Showing posts with label Taupe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taupe. Show all posts

CQ Polishes: Silver Taupe & Cosmic Plum

Above & Below: CQ's Silver Taupe is a fantastic taupe with a little bling. I used 2 coats, but it would have looked much better with 3. These photos are taken in natural light (above) and with a flash below.
Below: CQ's Cosmic Plum is a very slight duo chrome. It's got a lot going on, because in addition to the slight duo chrome, it's also a shimmer, yet it has a somewhat foil-type finish. I do like how the shimmer gives it a plush velvet look.
Yes, I'm still working away trying to open up some space on my untried's shelf, and this evening I have 2 CQ brand polishes to show you. CQ is manufactured by Scherer, Inc., also the makers of Petites and Chameleon brands, often found in drugstore chains. This is the first time I've tried this brand and the results are somewhat mixed. I used 2 coats on Silver Taupe and I think I should've used 3. I used 3 coats of Cosmic Plum, which seemed to give me the right amount of coverage. These are 0.4 fl. oz., so a little smaller than average, and they were priced at $2.59 each. I consider them to be fairly reasonably priced, the application and formula were fine (other than the 3 coats!), and the dried quickly. Now for the shades...

Silver Taupe is just gorgeous to me. A medium taupe shade with silver sparkles. The sparkly glitter is subtle, but it is also slightly holographic under more intense lighting. What's not to like? Again, other than the 3 coats! It was similar to China Glaze Stellar, which was one of my favorites from the glitters they released a few months back. Here is my post on Stellar if you'd like to have a look. Cosmic Plum was just alright to me, but nothing special. It looked somewhat like a duo chrome in the bottle, and once applied, it actually is a duo chrome. But it's a very weak duo chrome. It's a rose gold color that flashes to a more gold color in different lighting. It also has hints of copper in darker lighting. The metallic/foil finish is not to my liking either. I don't hate it, but I'm not nearly as attracted to this one as I am to Silver Taupe. I think I was expecting a little more magic from Cosmic Plum, based on how it looked in the bottle.


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Man Week Continues~BB Couture Hammer Drill & Stud Finder

Above & Below: BB Couture's Hammer Drill shown using 2 coats. Above photo is with a flash, below photo is no flash. Both pictures were taken outside under snowy skies.
Below: Finish detail.
Below: BB Couture's Stud Finder shown using 2 coats. This picture was taken with a flash, while the photo below is shown with no flash.

Below: Stud Finder with one coat of Essie's Matte About You.
Below: Finish detail.
Here are 2 more shades from BB Couture's latest collection of polishes for men, Hammer Drill and Stud Finder. I kept hearing Hammer Time Can't Touch This in my head as I was swatching Hammer Drill, so now that I've gone and gotten it stuck in your head, let's talk about this color! Hammer (Time) Drill is a shade that falls into the burgundy/maroon/wine family, although there's something about it that makes it difficult to fit into any of those families. I really like this shade, but again, I'm having a hard time defining the color. I'd call it a muted or dusty burgundy shimmer with the slightest hint of a brown undertone in darker lighting. The shimmer is mainly gold, but again, it too is somewhat muted, making it difficult to define.

Stud Finder is also a unique and very pretty color, and again, to define what the shade actually would be called, is causing me a slight problem. As I was applying it, I thought it almost looked as if gold, silver and bronze had been mixed together, because I saw traces of all three of those colors. This too is a shimmer, and I can see both a bronzed gold and a silver tone within the shimmer pieces, although the silver is much more evident. Once applied, I'd have to say that the best description is a deeper taupe shade. I wondered what it would look like with a matte finish, because it reminded me of OPI's You Don't Know Jacques from their matte collection. One coat of Essie's Matte About You convinced me that indeed, it is very similar. The matte coat darkened the shade slightly and refined the shimmer.

I'll finish up with the newest BB Couture men's polishes tomorrow, and then move onto their earlier collection of polish for men. Overall Beauty is still offering their free shipping offer, valid through 12/11 . Make sure and check out their newest polishes called The Disco Collection. Oh great, now I'll have Dancing Queen stuck in my head!


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Essie Smokin' Hot

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I tried out Essie Smokin' Hot from the Winter 2010 release, and I really like it a lot.  My first impression of it is that it's what I think Chanel Paradoxal would look like as a creme.  Smokin' Hot is a similar brown taupe with a little purple mixed in, and the color is really interesting.  It's really well pigmented, and two thin coats were all I needed.

Essie Smokin' Hot
Essie Smokin' Hot Nail Polish, Two Coats

That was short, but it's only 6:22 am so I have little else to tell you...  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  


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Maybelline Poptimistic: Charcoal Cheer & Opti-Mist-Ic

Above & Below: Charcoal Cheer is a beautiful shade of several different shades! I can see blue, teal and grey, depending on the lighting.


Below: Close up of the finish.

Above & Below: Opti-Mist-Ic is very appealing to me, and the gold shimmer makes it even more appealing.


Below: Close-up of the finish.
Today I'm starting in on Maybelline's Winter Trend 2009 Poptimistic collection, but it's 60 degrees and sunny outside, so I've only taken the time to swatch 2 of them. It's been a long time since we've had weather this nice, so I need to get out and do some yard work. I'll hopefully get a chance to swatch the other 4 tomorrow. I found this collection at Rite-Aid a couple of weeks ago and they retail for $4.99 each. They were buy one get one free and I picked up all 6 of them because I thought it was a nice range of colors and finishes. The two I have for today are my favorites from a "bottle look" perspective, but once I actually use the other 4, my opinion could change on that.

Charcoal Cheer is a shimmer (4 are shimmers, 2 are cremes in this collection) and although the name implies that it's a grey shade, it's more of a grayed out dark teal to me. The shimmer is very fine and is basically the same color as the polish, although it is light reflecting and changes colors in various lighting. I used 2 coats and it applied nicely. It does take on a more grey appearance in darker lighting, bit I wouldn't classify it as a true grey shade. I am really at a loss to define the color of this, because I see cadet blue, grey and teal. It reminds me of Creative Nail Design's NFS, only more grey-toned.
Opti-Mist-Ic, also a shimmer, is a lovely shade of pale taupe. I would almost call it a light beige, but it seems to have hints of dove grey in there also, pushing it more toward a taupe shade. The shimmer is very small and fine, but what I love about this one, is that the shimmer is gold. This is a really different shade and the shimmer makes it all the more unique. I ended up going with 3 coats on this one, because there were a few streaks. I'm certain the streaks were caused by the less than perfect brush, however.


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OPI Suede: You Don't Know Jacques!

Above & Below: OPI Suede in You Don't Know Jacques!, shown outdoors with no flash. The top picture is in full sun, the bottom one is in shade. The formula is a little on the thick side, but applies nicely in 2 coats.
Below: YDKJ-Suede with one coat of a clear top coat. The first picture is indoors with a flash, the others are outdoors with no flash.



Below: Bottle comparison of YDKJ's creme version and the suede version.
Ahh, some Fall color and texture after all of those glitters! YDKJ is close in color to it's creme version, but has silver shimmer added to it and a matte type finish. The combination of those elements gives it a look of texture, which I think is different and unique. It almost looks like it has some depth or dimension to it. As most of you know, the directions say that the finish on these polishes doesn't last as long as the finish on regular polishes. The directions also say not to use any hand lotion or top coat. I've had it on for a day now and I don't like following directions. I haven't noticed any problem in the finish, even though I've used hand lotion. As much as I love the 'suede' finish look, adding a top coat really brings this polish to life. It's much like applying a clear coat to a piece of wood, bringing out all of it's hidden beauty. The shimmer comes to life and I believe I see some copper shimmer mixed in with the silver, once a top coat is applied. The top coat also brought out a very slight lavender hue in certain lighting. If you want to go back to the original look, a coat of Essie's Matte About You will take you there.


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Jessica Muse Collection: Fall 2010

Jessica Cosmetics has a new collection coming out for Fall and I have swatches for you today. This collection contains 6 shades that are perfect for the season, including 2 shimmers and 4 cremes.

Jessica's MUSE collection presents mesmerizing rich tones that reflect the beauty and sophistication of Fall Fashion. Each colour individually allows you to become inspired and exert your inner MUSE!

Are you ready to exert your inner MUSE? Let's do it!

Above & Below: Intrigue, a haze of purple according to the press release, is one of my favorites from this collection. In the bottle is appears as a pale mauve creme, but once on the nail, this one reveals taupe, grey, and mauve depending on the lighting.


Below: Bittersweet is described as chocolate brown, but it has more than that going for it. This lighter cocoa shade is laced with fine gold shimmer within the brown creme adding a touch of elegance.


Below: Victorian Crush is an army green creme that is sure to please those of us with an affection toward the olive green family.


Below: Scarlet is a daring red creme with warm tones. The first photo below is a little washed out by the sunlight, and I'd say that the second photo is more true to color.


Below: Majesty Blue, a royal blue with silver shimmer is a very nice dark bright navy blue color. The shimmer is fine and seems to remain quite subtle even in the sunlight (below). It's more noticeable in brighter artificial light, as evidenced in the second photo.


Below: Crimson Reflections is a burgundy wine creme that has a near jelly finish. This shade appears as a medium berry shade in brighter lighting, and a burgundy shade in lower lighting.


Jessica's Muse Collection is a nicely done assortment of Fall shades with some fairly common shades and some shades that are a little more daring and trendy. As I've found with all Jessica polishes, these applied very well and I used two coats on them. If you haven't had the pleasure of using this brand, I highly recommend giving them a try. Their formula is superb, their color and finish range is expanding nicely, and with the pricing of many other brands increasing, these are very reasonably priced for the quality.

You can find the most current shades on the Jessica Cosmetics web site (the MUSE collection will be available within the next month), and I have purchased many of my Jessica polishes from hellogorgeous.net. They have a large inventory of shades and are priced at $4.95. A Google search will often yield a coupon code for $5.00 off and their shipping and response time is very good.

How many of you have tried Jessica brand polishes? If you have, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about them.

*Products featured were furnished by the manufacturer or PR firm for review.


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Barielle/ALU Continues: Putt-E On Me

Above & Below: Barielle/ALU's Putt-E On Me shown outdoors, mostly sunny skies, no flash. Look at the shine!




Below: Indoors, with flash.


Putt-E On Me is a warm toned taupe grey shade that surprised me with it's beauty. At first glance it reminded me of something along the lines of OPI You Don't Know Jacques or Orly Prince Charming, but it isn't really close to either one of those. It has the slightest hint of mauve or dusty lavender in lower lighting, but over all, it's a mushroom shade. Barielle describes it as a "Classic Clay Creme", which I'd say is fairly accurate. The application on this was perfect (2 coats), smooth and just the right consistency. It flowed very nicely and covered evenly. The finish on this one, as with the others I've showed you, is a very high gloss. This is a very trendy shade and although I have similar shades, the application moves it right to the top of my favorites in this color family. I've only got 2 more left to go on this wonderful collection, and I'll be posting those later today.

Reminder: Make sure and scroll through my previous posts to see how you can receive up to 35% off and free shipping, should you decide to order any polishes from Barielle.


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