Archive for the 'Teal' Category
 For spring 2010, get rooted into style with six new nail polish hues from Shades by Barielle. The Wildflower Collection blooms with floral-themed colors and Barielle’s signature healthy “3-free” formulation. Lending a helping hand to root out ovarian cancer, 100% of proceeds from three shades from the collection will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund when purchased at www.ocrf.org.
Launching this February, the Wildflower collection from Shades by Barielle includes three polishes designed by Creative Director Elle to help fight Ovarian Cancer. With two blues and two greens including some unique glitter accents, I’m smitten with the charitable concept and the colors. The collection doesn’t launch for a couple months but I’ve got a preview of the bottles and Junebug for you to check out. |
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 September was Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month but Priti continues to support Nancy’s List, an organization that provides resources to cancer patients all year long. They have committed to donate funds through sales of their teal ribbon colored polish, Tulip Tree Teal.
I’m always a sucker for a great teal creme but add in a charitable cause and I’m hooked. I spoke with the founder of Priti, Kim D’Amato, backstage during Fashion Week and I love that she’s as committed to creating a toxic-free, organic line as she is to including fashion forward colors. She custom blended an amazing green for eco-friendly fashion line Bodkin which you can catch glimpses of in Ecouterre’s photo recap of the show.
Check out Tulip Tree Teal and see how it stood up to my 5 Day Wear Test after the jump! |
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 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?
 While everyone else has been praising and critiquing the beauty and fashion looks from last week’s MTV Movie Awards, I focused on the nails, natch. One of the nail standouts of the night was Miley Cyrus. Personally, I’m not a fan but that’s here nor there. She’s a pretty girl, a paparazzi princess, a tween sensation and obviously a nail fanatic.
I couldn’t help but notice Miley’s gorg teal nails and I loved how they paired with her beige dress. Like I said a few weeks back, I’m loving the whole neutral clothing with bright pops of nail color that’s happening this summer. Bold tips are your best (and cheapest) accessory.
Fortunately I was privy to a little celeb nail gossip regarding this look so if you wondering what she wore read on! |
 Nonie Creme of butter London dropped me a quick line to share that Miley was rocking the brand’s Artful Dodger hue on the Movie Awards red carpet. Apparently Miley is a fan of the the 3Free formulation and fashion forward color palette.
Of course the keen-eyed Tamar who writes for MTV’s Buzzworthy Blog was dead on when she suggested Artful Dodger to get Miley’s look. Good call Tamar!
Artful Dodger is a creamy teal blue that looks much more blue in person than it does in the pics of Miley. Flash and direct sunlight seem to be a nail photographer’s worst enemies. Anywho, the formula glides on the nail with ease, is highly pigmented and dries in a snap to a glossy finish. Note: Thanks to a reader, my past complaints about the polish cap are resolved. I just didn’t pull hard enough to know that it slides off. Oops! |
So after hearing of Miley’s affinity for butter London, I spotted this pic of her at a charity event and wondered if this too was a bL shade. Though taking the lighting into consideration, I can’t tell if she’s wearing Aston or Fash Pack. What’s your guess?
Artful Dodger retails for $14 and is available online at butterlondon.com and beauty.com
Thoughts? Did you love the nude dress/teal polish look? Are you on board for Artful Dodger regardless of Miley wearing it?
 A couple weeks ago when I announced the news that Illamasqua is now shipping to the States, I posted a preview of their summer collection, Sirens, with new teal and coral nail varnishes. When I first got word of their new colors, the rep from Illamasqua told me they made her “want to cry they are so beautiful!” Color that brings you to tears?? Sign me up!
After all these years of playing with polish I still get jazzed about new colors but it’s the rare bird that causes a major reaction like crying. Could Muse live up to the hype? Find out after the jump! |
OK so I didn’t cry but when I opened the box to see the smokey teal but I did shriek a bit, freaking out our kitties, before I raced to the polish room to give it a whirl.
Everything about Muse is fantastic. Loads of pigment, check! Smooth, creamy formula, check! Two coat coverage, double check! High gloss shine, you see where I’m going with this, right? Its deep blue-green hue reminds me of this Gap cardigan I owned forever and a day ago that I just LOVED and kind of wish I still owned, just for wearing around the house of course.
Since I had to bail on the swatch requests last weekend, I thought I’d head you off at the path with some Muse comparisons. As you can see, Muse is deeper than China Glaze Shower Together (Aqua Baby’s twin) and nowhere near as dark as Rescue Beauty Lounge Teal which I swear looks more teal in person.
The Sirens collection is available now on Illamasqua.com and on shelves at Selfridges in the UK.
Thoughts? Anyone know of a good Muse dupe? Share in the comments.
For spring 2010, get rooted into style with six new nail polish hues from Shades by Barielle. The Wildflower Collection blooms with floral-themed colors and Barielle’s signature healthy “3-free” formulation. Lending a helping hand to root out ovarian cancer, 100% of proceeds from three shades from the collection will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund when purchased at www.ocrf.org.
I’m wearing Rimmel’s 60 second nail polish in Camouflage. My first time...
