Birthday Blog Dump!!!

Hey Y’all!!  What’s up my B!tches???  Hey it’s my birthday, it’s my birthday, gonna party like it’s my birthday!  Drink Bacardi like it’s my birthday!  Yeah, about that, I’m not gonna party but I am not working today and will be eating steak tartar and drinking X.O. beer (cognac infused!!!) at Le Select today instead of not telling anyone one that I work with that it’s my birthday and choking back crybaby tears at my desk all day!  That’s just how I roll!!!

So me and my twin sis will be turning 45 years old today and even though I can pretty much say that my life completely blows, I can at least say “At least I look good for 45!”

Really, Really Good!

So today, I’m just going to bleat about nail polish and nonsense because what is life about if not nail polish and nonsense, which is totally going to be my new band’s name... 

Gareth Pugh for Mac

I know, I know.  This post is long overdue to the point that it’s not even worth mentioning now but I’m going to anyways.  I like this guy’s work because the stuff he makes and what he wears is almost exactly like what me and my friends wore back in high school. I dig the the goth/expressionist/Klaus Nomi vibe he has going on.  I picked up Hyper, a really nice dark blue shimmer which I liked a lot...

But not as much as I liked Ascension because it looked almost completely different every time you looked at in a different light.  For example, when using a flash, it looked like a light purple shimmer.

Photographed in the shade, you can see it’s a light purple, green gold duo chrome...

But in direct sunlight, it looks like a mid-toned silver shimmer.   

They should have named it Enigma as far as I’m concerned.  It may not be the flashiest of polishes but I don’t have another quite like it.

Hidden Treasure 2 from Sally Hansen

I bought this polish strictly to compare it with the first Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure named Hidden Treasure.  HD1 certainly lived up to its name by being a great flaky polish with a strong orange and green reflective tone.  HD2 could stay buried.  It’s not a bad polish.  Its blue based pearl finish is nice enough and I had no problems with the formula.  It just doesn’t look super special.

Petra Haden Goes to the Movies

I’m a huge fan of Petra Haden’s unique covers using overdubs of her own voice to take the place of musical instruments.  I loved the sh!t out of Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out and I’m just as excited with her latest release Petra Haden Goes to the Movies.  Her version of the main theme from Psycho is awesome.  Seriously, listen...

Also great on this album is her version of It Might Be You from the film Tootsie.  I had never liked this song until now.  When she sings it, I cry every time.  When I hear the original by Stephen Bishop, I feel nothing!

Essie’s All Tied Up

It’s been so long since I bought this polish that I can’t even remember which collection this polish came from but I can tell you that it is a nice and dependable, mid-toned pink with a subtle gold shimmer in it.  My favourite kind of pink!

 

Hey Look!  Some Nail Art!

I would try nail art more often if I had the time to wait for all the different layers to dry.  I was trying to get the feel of a match burning in the dark...

I used Maybelline’s Black Onyx as the base, and then dotted China Glaze’s Cruisin’ at the end of my nail and multiple coats of Essie’s As Gold as it Gets for some sparkle.  I know I’m no Leonardo of nail art but I like it.

Ski Day

I went on my employers’ annual ski day trip this February and bizarrely, I had a lousy time!  Nobody would talk to me at the house party the night before so I bailed and went back to my hotel room and drew for the rest of the night.  This was the result:

The Bride of Frankenstein

 At least I didn’t waste my time completely!

OPI’s SkyFall

This is just my opinion but Skyfall is the best Bond movie with the second worst theme song ever!  Yes, I said it!  I hate Adele’s Skyfall theme. It’s just so boring. I don’t care it won an Oscar, so did Crash.  If you’re wondering which Bond theme is the worst, the dishonor goes to Jack White & Alicia Keyes’s Another Way to Die from Quantum of Solace.  I imagine that the sound they make is identical to the sound of a bag of cats being tossed into a river and is the only time peanut butter and chocolate did not taste good together.

OPI’s Skyfall polish just might be one of my favorite polishes ever.   

Yes, yes it is a burgundy crème polish that leans towards a brownish tone but I just love it as much as the film’s highrise punch up and that scene is so amazing, it makes me cry too!

The Tears Are Coming!!!

Tom Hiddleston All the Goddamn Time

Yes I’m still bonkers over Captain Jazz Hands.

And last but not least, Thanks to my latest follower Lizelle for giving me a chance!

Silver Anniversary by Sally Hansen

I picked out Sally Hansen's Silver Anniversary because it looked so pretty in the bottle but how could I be prepared for how blah it looked on my nails.  Seriously, I'm not even seeing good top coat potential here.  That's three coats of polish and yet somehow it makes my nails look even more yellow than they actually are!  Funny thing is, the formula for this was pretty great!  It went on smoothly, dried super fast and didn't get a nick in the finish.  Go figure!

Rock of Ages Nail Polish Strips from Sally Hansen

By now, Rock of Ages has been in the theatres for 2 weeks and has cemented itself as a colossal dud that people seem to be laying all the blame on Tom Cruise for its failure.  I don't know about you but I just sort of think that if you have a film that has two not so big names as the leads and then you pepper that same film with supporting actors that are a million times more talented than your leads, then you  film is going to have some problems.  Rock of Ages was one of the movies that I had actually hoped would have a polish tie-in, not because I was going to see the movie (never wanted to see it, probably never will either) but because I thought the polishes could be fun.  Instead we got the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips and some pretty uninspired designs.  I only picked up one of this said designs, Sticks & Stones.  Its name makes little sense to me unless it's trying to be the most half assed reference to the Rolling Stones that you can find.

 The better name for these polish strips would have been "Frankenstrat" since the designers had the good sense to literally copy the red, black & white paint job of Eddie Van Halen's most famous guitar called the "Frankenstrat" because he cobbled it together out of different guitar pieces but mainly out of Fender Stratocasters.  I don't see why they wouldn't go ahead and name it the right way...

link

 Yeah, well, this was my first experience with nail strips and I found that I wasn't too nuts about them.  The peeling, fitting, pressing and scraping just was so much of a hassle that it would have been easier to just slap on a few coats of anything else and be done with it.  I won't argue that for the price (I got them on sale 2 for $8) it's far cheaper than going to a salon and having a manicurist do this for you but don't print on the box that it'll last for over 8 days when I couldn't get it to last 8 hours...

You can see the obvious problem at the top of the pinkie & middle finger, those chunks just came off right away and many chips quickly followed on the rest of my nails that resulted in my removing S&S two days after application.  Tsk!  Well, here's Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat in action with Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away".  I hope that there's enough cowbell in there for you!

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!

Designer, de Better by OPI

Designer, de Better from OPI's Muppets collection is described as a "light metallic bronze" in their publicity but if this a bronze polish both my eyes and my camera need to be checked.  Looking more like a silver than a bronze colour, its foil finish will need three coats and not just two as I applied to get a more smooth finish.  I don't dispute that there's bronze in the polish, check out a close up and you can clearly see that there are bronze flecks in the formula:

But you can also see that the polish itself is pretty thin.  I do really like this polish as it looks like a neutral with a bit of flash to it but I'm not feeling the name. I suppose that it's a reference to Miss Piggy but I don't particularly have a big love of that character.  I like Fozzie, Gonzo and the two geezers who were always so mean to them...Statler & Waldorf!

The Original Grumpy Old Men

 Up Next...Meep-Meep-Meep

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!

Essie Resort Collection Minis: Part 2 - The Others

So now after taking a look at the pinks of the set, we move onto the other two colours in Essie's Resort Collection minis,  Fair Game & Da Bush:

Fair Game is a cool toned, deep blue silver colour with a nice amount of shimmer to it.  I really like this colour quite a bit but I see FG as more of a Fall colour as opposed to the bright sometimes, screechy colours that people like to sport in warmer weather.  But then again, one could look at it as an antidote to all of the inevitable neon colours that get foisted upon potential buyers almost every summer.  The formula was pretty good, I had no real application problems and the polish is pigmented enough that it gave complete coverage in two coats. It's definitely a keeper.

Last but not least is Da Bush.  Just the name alone guaranteed that I would have an affinity to this polish as the name Da Bush is almost the same as my last name (with only one difference in letters).  I felt like this was the closest that I'll ever come to having a namesake polish so that had me pretty jazzed.  And I love the colour!  This grungy light green creme really appeals to me but...there were problems with the formula.  I can't say if it was just my bottle or what but the polish was extremely thick and goopy and that made for some irritating dragging and sloppiness on the nail while I was applying it. The thickness also lead to bubbling after applying the second coat, which is evident on my index finger.  I'll wear it again, I just don't think I'll wear it often.

Well I know that summer has just started but so far in Toronto, it's been a bit of a washout!  Even though I'm not great in hot weather, it's been cloudy and raining for the last few weeks so things are not looking to sunny.  Even now the skies are full of clouds!  I haven't even felt the urge to listen to one of my favourite summer songs: The Lovin' Spoonful's Summer In the City:

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Revlon Top Speed in Metallic

I've been knocked out by an ear infection that just won't stop kicking me in the head and has me exhausted.  It's really slowed me down, not just with posting, but with everything else in my life.  So all I've been able to manage by way of polish in the last few days is Metallic from Revlon's Top Speed line.  It does dry quickly, although not in 60 seconds as they like to claim, but it's fast enough that I didn't need to rely on quick dry solutions or top coats.  I don't know why, but I always like a silver foil finish. Along with Gold and Bronze, Silver is a colour that says "summer" to me and considering how sickly I feel and the fact that Winter just won't go away, I'm really looking forward to warmer days!

Silver & Summer!

I'd also like to take a moment to say "hi" to my new follower, Zorafi!  Thanks so much!

Not Like the Movies From The OPI Katy Perry Collection

I Plan to do the Same Thing On My Birthday!

One of the latest of many, many cross promotions crowding up the nail polish world is the Katy Perry Collection from OPI.  This collaboration between the polish giant and the candy coated Proactive pitch girl/singer contains five colours, One of which is Black Shatter and four that are named after songs from her most recent album, Teenage Dream:  Last Friday Night, The One That Got Away, Teenage Dream and the polish I purchased, Not Like the Movies. 

I had no intention of buying anything from this collection initially. Perry’s surely got enough money as it is with record sales, toys, perfumes and pimple medication pimping that I wasn’t keen on giving her any of mine.  

She Would Probably Just Waste it on Whipped Cream Anyway

I know, She’s a beautiful girl and if I were a man, she’d probably have me painfully standing at attention but her music...well, I’m just not going to go there.  Let’s just say, it’s not my style and I always laugh at her Proactive commercial, especially when she says that her pimples were near her mouth “where everyone is looking”...

Yeah Katy, Your Mouth is Totally Where Everyone is Looking...

  

But Not Like the Movies is such a great looking polish that I put down my cash. Check out all of the colours going on in there: grey, green, pink, purple!  

With Flash

Without Flash

 My photos can’t completely capture it in all its glory.  No problems with application but I decided not to pair it with Black Shatter, which came as a pair with Simply Smashing.  I tried some different things with the top coat but I decided that I just don’t like it. :(