OCC Beta (or "how not to make a polish")

Why "Beta"? Like beta carotene, like in carrots? Yes, it's carrot-colored... if carrots were made of neon and were radioactive.

OCC Beta

I love OCC nail polish. I think they do some of the most beautiful dark cremes: they apply "like buttah" and are long-lasting with a good bc/tc combo. So what on EARTH were they smoking over there when they made this polish?! Holy crap. Let's talk about the great things first: it's an awesome, amazing, gorgeous color: freakishly bright neon orange.

And that is all for the great things. Now the "meh, I can live with that" things: it was a bit hard to apply and took three coats to get even, despite that it's a pretty saturated color. Like most neons, it dries matte.

And now, the bad things. Or just one thing: IT WAS BUMPY. There were LUMPS of... something (maybe pigment?) in the nail polish. You could see the lumps on the brush... and you could definitely see it on the nail (and you can see it in the photo). And it was horrifying. I do not recall ever seeing a polish with lumps like that and I've seen many polishes. I don't even feel good about giving it away for free, it was such a turn-off of an experience.

Bumpy glitters = normal.

Bumpy cremes = not normal.

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OCC Perpetual and Rococo Gold Leaf

I had said I didn't want it. But in the end, I bought it anyway. Yes, Rococo Gold Leaf, I'm lookin' at you.

OCC Perpetual and Rococo Gold Leaf

When I put on this combination, I was so disappointed. I thought Perpetual would be this awesome, semi-neon purple creme. It turned out to be very jelly. Three coats, definite VNL. It didn't apply smoothly, had bald spots and after thinking I'd be getting an awesomely pigmented creme (something OCC is extraordinarily good at), I wasn't too happy with it. But I actually ended up loving it. There's something very seductive about the jelly squish look.

As for Rococo Gold Leaf. Holy heck, it is HARD to get that gold leaf onto the brush. (Once you get it on the brush, it transfers somewhat easily to the nail.) Picking it out with something hard like a toothpick made a lot of the larger pieces fall apart. The best way I could figure out was to shake it up a bit and to sweep the gold leaf that gets stuck in the neck onto the brush.

What you see on the nail is... three coats? (Like I said, it's hard to get on the brush.) But I think I like it. I thought I'd hate the manicure (between the jelly and the sparse gold leaf) but I was quite attached to it by the end of the first day. The gold leaf turned out to be incredibly... gold. Such a rich color (probably because it's real gold leaf) with a beautiful texture that, even minute, was obvious.

Closeup of Perpetual and Gold Leaf

Somehow it became one of my favorite manicures of late. :)

(OCC Perpetual was sent to me for review by OCC. Rococo Gold Leaf was purchased personally.)

Anyway... today is the wedding day of one of my friends and I'm sad that I couldn't make it to the ceremony and reception. (It's kind of on the opposite side of the continent.) So I just wanted to wish her a wonderful, wonderful day. And that her Shellac holds up (which I'm sure it will, because it's pretty tenacious) and looks fabulous peeping out from her Manolos. She probably isn't reading this right now -- at least I hope she's not -- but I wanted to send happy thoughts (and sanity vibes -- it's a big wedding she's planned) towards her out into the void anyway. Good luck, babe. It's gonna be a great day. :)

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Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Fall 2010: Part I of II

This quarter is insanely busy with new experiments (and finishing up several old experiments). I feel so behind on swatching: I still need to do the rest of the Color Club Untamed Luxury, Barielle Style in Argyle... and there's, of course, all the piCture pOlish that I have left to swatch. Ahhh! So little time, so many pretties! My goal for the rest of this month: finish up the collection swatches that I have already started. I know it's really annoying to readers to have to wait so long between posts of whole collections so I'm trying my best to keep up... :)

But here are some more swatches from a collection I have not been able to finish swatching yet... a selection of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics new Fall 2010 colors, sent to me to review.

OCC Trick

This is one of my favorite pink cremes. But it's described as beige. Because it looks beige in the bottle and will probably look beige on beige-r people. Me, I'm not so beige. Tan and yellow, and this is what happens when I put on pink-leaning beiges. (If I put on a polish that looked this warm and pink in the bottle, I guarantee it will look bad on me. But put on a polish that looks more beige... and I get my perfect pink.) Also, this was an awesome polish: two coats and so smooth! This was taken on second or third day of wear.

OCC Souse

I admit, I did groan when I saw this polish. It looked like a boring purplish pink creme. But it has subtle warm golden shimmer that really adds something special. This was a wonderful surprise for me. Also, two coats.

OCC Rx

This polish was a nightmare. Thick, very sheer, impossible to build up effectively to get rid of VNL. One coat would drag the previous one off. I love this neon blue color but it was a HUGE pain to apply and then it bubbled like crazy because it was so thick and hard to apply neatly. (NOT at all helped by the messed up brush.) Three coats and it came off as soon as I took the pic. (It was originally supposed to be an NOTD but I could tell it would just never dry.)

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Old NOTD: OCC Dangerous

I LOVE THIS GREY.

I WANT TO MARRY IT.

AND HAVE ITS BABIES.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Dangerous

Dark grey creme. I wish I had a good daylight picture of it during the first day or two that I had this mani on. This was my NOTD for four days in late November and the first two photos I have here are from the fourth day. Tipwear, that's it! And it dried LIGHTNING fast with Diamont. They were almost impossible to dent before an hour was up though they were pretty much hard when I tapped nail to nail at around twelve minutes. Man, this company knows how to do cremes...!

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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.

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Reader request: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics swatches

A couple of people have asked about OCC polishes... which was great, because I've been wanting to try them out for a long, long time. Or what seems like a long, long time.

What's wonderful about running this blog is that I get to pretend like readers expressing interest in certain polishes is a good reason to BUY those certain polishes. I mean, I have a shopping list a mile long now. It's only about one or two inches longer than what it would've been if I didn't ask around to see what polishes people wanted to see... but I feel so much more justified buying stuff off of it when I know other people are curious too. So now that the BB Couture for Men giveaway contest is over (winner has been contacted and has 48 hours to respond), please feel free to use the reader request comment box on the sidebar at any time to ask about certain brands or polishes. No guarantees obviously... but I'm, like, the biggest pushover on earth.

First impressions on OCC polishes: I'm in love with these cremes (as far as I know they only have one non-creme, which I didn't get)... but only with the darker colors, which are super easy to apply, were very nicely pigmented and mostly could have been left with two coats. The lighter colors, in general, required more coats and were a little harder to control: fab polishes still but maybe not for $8 + shipping. I'm trying NOT to put in another order right at this very moment (for both polishes and Lip Tars because the Lip Tars look like awesomeness in a tube).

I already showed off Swamp Thing in two other posts -- variations on Swamp Thing &comparisons with MAC Dry Martini -- so I'll refrain from posting it again.

OCC Traffic

Three coats, still some VNL. One of the easiest bright yellow polishes I've tried... by no means the easiest polish, of all colors, overall, ever. Warmer than Illamasqua Wayward, cooler than OPI The "It" Color: it's in between those two in terms of the 'temperature' of the color. Still I love this bright yellow to pieces. I prefer it to Illamasqua Wayward in terms of application... and price: $8 vs. $14. I may buy a lot of polishes but that doesn't mean I don't pay close attention to price. :P

OCC Inky

GORGEOUS super dark navy blue that leans a little bit greener than most other navy blues I have. And it doesn't look black indoors, which is what seems to happen to a lot of dark navy blues. Two coats, creme-y perfection. I love this one. Love.

OCC Grandma

Bright pink. Not nearly as neon as it appears in this photo; it leans more coral. Something happens with my camera with reds and pinks: they just don't capture well. I'm working on it. Any tips? I seem to recall this one being a little more watery than the other OCCs I've tried but still incredibly pigmented.

OCC Fondue

A delicious dark brown with a slight burgundy undertone. I mean, there's no doubt that this is a dark brown but in some lights, I swear, it takes on just the slightest bit of a burgundy. I never liked brown polishes too much but am starting to really hanker after 'em. This one just clinches it. It's so rich... like fondue. Two coats here, silky smooth formula; would've been made deeper with a third coat, probably.

OCC Petty Beige

Very pretty light brown color that leans pink on me. It was very easy to apply and was surprisingly pigmented. But it's one of those nude colors that makes my fingernails look like extensions of my fingers... and I don't like that effect. At all. (I'm tanned and very yellow, if that helps anyone at all.) It looks nice enough in this close-up photograph but my hand looked weird. Makes me sad because this is a REALLY nice polish!

OCC Blackboard

They aren't kidding when they say blackboard! It's like the Platonic form of a new blackboard on the first day of school (appropriate enough since the day after Labor Day is often the first day of school, isn't it?). So rich, so pigmented, and it practically applied itself. Greener and creme-r than the Tony Moly OC10 (which was slightly more blue and much more like a jelly) but they are pretty close. Also very close to Orly Enchanted Forest (which is slightly more green and much more creme). Of those three, I prefer OCC Blackboard for ease of application: both the Tony Moly and Orly are great polishes but the OCC beats 'em both.

In summary... I WANT MORE (only a couple like Wasabi, Dangerous and Uber). And Lip Tars (probably NSFW, Conquest and Fondue... and all the rest of them too, but I figure I'll get the most mileage out of those three: a red, a beige and a brown).

For those starting school again, happy beginning of the school year! For those thinking of graduate school (or even college, since there must be some high schoolers who read this blog): if you need any advice, ideas, whatnot on the application process, feel free to ask us any questions. Most of us either have been through that mill (or are actively going through it)! Personally, I love yapping about choosing and applying to schools so... I will answer all questions pertaining to this. :D (Again, I'm the biggest pushover EVER.)

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MAC Dry Martini and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Swamp Thing comparison

I keep on typing "Dirty Martini" when I really mean "Dry Martini". The problem is that I don't usually talk about "dry martinis"; if I'm going to order a martini, it's gonna be a damn dirty martini.

As for MAC Dry Martini, I think I would have loved it if I didn't get OCC Swamp Thing first. I prefer Swamp Thing because it's slightly greener whereas the Dry Martini is slightly more brown. That and it's called Swamp Thing. If the MAC was called Dirty Martini, maybe I would've liked it more.

MAC Dry Martini

From left to right:

OCC Swamp Thing (index, ring)

MAC Dry Martini (middle, pinky)

Really, they are very similar. In terms of application, the MAC was pretty good but the OCC was easier to apply. I needed three coats to get the MAC even but only two for the OCC. MAC seemed to dull pretty quick but OCC stayed glossy. The OCC is $8 and the MAC was $12. On the other hand, MAC does a lot of no-minimum free shipping and OCC does not. Personally, if I had to give away one, it'd be the MAC. However, since there is no one standing next to me with a gun to my head saying, "You must give one away!" I find the fact that they are an uncommon color enough reason to keep both for the time being.

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Variations on an NOTD: Obsessive Compulsive Swamp Thing + Nfu.oh #38 + Essie Matte About You

First thing's first: I am in love with Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics nail polish! These are some of the absolutely best creme polishes I've ever used. I haven't tried all of the ones I've ordered but the couple I have tried have been fabulous: the formula's thin without being runny (hence easy to control) and ultra pigmented (so my customary three coats was more out of habit than necessity). I'll do a bigger post about OCC polishes in the coming week but for now, I had to show off my NOTD (and what I did with my NOTD when I got bored)...

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Swamp Thing

Day old mani topped with Diamont. It was hard to do but this photo captures the color pretty faithfully. I love this dark drab olive to pieces. But I had to play with it...!

OCC Swamp Thing with Nfu.Oh #38

As you can see from the bottle, this is a cloudy-clear opalescent flakey polish. Light does marvelous things to this combination of polishes.

OCC Swamp Thing with Nfu.Oh #38 and Essie Matte About You topcoat

I love this even more mattefied: the mattefying does not really dampen the way the Nfu.oh reacts to light. It's not as reflective, but as reactive (though I'm pretty sure I'm not expressing those terms correctly).

"Rawr! I am a scaly Swamp Thing! FEAR ME!"

...says my nails.

OCC Swamp Thing with Nfu.Oh #38 closeup with and without Essie Matte About You topcoat

Last week to enter the BB Couture for Men giveaway! Form on the sidebar, on the upper right.

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