An utterly fabulous sale is going on right now (as D has already noted but I want this to be at the top of the page for awhile)! For those on the Overall Beauty mailing list, BB Coutures are Buy 2 Get 1 FREE at OverallBeauty.com! No coupon/promo code required, but this sale expires tonight (11:59PM, August 15th, 2009). Minimum 4 free bottles and free shipping with purchases of $60+! Also, if you purchase 6 bottles, you can choose between a free BB Couture topcoat or basecoat!
For those who snoozed on joining the Overall Beauty mailing list, you have definitely lost out... but not totally, because starting at 12:01AM August 16th, non-mailing list folks can get BB Coutures at Buy 3 Get 1 FREE. Again, no promo/coupon code required, free shipping with purchases of $60+ and a limit of "only" 3 free polishes. The non-mailing list sale ends at 11:59PM August 16th, 2009.
Also, if you mention us, the Publish or Perish blog, in the comments section when you order on the 16th, non-newsletter folks have their maximum free polish limit bumped up to 4!! :D (So if you lost by snoozing, you still get a little extra by following this blog. ;))
Now, the important stuff... swatches of the brand new line of BB Couture for Men polishes!
Thanks to Kim at Overall Beauty, I got to test run these polishes a few days early and they, like, all the other BB Coutures I've tried, are some of the most tractable polishes I've ever used: they go where you want them to go. They don't go elsewhere on the nail. You put your brush down, that's where the polish lands! Amazing! :D
It's a somewhat limited color range: three grey/silver-like colors (though not really, and I'll get more into that in a moment), a dark blue and a dark green. At first, I was disappointed in the fact that it seemed so monochromatic but after swatching them, I'm convinced that it's actually a very beautiful, subtle collection of shimmer and metallic colors.
Here are some swatches on me. I hope that I'll get some swatches of these on my SO up in the coming weeks. :)
BB Couture For Men Grenade
Dark olive grey, chock full of gold shimmer. This one was my pre-emptive favorite: I love green! And it's a gorgeous color, a deeper, richer green than OPI At Your Quebec and Call, and far more glossy, shimmering and multidimensional than Quirius Cresskill Eve. It's a very elegant, dignified shade even if it's not a traditional polish color (or marketed for women). Two coats was enough for pure perfection. But it wasn't my favorite, suprisingly enough! Not even my second favorite.
BB Couture For Men 45 Caliber
Not quite gunmetal grey, as I would imagine a gun-named color would be (or maybe 45 Calibers look like this? I wouldn't know since I don't know anything about guns). Instead, it's a light metallic silver that does retain evidence of brushstrokes (but unlike others, I actually kind of like the look of brushstrokes). I was "eh" on this one, mostly because I'm picky with my silvers. Still, this was opaque in two coats and very easy to apply.
BB Couture For Men Blue Steel
My absolute favorite from the collex. The name suggests a blue sheen to it -- and this photo is misleading because it was taken in early morning light which gives it an orange tinge -- but to me, this was the color of oiled, oxidized steel. It's a metallic black that has a silver sheen and is SO beyond gorgeous. Because it's so glossy and metallic, it catches the other colors that surround it in photos and reflects them. It was so hard for me to get a good pic of this one! I'll do an NOTD of it and try to get more pics of it someday. An incredibly sexy color.
BB Couture For Men Blue Steel with Essie Matte About You topcoat
Unlike ManGlaze The Death Tar, which has a lot of silver shimmer in its black matte, when Blue Steel is mattefied, it still reflects silver but it's not a silver shimmer nor the speckled look that mattefied shimmer polishes have. It looks like brushed black metal (which is something that I enjoy in furniture and, apparently, on nails).
BB Couture for Men Widow Maker
There's something really f'ing creepy about the name of this polish, what it's named after and the sentiment it represents, but this polish is a real beauty. When I saw it first next to 45 Caliber, I was like, "Man, why are there two boring silvers in here?" But when I put them on, it was obvious that they were VERY different. While 45 Caliber was a metallic silver, this is more of a taupe with silver microshimmer. It reminded me a lot of Orly Pixie Dust in its finish and luminance. I find it to be an understated, sophisticated color. Second favorite of the collection, officially nudging Grenade into the number three place. Sorry, Grenade.
BB Couture 45 Caliber on middle and pinky fingers
BB Couture Widow Maker on index and ring fingers
Again, my amateur photo skills diminish what it actually looks like in person but a side-by-side comparison might help people see why I actually think of these as very different polishes. I don't capture the difference in color here too well but the finishes are very distinct.
And last but not least...
BB Couture for Men Military Blues
A deep metallic blue. This was the smoothest polish in this collection, which is saying something. Very minimal brushstroking once the polish settles. It's such a rich, vibrant shade. I'm not at all a fan of metallic blues -- all other blues, yes; metallic blue, no -- but I liked this one a lot. I don't think it's anything incredibly special but it is a color that catches the eye. I should've done a matte tc with this one, too...! Oh well. :)
Obviously, this is a great collection for women but for any men out there who are curious about polish, this is a great way to get into it: the application is very easy (since most guys do have a lot less practice in polish application than many women) and these colors are stunning with very little effort. No glossy topcoat was used for any of these and yet they look highly shined and fine without. They are definitely "masculine" colors but if you need matte to be manly, that's nothing a little Essie Matte About You or Nubar V for Men won't cure!
As a feminist, I'm really overjoyed that it has become more widely acceptable for men to wear nail polish (check out a fabulous new blog by ybpolishboy!), even though people still seem to need to "butch it up" for the guys.
Women are still both professionally and socially penalized for not following typical gender roles... but what's nice is that some women are at least aware of this fact. Men are generally left in the dark, it seems, about the fact that they really aren't "allowed" to do things that women do. For instance, the facetious but insensible observation remains that women can wear pants but men can't wear skirts. Why not? And my facetious but sensible reaction remains: umm... isn't it better for men to wear skirts? True, really tight pants are no longer in style -- thank heavens -- but I imagine a little more freedom of *ahem* movement is not a bad thing for *ahem* the guys.
ANYWAY. Back to the new BB Couture Line. The only other polish line I know that is marketed as "for men" is the ManGlaze pair of matte polishes. That black and grey pair are called The Death Tar and Fuggen Ugly. Butch enough for you?
While the normal BB Couture line has a little paragraph on the bottle about how it's a basecoat, topcoat, nail color, nail strengthener in one, the squat square 0.5fl oz bottles (slightly smaller than the normal 0.6fl oz bottles) state simply:
SPECIALLY FORMULATED
JUST FOR MEN
With added natural strengtheners
Reminds me of a pair of nail clippers that I saw in a Sky Mall catalogue that was advertised as manly titanium nail shears, guaranteed to cut through even the toughest, manliest nail. ...I just keep telling myself that progress is gradual. Though I don't think I'll live to see the day that a pink nail polish will be found in "men's nail polish"...!
Before I wrap up, just a word to the shopping wise (or not, because without sales, I would have a lot more money in my bank account): SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS. If you must, create a separate email account just for newsletters. You will catch so many more sales that way. :D Or you can continue to read this blog, because I'm trying to pass on every sale that comes my way.
(Reminds me, AveYou, a good source for SpaRitual polishes, is also having a 10% entire purchase sale with the code AYPSS10. Expires August 22nd, 2009.)
