Sunday, January 30, 2011

OPI Lucertainly Look Marvelous

Hey fellow polish fanatics, I discovered a really cool color the other day in my wife's polish collection. Now I realize that those are 'fightin' words' to many of you who cringe at the thought of your spouse rooting through your coveted collection of nail polishes! In my case, my wife and I have a mutual understanding that we can borrow each other's polishes, as long as we treat them as our own (don't spill them, leave the bottle top all gooey or let them dry out). As it turns out, I am not particularly interested in wearing many of the colors she has, and the same applies to she of mine, so it works pretty well for us.

This color caught my eye the day she bought it. It's from the OPI Swiss Collection released last fall. It is pretty glittery and full of really cool texture when closeup, but from a distance it looks a lot like a really intriguing 'black chrome'. That is why I really like it!

And, it changes it's look depending on the lighting you see it in (which is true of many polishes that have depth or shimmer to them), another reason why I like it so much.


Here is 'Lucerne' in overcast daylight. It looks kind of gray and grainy here - different than many others.



Under a flash (or sunlight, but we haven't seen any of that around here for a number of days) it looks more black and chromy. I think this is probably the way I like to see it the most!


This closeup shows the grainy texture to it. Those are actually silvery specs that really catch the light.


















And here is a good picture of it with some indirect daylight.

















Let me know what you think, especially if you have already tried it!
Jake

Monday, January 10, 2011

Hey fellow polish fanatics - I'm back! Yeah, it's been a while since I posted anything new - it's winter here and I haven't been polishing up a storm like usual.
But, the good news is that I have some awesome new colors for you to drool over (and buy)! These are the latest from BB Couture and the theme this time is 'the old west'. Six for guys and six for gals, though I found I especially liked a few from the gal collection too!
My favorites are listed first (since I swatched those as soon as I opened the box). I will post these in sets because I am doing them when there is good daylight (not every day around here lately...) so you can really see the truer colors.

We'll start off this roundup with "Posse", a very pleasant deeper olive with just a hint of gold in it. I used the word 'pleasant' because this is a very comfortable color for anyone - not too bright or 'loud' and a really earthy and natural-looking shade. You could wear this one any time of year and the more I wore it, the more I liked it.
Indoors, under artificial light, the olive hue is quite evident.
Outside, in overcast light, the color is a bit more subdued, and very 'pleasant'.
Here is a closeup so you can see the incredible micro-shimmer and texture.


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My next choice is "Wrangler", a slightly washed-out blue that looks pretty close to the color of denim or blue jeans. Notice how much the color of this one changes from outside vs inside. The color appears a bit bolder in my indoor picture than it actually is. I tried to mess with the light settings in my camera in an attempt to get it closer, but this is about the best I could manage. One coat coverage and with a very smooth subtle shimmery look.

Outside, in overcast light.
But very different indoors under artifical light (it's actually lighter than this looks).
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"Outlaw" is an intriguing shade of, well, I guess you could call it purple, but it has so many other colors in it that it entirly depends on the light you are viewing it in. This one is packed with lots of micro-shimmer in a rainbow of colors; reds, greens, golds and blues. Depending on the angle and light, it changes to various hues of all of these. My pics just don't do it justice. Very cool color!!
Outlaw - Indoors

Outdoors (overcast)

Outdoors (sun)

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Okay, if you are getting tired of seeing basic black on nails everywhere (like I am), here's a great alternative: "Pistol Packing Mama" is really a very dark warm brown with brown micro-shimmer hidden in it. The finish is super glassy and smooth and it covers in one coat. I didn't even use a topcoat for these pictures. I really like this one because it's not so stark as true black would be, it is a richer color that looks better than black IMHO.

Indoors, you can just see a little of the micro shimmer - and compare the color to my black sandal.

Outdoors in the sun it really 'shines'.

This closeup shows you how incredible the brown shimmer comes out. Subtle, but it sure adds depth to the polish!

Wow - BBC has proven once again that even though there are probably a zillion colors of nail polish available, there is still room for more variety and unique shades.
And kudos to BB Couture for keeping us guys in mind too. Yeah, maybe men don't need special nail polish, but just the fact that BBC acknowledges that men can wear it too is pretty cool in my opinion. And some of these so-called 'guy' colors look pretty sweet on you gals too!!!
Okay now, back to my 'polish lab' to swatch the next exciting batch for you all to enjoy!
Jake