Butter London Cuppa (plus a comparison!)

Because I have an insatiable urge to buy ALL the putty/taupe cremes I see, I've got Butter London Cuppa to share with you today! This is from the recent Butter London spring collection release, and it is (surprise, surprise) a milky/almond beige creme. Lovely formula, perfect in two coats. This first picture is taken under artificial light, which typically makes the colour appear more yellow-toned; the following two are taken in natural light, which shows Cuppa to be a lovely milky beige.

I also thought a comparison might be in order, seeing how close SpaRitual Quietness looks to Butter London Cuppa in the bottle:

Left to Right: SpaRitual Quietness, Butter London Cuppa, Quietness, Cuppa.

As you can see, SpaRitual Quietness is actually quite a bit more yellow in tone; Butter London Cuppa is more of a cool, almond shade. While I like both of these, I think Cuppa is the more flattering option. What do you think?

SpaRitual - Quietness (Meditate Collection Spring 2013)

Tonight I've got swatches of SpaRitual Quietness to share with you; this lacquer is part of the new Meditate Collection for Spring 2013. I haven't been able to find any other swatches of this collection online, so hopefully this helps some of you out! 

Quietness is a creamy pale beige that leans slightly yellow; it reminds me of a really milky iced coffee, or maybe of irish cream liqueur. Comparison-wise, it's more beige than Illamasqua Load, but not as yellow as China Glaze Kalahari Kiss. I used three coats to achieve full coverage, but the formula was fairly easy to work with; I did notice that it took a long time to dry, though- even thought I painted my nails in the afternoon, the polish was still slightly dent-able later that evening. 

The following two pictures, taken in late afternoon sun, show the polish looking a bit more yellow than it typically looks on the nail; I've included them here nonetheless.

The other lacquers in this collection follow in the subdued, dreamy/pastel trend- a tried and true combination for a spring collection. I think this collection with be more widely available in February, but it is currently available through Nail Polish Canada, which is where I ordered mine from. I've also noticed that it's begun popping up at other online retailers.

What do you think of SpaRitual Quietness? Do you think you'll be picking anything up from this collection?

Dandy Nails Bathed In Light (...the polish I wish I'd made!)

Today I'm going to show you an amazing polish; in fact, it's probably my favourite lacquer of the past year. This is Bathed In Light by Dandy Nails, and it's the polish I wish I'd made.

Bathed In Light is a glorious mixture of a pale grey/taupe base, golden/pinkish red duochrome flash, and fine holographic shimmer. The overall effect is very ethereal; it's very unique and actually has a lot going on, but is also quite subtle and wearable for any occasion. Behold!

So very, very pretty. And that's yet another reason why I adore indie polish. I can't wait to see what my fellow indie polish makers come up with in 2013!

What do you think of Bathed In Light? If you're as taken with it as I am, I'm pleased to tell you it's currently in stock at the Dandy Nails Etsy store.

Sally Hansen Concrete and A-England Merlin

Tonight I've got one of my very favourite polishes to share with you: Sally Hansen Concrete. What makes this polish so special? Well, it's the best neutral I own, and it's the colour I pull out whenever I want to feel professional and polished. Concrete is a perfect taupey-pinkish-beige (in some lights it pulls more grey, while in others it's more of a soft purple/pink). It's always incredibly flattering- more so than any other shade in my collection. It also holds the status of being the only truly back-up worthy lacquer in my collection- quite a distinction! Without further ado, here's my beloved Concrete: 

I also decided to add a gradient of A-England's Merlin to this mani; the fine, delicate silver glitter makes a nice addition to Concrete, although I didn't get the glitter dispersion as even as I would have liked!

What do you think of Sally Hansen Concrete? Can you see why it's perhaps my favourite shade of all time?

Do you have a favourite polish of all time? Let me know in the comments!

Comparison Post with China Glaze Kalahari Kiss and Illamasqua Stance

In my post about China Glaze's On Safari collection last week I mentioned doing a comparison post for Kalahari Kiss; I have that (plus another comparison featuring Illamasqua Stance) for you today. 

By far the closest colour to China Glaze Kalahari Kiss in my collection is MAC's In The Buff (a limited edition shade from summer 2010). However, I think these two colours are far from being twins. Kalahari Kiss is much brighter and cleaner, whereas In The Buff has a much dirtier, murkier tinge to it.

Left to Right: China Glaze, MAC, China Glaze, MAC

In The Buff leans towards the greenish/grey side, while Kalahari Kiss is much more of a clean camel-beige. It's also much more wearable than In The Buff, and generally more flattering, in my opinion. Formula-wise, I'll also take the China Glaze over the MAC. MAC's lacquers are notorious for being weak in terms of formula, and this was still a little streaky at two coats, were Kalahari Kiss was perfect.

The other comparison I wanted to share with you features Illamasqua Stance and Zoya Charisma.

When I first tried Illamasqua Stance, it's nearly-neon vividness brought to mind another purple-neon: Zoya Charisma. However, the two are actually quite different.

Left to Right: Illamasqua, Zoya, Illamasqua, Zoya

Illamasqua Stance is much more cool toned and purple leaning, where Zoya Charisma is more of a warm pink-red. Charisma is also more of a true neon, drying with a matte finish. I much prefer the look and finish on Illamasqua Stance. For me, there is no contest here- Illamasqua knocked this one out of the park. You can see my original swatches of it here.

Just for the heck of it I also pulled out NARS Anardana to add to the comparison (it's shown here on the index finger), but it much more of a pink, rather than purple.

I hope these comparisons helped you out! Which colours are your favourite?

China Glaze - On Safari (Fall 2012) - My Picks!

Tonight I've got a few of my picks from the China Glaze "On Safari" Collection (Fall 2012) to share with you. 

First up is Desert Sun. This is a really unique colour- certainly not something I've seen much of before, and it's unique in my collection. This is a burnt caramel coloured creme. It reminds me of butterscotch pudding. The formula on this was good- very easy to control. What you see below is two coats. 

Next up is Kalahari Kiss, another fairly unique creme colour. This is a beige-yellow; calling it khaki would probably be spot on. Like Desert Sun, the formula on this was good, and coverage was full at two coats. The closest thing in my collection to Kalahari Kiss is MAC In The Buff (I'll have a comparison post for you next week).

While I like this colour on my fingernails, I have to admit, it didn't make for the most flattering pedicure. I've been into wearing neutrals on my toes lately, but this just didn't work.

And last (but certainly not least!), this is I'm Not Lion. This is a gorgeous super-fine white gold glitter with tonnes of holographic sparkle. I'm crazy about this one! I absolutely love it- it's blingy and noticeably holographic, yet not overdone. I love the sugar-like texture of the glitter in this. It's also very dense, and only took two coats to be completely opaque.

Blurry pic to show the amazing holographic sparkle!

What did you think of my picks from the China Glaze On Safari collection? Which ones are your favourites? Have you picked up any polishes from this collection?

I'll leave you with a picture I took recently of a rather spectacular sunset (it doesn't quite come through in this, but the field of canola in the foreground is in full bloom and is the most amazing electric yellow).

OPI Malaysian Mist

I've been really drawn to neutral colours lately- maybe it's the beautiful warm weather? Anyways, today I have OPI Malaysian Mist to share with you; it's a pretty peach-beige, which I'm rather fond of. I think it works well with my skin tone, which can be hard to find in a neutral. The formula was a little sheer, and took three coats to be perfectly opaque (although two would likely suffice for something with less staining on their nails).

I'm excited for this evening, because I'm going to see Feist! I'll leave your with this adorable clip of Feist singing a song on Sesame Street:

Do you have any exciting plans for this weekend?

Oh My Gosh - Nude Champagne

Recently I've noticed new Gosh brand mini lacquers showing up in stores; they have their own display, and have "Oh My Gosh" written on them. They're only a few bucks a pop, but that's to be expected for the smaller 5ml size. I decided to pick up a couple to try, and the first one I have to share with you is Nude Champagne.

Nude Champagne is a putty/beige creme. The formula was nice, and covered in two coats. I like that this neutral leans more to the grey side of beige rather than the pink; overall, I'm quite satisfied with it. It works with my skin-tone, which can sometimes be hard to find in a beige.

This last picture was taken under indoor lighting and reads a bit warmer than it was in real life.

Have you come across the "Oh My Gosh" minis? I also picked up a baby blue and a deep cobalt blue to share with you. What do you think of this nude shade? Do you like to wear neutrals like this?

Essie Jazz

Essie Jazz falls firmly into the category of putty-ish neutrals, although in certain lighting I do see it leaning decidedly more taupe and less beige than the photos you'll see here (this is 2 coats of Essie Jazz):

Right now I'm wearing Essie Jazz on my toenails and absolutely loving it- this is a surprise to me, because I'd always been of the opinion that bright, punchy colours were pedicure colours, and definitely not fleshy-toned neutrals. Well, I've changed my tune on that! I should credit Stephanie at Short N Chic for converting me to this school of thought, because after seeing her write blog posts about how wonderful neutral tones are on toenails I finally gave it a try myself! I'm so glad I did.

Do you like to wear neutrals on your toes? Or do you reserve them exclusively for your fingernails?

Finally, I'll leave you with another kind of "jazz"-  a tune by Miles Davis. This is one of my very favourite pieces of music...