China Glaze produced this lovely Tiffany-inspired blue and called it For Audrey (as in Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s) I picked it up since it seems to be a staple.
indoors
Scrangie says it’s one of her favorite teals and it certainly looks lovely on her. On me? I don’t think it’s too flattering. It probably doesn’t help that the formula was a little gummy. What do you think? Is it just too stark for me?
Need a break from glitter? Step into the serene embrace of Essie’s Lapis of Luxury:
lamp light
I had to take these in the dark so they are funky. Blue/purple is hard to photograph true to color anyway. This one is my perfect periwinkle. It’s soft and dusty, but I can’t decide whether it’s purple or blue. Perfect.
white balance!
Here’s another view with a different white balance. On my screen, this shot makes it look totally blue, but it’s definitely periwinkle. This is a 3-coater, but the coats dry glossy and smooth. This is one of those Essies that has a translucent finish, not see-through, but deep-looking? It has to be seen to be believed, and it’s my favorite thing about Essie.
I thought I’d try something new for me… a funky french!
Funkity
This is my very first attempt at freehanding tips. It came out okay… perhaps it’s worth trying again! By the way, this color is part of Essie’s retail line, so you should be able to find it at CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart, Target, etc. I love it when they are easy to get. :D
This is part of the Xtreme Wear line, and yes, the exclamation point is on the label. I really like this as a bright medium blue, and it applies decently. I had some trouble with bubbling but I think I left the fan on, woops!
artificial light
Two coats, and at least a day’s wear. I found a staple remover in my desk, though, so the nails should improve soon. Shuffling paper can be hard on the nails too. ;)
Glitter!
I can’t resist throwing a coat of Confetti Dreamdate over everything, but I liked this combo enough to wear it for a while. Dreamdate is such a great layering glitter. One coat (shown) lets the base color peek through, dries fast and smooth without topcoat, and is still multi-colored fabulous!
I tried to capture the colors with a macro shot:
too dark, eh?
I’m pretty pleased with this manicure, but now that it’s raining I think it’s time for something a little more subdued.
Do you ever do your nails only to wake up in the mood for something different entirely?
So look at this beaut! Orly La Playa:
full sun
This is three coats, which I needed for even coverage. The formula was pretty watery but not unworkable. I love this color so hard – and the boyfriend said “gorgeous!” when he saw it. I find it doesn’t really look purple as much as navy blue on me, but some people put it in the blurple category. Orly was $6.99 at CVS and this one came with a free mini Top2Bottom. Score!
Stay tuned for more Orly! I’ve got a loaner computer and will try to keep up. :)
I was obsessive about mood rings as a kid. Actually, anything color-change. I had a pretend tea set with little plastic cookies that “jam” magically appeared on when you rubbed them with a cold knife. Dip them in hot water and bam! Clean.. cookies. The tea cups that changed color were a bit more successful since they’re still selling them:
Playskool Magic Tea Party
Aheeenyway… Rite Aid had a nail polish sale and I picked up Mood Struck Heat Activated! Color Changing Nail Polish for half off. I promptly hid it in a drawer because I felt like a three-year-old for buying this thing. Once I swatched, however, look! It is très awesome:
full sun, no topcoat
It dries matte and while the brush itself is okay, the screw top makes application tricky. It also really needs at least three coats. (Three shown.) Notice that the tips are darker? That’s where the free edge is cooler than the base of the nail. I really love the subtle gradient effect.
full sun, no topcoat, hot and cold
Now for the fun part – I pulled out the hair dryer and an ice cube to test the extremes of the color change. Index and middle turned into a bright light blue with heat, and the ring and pinky are the dark blue with, sadly, no hint of purple on me. I know that it goes all the way to purple when it gets really cold but my body temperature wouldn’t allow it. I next applied topcoat to see if that affected the color change:
full sun, with topcoat, hot!
No problems! I love this glittery blue.
full sun, topcoat, cold
I am sitting here trying to decide if I’ll wear it matte or shiny but I think for durability and wow factor I have to go for shiny. If I had to guess I would say that this is the best of the available shades, but I have a thing for blue glitters so I’m biased.
I had my boyfriend pick my next polish after the Gray Suede debacle. I still can’t decide if I should try Gray Suede again. But this! This I love.
full sun
Love love love. Sky blue creme, formula is pretty decent. I would say this picture looks a tiny bit brighter than the polish actually is. Three coats.
shade
This is after a couple days of wear and it seems to be going strong. I purchased it on impulse, thinking it was a sky blue with delicate shimmer. When I found out it was a creme I thought I was going to hate it, but I don’t. I love how clean it makes my hands look. *sigh* I might need to find some Jordan almonds now.
Can you tell I like Essie? It’s the little bottles. They’re so cute! I am a huge sucker for packaging.
Three coats of Turquoise & Caicos, I promise to get better at photos:
late afternoon sun
I spent a few weeks drooling over pictures of people wearing this one before tracking it down in the store. When I found it, I kind of hated it in the bottle. Surprise! It dries darker. I even freaked out a little on the first coat because it looked really yellow-green. Three coats (I still had VNL at two coats) and I’m in love. <3 <3 <3
shade
Here it is compared to Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Sea Breeze:
While this one still falls into my turquoise category, it’s much darker. This Insta-Dri is thick – opaque in one coat showing brush texture – but the brush is kind of awesome. Wide and beveled. I feel like it’s quick to chip, though. Even with top and base coat, huge chunks of it come off after a day. Another thing? This color will stain, beware!
Is anyone a fan of Insta-Dri?
Here’s my current polish, Essie Dive Bar, pictured here at a few days old:
full sun
This was three of the most irritating coats of polish I have ever put on. I was trying to be really careful too, letting each coat dry for several minutes before applying the next. It seems to dry as you apply it, so that you can’t overlap at all or you’ll wipe off the layer below. It reminded me of dry-erase pens. Other people have reported an easy two coats, so who knows.
shade
It’s hard to capture the duochrome on this one. As I type, it’s almost a navy blue, but in most bright light settings it’s a dark base with bright green/teal shimmer. When twilight comes around, it’ll look more like a a blue/teal.
indoors
This terribly blurry picture shows the bluer indoor shade. The purple shows up in the bottle but I find myself waving my hands in front of my face trying to find it on the nail. Is it just me or do duochromes exist so people can laugh at us for flailing about while staring at our nails?
I’ll keep this polish even though it’s scary to apply. I’m optimistic that my photography AND nail polish application skills will improve! Also cuticles, and mysterious hand redness, and funky nail shape…
