Entries for Thursday June 30

OPI’s Canadian collection

• Manufacturer: OPI
• Availability: beginning fall/winter 2004 through salons, retailers, and some etailers
• Contains: 12 nail colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$9 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes

When I started buying OPI polishes, I was drawn to Mauving to Manitoba. I liked the mauve-rose color, and the metallic shimmer was a bonus. I didn’t realize that it was part of an entire collection. (I know. Hopelessly naive. That changed in a hurry…) The colors in this were definitely a mix: neutrals, semisheers, reds, some off-beat shades like Quebec and Call’s bronzed green; and of course, blue and purple.

BareMinerals’ Safari Chic kit

• Manufacturer: bareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: beginning April 2008; debuted on QVC; soon available through the webstore and all channel partners
• Contains: 3 eyeshadows
• Cost/Amount: USD$25.00
• Would you purchase again: yes

Yet another of the three-color kits from QVC (there seem to be quite a lot of those.) Some of these are fairly good, others are just…kind of sad (sheer colors, all browns, no new colors…something.) This palette was more muted than most of the ones that initially catch my eye, but I liked all of the shades. Grass, in particular, looks really good with my coloring. Even though all of these were new colors, and there was only one brown, this kit didn’t initially sell very quickly.

Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails (Spring 2011) collection

• Manufacturer: Sally Hansen
• Availability: beginning spring 2011 through drugstores (Walgreen's, Fred Meyer, CVS, Rite-Aid, et cetera)
• Contains: 24 nail colors
• Cost/Amount: USD$1.99 for 13.3 ml / .45 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes

Originally I wasn’t going to bother with a write-up for this collection because I’d only gotten two polishes. And then I got three more. And then, well, there was this one that I just had to have. And those two look pretty too. And hey, while I’ve got this many, let’s try that rich-looking burgundy red…and thus, another write-up was born.

The displays for these polishes started appearing at my local Walgreen’s in April, when I was on the hunt for the Mermaid’s Cove polishes from Wet n Wild. I initially picked up one color, because it looked like a nice rose-mauve shimmer, and another because I didn’t have too many brighter greens that look good with my skintone. I tried finding information on this collection, but it doesn’t really seem to be that forthcoming. I don’t know if this is limited edition, if these are permanent, or if they’ll all be marketed and the best-selling shades will be added to the regular lineup. These polishes are inexpensive, they apply well, they last well, and the color range is excellent - there are even two “effects” topcoats.

Entries for Wednesday June 29

China Glaze’s Watermelon Rind

• Manufacturer: China Glaze
• Availability: originally released in March 2009 as part of China Glaze's Summer Days collection
• Color Range: semisheer cool green shimmer (microglitter)
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This one was quite a bit thinner than I expected - but it’s a gorgeous green! I did need four coats for opaque coverage, though. If anyone knows of a China Glaze color that’s this shade, with the microglitter finish, but is more opaque…I’d definitely love to find out the color name. The other polish from this collection that I’ve used thus far, Strawberry Fields, is definitely more pigmented.

Sally Hansen’s Hot Magenta

• Manufacturer: Sally Hansen
• Availability: part of the Xtreme Wear collection
• Color Range: metallic hot pink shimmer
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$4.99 for 11.8 ml / .4 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

Very bold, very intense color, excellent payoff, good spreadability. The slight blue tones are less apparent when I use this for nail stamping, but I definitely see a faint blue cast when I use this for an overall manicure. As of this morning (I ran to my nearby drugstore on an errand) this color is still available. I think it may be permanent - if so, good, because it's an excellent magenta-pink.

Zoya’s Shay

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released as part of Zoya's Touch collection
• Color Range: rosy-sand beige creme
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

All of the Touch polishes are high-shine creme finish, and seem a bit thicker than most of Zoya's polishes. Whatever the reason for that, both Shay and Pandora (the other polish I've used from the Touch collection) cover completely and evenly in two coats. They'll be excellent bases for nail stamping, and will probably also make amazing stamping polishes themselves. (In these photos, just ignore the hole-in-the-polish on my thumbnail, and the one brushstroke on my middle finger. That was me being thrilled with the color and moving quickly, not a fault of the polish.) According to the Zoya site, Shay is a red-toned neutral, while Pandora is a cooler neutral with blue and mauve undertones. Pandora is my absolute favorite, but both Pandora and Shay look really good on me.

Zoya’s Dannii

• Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
• Availability: originally released as part of Zoya's Intimate collection
• Color Range: vivid orchid purple sparkle
• Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$8 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

This is the brightest color from the Intimates collection, and one of the two microglitters (Jules being the other). It’s a very bright purple…almost Easter-candy bright. I got it during the Earth Day promo because so many people raved about this shade, wore it for one manicure for just under 24 hours, determined that it wasn’t a color I’d care to keep, and donated it to a women’s shelter.

Other than the color not being something that I love, this polish is very good. It applied well, though - like all Zoya microglitters - it took four coats for total opacity. (I suspect that two coats, over a colored base, would also work to give you full even coverage and hide all VNL.) It wore decently, for the 20 hours that I had the manicure on. And like all microglitter polishes, it took a little bit more work to remove.

Entries for Tuesday June 28

BareMinerals’ Bread Pudding lipstick

• Manufacturer: BareMinerals/Bare Escentuals
• Availability: released in summer 2010 as part of the 100% Natural Lipcolor collection
• Color Range: tawny rose-nude creme
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$15 for .13 ounces
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades: Revlon's Soft Nude Colorburst

About halfway between Revlon’s Soft Nude and Soft Rose Colorburst lipsticks - a warmer nude shade with a bit more heft than French Pastry, but more brown than Bellini. This shade works best on me when I top it with something like Joy buxom, to warm it up; or Eva buxom, to amplify the brown tones and deepen the rose. This is a good lipstick, but I don’t use it all that often because I have other shades that work better with my coloring.

NYX Cosmetics’ Fusion Round Lipstick

• Manufacturer: NYX Cosmetics
• Availability: part of the Round Lipstick collection
• Color Range: berry-fuchsia shimmer
• Staying Power: 2 out of 4
• Cost/Amount: USD$4.50 for .14 ounces / 4 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes - but only from etailers, because the tubes aren't sealed

Great color…a brighter pink that’s right at the boundary of “too vivid” for folks who are somewhere between in-your-face bold color and natural-with-an-edge. It will just require regular touchups and it migrates a lot (like all of the Round lipsticks.) Good for the price, though, if you buy from Cherryculture or Beautyjoint, or get it with a coupon or on sale. For the regular retail price of $4.50, there are better lipsticks out there.

Entries for Monday June 27

Aromaleigh v1’s Bamboo

• Manufacturer: Aromaleigh v1
• Availability: available as part of the Opulent Lustres collection
• Color Range: metallic pale green-golden shimmer
• Staying Power: 3 out of 4 stars
• Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 1.2 grams
• Would you purchase again: yes
• Similar shades:

More pale gold than green, but the green is definitely there. Like all the other Aromaleigh metallic shades, this applies well and has good color payoff. I initially held off on getting this color because I just thought it was too neutral-ish-cool to really look good. Then I got some from the Aromaleigh close-out grab bags, and bought another bit from someone else (because I’ve got the OCD dipswitch in the “ON” position, and if I have a color I have to have at least 3 grams’ worth.)