Announcements

 

Hello, all!  I hope this post finds you safe.  I don’t know if you’ve heard of the wildfires that are raging in Southern California (though now they are starting to get a handle on them), but my father – and the house I grew up in – were very close to the evacuation zone.  Being who he is, however, he never gave a thought to packing up, and his major concern now is getting the ash out of his backyard.  Dads, gotta love ‘em!

Anyway, I do have some lacquer-related news to share.  First of all, the lovely beautyjudy is having her very first giveaway!  And it’s not just any old giveaway, no; she’s giving away the Nubar Modern Matte Collection!!!

As has been established before, I’m not sure how much of a “matte momma” I am, but heavens to hamburgers (as Mayor McCheese used to say), even I am all agog about this!

 

 

So make sure you go over and enter, and be sure to stay for the posts; it’s really a very entertaining blog!

Next up in the World of Polish, I stopped in my local Sally’s today and was amazed to discover this display:

 

 

Immediately I went “Holy Guacamole!” and did a beeline straight for that gorgeous, gorgeous glittery green.  (I know, it looks blue here, but it’s green.)

I had no idea whether these were re-issues, or even current polishes on the market that they’re just repackaging, but I knew I hadn’t heard “Boo” about them on the internet.  (I have to admit, though, that I’ve been busy as late, and thus not able to keep up as much as I once did – sigh.)

As I picked them up and looked at the names, none sounded familiar.  As no one in the store seemed to mind, I took snapshots of the bases, rather than trying to hunt down pen and paper to take notes on the polishes.  So in order of the above photo, left to right:

 

 

You may have noticed that the shots of Atlantis and Nova look a little different.  That’s because I knew immediately that they were coming home with me, even though I am trying to at lease slow down my rate of varnish acquisition.  In the end, though, I just couldn’t say “no” to Medallion, so here’s the happy trio:

 

 

Sigh.

Once I got home and pulled up the ‘net, I checked out China Glaze’s website.  Not only was there no mention of the “Glitters and Chromes” collection, I couldn’t even find these colors listed on their color chart.  Weird.  Even a Google search of “China Glaze” “Glitters and Chromes” turned up empty.  If anyone can shed any light on the subject, I’d sure appreciate it!

But back to the subject at hand.  The chromes looked alright (as did that remaining glitter, Cleopatra), but they just didn’t thrill me quite as much as these glitters did.  I may or may not be quite “In Awe of Amber,” so to speak, but perhaps to round out an online order, whose prices are guaranteed to be lower, I may give in and add that one to the group as well.

And finally, speaking of online ordering, Nevertoomuchglitter just let me know that transdesign has Breathe Life in stock.  I know that there had been interest expressed in this color when I did my guest post on her blog, and as I had cautioned, it can be hard to find.  So anyone who is interested, head over that way and get your very own for $4.99 and help fund research for Lung Cancer in the bargain!  Personally, I find it to be a stunner of a shade, though I should warn you that, as it is a bit sheer, I often wear it with four coats.  (It’s also gorgeous over black, though, as I’ll show you someday.)

Anyway, I wanted to be sure and share with you all of these fun happenings!  I also have all of the colors together for your next vote, so depending on how late I have to work tomorrow night, it should be up either then or on Friday.  Friday, also, is the day that I will select a winner of the Wet N Wild Rustic, so if you want an (additional) chance to win, be sure to do so soon!

Amazing

How can such a little box . . .

 

(See?  Barely the size of my phone!)

 

. . . bring so much happiness??

 

Last six, right to left:  Milky White base coat, Sexsea, Sunset Glow, Emerald Sparkle, Platinum Silver, Bon Bon

With flash

 

All those shimmery, pretty ones with silver caps?  Those are China Glaze’s Kaleidoscope collection of 2006. 

 

Outside

 

And where can you still find this entire collection and some of these other (for me) hard-to-finds?  Victoria Nail Supply.

I learned of this company through Mary’s website, and in fact, I believe you still get that Milky White base coat or toe separators for free – check out Body and Soul for more information.

Anyway, onto more Kaleidoscope love:

 

It’s My Turn, Don’t be a Square, Rated Holographic

 

Spin Me Round, Visit Me in Prism, Let’s Do It in 3-D

Tickle My Triangle, How About a Tumble, Octa Gone Wild

Kaleidoscope Him Out, He’s Going in Circles, Sexagon

 

(Sorry that this wasn’t my best photographic work.  But you can see the colors, which is probably the most important part.)

I think I’ve said it before, I know I’ll say it again, but I’m just a sucker for holographic polishes!  They are almost-always my go-tos for when I need a varnish I know will cheer me up!  Some of the names, though, I’m none too fond of.  Octa Gone Wild reminds me too much of a particular franchise I find, frankly, disgusting.  I won’t go into it here, as when I started to, I realized I went a bit too far into an off-topic diatribe. 

But since, despite what Essie might think, I don’t buy colors for their names, I won’t belittle a lacquer for that reason, either.  They’re pretty, and I’m pretty darned glad to have them!

I poked a little bit of fun at Essie there, but that’s because it reminds me of a survey I was sent a link to today.  (I’m sure any of you that are on their email newsletter got the same one.)  As I filled it out, I chuckled more and more, and found more and more things that I wanted to share with you.

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I don’t think that lacquerheads like us are their target audience.  If we are, they’re a little off the mark. 

For example, one question posed was “How many bottles of polish do you have?”  You know what the largest number was?  Twenty.  Twenty!  I don’t know about you, but most of my groupings (work-related, glitters, green, OPI, etc.) include more than twenty, leave alone my entire collection!  We’re going to have to multiply that number by a bit to even get it close to a true representation for how many I have!

Here’s another question:  “How often do you change your polish?“ Your choices are once a week, once a month, or every two weeks.  I know that I am already rather unusual when I say I’ll leave a color on for up to five days, and here again even I can’t give a true representation!  Once a month?  Anyone I can think of from this particular community would rather eat the same meal daily for an entire month than leave one color on their nails for that long!

How about, “Where do you purchase polishes?”  You know how many online-related answers there were?  One.  Essie.com.  No other e-tailers listed, by name or by category.  So I had to resort to “other” and spell out my answer.

They then gave you a list of about seven polishes or so, and you were supposed to select your favorite from among that group.  As there was only one color I would ever pick, I didn’t pay too much attention to the list.  Again I had to select “Other” and type in Starry Starry Night.  I’m sure that I’m not alone in wanting them to re-release that color, but it wasn’t even mentioned.  Grr!

Here’s classic Essie thinking for you, too.  When they ask what colors you consider sexy, you can choose from red, neutral, or pink.  Doesn’t that just about sum up 98.2% of Essie’s line?

And finally, and the question I was referring to up above, there’s “Why do you purchase Essie lacquers?”  You could choose from: durability, color names, variety of colors, or bottle design.

I don’t know about anyone else out there, but it’s extremely, extremely rare that I will buy a color based on the name.  In fact, though I can easily imagine times where that might happen, it hasn’t actually happened to me yet.  And though Essie is branching out, I don’t really find that they do, in fact, have much of a “variety of colors.”  But that’s just one woman’s opinion.

Anyway, anyone who is not on their mailing list can find their survey here.  They say that as a reward, you get to see a preview of their fall colors.  All that happens is that they tell you what the link is at the end.  I’ll help ya out, if you don’t want to take the survey; it’s essie.com/seasonal.  You also get a free gift – a sensitivity base coat (though they don’t tell you that will be your gift at the get-go) – but it’s from a code you have to enter with a purchase.  (I’ll give you that, too; it’s freegift09, to be used at essieshop.com.)

It’s not a bad idea to take the survey, though.  Maybe if all of us that missed the SSN bandwagon when it first rolled out include that as our favorite color, we can convince them to release it again.  The survey took me maybe five minutes, if that, though I’m sure it was considerably shortened since I said that I didn’t have professional manicures done; my progress bar made a huge jump after that page.

And for what it’s worth, though I seem to be razzing Essie a bit up there, it’s not as though I have a problem with the polishes.  I have, I think, six (two I got for free), and I’m still trying to get my hands on Greenport.  But I haven’t actually worn any of them yet, so I can neither condemn nor commend their formula.

And, in closing, I have one more thing to share with you!  (See what happens when two days go by when I can’t publish?  But I felt the names were a perfect lead-in to the survey, and this next bit of news is both short and timely, so I’m tacking it on here.)

My Walgreens finally got the Wet N Wild Craze polishes in!  And they did it at the most opportune time; they’re buy one, get one free – that’s a dollar a piece!

“Hey Larry!”

“Yes, Balki?”

“Now we are so happy, let us do the dance of joy!”

 

 

 

Not all of them looked that appealing to me, either in person or in any of the online swatches (such as Nicole’s, whose I found very helpful), so four came home with me:

 

I’m sorry these are so blurry; I couldn’t get a focused picture, whatever I did.

 

Left to right, we have Inferno, Shield, Rustic, and what seems to be the standout, Morbid.  I didn’t really realize what tiny bottles these were – .34 fluid ounces – so I put them next to a Zoya, at .50 fl. oz., for comparison.

The BOGO sale runs through this Saturday, so Carpe Diem if there are any WNWs on your wish list!

And that’s all, folks!

 

The Wonderful World of Color

I’d seen the Sally Hansen HD collection in the stores, and on a few blogs, but I more or less resisted them.  One major reason for this is, well, I’m just not a terribly big SH fan.  There, I’ve said it, and I’m sorry.  But facts are facts, after all.

However the more I saw them, the more I was tempted.  Then CVS had a BOGO1/2 deal.  And I picked them up – all of them.  And carried them around the store.  And, ultimately, I put them all down.  I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t.

Then, the following week, Walgreens had 40% off all Sally Hansen, and then along came BLU, Pixel Pretty, and Hi-Def for the ride home.  I looked and looked at Cyber, but decided against it.

 

Hi-Def, BLU, Pixel Pretty

 

But then I kept staring at my three purchases all lined up – the gorgeous colors. . . .  So then came not only Cyber, but also Lite and Hi-Res. 

 

Hi-Res, Lite, Cyber

 

But not the others, I resisted! I didn’t really like them. Until I saw them swatched.

Sigh.  Ladies and gentlemen, please meet the entire line-up.

 

The two newcomers are, to the left of Lite (the yellow) Digital and Three D

 

 

Every time I look at them, you know what I hear?

 

 

And for those if you with a little more time to spare, here’s a better version, with some of Paul Frees’ Ludwig Von Drake thrown in – bonus!

 

 

Here’s the info on the polishes from Sally Hansen’s site:

The Color: Pure, vivid pigments with multi-dimensional color & vibrance.

The Technology: Patented formula with Real Liquid Crystals for multi-dimensional color and iridescent shine!

The Result: Dazzling, Lustrous High-Definition Color.

 

The application on these can be – well, “a nightmare” is an overstatement, but a bit of a pill to apply.  But the three colors I’ve worn so far just really knock my socks off!  And every time they *grow* on me, and I find myself liking them more the more days I wear them.  Consider yourselves warned!

By the way, remember to vote for August’s color of the month – I can’t wait to see what color if picked!  Right now it’s neck and neck between two of them!

A mysterious package

[FYI, this is very picture heavy. I just wanted to make you feel like (with all due respect to Walter Cronkite) You Are There!]

Okay, so I get home late one night to find . . . a mysterious package! Dunh dunh DUNH! Well, okay, it isn’t so mysterious, since it was an order I was expecting. But I was too tired to actually go through all of the steps required to truly document its arrival, so I wait until the next day to open it for y’all! Yeah, I know. *nodding* I just care that much.

First, the box.

Huh. Fragile. Must be Italian.

(This is the best clip I could find. If 5 minutes is too long for you, just jump to the 1:00 mark.)

(Aaaand – just because I found it by accident and it’s a GREAT recap of the movie – check out the bunnies!)

(And, as long as we’re on the topic, sort of, one of my all-time favorite You Tube clips!)

Mmmmm – num num num!

Yay!

*Ahem* Sorry about that. Where were we? I swear the internet has destroyed my attention span. Let’s see. . . .

Oh, right! The mysterious but not mysterious to me, only mysterious to you package.

Well wrapped on the inside. . . .

Bubble wrap – and what’s that stuff in the corner?

Ah, free samples? I thought these smelled great . . .

. . . until I realized it was probably this perfume. Whatever it is, it’s nice!

Inside, a sealed envelope, and now you know where I ordered from. . . .

And a hand-written note to me! Times like this are what I love buying from a person directly, rather than ordering online.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand!

Hmm – see the color starting to poke through?

Becoming clearer here. . . .

Almost there! (The suspense killing you yet??)

*Aahhhhhh* [Hmm, that was supposed to be A Heavenly Choir, not Someone Running From A Serial Killer With His/Her Arms Waving.]

Anyway, you *knew* it was polish, but did you know it was the new StrangeBeautiful Library of Color? Didja? Didja, huh??? You might have suspected, when you saw it was from Bergdorf Goodman, anyway.

Aren’t they lovely?

It looks like they have added their company’s name to the bottom.

And now, if necessary (or even just if curiosity’s gotcha), you can see the ingredients.

And there we have it!! I wasn’t too sure, looking at the online promo pictures, but in person I am *totally* digging these muted colors! Including the second one, which is looking like a darker, greyer cousin to Misa’s Dirty Sexy Money, and its inky neighbor which was inspired by the J. Herbin company.

That link, by the way, will not only lead you to a brief description of this collection, but also one of the two sites I know of where it can be ordered. I can’t vouch for this company, though, as I’ve never used it. You can also order from Bergdorf Goodman, but they don’t ship internationally.

Well, as they get worn, I will let you know what I think, and there will be pictures!

When you’re Strange . . . Beautiful

As promised, here are the last six colors from the premiere StrangeBeautiful Library of Color.

It’s amazing how polish choices can be so visceral. When I first got my haul, the dark olive color (which, for some reason, reminds me of camo), was the color I liked least. Yet when it came time to pick a color to wear, it was the first one I reached for, as I mentioned in my first post about this line.

And the last color that I finally wore? The dark teal, which by all rights should have been my itching to jump on my nails from the word “go.” But you can’t always tell which polish you will most want to wear from day to day.

Now that I’ve worn them all, I don’t think I could pick a favorite, even if forced to. There are some I like more than others, but as soon as I decide I really like one, another one falls into my field of vision, and I can’t decide. So I give – I won’t even try.

So, on with the countdown. (Wow – I’m channeling Casey Kasem now.)

This first color is described as a “midcentury modern orange.” I’m not completely sure what that means, but I believe it’s the color (or one of the colors) whose genesis came from the Mid Century Modern Knoll Fabrics. It definitely has a “modern” feel to it, the way OPI’s The “It” Color does, with its mustard-leaning yellow. This reminds me strongly of a Sunkist orange with some black added to it.

This next color is a dark, inky blue that was, according to Jane Schub, “inspired by a fear of swimming alone in a deep dark lake at night.”

(Best of the pictures I took – sorry!)

This next one, I predict, is going to be a showstopper for many of you out there. (Scrangie, are you looking? I think I’ve got a color for you!)

This is called an “Art Nouveau teal.” It’s definitely darkened, and reminiscent of Rescue Beauty Lounge’s Stormy In fact, as Kae pointed out, the bottle designs are very similar, so I did a side-by-side shot of SB’s teal and RBL’s Stormy:

You’ll notice two things. Firstly, though the SB (on the right) appears to be larger, it is also much more narrow than the RBL. After scouring the Web (read: surfing several sites for up to ten minutes and becoming bored), I am unable to determine the size of the SB bottles. RBL is 12 milliliters, and judging from these pictures, I’ll guess that SB is about the same amount.

Secondly, this is not a dupe for Stormy. They’re in the same family, but I would consider this polish to be much more teal, and a little more “blackened,” to my eye.

(Excuse the weird marks on my nails – for the life of me I can’t see them IRL.)

Next comes this yummy chocolate brown color. Sigh. It keeps pushing to be my favorite of the group.

Here’s a lovely fuchsia. Like many in this library, it is a dark version of the color.

And last, but certainly not least, is the light pink shade of the family. In a New York Times blurb, it is said that Ms. Schub realized ‘the pink in a Warhol painting she saw at the Dia:Beacon museum [would make a wonderful nail polish]. ''It had black in it,'' Ms. Schub explained. ''It was a little off. It turned the corner from being pink to something very beautiful to look at.''’

(Try to ignore the weird state of the polish on my tips – I thought painting a swatch of white on just my nail tips was a good idea. I know. But this was awhile ago.)

So there she is, in all her glory. I don’t want to repeat my first post on these too much, so I’ll just say that they applied beautifully, and they are so pigmented that two coats has been, without exception, perfect.

Again, you can buy these from lucky scent who does have international shipping (but, whoa, is it pricey), or Bergdorf Goodman, who only ships to the US and Canada, though there is a phone number you can call and, apparently, have something shipped outside of those borders.

I’d hoped to end with The Doors’ People Are Strange, but apparently they’re not allowing that on the web. So instead here is one of my favorite scenes with Peter Sellers and Keenan Wynn from Dr. Strangelove:

Enjoy!