NOTD: Orly Enchanted Forest

Enchanted Polish is part of Orly's new fall collection "Once Upon a Time". It's a very deep forest green creme. It does look almost black in dark lighting, but in all other lights, it's definitely green. It has a dustyness to it that keeps it from looking like other green cremes out there, at least from what I've seen in swatches. It's one of the few dark greens I own, and the only creme. There are several companies that have introduced or are introducing green cremes lately, but due to cost, this is the one I chose. It was $3 and change from Victoria Nail Supply.

As an aside, if you haven't checked out VNS... do! It's a good e-tailer and one that doesn't get a lot of press. If you are a non-pro, you can only order Sation, Orly, Color Club, and China Glaze. Someone did mention that she was able to call and order d/c'd OPIs w/o being a pro, but you definitely can't order them online. Plus, I don't know if that was a one-time exception to their rule or if they let that slide if you call. I haven't checked. I think she said OPIs for non-pros were almost $7. So it wasn't like you were getting a bargain. However, their shipping was fast. I ordered a crap ton of ChGs, 3 CCs, and this lone Orly. I think I'm biased against Orly. For one, I hate their bottle cap. It's so stupid to me, and 2, I remember when Orlys were gallon sized (I think they were like 0.75 oz or something ridiculous like that). Now, they are 0.6 oz, which is still larger than the standard 0.5 oz. Also, they d/c'd Red Sea Pearl and I can't find it anywhere, and to rub salt in that wound... I had about 3-4 bottles of the color at various points in my 20's and I threw them away because they got goopy. :( Megan=Dumbass. I would kill for my old Orly bottles that I tossed.

But anyway, there was a point to my tyrade, I promise. As a result of the above, I don't own many Orlys. I have this new EF, Sol Cabana, and the one that supposed to be a dupe of OPI PPP and I'm too lazy to look up the name. At one point, I also had a light pink, but it sucked and I gave it away. Enchanted Forest's application reaffirmed my dislike for Orly. I swear, I'm getting pretty good at applying polish. With OPI's ProWide brush, I'm a ninja. I'm not quite as proficient with other brands, but man... this Orly kicked my butt. My fingers kinda looked like a drunk lady applied the polish. I was able to clean them up a bit, but it's not perfect. Grrr. I blame it on the stupid handle, but in actuality, I think it was the formula. It's kind of runny and not the easiest to control.

Additionally, I had some bubbling. I never get bubbling, so I have no idea what was up with that. I think I read that someone else on the NB had the same issues, so maybe it's just a couple bum bottles floating around. It didn't affect the color, but my nail surface looked awful. Because of this bubbling, I had to do something other than the konad I'd had planned. I looked in my stash and found Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor glitter. It looks fab over EF. Amazing, even. If you have EF and you have PH, give it a go and put the 2 together. You won't be sorry, I promise.

In short, ha... yeah right, after I wrote a novel... EF is a pretty color. It's good if you want to jump into the dark green creme pool, but don't want to fork over $18 for RBL Recycle, or some of the other, higher-priced options. I'm definitely going to try again soon to see if I can't combat those bubbling issues and pair it with ChG Cherish for a konad.

NOTD: OPI Lourve Me, Lourve Me Not with Love My Nails Diva

Lourve Me, Lourve Me Not is from OPI's fall 2008 France collection. I think it's one of 5 or so that I have from this collection. I thought I had tried it before, but then I realized I was confusing the name with Yes, I Can-Can, though the colors aren't all that similar. It's a medium grape purple shimmer. In the bottle, it's a beautiful color, but, IMO, it didn't translate well to the nail. I used 2 coats, and there were still a couple bald spots. It could have used a third coat, but I didn't realize the spots were there until I'd already applied my TC. On the nail, it was more like an eggplant tone, except for in bright light. Only then could you see the grapey-ness. The shimmer was not noticeable, either. It was a pretty color, but because bottle color didn't translate directly to nail color, I was a bit disappointed. I didn't take a picture of this color by itself, because my battery was dead. I did swatch it on a tip, though.



So, I had plans of doing another konad, but then I decided I didn't want to deal with the hassle, so I saw Love My Nails Diva glitter, that I'd picked up at Walmart a week or so ago. The glitter itself is similar to the color of the glitter in Zoya Roxy, though perhaps a bit more magenta. There is also short blue bar glitter. It looks perfect over LMLMN. I really love this. I took pics the best I could, but glitters are impossible to get true-to-life, for me. BTW, this was 3 coats of TC.







If you are interested, LMLMN is still available at e-tailers and probably in stores, I don't think it's been d/c'd. Diva is available where they sell Love My Nails, but I've only seen them at Walmart. The best part? It's 99 cents! You can view the colors at http://www.baricosmetics.com/. You can actually order from Bari, but you have to call them as they do not have online ordering capabilities.

EDITED to reflect the fact that I'm an idiot and thought the brand name was "Luv..." rather than "Love...", no matter that the bottle was right under my title.

Weekend mini haul and other ramblings...

So I think I have a compulsion to buy nail polish where ever I see it. We were in Big Lots on Friday evening and I happened to check the makeup section looking for some Revlons that were posted on the NB. Sweet Nothings, maybe? I can't remember the exact name. Anyway, so I found them... didn't like them, and saw these SHs instead. From L-R, Cardinal, Poppy, and Pink Sapphire. Unfortunately, I think Cardinal is going to the be only one I actually like. Poppy looks nowhere near as orangey-red as it did in the store and I think I have a dupe of Pink Sapphire, Maybelline Pink Carats, though PS looks darker. Cardinal, however, looks like a perfect true red, perhaps a cherry red. And I think it may be a jelly, but I can't really tell. They were only a buck, too, so not so bad. :)

Also, I received OPI Music Hall Curtain Call in the mail today. In the pic, it looks like a gold-tinged copper, but there's a little more pink in it, IRL. It's another one from the OPI Rockettes Holiday collection from 2006. I think the official name of the Rockettes collection is Kick Up Your Heels. This makes #4 in my collection from KUYH, with the others being Rose to the Ovation, Berry Good Dancers, and Star-ring the Rockettes. I'm also lemming Merry Crimson, Red Dazzle, Opening Night Champagne or I Get a Kick out of Gold, and Espresso Your Style. Though, since it's d/c'd and I'm having to buy off eBay, who knows if I'll get any more of these. It was an awesome collection, though.

I really think, however, that I need to slow down the buying. Not too long ago, I was freaking out about my car payment and my forgetfulness, and now, though things are okay, I'm buying polishes left and right. There is truly nothing that I need and buying for buying's sake is just a waste of money right now.

Lastly, I'm so over this mani I'm wearing. It's the same one that I posted about over the weekend, and it's just not working. I even applied a coat of Maybelline Golden Cloud over it and while it's helped, it still doesn't work with my skintone. I usually try to let my manis go 3 nights but I think I may soak this one off tonight and start over.