Meow Cosmetics’ Phlegethon

BareMinerals’ High Shine Vapor

MAC’s Idyllic paint pot

This reminds me of Artifact, without the blackening - just the main color, and the finish. I had initially thought that this color might be closer to a reddish brown than a dark brownish red, but either way works. Unfortunately, this one was a bit like Buried Treasure: patchy application. I don't know if this is typical of frost-finish paint pots or not, but it doesn't seem to happen with my Rubenesque or Bare Study; and both of those are...

MAC’s Nubile paint pot

Compared to the other colors in this release, Nubile is pretty tame…but that's one of the reasons that I like it! It was a nice mix with the other, deeper shades; and it was something that had been missing from the regular paint pot lineup for some time. I love Rubenesque, and there hasn't really been a peach creme shade released in a while. There was Perky, but that was a brighter peach-orange, not a peach-nude. Bare Study is...

LaurEss’ Crowning Moment blush

BareMinerals’ Putting On The Glitz kit

BE’s holiday kits tend to be hit or miss, for me. I’ve also noticed that every year, BE seems to be on a different “color kick”. Last year it was green and purple; the year before that, browns (but no surprise, as it seems like every other year is a BE brown-stravaganza.) This year seems to be purple and yellow, or purple and peach. The respective holiday kits at Sephora, at Ulta, and at boutiques contains one purple...

Meow Cosmetics’ X collection

I love that Meow re-releases previous years’ seasonal collections each holiday! I also love that they keep adding more! The Friday the 13th collection, released for Halloween 2009, purported to have a lot of duochromes…but I found the duochrome quotient a little lacking. This collection, along with Zombie Apocalypse, seems to have gotten the duochrome formula locked down fairly nicely - or perhaps it’s just that the word ‘duochrome’ is being bandied about less freely, and only applied to...

OPI’s Route 66 collection

I don’t have tons of colors from this collection - there aren’t too many still available, though Chicago Champagne Toast apparently became part of the regular OPI line at some point. Most of the colors were browns, nudes, and of course the lots-of-reds that seem to be in most OPI collections.

China Glaze’s 2030

Metallic, and gold…and no brushstrokes!! (Of course, by now - mid-autumn 2011 - China Glaze has released several other gold and silver metallics with good spreadability. But this collection went so fast because durable metallic polishes that didn't show brushstrokes were not all that common from *any* manufacturer. I got every single color in this collection, and got backups of several, including 2030. That way I can have my manicures AND metallic gold nail-stamping polish. (Yes, I am that sad of...

Zoya’s Mieko

Bright rose-red that manages not to be garish…with widely scattered gold sparkle. I was able to get full coverage in two coats (which, happily, seems to be standard for Zoya 4- and 5-opacity polishes) and the red wasn't so vivid that it really messed up my cuticles. It also didn't stick around after three days, when I changed the manicure. (Deep red nail polishes tend to leave traces behind that only the most careful, strong scrubbing will really totally...