Aargh...I'm Not Feeling Any Of These

It's Monday and I can't get happy with my polish! First I want to show you a polish lots of people LOVE. OPI Skinny Dip'n In Lake Michigan.

This is three coats. It has a clear shimmer in it.


















I think people who are in a fascist nail polish state at work like it because it's a neutral, but there's that little bit of shimmer that makes you feel like you're getting away with something.

On me it's a NO. I think it matches my skin tone too closely, or not closely enough. I just can't do this one.












Next is Milani Totally Cool which a very wonderful man (who I live with) bought for me at Target. I thought I was going to Totally Dig this, but I didn't.

This is one of those "gorgeous in the bottle" ones that doesn't quite translate to the nail.

















It's really pretty, but the bottle has a hot pink and gold duochrome-like effect and the nail looks like when I layered glitter over navy blue.

The polish does not show up with any dimension. It's a pretty purple though. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for all the glitter.












I ended up here, and I have to leave it here because I have to go to work.

One of my Orlys where the label fell off. Anyone?


















This is the most rabid, metallic, glittery pearl I've ever seen.

Brush-stroke heaven.













You can see the glitter in the extreme close-up.

It's just not what I was hoping to find this morning.













Okay, enough whining! This just means I try something else later on.

Anthropomorphizing

Once in awhile I see a polish languishing in a sale bin. I feel bad for it. Nobody wants it. I buy it and add it to the stash and when I get a chance I do a nice, loving manicure. Such was the case for this Orly Mandalay Ruby.

Look at the giant sale sticker. A shame.


















Here it is after my loving manicure.

This polish was only $2.99.


















This is three coats. I'll probably put one more and a top coat.

Or not. I'm already late for work.














The real Mandalay Ruby.
Mandalay is in Burma where they have ruby mines.










I read up on the Mandalay Ruby and found out that a good color for rubies is the shade of "pigeon's blood." Great. Now that's all I can think of.

I love when they give you a little giftie on your bottle!

This ring doesn't go all the way around, so it fits on any finger!

Glamorous!


















All in all, a very respectable red. Clear color, just a hint of darkness, a priceless ruby!

In my reading I found out that real rubies always have flaws. That's how you can tell it's real. True also for my manicure.

And the polish is happy to be living in my polish bin and being featured on my blog!

The Rest Of Electrocandy

OMG Michael Jackson....I just found out. How sad. It's so weird when someone who is part of the general consciousness goes unexpectedly.

I quickly swatched the rest of Electrocandy (that I have) while the sun was out. I didn't want to swatch it in the shade because it's really so pretty.

First we have the pink one called....Electrocandy. Hm. Cool name.

This has a silver shimmer.













It's great how these have hot and cold aspects in each one. This separates well from the purple with the blue flash. This pink with a blue flash would've been too similar. Alas, I love the pink, but the pink doesn't love me. It clashes with my skin tone in a strange way and makes it look grayish in real life. It's also quite sheer - above is four coats and could've used another one.

On to the green - What a Shock! (That's the name)

Very very pretty grass green with a subtle blue shimmer.












Love this one. Good coverage, nice application. This is second to Ultra Violet in my book.

The blue is called Pure Energy.

Gorgeousness and gorgeosity. That's from a kid's book, I can't remember which.

















This has a lighter blue shimmer. Absolutely beautiful and opaque in three coats.

I didn't get the yellow one because my Icing Cosmic looked just like it and Siobhan of The Nailphile said it took five coats to be opaque.

Are there more than six? I didn't notice.

My recommendation of this whole line is a great big YES! I love them all and they are all unique amongst nail polish as a whole. And, at a beauty store price of $2.99, WELL worth the money.

Here they all are again so you remember.

These were so much fun to photograph!













In order of my preference,
Ultra Violet (purple) - if you only want one, this is far and away the one to have. The color, the application, the uniqueness, it's got it all.
Pure Energy (blue) - because it's sooooo pretty.
Tangerine Scream (orange) - because it is REALLY unique.
What a Shock! (green) - so cheery and pretty, especially if you love the greens.
Electrocandy - if you like pinks, definitely worth your money. I'll probably try a pedi.

And Michael Jackson, R.I.P. No matter what, I think he deserves good remembrances. The man seemed to suffer from a lot of pain and anguish. He was an incredible talent.

Joining With The Weather

Still no sun...this is getting ridiculous and depressing. I feel bad for everyone taking their vacation at the Jersey Shore this month. I was looking for a polish to lift my mood but nothing was grabbing me, so I decided to join with the weather and do one of my never-trieds, Sally Hanson Gunmetal.

Longest brand name ever!


















This polish is different from all the other metallic grays in that it's not super shiny and it has an interesting blue-gray color. I think the ManGlaze polishes look more like gun metal, but I'm not an expert. I've never held a gun. Gunmetal could be referring to cannon though, and maybe they had this blue-gray galvanized look.

This is three coats. Two would have been okay, but application was slightly uneven.












I had to thin this out with Seche Restore. Not sure why it came out so thick. I've had it for awhile and not used it.

See how it matches the light outside? Gloom.











The brush was wide, like the Insta-Dri brushes, but longer. Easy to work with, but the brush holds a lot of polish, so you need to wipe most of it off.

This polish matches a dress I bought for a wedding! The blue-gray is really quite unique. Hopefully this attempt to accept and work with the weather will lead the weather to a change!

Update: That totally worked! Ha! The sun came out, so here is Gunmetal in the sun.

Looks about the same.


















Yay! Sun! Now I want to put on something really bright.

Another Near-Dupe and a Cool Pedi

If you only want one, part 2. Essie Sexy Divide and Orly Velvet Rope.

Sexy Divide is another of those polishes that I heard great things about, looked at in the store every time and thought about forever until one day I bought it.

A dark grape with pink sparkles that you can see only in direct light or, I'm guessing, sunlight. We still have no sun.

















It's pretty, but reminded me of something.....

Orly Velvet Rope, a bit lighter grape and a lot more pink sparkles that you can see, even inside, even in the shade.

















Here are the bottles next to each other.

Velvet Rope on the left, Sexy Divide on the right.













And on the nail next to each other, in the same order this time!

Both applied well in two coats.












Not a dupe, but similar. If you only want one, I recommend Orly Velvet Rope.

I prefer Orly's formula in this case. The Essie had a lot of cuticle drag, even on the first coat. Velvet Rope is a bit brighter and more interesting. Sexy Divide is creamier and subtle.

As for my pedi, it's cool because I love the color: Orly Cashmere Cardigan.

And work shoes.













My application wasn't the neatest either, but you can really get away with a lot on your toes.














I'm not a fan of toe cleavage and these shoes hurt my bunion, but they're a slingback and look professional for summer. I'm ALMOST to the point of not wearing things that hurt.

I love this color so much. When I have it on my nails I can leave it on for many days. Not only does it wear supremely well, the color is just so pleasing.

I should have wrapped my toes around the bottle!












Even though this is in the shade, the color stays true in all kind of light. It's a soft blueish periwinkle that I think is a great work-appropriate blue. I'll show it to you on my hands at some point. The formula is a little thick so you can definitely use two coats. In fact, I recommend only two with careful application because it tends to make a ledge if you don't line up your edges perfectly. I can only do that without glasses, super close up and I can't get that close to my toes!

If You Only Want One and Electrocandy Teaser

I bought China Glaze For Audrey first, and I liked it because it was unique and a pretty pastel for springtime.




















A little while after that I saw Essie Greenport come out and I kept looking at it, not buying it, and then thinking about it until I finally went and bought it.

And it looked so familiar!!! Aargh.


















No, they're not a dupe, but they're pretty close, which surprised me as one is a "tiffany blue" and the other has "green" in the name. Look at them next to each other.

Greenport on the left, For Audrey on the right.














Here they are on the nail.

In this picture, For Audrey on the left, Greenport on the right. Whoops.











You can definitely see the difference in this picture. You can even see the blue and green difference.

If you only want to buy one - I would recommend the Essie Greenport. It is more densely pigmented, full coverage in one coat rather than three, and applies more smoothly and evenly. The China Glaze For Audrey is thicker, chalkier and streaky.

Here is the teaser for the rest of the Color Club Electrocandy that I bought.

This makes a really cute "Skittles" (as Scrangie calls it) manicure or pedicure!













I don't normally buy a whole collection, but these are unique, amongst other neons and even amongst themselves.

It's fun to pose them all together too!

















I plan to do the whole hand or foot on each of these at some point. Truly uncooperative weather this June. We've had something like 18 days of rain in 20 days. If you click on the pics and look at the closeup you can see some of the magic of these polishes. They are so much fun to look at and wear!

Best Polish Ever!!

This is Color Club Ultra Violet. Bad name. It needs a name like Supersonic Hypnotic.

I'm in love.


















Look at that blue flash and the purple is light as a feather.

Check it out up close:




















This is three coats and a coat of Seche Vite because it dries just slightly matte. Wow, wow, wow, this line of colors is amazing!! I also bought the blue and green! I just love how the color is heated, but the flash cools it down. It's like fried ice cream, like nuclear winter, like icy hot, like soothe your burning retinas!

Polish & Shoe Choice Suggestions

I had some time during the bad, non-photo-good-for weather to think about matching shoes to nail polish, so I took a bunch of photos of quickly swatched pedis and what they might look best with, or look NOT best with.

Here's a red shoe with metallic polish.
Metallic polish looks good with pretty much everything.













Here's a turquoise shoe with metallic polish.
















And here are these two shoes with matching polish.



A little bit boring, but cute.









For a change, try the contrasting color.
I wouldn't wear them like this exactly. I would probably match my feet. But you never know what you're in the mood for. Could start a new trend....










I think the contrasting color does a lot more for the look.

Now what if you picked the wrong color wheel?
Not obviously bad, but you can tell the red is just a bit too blue, and the turquoise is just a bit too green, and a little too dark. Reminds me of secret make-overs I do at the mall on people. ("If she just re-thought the length of that skirt....")








I'll put these close together and you can really tell which looks better.
















Now black shoes....they look good with just about everything, especially with metallic, especially if they are a little "edgy" or "hooker." lol














And anything kind of glittery and eye-catching looks great with black too. If you have a shoe that is eye-catching (or glittery) it's a good idea to coordinate a color and not compete with the shoe.

A good pedicure helps it look better too.











You might think the glitter and the black snake-print (fake) shoe would be too busy, and the orange doesn't really match the print shoe, but they add an extra element, and that is style. The black shoe can carry off something glittery because it's on the extreme end of all things black and strappy. The flowered shoe is actually a little bit sporty.
See the stripe? It can carry off an orange that doesn't quite match, but falls in the same basic color family.







If I switch these you will see all kinds of wrong.














Pastels and near-pastels and black do nothing for each other but wash out and look harsh. Flowers (sporty or not) and glitter do nothing for each other but remind you of what the other is not.

Remember to polish ALL of your toes!

So what looks good with metallic shoes? What looks good with neutral shoes?














Metallic shoes look great with a dark polish because it sets off the light bouncing off the shoe, but adds the interest of color. Red looks good with anything neutral, and pretty much any red will do. These are the same colors that didn't look good with the red and turquoise shoes.

Metallic shoes do not look good with a neutral color.

I almost can't stand to look at this! Granted, this color is hard to pull off anyway.
















But check out that same color on this shoe. Neutral shoes look good with a different neutral color.














How about metallic shoes with a different color?


Not bad, but how much cuter does that color look with the turquoise contrast?










And speaking of contrast, let's contrast contrast and see what monochrome looks like.
I could have put silver polish with a silver shoe, but I thought it would be more interesting to use a different color of metal. So I'm counting it as monochrome - metallic with metallic. Pretty!















And that same polish with the brown shoe:

Also pretty! Not the most eye-catching, but pleasing.

















I'm not making any rules here, but these are what I have found out through experimenting and considering harmony and discord. And having time to play around on a rainy day when I didn't have to work.

This adds another dimension to your summer wardrobe! And if you only do your toes every few weeks, you know that it will probably suit you better to choose a color that is fun enough to look at a lot, but egalitarian enough to match most of your shoes.

If you change your toe polish a lot, have some fun and pick some colors that ONLY match that one pair of shoes. It's a fun activity to find something that matches well in a really unique way.