200th Post: Celebrate With Some Polish Pics!

Thought I would take a break from feeling bad about myself to post some polish photos.  Seems like to took me a while to get up to 200 posts but somehow I got there!

Run don't walk to your local Sephora and buy the Chaotic top coat from their Sephora X polish line.  It's now my favourite top coat of all time.  Chaotic is a glitter polish except for the particles are not super shiny and that makes the top coat look like Jackson Pollock rose from the grave just to splatter paint all over your nails.  It's layered over Hampstead Gardens by Nails Inc. and I love it!!!

Jamaica Me Crazy is your typical summertime pink polish but I am always found of a pink that's heavy on the blue.  I remember the formula as being a little bit more durable than Essie usually is.

It's been a while since I've set foot in a Joe Fresh and I still have a few photos from their polish line that I hadn't posted yet, so here they are:

Mallard is a dark green creme that is actually as glossy as it appears in this photo.  I'm not sure if they still make it but if they do, it's a classic fall colour and not a waste at $4.

I'm not as enthusiastic about Mist.  It's a light frosty green tone and it's nice enough but it's nothing to shout about either.  It dries quickly though, so if you are looking for something to quickly do your nails with, this one's a safe bet.

This one has me stumped.  When I found it in the store, none of the bottles had a label that indicated its name.  It's a nice Blurple but it has a few issues with streaking, which you can see in the photo.

Rusty from Gosh is definitely going to be going back on my nails this summer as it's a great bronze shimmer with good wear time.

I think I might have had Essie's Sag Harbour before I started writing this blog, so I guess it was time to post it.  Again, this is a colour that says summer and is exactly the type of colour I like to sport while swimming in the ocean!  God, I want to go back and see my family in Barbados...:(

She's Picture Perfect from Essie is a lilac colour I liked much, much more in the bottle than I like on my nails.  It didn't quite go with my skin tone and you can notice some patchy bald spots that made the application less than stellar.

Anyone one who has checked out this blog knows about my goofy/sad/manic/self-deprecating obsession with actor Tom Hiddleston.  Well, this Wednesday, it got even worse!  I guess I'm going through a mid-life crisis and so while some people buy expensive sports cars or cheat on their spouses, I decided to do something else.  After waiting almost a entire year, and paying for it on installments (because it is that expensive) my Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece 1/6th LOKI finally arrived at my doorstep and man!  Is it something to be seen:

No, I Did Not Happen to Bump Into Tom Hiddleston on the Street While He Happened to be Wearing Full Loki Regalia!  This is s DOLL!!!

If you're not familiar with deluxe figure manufacturers Hot Toys, then you should know that they are arguably the very best at facial reproduction of the a film's original character.  He has wrinkles on his forehead and tiny freckles on his face and neck with what I assume is a brush made with one single hair plucked from the eyelash of an angel.  I have not even begun to take pictures of my 1/6th sized imaginary boyfriend  but would like to do a full length review because this thing is so damn awesome!!!

Peacock by Joe Fresh

Now that's a beauty of a blue polish!  Peacock from Joe Fresh is exactly the kind of colour you'd see shimmering in that spectacular bird's plumage.  It could only be better if it was a douchrome, that would have been awesome.  I continue to be happy with the Joe Fresh line of cosmetics, not just the polish but the lipsticks as well.  Hardly any of it is priced above $8 CDN unless it's a palette (and I have too many of those already).  the formula for this polish was pretty good, it wasn't sticky and didn't drag over my nails but just as it is with almost every blue polish I've owned, this really stained my nails and my fingers so it was an extra effort to remove.

My Tummy is Growling with Food Inspired Polishes

Despite having recently lost over 40 pounds, I still find myself spending a lot of time thinking about food.  Now, don’t start thinking that I’m depriving myself of the foods I love because I don’t do that.  I just eat less of it while forcing myself to do one of the things in life that I really hate to do: exercise!

If you’re someone who’s dieting or trying to lose weight then you know how difficult it can be since food is everywhere.  Even in nail polish names:

 

Now that Fall is just around the corner, people are going to be consuming a lot less of these slushy coffees in a cup.  Sally Hansen’s Iced Coffee from their Complete Salon Manicure line looks like a nice creamy neutral in the bottle but once you get it on your nails, you can see how watered down it really is.  This is two coats but it’s streaky and with plenty of bald spots in its application, this one’s a real disappointment unless you want to try for three coats.

Sometimes it seems like I can’t start my day without one of these to get me going in the morning.  Espresso from Joe Fresh is a dark brown shimmer that in a weird sort of way, reminds me more of raisins than coffee. The formula on this is pretty good but as usual, the wide and round bottle cap makes the nail painting a little awkward but it was good in two coats. Maybe if I would stop doing my nails in the dark, I might get a sleeker application.  If you are looking to buy this polish, I would suggest that you head out to your local Joe Fresh now.  Espresso has been discontinued and it currently selling at $1.74 CDN, so once it’s gone, it’s gone!

If there was one thing I cut out of my diet, it was truffles.  Not because I ate too many but because the chocolate ones usually retail at $2.00 and up and the fungal variety can start at $55.00 per pound!  When you’re on EI, truffles are not on your grocery list.

This truffle I could afford to spring on as it’s going to last a lot longer than the 30 seconds it would take me to eat a double chocolate raspberry from Godiva’s.  Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails Truffle isn’t really a brown as you would expect but is a dusky pinkish crème.  In fact I find that the colour is a bit difficult to define but I do know that I like it.  The Hard as Nails line is not really known for trendsetting colours or textures but I find its good value for your money as the polish itself is quite durable and the formula is thick without being goopy.  That’s two coats in the photo and it’s smooth and shiny even after a couple of days of wear.  Maybe this week I’ll treat myself to a couple of rum truffles!

Pistol Whipped with Gunmetal by Joe Fresh

Gunmetal by Joe Fresh is a deep grey with fairly large shimmer that reflects nicely throughout.  Despite being a dark colour, this polish requires 3 coats instead of just two as I experienced quite a bit of unexpected bald spots on my nails.  Overall, the formula for this polish is not as good as the other polishes that I’ve used from this line and I wish it had something that made it a little bit more special. As I mentioned before, it needs 3 coats and worse, it chipped on my right index finger after less of a day of wear.   

Gun metal!  Just like the moniker “Emerald City”, it’s a polish name so over used that it needs to be put out of its misery. Surely there are lots of other things made out of metal that aren’t guns.  Stuff like:

Braces!

Trash Cans!

Cutlery!

 Ok, so maybe “gunmetal” sounds a lot more exciting and glamorous than “cutlery”.  But couldn’t they who name the names AKA the marketing department, show a little bit more imagination when it comes to naming metallic nail polish?  Aren’t there literally thousands of guns out there in the world? Surely somebody could come up with Uzi, Beretta, Glock, .45, AK 47 or the gun that I accidently pistol whipped myself with: The King Cobra:

Photo By The Cinemasochist

That’s me from about 12 or so years ago.  I was "acting" in a student project directed by Christian Viel who would go on to direct such straight to DVD clap trap as: Evil Breed: The Legend of Samhain & Recon 2022: The Mezzo Incident.  I played an assassin/right-hand woman to Mr. Big, a drug dealer and our characters were up against a police squad played by the person who was my boyfriend at the time, an actor/stuntman.   I ended up accidently hitting myself with that gun and it was, shockingly, one of the most painful experiences that I ever had and I’ve had kidney stones, so I know pain!  During a stunt where my ex disarms me and Mr. Big at the same time, we used the real gun in the scene instead of the rubber prop gun because they didn’t match up and during one of the takes, that gun whacked me smack dab on my knee!  It hurt so badly, that I actually saw stars (the only stars I saw on that movie set!) and ended up limping for three whole days!  I sucked it up for the rest of the shoot but when I got home, I cried, the pain was that bad!

Now whenever I see a film or a TV show where someone get pistol whipped and then the person just gets up like all they’re having is a hangover, I call bullsh*t!

Nail Polish Spam-A-Lama-Ding-Dong

I've got a few photos of polish kicking around that are just waiting to get posted.  So without further ado, here's a bunch of polish.

I picked up Personal Shopper from Sephora by OPI in a boxed set with 2 other polishes for free with beauty points, Yay!  Lord knows I love good red and this one is a pretty good one.  This red creme had a smooth application, was glossy & opaque in two coats and had minimal staining when I removed it.  No complaints here!

This one's from my sister's stash.  Rockstar Candy from the Complete Salon Manicure by Sally Hansen is a lovely pinkish/mauve shimmer with a terrible name.  I dislike marketers slapping the word "Rockstar" on anything and everything in a lame-ass effort to make it sound like it's cool or edgy: e.g Rockstar Chef...ugh!  Regardless, this is a good polish that has a durability that is standard with this line.  It's a good choice if it's still available.

Canadian clothing retailer Joe Fresh continues to expand, both in locations and with their cosmetics line.  They have added 24 new polish colours for spring:  More than any other company that I can think off of the top of my head.  One of the new polishes that I picked up is Pineapple.  It's a yellow so bright it verges on orange.  I would have named it Mango. You'd think this polish would glow in the dark and I like it a lot.  The round brush handle is still difficult to hold but the brush itself is wide and I got good coverage in 2 coats  It's funny how sometimes the simplest image can bring out a memory that you don't expect.  When I took this picture, I immediately thought of this image:

I love Duran Duran and John Taylor & Nick Rhodes are awesome guys, but that colour combination wouldn't look good outside of a country kitchen!

Rose Blush by Estee Lauder is a polish that I bought by accident.  The salesperson at the store that I bought it from put the wrong polish in my bag and I didn't realise it until I got home.  At first I was pissed but then when I looked the polish, I knew that I actually really liked it and now it's one of my favourites!  Go figure.  it's a calm and warm, shimmery neutral that's slightly on the pink side.  It's light enough that a few little nicks or chips can go unnoticed so bonus points for that.

This golden oldie comes courtesy of my sister's collection.  As you've probably noticed from the bottle, Cuckoo a light green shimmer, is an old polish from L'oreal's Wear Extraordinaire line from God know when.  It's like OPI's Simply Smashing without all of the glass flakes and if you're looking for complete coverage, you'd need 4 coats!  If you like this one, you'll probably have a hard time finding it.  I think she bought this in Montreal and that would have been, I don't know, 10 years ago?

I'm still feeling just as nostalgic as I was feeling last week.  I guess sometimes when you're down, you want to think about happier times.  Because of this I've compiling a itunes playlist called My Favourite Songs of All Time.  It's a pretty wacky mix that would most likely reflect the tastes of someone with multiple personalities.  I've got no specific taste in music, I just love what I love but the choices are odd enough for it to include songs from:

Electric Light Orchestra
David Sylvian
Enrique Igelisas
Danielle Dax
Bauhaus
Gladys Knight & the Pips
John Hiatt
Nick Cave
Roger Miller
Janelle Monae

Actually David Sylvian's song Red Guitar is the song that kicks of my list and it keeps on worming through my ear, so I'll leave you with a little bit from the guy who was once named "The Most Beautiful Man In the World"

 

Lord, That man is pretty!

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!

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!

Midas by Joe Fresh & Layering with Old Revlon

 If there is anyone from the US or around the world that have stumbled on my humble blog, Joe Fresh is a Canadian clothing line that retails in select stores in the Loblaws chain of supermarkets here in Canada.  Joe Fresh clothing is reasonably priced and actually looks pretty good, considering the prices.  They recently branched out into cosmetics and bath products.  Although I sort of dragged my feet to go and try their stuff out, I finally picked up a holiday nail polish set, mainly after I saw Midas in one of the packages:

I've got quite a few gold polishes but I find that it is darker than most gold polishes and has a more antique gold look to it that I haven't often seen.  I think it's gorgeous and I wasn't let down by the quality either.  Although the bottles are smaller than most (6 ml) I wouldn't complain about it since I rarely finish a bottle of nail polish.  The brush was surprisingly wide when you consider the size of the bottle but the big white cap is a little difficult to hold.  It dried very quickly and looked good in two coats and there is no sign of chips 2 days into its wearing.  The other colours in the set are a deep purple shimmer and a white shimmer which I expect to be using soon.

I wanted to take break from dark polish again but I also didn't have much time to change my polish if it got chipped.  I also wanted to try something that would make nicks and chips less noticeable.  My sister suggested that I try one of  two of her polishes from her collection and I ended up layering them to make something I never wore before:

Crystalline Pure Nude & Goldeneye

These Revlon Polishes are somewhat old.  Goldeneye was actually part of a movie tie - in for the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye so that polish is 15 years old and is a sheer light yellow with gold glitter. (Update: My sister says that Goldeneye was part of a James Bond Tie In but it was for Die Another Day .  That film came out in 2002, so it's an eight year old polish.)  Crystalline Pure Nude is probably even older than that but my sister doesn't remember when she bought it, but I wouldn't remember that either! It's a very sheer, pale nude shade and despite the look of the bottle, it's not a matte finish.  Here's how it turned out:

It's like a light honey colour with a little bit of glitter to it.  As you can see, both of these polishes are very, very sheer.  That's two coats of the sheer nude with one coat of sheer glitter.  If I wanted opacity, I'd probably have to apply five coats of polish combined.  It's not the flashiest polishes I've even wore, but the nicks and chips I got during the week I wore it were not easily noticed.  I'd try this combination again if I knew I wouldn't have time to tend to my nails.