Unicorn Pee Wanna-Be: OPI Movin' Out

Good Morning! Today I have a fun, picture-heavy post for you. If you're like most regular folks, the title of this post probably had you doing a 'huh?' when you first read it. Unicorn pee? Whaaa? If you're a nail polish fanatic, though, you probably know what it is - Clarins #230. #230 is this multichrome-y awesome polish that is pretty much the Holy Grail for nail polish fanatics. Swatch and Learn has one of the best posts on Clarins #230. (Really, do yourselves a favor and follow the link and check out photos for a few minutes. It is a stunner, this I cannot deny.)

Would I love to show off for you all my own bottle of Clarins #230? Why, of course! But I don't have one. Why not? Because it was discontinued years ago. And it sells on eBay for around $50 or higher a bottle. Yes - crazy eBayers are spending $50 on a bottle of polish. Crazy people - I mean, think of all the polishes me and my bargain-hunting skills could find for $50!

So, instead of dropping $$$ on #230, I spent about $ on #230's wannabe little unicorn sister, OPI Movin' Out. Movin' Out was released back in 2003 as a part of the OPI Holiday on Broadway collection, so it's pretty old and took some effort to find. The Polishaholic reviewed Movin' Out a few months ago, and ever since her post I've been lemming this polish. I finally got my hands on a bottle, and here we are at today's picturefest!

First, I started with CND Blackjack. Blackjack is a basic black creme with the CND formula I love. I could have gotten away with 1 coat, but applied 2 to make sure it was even and give Movin' Out the best opportunity to pop.


Then, over Blackjack went 1 coat of Movin' Out.


How many different colors do you see? I started counting, but stopped at a BAZILLION:


Oh snap! She sparkles!


No really, she SPARKLES! She's like polish and nail bling all in one:



OPI Movin' Out is long discontinued, but you can get your own bottle of Unicorn's little sister with just a little bit of googling. Check out sellers on eCrater or Bonanza first, before you go and get ripped off on evilBay. Happy hunting!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Wear Test...

Hey Lacquer Lovers! How's everyone's week going? Inching along to the 3-day weekend, or is the time flying by? It's actually going to be a 4 1/2 day weekend for me, and while the week is flying, Friday 1p can't get here fast enough!

So I have to apologize to you all - I know I was doing a wear test to figure out what treatment is better at preventing chips, either a sticky base coat or a chip-preventing top coat. Unfortunately, I can't finish the test - silly me forgot that I am moving to a new office tomorrow, and i just chipped both manicures all to hell packing up 3 offices! (For the record, the Orly base coat was beating the essie top coat, but I won't hold it against essie.) So, unfortunately, we're going to cut this test short and try again next week!

In the mean time, I just had to get this chipped manicure off my fingers, so reached for a new polish to throw on. I'm way over pinks and corals right now, so decided to go with a new color and new brand - Nubar Indigo Illusion. Nubar is a brand I had never heard of before I decided to start talking to other polish lovers and was pleased to learn it's distributed in the US right here in Los Angeles! Last weekend I went out to a few small stores in Little Saigon to see what I could find, and Indigo Illusion was one of the colors I picked up. Indigo Illusion is teal/purple duochrome, meaning both colors shine through in the polish depending on lighting and angle. Take a look!



It was really difficult to capture the purple side of the duochrome in a photo, but you can see it in the bottle clearly in this shot.

Overall, I think I'd characterize this polish as ugly-pretty. The teal/purple combo are not colors I would normally wear, but the fact that it's a duochrome and really interesting to look at more than makes up for it. It's a manicure that is definitely a conversation starter - so I'm happy to have it in my collection!


What do you think? Do you like these duochrome polishes? Have you tried any Nubar polishes yet? Sound off in the comments!

Last Night's Nails: Orly Space Cadet - Matte-ified!

Drink of the Night: Ketel One Vodka & Soda
Nail of the Night: Orly Space Cadet & Essie Matte About You

Last night's plan was to stay in, relax, and catch up on TV season finales (a bittersweet entertainment, for certain). However, around 11pm I decided - coincidentally, around the time I ran out of wine - that I didn't want to stay in for the night, and so decided to head on over to my local watering hole. My nails were naked, though, so I needed to throw some polish on. Enter Orly Space Cadet!

I had seen swatches over the interwebz of Space Cadet, and was intrigued by the duochrome nature. For those who don't know, I would describe duochromes as polishes with 2 distinctive complementary colors. Based on lighting and angle, one color or the other will shine through. There really kinda cool, and FYI, when you're at a bar, make you look 'special' when you keep looking at your nails with a wide-eyed look. Space Cadet is a duochrome with contrasting green and purple colors, and also shimmery to boot. However, I also received in the mail yesterday my essie Matte About You, a top coat that instantly gives any polish, no matter how shiny, a matte (muted) finish. So I wondered - if I put Space Cadet and Matte About You together, what kinda manicure would I get?

Here's the answer:

Indoor lighting, no flash

Indoor lighting, with flash

This was not my favorite manicure; let's breakdown why. First, Space Cadet was a slight pain to apply - I guess I just have the fattest nail beds ever, because other than OPI, I feel like every manufacturer - Orly included - makes the smallest friggin' brushes and it takes me several strokes to get full coverage on one nail. For Space Cadet I applied 3 coats and still had VNL (visible nail line). You can especially see it in the first pic, where my nail tips show the blue/green color. I'm not sure if I'd ever wear Space Cadet a) in bright daylight or b) on a regular basis because VNL seriously bothers me.

However, the parts I did like about this manicure mainly had to do with Matte About You. Matte top coat is not forgiving and so you can see some streaking on my nails and that mangled middle finger because I was in a rush to apply the polish and get to the bar before closing time. I love matte finishes, and expect to go through this bottle of Matte About You quickly. I'll give Space Cadet a second chance to make a first impression in the future, but after this initial mani, it's definitely got some 'splaining to do.

What do you think? Did you pick up any of the duochromes from Orly's Cosmic FX Collection? Do you prefer your finishes matte or shiny? And just what were you drinking last night? Sound off in the comments below!