Barielle Style in Argyle (Fall 2010), Part I of II

Barielle sent me the infamous brown Style in Argyle collection to review. When I saw them all together, my first reaction was, more or less, "HUH?" This from the people who gave us June Bug! When my SO saw it, he was like, "Oh, I really like those!" (My reaction to him was, again, "HUH?")

Since swatching some of them, I have warmed up a bit more to this collection. There are definitely standouts that I really love having (as well as having a color that's sort of dupey to one of the new Chanel Khakis, as I pointed out yesterday). Here's the first half of my swatches; I'll try to get the second half done in the next week. :)

Barielle Tight Knit

This is one of the polishes that I could've done without. Dusky rose creme that leans slightly ever-so-slightly purple. This color is not flattering on me at all. Two coats.

Barielle Unraveled Rust

This one is one of my favorites. Dark chocolate with a reddish tinge. Went on so easily and turns out so glossy. Yum! Two coats.

Barielle Cowl of the Wild

Not sure if this name makes me smile or groan. This is the color that's a very vague dupe to Chanel Khaki Rose (see my post from yesterday). It's a bit too dark to be a great dupe though. On its own, it's a bit on the sheer side (especially when compared to the Chanel -- but who cares when it's about $20 cheaper?) and takes three coats (which is not horrible).

read more "Barielle Style in Argyle (Fall 2010), Part I of II"

Chanel Khaki Collection

So when I said I kind of bought into the Chanel hype, I meant... it got me big time. The morning of the Khaki collection release, I called five or six Chanel boutiques in several states... because it wasn't online yet. On an NBer's tip, I ended up calling the Chanel counter in the Bellevue, WA Nordstrom's and gave my order to the friendliest-sounding sales associate ever while walking from a bus stop to my new psychiatrist. (And I love the new psychiatrist. I've had seven of them in the last nine years and I only really liked one out of them before this one. So I feel really lucky.) I figured it was safe crossing a bridge with no people around but with cars zooming by to say my credit card number aloud in public. (I said it quietly.)

This ended up being a LOT of money... and it's not like it's super sold out or anything yet. But I don't particularly regret getting them even if they aren't the most special colors in the world.

Chanel Khaki Brun

This one was an unexpected favorite. It's kind of a muddy green brown creme, kind of in a similar line as Obsessive Compulsive Swamp Thing and MAC Dry Martini. Except this is more brown than either of those (I think). It also has a bit of orange lurking in it. I seriously love this sort of color. And it applied so beautifully well. If I had used a thick coat, it could have been a one coater but as it was, only two thin coats were needed.

Chanel Khaki Vert

This reminds me of the green in a camouflage print that has been washed a couple of times. I love it. It's not as green as I thought it would be but I love how greyed out it is. Unlike Essie Sew Psyched (which is often mentioned in the following context: "I have Essie Sew Psyched and I like it better anyway"), it is a straightforward creme: no shimmer like Sew Psyched. This photo was taken on the third day of wear. No chips, only the slightest bit of tipwear but no shrinkage. I don't really attribute this to Chanel as much as I attribute it to my Gelous/Diamont combo which seems to make all polishes wear like iron. Two coats.

Chanel Khaki Rose

This color is so good at giving me lobster hands. I don't know what to call this color... Russet? I didn't dislike it but I didn't like it either. Still, it applied very well in two coats. Some people on NB asked about whether one of the brown Barielles could be a dupe. Since I have the Barielles (reviewing coming tomorrow or the day after!), I decided to do a quick comp:

Barielle Cowl of the Wild & Chanel Khaki Rose

They're pretty similar looking in the bottle. Cowl of the Wild is a bit darker and more brown. But the difference is more obvious on the nail...

Barielle Cowl of the Wild on the leftmost finger; Chanel Khaki Rose on the rest.

If you added a bit of a cream or slightly pink colored polish to the Barielle, you could probably get a good approximation of Chanel Khaki Rose. But what you won't get is the great application of the Chanel. As with other recent darker-colored Chanel Releases (Paradoxal, Strong), I found the formula for all three Khakis to be wonderful two-coaters: thick, pigmented, easy to control, and they were 80% dried before I finished. The Barielle was harder to control, more sheer and took three coats before it was opaque. Whether it is worth it to pay $20 more for great application vs decent application is up to the individual, obviously. :)

September 18th (15m cardio), September 19th (50m cardio).

read more "Chanel Khaki Collection"

Barielle Summer 2010 swatches, Part I of II

Another package that brightened my endless sick days: Barielle's PR sent me their Summer 2010 collection (named High Steppin'). I have to give real credit to Barielle for being really creative this year: I just wish the end result would be a bit more impressive. I loved their creativity in their Spring 2010 collection and I LOVE that I do not see a neon or pastel in the Summer 2010 collex... but I'm not sure I love what I do see.

Barielle Belly Dance

Let's start with my favorite of the collection, Belly Dance. A pinkish nude that leans just a slight bit purple and has subtle (but noticeable) silver shimmer. It's understated and would probably look great on someone with pale skin and pink undertones; it looks a bit washed out on me but I still love the color. The application was a bit goopy and needed three coats. Nothing a few drops of thinner won't cure but I shouldn't have to cure new polishes.

Barielle Freestyle

Argh, this reminds me of a polish but I can't remember which one. Possible a Missha one? This is the sort of polish that drives me nutty: metallic shimmer with glitter. Glitter gets swallowed up and just looks kinda lumpy. :( I like the base color a lot -- a very cool pale green -- but I'm not thrilled with the rest of the polish. Also, it's sheer and hard to apply evenly; the above shows three coats and it's still got bare patches.

Barielle Night Moves

I guess the newest release Night Moves reminds me of is the silver Orly FX but it more accurately resembles the gorgeously streaky -- not even close to sarcastic here -- Diamond Cosmetics Silver Brocade. Except this one was more sheer and harder to apply: I kept on getting cuticle drag. Definitely needed some time between coats to apply this.

These were all the polishes I could get through swatching before being overtaken by a horrible coughing fit. Coughing really ruins manis and the whole manicure experience. :P I'll try to get the rest of the swatches done in the next week though.

read more "Barielle Summer 2010 swatches, Part I of II"

Daydream222's Treatment Regimen and Routine

At the risk of sounding conceited, I've been getting oodles of compliments on my nails lately from all kinds of people, including friends, coworkers, strangers at the store, etc. I started to wonder what had changed to warrant such attention. Was I using hand gestures more? Was I wearing brighter, more noticeable colors? The answer is no. My nails, simply put, are in the best shape they've ever been in my entire life (and I used to be a serious biter) and I owe it all to my treatment regimen! So I wanted to share with PoP's fantastic, super awesome readers my favorite treatments that really work.*

Let's start with the stars of my routine.

L-R: Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler, Growth Activator for Natural Nails, Nail Rebuilding Protein, and Natural Nail Camouflage.


I found ALL of these at either TJ Maxx or Marshall's for $3.99 each. If you never see Barielles at either of your TJ Maxx or Marshall's, stay vigilant and keep checking. None of my stores ever had Barielles until the holiday season and now it's hit-or-miss. I stock up every time I see a box. You can also purchase Barielle products from Barielle's website, though they are considerably more expensive.

Hydrating Ridge Filler: This was seriously a godsend. I finally scored a bottle of this back in October and immediately started using it with Growth Activator (I will get to that in a minute). At the time I started using it, my nails were constantly breaking and peeling. After a month there was a significant difference that continues to this day. I used it alone or paired with Growth Activator, followed by my usual polish routine.

Growth Activator for Natural Nails: The directions say that this is NOT a regular basecoat and to use it over something else, so I used it over Hydrating Ridge Filler, followed by my usual polish routine. I believe you can also use it as a topcoat of sorts (not quick dry). My nails grew like WEEDS with this.

Nail Rebuilding Protein: Be careful with this one. I found out from the Nail Board that too much protein on your nails can make them brittle, which I think may have been the problem with Nubar Nu Nails for me. Anyway, I use this one once and awhile when my nails feel/look weak, followed by my usual polish routine.

Natural Nail Camouflage: I think this is my favorite out of all of these. After Hydrating Ridge Filler and Growth Activator did their jobs successfully and my nails are strong and healthy, I switched over to using Natural Nail Camouflage as my typical basecoat, followed by my usual polish routine.

*These treatments work for me, but that does not necessarily mean that they'll work for you. Body chemistry varies from person to person, rendering some products helpful for some and damaging or useless to others.

I did not "go naked" at any point during this change in my basecoats/treatments. I don't believe in it and it gives me the urge to bite. Not only did these treatments significantly change my nail health, they also changed the longevity of my polish wear. I used to get chips within 12 hours, but now it's closer to 48 hours, which is incredible for me since I am a huge klutz. In fact, my nails are so strong that they did not break in two potentially tragic incidences last week. In the first, I was trying to clamp one of those "chip clips" on my kittehs' food bag to hold it shut and it accidentally clamped on my index finger and nail! My nail was really sore after that for a few days but it did not break or peel! In the second incident I grabbed the door handle of my car and my hand slipped, which caused my nail to catch on the door handle - but it didn't break or chip!

Next up, my favorite moisturizers.

L-R: Vaseline Hand & Nail, Neutrogena Norwegian Formula, Barielle Intensive Nail Renewal Oil, CND Cuticle Eraser, and Qtica Cuticle Repair.


My typical routine involves using CND Cuticle Eraser, followed by Barielle Intensive Nail Renewal Oil, and then either the Neutrogena or Vaseline moisturizer. I try to do this routine 1-2X per day. I use the Qtica before bed every night. You can purchase the Barielle from TJ Maxx/Marshall's or Barielle's website, the CND from any of the e-tailers, the Qtica from Victoria Nail Supply or Art of Beauty, and the Neutrogena and Vaseline from any stores like Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

Next, my favorite nail polish removal process.

L-R: Felt and Zoya Remove +.


Zoya Remove + is by far my favorite remover so far, though I have not tried OPI's or Barielle's. I still use pure acetone and acetone from Sally's for glitter removal or cleanup but I try to use Remove + the most. I purchase very cheap felt sheets from Wal-Mart and cut them into 3X3 inch squares. I used to buy black felt but I like white felt much more. It's personal preference, though. Use what color you like! You can purchase Remove + from Art of Beauty (link above). It's pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

Next, my OPI crystal file.



I purchased this from Transdesign but you can pick it up in some stores like Ulta too. I used to have an Essie until I broke it and I loved that one too. That's pretty much it! It's great - get a cystal file - it's a necessity!

Last, but not least, Biotin supplements.



I want to be clear about this - anytime you decide to take supplements, check with your doctor first. Supplements can affect other medications and even potentially harm you if you have certain pre-existing conditions. I started out taking 1 1000mcg capsule of Biotin daily and when I had no side effects, I started using the 5000mcg. I take 1 capsule per day. This bottle advises not to take it within 2 hours of any other medication, so I follow that guideline. I purchased this bottle at my grocery store and you can find Biotin at most stores. Some women on the Nail Board mentioned experiencing cystic acne or acne breakouts when on Biotin, so be aware. I have not had these effects but I have never had any issues with acne so maybe that's why.

Well, that's my treatment routine! I hope this may help some of you in choosing a treatment regimen!!!!! I need to go work out - one side effect of graduate school for me has been weight gain! Ick. :(

read more "Daydream222's Treatment Regimen and Routine"

The rest of the Barielle Wildflower (Spring 2010) swatches

My first post on Barielle's Spring 2010 collection can be found here. I bought those three early from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. About a month after that, I received the second half of the collection from Barielle to review. Definitely liked the first half better but the second half had one polish that I just unexpectedly fell for.

Barielle Blossom

It's a color we've seen a lot this season so far: pastel pink-peach creme. This is three coats and doesn't apply particularly well. In its defense, I didn't shake it up and it's been sitting around for over a month. If my stash wasn't such a mess, I'd do comparisons. But as it is now, I can't find any of my recently swatched polishes. (Drawer's jammed, actually. Yes, I'm such a winner.)

Barielle Snapdragon

Why is this called Snapdragon? (Why do I spend so much time thinking about how companies choose names for polishes?) I liked this better than I thought I would but it's still a bit of a hot, frosty streaky mess. Two coats, actually more pigmented and easier to apply than you think. But... I think I would've liked this better as a straight-up metallic. That wasn't so brushstroke-y. At least it's a pretty shade of green.

Barielle Daring Dahlia

Three coats, a bit watery and thin. Somewhere between a darkened magenta and a red-leaning purple. I've covered this before but I'm not so hot on this sort of color. So when I saw this in the bottle, I was like, "Urgh, another one of these cremes." But I was wrong! I mean, it looks mostly like a creme but it's got a gorgeous secret shimmer that is subtly stunning (...contradiction?). Wonderful in the tiny bit of sunlight that I got when swatching this but then I had to take photos of it in the lightbox... and my technique with the lightbox seems to kill shimmer. The shimmer looks like it's a very fine hot pink. I took a highly color-inaccurate photo with flash to prove that there's shimmer in here:

Close-up (with flash) of Daring Dahlia

See! Shimmer! :D The color's totally off though.

I have to give major credit to this collection for having an interesting variety of polishes (finishes, colors... really, everything) but I don't know if it hung together so terrifically. I wanted so badly to like a lot of the polishes in the collection -- especially June Bug and Myrza's Meadow (which was in the first review) -- but they didn't really live up to my expectations. :(

read more "The rest of the Barielle Wildflower (Spring 2010) swatches"

Barielle Spring 2010 swatches

As you probably already know, three of the new Barielle Spring 2010 shades are currently on sale at the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. They are $8 each, which includes shipping. According to the website, 100% of profits go towards charity. 

And they ship fast too. ;)

I ordered these last Tuesday and had a chance to swatch them today. 

Barielle Myrza's Meadow

Of the three I got, this had the absolute worst application and execution. It's a celadon jellyish creme with holo glitter. It needs a topcoat since it's really bumpy without. And I suspect that it would be much improved in terms of ease of application with a little bit of thinner... and the holo glitter would look a bit more glittery and a little less dull lumps in spring green soup if I added some clear polish. It doesn't even sparkle that much. I have a video but it barely seems worth it to post because it really isn't as pretty as it should be. Three coats. 

Barielle A Bouquet for Ava

This is the hardest color to capture on camera! It's like this ultra saturated, super bright cerulean blue. It's bright like in the first picture but the color is more like the color in the third. I was having a hell of a time trying to get it right. A Bouquet for Ava had the easiest application and probably could've used a third coat but VNL is truly not as noticeable IRL even though you can kind of see it in these photos. A truly gorgeous polish through and through. 

Barielle June Bug

This is a polish in the tradition of Barielle Falling Star: sparse but noticeable glitter in a contrasting color to the base. It's very different though in several ways: first, it's a shimmer base. The base is a light steel blue with teal shimmer (which would've been pretty on its own, come to think of it). Second, the glitter is more than one color. The dominant glitter color is magenta but then there are also silver bits. Some of the magenta glitter appears black because they get partially covered up by the polish. I think it's a fascinating polish but I don't know if I love it. It's definitely unique. 

read more "Barielle Spring 2010 swatches"

Buy Barielle Spring 2010 polishes to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

Even though Barielle's Spring 2010 collection has not been released, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund is selling three of their new shades (June Bug, A Bouquet for Ava and Myrza's Meadow) for $8 each... and free shipping! According to the website, 100% of these proceeds will go towards charity. Information is here. Right now, the only way to order is to call: (212) 268-1002.

read more "Buy Barielle Spring 2010 polishes to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund"

Barielle Misbehaving Mistress

Barielle Misbehaving Mistress

I think this is a really interesting color but it doesn't really appeal to me: charcoal brown with either silver or bronze shimmer (hard to tell). Surprisingly bright for a dark color... but also surprisingly sheer for a dark color. Three coats and I could still pick out thin spots where I could see my nail. I don't think I have anything dupish to it but I'm not sure I'll ever wear it again.

On the topic of misbehaving, I'm pretty sure that I have a handful of plagiarized papers in my latest batch of grading. Not just any plagiarism, not cheapie cut-and-paste, but purchased essays. I can't see how anyone would generate a genuine essay that's only this vaguely on topic (and refers to information that they did not learn in class nor cite their sources for). This sort of thing is almost impossible to prove as plagiarism, unless I want to shell out the money to see if papers match. And I do not. Reading some of these, I hope they didn't pay for them because they are damn wastes of money for bad, bad essays that wouldn't have netted them above a C+ anyway. Seriously, if you're gonna shell out $90 on some paper, make sure it's quality!

(One of my high school friends was an English major in college and post-graduation, she was looking for a writing-related job. She answered an ad for a "writer" at some company. Her interview was to write a paper on a random topic. We're pretty convinced that it was a paper mill company. And no, she didn't take the job.)

Here's the thing: if you don't have the time or inclination to do the work for a college degree, why are you wasting your money on a college degree at this moment? Many people want to go to college but can't (and these slacker students are taking up seats that could go to those people who want to be students). If you want a better class of job that a college degree will get you, don't you realize that those better jobs will require you to have learned something about writing and critical thinking in college? Aren't students just sort of screwing themselves over? And wasting money at the same time?

Life gets in the way of school. School is not all-important. I get it, I've lived it. But if these are the case, why not put school on hold until you can devote time to it? It's so expensive. As is buying papers.

Anyway. 75 papers down, 25 to go. This is ALL I've been doing since Tuesday afternoon. I'm onto my tenth page of typed up comments for students.

read more "Barielle Misbehaving Mistress"

Old NOTD: Barielle Cotton Candy with Beauty Treats Snow Angel

This was my NOTD some time ago.

Barielle Cotton Candy with Beauty Treats Snow Angel on top

Cotton Candy is a bright, well, cotton candy pink with pink shimmer. Snow Angel is a densely packed opalescent glitter. So far, in terms of densely packed opalescent glitter, Sinful Smoking Hot wins (because of the random green-reflecting glitters that really give it personality). But Snow Angel isn't bad and I do plan to keep it around... mostly to dump into frankens. :) I've heard of Beauty Treats in passing but hadn't seen it very much until the other day when I walked into this cute little dress-slash-perfume-slash-tchotchke shop. They had a handful of Beauty Treats polishes and I picked up a few. This is the first I've tried so far.

read more "Old NOTD: Barielle Cotton Candy with Beauty Treats Snow Angel"

Random swatch: Barielle Lava Rock

Barielle/All Lacquered Up Lava Rock

I'm so glad I went back (so to speak) to get this polish. Photos do this one absolutely no justice. When people describe it as glowing from within... omg, yeah. Gorgeous brown-burgundy with bright purple-burgundy shimmer. A little sheer for two coats.

I may be more stressed out today than I was yesterday. My SO has come down with the flu -- and I'm feeling under the weather myself -- and I still have tons of homework to do. I did my best to get all my grading Tuesday done before bed last night but commenting on the intellectual value and writing abilities of 50 students (including little typed blurbs for each) literally had me occupied from 3PM to 3AM... and it's still not totally done (45 out of 50). If it weren't against privacy laws, I would have loved to share some of the more hilarious "students say the darnedest things" moments: there are always some fabulous ones and this pile of grading was not an exception.

If you are like me and are honest and sarcastic by nature, grading takes a particularly long time: I'm afraid of sounding unduly harsh or mocking yet I still want these students to learn and improve. (I rephrase my critiques a lot.) This worry is only mildly alleviated by the fact that most students probably don't even look at my scribbled comments in the margins. (This, of course, makes me bitter. Why am I worrying about hurting their feelings if they aren't even reading it?)

Anyway, within this particular pile of grading, there was one absolutely asshole paper. I hate that I can't just call students out for being brats. The student did not take the assignment seriously at all, was entirely sarcastic in their response, did not answer the questions posed and pretended like they were hilarious. (It was not badly written at all but it totally ignored the assignment.) The only comment I wanted to write on their paper was "Fuck you, kid. You wasted my time." Not to mention the oodles of time and money that student is wasting. College is expensive and it's a PRIVILEGE unknown to the majority of humans on this planet. Do you UNDERSTAND how LUCKY you are to be able to piss away your education? And I... I am supposed to provide useful criticism to you? You've got to be kidding me.

I love the idea of universal college education. I really do. I believe that higher education can lift you up in life: when done right, it can provide a more fulfilling career, inform one's moral compass, and lead to a lifetime of curiosity and discovery. But I do not think CHILDREN should go to college. Mostly adults (young and old) who are serious about their education should go because they are most likely to benefit from it. Otherwise, it's wasting time and money. If a high school kid isn't ready to reap the benefits of a post-secondary education, then I say let them work, volunteer, travel, get married, have kids, whatever they want. (They've been in school for 13 years; it's okay to take a break!) When they are ready to go back to school, I want it easy for them to go back... because that's when education will truly help them: when they truly want to help themselves.

...this half-assed shit, though? Man, what a fucking waste.

read more "Random swatch: Barielle Lava Rock"

The last throes of summer: some old yellow swatches I don't think I've posted yet

Days are getting shorter, weather's just a bit chillier (though we seem to have hit a mini heat wave here in the last few days), for those in climates where you have deciduous trees, maybe the leaves are starting to turn. (Or maybe they've turned brown and dropped off in the summer heat. :P) I miss New England in the fall. Hell, I miss seasons, period. Except for hot, humid summers on the East Coast -- those I lack all missingness for.

Since I'm on the quarter system, I still have a couple of weeks reprieve before school starts again: I'm going into the 2nd year of my PhD program. I'm starting to get really nervous, remembering how hard my first year was (for a number of reasons, both personal and professional). But there's no reason to suspect that anything will be different than the year before, except this year, I'll know what I'm doing. I'm even TA'ing the same class again as I did last spring, Psychology of Language. Except there'll be more papers to grade this time around: 5 essays in the quarter (i.e. every two weeks), 50+ papers for the two TAs.

For all you students who complain about having to write papers, let me remind you of your TAs (or, for the lucky ones, professors) who have to read and critique them. :) After TA'ing for the first time last year, I realized something: bullshit is obvious (as is ill-preparedness and lack of proofreading). I really wanted to write my college professors and be like, "I am sorry for not proofreading! I am sorry that it was so obvious that I had NO idea what I was talking about at times! I am sorry I made such a fool of myself on paper and didn't fully realize how foolish I sounded!"

Anyway, instead of discussing the irritations of grading, I think I'll post some pretty nail polish pictures. Here are some yellow swatches I've done in the last few months but haven't gotten a chance to post here. I love yellow and am always on a mission to find the perfect yellow creme nail polish. For those of you who love yellow too, you know that yellow is often one of the hardest colors to work with: often streaky, goopy and hard to build to an opaque finish. Here are some of the better examples of yellow cremes I've found.

Chinoiserie Joy

Four coats yet still VNL. Not a fan of Chinoiserie. At $8 a bottle (plus the hassle of actually ordering Chinoiserie), for polishes that have largely disappointed me thus far... I doubt I'll be putting in a Chinoiserie order again.

OPI The "It" Color

I love this warm golden yellow (it almost tiptoes its way to a soft orange, but not quite): it's streaky and kind of sticky for the first two coats but by the third, it settles down into a lovely smooth finish with VNL that's only visible if you scrutinize it. If happiness had a color, it would be this.

Barielle Lemondrops

Fairly decent yellow: a shade too cool for me, I think, but as a polish, it was alright. Not the easiest to work with but nor was it a huge pain in the ass. Unlike the other Barielles from this summer's line, I found the formula somewhat hard to control.

Misa Happy Happy

Okay, maybe happiness would be this color. Seriously one of the best yellows ever: applied beautifully, three coats, no VNL. Gorgeously glossy finish. Better than OPI The "It" Color because TIC is more of an orange-y yellow whereas this is, like, the platonic form of a yellow: the color lemons are supposed to be. :)

Nubar Lemon Sorbet

I wanted this polish so bad for so long. And then I got it, and it just was waaaay too bright and chalky. A glossier, jellier finish would've suited me better. It applied fine in three coats, but just didn't look good on me.

And of course, check out my latest post on Illamasqua for Wayward (a couple posts down), a fabulous cool yellow creme.

read more "The last throes of summer: some old yellow swatches I don't think I've posted yet"

Three different kinds of frankening moods in 36 hours: franken NOTDsI

My last three NOTDs sort of exemplify three of my four types of frankening moods.

Mood #1: "Hey, I want a polish of this color." Basically, filling a gap in my collection.

Nameless pastel yellow franken

This one I did at the behest of my SO who said he wanted something that kind of resembled Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn jelly beans. Since I didn't have the color, I made one up.

Mood #2: "I like it but I'd like it better if..."

Then there are times where I know of a polish (either have seen it online or own it) that I like the idea of but I think I might like it more if it were more this way or more that way. This was the case with Barielle Falling Star. It's striking and interesting but there's something about it that I didn't like enough to order (though I ended up being disappointed that I didn't). I love the copper glitter but I think it's too sparse and the single color/size was too flat for my taste. I call these dupes but they're more "inspired by a true story" type frankens.

Sometimes, my straight-up frankendupe attempts get downgraded to this category when I can't figure out how a certain effect is achieved. Or when I decide that I like the franken as is, screw that it doesn't exactly resemble whatever I'm trying to copy.

Consolation Prize, v1.0 (still needs tweaking)

Close-up of Consolation Prize

I definitely didn't try to copy Falling Star. I just took a couple of elements I liked: a lightish blue and a color of glitter that isn't often found in blue polish (would've preferred a copper like in the actual polish but I settled for red instead). Then I just went to town and added whatever else I thought might look fun mixed in.

Mood #3: "Ooh, I like it... but I'm not going to buy it."

Then there are times when I do frankendupes because I'm either too cheap/stubborn to buy a polish that I really love the look of OR when there's a popular polish that seems like it may present a novel challenge. (Frequent candidates for these are Lippmann and RBL polishes...) Predictably, these take the longest since there's a whole routine to it: find every big picture of the target polish (swatches and in the bottle), stare at these pictures, read as many descriptions of its appearance, finish and application as possible, identify possible components, then pick out all the polishes in my collection that could go into that. Maybe mix a couple of things on a paper plate to get a start but generally, I work in the bottle (hint: start with really small amounts). Today's NOTD is an example of that. Don't feel like shelling out the cash for RBL Scrangie but was curious to see if I could reproduce something like it. These are the worst: whenever I get the urge to frankendupe, it's just an irresistible mood: I NEED to do it immediately, to the best of my ability, RIGHT THEN AND THERE.

I was in the middle of finishing up some transcription for my research when the urge to frankendupe RBL Scrangie hit. The result:

Pale Imitation, v1.0 (definitely needs tweaking still)

Like I mentioned on NB already, it needs to be more jelly, darker, a tad bit more red-toned... sigh. A frankendupe is truly never finished.

And then there's Mood #4 (which has no NOTD illustration at the moment): "...I wonder what I'd get if I mixed these together." Some of my best frankens... and biggest disasters. :)

Anyway, back to research now that I've done a frankendupe... and posted about it. Whew. Needed to get that out of my system.

P.S. Remember to enter in the BB Couture for Men giveaway using the form in the upper right of the webpage!!

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Some Barielle swatches from the All Lacquered Up collection

I was in a weird mood when I ordered my Barielle/ALU polishes. I usually like the unusual, attention-getting polishes but neglected to get Falling Star (it kinda just tweaks me the wrong way) or the green one (a bit too frosty looking). So I got mostly cremes from the collection and after two long weeks of waiting -- seriously, did FedEx come by way of Papua New Guinea? -- I got them today and... I am underwhelmed. I might not have been so underwhelmed if it didn't take so long, thereby building anticipation... but anticipation was built and after all that build-up, I experienced a let-down.

Part of this is that in three of the five ALU/Barielle polishes I received, the bristles in the brush were loose. This is not a huge problem: find a pair of scissors, do some snipping, presto chango, brush with no bristles prickling out in odd directions. But there are cheaper polishes (that arrive in a more timely manner) with brushes that aren't defective. And I really don't like having to make something "as good as new" when I've bought them new. :P One of the non-prickly-bristle polishes was also kinda goopy, which made swatching nicely just that much harder. So out of the five ALU/Barielle polishes I got, only one applied without a single hitch.

Enough of me complaining. On to the pictures!

Barielle U-Concrete-Me

Nice basic grey with a slightly browned base. Perfectly lovely and the application would have been sooooo smooth, if not for the bristles. Again, scissors, snip-snip, perfection.

Barielle Putt-E-On-Me

I love me some taupe! This one with a slightly more reddish/purple base. Fab application. Sure, I have a lot of these sorts of drab taupe-y creme shades right now but I like 'em and I'll keep buying 'em until I realize I have waaaay too many.

Barielle Get-Mauve-ing

Doesn't do a thing for me. I don't hate it -- it's a pretty nice polish -- but I can't see reaching for this ever again.

Barielle Make-It-a-Latte

I'm getting into browns lately and am loving this one: rich brown with gold and red shimmer. Very classy and very autumn.

Close-up of Make-It-a-Latte (is there a pun I'm not getting here? What is up with the hyphens?)

Barielle Blackened-Bleu

Saved my favorite to last. I didn't know if I would care of this one since it seemed dupey to China Glaze Blk-Bila-Bong (more hyphens!) but I haven't compared them yet. I just know that this is one gorgeous polish with a lot of depth and appearances depending on how the light hits it.

Close-up of Blackened-Bleu

From these polishes, and the photos I've seen online, I don't see any real compelling reason to run out and buy the rest of the collex (especially without the 15% off coupon first-timer coupon). And since I also picked up five others I've wanted from old/core collections, I probably won't be indulging in Barielle very much for awhile. It seems to be a very reliable brand with good application and a nice variety of colors and finishes, but at a normal $8 a piece + shipping (even if you do the Buy-2-Get-1-Free)... eh, there are other polishes in the sea. :) It is very cool, though, that Michelle at ALU got to help design these polishes. Does anyone know if she profits from them as well?

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