burning shine that foils have but that burn is enhanced with the gold glitter. It's a very festive color but not my cup of tea. Two coats.

China Glaze Ingrid

I LOVE this color. I have it on now as an NOTD. I was going to put on a light blue or some color my SO really likes because he's coming home today from a four-day trip... but I decided that I wanted this color instead! Perfect dark taupe with the liveliest bronze shimmer. It's such a pretty spin on what's been a very chic, popular color of late. I did three coats for the swatch but my NOTD looks great with just two coats. It dried very quickly with Diamont, too.

I hope to get the rest of the Vintage Vixen collection swatched soon. :)

After dinner mint green

Mint greens or a variation of it have been such a trend recently. I don't have a ton of them, but have tried the one from Maybelline which was a nightmare for me. It was stringy, streaky, and such a horrible brush. I didn't even bother to try the one Revlon released because of my bad experience with one of their scented polishes, Gum Drop. Other than the one from Maybelline, I haven't bothered to try any other ones, EXCEPT for this Brucci since it was only like $2 and some change. This is absolutely AMAZING. It was perfect in two coats, no streaks or bald spots. So easy to control and is MUCH cheaper than drug store polishes.

I'm glad i didn't buy any of the more expensive mint greens and just waited it out and got this one because it was definitely worth it! I have a feeling Sheri's Pistachio Creme and I are going to have a long affair :) Sheri's got great taste! It does make me want after dinner mints though instead of pistachios hehe... I found this at a local beauty supply, but I *think* Bed Bath Beyond and Harmons carries Brucci. I know for sure Duane Reade carries Brucci too. There were also a few other pastels that the beauty supply had, but I had no interest in those -- sorry! I haven't come across a Brucci I didn't like though :)

Trend-cum-Classic: Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

My life has been pretty hectic as of late. Family issues are ruling my life, and I spend every waking minute that I'm not in lab dealing with them. Lab isn't going all that great either, and my apartment is a complete disaster. Even though it is summer and 'pastel weather' (about 90ºF and humid here!) I needed a sort of Heimkehr - a return to home, to feel like myself again.

So I put on a polish that I wear a lot, but for some reason have never shown you. I think it is because I wear it when I'm super busy/flustered and don't have the time/energy/patience/awareness to snap pictures. I only own back-ups of two polishes (Essie Tennis Corset and OPI DS Glow) but I consider this baby totally back-up worthy! You can't tell from the pictures, but I'm definitely going to need another bottle soon.

Sephora by OPI ($OPI) Metro Chic - a colour that was super trendy a couple years ago but has proved its staying power and become a total classic in my opinion. I know this one has been reviewed to death, but here it is on me:

I took a couple pictures because the colour of this is hard to accurately capture - it's a dusty, milky, silky, smokey ermine colour with purple tones. Basically, grey + brown + purple = Metro Chic. It sounds bizarre, but on the nail it is just super chic and elegant, and whenever I put this on I think "Why on earth do I wear anything else?!" - truly the sign of a great polish!

The one tick I would put in the 'con' column for Metro Chic is that is a Sephora by OPI polish - not that I dislike the polish itself - I just hate hate hate that long skinny brush!! However, I made a HUGE discovery - the OPI ProWide brush fits in the $OPI cap! I ripped out that awful brush, stuck a ProWide in there, and now my absolute favourite brush is now in what might be my absolute favourite polish!!!! It improved application tremendously, and I did two easy coats - in the dark, I might add - and I think it turned out great.

Is there a colour you go back to again and again? Do you think taupe colours have become classic or would you still put them in the trend zone?

kittytokaren

Missha swatches

A couple of Missha swatches: for anywhere from $0.99 to $2.99, it's not a bad brand but it's completely hit and miss for me.

Missha VL01

One of my favorite manicures of the past quarter. Look at all that beautiful silver (and possibly purple) glitter in the reddish purple jelly. It sparkles and shines gorgeously. Three coats.

Missha GR03

Basic grey creme. Three coats. Nice but not outstanding.

Missha GR01

A dark aqua blue shimmer. Four coats, still VNL. Not pleased.

Missha BL001

This powder blue creme looks lovely in the photo but it took four coats to even out. I know that pastels are a pain in the ass but there are tons of beautiful pastel blues out there that are perfect in three coats and a couple that are great in two. Color Club does pastel blues very well and they cost about the same as Missha polishes.