Monday, October 31, 2011

China Glaze Agent Lavender



(2 coats - first photo is much more color accurate)

So I figure everyone's posting Halloween manis. How 'bout a palate cleanser? Like a plate of crudité on a buffet table full of pastry and fried snacks, you're surprised at how much you're happy to see it.

A bit chalky but applied fairly smoothly and was good in 2.
read more "China Glaze Agent Lavender"

Friday, October 28, 2011

Brown for Fall - Essie Little Brown Dress

A very pretty and shiny classic dark chocolate lacquer...but I'm not sure chocolate brown polish is really my thing.

Essie Little Brown Dress:


What do you think? I think something a little murkier like OPI Get in the Express-o Lane might be more up my alley.

kittytokaren
read more "Brown for Fall - Essie Little Brown Dress"

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Nfu Oh 570



(3 coats)

This is a streaky mother. I wish it applied like 119. But I like the color very much. It's quite a bit greener on the nail than in the bottle.
read more "Nfu Oh 570"

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Vamps for October: Illamasqua Viridian


Okay, so probably not technically vampy, but a) it's dark, b) I was really sick of burgundy and navy and c) I love it! Viridian is one of my favourite polishes. It's amazing in two coats but can be applied in one, it's hardwearing, shiny, and a stunning colour. I feel badass when I wear this polish.



I think Temptalia described this as a dark teal, and that's probably not far off the mark. Except that overall hue is comprised of a subtle blue/green/black duochrome (trichrome?) shift that brings different facets of the polish out in different light. This looks amazing under flash (although I forgot to bring my flashgun when I took the shots. Oops). I really love this polish, it's in my desert island top ten and is one of the first shades I bought that got me really raving about Illamasqua.


read more "Vamps for October: Illamasqua Viridian"

Monday, October 24, 2011

A couple of Owls!

I have a bit of a bird phobia, but these are two owls I can appreciate!


Orly Nite Owl (pointer and middle finger) is a lovely taupe with shimmer - quite similar to Essie Mochachino, but more flattering on me as it seems a little warmer on the nail. Definitely one of those polishes that is appropriate in most situations, but isn't a complete snoozefest. I love having polishes like this in my collection!

L'Oreal Owl's Night (ring and pinky finger) is truly gorgeous . It contains the most beautiful gold shimmer - that is very apparent on the nail - in an olive-y green-brown-grey-something base. It's unique, murky, mysterious, but the gold shimmer is so fantastically vibrant! A winner.

That's all for today - short and sweet! I hope all of you lovely PoP readers are doing well!

kittytokaren
read more "A couple of Owls!"

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Nfu Oh 119

Over my several month purge effort, I've gotten rid of well over half of my Nfu Ohs. I either had dupes, the formula was deplorable, or I wasn't feeling the color enough to see myself ever wearing it again.

This one was the first in the keep pile. I love an almost black. This is a particularly good one because the base color (which you see in the first coat) is a vibrant cobalt blue. It gives the mani a glow even though the ultimate color is very dark.



(3 coats)

This is three coats but I actually wore it as just two (I sloppily applied a third coat because there was two days wear and I didn't feel like showing off my tip wear). It dried very well (unlike the majority of my Nfu Ohs).
read more "Nfu Oh 119"

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Vamps for October: Essie Lacy not Racy


I think Kitty2Karen's getting to me. I am becoming an Essie convert.



I've had this and Rock the Croc in my storage for a year or so, and have reached for the latter as a pedi a few times. (Love it!). But I think this might be taking over in the preference stakes, it's gorgeous. Super dark red, that doesn't lean burgundy. It's like a bloody good Shiraz.


Aside from the fact that it's seriously hot, the application was amazing. Three coats, and the Essie brush is so little and perfect that I was able to get away with hardly any clean up. It's so shiny, even before seche vite (but with the magic top coat, I went from bare nails to dry mani in less than half an hour). I still had it on to teach my classes a full week later with barely any tip wear. It's fantastic.



So, as a new Essie fangirl, what else must I have? I just cheated on my no-buy (which has been going really well, thanks to the fact that I'm broke anyway) by ordering Geranium.
read more "Vamps for October: Essie Lacy not Racy"

Thursday, October 20, 2011

So Fall... OPI Warm & Fozzie

Fall is my favourite season - I love burying my nose in a big fluffy scarf, finally getting to wear my plum lipsticks, how the air can smell crisp and like burning firewood at the same time...even the seasonal coffee flavours...but most of all - the fashion. And that includes polish, of course! OPI Warm & Fozzie is the epitome of fall, and honestly, it has become my new favourite. It's like the wintery sister of my all-time-fav - OPI DS Glow! It's somehow sultrier - more dark and bronze, but has the same kind of vibrance that DS Glow has with flashes of warm gold and twinkles of red. Absolutely gorgeous. Pics can't describe it...




I got so many compliments on this polish - even from polish n00bs. I'm even considering purchasing a back-up! Warm & Fozzie was initially going to be my only purchase from the Muppets collection, but because it's so fabulous I picked up Designer...de Better as well - hopefully it will be another special metallic/foil/amazingjdfla;dsjf for me to fall in love with!

What polish reminds you most of fall?

kittytokaren
read more "So Fall... OPI Warm & Fozzie"

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

China Glaze Ruby Pumps



(3 coats)

I needed three coats to get it totally even, which meant the mani didn't dry as quickly as I was used to (hence the dents).

I always said this one didn't look good on my complexion. I could use a darker, warmer red, but frankly it doesn't look bad at all. Glad I finally wore this as a mani.
read more "China Glaze Ruby Pumps"

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Vamps for October: China Glaze Meteor Shower glitter

I wanted this polish for the longest time. Glitter, navy blue jelly, and holo goodness was just far too much for me to resist.


But I kind of wish I had. It went on nicely with two coats, but it is SO bumpy. Ridiculously bumpy, even after two coats of seche vite. The holo doesn't come through enough to make it worth the effort, either.




Pretty, but I really wasn't sorry to remove it!

Edit - thanks to the readers who spotted my, er, deliberate error in getting the wrong name!
read more "Vamps for October: China Glaze Meteor Shower glitter"

Sunday, October 16, 2011

OPI Black Onyx and another watch...

I really do have a watch problem. But this one wasn't spendy. I got this in the summer on mega clearance at Macy's (plus another 20% off coupon! POW!). It looked like it was something that someone had returned, as it wasn't a model they were currently selling, and the price tag was just a jankity receipt stapled around the band. I inspected it fully and there were no scratches, so it seemed new. And I love it. And it looks great with a black mani.


OPI Black Onyx is my current favourite black creme. It's darker and inkier than Essie Licorice, and covers more easily. I think all black can look really elegant and classic, especially on shorter nails! Plus I can finally say "yes" when one of my someone invariably asks "is that black nail polish?". I get asked this every time I wear something even semi-dark. Someone even asked me that when I wore Metro Chic once. Umm...what?

What do you think of black nails - stagnant & stuck in the 90s or chic & oh-so modern?

kittytokaren
read more "OPI Black Onyx and another watch..."

Saturday, October 15, 2011

China Glaze Stroll

The only one from the 12-piece Retro Diva collection I ever bothered to acquire.



(3 coats)

For me, it's good in two coats. But I wanted it as dark as possible so I went three.
read more "China Glaze Stroll"

Friday, October 14, 2011

Vamps for October: Ciate Burlesque


I freaking love this polish. It practically applied itself. The brush was perfection and after two coats of thick, flowing opacity I had hardly any clean up to do. With a coat of Seche Vite it is ridiculously shiny and flawless, and it wore like teflon without chipping at all.


Even better, the colour is totally glorious. It is dark, but never black. Like an Eggplant purple but with a touch more blue. I would wear this polish again and again, and I really enjoyed wearing this mani.




Until, that is, I had a go at water marbling, and covered it in what looked like slug trails. I'm too embarrassed to show you all, but trust me, it was BAD.

read more "Vamps for October: Ciate Burlesque"

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

6/8 StrangeBeautifuls Volume 3

I never posted swatches of this volume! Here's 6 of 8. I did some

Sadly I don't remember coats. These are super rough swatches. Sorry!












(UNF this one UNF)
read more "6/8 StrangeBeautifuls Volume 3"

Monday, October 10, 2011

I got a lovely parcel in the post...

...Thank you, Illamasqua! :)

Well, I've always said good things about their customer service. I once returned a lipstick because I accidentally ordered two of them in one of their 30% off sales. I sent them a cheeky email asking if I could return or preferably exchange it (even though 'being a doofus' isn't one of their grounds for return) thinking they'd maybe grudgingly refund me since it was by then out of sale period, and it's a bit naughty me asking for a product at 30% off when there's no sale on.

But to my surprise, they shipped a replacement colour out via courier at their expense. And sent me an email to ask me which colour I wanted most, and to let me know their stock levels, since I put a random bunch down on the return form. (I felt I was probably taking advantage enough already to start getting picky). They are a really, really nice company.

Which is why it made my day to find that they read Polish or Perish. Hayley, their marketing manager, got in touch to chat about nail polish and take some contact details. And a couple of weeks ago a lovely parcel turned up with two of their new polishes for review, plus a lipgloss in Belladonna. (I mentioned I was really interested in the glosses from the new collection, so I was really touched that they popped one in - it's lovely, by the way!). Yeah, I am a total fangirl.

So these are the two polishes, Kink and Vice:



I wanted to wait a little while before giving a review, because for me the most significant thing about the A/W polishes is their 'rubber' finish, rather than the shades. So I've had Vice on for the last week, and here it is. This colour is lovely, a kind of purplish wine/berry shade, but it's the finish that makes it stand out from other similar polishes. I'd describe it as kind of satin-y. It's not quite as matte as I was expecting, but not fully glossy, either.


I've tended to stay away from matte finish polishes because they chip on me something rotten, so I wore Vice for a full 8 days before writing this (the pictures are from day 3). I have tremendously limited patience so I managed to scracth the finish a little even before it was fully dry (I am spoilt by seche vite). However, that cock up aside, it wore really well. Looking at them a week later, there is one chip (my right middle), a couple of teeny nicks on my thumbs, and a little tip wear. And I've been intentionally bloody hard on my hards this week - I've been washing up, I did gardening, and I've relaid the tiles on my hall floor, all without gloves. My hands feel like catcher's mitts, but the polish still looks very respectable.

(The only odd thing is that black line on my ring finger - I think it's a shed bristle? I've never had one of their brushes shed on me before, so it took me a while to work out what it was!).
read more "I got a lovely parcel in the post..."

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Essie Winter 2011 - Part 2

I showed you the first half of Essie's winter collection, Cocktail Bling, here. I'm excited to show you the rest of the collection today! This is the first time in a looonnnggg time that I've purchased a whole collection - and wanted to keep it all! This will definitely be a workhorse collection for me, not just in winter, but in all seasons.

First up, School of Hard Rocks:


I'm not quite sure how to describe this colour - it's somewhere between a dusty teal and a slate green. Love it. Very wintery and definitely adds a pop of colour, but because of the amount of grey it manages to be a little more subdued and wearable. I think this one will be very popular!

Now, probably my favourite of the collection - Size Matters:


First of all, hilarious name. Love it. It may seem like a boring red, but it is much more than that. I have a hard time with reds. I really do. But this one is more berry than red. (My pics are deceiving on that front...but trust me, it is very berry in real life.) This colour reminds me of Rachel Zoe - on her show she is always wearing a red, burgundy, berry or plum concoction and it always looks great!

Since I loved this one so much, I had to take another pic with my purse...


And lastly, Bobbing for Baubles:


Completely on trend with blues for winter (thanks to the Jeans de Chanel - one of which I will show you very soon!), this has something a little different when compared with other navys in my collection - it's dusty! Yay! I love dirgy grey colours and this is the navy take on that. I think dark blue is one of the most elegant colours on the nails, so expect me to wear this a lot this year.

So that's Essie Winter 2011 - Cocktail Bling! Which ones will you be picking up?

kittytokaren
read more "Essie Winter 2011 - Part 2"

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Vamps for October: Illamasqua Phallic

10.30am. I walk into my living room with this on my fingers to twirl at my significant other (he gets nail varnish twirls rather than dress twirls. Bit of a raw deal for him, but that's just how I roll).

'That's nice. Beautiful colour.' he says. 'How's the paper going?'

'Well. Really well. Yeah, I've done loads. Obviously.'

'You've just spent an hour and a half painting your nails and messing about on facebook, haven't you?'

'Yes'.

'Have you done any at all? The deadline's today, right?'

'No. Yes. I'll be going now...'





Bloody worth it, though. This is three coats of very sexy blue polish. It's very deep, like a midnight jelly, but with tonnes of purply blue flaky sparkles that peek out in the sunlight. It's all twinkly! Sooo gorgeous. I love it. It's very very pigmented though and my fingers were smurf city when I did clean up! Slightly dreading trying to remove it, I might just leave it on until it falls off.

(I did get the paper finished in the end, by the way. Conference in Vienna, here I come.)
read more "Vamps for October: Illamasqua Phallic"