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.