Something Borrowed: BB Couture Moon Over Manhattan

Last, but most certainly not least, I have the final installment of my Something Borrowed mini-series! (You can check out Parts 1 and 2 here and here if you missed 'em!)  I mentioned to you guys that Rach and I decided to go outside our comfort zones, and pick two of each other's polishes in finishes we don't typically wear (shimmers for Rach and cremes for me).  We both took it an extra step further and threw in a third mystery polish in a more familiar territory.  So much fun I could hardly stand it!  So, what mystery polish did Rach send me?  Oh, just a little piece of awesomeness!   :-D

BB Couture Moon Over Manhattan is a medium-toned dusty teal blue with aqua and silver shimmer.  In some lights it looks more blue, but in my office lighting it leans very green.  The shimmer is that kind of irregular, glass-fleck looking stuff.  So pretty!  This is the first BB Couture I've ever tried, and lemme tell you, the formula did NOT disappoint!  I should've tried this sooner!  It applied flawlessly in two coats and wore like iron.  As I write this, I've been wearing it for four days with only very minimal tip wear.  Click to enlarge these photos and check out all that gorgeous shimmer!  

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Rach, I don't know how you did it, but you knocked it outta the park!  It's like you read my mind!!  I.  LOVE.  THIS!  It is complete perfection from color to formula to shimmer to wear!  Dare I say it?  Moon Over Manhattan is everything I wanted Catherine H and Smooth Sailing to be (even though we're in a totally different color family now).  The shimmer shines through exactly how I want it to, and it's just stunning.  I'm smitten!  I'm already planning my first BB Couture purchase, and you betcha Moon Over Manhattan and Impact Driver are gonna be part of it!  You can purchase BB Couture polishes for $9.95 at www.bbnailpolish.com.

I'm sooo grateful to have had the chance to try out these polishes!  Thank you, Rach, for letting me raid your stash and find some brand new loves!!  One day you and Jessie and I will have to meet up and have a polish play date!  

If you guys haven't already visited Rach's blog, stuff i (s)watched, go check it out!  She's intelligent, funny, fantabulous, and awesome, and I absolutely love reading her posts.  Plus, I totally have a nail crush on her and envy her ability to take amazing photos with her cell phone!!  Rock on, girl!  :-D

Hard Candy Sky

So my troubles in pale blue paradise has me on an epic hunt for a pale blue with a good formula.  So after doing some blog research I decided I needed Essie Borrowed and Blue and Hard Candy Sky.  Right off the bat, I was SUPER excited about Sky, which has this awesome shimmer to it.  It like a bright blue flash.  Now while it is pronounced in the bottle, it's not so obvious on the nail.  I could see it in direct light, if I looked really really hard.

Hard Candy Sky is actually my very first Hard Candy nail polish, that I remember at least.  Now I know why everyone loves this so much!  It's just a gorgeous light blue, so pale and pretty.  I did need 3 coats, so while pigmentation isn't an all-star here, I really liked the formula.  it was smooth and easy to apply.  I probably could have done 2 if I had been more careful, but I've had so much on my plate lately I've been doing rush manis.  This polish totally makes me feel like sitting in a wildflower meadow and staring up at the sky to look at cloud shapes.  It's definitely a happy polish.

So I've got 3 pics for you.  The first is more true to color, but I looked like I had lobster hands! So I took another in the "dark box".  This got rid of the redness, but made the polish look more white.  The third one is just to show you the shimmer, which you can see in the bottle.

Hard Candy Sky

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Hard Candy Sky

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Shimmery Hard Candy Sky

I bought this puppy in a blog sale, but you can easily find Hard Candy polishes at your local Walmart for about $4. Not a bad deal at all for such a fun polish!  And apparently if you get it brand new, it comes with a fun plastic heart ring :).  I'm not a sucker for cheaper 80's style plastic jewelry at all....

Plastic pink sunglasses necklace, teal gel ring, turquoise plastic sunglasses!

Something Borrowed: American Apparel Butter

When Rach gave me the run of her stash for my second polish to borrow, I had no idea where to start.  There were a ton of polishes I recognized by name that I have wanted to try - RBL Jane, Zoya Shawn...where was I to start?!  It occurred to me that I should probably try out a completely different brand while I have the chance.  I've heard stories of the almost mythical application and formula of American Apparel polishes, and since I've got kind of a bit of an obsession with yellow this summer, the obvious choice was Butter.  :-)

Butter, or "Buttah," as I'd like to call it, is a pale yellow creme.  (All American Apparel polishes are cremes, by the way.  That's just how they roll.)  There are several pale yellows out there (China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Chanel Mimosa, RBL Square Pants), but what sets Butter apart is its formula.  This sucker is pigmented.  For serious.  I didn't even know that was possible with yellows!  I only needed the standard two coats for opacity.  Application was a little weird for me, but only because I'm the only person in the world who can complain about a super pigmented polish.  For me, it makes it feel like the brush kind of "drags" through the polish, so I needed that second coat just to even out my own wacky application.  Other than that, I think the result is quite nice!  (Apologies!  Looks like I got some random black dots on my middle nail somehow.)

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Love it!  It's such a great spring/summer color!  I really wanted to add some polka dots to it, but I no haz the skillz to do dots.  *cries*  I think I just need to suck it up and invest in an actual dotting tool.  Anywho, it's a perfect alternative to my beloved Square Pants if, 1) you can't track it down, 2)  don't want to pay out the wazoo for it, 3) don't want to do 4 coats of polish, and/or 4) don't want a sheer polish.  

Speaking of Square Pants, I didn't do a direct comparison of the two since I knew they'd be so different based on finish alone, but here's my photo of it, for reference:

It's funny, 'cause I though Square Pants was a pale yellow, but it almost looks like mustard compared to Butter!  Either way, I love them both!  :-)

I'll be honest.  I really love Butter (Buttah!), but I can't say that it's going to jive with everyone's skin tone.  However, I can now speak highly of American Apparel polishes!  I certainly don't love their business model or their marketing, but in terms of nail polish, they've got a great color range (even if they're all cremes), the formula and wear is excellent, and they're only $6!  

Another win from Rach!  Can't wait to show you guys the last one!  :-D

Something Borrowed: OPI Conquistadorable Color

I have something special for you guys today!  A few days ago the lovely Rach from stuff i (s)watched posted her review of OPI Conquistadorable Color.  I commented that while I loved the España collection from a few years back, I'd never tried that color before.  Rach, being the amazingly awesome girl she is, offered to send it to me for me to try, along with another polish of hers of my choosing, and a fun mystery freebie!  I offered her a choice of two of my polishes for her to try (and of course threw in a third for funsies).  Behold!  A swatch swap was born!  :-)  I take a million and a half years to go through my untrieds, so in an effort to not keep her polishes from here to eternity, I'll show you all three over the next three posts.  First up - the color that started it all...

OPI Conquistadorable Color is a medium-toned berry red creme, but more berry than red.  It's super pigmented and applied like a dream in two coats.  I almost could've gotten away with one coat, but we all know my application skills = two coats.  LoL  It's suuuuuuuper shiny!  Like, I should've taken a photo before top coat (D'oh!!), 'cause this stuff is probably the shiniest polish I've ever put on.  *puts on sunglasses*  As usual, I can't take color accurate photos to save my life (*headdesk*).  Imagine this one to be a little more purple and even more saturated in color.

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Gorgeous color!  Not something I would've picked out for myself, but it's beautiful!  (And I'm not just saying that because Rach is probably reading this, lol)  The Hubby really liked it, and I got compliments on it within the first day of wearing it.  I'm not sure if I love it enough to buy my own bottle, but I do highly recommend it if you don't have it in your collection already.  This ain't yo mama's ole red, and the formula and color are worth it!

What I love most about what Rach and I are doing here is pushing ourselves out of our normal comfort zone.  I love a good creme, but I tend to gravitate toward complex shimmers and sparkly things (Sparklessssssss....).  Rach on the other hand loves cremes and proudly mislabels her collection as "vanilla" (it's anything BUT!).  She's got some fab colors, and choosing from her spreadsheet was being in a candy store!  I chose two cremes from her, and she threw in a shimmer (and long-time lemming) for me.  Likewise, she chose two shimmers from me, and I threw in one of my favorite cremes for her to try.  I'm having a ton of fun with this already!  I can't wait to try the next two and see how Rach likes hers!  :-)

Rescue Beauty Lounge 360

Top five favorite polishes ever.  Words can not express how much I love this.  Rescue Beauty Lounge's 360 was one of my first purchases from the RBL world.  It's a beautiful duty grey blue with secret silver shimmer in it.  Just like Diddy Mow, the shimmer isn't really noticeable, just gives it move of a sophistication and depth.  The formula is great like always and opacity is fantastic.  I did 2 coats out of habit, but I could have stopped at one.  This is a great muted summer color.  If I didn't feel the constant need to change up my polish I'd probably wear it more often.

My one gripe about my photos is I don't think they are color accurate.  I've decided my point and shoot sucks, so in the future I will start using my boyfriend's for swatch pictures.  If you want to see what this puppy really look like, check out Scrangie (good color match to outdoor light) and All Lacquered Up (good color match to indoor light).   

Rescue Beauty Lounge 360

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Rescue Beauty Lounge 360

360 was originally released as part of RBL's Spring 2010 Surf Collection and is long sold out, but luckily it's coming back this October so you'll be able to purchase once again.  I know I will for sure get a back up bottle!

(Minus the Peanut Butter and) Jelly Sandwich!

Lately the big buzz on the MUA Nail Board (besides Orly Fowl Play, of course) is the jelly sandwich - lovingly dubbed the "jelly sammich."  If you're new to the concept, as I was, the idea is to sandwich a chunky glitter in between layers of a jelly finish polish.  It softens the look of the glitter and make it look suspended in the jelly.  A layer of shimmer or glitter on top is extra - just like condiments!  I hope you're hungry, 'cause this one's delicious!  ;-)

First of all, I have ZERO creativity when it comes to layering ideas, so this one is just one of the popular layering combinations.  For this one you'll need the following polishes:

-Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Pizzazz

-Sinful Colors Hottie (dupey to OPI Last Friday Night)

-Pure Ice Rio (I've also seen this combo with Clarins 230 or Pure Ice Heartbreaker, and they all look amazing!  Rio was all I had...)

First let's start with Purple Pizzazz - an amazing bright purple jelly with red/purpleish irregular shimmer.  The application was unbelievably amazing!  I used two coats, and while there's definitely VNL in real life, it's not nearly as noticeable as these pictures would have you believe.  Ott-Lites are like x-ray vision for nail polish.  :-)  

DISCLAIMER:  I apologize profusely for the fact that these photos are completely and totally unbelievably color inaccurate.  *sobs*  I dreaded posting these just for that fact.  I tried desperately to adjust them with my photo editor, but I just couldn't get it right.  Purple Pizzazz looks completely blue in these photos, but it's not even remotely blue in real life.  Definitely more of a red-leaning purple.  Bright, but still has depth.

These photos are under my Ott-Lite:

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 I snapped this one in my bathroom for a change of lighting.  This is MUCH closer to actual color, but it's still off.  I'm sorry!

In one word, Purple Pizzazz is AMAZING.  Even if you have no desire to use it in a jelly sandwich, you NEED it!  It's stunning.  Mesmerizing!  Unfortunately I think it's discontinued.  You can definitely still find it in your local drugstores, but be prepared to hunt for it.  I went to about six different stores before I found it, and then I found three.  Feast or famine, right?

So then, I added one layer of Sinful Hottie, one more layer of Purple Pizzazz, and one layer of Pure Ice Rio (this layer is just to add some extra shimmer - you can stop at the second layer of jelly if you want).  Here's the magical result!  (Again, this is definitely purple in real life.  Stupid lack of camera skillz...makes me haz a sad.)  Definitely click to enlarge to see all the goodies going on here!

Ott-Lite:

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Another attempt at color accuracy.  It's definitely close.  This also shows the complexity of the layering.  It almost looks like a flakie in real life!

I was unbelievably happy with this!  It looked sooooo awesome!  Glittery and sparkly and squishy!  I'm really loving seeing everyone's combinations on the Nail Board, and can't wait to show you guys more!  I've got a few more combos up my sleeves.  :-)

Have you guys tried a jelly sandwich?  Any recommendations for ones that I should try??

Another Look: Illamasqua Baptiste

Hey guys!  What do you think of our new header?  Courtney made it and it's totally awesome.  I'm obsessed!  So I messed around with the layout theme a bit to better match it.  What do you think?

Now onto the nail polish.  When Courtney and I first met, she went on and on and on :) about this Illamasqua polish called "Baptiste" and how it was the sexiest polish of her life and if she could marry it she would.  So some time later, I had the opportunity to swap for it.  Then about 3 months later I finally got around to wearing it.  I seriously thought Courtney was going to disown me as a friend for not wearing it sooner.  About a week after the big move, my other half and I got to sneak away to the beach for a day.  Most people would wear a fun bright summery color to the beach, or if you are like Courtney, you wear a holo.  Me, I opt for a deep vampy purple. :)  Well in my differences I thought some beach pictures to show off Baptiste's shimmer would do nicely.  Plus it was one of those - "If I don't wear it now, I'll never wear it!!!!"

I think a good way to start off is to take another peak at the swatches Courtney put up of Baptiste back in February.  These pictures are awesome.  They show the shimmer, the depth, and of course the beauty that is Baptiste.  One thing you will notice in my picutres is the polish is nowhere near as glossy as it should be.  I got one word for you - sunscreen!  Do you guys have this problem.  It's always jacking with my nail polish.  I actually had OPI's Come to Poppy on my toes and it really jacked with that, pretty much leaving me with a matte neon coral.  Oh well!  (And yes I put sunscreen on my feet, everyone should! Just say no to skin cancer)

This is two coats of Baptiste.  If I had been more careful, I probably could have done one.  This is my first Illamasqua polish and I loved the formula and brush.  I didn't need any clean up!  I'm a sucker for a good formula.  Make sure you click these guys to see them full size!!!

Illamasqua Baptiste

Illamasqua Baptiste

This polish is very dark, and while it is easy to see the shimmer in the light, it is always very dark.  However, from afar I can instantly look at my nails and tell they aren't black, so that's nice.  Baptiste is part of Illamasqua's normal collection and is available at Sephora.  You can also buy directly from Illamasqua's website.  This baby is about $14, but I think well worth it!

Oh and good news!  My Tony Moly Galaxy polishes showed up!  So look for those coming soon.  I'm so excited I could scream :).