NYX Girls Chocolate Taupe

Last month I showed you a taupe polish called The Taupe from NYX. Today I have another taupe polish from NYX called Chocolate Taupe.

NYX Girls Chocolate Taupe (left), The Taupe (right)


NYX Girls Chocolate Taupe, "daylight" lamp


This swatch is with no base or top coat. I used two coats of polish. Polish consistency was great. Application was easy with the polish doing this funky self-leveling thing even though at first it looked like it was going to be streaky. And look how shiny it is without top coat!

NYX Girls Chocolate Taupe (index & middle), The Taupe (ring & pinky)


I've heard that Chocolate Taupe is very similar to OPI You Don't Know Jacques, but sadly I missed the boat on that one. I don't have any other taupes in my collection (or do I?...hmm) to compare to but these two were well worth the money.

NYX Girls Swatches II

First of all, I apologize that these are not the best pictures. It was late afternoon and clouds rolled in while I was swatching and the sun decided to start playing peek-a-boo. Anyhow, here's Part II of my pick-me-up grocery store haul. These swatches are without base/top coat. As always, click for bigger pics.

NYX Girls Deep Space


Three thin coats for full coverage. Sadly the glitter is not as visible on the nail as it is in the bottle, especially indoors. Otherwise, application was good.

NYX Girls Robotic


Again three thin coats for full coverage. The turquoise glitter in this one is more visible than Deep Space was. Smooth application.

NYX Girls Royal Purple


Three thin coats. The base polish is more purplish than the other two. Royal Purple dried rather flat (matte?) whereas Deep Space and Robotic were fairly glossy without top coat. I added top coat to my ring and pinky finger so you could see how a shiny top coat enhanced the glitter, but yeah, my pictures suck. *sigh* I added a second pic to try (and fail) to make up for it.



Overall, I'm still pleased even though my glitter expectations were higher. Subtle can be good too, right?

I haven't been without polish even though I haven't been able to post these last two weeks. There are several manicure pictures awaiting editing, so look forward to some Quirius and another Zoya coming soon! And there's still Part III of the NYX haul to be swatched!

NYX Girls Swatches I

I've been feeling a little down this month, but nothing a little retail therapy can't help. =D Over the weekend, I discovered one of the local grocery stores is stocking NYX Girls in the pharmacy section. At 1.59 each, I couldn't resist buying a few (or eight!). I thought I'd show you a few swatches today. Being swatches, these have no base or top coat.

NYX Girls Luscious Green, 2 coats, morning sun


NYX Girls The Taupe, 2 coats, morning sun


NYX Girls Chick Lit, 2 coats, morning sun


Anneliese, sneaking out the window!


I was surprised at how well these applied. Luscious Green seemed thin on the first coat, but the second coat was so smooth and easy. There is a bit of a bald patch on my pinky, but that's because I goofed getting my camera out. I thought I fixed it up alright, but cameras don't lie, lol.

The Taupe (haha, I love that name for some bizarre reason) had an unusual consistency. Not bad, just...different. I don't quite know how to explain it. At first I thought it was going to be horribly streaky, but I just let it be and each coat self-leveled. I think if I had tried to fix it I would have created problems. Left alone, it took care of itself. And so shiny!

Chick Lit was like Luscious Green. A nice smooth application, a bit thin on the first coat, but with a nice color payoff on the second. I'm in serious like with that one. Overall, I think these are great for the price. They certainly cheered up my day!

OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast

Yesterday at work we held interviews for a new student helper. I was a good girl and removed my darling teal creme for a more work appropriate color. I'm the temporary (2 months and counting *grr*) manager so I must set a good example for impressionable young minds...*sigh*

I have a surprising number of "work safe" colors and unsurprisingly, they're almost all untried, lol. Most of them are OPI's that I bought on clearance (usually 75% off) at Trade Secret. I really need to stop doing that. Especially with sheers! I don't usually wear them. I have Stained Nails. Defiantly so. Lol.

Anyway, I pulled out OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast from the Australia collection released in 2007. It was overcast and rainy on Friday (first picture) and beautifully sunny this morning (second picture).

OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast, overcast/shade


OPI Don't Melbourne the Toast, sun


I can't say this is one of my favorite colors because I really do prefer something bright and/or bold on my nails. But it does have a nice subtle pink and golden shimmer (you can click to enlarge the pictures). This was two thin coats. There is some visible nail line in the pictures that isn't as noticeable in real life. If you really wanted to be sure, a third coat would easily take care of that. I could see myself using this again if the need arose. I think right now I'm so worn out and anxious at my job that bright flashy colors are my quiet rebellion. I expect you'll be seeing more of them from me soon. =)

Rimmel Night Life

Another Rimmel for you today, this one from the Play Fast collection (series?). I have to admit, after I put this one on, I took it off and wore something else. Nothing wrong with it, I just wasn't feeling the color at the time. Endless cloudy days and cold weather leave me aching for bright colors.



Rimmel Night Life, "daylight" lamp


Night Life is one of those taupe mushroomy colors but this has a nice twist, a fine golden shimmer that in the bottle reminds me of the veins in marble. This is three coats that applied smoothly, although very thin, almost watery. You can see a bit of patchiness on my index finger that could have easily been corrected with more careful application. Somehow I always do worse with the daylight lamp than with natural sunlight. Anyhow, thanks for looking and next time I have something new to show you!

Color Club Haute Browns - Part II

First I apologize for the delay getting these posted. My weekend was taken over by an adorable ball of fuzz that my nephew found in my mother's backyard. Grandma said she would keep it but recruited me to de-flea and babysit the little monkey for the weekend. Luckily for you, I didn't have my camera ;)

So, Part Two of the Haute Browns by Color Club are the two "darker" colors of the collection and a gold. All of these swatches were done without base or top coat.

Color Club Golden Girl, shade


Color Club Golden Girl, sun


This was 2 coats, very easy application, I didn't have to do any cleanup. You can see some brushstrokes, however.

Color Club Black-ish, shade


Color Club Black-ish, sun


Black-ish is a nice reddish brown. This is two coats, again no trouble with application. There is some bubbling on my ring finger, but I believe that had more to do with the strong wind that was blowing through the house.

Color Club Haute Couture, shade


Color Club Haute Couture, sun


Last is Haute Couture. This is my favorite from the collection. A deep vampy brown, this is two coats. Smooth application, although the camera did pick up what might be a bald patch on my ring finger. It could just be a reflection. It wasn't visible to the naked eye. Haute Couture has a very glossy finish even without topcoat.

Color Club Haute Browns - Part I

A while ago I mentioned that I picked up a set of Color Club polish from Ross. I even drafted the beginning of a post about them, then somehow lost it, and now found it again so here it is!

Today I will show you the three light colors. Urban Edge is the lightest of the Haute Browns collection. Its a tannish brown with a pink tinge that really leans pink on me.

Application sucked. Almost enough to make me want to skip the other two light shades in this collection. At three coats this was still streaky. At four coats it finally evened out enough that I didn't want to take it off immediately. A good coat of topcoat helped.

Color Club Urban Edge, daylight lamp


Color Club Urban Edge, sun


(I think it was the difficult application of this that "encouraged" me to forget about finishing this post. That's why the rest of these swatches were done more recently, with a longer nail length.)

Next is Diva In Brown, which is a touch less pink. This is 3 necessary coats, although application was much better than Urban Edge.

Color Club Diva In Brown, shade


Color Club Diva In Brown, sun


Finally we have Out and About, again 3 coats. Out and About is slightly more brown than Diva In Brown.

Color Club Out and About, shade


Color Club Out and About, sun


Of the three, Out and About had the best application. It could have easily been done with only two coats. While I don't think these are colors I would wear often, they are nice "safe" colors that I would feel comfortable wearing in a more conservative setting. Check back soon for Part II of the Haute Browns!