Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My mini-haul and NOTD - Lilac Lagoon by Finger Paints

I've been on a very strict budget lately; but I caved yesterday - no willpower here - and bought two Finger Paints polishes.

First one is Lilac Lagoon, from a recent Finger Paints Summer collection.
Pale, yet warm lavender, loaded with teeny golden scales - very similar to ones in Elizabeth Arden Vincenza Raspberry.

I'm not a big fan of pales, let alone lilacs - usually I cannot pull such colors off; they make me look like a corpse. Not this one, apparently.
This polish is really sheer.I'm a habitual 3-coater, so I did three coats. Bad decision - I left two coats on my pinky, just for a comparison sake, and I like it much better than 3 coats.

If you are a nail polish fanatic, you sure know that Finger Paints is a great alternative to the expensive "salon" polishes. They are reasonably priced ($4.59, as I recall); before they went good-chemical-free, they had one of the best formulas available. Now Finger Paints polishes are Big-3 free (too bad!) and formula is a bit inconsistent, fluctuating from great to drippy-crappy. I've got a good bottle, thou.

Magenta Mood is a recent addition to their core collection. It's a bright, sparkle-loaded red, a bit on a cool side (magenta is supposed to be cool, right?). I do not have a mani pic of this one, just the bottle pics:
Small orange-amber-god particles offset the coolliness of magenta really nicely, so even the Warmy Warmerson like myself can wear this color.
It's my current pedicure, and I love it. I think it's too loud for a summer manicure, so to the back burner it goes, till Fall is here. For some reason, Magenta Mood reminds me of a cranberry pie - hello, my future Thanksgiving mani!

Another pic, blurry and not very accurate color wise, but showing the sparkles:

Read More...

Monday, May 25, 2009

NOTD - OPI All That Razzberry

Another pink. I've been trying really hard, working my way to the summer-appropriate colors.
Actually, it's not even pink - it's more of a bright purple with a pink undertone and a hint of neon. Of course, being purplish-neonish, All That Ruzzberry is not fond of the camera, so I had to tweak my pictures a bit to show you a somewhat accurate color. In real life OTR is a bit deeper and darker. Would make an awesome pedi.


I stamped it with a totally clashing Konad polish the next day:
Looks crazy, but I like this combo.

PS: All That Razzberry is a retired color. Of course.

Read More...

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Oh damn you, Ji Baek!

I was so, so over Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes, so obnoxiously priced and obnoxiously named ("Frugalista" for $18? oh, pweease). Totally over, I swear. Typical case of sour grapes. Rescue Beauty Lounge is kinda Robert Pattinson of the nail polish world: unequivocally gooooood and unequivocally out of my league - I cannot get my hands on either of them. Pattinson is not for sale, as far as I'm concerned; and I do not have money for Baek's concontions - at the moment.

And then I reached for my box of untried polishes. And found RBL Recycle - it was a very sweet and absolutely unexpected Christmas gift from a fellow polish fan, KathyWA.
/direct sun/


Yep, I'm that big of a chicken - I've waited since Christmas to wear this green. I'm an idiot; because it's a perfect polish. Perfect. I'm in love with this brand - again.



Unbelievably glossy. Dark, yet never black or dreadfully "almost black".


I try to be as objective and honest as possible while reviewing polishes, but I couldn't find anything to be improved upon. Butter-smooth application, perfect coverage with 2 thin coats.




Kathy - again - thank you, thank you, thank you!

Ji - I don't like you. Your polishes are just...mean.

Dixi.

Read More...

Friday, May 15, 2009

NOTD - Essie Guilty Pleasures

Old news, really old: Essie Guilty Pleasures. I think it's a part of Spring-08 collection. Anyway, here is my attempt in a cheerful spring mani:

Nice color, guys.

First, it has a jelly finish - kinda see-through. Pain in the neck to apply, but if you enjoy a "morning toast with marmalade" look, I'd say go for it. I did 3 sloppy coats; it's still a bit uneven.

Second, it's not a typical pinkey-pink. Rather, Guilty Pleasures is a mix between a subtle coral and a vivid neon pink. Here is another pic, hopefully showing neon side a bit better:

I'm itching to take this mani off, but it's just my aversion to pink.

Read More...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Misa Honeybunch

Well, this semester is behind me. I'm an A student. Yes, I'm smug, smug enough to brag about my grades on a nail polish blog. You have no idea how smug I am. My straight As took very serious elbow grease, brain kind; and total mani negligence. For about 2 weeks I had been sporting the same manicure - Misa Honeybunch.


Not my cup of tea. At all. I do not like sheers; I do not like sparkly sheers. But boy, this polish wears like iron. Two weeks, no kidding. Of course, I had some chipping by the end on a first week. I had no time to care about chipping, thou.

Aside from sheer practicality, Honeybunch is pretty. It looks white-silverish on my pictures, but in reality it consists of multicolored microsparkles. Think blond sister of OPI Princesses Rule. I bet it will work wonderful for layering over dark polishes.

Mmm... too bad it's not my cup of tea.

Read More...