Essie Playa del Platinum

Sorry if things are boring around here lately, folks, but I have been busy-busy and job interviewing, so nudes it is! Today, I have for you yet another: Essie Playa del Platinum. It was a recent acquisition, and I'm glad I rounded out last year's resort collection. This is a strange and amazing color. It's very nude, but also kinda putty like. It's got a definite green and/or yellow-ness to it, especially in the bottle. Oh the nail though, it transforms into a lovely neutral shade, that is simultaneously flattering, office-appropriate, and due to it's drab nature, kinda subversive.

I think this is two coats, and it was lovely enough that I wore it for a few days, even after my interview:

And in this job climate, I actually did something bonkers: I turned down a job recently. Ugh. It was something I thought I wanted, but the starting pay was too low (we're talking $10 here, and I've got a MA), the commute was 40 minutes (which for 10 bucks is insane), and they wanted me to say belittling things to their customers who missed appointments on the phone. This was reception in a chiropractic office, by the way. It's about half of what I'd like to make and that I think I'm worth, so I turned it down. I'd rather wait tables in our neighborhood (and would probably make more money doing so.... I like restaurant work, and did it for 8 years on and off during high school, college and grad school) than put myself in the position of something I'd hate. On the bright side: I'm waiting to hear back from the job I would *love,* and since both interviews went well, I'm hopeful. They said this week, either way, they would let me know. I love companies who let you know either way, because there is nothing more degrading than just being brushed off and ignored.

Digression! So Playa del Platinum. I really want this job, so let's hope it brought me a little luck :)

Essie Mint Candy Apple

Um, whoops! For some reason this originally got posted without text! My bad.

My recent foray with Essie Absolutely Shore made me remember a polish that I've never actually tried from Essie, their original mint green, Mint Candy Apple. This is the quintessential blue based mint green creme, and I found the formula on it to be excellent. Super smooth and not as streaky as most, below is two coats.

I think this is pre-cleanup, so I apologize. I like this mint green, I've always liked the mint trend. To the point where I probably have too many of them and have lately tried to restrain myself. I think my favorite, however, is still China Glaze Refresh-Mint (or wherever that hyphen goes). That one reminds me exactly of the base of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, which happens to be my favorite. While this is wicked pretty, the blue brings out the pink tones in my hands and I find the lobster phenomenon happens. So pretty though, I really love this color. What's your favorite mint? 

OPI Steady As She Rose

The past couple weeks have been interview crazy. I applied for two jobs (among many) that were interested, and after multiple rounds of interviews, I'm starting to get sick of nudes. Ugh. I have so many nice polishes lined up waiting to be used, and I've gotta wear something neutral. In good news, if I get either job, I think I'll be able to wear whatever I want polish-wise, which is refreshing. But for interviews, I'm always better safe than sorry. My standbys so far have been Revlon Grey Suede, RBL Grunge, Essie Demure Vixen, and Borghese Almondine. I was about to pull out one of these when I happened to see Steady As She Rose hiding in the back, untried for quite some time. Happily, I pulled it out and wore it to an interview.

This is either two or three coats, I can't remember, but the formula was great, and it dried super shiny and fast.

Kind of a strange color to describe, but it pulls pale pink-lavender-grey on me, and at the same time, it's almost nude-ish. I really like it, and I think it may become a new interview standby. This one was from the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection, which I ended up buying a few from even though I didn't plan to. OPI does that to me, they're evil in the best kind of way... and their cremes are my absolute favorite. Any-who, that's my story for today. I'm scheduling this post in advance, so hopefully by the time it goes live, I may know if I have a job or not! Fingers crossed!

OPI Big Apple Red

I am popping in today to pay homage to my favorite red polish: OPI Big Apple Red. It's almost identical to OPI Color So Hot It Berns, my other favorite red, except it recalls images of my homeland. I'm a New Yorker, through and through, I was born and raised Upstate, but I lived in the city for a time, too. While I'm enjoying my time away, I miss home quite a bit, and this polish will always have a warm little place in my heart because it reminds me of home. Guess I must be homesick today :)

Here are three kinda messy coats of my most favored red polish:

Ugh, love it. I usually like it when my nails are a touch shorter, but it just kills. Vodka & Caviar looks dull on me, but the unabashed brightness of this is just sexy. It's badass and totally out there, unforgiving, classic, fun. Big Apple Red, I love you.

Essie Splash of Grenadine

This color came out last summer with Turquoise & Caicos, Lapis of Luxury and Playa del Platinum. These are four great colors, I don't regret a single one. This one was the last of the set, which I acquired recently. When it arrived in the mail, I made a face. Has this color always been so.... pink? I guess I had it in my head that it was deeper and closer to magenta. This is a straight up lavender pink color. It's quite pretty, but not as I remembered. Hope it's not a dud bottle.

It's a nice polish though, with that weird almost jelly (but not quite) texture that some creme Essies have. This is 3 coats.

What's funny about this is that the color almost (but not quite) makes me look... tan. I am not tan at all, so this is kind of amusing to me. I'm not sure about this one, it's definitely my least favorite of the set, but I think that's because I'm preternaturally afraid of pink. Any thoughts? 

OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window

I have another polish from the OPI Touring America collection today, and it was one that had a lot of chatter about it going on beforehand. People were refusing to buy it, based on the sophomoric name. I, however, enjoy having conversations about my three-year-old nephew about who is the bigger poophead, so I think it's actually pretty funny. Whether it's a puke or fart reference, I'm down. Anyway, I also like the color. It's another kinda gross yellowy-green color, definitely army-esque. I like it, the formula was excellent. 2 coats, shiny and perfect.

As you've seen here and here, I am really digging these Touring Americas. I still have Roadhouse Blues to try, but I doubt I'll be disappointed. The formula on these has been flawless. So, what's your opinion on this one? Do you think less of me for liking it?? Do tell.

Essie Absolutely Shore

For the longest time, Essie was a brand that was poorly represented in my stash. I relied on them for nice neutrals and sheers, and Fishnet Stockings and Ruby Slippers, but other than that, they didn't interest me much. I do remember being into Essie when Starry Starry Night(s) was available, and I do kick myself for never grabbing that one, but other than that I never really got into them until recently. Now I'm buying at least a polish from each of their releases and I find myself, now that they've gone retail, attempting to flesh out my collection. I've got a nice little army now, with more on the way. I find the formula hit or miss for me, but nothing unmanageable.

Absolutely Shore came out with the Brazilliant collection, from which I also got Smooth Sailing. Essie's blues and greens have been knocking it out of the park lately. I have a mint green problem, I tend to buy them without really thinking if they're anything great. I have a lot of neutral mints and blue mints, but this one seems to lean towards the yellow end of the spectrum. It's very pale, which I like, but somehow still not terribly unique. It's just another mint, not quite as yellow or dusty as I wanted it to be. It's pretty, but the color's definitely done.

That's three coats, pre-cleanup (sorry!). It wore really well (as Essie's tend to for me), and I only removed it because I chipped a corner of my nail. Boo :-( Any thoughts on Super Bossa Nova from this collection? I feel like I want it but I haven't talked myself into it yet. Let me know if I'm missing out!

OPI I Eat Maine-ly Lobster

This is the second OPI Touring America color that I've tried, out of four that I picked up. (See In the Expresso Lane here.) A lot of people were disappointed with the collection, and yeah, I agree: it wasn't that original. But--I think it is a great fall collection, and I love OPI cremes and the theme of the collection in general, so I had a to pick up a few. This color called to me for a reason I cannot pinpoint, I tend to give away or purge corals. Usually, and seriously no pun intended here, they give me lobster hands. This one I really like. It's so pretty and soft--but still bright! I love the hidden shimmer, too. Another problem I tend to have with corals--no matter how opaque they seem, they always seem to have VNL when in bright light (RBL Coral, I'm lookin' at you). I didn't have this problem here, so this polish will stay with me. Perfect way to finish out the summer.

This is three coats, and if you look closely, you can catch that hidden shimmer:

Mmm. This color isn't really my speed, but I am just loving it right now. In other news, I stumbled across China Glaze Halloween and Orly Mineral FX the other day, so I've got some fun stuff coming up to show you! Fall/Halloween/Holiday polish is my favorite, I'm so glad it's that time of year again!

OPI Get in the Expresso Lane with Dare To Wear Strobe Lights

This manicure was actually kind of ugly in the end, but I wore it for two days (laziness). After the glitterbomb that was Date To Wear Social Butterfly, I went in a totally different direction with Get in the Expresso Lane from OPI's Touring America collection. I've found that this collection isn't getting a lot of love, but my love of OPI creme polishes and drab colors made me lust for a couple of them. I'm waiting on Roadhouse Blues, I Eat Maine-ly Lobster, and Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window (which makes me giggle), which are en route from the States (Aveyou shipping to Canada is too expensive so I send them to my Momma!). Anyway, I don't know much brown polish. I'm not even sure I own another brown that couldn't also be considered taupe. What I like about this color is that it's not a straight up choco-poop brown, it's very grey-ed. I think it if was warmer and more yellow-toned, it would be a no-go both for my sensibilities and skin tone. This, however, works. It had a great formula, and two coats was perfect glossy coverage.

Now, I didn't get a picture of Get in the Expresso Lane on its own, which is a shame. Because the devil in me needed glitter. So I put Dare To Wear's Strobe Lights on top... a super shiny holographic gold glitter with large & small hex and bar glitter. It's crazy nutso, except the base is also slightly gold-ish. Which yellow-ed up my brown polish, rendering it semi-choco-poop-like. And... I dunno. This is just one instance (and I don't often say this) where I feel like glitter just didn't work. Should've left it alone.

Here it is:

Yuck, right? Sorta fun but... yuck.

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black

Just popping in quick to share my update to Essie Smokin' Hot. I added 2 coats of Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black on top, and the effect was pretty awesome. These pictures do something weird. The flash turns it much more purple; in real life, you can't see the base color of Smokin' Hot, it just turned that murky brown-black that is Chunky Holo Black. Also, the duochrome on this glitter is a complete rainbow. It's amazing and gorgeous. None of this, unfortunately, seemed to pick up in my photos.

Here's a couple of crappy pictures. I may try this again over black to capture it better:

It has a lot of depth and is actually very fall-like in tone. So pretty.

Essie Smokin' Hot

This is nothing you haven't seen before, but I actually just got this color. I could never find it at my local beauty supply (despite them having the rest of the collection) back home in NY, and I think the price of it shot up on eBay for a while so I didn't bother wanting it. It's a good color but nothing worth paying out the butt for. Recently, aveyou.com had a flash sale and they had this in stock so I made sure to grab it. Except my package went to my Mom's in NY (for 1 dollar shipping) and she sent it inside a recent care package (along with several other awesome pretties).

The formula is good (if a little thin), opaque in 2 coats and very shiny. It's so grey and drab but still manages to be purple, which makes me really happy. I'm glad I was able to get my hands on this for retail.

I did something weird today, which I only tend to do with China Glaze collections. I suddenly realized that I *needed* China Glaze White Cap & Sea Spray. That collection came out what? At least six months ago? And I've passed on it countless times. Luckily I found 'em.

Thanks for looking in!

OPI Big Apple Red & Kleancolor Chunky Holo Scarlet

I've been job hunting, which is, needless to say, a demoralizing process. My background is in writing, English, film, with a bit of arts education thrown in. I've worked with non-profit and for-profit theatres, music venues and arts education programs. And honestly, the semi-lame salary that often comes with being an arts person (whose value to society is not quantitative and therefore under-appreciated, in my opinion) is so worth it. My dad is an actor, so I grew up in a theatre (which was state funded until late last year, and was shut down by New York State because, again, the arts have no quantitative benefit to society... can you tell I'm bitter much??) But try finding a job. It's awful. It's starting to look more and more like I'm just going to be a cubicle rat, doing Administrative stuff for "the man." Shoot me. For crap pay (despite my Masters), at least let me do something rewarding, not staring at Excel sheets for 8 hours.

Anyway, anyway! I shouldn't let all this out here. It's supposed to be a happy place. Here's a recent NOTD: OPI Big Apple Red with Kleancolor Chunky Holo Scarlet on top. Pics are OK, but still not quite up to snuff...

Big Apple Red is pretty amazing. It's so vibrant, and my favorite tone of red. Slightly warm, I think. Scarlet compliments it well, and the warm red glitter, which is slightly duochromey, look so pretty on top. BAR had a great formula, but Scarlet was a bit weird. It was pretty thick, and took a bit to dry down... and smelled like chemical awesomeness, as Kleancolor has a reputation for.

These chunky holos are kind of awesome, and I'm not much of a layer-er when it comes to polish (though is pretty much my jam when it comes to fashion, kind of a bag lady chic thing I've got going on here). They're quite pretty, and I can't wait to try out Black! Gorgeous. But... not really black? I digress.

Hope you all are well and thanks for looking in! :0)

The return & 16 manicures!

Hello readers, if there are any of you still out there!

I disappeared for a few months here, and with good reason: I was writing my Master's thesis. I thought I might be able to keep up with my blogging, but with two jobs and various life-craziness-health-related things going on, it just wasn't possible. But: on Friday, I turned in my thesis, and now I'm trying to remember how to resume a normal life! I just turned 25 in October, and finishing my Master's degree is a big deal for me. I finished my Bachelor's in 3 years (I was already a year ahead in high school, too), and after that I sort of lost my way. I turned down a full scholarship to do grad work at Emory University (after driving all the way down there with my stuff, no less). I took some time off and went back to the University where I got my Bachelor's. I did 3 semesters of grad coursework and then... never wrote my thesis. The university gave me a lot of trouble, they kept "forgetting" to notify me about course sign up and advisement.... and I inadvertently took a (calender) year off. This made it harder to get the project going, as to do your thesis it's good to have a current relationship with a professor, so they can serve as your advisor. I seriously considered abandoning my grad work. I was 23, burnt out on school, and feeling drunk on freedom. But... in the end, I opted to go back and finish, and I'm so glad that I did. It was a huge accomplishment, and I graduate on December 5th (finally!). I've considered going back to do Ph.d work, but that will be for another time in my life, I think. My Master's is in English, my focus being American literature, specifically Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Over the months, I did manage to take a few pictures... My nails have been of varying length over this time, tending towards the nubbin side of things... they're still kind of finicky. I hauled a lot too: Burlesque, NARS vintage, RBL sale, ChG holiday, and lots of Old OPI's that I've been acquiring... But anyway... what I have to show you isn't representative of everything, to say the least, but it's something.

Random spam for the last few months:

OPI Wing It!

Barielle June Bug (wore this for 4th of July... that's how old this is!!)

OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Sephora OPI Midnight Mambo

China Glaze Foxy

OPI Diva of Geneva

China Glaze Midnight Mission

China Glaze GR8

Streetwear FX Flash (green) (awful pic, sorry... hard to capture)

Borghese Nero Magico (seriously gorgeous... underrated)

MAC Bad Fairy

OPI Show Bring on the Bling

NARS Midnight Express (I think this was day 2 or 3, looking a bit worn)

Color Club Pucci-licious

Orly Galaxy Girl

My Current Nails: China Glaze Zombie Zest (a bit late, I missed Halloween!)

The varying lengths are kind of amusing. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things here! Not sure I'm up to posting every day or anything, but I'd like to keep it up :-)

Thanks for looking!!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Concrete Jungle

I had an untried Rescue Beauty Lounge polish. Can you believe it? I almost can't. And for someone who has 20-some odd RBL polishes, I've only swatched one other for this blog. Geez. I'm failing here, guys! This is the last really old NOTD that I have saved here. I finally decided on an occasion to wear this gorgeous grey: a friend's wedding back in late June. This polish conforms to all the standards upheld by the RBL line: gorgeous opacity, formula, drying time. It's top notch. Sure, they're wicked expensive, but Ji has blessed us with a few sales (which is when I've bought all of mine). So patience is key with this brand.

Anyway, this is two coats of Concrete Jungle:

So, I have a semi-new one coming up next, and after that, who knows! Thanks for reading, and I'm so please to be back to regular posting! I appreciate you all so much :D

American Apparel Berry

Another old NOTD today, playing catch up all week here! I've seen some people write that the name of this polish is "Berries" (I've also seen it written that way on the AA website), but mine says "Berry" on the bottom, so Berry it shall be called. Another stellar color from the original release, opaque in 2 coats, near perfect formula. Vampy yet understated.

I don't have much else to say, about this. You'll have to excuse the state of my nails: things have been insane in my life right now, very dramatic. I had some really tough decisions to make, and I gnawed a bit at my nails. So I chopped 'em down a smidge (I didn't really do any damage but nonetheless). This was pre-major-choppage though. Sigh.

Please excuse the tip-wear and general scuffiness of this manicure, I'd worn it for a day already when I took this photo (unusual for me). Another great one from the American Apparel line! As skeevy as they are over there, they have some great polish.

Thanks for reading :D

OPI Funkey Dunkey

So, as we all know, when it comes to nail polish, I, like most junkies, am weak. I have China Glaze's Grape Pop, but yet I needed this polish. I can't explain why. Maybe it's because OPI wears amazingly on me. I'm not sure. And I love purple? And the name is weird? And yeah... I have no excuse. Again, this is from quite a while ago. This is two coats of this gorgeous royal purple, and I really have nothing else to say other than that. OPI really outdoes themselves with their creme polishes, in my opinion. I've never been disappointed.

This is Funkey Dunkey, from the Shrek collection:

I bought almost all of this collection, except Rumples Wiggin. I left that one because I have a bunch of pastel purples and I'm just not much into the color. These were all pretty awesome, I do have to say. Anyway, not much else to say with this one, but that's a good thing. More tomorrow! Thanks for reading :-D