It's pretty clear that I wore New York Color's Backstage Brown for at least 3 days before I ended up taking a photo of it and as with Underground Purple, I'm again not really seeing where they're getting the idea that the colour they are seeing is "brown". Out of the 3 polishes of the Fall 2011 collection, this one is my favourite but I would call it more of a honey colour than I would call it brown. I guess if it were called "Backstage Honey" that could conjure up some seedy connotations (or if you just have a dirty mind). The formula is a bit streaky but also provided good coverage in two coats and wore well for 3 days before signs of wear began to show. I would call this an all year round colour and would definately go back to it during the summer months. And speaking of years, Happy New Year everyone! I hope than that the next 366 days (it's a leap year) brings you and those you love, a great many good things and good times!
I don't know about you but I am not seeing any purple going on here with New York Color's Underground Purple at all. That doesn't mean that I don't like it. This type of magneta is one of my favourite colours and one can always get away with wearing make up in this colour (if it's a pair of pants, not so much!). The formula for this polish was much much better than it was for Scene Stealer Grey and applied evenly with no streaking at all. But if you want absolute coverage, then you should use 3 coats instead of 2 as I have in the photo.
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
I made it through the first week of my new job in one piece and I can certainly say that for an accounting firm, it's one of the more liveliest places I've worked at in a long time. I'm hoping things keep going well! But since I'm back in an office setting, I've got a nice calm colour to show you and a not so calm colour. First up New York Color's Bryant Park, a muted gold with a nice amount of shimmer.
Now, I know what you're thinking, enough with the New York Color already but, dammit, they make a good product! If a polish allows me to apply it 1/2 an hour before I go to bed, then that's a polish I'll keep buying and using.
I wish I could say the same thing for Grape Fizz by Revlon, yet another scented polish and the second line of scented polishes that they have released this year.
Ok, I have to say it. How awful this this polish? It's not a question, it's a statement! When I saw it in the store I thought "Oh, so pretty! Like a cross between Urban Decay's Toxin & OPI's Merry Midnight." I was not expecting the watery, see through washout you see in that photo. That's three coats and it's full of bald spots thanks to its uneven application. I took twenty two photos and that's the best one I could get with this massive disappointment of a polish. It's possibly the worst polish I've bought in years and I have 436 bottles of nail polish. To say this one's the worst is saying a lot! Grape Fizz is $5 CDN that I could have flushed down the toilet! The best thing I can say about it is that it smells like grape flavour.
I wore that terrible polish when I went to see Hugh Jackman In Concert last night at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. My sister & I took my Mom as a birthday present but to be honest, it was a present for me too! Hugh Jackman has been bunching up my panties for 11 years now (looking at him should be counted as one of my hobbies) and I have sat through some horrible movies (Kate & Leopold, Someone Like You) and a couple of great ones (The Prestige, The Fountain) to gawk at the man that I can officially say is the most gorgeous male I've ever seen with my own two eyes:
That's Not a Good Picture...
That's a Good Picture!
Being the big old Tony Award winning Broadway lover he is, I was expecting that the show would have a significant amount of cheese to it and don't get me wrong, I love musicals and I love cheese but I wasn't expecting Hugh Jackman to mount one of the most entertaining shows I'd seen in years. I am not babbling through a haze of lust to say that the show is fantastic and if there's anyway you could see it, you should! Jackman's energy and enthusiasm is infectious, he's a great singer, he's extremely funny and has a gift for comedic improvisation that had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe and my Mom can't stop talking about his ass shaking. Yes, Hugh Jackman shaking his ass...
......!!!!
Whoa, sorry about that, I just drifted away in my own mind there for a minute! Within the space of 2 hours Jackman sang numerous medleys of the best of Broadway (including "I Feel Pretty"), did the Readers Digest version of The Boy From Oz (his Tony winning role), told amusing family stories, turned the intro of the Music Man into a rap, chatted up audience members, even dragging up a man from his seat and making the poor guy dance while he sang "Fever" and it was all awesome. But the two real stand outs in the show made my evening for two completely different reasons. Number one is this happened:
When Leia Met Logan!
"Carrie Fisher is in the audience tonight!" Jackman announced and being the nerd girls my sister and I are, we jumped out of our seats screaming "OHMYGODWHERE!!!" Fisher is in town with her show, Wishful Drinking (that show's fun as well) so she stood up, they traded quips, hugged and giggled and probably inspired Fan Fiction. Maybe I should write "The Tale of Princess Leia & the Wolverine" myself because I had a huge nerdgasm when all of this happened. Geeks live for these moments!
Secondly, when Jackman and crew broke into Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Over the Rainbow", I cringed. I really dislike that version of the classic tune and I didn't want to hear it again regardless of who was singing it but my attitude changed when two didgeridoo players came down the aisles (I've never heard them played live before) and Jackman was joined onstage by an aboriginal woman singing along in a native aboriginal language. It was amazing, people were crying. The woman was Olive Knight, who was a co-comissioner of the Bringing Them Home Enquiry that was established by the Australian government in response to efforts made by indigenous communities concerned about the lack of awareness of the history of the forcible removal of the Stolen Generation. The work of Knight and her peers helped lead to the Australian Federal Parliament Apology in 2007. It wasn't just a performance, it was an honour to be in the presence of someone like her.
I'd like to take a moment and welcome my new follower, Christina, to my blog! I'm really glad you enjoy my prattle! Thanks so much!
I'm going to leave you with one of my favourite songs of all time, Courtesy of Wolverine!
I started a new job this week and along with the usual nerves one gets when going into an all new situation, meeting new people and facing brand new challenges, one of the things that I worry about is the all important first impression. You only get one chance to make one and as it often is in a business setting, you have to play it safe until you know when you can let your more funky side come out. So I thought I'd take a few spins with some polish colours that that make a statement but not a super loud statement!
Mindful Mocha by Sally Hansen is a deep chocolate brown creme. I can imagine that this colour is not for everyone and would probably suit those with a deeper skin tone. As I am some one with darker skin, I love how this looks. It's a like a little upward boost from a nude or neutral (and I love those kind of shades). This is two coats and although there was a minor chip early on in wear, it wasn't a huge chip so it wasn't really an issue for me.
Curry Up Don't Be Late by OPI was one of my favourite colours from their India Collection and now that I come to think of it, it was the only colour I bought from the collection. A pale sheer gold, my photo fails to capture the really lovely, reflective shimmer in this polish. That's three coats and it's still quite sheer but it's subtle and is a great choice for summer wear. Just an aside, something is wrong with my camera and it is failing to snap a sharp picture lately. I have to figure it out because it's really bugging me!
NYC's Lincoln Square Lavender reminds me a bit of OPI's Sparrow Me the Drama and although they aren't dupes by any means, I might choose to wear LSL or SMD if drying time was an issue. NYC is always good value for my money, as I usually spend around $2 CDN for one of their polishes and that's always a win in my book!
This one is from my sister's stash and if it wasn't for the fact that we share stuff, I would have rushed out and bought my own bottle. Desert Rose by Rimmel is a dusty orange creme that exudes mutability to me. I know I'm using fancy $3 words to describe it but so many orange polishes are such in your face colours, it takes something calmer like DR to stand out from the rest. Of course it didn't last "Up to 10 days" like the bottle says but it lasted for 3 and that's good enough for me. Rimmel is a brand that, for some reason, keeps slipping my mind when I'm shopping or looking for something new. That's odd since I don't dislike the products from them that I do own. Maybe something is missing the mark for me by way of marketing but the brand doesn't stick out for me.
So there's some tasteful shades for you and I have to admit that I'm going to be slightly frustrated with having to wait until the weekend to wear a blue or green polish. Hey! How about some 1980's cheesy goodness with Canadian rockers Loverboy?
Some nail colours can be so similar that you could easily find yourself buying polishes that are exactly the same. At first glaze it would seem that I did just that when I bought Murray Hill Mauve by New York Color. It sure looks as if a picked up a dupe of OPI's More Time for Me, which was part of the I Don't Do Dishes Collection from a few years back. Well, they're close but it's no cigar and they are enough differences between the two that it keeps me from thinking that I wasted my money. Murray Hill Mauve is slightly lighter with more shimmer to it and although More Time for Me has a bit of shimmer in it, you really need to be up close to see well. Both polishes were well but the most significant difference between the two is their dry time. MHM is a quick dry while MTFM is the regular formula and takes more time to dry. Both were good in two coats so I'll be hanging onto to them!
I just wanted to give a shout out to all the moms out there on Mother's Day today. Just because I'll never be one doesn't mean I don't appreciate all the hard work my Mom has put into me over the years, especially since the last few years have been really hard on me and I don't kow what I would do without her. I also can't go without thanking the other Moms in my life, my Aunt Joan & My Aunt Monica, for all they do for me and my sister since they always go above and beyond to help us when we are down and they don't have to. We are not their kids! Sniff, sniff...Oh, I'm sorry, I have something in my eye!
The Ladies in the top row from left to right: Aunt Ermine, Aunt Thelma, Aunt Sylvia & Grandma.
The Ladies in the bottom row from left to right: My Mom, Aunt Monica & Aunt Joan
