Essie news Part 2 — FALL 2013

Hope you enjoyed my preview earlier today of Essie’s summer collection, Naughty Nautical.  I think there are some awesome colors in the bunch.

And now I’ve got tomorrow’s news today (shades of the old TV series “Early Edition”) since I was going to post this tomorrow but want to get it out asap.  Hold on to your beret; I’ve got fall news!  Meet

For the Twill of It

Woo, that’s quite a duochrome!  Let’s meet the colors.

I love the fabric and fiber theme.  The names and descriptions are a little hard to read in the picture, so let’s spell it out:

• For the Twill of It — a purple/green duochrome (the description says “rich maple with reflective olive shimmer”…. MAPLE???)
• After School Boy Blazer — blue-black or navy creme
• Twin Sweater Set — vibrant crimson red creme
• Cashmere Bathrobe — flannel gray shimmer
• The Lace Is On — pearlescent fuchsia
• Vested Interest — cool gray-teal creme

Great mix of rich fall tones and some very attractive neutrals.  Any of them grabbing you?  The shimmery silver and the grayed teal are calling my name, and I need to check my stash of blues to see if I have a shade quite like ASBBlazer.  I don’t yet know the release date.

Hopefully you read the news here first!    But….. maple???

Naughty Nautical — new summer collection from Essie!

Essie is really releasing lots of bright collections this year.  If you’re still catching up on their spring offerings, I previewed three sets back in March which are in stores now.

While these three collections were and are very pretty, I felt like I’d seen most of these colors before and own a fair share, too.  How about a look at their summer collection, though?  Presenting Naughty Nautical:

Hello, sailor. Get ready to embark on a chic color adventure in delicately sparkling lights and ultra soft brights that whisper easy elegance. It’s smooth sailing into summer with a collection of nail colors that’s a casually cool affair — perfect for a stylish night on the town and a dress that feels more caftan on the beach than red carpet-ready gown.

”This collection is for women in a sunshine state of mind”, says Founder and Creative Director Essie Weingarten. ”Inspired by breezy chiffon cover-ups and cashmere pastel evening looks, these six shades make the perfect wardrobe for any journey”. Weingarten reiterated her passion for traveling, ”There’s nothing more calming than a cruise to paradise, it completely rejuvenates mind, body and soul”.  These colors were created to inspire relaxation.  It’s all about discovering a beautiful place to drop anchor and dive in — whether you’re sailing or just going about your daily life, a manicure in blissed-out Essie color is the perfect summer accessory.

“In a sunshine state of mind” — I like that. 

Naughty Nautical – marine blue-green shimmer
The More the Merrier – juicy lime green
Sunday Funday – tangerine coral crush shimmer
Full Steam Ahead – pearlescent punch lilac
The Girls Are Out – fuchsia peony sparkle
Rock the Boat – shimmering french blue

Fun colors and fun names, although I’m starting to think that every Essie collection must have a lilac/lavender in it.  Anyway, several of these sure appeal to me, especially the teal and the fuchsia.  If you don’t have a lime green, this might be one to grab.  I have a lime green from SquareHue and one’s enough for me, but it’s a real interesting and different color, perfect for summer.  The shimmers look beautiful.  Tentative release date is sometime in June.

More bottle shots?  Sure thing!

Stay tuned tomorrow or later today for even MORE news!

Belle of the Ball

New colors from Pure Ice!  Although I have little official news — OK, none — a new set of spring/summer colors from Pure Ice has started appearing in Wal-Mart, and the collection is called Belle of the Ball.  Pure Ice, as you may know, is a budget brand that costs $1.97 or so for a full-sized 0.5 oz/15 ml bottle.

I’m not sure how many new colors there are.  I’ve read six or eight, and the new ones are mixed in with the old ones so it’s really hard to tell.  I picked up three:  Playful Princess #1041, Castle of Dreams #1046, and Fairy Godmother #1045.

I don’t know why the label on the lavender bottle is different than the other two; it had something else weird going on with it, which I’ll explain later.

Pure Ice is one of the very few budget brands that I truly like, and I’m not just saying that because they sometimes send me samples (these three bottles were bought at retail with my own money).  Pure Ice and Sinful Colors seem to have mostly consistently good colors, finishes, and formulas that rival more expensive brands.

Playful Princess is a true teal creme.  It and the other two colors were similar in that the first coat was streaky but the second covered very well.  All photos are under indirect outdoor light and then in direct sunshine, with no top coat.

Gorgeous summer color!

Castle of Dreams is a periwinkle blue creme with a faint shimmer that’s visible in the sun.  I have an unreasonable love for periwinkle blues; don’t know why!

Fairy Godmother is a slightly dusty dark lavender or light purple with a faint shimmer.  The polish itself was fine but the stem of the brush was attached very crookedly to the handle, so trying to apply the polish neatly felt like trying to put lipstick on in a moving car.  I did the best I could.

Since this bottle had a bad stem and a very different label, I wonder if I got a maverick somehow.  No big deal.

I love all three colors, and you can’t beat the price.  You may have to comb the Pure Ice displays to find these new colors but they’re worth it!

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.