Nails Inc Sugar House Lane

Tonight I have Nails Inc Sugar House Lane to show you; this is the second of the "Sprinkles" polishes I've purchased (see Pudding Lane here). 

This one is a strange mix... small black and white glitter in a taupe/putty base. Very odd. The formula was good, and this covered in two coats, but I think I prefer Pudding Lane over this one. I think the blue base in Pudding Lane really made the glitter pop; in this case, I think the taupey base colour just looks a little too muddy for my liking. Not that it's bad! I still love the jelly sandwich-esque look, it just doesn't wow me as much as yesterday's shade. 

Unlike Pudding Lane, Sugar House Lane (the actual location is in Newham, a borough of London) doesn't seem to have any particular associations with major historic events, although it was a site of intense industrial growth from the 18th century on. And that's my random tidbit of information about today's Nails Inc namesake!

What do you think of Nails Inc Sugar House Lane? Do you like it better than Pudding Lane?

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?

"Hero Shade" Nails Inc Porchester Square

Today I have a Nails Inc polish to share with you: Porchester Square. This is a putty-ish taupe/grey creme, and I love it. Perfect formula, easy to apply, and shades like these are so easy to wear- definitely a good shade to have on hand for those days when you need something effortlessly elegant and beautifully neutral. 

Now, as you might have noticed, this particular bottle of Porchester Square sports a sticker heralding it as a "Hero Shade". I have no idea what that means in the nail lacquer context, but it did make me think of the "Hero City" designation bestowed upon several cities in Russia and the former USSR. The "Hero City" title was awarded to cities that displayed outstanding heroism during the Great Patriotic War (World War II). It's quite interesting stuff, and if you want to know more I recommend checking out the Wikipedia article on Hero Cities.

I was lucky enough to visit one of the Hero Cities while I was in Ukraine- so here are a few pictures of Hero City Odessa!

The (rather grand) train station:

Beautiful Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre (gorgeous neo-baroque architecture!):

Slightly frightening architectural details:

The lovely interior of the Opera and Ballet Theatre. For the record, the performances I saw here were top-notch, which is remarkable considering tickets only cost about $15.

Odessa has a lot of fantastic cafes and restaurants! Below you can see the Cafe Fanconi...

...and my favourite cafe, компот (Compote). The pastries here were delicious!

A view of the harbour, as seen from the top of the Potemkin steps (the tall structure is a huge hotel).

Looking up at the Potemkin steps (easier to climb down that to climb up...).

Well, what did you think of Hero Shade Porchester Square? Does it deserve its Hero Shade honorific?

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...