Another Look: butter LONDON Wallis

So after Courtney totally flipped over butter LONDON's Wallis, I grabbed this with a Zappos.com gift card  I earned with my credit card points.  I wasn't so sure about this when I ordered it, but I figured since I had nothing like it, why not try it!  In general I have really loved all my butter LONDON polishes, and while the formula was great for me on Wallis, the color was so NOT me at all!

Wallis is a tarnished green/gold color, and like Courtney said in her review, goes on like a foil.  I particularly partial to foils.  I just really can't get past how gold this looks on me.  The green is there, but barely.  Even in the shade (pictures below), it's still so gold.  What's interesting is looking at these pictures, I don't hate it on my skin tone, but it's just not me and I know I would never wear it.  So unfortunately this one is going in the blog sale pile for me.

butter LONDON Wallis

butter LONDON Wallis

butter LONDON Wallis

butter LONDON Wallis in the shade

Wallis is part of the Fall 2011 collection.  You can still get it at Ulta or at butter LONDON's website for $14.  What do you think about these weird green/golds? Are you a fan like Courtney or a hater like me?

Red Obsession: Butter London Come to Bed Red

Remember a while back when I was so disappointed that I already owned a dupe for Butter London Bluey that I decided to re-home it?  Well, my partner-in-crime Jessie made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  I sent Bluey her way, and she bought me a brand new Butter London of my choice.  Of course this was during the time of my massive red creme haul, so I decided on MUA fan favorite Come to Bed Red.

What a name, huh?!  For once, I don't think I need to give any kind of definition or interpretation for the name.  Come to Bed Red is a get-his-attention, va-va-voom red, so use your imagination!  ;-)  You may be thinking this looks awfully close to RBL Chinoise that I showed you a few weeks ago, but I promise you that's just due to my lighting conditions and poor photo editing.  While Chinoise is a warm, almost orange-leaning red, Come to Bed Red is more of a neutral, true red.  Like, Crayola "Red" crayon red.  As if the color wasn't gorgeous enough, the formula and application on this one was AH-MAZE-ING.  UNBELIEVABLE.  It was super pigmented (almost a one-coater!), but it flowed so smoothly I almost fell off the couch.  I find most Butter London formulas to be smooth and easy to apply, but this was the cream of the crop.  Total perfection!  This is two coats I'm showing you here.

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It's just lovely!  Incredible formula aside, I think I prefer the warmness of Chinoise on my skin tone a little more, but I love this one so much, I just don't know for sure.  I guess it would come down to the day's mood for which one I'd grab first.  I've got two more reds to go through before I really decide to rank them, and I'll definitely be showing all of them on one hand for you guys, so you can really see how they compare to each other.

I'd highly recommend Come to Bed Red, if you're still looking for your "Holy Grail" red.  It's nice and neutral, so I think it would flatter most skin tones, and the formula makes this one worth every penny of its $14 price tag.  Plus, who could go wrong with a name like "Come to Bed Red"?!  :-D

Zoya Cheryl

Holy cow, you guys!  Halloween was Monday, and I woke up the next day and realized that Christmas was just around the corner!  Christmas is the source of a lot of stress for me every year, mostly because I never have enough money to buy everyone the things I want to buy them, so I end up settling for something stupid and then getting frustrated about it.  Repeat ad nauseum until all friends and family's gifts are purchased.  See what I mean?  Long story short, I'm trying to hang on to every last bit of fall that I can, so I kicked off November with one of the most "fall" polishes I own - Zoya Cheryl.

Cheryl is a deep brown with reddish, rusty, coppery shimmer.  It's kind of a mix between a shimmer and a foil, but I'd say it lands more on the side of shimmer.  It's blackened on the edges and has that glowy, "lit-from-within" look.  My application on this one was almost downright terrible.  I apologize if it looks kind of chunky in these photos.  I can't blame the formula too much, because I've worn this several times, so it may just be that natural evaporation effect going on.  Either way, I had to add a few drops of thinner to get a second coat on without too much of a headache.  It's nicely pigmented, and this is only two coats shown below.

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This polish just screams "fall!"  It's warm and cozy and makes me want to snuggle by a fire with a cup of hot chocolate.  Cheryl was released with last fall's Wicked collection (the same one with Edyta), and I think it's one of the most underrated polishes of the collection.  I think it gets the "brown polish" reputation, but it's so much more beautiful than that.  Though, I suppose I'm biased, 'cause I love a good brown polish.

I'd highly recommend Cheryl, if you don't already own this one.  Now's the perfect time, with Thanksgiving just a few weeks away AND with a Zoya Buy Two, Get Two Free promotion through this Saturday! (OMG I just actually told you guys about a CURRENT promotion!  I'm improving!  Yay!)

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!  I'll be supporting the hubby's favorite college football team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, for the big game against LSU on Saturday.  I'm such a good wife!  LOL Roll Tide!  :-P

China Glaze Zombie Zest, Part Deux

BOO!!

Happy Halloween, friends!!!  I'm still recovering from this weekend's freak October snow (our HEATER broke - now that's scary!), but I wanted to show you guys my Halloween manicure!  Nothing too fancy or impressive, but I did promise you guys another way to wear Zombie Zest.  We'll make this quick, so you can get to all your Halloween festivities!  :-)  Here's one layer of Zombie Zest over one coat of Wet 'n Wild Black Creme:

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Love!  These photos don't even do it justice!  It's sooo sparkly in real life, and the duochrome is much more apparent when layered over black. It's definitely a much more wearable look, if you're not into the whole "sparkly snot" look.  It's dark and mysterious and perfect for Halloween!

I hope you all have a super fun and safe Halloween!  I leave you with my favorite scene from my favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus!

Bye byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye BYE BYE (*dun dun dun dun*)!

Breaking into linear holos with Nfu-Oh 61 and 65

So I was pretty nervous about ordering another new brand, plus a linear holo.  I got a notice on my google reader that Nfu-Oh 61 was available again.  I had been wanting to try the Nfu-Oh flakies for quite a while now, and the announcement that 61 was back was enough to send me to the Fabuloustreet website for some serious hauling.  I've had a few scattered holos and loved them, but I just didn't get why everyone goes crazy over the linear ones.   

So I took the plunge and got 61 and 65, as well as the aqua base.  While I was waiting for them to arrive, I got pretty nervous, because the ladies over on the MUA nail board were complainging that it was a dud.  As in it wasn't holographic.  So once it finally arrived I ripped open the box.  Here is the thing, it's not holographic in the bottle, as all, in the slightest.  But the polish sure it.  I think maybe it's not as holo as previous incarnations, but since this was my first, the bar was pretty low.

61 is a silver foil (I guess?) that becomes a rainbow explosion in the sun.  I had a really hard time photographing these.  They are way more holographic in real life.  If you've got any tips for me on how to photograph holos, leave it in the comments below.  I took these in outdoor light.  This is one coat over aqua base (which felt like it wasn't ever going to dry...)

Nfu-Oh 61

Nfu-Oh 61

So this is why I don't think I'm a linear holo girl.  Because when you are not in the sun, you get this.  And this is not cute.  Especially when the polish is lumpy and your nails are full of imperfections!

Nfu-Oh 61 in the shade - BORING

So 65 is even better.  It was more rainbow-y for me and the blue color was great.  I still had formula and aqua base formula issues.

Nfu-Oh 65

Nfu-Oh 65

Nfu-Oh 65 in the shade is a little less boring.  I think if aqua base would have totally dried first, it would have looked a lot better. The color in the shade isn't bad, but still I'm not impressed.

Nfu-Oh 65 in the shade

Overall, I was a bit disappointed with my first linear holos.  I got to admit, when I first stepped into the sun and saw my nails come alive in the sun, I was impressed.  But the amazingness of the full sun isn't enough to get me past the crappy formula and boring base color.  Not sure if I'm going to hold onto these...

Nfu-Oh can be purchased on the Fabuloustreet website for $12.50 each.  What do you think of your Nfu-Oh holos?  Got any other easy to find linear holos you think I should give a shot.

China Glaze Zombie Zest

As promised, here is the (sort of) final installment of my olive polish obsession.  I've actually had this one for several months, but as it was one of the stranger polishes I've ever brought home, in addition to the name, I thought it'd be best to save for Halloween time.  It's about time to get this one outta my untrieds! :-)

First of all, I'm PRETTY sure by "Zest,"  China Glaze meant "liveliness" or "flair."  But my offbeat sense of humor makes me think of this:

Yeah.  Like "Eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat...with a dash of zombie zest for garnish."  I know.  LOL

Zombie Zest (the polish, not the garnish) is an odd bird.  It's this murky, swampy greenish brown jelly with a gold-green duochrome-y glass-flecked finish.  The duochrome isn't super strong, but it's definitely there - flecks gently changing from gold to more of a true green.  The formula is a little on the thin side, so I needed three coats.  My Ott-Lite is x-ray vision-ing this polish - I promise it's not quite that sheer in real life (It's more like the pointer finger).  The application, however, was ah-maze-ing!  It practically applied itself and was super easy to clean up.  Definitely click to enlarge these photos so you can see all of what's going on in this strange polish!

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

Now, I'm not gonna lie.  Zombie Zest is NOT going to be everyone's cup of tea.  My hubby loved it (especially for the name), but my coworker literally said, "Ew!  That's disgusting!" when she saw it.  A few months ago, I probably would've hated this polish, but given my new-found love of ugly-pretty polishes, and kind of "building up" to it with my previous olive polishes, I love it!  It's so weird and ugly and AWESOME all at the same time!  Plus, it can be worn two ways!  I'll show you Zombie Zest layered over black next time.  :-)

Just for funsies, I'll put the comparison I did with Zombie Zest and Butter London Wallis here as well:

(L) Butter London Wallis, (R) China Glaze Zombie Zest

Having worn both of these polishes now, I can say with 100% certainty that they are NOT dupes.  Not even close!  In addition to the other reasons I listed before, I found Zombie Zest to be much more brownish in its base color.  Like, way murkier.  Also, it's way sparklier - my camera didn't really like photographing this one.  Plus, it's a jelly!  Woo-hoo!  It's definitely the "uglier" (but in no means less awesome) of the two.  I do prefer Wallis more, as it's a bit more wearable and more universally flattering, but if you're into ugly-pretty or these strange golden-olive colors, I definitely suggest giving Zombie Zest a try!  Zombies are all the rage right now, after all!  ;-)

Rescue Beauty Lounge Firebird Collection

I'm so happy to finally posting my Rescue Beauty Lounge (RBL) Firebirds!  The L'Oiseau de Feu" Pre-Fall 2011 Collection (now nicknames the Firebirds) brought us 4 new shades.  I picked 3 of them up in the pre-sale a long time ago and finally got around to wearing all three: Pizzicato, Poco a Poco, and Piu Mosso.  I didn't get Fortissimo because I didn't think I would ever wear it and cause it's a green/brown creme for $18!    Anyway, the whole collection was based off of Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de Feu and Hurricane Earl, hence the musical themed names. Each polish is a different stage of the storm.  You can read more about the inspiration for each polish here.

First up is Pizzicato, which is actually the last one I tried.  This is a soft pink on me, but it does lean purple.  RBL describes it as a misty white with a hint of lavender, but this is pink for me.  Its packed full of small silver flakes.  At first I didn't like this one, I thought it was too pale, but after a day of wearing it I was smitten.  This was two coats, and I needed it.  It was a bit streaky on the first coat.  It's also a bit thicker than I'm used to with RBL.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pizzicato

Next up is Poco a Poco, a standard muted pink polish jazzed up with pink shimmer which flashes this warm sunset color for me.  It's not quite gold or red, but it's not straight up pink either.  This is a beautiful polish.  I could see me wearing this to important meetings or interviews.  Might be not neutral enough for some of you, but I think it's just right!

Again 2 coats, and I needed it.  This isn't as thick as Pizzicato, but still not the perfect consistency I expect from RBL.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco

Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco

Finally we have Piu Mosso, which is the one I was most excited about.  An inky dark blue creme base with this AMAZING gold shimmer in it.  But it's also secret shimmer.  And while I am usually a fan of the secret shimmer, unless you are in the right light, this polish just falls flat for me.  I wish I had taken a picture of this in the bad light for you.  What's interesting is I noticed that as soon as you start to take this off, the shimmer is like HELLO!!!!!  I think the shimmer just sinks in the polish.  Well a few of the girls on MUA use a bit of acetone after their mani, brought the shimmer out and THEN used top coat and was able to get their desired effect.  Too much work for an $18 bottle of polish - probably.  Am I still glad I have this one? Yes!

Two coats here, I could have done one thick one though.  Consistency on this one is perfect.  It went on like BUTTAH - as Courtney would say :).

Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso

Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pio Mosso

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pio Mosso

So overall, this isn't my favorite RBL collection, but I wont' be swapping any of these away.  If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably only have gotten Poco a Pococ and Pio Mosso.  I think you just have to decide which ones are for you AND which ones will you wear.  These 3, plus Fortissimo are still available for purchase, but don't wait long.  Like most RBL polishes, once they are gone they are gone... that is until they hold a "Bring It Back" vote.  You can get the Firebirds only from RBL, directly through their website for $18 a bottle.