Weekend Beauty - Nail Polish: Butter London Favorites

Butter London is a company from...Seattle, which specializes in "non-toxic lacquers and nail treatments". Nostalgic for Britain, I fell for the names of polishes in the collection. Having tried a couple of shades, I came back for more. I have no problems with texture or longevity of the lacquers. My only issue with Butter London are cumbursome caps on their bottles. It is very hard to hold the chuncky rectangle of plastic while trying to apply the polish. I must have been not the only one dispelased with the caps, as now the brand is replacing them. Newer bottles have a "double cap", rectangular cover and the actual, smaller, easier-to-hold cap. As for the shades, here are my favorites, in alphabetical order: Billy No Mates. Butter call it "pale dove grey", but really it is very light sky-blue-grey-whitish color, fit or a Snow Maiden, quite unique: Dolly Bird. Absolutely misleadingly presented on the site in a bottle colored bluish pepto-pink, this is in fact that rare thing, a neon CORAL shade. Bright, summery, pure joy of a color: Fash Pack. Every self-respecting line has to have a 'skanky'-dirty shade; Fash Pack is Butter's. A gray-taupe mushroom of a color. Again, misrepsented by a much grayer swatch on the site. Muggins. Possibly my favorite in the collection, a slightly "dusty" light lavender-lilac. The swatch on the site is too blue; they really need to do something about the misrepresentation. Swinger. Another favorite, a muted, slightly green gold that changes with the light and the angle. Tea with the Queen, a yummy politically correct nude-pink-beige that reminds me of the color of condensed milk. Thames. In my top 3 of Butters and definitely somewhere in the top 5 of favorite teals. Deep, dark, shimmer, a must have for the fans of the shade. Are you familiar with this line? Please, share your impressions and favorites. Available at butterlondon.com, $14.00 a piece.

Weekend Beauty - Nail Polish: Mojito and Matte

The lime-mint green was on Chanel Autumn-Winter 2009 runway, and what's good for Chanel is almost always good for me. But- and it is not that I ammuch into seasonality of scents or polishes- I am more drawn to cool greens like that when the weather is hot. So here are the "mojito-green" favorites, with which I have been shocking innocent bystanders this summer: Orly Mojito Green. Goes on smooth, is thick enough in two coats, and as for the notoriously long drying time of Orly polishes, I can't comment on that anymore. Fast dry top coat is my new best friend. OPI Hey, Get in Lime! A cool, ethereal-green perfection of a color. Mermaids should wear this. Impeccable application. OPI Gargantuan Green Grape in matte (pictured on top too). That's right, I jumped on the bandwagon. And I will be happily riding it, with one single complaint: application! It is tricky, toput it mildly, especially in lighter shade like the Grape. It's bad enough with a light-colored cream, now imagine it in matte! I figured out that, to avoid bumps and streaks, the polish needs to be applied thickly and spread super-fast, as it dries almost immediately. But the shade is beautiful, and the nails with matte polish have such an oddly appealing "velvety" look and feel not at all coarse but "powdery-smooth" to the touch. And, although green it is not, here is another matte favorite of mine, as a bonus- OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. Black-purple perfection of a shade. Striking and stylish (perhaps better suited for nails slightly shorter, as it gives the longer ones a witchy look...although...so what, right?). Application of a dark matte polish was much easier, but...and I rarely complain about how long a polish lasts without chipping and peeling off , simply because I change shades so often...LPAD matte was chipping at the tips within hours of application. Still, it is a new vampy favorite. All available at TransDesign.com.

Weekend Beauty - Nail Polish: Summer Report

It's been a while since the last nail polish post, but now we'll get back into the swing of things, because it's not like I haven't been testing and buying. It's just that I haven't been writing. I will start with a nailathon. These are the polishes I loved in the last couple of months (unless otherwise noted, I had no problems with application, texture, etc. with any of these): Watermelon Rind from China Glaze's Summer Days 2009 collection: an amazing, deep teal with a lot of glitter. Lovey Dovey from Essie's Summer 2009 Collection: Essie calls it flamingo pink, I call pinks like that bimbo-pink. Love the lolitaesque barbieosity of the shade. Another -and very cheapo- bimbo-pink polish that got a lot of wear is the appropriately named Polyester Pink Cream from N.Y.C. A little too thick and streaky, but hey, it was $0.99. I don't wear a lot of pink clothes, if any, but I am a Pinkzilla nail-wise, so expect a long separate post on bimbo shades. I have also been in a mood for borderline vulgar fuchsias, like Orly Hawaiian Punch: ...and apricots, like Orly Secret Admirer: ...and reds, like Dashing Diva Park Ave Mistress But I couldn't get through summer with brighties and lighties alone. One needs to vamp it up once in a while. For that I had some Russkie OPIs: Boris and Natasha unexpectedly felt quite at home on a beach Catherine the Grape made a Great manicure for an evening out: I am still in the throws of mad love for lilacs, violets and purples, and Petite Four by Orly, which I for some reason underestimated before, went really well with a lot of things in my wardrobe: But the polish I worn the most? The beloved Isis Purple by Nubar. Which, incidentally, makes an unbelievably long-lasting (I am talking a couple of weeks!) vacation pedicure. So what polishes did you enjoy this summer?

Weekend Beauty- Nail Polish: Strangebeautiful Library No 2

Strangebeautiful™ offers "libraries" of nail polishes, which change every season. Each library consists of 8 polishes, which can only be bought as a set. Strangebeautiful's intent is to develop a new creative approach to nail color and position themselves more as an accessory rather than just a nail color line. The polishes are 3 Free. So far there has been two libraries, I had a chance to try on the second one, released for Spring 2009. The bottles, rather irritatingly, have no names on them (and to me, the names of polishes are half the fun!), so I am going by the descriptions on Luckyscent with some and will make up the names for the others: "The dull red color of a lobster shell" or one might call it brick-red. I like these kinds of muted, rusty reds. The polish was thick enough to be suffcient in two coats and applied smoothly: "The dark dense saturated black purple inspired by the venerable J. Herbin ink company founded in 1670." More of a purple-indigo, perhaps. Again, great consistency, a 2-coater. "The slate blue color of a uniform in an 1846 Currier print," my second favorite in the library. Somewhat reminiscent of Rescue Beauty Launge Stromy, only darker and bluer. Perfect application. Then there were two "mustards" (term mine): "The Brown Mustard" is ...inexplicable color-wise. I am sorry but it looks like...no, never mind. Perhaps, it just really, really clashed with my skin tone. No problems with application though. "The Yellow Mustard"- a wonderfully original, muted yet bright (that's right) color, which did not flatter my skin tone, but which I loved nevertheless "The Taupes" were easy for me to like. I only have about a dozen of these sorts of shades in my collection. "The Grayer Taupe" had the mushroomy quality that I love: "The Warmer Taupe" reminded me pleasantly of the color of baked milk: But the best, to me, was "The Olive Green" polish. It had the muted, earthy quality, a slight gray undertone, it was like nothing else I own or have often seen in other lines. Overall, I thought that the Library No 2 offered fairly unique, earthy and edgy shades. The polishes applied well, had great coverage, dried fast. Would it be worth it for me to splurge on a $79.00 set for just the olive, the slate and the two taupes...I am thinking about it. Available at Luckyscent.

Weekend Beauty- Nail Polish: MAC Love & Friendship

MAC released a new collection, Rose Romance, which includes one nail polish, Love & Friendship, described officially as "creamy dirty mid-tone lavender". I'd describe it as dusty mid-tone pink-purple. The shade is fabulous enough to warrant a whole post all to itself. The dusty-dirty element makes it ever so contemporary, and yet there is something vaguely and endearingly old-fashioned about this muted color. I call it edgy lady-like. If I had to compare it to other polishes, I'd venture that it reminded me somewhat of Nubar Isis, however Love & Friendship is less pink and more purple. The polish required 3 coats to satisfy my obsession with total non-transparency, but it applied evenly and smoothly. This is the first MAC polish that I really liked, although I am sure that if I ever manage to get my mitts on elusive Peppermint Patty, sparkles would fly as well. Also in MAC news, seven Dazzleglass lip glosses were introduced earlier this month, one of them Like Venus, "clean light bubble gum pink with red pearl". Don't be scared by the "bubble gum" in the description, it is not that bright on the lips, but it is a fun shade of pink which isn't boring to wear on its own and which livens up any lipstick. Both are available at MAC counters and at maccosmetics.com, $11.00 and $18.00 respectively.

Weekend Beauty - Nail Polish: For Audrey

Some polishes deserve posts dedicated just to themselves. And none is more worthy of such attention as For Audrey by China Glaze, THE shade that started my nail polish obsession. Nothing makes me more "divinely and utterly happy" than receiving a blue Tiffany box...well maybe receiving an orange Hermes one...and For Audrey is the exact match of that signature green-blue color. For Audrey is a cream, it goes on smoothly and evenly, and needs no more than two coats to look exquisite. Even if it was a disaster quality-wise, it would still be worth it. Whenever I wear it and catch a sight of it on my nails, I can't help but think that, "oh golly gee damn", it's so pretty! Definitely one of my Top 10 shades. China Glaze polishes are invariably great quality, come in a huge variety of colors and are reasonably priced. If you don't know them yet, it is worth seeking them out. Look for them at transdesign.com and head2toebeauty.com.

Weekend Beauty - Nail Polish: Dusty Purples

Dusty Purple is my favorite kind of purple. It is such a chic color, I find no other way to describe it. Just purple is nice but ordinary. Add to it some dust/grayness/dirt, and it becomes a little odd and much more unique. (From the darkest to the lightest) The most stylish dusty, or rather - dirty purple extraordinaire is, to me, Metro Chic by OPI for Sephora. Yes, I included it last week in the selection of my favorite mushroomy colors, but that is what's great when a shade is so multi-faceted, you can categorize it so many different ways. Parlez-Vous Opi? became a classic in its category at the moment of its release last year, and it's easy to see why, this shade of purple, with its slightly dirty undertone, is gorgeous. It might be just a tiny bit too dark for me. I love mu purples either lighter or dirtier than this. Still- a must have for fans of unordinary purples. The application is problem-free, as is mostly the case with OPI. Pharaoh's Purple is from Nubar's brand new Cleopatra collection. I predict that it will be just as popular as Parlez-Vous. The two colors are very similar...and yet different enough that a ...let's call it connoisseur would want to have both. The difference is hard to decsribe. Pharaoh's Purple strikes me as a warmer and more muted color, devoid of blue undertones. It is also slightly lighter than Parlez-Vous. Of the two, the Nubar is my favorite. The application and texture of this polish is impeccable. Misa Heartbreak has a slight duochrome (hints of pink shine in its purple) effect, which is not what I ordinarily like, but just look at this gorgeous gray-purple. A chic, melancholy, hard-to-describe shade that applies easily, wears long and costs just $2.99. OPI Done Out in Deco is Parlez-Vous' lighter cousin. Along with Who's Wearing What, it is exactly the shade of purple I love, darkness-wise, and has just enough "dust" in it to make it a little edgy and not just pretty. Same goes for China Glaze's gem from some time ago, Who's Wearing What. To a normal person someone not into nail polish, it would look pretty much the same as Deco. A polish maniac will see subtle but essential differences. As was the case with Parlez-Vous and Pharaoh's Purple above, WWW has less blue in its purple than DOiD, is warmer and more muted. Application and quality- sublime. And, although it is not dusty and not even an obvious purple per se, but just because I love it so much, here is another new shade from Nubar, from the same Cleopatra collection, Isis Purple: This was love at first sight for me, an immediate holy grail. In a course of two days, while wearing Isis, I received more compliments on my polish then in a course of my life. I am not exaggerating. There is something special about this pink-purple shade. It stands out, but is not too bright, and I think the amount of pink and the amount of purple in it are so perfectly balanced. The quality of this nail polish is amazing, it was basically good enough to wear after one coat. My absolute favorite in Cleopatra collection and, right not, my favorite polish period. Available at Sephora, Trans Design, 8ty8beauty and Bynubar.