Dusty Duds

I've been meaning to do this post for awhile but I got sidetracked. I'm a big fan of dustying (or dusty hunting) for old polishes. I've scored some great ones (OPI Black Tie Optional, China Glaze Grape Crush, etc.), and some duds, which I'll show you today.

When I go dustying, I generally have an idea of what I'm looking for, but I always keep my eye out for other shades. For me, it's not about getting a discontinued polish just to have it; I only buy what I like and would actually wear. I've come across countless old shades but I'm very picky so most of them get left on the shelf. If I do like the shade and I know it's discontinued, I will buy it right then because I know I may never see it again.

The last time I went dustying, I found two old China Glaze polishes...That Look and Crocodile Lounge. That Look is a purple shimmer with what looked to me to be scattered holo. Crocodile Lounge looked to be dupe-y to OPI Creme De Menthe, which is on my wishlist. Unfortunately, both ended up being duds.

First up is That Look...this is two coats, no topcoat:



As you can see, not only is it not holo, it's frosty and brushstroke-y. Gross.


Next up is Crocodile Lounge, which has a mint green base with yellow shimmer. Two coats, no topcoat:



Again, not what I expected. This one is also on the frosty and brushstroke-y side. Blech.

These were super thick when I got them home and opened them, so I added several drops of thinner. I can't speak to the quality of the original formulas, but even after thinning, the formulas were still very hard to work with. I'm willing to add more thinner and revisit these in the future, but the day I swatched them I was so disappointed that I threw them in a box and haven't looked at them since.

This is par for the course with dustying; you win some, you lose some. It's also possible that you may think you have a dud, then one day, you realize you have a treasure (i.e. my experience with ChG Nightfall). The bottom line is that the thrill is in the hunt, and you can't let one or two duds discourage you from finding great old shades.

Happy painting!