The New Black Ombre Shades - Rover Review

When ombre manicures first started trending a couple years ago, I didn't like the look.  It seemed like skittles, only a lot more work.  Then it started to grow on me.  Unfortunately, creating a good ombre manicure does take a bit of skill in selecting your colors.  You have to have the right mix of colors, and textures to create the perfect look, and that's a skill I just don't have.  Thankfully, The New Black takes the stress out of creating an ombre look.  They have put together several ombre shade kits.  I received 4 of them for you and today, I have for the pink kit, that they call "Rover".

I apologize for the awkward "claw" hand pose.  I haven't taken a full hand picture in forever, and I felt like I was contorting my hand in a thousand different poses to show each of the 5 colors.  I also couldn't hold one of the bottles and take a picture of my entire hand, they are just a bit too little for my mannish hands.  :P

Anyway, on to the polish...  Again, The New Black's individual colors do not have names.  From my thumb to my pinky, they are in order, a deep burgundy, a pink-red jelly, a pink-red shimmer, a bright pink shimmer, and a pale pink with fine silver and pale pink shimmer. 

Individually, the colors aren't unique, but I do want to say that the pale pink in this set is the best of the bunch.  It's exactly what I wanted Zoya Gigi to be.  It's completely opaque in 3 coats.  Whereas, with Gigi, I struggled with 4 coats and I could still see my nails as if I only had on a topcoat.  

I really like this look.  I think it is so cool how they tie 5 seemingly different colors together.  They are all different, except for being pink, but they work so well together tonally.  No, like I mentioned above, the colors aren't incredibly unique, and if you have a large collection, you probably have dupes in your stash, so you could probably duplicate this look.  That said, I know if I tried, I would drive myself batty trying to find colors that worked so well together.  They have taken all the guesswork out of ombre manicures, and that is the best thing about these little kits.  

The New Black Ombre kits are at $22 for 5 mini bottles and you can find them through various retailers such as HSN, Nordstroms, and Drugstore.com.  

These were sent to me for review

Nicole By OPI Something About Color Target Exclusive collection Review (Fall Colors)

Back in March, I showed you the Nicole by OPI Spring Target exclusives.  Well, they have come out with 4 additions to this collection for Fall 2011. 

FYI, I got a new camera, a Canon SD1400IS, and I am still trying to work out some growing pains, so I'm sorry if these pictures are sub-par.

Cherry Much In Love - bright cherry red, glass flecked shimmer.  This one is beautiful.  The base was a little jelly-ish, so the glass flecks kind of suspended in the base.  I had no issues with application and the formula, was great, though a little thin.  Three coats

Green Up Your Act - dusty, greyed olive creme.  I struggled with this one.  I swear, I swatched it twice and took a gazillion pictures and I still wasn't satisfied.  The color is definitely unique.  It's not a traditional camo green, or an olive green for that matter, it seemed to have a lot of blue/grey in the base.  It also had a dustiness to it.  I struggled with the formula, as it seemed a bit goopy to me.  Picture is 3 coats, and I had an issue with drag, so it looks lumpy in places.

It's Not Me, It's Blue - Grey/blue metallic shimmer base with purple microshimmer.  This one is amazing.  I saw it at my local Target, and I immediately fell in love.  I promply came home and put it on my nails.  It's very similar to Sounds Grape to Me, it terms of formula and finish, and it feels almost like a foil.  It also has a beautiful purple shimmer that will pop when you turn your hand (there is also some golden shimmer, as well).  The formula was thin, so I did have to use 3 coats, but they dried quickly, so no issues.  Also, this picture was taken with my old camera, so that's why it seems a bit different.

Sounds Grape to Me - Deep purple/burgundy shimmer base with golden shimmer particles.  This one was very reminiscent of OPI Tease-y Does It or Zoya Valerie, but unlike Tease-y Does It, this one didn't seem muddy.  I think this one is my favorite of the 4.  The color is practically mesmerizing.  Formula was good and it reached opacity at 2 coats.

All in all, I like this little addition to Nicole by OPI's Target collection.  Green Up Your Act does seem to be the odd duck, but those of you that like dusty, ugly-pretty colors, will love it.  Also, and this may just be because my were press samples, but only Green Up Your Act had Nicole's new brush, and that's perfectly fine with me.  However, if you are a fan of their new brush, be sure to check your bottles at Target to see if they have them.

These are at Target now and retail for around $7 each.

these were sent to me for review

ChG Sugarplums (frankened up)

When China Glaze Sugarplums first hit retailers, all people could talk about was the fact that it may be a dupe for the long-d/c, much-loved China Glaze Crystal Ball.  Turns out, they aren't dupes (though I don't have Crystal Ball to do a direct comparison).  The base colors are slightly different and Crystal Ball has more holo shimmer particles.  Now, I couldn't do much about base, but I could add more holo.  This is a combination of Orly Shine On, Crazy Diamond (which didn't do much), OPI Paris Couture for Sure (which I didn't want to use much of), and Color Club Magic Attraction (which I used the most of).  I don't have a pre-franken pic of this (though I plan on taking one soon as I have 1/2 a bottle left), but I absolutely love this with more shimmer/glitter.

Jessica Muse Collection

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try the new Muse collection from Jessica cosmetics.  This is a beautiful collection and with all the fall collections lately, I am so happy that it's less than a month away.  This one, in particular, really makes me want to break out the sweaters and jeans.

Intrigue – Greige (grey + beige) creme.  This one seems like it has some lavender in the base and it's slightly smoky.  Honestly, I don't have many of these kinds of colors, so I really don't have anything to direct-compare it to.  I did compare it to the other taupes in my collection and among that small group, it's totally unique.  This one would be a good work-safe color that will work on almost any skin tone.  Compared to the others in this collection, the formula was a bit on the thin side, but nothing too hard to work with. Pic is 3 coats.

Bittersweet – Medium-toned, yellow brown with golden shimmer.  Jessica describes this color as milk chocolate, and honestly, I think that description is a bit off.  There's far too much yellow in it to be a milk chocolate brown, IMO.  So why the description is off- the-money, the color is dead-on awesome.  In addition to the yellow and brown, there's also a hint of olive green.  It’s a beautiful color, and I can't even thing of any dupes. The formula on this was perfect. It flowed nicely on my nails. Pic is 2 coats.

Victorian Crush – True army green. I think this is probably my top pick of this collection. If you were to look up “army green” in a color dictionary, you would find this color. Like I mentioned in my Victorian Crush/RBL No More War comp from a few days ago, this color, isn’t as yellow, murky, or dirty as NMW. So if you have NMW, you can definitely pick up VC and not feel like you are getting a dupe. OTOH, if you are jonesing for NMW and want an inexpensive fix, Victorian Crush might just fill the bill. Personally, I like it better than NMW. Pic is 2 coats and the formula was perfect.

Scarlet – is a bright (and by bright, I mean BRIGHT) red crème. Because of the brightness and high shine, you’d think this one would be more of a summer red, but there is a certain warmth to it that makes it appropriate for a fall/winter collection, IMO. This one really reminds me of Zoya Kristi, though I’m pretty sure Scarlet is a tad brighter. This will make a gorgeous color for the holidays and I’m already plotting wearing it with a black or chocolate brown sweater. This one had the same great formula, but it did take 3 coats to reach opacity.

.

Crimson Reflections – is one I kind of waffled on. I think I typed my description at least 4 times. In some lights, this looked like a straight-up burgundy crème, and yet in other lights, it looked like a brown-based, deep berry crème. I think if you are a fan of berry crèmes, you will love this one. Formula was great. Pic is 2 coats, though I probably could have used a third (I see a few thin spots as I type this review).

Majesty Blue – Shimmering blue with lighter blue shimmer. Okay, girls... you know me and shimmery blues, and while this one is lovely and I will definitely wear it, there was a faint frostiness in this one that, IMO, missed the mark (just a bit, it's still a beautiful color).  However, the shimmer in this one is very nice.  Of all the polishes in this collection, this one was the thickest in formula, but nothing unmanageable.  Pic is 2 coats.

All in all, I think this is amazing collection for fall/winter.  Victorian Crush is a winner, as are Bittersweet and Scarlet.  Though, there isn't a single one that I don't like.  Jessica polishes are $7.50 available on their website.

These were sent to me for review

Previous NOTD: Lippmann Bitches Brew with ChG Golden Enchantment

Okay, you know how I think Deborah Lippmann was a total jerk off for the "Funky Chunky Tyrade of 2009"?  And you know how I said I wasn't going to buy any more of her polishes?  Well, I still think she's a giant d-bag, but as soon as I saw Bitches Brew, I knew I was going to have to bend my resolve.  Swoon.  Isn't it pretty?

It's a deep burgundy shimmer.  To me, it borders on vampy without looking black.  Deborah Lippmann describes this a "mulberry fantasy" whatever the hell that means.  I have nothing close to this in my collection.  I suppose OPI Bogota Blackberry would be the closest, but it's cooler than Bitches Brew.  Bogota Blackberry is also a few shades lighter. 

Application on this was very nice.  I have 2 other Lippmann polishes, Purple Rain (grr) and Shut Up and Drive.  Neither of which applied like this one.  It was opaque in one coat.  I hadn't liked Lippmann's handles before, but I guess that could be attributed to the fact that the polish on my 2 other Lippmanns was harder to control.  Because this one was so easy, the handle didn't bother me at all.

It was a beautiful color on it's own, but I was feeling festive so I decided to apply some Cina decals and one coat of ChG Golden Enchantment.  I just loved the holo, golden sparkle of Golden Enchantment against the deep tone of Bitches Brew. I loved the color beforehand, but afterwards, it was amazing.  I loved it.  Didn't stop me from taking it off tonight (I blame the NP ADD)  :P, but I think it was one of my favorites of 2009.  I loved it that much. 

You can get Bitches Brew where ever you find Lippmann Collection polishes.  Just google it and many places will pop up.  I got mine at Beauty Bridge for one main reason... they offer free shipping on all purchases in the US.  The polish was $16, so it was nice to not have any additional fees.  Shipping was a little slow for me, but it was certainly in the reasonable range (arrived in a little over a week).  I got the Cina decals at Sally's and you can get Golden Enchantment at your favorite e-tailer, at Sally Beauty, or on eBay.

KOTD: Maybelline Majestic Mauve w/ ChG Passion

In my organizer, I keep my OPIs and Misas in the first drawer, my ChGs, Zoyas, and CCs in the second drawer, and everything else is on the bottom. As that drawer is on the floor, it's never properly organized, but more that that... I never use the polishes in that drawer, and that's where I keep my Essies, Maybellines, Orlys, Duris, Lippmanns, etc... . There's some good stuff in that drawer, but I always end up stopping at the OPI or ChG drawer in my search for a polish.

So, last night, I made a concerted effort to use a polish from my forgotten drawer. I decided to use Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds in Majestic Mauve. I topped it w/ a konad in ChG Passion. Plate is m64 (again... yes, I know I use the heck out of that plate, but this is my first time using the abstract lines design). Here's a pic:



First of all, it needs to be mentioned that Majestic Mauve is definitely NOT mauve. The majestic part, I get, but someone at Maybelline was smoking crack to call this mauve. It's more in the wine/burgundy/merlot family. It's loaded with tons of gold and burgundy shimmer. I know it's been compared to the much-sought-after OPI La Boheme. Though, I'm pretty sure La Boheme is a duochrome and there's no duochromeyness at all in MM. But, the color itself is very similar. If you are interested, here's a post on the NB by ohgracie comparing La Boheme to MM.

I think this is a gorgeous fall color. However, it was a bit of a problem child. I had more dings with this polish than I have with almost any other polish, Zoyas excluded. This was 2 coats, though some nails needed another thin coat to be opaque, so more like 2-ish coats. I finally got an even finish with the help of Orly Smudge Fixer, but it was a battle all evening.

This color is kind of rare if you are interested. There is one on eBay right now for around $9 shipped, which I think is a little overpriced for this color. I got mine at the Dollar Tree earlier this year. If you are trying to find this in an effort to squash a La Boheme lemming, my advice is to just go ahead and pick up La Boheme. It looks far more interesting, and it's going for about $15-20 on eBay. Personally, I don't own La Boheme, and it's not a huge lemming of mine, so I'll stick with MM, as it was dirt cheap. Though, now that I've looked at pics of La Boheme on NailGal, maybe I do want it. LOL. :P

As for the konad, you all know how I feel about the Romantiques collection in general, and Passion is no exception. I rarely have mishaps with these polishes. They are just great for the konad. They are like peanut butter and chocolate. Perfect together. I did have some issues with the polish leaving "shadows" on the stamper (and you can see them on my nails), but that was user error, rather than a problem with the polish.

And as I was sitting here typing this, I decided to slap on a coat of Orly Matte Top.

In general, I love Matte Top. I know Essie MAY and ChG's matte TC (can't remember the name right now), get tons of press/reviews, but I love Matte Top. It's great for the money and it's a ginormous bottle. It was $4.50 for .60 oz on VNS. However, I'm not sure if I love it over this color. I had the same issues with it being soft and dentable after I put on the matte top coat, as I did when I initially applied it. And it's still dentable a few hours later. Boo. I prefer it shiny. LOL.

Lookie what I just got!

Pretty cool, huh?

Vampire State Building is from the 2000 NYC Fall/Winter collection. It's a really dark, vampy red, and it's extremely HTF. I wasn't a np fanatic back then, so the only colors from the NYC collection I was familiar with were Soho Nice to Meet You and Grand Central Carnation. The first time I'd heard about VSB was in the OPI Colorcopia Game from a few months back. I loved the name and thought the color was beautiful, so for curiosity's sake, I'd looked for it once or twice on eBay, only to find out it was going for $30+ for this one bottle. Nutso. I hadn't really given it a second thought until the other day when I was checking out one of my new favorite sellers and she happened to list VSB for... get this... $8.99. She has other HTF polishes, but this was the first one like this I'd seen. So, I snatched it up thinking either I got a really good deal or I got taken. Either way $11 shipped was worth the risk. It looks 100% genuine to me, and I've compared bottle and swatch pics with others online and it looks identical. It's a beautiful color, one I have nothing similar to in my collection. The closest I have is St. Petersburgundy and it's too light to be a dupe.

I've kind of OD'd on OPI and I don't plan on buying any colors from the Espana Collection, but I do like to find HTFs. It's like a game. A game that drains all my money. :)