Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

Well, it's an 80's flashback in our current zeitgeist, so I felt the urge to meet it head on with kindness, caring, and genuine understanding of others, empathy I think is the word I want.

In the meantime, my nails can look marvelous. And they can promise to give shelter where needed by lending my voice where needed. And it's needed!

Nars Gimme Shelter

Taken with my iPhone and flash combined with lamp, this baby is a maginifcent berry wine shade wiht a popping shimmer that dips down into darkness, but catches light with easy grace.

Nars never gives me up on formula: smooth, unifom, and doesn't pool into cuticles. Ever.

Thank you ever so, as Lorelei Lee might say!

Thank you so much, too, for reading my little nail polish journal! Thanks and gratitude, in abundance!

More Something With Something Else

The allure of glass fleck shimmers is hard to pass up.

I recently acquired a couple that are unique in there combination of shades.

First up Nars Algonquin

Three coats, no top coat.

This is from the Nars Holiday 2014 collection. It's a rich glass fleck blue in a warm taupe that reveals a pink undertone in some light. I know nothing of the origin of this collection, but years ago when I went to NYC I went to the Algonquin. Mainly because of the early 20th century writers that favored it. I won't lie, it was pretty neat for me.

This polish thrills me. It's got enough oomph to show up really beautifully blue and then it shifts a bit purple and a bit silver, depending on the light.

Still on eBay. Nice!

OPI Next Stop...The Bikini Zone

Three coats, no top coat. A pretty little glass fleck with pops of shine that really grab the light. It is supposedly a duochrome, but really feels more like a pink glass fleck in a taupe/gray shimmer. 

I think it's subtle, but when the sunshine or a bright light hits it, it really is quite a beauty. 

This is from the Brazil collection and pretty easy to find still.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Indian Teal Redux

As I go through my polishes I realize I have so many of these shades. Wanted to hit some cremes.

Enjoy!

American Apparel Peacock

This polish is amazing. Can I say it? Smooth as butter, applies well and this is without a top coat.

I have to admit I've had more wins than misses with my American Apparels. 

Try eBay or other etailers like that for job-lotted AA's floating around. This is a real winner.

This rides the thin edge of teal and Indian Teal, it's more blue in real life, too.

Nars Superstar

Three coats, no top coat. Excellent formula. Excellent.

I found this on a blog sale and snapped it up, although it's similar to OPI Ski Teal You Drop.

Why? Well, before Todd Haynes became an A-list director, he did thing a little thing called Superstar, The Karen Carpenter Story. 

This is now - at this writing - on Youtube and can be seen with little effort. For those of you born after the advent of Google and the Interwebz, you can NOT imagine how hard it was to see this movie. I saw it about 100 years ago and when I bought this polish I zoomed on over to see it again. I recommend you watch it. It's epic. It's perfect. 

Godspeed, Karen. 

OPI Ski Teal You Drop

Three coats, no top coat.

Decent formula. Shiny! Those reflections looks like smudges, they are not, they are reflections!

I love this, and consider it a less stellar formula than Nars, but will wear it because I love this shade of teal very much.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Berry-ations Part 2

Back to some more berry shades and these are a lot more into the red or magenta range of berry.

Part 1 can be read here.

Once again, three coats and no topcoat.



Maybelline Raspberry

A purple berry that walks the line between a red violet and a mauve. It has a red undertone, seen in the comparison photos, which really adds to the complexity. I'd add that this photo is a wee bit over exposed. It will be darker in the comparison below.
In my experience these Express Finish polishes that are from the Gold Cap era are some of the most pigmented polishes I've seen, very dense, too, well, the cremes and mattes for sure.
The brush in this one isn't in a state of decay like many others I have, either.
To me this is a very modern take on a vamp. Reminds me of something a designer brand would put out - and it may be a copy of one I don't know about - because it is deep, sophisticated and not a naive shade, either.

Purchased at l'Arbre de Dollar.



Nars M. Butterfly

I almost called this post "Vamps for Those Who Don't Enjoy Vamps" but since everything seemed to fit under the "berry" category I stayed on course. I love its intensity and drama without delving into "hey another black polish, for all intents and purposes!"
A berry toned red that has been dropped from Nars' roster.
Whenever I see this polish in my drawer I think of Puccini's Cio Cio San and Malcolm Mclaren's single, Madame Butterfly. (Seriously, find it on YouTube. It's the best.)
Gorgeous formula, but I did have to redo a nail due to cuticle flooding, so it is a tad bit thin. When I redid it with a thinner coat, I had less issues.

I purchased this off of eBay for $7 and it has a Nordstrom label on it. Can't find it now, but I'm not sure when it was discontinued.



Diamond Cosmetics Mulberry Mayhem

Missed Nars M. Butterfly? This is a very nice alternative. Missed Diamond Cosmetics? You could try one of their customers: Priti NYC and Ginger + Liz.
Devilishly gorgeous. Glossy and a very much easier polish to work with than the Nars.
Excellent coverage, as well.

Purchased at Diamond Cosmetics for about $2.
Come back, Diamond Cosmetics! I miss you!



Misa That's My Little Secret

Another winner if you missed Nars M. Butterfly.
Misa, man, your formula is the best.
Floats on, no hassles. Gorgeous!
From the I'm Only Human collection of 2009 per my research.
Flawless.

Purchased on Transdesign before they rolled out their snazzy site, NailSupplies dot US.



Comps!

Same order: Maybelline, Nars, Diamond Cosmetics, Misa
(one coat)

Same order.
Top row has one coat.
Second row is three coats.
The Maybelline feels like the odd man out!

Bottles!

Back left: old L'Oreal strengthener that I fill with other stuff to use as base like old SH or WnW.
On the right, behind DC and Misa is a container I fill with things like nail oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and old lip balms. I melt it and it's been a big help to my cuticles.

Again with the flash, you can see how these are lovely these are.

As with my last post, the only one I could find was Misa's That's My Little Secret on their company site. It's $7.50. I will add that at that price it's a deal except that shipping is not cheap, multiple polish purchase can ease the pain. It is on Nailsupplies dot US, whom I've shopped at with abundant frequency, but shipping means you need to buy a number of polishes to make it worthwhile.

The rest, well, good luck, eh? Might troll eBay's waters for any of these coming up on any occasion.


Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish  journal!

Nars Full Metal Jacket

I love my Nars polishes.

Received Full Metal Jacket as a Christmas gift a few years ago and have finally gotten around to wearing it! Ack!

Personally, I love dark gray.  It's very wearable and looks upscale compared to black. 

This is a fine shimmer with a frosty highlight to it. Hard to fault the color, but I will admit that I like my Orlane 92 better.

 The formula: It was thin, runny and slow to dry. Quite a let down. 

I love the shade. I regret unloading a deep gray Markwins that worked like a charm. Argh! Nail polish is one of those areas where price does not necessarily reflect performance.

So, while this one goes in the blogsale pile, I still have Misa It's You! to keep me happy. 

Now that winter finally arrived, dragging it's  heels after a long Seattle-like autumn, I am glad for the snow, crisp days, and chilly nights. 

Another Trio - Shimmers

This one really isn't a comp, but a trio of shimmers that are from disparate origins, from low to high, old to new.


Maybelline Colorama Burgundy Blaze

This is three coats. It is a very beautiful deep burgundy red. A little more "smokey" in the bottle than it appears here.
Easy to apply, with a bit of run over into the cuticle line.




Nars Gimme Shelter

So amazing. The formula is a delicious two coater. I think it is when I try polishes like this that are so expensive, I secretly wish I'd get samples to swatch. One can dream of owning every color by Nars after trying this baby.

Inside by a cloudy window.

Here it is under the lamp.

The formula is beautiful. I'd say that this is a perfect berry colored shimmer. Easy to use, dried well.





Sally Hansen Vintage Frost

A warm purple that goes a bit brown or warm plum in dimmer lighting. Then can go frosty, but then shows some sparkle. A bit of a subtle changeling.
Older New Lengths bottle.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!