Rolling in Gold with Ooly the Ranger – Three Magical Nail Potions from the Dior Golden Shock Collection!

Greetings from a long time no see, fellow rogues!

Today I have an extra special treat for you – Ooly’s back! 😀 For those of you not yet familar with the fast talking, faster (crossbow) shooting ranger, do go and check out her previous gems: a toxically adorable toadstool mani, a review of Dior’s much-lauded lip glow, and tales from the Dior Vernis frontier! You won’t be disappointed.

Today, however, Ooly is a ranger after our roguish hearts with tales of GOLD! Shocking gold, in fact, with three gorgeous polishes from the recent Dior Golden Shock (Holiday 2014) collection!

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What ho, fellow adventurers! Ooly brings you greetings from the middle of a tropical storm. Water is pouring from the treetops, steam is rising from the ground, and great black clouds are rolling their menacing way across the sky.

Everything that even remotely resembles lunch has wisely taken refuge, but sadly not in my traps, so what’s a ranger to do but retreat to her cool mountain cave and dream up a new manicure?

I’ve been quiet for a while – I’m afraid that despite heeding Syl’s constant warnings about checking for traps, while out questing one day without my trusty rogue, (ed’s note: NEVER leave the rogue at home, people!) I got double-teamed by a nasty pair of perils and ended up mangling my hand. It spent two months bionic, but is now back to normal, which means… well, more manicures, of course. 🙂

After getting my hand back, I went a little nuts, and this post brings a display and review of three (yes, three!) polishes I got my hands on this Yule, from Dior’s (LE) seasonal offering. There were five polishes in this collection; I never even saw the red, decided the shiny caramel made my skin look yellow (ew), and bought the other three…

Shiny, golden Vernishenge of LE polish boxes.

Right, so before we even start, OMFGS will you look at these gorgeous little potion bottles. The outer design wins all, and I swear I could look at them all day. On a more realistic note, the brush is not as good (=wide) as the recent Dior polishes, and the bottle shape is actually a bitch to photograph, but let’s face it: it’s made for holding polish, not posing for a camera.

*stares* *stares more* (L – R): 990 Smoky; 001 Golden Shock; 022 Mirror.

On to the nitty gritty, then. Photograph at the end shows a mani I did using all three polishes. (What? I couldn’t decide which to use first.)

First up was 990 Smoky, a very deep plum with a lovely shine. I’m a sucker for dark purple polishes, so this one was practically a given. The fomula’s fine – I maintain that the Effet Gel polishes that Dior’s been releasing still have the best finish and distribution, but this one’s acceptable. It needs two coats to look solid. Dry time is average only – again, I’ve been spoiled by the Effet Gel. I’m just not sure about the name: if the fire in my hearth were giving off smoke that colour, I’d be wondering if Baz had been burning the special grass again. Also, I wouldn’t be able to see.

Next, we have something completely different: 022 Mirror, which is a beautiful, shiny, pale gold that looks almost white in the bottle. If Dior’s Perlé was cream of fairy, this might be cream of starlight. Tasty all the same… Again, the formula’s just fine, and you could get away with one coat if you wanted. I wouldn’t call this sheer – not really. It has substance of its own, but it’s not opaque. Dry time is the same as for Smoky: not fast, but not exasperating, either. And before you ask – no, you can’t see yourself in it. It’s not that kind of shiny.

Finally, the special one: 001 Golden Shock, a clear base with irregular shards of gold in it. Like most polishes of its type (containing relatively large “glitter”), it requires some manipulation when placing the pieces, but it’s quite cooperative. I usually have, I should say, zero patience with big glitter, but this one was too pretty to ignore. Just as well it turned out not to annoy me, or I’d have been forced to toss it off a cliff. Or into a gelatinous cube. It would have looked quite good in there. ANYWAY. This is quite the showstopper, and best left to a feature nail (or two), in my opinion. Only to be used on all of your nails at once if you are (a) a showgirl, (b) Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, or (c) Kim Kardashian.

So now we come to what I did with them, which was very simple: mostly Smoky (2 coats); feature nails on the ring fingers with Mirror (2 coats) and Golden Shock. I’ve included a picture of what Mirror looks like without all the bling on top for those who are as nerdy as I am interested. (Please ignore the little dent – that’s Baz’s fault, not the lacquer’s: he snuck up on me while it was drying. Git.)

Bid to use all of the polishes at once and still look tasteful: (L) without Golden Shock; (R) the full monty, incl. index finger of dooooooooom. O.o

This will probably last all of a few days before I get bored and impatient to do something else. I had two whole months of no polish. I have time to make up. And I have another new polish I want to show you that’s fifty shades of purty, but all in good time, what what?

Until then, my fellow adventurers, good hunting. And always look up.

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Thanks Ooly for the fabulous swatches and review! 🙂 It’s always lovely to have a ranger’s perspective here on the blog. I think I speak for everyone when I say MOAR OOLY PLZ.! 😀

Well, you won’t get any argument from me on the topics of either gold or purple, and I think we can all agree that the picture of those bottles is just ridiculously gorgeous. THEY ARE TOTALLY POTION BOTTLES. I remember thinking when the promo for that stuff came out that the bottles had managed to somehow be simultaneously adorable and loot-worthy.

Anyway… 😉

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to polish your daggers (and nails!)…and also check for traps…

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com, or use the contact form provided! All text and images on this blog are the property of Sylirael the (Painted) Rogue (unless otherwise stated – in this post they’re Ooly’s, for example!) and may not be reproduced without permission. If you do, I’ll send toxic beetle swarms after you. They’ll be in your sock drawer, in your shoes and under your pillow…and there’ll even be some hiding under the toilet seat. You know, the ones with big, sharp mandibles…

It’s a Trap! The Perils of Precipitous Polish Purchases! (And Remedies for Same)

Greetings from a position doing the splits over a spike pit, fellow rogues!

Since I’m in a rather delicate position at the moment (re: spike pit), I’m actually going to try and keep this post rather short. There’s also the fact that I don’t really like negatives, but I thought this was an important and useful conversation to have! After all, as rogues we’re supposed to see the traps before they happen, so on the off-chance you  do fall into a trap, what can you do about it?

As I mentioned in a recent polishy post, I’m not generally an impulse purchaser – especially when it comes to makeup! With the prices the way they are here in Middle Earth, added to the fact that you can’t return things once opened, unplanned expenses aren’t really an easy option. However, we all have our moments, even rogue (who are generally more preoccupied with suddenly finding gold than suddenly losing it). Mine came in Dubai, where I spied a rack of bright and gorgeous Nailstation Paris polishes on sale, and scooped up three. Two have been pretty successful (I didn’t just grab them totally at random, after all), but this last one, sadly, didn’t quite hit the mark (unlike that spike in the pit down there that’s threatening to, well, you know…). 

I present: Nailstation Paris Cocorico, a bright sky blue with hidden white pearl…

 

Sky blue goodness, with a pale whitish (superfine) pearl, if you can spot it!

 

Looks good, right? Well, it is, in the colour sense – I actually really like it. The pearl isn’t overt, so it doesn’t get to ’80’s frostpearl’ on you (frost mages from the ’80s had an interesting style, to say the least), and the colour is neither too cobalt nor too baby/pastel. It’s like that door that looks totally innocuous, and has some nice, nonthreatening carvings on it. Can’t be a trap, right? We’re in a hurry after all, and the treasure must be much further in….

Anyway, it’s when you put the polish on me that the problems begin to crop up…

Lobster claws! 😀 Also, Nailstation Paris Cocorico (blue) and OPI Rose of Light (glitter). Pardon the particularly mangy looking cuticle area on my little finger – eczema waits for no swatch picture…

 

As you can see, this polish gives me the dreaded ‘lobster claw’ effect – when you wear a (usually mint green I think) polish on your pale/cool toned hands, and they magically look INCREDIBLY PINK. This blue also brings out some yellow splotches as well, which is interesting, but not particularly attractive. Now, as much as I like this blue as a colour, it made my hands scream at me in all the wrong ways. My nails stabbed me in the eye from arm’s length every time they passed into my vision. It was like that time I picked up that gorgeous sparkly ring in that dungeon…some weird sh*t went down that day…

Cuddly sweater shot, because every polish deserves at least one turn with a cuddly sweater.

 

Next to my flamboyantly fluffy cuddly sweater, the colour is still incredibly hard. Now, although I’m bitching and moaning about it, your mileage may vary – if you have a skintone that suits these colours better, or if you’re just really a fan of bold sky blues, then this colour may be a winner for you. Before you go, however I’m afraid I have to warn you that there are a couple of other issues here as well – for a start, the polish is…chewy. You know, the kind that manage to be thick *and* streaky, and seem to dry partly as soon as you get the brush past the opening of the bottle. Secondly, the *actual* dry time is really long. I think I waited for about half an hour for this to stop being tacky (let alone dent-proof). Even the next day I could still gouge it without much effort. Part of the reason I’m harping on this is that the other two polishes I tried from this brand didn’t have any of these problems, so this one was kind of a letdown.

However! I promised solutions in the post title, and you’ve already pretty much seen it – my ultimate solution, if you’ve gotten a polish you don’t really like, is to whack a favourite glitter topcoat over it. Yes, I know what you’re thinking: ‘Syl, you complained about this colour smacking you in the face, and now you want to make it sparkle as well?’. But since I like glitter so much *especially Rose of Light OMGBUYITDOITFLAIL* I find that it actually softens the effect for me. The reflection from the glitter takes the hard edge off the colour, and, well, sparkles are always OK in my book. An alternative solution would be to reserve the colour for nail art purposes (where it will make an excellent sky blue if you need one) or paint a design with it/over the top of it (it might actually make quite a funky ‘modern french tip’ over navy blue or orange). I know you could also just sell it/give it away or throw it away, but I feel bad about selling/giving a polish to someone where the formula itself is iffy, and I CANNOT just throw things away (comes from living in a world where an OPI polish used to be close on $30 a pop).

What’s your favourite method for dealing with a polish you regret buying (depending on why you regret it, probably)?

Of course, one solution, to make yourself feel better, is just to remove the offending polish and put another favourite combination on instead. To that end, I give you Chanel Rose Insolent (which I have waxed lyrical about, in actual iambic pentameter here), and OPI Blush Hour (of which I took my first ever successful super macro shot here) with two coats of thick lacquer topcoat to make it SUPER SHINEH. In a word: ahhhhhh 🙂 Now if you’ll excuse me, I just need to get this spike out of my…

 

The other hand! 😀 Same light. I changed the sweater so the fluff wouldn’t get too busy with the sequin explosion… my thumb is still pink, but that has more to do with the fact that the thumb-hole in the sweater is kind of tight 😛

 

One of the benefits (?) of natural light photography is that occasionally you don’t even need a computer to achieve arty, semi-overexposed shots…

 

What do you think, fellow adventurers? Have you had any impulse purchase disasters? How do you deal with them? Does it ever involve ‘add glitter’?

The practicalities: Nailstation Paris polishes cost EUR 15 /AED 50 (I think) each for 15 mL and may be acquired from assorted stockists listed on the Nailstation website. You can check out the details for Rose of Light here, Rose Insolent here and Blush Hour here!

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find that your morning hot beverage tastes a little…different than usual. Didn’t the rogue say something the other day about that new poison that makes your inner ear itch maddeningly for the rest of your life? I think she did…

Ooly’s Back From the Dior Vernis Frontier with Shiny Collection Swatches and A Review of #853 Massai!

Greetings from a long time no see, fellow rogues!

Today I have an extra special treat for you – Ooly’s back! 😀 For those of you not yet familar with the fast talking, faster (crossbow) shooting ranger, do go and check out her previous gems: a toxically adorable toadstool mani, and a review of Dior’s much-lauded lip glow! You won’t be disappointed.

Today, however, Ooly is keeping us both stylishly lacquered and in the loop with swatches of the Dior Fall 2014 and Rouge Baume polishes, and a review of the delightfully bloody  853 Massaï !

 

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What ho, fellow adventurers! Ooly returns from a long, long walk in the woods, lured back by the need to get out of the inclement weather and the enticing smell of fresh Dior Vernis.

 

Not one, but two sets of gleaming bottles awaited me: The Fall 2014 set (to accompany new 5 Couleurs eyeshadow palettes and some lip shades) and four polishes to go with the Rouge Baume release (lippy & blushes).

 

Now, this other stuff is all very well, and some of the 5 Couleurs palettes were highly tempting, but this ranger is all about the polish. Like a moth to a flame (or tasty game to one of my snares), I headed straight for the display and began swatching with abandon.

 

First up, the whole lot (because don’t we all like to be overwhelmed by The Pretty?). And opinions, because those are the fun part! I can’t comment specifically on wear-time, but these are all (by the look of it) in the “Effet Gel” formula, and from experience with another shade, they generally are as shiny and long-wearing as it says on the box. They go on very smoothly and stay put unless, you know, you go mountaineering in them. For most, you can get away with one coat only.

 

Sunlight swatches, complete with handy labels. Fall 2014 on the right of the line; Rouge Baume on the left.

 

Ninja mini-reviews (from left in the pic):

 

254 Rose tutu: Super pretty coral pink shade that has sunshine written all over it. On my to-buy list for summer.

 

206 Pied-de-poule: is French for “houndstooth”, and this muddy (beige? dark beige? dishwater?) colour definitely has that country, horsey, jodhpurs-and-driving-gloves feel about it. Personally not a fan of the corpse-nails greige trend, so this one was never going to be my favourite, but points to Dior for being right on the money with the name.

 

853 Massaï: Gorgeous, deep, bloody red that I could not resist (and, accordingly, bought –see more below). Looks fantastic on pasty skin tones (like mine); incredibly classy shade that’s just a weeee bit dangerous. Somewhere between feeling that badass that you could face down a whole battalion of Mindflayers with one perfectly arched eyebrow, and effortless ’40s style.

 

902 Bar: is a smoky black, like the bitten-off end of a piece of licorice. There’s a barely noticeable shine in there, but I found this one a little dull. I’m picky with my black polishes – they’d better be darker than the inside of a piece of charcoal at midnight, or I ain’t interested.

 

796 Carré bleu: A very interesting dark denim blue. Looks terrible on me (most blues that aren’t dark navy do) but for those who can carry it off, it has a nice depth.

 

121 Lili: This one was a surprise. I don’t generally bother with “nude” nails (if I’m going to paint ’em, I’d better be able to see it). However, I was amazed at how close this one was to my actual skin! Not to mention being warm in tone, where so many nude polishes are very cold and death-y. If I wanted the nude look, I’d totally buy one. But I don’t. LOL

 

775 Star: Oh, mon Dieu, this pink!!!! I really would have run off with this one, too, but I mostly buy polishes according to what I don’t have, and as gorgeous as it is, it’s similar to Chanel’s Tentation. For those who can never buy enough pinks, however…

 

798 Spring: Another greyish-brown, darker this time. Again, not a massive fan. Not necessarily what jumps to mind when I think of spring, and I definitely couldn’t wear it, but for those who like browns, it has a certain warmth and depth.

 

988 Diorette: Very pretty red wine colour; more mature than Massaï but with the same class and impact. Where Rose tutu (above) was perfect for summer, this would be perfect for winter.

 

For comparison, the same swatches in shade:

 

 

Indoor/shade swatches: the colours definitely change!

 

 

Back to Massaï for a minute: just have to show this one off with some gratuitous pics.

 

 

Delightfully bloody, isn’t it?

 

 

Well, fellow adventurers, I hope you enjoyed that whirlwind tour and are now trying to rationalize the use of gold on at least one of these. ^_^

 

I’ll be off back to the cave, now, where Baz has promised me something tasty for dinner. As I always say, until I learn to spit gold, no one’s gonna pay me for my opinions! Sad but true. And so, until next time… good hunting. And always look up.

 

…

Thanks Ooly for the fabulous swatches and review! 🙂 It’s always lovely to have a ranger’s perspective here on the blog. I think I speak for everyone when I say MOAR OOLY PLZ.! 😀

I rather like the look of Rose Tutu, because, well. Tutu, people. Obviously, after my little flail over the Sweetheart Rouge Baume, Star is right up there too. I also feel like there’s potential for an interesting mani with Carre Bleu and Lili, although Lili isn’t a shade I’d pick usually…

Anyway… 😉

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to polish your daggers (and nails!)…and also check for traps…

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com, or use the contact form provided! All text and images on this blog are the property of Sylirael the (Painted) Rogue (unless otherwise stated – in this post they’re Ooly’s, for example!) and may not be reproduced without permission. If you do, I’ll send toxic beetle swarms after you. They’ll be in your sock drawer, in your shoes and under your pillow…and there’ll even be some hiding under the toilet seat. You know, the ones with big, sharp mandibles…

A Quest in Fluoro Pink Armour Through the Heart of a Volcano! Polishes by Formula X and Nailstation

Greetings from the bowels of the demon king’s volcano death fortress, fellow rogues!

It’s not often that a rogue gets to adventure into a volcano, actually. Usually the quests take you (at best) to an island fortress shaped like a skull, *maybe* with lava coming out of the eye sockets (usually it’s just bats). Recently, however, I had the opportunity to seek treasure and glory in a genuine Mount Doom type situation, with a couple of rather spiffy nail polishes I picked up on my recent trip to Dubai! One is a warm, neon hot pink from Nailstation Paris, and one is a glittering, shimmering, burning orange gold from Formula X by Sephora!

Nailstation Paris polish in Coeur de Paris, a warm neon pink crelly. Hehe. ‘Crelly’. *snicker*

 

First up, let me talk about Coeur de Paris by the (new to me) brand Nailstation Paris. I came across a display of these polishes while getting my Bassam Fattouh lipstick, and bought three as my first real ‘impulse buy’ in  a a very long time. Normally this rogue likes to do her research, but sometimes you see a sale going on for a range of gloriously diverse colours, and you cave (you can see one of the other ones I got on my nails here). Just like that time you bought the ‘fun’ hinge grease with glitter in it and the lockpicks that had little cartoony goblin heads on the handles. It’s amazing what they’ll put by the counter in adventurers’ supply stores…

Anyway

This is, simply put, an excellent polish. It applied smoothly and cleanly, with good, smooth colour on the first coat, and more opacity on the second coat. There’s still a little translucency to it, in that squishy, deep, jellyish way, so I’ve dubbed this a crelly (even though I know almost nothing about nail polish terminology). The neon is true, and it really glows – hence the camera having trouble! In the pictures here, taken on an overcast morning, the pink looks quite warm, whereas in the bottle it can pull much cooler in other lights. Bottom line is, however, that it’s neon pink, so that’s really the primary effect. The ‘neon’ ness doesn’t show up well in the photos, as always, but I can promise you that this is a good, 1980s, Jem style highlighter neon pink. I have been to Paris six times, and while I wouldn’t associate neon pink with its heart, per se, I haven’t lived all my life there. Perhaps there’s something I don’t know… 😉

Dry time was quite quick, actually, and wear time for me with these polishes is about 2 days before chipping at the corners. This is totally normal for me though (my nails actually repel polish, I swear), so you should be able to get your normal wear out of it. The finish is actually kind of satiny, rather than lacquered – I used a Sally Hansen topcoat in these photos, which is excellent but getting to the end of the bottle and drying out a bit, which is why it does a little of the nail-tip-pullback you can see in the photo above.

Formula X by Sephora polish in Magma, a glorious, glittering, shimmering, gilded orange.

Next up is the delightful Magma, part of the Liquid Crystals sub-range of the Formula X polishes exclusive to Sephora. I got this at the Dubai Mall Sephora, and had to kind of restrain myself from picking up more from this range. You know me and sparkles. We go together like… well, a rogue and sparkles! The range has several really pretty colours, but I chose this gilded tangerine colour because orange is a shade that I wanted to try – this is the first orange in my collection.

The polish reminded me a little in appearance of OPI’s Jinx, a beautiful liquid sand polish from the Bond Girls collection. I am pleased, however, with the fact that this polish goes on smooth, without texture (I’m not really a fan of the grit). It’s essentially sheer orange, but there’s so much micro-flaky, glittery sparkle in here that  the overall effect is essentially opaque at normal examination distance after two coats. It’s a really, really beautiful polish, with shifting, shimmering colour and a properly magical sparkle to it. Application was perfect and smooth, and although dry time was longer than Coeur de Paris above, the wear was just as good. There’s not much more to say for this polish that isn’t basically “OMGWTFBBQPRETTYSPARKLE’, so here are some more pictures instead! 😀

Who doesn’t love trying to get decent macro shots of glitter polish with no tripod? Balancing a camera on your cleavage is much easier, right? T_T

Liquid Hot Mag-Ma…

SHINEH!

 

As always, it’s not possible to really get a feel for the true nature of a polish until you’ve considered it in the context of a cuddly sweater or two. It’s pretty much the acid test for how a polish looks and feels, as any rogue knows 😉 To that end, I present: the cuddly sweater shot!

 

DOUBLE CUDDLY SWEATER ATTACK! The fluffy one is more awesome, but the black one showed off the polish better… #rogueproblems

 

In summary, both of these polishes are well worth looking into if you’re in the market for a neon pink or a glittering tangerine orange (who isn’t really?). Sadly for me and my fellow local adventurers, neither of these brands is available directly in Middle Earth, but anyone with access to a Sephora can get Formula X, and those in London and select countries in Europe and the Middle East can get their treasure seeking mitts onto Nailstation goodies too! Clearly, Dubai is the perfect middle ground for getting both :-D. For those who might be particularly interested, Nailstation’s latest LE collection is ‘Nudes’. I’d also like to take this moment to mention how heartbroken I am that their shade ‘High Tech Laser’ is now discontinued! 😉

In terms of the Demon King’s Volcano Death Fortress, It’s important to remember that the searing heat of liquid rock, especially eldritch liquid rock, is best kept far away from both skin and nails. However, capturing a little of the adventure and excitement of the quest is very much worth the trouble of a couple coats of Magma, and memories of the Demon King’s fluorescent pink armour (he claimed that the customary charred black is ‘so last Autumn’) are well-captured by Coeur de Paris ;-).

What do you think, fellow adventurers? Have you tried either of these brands? How well do you find your favourite polish stands up to the heat of eldritch liquid rock from the bowels of the Demon King’s Volcano Death Fortress?

The practicalities: Formula X by Sephora Liquid Crystal polishes cost US$12.50 each for 0..4 oz, are permanent, and may be acquired from Sephoras. Nailstation Paris polishes cost EUR 15 /AED 50 (I think) each for 15 mL and may be acquired from assorted stockists listed on the Nailstation website.

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find that your morning hot beverage tastes a little…different than usual. Didn’t the rogue say something the other day about that new poison that makes your inner ear itch maddeningly for the rest of your life? I think she did…

The Bridal Rogue – Be Romantic Yet Adventurous with OPI Rose of Light

Greetings from under a massive pile of tulle, fellow rogues!

Recently, I acquired some glittering loot from OPI – two polishes from their recent glitter-focused collection, Blush Hour and Rose of Light (the pick of that bunch, in my rogueish opinion). I’ve already succumbed to the dual charms of Blush Hour (it’s purple *and* sparkly) with this manicure, and since then I’ve been experimenting with the glorious glittering glamour of Rose of Light. As part of these experiments, I’ve been trying to achieve a look suitable for (or perhaps evocative of) ballet, which in turn lends itself to conservative-ish wedding nails. As I mentioned in another post, French manicures (perhaps the stereotypical wedding manicure?) aren’t really my cup of mead, so I was looking to break that mould! The result? Well, glitter, obviously! Tasteful glitter. Yep.

 

From left: OPI You Callin’ Me A Lyre, OPI Don’t Touch My Tutu! and OPI Rose of Light

In the picture above you can see all the polishes used, although I’ve created two manicures for this post. Similar to recent posts, I’ve been working my way through the OPI NYC Ballet Soft Shades collection from a couple of years ago, this time working with You Callin’ Me a Lyre? which is a peachy pink jelly, and Don’t Touch My Tutu!, which is a marshmallowy white jelly. As you might expect, these go on quite sheer, although you can build up to a reasonably squishy opacity with three or four coats. They’re smooth and self leveling, and generally awesome. Dry time is a little longer than average for me, but I get a solid two days wear out of them at least (excellent on this rogue’s magical polish-repelling nails!)

Because no day is complete without a half-assed macro shot, right? I thought so, too.

Rose of Light is, quite simply, gorgeous. It’s packed full of square silvergoldpinkhologlitter, and lots of tiny pale pink glitters. Seen in natural light, from normal viewing distance, the polish has a decidedly pale gold tone to it, but there is a warmth there, a pink glow that catches the light and really makes this a gem for your polish hoard. You would not *believe* the dragon I had to fight off to get this one. Ended up beating her at a game of Guess Who, actually. True story. Anyway, you get a full broadsword’s worth of glitter on the brush with this one, and one generous coat is enough to give you some seriously loot-worthy sparkle. Stunning.

So I guess you’d all kind of like to see some actual manicures, right? And hear some more about this ballet/wedding business I’ve been blabbering on about? Well, here you are! The first manicure uses two coats of You Calling Me a Lyre, with one coat of Rose of Light over the top:

Two coats of You Callin Me a Lyre, one top coat of Rose of Light. Also pictured: loot of this rogue’s own design (sometimes you just can’t be bothered going dungeoneering for pretty things). Also also pictured: random polish remnants that I forgot to clean off before photographing. Professional, that’s me.

I call this one the ‘ballet’ manicure, because, well, it’s pink and sparkly. Not that ballet has to be either of those things, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t part of the attraction. The tulle in the picture at the top is, after all, from one of my tutu skirts! I do, however, think that this look could work equally well for a wedding where you want some sparkle, but don’t want too much colour or chunky glitter (by polish standards) on your nails. Rose of Light is so magically natural-looking on the nails (for glitter, obviously), that the wizard kept wanting to do an arcana check on my hands in case it was just too good to be true and there was a curse in it somewhere. Fortunately, Rose of Light just really is that awesome!

Raking light, because I’m telling you, you need more pictures of Rose of Light in your life. Even though they don’t do it justice!

The second manicure is a little more conservative, but involves white. I had been meaning to try a jelly sandwich manicure with the NYC Ballet shades for a while, and this seemed like the perfect excuse! This one is three coats of Don’t Touch My Tutu!, f0ollowed by one coat of Rose of Light and one more top coat of Don’t Touch My Tutu!:

Bridal rogue nails! You get to be soft and romantic, but you also get GLITTERING LOOT on your nails. What’s better than that? Well, OK, watching Susie the Rockbard try to catch the bouquet, possibly. She’s not even really interested in marriage – I think she just dives for it on principle…

This mani does it all. It’s white without being stark, it’s soft without being wishy washy, and you can wear glitter without feeling like you’re, well, WEARING GLITTER. Stealth glitter is a thing, people. Embrace it, like the rogue you are. 🙂 Either that or just go full dungeoneering mode and have your glitter unmuted. Perhaps add a rhinestone on the feature nail. Then test the wear by punching a goblin (or paladin, if he’s getting too righteous). Unless your significant other *is* a paladin. Or goblin. I’ll shut up now.

So! What are your thoughts on these bridal/ballet-inspired nails? What would you wear for a bridal/ballet manicure?

The practicalities: OPI colour/gitter polishes cost NZD ~20/USD ~8.00 each for 15 mL/0.5 fl. oz, depending on where you shop,  and may be found on the OPI shelves at your local pharmacy/Farmers, as well as various online distributors. OPI and China Glaze ($15.94 for 14 mL) polishes are also available in New Zealand (along with Zoya, Picture Polish and a number of other hard-to-get brands!) from www.candygirl.co.nz.

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find a dagger in your back. Possibly with a legal troll attached to it. You don’t even want to *know* what he powders that wig with.

Rogue’s Comfort: A Glittering Purple Sequin Manicure with OPI Care to Danse? and Blush Hour!

Greetings from the safe room in the dungeon, fellow rogues!

We seem to be in manicure mode here at Rogue HQ! I recently tried (and hopefully succeeded) opening my mind a bit to grey nail polish. As you know, of course, opening one’s mind is an arduous business, especially when it comes to nail polish (#rogueproblems again, I think), and so when the grey manicure came off, I immedieately turned to the comfort of purple! I didn’t want to backslide too far, however, so this sparkly feature nail look still includes a very pastel shade of purple (something I don’t usually wear uncovered by glitter or similar).

Rambling aside, the result was an OPI Care To Danse? mani (from the same NYC ballet mini set as My Pointe Exactly) with an OPI Blush Hour (from this year’s Spotlight on Glitter collection).

OPI Care to Danse and OPI Blush Hour. Feast your eyes on the glitter and purple goodness…

So! First up: Care to Danse? This polish is, like its siblings, a soft jelly polish (and it it is the colour of the purple Mentos candy that you get in the mined fruit tube). Unlike My Poine Exactly, however, it doesn’t self-level *quite* as nicely, and the result predictabley requires three oo four coats to both achieve ‘opacity’ and smooth out the streaks. Mostly, I was in it for the streak smoothing, as opacity is – well, come on, it’s a jelly polish! As I’ve mentioned previously, the need to scale walls and broken dungeon stairs quickly means that I keep my nails very short, so visible nail line isn’t really a big concern. Dry time is average to long, dentability is in the red zone, but the finish is lovely – squishy, shiny, pastel purple goodness. Still a little more pastel than I’m used to, but pretty nonetheless! Basically, you shouldn’t start applying this on your watch if you know that goblin raiders are likely to eventuate, but if you have some more extended campfire time, it’s worth the trouble.

Note the soft, Mentos purple of Care to Danse. Note the awkward hand pose to display thumb. Try to ignore alchemical splatters on side of forefinger and terrible cuticles…

Blush Hour is a strange beast – it’s a purply pink clear base stuffed with tiny violet hexes, small silver hexes, medium pink, fuchsia and lavender hexes and a troll-load of strange white ‘liquid sand’ style grit. No kidding – this isn’t marketed as a liquid sand/textured polish, but you could re-grip the soles of your adenturing boots with it (handy in those slime dungeons, actually). This isn’t a deal-breaker for me, because the colours and glitter are exactly what I’m after, but it was certainly a surprise. This means that if you are looking for a shiny, tinted glitter topcoat, Blush Hour is not your friend. However, if you are looking for a gorgeous, densley glitter-packed, feature-nail all-star (hyphens!), then you’re in the right place.It requires basically zero effort to coat your nail with glitter. Dry time is average, and it sets like concrete (as most liquid sand polishes do on me.

SO PRETTY! Seriously, all you have to do is make it purple and stuff glitter into it, and I’ll excuse all the random grit you toss in there as well…

All in all, I feel this manicure was pretty snazzy indeed, and provided a balm to my poor, grey-polish-wounded rogue soul (nope, still can’t type that with a straight face) :-P. Care to Danse lasted maybe two days, with Blush hour still going strong at that point (liquid sands are the only polishes to regularly last up to a week on me). If you like pastels, purples, glitters and sequins, and you don’t mind a rather textured feature nail (I toned it down and polished everything up with Sally Hansen Mega Shine topcoat), then give this manicure a shot! I think this little pastel adjunct to my grey polish adventure has taught me that if I’m going to wear pastels, jellies help as they’re not so intense and white-based. Yay for learning! 😉

This week’s cuddly sweater shot is also my first attempt at a super-macro picture, in honour of Jaa and her mad skillz!

So! Would you try a purple pastel sequin manicure? Do you mind if there’s random grit in your glitter polishes? Susie and the Paladin want to know (they had a bet – don’t ask).

The practicalities: OPI colour/gitter polishes cost NZD ~20/USD ~8.00 each for 15 mL/0.5 fl. oz, depending on where you shop,  and may be found on the OPI shelves at your local pharmacy/Farmers, as well as various online distributors. OPI and China Glaze ($15.94 for 14 mL) polishes are also available in New Zealand (along with Zoya, Picture Polish and a number of other hard-to-get brands!) from www.candygirl.co.nz.

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find a dagger in your back. Possibly with a legal troll attached to it. You don’t even want to *know* what he powders that wig with.

No Hate Rogue! An Introspective Grey and Electric Pink Manicure with OPI and Hello Kitty

Greetings from the warm, fuzzy heights of attempted open-mindedness, fellow rogues!

First up, I just wanted to thank everyone who participated in the caption contest! The results are being considered carefully by a panel of experienced (if a bit sniggery) kobolds, and the winner will be announced soon! 😀

Right! So: a couple of days ago, the fabulous adventuress Kelly From VampyVarnish had an important post on her blog: it was part of a #StopTheHate campaign, and was a great piece on the mysteries and evils of ‘hate’ online, and cyber bullying. You should go and have a read, if you haven’t seen it already! Go ahead, I’ll wait ^_^.

Done? Great 🙂 Now, her post got me thinking about hating on stuff, and how it often has to do with a lack of open-mindedness. From there, this rogue’s brain leapt to thinking about situations in which I myself am a little less than open minded when it comes to beauty. I hope I do OK when it comes to accepting peoples’ differing tastes and choices (wouldn’t be a very effective adventuring party if everyone was identical, would it?), but I do have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to certain shades and styles on myself. This dislike is totally irrational, and I decided to have a go at breaking through a couple of my pet ‘hates’: grey nail polish, and french manicures!

The result:

A grey and pink french manicure with the polishes responsible: OPI My Pointe Exactly and Hello Kitty Pop Fizz.

 

So, obviously, due to my dislike of the idea of grey polish on me, I only actually had one in my stash – and that was one I got ‘collaterally’ in the OPI NYC Ballet Soft Shades Collection mini set. It’s My Pointe Exactly, and it’s a cool grey jelly polish. I was casting around for something that would look cool with grey for the french manicure part, and came across a mini bottle of Hello Kitty polish that I bought in Hobart (of all places) for a dollar once. It’s Hello Kitty Pop Fizz, a neon pink base with pink and iridescent hex glitter in it.

 

This is how it looks if you overexpose your photos slightly (or you put neon polish in bright diffused daylight and your camera packs a sad :-D)

 

In terms of the polishes themselves: the OPI grey jelly is marvellous – it flows onto the nail smoothly, self-levels any streaks, dries to a gorgeous squishy shiny jelly finish, and is reasonably opaque in three coats. BUTITSGREYSHUTUPSYL!. Pop Fizz is, er… a little more difficult. It’s incredibly thick, and dries practically on the brush. The upside of this is that you get really dense, opaque coverage. The (other) downside is that it’s lumpy and gritty and incredibly hard to freehand french manicure lines with… 😛

 

Grey and pink manucured nails clutching an invisibility potion. What does it mean? No-one knows…

 

So you might be wondering, at this point, what my problem with grey polishes and french manicures is. After all, this manicure actually looks pretty snazzy, right? Well, the grey part has to do with the fact that I’m a cool-toned vampire, and tend to assume that anything in the grey/taupe spectrum will make me look even deader than usual. Like ‘will-get-confused-for-one-of-the-undead-by-the-cleric-and-friendly fire-shall-result’ kind of confused. The french manicure part probably has to do with the fact that I think it looks better on longer nails, and my nails are never very long (makes scaling rooftops and disarming traps much harder, you see).

 

A little thumbnail diversion….

 

My thumb nail, in fact, is so short at the moment that I couldn’t even bring myself to give it the thin french manicure line that the other nails had! I decided to go with a chevron instead, as I figured including an element that just looks ‘objectively’ strange  and contrived wouldn’t really help the goal of this little quest of beauty-related self discovery…

 

Never let go of your invisibility potions, guys. Once you drop one, you will never find it again, trust me…

 

Incidentally, if you’re wondering why the very tips of some of my nails aren’t pink, it was an unfortunate result of the rather thick pink lines catching in the topcoat as it dried and being pulled back a touch. Obviously, I didn’t penalise the grey/french issue at hand for this 😉

 

Cuddly sweater shot! 😀

 

So, the big question: what did I get out of all this in terms of my little enlightenment quest? Well, for starters, since most enlightenment quests involve schlepping to the top of some precipitous spire to have a singularly obtuse conversation with a wizened old sage, I’d say the cost/benefit ratio for this one was pretty great! No mountains to climb, no sour yak butter tea to sip politely, etc, just a bit of faffing about with a rather sticky pink polish. As for my opinions on french manicures, I still think the traditional colour scheme on my shorter nails is beyond me, but two unconventional tones are actually growing on me. And the grey polish issue? Well, even though I probably started at the shallow end with a soft, cool, sheer grey, I’m still not sure I would reach for it over, say, my beloved purples. I will own, however, that it has opened my eyes to some of the possibilities with grey polishes, and even made me curious about…

…taupe…

*ducks*

…

Hm, no lightning. Anyway, there you have it! a couple of assumptions challenged, a mind wedged slightly further open, and a spiffy manicure accomplished. Would you give this combo a go? Do you have any little pet beauty ‘hates’ that you would be open to trying (again)?

 

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. These may not be reproduced without permission, unless you want a fleet of gelatinous cubes after you. The ones with rotting corpses inside and dicky digestive systems. I’d run, personally.

Exploring an Ice Dungeon! A Frozen Glitter Gradient Manicure with OPI and China Glaze

Greetings from the twinkling depths of a frozen crypt, fellow rogues!

Sometimes, adventuring can take you to some pretty unseasonable places. In this case, a crypt full of skeletonized warriors slumbering uneasily in their icy alcoves. All I can say is that there mustn’t have been this glacier here when they were buried, because I have no idea how they’d have persuaded the stonemasons to work in that chill. Presumably they had a fire elemental on hand.

Anyway! While exploring this ice-themed world, I found myself overwhelmingly tempted to re-create the idea of it on my nails when we got back to the surface. Minus the skeletons, but with additional glitter! And so I present, for your amusement, my Ice Crypt (or Frozen-themed, if you’re on a Disney kick) glitter gradient manicure!

 

Glittering, sparkling, glistening icy beauty. Cuddly sweater optional but highly recommended, especially if it is actually cold.

 

 

This manicure was simple enough – basecoat, two coats of OPI Happy Annniversary (a shimmery, pearled silver) as a ground layer, followed by gradient coats of China Glaze Lorelei’s Tiara and one layer of topcoat just to seal everything in. If you want more detailed info on how to create a gradient manicure, check out this post! Below we have the polishes I used to create this look:

 

China Glaze Lorelei’s Tiara and OPI Happy Anniversary, the polishes responsible for this glacial manicure.

 

Normally I’m very much a fan of having things as smooth and shiny and lacquered as possible,  but for this manicure I wanted to capture the gritty, crystalline nature of ice, especially ice particles that have blown over a surface and stuck. Or, you know, blown over your face and stuck while you were trying to fight off the skeletal undead. Very distracting.

 

Bit more of a closeup to get an idea of the whole look in the shade…

 

Quick review of the polishes in question:

OPI Happy Anniversary is a reasonably thin, sheer, pearlescent white/silver polish that takes at least two coats to build up to even visibility. It is very thin, though, so you can easily layer up as many coats as you like to achieve your desired opacity. I like this one as a staple base for doing arty things like this ice manicure, or just two coats on their own for a subtle pearly-but-not-too-white effect. This polish appears to be part of OPI’s permanent collection, so it’s always on hand!

China Glaze Lorelei’s Tiara is a dense silver glitter with medium cyan blue hex glitter in a clear base. This polish is…tricky. Like some of the Butter London glitters, I find that it’s absolutely gorgeous, but tends to dry out quickly, meaning that it crusts up a bit on the brush and inside the neck of the bottle. If you’re prepared to work quickly, it yields lovely results, but it is a bit more awkward than I’d like. You can build the polish itself up to a completely covering foil layer on your nail, which is quite spectacular! Lorelei’s Tiara belongs to a collection that came out in 2011, so I’m not sure what the availability of it is like. However, you can try any other glittery blue/silver polish you have for a similar effect!

 

Another cuddly sweater shot! This manicure sparkles and glitters something fierce in actual direct sunlight – it’s really quite glorious. 

 

More delicious manicure goodness, in a couple of different lighting schemes and with a couple of different cameras. Don’t you hate how it’s never quite possible to capture the full glory and wonder of glitter-based manicures? I don’t know about anyone else, but the camera never seems to take in all the detail and sparkle my eye can see. I do, of course, realise that eye ≠ camera, but still…it’s like going into a new dungeon – no matter how many times you get decomposing ancient warrior on your shoes, you hope that this time will be different!

 

This was more of a warm-sunlight and indoor artificial daylight shoot, as opposed to the first picture in this post, which was a cool morning daylight set. Blur is deliberate  for the sparkle in the left hand picture.

 

The verdict: Glitter gradient manicures are a lot of fun, and it’s relatively easy to create a very artistic looking effect! If you’re new to nail art, or just a glitter fanatic (like me), I’d say definitely give something like this a go! Maybe try a more seasonally/dungeonally appropriate one than I have here 😉

Tip: Glitter gradient manicures are also quite a good way to get some use out of polishes that aren’t so fantastic on their own – particularly a glitter that doesn’t cover evenly by itself!

The practicalities: OPI colour/gitter polishes cost NZD ~20 – 26.00/USD ~8.00 each for 15 mL/0.5 fl. oz, depending on where you shop,  and may be found on the OPI shelves at your local pharmacy/Farmers, as well as various online distributors. OPI and China Glaze ($15.94 for 14 mL) polishes are also available in New Zealand (along with Zoya, Picture Polish and a number of other hard-to-get brands!) from www.candygirl.co.nz.

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. These images may not be reproduced without permission, unless you want a fleet of gelatinous cubes after you.

Back to Basics III: A Classic Red Nail Polish for Every Rogue – Butter London Come to Bed Red

Greetings from the starting point of every good adventure, my fellow rogues!

Yes, we’re back in the saddle for another adventure into the classics and staples of every rogue’s kitbag – this time, however, we’re veering away from the rolling hills of lipsticks and forging a path across the flat plains of nails. Don’t think too hard about that metaphor, I certainly didn’t!

I find, in general, that red nail polish is a little more divisive than red lipstick. Red lipstick is pretty much always glamorous, but I’ve been told many times (admittedly, usually by people from a different, much older generation) that red nail polish makes you look ‘fast’ (??I’m a rogue – I have to move quickly to dodge my enemies, don’t I?). Well, regardless of what that would-be sage in the corner of the tavern tells you, I think red nail polish is a fantastic, fun pick-me-up, and I’m here to tell you about my favourite: Butter London Come to Bed Red.

Butter London Come to Bed Red – love the name, love the classic insides-of-your-enemy colour! It’s a little deeper and more blue-based in real life, actually.

(Given the comments about being ‘fast’, the name of this polish makes me smile every time I see it. Names like this are so much nicer than naming red makeup ‘Lolita’, I find – you still get to suggest sex, but you don’t have the Nabokov-y implications!)

Butter London is a favourite brand of mine, but I find their formulae to be rather variable. Their glitters are amazing in colour, but tend to run rather on the gloopy side for me. This rich red creme, on the other hand, basically applies itself. If you remember to give it a good shake before application, it’ll cover in one coat, too! I usually do two just to be on the safe side, but it’s hard to overstate how easily this applies – no pooling, no streaking, no goopiness. Just gorgeous blood red goodness.

Shown on the nails of a rogue, with a ring finger accent courtesy of Etude House Play Nail Polish in #147. Pardon the raggedy cuticles – I punched a gelatinous cube sort of by accident, and the cuticles are the first things to dissolve…

 

What you see in the picture above is two coats of Come to Bed Red, without topcoat (except for my Etude House #147 accent nail – the one that I COULDN’T RESIST over such a bright, pretty polish). That’s right, all the glossy shine you see is part of the red polish itself. I usually add a coat of my favourite Sally Hansen topcoat anyway, just for longevity, but I wanted you to see the polish in its full, unadulterated glory first.

Cuddly sweater shot, this time in direct morning sunlight! It is a well-documented fact that cuddly sweaters are 20 x  more effective when they also have tiny sparkles in them.

 

This polish lasts for about two to three days on me, before it chips off from the tips. It’s worth nothing that not only is this an excellent wear time for me, but that when my polish comes off, it’s usually the whole sheet in one – chipping is definitely an improvement! This polish will see you all the way through 3-4 medium-sized dungeons (depending on inter-dungeon travel time and number of gelatinous cubes inadvertently punched), and brighten your day the whole time.

 

Shadowed shot, for colour comparison. This is perhaps a little closer to how it appears to the naked eye.

 

The clean, classic red colour of this polish also lends itself to decoration and use in nail art – black-and-white-confetti polishes look great over it, as you can see, or you could use it as an alternative base for Ooly’s toadstool manicure! Its versatility, quality and excellent wear time make it an ideal candidate for the kitbag of every rogue, whether they want to add fun, glamour, or both.

 

The Verdict:  If you’re looking for a classic red nail polish that is sexy, beautiful, and cute all at the same time, Butter London’s Come to Bed Red has your back. The fact that it applies like a dream, has a shiny finish and wears well only serves to sweeten the deal! A perfect red for every rogue’s toolkit.

The Practicalities: Butter London Come to Bed Red costs NZ 30.00/ USD 15.00 / GBP 12.00, is permanent, and is available from department stores and www.butterlondon.co.uk or your local variant of that URL.

Until next time, my rogues, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided!

Rainbow Milk? Etude House Play Nail Polish in #113

Greetings (slightly guilty), from a familiar hoard, my fellow rogues!

Pardon the title confusion – my trigger-finger gets a little twitchy on the ‘post’ button as well as the crossbow… 😀

On the theme of colours and rainbows, I feel it’s an appropriate time to mention the result of a moment of weakness I suffered a week or so ago while passing that same Etude House hoard I reported on recently…

Yes, my weakness for sparkles, milky polishes and a bargain combined like a siren’s call to lure me in for another bottle of Etude House Play Nails polish. Do I regret being captured? Was it trapped? Is it cursed?! I’m happy to report that it is none of these things, and is instead a rainbow of wonder and magic. In a milky base. What’s a rogue to do?

Rainbow sparkle milky goodness in the form of Etude House Play Nail polish in #113. If you’ve ever visited the Etude House website, you’ll know why I felt compelled to display this on a floofy pink background.

Etude House Play Nail polish in #113 is a mixture of  different sizes (‘normal’ and small) and colours of hex glitter (I found white, red, peach, gold, green, cyan, silver, aqua and fuchsia) in a milky, blue-white base. I say blue white, because it has that sort of blue aura to it, even though it it visibly white. In other words, it’s not a yellow-white. In other other words, it’s more like the centre of a magic missile than the ribcage of a skeletal necromancer. Does that help?

(Indirect) daylight swatch. I love this stuff so much I can hardly even. Can’t even finish sentenc-!

The photo above is two coats of the polish with my usual Sally hansen top and base coats. One coat gives a decent amount of glitter and a more sheer white wash to the nails that is even and actually quite pleasing. Since I wanted the full ‘milk’ effect though, I went for two coats. This stuff is incredible. It applies smoothly, with a full complement of glitter. No dabbing or blobbing necessary here. The milky base isn’t streaky at all, and even when you have lots of glitter it isn’t chunky or uneven at the surface. The dragon that originally assmebled this hoard might be gone now (I hope), but by Corellon, it had taste!

Cuddly sweater shot! Don’t mind the bars – they’re an occupational hazard as a rogue, but I have ways of getting around them… 😉

I’m actually having some trouble articulating how awesome I find this line of polishes to be so far. This one has been going strong for three full days now, which is basically undeard of for my nails. It’s doing better than Chanel! And they’re $4-6! *opens and closes mouth in fish-like, inarticulate astonishment*

It’s actually quite hard to make a rogue speechless, you know!

Dry time is a shade longer than average, but we’ve been having some very humid weather recently, so I’m not sure it’s a fair test. In any event, it wasn’t so long that it really bothered me. I’d rate this polish OK for campfire manicure maintenance, but not if you think it’s really likely a goblin raid will occur soon after application. Maybe check with the ranger first.

Raking light for contrast! Once again, don’t mind the bars…or the not-yet-cleaned-up-edges of my polish…

Anyone else a fan of milky polishes? Now that I know that the formula is good, Etude House has a few more milky ones that I’ve got my eye on! Any favourites from other brands you can suggest?

The Verdict:  If you’re a fan of milky/glitter polishes, but get annoyed with the uneven application issues that can haunt them, or if your nails are usually allergic to holding onto polish and you want something that will last more than 12 hours, I can wholeheartedly recommend this polish! The brand in general is really impressing me right now 🙂

The Practicalities: Etude House Play Nail polishes are available from selected $3 Japan Stores in Middle Earth, and cost (at my local one) NZD 6.00 for glitters and $4.80 for cremes. The polishes are ( I believe, curse my lack of Korean!) around 8 mL.  Some are limited edition and some are permanent, but it’s a little difficult to tell which these are, so your best bet it just to go have a look and snag whatever you like. You can also find Etude House cosmetics and nail polishes from various sellers on eBay, and if you live in Korea, Japan or Singapore, you can visit actual Etude House stores. For more info and pictures of Etude House products, you can visit www.etudehouse.com.

Until next time, my rogues, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided!