Monday, October 19, 2009

Dashing Diva swatches

Ooh, and now some older swatches for you. These were done at the end of September, I think?

Acquiring these polishes was a bit of a saga. When I went to NYC way back in August, I dropped by their 8th Street salon and picked out eight polishes, only to be told that they were out of stock. They took down my information, the names of the polishes and said they would get back to me. (Idiotically enough, I didn't write down the names of the polishes myself. If I did, I could have ordered them from the website. Except that the store offers 3 for $20 and the website does not.) A week later, I still hadn't heard from them so I emailed the company, asking to see if anyone had ever even checked to see whether any of these polishes were in stock. A couple of days go by, I resign myself to not spending money on these polishes, but then I get an email from the company saying that they called the 8th Street salon and that they would get back to me "immediately". Apparently, the definition of "immediately" was another few days. Anyway, two of the polishes were discontinued but the rest were available and they sent them to me (arriving about a week after that).

So... three weeks for these polishes. Eh. Not so much worth the wait.

Dashing Diva Golden Opportunity
The color is typical, the finish isn't. It consists of very dense, buildable flakies: the above photo shows four coats. Reminds me of gold leaf. Smooth surface but textured. It's a pretty fantastic layering polish because of the texture.

Close-up of Golden Opportunity
(four coats)

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Fondue with Dashing Diva Golden Opportunity on top
Two coats of Golden Opportunity on top of the deep chocolate brown OCC Fondue polish. I love the speckled look. Kinda antique-y.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Fondue with Dashing Diva Golden Opportunity on top (two coats)

Dashing Diva Silver Lining
Silver Lining is the same idea as Golden Opportunity but more sheer and less buildable. Three coats is pictured above. I really love how delicate this polish looks. Likewise, it's great for layering. The only thing that really annoyed me about these polishes was that little fine flakies sometimes end up hanging off the free edge of the nail.

Dashing Diva Silver Lining
(three coats)
Reminds me so much of frost on the windows on winter mornings on the East Coast. I really miss home.

LA Colors Blue Velvet with Dashing Diva Silver Lining on top

LA Colors Blue Velvet with Dashing Diva Silver Lining on top
(two coats)


Dashing Diva Mulberry Street
Reddened purple shimmer, almost metallic. Very bright color. Not especially special, but striking. It's hard not for me to call this "Mulberry jie" (jie being "street" in Mandarin). Growing up, I rarely ever heard anyone who wasn't Chinese talk about going to "Mulberry Street", so it was always "Mulberry jie".

Dashing Diva Box Seats

Bright neon blue, shimmer that's nearly a metallic. Blindingly bright. Love it completely. Three coats, super smooth application.