Old swatch: Borghese Almondine

I generally avoid the Borghese displays at drugstores because I think they are overpriced for a drugstore polish. True, one of my favorite golds, Trevi Gold, is Borghese but still... $8? Eh. Not so much. But when I saw tons of pictures of Almondine surface, I broke down and spent that $8.

Borghese Almondine

I think this is such an interesting polish! It's an opaque nude creme with brown speckles and secret pink shimmer. (That sounds so weird.) The brown speckles in it makes me think of Haagen Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream. With the pink shimmer, it really makes an otherwise boring color look quite nice. This was three coats and pretty easy to apply. I don't think I'm going to run out and buy more Borghese nail polish but I'm very glad I picked this one up.

Close-up of Almondine

See the pink shimmer? And the brown speckles? :)

I'm meeting Piff today! :D What do people think of pictures of Minx pedis? I know some people are super squeamish about feet.

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We are building a religion...

...a limited edition!

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams to be exact. This was a limited edition polish from the Winter 2008 Black Tie Collection. I just acquired this beauty and I just have to rave! It is a gorgeous polish with a dark charcoal base that shimmers a vibrant emerald green or sometimes when you least expect it, a deep eggplant. I thought the best way to describe this polish was like black pearls - it has the same iridescent qualities that change in the light.

I tried my best to capture her different personalities:

Can you see the hint of aubergine shimmer?

The green shimmer is more vibrant in real life!

The one problem with this polish - application! It's a shame because I think the formula is actually pretty decent - this was two coats of highly pigmented glory. The brush is just so cumbersome that it makes applying it feel like you're trying to land a 747 on a postage stamp. The bottle looks much like Chanel bottles - it has a large square cap. (See pic below!) However, while with Chanel you can slide off the square cap to reveal a much more dextrous, more petite brush handle, this square cap is attached to the brush - ugh! But to me, this polish was worth the trouble. Its gorgeous. Elegant, but somehow very intriguing...

And now I wouldn't feel right showing you a limited edition polish without suggesting an obtainable alternative! Although I don't own it to swatch it - from the pictures I've seen/people I've talked to, Borghese Stellare Notte seems to replicate this fairly well. They are both deep charcoal bases with green and purple shimmer. From the looks of it the difference is that the purple is more prominent in the Borghese whereas the green is more prominent in Caviar Dreams.

Do any of you have Borghese Stellare Notte? What do you think?

On another note - I got a digital camera!! Yes, all of my photos have been from my phone. My awesome phone with auto-adjusting macro, but still a phone. I still haven't figured out my new camera so bear with me, but I hope to give you better pics in the future!

kittytokaren

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Sally Hansen's Opulent Cloud and Borghese's Ecstasi Indigo

As I mentioned I had a great mini-haul on Friday.



Actually - I had a great day on Friday in general. In the morning I caught the ferry to Governor's Island and went biking around the island for 3 hours.

(Notice the Statue of Liberty! I hadn't seen it since I moved to NY.)

Then, on my way home, I stopped by a Duane Reade where a lovely MUA-er had tipped the NB off regarding where we could find Opulent Cloud. I got there and there was one left. OH YES.


(pinky 1 coat; 2 coats everything else)

Sally Hansen HD Opulent Cloud is a wacky duochrome. The base is a light purple that is packed w/ a shimmer that can flash gold, silver, and a lime-y green.

The other blogger photos of this stuff are amazing, so I suggest you go there b/c I don't have the patience to do this polish justice.

I've seen some amazing swatches where it looked like a crazy silver/gray gone wild. That's not what I have experienced w/ this polish. It looks purple to me in the bottle and mostly purple on my nail.

The application is good, very smooth, needing only 2 coats and drying well. But this polish is brush-stroke city.


(Ectasi Indigo - pinky 1 coat, all else 2 coats)

Sitting right next to the HD display was a possibly new collection from Borghese. I didn't pay much attention to the little display in general b/c I zoned in on this dark purple and couldn't look away.

I had been fooled by Inglot, but there was no doubt in my mind. THIS was a dark creme purple. OH YES 2.0

I didn't own a single Borghese, so I couldn't justify the $8 retail price w/ claims that I love the quality of this brand. However, I could justify the price w/ claims that I am getting this purple and I don't care what my wallet has to say.

I'm really happy w/ this polish! I love the brush. Flat and wide but nicely rounded. I did 2 thin coats - most of you will want 3 (or 2 thicker coats), BUT the bright light made the application seem a lot less opaque than it looked in person.

It also dried so fast! I could touch it w/out fingerprints w/in a few minutes.

My only wish is that it had a BIT more red.

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