Milani Dress Maker

           Hello everyone! Last night, when I was trying to pick a new color to wear, I came to the abject realization that fall is in fact, not my bitch lover. Which means that no matter how many fall colors I wear, thanks to global warming, fall is not coming any time soon. So I decided to try something brighter and more summery, which is how I ended up with Milani Dress Maker on my hands today. I got pictures, but I need to just disclaim that this color played all kinds of mind games with my camera. And it played games with me when I tried to correct the pictures. So these pictures are going to look crazy as hell. Okay, here we go:

Firstly, I need to say that this color is wildly incorrect. It does not look like this. But anyway, Dress Maker is a mint green creme with some secret  green shimmer. Dress Maker's shade of mint has a bit more yellow to it than it has blue. 

Sunlight, no flash.

This picture is much more accurate, although it's still not perfect.

Sunlight, no flash.

Same deal...more accurate, but not perfect.

Sunlight, no flash. 

The color here is very wrong, but I think you can really see the shimmer here. 

   Plain and simple, I do not like Dress Maker. I know it's blasphemy, but I don't like it! It's so ugly. I will say that the color grew a little on me more as I went about my day, but I still think it's ugly. More on that later. But anyway, halfway through the day, I  decided to bling it up a little bit. Oddly, the color in these pictures is close to perfect representations of what Dress Maker looks like, without me having to do anything. I think it's because the light here was more yellow, thanks to the setting sun.

Sunlight, no flash.

This is one coat of Sinful Colors Green Ocean and two coats of Finger Paints Floatin' on a Cloud. And one thick layer of topcoat to make everything sparkle and shine.

Natural light, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Here you can see a little bit more of the Green Ocean than the FoaC. It's the blue flakes.

Sunlight, no flash.

And this one is to show how sparkly it was (look at the back two fingers!) and how thick my nails ended up. Looked like I had bad acrylics on. Smh!

      Dress Maker...how do I dislike thee? Let me count the ways! 

1. It's so ugly!! This shade of mint made my tummy hurt...it reminded me a little of swamp creatures. And it looked horrible on me...it pulled out the yellow in my skin and made my hands look sickly.

2. You can almost never see the shimmer. Such a waste, to have such pretty shimmer and hide it all the time.

3. It tells lies! On my camera, it came out this pretty, flattering green. Like, an almost Tiffany Blue green. See:

I also saw it this color in some swatches. But they were all lies. Liessss. It's not the color of understated luxury...it's the color of swamp things from the swamp!!

   

    Application-wise, Dress Maker was even more of a failure. The formula is very thin, and it took three moderately thick coats to get it to bottle color. Then I had to use a fourth coat to smooth out places where the polish dragged and left thin spots. Dry time was pretty bad too...I painted, used quick dry topcoat, used drying drops, waited an hour, and then went to bed. In the morning, I woke to sheet marks. And my nails were still a tiny bit dentable. No bueno...how you gonna do me like this, Milani? ;___;

    But you know, it's my own fault. I really should have known better. Blah blah, Chanel dupe, blah blah yeah. Buut...I knew going in that I don't really like Chanel polish. The only ones that were even remotely interesting to me were Paradoxal and Illusion D'Or, but I don't need them in my life. So I really should have known that I would not like Dress Maker...that's what I get for getting caught up in hype. LMAO.

   So I'm going to dig around until I find the receipt. I hope I didn't throw it out...there wasn't a coupon on it, so I bet I did throw it out. If I can't find the receipt, I'll just take the L and charge it to the game. Or maybe I can swap it. I think there are plenty of people out there that will appreciate this color and look fantastic in it, but I'm just not one of them. *sad horns*

   That's all I've got for today! Have a good night, everyone!

OPI Concord Grape

           Good afternoon, everyone!! Today, I am excited, because I'm wearing a polish that I've been anticipating for a long long time, and I really want to show it to you guys! It's called Concord Grape, and is from OPI's New England Collection.

Concord Grape is a dark, shimmery and smoky blue-based purple. My camera over-exaggerated the shimmer. In real life, it's much more subtle. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Throwback label. 

        I really truly love Concord Grape. It's such a pretty and complex shade of purple, sometimes looking straight up purple and other times, looking closer to silver/grey. I couldn't capture that because the light in my room sucks butt. But yeah, it's pure gorgeousness and I definitely consider it one the top five purples in my collection.

       And the perfection did not stop there. Concord Grape's formula (chock full of chemically and toxic goodness ^_^) glided on like butter, which made for an effortless application. The brush was a good width too. I was able to paint my nails in three easy strokes, without getting a ton of polish all over my cuticles and stuff. Sadly, dry time left a little to be desired. I painted my nails and went to bed about an hour later, but there were still sheet marks when I woke up this morning. But that could be because I used a Big 3 Free topcoat. 

     Concord Grape was released in Winter 1998, which means that they don't make it no more. But it's still available for a relatively reasonable price on eBay and some other online retailers. 

     And that's all I have for today. Have an awesome Saturday!

Wet n Wild Night Prowl

            Rawr, it's Friday!! I'm so happy...this has been the longest week of my like whole life. And it got a little worse today, because my ceramics teacher caught me in my insubordination. What had happened was we were making teacups (damn teacups) and all of mine had little nail marks. I tried to smooth them out, but she caught me doing it, inspected my nails, and declared them too long. I don't have to get rid of them until next class (Tuesday), but I decided not to prolong my agony. I filed them down to nublets, and I guess that's how they're gonna be for the rest of the semester, amen. I'm a little sad, but on the bright side, they weren't long to begin with, so it wasn't as painful as it could have been. And I can finally grow out some staining and little corner cracks, and my nails will finally have a more consistent shape. Yay for silver linings. 
      After the massacre nail cut, I wanted to pour out a little lacquer for my lost millimeters, but that's a waste of product and moniez.  So I settled for wearing a dark nail polish, and chose Wet n Wild Night Prowl.

Night Prowl is a black jelly base with a ton of small, round magenta glitter. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      I think black glittery polish can be hard. Sometimes, the base completely swallows up the glitter and it becomes a lumpy horrible mess. Or the glitter will kind of show through, but not really, so the look ends up being dull and a little messy. But Night Prowl manages to nicely avoid both pitfalls. I don't know if that's because the glitter is small, or because the base is jelly, or because of a combination of both, or maybe because of neither of those things. What I know is that even indoors and away from direct sunlight, the glitter is very obvious on the nail. And in direct sunlight, it really sparkles. Even the glitter that isn't directly on the surface is visible, which gives the polish a nice bit of depth. Finally, since the base is jelly, Night Prowl has that amusingly squishy look to it. The overall effect ends up being an attractive blend of vampy, sexy, and fun, which makes this more wearable for people like me, who don't know how to pull off that hardcore femme fatale look.

    Application-wise, Night Prowl was okay. The brush was fine and the formula wasn't horrible. It was pretty watery on the first coat, but was fine by the third. It dried glossy and slightly rough, so I put on two layers of topcoat, and that fixed everything. For $0.99, Night Prowl is pretty much a steal, and I'm glad I bought it. 

    That's all I've got for today! I hope everyone is ready for a wonderful Labor Day weekend!!  Do you have any plans? And what are you guys gonna buy? You have to buy sumfthin. ^_^

Prevail Glitz & Glamour

        Today, I'm wearing a polish that I bought at the beginning of the summer from Duane Reade. It's called Glitz and Glamour and is from Duane Reade's privately owned nail lacquer company, Prevail. But before I get on with the pictures, I just have to call Duane Reade out on their foolishness. Can you guys believe that they charge $6 a pop for those thingies? And for all that money, they don't even have the decency to make the colors unique. They totally stole almost every color in that display from Color Club and/or from some other company. Exhibit A:

Glitz & Glamour is a charcoal grey polish with alot of holographic shimmer. The shimmer is really um..coarse, I guess. Like, you can see the individual bits.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

       Now, I really like Glitz & Glamour. I'm a sucker for grey and holographic, so having both in one is right up my alley. And the application was really good. Formula went on like butter, and was opaque in one coat. I used two though, because nighttime and bald spots, blah blah blah. It also dried super fast, because I was in bed fifteen minutes after putting it on, and there were no sheet marks this morning. 

     But really...you could get this color for like $2.50 from Color Club. I want to actually compare them this weekend, but right now, they look awfully dupish to me. Maybe Glitz & Glamour is a bit darker.But anyway, the uncanny resemblance in itself wouldn't be a problem if this polish was $1-$3. But for six whole dollars, you can't sell knockoff polish. You just can't. It's not right. ;_;

    And in the display, I'm 99.9% sure I saw Electronica, Groove Thang, and some of the neons from the Poptastic Collection. Only they were in Prevail bottles and had different names. So I hope all the other nail polish companies are covering their papers, because there's a cheater in the class. And his name is Prevail. u_u

   That's all I've got for today. Have a great night, everyone!! 

China Glaze Strawberry Fields

            Good evening, everyone! Today, I'm wearing a color that I held out on buying for a really long time, China Glaze Strawberry Fields from last year's Summer Days Collection. I liked it and thought it was a pretty color, but I just did not get that omgigottahaveitnownownow feeling about it. So whenever I saw it on the internet or in the BSS, I'd put it in my basket, only to put it back right before checkout. I do the same thing with Watermelon Rind, Grape Juice, and Flying Dragon. But I finally got Strawberry Fields this summer, and at long long last, I'm wearing it. So here it is:

Strawberry Fields is a raspberry-pink (for lack of better description) polish packed with fine copper and gold shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I like Strawberry Fields. It's a bright, rich and warm color, and positively screams summer. The shimmer has to be my favorite part though, because instead of being the kind that reflects light, it actually sparkles and brings the whole polish to a higher level. Application-wise, it was also quite nice, going on smoothly and easily.  Strawberry Fields built to bottle color nicely, being opaque by my second coat. The pictures are with three coats though, because I applied this at night and was scared that in the morning, I'd find some VNL.  

    Overall, I'd definitely say that Strawberry Fields is a great polish. It's super pretty, and is a wonderful pink to have in the stash. And I actually kind of regret waiting so long to get it. 

    But of curiosity, are there any colors that you guys want but are just putting off buying? And how come you're waiting? I do that all the time with other stuff, and I've been told it's strange, but I don't think so. Like they forgot to give me a desk chair for my room, and I still have yet to request one. I think it's because I'm lazy. ;_;

Maybelline Gray-T Glamour + Fauxnad and a Haul!!

           lol, today was interesting. I arrived at my first ceramics class about fifteen minutes late, and just my luck, she's the kind of teacher who is a stickler for punctuality. So she started hating me a little from the first second she met me. Then, she gave us a long lecture about proper studio behavior and said that we weren't allowed to have long nails. So then I started hating her a little bit too. I'm still gonna grow mine out though...I'll just do it in secret. *shifty eyes* But on the upside, the studio manager was really nice and friendly, and after classes were over for the day, I got to buy myself some nice things. And I wore a mani that I really liked, although someone called it depressing. But it's not. :(

I kept on Maybelline Gray-T Glamour for a base, and used China Glaze OMG to stamp on a floral full nail pattern (the one with the big daisy) from BM16. It was very easy and took about fifteen minutes from start to finish. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

I'm using my right hand as a model today because I messed up the left hand a little. So please excuse the shredded cuticles and chipped polish. My right hand be going through some thangs. 

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

   I don't think it looks depressing...I like it! I like the grey-on-grey thing. And indoors, it was very subtle and elegant looking. It looked like a couch. And I like things that look like couches, because most couches are soft and nice. But as an aside, I need to find a backup bottle of OMG for konading. I knew I should have bought two bottles when I had the chance. 

  But anyway, after classes were over for the day, I went to CVS and Staples. At CVS, I found the Milani Liquid Metal and Haute Value displays (which I NEVER saw that whole time I was home) and the  These Are Regular Colors, but Just Throw Some Glittah on That Shit and Act Like It's New  Just Add Sparkle display. Here's what I got from each:

Milani Dress Maker (yeah, I had to do it) and Milani Molten Rock. 

These weren't on sale, so I really should not have gotten them, but they were the last ones in their respective displays. So I got them anyway. I'm waiting for a BOGO to go back and get Fashion Design, One of a Kind, and possibly High Fashion from the Haute Value collection. And from the Liquid Metal collection, I still want Metal Gear and Hot Metal. 

Revlon Galaxy (I was so excited to see it) and Revlon Belle. The bottom picture is blurred a little to show to major sparkliness that's going on here.

These were on sale (Buy one, get one half off) and in reality, I only got Belle to get the deal. I may return it anyway, because I already have New York Summer Hollywood Night, and I think they're exactly the same thing. Here's a side by side comparison:

From far away.

And up close.

So tomorrow, Belle will go back. I'm still deciding on whether or not I want to exchange though. Part of me wants to just get my money back, but part of me wants Star. So we'll see. 

And finally, I got some real storage for my babies! I've been keeping them in a cardboard box. Ideally, I'd like a small file cabinet or plastic stacked drawers to keep them in. One that can fit on top of my dresser. I still have a baby stash, so something small should satisfy my needs for a while. I found something that I thought would work in Staples:

It was $29.99.

And I was MAD, because just last week, there was a coupon for this item...50% off! But I was home last week, and our Staples didn't have this particular set of drawers. Man, our stores don't have nothing. :(

But anyway, it didn't work that well. The drawers are wide and deep enough, but there is this weird lip at the front of each drawer, and the lip topples over most nail polishes. Some shorter ones can stand up, like the ones in the third and sixth drawer. But most of them have to lay down. I briefly considered taking it back, but I'm going to hang on to it. Hopefully for Christmas or my birthday, I can find something better. And when I do, this will definitely come in handy for organizing other stuff, like cosmetics, toiletries, and school supplies. Yes, I'd keep them all in the same place. Don't judge moi. 

But anyway, with this drawer, the first three are tried and the last three are untried. And I had plenty of space in my trieds drawers, but I almost ran out in my untrieds. I had to lay some on top of each other, and turn some sideways for everything to fit. O_O

That's bad. ~_~

   Okay, okay, I'm finally finally done. Sorry for the novel, but I have so many thangs to share. ^_^

Ahaha, look at all the different emotions. It's like I'm schizophrenic. Have a great night everyone!