OPI Holiday Wishes Collection Swatches & Review

Is it just me or does OPI reserve their most interesting nail polish shades for the holiday season? 2003’s Holiday On Broadway brought us the beloved La Boheme. 2006’s Kick Up Your Heels collection included a slew of home run hitters. I Get A Kick Out of Gold and Opening Night Champagne are still faves of both my mom and I and we RARELY agree. Not to mention the range of winners from Holiday In Toyland and Holiday in Hollywood. On that note, this year’s Holiday Wishes collection is doing its predecessors proud. I was happy to see a nod to the “flakies” trend in this collection. Flakies, a nickname for irregularly shaped glitter particles, have been popular in the nail fanatic community for some time now. It’s nice to see mainstream brands, like OPI, acknowledging that. Check out Holiday Wishes after the jump!

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StrangeBeautiful Color Volume 3 Review & Swatches

To be Strange is to be Beautiful. This is the concept behind the StrangeBeautiful line of nail polish and it’s what makes their libraries of color so intriguing. Founder Jane Schub’s love of art, architecture and design has been translated into a set of eight seasonal hues that I can only describe as achingly unusual. I’ve long said the reason I adore nail polish and started this site is because of my lifelong obsession with color. That while I don’t wear a lot of colorful clothing, I express my creativity and mood through nail color. This is why I was immediately drawn into this 3rd Volume of color from StrangeBeautiful. I swear I must have sat, staring at the polishes, for a good fifteen minutes remarking over and over how wonderfully brilliant and unique a collection this is. Let’s explore this new-to-me brand after the jump!

Taking inspiration from design pieces like the vibrant red typewriter by Ettore Sottsass and everyday objects like a lobster shell, each season StrangeBeautiful creates an eight shade limited edition collection that is both provocative and wearable. Using a creme finish for all the polishes makes them refined and chic. The formula is 3-Free, including Formaldehyde Resin, highly pigmented and flows smoothly on the nail drying with a high gloss finish. The 220 strand brush is thin, long and pliable, easily spreading out for the perfect three stroke application. Like I said, the polish is pigmented, even the lighter shades, so you only need two coats to achieve complete opacity. What I find interesting is that because the polishes are sold as a library, the individual shades are unnamed. They are also produced once in extremely limited edition so when a volume sells out, that’s it.

Because the inspiration for each color is so specific, and there aren’t descriptive names for each polish I thought including descriptors straight from StrangeBeautiful would be helpful in understanding the concept.

The saturated rusty iron color of an Irish bog caused by the reaction between tannin, wood and iron. The rich warm color of this polish reminds me of the peanut sauce that comes with chicken satay. It’s definitely best suited to a neutral or warm skin tone but I love its fabulous fall feel.

The veins of green mold running through Roquefort. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this deep teal green was the one I rushed to put on first. My love of all things green is infinite and there’s something about the aged feel of this hue that I can’t get enough of.

The dreadfully wonderful dirty almond color used on kitchen appliances. Growing up in a home that reveled in the 60s avocado, almond, red shag aesthetic, this shade takes me right back to the adorable ranch-style house I grew up in that my Dad built for us.

The belly of a pigeon. I suppose I’m fortunate to say that I haven’t been up close and personal with a pigeon though I doubt the Lake Erie seagulls are any less annoying. Regardless this moody, lilac tinged gray is so me it’s not even funny.

Aged Armagnac. There’s something about this burnt sienna that makes me long for a bonfire, hot cider and the smell of pumpkin pie on a cool, fall night.

The artist Sean Scully. Deep and vampy, this dark plum looks like Grape Dimetapp in the bottle but dries pretty dark on the nail. Think OPI LPAD.

The rich black olive green color of Loden cloth. Hellooooo luvah!! There just aren’t enough mossy, olive greens in this world for me. So even though I own RBL No More War and Illamasqua Hectic, I love that this Swamp Thing hue is less yellow based therefore much more wearable on a range of skin tones.

The dull brown red of Redrope files. I truly wish the creaminess and slightly browned base of this red had translated better on camera. It’s very luscious and rich in person.
Color Volume 3 from StrangeBeautiful is available now on LuckyScent.com. The library of 8 shades retails for $79, which is less than $10 each.

Who has tried StrangeBeautiful before? Thoughts? How do you feel about these colors and that they come as a set?

butter LONDON Fall-Winter 09 Swatches & Review

I’ve been champing at the bit to get my hands on butter LONDON’s British Racing Green ever since I eyed it backstage at Vena Cava during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week last February. A couple months ago we got a peek a the rest of the Fall/Winter collection and now I finally have it in my hot little hands.

A set of five diverse and unique shades, Creative Director Nonie Creme designed this collection to give women colors with personality that punch up the muted tones seen on the runways. Check them out after the jump!

First off, let’s talk about what’s new for Fall 2009; a revamped butter LONDON bottle. Hearing your criticism regarding the hard to remove outer cap, bL has replaced it with an easy glide version. No longer shall we debate whether you’re supposed to polish with the outer cap on or off. The decorative raven printed on the inner cap solves that mystery.

Now on to the polish. The formula with these is on par with a couple noted exceptions. Rosie Lee, being a clear based glitter, required three coats as did Pearly Queen (the frosty white). Unfortunately my travel schedule to NYC limited my time so rather than wait until next week when I return, I did some quick one finger swatches for you.

Of course I had to do a full mani with British Racing Green. How could I resist?? The shade reminds me of a vintage MG convertible only better because of the shimmer. We’re not talking standout sparkle but the shade is so vivid that even in incandescent light I can pick up on it. Hand this polish a prize because it’s a winner!
The name Rosie Lee kind of speaks for itself. A sweet, dazzling rosy pink it becomes foil-like in the sun.
Scoundrel is a medium reddish lilac creme that’s just dark enough for me to avoid “alien hand” syndrome. It’s not bright but it definitely has a kick!
Can you say pumpkin? Minger’s warm undertones give this nontraditional fall bright a sesonally appropriate feel.
Pearly Queen is my only disappointment in the bunch. It’s plagued with brush stroke issues and the hue just doesn’t work on me. To put up with brush marks I better LOVE the color.
The butter LONDON Fall/Winter 09 collection retails for $14/ea or get the Fashionista’s Favourites Fall 2009 pack and receive all 5 polishes for $45. The collection is on sale now at butterLondon.com and coming soon to Beauty.com.

What do we think Fanatics? Are you dying over British Racing Green like I am? Which fall bL’s do you plan to purchase?

The ALU Archives – Pop Beauty Ocean and Mandarin

The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.

First of all, thank you to everyone who messaged, commented, tweeted me about my overly obvious absence. You’re so sweet to worry about me. I’ve been out the past three days due to a pinched nerve. It’s a recurring issue I’ve been dealing with for the past twelve years or so and when it flares up I just have to rest the pain away. I’m not 100% but I’m well enough to sit up for short periods of time. So while I’m feeling up to it, I thought I’d share a couple polishes from the Archives.

A while back I told you that Beauty.com is now carrying Pop Beauty Nail Glams and I ordered a few but never posted them. Check out Ocean and Mandarin after the jump!

Pop Beauty Nail Glams are 3 Free (including Formaldehyde Resin) though it seems that at some point the formula and packaging changed a bit as one bottle lists Camphor as an ingredient and the other doesn’t. So if Camphor is an issue for you, make sure you check the bottle. The formula on these were spot on; well pigmented, smooth and fairly thin in spite of its 3 Free status. Normally I show polishes with no top coat but because Mandarin is a neon, which dries matte, I threw on a glossy top coat.

Ocean is a vibrant ultramarine hue. The metallic shimmer does leave minor brush strokes but they’re not overly distracting. I ended up applying three thin coats but you could get away with two medium coats.

Mandarin is like a greased pig, VERY hard to capture. Imagine a radioactive slightly underripe orange and you get close to what this neon orange-yellow creme looks like in person. There are a lot of neons on the market and I HATE most of them for two very good reasons. 1. They are eye searingly painful to look at. 2. They apply terribly; thick, streaky nonsense. Mandarin is in its own class. If you’ve yet to find the perfect neon, try this!

Pop Beauty Nail Glams retail for $14 on Beauty.com.

Which of you have Nail Glams in your stash? What are your favorite colors? Do your bottles list Camphor as an ingredient and when did you buy it? Did I inspire any of you to snag some bottles for yourself? Share!

Best of Orly Spring & Summer 2009

For Spring and Summer 2009, Orly hit us with three, count ‘em THREE, colorful new collections; Prepster, Carnivale and Tiki Time. While all three have some fun colors, none of them wowed me as a whole so I chose my favorites to show to you. Check out my Top 5 of the season after the jump!

One thing I noticed is that most of the bold creme shades are jelly-like in texture. They’re semi-sheer but buildable and have that glossy, rubberized look that makes jellies so cool. I know the sheers in the Prepster collection are great for layering but they just weren’t doing it for me.

Cashmere Cardigan is a stunning periwinkle blue creme. It’s well pigmented but looks best with three coats. To me this shade looks a lot like Essie Huckle Buckle, minus the shimmer.
I knew I would love Mint Mojito before I even saw it. I’m all over this bright spring green. It also needs three coats but who cares. It’s lovely. It’s actually more vibrant in person but it’s really hard to capture. Actually you should check out the manicure Brittany (aka Clumps of Mascara) did with Cashmere Cardigan and Mint Mojito. She did it herself and it’s way gorg!
Festival Lights is a beautious melon tinged orange. Like a perfectly ripe canteloupe, it’s vivid but not BRIGHT.
Country Club Khaki is the shade celebrity manicurist Jenna Hipp raved about when I interviewed her for WOYN? and it’s no wonder. This is a great neutral mushroom hue. It’s like the spring version of You Don’t Know Jacques.
Finally the shade that made my heart skip, Calypso Breeze. I can’t think of a blue in my stash that looks quite like this and I don’t even know how to describe it. It makes me think of lake water, the sky before a storm and denim all mixed together.
All these polishes are limited edition but still available online at Head2ToeBeauty.com and TransDesign.com. Orly is also carried at Sally Beauty Supply but seasonal collections tend to sell out fast so availability will vary by location.

So what did you think of the Orly Spring/Summer collections? Which colors did you pick up?