Banana Republic Has Nail Polish...Who Knew?

And of course, I found it in the States on my trip to NYC last May and since it was 30% percent off the last sticker price when I found them, they cost me $2 US each.  Above is City Sidewalks, a name that made me think that this was possibly from a Christmas collection because the phrase mad me think of my favourite Holiday song, Silver Bells:

City sidewalks busy sidewalks . Dressed in holiday style In the air There's a feeling of Christmas...

I always start my Christmas shopping in August.  If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to afford to buy anyone anything if I waited until December!  Back to the polish:  This is lovely cool medium toned grey that even though I had some issues with streaking, I ended up really liking this colour very much and it looked great with the pink shirt I wore that day. 

 

This one is called Cranberry Sauce, so you can see where I'm getting the impression that this one was supposed to also be a holiday themed colour.  It's lovely but I literally have dozens of polishes that look like this.  That doesn' mean I don't like it and the formula for this was actually quite sturdy.  The polish was a bit thick but I wore it for three days and as you can see, there's barely any wear to it.  A good by for $2.

This last one is called Vixen.  This one is my favourite of the bunch because this is the type of colour that goes with everything.  Red, blue, yellow, green, purple, you name it and it will be complimentary to whatever you are wearing. One thing to note it the colour in the polish is so dense that bottle colour is achievable in one coat, which is what you see in the photo above.  Just one coat!

I don't know if Banana Republic will continue to offer nail polish but if there was a way I could keep buying it, I would!

Polish Spamarama!!!

I've got almost enough nail polish right now I can almost wear a different colour everyday for 2 years.  And with that being said, here's some polish spam action...

The magnetic nail polish trend is still hanging in their and yet I still don't have the hang of it.  This one is Gold Nugget from Layla.  It's nice but I'm not seeing the colour gold in here. I still have to practice tons more to master this trend before it's all over!

I so badly wanted Essie's Sexy Divide to be totally awesome but instead it ended up being totally awful. Three coats couldn't stop the the bald spots and the thin formula lead to chips within less than 12 of wear.  beautiful in the bottle, disastrous on my nails.

I don't wear a lot of pink polish but when I do, Maybelline's Timely Rose is my go to polish.  It's not childish or bubble gummy in any way.  It's positively lady like!

It's pretty obvious by now that grey nail polish is never going to go away.  Good!  The more funky neutral colours the better and Essie's School of Hard Rocks is a pretty good one with a thick and even formula that went on with ease and had staying power and a strong shine.

I haven't even worn To Buy or Not to Buy from Essie yet so I had to rely on my sister to model this lavender shimmer for me.  It looks so much nicer on the nail than in the bottle doesn't it?

Someday, I'll pick up a bottle of gun metal nail polish and say that I've really bought enough of these types of colours and place it back on the display.  Since I didn't have that voice in my head telling me to "just put the polish down and back away" I bought L'oreal's VIP Status.  You can see a bit of balding at the top of my index finger but that's mainly the fault of an unbuffed nail base and not the polish.

Hey!  Did I hear someone say they wanted to see a picture of Tom Hiddleston, Michael Sheen and Queen Elizabeth?  No? Well too bad...here it is anyways:

Her Royal Highness Must Have Thought He Was Tony Blair!

I Have a Herring Problem by OPI

So you can imagine how surprised I was that the formula for Gouda Gouda Two Shoes from OPI's Holland Collection was, in comparison with so many other of their polishes, was quite sub par.  I have grown accustomed to a high level of quality from the brand but every once in a while, you get an unpleasant surprise!  I tend not to use base coats and top coats when I polish my nails for two reasons.  the first one is the fact that I change my polish often!  Some times I'll wear a colour for four or five days but it's rare that I do.  The second reason is that I feel that if I use a base & top coat, I am not really judging the true quality of the polish and prefer to experience it "as is" so to speak.

So trust me when I say that the quality of I Have a Herring Problem is just terrible!  I had liked this cool grey shimmer well enough in the bottle but once I had it on my fingers, I just found it underwhelming, thin patchy and worst off all, it chipped badly within a few hours of application.

This Happened After Only Three Hours of Wear...

So it ended up being bland and bad quality.  Think that I might have fared better with another polish from the Holland Collection?  We shall see...

Fossil Grey by Gosh

I had my eye on Fossil Grey for a few months now but I kept holding off hoping for a sale rather than pay full price for it.  Now, that attitude make me a little cheap, as their regular price isn't very high, $6 CDN at the most.  However, once it was reduced it set me back an astronomical amount of $2!

Of all the grey polishes I own, this cool toned grey with silver shimmer reminds me the most of wet cement.  The texture was different as well..  It had shine to it but it appears subdued.  More like a satin finish than a shimmer, Fossils Grey could easily look glossy or flat, depending how the light hit it (which is fairly well illustrated in the above photo).  It applied very smoothly but I'm not sure if it was the polish or the fact that my nails were still sleek from my very first manicure (more on that later) and it wore for 3 days without a nick.  I'm pretty fond of this polish.  I've only got a few items from Gosh, lipstick & blush, but I'm happy with the line so far.   I also like their package design as it mimics some of the higher priced brands without the high price.  It might me hard to find but if you find yourself in a Shoppers Drug Mart and you're thinking about picking it up, remember that a cup of coffee from Starbucks will cost you more but the polish last so much longer than a tall latte.

Cool Couture by Maybelline

After the polish disaster that was Purple Trend, I'm glad to say that another polish from the same Fall 2011 Maybelline line is definitely not hideous.  Mind you, Cool Couture is a terrible polish name that almost makes me long for the terrible puns that OPI always seem to come up with.  A cool dark grey with a good amount of teal shimmer, Cool Couture has a great finish and decent durability, even though I needed 3 coats to make it look its best.  I can't really complain about that as it is a quick dry polish. The shimmer gives the colour some depth to it and was the main reason that I picked it up.  There's been plenty of deep, cool toned creme polishes this fall so I didn't really need to get me another one but I can't help but notice  in this photo that the polish is making my skin look a little pale.  I don't have an issue with that but I can't help but wonder if it would make someone with a much paler complexion look really washed out.

New York Colours Fall 2011 Polishes: Scene Stealer Grey

It's so nice when you get an actual sunny day in which to photograph your polish with! We just are not getting a lot of bright days in the GTA these last few weeks and nothing really brings out the accuracy of colour like the rays of the sun.  I've had these polishes for a few months now but I hadn't had enough time to get around to posting about them.  With big collections like OPI's the Muppets and MAC's Gareth Pugh (those photos are coming soon...I promise!) a smaller collection like one from New York Color can get left behind.  So last but not least, here's Scene Stealer Grey from their Fall 2011 collection.  This polish is more of a gun metal or deep silver than it is a grey.  When I think of the colour grey, I tend to think of creme finishes and not so much about shimmers.  The formula is a bit thin, if you take a look at the top of my pinkie nail, you'll see a bit of a bald patch and the small brush was a little bit of  a challenge application wise but all and all, it's still a good buy for less than $3 CDN

Magnetic Nail Polish by Layla & Nails Inc.

As much as I love nail polish, I have to admit that sometimes I can suffer from a feeling that I can best describe as a "lack of new things" vibe that I think comes from seeing the same brands over and over again and having to make the weighty decision of "should I buy this creme or shimmer finish?"  As the popularity of nail polish has growth hugely in the last few years, manufacturers have had to get a lot more inventive and/or innovative in order to stand out in what is now a very crowded market.  More often than not, some of these "innovations" are just retreads of ideas tried out in the past like matte finish polishes, polishes in pens and crackle top coats.  I've seen all of these trends before (let's face it, I'm old!) and I've tried them all too but one type of polish eluded me for a while and that was magnetic nail polish.  

Magneto, Do Your Thing!

This in itself isn't new.  I've seen them often on many other blogs in the last few years but somehow I either missed out when the polish was first available and since I don't shop online as much as I used to, my options for purchasing were limited.

But now magnetic polish is all over the place from high end retailers like Sephora to your local pharmacy which is where I picked up these two polishes to try out:

First up is Trafalgar Square from Nail Inc. London which is finally available at Sephora stores in Canada.  They didn't have too much to offer by way of colour choices.  In fact, the Sephora that I bought this from only had two: a dark grey/black and a dark purple. 

The second polish is Velvet Groove from Layla.  They had a larger choice of colours that included blues & greens but I think I chose this colour because I still would have liked it even if it didn't have tiny magnetic particles in it.  As you can see, I had a few issues with the application, which obviously takes more time to do than the usual process.

The process is simple though.  You paint your nail and while the polish is still wet, you hold the magnet (which is part of the bottle cap) over your nail for a few seconds as it pulls on the particles to form a design on your nail...

Kind of Like This, Only With a Lot Less Charisma.

And you better work fast because both of these polishes dry like lightning and you'll just end up with a very frosty looking finish. Oddly enough, what helps this process work is much like what it takes to get to Carnegie Hall: Practice!  I botched up my first two attempts on my pinkies and ring fingers by holding the magnets so close, I smudged my polish with the bottle caps!  The first photo is the Nails Inc. cap and the second is the Layla cap.

The Handy, Rounded Guide for Your Nail Didn't Stop Me From Smearing the Polish.

Oops! I Did it Again.

Two words of advice. If you buy the Layla polish and you smudge your nails with the bottle cap, do not wipe the polish off or you will end up ruining the effect of the magnet design as seen in the above photo.  The second is you really should work in a well lit area so that you can see what you're doing and avoid mishaps.

So now for the final word.  Which one is the better polish of the two?  As far as the application process goes both the Nails Inc. and Layla polishes are on the same level but when it comes to results I preferred the Layla polish since once I got the hang of the magnet, the results were much more dramatic.

Ta Da!

Essie Resort Collection Minis: Part 1 - The Pinks

So I picked up The Resort Collection minis from Essie last week and the first thing that stuck me as being a little odd about the collection is that even though it's called "The Resort Collection" the names of the polishes would better suit a safari theme.  I suppose they may have wanted to avoid any confusion with Sephora's Safari Luxe Collection because when polishes sport names like Lion Around, Your Hut Or Mine, Fair Game & Da Bush, it seems obvious that they didn't have Club Med or Atlantis Bahamas in mind for inspiration...

Not Pictured: Lions, Huts, Fair Game But Possibly Some Huts.

But onto the polishes!  The King of the Jungle is not the first thing that crosses the mind when you look at Lion Around, which is a very light somewhat fleshy pink tone with a slight shimmer to it.  It's formula was quite thick but applied well and was opaque in two coats.  This colour fits in well with my current neutral phase that I'm going through.

I like it well enough but not as much as Your Hut Or Mine.  Despite the super cheesy name I think that this is the nicest pink polish I've ever bought.  Like Lion Around, this polish also has a subtle shimmer to it that isn't overbearing at all.  It gives it a little bit of extra shine without it looking frosty and I just wanted to wag my fingers in every ones face just to make sure they could see how pretty it is!

Coming Soon...Part 2 - The Other Colours!

Jury Duty with Sidewalkers by NYC

Jury Duty...it’s more than just the thing that’s keeping me away from posting in the last few days, it’s my “civic duty” people!  It’s more fun than:

• ·         Waiting for a train for 3 months
• ·         Waiting for a bad breakup haircut to grow out
• ·         Talking about the weather
• ·         Driving to an airport in a foreign country for 5 hours only to find that you’ve been going the wrong way the whole time!

Ummm, You Guys...It's The Other Way!

But I digress, nothing says “civic duty” like sitting in a huge room with 300 other bored-ass people waiting to see if your name will be called so you can sit through a trial and decide the fates of all the parties involved...Wooooo! I figured that an appropriate nail colour to go along with bureaucracy would be Sidewalkers from NYC's Quick Dry line:

The price was right for this polish, under $3 CDN so no complaints from me about that.  I also have nothing to complain about in terms of the polish either.  It applies well and dries quickly and colour is a very neutral light grey that goes with everything.  If you're going to spend $3 on a polish, spend it on this one.

Wham Bam Thank You Spam! Here's a Bunch of Polish

Hey out there!  I`ve been so swamped with school and stuff that I haven`t had time to craft together a long, convoluted post as I so like to do but my birthday (and my twin sister`s too!) is this weekend so I`m not planning to do any posting  for a few days.  But that doesn`t mean I can`t fill the gap a little with a few polishes that I`ve being sporting lately!

Here`s OPI`s Just a Little Rosti from the Swiss Collection.  I have dozens of polishes that are similar to this one and I always tell myself I`m not going to buy anymore.  But then I`ll be in the store and I`ll see them and that notion flys out the window.  I`m just kidding myself.  I will always buy polishes like this because I love them and this one is no exception!

I found Borghese`s Stellare Notte a few months back at Winners for $4.99 CDN which is much more fair than the $17.00 CDN that Shoppers Drug Mart shills them for.  This is an awesome colour with a nice douchrome effect which you can see in the bottle but I couldn't capture it on  my nails in the photo.

I wore Purple Gala from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear line on Christmas Day and I got lots of compliments on it.  It applied well, wore well and was easy to remove to.  It was a definite winner at $2 CDN.

Another win from the Joe Fresh makeup line is Orchid.  A really pretty purple that I was glad to add to my collection, especially when I was going through my Purple Pandemonium a few months back.  It`s hard to say no to a polish line that sells at 3 for $10 CDN, the cost of one bottle of OPI up in the Great White!  I`ve read online recently that Joe Fresh will be opening their first US store in Manhattan soon, so if things go well for them, any American readers will have access to the brand.  Happy Future Shopping USA!

After a few months of darks, greens, purples, glitters, shimmers and crackles, I was pretty eager to sport some more calm and sedating colours and Zoya`s Nikki is one of my favourites.  I actually find it a little difficult to describe the colour, it`s not really pink, or beige but it has a great blue shimmer in it that keeps it from being too bland.

 As much as I love grey polish, this one drives me nuts!  OPI`s Moon Over Mumbai should be one of my all time favourites but it isn`t because, look at that photo.  That`s 3 coats of polish and still it`s nowhere near the coverage it needs.  What a nail fail!

Now I love this colour.  Leotard Optional from Sephora by OPI`s Urban Ballerina collection is for me the perfect neutral.  It goes with any outfit I put on which is great BUT...!

Everyone I Know Has a Big But!  This Big, In Fact!

Legwarmers Optional has a dupe!  A low cost dupe at that too!  I was in a big ass Loblaws last weekend and when I checked out their Joe Fresh nail polish display to see if they had anything new, I found that the LO that I was wearing was exactly the same as their polish called NUDE and it would have cost me only $4 CDN or 3 for $10 instead of $13 for one bottle!  I could have saved $9...

Nine Bucks!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!!

Sigh...that brings me to my last polish for today.  Zoya`s Gemma from their Spring 2011 Collection.  This another one of their greens that just knocks it out of the park for me:

Yes, it`s a hospital green but if hospitals had that awesome blue shimmer in them, I`d be less reluctant to go to them.  Zoya is starting to be my favourite salon brand as I haven`t bought anything from them that disappointed me yet but it`s still not the easiest brand to find in T.O. and when I do, the store`s stock is not always up to date.

Well that`s it for now...I hope that everyone has a great weekend and the next time you hear from me, I`ll be a year older!

Recycle by China Glaze

Recycle is a beautiful medium grey creme from China Glaze's Eco-Collection from a few years back and it was the first grey polish that I have owned.  I loved the grey look so much that I've bought several more grey polishes and I hope this trend never goes away!  The application was really good, despite the very thin brush and just two coats gave complete coverage.  I always get great compliments when I wear this polish.

 But I do have one small quirk about it and that is the fact that a colour that can conjure up images of pollution would be in a collection called Eco in the first place. The other colours of this collection where the kinds that could potentially occur naturally.  Lord knows, nothing represents a love of our planet like a nail polish that looks like a smoggy day in Shanghai:

The Earth:  I'm Loving It!

Maybe they were trying to remind us how our planet will end up if we don't respect it.  Yeah, that's probably it!  I just want to say "Hi & Welcome" to my second follower, Dale! Thanks so much!

Until next time, don't break a nail!

Lancome & Estee Lauder 2011 Spring Collections Are All About Purple

Violet Groove & Le 54

Wild Storm

Or to be more specific, Lavender and Violet.  Lancome's Ultra Lavande collection includes two polishes: Violet Groove & Le 54.  Estee Lauder's Wild Violet collection includes only one polish: Wild Storm.  As you can see, it's not violet but it should look great when paired with that colour.  Wild Storm looks awesome, I love silver & grey and I dig how the Lancome collection is trying to evoke an air of 70's international decadence with Groove & 54. I thought it was just who was going through a big purple phase but now it seems it's just not me!

Dupioni by Joe Fresh & A New Frankenpolish

So it finally snowed in T.O. so I thought it might be a good time to break out Dupioni by Joe Fresh, a white shimmer that came in their Holiday gift set that included Midas.  This word rang no bells for me at all so I had to look it up to find that Dupioni is a type of silk that is often used in wedding dresses.  No wonder I never heard of it!  If there is one thing that is never mentioned in the same sentence, it's my name and wedding dresses!  Anyways, the quality of this polish is very good.  Yes, the bottle cap is a bit awkward to hold, but the brush itself is really wide and the formula is not watery which lead to a very smooth application overall.   I would have expected a white shimmer to be extremely streaky but this polish wasn't at all.  I'm not sure how often I would use this colour, since for some reason, I find white polish sort of makes nails look like they're fake, but I'm going to hang onto it because it's such good quality.

I've haven't been shopping yet in the new year but I wanted a new polish to play with.  So I grabbed some old polishes and whipped up a Frankenpolish so that I had something new.  I took Respect the World Nicole by OPI, Glow by Sally Hansen  and Creative Nail Designs Hyde in the Dark,  mixed them together and got this:

 

Hmm, Not Bad!

Left to Right: Respect the World, Glow, Hyde in the Dark & Frankenpolish

Although I'm really pleased with the result, it made me think of a couple of green polishes that I already had , namely Irene by Zoya & Leaf Him at the Alter from Sephora by OPI so I swatched them for a quick comparison:

Yay!  Looks like they're not that similar after all, since the frankenpolish has so much gunmetal in it and I've got a new toy to play with!

Last but not least, I would like to give a shout out to my very first follower, Jessica!  Thanks to you, I'm feeling a lot more motivated  to keep posting!   Until the next time, don't break a nail!

Sew Pysched By Essie

Well, it took a while for my local Trade Secrets to get the new Essie Fall 2010 line in stock but it finally showed up!  Sew Pysched is a cool green/grey with the slightness bit of shimmer in it.  So slight that it's barely detectable on the nail and to the camera that I might as well take it out of my shimmer section of my polish collection. As you can see, it dries to a darker colour than it is in the bottle but still has that green tint to it.  Application was pretty good, at two coats it's totally opaque and it doesn't bare any resemblance to any grey polish I already have.

I know that there's been a lot of grey polish in the last few years and I hope that they never go away.  I've always loved all types of grey in my wardrobe so for me, grey polish is a must.  Grey is a neutral and neutrals can go with just about anything.

Stash It/Pass It:  Stash It!