Monday, September 30, 2013

Barielle for Autumn Pt. 2 - Greenwich Village at Dawn and Soho at Night

Hey everybody!  I hope you've had a splendid Monday.  Today I have some more Barielle fall shades to show you.  I didn't call this post "vintage" since the two I'm showing today came out in fall 2012. :)  They are from the Barielle New York Style collection and are reminiscent of the morning and evening.

First up is Greenwich Village at Dawn, a pink-beige shimmer.

 

Whoa!  Waking up in the mornings might be easier if the dawn looked like this!  How lovely is this color?  Greenwich Village at Dawn looks quite pink on me, but in the bottle it is probably equally pink and beige, one of my favorite color blends. :)


This is a very soft, feminine, and office-friendly color.  It's understated and elegant, yet is still unusual and interesting.  I used two coats of Greenwich Village at Dawn for the photos.


You can't tell it in the pics, but the shimmer in this polish is actually GREEN.  You can see it in direct sunlight.  That's what I love about Barielle...their creations don't make a lick of sense half the time, but you love them for it. :D

And representing the time of day when everybody except me comes alive...Soho at Night.


Oh yeah.  Now that's an impressive purple creme...dusty and decidedly eggplant-esque.  Soho at Night IS fall.


My sister used to have a pair of knee-high boots this exact color.  Come to think of it, I gave her those.  Awesome!! :)  Soho at Night brings to mind bundling up in a warm coat and a scarf and cute little hat...you know, all those things we Southern girls get to do like once every 3 or 4 years. :/



Application for Soho at Night was a bit tricky...I applied two coats and discovered it looked patchier than a bald guy with a bad combover.  However, with a third coat, it was Toupée City. :)



How do you like these fall shades?  They are both still part of the Barielle core line and are available on their website.  Their polishes are buy one, get one half off.  You can also purchase the entire New York Style collection (5 polishes) for $25. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely evening! :)

Friday, September 27, 2013

Vintage Barielle for Autumn: Putt-E On Me and Lava Rock

Hey everybody!  This morning it actually sort of felt like fall outside.  However, that didn't stop me from experiencing my standard personal sweating attack within a couple of hours.  Blast you, hot flashes.  Oh well...that doesn't alter the fact that it actually IS fall. :)  And when you know it IS fall, you just want to wear some fall colors!  Today I have a couple of Barielle polishes from the 2009 All Lacquered Up collection that I just recently purchased and discovered with much delight are thoroughly autumnal. 

First up is Putt-E On Me, a beautiful, shiny creme.


Let me first say that I purchased both polishes I'm showing today at TJ Maxx in a variety box of 5 for $7.99. I love Barielle polishes, mostly because you can almost always find a crazy strange one in your box.   Putt-E On Me is said crazy strange one.  


When I saw the bottle and read the name, I thought it was probably like your standard greige on the nail...you know, some harmlessly uninteresting putty color.  Wow, was I wrong!  I don't know if it's my skin tone, but this lovely creme has undertones of smoky mulberry.  I love this polish!


Putt-E On Me is definitely a greige-ish neutral, but it's so much more interesting on that you think it will be.  I used 2 coats for the photos, which do not show just how shiny this polish is.  Very, very pretty and versatile.

Another obviously autumn polish from my superbly priced Barielle set is Lava Rock.


Well, you don't have to be a neurosurgeon to know that I fell in love with this one too.  Lava Rock is a dark, vampy, blackened plum with a red shimmer.  It reminds me of OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest.


The bottle shot looks like there is blue in the shimmer too, but I looked and looked under a bright light, and I couldn't see the blue.  I suppose the polish gremlins were playing a trick on me. :D  I used two coats for the photos.


Even if the blue shimmer was merely in my head, the red shimmer is blatantly there.  There is also an almost duochrome look about Lava Rock.  This polish apparently thinks it's funny to fool the eye. :P  No matter, you sly little jester...you're still delectable! 



I love both these Barielle fall colors.  Barielle polishes can be purchased on their website.  They sell for $8 each and your second one is $4.  And of course, you can always go stalking your local TJ Maxx and Marshall's for great deals on Barielle multi-packs. :)

What's your favorite autumn nail color?  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

My Favorite Gumdrop: Nicole by OPI That's What I Mint

Hey everybody!  Well, how do you like that?  Nicole by OPI goes and sneaks in a couple of new textured Gumdrops shades on us.  And one of them is teal.  Hyperventilating yet??


Goodness gracious ALIVE, but this color is fabulous.  NOPI calls this shade emerald green (not mint, as the name suggests), and it honestly does look very much like Zoya Giovanna.  But sorry, I call greens with this much blue in them "teal."  It's my blog, after all. :D


Oh, and I didn't mention the highly visible gold shimmer that runs throughout That's What I Mint.  Yep, this one officially wins the blue ribbon for my favorite texture.   The photos show 2 coats on its own.


And 2 coats with topcoat:


ARRGGHH!!  Look at the depth the top coat gives the color.  It also allows the gold shimmer to really be noticeable.   You all know how much I love textured polishes with topcoat...they always look like a pavement of colored diamonds. 


That's What I Mint was released with a limited edition yellow polish called Lemon Lolly.  I found them at Target, right after I left Ulta next door...Ulta had a full display of the original shades, but not the two new ones.  Wow, how lucky am I that just HAD to go to Target to get some Pumpkin Spice M&Ms that night?? :P

Thank for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Monday, September 23, 2013

Nail of the Day: OPI Not Like the Movies

Hey everybody!  A couple of weeks ago I was doing some cheapskate polish shopping at TJ Maxx and found several interesting things (including an Orly duo of Beautiful Disaster and Sparkling Garbage for $6.99.  I figured that HAD to have been an accident but bought it anyway.). :D  The store had several OPI duos, and I purchased a lovely Katy Perry Collection duo of The One That Got Away and today's polish, Not Like the Movies.



UGH!!!  How gorgeous is this??!!  It's just amazing.  Not Like the Movies is a green/purple shifting duochrome, but it's got that little extra something in the form of *shimmer*!  You see, shimmer makes the world a better place.  The end.


Awww, just kidding...I'm back! :)  Not Like the Movies has also got this silver undercurrent going on that gives it a fantasy feel.  Why is it that nail polish addicts love that?  Do we have a problem facing reality?  Or do we just feel better with magic sauce on our nails? :P

I used 3 coats of Not Like the Movies to cover my visible nail line.  Now for some color shift angle attempts!


(Midget Pinky regrets that she was unable to appear in today's post.)

I hope you can see the delicate sparkle.  It's more obvious in real life.  I am not always super in love with every duochrome out there, but Not Like the Movies is a truly beautiful polish.  There's something about the finish that reminds me of a ballgown from the 1950's.



What do you think of this glamorous polish?  It's old Hollywood meets the Age of Technology.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Saturday, September 21, 2013

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: House of Usher

Hey everybody!  I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  Today I have the final "fall" from Pretty Jelly's The Fall Collection.  The first four polishes I've shown from the collection are absolutely gorgeous, and today's is no exception!  Just in time for the Halloween season, meet the polish inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's self-destructive abode, the House of Usher.


House of Usher is described by Liz of Pretty Jelly is a "brooding purple."  I love this term...it's a dusty, grape soda purple holo with a slight touch of grey.  It's an unusual purple.  I know I'm using the word unusual about all The Fall Collection polishes, but one reason they are so appealing is the fact that the colors have a little unexpected something to set them apart from the standard issue offerings.


The Fall of the House of Usher is a gothic horror story that tells the story of Roderick Usher, who buried his twin sister Madeline alive, in their family home that seems to be alive itself.  As Roderick is reading aloud a story, each description of a sound in the story actually takes place in the Usher house, and finally, a bedroom door flies open to reveal poor, dead Madeline standing in the doorway.  She falls over on Roderick, who also dies, and the whole house cracks up.  Thank goodness Poe was blessed with an extra dose of crazy to come up with such an awesome story! :)


I used two coats of House of Usher for the photos.  The application was textbook Pretty Jelly great. :)  I *attempted* to get a better holo shot by going outside and standing right in the middle of a sunbeam; but alas, it didn't seem to work after repeated snaps, so I just gave up.  Just believe me when I say the holo is great.

But don't be afraid of this beautiful, yet mysterious, purple!


I hope you all have enjoyed this week of the The Fall Collection by Pretty Jelly!  Which one is your favorite?  It's tough for me to choose...but I think I might have to go with Rabbit Hole! :)  Be sure to check out Pretty Jelly on Facebook!  You can find all of the amazing polishes by Liz on Etsy

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: Rabbit Hole

Hey everybody!  I hope you are all doing well today.  I am super excited for today's post, another epic "fall" as interpreted by the amazing Liz at Pretty Jelly.  It's a story of confusion, riddles, and trying to get back home - featuring a girl named Alice, who fell down the...Rabbit Hole!


OH.  MY.  GOODNESS.  I think I would gladly put up with a weird cat, a grumpy caterpillar, a chop-happy monarch, and insanity in general if Wonderland was THIS color.  I mean, why would Alice even want to come back?? :)  This stuff is magic in a bottle.


Let me quote Liz's description of Rabbit Hole, because it's so complex I'd never get it right myself: "brown-purple base with red-violet shimmer that turns gold at extreme angles, large copper glitter, small copper-gold glitter, and sparse holographic glitter."  And that's all there, in one convenient polish!


I would describe the overall look of Rabbit Hole as aubergine.  It's just so gorgeous.  Really.  It's a crelly, and I could have used 3 coats, but I only used two because quite frankly, my lighting was bad and I couldn't see what I was doing! :P  The formula is fantastic and the application effortless, as with all Pretty Jelly polishes.

So...will you also be falling down the Rabbit Hole?  It's a lovely place to be...



Pretty Jelly Rabbit Hole is available on Etsy.  Be sure to check out the entire Fall Collection!  They are all so beautiful that you'll be sure to "fall" for them! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)




Wednesday, September 18, 2013

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: Poison Envy

Hey everybody!  I hope you're enjoying this week of famous "falls" as much as I am!  Today I have for you another beautiful Pretty Jelly polish, and this one is inspired by the biggest fall of them all:  the fall of man.  Feast your eyes on the very tempting Poison Envy!


When God created Adam and Eve, they were without sin.  He gave them a lush paradise, the Garden of Eden, as their home.  God told them they could eat anything in the Garden they wanted, except the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; if they ate the fruit, they would die.  Satan, in the form of a serpent, approached Eve and told her that if she and Adam ate the fruit, they would not die but would become like God.  Eve looked at the fruit...it looked tasty, it was pretty, and it would make her wise like God.  She and Adam ate the fruit and immediately knew they had sinned against God.  Poison Envy is inspired by Adam and Eve's  desire for something they could not have.


Of course, we always associate envy with the color green.  Poison Envy is a slightly blue-leaning ivy green linear holo.  Hmmm, and if you think about it, the holo makes it look a bit on the reptilian side too.  But don't let that deter all you snake haters!  It's quite harmless, if you call staring at your nails whilst driving harmless. :) 


I used 2 perfect, buttery coats of Poison Envy for full, drag-free coverage. :)  I'm really loving the hint of blue in this delicious dark green.  And I'll leave you all with a food reference most apropos!



It's not REALLY poisonous, so check out Poison Envy at Pretty Jelly's Etsy shop!  Liz makes some of the loveliest holos you ever saw!  Also, be sure to like Pretty Jelly on Facebook...Liz is having a giveaway when she reaches 6K likes!  You just might not have to ENVY me anymore for having such a lovely polish!! :D

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: London Bridge

Hey everybody!  Today I have another famous fall courtesy of Pretty Jelly!  And guess what's falling down today?  Why, it's London Bridge, my fair ladies! ;)

London Bridge is, of course, a very old nursery rhyme/game that everybody has played as a child.  I say everybody...but these days, I don't know...is there an app for that? :/  Pretty Jelly's London Bridge is an homage to that structure that has had many incarnations, and according to the song, always seems to be in need of repair!


As you can see, there is nothing in need of repair here!  London Bridge is a pale grey crelly with small and medium gold hex glitter, gold holo glitter, and a ton of gold and pale blue shimmer.  I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but I love this polish!  What seems like such a simple combination is so very elegant.


Isn't this beautiful?  London Bridge is another one of those polishes that gives me a clear mental image...it looks like sunlight peeking through the London fog.  London Bridge is a bit sheer, although you could probably reach opacity on its own with 3 coats.  But because my visible nail line is SO visible, I layered London Bridge over Zoya Kendal, which I've discovered will pretty much morph into whatever color I tell it to.  The result was exceptionally lovely, as the very slight lavender of Kendal looked wonderful with the grey crelly base of London Bridge.


CAUTION:  FOOD ANALOGY AHEAD

As I was admiring my polish on the drive into work, I realized that London Bridge made me feel inexplicably warm and toasty, and not just because it's 85 degrees right now...rather, it was a nostalgic kinda warm that probably involved food.  Then it hit me...London Bridge reminds me of my Mom's homeade oyster stew, with the creamy, milky base and the little drops of butter floating to the top...mmmmmmm...

Or maybe we all just need a spot of English tea.



What do you think of London Bridge?  It's another amazing "fall" from the Pretty Jelly Fall Collection.  You can purchase London Bridge and other Pretty Jelly polishes from Etsy, Mei Mei's Signatures, and Edgy Polish.  Pretty Jelly polishes are 5-free and cruelty-free.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!

Monday, September 16, 2013

A Week of Falls with Pretty Jelly: Mexico City

Hey everybody!  I am pretty excited about this week's posts.  I will be featuring the new fall collection by Pretty Jelly, simply titled The Fall Collection.  You may think, "Oh well, that sounds like everybody else's collection for autumn", but creator Liz, being the extremely clever and talented girl she is, designed all 5 polishes after famous "falls."  I have to admit, she sucked me in with that description alone...but then when I saw the collection...yikes!!

The first "fall" polish I have is Mexico City.  It's red.  And it's a linear holo.  Wait!!  I didn't mean for you to fall LITERALLY! ;)


Liz's inspiration for Mexico City was "The Fall" by Albert Camus, which tells the story of a respected lawyer's fall from grace after he sabotages his own good reputation.  Mexico City is the name of a bar in the...uh...bad part of Amsterdam....hence the red color. :)


Are you "falling" yet?  I thought as much... :)  I love this polish.  It's not a RED red, but it is a very unusual color.  Of course, that gets another gold star from me.  Indoors and in shade, it's a delicious mauvey-red with a hint of salmon.  In the light, the color brightens and deepens.


And I discovered it's probably not a good idea to do holo posts at 11 p.m. :D  BUT lucky me...I have a halogen spotlight in my office, so I got a rather awful phone picture of Mexico City, as far as the color goes, but it does show the linear holo: 

Look, Mom!  I'm jaundiced!! 

There is no special base coat needed for Mexico City.  The application was fantastically smooth and covered in 2 coats.   And two other awesome things to note about this polish:  I had no cleanup, and it's incredibly shiny.  


A fall from grace may come as a result of many things...greed, envy, anger...nail polish addiction.  Did I just say that? :)  

Pretty Jelly polishes are 5-free and cruelty-free.  Mexico City can be purchased at the Pretty Jelly Etsy store.  And be sure to check out Liz's blog, Liquid Jelly.  She keeps you updated on all the great stuff she's creating!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! :)

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Skittles for Essie - A Tribute

Hey everybody!  

Many of you may have read this past week that Essie Rae of IHeartPrettyPolish has decided to take an indefinite break from blogging.  This was a difficult decision for her, but she ultimately feels like this is the best thing for her life right now.  Essie has become a dear friend to me over the past few months.  She was the one who encouraged me to start my blog.  Her blog was also the very first polish blog I ever followed.  I think I was her 27th follower! :)  So about 1200 followers later, Essie still always made the time to encourage me in my blogging and just be a good friend in general, even from 1497 miles away.

The lovely Christine of Polished Marvels had the wonderful idea for a few of us to honor Essie in the form of a tribute skittlette.  Now you all know I don't do nail art, and even the idea of a skittlette made me panic (I never let on to Christine...LOL), but I just put together some memories of Essie's manis from over the past year and a half, and it all came together. :)

 
Essie's Skittlette: Starring Zoya Dannii, OPI OY-Another Polish Joke, Maya Cosmetics Imagine

Way back before I was blogging and looked upon Essie as quite the nail polish rock star (I still do, by the way), she did a Friday Favorites post featuring Zoya Dannii.  Dannii was my very favorite polish for a long time.  I thought to myself, "Well, it's official.  This girl has great taste." :D  I even got up enough courage to COMMENT on the post!


Zoya Dannii is a medium purple shimmer.  It's a completely beautiful polish with the usual fantastic Zoya application.  I painted my thumb and index finger with Dannii and my pinky bookend with another shimmer, this year's favorite gold, the fabulous OPI OY-Another Polish Joke.


For my middle and ring fingers, I used Imagine by indie company Maya Cosmetics.  Essie featured a Maya Cosmetics polish about one week before I started my blog, and I was not very familiar with indie companies then.  But per usual Essie, she made the polish look so good that I looked up Maya myself. :)  Imagine is a sheer white base with purple and yellow gold satin glitter and some tiny iridescent glitter.  Because Imagine is so sheer, I layered it over Zoya Kendal, and oddly enough, it still looked white! 


The finished look shows how well the matte satin glitter of Imagine compliments the shimmer of Dannii and OY.

And could I ever "imagine" blogging without having known my dear friend Essie?  No.


You can check out more love for Essie today here:

http://polishedmarvels.blogspot.com/2013/09/skittles-for-essie-tribute.html

http://www.must-stash-em.blogspot.com/2013/09/skittles-for-essie-tribute.html

http://liesllovesprettythings.blogspot.com/2013/09/skittles-for-essie-tribute.html




Thanks for stopping by.  And thanks, Essie. <3