I'm not happy to admit it, but OPI really has nailed this color. Perfectly Fall, wine-red with a purple hue, with gorgeous velvety shimmer.
Application was breezy. I think it will wear great as well - I've been typing the whole day and still no trace of a tip wear.
Those of you who cannot get your hands on HTF NYPD Beet - get Meet For Drinks. It's not an exact dupe, but this rich velvety shipper makes them look very much alike.
Finally, it has arrived. True, it's still hot here, in Atlanta (darn electrical bills!). Yet, we can already sleep with a window open, air smells like Fall; and maples are morphing from green to purple.
To celebrate the season - three colors I enjoy for Fall.
Misa, Sepia Stained Cotton. Hot chocolate lacking some milk and definitely loaded with chocolate. Some bronze sparkles and a hint of green shimmer.
I have to tell you about an application: it was awesome, flawless, perfect - I can keep going like this for a while. Practically, this polish just applied itself. Two coats to achieve a bottle color. Love!
RBL Drifter. Glossy, deep, vampy purple. Signature-perfect application.
Just a litle problem - it chipped in 24 ours, sharp. I know that nothing is perfect in this world, but still - one can expect some durability for $18 a bottle.
Sephora by OPI, On Stage. Oh my, I love this color: muted, dusty purple with a hint of lilac-y gray. My description may stink like patchuly, but I swear - nothing momsy about this color.
The only drawback is an application. Goopy hunk of a mess. Person with average manicure skills (I'm modest, aren't I?) might just throw the bottle in the trash. Booo! The color is worth an every painful brushstroke, thou.
I've been weeding out duplicate colors recently (one cannot have infinite amount of polish, you know...). So I'm mad at myself now for getting Eiffel For This Color, for it's a dead-on dupe of OPI famous Lincoln Park At Midnight. There is a difference, but it's so insignificant that might not be enough even for a Nail Boarder.
To the pictures. Left to right: EFTC, LPAM and Rescue Beauty Lounge Film Noir (just because I like it, that is):
As you can see, the only difference is in shimmer, base colors are identical in both polishes. Eiffel has star-like shimmer inclusions, as opposed to all-over, evenly distribited shimmer in LPAD. /Beautiful Film Noir is absolutely flat and gorgeous/.
Another pic I purposefuly took with an exaggerated flash, to show off base colors:
See? LPAM is evenly shimmery, while Eiffel is flat with shimmer inclusions.
If you don't have either Effel or LPAM - take my advice and get the latter; formula is so much better.
I have bad news for a lovely Canadian gal. Michelle, I was wrong: these two are not dupes; I would say - not even sisters; cousins - may be.
Quick and somewhat dirty swatches.
First - taken in a full sunlight (yay, we had a bit of sunlight today!). Starting from index finger: FA, MR, FA, MR.
Difference is obvious: MR is more blackened and its shimmer is dark purple, as opposed to blue-shimmered and purple-based FA. By the way - I discovered that Midnight Ride has a very dark olive-brown base!
Another picture - shadow.
While both Fatal Affair and Midnight Ride are blackened purples, they are so different that you can easily spot it even in such lighting (or lack thereof).
Hands down, I like Misa's color better. Hands down, China Glaze wins formula-wise. I think I overestimated Misa Fall formula. It's actually too thick, not to the point where thickness causes serious problems with application, but...
PS: Midnight Ride was a present from Hill The Sweetest. I wrote about her here; and - voila - she just did another good deed. Hill, thanks again!
This is first and last color I got from OPI France collection.
Color is nice, even thou it's definitely not a unique one. But I got a bottle with a shovel-shaped brush (yep!), and my nails have bubbles all over. As I know, many ladies have the same bubbly problem, so I guess it's a formula. Bubble-bubble-bubble.
All in all, here is a swatch. Ring and pinkey show how Eiffel looks like in a natural light - very, very dark purple, almost black, actually. Middle and finger - to show off a pretty purple shimmer, visible in a bright light.
Well, I sure can.
My favorite from China Glaze Rodeo Diva collection is actually Wagon Trail.
Scrangie pointed out that it is a black melted with gold. Surprisingly enough, it looks like olive green on the nail.
I want to say something like "wow dude that's awesome" or may be "woot!".
"Holy cow!" seems appropriate as well (no pun intended).
OK, now that we've seen almost all collections (except for Color Club - so far, I saw only promo images and teasers), let's discuss them!
This is definitely one of the best nail polish fanatics' falls ever.
My top:
3. Essie. There is my pillow? I'm falling asleep. Not that it's a bad collection - it's a solid one. But predictability and dupability factor is over the scale. See for yourself - Scrangie was nice enough to post comparisons, and almost all colors have twins, or at least close relatives.
2. Zoya. Pretty much the same as Essie. I gave Zoya 2nd place just because of Sloane - for I truly love this color and might even buy it. (Scrangie's wonderful pics are here.)
1. It's a tie between Misa and China Glaze. Or Chine Glaze and Misa, I don't know. Both companies came up with an array of season-related yet original colors.
I think I prefer ChG's formula - Misa was just a tad thick for me - and they have more colors I would wear.
Misa should get a bow, or trophy, or something for an absolutely fantastic Toxic Seduction. I would not wear it - it's 100% not my color - but I appreciate its beauty.
So far, this is my favorite from Rodeo Diva - Side-Saddle:
Misa's beauty - Toxic Sedaction:
As you can see, OPI is not even on my chart. I saw France collection in local Ulta today and, honestly, I think it sucks (forgive me for I don't have more appropriate word). After scrutinizing the display, I found just 2 bottles that seemed to be original - Tickle My France-y and You don't know Jacques! Other looked like a variation of old OPI colors for me. Somebody has to kick Suzi really hard and let her know that she's losing clients over lack of imagination. I might be wrong, but recently all OPI creative efforts go to the names of the polishes. Sad.
I'm still looking forward to see new colors from my credit card's worst enemy - Rescue Beauty Lounge. They should be available by mid-October.
Scrangie posted spectacular swatches of Poisoned Passion and some look-alikes for upcoming collection.
The Polish Addict did a very thorough review of Sugar Sugar collection. Check out her layering experiments with Sugar Sugar polishes! Did you know Sugar Girl was a duochrome? I sure did not.
Misa Fall Love Bite is indeed very dupable .
I thought it would be a twin of Essie Clutch Me If You Can, but I was wrong. Love Bite is almost an exact copy of Misa's older creation - Stiletto.
See for yourself! Thumb to pinky: Love Bite, Clutch me if you can, Love Bite, Stiletto and OPI Hollywood and Wine.
Love Bite has more bright red, almost magenta, in its base, while Stiletto's base is on a brownish side. Essie is completely different from Misa, they are cousins at best. By the way - as much as I adore this Essie's color, I have to admit that this is an epitome of bad application. I mean, it's really, really bad.
And I have good news for those who have been coveting hard to find OPI oldie Hollywood and Wine. Get yourself either Love Bite ot Stiletto. Or both, for that matter.
This is for MUAer Shadowline, who wanted to take a closer look at Fatal Affair. Well, this polish is definitely worth looking at!
Indoor/in shadow shimmer is barely visible, and it looks like you wear a very dark, even blackened purple creme. Something like OPI Lincoln Park at Midnight, I would say:
Sunlight brings out gorgeous multicolored shimmer: you can see pink, blue and lilac.
It is multicolored, indeed, but it's not garish by any stretch of imagination.
Last pic is a bit off focus (well, it's well off focus), but I believe it wonderfully represents reach, velvety color.
By the way, I don't think this one has a dupe. It somewhat close to Flair by Sally Hansen (Scrangie has a great picture), but FA is much deeper and has less obvious shimmer. And certainly, it's not a re-do of Misa Dreamy Purple.
First comparison - by reader request, for Gymnastgirly - Misa A Sin Worth Committing and OPI Yogo-Ta Get This Blue.
Honestly, you have to be a nail polish fanatic to spot the difference.
Misa is a tad deeper and has less shimmer to it; and shimmer is aqua. YGGTB has more purple and shimmer in it is more teal than aqua.
Both pics, thumb to pinky: SWC, Orly Witch's Blue, SWC, OPI YGGTB, Misa Blueberry Glaze.
Even if you already have OPI, I would recommend SWC, for brush is so much better.
Second set is for my own pleasure: Zoya Jasmeen and Forbidden Lust.
I have to admit, while they are definitely sisters, Jasmeen is a more complex shade, thanks to amazing golden-bronze shimmer. But they do look very much alike (both pics - thumb FL, index - J middle - FL, ring - J, pinky - FL):
Where do I begin?
First of all - this is an amazing collection. Unique colors (except for one, but I'll talk about it later) with a very decent application.
I start with the one I was sure would be my favorite - Love Bite. It's the only creme in entire collection; and to my surprise, I'm not so fond of it. It's not exactly a creme, it's closer to a jelly finish (= a bit tricky to apply). Love Bite is a good Fall color, but it's kinda ordinary.
As you can see, it's close to Essie Clutch me if you can; Misa's Stiletto; and, I suspect, many more vampies out there.
Dying Love. I hope gray lovers will be thrilled. It has an obvious yet sophisticated shimmer to it (mother of pearl-y), it's neutral on a warm side and completely opaque in one coat. I love a bit of a green-blue hue:
Can you see a distinctive green hue in the bottle?
Forbidden Lust. Fall version of my favorite Fuchsia Love. Purple with a hint of bronze. It reminds me of Zoya Jasmeen (I'm planning to post comparison pics in a couple of days).
Looks a lot like Jasmeen, right? But formula is much, much better.
Here comes three winners:
2nd place - Fatal Affair. Amazingly rich, velvety eggplant, loaded with multicolored microshimmer. Love, love, love this one!
1st place is a tie. I could not decide which one is better!
Toxic Seduction. Deep yet muted emerald. Imagine emerald with a sexy 5 o'clock shade - this would be Toxic Seduction (yes, it's difficult to imagine emerald with a razor, shaving, but I cannot come up with a better metaphor). See for yourself:
Second pic with a flash, to show off an amazing glow:
A Sin Worth Committing instantly hit the highest mark among all my blues. It's deep, it's velvet-like, it has a great aqua shimmer. Reminds me of Misa retired oldy - Blueberry Glaze, but without purple note. Sin totally kick my beloved Witch's Blue, let alone YGTTB by OPI.
Well... I would say it's a total recovery from rather blah Sugar Sugar collection. Formula seems a bit drippy (give me my bad chemicals back, Misa!), but all of them apply really well.
Please excuse my messy application, I was excited like... I don't even know, like who.
PS: All polishes are courtesy of Misa Cosmetics. Thank you so much!
Have no idea about upcoming collection (yet). I wish for 6 deep, vampy cremes. OK, one can be opaque gray - I don't care for such colors, but 50% of NB would be happy.
No shimmers for this fall, please, pretty please...
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