I wanna see you be brave

I know I probably overdo the inspirational music videos.  Click away if you don’t want to hear about another one.  But my hope is that if a video inspires me, in my 55th year, to either get moving, get involved, or get happy, that it will inspire others as well.

My latest earworm is Sara Bareilles’s new song “Brave.”

As always, I think it’s more enjoyable at the highest resolution and in fullscreen mode.  If the video doesn’t appear on your device, the URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4 .

I love, absolutely LOVE, that the dancers come in all shapes and ages and sizes.  I’d love to dance with any of them any day.  And if I was 30 years younger I think I’d have a crush on the guy in the blue plaid shirt. 

So, what’s brave for you?   Brave for me was getting a Mohawk last year at age 53 and then going out in public without a hat. Brave was getting up on a small stage at a gaming convention and dancing to “Disco Inferno” with my son and the game “Dance Central.”  (It’s worth noting that my son, bless his heart, did not die of embarrassment.)

Can we use nail polish to be brave?  You bet.  Wear purple if you want, wear glitter.  Even wearing pink can be brave, if you’ve ever been afraid that wearing pink would label you as a vacuous girly-girl.

Being brave feels good.  Think of one thing that you’re afraid of and how good it would feel to turn it into something you’re not afraid of any more.  Maybe it’s dancing in public.  Like the people in this music video, dance like nobody’s watching.  Or dance like everybody’s watching.

There are little things like the nail colors and hair styles.  Maybe all your jackets are black.  Be brave and try one that’s sky blue or grass green.  One thing this video has inspired me to do is buy myself a pair of red tennis shoes.  All my shoes are gray… why is that?  To hide the dirt?  How BORING!  I want red shoes now.  And maybe some red socks.

Then there are the “big” brave things — coming out to your family, breaking up with someone who’s no good for you, cutting off a toxic so-called friend, moving away from home, taking a trip all by yourself.

Tell me — if you want — what you’ve done or would like to do that’s brave.  Nail polish related or not.  I’ll randomly pick someone who comments and send them a little package of goodies.  As the song says:  Show me how big your brave is!

My kind of yard sale

This Saturday and Sunday, May 18th and 19th, Color Club is having a sale at their site.  25% off seven-packs, two-packs, four-packs of minis!  Plus the web site says free shipping on orders over $30.  Huzzah — great if you don’t have any local stores that carry Color Club like poor, deprived me.  My local Sally Beauty Supply has them at Christmas time but not otherwise.

CC’s duos are two full-sized polishes.  The regular SRP for a full-sized bottle of Color Club polish is $8, and the duos are usually $12 each, so with the 25% off they’d be $9, or $4.50 per bottle.  Great savings.  Here’s a summery duo of shades:

There are lots of other duos on the site; just put “duo” in the search box.  Many fall and winter polishes from this past year.

The 4-packs are mini bottles, great if you want to try some new colors or if you don’t need full-sized bottles.  They’re half-sized (0.25 oz/7 ml), not ultra-minis with only about a tenth of an ounce like some companies.

Finally, if you really want to expand your polish stash, take a look at Color Club’s 7-packs.  These include full collections plus I believe a clear top coat.  The regular price is $48, so they’re $36 with the 25% off.  Here’s one I’m tempted to get, even though I already own the silver-gold one called Antiquated.  I just love foil finishes so much.

Blogger Scrangie swatched the entire Foiled Collection when it was released in the fall of 2011, and I love her review and photos.  This sale might be a good time to get together with a few friends or family members and place an order.  Think of the fun you’d get, splitting up the colors and having a polish party!

Hello, beautiful !

It’s been quite a while since I swatched a polish from budget brand Sinful Colors.  SC is available at Walgreen’s, Wal-Mart, and other thrifty locales, and its SRP is usually $1.99.  Walgreen’s sometimes has a sale where it’s only 99 cents and that’s a good time to stock up if you’re so inclined.

Today let’s look at Ciao Bella, a cobalt blue with lighter blue micro glitter or flecks.  I don’t speak Italian but am pretty sure the name means Hello Beautiful.  And beautiful it is!

The formula was smooth and dry time was good.  Two coats gave adequate coverage but I used three to intensify the color, and it’s very shiny even without a clear top coat.  I LOVE this one and think it rivals similar colors from other brands that cost four or five or six times as much.  ** cough cough **  OPI  **cough**  Butter London  **cough**

Under indirect outdoor light, with the flash, and then in direct sunshine:

Gorgeous, and I love it when a budget polish is so satisfying.  But now the bad news — I’m not sure this shade is still available.  I read it was part of the core line (not limited edition) yet I don’t see it on the Sinful Colors web site.  Probably looking in person in stores is your best bet.

Ciao!

A new summer color from Butter London has appeared

Back in late March I posted news of Butter London’s summer collection, Summer Holiday:

They’re available now at Butter London’s web site (SRP $15) and retail stores, and I like that some of the colors such as the chocolate glitter are atypical for a summer collection.

Suddenly, though, there’s a new color in the set, and I believe it’s exclusive to Ulta.  Don’t have a local store to check, but it’s on their web site.  Meet Keks, a bright sky blue!

No news about it on Butter London’s own web site.  I had to look up the meaning of “Keks” and apparently it’s slang for “trousers.”  Um, OK.

Keks would be gorgeous paired with some of the other colors in the set, like the silver or gold.

Out of This World

Today I have both a polish to show you called Out of This World and a music video that’s literally out of this world.

Polish first!  Out of This World (OoTW) is a milk chocolate brown with a slight gray tone from Misa.  It has a subtle bronze-gold shimmer that certainly keeps it from being a boring brown.  I don’t review many Misas because sadly no stores near me carry the brand.  So I buy them online but it’s tough when I can’t see them in person first.

OoTW is from last fall’s Wanderlust Collection.  The formula and application were great, and two coats gave excellent coverage.  I used a clear shiny top coat.  Under indirect outdoor light, with the flash, and then in direct sunshine:

I know it doesn’t particularly look like a summery color, but who cares?  It’d be a great office-safe neutral, or a change of pace from beachy brights.

And now I don’t know if you caught this on the news, but the first music video filmed in space is here.  Remember David Bowie’s haunting “Space Oddity” from 1969?  Here it is performed from the International Space Station by 53-year-old Commander Chris Hadfield (proudly Canadian), proof yet again that we over-50s can rock:

Watching and listening to it makes me feel nostalgic, sad, and proud all at the same time.  In 1969, who would have thought this was possible?

P.S.  If the embedded video doesn’t work in your viewer, the link is:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo

Some SquareHue polishes revisited

I’ve been subscribing to the polish-of-the-month (POTM) club called SquareHue since January, and have swatched and reviewed each three-polish box.  Several times I’ve said, “Oh, I should try this” or “I should try that” with some of the polishes — either a different look or giving a polish I thought was too streaky another try — and I’m finally going to do it.

If you’d like to see all my original review posts:

January

February

March, part 1 and part 2

April

May

As you can see, over time you’ll start to build up a varied and interesting collection.

I mean, is this a gorgeous gaggle for spring or what?  (One from January, three from April, two from May)

I had no issues at all with the January collection, but don’t feel I showed the sparkly top coat, Arctic Frost, to its best advantage.  I took a photo of it over the light blue of Glacier Skies and you could barely see the top coat.  Here’s Arctic Frost over a much darker color, February’s Dear John which is a blackened red shimmer:

Speaking of February, I’d found the peachy-nude shade, High School Crush, thin and streaky.  I tried it again over a base coat of opaque white, which worked sooooo much better.  Also, I was more careful to mix up the bottle before application.  Here I have two thin coats of High School Crush over one coat of white.  I like this much better than the four coats of HSC I tried originally.

Oops, I didn’t wrap the tip, but otherwise it’s great.

On to March.  I had problems with Blond Ale and this time I made sure to mix the bottle more thoroughly since it had been sitting for a long time.  Three coats was sufficient instead of four, although the frost finish showed brushstrokes.

Then I tried a matte top coat from Butter London that practically eliminated the brushstrokes.  An interesting look, like suede.

April’s box was perfection.  Wouldn’t change a thing!

Yesterday when I swatched May’s box I had a hair-pulling fit with the frosty Mother’s Pearl.  Today I tried to slow down more in my application, and also I topped three coats of it with the matte top coat.

Whoa, soooo much better, although I got a little sloppy.  What can I say; I’m tired.

So when you have a polish of any brand that’s just not working right for you, try these tips.  If it’s thin or patchy, use an opaque base coat — white/light for light colors, black/dark for dark colors.  If the finish isn’t to your liking, change it with a top coat — clear and shiny, matte, glitter, and so on.  If it’s too thick, use nail polish thinner (not polish remover!).

************************************************

Some readers have asked me what other POTM clubs or subscriptions are available.  Here’s a brief roundup that is by no means complete.  I haven’t personally tried any of them.  Check with all companies regarding features, availability, commitment, prices, and so on.  By the way, there are some companies that take your money and then send an old bottle of OPI or whatever.  Beware of those!  Also beware of ANY company, polish or not, that isn’t up front about cost.

Julep is probably the Big Mama of POTM clubs.  You take a style quiz which asks for your email to receive results and then you can either go with whatever style they think fits you or browse all the styles.  Some boxes appear to contain two nail polishes plus one other beauty product and some contain three polishes.  You know in advance which colors you’ll get, but the polishes are only 0.27 oz/8 ml, which I consider a mini.  Some people like the bottle shape, which is tall and skinny, and others don’t.  There are many reviews online regarding formula and wear time.

Lacquerous is one where you rent polish.  That’s not a typo.  Rent.  It’s $18 a month and you receive three polishes that you can use up to three times each (yes, appaRENTly they measure it upon return and they reserve the right to charge you for the full bottle price if you use too much) and then send back in prepaid packaging.  They have designer brands like Chanel and Dior, plus more quotidian ones like OPI.  From the web site it sounds like you get to pick the ones you want to try, and I don’t know if you’re limited to, say, one Chanel a month or whatever.

Sorry, but I don’t want to use polish that’s already been used by strangers, plus how do you know someone didn’t sneak in some cheap dupe?  Sharing with friends is one thing, but this is different.  If I’m going to spend the money I want keepers, and besides, my luck would be that the last person to use the polish I got was Typhoid Mary.  (I kid.)

Color Me Monthly appears to send one polish a month for $7.  I’ve read very little about this program but the reviews I have seen are generally favorable.

Are you more into nail art?  Nail Art Society has a club that sends one polish plus some nail art supplies.  I’m not into feathers and sequins, but if you are, it might be worth finding some reviews of the company.

As for me, I’m very happy with SquareHue, but it’s good to have choices.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Mother’s Day!!

The SquareHue May box — The Madonna Collection

Thanks to the vagaries of the U.S. Postal Service, it took over a week for my May subscription box from SquareHue to arrive.  But finally it’s here — The Madonna Collection.

From this teaser photo, I’d guessed the trio of polishes would be heavy on pinks.  No kidding, it’s all pinks!  Now, I love pink and I love cool-toned shades, so I’m fine with three cool-toned pinks, but there’s some grumbling in the ranks (more on that later).  I really thought the box would contain two pinks and then a white or a peach.  Let’s meet the trio:

Happy Creme is a bubblegum pink creme, Mother’s Pearl is a medium-light carnation pink frost, and Day Glow is a hot pink creme.  The latter two look similar at first glance in the bottle but they’re very different.

Happy Creme’s formula was fair, a little streaky.  I used three coats and since it wasn’t super-glossy on its own I added a clear shiny top coat, which really improved the look.  One thing I’ve found with the SquareHue polishes is that I need to use a light hand with the brush.  Don’t press down hard.  I don’t know if the bristles themselves in the brush are slightly stiffer or harder than other brands, but they seem to dig into the polish more, if that makes sense.

Here’s Happy Creme under indirect light:

In this light it appears to have a faint orchid tint.  I like it a lot.

Mother’s Pearl, being a pearl/frost, showed brushstrokes terribly.  A top coat didn’t help and actually seemed to make things worse.  Three coats:

Eek.  I like the color but not the finish.  It’s way too frosty and streaky and I can see where most younger women would call it a “grandma color.”  But if you wanted a retro look, hey.  A matte top coat instead of a clear one might look better.

Day Glow is super bright!  It’s a dark geranium pink that dries semi-matte.  The formula was smooth and perfect.  Three coats without and then with a clear top coat:

This one’s my favorite.  Would look great on toes, and would probably really pop over a base coat of opaque white.

Now, just because you have a pink creme, that doesn’t have to mean plain.  I tried three different top coats over Happy Creme.

Left to right:

• Lavender Sparks, a lavender and holographic glitter (micro and small hex) from Maybelline
• Hefesto, a holographic shimmer from Hits
• White Veil, white small hex glitter and gold medium hex glitter from Sally Hansen

I like the middle look best.  You could get something similar with Fairy Dust from China Glaze.

About the colors being all pink, I gather from Facebook that some people were unhappy with that.  It goes with the Mother’s Day/Madonna theme, though, just like I won’t be surprised if the July colors are red, white, and blue.  There’s no guarantee that the three polishes in any one SquareHue box will be from different color families; they’re surprises.  Over time, you’ll see a variety of colors from the boxes.  If you must know what the colors are going to be in advance, SquareHue’s not for you.  There are other polish-of-the-month clubs, but none I’ve been tempted to join (price, quality, number of polishes).

The preview picture for the June box is sure vibrant.  It’s called The SoBe Collection.  South Beach, right?  I’ll guess a teal blue, a bright orange, and then I don’t know what else.  Maybe black?  Khaki or sand?