Passport to Japan: Sonia Rykiel 15

A photo from my recent trip to Japan of dancers in Yoyogi Park in Harajuku.




Today's manicure is Sonia Rykiel #15.
Sonia Rykiel is a European designer who just happens to have a beauty line exclusive to Japan. When I was staying in Tokyo I picked up two bottles from the Rykiel counter in iSetan department store in Shinjuku. I believe this #15 is part of the core line. It's a sour apple green jelly with iridescent and silver glitter and larger round silver glitter pieces. It is sheer, but not streaky and applies pretty well. I think it may be rose or floral scented like Anna Sui - but it smells less nauseating to me than Anna Sui does. I couldn't buy any Sui there because of my aversion to the scent. Sorry, my cuticles are still gross.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, three coats polish, and one coat Nubar Diamont; with the exception of the ring finger which has two coats of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme and two coats of #15 polish.
These pictures were taken indoors in a light box with artificial light.

OPI Reflecting Pool

Today's manicure is OPI Reflecting Pool. This is purported to be both a Japanese and UK exclusive polish from the Reflection Glitters collection (2009). I bought it off eBay from a US seller, so it's tough for me to weigh in. Japan tends to get beautiful glitters from OPI that the consumers in the US will never see, so I definitely buy it being sold there. I know of bloggers who bought it in store in the UK, so it was definitely retailed there as well. It is not incredibly old since it's new formula green label OPI with a pro-wide brush. It may still be findable in retail locations with old stock in either of those countries, but otherwise you must know someone abroad or buy secondhand.
Reflecting Pool is a super shimmery (bordering on foil) silvery teal base loaded with golden glitter. It's super awesome looking in pretty much any light situation. It's a bit sheer, but not overly so - three coats provided full coverage.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, three coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont.
Disclaimer: These photos were all taken indoors using artificial light (I'm experimenting with a light box).
Taken with indirect artificial light:

Taken with flash:

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure

Today's manicure is yesterday's manicure (Maybelline Banana Puddin') with two coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure slapped on top. I wanted to add a little visual interest to this puppy.
Hidden Treasure is a limited edition polish that may be located in a recent drugstore display of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. Some others included in this display were Lagoon, Sea and Be Seen, and Silver Lining. Hidden Treasure has two slots on the far right end of the display. I found this bottle at a Rite Aid; the two bottles were already gone by the time I made it in to my local Walgreens.
Hidden Treasure doesn't really look like much, but can pack quite a punch layered over a dark base color - which I didn't do :-P
If you're unable to find it, I will suggest some alternates that were bandied about on makeupalley: Nubar 2010 and Nfu Oh 38. It's really not THAT special, but it is a big deal in that it's the first drugstore flakie I can remember since Maybelline Coloramas. Let's hope we see more in the future.
Man my fingers look red...I don't know how much of it is that my fingers ARE red and how much is this yellow polish.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, four coats Maybelline Wet Shine Banana Puddin', one coat Nubar Diamont, and two coats Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.
Isn't that crazy?
Sorry about my cuticles. They're a bit neglected.
Artificial light/light box:

Natural sunlight:

Maybelline Wet Shine Banana Puddin'

Today's manicure is Maybelline Wet Shine Banana Puddin'. It's kind of a cult classic - since it was a limited edition and is now hard to find (outside dollar tree miracles or above retail second hand purchasing), but one that is pretty overrated in my opinion. Yellows tend to be the most difficult of polishes. Applying a yellow creme is generally a pain, and this one is definitely no exception. It's streaky and sheer and takes 4 coats to look decent. That's too high maintenance for my liking. It is a nice buttery yellow that really does look like southern style banana pudding, but it just doesn't measure up. Plus, it brings out the red in my skin.
On the bright side, I just watched the season premiere of True Blood and it looks like it's going to be a fun season.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, four coats polish, and one coat Nubar Diamont.
Disclaimer: These photos were taken indoors with artifical lighting (I'm experimenting with lightboxes)

LE Borghese Tutti Gelati and LE Finger Paints Glitter Collection

The next time I returned to Sally Beauty Supply, they had put out the little display of their (Generic for OPI Alice in Wonderland) glitter collection. They are not dead dupes, but kind of a riff on the Mad As a Hatter and Absolutely Alice glitter polishes from that collection.
Sapphire Shimmer, the stand in for Absolutely Alice, is silver holographic glitter in a blue jelly base. The base seemed to be a little patchy, so it may be better as a layering polish, but it is pretty.
Wicked Glitter is the sub for Mad As A Hatter, MAAH had a dominant silver/neutral glitter undertone, while this glitter is dominantly red and pink with silver and blue mixed in. It also turns out a bit patchy, but is a very cool glitter anyways.
I found the Borghese Tutti Gelati summer collection at Rite Aid and purchased these three colors: Pistacchio, Menta, and Limoncello.
Limoncello is the best of these three in my opinion. Pistacchio is a great color, but both Pistacchio and Menta do not provide full coverage with three coats. This was my first experience with Borghese and I found them rather disappointing given their cost.




This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nail, three coats polish, and one coat Nubar Diamont. Three coats was not particularly great for any of these polishes as they all could use more coverage.

New Finger Paints in the Permanent Collection

The last time I went into Sally Beauty Supply looking for the two new limited edition glitter polishes that I popped up on makeupalley, I was surprised to find a pretty different permanent collection Finger Paints display than I remembered. Sally puts out some great limited edition Finger Paints colors in their seasonal displays, but I was never very interested in their permanent collection of pretty standard pinks, purples, mauves, etc. They did have a few good colors, but this new display was a revelation. First of all, it had 4 greens! I can tell you from experience that green is a pretty rare commodity in a permanent collection. Times are changing, but the unfavorable Green to Pink ratio is disappointing to a green aficionado. Also, they had added glitters and interesting shimmers. Needless to say, I walked away with 5 new polishes, even though they didn't have the le glitters I had come in looking for.

L to R: Art of Theft, Easel-y Entertained, Sketch N Etch, Scenery Greenery, Tough Art to Follow
As you may observe, I took this picture wearing my keen sun hat.



Art of Theft looks like a blackish navy jelly indoors, but has a lovely purple-y shimmer when lighted properly.
Easel-y entertained is a purple-heavy blurple glitter with sparse silver glitter mixed in. I believe it's in a clear base, but it's hard to tell as it provides pretty dense coverage.
Sketch n Etch is my favorite of the bunch and recalls Essie Dominica Green with it's beautifully vivid tone and glittery shimmer.
Scenery Greenery is a blackboard green creme.
Tough Art to Follow is an almost black green creme that reminds me of OPI's Here Today, Aragon Tommorrow.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nail, three coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont. Three coats of polish was highly unnecessary. It doesn't look much different from 2, and these polishes are pretty pigmented so you could probably even get away with one. I can honestly say that I really like them all.
Get thee to Sally.

Vibrant Skittles

Hello Vestiges of Former Readership!
It's been a long time.
I stopped doing my nails.
I went on vacation, twice.
I bought a lot of nail polish in New York and Japan. Along the way I learned that I'm not too sexy for this blog, or bad puns.
I am on my way to getting my groove back.

I went drugstore hopping this afternoon and found new displays for Milani Liquid Metal and Wet n Wild Wild Shine Limited Edition. The WnW display didn't have a specific collection name, but did have a smiling woman and a big lollipop - and alluded to candy in writing. Being $1 a bottle and beautifully summery, I bought all 12 colors. The Liquid Metal display is the second collection of that name that Milani has released, the first being pretty standard metallic colors like silver and gold, etc. I didn't buy one of the 6 colors on display because it looked dull.
Disclaimer: These are pictures taken with a new camera, indoors, at night, and with some tweaking courtesy of Photoshop to provide the most accurate photo possible in such conditions(color-wise).
Why didn't I take these in beautiful technicolor sunlight?
Well, I tried my hand at making hollandaise sauce as part of the dinner menu this evening. It was a crushing failure and I needed some manicure therapy.
I have done a couple (manicures, not hollandaise sauces) since returning to the states, but none up to blog standards. Maybe these aren't either, but I figured, to hell with it. My nails are far from perfect at the moment, as are my photos. Please hang in there. Hopefully things will get better...
*EDIT - Added sunlight pics...oh bad cuticles in the harsh light of day!





I realize this is somewhat blurry...
From Thumb to Pinky: Cherry Pop, Sunkist Paradise, Lemon Drops, Mint Fusion, Blueberry Fizz
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of Wet n Wild Wild Shine (with the exception of orange and yellow, which required three coats), and one coat of Nubar Diamont.
Thoughts on these polishes:
All are cremes except Mint Fusion, which has subtle shimmer. The orange and yellow could classify as jellies as they are much more sheer than the red and blue shades. This combo makes one heck of a Dexter-worthy skittle mani. They are dirt cheap and of pretty decent quality. If you don't like sheer - avoid the Sunkist Paradise and Lemon Drops and you'll be fine. I found these at Rite Aid.





From Thumb to Pinky: Melt Down, Metal Gear, Melt in the Sun, Molten Rock, Hot Metal
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of Milani Liquid Metal, and one coat of Nubar Diamont.
Thoughts on these polishes:
All of them are pretty great in 1 coat, better with 2, and I think they are beautiful. They have a rich foiled finish that almost has a holographic effect. I definitely recommend picking up any and/or all of these. I found these at CVS.