Nail Polish – Page 7 – Sometimes Yaya

Nina Garcia at Sephora

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=myowju-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=0061834017Combining a lot of favorites, this past week I got to meet Nina Garcia from Marie Claire. She was signing copies of her new book, The Style Strategy: A Less-Is-More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart, and in the meantime, the first 100 (I was #5… clearly I was serious!) got $10 off their purchase and a copy of Marie Claire!

Didn’t hear about the event? I almost missed it myself had I not read my Google Reader updates in time. Check out the Sephora blog daily so that you don’t miss the special events either! (Case in point? Tomorrow, 11/12, all VIB’s will be able to partake in the exclusive shopping event to get some goodies for themselves & possibly friends at a discount.)

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=myowju-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=0061664618When I first walked into Sephora, I was told that I was the second to come in. I must’ve been misplaced, because when they gave out wristbands mine said #5. No matter though. I just wanted to be in the 100 (which is coincidentally Nina Garcia‘s other book title: The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own). In the time spent wandering, I found plenty items to give out as presents (but did not buy yet) and fell in love with two new polishes from Sephora by OPI. Perhaps you read my Twitter feed and saw me raving? The fab colors are Absinthe Makes the Heart, and Worth My Weight. Both the titles are a little off from what I’m used to, but are adequate in that you can imagine what the color is without seeing the bottle. (Green & Gold) Yes?

Guess who!

My favorite Toledo illustration in the book!

There are few polishes that make me grab my phone after testing and compel me to let everyone know that I found a zinger. No, really. I walked around with my nails in alternating colors just marveling at the upcoming holiday appropriate glitter on my nails. And when I came home? Wore each polish for a day. (All images are maximize-friendly)

…gifts for moi?! 🙂

If you’re better at keeping money in your pocket than in someone else’s register, they’re great as stocking stuffers or mini gifts as well, with their present ready gift tags.

Disregard any indents on the nails. I was way too happy to photograph and caused many a dent before the polish dried. Oh and the short nails? I need to get my calcium appetite up because my nails have gone to the wayside…

Went nuts with the China Glaze Matte Magic top coat as always.

Just as fab with matte coat.

I preferred this one shiny, but the first two fingers from the left are with matte coat in case you can’t see the difference.

What do you think? Like ’em? Have any new favorites?

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Diamond Cosmetics

As a follow up to my Diamond Cosmetic adventures, I bring you a select few mattes from their collection, and more. From my introductory post here where I used the brand’s polish for the first time, I have fallen head over heels.

It wasn’t just enough for me to borrow the polish from a friend (xo Britt), I had to go to the darn site and purchase a few polishes (quit with the side eye y’all! They’re only $2 each!!).

I will be updating you with what I got once I get the package (I purchased some of the cosmetics to test out as well), but I have some polishes to hold you off until then.

2 coats application

left with top coat, right with China Glaze Matte Magic Topcoat

Matte Black

This is a fab color. Without a matte or a shine top coat it is the most wearable black polish that I have come across, in that it isn’t too shiny, but it’s not completely matte yet either. As a matte it’s a bit more satin-y than how it is with the matte top coat as you can see above, but that just adds variety. I am a fan of these types of colors because then you get three for the price of one. You get cream, satin-y (lol), and matte with the help of top coats (but top coats help all polishes). The application is smooth and consistent, and nothing to complain about.

left 2 coats, right with China Glaze Matte Magic Topcoat
Matte Burgundy
I didn’t do a photo with a top coat this time, but I did try the matte coat. Unlike matte black, this is a little more matte when dry, but still more of a satin finish. The color looks like a chocolate/raspberry wine (can you tell when I post while hungry?). These polishes are great with coverage and only require two coats.

2 coats left flash, right no flash

With top coat, left flash, right no flash

With China Glaze Magic Matte top coat, left flash, right no flash

Matte Mulberry
This again, was a color that was hard to capture on camera. What did I say? Anything that includes a hint of pink becomes a photography rebel. The color is a bit in the middle of the flash and no flash. This was similar to the matte black, in that it was more of a satin finish at first.

Left flash, right no flash
Plum Pie in the Sky
My all time favorite of the bunch. This is the perfect plum color that I have been needing in my life. This is not a matte, and I didn’t try it as one either, but come on! How gorj!

Tried these yet? Want to?

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ORLY nails

Continuing my nail craze, I have grouped together some polishes with the same company. The ones today are from ORLY. These creams are always kind to your nails and define the word cream. A lot of the time they need a bit of extra maintenance, as they require more coats than usual, but all is forgiven. These polishes are perfect for summer and lighthearted manis, and the darker colors get heavier in consistency as if they know that you’ll be wearing them when the weather drops and will be less patient with coats.

ORLY Enchanted Forest
This is a green shade I am falling madly in love with. It’s like a mudy emerald green and applies like a dream. The color seems to be the type that is the perfect equation for happily ever after with anyone’s nails, and I’m glad this time they were mine. On the right is a matte version (using China Glaze Matte Magic top coat).

ORLY Sol Cabana
A very cute cream sorbet-ish orange. The color itself looks delicate and soft right? Though it has a bit of a sheer coverage issue, I think it works just right. Maybe even with a white puffy jacket in the middle of the slopes?

ORLY OMG
This peachy pink is of course hard to photograph. All the pinks in my life refuse to be photographed. Rowdy ladies. The actual color of OMG is somewhere between the left (no flash) and the right (with flash). Barely lets your nail shine through and conveys the super sweet with a side of sexy. (Hope that makes sense)

I tried to Konad it up with the black Konad polish, and Color Club in Revvolution for the paint splat (don’t like how it came out).

It was hard as rocks to get the lace like pattern apply evenly on the nail. I’m still undecided if I approve. Like it?

What colors do you have on your digits? What colors should I wear next?

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Zoya NOTDs

Watch out now as I get ultra colorful to keep the rainy day gloom away. Actually, I’m a big fan of the rain. I find it to be quite calming, and just awesome. But the rest of y’all that like to scream about the sky falling each time raindrops fall? Pansies!

Here are some Zoya NOTDs to keep up with my nail-a-day challenge. I cheated a little for a couple of days by wearing the same polish for two days, but I’m back on the straight and narrow, I promise!

Paz

Ali

Ali and Paz were both weirdly a difficult time to photograph. The pictures kept coming out more “radioactive” than the color was in real life. The colors are both very bright, but in a yummy way. I couldn’t get enough of Ali.

Malia

Rea

Want a Zoya to yourself? You can get them at $7 a bottle here.

I adored all these colors. All the photos on the left are with flash, and on the right without. Every single cream applied like a dream and the colors were all equally unique and vibrant. Seriously? I can’t get enough of my Zoya fix.

Which was your fave? Know a color I MUST try?

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China Glaze Coverups – NOTD Adventures

Are y’all tired of my ClumpsofMascara shouts outs yet? That’s my Bloggin’ Beaut sister from another state. I’ve always said if she and I shared a living space we’d have to start doing makeovers on the street, and some other stuff, because no actual work would get accomplished.

But there is a bright side to friendship, always. This one? We always tend to tip each other off in the newest and coolest, brightest and funnest products and brands. And when one is too broke to indulge, we share our resources – kind of like being green, eh?

Evidence: Diamond Cosmetics famous for their $2 polishes with alarmingly addictive colors. I stole some from my trip to Florida (I have sticky polish fingers future hosts!). When I returned from Florida, I had some fab China Glaze finish polishes that threatened to just make my excitement bubble burst.

Speaking of being green, check out the initial look of Diamond Cosmetics nail polish in Never So Ever-Green on my digits:

such a pretty green, but so hard to capture on camera!

Then I checked it out in matte (courtesy of China Glaze Magic Matte from Head2ToeBeauty

index finger in left picture left with original color for comparison
And then of course, I had to top it off with China Glaze Wireless Holographic Top Coat (again from Head2ToeBeauty) – which of course looked cool.

I happen to find all holos amusing… and you?
But then, I needed to check what the Holo would look like in matte (so I used China Glaze Magic Matte from Head2ToeBeauty again.

halfway through:

I was lovin’ every stinkin step. You? How’d it have you feeling? Which finish(es) are your fave?

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Artist Summit Miami – Inglot/NOTD

I missed the chance to give you the scoop about Inglot coming to NYC a while back (summer to be precise). Around the time of the first Bloggin’ Beauts get together, the makeup brand with hues in the 100s under their belt opened their US flagship store in the Times Square neighborhood of my beloved Big Apple. (The store @ 1592 Broadway (between 47th and 48th Street) open 11 a.m. – 12 a.m.!!)

When I started planning my Florida trip for the Artist Summit in Miami, no one could have been any more excited than I when I heard that Inglot was making an appearance.

A Polish brand, slowly making their mark all across the continents, they have been present in the world as a brand for a quarter of a decade and counting. They are creators to over 390 shades for your eyes, and over 200 for your pretty nails. Soon, they’ll probably have just as many stores for each color.

About Inglot Cosmetics:

“INGLOT Cosmetics was established over 20 years ago by Wojtek Inglot, a young chemist at the time working in Research & Development for a pharmaceutical company. INGLOT Cosmetics was founded on the principles of combining the most advanced technology and highest quality materials to produce the world’s most unique beauty products. The company’s point of difference is the freedom and flexibility for individuals to mix and match their own color line from the huge collection of colors. At present, INGLOT has one of the most extensive color ranges of cosmetic collections in the world and works with the best makeup artists to bring the latest trends in colors, textures and form of cosmetics to the market. With several new significant projects being fine tuned in the labs at the moment, coming months will see the introduction of a number of new and innovative products. All INGLOT Cosmetics are produced in the European Union and over 95% of them in INGLOT’s own state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.“

Their Canadian website has some info about stores but not products. Their Malta site has some galleries, and the Australian site is under construction… but alas, none with e-commerce. And the one we’ve all been waiting for? The US store is in the works, but plenty beauty bloggers and product junkies alike have been promised progress, and quick!

Until then, enjoy the images I got for ya, and my two NOTD’s for my nail-a-day challenge from their polish (with more on the way). Photos on the left are without flash, photos on right are with flash.

single eyeshadow pans (the refillable choices for palettes is the main pic)

lip gloss pots and trio color cubes

mineral shadows

Inglot Cosmetics Matte Nail Polish in 709

Inglot Cosmetics Matte Nail Polish in 722

These polishes are called matte but I would call them semi-matte, as they are flatter than a cream, but more satin-y than a normal matte.

I thought the polish looked like a yellow peanut M&M candy, so I had to buy a pack to compare. It was a little bit lighter, but way too fun… & yummy! 🙂

Heard about Inglot yet? Like it?

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NOTD mashup

As you read this, I will be attempting to be a snazzy paintball shooter. I have never tried, but I envision myself to go in and knock everyone out like a sniper. I might just come back sad and bruised, but as I continue my Nail-a-Day challenge, and try to catch up with the days I owe ya, I’ll keep the digits soft, unscathed, and unbruised.

Want to take part of this challenge? Everyone is welcome – even if you extend your -a-day part with a week or a-every other day! 🙂

Send me your mani pics, and I’ll feature them as part of the challenge. I’m sure by end of each month, I can scrounge up some fancy polishes as a reward for the most original submission(s)! 🙂

Read on to see all the colors that I sported, and let me know which is your fave. For reference, whenever there are two pictures, the one on the left is without flash, and the one on the right is with.

Victoria’s Secret, Beauty Rush in Velvetini
This one is a bit difficult to apply, but I will do a separate review of this line a bit later. The color is very pretty in the bottle and with flash, but extremely hard to capture with either regular camera, or with the naked eye after more than one coat (which is necessary).

Shades by Barielle, in Grape Escape
This one was totally stolen from my fellow Bloggin’ Beaut, Britt from ClumpsofMascara. I knew that this bad boy had to travel to the Big Apple ever since she posted about it, but now I’m not sure if I’ll send it back to the orange state. (Okay I will, relax!). The color is an amazing vibrant purple and is not like any other I have seen.

Shades by Barielle, in Sweet Addiction
Such a pleasant green, that I’m ssssweetly addicted. :)~ Yet another win win from Shades by Barielle. I’m not sure what had my nail lumpy in the picture without flash, but it seemed to have gone away with flash. The green though? Super minty and melon-y. Just enough bright to be reminiscent of warmer weather, but appropriate still to be fashionably forward in the office.

And now this… is just a tease of polishes to come. My other Bloggin’ compadre, over from VampyVarnish posted about these polishes not found in the US, and I was so enamored that I scampered over to eBay to get them right away. I used my Ebates account when doing so, so I already got money back for my purchase, but the polishes are reward enough themselves!

Which one is your favorite? Any requests?

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Nail Challenge – Continued

Last time I posted a new mani, I was shouting all loud and such about my nail challenge. How I wanted to utilize my extensive collection and somehow make my money well spent after all these years and unnecessary purchases. And then it got really quiet. Well I wasn’t slacking my dear readers. I was merely collecting them because I had a fear that y’all would cuss me out real tender for posting a NOTD every day in addition to regular posts.

I took to a lot of new purchases to showcase this week. My nails have also started revolting, so you will notice that the sizing is a bit different in some. This is either because the hands posing are different sides, or that I lost the war of the growing fingernail at the moment.

A post will be coming up soon about nail care and how to extend the life and length of such, but until then, enjoy the colors!

MAC Dry Martini

flash on left, no flash on right

Sally Hansen Brisk Blue

Shades by Barielle Nailtini

and right as the weekend started to beckon, the nails began to revolt:

LA Girls unnamed mint green and bright as lights orange

excuse the blurry thumb, I don’t know how that happened, lol

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NOTD Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Keeping up with the nail challenge y’all. For day two I’ve got a drugstore friendly polish. I got this one at a BOGO deal at CVS, and frankly, there is always a deal on these babies. Good, too – because they’re grrrreat!

You can probably see from the pictures that the polish I’m raving about is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. These buggers have a different shape for the bottles than any I’ve seen before (but totally great for swatch shots for the blog!). The brush is also a little wide and flat, a characteristic not too many people are happy with, but honestly that is among my favorites. The brush usually lets me finish one nail in a single swipe, rarely needing a second.

I usually snatch up the clear polish bottles in Insta-Dri for on the go applications. I carry them in nearly every bag, because I like to have at least clear polish on my nails if there is no color. Between how fast they dry and the size of the brush, clear application is done in under a single subway stop (y’all know I’m always doing my nails on the train in NYC!).

This color, Teal Takeoff is a new addition to the line for Fall 2009. I love that roughly 90% of the Insta-Dri collection is so thick that one coat can be enough to complete your mani. That also means they are great for using with Konad!

left: flash, right: no flash

pretty true to color too

Like the color? The challenge? Let me know!

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NARS is 15 & Nail-a-day Challenge

NARS, a brand that needs minimal introduction or background, no? Well they’re getting close to their sweet 16 by hitting their 15 this year.

To celebrate, Francisco Nars is publishing a book with a collection of photographs & makeup, covering his friends/muses (and aren’t they sometimes the same?). The book 15×15 is due out mid November, and will only be available for 30 days.

Check out the countdown on the website here: www.15x15project.com

WWD.com has some great tidbits about the book (featuring everyone from Marc Jacobs, to Amber Valletta). The images are most interesting because of the way that the concepts tie in together. Nars did the makeup on each subject and showed the inspirational photograph as well.

Yet one more reason to show ya makeup isn’t just a pressed powder/color you put on your face!

Read on to check out my Nail-a-day Challenge.

As you may have heard me rambling on and on about polish purchases gone mad, you can assume that I have plenty a polish to show you. I had suggestions about doing a NOTD week, and other similar series, but I also wanted something that would get the most bang for the buck.

I hate buying a polish, wearing it once, and then never using it again. So my pre-New Year’s resolution is to wear a polish a day. I already do this because I get chip happy on the ride home from work most days, but this time I’ll be sharing all of it with you.

If you want to join the challenge with me, let me know and I will post your images up along with mine!

Be ready for heavy weekend nail polish posts, or seven NOTDs for the week. As I go through the swatches, I will take suggestions for my next mani(s).

Additionally, I am thinking, in the efforts of being green, I will give away a couple of bottles come the end of the year (oh yes this challenge is until 12/31!!) that have been swatched once.

To kick off the challenge, we have a much appropriate NARS in Tokaïdo Express (check out the rest of the NARS colors here:

The color is described on the website as “Black amethyst infused with gold.” It is pretty hard to capture the shimmer of the polish. The above two pictures are with no flash.