Nails Inc Queensgate Terrace

Happy Sunday!

It's glorious here in LA, and I should be out walking the streets, looking for a new apartment. Instead, I'm online checking out nail polish, working on the blog, and enjoying a fantastic glass of chardonnay. Oops.

Today I'm playing around with some of the many untried polishes I have, and picked out one from my euro haul, Nails Inc. Queensgate Terrace from their Spring/Summer 2011 Collection. I've worn a few of the Nails Inc polishes now, and I am in love with the formula! Queensgate Terrace is a cornflower blue creme that leans a little purple, depending on how you look at it. I used 2 coats for this mani, but I will say this is my least favorite application - the first coat went on very streaky, and you can see on the nail I did have some bubbling problems. I won't completely blame the nail polish yet, though - I did shake the bottle before applying (as opposed to rolling between my hands, the better way to mix polish) and that could cause the bubbling. Take a look:

(natural lighting, in sunlight)

(natural lighting, in shade)

And the close-up:


Overall, I love Queensgate Terrace, I just am not sure I love it on me. Normally I lean towards darker blues, and this one feels a little 'out there' on me; it's constantly catching my eye, and I'm not sure in a good way. Oh well - I'll put it back in my collection for now, but it may hit the swap/share bin in the future.

What do you think? Did you have any of the other blues in this family, like Essie Coat Azure? How do they work on you? And are you still wearing summer polishes, or, like me, are you ready to start ushering in all of the fall colors?

My European Vacation: Part III

Good Morning! It's almost the weekend! Anyone got plans yet? I fear this is one of those weekends when I have to act like an adult and tick off items on my to-do list: cleaning, laundry, car wash, apartment hunting... you know. The boring stuff.

Continuing on my vacation series, I have for you today Nails Inc. Aldwych. Nails Inc. is a London-based brand which has gotten a lot of buzz in the US. The brand is mainly carried in department stores such as House of Fraser, Debenhams, and Selfridges, but I had a chance to visit their flagship store off Bond St. and had a great time picking out polishes with the ladies there! After about 4 days in London I was bored with looking at RBL Decorous, and so decided to spice things up with my color of choice this summer, coral. Aldwych is a bright orange-leaning coral with a gorgeous light blue and pink shimmer. Another blogger once compared Nails Inc. formula to that of Rescue Beauty Lounge, and I have to say - it's equally as awesome as RBL. Nearly opaque in 1 coat, below is a 2 coat mani of Aldwych:

And for the close-up (definitely click on the pictures for larger views!):


Let me tell you, this shimmer had me staring at my nails constantly! I am so happy I indulged myself with this purchase! I didn't actually pick this polish out - it was a free gift with purchase. Given my current infatuation with corals, as soon as I saw it I had to have it, and so bought a few more polishes just to qualify for the gift! (Yea, I'm that crazy shopper). This polish is definitely a keeper!

Sadly, Nails Inc. is currently not available in the US. However, Michelle at All Lacquered Up posted a few weeks ago that Sephora will begin carrying Nails Inc. this fall, so keep an eye out for it!

What do you think? Have you heard of Nails Inc. before? If you've tried it, how do you think it compares to the infamous RBL formula? And seriously - am I the only one obsessed with corals this summer?!?!

Pink Wednesdays: OPI Do You Think I'm Tex-y?

Happy Hump Day!

I have been slacking off on celebrating Pink Wednesdays lately. Seriously, if I was really one of the Plastics, they so would have banned my arse by now. But I really do want to be one of the cool kids in school again, so I have for you today OPI Do You Think I'm Tex-y?. DYTIT was one of the six "sorbet-like" polishes (read: jellies) from the OPI Texas Collection released this past spring. I reviewed Houston! We Have a Purple a few weeks ago from the collection. DYTIT is a bright raspberry-tinted pink polish with the high gloss finish we've come to love from jellies. We also know jellies apply very sheer, and for the photos below it's 3 medium coats and still a lot of VNL showing. Take a look:

And the close-up:


I actually wore this mani a few months ago - it was the first sorbet/jelly I tried from the Texas collection. I initially loved it, but when I swatched the polish, and looking also at these photos, I realized the VNL drives me CRAZY. I just hate to see the nails underneath - blame it one too many french manicures in my past. I guess I could use a white base coat, like a ridge filler, to minimize VNL, but I still don't think it would completely go away. As much as I love this color, I fear it's going to have to make it's way to the swap/donation drawer of my awesome new Helmer. Too bad.

What do you think? Am I just being too intolerable of VNL? Have you tried any of the other polishes from the Texas collection?

My European Vacation: Part II

Good Morning! Did everyone have a great weekend? I definitely did. Sarah McLachlan at the Hollywood Bowl led to some unplanned partying late Friday night, which then turned into a killer hangover on Saturday. I managed to pull it together for Sunday though, and got an an insane amount of cleaning, laundry, and other chores done - including picking up my first IKEA Helmer! Oh yea, the polish collection is officially out of control, so I bought myself a Helmer as a birthday treat. Can't wait to put it together tonight!

Continuing in my Euro vacation series, I have for your today Rescue Beauty Lounge Decorous, which was my manicure to kick off the euro festivities. (I know, I've been reviewing the RBL polishes a lot lately, but this is it for a while, I promise!) Since I had a ll kinds of purple fun going on with my pedicure, and because of the varied styles and colors of my clothes, I really wanted to go for a neutral color on my fingers, as I didn't want to have to worry about colors clashing. Enter RBL Decorous. From the RBL site, Decorous is described as '...imagine if a cup of chai latte had a baby with a malted milkshake. A shimmery cocoa to add a chic suede finish to any outfit.' The color description is spot on, and Decorous had the same great formula I've come to love from RBL. Two coats and I was ready to go!


There wasn't any really great sunlight yesterday in LA, so here's another shot of the mani, just to give you an idea of the polish's color:


I love Decorous, and should probably add that this was at least the second or third time I had worn this mani - it's becoming a staple in my collection, for sure. If I have one complaint, it's that the light blue shimmer in the bottle and in photographs does not translate well on the nail. Disappointing, but it's still such a great light coffee color that I'm of course keeping it in the collection!

If you're interested, Decorous is still available from rescuebeauty.com. Like most of their polishes though, it is limited edition, so you may want to pick it up while you can! Ji Baek, the owner of RBL, has hinted that the Fall 2011 pre-sale will be coming up soon on July 29th, so you may want to hold off and do one big order (shipping does add up after awhile!); I know I likely will be picking up a few in stock items with the fall collection at the same time.


What do you think? Do you have any other RBL polishes where the pretty shimmer just doesn't translate well in a manicure? What's your favorite neutral - but not too neutral - polish? And are you also scrambling to get through all the summer polishes you picked up before the fall colors roll in next month?

Last Night's Nails: Rescue Beauty Lounge Drifter

Last Night's Mani: Rescue Beauty Lounge Drifter
Last Night's Drink: Challis Lane Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Saturday! #Carmageddon is officially on here in Los Angeles! I was out early this morning with no traffic woes. From what I've heard so far carmageddon may have been severely over-hyped, but will see how the rest of it goes. Either way, I'm happily bunkering down in my little neck of the woods - pool parties, shopping, and DVD marathons are all on the agenda in my hood this weekend!

Last night was an impromptu night out on the town - I scored tickets to see one of my favorite artists, Sarah McLachlan, perform at my favorite venue, the Hollywood Bowl. Seriously, if you live in LA or come to visit, the Bowl is hands-down my favorite experience/thing to do in LA. There's nothing like picnic-ing with good wine, cheese, sweets, great friends, and amazing music as the soundtrack to a fantastic night. Sarah did not disappoint - I cried when she sang Angel, so beautiful!

Anyway, I had been sporting bare nails for the past few days - shock! - but decided to throw on an appropriate polish for the occasion, Rescue Beauty Lounge Drifter. Drifter is a dark plum-ish burgundy creme, the perfect color of red wine, so of course I had to wear it to my favorite wine drinking occasion! Drifter continues in the famous RBL formula - it applied like a dream. I know RBLs normally give full coverage in 1 coat, but to my eye it should always be a 2-coat mani; the second coat is needed to really bring out the richness and depth to any RBL polish. Take a look (in sunlight):

And here's another look with natural lighting in shade:


This polish is an absolute keeper. It's the perfect dark for me, because I love that while it's dark and vampy, it still has a discernible color and doesn't fall flat and just appear to be black (as many dark colors do on my skintone). Drifter feels more like a fall color, but I had to bring it out for the Hollywood Bowl, just for it's wine-like coloring. Expect to see more mani's with this puppy in the fall!

Unfortunately, Drifter is sold out on the RBL website, and won't be coming back any time soon as all of RBL's polishes are limited edition. If you're in CA, you may have some luck hunting for it at Planet Beauty shops - it's where I found mine - or head over to evil Bay to see if a rare bottle pops up.


BONUS: Last night's drink was the Challis Lane Cabernet Sauvignon. I love this vineyard - all of their whites and reds are great, especially when you consider they retail for about $9/bottle. If you're in CA or AZ, get thee to BevMo this weekend for the final days of the 5 cent sale! Pick up Challis Lane Cab Sauv and a few others while you're there. Sale ends Monday - I'm heading out this weekend to pick up a few bottles - er, cases!

My European Vacation: Part I

Good morning!

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, this week we're taking a look at all the mani's and pedi's that were during my London/Paris vacation earlier this month. Up first is my pedi - OPI Funky Dunkey and Butter LONDON No More Waity, Katie.

Funky Dunkey is a bright purple creme that shows a lot of blue in its base. It's highly pigmented which is wonderful - some will get away with just 1 coat, but I applied 2 thin coats to get full coverage and no VNL. No More Waity, Katie was originally a limited edition release from BL for the royal wedding this past spring (everyone was cashing in on it!). It's a purple glitter packed into a purple-gray base. For the pedi, I applied 2 coats over Funky Dunkey to get maximum glitter coverage. I swatched the pedi on my hands - take a look!


The first pic is a look at the mani in natural light. You can see on the ring finger that I applied an additional coat, just to show how the purple-gray base of NMWK really grayed out Funky Dunkey. Here's another look in artificial light:


All in all, I was quite happy with this pedi! It lasted the full trip, with one minor nail getting chipped from a drunken night out on London's cobblestone streets. What can I say? Crazy is how I roll!

OPI Funky Dunkey is currently available. Even better - ULTA has the entire OPI Shrek Collection currently on clearance for $4.99 each. Get thee to an ULTA, stat! (And while you're there, I'd also recommend picking up Ogre the Top Blue, another fave of mine from the collection.) Butter LONDON No More Waity, Katie is now a part of its permanent collection (yay!) and is also available at Ulta. 2 beautiful colors, one store - what could be easier than that?

What do you think? Have you tried any colors yet from the OPI Shrek Collection? Is NMWK a must have? and were you into the hype of the royal wedding?

Happy Birthday Mani!

Hello Lacquer Lovers!

I am BACK! And I missed you all sooooo much! I had the most fantastic vacation in London and Paris, filled with lots of sights, laughter, beer, wine, and most important - FROMMAGE. Oh, the Frenchies love some wine, cheese, and bread. Gosh, I could totally move there. I did a few mani's while I was away, and also did a lot of shopping and came home with a bounty of international nail polish! Oh, the haul was fantastic. This week I'll be focusing my blog on all things vacation, but first...

yesterday was my BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday to me! I'll probably start lying about my age Hollywood-style in the next year or so, so I can't tell you how old I am. But, I spent the day being thankful and grateful for all the blessings I have received, including an amazing family, friends who are family, and a wonderful job that I love and lets me travel to London and Paris for vacation.

For my birthday, I wanted to throw on some nail bling. Normally I don't wear the glitters to work - but I also normally don't work on my birthday - so for this day I decided to make an exception. For the mani, I started with one of my most favorite colors ever, OPI Dim Sum Plum. Dim Sum Plum was released last year as a part of the Hong Kong Collection (I believe this was S/S '10) and is still available. It's this perfect pink-purple creme that is highly pigmented. The polish applied easily and some people can get away with 1 coat, but I did 2 just to eliminate any VNL. To bling out the mani, I did an accent nail on my ring finger with Rescue Beauty Lounge Frugalista. Frugalista is a silver and purple glitter packed into a clear jelly base. I used 4 coats just to get full coverage on the nail. Take a look!


And an up close look at all the glitter in its glory:


Oh. Em. GEE! How cute is this mani? I'm actually still wearing it for the second day - I just can't bring myself to take it off. While Dim Sum Plum is still available, unfortunately Frugalista is sold out on the RBL website. I found my bottle at Planet Beauty a few weeks ago, so if you're in CA, you may want to call around to your closest PB and see if they have any in stock!

What do you think? Are you feeling the metallic/glitter accent nail trend? Do you have any colors from the OPI Hong Kong Collection that you j'adore? And what vacation plans do you have for the summer? Sound off!