Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A few BB Couture Swatches

A few weeks ago, right after Thanksgiving, Kim at Overall Beauty offered a fabulous B1G1F sale on BB Couture for Nails polishes.  Needless to say... I jumped at the chance.  I purchased a few BB Coutures last year and earlier this year, I had the opportunity to review some of their polishes from the Cantina Nights collection, but this was my first time buying BB Couture polishes in quite some time. 

Because, I don't review/use them often, so I sometimes forget that BB Couture's polishes are pretty much amazing .  1. Their colors are always have an element of the unexpected.  Whether it be a "secret shimmer" or random specks of color, there is always something in their colors that makes you stop and notice.  2. Their formula is one of the best in the business and, dare I say it, I find it better than even Rescue Beauty Lounge.

Here are the 6 I chose...


Eve - Mossy green shimmer base with bright green, gold, and blue shimmer particles.  This polish is absolutely gorgeous (something you may read quite a bit in this post).  The base color is one of those "ugly pretty" colors that you think would be hideous in theory and yet, IRL, there's something about it that is just beautiful.  The shimmer particles in this one are so pretty.  The bright, almost kelly green, just pops against the mossy green background.  Also, there is a ribbon of copper shimmer than runs through this.  Now, normally, a "ribbon of color" translates to "frosty finish", but in this one that tiny copper shimmer, it's much smaller than the other shimmer particles, gives this one a slight duochrome effect.  No, it's not a true duochrome.  Rather, the copper has a tendency to catch the light when you move your fingers, though there is no true color shift.  Eve is from BB Couture's Infamous Lovers collection.  Pic is 2 coats, and (of course) there were no formula issues.


Hollywood Junk - pale gold glitter and holo bar glitter in a clear champaign base.  Hollywood Junk is one of those polishes that I have been lemming for quite some time, and I honestly can't tell you why.  When you read the description, it sounds rather boring, but in true BB Couture style, there is something about this one that is totally unique, and I think it's the bar glitter.  Those long strands of holo glitter really catch your eye, whether you are staring at your nails or staring at the bottle (um, no... didn't do that :P).  This pic is 3 coats, and I was trying to see if I could reach opacity.  The answer is no, unless of course, you wanted to gloop tons of this on your nails... and then it wouldn't dry.  However, I think this would look amazing over a gold foil, like say Luxe of Orly's Foil FX collection.


Impact Driver - Smoky Wedgwood blue base with tons of pale pink, pale blue, and silver micro-shimmer.  It also has an unexpected element of charcoal grey (!) in the micro-shimmer.  Honestly, I picked this one up because it's supposedly a dupe for RBL Catherine H. Well, that and I'm a sucker for dusty/smoky blues.  I'd been lemming Catherine H. pretty hardcore, but kept passing on it because I just didn't want to spend $18+ shipping.  I've seen a few comp pics, and I have to say it... Impact Driver looks to be almost identical to Catherine H. (here's a great comp pic at Nailed Up - scroll to the end of the post).  I'm sure there might be some slight differences in the shimmer when you get down to it, but for me... this has certainly filled the lemming.  The formula on this one is flawless.  Impact Driver is from BB Couture for Men's Tools collection.  Pic is 2 coats.  

Juliet - browned rose-pink creme base with tiny black and iridescent pastel shimmer particles.   I included a bottle pic of this one because I wanted you get a closer look at the colors of the shimmer.  Above, when I mentioned BB Couture's element of surprise, this was the polish that was specifically coming to mind.  The base itself is gorgeous.  It lives at the intersection of Brown Avenue and Rose Pink Way in Color Town.  :P  Yet it's that shimmer that made me fall in love with it.  I love that the black shimmer is peppered (pun intended) throughout the base.  You may get a lot on one nail and just one or two specks on another.  I really like the randomness to it.  Also, as the base is a creme, the pastel iridescent shimmer tends to sit on the top of the polish, creating a beautiful "hidden shimmer".  This pic is 3 coats, though you would be perfectly fine with 2.  Juliet is another polish from the Infamous Lovers collection.  

Napa Valley Red - Jelly-like red shimmer base with brighter red shimmer particles.  This one reminds me of a deeper version of BB Couture Fairy Blood.  This is a beautiful, mesmerizing color.  The shimmer pieces in this one almost glow in the base color.  It's a tad bit lighter on the nail than it is in the bottle, but that was fine with me.  Napa Valley Red is from BB Couture's Vampy Varnish collection, which was co-created by Kelly at Vampy Varnish.  Pic is 2 coats.  

Vampy Varnish - Deep black-green base with shimmer particles in gold, purple, and light and dark green.  This one is the namesake polish to the above mentioned Vampy Varnish collection, and Kelly certainly pulled out all the stops when she came up with this one.  The finish on this is like Napa Valley Red in that the base color has a touch of a jelly-like consistency.  The base is a very dark green that looks like black in any light other than direct light.  That, coupled with the multi-colored shimmer, makes it look like multi-colored stars tossed against a black sky.  I said Napa Valley Red was mesmerizing and I'm going to have to use that word to describe this one as well.  It's unbelievably gorgeous, and probably my favorite of the 6 I got (which is truly saying something... because I love them all).  Pic is 2 coats.

All in all, I love these.  The colors are so beautiful, and in a lot of ways, completely unexpected.  BB Couture is a fabulous line of polishes and you can really tell that they are created by a lover of unique nail polishes for those of us that tend to stray away from your traditional baby pinks and standard reds.  I love that about this company.  I can't wait to place another order I've already started on a small wishlist of BB Coutures.  :)

I'm pretty sure that you can only find BB Couture for Nail polishes through online sources.  They have their own website, but for the best selected, you'll need to check out Overall Beauty.  BB Coutures retail for $9 at Overall Beauty and $9.95 on their website.

I purchased all these polishes myself during Overall Beauty's B1G1F promotion.





No comments:

Post a Comment