NYX Girls Deep Space

This polish is crazy. I picked this up the other day at a beauty supply. This brand sells for $.99. Deep Space is a dark brown jelly packed with brown, blue, and gold flaky glitter. It doesn't look like much indoors, but in direct light, it's amazing. This is three coats, no topcoat.









The formula was ok to work with; it's pretty sheer and the three coats were definitely necessary. Overall, I'm impressed, especially for a buck. This is my first time using this brand and I like.

Happy painting!

ETA: Someone tried to comment on this post when I was uploading a comment widget. Sorry about that! I didn't get to read what you wrote. :-(

Everything should be straightened out now!

Comparison: Black Tie Optional vs. Hard Edged

In my post about Rimmel Hard Edged, I wondered how close it was to OPI Black Tie Optional. I did some comparison swatches and now I see that they are fairly close. Check out these photos and see if you can tell which is which. Ring and index finger have one shade and middle and pinky have another.

Shade:


Indoors:







Sunlight:





Can you tell? I'll tell you; BTO is on the index and ring fingers, and Hard Edged is on the middle and pinky fingers. In the shade, BTO is darker and more purple. Hard Edged looks to be lighter and more red.

Indoors, I can barely tell them apart. Both flash green, purple, and brown. The only difference I can see is that the demarcation between the colors is clearer with BTO. With Hard Edged, the colors seem to blend more.

In the sunlight, they look completely different to me. BTO looks like a blackened purple, while Hard Edged looks like a blackened reddish-brown.

Formula wise, BTO is the clear winner. I only needed two coats for opacity, while Hard Edged needed three coats.

Final verdict: Both polishes are beautiful, but they aren't dupes. That said, Hard Edged is a pretty good substitute for BTO.

Happy painting!

Rimmel Hard Edged

Rimmel Hard Edged is a deep purple that flashes brown and amber in the light. I wouldn't call it a duochrome though. It's very similar to OPI Black Tie Optional, but it's definitely not a dupe. I'll probably do a comparison soon. Hard Edged is beautiful on its own merits. This is two coats, no topcoat.

Shade:



Sunlight:







The formula was fine. I actually prefer the old Rimmel bottles; they looked a lot more chic. The new bottles are so plain and boring. I can't complain though, because awesomeness of the polishes hasn't changed.

Happy painting!

Brown-y Sunday

I just felt like some brown picspam today!

Essie Decadent Diva

This one was from the 2007 Glamour Girl Collection. It's a deep brown with bronze shimmer. It's pretty straightforward and not terribly unique. Three coats, no topcoat.








Color Club Black-ish

Blacki-ish is from the Haute Browns Collection. I'm not sure why this is called Black-ish, since it's reddish-brown with gold shimmer. It's very pretty in the bottle, but less so on the nail. Two coats, no topcoat.



Now, we get to my favorites.

China Glaze Side Saddle.

This one was part of the excellent Rodeo Diva Collection. It's coffee brown with very pronounced gold shimmer. It's so gorgeous. Two coats, no topcoat (I probably should have done three coats...please excuse the sparse area on my pinky).




The last one is my all-time favorite from the brown family.

China Glaze Ingrid

This one is what You Don't Know Jacques would be if it were a tad lighter and had gorgeous gold microglitter. It was released as part of the 2010 Vintage Vixen Collection. It's stunning. Three coats, no topcoat.






Formula-wise, the Essie was the easiest to work with and the three coats dried within a few minutes. The China Glazes were next, with Color Club bringing up the rear.

Happy Painting!

OPI You Don't Know Jacques

This shade was released as part of the 2008 OPI France Collection. All I can say is that it's amazing. Then again, I haven't met an OPI creme that wasn't amazing.

YDKJ is the color of a mushroom. That's it. No shimmer, no glitter, no duochrome. Just a mushroom creme. It doesn't sound all that great, but on the nail, it's chic and sexy. Several taupes and greyed out purples were released in that time period, but this one was a standout.

Three coats, no topcoat.







It's so glossy and smooth. The formula was a tad on the watery side, which is why I needed three coats, but I have no other complaints.

Happy painting!