Strange Beautiful Volume 4 Series. Inspiration: Verdigris

Today's manicure is the teal one from StrangeBeautiful Color Volume 4.
Jane's Inspiration:
Verdigris

From Wikipedia:
Verdigris is the common name for a green pigment obtained through the application of acetic acid to copper plates or the natural patina formed when copper, brass or bronze is weathered and exposed to air or seawater over a period of time.

This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont. This was the most difficult one to work with in the set for me (though only because the others were so easy). It was streaky with one coat, but evened out nicely in two. The color is a unique teal creme in my collection.
This photo was taken indoors in a light box with artificial light:

This photo was taken outdoors in direct sunlight:

Strange Beautiful Volume 4 Series. Inspiration: Caribou Taxidermy

Today's manicure is two different colors from StrangeBeautiful Color Volume 4.
They are the greige (grey-beige), taupe-y, mushroom inspired, grey ones. I am presenting them together because they are complimentary colors and share the same inspiration.
Jane's Inspiration:
The gradation of color on the fur of a taxidermy caribou head

Credit due: This photo was taken from the flickr photostream of Travis S. from his set Glennallen ANGDA Survey. Thanks for all the caribou!
These are nice sedate two coat cremes. I have a few colors like this in my collection. Ever since You Don't Know Jacques, Metro Chic, and then Particuliere, it seems like greige, putty, and taupe are the modern antidote to the sometimes boring office appropriate classics - nude, french manicure, pink, and red. They are still a little sedate for me to go crazy collecting them, but they're great for interviews, office jobs, and other serious endeavors. I have included a bottle lineup for comparison. The closest match is the darker of these with OPI YDKJ, but YDKJ is a shade darker.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont top coat.
These pictures were taken indoors with artificial light in a lightbox:

Strange Beautiful Volume 4 Series. Inspiration: Aged Chartreuse

Today's manicure is from StrangeBeautiful Color Volume 4.
It's the green one.
Jane's Inspiration:
Aged Chartreuse
I didn't clarify this with Jane, but I'm going to assume she meant Chartreuse, the high end herbal liqueur (made by French monks):

This polish is similar to the vivid orange jelly inspired by a turban that I showed last week in it's texture. It's quite pigmented and covers in one coat, but changes shade depending on how many coats are applied. It's less obviously jelly than the orange (since I don't have the whites to exhibit visible nail line), but I'm going to classify it as jelly having worked with it.
I can honestly say that I have no other green remotely like this. It's much lighter and more yellow-toned than Rescue Beauty Lounge No More War. It's a bit like a green olive jello. My husband says it looks more like diarrhea than the last manicure, so it has that going for it.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, three coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont top coat topped with Seche Vite top coat.
This picture was taken indoors with artificial light in a lightbox:

This picture was taken outdoors in direct sunlight:

Strange Beautiful Volume 4 Series. Inspiration: Cheap foundation

Today's manicure is from StrangeBeautiful Color Volume 4.
It's the tan one.
Jane's Inspiration:
A very wrong color choice of cheap foundation

As you can see, I just cut my nails down to nubbins.
This color is a very washed out slightly orangey tan creme color that somewhat resembles diarrhea. I could never bring myself to purchase the controversially beloved OPI & Apple Pie, but I can't imagine that shade being much better or worse than this one. I have to say that although the bottle color is hideously compelling, on the nail I think this polish is strangely innocuous.
NOTE: This looks to be pretty much an exact dupe of Revlon Street Wear Burnt.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, three coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont top coat topped with Seche Vite top coat.
This picture was taken indoors with artificial light in a lightbox:

This picture was taken outdoors in direct sunlight:

Strange Beautiful Volume 4 Series. Inspiration: Rose Champagne

Today's manicure is from StrangeBeautiful Color Volume 4.
It's the pink one.
Jane's Inspiration:
Oeil de Perdrix, (Partridge Eye) the color of rose champagne

This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont top coat.
These photos were taken indoors with artificial light in a light box.

Strange Beautiful Volume 4 Series. Inspiration: Orange Turban

Welcome to my new project. I recently ordered the new StrangeBeautiful volume 4 set from Lucky Scent and plan to review all of the 8 polishes inside forthwith. Commence operation creme!

Today I bring you the burnt orange one (I call such colors rorange = red + orange)
The colors in the StrangeBeautiful universe don't have names.
According to the official party line: the colors are deliberately nameless
“I find it thought provoking and stimulating to remember and refer to each color by its reference or inspiration”
Jane's inspiration in this case is:
An orange turban in a 15th century Florentine portrait titled Matteo Olivieri

Credit where credit is due:
This painting is in The National Gallery of Art and came from unforth's flickr photostream.
This is my first StrangeBeautiful experience and it applied beautifully. This color qualifies as a jelly because it's quite pigmented, but you can see vnl in these pictures.
You can buy any Strange Beautiful products here:
StrangeBeautiful at luckyscent.com
and you can also get their Double Connector series polish duos from Anthropologie.
This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nails, two coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont top coat.
These photos were taken indoors with artificial light in a light box.

Passport to Japan: Sonia Rykiel 003

Shibuya Crossing from above at night




Today's manicure is Sonia Rykiel 003.
I have since heard that it was a special edition released on May 1, 2010 - which happened to coincide with my arrival date in Japan, but I don't know if it is part of a limited edition collection or not. There were three in the collection, but this is the one that caught my eye. It was purchased from iSetan department store in Tokyo.
This polish is rainbow glitter with silver dominating the mix in a clear base. This polish has the same floral scent as the last Rykiel polish. The glitter is somewhat sparse and is probably better suited as a layering polish.
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 #003 polish.
These pictures were taken indoors in a light box with artificial light.