I have very mixed feelings about this collection. Well, to the swatches first; my feelings can wait.
Jester Ate The King Cake
I saw people describing it as a neon. Nah, it would be a neon with an extreme case of iron deficiency - anemic neon. I'd say, it's a pastel. I have yet to see a yellow that applies without efforts; Jester is not an exception. It was streaky, but 3 coats pretty much evened things up:
I'd say, the truest to life is pointer; second to it would be pinkey.
Do you guys think it's a neon?
Shake It To The Samba.
When I first saw it out of the box, I thought "Whoa, this is one ugly dude of a color!" Then I painted my nails and thought it wasn't so bad... It's a weird, fleshy-toned color with a hearty helping of orange. Surprisingly brighter than I expected it would be:
I believe shadow picture represents the color more accurately, so there:
Single And Ready To Limbo:
The most...convenient of the bunch - a true classic red; very warm one, no blue here. But boy, the formula blew me away. Extremely pigmented and completely opaque in one coat. Very smooth and glossy.
It's very close to Essie E!; but Misa has way less orange and looks more flattering with my skin tone.
Throw Me Something Purple Please
Purple? Hmm... I don't think so. It's a typical blurple; but I'm in a romantic set of mind today, so I will call it a color of Persian lilac:
It's a tad lighted in real life. Probably my favorite from this collection. I don't have anything similar in my stash. The closest relative would be OPI Dating A Royal, but OPI has more blue in it.
Now, the problem child: Blame It On Fat Tuesday. The color itself is nice; it's quite a unique (to my knowledge) green. But I cannot photograph it accurately to save my dear life. Misa describes it as a mint green. Nope. It's more of a turquoise with a shot of yellow; and really bright, almost neon. For some reason, the best picture I got was the one with skittles:
This one - obviously photoshopped to oblivion - gives a vague idea of a brightness.
(yes, I know, this picture is ugly)
I skipped Party In The Masquerade - it's a dark pink peon, almost neon raspberry, if it makes any sense. Pretty.
About my mixed feelings. I cannot understand what this collection has to do with Mardi Gras. Promo image with the sparkling beads was very Mardi Gras. In my opinion, it promised lots of glitters and/or sparkly shimmers. But cremes? Cremes, really? I wouldn't say a word if the name of it were "Easter Egg Hunt in Atlanta Country Club" It's a solid Spring collection; but it's as far from the floats, beads and sparks as a collection can go.
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I came home from a very dull day at school to a box containing Mardi Gras collection.
From pointer to pinkey:
- Blame It On Fat Tuesday
- Throw Me Something Purple Please
- Single and Ready to Limbo
- Shake It To The Samba
I hold Jester Ate The King Cake
Sorry about pre-cleanup pictures.
Quick notes:
- formula is excellent
- red is much deeper and very fierce
- no, my camera's white balance doesn't suck: Throw Me Something Purple is, indeed, very blue
- Shake It To The Samba has all the potential to become a new OPI And Apple Pie.
This collection was sent to me by manufacturer for review.
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I won't be getting this collection for review. Unfortunately, the collection is out of stock at the moment. Keep your eyes open for other bloggers - I saw Mardis Gras review at Kelly's (Vampy Varnish).
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probably will be posted by the end of this week.
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It's called Mardis Gras!
Neons and brights; and some pastels (huh?), all seem to be cremes:
Bottle pics separately:
Blame It on Fat Tuesday: mint-green according to Misa, but I'd rather call it dollar-green. Not sure I'll be able to pull this off, but I certainly like the idea!
Shake It To The Sumba: neutral, flesh-like color. At first I was surprised to see it in the Mardi Gra collection; then I realized it was not flEsh, it was flAsh what they probably had in mind. Think beads and... well... beads.
Single And Ready to Limbo: not exactly original, yet pretty red-coral (?) Or is it just red? Difficult to tell until I see this one in person.
Jester Ate the King Cake: Pastel yellow. Pretty, but I cannot wear such colors, unless I want scare Easter-hunting kids with my red-lobster hands.
Party in the Masquerade: Hot pink. I think it's a neon, actually.
Throw Me Something Purple Please: Purple. Purrrrrr-ple. I really, rally hope it won't be a dupe of Ghina Glaze Grape Pop.
My thoughts about this collection. I'm surprised (unpleasantly surprised, dare I say) there is not a single glitter or at least shimmer in this collection. Hello, Misa, it's Mardi Gras! It's all about sparkle, glitter and over the top (look at your promo image - you got it exactly right here). If I recall correctly, this is a third collection in a row consisting of all cremes. Some of my readers will be seriously pissed (waves to Gabrielle). Kudos for the mix of pastels and neons - I know at least two girls who would like it!
PS: All pictures are clickable, as usual.
EDITED TO ADD: According to Misa representative, all colors are brand-new, no repromotes.
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One deceptive color, this Bellacious. When I spotted it on a shelf, it looked like a pale, dusty-rose creme. On the nails it turned out to be rather bright pink-peachy jelly, with the slightest hint of lavender. Go figure.
I don't like jell finishes, so I did 3 thick coats; but you can still see the VNL here.
In the direct light pink really pops:
Despite the pinkness, I'd say it's a nice, office appropriate neutral, yet with an edge to it. Like it.
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I turned in my infamous macroecon paper. Yay me. /gloomy/ 13 pages in a language I'm not native in; in the subject I...dislike, to put it mildly. Have to wait for a grade till Monday in the best case scenario. Cliffhanger, if you ask me.
Anyway, here is my "I've been good" NOTD. I added one of the CND Effects - Raspberry Sparkle - over Dreamy Purple. I thought Effects worked the best over the dark cremes; but over shimmer it turned out OK:
I have no idea how they came up with this name. Have you ever seen a lavender-golden-iridescent raspberry? Well, neither have I. Did they have some result of an extreme genetic manipulation in mind? What's funny, other Effects have normal, meaningful names. Sorry, I'm being bitchy (see above, Re: cliffhanger).
I'm not the biggest fan of shimmers; so I like this particular effect not for the spark (which is, in fact, spectacular), but rather for a subtle douchrome effect:
It's sorta triochrome probably.
All in all, I liked my first Effect a lot. Even thou I don't do much layering, I might get a couple more Sparkles. Crimson and Amethyst?
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It's purple. I don't know who dreams purple, but this one is certainly a dream material:
It has the same glowy quality to it as Nubar Pasadena Purple, but without a frosty finish I personally dislike.
Color probably is the most accurate on this picture, especially on the bottle (don't forget to enlarge so you can see the amazing multicolored shimmer):
This purple has so much glow to it, it's almost neon, if it makes sense to you.
Application was good - I didn't need to do any clean up at all. My only complaint - the formula is on a runny side; 3 coats were necessary for me.
PS: Yep, I filed my nails down; but if you think my paper is done, you are mistaken.
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lame, I know, but I couldn't think of a better name for this Konad.
I'm a little embarrassed, actually. This KOTD is...well, let's call spade a spade - tacky.
Misa
Haven White for a canvas; OPI
Little Red Wagon; Orly
Witch's Blue; and random Sally Hansen silver for the design. Konad plate #M65.
I'm little unhappy about design being cut on my middle finger. Other than that, I think it's a good, festive manicure. Tacky-schmacky - we are talking about fireworks here, not the latest IRS regulations!
You guys have a happy and safe holiday. I'm off to catch up on my work and to think about KOTD that would be a good representation of IRS regulations.
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Don’t get me wrong: I have not joined a nudist colony. I just got 3 unexpected days on a beach; and forgot to pack my base and top coat. My nails are naked, that’s it. And to think that I have planned a deliciously garish mani/pedi combination: Finger Paints Gift of Gold and Misa Six Pack Summer!
Random beach observations:
- Sand exfoliates rough cuticles effortlessly.
- Beach or no beach, I dislike a look of a French pedicure. Sorry, nothing personal.
- Ocean water makes one’s nail stronger and whiter.
- People who bury cigarette butts in the sand are morons.
Being as a devoted picture spammer as I am, I will post at least a pseudo-NOTD:
Surprisingly good picture of Misa's Six Pack Summer. Traffic cone neon!
Finger Paints Gift of Gold - red-based, hence, very warm gold (duh!)
Please excuse my rather yellow tips. No base coat to cover ugly stains.
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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.
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OK. This post actually should have being called something like "The frigging chameleon". Or "The worst photographing polish ever".
For the first day of school (yay! I had helluva fun during the spring break - think tax documents assembling and a school project) I decided to go with something really, really springy. Elizabeth Arden, Michigan Avenue Red.
This name is very deceptive, actually. It's not "red" red. It's a very tricky color - pinkish red or reddish pink (you decide). For some reason, Michigan Ave Red obviously has some self-esteem issues; I do not have any other explanation for its obvious camera hate. I took more than hundred (!) of pictures and none of them has came out exactly right; or even close to right color.
Let's see:
This extra blurry pic happens to represent color somewhat accurately. Mmm... I think it's more pinkish red that reddish pink. What do you think?
Under certain light it does look like a classic red, rather loud one:
Yep, this is the same polish.
What I do not like about this Arden (in addition to its photo issues, of course) - it's a jelly. Semi-opaque color; looks very much like a jam on your morning toast - even thou it's definitely colored, you can still see the toast under the layer of jam.. I do not like to see my nails through polish, even thou I admit the jelly effect can be pretty.
And, at the end, two close-ups. Thus little stubborn dude deserves them.
Thanks to the Cackling Polish Dwarf I love to blame on polish disappearances, this color is discontinued, along with the whole line of Arden polishes. The closest dupe I can think of is OPI Dutch Tulips. It is from the same pinkish-red family. I'm not sure about the photography issues; let me know if you have Dutch Tulips - I'm really curious if it runs in a family.
I also have an incredible spring pedicure - Misa Tender Pink. For obvious reasons I do not post pedi pics, but I will throw in an old mani picture.
I hope y'all having a nice spring!
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I'd say, the truest to life is pointer; second to it would be pinkey.
I believe shadow picture represents the color more accurately, so there:
It's very close to Essie E!; but Misa has way less orange and looks more flattering with my skin tone.
This one - obviously photoshopped to oblivion - gives a vague idea of a brightness.
(yes, I know, this picture is ugly)
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