Nfu-Oh 40

        For today, I have Nfu-Oh 40 to show you guys. This one is a do-over, because I've posted on it before, but those pictures really sucked butt.

Nfu-Oh 40 is a clear base, full of duochrome multi-sized flakes. The flakes show mostly shades of green and blue, although at extreme angles, I've also gotten purple out of them. And I layered Nfu-Oh 40 over Orly Star of Bombay.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

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Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I don't have too much to say about Nfu-Oh 40, except for it's awesome. The way that the greens and blues shift and dance across my nails at the slightest movement is mesmerizing, and I love that the color change is obvious at all times. Looking at my nails, I'm reminded of sea turtles. Sea turtles that have been eating radioactive waste or something, which of course is not a good thing, but if it made them glow or gave them superpowers, would be kind of cool. 

    Nfu-Oh 40 also had a really nice formula. The flake payoff was good without my needing to swirl the brush, and the base was thick enough where the flakes don't fall out of suspension, but not so thick that it was tough to apply. My only complaint is that for a layering polish, Nfu-Oh 40 dries kinda slowly, but that was remedied by a good quick-drying topcoat. And the pictures are with two layers of Nfu-Oh 40 over one coat of Star of Bombay. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Sunday! Ahh I can't believe the weekend is over already though.  -____-

Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle Comparison

     So, we're having some really shitty weather here in DC. It's cold (which I like) and super cloudy (which I don't like) and it's not even snowing or anything (which I hate). What the point of cold and clouds if there's no snow? Smh!
    But anyway, without any sun or a lightbox, pictures can't happen. So I'm just gonna post a comparison that I did a little while ago between Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle and some other greens in my collection. No one requested it or anything, I was just curious. ^_^;

First, we have the cast of characters: Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle, Illamasqua Rampage, Nubar Forest, and Orly Enchanted Forest.  

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Recycle, Rampage, Forest, and Enchanted Forest. 

Natural light, no flash.

L-R: Recycle, Rampage, Forest, and Enchanted Forest. 

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Recycle, Rampage, Forest, and Enchanted Forest. 

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Recycle, Rampage, Forest, and Enchanted Forest. 

     Clearly, there are no dupes here...everyone is different! n_n

     Overall, my favorite here would definitely be Rampage, followed closely by Recycle, then comes Enchanted Forest, and Forest brings up the rear. Also, it's kind of funny how colors look next to one another...back before my addiction spiraled out of control, I thought Forest was a dark green, and it's really not! And Enchanted Forest is so grey! I never noticed how grey it is.

    In terms formula and application, Recycle was the clear winner. It needed the fewest coats (two), was the most controllable and dried the fastest. Forest and Enchanted Forest tie for second place as they essentially have the same formula and needed three coats to look perfect. And Rampage comes in last, needing four coats to be opaque and streak-free. 

  But even with the application issues, I love Rampage the best out of all these polishes. You get the most bang for your buck with the generously portioned Enchanted Forest, the most cheerful color with Forest, and Recycle boats the highest quality and the most wearable color. But something about Rampage, man...it just speaks to me, and I can't say no. 

Which one do you like best? ^_^

     

Orly Space Cadet

            For today, I have Orly Space Cadet, from the Cosmic FX Collection. I'm like the last person in the universe to post this polish, but whatevah!

Space Cadet is made of small, flat, metallic duochrome shimmer in a thin, sheer dirty-blue base. You can't see the base once the polish is fully opaque, because the shimmer comes together to form a sparkly-foilish finish, but you can see it in the first few coats. And the shimmer is mostly a dark silvery-purple, but will change to gold, green, and pink, depending on the light and angle. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

And that green on the side is not a reflection...'tis the power of the duochrome, yea verily.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

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Sunlight, no flash. 

    Space Cadet is a funny one. On one hand, it's kind of an unattractive color. I got some compliments on it when I wore it, and not one single person called it "pretty" or "nice". I got plenty of "cool" and "unusual" though, which is precisely what Space Cadet is. It's not pretty in the traditional sense of a pretty polish, but it is quite intriguing. In bright lights, it sparkles with a pink flash and in lower light, you see lots of the strong purple-green duochrome. And at all times, there's this weird alien-esque green glow that lurks right around the edges of the nail. Like even though my pictures are not so good and don't really capture this one, all of them feature at least a hint of green. But as cool as Space Cadet is, in my eyes, it is not the crown jewel of the Cosmic FX Collection. That title is reserved for Galaxy Girl, because not only is it damn cool, it's also beautiful. But  Space Cadet runs a very close second. 

   Formula-wise, I have no complaints about Space Cadet. It was a little thin, so this is four coats of color with one layer of topcoat. But it was well worth the extra coat, and the polish went on smoothly and easily, so I don't particularly mind.

    And I know I said that I was gonna not show my RBL's but I'm just too excited not to. Here they are! The pictures were taken in the dying evening light with flash,  so they're lame. But when I wear these gorgeous guys and girls, I'll take better bottle pictures.

R-L: Starfish Patrick, Look Rich Be Cheap (ohh the irony), Frugalista, and Recycle

L-R: Scrangie, Catherine, Anne, and Under the Stars

Tiny comparison between Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie and Sally Hansen Grape Going

I'm going to do a real one later though.

  I'm so excited to wear them!! Maybe this week, if weather permits.

But that's all I've got on this gorgeous Friday afternoon! Have a great day! 

Orly Galaxy Girl + Fauxnad

            Instead of removing Galaxy Girl yesterday night, I opted to do some stamping over it. There was no real reason...I just feel like I have a ton of nail art stuff and I never use any of it. So here's me trying to use some of this stuff. LOL. Also, the weather was so freaking blah today....it was raining rats and frogs all day, until the evening, when it suddenly stopped. So please excuse the blurry pitchas. 

I started off by stamping on the full nail ivy pattern from plate BM20, using China Glaze Let's Groove. Then, I used Color Club Pretty in Platinum to stamp on the like...flower string at the cuticle. That pattern came from a plate called B14. There's no brand name, but I got it from Hong Kong, and it looks like this:

I miss those nails.

But anyway, to finish it off, I stuck a purple gem in the center of each flower, and finished it off with one layer of Poshe.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

The duochrominess kind of blends in with Let's Groove, which is unfortunate. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      I'm quite fond of how this turned out. It does look kind of like Beetlejuice, but I feel like many of my attempts at nail art come out looking like Beetlejuice. I guess it can't be helped, and at least it's not ooglay. I think once more, my favorite part is the background. The color and pattern are very subtle, and I like how the blue shimmer peeks through the empty spaces. It's also a little optical illusion-ish, like you don't know which color is the base and which is the stamp. Me gusta.

  And that's all I've got for today. Have a great evening, guys!

Orly Galaxy Girl

            In the spirit of no longer "saving" polishes, I decided to wear Orly Galaxy Girl, from the Cosmix FX collection. Times like this, I wish I had a newer and better camera...mine is...five years old and angry at the world. And completely unable to do this polish any kind of justice. 

Galaxy Girl is a blackened plum base with a crapload of duochrome shimmer. Mostly, the shimmer shows light blue but at certain angles, it'll go a vibrant shade of magenta. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

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Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       I initially passed on Galaxy Girl, thinking it wasn't going to be that great. Then when I went back to get it, there were no more, and I had to come back again. The third time there, I got into a minor squabble with another customer over it...I was standing in front of the display, and she tried to be slick and reach around me for it. Of course I snatched it away, and she got mad. I almost had to cut that bitch. :( 

Would have been totally worth it though, because Galaxy Girl is totally amazing. Ahh it's so sexy!

     In sunlight, the shimmer tends to be sparkly and blue, which looks pretty, but can get boring. However, in the shade, indoors, and other lower lighting situations, the shimmer really comes alive and shows off it's duochrominess. Best of all, you don't need to contort your hand a million ways or press your nose to your fingernails in order to see the colors dance...even just typing this, I'm seeing flashes of magenta and blue all over my nails. Galaxy Girl is like if Urban Decay Bruise and Borghese Stellare Notte got together and had a baby, and then the baby started doing crystal meth and crack at the same time. I know drug addicted babies are a horrible thing, but this particular drug addicted baby is completely awesome and hot.

     The formula was typical Orly fare...easy to apply, smooth, and not too thick or too thin. This is three coats of color and one layer of topcoat, and it dried pretty quickly.

     My only real complaint about this polish is the name. Ugh, I hate the name! I understand that they needed to have a space-themed name, but bleh...Galaxy Girl just seems so babyish to me. I think MAC's name for this color (Formidable!) was wayy better, exclamation point and all. 

  But speaking of names...how the heck do you say Orly's name?! I've been saying it like..."oh really" (don't laugh at me!), but when I was talking to the lady in Sally's, she called it "Oarly". When I said "oh really" she gave me the oddest look. ;_; 

But anyway, that's all I've got for today. Have a great night, guys!!