Polish or Perish: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

Matte comparison on a creme: Orly Matte Top, Nubar V for Men and Essie Matte About You

Today's NOTD is Orly's Charged Up:I used to dislike Orly nail polishes -- they were all kinda boring -- but they've come out with so many great shades lately! This creme applied beautifully with a jellyish finish. Very glossy pre-topcoat! And now, a matte topcoat comparison on this lovely creme jelly (I got bored of my NOTD by midday)! I...

Soo Nails' Gold and Blue Foil and Post-Bar Haul

(FYI - the 3rd polish from the left is wayyyyy more purple in person.)Soo Nails' is a completely random brand of polish. It's distributed by some people in Brooklyn and I have never seen it anywhere except my very local (around the corner!) beauty supply shop. There is no mention of it on the internet. I'm sure, like most other local polishes,...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

NOTM(orning) and NOTA(fternoon): Color Club Tru Passion + Misa Dance Fever

Once upon a time, I thought I might study visual cognition. It was easier to collect data. Sit people in front of a computer, have them click buttons when they see a circle (or whatever) and let the computer collect the data for me. Then I thought, "No, my real passion is in psycholinguistics."Boy, am I an idiot.This type of research is painstaking....

Yesterday's NOTD: Shiseido PN 66 over Chelsea Heavenly Signs

A picture may be worth a thousand words (as demonstrated by all the nail polish blogs out there), but a video can be worth a thousand pictures... if they would upload with no loss of quality! I had the most gorgeous, glittery NOTD yesterday and as usual, I tried taking pictures to capture its glittery gorgeousness but every photo fell short....

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

CG's FYI

O hai!(Please to excuse my rough mani! Explanation below.)I'm D (Pifflove on MUA). I'm pretty new to polish (I started collecting only about a year ago) but I am pumped about being a part of this lovely blog!What types of posts can you expect from me? 3 things: Application issues -- Other than great pics, my favorite part of other nail blogs...

My first BB Coutures! (and a couple of others)

Yesterday, I wrote what was probably one of the longest emails in the existence of mankind. Which isn't too impressive because email hasn't been around so long (in terms of the existence of mankind). Like I've mentioned before, the research project I was an RA on back in 2004 is finally being written up for publication in a peer-reviewed...

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

BB Couture Green Goblin

I think some of my fellow feminists look at me as a hypocrite for loving something such as nail polish. To love something that seems to inherently and negatively reinforce feminine stereotypes (such as that all women do and should wear makeup) does seem hypocritical, in a way. I hate that a common stereotype with nail polish is often the...

feeling hot hot hot

Wow it's been a blazing few days here!! So incredibly humid and hot! That means lots of sun and lots of BEACH!I have a few past NOTD. First two are purple! I was feeling in the purple mood, I think my longer nails looks best with purple nail polish on. I could wear purple any day, any occasion, any length honestly. I think its my fav nail...

Hmm, what can you do with 6 stashes?

I'd like to bring to our readers' (you know, all... three of them at this early stage!) attention that between the six of us, we have over 1400 polishes. (How many Helmers is that?!) Some stashes are bigger than others but this much is true: we got a lotta lacquer. Granted, I'm sure we share some polishes but it seems that we have a pretty wide range of tastes and I suspect there's not that much overlap. So see that little comment...

Skin Food NOTDs!

I want all of the polishes from this brand! Too bad it's mostly only found in East Asia. I recently got a few off of eBay from a South Korean seller and gotta say, money well spent (in terms of nail polish anyway)! They are of fabulous quality, in gorgeous colors and the brushes are perfect for my nails. One brush stroke covers most of my...

Monday, July 27, 2009

A Proper Introduction and Something Completely Different

This is my second time posting, but I never properly introduced myself. My name is Grace and I finished my undergraduate degree with a double major in Biochemistry and Genetics in May 2009 and I'm starting graduate school in the fall to study molecular microbiology and/or genetics in hopes of earning a PhD at some point in the future. Like...

Adding a SIXTH blogger to the P or P gang!

I'm happy to announce the addition of our sixth blogger, D:). I'm still not sure how I'm going to pronounce that if I say it aloud. D-smile? D-grin? DCCP (colon, closed parenthesis)? Gal with Furrowed Brow? Anyway... she should be making her debut post later this week. I can't wait!Also, Hello! to those who have found their way to Polish...

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Quick and dirty swatch: L'Oreal Star Magnet Purple

Today has been a big growth day for Publish or Perish! We've added our FIFTH blogger, Jess, who has already introduced herself. Five geeky lacquer loonies who aspire -- at least, in the short term -- to the Ivory Tower. Five students posting about nail polish while procrastinating from their academic pursuits. If that doesn't guarantee a...

Intro to Jess

Hello! My name is Jess (daydream222@MUA) and I am so excited to be part of this blog. I graduated from undergrad in 2008 and proceeded to take a year and a half off between undergrad and grad school. Now I am going back to school beginning in August for my Masters in Women's and Gender Studies. Yes, I am a feminist. No, I am not a stereotypical...

Saturday, July 25, 2009

A KOTD for Evil Angel, our first blog follower!

A funky french KOTD for the first person who listed us on their own np blog! The image plate used was also from a swap with her. Skin Food RE106 Black Cherry with White Konad Special Polish (using Hot Topic "fauxnad" plate) and orange Nail Star nail art p...

Friday, July 24, 2009

Barry M, love 'em, hate 'em -- I do both.

Over July 4th weekend, I was very excited to see that Barry M, a UK brand, was doing free shipping to the US and a 20% off deal. The polishes are affordable and look spectacularly pigmented. And free shipping is always my cup o' tea. Because there was a minimum purchase to get the 20% off, I ordered a bunch of polishes for another NB'er/np...

Half moon

Hello! I'm Adrienne (al0221 on MUA). I'm very excited to be apart of a blog that loves nail polish as much as me and is involved in the world of academia. I just graduated from undergrad and just trying to pull it together to figure out what I want to be when i grow up.With all this free time, I've been trying to do some half moon manis....

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

NOTD Lancome Midnight Glam

Would've never bought a Lancome polish for myself (except for Le Magnetique) but I got it in a mystery polish swap and remembered why I LOVE mystery polish swaps: it forces me to try brands I might not consider otherwise! It looks lovely in the bottle (very dark blue with bright silver and blue shimmer) but when I started applying it, it...

Nubar Going Green!

I was wanting to introduce myself with a polish that reflected my love of all sciences, but sadly there was little sunshine today and some much needed rain is finally coming to central Texas! Don't worry, I have some wonderful previous nail of the day shots to share from the amazing Nubar Going Green collection (flinty had previously posted...

The "perish" in "polish or perish"

Explaining a joke or a pun is never funny. So, excuse my unfunniness: The title of this blog, Polish or Perish, should be an obvious reference for those familiar with the academic industry. "Publish or Perish" refers to an aspiring professor's need to publish articles, chapters or books in order to get a job. The smart, go-getter graduate student needs to have her eyes on the prize, the prize being authorship credit on as many...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

NOTD: Massini Slamming Red

I am so grateful to the MUA swapper who threw this into a recent mystery swap package. It looks beyond amazing in the bottle: shining, shimmering, splendid holo EVERYWHERE, suspended in a sea of rich fuchsia glitter. I loved it when I saw it. Now, not so much. This is one of the hardest polishes I've ever tried to apply. I almost don't want...

Polish or Perish