Sheswai - Fuck Yeah! (NSFW!)

OK, it's not really NSFW, except the name of the polish. And you shouldn't be reading blogs at work unless you're like...a professional blogger reader anyways.

I have very few pictures of this polish, it was exceptionally difficult for me to capture. The flash would wipe out the redness leaving me with lovely amethyst colored swatches. Swatching it without flash left me with pink. No. A color called fuckyeah simply isn't either of those things.

I wasn't actually able to get anything remotely close to accurate pictures until the day of my manicure when this came off. I had a flash of sunshine on the floor so I threw down the old leopard print quilt and went for it. Thankfully they turned out.

 

It's both a blessing and curse to see the polish when it's this old. You're getting to see wear, which I think is good, but you're getting to see it not at it's best and brightest, too. However, this manicure was eight days old. Be impressed. Be very impressed.

So pretty, so saturated, so bright...it looks lit from within and it is eye catching. Look at the pinky nail!!! That's the kind of purple I kept getting! You can see from the other nails, which are pretty color accurate that...it's not that purple! It doesn't even shift in different lights in real life so this is mysterious. I'm sure someone knows why it's doing this.

Look at how pretty that is! This had started out as a limited edition but the demand for it was so high they've added it to the regular collection under another name: hot damn. 

I personally think fuckyeah suits it better...

The last decent picture I got.

This was creamy and went on nicely. The bottles have a rather long wooden handle which is very comfortable to hold and looks pretty on your dresser or wherever else you keep your polishes. It's super saturated and so bright and cheerful and in your face...you know this is screaming FUCK YEAH! in it's little polish head. Plus, it's vegan. Even better.

Hope you like it!

Happy Talons!

Shop Your Stash - Navy

One of my friends gave me this idea some time ago and for some reason, this season I got really inspired by it. Maybe because I feel that this season's hot colors are not only accessible but...done. They're pretty, but they are hardly original. I do love the edgy two tones that are going on, the Ruffians and the Frenches, but the trend colors this fall are some we've seen before and not that long ago. So...why re-buy? You probably have stuff in your stash that will work for some. So today I have navies. It's the first of these I would like to do, and I really hope it's informative and helps you save some money and stay in the trends.

Some of these are more royal, some dustier, but the whole idea of fashion is to make it your own so if some of these work better with your outfit or just flat look better on your skin tone, then I think you do it. You're just making the trend work better for you.

Clearly this is going to be pretty picture heavy. These are all just swatches, there is no prep - no base coat or anything. These are all two coats, good or bad, because I think that is what most of us usually do. Three gives a better saturation of color but two will usually get you out the door satisfactorily. I'm not going to really talk a lot about these except to overview and let you make up your own minds about what you like. If there is something notable I will...note it. Otherwise, I am hoping the pictures pretty well show you.

My intro to Deborah Lippmann's was this color. I fell in love with it. I'm sorry the bottom picture is being a wanker. Deborah Lippmann Lady Sings the Blues. A blue jelly with the famous Lippmann chunky glitter. Definitely navy and definitely good if you want some bling in your trend.

BB Couture for Men Night Ops. I love this polish. It's darker than the trends but it has some shimmer and a smoky feel to it.

BB Couture for Men Vise. The front of the bottle picture didn't come out but this is pretty true. It's a dustier, lighter navy, but I think it will work. OK, it's more a straight up Crayola blue, but it's very pretty and it's dark enough to say you are watching the trends but you're not enslaved by them.

BB Couture for Men Military Blues. Very royal but also has a darkened quality to it, it has some shimmer, it's gorgeous and would be a more interesting complement to an already navy heavy outfit, I think, than throwing more navy on it.

Orly Mysterious Curse. This has a twink with a different name. This particular one was the companion polishes to Dark Shadows the movie about the vampire. I didn't see that, but I did see this and it was interesting in the bottle. This was the first I had tried it on and...oh yes. What a great purchase. This is a fascinating duochrome of navy and amethyst and is. It. Gorge. I think this is a brilliant way to rock the trend while still holding onto that kind of...flipping the trend off feel. It takes navy up a notch. I love this. Pick this up. Now. Why are you still here???

Expect to see a full post on this in time. No, I haven't worn it yet, but My Raptor...or whatever else you choose to believe in. Don't you think it needs it's own post? It needs a monument.

A-England Tristam. You needed three pics of this one because it has so many dimensions. A soft navy holo. It's not a true navy...it's not the color of my peacoat or anything, but it's dark enough and the holo is so special. Yum.

Illamasqua Phallic. It doesn't have this much of a purple feel in actuality, it's a very dark shimmery navy. Super vampy and oh so sexy. Very rich, this one.

BB Couture for Men Enraged. This is a little dustier, a little more subdued, and it needed another coat or 4, but it's very pretty and will work, again as a complementary color. Or the tip on a two tone French. Interesting idea.

Cult Nails Time Traveler. This one really embodies the trend for me. It's a touch cobalt rather than straight up navy, but I like that. It went on gorgeously and is very rich. You could easily follow the trend in this. But beware! This is so highly pigmented it stained badly, as you will see in future swatches. I couldn't get it off my skin and I use acetone.

China Glaze Man Hunt. Yes yes, not a navy at all, really. But again..make the trend your own. Put this with a classic navy trouser or pencil skirt and  crisp white blouse and you have a gorgeous complement rather than following the herd. Branch off! It's not always the stray gazelle who gets eaten. ;)

butterLONDON Big Smoke. This is an older color but still part of the standard collection. (see the blue on my ring finger, middle finger...on the skin, I mean? Time Traveler refusing to be ignored, Dan!) It's a very lovely, surprisingly lady like silvery dusty darker blue. Definitely workable as a trend color this season.

Lastly, the one I have had forever that is absolutely the trend?

butterLONDON Royal Navy. I mean, it has NAVY in the title. Doesn't get any closer. But I think you know as well as I, that the term "navy" can mean about eleventy billion different shades of blue. I've shown a few here. I think the name here is definitely a pun/play on words. But this is the shade of navy I'm seeing in the mags. It's a royal dark navy but it's not a blackened navy.
I meant to do a comparison of this and Time Traveler but I didn't get it done. You know, in case you love one of these but have the other. This was a lot of swatches, my cuticles and nails were not thanking me and I think I just kind of wanted to be done so I could rub some shea butter into my abused fingers. You can see I was getting a little sloppy. Flood the cuticle much? **facepalm**

So here those two are again, side by side, to allow you to compare and contrast all day. Not as good as a comparison post, but still gives you an idea.

Time Traveler is a little dark, has a little more red in it, making it more purple, but they both are dead on for the fall.

I hope this was helpful for you! Don't go out and buy new if you can't afford it. Shop your Stash, lads!

There were a few others, but holding to my "If you can't actively buy it from a legitimate seller you won't see it at the time of posting" doctrine, I didn't post them. I know the point is to shop your stash, but that doesn't mean you won't see something you love. If you do, I want you to be able to get it.

I hope you like this new idea. If you do, please let me know, leave a comment. If you don't, please let me know and leave a comment! 

Happy Talons!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Cuprum

Sorry I've been gone. It's just a crazy time. That is not to say I don't have fabulous polishes for you. I do!

Cuprum was one of the latest fan collection polishes. It's listed on Rescue Beauty's site both as available and the no longer available sections. I think what this means is once they're gone they're gone.
So pick one up while you can because it's brilliant.

This is a vibrant blue with a wonderful copper fleck in it...probably in deference to the name? :)

I had a really hard time capturing the fleck...but what I can tell you wherever you see what appears to be very dark or black fleck, as you can see here, is actually a copper rose color. It's subtle and oh so gorgeous.

I just wish that those flakies had played better with the camera. I tried. I really did.

As you can see this is a really vibrant blue. It's shimmery and has tons of color. It's really eye catching.

This is after a week of wear so it performed really well. It's very pigmented, very intense color. It's not for the faint of heart. This stands up and says hello. You can see here, I think, some hint of the copper in it. It's so striking and original.

If you look at the nails, particularly the pinky, you can see some hints of the pink. This is about as in your face as it gets unless it's on your nails and you're staring straight at it. It's not there for show, like a glitter. It's there to add depth and it really does it well.

You can see some of the flakey here. Not the color, especially, but the particles themselves. Pretty cool stuff.

You can also see the minimal amount of tip wear I had. Very good for a full week.

The right hand showing very similar wear. I did have a strange thing happen with the index finger, I have a picture to try to show it. It's not the polish, but just an odd thing that happened.

See how it sort of cracked there? And then the thumb as well. That's the most blatant wear this polish came up with. 

Part of the issue, I know, is that BMWWU somehow forgot the two coats of silk protein we always put on. It's Orly Nail Armor, I know I've mentioned it before. I like it, but it is thick. So this manicure was base coat, lacquer, 2 coats nail armor, 2 coats lacquer and top coat. It was a pretty thick manicure.

Might be what helped it stay on so well, though. However, polish that thick can easily crack if a nail bends or something. Probably what happened, but it was very odd how it didn't peel. It just held tight.

HEY! Check it out! I did actually capture the rosey copper flecks. Didn't realize I got one this good. I suggest clicking to enlarge this so you can really see it. Natural sunlight. If you can get it right it's the best for showing off your polish.

YAY! You can see the flecks here as well. This is what Cuprum can look like in real life. The flecks are there but they're not screaming at you, which I personally like 

Gorgeous color, really amazing. But like I mentioned, I think it's going to be discontinued so if you want it you better snatch it up. I recommend just going straight to the source and ordering from Rescue Beauty. You won't get this stuff on sale anywhere so you might as well do the real thing.

I hope you enjoy!

Happy Talons!!

Zoya Pandora

The name Pandora always makes me think of Samantha's mother from Bewitched. Her name, however, was Endora. Regardless. I always think of that. I don't know why.

Pandora is what I wound up wearing for my most recent interview and it was a good choice. It wore amazingly, which is what this post is about: a review of Zoya Pandora the polish.

This is Pandora one week old. Not bad, right? Some wear but nothing ridiculous. Nothing you'd take the time to repair. It's a pretty pearly pinky neutral, it suits my coloring very well.

You can see the creamy pearly finish here, it really takes the light but it's not overpowering. It's a pretty shade.

There is a slight shimmer, you can see a hint of it here, but overall it's a very subtle color. It's pretty without drawing attention to itself. It's the kind of color that finishes a look.

I can't believe this wore this well for an entire week. I am notoriously hard on my nails, and I have very bad luck with Zoya on the whole. I know that it's a very popular brand and I really love the colors and I have quite a bit of it, but I have never got this kind of wear out of it. Maybe it really is a product of my own nails being stronger, maybe I found the right combination of supporting strengtheners, top and base coats to really make it last. I'm not sure. I was very surprised, though. This went Sunday to Saturday and was still going when I had my manicure.

The right, just so you can see. You can tell this is getting ready to lift and chip here, but it hadn't yet. I think I may have gone over the tips once on this manicure. I believe I did. It's been awhile now. I'm just getting around to blogging it. I've been having a lot of wifi problems so I'm taking advantage while I can. It's up and running right now. May not last!

Zoya Pandora - a very reliable color, good for the office, no matter how conservative, and for interviews. Good wear.

Happy Talons!

Interview Nails

I had been happy at my last job for several years. I had my own office, not with a view, mind you, but I had doors, and while my work space was relatively small, it was mine and I was allowed to make of it what I would. Then that went to hell in a hurry and I found myself in the unhappy position of searching for another situation. I don't like job hunting and what to wear for an interview on my nails was stressful.
Yes.
I recognize how stupid that may sound.

However. If you are a die hard nail hound, you devote a lot of your time and energy and at least one day off a week to writing a blog about nail polish, then trying to decide what to wear to an interview is a stressful thing. I searched online. Certainly, I scoffed, I have enough colors and there are enough blogs out there, I will get some good ideas and be able to narrow this down. HA. I say. HA.

All I really found were nonsense threads about the value of just going bare, little buff and off you go. I'm guessing, if you are reading this, that you are sitting there, mouth agape, as I was. Bare??? As in...NAKED? NAKED NAILS?? It simply isn't done. I wouldn't feel myself. I wouldn't feel groomed. I would feel out of sorts. This is not the right thing. I had to search on my own. Hopefully this post will save you similar stress.

For the first few interviews I wore a really lovely combination of two colors that BMWWU put together. On their own they are pretty and not quite right for one reason or another, but together they created a softly nude look with depth that didn't draw attention. Excellent. However, no jobs came from those and so for the next interview I wanted to try something else. Do I think the manicure kept me from getting the job? No. Call it superstition. So here is that look, plus the other things I tried. I'll show you a shot of that look on its own because it will do and I will do it again. If you're as fair as I am then you may like it for yourself as well. I don't know that it would be as interview suitable on olive or darker complexions, though. It's pretty light.

I had a flash of brilliance and remembered I had the Summer 2011 Zoya Touch set. Three soft nude polishes that might just do. In digging that out I found Zoya Uma, as well.

 These are from left to right: Zoya Uma, Rescue Beauty Lounge Sheer Nude, Nails Inc. something. I can't find it to get you the name, but I discarded the color so it'll hold. It was too purple, too grey...no. Zoya Minka is on the index finger.

Minka. Wow. Um. NO. Too yellow, too beige...not working on me at all. Look how it washes me out. Yes, you do see a streak of green on the ring finger, that's Wet n Wild Glowstick hanging on. Ignore it, that's the LAST thing you're going to want to wear to an interview.
Uma...that has promise. Pretty but not attention grabbing and Sheer Nude is pretty and neutral on it's own but a bit...hard, on my coloring.

Here they are next to their respective bottles, just for more color.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Sheer Nude plus Deborah Lippmann Dream a Little Dream. DALD is a sheer shimmer pink, it's lovely and light and it brings depth and softness to Sheer Nude, which is a little...serviceable. It's like a pair of plain black pumps. It'll do it but it's not going to light up your world. On me I thin it's a tad harsh so adding a little softness gives it just the right feel. It's pretty and elegant this way. DALD on it's own would be too girlie to be taken seriously. Serious interview, you need serious nails.

Zoya Uma and the Rescue Beauty/Deborah Lippman combination. A tad similar in feel, aren't they? Only the RBL/DL combo is about $34 to achieve while Uma is just a little $8 vegan gem. uh-huh

I have it down to these right now, but I'm going to try the others from the Touch collection. Minka was a nightmare on me. Let's see what the others do.

Left to right: Zoya Uma, Dream a Little Sheer Nude (as I've elected to shorten it to), Zoya Shay and Zoya Pandora.

OK. Now we're talking. I had thought, going off Scrangies swatches that Shay, in the middle, was going to be my girl. It's pretty and it was really pretty on Scrangie. However, our coloring must be just different enough that while it's nice enough on me, it's not a YEAHHHHH kinda color. Honestly, any of these will do. Nice and nude, pretty enough but not vampy, sexy or grabbing.

*sigh*

What to do.

We know I don't really want to do Dream a Little Nude again. Wasn't lucky. So what does any self-respecting girl do? She shoots this off to her girlies and waits for opinions. Plus MDAMO, because, as we know, male opinions can be interesting and informative as they have a whole different perspective.
I got one vote for Uma, One for Shay (Ruby Pumps said Uma was too pink and Pandora is "trying too hard". ? ) and MDAMO liked Pandora. I felt Shay was a touch too yellow. Just a hair. It would be fine for every day, but when I need to walk in feeling my best...that wasn't going to give me that feeling. I was really torn between Pandora and Uma. Either would do...which would make me feel the most professional, the most capable, the most...hireable?

Either.

And my third girlie simple said "Looks Good", which means she saw no difference. Abstaining. Interesting.

Ultimately, I went with...Pandora. It was a tad more neutral on me. And it got more votes. MDAMO and Mom went for that one so I did too. I think ultimately, I could have easily done either. Really any of these. I walked in to the interview and the recruiter was wearing burgundy. So there it is.

Next up, how it wore. You won't believe it. I didn't.

Happy Job Seeking Talons!