My humble opinion on Fall collections

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.

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Random: Disposable gloves

I just popped homemade lasagna into an oven. "Homemade" means chopping onion, mincing garlic and grinding carrots.

Ha! No onion smell (hate!) on my hands, no carroty-orange around my precious cuticles.

/kisses gloves good-bye, tosses them into garbage/

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Duochromes, part two of...?

Well, technically, this polish is not even a duochrome. It's a deep burgundy with aqua-teal-blue shimmer; but this shimmer is so strong that one really can call this amazing concoction a duochrome.

One of my favorite polishes - it's definitely on my top 5 - and one of the best Misa's creations ever. Embroidered Emerald, ladies and gentlemen (mostly ladies, I guess).

This nail polish is absolutely flawless: color, consistency, application - everything is perfect.

Enough words, though.


I made this picture to show off an amazing blue undertone of EE. It's visible under very extreme angle only, but the blue is superb; it reminds me about peacock feathers or maybe blue silk - very exotic kind of blue.


This picture has been taken with ridiculously exaggerated flash - this is why polish looks patchy. Flash brings out both teal shimmer and burgundy base.

And this is how Embroidered Emeralds looks like in normal daylight:


I hope that Misa will never, ever discontinue one of the best colors ever created. I'm going to get a back-up bottle, though - better safe than sorry.

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Duochromes, part one of...?

Don't ask me what's my favorite Misa polish; unless you want to hear tiny "bop-bop-bop", accompanying my brain exploding. I do know, thou, what is Misa signature - it's duochromes. Duochrome in a nail world means color-changing polish. One can see two - or more - different colors under different angles, depending on lighting. Change can be rather dramatic (from lilac to green, for instance) or within the same color range (from a pale pink to a dark pink).

Haute Hippie is a part of a great Misa duochrome collection. Not the best example, in my humble opinion. Beige color is very anemic, or should I say boring and non-flattering?
Pink face of this polish is OK...yeh, just OK:
/I'm biased - I hate three-coaters and this one is really, really sheer. 4 coats to achieve the bottle color./

Bojangles, on the other hand, (no pun intended) is one of my summer favorites. Flashing from a very wearable metallic orange to a hot pink. Epitome of a fun summer color.
Wearable, right? And orange is difficult to pull off - for me at least.

And for desert today - beautiful Foxy and Folksy. From a colder lilac to spectacular golden amber. Can you believe this is the same polish?
Bonus: it's a dupe of hard to find OPI Merryberry Mauve. I have them both, and like Misa better. Not that I'm biased...

To be continued.

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Random thought and random swatches

Blueberry Glaze (I would never understand why they decided to discontinue this color.)


I love nail polish because it can hardly fail you. It always fits; it won't make you ass look fat; it won't make you feet hurt. It can tell "I'm shy" or make in your face kind of statement. Any damage is reversible with a help of remover. It's even better than shoes.



Hand Spun Silk

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Tools of the trade, or my must-haves - Part 1

What do I use to keep my hands, cuticles and mani in a good shape?

1. Disposable gloves. All the time. No, I'm not talking about "dirty chores", like dishes or floor scrubbing - it's kinda given. Try using gloves all the time: for dusting, for instance, or strawberry hulling. You are not going to believe the difference.

3 excuses I hear all the time:
1. I cannot do dishes in gloves. It's just uncomfortable!
- Tell it to a surgeon, performing...well - brain surgery. Peeling a potato is a bit less tricky.

2. I feel like a stupid character from a stupid commercial.
- I'd rather look stupid than have bad cuticles.

3. It's expensive.
Bolloks.

All in all - go and get them.

2. Cuticle remover. Weekly.
I use ol' good (and inexpensive) Sally Hansen in a blue bottle. Advertised 15 seconds is definitely not enough; don't be afraid to leave remover on your cuticles for longer. Exercise your common sense, thou - this staff literally dissolves raggedy, dry cuticles and can dissolve a thin (or not so thin) layer of your nails as well. And this would be a warm, friendly welcome to any nail infection - ask me how I know. After a painful lesson I use cuticle remover on polished nails only: polish creates a protective barrier for the nail.

3. Cuticle eraser. 256 times a day.
Cuticle eraser, despite its name, does not erase cuticles, but rather conditiones, moisturaises and gently exfoliates them. There are many available, and you can use whatever brand you prefer.
My favorites:
- Poshe AHA Citicles Care aka Poshe in a yellow tube
- Creative Nail Design Cuticle Eraser. Comes in a big, economy-size tube, but smells like dead lemons and has a tendency to break down to oil and white goo over time.
- Zoya Qtica Cuticle repair Balm. A bit greasy, but works wonderful for winter time or to revive dried, over-acetoned cuticles. Unlike Poshe and CND, does not contain exfoliating AHA.

Apply eraser as often as you can. I keep a huge tube in a car, to smack on my cuticles while in a traffic and near every sink in a house.

Think outside the box. Or, in this case, outside the tube.

I accidently discovered that Kerasal foot ointment works wonders for my cuticles. Better yet, its generic version from RiteAid does the same job for less $$!

My Nail Board buddy Ponchy introduced all nail boarders to the magic of cheap AHA care for the cuticles. Alpha Hydrox Foot & Problem Area cream with 12% AHA is an ideal solution for toes. For $8 plus change I use it on my feet very generously; it's good for fingernails as well. Just don't forget about your sunscreen: AHA makes skin very photosensitive.

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Misa around the Globe blogs

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.

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